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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Gleaner, Vol. X., by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Little Gleaner, Vol. X.
+       A Monthly Magazine for the Young
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: February 1, 2012 [EBook #38745]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE GLEANER, VOL. X. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Hope, Delphine Lettau, Clive Pickton,
+Julia Neufeld and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: HOP-PICKING. (_See page 274._)]
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+
+  LITTLE GLEANER.
+
+  A
+
+  Monthly Magazine for the Young.
+
+  VOL. X., NEW SERIES.
+  1888.
+
+  LONDON:
+  HOULSTON AND SONS, 7, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C.;
+  AND E. WILMSHURST, BOOKSELLER, BLACKHEATH, S.E.
+
+
+
+
+  LONDON:
+  PRINTED BY W. H. AND L. COLLINGRIDGE,
+  148 AND 149, ALDERSGATE STREET, E.C.
+
+[Illustration: _Engraved by S. W. Partridge & Co._
+
+"WELL, THEN, COME TO THE CANAL." (_See page 4._)]
+
+
+
+
+THE EDITOR'S NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS TO HIS YOUNG FRIENDS.
+
+
+Dear young friends,--We wish you each and all a very Happy New Year,
+and, above all things else, that it may prove to many of you a year of
+grace--that is, we pray that the rich saving grace of God may be put in
+the hearts of many of our readers who hitherto have not called upon Him
+for mercy.
+
+How many who began the year 1887 in health are now laid in the grave!
+Some, no doubt, who read this address will be thinking of others who
+read last year's, and who were interested in THE LITTLE GLEANER,
+watching for its appearance month by month, but who now have passed
+away, and will no more read it, nor walk and talk with them again.
+
+The other month, a wrapper in which a GLEANER had been enclosed by some
+friend to a person in Ireland was sent to us bearing this solemn mark,
+"_Dead_." This told us that the person to whom the GLEANER had been sent
+had become the prey of death, and would never read another.
+
+Oh, how solemn that word looked and sounded to us--"_dead_!" and the
+thought rushed into our mind, "How did he die? Where is he? If he died
+in Christ, it is well with him, for all who thus die are eternally at
+rest, free from sin, care, pain, and sorrow. Yea, they are 'for ever
+with the Lord.'"
+
+Dear reader, how is it with you? You are spared, while some have been
+called from time into eternity. We hope you feel this to be a mercy, and
+we now ask, Have you ever been led to the throne of grace, concerned
+about sin and salvation? Has the cry ever gone from your heart to the
+Lord, "God be merciful to me a sinner"? If not, oh, that, as this year
+begins to pass away, the Spirit may cause your heart to feel the guilt
+of your sin, and lead you, a poor, burdened, contrite one, to the feet
+of Him who died on the cross, and whose blood cleanses those who are
+thus brought unto Him from all sin. Then you shall prove that He is
+"mighty to save"--yea, "able to save all those to the uttermost that
+come unto God by Him."
+
+We believe that many who will read these words have proved the ability
+of Christ Jesus to save, and that others are seeking Him, and longing to
+know that their sins are forgiven. We rejoice over them, and pray that
+many more may be brought to walk the same way, for it is the way from
+sin, death, and hell, and the way to Christ, peace, and heaven. All who
+walk therein belong to the flock of the Good Shepherd; and we can say to
+each one who has thus fled to Him for refuge, "He careth for you." His
+love is stronger than death, and knows no change, for He is "the same
+yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."
+
+Dear young friends, there is a reality in the religion of Jesus, and we
+pray that, in this truth-despising day, you may feel the power of grace,
+and, by the work of the Spirit in your hearts, be so grounded in the
+truth that you may turn with contempt from all those who, while they
+profess to preach, have not the knowledge of God and His truth in them;
+and, although they are anxious to discredit the Word of God, and set
+aside the atonement of Christ, yet they do not know what to substitute
+for them. All who follow such leaders are certainly being led on "the
+down grade," and even the leaders themselves confess that they do not
+know where they shall be landed. Some have already been landed in
+Socinianism, and others in infidelity. Therefore, we say to all our
+readers, Abide by and hold fast the Word of God, Cleave to those who
+preach the pure and simple truths of the Gospel of Christ, as recorded
+in the Scriptures, and may the Lord bless you with faith to receive
+them in your heart. Then you shall "know the truth, and the truth shall
+make you free."
+
+Dear young friends, we seek your good, therefore we thus write, hoping
+that our word of warning may not be in vain, but that some may be put on
+their guard against preachers and teachers who have nothing but the
+shifting sands of science for a foundation, which must all be swept
+away, and those who build thereon must perish in the ruin.
+
+Oh, may we be found on the Rock, Christ, living and dying, and be
+enabled to declare before all these deceivers, "I know whom I have
+believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have
+committed unto Him against that day."
+
+Children, do not forget the Bible. Obey, honour, and love your parents.
+Avoid bad company, bad and foolish books, and evil habits. These things
+will bring shame and misery to those who follow them, therefore shun
+them all.
+
+We still ask your help in spreading the GLEANER and the SOWER. May the
+Lord make them useful, and bless you with His covenant blessing, is the
+desire of
+
+                                                     THE EDITOR.
+
+
+
+
+A TOUCHING INCIDENT.
+
+
+A very touching incident occurred lately at Governeur Hospital, New York
+City.
+
+Little Annie Ashpurvis was sent by her parents to the cellar for some
+firewood. The child, who was but six years old, took a lighted lamp in
+her hand, and while descending the stairs, her foot slipped, and she
+fell, breaking the lamp, the flames of the burning fluid soon enveloping
+her entire body. As soon as the surgeon was called, the little sufferer
+was driven in an ambulance to the hospital. The child was put on a sofa
+cot, and the surgeon did all he could to alleviate her suffering, but it
+was impossible to save her life. Under the influence of a narcotic, she
+soon fell asleep. Thus she lay slowly breathing for some hours. Her face
+was so swollen that she could not open her eyes. About half-past two in
+the morning she showed signs of returning consciousness. The watchful
+nurse asked her if she would take a drink. She distinctly answered,
+"Yes." In a moment the house surgeon was beside her cot. He felt the
+pulse, but shook his head, and turned to go away. As he did so, the
+little creature moved her body. She turned half around. The dim light of
+the candle shone on the blackened face. The swollen lips pursed out, and
+in a clear, sweet voice, the dying child began to sing, "Nearer, my God,
+to Thee." The doctor and the nurse stood transfixed. The other patients
+in the silent, darkened ward leaned on their elbows and drank in the
+sweet melody. The first verse completed, she gradually sank back on her
+pillow. Her strength began to fail, and with it her voice, and only the
+humming, like distant music, of the air of the hymn could be heard. How
+sweet, yet weird, that humming sounded! The candle lent its meagre
+light, and the big clock in the corner told out its seconds, as the
+sweet little soul passed out to its Maker. The humming ceased. All was
+over. The doctor turned away with his handkerchief raised to his eyes.
+The nurse gazed into the flame of the candle, and heaved a sigh. She
+seemed to read the little one's death there.
+
+When the remains were buried, the coffin was strewn with flowers,
+offerings of her little schoolmates, with whom the dead child had been a
+great favourite.--
+
+                                             _Evangelist_.
+
+
+SELF-DENIAL.--There never did, and never will, exist anything permanent,
+and noble, and excellent in a character which was a stranger to the
+exercise of resolute self-denial.
+
+
+
+
+"ONLY ONCE."
+
+
+"Stop a minute, James. We're making up a skating party to go down the
+river to-night. We shall build a fire on the island, and have a grand
+time. Come, go with us."
+
+"No, George, I can't. Father says I must skate on the canal. It isn't so
+wide, nor quite so good skating, I know, but it's safe."
+
+"Nonsense! The ice is at least two inches thick anywhere, even in the
+thinnest places."
+
+"No matter. I can't skate on the river."
+
+"Well, then, come to the canal. You can skate out to the fork, where it
+joins the river, and see us all. Will you do that?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"All right. Be there at seven."
+
+James was ready with his skates at the time appointed, and about to
+leave the house.
+
+"Where now, James?" asked his father.
+
+"I'm going to skate awhile on the canal, father."
+
+"Well, it's a bright evening, but don't stay late, and don't go on the
+river."
+
+Just then James's little sister, Marion, who was ready to go to bed,
+shouted after him, "Stop, James! Give me a kiss," and holding up her
+rosebud mouth, in a plump face, from which the laughing eyes were
+shining, she received his good-night kiss, and he went out. As he passed
+the window, he saw, through the half-drawn curtains, little Marion by
+her mother, with the Bible. The father had laid his Book down, and they
+sat reverently listening while his petition went up to heaven. It was a
+beautiful picture. Poor Jamie! With what different feelings would he
+have looked upon it, had he then known what was to happen within the
+next two hours!
+
+He crossed the field before the house, and was soon on the canal, and
+gliding swiftly towards the river, from which the sound of merry voices
+already reached his ear; and as he wheeled splendidly, just at the
+entrance of the canal, the boys saw him, and came bearing down upon him
+like a fleet of swift ships before the wind.
+
+"Hurrah, James!" cried a dozen of them, as they joined company on the
+canal.
+
+There they amused themselves awhile, racing, skating backward, and
+cutting all sorts of fanciful figures upon the ice, until George gave
+the word, "Now for the island!" and with loud shouts they shot out
+together upon the river, all but James.
+
+"I must leave you now," he said.
+
+"Oh, James, don't!" cried several at once.
+
+"Now, see here, James," said George; "what's the use of being so set? Go
+down with us this time."
+
+"Father said, 'Don't go on the river.'"
+
+"Well, as to that, you've been on the river two or three times. Look at
+your marks."
+
+James now saw that, in the excitement of their sport, he had repeatedly
+rushed out of the canal quite across the channel of the river. He wanted
+to go with the boys. He didn't really think there was much danger, and
+the discovery that he had already unwittingly broken his father's
+command, did not help him in his hour of weakness and temptation. The
+boys all clamoured for him to join them. James slowly glided out of the
+canal, stood still a moment, and the tempter prevailed.
+
+"Well, I'll go down this once--mind you, only once," and he darted like
+an arrow to the front, for he was the best skater in the company, and
+soon was far in advance of the rest.
+
+Alas! none of the boys knew of the murderous "breathing-hole" which had
+opened that day in the ice in the channel, and now lay right in James's
+path, waiting to receive him; and the first notice they had of its
+existence was a despairing cry of terror from him as he plunged in.
+
+All was confusion among the boys; but George, more self-possessed than
+the others, hurried to the shore, and, shouting cheerily, "Hold on,
+Jamie! I'll help you out," broke off the limb of a tree, as large and
+long as he could handle, brought it on, and tried, by carefully creeping
+towards James, to put it within his reach. But the current was strong;
+the water was bitterly cold; and James, who had been urging his friend
+to make haste, now began to lose his strength and become benumbed, and
+before the limb came within his grasp, he said, faintly, "Oh, George, I
+can't hold on any longer! Ask father--to forgive----" and went down with
+the tide.
+
+An hour later, the men at the mill below, who had broken the ice above
+the barred outlet of the dam, and were watching and waiting in
+expectation of their mournful work, lifted James's body out of the
+water, and tenderly carried it to his home.
+
+Boys, I have seldom told you a more sad story. Oh, that I could now
+impress upon your young hearts the lesson of obedience to parents so
+deeply that it shall never be forgotten! If you are ever tempted to
+disregard a kind father's commands, or his advice, even though it be
+"only once," may you have strength to resist the temptation. Remember
+Jamie. It is true that disobedience to parents is not always--nor indeed
+often--followed so speedily by such sad consequences, but we know that
+the smile of God for this life will rest upon those children who obey
+their parents.
+
+"Honour thy father and mother" is the first commandment with promise.
+
+
+
+
+LINES ON THE NEW YEAR.
+
+
+In some simple words of rhyme
+Read, and mark the flight of time;
+Seasons come and disappear,
+As we pass from year to year.
+
+All things ever on the move,
+Whether them we hate or love;
+'Tis a changing scene below--
+This we own, for this we know.
+
+Blest are they--and only they--
+Who are in the "narrow way";
+Seeking Jesus' blessed face;
+Longing much to know His grace.
+
+Mourning over inward sin;
+Panting only Him to win
+Who for sin and sinners died,
+When on Calvary crucified.
+
+Do I, who these lines now read,
+Of redemption feel my need?
+Do I really long to know
+That His blood for me did flow?
+
+Do my heart and mouth confess
+I am all unrighteousness?
+Do I pray indeed to see
+Christ my Righteousness to be?
+
+Do I feel I cannot die
+Till He does His blood apply?
+And my doubting soul assure
+I shall to the end endure?
+
+If 'tis so, I know full well
+I shall surely with Him dwell,
+And shall, in His house on high,
+Shout His praise beyond the sky.
+
+                                     A. HAMMOND.
+
+
+SUPPOSING all the great points of atheism were formed into a kind of
+creed, I would fain ask whether it would not require an infinitely
+greater measure of faith than any set of articles which they so
+violently oppose?--_Addison._
+
+
+
+
+THE CHARCOAL BURNER'S STAR.
+
+
+In one of the Protestant cantons of Switzerland dwelt a lady of fortune,
+in a handsome mansion, surrounded with extensive grounds. These were
+laid out with the greatest taste, so as to command at every convenient
+point a favourable view of the romantic and interesting country that
+rose on all sides round the lovely and fertile plain in which it was
+situated.
+
+Madame de Blénal was a widow who had, at an early age, married a
+gentleman of property in the canton who, like herself, was a humble
+follower and sincere lover of the Redeemer, but who, after a year or two
+of as perfect happiness as this world can be expected to afford, died in
+faith, looking forward with assured hope to the promises made by the
+Lord Jesus to all who truly believe in Him.
+
+With a heart prepared by faith to submit to the decrees of Providence,
+whether for this world's good or ill, Madame de Blénal, though she
+deeply felt the blow which her Heavenly Father had inflicted upon her,
+soothed her grief with the reflection that her husband was now at peace,
+and removed from the troubles which beset every sojourner in this mortal
+world. Too fondly attached to his memory ever to enter a second time
+into married life, she applied herself entirely to the cultivation of a
+treasure he had left behind, in the person of a little boy named Alfred,
+whom she endeavoured prayerfully to bring up "in the nurture and
+admonition of the Lord." Neither did she neglect to enrich his mind with
+such knowledge as might enable him to manage the earthly inheritance
+which was hereafter to belong to him, if it pleased God that he should
+live to arrive at the age of manhood.
+
+At the time of which we are writing, Madame de Blénal had just resigned
+to him the management of the property which he inherited from his
+father, reserving to herself only the portion which she had brought with
+her when she married. Still, as, in his own opinion as well as hers, he
+was yet too young to think of taking a wife, Madame de Blénal remained
+the mistress of his household, while he applied himself to studying the
+nature of the duties that had devolved upon him, and to endeavouring to
+acquire personal experience in the management of his estate, as well as
+to improve the characters and condition of his tenants and labourers.
+
+It happened one day, towards the end of summer, that a party who were
+friends of her son's, together with some older ones of her own, had been
+dining at her house, and the whole party had retired after dinner, to
+take their coffee in an open part of the grounds which commanded the
+best view both of the plain and of the mountains beyond it. The former
+was already involved in the shades of evening, which, gradually
+ascending the latter, soon reached the glaciers in the distance, and
+converted the roseate tint with which the last beams of the departing
+sun had invested them into that cold, lurid hue that heralds in the
+approaching night. The stars now began to appear, one by one, in the
+clear blue sky, and led the thoughts of many, if not all, of the party
+from Nature up to Nature's God. Some of the younger ones, however, began
+to amuse themselves by counting them, as they came into view; and one or
+two, rather vain of their knowledge of astronomy, informed the others of
+their names. Suddenly Alfred exclaimed--
+
+"I can see one which is not to be found in the lists furnished by any
+astronomer, and yet it is by far the most brilliant."
+
+His friends thought that he was jesting, but yet attempted to discover
+it in the sky.
+
+"You are all looking too high," he said, laughing, and pointed to a
+distant mountain, where the fire of a charcoal burner had just made its
+appearance.
+
+The party gazed attentively for some time, when one of the ladies said,
+with a sigh--
+
+"Poor man! How much he is to be pitied, sitting all alone up there!"
+
+"Perhaps, madame, he is not so solitary as you imagine. The mountaineers
+of these parts seldom leave their village homes for the summer season
+without taking a Bible with them, so that I trust it may be said of this
+one, even if his solitude is not sometimes broken by a passing visit
+from a goatherd, that he is never quite alone, for God is always near
+them that fear Him."
+
+"That is a blessed thing indeed," said the lady; "but is he not in
+danger from the wolves?"
+
+"No, madame. First of all, the wolves are not so numerous about here as
+many persons think; and, even where they are more abundant, there are
+few, at this season, so pressed by hunger as to have the courage to
+attack a man; and besides, the fire itself would keep them at a
+distance. They have an instinctive dread of it."
+
+"So far so good, Mr. Alfred. Still, if I were in the place of this man,
+I should not be quite at ease. I should every moment be expecting the
+approach of robbers."
+
+"Robbers, madame, are very considerate people. They do not like to lose
+either their time or their labour. Now, what could they find worth
+stealing from this poor charcoal burner?"
+
+"What? Why, his money, to be sure!"
+
+"His money? If he happens to have any. He does not carry it with him
+into the forest, where he has no use for it, but leaves it at home with
+his wife."
+
+"A very good husband! But his watch?"
+
+"An article quite useless to him. He marks the time by the sun and
+stars; or, if the weather is cloudy, most of the mountain châlets are
+furnished with a small wooden clock, which holds out no great temptation
+to men whose thoughts are fixed upon the well-stored purses of
+travellers."
+
+"You have an answer for everything, Mr. Alfred. Do you know the man?"
+
+"I cannot say that I do, madame. We have few, if any, charcoal burners
+in our domain. That mountain is at some distance, and he belongs most
+probably to another village. But I have had occasion to observe the
+habits of these mountaineers, and have acquired a tolerable knowledge of
+them generally."
+
+"And what can he possibly be doing at this hour, in that wild place?"
+
+"Precisely what we are doing ourselves--he is watching his fire."
+
+After many other conjectures had been hazarded as to the way in which
+the charcoal burner was passing his time, Madame de Blénal said--
+
+"A truce with these idle fancies. Our pastors in this canton are not
+idle, and our peasantry are generally well instructed in their Christian
+duties, so I trust that he is better employed than any of you suppose.
+Perhaps, at this moment, he is sitting with the Bible on his knee,
+reading of the mercies of Jesus, meditating upon them as he watches his
+fire, and lifting up his heart in prayer to Him who alone is able to
+inspire it with holy thoughts and divine affections."
+
+"However," said the lady who had first begun the conversation, "I should
+really like to know what he is about. I wish some one could tell us who
+has actually seen him."
+
+"I can easily satisfy your curiosity, madame," said young Alfred. "I
+have nothing to do but to mount my horse and gallop to the foot of the
+mountain. It will not be more than an hour's ride. I will then engage a
+guide to take me to the charcoal burner's hut, and, without losing a
+moment, I will find out what he was doing at nightfall."
+
+"Are you not afraid of your son's undertaking such an enterprise at this
+late hour?" asked a young lady of Madame de Blénal.
+
+Madame de Blénal smiled, and replied, "No, mademoiselle. My son is well
+acquainted with the road. We are not infested with robbers in this
+canton, and, as the object of his pursuit is perfectly innocent, I can
+confide him to the protection of Him on whom I know his own trust is
+constantly fixed. Go, then, Alfred, but exercise your usual prudence,
+and do not heedlessly expose yourself to danger."
+
+An old lady who had not yet spoken, but who knew how to "speak a word in
+season," then remarked, "Place, each of you, a small sum of money in
+Alfred's hands. If he finds the charcoal burner worthily employed, let
+him bestow it upon him. If otherwise, as some of you have supposed may
+be the case, let him bring it back, and restore to each one what he has
+contributed."
+
+Every one readily agreed to the proposal. Each drew out his purse, and
+Alfred received a very respectable sum. He was leaving the party, when
+some one asked how soon they might expect him back?
+
+"By midnight," he replied.
+
+"And where shall we meet?"
+
+"Here," said Madame de Blénal. "We will return into the house when
+Alfred is gone, for the air is getting cold, and it will not be prudent
+to sit here any longer."
+
+Alfred then set out; and as soon as the sound of his horse's hoofs was
+heard, the young men pulled out their watches, that the precise length
+of his absence might be ascertained when he returned.
+
+We will now leave Madame de Blénal to order supper for her party, and
+the remainder to amuse themselves with conversation, music, and such
+resources as her house afforded, while we accompany Alfred on his
+nocturnal excursion.
+
+The moon had just begun to rise in full splendour above the mountains as
+he started, and to spread her silver light over the plain. This,
+together with the increasing freshness of the air, infused spirits into
+the rider as well as his horse. Notwithstanding, however, the knowledge
+which both of them possessed of the road they had to traverse, they
+scarcely reached the foot of the mountain within the time upon which
+Alfred had calculated. Here were situated two or three picturesque
+cottages, inhabited by guides, one of whom was known to Alfred by name.
+Him therefore he sought out, and engaged to conduct him to the object of
+his journey. The man was rather surprised at a summons so late in the
+evening, and asked the traveller whether he had not better wait at his
+cottage till daybreak.
+
+"No," replied Alfred; "I only wish to go as far as the charcoal burner's
+hut, whose fire can be seen for some miles off, and I must return to
+where I came from before midnight."
+
+"Ah! my friend Gervais. I know him well, sir. But it is a good way up
+the mountain, and if you have far to ride back, you will hardly keep to
+the time you have mentioned."
+
+"Never mind," said the young man; "I must go on now. Where can I put my
+horse?"
+
+"Here in this shed, sir. There is a bit of hay and some beans, with
+which he can amuse himself while we are gone."
+
+The path was not steep, for it was cut in a zig-zag form, sometimes
+leading over pastures, and sometimes through woods so thick that the
+moonlight could not penetrate them; but the guide was provided with a
+torch of pine, to prevent the danger of a false step. For the first part
+of the journey they travelled on in silence, the guide amusing himself
+with forming conjectures as to the object of Alfred's visit to the
+charcoal burner after night had set in. "Can it be," he said to himself,
+"a relation from the Indies, or from Algeria? I never heard that
+Gervais had any relations in those parts. Or a creditor? No, that cannot
+be, for my honest friend, I am sure, does not owe any one a single
+penny. Or has he gained a prize in the lottery? He would consider it a
+sin to risk the smallest fraction upon such a hazard. Ah! perhaps some
+one has left him a legacy. So much the better, if it is so. I shall be
+well paid for the trouble I have had. He is too good a fellow not to
+reward me to the utmost of his power."
+
+Thus it was that the guide employed himself in vain conjectures. When
+the uncertain light by which they travelled, whether of the moon or of
+the torch, fell sufficiently clear upon Alfred's features, he examined
+them attentively, as if he could have read his secret in them. His
+curiosity made him not less impatient to reach the charcoal furnace than
+the young man himself. At length, by a sudden turn of the path, it
+appeared at once before them. The wood, heaped in the form of a cone,
+and covered with a thick coating of earth, was burning slowly, openings
+being made at different heights on the mound, to give a passage to the
+flames, and to afford a proper proportion of atmospheric air, to keep
+them alive.
+
+Alfred, though born in the neighbourhood, had never before visited a
+charcoal furnace; but, new as the sight was to him, he did not pause
+long to observe it. His attention was arrested by the hut which stood
+near, built something in the form of a tent, and composed of planks
+leaning on both sides against a cross-beam, which rested on two others
+placed one at each end of the building. This kind of hut is common to
+most of the charcoal burners of these mountains, where they make their
+dwelling during the whole of the summer months, having no other bed than
+dried leaves--no other apparent occupation than cutting and piling up
+the wood, and watching their fires. One moment only Alfred stopped to
+gaze upon this humble dwelling, compared with which the châlets of the
+cowherds were almost splendid mansions; the next instant, his attention
+was arrested by something far more interesting. A chorus of youthful
+voices burst upon his ears, accompanied by one deep, clear bass, which
+was powerful enough to support and regulate the trebles. They were
+singing the following hymn, to a beautiful Swiss air, well known to
+Alfred as one used in the churches of that Protestant canton--
+
+  "Look to Jesus, weary wanderer,
+    Sinful, wretched as thou art;
+  He is precious; thou shalt know it;
+    Only trust His loving heart.
+
+  "Trust it wholly; it was broken
+    That thine own might be at peace;
+  Every sin its streams atone for;
+    He can bid all anguish cease.
+
+  "Now He reigns above the heavens,
+    And shall reign for evermore;
+  But His mighty arm is guarding
+    Those for whom He died before.
+
+  "He shall come again in glory;
+    All creation shall bow down;
+  Those who seek not His salvation
+    Must endure His awful frown.
+
+  "Wait upon Him, then, His people;
+    Let Him be your constant strength;
+  Lean upon Him daily, hourly;
+    Ye shall reign with Him at length.
+
+  "May the Spirit of adoption,
+    Which our Heavenly Father gives,
+  Help us all and each to please Him
+    More each moment of our lives."
+
+  (_To be continued_.)
+
+
+
+ENVY shoots at others and wounds itself.
+
+WE should often have reason to be ashamed of our most brilliant actions,
+if the world could see the motives from which they spring.
+
+
+
+
+SCRIPTURE ENIGMA.
+
+A PARABLE FROM A FARMER'S SON TO ALL GLEANERS.
+
+
+I was born in a house where there were many fields attached--in fact, it
+was called a farm-house, so, from a boy, I well knew what a "gleaner"
+meant. I have seen all sizes in a field, picking up corn. But gleaning
+is not so general as it used to be. One reason is, many farmers are too
+covetous to leave much in their fields for gleaners. Another is, many
+persons are too proud to be gleaners. But still there are many who are
+entitled to the character of "gleaner."
+
+Now, gleaners, let us come a little closer. First, there must be the
+person known as the farmer; secondly, there must be the fields. These
+fields must be sown with corn. It must ripen, be cut and carried. Then
+is the time for the gleaner to take his or her part. The gleaners must
+have a will, and patience to wait. They need eyes, hands, and feet.
+
+At the time the farmer's son is writing this, gleaning is over. It is
+winter. But he can tell gleaners of a farm containing sixty-six fields,
+some much larger than others, but all the fields grow the best corn that
+can be found at any market in the world. There is not one whole grass
+field found on the farm. There are a number of young and old people live
+near this farm, but they do not want to be gleaners. They look over the
+gates sometimes, but, having eyes so much like the mole, they either do
+not take that to be corn which is really so, or else they pursue other
+things they feel are so much better than gleaning in any of these
+fields; and not being very poor, but having enough gold to buy a few
+oxen, they tell some of the farmer's workmen they prefer _buying_ or
+_taking_ to gleaning, so they wish them "good morning"; but they are
+very polite to the men they join in conversation with. Then there are
+other people near these fields who say they hate the great farmer. In
+fact, they are so evil-disposed that they talk freely of hating the
+fields and the corn too; and there is not one workman on the estate they
+will give a good word to. This the farmer's son can vouch for truth; and
+he has a good many brothers belonging to his family, who could be called
+as witnesses if there was any need.
+
+But we must not overlook others who live near the farm. Most of them
+dwell in a very low-built house; there is no upstairs. They live on the
+ground floor, and not far from the spot where they dwell, some of the
+labourers on the farm live, and they join in conversation occasionally.
+But these poor people who dwell in the low-built cottages are shy, and
+think they take a liberty even in saying a few words to these labourers;
+and as for talking freely to the great farmer, they dare not. If he
+passes, they only bow before him and look on the ground. You would
+almost wonder how they are kept alive. They are nearly always hungry,
+but, now and then, they get just enough to keep them alive.
+
+When the "season" comes round, those that observe may soon find these
+are the old-fashioned gleaners. They possess willing legs, eyes, and
+hands. They use their legs by starting from their poor home; and, after
+walking some distance, the road brings them to this farm of sixty-six
+fields. These fields are all numbered. Some look at one field, and some
+at another, but the hedges are all good. No one can get through them,
+and a high gate is at each entrance. One of the gleaners looked with a
+very wishful eye over the gate of the eighth field, and she desired to
+be among the gleaners, but there was a notice that "trespassers will be
+prosecuted." How earnestly the gleaner uses his eyes, and looks through
+the bars of the gate; but there are no ears of corn to be seen at
+present by him, so he cannot use his hands, though they are both ready
+to pick up; and the thought comes, "No doubt there will soon be plenty
+of corn seen, and, if I might, would I not pick up? I feel I would glean
+beside any gleaner. If he could pick faster than I, he would have to be
+very nimble. I do not know that the great landowner and farmer would
+allow me to go into his field. But, though my hands now hang down, and I
+cannot use them, I will go home and wait, and come again. If I cannot
+get admission to one field, I may to another. I should be happy if I
+could glean in the smallest field on the farm. Perhaps, when I come
+again, that notice-board may be taken down. If so, I think I shall
+venture into No. 8 or 17; but should I not have nerve enough, I shall
+humbly ask one of the labourers, and if he says he does not know, I
+will, if an opportunity occurs, bow myself to the earth and ask the
+great owner. I have been told by some that he often appears as if he
+could not condescend to speak to those that live in such a low house,
+yet, if you press your suit, he will speak in the kindest manner, and
+ask what you really want."
+
+The farmer's son noticed, as this gleaner returned to his humble home,
+one of the labourers greeted him with a "Good evening," and asked him
+why he looked so sad? He replied, "I have been a long journey to glean
+on the farm owned by your master, and I looked at the eighth field, but
+could not see that there were any ears of corn for me to pick up; and
+besides, I noticed a board, that 'trespassers will be prosecuted,' and
+thoughts would keep coming in my mind as I returned, that possibly I
+should never be admitted into any of the fields as a gleaner." The
+labourer said, "You must not faint, but, as soon as the sun rises in the
+morning, try and find the forty-second field, and most probably you will
+find the gate open. If, as you enter, the first part of the field looks
+bare, walk to almost the middle, and I think you will find some
+gleanings to pick up." He returned thanks, bowed, and they parted.
+
+The next morning, as soon as the sun was up, he arose and did as he was
+bid. After reaching the field, he found the part where the ears of corn
+lay, and he picked up as many as he needed. On his return, he met
+several other gleaners who were seeking a field to glean in. He bade
+them go to the same one where he had picked up an armful, and there they
+would find the result of perseverance.
+
+The parable is closed for this time. Will any reader, under twelve years
+of age, expound it? Who are the farmer and the son? Who are the
+labourers and gleaners? What are the sixty-six fields? And what are the
+names of those specially referred to? Search from Genesis to Revelation.
+
+                                         Your true friend,
+                                          THE FARMER'S SON
+                                 (_Over fifteen years old_).
+
+[A volume, "The Loss of All Things for Christ," will be given for the
+best answer. The writer must be under twelve.]
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN JANUARY.
+
+
+Jan. 1. Commit to memory 1 Chrn. v. 10.
+Jan. 8. Commit to memory Psa. cxi. 10.
+Jan. 15. Commit to memory Prov. viii. 10.
+Jan. 22. Commit to memory Prov. viii. 32.
+Jan. 29. Commit to memory John iv. 10.
+
+
+WHAT the world calls virtue is a name and a dream without Christ. The
+foundation of all human excellence must be laid deep in the blood of the
+Redeemer's cross and in the power of His resurrection.--_Robertson._
+
+
+
+
+AN OLD QUILT AND ITS STORY.
+
+
+Among all the beautiful needlework exhibited in the "Woman's Industry
+Department" of the recent Edinburgh Exhibition, many must have observed
+a bed-quilt worked in a quaint conventional pattern, on a white linen
+ground, which bore a label to the effect that it was "designed and
+commenced by a Countess of Aberdeen towards the middle of the last
+century, and recently completed by a crofter woman in Aberdeenshire."
+
+Could the quilt tell its own tale, its history, no doubt, would be most
+pathetic and interesting; but we will try, with the knowledge we have,
+to lightly sketch that history.
+
+The Countess who commenced it was Anne, daughter of Alexander, second
+Duke of Gordon. The third wife of William, Earl of Aberdeen, she was
+still a young woman when, by his death in 1745, she was left a widow.
+Quitting Haddo, the home of her married life, she went with her young
+family to reside in the fine old historic castle of Fyvie, a few miles
+distant, which, with her dower, had been bought by the Earl as her
+jointure house. The Countess seems to have been gifted with artistic
+tastes, as she left in Haddo many evidences of her skill and
+industry--several sets of beautifully-worked curtains, with
+long-forgotten curious stitches, producing varied and admirable effects.
+But the bright, pretty industry of the Countess was checked. Sickness,
+to be followed by death, entered her home.
+
+We may fancy that by her husband's sick-bed the first beginning of this
+quilt was made--how, in the intervals of watching the invalid, a few
+sprays and scrolls were delicately traced. But the summons had gone
+forth, and, as death approached, the work, which had been in part the
+occupation of happier days, and a resource in affliction, was thrown
+aside.
+
+When the widowed Countess had settled in a new home, and again faced the
+ordinary duties of life, we need not wonder that she thought no more of
+the discarded work left at Haddo House, but set herself to design afresh
+and embroider the curtains which have ever since (until recently)
+adorned a bed-room in Fyvie Castle.
+
+Into these no doubt was woven many a thought for the Jacobite cause, and
+many an anxiety for dear ones, as her own family, the ducal house of
+Gordon, had been keen supporters of the Stuarts, and it is said that the
+Countess came out on the road-side, near Fyvie Castle, with her
+children, to see the Duke of Cumberland's troops pass on their way to
+Culloden to put down the Scotch rebellion, and boldly avowed to him her
+sympathy with his foe.
+
+But what of the work the Countess left at Haddo House? As to it, our
+history is silent for more than a hundred years. It has lain folded by
+the fingers of the busy worker that have long been still. Sorrow and joy
+have come by turns to the house--birth and death. Children have
+prattled, and statesmen have discussed the affairs of nations. Those who
+have made history have come and gone; philanthropy and romance have
+alike been woven into the family story; but the piece of discarded
+broderie has been unheeded.
+
+At length the present Countess of Aberdeen, whose name will ever be
+associated with earnest desire and effort for the good of others, and
+whose taste and love of the beautiful led to her interest in such work,
+unfolding the long-forgotten quilt, conceived the idea of having it
+completed, if possible. To whom, however, could the beautiful work be
+entrusted to be finished, by deft fingers and graceful appreciation?
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A CROFTER'S COTTAGE.]
+
+We now turn to another scene. About five-and-twenty years ago, on the
+top of a bare hill in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, stood a cottage, tenanted
+by a crofter named Sandieson, with his wife and family. Though at a
+comparatively high elevation, the land around was all cultivated, but,
+arid and stony as the soil was, it seemed as if cultivation were one
+long struggle against Nature, rather than aided by it. Life was hard;
+still, contentment sweetened the peasant's lot, and they got on pretty
+well till sickness during three successive winters told hardly on his
+means. Father, mother, and children all worked; still the wolf was at
+the door. Bed clothing was scant, and money to buy still scantier. A
+mother's love and care quickened thought.
+
+The woman, as she tells her story, bethought herself what she could do
+for bedding for a covering against cold. Scraps she had, bits of old
+clothes and stockings, and tacked them together, fold upon fold, to
+attain a certain thickness; then, buying a pennyworth of log-wood, and
+with it dyeing what had once been a tartan shawl, but which had long
+lost all its colour, she spread it over her scraps for a cover. But,
+alas! the holes were but too apparent.
+
+Necessity again quickened invention. She selected some of the better
+pieces of the old garments, cut them into the shape of leaves and birds,
+and laid them on the holes, adding one or two more for uniformity, and
+then, with a darning needle and "fingering" wool, she veined the leaves
+and made effective marking on the birds.
+
+Such was her first attempt at fancy work. An admiring neighbour asked
+her to do a similar quilt for her, offering some scraps of new material.
+Another commission followed, this time with the offer of green wool for
+leaves. But one cold, hard green did not please the worker, now growing
+daily more experienced and critical, so a visit was made to the little
+country town a few miles distant, in search of greater variety in greens
+and browns, the appreciation of Nature's varied tints becoming daily
+stronger and clearer.
+
+About this time, a lady to whom the woman had taken some work, on sight
+gave her a quantity of old floss silks. The possession of these was a
+new power to her, and from that time she rapidly acquired a skill in
+shading leaves and flowers with a beauty which it is impossible to
+describe.
+
+A farmer from a little distance, having heard of her work, went to see
+her. After looking at what, to him, seemed so marvellous, he turned to
+her, and said, "Well, well, it's wonderful! But you will have to do no
+more rough work to keep your hands fit for this; and how will that do
+with the croft?"
+
+"Indeed, sir," was her reply, "it would never do. But I assure you this
+is not my only work, for I have just finished building a hundred and
+thirty-four yards of a stone dyke with my own hands. My husband had work
+elsewhere, which he could not afford to miss. The cattle were straying
+where they should not, so I have just built it myself, the children
+helping me by handing up the smaller stones."
+
+After gaining some experience, Mrs. Sandieson gave up the earlier style
+of work with which she had begun, and devoted herself almost entirely to
+embroidery in silks. She has trained a daughter, who lives with her, to
+work as well as herself, and no description can do justice to the beauty
+of their finer work. Their designs are, with very few exceptions, their
+own, and many of their pieces are singularly beautiful. They have even
+copied the plate representing a peacock on a branch of a tree, from
+Gould's "Asiatic Birds," and no one but those who have seen it, could
+believe in the wondrous working of the bird, and in the feathers of the
+neck, with the faint change of tint where it catches the light as the
+bird turns its head. It is marvellous!
+
+But copying flowers from nature is what they chiefly do, and their
+careful observation and fidelity in representation are very
+characteristic in their work. Trails of thunbergia, scarlet tropæolum,
+apple blossom, cherry, and bramble; willow, with its catkins, a little
+titmouse on the branch; snowberry, with a robin perched on it; the red
+and white lapageria, eucalyptus, pepper tree, and others are some of
+their subjects. And this is what the crofter's wife, who commenced with
+the old dyed shawl for a foundation, has, totally unaided, taught
+herself and her daughter to accomplish; and this is the crofter's wife
+who, one hundred and forty years afterwards, was employed by Lady
+Aberdeen to finish the quilt which the Countess of 1745 had commenced.
+Is there not a little pathos in the history of a piece of work begun and
+completed in such different circumstances?
+
+The work of these peasant-artists, mother and daughter, is now very well
+known among ladies in Aberdeenshire, and has lately been brought under
+the notice of Her Majesty, who condescended to purchase largely of it;
+but the writer believes the quilt shown by Lady Aberdeen, in Edinburgh,
+to be the only specimen that has been exhibited publicly.--_Ladies'
+Treasury._
+
+
+
+
+WONDERFUL GRACE.
+
+
+John Dickson, a farmer in the parish of Ratho, near Edinburgh, was long
+a stranger to the riches of divine grace. He paid no regard to the
+sacred ordinances, or, if ever on the Lord's Day he entered the house of
+God, it was more for a desire of ridiculing than profiting by what he
+heard. The Word preached did not profit him, not being mixed with faith.
+
+In this dreadful situation was he when his wife died, after bringing
+into the world an infant daughter. The good providence of that gracious
+God who calleth the weak things of this world to confound the strong had
+ordained that the nurse of this child should be a woman of exemplary
+faith, who walked in the Spirit, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. The
+carnal mind of the father still continued at enmity with God; but he
+was, ere long, to be brought to a full conviction of his own
+unworthiness, and a delightful experience of the riches of redeeming
+love.
+
+The child, being now about twenty months old, and beginning to prattle a
+few words, was one day sent for by her father, who was sitting after
+dinner with some of his profane acquaintances. To his great astonishment
+the child repeated, two or three times, in its infant tones, "Oh, the
+grace of God!" These words made a deep impression upon the father. He
+began to reflect upon his sins, and the power of that grace which
+cleanseth from sin, so long the subject of his impious ridicule. The
+Holy Ghost had opened his heart, and now brought him, like a sheep that
+had been astray, into the fold of divine love. Since that time he has
+walked as becometh one called in the Lord, bringing forth fruit meet for
+repentance. The words which, through the grace of God, became the happy
+instrument of his conversion were the customary ejaculation of the godly
+nurse, and had thus been learned by the infant. So truly was the
+Scripture verified that "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings the
+Lord hath ordained praise."
+
+                                                           R.
+
+
+ENDEAVOR to be always patient of the faults and imperfections of
+others, for thou hast many faults and imperfections of thy own that
+require a reciprocation of forbearance. If thou art not able to make
+thyself that which thou wishest to be, how canst thou expect to mould
+another in conformity to thy will?--_Thomas à Kempis._
+
+
+
+
+MY STAGE-COACH COMPANION.
+
+
+It was on a dull, chilly morning, I remember, that I left my country
+home by the coach which was to convey me to London. I was then about
+twenty years of age. I had never before been very far, or very long
+absent from my father's house; and my young mind was filled with
+thoughts of the pleasures in store for me in a long visit I was about to
+pay to my London relations.
+
+Among the enjoyments I most reckoned on, apart from the society of my
+aunt and cousins, were those of the theatre, balls, and evening parties.
+Very different engagements these, from the domestic duties and rural
+recreations to which I had been accustomed in a retired country
+residence.
+
+Thoughts like these had softened the pain of separation from my kind and
+indulgent parents; but there were tears in my eyes on bidding them
+farewell, and I was glad to let fall my veil, to hide them from the only
+passenger in the coach.
+
+This passenger was a gentleman of middle age, well wrapped up in a
+greatcoat of rather formal cut, and with a clerical-looking hat on his
+head. He had a pleasant, though a rather serious expression of
+countenance, as he lifted his eyes from the book he was reading. It was
+not long before he shut up the book, and made some remarks about the
+weather and the scenery. A short silence followed, which was broken by
+my fellow-traveller saying that he had just been passing a few weeks in
+a watering-place which I knew to be a fashionable one.
+
+"I have never been there," I said. "I suppose it is a very gay place,
+sir?"
+
+"It is a fine town, and the country around it is very beautiful," said
+the gentleman.
+
+This was not the answer I expected, and I varied my question by
+referring to the visitors and places of amusement, particularly
+mentioning the theatre and the public assemblies.
+
+The stranger smiled pleasantly, and said, "I saw only the outside of the
+theatre; but during my stay there I was present at several public
+assemblies."
+
+"How very enchanting they must be!" I remarked, with youthful ardour.
+
+"I am not sure that 'enchanting' is quite the right word," he said,
+looking thoughtful; "but they were very delightful, certainly."
+
+"They were crowded, I suppose, sir?"
+
+"Yes, generally," he said, and added that, at the last of these public
+assemblies, there were present more than a thousand people.
+
+This seemed to me to be a great number, and to need a large assembly
+room to hold them. I made some remark which led him to say that no doubt
+there were many varieties of character present, and of different degrees
+in life. "But," he added, "I have reason to know that many honourable
+personages were to be met with there, and even the King Himself was
+there."
+
+"The King, sir? I did not know that the King ever visited ----"; and I
+began to feel incredulous. I was not so ignorant as not to know that
+King George the Fourth, in whose reign we were then living, had for some
+time almost secluded himself from his subjects, and resided generally at
+Windsor.
+
+"I see," continued the stranger, speaking more earnestly and seriously
+than before, "that you do not quite understand me; and I apprehend that
+we have each been using the same words to express a different set of
+ideas on which our minds have been fixed."
+
+"I do not understand you, sir," I said, rather coldly.
+
+"Permit me, madam, to explain. I am a minister of the Gospel. The
+public assemblies of which I have been speaking are the assembling
+together of those who meet for God's worship and service; the honourable
+persons to whom I referred are those whom the Bible calls the children
+of God; and the King whom I believe to have been present at these
+assemblies is He who is 'King of kings and Lord of lords,' who Himself
+has told us that, where two or three are gathered together in His name,
+there He is in the midst of them."
+
+There was such kindness and courtesy and respect in the gentleman's
+manner, that I could not feel vexed at his having spoken in a sort of
+parable, so I smiled, and said, "I had no idea that you were a minister,
+sir."
+
+"I am glad that you are not angry with me, young lady," said he, "for
+having wilfully misinterpreted your questions. You know it is 'out of
+the abundance of the heart' that 'the mouth speaketh'; and when you got
+into the coach I was engaged in thought, studying a subject which I hope
+to speak about next Sunday; and, singularly, this subject is so far like
+that which has engaged a few minutes of our conversation, as that it
+refers to an assembly, though one of a very superior character to any
+the world has ever seen or known."
+
+"May I ask, sir, what assembly it is you mean?"
+
+"Certainly," replied he; and taking from his pocket a New Testament, he
+opened it and read, "Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of
+the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of
+angels, to the general assembly and Church of the First-born which are
+written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of
+just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant,
+and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of
+Abel."
+
+Having read this, my fellow-traveller again put up his Book, and there
+was a short silence between us, until he said, "That is the text, madam.
+Do you think it possible for any preacher to do justice to it?"
+
+"I do not know indeed, sir," I said; and I added (what I truly thought)
+that the words struck me as being very beautiful.
+
+"They are indeed beautiful, and magnificent, and solemn," he said; and
+he continued to remark that they were highly calculated to arouse in the
+mind emotions of no ordinary nature. Did I not think so?
+
+I hesitated what to reply, for I shrank from expressing sentiments which
+I did not really feel. Doubtless he saw my embarrassment, and, instead
+of pressing for an answer, he asked me if he might mention a few of the
+thoughts which had passed through his mind, as he had pondered over the
+passage. I said, if he pleased to do so, I should be glad to hear him,
+and accordingly he went on--
+
+"I suppose that the words I have read referred not so much to the
+future, as to the present position or condition of those to whom they
+were addressed, and that they may be applied also to certain characters
+at the present time. I have no doubt, madam, that you understand of what
+characters I speak?"
+
+"I could not misunderstand you," I said. "Of course you mean
+Christians?"
+
+"Yes; of all true Christians it may be said that they are come to Mount
+Sion. All who truly believe in Christ live under a dispensation of
+mercy. They are even now 'fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the
+household of God.' Their names are enrolled in the Lamb's book of life;
+angels are their invisible attendants; they are united in spirit to
+'Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant'; they are admitted into the
+gracious presence of the Father, 'the Judge of all,' so as to find
+access at every hour to God within the veil; and they have even now
+received the atonement, 'the blood of sprinkling,' by which their
+polluted consciences are cleansed and purified. These are great and
+exalted privileges, are they not?"
+
+"Yes, sir," I said, feeling as I said it how incapable I was of
+appreciating them. The stranger did not notice my hesitation, however,
+but went on with still more animation--
+
+"I cannot help thinking that more than I have mentioned is implied in
+the words which you justly think so beautiful, and that the writer had
+in his mind the future as well as the present life. The final and
+everlasting _residence_ of all believers, after all the cares and toils
+of their earthly pilgrimage are past, is to be Mount Sion, the city of
+the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; part of their _employment_ will
+be holy and devout adoration; their _society_, myriads of angels and a
+vast assembly of the perfected spirits of the just; the _chief source of
+their happiness_ will be the presence of 'the Judge of all,' in 'Jesus
+the Mediator'; and the cause of all this blessedness is indicated in the
+closing words--'the blood of sprinkling,' or the atonement of Jesus."
+
+I was interested, and wished he would continue. Probably he could see
+that I was not unwilling to listen, for, after the pause of a minute or
+two, he began to expatiate a little on some of the ideas he had already
+expressed. He spoke of the unbroken repose and perfect security of the
+city of God, and then of the happy employments of the great assembly in
+heaven. Here he drew a contrast between the amusements of the world and
+the enjoyments of the heavenly state, and added that, to worldly and
+unsanctified minds, these enjoyments had no attractions.
+
+"Those who live only for this life," he said, "cannot conceive of any
+pleasure to be found in heavenly adoration and praise. Accustomed to
+account the Sabbath of the Lord a weariness, and devotional services
+irksome and tedious, it cannot appear to them desirable to enter upon a
+state of existence in which the worship of the Almighty is one of the
+choicest occupations of its inhabitants. Nor can we wonder," continued
+my companion, "that it should be thus, so long as the heart remains at
+enmity with God, while the affections are earthly and sensual, and where
+there is no fear of God, no love to God, no delight in God, no earnest
+desire to serve and honour Him. Am I not right?" the stranger asked,
+fixing his eyes upon me.
+
+"Yes, sir, I think you are," I replied, faintly; and, after some further
+conversation on the same subjects, my fellow-traveller told me that he
+was going only to the end of the present stage. "There we shall part,"
+he said, "and possibly we shall not meet again in this world; but if, by
+divine grace, we should be fellow-heirs of the same glorious
+inheritance, we _shall_ meet in that general assembly."
+
+These were almost the last words he spoke, for, in a few minutes, the
+coach stopped, and the stranger, alighting and bidding me farewell,
+disappeared.
+
+Many years passed away, and I was a happy wife and mother. My husband
+was a true and earnest Christian; and I--yes (and therein was my
+happiness), I, too, was a believer in Christ. My Christian life had
+been, in some respects, an eventful one. My first steps in it had been
+beset with difficulties and no ordinary opposition; but patience was
+given me to endure; strength, to overcome; and, blessed be God, my
+heart's desire and prayer to Him on behalf of some very dear to me had,
+I trust, been heard and answered.
+
+My conversion was in part, at least, the result of the stage-coach
+conversation I have recorded. God, in His infinite mercy, by means of
+the words of a stranger, called me to consideration. The Holy Spirit
+showed me my miserable condition, as being "a lover of pleasures more
+than a lover of God." Through a long, dark passage of soul-distress and
+great conflict I was led into the light and faith of the glorious
+Gospel--from the thunders of Sinai to "Mount Sion, the city of the
+living God; to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood
+of sprinkling."
+
+One thing troubled me--or, if not troubled exactly, left within me an
+unsatisfied desire. For years I had longed to see, to meet once more,
+the stranger who had so kindly and so wisely invited my attention to
+religion. I wished to hear his voice again, and to tell him what the
+Lord had done for my soul. Sometimes, indeed, I recalled his parting
+words with something like awe, though yet with a thrill of pleasurable
+assurance--"Possibly we shall not meet again in this world; but if, by
+divine grace, we should be fellow-heirs of the same glorious
+inheritance, we shall meet in that general assembly."
+
+"Annie," said my husband one day--he had an open letter in his hand--"a
+visitor is coming, whom I shall be very glad for you to know--my old
+friend and pastor, Mr. J----"; and he put the letter into my hands. It
+was a short note, merely stating that, finding he should be at a certain
+time within easy reach of my husband's home, the writer would, if he
+might, avail himself of the opportunity of renewing the personal
+intercourse which time and distance had so long interrupted.
+
+A few days later, a chaise drove to our door, and my husband, eager to
+welcome his old friend, met him in the hall, where I also was waiting to
+receive him. He was an elderly man, but with a firm step, a strong
+frame, a pleasant smile, a kindly voice, and a benevolent countenance.
+
+"Annie, my dear, this is----"
+
+I cannot go on to describe a scene in which I became all at once and
+unexpectedly so personally interested. In my husband's friend I
+recognized, at a single glance, my stage-coach companion, though he had
+no recollection of me.
+
+It was a happy meeting--the faint foreshadowing, it may be, of such
+meetings innumerable in that general assembly in the heavenly Jerusalem
+above, when they who have sown, and those who have reaped, shall rejoice
+together with "joy unspeakable and full of glory."--_A Tract issued by
+the Religious Tract Society._
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 275._)
+
+
+"_I am the Rose of Sharon._"--SONG
+OF SOLOMON ii. 1.
+
+I ssachar   Genesis xxxv. 23.
+
+A biram     Numbers xxvi. 9.
+M icah      Judges xvii. 1.
+
+T irzah     1 Kings xvi. 6.
+H oreb      Exodus iii. 1.
+E bal       Joshua viii. 30.
+
+R ehoboam   1 Kings xi. 43.
+O g         Numbers xxi. 33.
+S hammah    1 Samuel xvii. 13.
+E dom       2 Samuel viii. 14.
+
+O nan       Genesis xlvi. 12.
+F elix      Acts xxiv. 25.
+
+S imon      Mark iii. 18.
+H adadezer  2 Samuel viii. 3.
+A maziah    Amos vii. 10.
+R aven      Leviticus xi. 15.
+O bed-edom  2 Samuel vi. 11.
+N adab      Numbers iii. 4.
+
+                                 ADA WILLERTON
+                                  (Aged 9 years).
+
+_Corby, Grantham._
+
+
+I HAVE found, by a strict and diligent observation, that a due
+observance of the duty of Sunday has ever had joined to it a blessing
+upon the rest of my time.--_Sir Matthew Hale._
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
+
+
+The "cross of Christ" is mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his Epistles
+to different Churches, but we may confidently say that the wooden gibbet
+upon which the Saviour suffered was never loved or reverenced by that
+honoured servant of the Lord, or the people to whom he wrote.
+
+The brazen serpent, that divinely appointed means of Israel's cure, was
+broken in pieces by good Hezekiah, who contemptuously called it a bit of
+brass, because the Israelites worshipped it; and their idolatry is
+described as a base crime in 2 Kings xviii. 4, although it was a figure
+of Him that was to come; and Jesus Himself declared, "As Moses lifted up
+the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
+that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal
+life" (John iii. 14, 15); and the "true cross," if it now existed, would
+only be a bit of wood--a thing in itself worthless--and the adoration of
+it would be nothing better than idolatry.
+
+"Christ and Him crucified" is the sinner's hope, the believer's joy, and
+this is what we are to understand by the apostolic mention of the cross
+of Jesus.
+
+The cross was the sign, the illustration, of His sufferings and death.
+Crucifixion was most painful and most shameful, and both these facts
+appear in Hebrews xii. 2. He "endured the cross, despising the shame."
+With the hands and feet nailed to the cross, and the weight of the body
+borne by those pierced hands, the sufferer, who generally was first
+cruelly scourged, expired after long, lingering torture; and it was a
+shameful death, to which only the lowest and worst of men were supposed
+to be sentenced. Yet Jesus, the High and Holy One, "humbled Himself unto
+death, even the death of the cross."
+
+But there was deep spiritual meaning in all this. "Tribulation and
+anguish" (Rom. ii. 9), sorrow and death, are sin's reward. "Dying, thou
+shalt die" (Gen. ii. 17, margin) is the divine sentence upon every
+transgressor, and "sin is a reproach to any people" (Prov. xiv. 34).
+"Shame and everlasting contempt" will be the sinner's recompense. And
+Jesus was His people's Surety and Substitute. He stood for them; He took
+their place. The Just One suffered for the unjust. The King of Glory
+bore reproach and shame for the sake of the sinners He eternally loved,
+that whosoever believeth in Him should have everlasting life, glory, and
+joy (Dan. xii. 2).
+
+"The death of the cross," as Jesus suffered it, involved the shedding of
+blood, and "the blood is the life." "He poured out His soul unto death."
+"He gave His life a ransom for many," because "without shedding of blood
+there is no remission," no forgiveness of sin.
+
+But crucifixion, unlike many violent deaths, did not divide or dismember
+the body. In stoning, the back was often broken; by other modes of
+execution, the head was cut off, the neck broken, or the body otherwise
+mutilated. The legs of the crucified might be broken to hasten death,
+but this was no necessary part of the sentence; and concerning Jesus it
+was prophesied, "None of His bones shall be broken" (Psa. xxxiv. 20;
+John xix. 36). And this also was fraught with deep spiritual meaning.
+That bruised and torn, yet perfect body which hung on the cross, and was
+laid in the grave, was but a picture of that holy soul, that perfect
+spirit, which He yielded up to God. How clear was His memory! That the
+Scripture might be fulfilled, He said, "I thirst." How perfect His love!
+He prayed for His executioners; He remembered Mary. How full His
+knowledge of His people, and how perfect His confidence in Himself! He
+blessed the penitent thief, and assured him of a home with Himself in
+heaven.
+
+Oh, wondrous Sufferer! almighty Saviour! None ever died as Jesus died,
+bearing sin and guilt away, and overcoming death, while He laid down His
+sacred life.
+
+The cross of Christ has a mighty influence upon all who believe on His
+name. Paul said, with holy earnestness, "God forbid that I should glory
+in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world
+is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. vi. 14). Once, as a
+Pharisee, he loved the world--the religious world--the esteem of men,
+the applause of his fellow-Pharisees; but now they hated and persecuted
+him, and he despised their favour. So, if we are led to behold by faith
+Jesus crucified for us, the sins, the pleasures, and the friendships of
+the world will lose their power and attractions, and the love of Christ
+will constrain us to live to Him who died and rose again for us.
+
+We find that, when the Apostles were first beaten and threatened for
+preaching the Gospel, "they departed from the presence of the council,
+rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His sake"
+(Acts v. 40, 41). They knew that Jesus loved and gave Himself for them,
+and they, out of love to their Saviour, were willing to lay down their
+lives for His sake, or to live despised and hated by the world.
+
+Before He died, Christ said, "If any man will come after Me, let him
+deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." He foresaw His own
+sufferings from the first, but the joy that was set before Him animated
+Him all the while, and, as His people's Leader, He says, "Follow Me, and
+enter at last into My joy." But Jesus never said, "Take up My cross."
+Oh, no! His cross He alone could bear! His saving sufferings He only
+could endure! It is our own cross that we are called to bear as His
+followers, and His love will strengthen and support us.
+
+Oh, that we may indeed know Him as our once crucified, but now exalted
+Saviour, and follow Him through all life's changes to the bright home
+whither He has gone, living henceforth to Him, and Him alone.
+
+Our next subject will be, Psalm xxxii.
+
+                                     Your loving friend,
+                                                 H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+HOW TO LIVE WELL.
+
+
+We cannot live well without we acknowledge God in all our ways. A
+Christian cannot exist without prayer. Thus, in 1 Thessalonians v. 17,
+it says, "Pray without ceasing," which shows us that we cannot live well
+without prayer. To live well also means that we should obey and honour
+our parents, as enjoined in Ephesians vi. 1, 2, and make ourselves
+useful to those that surround us. And, in 2 Thessalonians iii. 13, it
+says, "Brethren, be not weary in well doing." Jesus Christ has also set
+a pattern, for He was always doing good. He even came into this world to
+die for sinners. As Jane Taylor says--
+
+"Jesus, who lived above the sky,
+Came down to be a Man, and die;
+And in the Bible we may see
+How very good He used to be.
+
+"And so He died; and this is why
+He came to be a Man, and die:
+The Bible says He came from heaven
+That sinners' sins might be forgiven."
+
+If we are taught to live a Christian life--to trust in, and fear God--He
+will be sure to provide for our every want.
+
+To live well is to try and always do the things that are just, treating
+people with respect, and to love those who hate us, and those who
+despitefully use us, for Jesus Christ's sake. He says, in John xv. 20,
+"Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than
+his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if
+they have kept My sayings, they will keep yours also." If we wish to
+live well, we must seek God in little things as well as in larger
+things; for He takes account of the thoughts, words, and actions of men,
+which are to be revealed at the last day.
+
+Living well also means that we should do those things that are pleasing
+in God's sight; for if we love and serve Him truly, we shall be happy
+here and in the life to come, for the righteous Christ will gather as
+His jewels at the great judgment day, and they will be happy for
+evermore in that beautiful heaven which Jesus has prepared for those who
+love Him, and do His will; for Jesus says, in John xiv. 3, "If I go to
+prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself;
+that where I am, there ye may be also."
+
+To live well is to live as expecting every day to be our last, and to be
+looking for that time when the trump of the archangel shall sound, and
+all the dead arise from their graves. We do not know the day, nor the
+hour, when the Son of Man shall come to judge the quick and the dead,
+for it says, in Matthew xxiv. 36, "But of that day and hour knoweth no
+man, no, not the angels in heaven, but My Father only."
+
+Newton expresses in the following verse some good thoughts upon the
+right way to learn how to live, and that is, by seeking God's
+direction--
+
+"Show me what I have to do;
+Every hour my strength renew;
+Let me live a life of faith;
+Let me die Thy people's death."
+
+                               LILLY RUSH
+                             (Aged 13 years).
+
+_Red House, Thornham,
+near Eye, Suffolk._
+
+[There have been several creditable Essays sent, but none that have
+reached the desired mark. We may mention those by Ernest Sawyer,
+Margaret Creasey, E. B. Knocker, Jane Bell, Maria Reeder, E. T. Mann,
+Edith Hirst, Ella Saunders, W. B. Beckwith (aged 11 years), A. Pease,
+Sarah Hicks, and Jesse Hammond. The age of the writer must always be
+given.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of THE LITTLE GLEANER
+(cloth).
+
+The subject for March will be, "Self-Help," and a kind friend has
+promised a copy of "From the Loom to a Lawyer's Gown; or, Self-Help that
+was not all for Self," for the best Essay. We hope we shall have some
+good Essays on the subject. All competitors must give a guarantee that
+they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their own
+composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot
+undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the
+first of February.]
+
+
+
+
+A CHILD'S PRAYER.
+
+SUITABLE FOR THE NEW YEAR.
+
+
+Oh, blessed Jesus, care for me,
+  And wash me in Thy blood;
+Teach me to ever look to Thee,
+  And help me to be good.
+
+Give me Thy Holy Spirit, Lord,
+  And teach me how to pray;
+Oh, let me understand Thy Word,
+  And take my sins away.
+
+Whene'er I'm tempted to do wrong,
+  Oh, let me think of Thee;
+Help me to always guard my tongue,
+  When naughty I would be.
+
+Teach me to tread the narrow way,
+  Which all Thy saints have trod;
+And guard and guide me every day;
+  Be Thou my Lord and God.
+
+Help me to trust in Thee alone,
+  And not have fear of men;
+To seek Thy will before my own,
+  For Jesus' sake. Amen.
+
+                           JANE BELL
+                     (Aged 14 years).
+
+_Sleaford._
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+A RARELY-BLOOMING FLOWER.--In one of the conservatories at Hamilton
+Palace gardens there is a fine specimen of the _Angeavia variegata_ in
+full bloom. The tradition is, that the plant only flowers once in a
+hundred years.
+
+
+STEAM heating and electric lighting of trains is receiving very close
+attention from a number of the leading railway managers in the United
+States. On some roads the change has been decided upon, and cars are
+being reconstructed on the new plans as rapidly as possible.
+
+
+PILOTS' PAY.--From London to Gravesend the pilot's fee may range from
+18s. to £7 18s., and from Gravesend to the Nore from £1 12s. to £7 8s.;
+and while a vessel drawing less than seven feet of water is piloted from
+the Downs to the Isle of Wight for £3 4s., one that draws twenty-five
+feet will cost for the same distance, either way, as much as £14 6s.
+
+
+ROMANISM in America is throwing off its sheep's clothing, and revealing
+its wolfish nature. The following is an extract from one of its
+journals, the _Western Watchman_--"Protestantism! We would draw and
+quarter it. We would impale it and hang it up for crows' nests. We would
+tear it with pincers, and fire it with hot irons. We would fill it with
+molten lead, and sink it in hell fire a hundred fathoms deep." Only the
+genius that invented the multiform cruelties of the Inquisition could
+express itself in such an infernally varied vocabulary of torture.
+
+
+THE WARRANT FOR BUNYAN'S LAST IMPRISONMENT.--Among the Chauncy
+collection of autographs recently dispersed by Messrs. Sotheby, there
+lay, hidden and unnoticed, the original warrant under which Bunyan was
+apprehended for that third and final imprisonment of some six months'
+duration, during which, according to his latest biographer, he wrote the
+first part of "The Pilgrim's Progress." It fills a half-sheet of
+foolscap, and is dated March 4th, 1674-5, under the hands and seals of
+twelve justices, six of them, either then or in the Parliament of 1678,
+members for county or borough, and three of whom had originally
+committed him for the previous twelve years' imprisonment.
+
+
+COMPOSITION DURING SLEEP.--Lord Thurlow told his nephew that, when
+young, he read much at night, and that once, while at college, having
+been unable to complete a particular line in a Latin poem he was
+composing, it rested so on his mind that he dreamed of it, completed it
+in his sleep, wrote it out next morning, and received many compliments
+on its classical and felicitous turn. In my own experience, I have
+imagined myself, during sleep, to be listening to instrumental music
+quite new to me, and have been able to reproduce the melody next day;
+and I have now in my possession a MS. copy of a Dead March composed by
+the author, from whom I had it, in a dream.--_Correspondent of "Notes
+and Queries._"
+
+
+THE DANGERS OF EATING ORANGE PEEL.--It is a very bad habit to eat orange
+peel. Nor is the juvenile habit of eating apples with the peel on to be
+recommended either. Parents who do not care as yet to correct these evil
+propensities will perhaps be more inclined to do so when they hear that
+the little black specks which may be found on the skins of oranges and
+apples that have been kept some time are clusters of fungi, precisely
+similar to those to which whooping-cough is attributed. Dr. Tschamer, of
+Graz, who has made the discovery, scraped some of these black specks off
+an orange, and introduced them into his lungs by a strong inspiration.
+Next day he was troubled with violent tickling in the throat, which by
+the end of the week had developed into an acute attack of
+whooping-cough.
+
+
+A BRAVE CHILD.--One day recently at Sandown, while a gentleman was
+showing his little girl how Lion, a splendid St. Bernard dog, and a
+great favourite in the family, caught pieces of biscuit in his mouth,
+the poor child stole up to put her arm round the dog's neck. Unhappily
+Lion was so engrossed, he never heard the fairy footstep. Taking the
+little face for a dainty morsel intended for him, he sharply closed his
+large teeth in the tender cheek and nostril. Elsie bravely struggled to
+conceal the blood which fast flowed from the wound, and assured her
+mother without a tear that she was "far more frightened than hurt."
+Lion, who had been taught to apologise for wrong-doing by standing up,
+at once assumed that plaintive attitude, while Elsie entreated his
+master not to punish him, as she knew "it was all a mistake." The little
+face is still strapped up, but as the dog was perfectly healthy, the
+only fear entertained is that a permanent mark may be left there. One
+lasting impression was certainly made. The self-control and calmness of
+the mother, who saw the sharp, sudden bite inflicted on her only child,
+and the unflinching courage displayed by Elsie while she pleaded for the
+dumb friend who had so unwittingly injured her, will never be forgotten
+by Lion's master or any one who witnessed the unfortunate
+incident.--_Lady's Pictorial._
+
+
+THE GENERAL AND THE SPARROW.--General Robert E. Lee was one of the
+bravest soldiers and ablest leaders of the Southern States armies in the
+great American Civil War. Along with an almost culpable indifference to
+danger he joined an intense love for animals and a deep feeling for the
+helpless, as the following story will show. He was once visiting a
+battery near Richmond, in Virginia, when the soldiers (with whom he was
+immensely popular) crowded round him, and thus offered a good target for
+the enemy's fire. Lee at once bade them retire to the rear, out of reach
+of harm. The men did so, but--as if unaware of the risk he ran--he
+walked across the yard, and picked up some object from the ground, and
+put it on a tree branch above his head. It was afterwards found that
+this object was an unfledged sparrow, which had fallen out of its nest,
+and which the general had restored to its home at such imminent danger
+to himself.
+
+
+THE END OF A DOG'S QUARREL.--One day, a fine Newfoundland dog and a
+mastiff had a sharp discussion over a bone, and warred away as angrily
+as two boys. They were fighting on a bridge, and before they knew it,
+over they went into the water. The banks were so high that they were
+forced to swim some distance before they came to a landing-place. It was
+very easy for the Newfoundlander. He was as much at home in the water as
+a seal. But not so poor Bruce. He struggled and tried to swim, but made
+little headway. The Newfoundland dog quickly reached the land, and then
+turned to look at his old enemy. He saw plainly that his strength was
+fast failing, and that he was likely to drown, so what should the noble
+fellow do but plunge in, seize him gently by the collar, and, keeping
+his nose above water, tow him safely into port. It was funny to see
+these dogs look at each other as they shook their wet coats. Their
+glance said as plainly as words, "We'll never quarrel any more."
+
+
+THE following tragical story of a pen is deeply interesting, since to an
+instrument in itself so humble the death of a little Liverpool schoolboy
+is due. The lad, sitting at his desk at St. Anthony's School, saw on the
+floor a piece of paper which he wished to pick up. To leave his right
+hand free he put his pen in his breast pocket. He was sitting at the end
+of a bench, from which, in stooping, he fell to the floor. The weight of
+his body fell on the point of the pen. The nib pierced the poor little
+fellow's heart. Amid the silent work of the writing lesson his cry of
+agony rang out with startling effect, and a whole town, hearing of a
+boy's death from such a cause, shares the painful surprise of the
+school-room. The one ray of relief in this painful story shines over the
+grief-stricken home. The public sympathy directed to this house, finds
+it inhabited by a struggling widow, with four young children still
+surviving. A subscription is forthwith got up for her benefit, and the
+son's death is likely to be the means of saving the mother from
+destitution.
+
+
+THE Manchester Ship Canal will be a stone-banked stream, 25 feet in
+depth, and at least 120 feet in width, supplied with numerous docks,
+crossed by lofty bridges for trains, and swing-bridges for road traffic,
+and forming a waterway in which the biggest steamships and sailing
+vessels will be able to pass one another at a fair speed. It will be
+wider and deeper than the Suez Canal, and will depend for its
+construction chiefly on the huge steam excavators, which are a kind of
+cross between cranes and the dredgers we see in rivers and harbours, and
+which remove a cubic yard of soil at a time. It will enable Manchester
+to send her calicoes direct to all quarters of the globe, and will tap
+the chemical region of Runcorn, and the salt districts of Cheshire,
+saving the present cost of transhipment of a million tons per annum of
+the latter condiment. Nearly 20,000 men will find employment for the
+next four years in the construction of this big canal for the passage of
+ocean ships between Liverpool and Manchester. The first sod has been
+quietly cut with a navvy's spade by Lord Egerton of Tatton, the chairman
+of the company, in the presence of twenty directors and a few
+shareholders, at Eastham, where the canal will lead out of the Mersey.
+
+
+HANOVER BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL, TUNBRIDGE WELLS.--The half-yearly meeting
+of the above school was held on Wednesday, October 26th. The meeting was
+presided over by the Superintendent, who in a few opening remarks urged
+the parents to try and send their children to school in time, and in the
+morning as well as the afternoon; after which the children recited their
+various pieces to the Pastor, Mr. Newton. Mr. Botten then proceeded to
+give away the rewards, which he said he hoped they would prize, and lend
+to their brothers and sisters to read if they wanted them; and he hoped
+they would never read the pernicious books and periodicals that found
+such favour amongst boys in our day, but, if they were offered a book to
+read, to show it to father and mother, and, if they did not mind their
+reading it, then all right. In conclusion, he wished the teachers
+God-speed in the work. Mr. Saltmarsh and Mr. House also gave parcels of
+books away, and a pleasant meeting was brought to a close by singing the
+hymn, "Around the throne of God in heaven," Mr. Newton concluding with
+prayer. Each child received a bun on departing.
+
+                                                  W. L. W.
+
+[Illustration: "PAPER, SIR?" (_See page 26._)]
+
+
+
+
+WHAT A TRACT MAY DO.
+
+
+Often, as we journey from place to place by rail, we notice with
+peculiar interest the newsboys at the different stations as they
+politely inquire, "Paper, sir?" and, as we think what advantages they
+have of reading the different kinds of papers and books which pass
+through their hands, we wonder, as we look upon them, what kind of
+reading they prefer, good or bad; and, from the appearance of many, we
+fear it is the latter. We know that many young people of both sexes
+prefer light, foolish, and fictitious books, over which they spend a lot
+of their precious time, reading made-up tales--things that never
+occurred--and we say, What a pity that they should thus waste their time
+in doing worse than nothing, when they might be storing their minds with
+useful knowledge!
+
+We hope our young friend in the illustration is not one of these, for,
+as we look upon his open and pleasant countenance, we are inclined to
+believe he is not, in mind, of such a low order; and, while he may have
+to carry books and papers which we should advise him never to read, we
+can but reflect as to the power for good of such an agency, if used for
+the spread of pure Scriptural truth. Oh, that it were so! Who can tell,
+if good books and tracts were thus scattered, what good might result
+therefrom?
+
+We have read with pleasure, and here give to our readers, the following
+narrative, showing the way the Lord sometimes signally blesses even the
+giving of a tract to a stranger, and may many be encouraged to "go and
+do likewise":--
+
+Roger M---- was one of a family resident in the town of D----, where his
+first days were spent, without anything remarkable taking place to
+distinguish his boyhood from that of many around him. It was, however,
+his privilege, though unvalued at the time, to receive religious
+training in a Sabbath School. It is not known that at this period any
+particular progress was made by him in any department of useful or of
+religious knowledge. Indeed, his after-course would rather prove that,
+like many who have enjoyed similar advantages, he grew up only to show
+that, by nature, he possessed a heart averse from God, and prone to
+depart from Him.
+
+In the course of time Roger M----was placed with a respectable tradesman
+of his native town, with a fair prospect of becoming acquainted with a
+business in which he might have obtained an honest livelihood; but he
+turned his back on his friends and prospects, and enlisted in the
+marines. From his own lips the subsequent account of himself was
+derived.
+
+Year after year passed on, and though often engaged in scenes of carnage
+and bloodshed, he was yet wonderfully preserved both from wounds and
+death. At length, just on the eve of the battle of Waterloo, he was
+drafted from his ship to take a part in that fearful and eventful
+conflict. Amidst wounds and slaughter, and disabled and dying comrades,
+he stood unscathed; and after the peace which followed on that memorable
+victory, he was discharged from the service, and took up his residence
+in the city of E----. Here, however, he only lived to prove how
+ineffectual, of themselves, are the most terrible scenes savingly to
+touch the rebellious heart of man, or even to awaken the mind to any
+just sense of the amazing goodness and long-suffering of God,
+independently of the grace and influence of the Holy Spirit. He spent
+his days in a life of dissipation and drunkenness, unmoved by any
+reflection on the past, or by any regard for the future. Yet was there
+mercy in store for Roger M----. God's ways are not as our ways, neither
+His thoughts as our thoughts.
+
+Returning home one evening in a state of intoxication, a lady placed in
+his hand a religious tract, which, by the mercy of God, he carried home,
+and the next morning read. It is not easy to describe the state of
+feeling that arose in his heart from its perusal. His own account of
+that moment was deeply affecting. Conviction of sin, remorse, alarm of
+conscience, strong desire after peace and pardon, the cry of the jailor,
+"What must I do to be saved?"--all, in tumultuous conflict, agitated his
+spirit. Day after day, week after week, he sought relief to his mind,
+and direction to his anxious heart, by entering various places of
+worship in the city. At length in a little chapel he found that which
+his soul longed for. The word of peace, the glad tidings of salvation
+through the blood of Christ, came home with power to his heart, and he
+obtained peace through believing.
+
+Having become "a new creature in Christ Jesus," he next lived a new
+life, and rendered up himself a living sacrifice to the great Redeemer.
+As Roger M---- had pursued a course of sin unto death, so now he pursued
+a course of obedience unto righteousness, the end of which is eternal
+life. A new life had opened upon him, and as a soldier of the cross he
+served Jesus Christ, his new Captain, with humble zeal and holy joy.
+
+In the last interview which the writer had with him, his expressions of
+overwhelming love to Jesus were most fervent. Tears of gratitude rolled
+down his thin, furrowed cheeks as, with emphasis, and a feeling most
+touching, he acknowledged the debt of love which he owed to his beloved
+Lord. Never did the writer witness so strong an exhibition of heartfelt,
+deep, religious feeling. Roger could speak of nothing but the unmerited
+and wonderful love of his Lord and Saviour, and of His amazing goodness
+in sparing and saving so vile a transgressor.
+
+When the burst of feeling had a little subsided, he expressed a strong
+desire to see his former teacher, then an aged Christian. An interview
+was sought for him, that he might express his gratitude to his
+instructor in the days of his youth, and thank him for all the good
+counsels which had then been given him. Here, again, the sobs and tears
+of the humble child of God burst forth anew, and the friend who
+accompanied him was obliged to shorten the interview, from fear of the
+consequences to both the old men. The scene will never be obliterated
+from the memory of him who pens this recital, nor the conviction,
+moreover, of the deep-seated piety and gratitude of the penitent
+veteran.
+
+One thing amongst others which Roger confessed was this--that, in the
+midst of the conflicts in which he had been engaged, the lessons and
+truths presented to him in the Sabbath School were constantly rushing
+into his mind with indescribable freshness, producing a conflict there,
+compared with which that without was as nothing. Yet, strange to say,
+this resulted in no real conviction or conversion when the danger was
+past. It was not till the little messenger of mercy had reached his
+hand, and its truths, by divine mercy, touched his heart, that he became
+a contrite sinner and humble suppliant at the feet of Jesus, and at
+length was brought to know that, "being justified by faith," he had
+"peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. v. 1).
+
+One point in the character of this converted sinner remains to be
+mentioned--that, although latterly so afflicted by entire deafness as to
+require communication by means of writing, yet was he constant in his
+attendance at the house of God, where, as one of the true circumcision,
+he doubtless "worshipped God in the spirit, rejoiced in Christ Jesus,
+and had no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. iii. 3).
+
+He has long since gone to the unseen world to be with Jesus, "which is
+far better."
+
+This narrative affords no small encouragement to those who distribute,
+even under unpromising circumstances, those leaves which are intended
+for the healing of the soul. "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou
+shalt find it after many days." "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the
+evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall
+prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good"
+(Eccles. xi. 6).
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO SCRIPTURE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 10._)
+
+
+The Farmer is the Lord. "I am the true Vine, and My Father is the
+Husbandman," said the Son, Jesus (John xv. i). The farm is the Bible,
+and the sixty-six fields are the books thereof. The Bible is sown all
+over with spiritual food, which is the Word of God, for His people.
+Those people who seek after the Lord must have a will to come, and
+patience to wait for an answer. There are some people who have the
+Bible, but have no desire after the Lord; but they find other things
+they think better of than seeking after the Lord. There are some people
+who say they hate the Lord, and the Bible, and there is not a minister
+that they will say a good word to. This, Jesus and His servants can
+vouch for a truth. The people who live in those low-built houses are
+those who are humble in the sight of the Lord; and not far from where
+they dwell the ministers live, and they think it a great liberty to
+speak a few words to the ministers, and, as for the Lord, they often
+feel they dare not attempt to speak to Him. But the Lord says, in Luke
+xii. 32, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure
+to give you the kingdom." You would almost wonder how these people
+exist; but they get a little help from the Lord now and then, which
+keeps them alive.
+
+And then it is said, one came to the Bible, and looked in the Book of
+Ruth, but could not gather anything; and Christians cannot gather
+anything from God's Word unless God opens it to them; and if they do not
+get good out of one part of the Bible they go to another, and would be
+glad to glean in either field of Ruth or Esther. In the end, the
+labourer directed the gleaner to the forty-second field, and he gathered
+handfuls (Luke xi. 9-13), and then he told others where to go to find
+plenty of food.
+
+                             MARY WILLERTON
+                             (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Corby, Grantham._
+
+[This is the most correct answer received up to the time of going to
+press.--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+  BE GENTLE.
+
+
+  There is a plant that in its cell
+    All trembling seems to stand,
+  And bends its stalk and folds its leaves
+    From each approaching hand.
+
+  And thus there is a conscious nerve
+    Within the human breast,
+  That from the rash and careless hand
+    Shrinks and retires distressed.
+
+  The pressure rude, the touch severe,
+    Will raise within the mind
+  A nameless thrill, a secret tear,
+    A torture undefined.
+
+  Oh, you whose nature is so formed
+    Each thought refined to know,
+  Repress the word, the glance, that wakes
+    That trembling nerve to woe!
+
+  And be it still your joy to raise
+    The trembler from the shade;
+  To bind the broken, and to heal
+    The wound you never made.
+
+  Whene'er you see the feeling mind,
+    Oh, let this care begin!
+  And though the cell be e'er so low,
+    Respect the guest within.--L. H.
+
+
+
+
+A BIBLICAL DISCOVERY.
+
+
+Bible students will gladly read the account of a remarkable and
+interesting discovery sent to the Council of the Egypt Exploration Fund
+by their explorer, Mr. Flinders Petrie. He has apparently found the
+remains of a royal palace, mentioned in the Bible as "Tahpanhes," and
+referred to by the Father of History in his record of the adventures of
+the first Greek colonists who, six hundred years before the Christian
+era, settled in a corner of the northeastern Delta of Egypt.
+
+These early Greeks conveyed to their countrymen the wisdom of the
+Egyptians; and the science, art, and literature of the older
+civilization was filtered through the artistic Greek intellect to the
+western world.
+
+Students of Egyptian and Greek history will take deep interest in this
+discovery. But the finding of the remains of this royal palace appeals
+to a more numerous and humbler class of students.
+
+In the book of Jeremiah the Prophet, from chapter thirty-seven to
+chapter forty-seven, the reader will find a graphic record of the events
+that preceded, accompanied, and followed the destruction of Jerusalem by
+Nebuchadnezzar. A great portion of the action of this story took place
+in the country in which Mr. Petrie and his Arab labourers have been at
+work for some time past.
+
+After the tumults that followed the departure from Jerusalem of
+Nebuchadnezzar with the captive Jews to Babylon, it was decided by
+Johanan, against the advice and the prophecy of Jeremiah, to fly into
+Egypt, the land of King Zedekiah's old ally. The princesses, and the
+captains, and Jeremiah, were taken across the frontier by Johanan, and
+hospitably received by Pharaoh Hophra, who installed his guests in the
+royal residence in Tahpanhes. Jeremiah could not rest even in the
+stronghold thus provided for himself and his countrymen by the kindness
+of Hophra, and in the court-yard or square of the royal palace of
+Tahpanhes he made a remarkable prophecy. Taking great stones in his
+hands, and burying them in the pavement, the Prophet declared that in
+that very spot King Nebuchadnezzar would spread his pavilion when he
+came, with his destroying army, to punish the Jews, and to execute
+vengeance on their Egyptian allies.
+
+The prophecy, there is every reason to believe, was fulfilled. The
+Babylonish conqueror invaded Egypt, and burnt Pharaoh's house at
+Tahpanhes. Centuries have passed. The sand of the desert, and the mud of
+old Nile, have swept over the site of the remarkable prophecy, and about
+2,500 years after the death of the Prophet, an Englishman rolls away the
+encrustations of time. He discovers the basement floor of the old
+citadel--half prison and half palace. From the ruins he extracts slabs
+of fine limestone covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions, figures of
+captives delicately sculptured and painted, iron and bronze tools. In
+the kitchen he finds pokers, and spits, and broken bottles. The room of
+the little scullery maid is found almost intact. It contains a recess
+with a sink and a bench for the ancient pots and pans.
+
+Mr. Petrie's communication, which can be had from the Secretary of the
+Egypt Exploration Fund, throws a strong light on the wondrous story in
+the grand old Book which has been for centuries a household treasure in
+English homes, and will be read with delight by all lovers of the Bible.
+
+
+EVERY season of life has its appropriate duties.
+
+
+THROUGH all our troubles, the tangled skein is in the hands of One who
+sees the end from the beginning. He shall yet unravel all.
+
+
+
+
+THE CHARCOAL BURNER'S STAR.
+
+(_Concluded from page 9._)
+
+
+Alfred was struck mute with surprise. Even the guide seemed astonished
+at this unexpected welcome to the hut.
+
+It was not until a minute or two after the voices had ceased that they
+ventured to approach the entrance. When they did, they saw the charcoal
+burner standing at the end of a rude table, formed of one broad deal
+plank, supported by four legs, along one side of which were ranged three
+boys between twelve and fourteen years old. Books and paper, with an
+inkstand and pens, were lying on the table. It was a forest school.
+
+The intruders again paused at a sight as unexpected as had been the
+melody they had just heard. But their footsteps had caught the ears of
+those within the hut.
+
+"Who goes there?" asked the man, in a calm voice.
+
+"Friends," replied both Alfred and the guide, and the latter added--
+
+"Good evening, Gervais. It is only your friend Michel. I have brought
+you a gentleman who is very anxious to see you."
+
+"What is your pleasure with me, sir?" asked the charcoal burner, taking
+off his woollen cap.
+
+"First, to wish you a good evening, Monsieur Gervais; and next, to
+apologize for my visit."
+
+"Is there anything you wish to say in private?"
+
+"Nothing very important; but----"
+
+"These boys are in your way?"
+
+"Oh, pray do not let me interrupt you! My business here is not of
+sufficient consequence."
+
+"We have done, sir. Indeed, our evening studies, and more particularly
+our Scripture readings, have been prolonged rather beyond our usual
+hour. We have only one more duty to fulfil, which we never omit. You
+will excuse it, sir."
+
+Without waiting for a reply, Gervais assumed a serious air. The boys
+knelt down before the wooden bench on which they had been sitting.
+Alfred, and even the guide, followed their example, and the woodman
+offered up a brief, but solemn evening prayer; after which he pressed
+affectionately the hands of the young herdsmen, and dismissed them with
+a kind remembrance to their employers.
+
+"Good-night, Monsieur Gervais!" said the boys cheerfully, and in an
+instant they were all leaping up the heights beyond the fir trees, which
+soon hid them from the sight of those who remained behind.
+
+"I expected to find you alone, Monsieur Gervais," said Alfred, "and I
+wished to put a question to you which is now very plainly answered by
+the scene I have just witnessed. Two hours ago, I was with a party of
+friends in the plain below, at some distance from this mountain. At
+nightfall, when we saw the light of your furnace beginning to shine, we
+said among ourselves, as we looked, with no small degree of interest,
+upon this earthly star, as it seemed to us, 'What can the man be doing
+who is watching by the side of this fire?' You see, sir, that I am
+young, and you know that, at my age, good-humoured frolics are not
+uncommon. 'I will soon know,' I said. Well, I mounted my horse
+immediately, and rode at full speed to the foot of the mountain. And now
+that I am here, I find that I have reason to rejoice in my freak,
+Monsieur Gervais, since it has made me the witness of a most interesting
+scene. These pens and paper, and these books--this one in
+particular--afford sufficient evidence of the manner in which you have
+passed the evening. Here, to my surprise, I have found, at this late
+hour, in the deep recesses of the woods, on a wild and lofty mountain, a
+school for useful learning in general, but more especially, as the
+closing of the scene has informed me, for the most important of all
+knowledge--that of the Creator who made, of the Son who redeemed, and of
+the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us. You pass your evenings in pointing
+out to these boys, who might otherwise be running wild along the
+mountains and through the forests, like the beasts that perish, the only
+way that leads to everlasting life. May I ask if you have any particular
+interest in them? Are they your children, or are they employed by you in
+your business?"
+
+"No, sir," said the charcoal burner; "I am neither their father nor
+their master. Alas! they have but one Father, which is in heaven. They
+are orphans, sir, and are employed by the herdsmen. They remain here for
+several months in the year, to assist in tending their cattle and their
+goats, which are kept during the summer in the mountain pastures. They
+are therefore serving an apprenticeship to the line of life for which
+they are destined. But there are other things which are needful for
+them, as well as learning to look after cows, and sheep, and goats; and
+one thing more needful than all the rest, which they might learn to
+neglect, were they left to themselves, without some one to lead them in
+the right path, and to speak to them of the faith and love of the Lord
+Jesus. It is true they are here far removed from the temptations which
+they would meet with in towns, and even in villages; but Satan has his
+snares in all parts--in the wilderness, where he dared to tempt the Son
+of God Himself, as well as in the city, where, they say, his traps are
+set so thickly that it is impossible to avoid them, unless the light of
+God's Holy Spirit is shining on our path. But even here, had he no other
+means of leading them astray, they might fall, by his devices, into the
+worst of sins--the forgetfulness of God, and all they owe to Him. The
+condition, then, of these poor boys has interested me very greatly. I
+have prevailed upon their masters to let them come to me for two hours
+every evening, as soon as the cows and goats are milked, and the sheep
+are in the folds, when I endeavour, with God's help, to teach them to
+read and write, and cast up an account; but, above all, to seek to find
+out the Lord in His holy Word, and to pray to Him. For myself, too, it
+is a profitable as well as a cheerful occupation in this solitude. I
+wish, indeed, that I were able to have them longer with me each day, but
+that our labours will not allow of. On Sundays, indeed, they have rather
+less to do, and we take advantage of this to devote more time to the
+service of God."
+
+"_Rather_ less to do on Sundays!" said Alfred. "Is the Lord's Day, then,
+made only partially a day of rest?"
+
+"Sir," replied Gervais, "there are works of _absolute necessity_ which
+require our attention, here in the mountains, nearly as much on the
+Lord's Day as on the other days of the week. We do not cut wood on the
+Sabbath Day, but my fire must not be allowed to go out. It must be kept
+constantly burning till the operation is complete. So far, indeed, it
+affords a lesson of holy instruction to my young pupils as well as
+myself, and shows us the necessity of the flame of Christian love, and
+faith, and hope being kept alive in our hearts, even when pursuing our
+daily occupations. Then those who have the charge of cattle and sheep
+must attend to their wants, or the poor creatures would suffer sadly by
+their neglect. It takes up a large portion of the day to milk the cows
+and the goats, and I dare say you can understand that, to say nothing of
+the loss their owners would incur were this omitted, the poor beasts
+themselves would suffer bitterly from bodily pain and disease."
+
+"I ought to have thought of this, as I am myself learning to be a
+farmer," observed Alfred. "But do you not draw any spiritual improvement
+for your scholars from this?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir! I show them how Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is constantly
+feeding and caring for _His_ flock, watching over them, and keeping the
+young lambs from going astray; carrying them in His bosom, and giving
+them the bread of life to eat, and the waters of everlasting comfort to
+drink."
+
+"And are your kind instructions confined to these three boys?"
+
+"Not altogether, sir. Most of their masters, when their necessary work
+is done, come with such of their servants as can be spared, on the
+evening of the Lord's Day; and, as we have no pastor up here to teach us
+in the way of holiness, we join together in prayer. We sing 'psalms, and
+hymns, and spiritual songs,' and we 'search the Scriptures,' and nourish
+our souls with the holy Word of God. Most of them, I assure you, sir,
+are very seriously disposed, and love to hear me talk to them of the
+Lord Jesus, and tell them of all He has done to save sinners, to take
+away their sin, to give them repentance, and everlasting life after
+death."
+
+"And it is thus you have been passing your time," exclaimed Alfred,
+"when some of my thoughtless young friends below fancied you might be
+drinking or smoking while you were watching your fire. Happy man! These
+solitudes are no solitudes to you. How far more profitably, how far more
+pleasantly, are you employed than the greater number of those who live
+in the world! I must entreat you to pardon my having intruded upon you,
+I am ashamed to say, from a motive of mere curiosity. But see how God
+often causes even our follies and weaknesses to turn out to our profit.
+I have learned a lesson that I trust, by His grace, I shall never
+forget. It has taught me that every godly man has a part assigned to him
+for others as well as for himself, to show forth the great salvation
+that Christ brought upon earth. You are diligently fulfilling your part.
+You have prayed for work, and our great Master has mercifully provided
+it for you. You are laying up treasure for yourself in heaven, while
+many of those who would be inclined to pity your worldly position are
+wasting their lives in idleness and sin, neglecting the work they might
+do, and burying in the earth the talent committed to their charge.
+Numbers there are in the world who are attempting to secure to
+themselves a memorial among posterity, by erecting hospitals and
+schools, while you are consecrating this little hovel to God in a way
+that might never have been known in this world, but which will not be
+forgotten by the Lord 'in the day when He maketh up His jewels.'"
+
+As he said this, Alfred cast his eyes round the hut, and fixed them upon
+an open chest which stood in one corner, supported upon one or two short
+beams of wood, to preserve the contents from the damp.
+
+"You are not unprovided with books, I see, besides those that lie on the
+table."
+
+"We have indeed a little library there, sir," replied Gervais. "It is
+very small, but quite equal to our wants. You would find there 'The
+Histories of the Old and New Testaments,' 'The Imitation of Jesus
+Christ,' 'The History of France,' 'Robinson Crusoe,' and a few others.
+Would you like to look at the writing of these boys, sir?"
+
+Alfred examined some copy-books lying on the table, and could not help
+expressing his surprise at the progress the lads appeared to have made
+in three short months. Then, looking at his watch, he said--
+
+"I fear I have overstayed my time, but before I go I have yet a duty to
+perform. While I congratulate you most sincerely on the success with
+which God seems to have blessed your endeavours in behalf of these
+destitute youths, I must add that the interest which the idea of your
+isolated situation excited among the party I left in the plain below was
+such that they said I ought not, without some good reason, to intrude
+upon you, and desired me to bring this little offering to you, begging
+of you to accept it, in token of their good-will."
+
+Vainly, however, did the young man press the offering upon the charcoal
+burner. He absolutely refused it.
+
+"Money!" said he; "for what? From whom does it come? Excuse me, sir, but
+you must recollect that you are quite a stranger to me. I do not even
+know your name."
+
+Alfred looked greatly disappointed, but replied that his name was Alfred
+de Blénal.
+
+"What! the son of Madame de Blénal, of ----?"
+
+"The same."
+
+"You are no longer a stranger, sir. Your excellent mother's piety and
+benevolence are well known to all the country around. Well, sir, as you
+seem distressed by my refusal, I will accept your liberal offer, but not
+for myself. I will only take it as trustee for these three boys, to be
+applied to their future maintenance, till they are able to support
+themselves."
+
+"Excellent man!" replied Alfred, deeply affected. "This sum will hardly
+be sufficient for your benevolent purpose, and it will give us pleasure
+to make it up to such an amount as may be required. I have promised to
+return to the persons who are expecting me by midnight, and I fear they
+will be uneasy at my prolonged absence. Take it, then, Monsieur Gervais,
+and whenever you require a little more money for the good works you may
+find occasion to perform in your neighbourhood, do not fail to put me
+under contribution. I shall tell my friends all I have seen and heard,
+and be assured that they will envy me my good fortune. Farewell, and
+remember that, by applying to me when you want anything, either for
+yourself or others, you will only prove that I have inspired you with
+sentiments of esteem and friendship."
+
+Saying this, Alfred gave the charcoal burner a cordial embrace, and
+departed.
+
+The thoughts of Michel, the guide, as he descended the mountain, were
+very different from those with which he had gone up. He was an altered
+man from that night.
+
+Midnight had passed. The supper was waiting at Madame de Blénal's. The
+guests were beginning to be impatient, some from hunger, some from
+curiosity, but more from anxiety. Had he miscalculated the distance? Had
+he mistaken the way? Had he met with an accident? The former conjectures
+were spoken aloud; the latter was only whispered by some who were not
+within Madame de Blénal's hearing. She herself remained silent, but
+perfectly calm. We do not say that the mother's heart was free from
+anxiety, but there was a remedy within it which served as a preventive
+against all idle and unnecessary fears. The eye of God was upon her son,
+and she knew that his own trust was fixed upon His saving arm. She knew,
+too, that, although full of the spirit and buoyancy of youth, he would
+avoid the sin of running into needless danger. If an accident had
+detained him, it was permitted as a trial of her faith, and she was
+prepared to submit.
+
+The impatience of the party was just beginning to reach its height, when
+the sound of a horse's hoofs was heard. Every eye was turned to the
+door, which was soon opened, and Alfred stood before them, smiling,
+cheerful, and uninjured, though in a condition that at first occasioned
+some alarm, but soon excited a burst of laughter.
+
+"Here is ocular proof," cried one, "that he has seen the charcoal
+burner."
+
+"And been at close quarters with him," said another. "He is covered with
+soot."
+
+"Why, Mr. Alfred," said a young lady, "one would think you had embraced
+him!"
+
+"I have, mademoiselle, and I am not ashamed of owning it. Had you seen
+what I have, you would have done the same, without considering your
+dress."
+
+"Why, what have you seen?" was asked by more than one.
+
+"I have found a preacher of righteousness, 'a teacher of babes,' in the
+forest--one who is an example to us all--and I have learned that,
+whatever our station in life may be, we may do good service to our
+Lord."
+
+Alfred then gave a full detail of his adventure.
+
+"So then," said the old lady who had decided the question about the
+money, "while we were indulging in foolish conjectures, and idly jesting
+about this worthy man, he was engaged in the pious task of teaching
+young boys to read God's holy Word, and the eye of that God was upon us
+all. My dear young friends, this is a lesson which I trust you will
+never forget. I see by your looks that it has produced its effect, and
+given birth to serious thoughts in your hearts. God has caused your
+inconsiderate frolic to turn out well, and I suspect that this will be a
+happy day for the pupils of Gervais. The orphans will not want
+protectors. Now let us go to supper. Our friend Alfred must be hungry
+after his ride, and he has well earned his meal."
+
+These words, together with the circumstances that gave rise to them,
+made a deep and salutary impression upon the hearers. The supper passed
+cheerfully, and the conversation turned upon what could best be done for
+the charcoal burner and the poor orphans. Many plans were proposed, and
+at last one was suggested which met with general approbation.
+
+The young men, in consequence, all visited the mountain forest and the
+hut, which, under their exertions and superintendence, soon disappeared,
+and a comfortable châlet rose in its place, in which Gervais continued
+for many summers to pursue his useful labours, and more than one or two
+successive generations of boys owed their teaching to him, and their
+establishment in the world to the care of the patrons whom Alfred's
+visit had, by God's mercy, raised up for them.
+
+
+
+
+FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT.
+
+
+In a conversation with the late Richard de Courcy, John Berridge
+observed that he had, for many years, been preaching up self, but not
+Christ Jesus the Lord:--
+
+I was a length of time in Arminian fetters. John and Charles Wesley got
+me into their cradle, and the devil kept rocking; but the Holy Spirit,
+in a most remarkable manner, delivered me from the sleep of sin by
+slaying the legality of my heart. I used to lament the unprofitableness
+of my preaching, and though I was a dealer in fire and brimstone, I
+could make no impression on my hearers.
+
+One day, my man Thomas was sawing a sturdy piece of oak, and, as I was
+standing by him, he threw down his saw, and turning to me, said,
+"Master, I must give this job up; it is so knotty." I took up the saw,
+and said, "Tom, let me try"; and to work I went, and, being of muscular
+strength, I soon overcame the difficulty.
+
+It occurred to me, when leaving the field, that my preaching resembled
+Tom's sawing, and these words were impressed on my mind--"Who art thou,
+O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain." I
+returned to my chamber, and poured out my heart to the Lord. A
+conviction arose in my mind that the work that God alone can perform I
+looked for the creature to produce. On reflection, I found the drift of
+my preaching for twenty years had been to tell the sinner to put the key
+into the lock of the door, so as to open it. I never thought of my
+Beloved putting His hand by the hole of the door, nor of applying to Him
+who has the keys of David, who "openeth, and no man shutteth; and
+shutteth, and no man openeth."
+
+On the Sunday following, I took my text from Isaiah--"Ye also made a
+ditch between two walls, for the water of the old pool; but ye have not
+looked unto the Maker thereof, neither had respect unto Him."
+
+From that time God the Holy Ghost has given me better tools for my
+workmanship. In addressing those whose hearts are unrenewed and
+unchanged, I make no propositions or calls. I cry aloud, and lift up my
+voice, and show my people their transgressions and their sins. I then
+turn from the unconverted, and implore my Master to take the work in
+hand, to convince of sin, and to lead them to Christ. With uplifted eyes
+and outstretched arms I cry, "Lay hold of these rebels, O Lord, as the
+angel did of lingering Lot, and overcome them by Thy omnipotent power,
+so as to lay down their arms to come in, that Thy house may be filled."
+John Berridge can do nothing but say, "Awake, O arm of the Lord!" This
+is my province; a step further I cannot, I dare not, go.
+
+For the last twelve years the Lord has, in a most wonderful manner,
+displayed the riches of His grace in giving me innumerable seals to my
+ministry, both in town and country--trophies of mercy, as studs in the
+Mediatorial crown of my dear Redeemer.
+
+                                           OLD EVERTON.
+
+[Oh, that there were more such preachers in the present day!]
+
+
+  When bold, presumptuous men stand up,
+    And fain would make believe
+  That they are teachers sent of God,
+    And thus poor souls deceive,
+
+  They should, by every God-taught soul,
+    Be faithfully withstood,
+  If aught they bring to us as truth
+    But Jesus and His blood.
+
+  Such men as these the Word declares
+    Shall come, and shall deceive;
+  But sinners, truly born of God,
+    Will not such men receive.
+
+  If possible, we know they would
+    Deceive Thine own elect;
+  But, bless Thy precious name, dear Lord,
+    Thou wilt Thine own protect.
+
+  How solemn is the thought to me--
+    Such men may think they're right,
+  Yet their profession will, if left,
+    End in eternal night!
+
+  "Depart, ye cursèd!" will be said
+    By lips that cannot lie;
+  "Since you have hated Me and Mine,
+    Your doom is now to die.
+
+  "You see, though now it is too late,
+    The oil-less lamp won't do;
+  The door against you now is shut;
+    There is no passing through."
+
+  My soul, reflect! How stands the case
+    With me, a helpless sinner?
+  I cannot hope to win the race;
+    But Jesus is my Winner.
+
+  I never should have sought to Thee,
+    Dear Lord, Thou knowest well,
+  If Thou hadst not first callèd me,
+    And plucked my feet from hell.
+
+                                      B. W.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN FEBRUARY.
+
+
+Feb. 5. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 7.
+Feb. 12. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 8.
+Feb. 19. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 9.
+Feb. 26. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 10.
+
+
+PUT heart in your work, whatever it is. If it be the lowliest, simplest
+little task, it will be ennobled by your doing it well and cheerfully,
+and taking real pleasure in it.
+
+
+
+
+"THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS."
+
+(ZECHARIAH iv. 10.)
+
+
+The second temple was much smaller than, and very inferior to, the
+first, and from it were wanting the ark, the Shechinah glory, the sacred
+fire, and the Urim and Thummim. Hence we read that, when it was erected
+and dedicated, the older men that had seen the former temple wept (Ezra
+iii. 12). Compared with that, the second temple saw but a "day of small
+things" (Hag. ii. 3).
+
+And thus do we sometimes speak of the days of childhood and youth, and
+rightly so. Young people are small in stature and little in ability.
+Their minds are not much cultivated at present, their faculties
+undeveloped. Their views of things are narrow and circumscribed. They
+have seen and know but little of the world, or, indeed, of anything at
+all. But children are not to be despised on that account. We who are
+older must not think depreciatingly of them, nor should the young
+depreciate themselves--their abilities, their time, their opportunities.
+Do not waste your precious moments, for yours is a golden age, which
+will quickly pass away, and can never return.
+
+Do not imagine that you are too young to exert any influence over others
+for good or harm. You may, and do, influence not only your companions,
+but many older people also. As children and youths are old enough to
+sin, they are old enough also to be impressed by the Spirit of God--yea,
+even savingly converted, if God so will it.
+
+Not long ago, a very little boy, dying, was heard to say, "Oh, Lord
+Jesus, please make room for a little boy!" and I doubt not, his prayer
+was as real and as acceptable to God as was that of the dying
+malefactor, "Lord, remember me," &c. Another dear little fellow said,
+"If I ever get to heaven, I'll go straight up to Jesus, throw my arms
+around His neck, and say, 'I'm come! I'm come!'"
+
+Very little things are not without their importance or value. The earth
+is nourished all summer by tiny dew-drops. The greatest mountains, even
+huge Chimilari, towering five and a half miles into the clouds, and all
+the other peaks in the Himalaya and Andes ranges, are formed of tiny
+molecules of earthy matter.
+
+Take a lesson from the coral formations. These are the work of a very
+little creature called a _polype_, or sea-anemone. Recent research has
+led to the discovery of much that is highly interesting respecting these
+little creatures. One polype, fixing its minute body to the rocky bottom
+of the sea, discharges a chalky secretion, which gradually grows up a
+branched trunk. The end of each branch is terminated by another polype;
+and thus it divides and multiplies itself, until a huge mass of red
+coral is formed. The more common white coral is similarly produced.
+
+Beware of what are called "little sins." Do not think them mere trifles.
+Bad in themselves, they likewise extend and grow into habits. These,
+once acquired, will hold you down with the force of a mighty chain.
+
+Of late years vine-stocks have been imported from America into France
+and Italy. Upon these a tiny insect, called _phylloxera_, has been
+found--so small that thirty-three of them placed lengthwise would not
+measure more than an inch; and yet so destructive have these tiny things
+proved, and so rapidly have they been known to spread, that they have
+been the destruction of more than a million acres of vines.
+
+One has well observed that "a great sin committed once shows where the
+devil has been; but petty sins, nourished into a habit, show where the
+devil lives."
+
+[Illustration: "HER FATHER'S BAD WAYS MADE HER LIFE HARD." (_See page
+38._)]
+
+One of the discoveries of modern medical science is, that the disease
+known as cholera may be produced by a microscopic insect (the _Conina
+Bacillus_) being taken into the stomach inadvertently with our food.
+This minute creature propagates with enormous rapidity in the blood,
+until that terrible malady is the result. Thus many great things are
+developed from the very smallest--not only great evils, but great
+blessings also.
+
+In doing good, we must not despise "the day of small things." The
+beginnings, though imperfect and weak, are not without their own
+peculiar value, and ultimately they lead on to excellence.
+
+Travellers on the continent are often struck by the contrast exhibited
+between two paintings which are shown in the museum at Rotterdam. The
+one is exceedingly poor--a mere daub. The most enthusiastic connoisseur
+cannot discover in it any mark of genius. The other painting is a grand
+work of art, almost priceless in value. Yet, strange to say, the same
+painter executed both--the celebrated Rembrandt. The first illustrates
+the commencement of his career as an artist; the other is a masterpiece,
+while many years of earnest, patient toil intervened.
+
+There must be a beginning to all things, and many dear Sabbath scholars
+have been instrumental of good to their parents and friends. I will
+mention one instance of this, selected from scores which have come under
+notice at different times.
+
+In a miserable home there once resided a drunken father, with one girl,
+his only child. Of course, he took no particular interest in her
+welfare, either body or soul. But some kind friend got her to attend a
+Sabbath School. There she was brought to know and love the Saviour, and
+often during the week, while attending to the house, she was known to
+sing the sweet hymns she had learned. This was her only comfort, for her
+father's bad ways made her life hard.
+
+One day, when she was thus occupied, her father was in another room,
+sleeping off his drunkenness. On awaking, he heard the little maid
+singing--
+
+"There is a happy land,
+  Far, far away."
+
+The Lord was pleased to use these words for another awakening. The grace
+of God touched his heart, and he said to himself, "Yes, it must be far
+away for her, poor thing; it cannot be here with me." That thought came
+from God. It melted his frozen heart, brought him to his knees, caused
+him to utter strong cries for mercy, led him to ask his little daughter
+to explain the way of salvation, and ultimately he was enabled to
+rejoice in pardoning mercy.
+
+Dear young Gleaners, may the Lord thus be pleased to bless the reading
+of the LITTLE GLEANER, and the instruction imparted in the Sabbath
+School, first to your own soul, and then make you a similarly honoured
+instrument of good to others.
+
+                                A. E. REALFF.
+
+_Dunstable._
+
+
+GOD never wrought miracles to convince atheism, because His ordinary
+works convince it.
+
+
+A SUNNY, happy face naturally, is worth a world of recipes upon
+cheerfulness. Only let one possessing it come into a room where there
+are a number of melancholy souls, and see how soon the magnetic
+influence begins to relax the lines of care around the mouth and eyes of
+the burdened ones, and the light of forgotten smiles to illumine the
+dark faces! The very breath of summer has blown through the room,
+bringing the breath of meadow sweets on its wings.
+
+
+
+
+HOW A GREAT MISTAKE WAS DISCOVERED.
+
+A TRUE INCIDENT.
+
+
+My grandmother was always looked upon by those who knew her as a good
+Churchwoman, a dutiful wife, an affectionate mother, and a good
+neighbour. She attended the services and partook of the Sacrament
+regularly, visited the sick, gave alms to the poor, and was generally
+regarded as a very religious, upright, consistent, and exemplary person.
+Yet, notwithstanding this outward goodness, her mind was not at rest.
+Her religion yielded no joy, her service brought no satisfaction. Nor
+could it be otherwise, for, instead of it being the spontaneous outflow
+of a heart constrained by love, it was as a task imposed--a duty
+performed in the hope of pleasing God, and meriting His favour, and in
+this way obtaining peace and rest to her soul.
+
+Poor grandmother! These were "deadly doings"; but she knew it not, for
+her eyes were blinded by the god of this world (Satan), and her
+unsuccessful attempts to procure peace by these means often left her
+depressed in spirit and cast down in mind. But God had better things in
+store for her, although it was by no ordinary means that He was pleased
+to make known to her His more excellent way.
+
+One Sunday, she went to church as usual, and took part in the singing
+and prayers, which were performed in the same mechanical order as at
+other times. It was not until the text was read out that her attention
+was particularly aroused; but this so arrested her that it all seemed to
+be intended for herself. The words, "Ye must be born again," uttered by
+the lips of an unconverted preacher, were made the message of God to her
+soul, but not as yet the message of peace. Her conscience was troubled,
+and as the words of the text were revolved in her mind, and the
+necessity of the new birth laid hold upon her heart, she trembled in her
+seat, and all her fancied goodness fled away; for here was Nicodemus, a
+good man, a teacher of religion, a pattern of morality, being told by
+the Lord Jesus that he must be "born again," or he could not enter
+heaven. She could see now that her almsgiving and church-going would not
+satisfy the righteous claims of a just and holy God.
+
+She had made a most blessed discovery--that she was a lost sinner,
+"having no hope, and without God in the world." She returned home in
+great distress of mind, and so continued until the next day. These
+painful exercises then showed no signs of abatement, for the words of
+the text kept ringing in her ears; so, on the morrow, as early as
+convenient, she sought an interview with the clergyman, in the hope that
+he might be able to minister relief to her troubled heart.
+
+But "woe unto you, ye blind guides!" The only counsel he could give was,
+to remind her of her good deeds, her consistent life, her regular
+attendance at church, &c., urging her to be calm and to banish from her
+mind these distressing thoughts, as there was not the slightest
+foundation for her fears. But this only increased her trouble, and she
+cried out, in great anguish of soul, "Tell me how I can be 'born again'!
+Tell me over again what you were telling the people yesterday." As she
+earnestly entreated him thus, he became greatly perplexed, for, alas!
+the sermon he had preached the day previous was borrowed, and had since
+been returned to its owner; so, in much confusion, he had to confess his
+inability to help her; but said he, "You must get into cheerful company,
+read lively books [at the same time offering to lend her some of
+Shakespeare's plays], and these impressions will soon wear off." But the
+solemn words from John iii. 7 were fastened in her mind by the "Master
+of Assemblies," to bring forth their fruit in due season.
+
+My grandmother left the minister in great despair, which continued and
+increased to such an extent that eventually it became necessary to
+remove her to an asylum, and her cries of distress were heartrending,
+her incessant and unchanging cry being, "I must be 'born again'! Tell me
+how I must be 'born again'!" But strange as it may appear, this was
+God's way of bringing her both mental and spiritual relief. A Christian
+lady who visited the asylum became acquainted with her case, and
+learning that there were times when grandmother was quieter and more
+herself, she resolved, if possible, to enlist the co-operation of a
+godly minister of her acquaintance; and having made it a matter of
+prayer, the way was soon open for him to see her, and the visit was made
+with the happiest results.
+
+As the glorious Gospel message was set before her, in simple and earnest
+language, she listened with rapt attention, and drank in the blessed
+truth which was soon to become the power of God unto her salvation.
+After this visit she was a little restless at times, but as the truth
+entered her soul, and she was enabled by "precious faith" to lay hold
+upon Christ, her fears all vanished, and she gradually became more calm
+and peaceful. She was led to see that peace was made for her by the
+"blood of the cross," and not by her works; and, "being justified by
+faith, she had peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."
+
+She had now known and experienced the blessed change so long sought, and
+which might have been set forth at her first awakening had a wise
+counsellor been at hand. The change wrought in her soul was very real,
+and acted so beneficially upon her mind that shortly afterwards she was
+able to return to her home and friends, to tell "what great things the
+Lord had done unto her." The remainder of her life was one of settled
+peace and joy, fruitful in good works, and abounding in thanksgiving and
+praise to God.
+
+Dear reader, how is it with you? Have you experienced this great change?
+Remember, nothing but reality will do for God and eternity. Neither
+education, morality, reformation, nor religious profession, can take the
+place of the new birth. "They that are in the flesh cannot please God."
+There must be a new life and a new power communicated, in which to love
+and serve God; and this can only be "by the washing of regeneration and
+renewing of the Holy Ghost." "Except a man be born again, he cannot see
+the kingdom of God" (John iii. 3).--_Selected._
+
+
+
+
+THE ENEMIES OF GOD AND OF HIS PEOPLE SCATTERED.
+
+
+As the anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada is to be
+celebrated this year, the following anecdote may not be uninteresting to
+our readers, as showing a like providence in the case of New England
+Christians.
+
+Dr. Wisner remarks that the destruction of the French armament, under
+the Duc D'Auville, should be remembered with gratitude and admiration by
+every inhabitant of America. This fleet consisted of forty ships of war,
+and was destined for the destruction of New England. It sailed from
+Chebucto, in Nova Scotia, for that purpose. In the meantime the godly
+people, apprized of their danger, had appointed a season of fasting and
+prayer to be observed in all their churches.
+
+While Mr. Prince was officiating in Old South Church, Boston, on the
+fast day, and praying most fervently that the dreaded calamity might be
+averted, a sudden gust of wind arose (the day till then had bean
+perfectly calm)--so violent as to cause a loud clattering of the
+windows. The pastor paused in his prayer, and, looking round upon the
+congregation with a countenance of hope, he again commenced, and, with
+great ardour, supplicated the Almighty to cause that wind to frustrate
+the object of their enemies.
+
+A tempest ensued, in which the greater part of the French fleet was
+wrecked. The Duc D'Auville, the principal general, and his second in
+command, both committed suicide. Many died from disease, and thousands
+found a watery grave.
+
+A late President remarks--"I am bound, as an inhabitant of New England,
+to declare, were there no other instance than the above to be found, the
+blessings communicated on the occasion now referred to would furnish
+ample proof, concerning answers to prayer, to every sober and
+intelligent man."
+
+
+
+
+A HINT TO PARENTS.
+
+
+In writing upon the education of the young, a thoughtful writer has made
+the following observations:--
+
+"The little triumphs and successes of the young mind should never be
+lightly passed over without a token of just and fitting praise from the
+lips of its parents. The love of approbation is one of the strongest
+incentives to improvement and industry which the Creator has implanted
+in the human mind. In the child, this feeling is very predominant; and,
+if disappointed of its justly-earned tribute, will be checked, and the
+child disheartened and mortified.
+
+"Benjamin West relates that he owed his success in life to the fond kiss
+of delighted approval bestowed on him by his mother, on his bringing her
+a rude production of his pencil when quite a little boy. 'That kiss,'
+said the great artist, 'made me a painter.'
+
+"Praise, then, when merited, should never be withheld. It is the
+chief--indeed, generally the only--recompense to which children look;
+and it is a bitter and injudicious cruelty to deprive them of it. The
+approval and the censure of its parents and teachers should, in this
+sense, be the guiding stars of a child's existence. But care should be
+taken that neither should be bestowed carelessly or with partiality, so
+as to induce vanity, or, on the other hand, bitterness of feeling."
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+An Apostle employed as a messenger.
+
+The son of Zephaniah.
+
+A disciple called "the chamberlain of the city."
+
+A place whence gold was brought to the temple.
+
+An idol of Damascus.
+
+He who arrested a prophet that was put into a dungeon.
+
+Who said, "The Lord is good, a Stronghold in the day of trouble," &c.?
+
+A disciple who dwelt at Troas.
+
+A sorcerer struck blind.
+
+The name given to the sockets for fastening the stones in the ephod.
+
+That without which it is impossible to please God.
+
+The place where one was struck dead for touching the ark.
+
+Aaron's wife.
+
+The Syriac name for "Father."
+
+The Epistle where the words are--"Ye are not your own," &c.
+
+The place to which Samson gave a name, where he quenched his thirst
+after slaying the Philistines.
+
+
+Total--one of the titles of Christ, used prophetically.
+
+
+LOW expense is the highway to fortune.
+
+
+
+
+THE SIXTH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS GATHERING OF EBENEZER SUNDAY SCHOOL,
+HASTINGS.
+
+
+Year succeeds year and marks the flight of time, and, in its flight,
+leaves the impress of many changes, proving to every thoughtful mind
+that "here we have no continuing city." But, amid the changes of life,
+the Lord encourages His people to wait upon Him; and none need to do so
+more than they who are engaged in the work of spreading His truth,
+whether among old or young; and when the spirit of prayer is kept alive
+in their midst, they are not without testimony that "the Lord is with
+them." These thoughts were in the minds of some who witnessed the
+assembling of the scholars of this school on December 27th, and they
+marvelled how any God-fearing man or woman can feel indifferent to the
+welfare of the young, or look on unmoved as they assemble together. To
+some of us these gatherings are as "the solemn assembly." We see an
+eager, expectant throng, seeking for that which shall please them--for
+the most part, seemingly unconscious, for the time at least, that they
+have immortal souls that must live in eternal happiness or eternal
+misery, and, therefore, without a knowledge of their state before God.
+We see our own children, and yearn over them in prayer before God, and,
+like Ezra, we would "afflict ourselves before God" to seek a right way
+for ourselves and our little ones.
+
+The scholars assembled in the chapel, as usual, at half-past two, when
+the proceedings were opened by a short address from our Pastor and
+President, Mr. T. Hull. Many friends encouraged us by their presence,
+though the severe weather considerably influenced their number.
+
+As soon as a hymn had been sung, Mr. Hull read and expounded the first
+Psalm, showing the character of that man whom God had pronounced
+blessed. He then earnestly besought the Lord's blessing, and followed it
+by a few words on the preciousness of truth.
+
+The report was then read by the Secretary, Mr. Ellis, and again proved
+to be of a most interesting and encouraging character. The steady
+increase that marked the earlier years of this school has been
+continuous, the number on the register now being 250, showing an
+increase of sixteen during the year. The average attendance has been 153
+in the morning, and 194 in the afternoon, as compared with 135 and 169
+in 1886. The highest single attendance was 223. Two scholars have been
+lost by death, and one teacher by removal.
+
+We give an extract from the report, as expressing the earnest feeling of
+those engaged in the work--"To record an increase in numbers is
+pleasing, as showing outward success; but the success we desire is, that
+our scholars may be brought to a knowledge of the Lord, that God's truth
+may be established in their hearts, and that many that meet with us now
+may bless the Lord for the instrumentality of Ebenezer Sunday School."
+
+The financial statement showed a balance in hand of £5 16s. 7d. This
+would be to December 1st, the date to which the accounts are made up,
+and, therefore, leaves the expenses of this day, with the prizes, to be
+met by the balance in hand, which, of course, is quite inadequate. But
+the executive feel sure that the same kind thoughtfulness that has put
+them beyond anxiety in the past will not be wanting in the future. The
+expenses of the year have been £34 11s. 4d.; the income £32 10s., which,
+added to the balance brought forward from last year, makes £40 8s.
+
+Several addresses were next given, and listened to with marked
+attention. The Superintendent, Mr. J. Trimming, spoke of his own
+feeling in the work, and how earnestly he looked for the blessing of the
+Lord; the anxiety he felt for the young, and the vast importance of
+putting a right value on the Word of God.
+
+Mr. R. Funnell, who is in his seventy-eighth year, was most
+enthusiastically received. He is a pattern of diligence and earnestness
+in everything connected with the welfare of this school and Church. He
+very nicely used the illustration of Elijah gathering the people on
+Mount Carmel, as showing his thoughts on Sunday School work. Though we
+may build altars, yet, if no living fire comes down from heaven, no
+saving work will be accomplished.
+
+Mr. Poole enforced the importance of taking heed to both what we read
+and what we hear, and to treasure up the Word, that it might be of
+profit.
+
+Mr. Ellis, the Secretary, followed with a few affectionate and earnest
+words, at the close of which, Mr. Hull proceeded to distribute the
+prizes--the most interesting event of the afternoon. Before distributing
+to the scholars, Mr. Hull called on three teachers, namely, Miss P.
+Funnell, Miss M. Funnell, and Mr. Jesse Vine, to receive a present from
+their respective classes--a proceeding most heartily received by the
+whole school. And now, class after class filed past the President to
+receive the book prize awarded to them; and though the list was long,
+and the recipients many, he had a kindly word for all. Mr. Hull does not
+spare himself on these occasions, and by his pithy remarks and
+enforcement of precepts, suggested by the proceedings, contributes in no
+small degree to the success of the gathering.
+
+Tea was now announced, the arrangements for which--both for scholars and
+friends--were excellent, and most heartily did the assembly respond to
+the invitation.
+
+At the close of the tea, the scholars again took their places in the
+chapel, and proceeded to carry out a plan wholly devised and arranged by
+the Superintendent. In introducing the subject, Mr. Trimming spoke of
+the importance of the study of the Word of God--a study which he had
+reason to fear was sadly neglected; and with a view to show the Word of
+God as a harmonious whole, and to bring into prominence the Book of
+Proverbs, he had prepared a subject, or a series of subjects, which he
+called, "The Crown of Glory." He read Proverbs iv. 7-9, as the basis of
+his plan. In a crown there are precious stones, the precious stones in
+this crown being--first, the fear of the Lord; secondly, repentance;
+thirdly, seeking God; fourthly, shunning evil; fifthly, obedience to
+instruction; sixthly, waiting upon God; seventhly, acknowledging God's
+sovereignty; eighthly, truthfulness and honesty; ninthly, guards for the
+temper; tenthly, guards for the tongue; eleventhly, God's power over all
+hearts; twelfthly, true friendship.
+
+To illustrate and bring out into bold relief each of these precious
+stones, each class had prepared portions of Scripture, hymns, or poems
+to recite as each subject was announced. It must have repaid the
+Superintendent for all the trouble he had taken, and given the friends
+much pleasure to hear the manner in which the different classes
+acquitted themselves, the Young Men's Bible Class especially. Throughout
+the entire proceedings, hymns, specially selected for the occasion, were
+nicely sung by the scholars, and contributed much to the heartiness of
+the gathering.
+
+The school-room was decorated in the usual manner, namely, with garments
+destined for distribution among the deserving poor. These garments have
+been made, as in former years, by the scholars and friends--in fact, the
+School Dorcas is now an established institution, and shows what may be
+done by kind hearts and nimble fingers.
+
+The meeting was brought to a close, shortly before nine o'clock, with
+the usual acknowledgments, the singing of "Shall we meet beyond the
+river?" and prayer, every one feeling that another pleasant and
+profitable meeting had been held.
+
+                                                C. E.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+PSALM XXXII.
+
+
+With our Bibles open before us, dear young friends, we will try to make
+a few comments on this portion of Scripture. But let us first turn to
+Psalm li., for there is the sad confession of sin which went before this
+joyful song of "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven." This
+first verse is a shout of joy and gratitude. Oh, the happiness--the
+indescribable happiness--of the forgiven sinner!
+
+Four words are used to describe wrong-doing and guilt: _transgression_,
+or trespass--a venturing on forbidden ground; _sin_--a failing, or
+falling short of goodness; _iniquity_ (second verse), wilfulness,
+rebellion; and _guile_--deceit and falsehood.
+
+And here are four pictures of God's saving love. _Forgive_ means "forth
+give." Pardon flows forth freely and fully from the heart of God to all
+who truly confess their sins and entreat His mercy. Sin is _covered_,
+for Christ is the _Propitiation_ for His people's sins, and these two
+words carry us back to the tabernacle's most holy place, and bring to
+view the covering, or lid, of the ark, the mercy-seat, sprinkled with
+atoning blood and bright with the divine glory. Jesus has died, and His
+blood cleanseth from all sin. To Him David looked, and was saved, and
+faith now looks back to His perfect Sacrifice, and rejoices in Him
+alone.
+
+Then iniquity is not imputed to the pardoned one, for "it is God that
+justifieth." "Impute" or "reckon" reminds us of an account book, with
+its columns of debt and credit entries. God will not charge His children
+with iniquity, for Jesus paid their debts, and Christ's goodness and
+merits are reckoned in their favour, and they shall receive all
+blessings for His sake.
+
+And then these blessed ones are _made_ as well as "reckoned" righteous.
+In their "spirit there is no guile." They, through God's Spirit, become
+honest and sincere. Oh, how blessed are these forgiven ones!
+
+Then David, for the sake of contrast, presents another picture--his own
+attempts at covering his sin. What clumsy, miserable failures! He tried
+to cover one stain by another blot, and then threw the cloak of
+falsehood over all. But the weary months passed on, and brought him no
+relief from the unspeakable wretchedness that filled his heart and wore
+out his body by day and by night, till Nathan, the prophet, was sent by
+God to reprove him, and then, with a full heart, David acknowledged all,
+and received the free pardon of his Heavenly Father.
+
+Now, David would be useful to others, and warn sinners against the evil
+ways they are pursuing (see ver. 10, first clause), and would encourage
+all who are seeking the Lord to hope in His mercy, who had been so
+merciful to him. God had often been his Hiding-place (ver. 7) when he
+fled from Saul into rocks and caves of the earth. His sure defence was
+the Lord Himself. He preserved him from death; and now he had afresh
+experienced His loving-kindness. And as we read this verse, are we not
+reminded of the sweet lines--
+
+  "Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
+  Let me hide myself in Thee"?
+
+The Lord Himself is the great Instructor and Leader of His people, and
+He guides them with His eye always upon them, watching and protecting
+the objects of His care (ver. 8). But David would tenderly exhort all
+who heard, and still hear him, to dread sin, and be afraid of all
+wayward, self-willed feelings. "Be ye not as the horse, or the mule,
+that have no understanding" of their owners' will sometimes, but will,
+if possible, get their own way, and need to be steered and restrained.
+"I have been like them," David seems to say, "and I was allowed to take
+my own course; and oh, how fearfully I went astray! Be warned by my
+fall, and learn, with me, to pray, 'Hold Thou me up, and I shall be
+safe.'"
+
+"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but they that trust in the Lord,"
+though they are weak, and foolish, and imperfect, "shall be compassed
+about with mercy." Therefore, "be glad in the Lord, ye righteous: and
+shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart," for He is good and
+faithful, and will preserve you; He is gracious, and will forgive; He is
+holy and almighty, and He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness, and
+fill and crown you with His glory for ever.
+
+May we be kept by the power and providence of God from falling into sin
+and evil, but since we have sinned and come short of His glory--since we
+need pardon and cleansing--may we be led to pray, with David, "Wash me,
+and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and
+renew a right spirit within me." Like him, may we know the joys of
+divine forgiveness, and then be helped to show forth our Saviour's
+praise, not only by our words, but in our lives, by walking in the way
+of His commandments, and "cleaving to Him with purpose of heart."
+
+Our next subject will be, John xvii. 22.
+
+                                  Your loving friend,
+                                                H. S. L.
+
+
+DO those things that you judge to be good, although, after you have done
+them, you may be disesteemed, being regardless of the praise or blame of
+the vulgar.--_Pythagoras._
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+WHAT KIND OF SERVICE IS MOST ACCEPTABLE TO GOD?
+
+
+God accepts that service which is prompted entirely out of love to Him
+with greater pleasure than any other. If we obey our parents and serve
+God only with a view of being praised by men, He does not accept our
+service, and we may be compared with the scribes and Pharisees washing
+the outside of the platter and of the cup, but leaving the inside
+unclean. Jesus says, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
+for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within
+they are full of extortion and excess" (Matt. xxiii. 25). Jesus means by
+this that the scribes and Pharisees gave heed to all the outward
+ceremonies of religion, and were, to all appearance, good and upright;
+but they did not really love God in their hearts. God looks upon the
+motive which prompts any little kindness to any one. He does not look so
+much at the action. He says, even a cup of cold water, if given for
+Jesus' sake, will be remembered and rewarded (Matt. x. 42; Mark ix. 41).
+Jesus says that even the widow who put her farthing into the treasury,
+gave more than the scribes and Pharisees, who put in large sums of
+money. He means by this that the widow put in all she had. She must have
+had great love to God to give her last farthing for the use of God's
+house, and the Pharisees were really prompted to put in their large sums
+of money because of the praise of man. In obeying our parents, and in
+whatever we do, we should do it as unto the Lord.
+
+Paul says, "Not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but as the servants
+of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing
+service as to the Lord, and not to men" (Eph. vi. 6, 7).
+
+"Only a kindly action,
+  Done to a child of God;
+Not done to cause attraction,
+  But as unto Christ the Lord."
+
+When Mary poured the precious box of ointment on Jesus' head, and
+anointed His feet, and wiped them with her hair, she did it out of love
+to Him, and Jesus accepted her service; and when some were angry at what
+they termed the woman's waste of ointment, Jesus reproved them, and
+said, "She hath done what she could."
+
+Oh, that we may have our sins forgiven through the blood of Jesus, and
+be enabled to serve Him acceptably, so that we may have the joy of
+hearing Him say, at the last day, "Come, thou blessed of My Father,
+inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world"
+(Matt. xxv. 34).
+
+  "Search me, O God, is my desire,
+    Nor let me from Thy ways depart;
+  To love and serve Thee I aspire,
+    Enriched with Mary's better part."
+
+                            MABEL ELLEN DENLY
+                             (Aged 11 years).
+
+ _197, High Street, Hounslow._
+
+[We have received several good Essays this month, especially those from
+E. B. Knocker, Jane Bell, Margaret Creasey, L. Rush, and P. Rackham. We
+hope all of them, as well as the very young friend who wrote the above,
+will feel encouraged to persevere.]
+
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of THE SOWER for 1887.
+
+The subject for April will be, "Who are they that will Stand Perfect in
+the Day of Judgment?" and the prize to be given for the best Essay on
+that subject, a copy of "The Life of John Newton." All competitors must
+give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the
+Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as
+the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information.
+Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
+Hastings, by the first of March.]
+
+
+
+
+"LET NO MAN DESPISE THEE."
+
+
+Does the injunction to Timothy and Titus respectively--"Let no man less
+despise thy youth," and "Let no man despise thee"--give any sanction to
+self-assertiveness? Let it not be thought so. Am I eccentric for the
+sake of eccentricity, or for the sake of attracting notoriety? Am I
+tenacious of my own rights, while sublimely indifferent to the rights of
+others? Do I try to pass myself off for better, wiser, richer, or nobler
+than I am? Then I deserve to be despised. But if, in the vindication of
+unpalatable truth, or in the steadfast and unostentatious discharge of
+duty, I encounter scorn, be scorn my portion. The sum of the matter
+seems to me to be this--While, on the one hand, I must be willing, for
+conscience' sake, to endure reproach, opposition, buffeting, and
+contempt, I must be equally concerned, on the other, to avoid every
+questionable act or thing that, with any show of reason, may cause me to
+be despised, and may thus materially mar my influence for good.
+
+Herein does the poet of the "Night Thoughts" hit the mark--"Revere
+thyself, and yet thyself despise." Let self be "of no reputation," but,
+at the same time, do thou faithfully and prayerfully pursue intrinsic
+worth, and let not "a good name" be of no account in thy regard.
+
+                                        THOMSON SHARP.
+
+
+EGOTISM and self-assertion are unamiable traits.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+A CORRESPONDENT of the _Echo_ calls attention to the fact that, at Dr.
+Lee's church, in the New Cut, on Sunday night, January 1st, the _Te
+Deum_ was sung in thanksgiving for the Papal Jubilee, and wishes to know
+what is to prevent it. "Nothing," replies the editor.
+
+
+ACCORDING to the _Charity Record_, the amount of money bequeathed in
+great sums for charitable purposes during the year just closed was more
+than £700,000; and if bequests under £1,000 be added, the total would at
+least reach £1,000,000. This is exclusive of the money given to several
+religious and book-publishing societies.
+
+
+A THIEVING ELEPHANT.--The contents of a clothes-chest, belonging to one
+of the people recently employed in the carnival in the Waverley Market,
+Edinburgh, disappeared in a rather amusing fashion. The chest had been
+lying near the performing elephants, and in the morning it was observed
+that one of these animals was particularly lively, and apparently in the
+very highest spirits. Later on, the owner of the chest discovered that
+the whole of the contents had been abstracted. Subsequent examination
+satisfied the searchers that one of the animals was responsible for the
+disappearance of the wardrobe, and as none of the articles could be
+discovered hidden away in its vicinity, the only conclusion that could
+be come to was, that the mischievous animal had swallowed the whole
+lot--boots, brushes, trousers, shirts, and several other articles of
+wearing apparel.
+
+
+THE BAKU NAPHTHA SPRINGS.--Although within the last two years
+intelligence has frequently reached Europe of extraordinary outbursts of
+mineral oil on the Apsheron peninsula, near Baku, nothing has yet
+equalled the astonishing outbreak which the Northern Telegraph Agency
+telegraphed a few days ago. Their telegram was to the effect that, near
+the petroleum works of a certain M. Arafeloff, a fountain of oil was
+throwing out over 2,400 tons daily, that this had been continuing
+without intermission for four weeks, and that more than the half of this
+enormous output was going to waste. It is to this loss of the oil that
+attention is now being directed. Not only at Arafeloff's fountain, but
+at almost every large fountain in the Balakhan-Sabuntchin district, the
+waste of this most valuable product has been enormous. Millions of poods
+of oil have been lost owing to the inefficient way in which it is
+reservoired and stored. It is now understood that the Government will
+take immediate steps to prevent this ruinous waste, and to compel the
+owners of oil-springs to adopt more scientific methods of boring,
+collecting, and storing.
+
+
+AN IRISH CABIN PAVED WITH GOLD.--The _Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette_ of
+December 31st contains the following:--"A few weeks ago, the writer was
+in a bank office in a country town in the south of Ireland, when a very
+common-looking, roughly-dressed man passed out after a conference with
+the manager. The latter said, 'Did you see that man? Well, some time
+ago, there was a run on the Bank of Ireland here, and he withdrew
+(receiving it in gold) £700 which he had there on deposit. That sum he
+informs me he still has at home, "under the kitchen flure." He has also
+more than £400 on deposit here with us.' Is it not hard to know 'what is
+truth' in Ireland? Here you have the floor of an Irish cabin literally
+paved with gold at a time when the payment of rent is impossible. It may
+be said that this is an exceptional case, but we believe such cases are
+not at all so rare as some suppose."
+
+
+THE Roman correspondent of _Le Paris_ of January 5th states that, at
+Florence, Mr. Gladstone was heard to express a desire to see Leo XIII.
+This being repeated at the Vatican, the Pope sent word to Mr. Gladstone
+that nothing would delight him more than to have a visit from him. It is
+therefore arranged, says the correspondent of the _Paris_, that he is to
+go to Rome, and when he calls at the Vatican, is to be received
+according to the ceremonial adopted there when non-Catholic visitors are
+admitted to audiences. The correspondent thinks that anxiety about the
+Irish question moved Mr. Gladstone to manifest the desire above
+mentioned, and that the Pope's celerity in reciprocating it sprung from
+the same cause. The Pope has been urged to stand out against the Land
+League; but, feeling what a momentous thing it would be to do this, he
+is, we are told, delighted to talk over the matter with Mr. Gladstone.
+Thus we see Salisbury and Co. and Gladstone and Co. are in perfect
+agreement as to giving their power to the Pope. It is only a keen
+competition between them as to which shall be first, and do it most
+effectually. Since Salisbury and Co. have encouraged the Queen to
+despise her coronation oath, we need no longer wonder that they are so
+quiet about Mr. Bradlaugh. Perhaps Lord R. Churchill's expressions on
+the subject were anticipatory of the whole matter. We find that neither
+party is worthy of being entrusted with our Protestant interests.
+
+
+NINE hundred thousand dog licenses were issued for the past year. The
+duty amounted to £340,000.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AT THE LONDON POST OFFICE.--From statistics it would seem that
+never before have the Post Office officials had their energies so
+severely taxed as on Christmas Eve last, during which day no fewer than
+15,000,000 letters and newspapers were forwarded to their destination.
+In all some 3,000 supernumerary men were engaged, these being in
+addition to the regular staff. At Coldbath Fields, where the Parcel Post
+is now conducted, some 65,000 inland and 5,000 foreign parcels were
+disposed of during the day, for the conveyance of which to the various
+railway termini more than 800 vans were brought into requisition.
+
+
+AN ATLANTIC WAVE.--An immense wave recently fell upon the steamship
+_Umbria_ with a deafening roar when a thousand miles from Queenstown,
+bringing the ship to a standstill, and causing much damage to the decks.
+Stout brass rods, an inch in diameter, that formed the railing about the
+bridge, were twisted and bent like straws. An eye-witness, who has made
+thirteen ocean voyages, thus describes the occurrence:--"The look-out
+saw the wave coming, and the course of the vessel was altered so that
+she met it obliquely, while the speed of the engines was slackened. As I
+saw the huge wave, it looked like a black mass of water with white waves
+on the top, and it rolled higher and higher as it neared the vessel.
+When it struck her she shivered from stem to stern, and the combing of
+the wave fell with the weight of tons on the deck. The wood cover of the
+forward hatch was splintered in pieces, while the water poured in
+torrents into the hold, but the bulkheads were closed. The bridge was
+broken, and the iron stanchions were twisted with enormous force, while
+the turtle-back was flattened by the tremendous weight of the water.
+There was also a panic among the passengers, most of whom were sleeping
+in their berths. When the force of the wave was felt, they thought the
+ship was going to the bottom, and many in their night-clothes rushed
+into the main dining-room. Of course the danger was past, as the wave
+rolled by, and the excitement subsided."
+
+
+ZION SUNDAY SCHOOL, HERDEN BRIDGE, YORKSHIRE.--The friends, teachers,
+and scholars connected with the above place celebrated their annual
+Christmas tea festival on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1887. The
+school-room was very tastefully decorated with evergreens and mottoes in
+touch with the season; also the tables, so richly laden with all sorts
+of nice and dainty things, had not escaped the eye of the decorators,
+for at intervals luxuriant exotics were placed, thereby contributing a
+very pleasing appearance. The children's features were lightened up with
+the thought of their happy treat; also the older people seemed to wear
+pleasant countenances, and apparently enjoyed the time, notwithstanding
+their thoughts were in a much loftier strain. The tea was served by the
+young ladies of the place to about one hundred and forty. After tea, a
+public meeting was held in the chapel, presided over by Mr. John Smith,
+of Halifax. The meeting was opened by singing a Christmas hymn, after
+which Mr. T. Barritt, senior deacon, offered prayer. Mr. E. Hargreaves
+presented the prizes to the scholars for good attendance. Addresses were
+also delivered by Messrs. T. Smith, Jos. Smith, and T. Barritt. Hymns
+were sung. The report was read by the Secretary, which showed an
+increase of eight during the year, the present number on the books being
+eighty-two. Recitations were given by the scholars, and a very good
+meeting was brought to a close a little after nine o'clock.
+
+
+ALBERT STREET CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL, OXFORD.--The prizes were distributed
+to the scholars on Tuesday, December 27th, 1887. The meeting was opened
+by singing, "I thank the goodness and the grace"; this was followed by
+prayer. Owing to the indisposition of Mr. Newton, the friends, teachers,
+and scholars were greatly disappointed in not having the usual address
+they look forward to every year from the Superintendent. There were
+twenty-eight boys and girls who said pieces, and they, one and all,
+deserve great commendation for the capital way in which they recited.
+One girl, aged twelve, rehearsed the story of "Giving Away a Child," in
+prose, from Volume IX. of the LITTLE GLEANER. Another scholar, aged
+twelve, repeated in a very perfect manner a lengthy piece containing
+seventy-nine verses, entitled "The Little Pilgrim." This too was taken
+from an early volume of the LITTLE GLEANER. A boy, aged eleven,
+rehearsed very nicely a difficult piece called "The Two Brothers, and
+what Echo said to them," and he imitated the echo capitally. Then
+followed, perhaps, the greatest attraction of the evening, namely, the
+distribution of the prizes. The first prize in the boys' class was
+awarded to William Tombs, and in the girls' class to Elizabeth Leech. As
+usual, a prize was given for the best essay--the subject, "The History
+of Joseph." This prize was awarded to a boy, who received a nicely-bound
+book, entitled "Pebbles from the Brook." The meeting was closed with
+prayer.
+
+                                             M. S. P.
+
+[Illustration: CARING FOR THE LITTLE ONES]
+
+
+
+
+CARING FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
+
+
+The faithful guardians of our cities have many and varied duties to
+perform, but perhaps in none of them does the kindness of their hearts
+shine forth as it does in their tenderness to little ones who have lost
+themselves in the winding streets of a great city. In wet or wintry
+weather they treat them tenderly, and take them home, or to the warm
+fire at the nearest station, till their parents claim them. This
+incident may well call to mind the kindness of Jesus to the little ones
+when on earth, as we read--"And they brought young children to Him, that
+He should touch them: and His disciples rebuked those that brought them.
+But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them,
+Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of
+such is the kingdom of God. And He took them up in His arms, put His
+hands upon them, and blessed them" (Mark x. 13, 14, 16).
+
+  The mothers came, in days of old,
+  To Jesus, that He might enfold
+  Within His arms their children dear,
+  And then His kindness did appear.
+
+  Disciples thought it waste of time;
+  Rebuked, as though it was a crime;
+  But it was ne'er the Saviour's way
+  To turn poor coming ones away.
+
+  Therefore the Lord was much displeased,
+  And thus the happy moment seized;
+  Them in His arms did take and bear,
+  Showing His love and kindly care.
+
+  His loving voice could never say--
+  "Oh, take these little ones away!"
+  And though the parents' hearts might fear,
+  He loved to see them coming near.
+
+  His blessed words, "Forbid them not,"
+  Are with much heavenly comfort fraught;
+  And "Suffer them to come to Me,"
+  Gives forth a welcome kind and free.
+
+  In Him sweet rays of mercy shine--
+  So tender, harmless, yet divine;
+  Upon them He His hands doth place,
+  And blesses them in truth and grace.
+
+  Displeased with what His servants did,
+  And having their unkindness chid,
+  He makes His pleasure shine so bright,
+  Causing the mothers much delight.
+
+  Oh, tell it out, to heal the smart
+  Of many an anxious parent's heart--
+  He hears the sigh, He sees the tear,
+  And each poor pleader welcomes near.
+
+  Oh, tell it out, that children dear
+  May seek His face, and never fear,
+  That He will hear their feeble prayer,
+  And give them in His love to share.
+
+  He speaks of heaven and glorious things,
+  And is so meek, though King of kings;
+  Of children says, to cheer and please,
+  "The kingdom is of such as these."
+
+  Oh, eyes that saw with kindly look!
+  Oh, arms that thus the children took!
+  Oh, hands, parental-like, thus laid!
+  Oh, words to bless, what grace displayed!
+
+  Lord, fix our youthful eyes on Thee;
+  Grant us Thy love and grace to see;
+  Cause us to love Thy blessed name,
+  And tune our tongues to speak Thy fame.
+
+  The proud, the lofty, all defiled,
+  Must be made as a little child;
+  Must all their sins and vileness own,
+  And seek for mercy at Thy throne.[1]
+
+    [1] Throne of grace.
+
+  Oh, Saviour, may Thy love so free
+  Encourage souls to come to Thee;
+  And may they, finding all they need,
+  Confess that they are blest indeed.
+
+                                             B. B.
+
+
+THE biggest lies are told for the least cause.
+
+
+
+
+A BUDDING OF HOPE.
+
+
+Dear young readers of the LITTLE GLEANER, how very true and solemn are
+the words of the poet--
+
+"The moment when our lives begin
+  We all begin to die."
+
+And at what age death may take us none of us can say. From among the
+large number who read the GLEANER, we every now and again hear of one
+being taken away by death.
+
+Lizzie Winchester, of Cross-in-Hand, was a constant reader of the
+GLEANER, and of other good books, but not to the neglecting of her
+Bible. She was a scholar in the Sunday School at Ebenezer Chapel,
+Heathfield, where she was always very quiet and attentive, and she was
+also very fond of her teacher. When she left school, she regularly
+attended chapel with her sisters, sitting where she could see the school
+children, and would complain when she got home if she saw any that did
+not behave themselves properly. She had a great reverence for the house
+of God and for the servants of God. She had but few companions, but was
+much beloved for her little acts of kindness in sending to one and
+another small presents. Some little time before her death she sent "The
+Sack and its Treasure" to a young friend at Eastbourne, as a birthday
+present; and who can say how much real good may result from such little
+gifts as that? I should not think that any one could point out a flaw in
+her moral character. But this was not grace; and although she needed no
+outward reformation, yet if the heart be not changed, there can be no
+entering into the kingdom of God.
+
+The last time that she walked to chapel, a distance of three
+miles--making six miles both ways--was on August 21st. It was not then
+known that anything was the matter with her. First her throat was sore,
+and she felt poorly, but she still kept about. On Wednesday, September
+14th, she was out, and gathered half a gallon of blackberries. She was
+up on Thursday and Friday, and put her clothes on on Saturday, but could
+not get down stairs. Towards night she was much worse, and it was found
+that her affliction was diabetes.
+
+On Sunday she was very ill, and the doctor said she could not last long.
+Her Sunday School teacher, Miss C----, was sent for, and when she
+arrived, she saw that Lizzie was sinking fast, and found that she could
+say but little.
+
+I am not going to set her up, and positively say she was a partaker of
+grace, for the very few words she uttered are not of themselves
+sufficient evidence for that. About five o'clock, during her mother's
+absence, she said, in a very low tone of voice, "I hope Jesus will heal
+my soul," or, "Perhaps Jesus will heal my soul." Miss C---- could not
+distinguish the words so as to be sure which.
+
+Early on Monday morning, the 19th of September, 1887, she died. Had she
+lived till the 26th, she would have been eighteen years of age. Just as
+she departed there was a beautiful smile came over her countenance; and
+as Miss C---- afterwards went with several friends to see the corpse,
+these words came into her mind as if some one had spoken them to her--
+
+  "Not a wave of trouble rolls
+    Across her peaceful breast."
+
+Mr. Mockford buried her on the following Saturday; and, among other
+things, he spoke from these words--"If the tree fall toward the south,
+or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth there it shall
+be." He spoke of the departed as being toward the south--toward the
+house of God, the people of God, and the ways and Word of God; and as
+she was so far joined to the living, there was hope that she would be
+found among that people at the resurrection morning.
+
+On Sunday morning in the school, one of the teachers read that chapter
+where the same words stand, and, though not at the funeral, some very
+similar remarks were made, and the same hope concerning the departed was
+expressed. I am sure of this--that, if she had that good thing in her
+heart toward the Lord God of Israel, namely, faith toward Jesus and His
+blood, she is now joining
+
+  "The host of virgin saints
+    Made to salvation wise."
+
+The question may arise, "Why say anything about her, since there is no
+more ground for hope than this?"
+
+It is to the living I want to say a few words, hoping the Lord will make
+use of this feeble account to lead the young readers of the LITTLE
+GLEANER to consider how matters stand with them before God and for
+eternity.
+
+  "Reflect, young friend, I humbly crave,
+    Thy sins, how high they mount!
+  What are thy hopes beyond the grave?
+    How stands that dark account?"
+
+Oh, how solemn your case, if you are in an unpardoned state! Death may
+come upon you speedily, and then what will you do? All who die without
+repentance and forgiveness must hear that solemn word from the lips of
+Christ, "Depart from Me!" Are you blessed with a good hope, through
+grace? Then you certainly have something to be thankful to God for. Or
+are you in some doubt as to whether you have a living hope in Christ?
+And do you fear that, if called to die, you could say no more than
+Lizzie Winchester did? Then my prayer for such an one is, that the Lord
+may stir you up to real, earnest, wrestling prayer and importunity
+respecting your salvation.
+
+  "If hellish foes beset thee round,
+    And would thy way withstand,
+  On Jesus call, nor yield thy ground,
+    And He will help command."
+
+It is no small mercy, reader, if your moral character will compare with
+Lizzie Winchester's. She was a model in this respect, and I hope you may
+be found in every way as consistent as she was, and, above all, may you
+be found in Christ Jesus, living and dying.
+
+I had thought of saying more, but, as I wish to be brief, I will
+conclude by telling you that, notwithstanding her reservedness, several
+friends, with myself, had a good hope of Lizzie. We do trust she is now
+
+                "completely blest;
+  Has done with sin, and care, and woe,
+    And entered Jesus' rest."
+
+                                                      W. L.
+
+[We hope our readers will bear in mind the motive our friend has in
+writing, and we in giving, this brief account of Lizzie Winchester; and
+may the Holy Spirit cause the reading of it to make them feel the
+importance of the new birth, and stir them up to seek clear and certain
+evidences of their salvation, so that, when they come to die, they may
+be able to confess, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that
+He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him."--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN MARCH.
+
+
+Mar.  4. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 23.
+Mar. 11. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 24.
+Mar. 18. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 25.
+Mar. 25. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 26.
+
+
+THE first character of right childhood is, that it is modest.
+
+
+
+
+"THERE IS NO REST IN HELL!"
+
+AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE.
+
+
+Dear Reader,--The following account being "an authenticated fact," it is
+put before you with the hope that you may be thereby led to solemnly
+consider the subject of a future state. God's truth does not require
+fiction to make it effectual; therefore, the net of truth should only be
+weighted with words of truth.
+
+The awful, but true, narrative now put before you takes us back for
+something like a century, to the city of Glasgow, where, at that time,
+was a club of gentlemen of the first rank in that city. They met
+professedly for card-playing; but the members were distinguished by such
+a fearless excess of profligacy as to obtain for it the name of "The
+Hell Club."
+
+Besides their nightly or weekly meetings, they held a grand annual
+festival, at which each member endeavoured to "outdo all his former
+outdoings" in drunkenness, blasphemy, and licentiousness. Of all who
+shone on these occasions, none shone half so brilliantly as Archibald
+Boyle. Educated by a fond and foolishly indulgent mother, he was early
+allowed to meet in society with members of "The Hell Club."
+
+One night, on retiring to sleep, after returning from one of the annual
+meetings of the club, Boyle dreamt that he was still riding, as usual,
+upon his famous black horse, towards his own house--then a country seat
+embowered by ancient trees, and situated upon a hill now built over by
+the most fashionable part of Glasgow--and that he was suddenly accosted
+by some one, whose personal appearance he could not, in the gloom of
+night, distinctly discern, but who, seizing the reins, said, in a voice
+apparently accustomed to command, "You must go with me." "And who are
+you?" exclaimed Boyle, with a volley of blasphemous execrations, while
+he struggled to disengage his reins from the intruder's grasp. "That you
+will see by-and-bye," replied the same voice, in a cold, sneering tone,
+that thrilled through his very heart. Boyle plunged his spurs into the
+panting sides of his steed. The noble animal reared, and then darted
+forward with a speed which nearly deprived his rider of breath. But in
+vain--in vain! Fleeter than the wind he flew, the mysterious, half-seen
+guide still in front of him! Agonized by he knew not what of
+indescribable horror and awe, Boyle again furiously spurred the gallant
+horse. It fiercely reared and plunged. He lost his seat, and expected at
+the moment to feel himself dashed to the earth. But not so, for he
+continued to fall--fall--fall--it appeared to himself with an
+ever-increasing velocity. At length this terrific rapidity of motion
+abated, and, to his amazement and horror, he perceived that this
+mysterious attendant was close by his side. "Where," he exclaimed, in
+the frantic energy of despair, "where are you taking me? Where am I?
+Where am I going?" "To hell!" replied the same iron voice, and from the
+depths below the sound so familiar to his lips was suddenly
+re-echoed--"To hell!"
+
+Onward, onward they hurried in darkness, rendered more horrible still by
+the conscious presence of his spectral conductor. At length a glimmering
+light appeared in the distance, and soon increased to a blaze. But, as
+they approached it, in addition to the hideously discordant groans and
+yells of agony and despair, his ears were assailed with what seemed to
+be the echoes of frantic revelry.
+
+Boyle at length perceived that he was surrounded by those whom he had
+known on earth, but were some time dead, each one of them betraying his
+agony at the bitter recollections of the vain pursuits that had
+engrossed his time here.
+
+Suddenly observing that his unearthly conductor had disappeared, he felt
+so relieved by his absence that he ventured to address his former
+friend, Mrs. D----, whom he saw sitting with eyes fixed in intense
+earnestness, as she was wont on earth, apparently absorbed at her
+favourite game of loo. "Ha! Mrs. D----! Delighted to see you! D'ye know
+a fellow told me to-night he was bringing me to hell! Ha! ha! If this be
+hell," said he, scoffingly, "what a ---- pleasant place it must be! Ha!
+ha! Come now, my good Mrs. D----, for auld lang syne, do just stop for a
+moment, rest, and"--"show me through the pleasures of hell," he was
+going, with reckless profanity, to add; but, with a shriek that seemed
+to cleave through his very soul, she exclaimed, "_Rest!_ There is no
+rest in hell!" and from the interminable vaults, voices, as loud as
+thunder, repeated the awful, the heart-withering sound, "_There is no
+rest in hell!_" and he who, in his vision, walked among them in a mortal
+frame of flesh and blood, felt how inexpressibly more horrible such
+sounds could be than ever was the wildest shriek of agony on earth.
+
+He saw Maxwell, the former companion of his own boyish profligacy, and
+said, "Stop, Harry! stop! Speak to me! Oh, rest one moment!" Scarce had
+the words been breathed from his faltering lips, when again his
+terror-stricken ear was stunned with the same wild yell of agony,
+re-echoed by ten thousand thousand voices--"_There is no rest in hell!_"
+
+All at once he perceived that his unearthly conductor was once more by
+his side. "Take me," shrieked Boyle, "take me from this place! By the
+living God, whose name I have so often outraged, I adjure thee! Take me
+from this place!"
+
+"Canst thou still name His name?" said the fiend, with a hideous sneer.
+"Go, then; but, in a year and a day, _we_ meet, to part no more!"
+
+Boyle awoke; and he felt as if the last words of the fiend were traced
+in letters of living fire upon his heart and brain. Unable, from actual
+bodily ailment, to leave his bed for several days, the horrid vision had
+full time to take effect upon his mind; and many were the pangs of tardy
+remorse and ill-defined terror that beset his vice-stained soul, as he
+lay in darkness and seclusion--to him so very unusual. He resolved,
+utterly and for ever, to forsake "The Hell Club." Above all, he
+determined that nothing on earth should tempt him to join the next
+annual festival.
+
+The companions of his licentiousness bound themselves by an oath never
+to desist till they had discovered what was the matter with him, and had
+cured him of _playing the Methodist;_ for their alarm as to losing "the
+life of the Club" had been wrought up to the highest pitch by one of
+their number declaring that, on unexpectedly entering Boyle's room, he
+detected him in the act of hastily hiding a Book, which he actually
+believed was the Bible.
+
+Alas! alas! poor Boyle! Like many a youth, he was ashamed to avow his
+convictions, and his endless ruin followed.
+
+From the annual meeting he shrank with an instinctive horror, and made
+up his mind _utterly to avoid it_. Well aware of this resolve, his
+tempters determined he should have no choice. How potent, how active, is
+the spirit of evil! How feeble is _unassisted_, _Christless_,
+_unprayerful_ man! Boyle found himself, he could not tell how, seated at
+that table on that very day, where he had sworn to himself a thousand
+and a thousand times nothing on earth should make him sit.
+
+His ears tingled, and his eyes swam, as he listened to the opening
+sentence of the president's address--"Gentlemen, this is leap year;
+therefore, it is _a year and a day_ since our last annual meeting."
+
+Every nerve in Boyle's body twanged in agony at the ominous, the
+well-remembered words. His first impulse was to rise and fly; but
+then--the sneers! the sneers!
+
+How many in this world, as well as poor Boyle, have dreaded a sneer, and
+dared the wrath of an almighty and eternal God, rather than encounter
+the sarcastic curl of a fellow-creature's lip!
+
+The night was gloomy, with frequent and fitful gusts of chill and
+howling wind, as Boyle, with fevered nerves and a reeling brain, mounted
+his horse to return home.
+
+The following morning, the well-known black steed was found, with saddle
+and bridle on, quietly grazing on the road-side, about half-way to
+Boyle's country-house, and a few yards from it lay the stiffened corpse
+of its master.
+
+Reader, the dream is horrible--truly horrible--yet not half so horrible
+as the reality. Ah! no. No dream can picture the full, long misery of
+"the worm that dieth not," "the fire that is never quenched," the woe
+that never ends.
+
+Oh, reader, if, under the poison of infidelity, you have been led to
+doubt the existence of hell, I pray God you may believe the awful
+reality ere you are in it!
+
+If God did not punish sin, His indifference to it would encourage it. If
+God did not punish sin, where were His holy abhorrence of it? If God did
+not punish sin, His kingdom would be a moral chaos. But His Word
+declares that "we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ,
+that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to
+that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. v. 10).
+
+Reader, as in the days of Noah, so now. Death threatens all who are out
+of Christ, and, therefore, in their sins. There was then only one place
+of safety; there is only one place of safety now--that is, in the Ark,
+Christ. "YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN." The horror you have felt in reading
+this dream will be no benefit to you if it is not made, in the hands of
+the Spirit, the means of your flying to Christ for refuge.
+
+Oh, that in some hearts, the reading of this sad narrative may prove the
+means of producing the earnest cry, "Deliver me from going down to the
+pit!" and "What must I do to be saved?" To such God's free invitation to
+the heavy-laden sinner to come to Christ for rest is given, and Jesus
+Himself declares, "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out"
+(John vi. 37).
+
+
+
+
+THE SCOTCH THISTLE.
+
+
+Why the Scots chose the thistle for a national insignia is told in this
+legend. It was at the time of an invasion, when the destinies of
+Scotland hung upon the result of a battle soon to come. The invaders
+knew that the Scots were desperate, and availed themselves of a dark,
+stormy night, and planned to fall upon the Scottish army on every side
+at the same moment. Had they been suffered to execute their plan
+undetected, they would certainly have succeeded in destroying the Scots;
+but a simple accident betrayed them. When near the Scottish camp, the
+foremost of the invaders removed the heavy shoes from their feet, so
+that their steps might not be heard, and thus stealthily advancing
+barefooted, a heavy, quick-tempered soldier trod squarely upon a huge
+thistle, the sharp point of which gave such sudden and exquisite pain
+that he cried out with a bitter curse. His cry aroused the outlying
+Scots, and apprized them of their danger, and meeting the foe widely
+divided for the purpose of encompassing the camp, they were enabled
+easily to overcome them with great slaughter. When the Scots discovered
+that it was to a thistle that they owed their victory, they adopted the
+prickly plant as their national emblem.
+
+
+
+
+COUSIN SUSAN'S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF FATHER
+CHINIQUY.
+
+"BELOVED, BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT."
+
+
+We have often wondered why any one should believe that a bit of
+consecrated bread was the true body and soul of the Lord Jesus, and
+that, as such, it should be reverenced and adored. But our surprise
+abates, though our sorrow increases, when we trace the steps by which a
+Roman Catholic reaches that point of folly and superstition, as the
+interesting narrative of Father Chiniquy brings them to our view.
+
+When he was eleven or twelve years old, he met with a class of lads
+about the same age, to be prepared for his first communion; and there he
+was taught that, just as his mother punished him more seldom and less
+severely than his father for his faults, and just as his mother often
+interceded for him and saved him from punishment altogether, so Mary was
+more pitiful, more tender, than Jesus, and when He was righteously
+angry, His mother--the mother of all who pray to her--turned away His
+anger, and averted the strokes He was about to inflict on the sinner.
+
+The thought of _this_ Christ--terrible, angry, unapproachable--was dark
+and chilling in the extreme. He seemed a Being to be feared, but not
+beloved.
+
+And then the false Church presented another Christ to view--a god made
+with hands, not of wood or stone, but of wheaten flour. The priest's
+servant girl or attendant takes the dough, bakes it between two heated
+irons, on which are graven the letters, I. H. S., and the figure of a
+cross. These wafers, about four or five inches large, when well baked,
+are cut with a pair of scissors into smaller ones, about one inch in
+size, and then the priest, taking them to the altar, and pronouncing
+Latin words for "This is My body," is supposed to turn each of these
+into the Christ who lived and loved and suffered here, a gentle, tender,
+loving Saviour; and the poor deluded creatures who tremble before Christ
+in heaven, bow down and adore, when they do not eat, the paltry wafer
+which the priest has blessed.
+
+Chiniquy himself passed whole hours, in biting wintry weather, in a
+church never warmed by a fire, worshipping this wafer god. He was
+yearning for divine sympathy and love, and hoped he had it then.
+
+And yet, though he tried to "believe a lie" so earnestly, his faith was
+often shaken by what he saw and heard.
+
+In a company of priests, a strange story was told of a drunken curate
+and his deacon, who, called to go a long journey in snowy weather, to
+carry the sacred wafer to a sick person, had a dispute with a traveller
+as to which should lead his horses into the deep snow, the cleared path
+being too narrow for the vehicles to pass each other. A terrible fight
+took place. The priest's horses took fright and returned home, breaking
+the sleigh all to pieces, and the little silk bag containing their "god"
+was lost in the snow. It was carefully sought in vain, and not till the
+month of June was it found, and then the wafer inside the little silver
+box had melted away! And the priests laughed boisterously when they
+heard it. Did they believe what they taught the people?
+
+At another time, a blind priest had been adoring the bit of bread he had
+just consecrated, but when he went to eat it, it was gone. In alarm, he
+sent for Chiniquy, who was hearing confessions not far away, and as it
+could nowhere be found, he knew that a rat had taken it, for the rats
+were both numerous and bold in that place. The old priest was
+inconsolable, though he blessed another piece and then concluded his
+devotions. But his lamentations were so deep and long that Chiniquy at
+last lost patience, and said a word or two which greatly shocked the
+superstitious priest, who severely rebuked him, and ordered him for a
+penance to kneel every day before the fourteen images representing "the
+way of the cross," and say a penitential psalm before each for nine
+days, and on no account to tell the story of the rat to any one. He
+complied with these requests, and received a very gracious absolution.
+But on the sixth day he pierced the skin of his knees while kneeling,
+and the blood flowed freely, causing him great pain whenever he knelt or
+walked, and all because he for a moment had doubted the right of Rome to
+call that a god which a priest could professedly create and a rat
+destroy!
+
+Alas! for those who follow such pernicious teachings! Let us pity and
+pray for them, and more than ever cleave to that Gospel which tells us
+that "there is only one name given under heaven by which we must be
+saved"--"one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus," who
+lives in glory, no more to suffer or die, but who is "Jesus of Nazareth"
+(Acts xxii. 8), still tender and loving as when He dwelt below, while He
+is eternally mighty to "save to the uttermost all that come unto God by
+Him."
+
+Oh, that all our hope and confidence may rest on Him--entirely on Him
+alone!
+
+
+
+
+  THE DIRGE OF AN ENGLISHWOMAN.
+
+  And ought the Queen of England's land
+  A gift to send by Norfolk's hand
+    To the old Pope of Rome,
+  His Jubilee to celebrate,
+  With Popish pomp, in grandest state,
+    In his Italian home?
+
+  Chalice and basin, richly made
+  Of shining gold; to him conveyed
+    By one of his trained band.
+  He used them both at his High Mass,
+  And proud of such a gift he was
+    From our dear native land.
+
+  Our own Victoria should be free,
+  True to "the rights" she swore when she
+    Sat in the abbey old;
+  And crown was placed upon her head,
+  And coronation oath she said
+    Over God's Word, we're told.
+
+  Up, English men and women all!
+  To the red beast[2] ne'er bow at all,
+    But leave him to his fate;
+  For Babylon will surely fall,[3]
+  And with her, nations great and small,
+    Who follow in her wake.
+
+  In days of yore she sat a queen,[4]
+  On seven hills,[5] so vile, unclean,
+    And shed the blood of saints.
+  "Come out of her, My people"[6] all,
+  Nor of her plagues receive at all,
+    Or listen to her plaints.
+
+  The Ritualists are helping fast
+  To bring us now, as in times past,
+    Beneath the sway of Rome.
+  You silly men and (silly) women[7] all,
+  Oh, why take heed to them at all
+    Who creep into the home?[7]
+
+  Alas! alas! for England's Queen,
+  And English nation too, I ween,
+    If e'er the Pope gets sway!
+  True Christians ne'er will bend the knee
+  To kiss Pope's toe so impiously,
+    Nor pence to Peter pay.
+
+                                N. P. W.
+
+_Southsea._
+
+
+NOTHING doth more hurt in a State than that cunning men pass for wise.
+
+
+  [2] Revelation xvii. 3.
+
+  [3] Revelation xiv. 8.
+
+  [4] Revelation xviii. 7.
+
+  [5] Revelation xvii. 9.
+
+  [6] Revelation xviii. 4.
+
+  [7] 2 Timothy iii. 6.
+
+
+
+
+
+EXPERIENCES IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN.
+
+
+Captain Adams, of the whaling steamer _Maud_, which lately arrived at
+Dundee from Davis Straits, has related a few interesting incidents of
+his voyage.
+
+When in Exeter Sound, Captain Adams was informed, by a native, of an
+island which was a favourite resort of the walrus, and where the animals
+could be often found asleep. He accordingly determined to try and secure
+an old specimen, and sent out four boats, with twenty-four men, to
+effect a capture. On arriving at the island, a large number of walrus
+were seen basking on the shore, and a landing was attempted, with the
+result that the colony soon showed their tusks, and made a deliberate
+attack on the boats. Ten of the foremost animals had to be shot to
+prevent mischief, and after a severe struggle a female walrus was
+lassoed. A number of small ropes were then fastened about it, and the
+huge animal was, after immense labour, hoisted into an empty boat, to
+which it had to be secured, to prevent it smashing the planks. On being
+towed to the ship, the boat and the walrus were hoisted on board, and
+suitable quarters were then found for it. It is fully eighteen months
+old, and Captain Adams is hopeful that it will survive. A young live
+bear has also been brought home.
+
+One of the noteworthy incidents of the voyage was the landing of Urio
+Etawango (the Esquimaux whom Captain Adams had staying in Dundee over
+last winter) at Durban, the residence of his tribe. For several days
+previous to the arrival of the _Maud_ off Durban, Urio was moody and
+disconsolate, but he did not reveal his mind, so that the crew were
+ignorant of his thoughts. The conjecture was, that he was sorry to
+return to the rude life of an Inuit, after his experience of civilized
+life. When the ship first arrived off Durban, there was a long stretch
+of ice running out from the land, and Urio and one of the officers
+travelled about fifteen miles, and lighted a fire as a signal to the
+tribe of his return. The signal was soon recognized, and ere long the
+whole tribe were seen making their way over the ice. Meantime Urio had
+returned to the ship, and he was taking a nap in his berth when the news
+was communicated to him of the arrival of the tribe, with his wife and
+child amongst them. The Inuits are a very impassive race, and it was
+amusing to see the cool way in which Urio and his wife shook hands, as
+though they had been parted twelve days instead of twelve months. Urio
+showed more affection towards his child, with whom he rubbed cheeks in
+the manner peculiar to the Inuits. But if the young wife was
+undemonstrative at meeting with her husband, she got into transports of
+joy at the sight of the numerous presents which friends of her husband
+in Dundee had sent out to her. One of these was a pretty melodion, and
+the young woman's eyes sparkled when she beheld it. To the astonishment
+of the ship's company, she lifted the instrument and played "There is
+nae luck aboot the hoose," finishing with "The Keel Row." It was
+subsequently ascertained that she had learned to play several tunes on
+the concertina whilst resident at the American settlements on Cumberland
+Gulf. When the other presents were laid out, the delight of Urio and his
+wife and friends was unbounded. Several of the gaudy petticoats were
+seized, and the women put them on above their sealskin dresses, being so
+fond of display that the most showy articles are always worn outermost.
+Owing to the distance of the ship from the shore, only a few of the
+lighter presents were removed at that time, but a month later the ship
+got near the land, when the remainder of the articles were put ashore
+and taken possession of by Urio.
+
+Captain Adams gives the Esquimaux chief the character of an honest,
+hard-working, warm-hearted fellow. He proved a good sailor, was beloved
+by all the crew, and he was a dead shot while seal-hunting. It is
+evident that his experience of civilized life has given him a distaste
+for his former mode of life, for he pleaded with Captain Adams to
+promise to take himself and his wife and child to Scotland next year.
+
+Captain Adams is of opinion that the whaling at Davis Straits and
+Greenland is virtually exhausted. He saw only seventeen whales
+throughout the season.
+
+
+
+
+SINGULAR CAUSE OF DEATH.
+
+
+On Friday, January 13th, Mr. Wynne E. Baxter held an inquiry at the
+London Hospital, Whitechapel, respecting the death of Moses Raphael,
+aged thirty-two years, a commercial traveller, lately residing at
+Bromley-by-Bow, who died on the previous day in the above hospital.
+About six weeks previously he complained of pains in his head and also
+of shivers, and eventually it was decided to remove him to the hospital.
+Until the last few weeks the deceased had been in apparently good
+health. He was a wonderful brain-worker, and had kept a set of books
+most accurately.
+
+Henry Muir Doyle, house-surgeon, stated that the deceased, on his
+admission, appeared drowsy, and complained of a pain in his head. He
+continued in that state till the 10th, but at times appeared quite
+clear-headed and rational. On the 10th, symptoms of apoplexy appeared,
+and deceased expired at twelve o'clock the same night. Witness said
+that, since death, he had made a most searching examination of the head
+and brain. On opening the former, he discovered an abscess in the brain.
+It was about the size of a turkey's egg, and had evidently been there
+some time. On removing the abscess, a penholder and nib were found
+protruding from the top of the right orbital plate. This had produced
+the abscess, and the abscess had caused death. The holder and nib must
+have entered the brain by way of the right eye, or through the right
+part of the nose. It was probable that they had been in there for a
+considerable time, as the bone had grown over them, and it was with
+difficulty they were separated. He had examined the eye, but had failed
+to detect any injury. It was, however, quite possible for such a thing
+to enter beneath the lid of the open eye, and the wound to heal up,
+showing no signs of the entry.
+
+The widow of the deceased man was called in, and said that her husband
+never mentioned to her anything about being hurt by a pen.
+
+The coroner said that the case was the most extraordinary that had ever
+come before him.--_Times._
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 41._)
+
+
+"_The Prince of Peace._"--ISAIAH ix. 6.
+
+T ychicus           Colossians iv. 7.
+H en                Zechariah vi. 14.
+E rastus            Romans xvi. 23.
+
+P arvaim            2 Chronicles iii. 6.
+R immon             Joshua xv. 32.
+I rijah             Jeremiah xxxvii. 14.
+N ahum              Nahum i. 7.
+C arpus             2 Timothy iv. 13.
+E lymas             Acts xiii. 11.
+
+O uches             Exodus xxviii. 11.
+F aith              Hebrews xi. 6.
+
+P erez-uzzah        2 Samuel vi. 8.
+E lisheba           Exodus vi. 23.
+A bba               Romans viii. 15.
+C orinthians        1 Corinthians vi. 19.
+E n-hakkore         Judges xv. 19.
+
+                                JOHN WEST
+                            (Aged 9 years).
+
+_Biggleswade._
+
+
+
+
+SOMETHING ABOUT FOXES.
+
+
+That always entertaining writer about birds and animals, J. G. Wood, has
+a pleasant paper on "Foxes" in the _Child's Pictorial_. The author of
+"Homes without Hands" says:--
+
+Many foxes have been known to climb trees, and hide among the branches,
+where no dog could smell them. Only a few months before these lines were
+written, the East Kent foxhounds met near Dover. The master of the hunt
+had been told that foxes had been seen to run up a tree, which was
+pointed out. A man was sent up the tree, and out came a fox, which was
+hidden among some ivy about twenty feet from the ground. The animal was
+chased, but after a while the scent failed and the fox escaped. The hunt
+then returned to the tree, and again sent a man up it. Presently a
+second fox came tumbling out of the ivy, but mistook his distance, and
+jumped into the middle of the hounds, which tore it to pieces before it
+could recover from the fall. The man continued to search the tree, and a
+third fox leaped out, and was killed close to the South Foreland.
+
+In December, 1885, a fox was found near Oswestry, and after being chased
+for some time, it ran up a tree, to the height of at least forty feet,
+and hid itself among the ivy with which the tree was clothed. It was
+soon turned out of its shelter, and, after running for about half an
+hour, got away from the hounds, probably by some equally clever trick.
+
+There are foxes known which have been hunted for several seasons and
+never taken; and those who have seen them run, say that the animals do
+not seem in the least afraid of the hounds, but trot on quite gently for
+some time, knowing that, in the end, they will give their enemies the
+slip.
+
+Mr. Webster relates an amusing story about a cunning old American fox.
+It had been chased over and over again, and always escaped near the same
+place, namely, a wooden fence outside a plantation, which led into a
+thick forest. Hounds were brought from great distances in order to catch
+this fox, but never succeeded. The fox always made its bed in the middle
+of a large field, and did not try to hide, but gave the hounds a good
+run, and then disappeared at the fence.
+
+Now, in America there are no hedges, the fields being divided by railed
+fences. Westward, where wood is almost valueless, the "snake" fence is
+used, but in the more cultivated parts the fence is made by fixing two
+strong stakes in the ground, so as to cross each other like the letter
+X, and nailing them together where they cross. Long poles are then laid
+on the crossed stakes, so that the fence can be made to any height which
+is most convenient, the poles being seldom nailed, but held in their
+place by their own weight.
+
+Now, foxes often run along a fence, or the top of a wall, as far as the
+end. Then they go back for some distance on their own track, and leap
+off the wall as far as they can, so as to mislead the hounds. Knowing
+this trick, Mr. Webber took the hounds all round the fence and the
+plantation, but could find no signs of the fox. At last he determined to
+hide himself near the place, when the hounds were again set on the fox,
+and try to discover the trick. After a while the fox came quite slowly
+until he reached the fence. Then he jumped on the top rail, and ran
+along it for about two hundred yards, until he came opposite a dead
+tree, nearly sixteen feet from the fence. He paused for a moment, and,
+with a tremendous jump, leaped upon a tree, alighting on a large knot on
+the side of the trunk. Then he ran up the trunk, which was slightly
+sloping, and entered a hollow at the top, nearly thirty feet from the
+ground, where he lay hid, no one even suspecting that he could leap
+from a fence to the tree, much less run up it. This feat was the more
+wonderful, because ivy does not grow out of doors in America, so that
+there seemed to be no foot-hold. Indeed, had it not been for the knot,
+the fox could not have climbed the tree.
+
+[Illustration: THE FOX SEES THE EAR, THE RABBIT SEES THE TAIL.]
+
+Mr. Webber was so pleased with the cleverness of the fox that he would
+not betray the trick, but amused himself on many occasions by watching
+the fox baffle the hounds.
+
+Sometimes the mother fox chooses a hollow tree, instead of a burrow, for
+her nursery.
+
+In April, 1868, a strange discovery was made in Warwickshire, seven dead
+cubs having been found in the top of a pollard oak. It was clear that
+the mother had been killed, and that the poor little cubs had died of
+hunger.
+
+The cubs, when very young, are odd-looking little creatures--not in the
+least like their parents. They are pale brown in colour, have short,
+snub noses, like those of pug dogs, and little, short, pointed tails,
+not at all like the beautiful "brushes" into which they will grow in
+course of time.
+
+The courage of the fox is wonderful. A fox was on one occasion sent to
+Mr. Bartlett for the purpose of being stuffed. It had only three feet,
+and, on opening it, Mr. Bartlett found the missing foot in its stomach!
+The animal had clearly been taken in a trap, and had freed itself by
+biting off the foot by which it was caught. We can understand why it
+should bite off the foot by which it was detained, but why it should eat
+its own foot seems rather puzzling. I am inclined to think that it did
+so by mere instinct, which made it eat any morsel of bleeding flesh that
+came between its jaws.
+
+[If foxes are only fit to be hunted down, why are they preserved for
+that cruelty?--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+ONE POOR STONE.
+
+
+Two masons were working together on the rear wall of a church, when one
+stopped the other just as he was putting a stone in its place.
+
+"Don't put in that stone," he said; "it is flakey, and will soon fall to
+pieces."
+
+"I know it isn't a very good one, but it is so handy, and just fits
+here. Nobody will see it up here, and it is too much trouble to get
+another."
+
+"Don't put it in. Take time to send for another. That stone won't stand
+the weather, and when it falls the whole building will be damaged."
+
+"I guess not. It won't hurt us, so here goes."
+
+Then he lifted the stone into its place, poor, and loose-grained, and
+flakey as it was, covered it over with mortar, and went on with his
+work. Nobody could see the stone, and none knew of its worthlessness but
+the two masons, and the church was finished and accepted.
+
+But time and the weather did their work, and soon it began to flake and
+crumble. Every rain-storm and every hot, sultry day helped its decay,
+and it soon crumbled away. But that was not all, nor the worst. The loss
+of the stone weakened the wall, and soon a great beam which it should
+have supported sunk into the cavity, a crack appeared in the roof, and
+the rain soon made sad havoc with ceiling and fresco; so a new roof and
+ceiling, and expensive repairs, were the result of one poor stone being
+put in the place of a good one.
+
+Each one of us, young or old, is building a structure for himself. The
+structure is our character, and every act of our lives is a stone in the
+building. Don't work in poor stones. Every mean action, every wrong act
+or impure word, will show itself in your after life, though it may pass
+unnoticed at first. Let every act and word of every day be pure and
+right, and your character will stand the test of any time.
+
+
+
+
+A MORNING'S WALK IN A COUNTRY LANE.
+
+
+It is pleasing, during the bright summer time, to rise early and, if our
+lot is so cast, to stroll into the country lanes and breathe the pure
+air of heaven, inhale the sweet scent of the hay, and gaze upon God's
+beautiful creation around us, and, if possible, learn some of the many
+lessons which even a tiny flower or a feeble insect may be able to teach
+us.
+
+One Monday morning during the last summer, when staying in Hampshire, we
+had such a walk, the memory of which, and its profitable lessons, are
+still fresh upon our minds.
+
+Leaving the town where we were staying, we quickly found ourselves
+between the hedgerows, and our first impulse was to turn at once into
+the green fields, but another feeling led us to keep to the lane.
+
+Was that change of plan the result of chance? Nay; the great Ruler of
+all things, who guides the flight of a sparrow, as surely orders the
+footsteps of His children.
+
+John Knox had a usual seat at his table, with his back to the window. A
+sudden impulse led him to take another seat. That night the assassin's
+bullet came through the window, and but for an overruling Providence,
+Knox would have lost his life.
+
+How many such instances might be related, which shows that even more
+surely than the smallest wheel of some vast machinery is as readily
+controlled as the largest, so surely does Infinite Wisdom control all
+the great machinery of life, from its most momentous events down to the
+smallest circumstance, such as the movement of a leaf. "If a pestilence
+stalk through our land, we say, 'The Lord hath done it.' Is it not also
+His doings when an aphis creepeth on a rosebud? If an avalanche fall
+from the Alps, we tremble at the will of Providence. Is not that will
+also concerned when the sere leaf falls from the poplar?"
+
+Pursuing our walk, we soon found that we were in the most delightful of
+country lanes, with high hedgerows and overhanging trees, that formed a
+most delightful shade from the fierce burning sun, which, even at that
+early hour, was almost unbearable. What must be the sufferings of a
+traveller in the desert, with the fierce orb of day beating down upon
+his head, as mile after mile he traverses the burning sand without shade
+or water? How grateful to him must be "the shadow of a great rock in a
+weary land," or some delightful Elim, with its seventy shady palms, and
+its twelve refreshing wells of water!
+
+But there is yet another person to whom a shade is more delightful than
+even this desert traveller, and that is, a poor sinner upon whom is
+beating down the threatened wrath of an offended God.
+
+When Thomas Bilney, as a young man, was feeling this, he endeavoured for
+a long time to find a shelter in some of the foolish and deceptive lies
+of the Romish Church. He gave his money for Masses and performed his
+penances till his purse was empty, and his body reduced to great
+weakness, and yet no shelter could he find in these from the wrath of
+God. At length he purchased a Greek Testament, and there he found the
+blessed shade, for with delight he read therein, "This is a faithful
+saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
+world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Well might he exclaim, as he
+sat down under the shadow of the cross, with great delight, "Oh, blessed
+saying of St. Paul! Oh, blessed saying of St. Paul!"
+
+Dear young reader, have you felt your need of this precious shade?
+
+Presently we noticed in the hedge a rose-bush, a large portion of which
+was hanging down broken--doubtless the work of some thoughtless person,
+who had plucked the flowers in such a reckless manner as to leave a sad
+memento of his thoughtless action. But people who live in glass houses
+must be careful what stones they throw at others. That little boy, for
+instance, was just as thoughtless who played with his ball in so
+careless a manner as to break two windows in one week. That little girl,
+too, was equally thoughtless who, when left at home to take care of
+baby, carelessly left it on the bed while she went up the street to see
+some dancing dogs, and who found, on her return, that the baby had
+fallen on the floor, and had so injured its head as to nearly result in
+its death.
+
+Ah! and how many are now in our workhouses or prisons who would have to
+confess they were brought there because they did _not think_ what
+trouble their thoughtless actions would bring upon them! Yea, we fear
+that there are many among the lost who would have to make the same sad
+confession. May the Lord cause each of our young readers to think of
+what will be the sad consequence of seeking only after earthly pleasure.
+It will be worse than a destroyed rose-bush. It may be destroyed
+health--destroyed reputation--destroyed prospects in life--yea, and, if
+grace prevent not, destroyed happiness for ever.
+
+As we proceeded further up the lane, we noticed that the hedges on both
+sides were blooming with wild roses, which were truly charming to
+behold. Our first thought on seeing them was of the dear ones at home
+(many miles away), and how we should like to transport them to this
+shady bower, to enjoy what we were beholding. But, as this desire was
+impracticable, the next thought was, to gather some of these roses and
+take them home, that they, too, might, in some measure, share in our
+pleasure. Henceforth our endeavours to please others made our walk
+doubly pleasant.
+
+A selfish person, young or old, can never be happy. But find one who
+tries to share his pleasures or comforts with others, and he is surely
+happy--like the little girl who stretched her small cloak round her
+young brother to shelter him from the wintry blast, although, strictly
+speaking, the cloak was scarcely big enough for herself. And how happy
+was that little girl who nursed a sick cat in the garret, and shared her
+meals with it, till pussy was quite well again!
+
+Boys and girls, share your pleasures with others.
+
+The next thought was, to look after the little roses, knowing they would
+last longer than the big ones.
+
+Yes, fellow-teachers, look after the little rosebuds just blooming into
+life. Who can tell but what the Master may use you to gather them from
+the world, that they may, by His grace, be prepared for His mansion
+above?
+
+_But the thorns!_ Not a single little rosebud without a thorn, yet so
+beautiful in other respects. Before Adam's fall, roses grew in Eden
+without thorns. Thorns are a badge of the curse, and even the smallest
+child has the thorn of sin. And how often we see it manifest! The thorn
+of pride, the thorn of self-will, the thorn of temper, the thorn of
+deceit.
+
+But, dear young friends, are these thorns a trouble to you? Would you
+like their power destroyed, and guilt pardoned? Listen, then, to God's
+way of salvation.
+
+As we gathered the roses, the thorns pricked our hands. But never mind
+that. We love them too much to mind a few pricks.
+
+Have you ever thought how the thorns (as long as your finger) were
+plaited into a crown, and pierced the head of Jesus? Yes, He loved His
+children so much that He willingly endured even the "nails," as well as
+the thorns, that they might be for ever saved from the wrath to come.
+
+A child once cried for fear when a wasp was near, but his mother said,
+"Don't fear, my child! It has left its sting in my hand. It won't hurt
+you."
+
+Yes, Jesus has been pricked and stung by sin that His people may for
+ever be delivered from its fatal power.
+
+May you, dear young friends, from a living faith, be enabled to commit
+your soul into His keeping who is able to "save unto the uttermost all
+that come unto God through Him."
+
+But how easily many of the roses scattered! We only touched the branch,
+and they were gone. Such is life! We may be in full bloom one day, but
+in a moment we may be carried into eternity. "We all do fade as a leaf."
+The longest life is but brief. Then well may we pray--
+
+  "Prepare me, gracious God,
+    To stand before Thy face;
+  Thy Spirit must the work perform,
+    For it is all of grace."
+
+                                      EBENEZER.
+
+
+
+
+"KEEP THE STAR IN SIGHT."
+
+
+On a wild spot on the coast of Cornwall I fell in with Will Treherne. He
+was as sound an "old salt" as ever manned a lifeboat or went aloft in a
+gale of wind. He was getting an old man when I used to see him sitting
+on the beach, when his day's work was done, smoking his pipe and gazing
+at the evening star. He told us boys stirring stories of sea life and
+adventure. One evening he narrated the following:--
+
+"Thirty years ago, in just such a night as this, the wind whistling as
+it does now, with the sea rising, and with as crazy a craft as seamen
+ever sailed in, I found myself drifting along a dangerous coast.
+
+"Our captain was an experienced one, and, when he saw what weather we
+were threatened with, he took his place at the wheel, and did his best
+to keep our courage up. He was in terribly poor health, but his spirits
+rose above his bodily weakness, and he gave his orders with a pluck and
+decision that made men of every one of us.
+
+"'Will Treherne,' he cried, 'stand by me if you can be spared. My
+strength is going. Do you see that star right ahead?'
+
+"'Yes, sir.'
+
+"'If my strength should fail, steer right ahead for that, and you are
+safe. And oh, remember, Will, that there is another Star you must always
+keep in view if you are to get safely into port at last.'
+
+"I knew what he meant. He was pointing me to the Lord Jesus Christ, for
+he was as good a Christian as he was a captain, and he never lost a
+chance of saying a word that might steady us youngsters, and make us
+think of our souls. I have heard many a sermon since that night in the
+storm, when he told me to keep the star ahead, but none took more hold
+on me than that one that night, when I lost my truest and best friend."
+
+"Did you lose him that night?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, my lad," the sailor answered, sadly. "His hour was come. When he
+could stand the gale no longer, he shouted as loud as he could, 'Keep
+the star in sight, my lads; keep the star in sight!' Then he was helped
+down to the cabin, and I never saw him alive again. I was lashed to the
+wheel, and though the spray well-nigh blinded me, yet I managed to keep
+the star in sight, as the first officer gave his orders for the working
+of the ship.
+
+"After two hours of steering through a narrow and dangerous channel, we
+found ourselves in a friendly sea. The star had guided us right.
+
+"When the ship was in safety, and my turn of work was over, I went down
+to the captain's cabin. A flag was thrown over his body, but his manly,
+resolute face, which even death had not much altered, was visible. I
+knelt down there and prayed God to guide me through the storms of life;
+and I believe I can say that, from that night, in spite of my faults and
+failings, I have kept the Star in sight. Now you will know why I am such
+a star-gazer; and if I may give you a bit of counsel, my lad, let me
+advise you to seek grace to begin and steer your course by the Star of
+Bethlehem; and, if your eye is fixed on that Star, you will come safely
+through the dangers of life into the port of peace at last."--_Chatterbox._
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER OF GEORGE III. TO LORD GRENVILLE,
+
+WHEN APPLIED TO ON THE ROMAN
+CATHOLIC BILL, MARCH, 1807.
+
+
+MY LORD,--I am one of those that respect an oath. I have firmness
+sufficient to quit my throne and retire to a cottage, or to place my
+neck upon a block on a scaffold, if my people require it; but I have not
+resolution enough to break an oath--an oath I took in the most solemn
+manner at my coronation.
+
+[God grant that the legislators of the present day may feel speedily the
+justice and wisdom of the noble sentiment of this illustrious monarch.]
+
+
+THE LATE PRINCE CONSORT'S OPINION OF POPERY.
+
+"It is an open secret," says the _Christian_, "that the Queen insists on
+exercising her right of private judgment on all ecclesiastical affairs
+in which she has to act. Before giving her assent to the selection of a
+golden Mass bowl as her Jubilee present to the Pope of Rome, the fact
+possibly escaped Her Majesty's memory that the late Prince Consort's
+opinion of Romanism was summed up in Adam Smith's statement, as
+follows--'The greatest conspiracy ever hatched against human liberty,
+civil and religious, is the Roman Catholic Church.' This quotation
+appears on the title-page of the 'Prince Consort's Speeches,' edited by
+His Royal Highness himself."
+
+
+
+
+A BIBLE WITH PINS IN IT.
+
+
+It was an old Bible, a family Bible, a well-worn Bible--the Bible of an
+old lady who had read it, and walked by it, and fed on it, and prayed
+over it for a long lifetime. As she grew older and older, her sight
+began to fail, and she found it hard to find her favourite verses. But
+she could not live without them, so what did she do? She stuck a pin in
+them, one by one; and after her death they counted 168.
+
+When people went to see her, she would open her Bible, and feeling over
+the page after her pin, would say, "Read there," or "Read here"; and she
+knew pretty well what verse was stuck by that pin, and what by this pin.
+She could indeed say of her precious Bible, "I love Thy commandments
+above gold; yea, above fine gold; they are sweeter to me than honey and
+the honey-comb."
+
+
+
+
+  BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+  The father of a blind man.
+  An ancient musical instrument.
+  A measure of time.
+  An immense fish.
+  A non-believer.
+  A foreign language.
+  A relation of Jacob.
+  An animal.
+  One of Joseph's sons.
+  A domestic animal.
+  A very valuable stone.
+  A particular time in the day.
+  Another word for a letter.
+
+                          JOSEPH SMITH
+                       (Aged 12 years).
+
+
+
+
+THRILLING SCENES AT THE FORTH BRIDGE WORKS.
+
+
+Two more fatal accidents were, some time since, reported from the Forth
+Bridge works, making thirty-four since the work began. One of the
+engineers of the bridge, Mr. Benjamin Baker, recently gave a lecture in
+Dundee, descriptive of the work, in the course of which he gave the
+following account of the dangers of the undertaking:--
+
+Much of the work, he said, required men of exceptional hardiness,
+courage, and presence of mind. In August last, six men were standing on
+a few planks hanging by iron hooks, at a height of about 140 feet above
+sea level. One of the hooks gave way without any warning, and in a
+fraction of a second the planks slipped away from under the men's feet.
+Short as the time was, with the lightning quickness of thought, three of
+the six men saved themselves by springing at and clutching hold of
+pieces of the steel work. Another man plunged headlong down twice the
+height of the Tay bridge into the water. His hardiness was such that the
+terrible flight through mid-air and shock on striking the water--a shock
+which he had seen break planks like matches--did not incapacitate him
+from grasping the rope which was cast to him, or from resuming work
+after he had recovered from the immediate effects of the shock.
+
+As regards courage, two of the men were left hanging by the arms with a
+clean drop of 140 feet below them. Although presumably unnerved by
+seeing their comrades take that terrible flight, the first man reached
+by the rescue party said, "I can hold on. Go to the other man; he is
+dazed." Such workmen upheld the best traditions of their
+fellow-craftsmen in the past.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+"_And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be
+one, even as We are One._"--JOHN xvii. 22.
+
+
+"The glory of the Lord endureth for ever"; and in this sublime prayer
+Jesus speaks of the glory that He had with His Father before the world
+began, and asks that He may be glorified in finishing His saving work.
+
+But what is the "glory" spoken of in our text? Two thoughts must guide
+us to its meaning--first, the Father had given it to His Son; secondly,
+Jesus had given it to His disciples.
+
+Christ is God, and, as God, is, and ever must be, glorious. But this
+glory was _not given_ Him; it was _His own_. Christ is the one Mediator
+between God and men--the only Way to heaven and happiness--the
+all-sufficient and only Saviour of sinners, who redeemed them by His
+blood, and saves them by His life. But His glory, as Mediator and
+Saviour, He will not give to another. He received it, and is crowned
+with it, _alone_.
+
+Yet He says, "I have given My disciples"--"the men Thou gavest out of
+the world"--"the glory Thou hast given Me." He is the Truth. His words
+were always divinely full of heavenly meaning. Let us try by other
+Scriptures to understand this one.
+
+In Isaiah xl. 10, we read, "Behold, the Lord God will come with strong
+hand"--or will come as a Mighty One--"behold, His reward is with Him,
+and the recompense of His work [see margin] is before Him." In Hebrews
+xii. 2, we are told that, "for the joy that was set before Him, He
+endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down," now and for
+ever, "at the right hand of God." This recompense, this joy, is Christ's
+glory. And what is it? In one word, it is _salvation_--the
+satisfaction, the honour, and delight, of rescuing, and eternally
+enriching, the people whom He loved from eternity, and will for ever
+love. As Cowper sweetly sings--
+
+  "Of all the crowns Jehovah wears,
+    Salvation is His dearest claim;
+  That gracious sound well-pleased He hears,
+    And owns Emmanuel for His name."
+
+In this--His joy, His glory--He makes His people share here in this
+world, and in this present time--
+
+  "Before they reach the heavenly fields,
+    Or tread the golden streets."
+
+They are interested in His salvation, and on this word we may reflect a
+little, for "interest" has a two-fold meaning. It means, benefit or
+profit; and it also means, friendly, loving concern for a person or an
+object. If I am interested in a paying business, I share in its profits,
+and am benefited by it; but I am interested in many things that bring me
+no money, and I gladly give them all the help I can, because I long for
+their success and prosperity.
+
+And in this double way believers are interested in Christ's salvation.
+They are for ever benefited by it. His death secures their endless life;
+His sorrow yields them joy and peace; and His poverty has made them rich
+for evermore. "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift," is the glad
+cry of all who know that this precious salvation is their own.
+
+Then comes the other form of interest--loving, prayerful desire that
+Christ may be glorified; that "the kingdom of God may come"; that
+sinners may be brought to the Saviour. The burdened heart, longing for
+peace, may be too full of its own sorrows to think much of others; but
+the forgiven child of God, rejoicing in Jesus as his own dear, almighty
+Friend, says, or desires to say--
+
+  "Now will I tell to sinners round
+  What a dear Saviour I have found;
+  I'll point to His redeeming blood,
+  And say, 'Behold the way to God!'"
+
+Thus the apostles laboured to carry the Gospel wherever they could
+travel, though, by so doing, they were exposed to persecution,
+suffering, and death. But they longed to spread the joyful news abroad,
+and to be the means of leading their hearers to Jesus; and when they
+"saw the grace of God," they were glad with an unspeakable joy. And, so
+far as we are animated with Christ's spirit, we, too, shall seek after
+the same blessed results.
+
+And Jesus has given His glory to His people that they may all be united
+together, even as He and His Father are One--one in heart, and mind, and
+aims.
+
+We hear a great deal just now about the "unity of Christendom," or the
+"Christian world," and some would like to blend the Greek and Roman with
+the English Church. Now, what sort of union would that be? Others do not
+go quite so far, and yet they would unite together a variety of creeds
+and people by dropping every important difference, and giving up
+whatever was not generally acceptable. But let us never forget that
+there can be no Christian union without Christ; no holy unity unless
+founded on God's Word. Gas jets affixed in a certain way to our ceilings
+are called "sun-lights." They are only artificial lights, after all; and
+whatever name it may assume, unless Christ is the Centre of unity, the
+union is not Christian, for "if any one have not the Spirit of Christ,
+he is none of His." But union to and in Christ is very real and true
+even now, and those who follow Jesus can hold sweet intercourse together
+in this world. "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ
+in sincerity."
+
+We are, at best, imperfect in the present state. We know but in part.
+Our love is often cold, and sin still dwells in the heart; but in the
+glory that is yet to come, we, if we are His, shall know, even as we
+have been known of Him. Perfect love will cast out all distance and
+coldness, and perfect holiness will possess every saved one.
+
+"Beloved," wrote the same Apostle who recorded the Saviour's prayer,
+"now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
+be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we
+shall see Him as He is." May this glorious prospect be ours, through His
+grace.
+
+Our next subject will be, Matthew vi. 22, 23--_Mental Eyes: Darkened and
+Illuminated_.
+
+                                  Yours affectionately,
+                                             H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+  A WORD TO SELF-SEEKERS.
+
+
+  I would not lead the selfish life
+    That never seeks to throw
+  A pleasant ray of happiness
+    On other people's woe.
+
+  I scorn the folks who will not strive
+    To lessen want and care;
+  Nor lend a helping hand to those
+    Who have so much to bear.
+
+  Is there not misery enough
+    On this terrestrial ball
+  To spring some sympathetic chord
+    Within the hearts of all?
+
+  Oh, ye who only seek your own--
+    Who hold yourselves so dear
+  That ye can never give the sad
+    One simple word of cheer--
+
+  Believe me, if ye wish to spend
+    A life of happy ease,
+  Seek not your own, but how ye may
+    Your weary brothers please.
+
+  And He who marks each gentle deed
+    Of loving sympathy,
+  May whisper His approving word--
+    "Ye did it unto Me."
+
+                       CARRIE LIGHT.
+
+_Brighton._
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+SELF-HELP.
+
+
+There are six important heads which this subject may be placed under,
+viz., Industry, Patience, Perseverance, Cheerfulness, Courage, and
+Prudence.
+
+_Industry._--This is a very important thing in life, and you will never
+be any good to the world without you possess it. There have been men
+who, by their patient industry, have done their country a great deal of
+good by inventing engines and machines to mitigate the labours of men;
+and some of these men have been mobbed and nearly killed by their
+townsmen, who thought their work would be taken away instead of
+enlarged, and very often their inventions have been broken to pieces.
+
+Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes ix. 10, says, "Whatsoever thy hand
+findeth to do, do it with thy might"; and in Proverbs vi. 6--"Go to the
+ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise."
+
+_Patience._--Patience is a very needful thing to self-help, for without
+it you will not be able to do anything that requires time and trouble.
+You have need of patience when you are waiting for a thing which you are
+in great haste to obtain.
+
+David says, in Psalm xxxvii. 7, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently
+for Him."
+
+_Perseverance._--There are some people who, if they start a certain
+thing, have not the necessary perseverance to finish it; while others,
+who persevere, succeed. Great men you read of in history would never
+have been so distinguished had it not been for their perseverance.
+Bernard Palissy, who discovered the white enamel for pottery, had a
+great many trials to bear, and was years before he perfected it; but he
+persevered, and at last succeeded.[8]
+
+  [8] For a fuller account of Palissy, see LITTLE GLEANER for July, 1879.
+
+Oh, that we may be taught to trust in Christ, and pray, with the poet--
+
+"Lord, hast Thou made me know Thy ways?
+  Conduct me in Thy fear;
+And grant me such supplies of grace
+  That I may persevere."
+
+_Cheerfulness._--This is a very essential thing to self-help. If you
+have a task, and you have somebody to cheer you up, your task feels
+lighter, and the time passes better. People who are dull, and not
+cheerful, find the time pass slower, and the work seems heavier. There
+have been men who have been cheerful even when they have been in great
+difficulties.
+
+Christ said to the man sick of the palsy, "Son, be of good cheer; thy
+sins be forgiven thee."
+
+_Courage._--Moral courage is one of the most important features in this
+subject. You will be more likely to succeed if you are bold and
+courageous. It is right to be courageous in a good cause, but not in a
+wrong one. It is real courage, when wicked persons try to entice you to
+drinking, gambling, and other vices, if you boldly answer, "No."
+
+Solomon says, in the Book of Proverbs xxviii. 1--"The wicked flee when
+no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion."
+
+_Prudence, or Foresight._--It is wise to consider what the consequences
+of your actions will be. Some people do not stop to do so, and thus run
+needlessly into danger. You cannot rightly practise self-help without
+you are prudent. It is very imprudent to risk life or anything
+unnecessarily, or to leave things to the last minute or two. If you are
+imprudent, you will regret it in after life.
+
+In Proverbs xvi. 21, it says, "The wise in heart shall be called
+prudent."
+
+Self-help is not a spiritual thing, but a temporal one; but you cannot
+truly succeed in these things without God's help and blessing. May we,
+in the things of daily life, and especially in spiritual things, be led
+to say, like David, in Psalm cxxi., "I will lift up mine eyes unto the
+hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which
+made heaven and earth," remembering that He does not approve selfish
+living, but says, "To do good and to communicate, forget
+not."--(_Abridged._)
+
+                                   F. E. H. ANDREWS
+                           (Aged 13 years 5 months).
+
+1, _Tavistock Terrace,
+Upper Holloway, London, N._
+
+[Lilly Rush, W. E. Cray (age not given), A. M. Cray, E. B. West, A.
+Pease, and Margaret Creasey have sent fair Essays, especially the
+first-named, and we hope they will still persevere.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "From the Loom to a
+Lawyer's Gown; or, Self-Help that was not all for Self," presented by a
+friend who reads the GLEANER.
+
+The subject for May will be, "How to be Useful in the World," and the
+prize to be given for the best Essay on that subject, a copy of "Notable
+Workers in Humble Life." All competitors must give a guarantee that they
+are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their own
+composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot
+undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the
+first of April.]
+
+
+ONE good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters. In the home, she is
+the "loadstone to all hearts, and loadstar to all eyes." Imitation of
+her is constant--imitation which Bacon likens to "a globe of precepts."
+But example is far more than precept. In its instruction is action.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+THE ELEPHANT'S STRENGTH.--The ordinary strength of an elephant is
+calculated as equal to that of 147 men.
+
+
+A FIGHT AMONG LIONS.--A fearful struggle took place recently between
+eight lions in a cage at the menagerie at Liverpool Exhibition. One
+lion, valued at £150, was killed.
+
+
+THE red-wood forests of California, Oregon, and Washington Territory
+are, perhaps, the most wonderful of the world. The average yield per
+acre is 100,000 feet lumber, or 64,000,000 feet to the square mile.
+
+
+SIR JOHN COODE'S scheme for the protection of the foreshore at Hastings,
+by means of two stone groynes and an extended breastwork at the east end
+of the town, was completed last August. The total cost has been £30,000.
+Sir John remarked that the beach was accumulating at the rate of 40,000
+to 50,000 tons per annum.
+
+
+EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF STRANGULATION.--An extraordinary case has occurred
+at Howick, near Preston. A little boy named Fisher, the son of a farmer,
+was climbing an apple tree, when he slipped between two branches. His
+jacket turned up fast round his neck, and as he could not get a button
+undone, he was strangled.
+
+
+A MONSTER DOGFISH.--A gigantic dogfish, weighing ten cwt., has been
+hauled ashore by a fisherman at Mazargues, in the Department of the
+Bouches-du-Rhone. The animal made a desperate struggle on the bank, and
+its head had to be battered in with a club before it could be mastered.
+A monster of a similar kind, some time ago, ate up a boatman and his
+boy, whose boat had been capsized in the river.
+
+
+IT has been calculated that, after Prince von Bismarck's recent great
+speech, 1,218 telegrams, containing 194,296 words, were despatched to
+326 different places on the world's surface. Two hundred and thirty-five
+telegraph clerks were employed at sixty Hughes' apparatus, 155 Morse's,
+and seven Estienne's, to carry out the work; and the number of words in
+the Chancellor's speech is computed at 10,997.
+
+
+A PECULIAR CASE.--Captain Russell has had under treatment a valuable and
+favourite cat, belonging to a resident of Spittlegate, Grantham. The
+poor animal was taken with a choking sensation about three weeks ago,
+and, as it could not eat, soon grew very thin, and appeared to be going
+"the way of all flesh." After vain attempts at restoration, pussy was
+taken to the afore-named veterinary surgeon, who prescribed for her. She
+was fed with a spoon for some days, and at length a substance was
+discovered to be forming by the side of the neck. Supposing it to be a
+boil, he lanced it, and found it to contain a piece of metal, which he
+at once extracted, in the shape of a sewing-needle with a piece of
+cotton attached. The cat is now recovered, and but little the worse for
+the painful operation.--_Grantham Journal._
+
+
+THE Emperor of China, who is about to be married, is doing the thing
+handsomely. His wedding gifts to his young bride include a gold seal
+richly inlaid with jewels, the handle being formed by two gold dragons;
+ten piebald horses with complete trappings; ten gilt helmets and
+cuirasses: 1,000 pieces of satin of the first quality, and 200 pieces of
+cotton material; 200 ounces of gold; 10,000 ounces of silver; one gold
+tea service, and one silver tea service; twenty horses with complete
+trappings, and twenty without. The parents of the lady receive also 100
+ounces of gold; one gold tea set; 5,000 taels of silver; one silver tea
+set; 500 pieces of silk; 1,000 pieces of cotton material; six horses,
+completely harnessed; a helmet and cuirass; a bow and a quiver, with
+arrows; each parent one Court dress for summer, and one for winter, one
+every-day dress, and a sable coat. The brothers and servants of the
+bride also receive rich and costly presents.
+
+
+FROM DOVER TO CALAIS IN TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES.--A novel ship has recently
+been invented by Mr. Thomas Hitt, of Brandon, Suffolk. She is somewhat
+of a semi-twin type, one-third wider than the ordinary sailing ship, but
+not so wide as a paddle-steamer. Between the supposed divided halves,
+which ascend to about eighteen inches above the water-line, is a
+wheel-race, extending from bow to stern. In the centre of this
+wheel-race a pit is formed, into which the lower part of the periphery
+of the wheel descends. The wheel, when rotating, drives the water
+through the race, and out at the stern, with great velocity. The maximum
+result of experiments indicates that a ship of 500 tons, with a wheel of
+50 feet diameter, making 50 revolutions per minute, will attain a speed
+of 56 knots an hour, after allowing one-fourth for slip and other
+contingencies. Although the wheel is described as making 50 revolutions
+per minute, it may reach 100, more or less. This excess of power may be
+utilized for the production and storage of electricity, to be used
+either for illuminating purposes, or for propelling the ship when
+becalmed.
+
+
+A FAITHFUL MASTIFF.--John Templeton is a blacksmith, who owns a fine
+specimen of the English mastiff. Recently Mr. Templeton was working at
+his forge, putting a new steel in the point of a pick. The steel was
+slightly burned in the heating, and, instead of welding, flew into
+half-a-dozen pieces. One piece struck the blacksmith above the right eye
+with such force as to fasten itself in firmly. He staggered and fell
+backwards. How long he was unconscious he does not know, but when he
+revived, the dog lay in the middle of the shop, crying almost like a
+human being, and rubbing his jaws in the dust of the floor. The piece of
+steel which had struck Mr. Templeton lay a short distance from the dog.
+The faithful animal had seized the hot steel with his teeth, and drew it
+from the frontal bone of Mr. Templeton's head. The dog's mouth was badly
+burned.--_Albany Journal._
+
+
+THE DISCOVERIES AT POMPEII.--A Naples correspondent says--"The waxed
+tablets found, together with silver vases, &c., at Pompeii, all belong
+to one woman, Decidia Margaris, and are contracts precisely similar to
+those found twelve years ago belonging to one Lucio Cecilio Giocondo;
+but unlike those, which were enclosed in a strong iron box, and had
+undergone a process of carbonization which preserved their legibility
+for eighteen centuries, the present ones were only folded, together with
+the vases, in a thick cloth, which the rain-water had penetrated,
+reducing the wood to pulp, and wearing away the wax on which the
+characters are impressed, so that only some fragments preserved the
+writing; and a few days after the discovery these too were lost, the wax
+separating from the wooden tablets and breaking up into minute
+particles. There remains now only one tablet, which has been naturally
+preserved by being impregnated with oxide of copper. It is the contract
+for the sale of young slaves to Decidia Margaris."--_Daily News._
+
+
+A GENUINE FAST OF TWENTY DAYS.--An extraordinary case of prolonged
+fasting is reported in connection with the severe weather. On December
+22nd, 1887, a peasant woman from Opergrabern, near Vienna, went to
+receive some money that was owing to her at a small village a few miles
+distant. The amount was not paid, and the woman had only four kreutzers
+in her pocket, with which she bought two rolls of bread. On the way home
+she was caught in a heavy snow-storm, and took shelter in a small hut in
+a vineyard. The storm continuing, she decided to spend the night where
+she was, and divested herself of some of her upper garments to wrap up
+her feet. The next morning, when she awoke, she could not rise, being
+partially paralyzed by the cold. Her cries for help were unheard, and it
+was only on the 11th of January she was found by a woodcutter's wife,
+having been twenty days without food. She was in a precarious condition,
+but there is some hope of her recovery.
+
+
+YOUTHFUL HEROINES.--The Royal Humane Society have awarded their highest
+honour--a silver medal--to a young lady named Fanny Rowe, only fifteen
+years of age, daughter of the Rev. J. G. Rowe, vicar of Topcroft,
+Bungay, for saving the life of a lad named Franchs, at Neuchatel, under
+circumstances of great gallantry. The lad was playing by the jetty with
+his brother, when he fell into deep water. His brother jumped in to save
+him, but, not being able to swim, was soon in difficulties. A number of
+men ran about crying out "Who can swim?" but no one attempted a rescue
+until Miss Rowe came up, kicked off her shoes, but otherwise fully
+dressed, without a moment's hesitation rushed into the water, swam to
+the place, dived, and caught the younger brother, but could not keep
+hold of him, his hair being so short. She dived again and caught him,
+this time by the ear, and brought him to the jetty, where he was lifted
+out, and then she returned and saved the elder brother. The bronze medal
+was also unanimously bestowed upon Miss M. Strachy, aged seventeen,
+daughter of Her Majesty's Consul at Dresden, for saving Miss Taylor at
+Sandy Island, Heligoland.
+
+
+ZION CHAPEL, FOLKESTONE.--The New Year's Meeting of the Sunday School
+took place on January 16th. After doing justice to the tea, the children
+and friends met in the chapel, where Mr. Weeks, of Tenterden, opened the
+meeting with the reading of the fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah and
+prayer. Some of the children repeated the Epistle of James, having
+learned various portions of it. Mr. Brown, of Tadworth, spoke on the
+beginnings of true religion, using the alphabet--A for attention to
+various good things, and not to wickedness; B for the Bible; C for
+conviction, which he described as a sure and certain knowledge of our
+sinful state, not fancies floating in the mind, and he illustrated it by
+a condemned convict's knowledge of his own sad case. Mr. Weeks then
+sought to encourage the children in the ways of obedience to parents and
+storing Scripture in the memory, of which latter no enemy could rob
+them. He also spoke to the teachers and friends, giving a word of
+encouragement. Mr. Smith spoke of the need of Jesus Christ being formed
+in the heart as the only hope for lost sinners, after which the yearly
+prizes were handed to their respective owners, also the gifts of
+clothing by an old friend of the children. A few words of prayer closed
+a happy meeting.
+
+                                                   E. M.
+
+[Illustration: "ARE YOU SURE THAT NOTHING IS LEFT UNDONE?" (_See page
+74._)]
+
+
+
+
+AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF A BARRISTER.
+
+
+I was engaged in my study one morning, when a client of mine, a Mr.
+B----, was introduced. He was in a state of great excitement, having
+heard that the Lord Chancellor was to pronounce judgment on his case
+that day.
+
+"Are you sure," he inquired, "that nothing is left undone? If judgment
+is given against me, I am a ruined man. All my hopes are centred in its
+results. On the issue hang the prospects of my darling wife and
+children. Oh, tell me, can anything further be done to, if possible,
+ensure success?"
+
+I endeavoured to calm him by saying that we were fully prepared, and
+that counsel's opinion was in his favour. This assurance having appeased
+him a little, he left me, appointing to meet again in an hour at the
+court. The Chancellor had just taken his seat as I entered, and was
+proceeding to give judgment in my client's case.
+
+Casting my eyes around, I observed poor Mr. B---- seated on a bench,
+immediately opposite his lordship. He did not recognize me, for his
+entire attention was riveted on the oracle from whence was to proceed
+the eagerly wished for, but dreaded decision. To look upon that man was
+painful indeed; and although many years of professional experience had
+familiarized me to such scenes, yet I could not behold him without
+emotion, and trembled to think of the awful effect an adverse decision
+would have on a mind so sensitive as his, and wrought to the highest
+degree of painful suspense. My fears were but too soon realized. After
+an elaborate and carefully considered review of the case, a final decree
+was awarded against my client. Never shall I forget the agony of despair
+depicted on his countenance at that moment as, rushing from the court,
+he hissed into my ear the fearful words, "Oh, I am undone!"
+
+It was a damp November day on which the circumstance above narrated
+occurred. Wending my way homewards through Chancery Lane, the words of
+my unfortunate client recurred to me. "Will _my_ case be called on
+to-day?" thought I; "and is nothing left undone to ensure me a
+favourable decree at the hands of that eternal Judge before whom I must
+stand, sooner or later?"
+
+Dear reader, you and I have both a case of vital importance, the
+judgment of which will be eternal happiness or eternal misery. If we
+have no Friend at court, no skilful Advocate to plead, anything of our
+own--any pleadings based upon our own works or performances--will most
+assuredly fail. A form without the power will not stand the test of that
+tremendous, awful day. All false coverings will then be stripped off.
+Naked, ruined, and undone for ever must we be unless found clothed with
+the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the God-Man. The lines of one of our
+poets have aptly described the case--
+
+  "A debtor to Jehovah's law,
+    My soul by nature stood,
+  And Justice was about to draw
+    His sword to shed my blood.
+
+  "'Stand forth! Stand forth!' he sternly cried,
+    'And pay me what you owe!'
+  "'Tis done,' said Jesus, 'for I died;
+    Loose him, and let him go!'"
+
+What a solemn consideration it is that I who write and you who read will
+stand in one case or the other--"Loose him, and let him go!" or, "Bind
+him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness!" I ask myself--and
+may I ask you--Does it cause you any searchings of heart, any anxious
+thoughts, any tossings to and fro upon your bed? "How stands the case,
+my soul, with thee?" Are matters right between God and thy soul? Have I
+any reason to hope that I shall be acquitted? Or are you, Gallio-like,
+caring for none of these things, "dancing the hellward road apace"? This
+we are sure of--that the judgment of God will be according to truth, and
+those who die in their sins, destitute of an interest and hope in
+Christ, will have to confess that the Judge of all the earth has done
+right. Your debts are great--too great for you ever to pay. Are you
+trying to wipe off part of the score, endeavouring to do your best, and
+trusting Jesus Christ to make up the rest? Hopeless case, for--
+
+"Could thy zeal no respite know,
+Could thy tears for ever flow,
+All for sin could not atone;
+Christ must save, and Christ alone."
+
+But if, from a sense of your true state and condition, your entirely
+bankrupt state, with no hope or help in yourself, you have fallen down
+at Jesus' feet, crying, "Lord, save, or I perish!" you are on safe
+ground. Thy Surety paid for thee; and thou shalt know it in His own
+time, to the joy of thy heart.
+
+                                          A BARRISTER.
+
+
+
+
+MODES OF TRAVEL IN PERSIA.
+
+
+There are two modes of travel in Persia, caravan and chappah. The former
+is slow, at the pace which loaded mules can follow, say twenty-five
+miles a day. To travel in caravan means not to go with a large company,
+but in this leisurely manner. Hence our word "caravan," because large
+trains in the East must necessarily travel in caravan style.
+
+Chappah travelling, on the other hand, means rapid going, at an average
+of eighty to a hundred and fifty miles per diem. This can only be done
+by riding at a steady gallop--horses rarely trot in the East--and
+changing horses at short intervals. The post carriers invariably travel
+chappah.
+
+The method of measuring distances in Persia is by farsakhs, a farsakh
+representing four miles. Post stations are placed four farsakhs, or
+sixteen miles apart, and more rarely five farsakhs. Fresh relays of
+horses are kept in readiness at these stations. The post carriers,
+accompanied by a single attendant, both heavily armed, and wielding a
+fierce whip of hide, carry the mail in saddle bags. On arriving at a
+station they dismount, take a hasty cup of tea which is in readiness,
+and a few pulls at the kalian, or water-pipe. Then the horses are led
+out, and the postman starts for another sixteen-mile gallop over the
+mountain and plain, through forest and waste. These postmen are, so far
+as I could learn, very faithful and courageous, as they must need be,
+for they are sometimes attacked and killed, especially when it had
+leaked out that they are carrying money. Thus they go through Persia,
+and through life, on horseback. In summer, they have to rest during the
+heat of the day, but, summer and winter, they gallop all night, and
+practically have no rest until the end of the journey. The post rider
+from Teheran to Bushire goes nearly seven hundred miles before he can
+take a solid sleep.--_S. G. W. Benjamin._
+
+
+
+
+THE VALUE OF WORK.
+
+
+Earn your own bread, and see how sweet it will be! Work, and see how
+well you will be! Work, and see how cheerful you will be! Work, and see
+how independent you will be! Work, and see how happy your family will
+be! Work, and, instead of repining at Providence, you may, perhaps, find
+yourself offering up thanks for all the numerous blessings you enjoy.
+
+
+
+
+COUSIN SUSAN'S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF FATHER
+CHINIQUY.
+
+THE COW, THE SUCKING PIG, AND PURGATORY.
+
+"_The tree is known by its fruit._"--MATTHEW xii. 33.
+
+
+Mr. Chiniquy died very suddenly, when his little son Charlie was only
+twelve years old. The boy had been fetched home from the house of a
+relative who lived at a distance, and where he had attended a good
+school, kept by a Protestant gentleman. He had gone through various
+lessons with his father, and delighted him with the progress he had
+made. They had read the fifteenth chapter of Luke, and retired to rest
+full of joy; but before the next day dawned, the boy awoke to his
+mother's heartrending cry, "Oh, my dear child, you have no more a
+father! He is dead!"
+
+Poor child! He felt he could not believe it. He ran to his father's bed,
+kissed him, pressed his hands, and prayed that he might live. But it was
+too true. The breath had fled, and only a lifeless corpse remained.
+
+After such overwhelming sorrow, surely they needed the tenderest
+sympathy; but only a few days elapsed before the parish priest (who had,
+years before, tried to get their Bible away) called on them, and, after
+a few cold words, he said that something was owing for the prayers that
+had been offered for the departed, and he would be glad to receive it!
+Poor Mrs. Chiniquy assured him that, although her husband had received a
+considerable income as a notary, yet their expenses had been so heavy
+that he had left her little besides debts. The house he had had built,
+and the piece of land he purchased not long ago, were only half paid
+for, "and I fear," said she, "I shall lose them both. I hope, sir," she
+added, "that you are not the man to take away from us our last piece of
+bread."
+
+"But, madam," was the cruel answer, "the money for the masses offered
+for the rest of your husband's soul must be paid!"
+
+For some time the widow sat shedding silent tears. At length she raised
+her tearful eyes, and said, "Sir, you see that cow in the meadow? Her
+milk, and the butter made from it, form the principal part of my
+children's food. I hope you will not take her away from us. If, however,
+such a sacrifice must be made to deliver my poor husband's soul from
+purgatory, take her as the payment of the masses to be offered to
+extinguish those devouring flames."
+
+"Very well, madam," said the priest, rising, and walking out.
+
+They anxiously watched to see what he would do; and, to their horror, he
+went straight to the meadow and drove away their useful and cherished
+favourite. Poor Mrs. Chiniquy nearly fainted; and when able to speak,
+she said--
+
+"Dear child, if ever you become a priest, never be so hard-hearted
+towards poor widows as are the priests of to-day."
+
+Those words were never forgotten, as our next story will show.
+
+Many years had passed. The child had become a man and a priest, when he
+was invited to preach a course of three sermons in the church of a rich
+curate. On the second day, walking with him to the parsonage, a very
+poor, ragged, and miserable man took off his hat, and tremblingly
+addressed the curate, saying--
+
+"You know, sir, that my poor wife died, and was buried ten days ago; but
+I was too poor to have a funeral service sung for her, and I fear she is
+in purgatory. Almost every night I see her in my dreams in burning
+flames, and she cries to me to help her. Will you be so kind as to sing
+that high mass for her?"
+
+"Of course," answered the curate. "Your wife is suffering in purgatory.
+Give me five dollars, and I will sing the mass to-morrow morning."
+
+The poor man replied that his wife had long been ill, and he was too
+distressed to pay the money, and begged that five low masses might be
+said for her. The priest told him he must pay five shillings for them,
+but the wretched man declared he had no money, and that he and his
+children were starving.
+
+"Well, well," said the curate, "I saw two beautiful sucking pigs before
+your house this morning. Give me one of them."
+
+"Those pigs, sir," said the man, "were given me by a charitable
+neighbour, that I might raise them for my children's food next winter.
+They will surely starve if I give my pigs away."
+
+Chiniquy could not wait to hear the conclusion of the shameful bargain.
+He hurried away to his room, refused to take tea, and spent a sleepless
+night wondering whether the Church of Rome could be the Church of
+Christ. Next morning, he gave five dollars to the poor man, and went
+breakfastless to church.
+
+After preaching, he was led by the curate to his dining-room. The long
+fast had made him very hungry, and the foremost dish was a delicious
+sucking pig. He had cut a piece, and was just about to eat, when the
+scene of yesterday flashed across his mind, and he inquired, "Was this
+_that_ sucking pig?"
+
+"Yes," replied the curate, with a hearty laugh, "it is just that. If we
+cannot take the poor woman's soul out of purgatory, we will, at all
+events, eat a fine sucking pig."
+
+The priestly guests all joined in the laugh except Chiniquy, who, with a
+burst of righteous indignation, pushed his plate away, and in a few
+thrilling words told them what he thought of the whole proceeding. Of
+course they were very angry; but the sucking pig was untouched by any
+one.
+
+Thus were Chiniquy's eyes gradually opened, and he "saw men as trees
+walking," until the final touch gave him to "see all things clearly."
+
+Lord, open Thou our eyes, and give us clearer and yet clearer light,
+that we not only may forsake every evil way, but may follow Thee with
+full purpose of heart.
+
+
+
+
+QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS.
+
+
+What is earth, sexton? A place to dig graves.
+
+What is earth, rich man? A place to work slaves.
+
+What is earth, grey-beard? A place to grow old.
+
+What is earth, miser? A place to dig gold.
+
+What is earth, schoolboy? A place for my play.
+
+What is earth, maiden? A place to be gay.
+
+What is earth, seamstress? A place where I weep.
+
+What is earth, sluggard? A good place to sleep.
+
+What is earth, soldier? A place for a battle.
+
+What is earth, herdsman? A place to raise cattle.
+
+What is earth, widow? A place of true sorrow.
+
+What is earth, tradesman? I'll tell you to-morrow.
+
+What is earth, sick man? 'Tis nothing to me.
+
+What is earth, sailor? My home is the sea.
+
+What is earth, statesman? A place to win fame.
+
+What is earth, author? I'll write there my name.
+
+What is earth, monarch? For my realm 'tis given.
+
+What is earth, Christian? The gateway of heaven.
+
+
+
+
+        SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LORD'S GRACIOUS DEALINGS WITH
+                             MARY STUBBS,
+      WHO DIED AT GODMANCHESTER, DECEMBER 19TH, 1887, AGED
+                          TWENTY-FOUR YEARS.
+
+
+We cannot say when, or by what means, the Lord first implanted the seed
+of eternal life in our sister's soul; but as in nature, so in
+grace--there is first the dropping of the seed, then the blade and the
+ear, and after that, the full corn in the ear; the full corn in many, as
+in our sister's case, not appearing until they are laid down by a fatal
+disease.
+
+By letters which I received from her the last few years, I had a hope
+the seed was sown from the love which she manifested to the truth and
+people of God. At the same time, many of her words and actions
+manifested much impatience, showing that she was a child of fallen Adam,
+and that she was under another influence than the Holy Spirit of God.
+This was a trial to us, giving us many errands to the throne of grace,
+not knowing what the end might be; and not only was it a grief to us,
+but also to herself.
+
+Some months ago, writing to me, she said, "I feel so very unhappy. I
+wish I had never been born, for I do not feel fit to live, nor yet fit
+to die."
+
+Her sister, with whom she lived, says, "Once or twice before her last
+affliction have we found her weeping, after she returned from the house
+of God--once especially, when Mr. Oldfield spoke from the words, 'Thou
+shalt preserve me from trouble,' at which time she seemed sorely tried;
+and referring to it on her dying bed, said, 'Satan did tempt me so then;
+but what a mercy God preserved me! I felt that, if I had died then, I
+must have been lost.'"
+
+At another time she found her in great distress, and, inquiring the
+cause, she said, "I feel so ill! I do not think I shall live long, and I
+know I am not prepared to die."
+
+About three weeks after this, she went to St. Ives' anniversary, and
+heard Mr. Hull preach from the text, "In this place will I give you
+peace." The words seemed to have an abiding-place in her heart, and
+proved a promise to her in her affliction. They were as "bread cast upon
+the waters, found and enjoyed after many days." When she returned from
+St. Ives, she looked quite ill, and said, "It seems as though I am not
+to go anywhere and enjoy myself."
+
+A few weeks after this, she took to her room, which she never left
+again. But, as her bodily strength decreased, she became more and more
+anxious about eternal things, and said to her sister and one of the
+members, who were sitting with her, "I do not think I shall get better.
+If I was sure I should go to heaven, I should not mind dying; but I keep
+thinking of all my past sins, and all that I have done and said. Do you
+think the Lord will forgive?" and with great earnestness she exclaimed,
+"Oh, do tell me--do you think He will forgive all my sins, and take me
+to heaven?" They told her they felt sure, if the Lord had made her sins
+a burden to her, and enabled her to beg of Him to cleanse her in His
+precious blood, He would, in His own time, answer her petitions, and
+they encouraged her to give Him no rest until He spoke home peace and
+pardon to her soul.
+
+On Saturday, November 12th, Mr. Oldfield called to see her. She asked
+him if he thought the Lord would forgive her. He assured her that, if
+the Lord had made her long for His pardoning love, He would appear for
+her. He had sweet liberty in prayer on her behalf, and, having read at
+her request the twenty-seventh Psalm, he inquired if she had any
+favourite hymns. She replied, "Yes--'There is a fountain filled with
+blood.'" He remarked, "The dying thief felt he needed that fountain, and
+so do you and I, Mary." She answered, "Yes, we do."
+
+In the evening, two of her sisters came to see her, and she exclaimed,
+"What! are you both come so far to see me? I am not worthy," and burst
+into tears.
+
+On Sunday, November 13th, she said but little during the day, but still
+kept begging of the Lord to forgive her all her sins, and take her to
+heaven; and in the evening He answered her prayer, and sweetly spoke
+home peace and pardon to her heart. She exclaimed, "Jesus has pardoned
+all my sins! Yes, yes, He has told me so! I am so happy! Oh, so happy!
+Jesus! Jesus! Thou art precious to my soul! Oh, come and take me! I long
+to be with You, dear Jesus!" and, with solemn sweetness, she added,
+"'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
+fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort
+me.'
+
+  "Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared,
+    Unworthy though I be,
+  For me a rich, a free reward,
+    A golden harp for me.
+
+"Jesus is 'the Chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely.'"
+Thus she laid, blessing and praising His dear name till she was
+completely exhausted.
+
+Early the next morning she said, "I am still on this bed of affliction.
+The Lord has spared me one more day, but I hope He will soon come and
+fetch me. I do so long to go, but
+
+  "I must wait a little longer,
+    Till His appointed time,
+  And glory in the knowledge
+    That such a home is mine.
+
+"Yes, 'that such a home is mine!' I shall wear a white robe there, and
+sing 'Hallelujah! Hallelujah!'
+
+  "Yes, loudest of the crowd I'll sing,
+  Whilst heaven's resounding mansions ring
+    With shouts of sovereign grace."
+
+On Monday, November 14th, I and my brother visited her for the first
+time. She was at first overcome, but soon revived, and said, "I am so
+pleased to see you both. I asked the Lord to spare me to see you all
+before I died. How kind He is to hear me!"
+
+I spent, altogether, the greatest part of four days with her, and those
+will be reckoned amongst the happiest days of my life, though mixed with
+sorrow at the thought of losing one made doubly dear by the sweet
+manifestation of the spirit of Christ in her. We could but look on and
+say, "What hath God wrought!" she herself saying, "I am not the one I
+was once, but am a new creature in Christ Jesus, for the Lord has heard
+my prayers, and forgiven all my sins, and now I know I am going to
+heaven," her countenance at the same time beaming with joy.
+
+On Tuesday, November 15th, she asked her eldest brother to read to her--
+
+  "When languor and disease invade
+    This trembling house of clay,
+  'Tis sweet to look beyond our cage,
+    And long to fly away,"
+
+which she much enjoyed.
+
+On Wednesday, November 16th, she said to me, "Oh, Joseph, I feel Jesus
+is all around me, and I know He is soon coming to take me home. I am so
+happy, and waiting to go to my home of eternal rest."
+
+Turning to those present, she said, "You do not mind parting with me,
+now you know I am going to heaven, do you?" and, seeing us in tears, she
+said, "I cannot think what you have to grieve about. If I were not going
+to heaven, then you might grieve."
+
+At times she seemed completely lost to all around, and was in sweet
+communion with God, and laid blessing and praising His dear name. The
+following are only a few of the sweet words that fell from her
+lips--"Oh, Jesus, I am so happy! Thou art precious to my soul. I long to
+be with Thee, dear Jesus--not that I wish to leave my brothers and
+sisters, only to come to Thee. I can leave everything to come to Thee,
+dear Jesus. Come and fetch me. Fetch me soon, if it is Thy will; but if
+I must wait a little longer, give me patience to wait Thy time."
+
+At other times, she would repeat with sweet feeling her favourite hymns
+and chapters, amongst which were, Psalms xxiii., xxvii., and ciii.; and
+hymns, "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds," "There is a fountain filled
+with blood," and "Father, whate'er of earthly bliss." The last verse of
+the latter seemed particularly precious to her--
+
+  "Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine
+    My life and death attend;
+  Thy presence through my journey shine,
+    And crown my journey's end."
+
+One morning, she wished her books, &c., brought to her, that she might
+give us each a parting gift, saying, "Keep them in remembrance of me,
+when I am gone to heaven to be with Jesus."
+
+On Wednesday, November 16th, in the evening, Mr. Oldfield again saw her.
+She spoke very freely to him, and said, "Won't it be nice to depart and
+be with Jesus?--much better than remaining here. I think He will soon
+come and fetch me. He has pardoned all my sins. Yes, He told me so." He
+read John x. at her wish, and spoke in prayer, which she much enjoyed
+and spoke of afterwards.
+
+When I was about to leave her, she said, "I want you all to sing, 'How
+sweet the name of Jesus sounds,'" which we did, she joining with all the
+strength she had, her face being radiant with joy.
+
+Another morning she awoke, and commenced singing several sweet hymns.
+Truly she experienced the words of Isaiah, "Thou wilt keep him in
+perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee."
+
+One Sunday she said, "How I should love to get to chapel! If I ever went
+again, I should like to be baptized; but I do not think I shall have
+strength to go any more. No; Jesus is going to take me to Himself. How
+kind of Him! Don't you think so? I do."
+
+On November 26th, being her eldest sister's birthday, she wished us to
+get a card for her. One being selected with the words, "The Lord will
+bless His people with peace," she said, "Yes, that is the peace Mr. Hull
+spoke of at St. Ives, and God has given me that peace."
+
+In presenting the card, she said to her sister, "Take it from me. It
+will be the last present I shall give you on your birthday. Before
+another I shall be in heaven.
+
+  "Yes, I shall soon be landed
+    On yonder shores of bliss;
+  There, with my powers expanded,
+    Shall dwell where Jesus is."
+
+During the night she remarked, "How good Jesus is in taking me away so
+gently! I thought, after all I have done and said, I should suffer much
+more. My sufferings are nothing to what Christ suffered on the cross."
+
+The next day Mr. Oldfield came, and she wished him to read Psalm
+ciii.--"Bless the Lord, O my soul"--and the hymn commencing, "My hope is
+built on nothing less." He commented on the last verse, and spoke of the
+robe prepared for her, and the glory that awaited her in heaven.
+
+On Monday, November 28th, with deep feeling, she said--
+
+  "E'er since by faith I saw the stream
+    Thy flowing wounds supply,
+  Redeeming love has been my theme,
+    And shall be till I die."
+
+One day, her doctor said he thought her a little better. When she was
+told, she burst into tears, and said, "Oh, I do not want to get better!
+Dear Jesus, do come and take me!
+
+  "Weary of earth, myself, and sin,
+    Dear Jesus, set me free!
+  And to Thy glory take me in,
+    For there I long to be."
+
+Another time she said, "I think I shall soon reach my journey's end now.
+Won't it be nice when my last day comes? I did not think I should be
+taken first, but I do now. I wonder who will be the next? Jesus knows. I
+should like to have on my tombstone, 'To depart and be with Christ is
+far better,' and I hope Mr. Oldfield will bury me; but it little matters
+about my body. I shall be singing in heaven when they are putting my
+poor body in the grave."
+
+The last time Mr. Oldfield visited her she could say but very little to
+him, her cough being so incessant. He read Psalms cxv. and cxvi., and
+remarked, "The heathen have no God to cry to in their affliction, but
+you have. What a mercy!
+
+  "When your poor, lisping, stammering tongue
+    Lies silent in the grave,
+  Then, in a nobler, sweeter song,
+    You'll sing His power to save.
+
+"You have had a foretaste of heaven here, haven't you?" She answered,
+"Yes, I have."
+
+At times her sufferings seemed more than she knew how to bear, and
+caused her to become impatient; but afterwards she would express much
+sorrow for it, and beg earnestly of the Lord to forgive her, and enable
+her to bear all He should see fit to lay upon her, adding, "My
+sufferings are nothing to what Christ suffered."
+
+On Sunday, December 18th, she said but little during the day, but in the
+evening she wished the hundredth Psalm to be read, and the hymn, "Oh,
+bless the Lord, my soul."
+
+Between eleven and twelve o'clock at night she said to her sisters, "I
+think I shall go to-night. Yes, I feel sure I shall." They asked her if
+she still felt happy, and if Jesus was precious. She answered, "Yes!
+yes!
+
+  "My hope is built on nothing less
+  Than Jesus' blood and righteousness."
+
+Turning to them, she said, "Good-bye, good-bye. Say 'Good-bye' to all
+for me. I am going home! home! home! I am going home!"
+
+She then fell asleep, to awake in a happier world, "where the inhabitant
+shall no more say, I am sick; and where they that dwell therein shall be
+forgiven their iniquity."
+
+She was interred at Godmanchester on December 26th, 1887, many of the
+friends and scholars of the Sunday School being present.
+
+Truly, "the memory of the just is blessed."
+
+                                              J. S.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN APRIL.
+
+
+April 1. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 1.
+
+April 8. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 2.
+
+April 15. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 21.
+
+April 22. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 22.
+
+April 29. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 23.
+
+
+A CHINAMAN applied for membership in a San Francisco Baptist Church. In
+answer to the question, "How he found Jesus?" he is reported to have
+answered, "I no find Jesus at all; He find me." There is a great deal of
+theology as well as evidence of religion in his answer.
+
+
+
+
+A FAMOUS DOG.
+
+
+In 1779, a young dog, who apparently had no master, came, no one knew
+how, to Caen, France, and met there a regiment of grenadiers starting
+for Italy. Urged on, apparently by destiny, he followed them. He was, to
+all appearance, a common street cur, dirty and ugly, but he had such a
+bright expression and seemed so intelligent that they did not hesitate
+to take him.
+
+His new companions forced him to act as sentinel, to obey orders, to
+keep step, to become accustomed to the sound of fire-arms, to obey roll
+call, and all other duties the soldiers were called upon to perform. He
+received and ate his rations with them, and lived in every respect as
+his regiment was commanded to do.
+
+In going to Italy, Moustache crossed St. Bernard, at the cost of unknown
+hardships, and encamped with the regiment above Alexandria. It was here
+that he was to accomplish his first great feat of arms. A detachment of
+Austrians, hidden in the Valley of Balbo, advanced in the night to
+surprise the grenadiers, and was heard by this vigilant dog as he was
+making his rounds. The soldiers were awakened by his barking. In a
+moment every one was on foot, and the enemy dislodged. To reward
+Moustache, the colonel had his name inscribed on the regimental roll,
+and ordered that he should have every day the ration of a soldier. He
+ordered that there should be put on his neck a collar bearing the name
+of the regiment, and the barber was ordered to wash and comb him every
+week.
+
+Some time afterwards there was a slight engagement, and Moustache
+conducted himself very bravely. He here received his first wound--a
+bayonet thrust in the shoulder. It must be said here that Moustache was
+never wounded except in front.
+
+About this time he quarrelled with the grenadiers and deserted, because
+they had left him tied in the garrison. Taking refuge with a company of
+chasseurs, he saw a disguised Austrian spy enter the French camp.
+Moustache, forgetting the insult he had received, welcomed the stranger
+by springing at his throat with much fierceness. This action astonished
+all at first, but they had time for reflection, and then remembered the
+sagacity of the faithful dog. The stranger was arrested, searched, and
+found to be a spy.
+
+Moustache continued the series of his exploits. At the battle of
+Austerlitz, seeing the colour-bearer surrounded by enemies, he flew to
+his rescue, defended him as well as he could, and when the soldier fell,
+pierced with bullets, enveloped in his colours, Moustache, seizing with
+his teeth that part of the glorious flag which he could get, fairly flew
+past the enemy, and brought back to his company the blood-stained
+remnants. It must be said here that a charge of musketry had taken off
+one of his legs. This saving of the flag brought him merited honour.
+They took off the collar he wore, and Marshal Lannes ordered that they
+should put on him a red ribbon, with a copper medal, bearing this
+inscription on one side--"He lost a leg at the battle of Austerlitz, and
+saved the colours of his regiment." On the other side it
+read--"Moustache should be loved and honoured as a brave French dog."
+
+As it was easy to recognise him by his ribbon and medal, they decided
+that, in whatever regiment he should present himself, he should receive
+the portion of a soldier.
+
+He took part yet in several battles, and among others that of Essling
+(1809). He made with the dragoons two campaigns, and the brave dog
+fought every time he had the opportunity. He always walked in front on
+the alert, barking when he heard any noise, and could not find out the
+cause. In the Sierra Morena mountains, he brought back to camp the horse
+of a dragoon who had been killed. It is said that at several times he
+showed this same act of intelligence.
+
+He made his last campaign with the artillery, and was killed at the
+battle of Badajoz, on March 11th, 1811, at the age of twelve years. They
+buried him on the spot where he fell, with his medal and his ribbon. On
+the stone which served as his monument they wrote--"Here lies
+Moustache." These simple words are more eloquent than the most pompous
+epitaph.
+
+
+
+
+FLESH-EATING PLANTS.
+
+
+It is said that there are about a hundred kinds of flesh-eating plants
+all the world over, and of these, three--the sundew, butterwort, and
+bladderwort--grow in this country.
+
+The member of this species best known to British botanists is the
+sundew. The leaves of this plant resemble in shape a flat spoon, and the
+surface of their blades is covered with stout, erect, hair-like objects,
+each with a roundish head, which is surrounded with a sticky fluid.
+Flies are the usual prey of the sundew. When one of these insects
+touches the blade of a leaf of the plant, the sticky points detain it,
+and the edges of the blade begin bending towards the centre, and
+continue to so fold themselves until the fly is entirely enveloped by
+them. After remaining in this position for many hours, or even days, the
+leaf gradually resumes its original shape, and an examination will show
+that nothing remains of the fly but the hard parts--as the wings, outer
+skin, &c. The rest of the insect has been dissolved in the sticky
+secretions, and absorbed by the plant.
+
+Several of these plants have been placed near one another, and some have
+been covered by fine gauze, so that no flies could be caught by their
+leaves. The superiority of the plants that have been left in their
+natural state has clearly proved that a supply of animal food is not
+only advantageous, but almost necessary to them. (See Psalm civ. 24.)
+
+
+
+
+  "DRAW ME."
+
+  "_No man can come to Me except the Father, which hath sent Me, draw
+  him._"--JOHN vi. 44.
+
+  "_Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out._"--JOHN vi. 37.
+
+  "_I am the Door._"--JOHN x. 9.
+
+  "_Draw me, we will run after Thee._"--SOLOMON'S SONG i. 4.
+
+
+  Oh, draw me, Holy Father,
+    For in Thy Word I read
+  That they who go to Jesus
+    With all their guilt and need,
+  Are certainly attracted
+    By Thy almighty power,
+  To find a happy entrance
+    Through heaven's Living Door.
+
+  The world, which once did furnish
+    The trifles I desired,
+  Now gives no satisfaction;
+    There's something else required:
+  The devil would allure me
+    With charms by him designed
+  To cry, "Peace! peace!" but cannot
+    Relieve my troubled mind.
+
+  I see no place of refuge
+    To which I may retreat;
+  No home, or kindly shelter,
+    To rest my weary feet.
+  Where shall I go? where _can_ I?
+    Dear Saviour, hear my plea--
+  "Draw me, and I'll run gladly;
+    Yes, draw me unto Thee."
+
+                                  A. B.
+
+
+
+
+A BRAVE RESCUE.
+
+
+It is only within the last few weeks that particulars have been
+published in the Swiss papers of a brave rescue effected on Mount St.
+Bernard on the night of the last Sunday in November.
+
+While a violent snow-storm was in progress, Grand, the manager of the
+hospice, noticed that his own special dog that was alone with him in his
+room became very restless, and made signs to him to go out. He took the
+lantern and fog-horn, and went out on the mountain, the dog leading him.
+In a very short time he heard a call and groaning, and, helped by the
+dog, dug out of the snow an Italian, whom he carried on his back into
+the hospice.
+
+The rescued man stated that his father, two brothers, and another
+Italian, all journeying home with him over the pass, lay buried in the
+snow. He had pushed on to obtain help, but had been overpowered by the
+storm. Grand made ready and went out again. This second search was more
+tedious, and led him further away, but at last the barking of the dog
+announced a discovery. It was the Italian stranger who was now saved and
+carried up to the hospice. A third time Grand and his dog sallied out
+into the tempest, and after a quarter of an hour's search found the
+others, near where the second man had been discovered. They were quite
+buried under the snow, and almost insensible. He took the most feeble on
+his shoulders, and with difficulty conducted the others to the hospice.
+It was now past midnight, and his toilsome task had occupied Grand over
+four hours, in a blinding snow-storm.
+
+A recent telegram from Geneva states that two avalanches have fallen on
+the above famous hospice of St. Bernard. The church has been almost
+entirely buried in snow. No loss of life is reported.
+
+
+
+
+THE MUMMY OF SESOSTRIS.
+
+
+A new Egyptian labyrinth was some time ago discovered at a place named
+Deyr-el-Baharee by M. Maspero, an orientalist of French nationality, who
+found in one of the underground galleries, hollowed through a mountain
+of granite, three sarcophagi of the Mosaic period. They resembled
+somewhat our modern coffins, except that they were much larger and
+rather clumsier in shape. But they were beautifully adorned with images
+of Egyptian gods and sacred animals, painted in colours that were still
+of admirable freshness, on a dark-brown ground. They bore numerous
+inscriptions in hieroglyphics and the demotic character, wherefrom the
+clue was obtained as to their identity.
+
+The sarcophagi, with their contents, were transported down the Nile to
+Boulag, at the gates of Cairo, and were opened in the presence of the
+Khedive and several pashas. The coil of thick cloth in which the first
+mummy lay was ripped open; then a narrow linen band of about eight
+inches in breadth, that went round and round the body several hundred
+times from head to foot, was unwound; after that, a second winding sheet
+of the finest linen was with great care cut open with scissors. At last
+a head appeared, totally unlike that of any modern human being. The
+description of it is given by M. Maspero in his report:--
+
+"The head is long and small in proportion to the body. The crown is
+utterly bald; the hair is scanty about the temples, but grows in thick,
+lank tufts on the nape. It was white before death, but has been stained
+light yellow by the sweet essences with which the body was embalmed. The
+ears were almost round, standing out from the head, and are pierced like
+those of a woman. The mouth is small, and bordered with thick, fleshy
+lips, behind which is a row of white teeth that were kept clean with
+evident care. Whiskers and beard are thin. They were shaved during
+lifetime, but grew in the last illness, or may-be after death. The low
+forehead is narrow, and the brow prominent, and covered with white
+hairs. The eyes are small, and set close to one another; the nose long,
+thin, aquiline, and slightly flattened at the tip by the pressure of the
+bandages. The temple is hollow, the cheek-bones are prominent, the jaw
+is strong, and the chin very underhung. The face of the mummy is
+certainly not an intelligent one, and almost appears bestial; but it has
+an unmistakable look of pride, doggedness, and majesty."
+
+[Illustration: RESCUE BY DOGS OF ST. BERNARD.]
+
+As regards the body, it is that of an aged man, who was singularly
+vigorous and robust, and must have lived to nearly a hundred years of
+age.
+
+From the inscriptions on the coffin, it appeared that the body it held
+had reigned over Egypt for sixty-seven years, during which time the
+country had attained the pinnacle of national greatness. The Hebrews
+groaned under his oppression, and hundreds of thousands, while employed
+to build the city of Ramesis, had died under the taskmasters' lash. This
+mummy was the greatest among the Pharaohs--Sesostris. He was found in a
+wonderful state of preservation, after having remained in that coffin
+for thirty-five centuries.
+
+The second mummy proved to be that of Rameses III.
+
+The third mummy became putrid from exposure to air, and was accordingly
+buried by M. Maspero. It turned out to be that of a queen named
+Nofritari, of the eighteenth dynasty.
+
+
+WHEN thy hand hath done a good act, ask thy heart whether it is well
+done.--_Fuller._
+
+
+
+
+  "THIS IS THE WAY; WALK YE IN IT."
+
+          (PSALM cxix. 9.)
+
+
+  Wherewith shall the inquiring youth
+    Attempt to cleanse his way?
+  This question asked the lips of Truth,
+    And many since that day.
+
+  The answer's ready for the meek,
+    And easy to be found;
+  No far-fetched knowledge need you seek
+    On false, on foreign ground.
+
+  Take heed unto your steps, dear friend,
+    The Bible does declare;
+  May you unto God's Word attend
+    With energy and prayer.
+
+  "Take heed unto thyself," wrote Paul,
+    "And to the doctrines, too";
+  Young Timothy obeyed the call,
+    And God's salvation knew.
+
+  Friend, you may study well the law,
+    And try to do your best;
+  Remember, you will have to know
+    This lesson with the rest.
+
+  But if you find yourself at last
+    A guiltier sinner still,
+  The Gospel is revealed for such--
+    "Come, whosoever will."
+
+  Yes, there the secret is made known--
+    The remedy you need--
+  The precious blood of Christ alone
+    Can cleanse thought, word, and deed.
+
+                         M. E. S.
+
+_Corby._
+
+
+
+
+"THOU, GOD, SEEST ME!"
+
+
+"George," said a big boy, winking hard at his curly-headed little
+comrade, "you may pick me some of those apples. Your father has fallen
+asleep over his book in the study." George raised his fearless, honest
+eyes to the older lad's face, and replied, "My Father is father's Father
+too, and He neither slumbers nor sleeps" (Psa. cxxi. 4). George's Father
+was the all-seeing God.
+
+
+
+
+A VISIT TO THE IDRIAN MINES.
+
+
+After passing through several parts of the Alps, and having visited
+Germany, I thought I could not return home without visiting those
+dreadful subterraneous caverns, where thousands are condemned to reside,
+shut out from all hopes of ever seeing the cheerful light of the sun,
+and obliged to toil out a miserable life under the whips of imperious
+task-masters.
+
+Imagine to yourself a hole in the side of a mountain, about five yards
+over. Down this you are lowered in a kind of bucket to a depth of more
+than one hundred fathoms, the prospect growing still more gloomy, yet
+still widening as you descend. At length, after swinging in terrible
+suspense for some time in this precarious situation, you reach the
+bottom, and tread on the ground, which, by its hollow sound under your
+feet, and the reverberations of the echo, seems thundering at every step
+you take. In this gloomy and frightful solitude you are enlightened by
+the feeble gleam of lamps, here and there dispersed, so as that the
+wretched inhabitants of these mansions can go from one place to another
+without a guide; though I could scarcely discern, for some time,
+anything--not even the person who came to show me these scenes of
+horror.
+
+From this description, I suppose you have but a disagreeable idea of the
+place; yet let me assure you that it is a palace, if the habitation be
+compared with the inhabitants. Such wretches my eyes never yet beheld.
+The blackness of their visages only serves to cover a horrid paleness,
+caused by the noxious qualities of the mineral they are employed in
+procuring.
+
+As they, in general, consist of malefactors, condemned for life to this
+task, they are fed at the public expense; but seldom consume much
+provision, as they lose their appetites in a short time, and commonly,
+in about two years, expire, through a total contraction of all the
+joints.
+
+In this horrid mansion I walked after my guide for some time, pondering
+on the strange tyranny and avarice of mankind, when I was accosted by a
+voice behind me, calling me by name, and inquiring after my health with
+the most cordial affection. I turned, and saw a creature all black and
+hideous, who approached me, and, with a piteous accent, said, "Ah!
+Everard, do you not know me?" What was my surprise when, through the
+veil of this wretchedness, I discovered the features of a dear old
+friend. I flew to him with affection, and, after a tear of condolence,
+asked him how he came there. To this he replied that, having fought a
+duel with an officer of the Austrian Infantry, against the Emperor's
+command, and having left him for dead, he was obliged to flee into the
+forests of Istria, where he was first taken, and afterwards sheltered by
+some banditti, who had long infested that quarter. With these he lived
+nine months, till, by a close investiture of the place in which they
+were concealed, and after a very obstinate resistance, in which the
+greater part of them were killed, he was taken, and carried to Vienna,
+in order to be broken alive upon the wheel. However, upon arriving at
+the capital, he was quickly known, and several of the associates of his
+accusation and danger witnessing his innocence, his punishment of the
+rack was changed into that of perpetual banishment and labour in the
+mines of Idria.
+
+As my old friend was giving me this account, a young woman came up to
+him who at once I perceived to be born for a better fortune. The
+dreadful situation of this place was not able to destroy her beauty;
+and, even in this scene of wretchedness, she seemed to have charms
+sufficient to grace the most brilliant assembly. This lady was, in
+fact, daughter to one of the first families in Germany; and having tried
+every means to procure her husband's pardon without effect, was at last
+resolved to share his miseries, as she could not relieve them. She
+accordingly descended with him into these mansions, whence few of the
+living return, despising the splendour of opulence, and contented with
+the consciousness of her own constancy.
+
+I was afterwards spectator of the most affecting scene I ever beheld. In
+the course of some days after my visiting the gloomy mansion I have
+represented to you, a person came post from Vienna to the Idrian bottom,
+who was followed by a second, and he by a third. The first inquiry was
+after my unfortunate friend, and I, happening to overhear the demand,
+gave them the first intelligence. Two of these were the brother and
+cousin of the lady; the third was an intimate acquaintance and
+fellow-soldier of my friend. They came with his pardon, which had been
+procured by the general with whom the duel had been fought, and who was
+perfectly cured of his wounds. I led him, with all the expedition of
+joy, down to this dreary abode, presented to him his friends, and
+informed him of the happy change of his circumstances. It would be
+impossible to describe the joy that brightened upon his grief-worn
+countenance, nor were the young lady's emotions less vivid at seeing her
+friends, and hearing of her husband's liberty.
+
+Some hours were employed in mending the appearance of this faithful
+couple; nor could I, without a tear, behold my friend taking leave of
+the former wretched companions of his toil. To one he left his mattock,
+to another his working clothes, and to a third such utensils as were
+necessary for him in that situation. We soon emerged from the mine,
+where he once again revisited the light of the sun, that he had totally
+despaired of ever seeing again. A post-chaise and four were ready the
+next morning to take them to Vienna, where, I am since informed by a
+letter from himself, they are returned. The Emperor has again taken him
+into favour, his fortune and rank are restored, and he and his fair
+partner have now the pleasing satisfaction of feeling happiness with
+double relish, as they once knew what it was to be miserable.--_Selected._
+
+["What a happy deliverance!" say you. Ah! but it is only a faint emblem
+of that deliverance which Jesus wrought. These people were delivered
+from sufferings which would only have been for a short time, but Jesus
+died to deliver His people from the wrath to come--the fire that shall
+not be quenched.
+
+Reader, have you been brought to Him? Can you say, "He loved me, and
+gave Himself for me"? or are you without hope of eternal life? Oh, that
+you may seek to win Christ, and be found in Him!--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 66._)
+
+
+"_Thy will be done._"--MATTHEW xxvi. 42.
+
+T imæus      Mark x. 46.
+H arp        Genesis iv. 21.
+Y ear        Leviticus xxv. 4.
+
+W hale       Job vii. 12.
+I nfidel     2 Corinthians vi. 15.
+L atin       Luke xxiii. 38.
+L aban       Genesis xxix. 10.
+
+B ehemoth    Job xl. 15.
+E phraim     Genesis xli. 52.
+
+D og         Exodus xi. 7.
+O nyx        Genesis ii. 12.
+N oon        Solomon's Song i. 7.
+E pistle     2 Corinthians iii. 1.
+
+                     HARRY FREDERICK FORFEITT
+                                (Aged 10 years).
+
+_Thong, near Gravesend._
+
+
+
+AN ENCOURAGING SUNDAY SCHOOL GATHERING.
+
+
+The twelfth annual meeting of the Sunday School, Devonshire Road Chapel,
+Greenwich, was held on February 8th. The singing of a hymn was followed
+by the reading of Psalm xix. by Mr. Boorne, the Pastor, and prayer by
+Mr. Joseph Whittome.
+
+Mr. Boorne, in his remarks, referred to Pharaoh's desire to keep the
+children in Egypt, even if the God of Israel compelled him to let their
+parents go. But they also had to come out from bondage.
+
+He said a phrase was sometimes used to hinder the planting of Sunday
+Schools, namely, "that they are often only a nursery for the Church."
+His opinion was, that a Sunday School might be put to a much worse use.
+He thought it a good and desirable thing when it was so; and scholars
+taught of God, as well as by their teachers, passed from the Sunday
+School into the Church.
+
+The Secretary and Acting-Superintendent, Mr. Samuel Boorne, then read
+the report. He noted four encouraging facts. The increase of
+numbers--twenty new scholars, making 140 in all. That the infant class,
+the _feeder_ of the school, was increasing. The manifest interest taken
+in their school by many of the scholars, for, though it was twelve years
+old, some of the original scholars were still connected with the Bible
+Classes. Her Majesty's Jubilee year was commemorated by the gift to each
+child of an ornamental card, on which was printed the Coronation Oath,
+taken by Her Majesty on her accession, to preserve the Protestant
+liberties of her country. It was put into a gilt frame, and was much
+appreciated by the scholars. The collecting cards for the Aged Pilgrims'
+Friend Society, issued this year _by request_, and always a voluntary
+effort on the part of the children, resulted in £6 10s.
+
+Mr. Marshall, of Clifton, then interested many by his pleasant and
+solemn remarks. The _possibilities_ for the future represented by such a
+gathering of boys and girls formed a fitting theme. He hoped there were
+none present who would be the means of breaking their parents' hearts. A
+page from the life of a youth who really did do it, and who traced the
+beginning of his evil doings to _drink_, was pointed and solemn, Mr.
+Marshall saying it was his conviction that children should never be
+allowed to acquire a taste for so dangerous a luxury. He said he was a
+total abstainer himself, and did not think--and probably the audience
+agreed with him--he looked any the worse for it.
+
+His concluding words will be remembered. After fifty years' experience
+of the love and ways of God, he testified to young and old that there
+was no happiness in anything but the knowledge of God in Christ. It
+surpasses and eclipses all. "He will do everything for those who are
+His."
+
+He then addressed a few words to the teachers, advising them to stick to
+the Word of God. The Holy Spirit was able to teach even children. He
+once baptized a girl of fourteen, of whom he could say he _knew_ she was
+a vessel of mercy; and why should he keep her out of the privileges of
+the Lord's people? He would not hesitate to baptize a child of ten if he
+or she gave sufficient evidence that they knew something of their own
+sinfulness, and something of the Lord Jesus. "Can any man forbid water,
+that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as
+well as we?"
+
+Mr. Wilmshurst then began his address by reminding his young friends of
+the many happy Sundays they had spent together. What pleasant gatherings
+they were! He had not forgotten them, if they had. But now he wished to
+speak of a most _remarkable_ gathering of people. He referred to the
+four hundred men who gathered to David in the cave Adullam (1 Sam.
+xxii. 1, 2). The remarkable points were these:--
+
+First, they were all remarkably _poor_--"in debt"--and bankrupts in
+those days were liable to be taken for bondmen, or slaves (see 2 Kings
+iv. 1). We are all in debt to God, and have "nothing to pay." We add to
+it hourly, and unless the heavy debt is paid by us (which is
+_impossible_), or by Another, we shall be shut up for ever in prison
+with Satan and his angels.
+
+Secondly, these men were remarkably _discontented_--discontented with
+Saul, the reigning king, his service, and his rewards; and they came to
+David, an uncrowned king, with no apparent advantage to offer them. True
+type of those who, like Moses in a similar case, have "_chosen_ rather
+to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures
+of sin for a season."
+
+Thirdly, they were in remarkable _distress_. So are all those who come
+to King Jesus--a distress which others cannot understand, and often
+cannot account for. "What must I do to be saved?" is a strange trouble
+to many.
+
+Fourthly, they had remarkable _desires_. They wished to find David, to
+dwell with him, and have him for their leader and captain. And David
+himself was a fugitive, hunted by Saul--poor, powerless, and hidden away
+in a cave in a mountain, where, probably, it was very difficult to find
+him. So there are some (only a few compared with the number of the
+people of the land, like David's four hundred) whose hearts are set on
+finding Jesus. They wish to be near Him always. He (like David) is
+difficult to find. He must be usually searched for "as for hid
+treasures" (Prov. ii. 4), but when found, He becomes their Captain.
+
+Fifthly, these men had a remarkable _reception_. They had no good
+characters--nothing to recommend them--but they were received. So Jesus
+also "receiveth sinners and eateth with them." As the Pharisees despised
+Jesus for keeping such company, so Saul and his servants despised David.
+Jesus says, "Him that _cometh to Me_ I will in no wise cast out."
+
+The reception of the four hundred was also remarkable because they were
+_uninvited_. But here the type fails. Jesus _has_ invited those who
+"come" to Him (see Matt. xi. 28).
+
+Sixthly, the men made remarkable _soldiers_. Their doings are recorded
+in 2 Samuel xxiii., and the doings and victories of the good soldiers of
+Jesus Christ are to be found in Hebrews xi. David's soldiers did not
+live _idle_ lives in the cave, nor do Christ's soldiers have peace
+always. They have to "fight the good fight of faith" with "the sword of
+the Spirit, which is the Word of God," and the bow of _prayer_. They
+fight, however, with their Captain's eye upon them (see Psa. xxxiv. 15).
+
+Lastly, they were remarkably _rewarded_. When David came to the throne,
+they were put in positions of honour. The visible reward of Christ's
+followers is yet to come (Dan. vii. 22, 27; Matt. xix. 28; Luke xxii.
+29, 30). He has promised also to give them "manifold more in _this
+present time_," as well as "life everlasting" (Luke xviii. 28-30).
+
+The prizes were then distributed by the Pastor, and after a concluding
+word of prayer, this encouraging meeting was brought to a close.
+
+                                                        E. M.
+
+
+
+
+  THE WISE AND FOOLISH BUILDERS.
+
+       (MATTHEW vii. 24-29.)
+
+
+  This is a wilderness of sand,
+  With driving winds on every hand;
+  How many build their houses here,
+  Nor seem the coming storm to fear!
+
+  There is a sure Foundation-Stone;
+  May I be builded thereupon!
+  Then shall I stand the last dread shock,
+  Safe on the Everlasting Rock.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+The name of a river.
+
+A place where all Jews were commanded to depart from.
+
+A king to whom the children of Israel sent a present.
+
+What did Abimelech take with him when he went up Mount Zalmon?
+
+What did the Lord say the strong shall be as?
+
+A mighty man of valour.
+
+One of David's children.
+
+Name one of Jacob's sons.
+
+A brother of Tubal.
+
+One of the cities which the children of Reuben built.
+
+A mountain.
+
+What did Jesus say a disciple should be called?
+
+That which was to be burned always.
+
+A place where David dwelt.
+
+One of the cities which the children of Gad built.
+
+Of what tribe was Hiram?
+
+What did the Lord say should not cease while the earth remaineth?
+
+The name of a thing declared to be a mocker (spell it backwards).
+
+One who slew, in the valley of salt, eighteen thousand.
+
+That which remains to the people of God.
+
+A place where the children of Israel provoked the Lord to wrath.
+
+A wicked king.
+
+The place where the father of Gideon dwelt.
+
+One whom the Lord blessed.
+
+A bird that found no rest save in one place.
+
+
+The initials and finals will form a prayer.
+
+                             ALICE COLE.
+
+_Basingstoke._
+
+
+THE law of love requires us to sacrifice our own comfort to promote the
+happiness of others.--_Albert Barnes._
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+MENTAL EYES: DARKENED AND ILLUMINATED.
+
+        (MATTHEW vi. 22, 23.)
+
+
+Light sometimes means that which _gives_, sometimes that which
+_receives_ or _reflects_, light; as the sun is the light of the world,
+and the windows through which he shines are the lights of the room and
+the house. Our eyes are the lights, or windows, of our body. Through
+them we look out upon the world around us; and light, knowledge, and
+pleasure come in to us from what we see, as well as what we hear.
+
+Jesus here refers to the eyes of the mind--the understanding. How often,
+when a difficult matter has been explained, we say, "Oh, yes; I see it
+all now!" and yet the eyes behold no new object. We mean that we now
+_understand_ what puzzled us so much before.
+
+Thus, in these two verses we are told about _minds_ that are darkened,
+and also about _understandings_ that are enlightened with the light of
+life.
+
+"If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"
+If the windows are bricked up, no ray of light can force an entrance,
+even at noonday, into the darkened rooms; or, if the casements are
+thickly curtained, or closely shuttered, how dark the house must be! So
+sin of some kind--pride, prejudice, or superstition--darkens the
+sinner's understanding, shuts out the light of heavenly truth, and lulls
+him to sleep in the arms of the wicked one--the sleep of death.
+
+People often tell us that we can do something to enlighten our own
+understanding. We can unfasten the shutters, or draw back the curtains,
+and let in the light. Alas! unless the grace of God has reached us in
+its almighty power, we do not _want_ the light. Our deeds are evil, and
+the light that makes them manifest is hateful (see John iii. 18, 19).
+The thief, the murderer, the coiner of bad money, and all who are
+knowingly guilty of wrong-doing, love darkness, secresy, and concealment
+"rather than light"; and this is our "condemnation," as fallen
+creatures--we love the darkness, and we shun God's holy light. "Having
+the understanding darkened, being alienated [or estranged] from the life
+of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of
+their heart" (Eph. iv. 18). Such was _our_ state by nature. What are our
+feelings now?
+
+Saul of Tarsus, as a Pharisee, was learned, intelligent, and moral; but
+how dark, how blind, he was in those days! Jesus, God's beloved Son, was
+the Object of his hatred. The altogether Lovely One had no beauty at all
+for him, and the children of God he viewed as enemies whom he felt bound
+to conquer and destroy. How great his darkness was--the darkness of
+prejudice and pride!
+
+Chiniquy, the Romish priest, of whom some of us have heard so much, was
+blinded by _superstition_ for many a year, and even the light of the
+Bible, as he read and studied it, could not remove that darkness till
+God Himself said, "Let there be light," and made the night of
+superstitious error flee away.
+
+Then minds are blinded as was Balaam's of old, and the Pharisees, to
+whom Christ said, "If ye were blind"--that is, if they had not heard His
+words, and seen His works (see John xv. 22, 24)--"ye had not had
+sin"--you would have been _comparatively_ free from blame--"but now ye
+say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth."
+
+They hated the light they had, and closed their eyes against it. As the
+proverb says, "None are so blind as those who will not see."
+
+But "God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness [at the world's
+creation], hath shined in our hearts," wrote the Apostle Paul (2 Cor.
+iv. 6), "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
+face of Jesus Christ."
+
+The once blinded Pharisee could see now, and how different were all his
+feelings! His own righteousness was cast away. Jesus was precious to his
+heart, and Christians were his "own company," his beloved friends.
+
+No darkness is too dense, no barrier too strong, for almighty grace to
+remove. Has the Sun of Righteousness arisen in our hearts? How may we
+know? Jesus tells us (John iii. 21)--"He that doeth truth cometh to the
+light." God is Light, and His Word is a light that makes all things
+manifest. It shows sin, how black it is. It reveals the hollowness of
+the world, the glory of Christ. It points out our dangers, our disease,
+our wants, and our foes; while it sets forth the remedy of all our ills,
+the great Refuge and Deliverer who can save unto the uttermost all who
+confide in Him.
+
+Do we try ourselves by the Scriptures? Abraham compared himself to "dust
+and ashes"--worthless. Job said, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of
+the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and
+repent in dust and ashes" (Job xlii. 5, 6). David, king of Israel, said,
+"I am poor, and needy." Are we anything like these saints of God? God
+says, He "will give strength to those who have no might," will "fill the
+hungry with good things," and for His own name's sake will bless those
+who feel themselves unworthy of His favour. Do these promises suit us?
+Are we glad that God's mercy is so free? And do we, like the Psalmist,
+"esteem _all_ His precepts concerning all things to be right, and hate
+every false way"? (Psa. cxix. 128.) If so, we are children of the light,
+and, while we examine ourselves, we shall pray God to search and try us,
+and lead us in His everlasting way.
+
+Jesus said, "He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness" (John
+viii. 12), yet they who fear the Lord, and obey His beloved Servant,
+may, for a time, have no bright shinings on their pathway (Isa. l. 10),
+just as sometimes a change of wind, or some other cause, may make a
+sudden darkness overspread the sky. But day-darkness generally passes
+off again before long. So "light is sown for the righteous," and the
+glad harvest shall certainly be reaped, for "the path of the just is as
+the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day"
+(Prov. iv. 18). The morning twilight in nature may be dim and clouded,
+but when once the sun has risen, the light grows clearer and brighter
+till noon is reached; but then it begins to decline, and evening
+gradually comes on. But the spiritual day _ends_ in noontide glory, the
+_everlasting ending_ of all sorrow, sin, and fear; and to His people the
+Saviour says, "Thy sun shall no more go down, for the Lord shall be thy
+everlasting Light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended" (Isa.
+lx. 20).
+
+May He "open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of His
+law." May the "Sun of Righteousness arise upon us, with healing in His
+wings," that "in His light we may see light," and follow Him who has
+"redeemed us from all evil" to the realms of endless day.
+
+Our next subject will be, _God's Independence of All, and His Declared
+Need of Some of His Creatures_. Compare Psalm l. 12, with Matthew xxi.
+3, and other passages.
+
+                                  Yours affectionately,
+                                             H. S. L.
+
+
+  THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.
+
+  The Word of God records a potent test
+    By which a true possessor may be known--
+
+  The _Pharisee_ will smite his fellow's breast;
+    The grace-taught _publican_ will smite his own.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+WHO ARE THEY THAT WILL STAND PERFECT IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT?
+
+
+Those who will stand perfect in the day of judgment are those who, by
+the grace of God, have been enabled to trust in, and wait on, the Lord
+for salvation from sin and its consequences; for, by the Holy Spirit
+working in them, they see their sin, and feel the anger of God.
+
+"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who
+can know it?" (Jer. xvii. 9); and, when we see and feel a little of our
+wickedness, we despair, and Satan begins to torment us, and say, "You
+are too wicked to go to heaven." But Jesus says, "Him that cometh to Me
+I will in no wise cast out" (John vi. 37); "Come unto Me, all ye that
+labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. xi. 28).
+
+Jesus says "heavy laden," showing that, no matter how wicked, how laden,
+His word to all those who are weary of sin, and "heavy laden" with
+sorrow for sin, is, "Come, and I will give you rest"--rest from Satan
+and his temptations, rest from the world and all its busy cares.
+
+His rest is so different from all other, for He says, in John xiv. 27,
+"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you: not as the world
+giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
+be afraid."
+
+Those who will stand perfect are those who have been chosen by God as
+vessels of mercy, for Peter says, "Elect according to the foreknowledge
+of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
+and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ."
+
+Then, when sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ, they are perfectly
+free from sin; as the hymn says--
+
+  "There is a fountain filled with blood,
+    Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
+
+  And sinners plunged beneath that flood
+    Lose all their guilty stains."
+
+  And this is how God's people stand before Him--
+
+  "Dear, dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
+    Shall never lose its power
+  Till all the ransomed Church of God
+    Be saved to sin no more."
+
+And when the final judgment is pronounced, those whose names are not
+recorded in the book of life will hear those awful words, "Depart from
+Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
+angels" (Matt. xxv. 41). But if our names are written in God's book of
+life, how sweet to hear, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the
+kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. xxv.
+34).
+
+Oh, that we may be found at God's right hand, perfect in Christ's
+righteousness, singing and praising God through all eternity! "Unto Him
+that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath
+made us kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be glory and
+dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (Rev. i. 5, 6).
+
+"But can I bear the piercing thought--
+  'What if my name should be left out
+  When Thou for them shalt call?'
+
+"Let me among thy saints be found
+  Whene'er the archangel's trump shall sound,
+    To see Thy smiling face:
+  Then loudest of the crowd I'll sing,
+  While heaven's resounding mansions ring
+    With shouts of sovereign grace."
+
+                           GRACE ANNIE OSMOTHERLY
+                                (Aged 12 years).
+
+_45, Cutmore Street,
+Gravesend, Kent._
+
+[We have received many tolerably good Essays for this month, among which
+the following claim special notice--E. B. Knocker; Lilly Rush; Margaret
+Creasey; J. E. Wright; P. Rackham; Jane Bell; Florrie Rush; Claude Rush
+(aged 10 years); Laura Creasey; E. Wightman; E. B. West; D. Newbury; B.
+M. Dennis; A. M. Cray; W. E. Cray, &c.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Life of John
+Newton."
+
+The subject for June will be, "What Marks do the Lambs of Jesus Christ
+Bear?" and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that subject, a
+copy of "The Dairyman's Daughter." All competitors must give a guarantee
+that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their
+own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot
+undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the
+first of May.]
+
+
+
+
+KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.
+
+
+The following lines are printed on a board over a watering-trough in
+Holloway, Bath:--
+
+A man of kindness to his beast is kind,
+But brutish actions show a brutish mind.
+Remember, He who made thee made the brute;
+Who gave thee speech and reason, made him mute.
+He can't complain, but God's all-seeing eye
+Beholds thy cruelty and hears his cry.
+He was designed thy servant--not thy drudge.
+Remember his Creator is thy Judge.
+
+
+HE acts but a fool's part who aims at heaven, but lives at random.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+THE DEEPEST RUNNING STREAM.--The deepest running stream that is known is
+the Niagara river, just under the suspension bridge, where it is seven
+hundred feet deep by actual measurement.
+
+
+SABBATH-BREAKING.--On Sunday afternoon, March 4th, at Sheffield, a
+little boy, whose name was Thomas Haigh, was drowned in a dam, caused by
+the breaking of the ice. He was sent to the Sunday School by his
+parents. Instead of going there, however, he and another boy went to
+what is known as the Little London dam. The ice was not safe, but they
+ventured on it, and ultimately both fell in. Haigh was drowned, and his
+body has not yet been discovered; the other escaped. Children, beware of
+disobedience and Sabbath-breaking.
+
+
+GREAT SNOWSTORM IN NEW YORK.--Every one declares it to be the worst
+storm they have ever known. Saturday, March 10th, was a balmy, spring
+day. On Sunday evening some cold rain fell, changing at midnight into a
+freezing sleet. On Monday there was a veritable Dakota blizzard. The air
+was filled with snow flying before the wind at the rate of sixty miles
+an hour. It was impossible in the street to keep the eyes open, and
+almost impossible to walk. Those who did venture out of doors were to be
+seen clinging to trees for support against the gale, or turning breezy
+corners upon their hands and knees. Vehicular traffic was totally
+suspended. Huge snow-ploughs, drawn along the tramways by a score of
+horses, had to be abandoned in the streets. The tram-car drivers
+unhitched their teams of three horses, and left the cars wherever they
+happened to be. Unbroken drifts, as high as the hips, or even in some
+cases up to the shoulders, filled nine-tenths of the shop doors along
+Broadway. The storm is believed to be without a parallel. It extended
+all along the Hudson River and around New York.
+
+
+DEATH OF THE EMPEROR WILLIAM OF GERMANY.--Berlin has been a city of
+mourning, and Germany a nation of grief, in consequence of the death of
+the Emperor William, who closed his long, eventful, and successful life
+in his palace there, Unter den Linden, about half-past eight a.m., March
+9th. Just before he died, when Dr. Kogel, the Court chaplain, repeated
+to the Emperor the words of the Psalmist--"Yea, though I walk through
+the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art
+with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me," the Emperor observed,
+"That is beautiful." His last words are said to have been those with
+which he replied to a question from his daughter, the Grand Duchess of
+Baden, as to whether he was tired, and would like to rest. "I have no
+time at present to be tired," responded His Majesty. Sometimes, when his
+thoughts were wandering, the dying monarch would think of his afflicted
+son and successor far away on the Mediterranean shore, and murmur,
+"Fritz, lieber Fritz." The Emperor was a man who acknowledged God, and
+God prospered his work, as in the case of the Franco-Prussian war, for
+instance, although many of his enemies sneered at that acknowledgment. A
+special funeral service was held on Saturday, the 10th ult., in the
+mortuary chamber of the late Emperor, at which the Dowager Empress, the
+Grand Duke and Duchess of Baden, the Crown Prince and Princess of
+Sweden, and other Royal personages were present. The deceased monarch
+lay in the same position as that in which he expired, having a crucifix
+on the breast, and holding an ivory cross in the right hand. [What
+Popery!]
+
+
+THE BERLIN TELEGRAPH OFFICE.--Friday, March 9th, will long be remembered
+as the busiest day on record at the Central Telegraph Office of Berlin.
+The pressure was great on Thursday, when 29,878 telegrams, aggregating
+799,926 words, had to be sent off. But this record, was eclipsed by the
+following day, no fewer than 36,615 telegrams, containing together
+1,115,551 words, being despatched to all parts of the globe, and in
+different languages. All the Government telegraphists fit for duty had
+to be called in to meet the pressure, and all the available instruments
+were worked. It was a fortunate circumstance that the Berlin Bourse was
+closed, as this enabled the authorities to make use of the instruments
+there for the work. During the busiest hours of the day, no less than
+346 telegraphists were at work at the same time in the great instrument
+room of the Central Telegraph Office, and 230 instruments were operated.
+
+
+EPPING BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL.--On Wednesday, February 1st, a lecture was
+delivered by Mr. William Hazelton, of College Park, Lewisham, entitled,
+"Wit and its Uses." The lecture was listened to with great interest.
+Pieces were sung by the teachers and scholars, conducted by Mr. G.
+Nokes. The chair was taken by Mr. C. Cottis. There was a good
+attendance, and collections amounted to over two pounds. On Tuesday,
+February 14th, the children, with their teachers and friends, had their
+annual tea, after which short addresses were given by the teachers, and
+recitations and singing by the children. The prizes, consisting of
+books, were then distributed by the Superintendent, Mr. William Cottis;
+and singing the Doxology and prayer brought a very pleasant meeting to a
+close.
+
+
+SIDDAL, HALIFAX.--On Shrove Tuesday, the annual tea in connection with
+the Strict Baptist Sunday School took place, when about 160 sat down to
+tea. The meeting was presided over by the respected minister, Mr. D.
+Smith, who gave a short address on "Stealing." A few suitable
+recitations by the young children followed. Mr. H. E. Greenwood gave a
+short address on "Prizes," and said how necessary it was for young
+people to have something to aim at, and also on the value of a good
+name. Mr. James Moss, Superintendent of Hebden Bridge Sunday School,
+exhorted the children to obedience to their parents, and related
+instances where disobedience had been punished in a remarkable way. Mr.
+Thos. Smith, Mr. Jos. Smith, and Mr. M. H. Robinson also gave short
+addresses. Mr. John Smith presented the certificates for attendance and
+good conduct, and gave excellent counsel to the recipients. After the
+singing of the Doxology, a very encouraging meeting was brought to a
+close.
+
+
+SOUTHSEA.--SALEM STREET SUNDAY SCHOOL.--The annual distribution of
+prizes took place on Sunday, February 12th, 1888. After the opening
+services, Mr. Lowe spoke to the scholars respecting regularity and
+punctuality, trying to impress on their minds that these things would be
+a good recommendation for their future life. He also gave a hint that
+teachers should set the example. He then spoke of love as being the
+mainspring to win the affections of the scholars, for if love will not,
+the reverse will not do so. He also spoke affectionately to the young
+men present. He felt surprised that they came so regularly to school. He
+was brought up to the Sunday School, but as he grew older, he left and
+sought worldly amusements; but, as he remarked, being a vessel of mercy,
+God sought him out in His own time. He felt there was nothing in the
+school to attract young men, but if they were seeking the one thing
+needful, they would not desire such amusements as those by which many
+congregations seek to draw the minds of youth. Mr. Hitchens, the
+Superintendent, then remarked that it was twenty years since he first
+became connected with the school, and that he had seen many changes
+during that period; but still he could say, "having obtained help of
+God, he had continued until the present day." Then came the distribution
+of prizes. One received a book about the sagacity of animals, and his
+teacher also gave him a Bible for his good attendance and punctuality,
+as he did not remember him being away once through the year. The service
+was ended by singing and prayer.
+
+                                                 E. A. HITCHENS.
+
+
+CIRENCESTER.--PARK STREET CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL.--Dear Mr. Editor,--I am
+one of the readers of the LITTLE GLEANER. We take a lot of them in our
+Sunday School, and the girls and boys like them very much. I have been
+pleased to read about the treats which have been given at other Sunday
+Schools, and thinking other children like reading about such things too,
+I send you an account of our Christmas treat, held on January 26th. If
+you think it worth putting in the LITTLE GLEANER, I shall be very
+pleased to see it there. Ours is not a very large school, there being
+only about fifty; but I think it is very nice to go there. Mr. Barnard
+tells us that some of the ministers who give us an address tell him that
+ours is a very nice school, for they go to some schools where the
+children are not so nicely behaved and attentive as we are; but I expect
+we are not any better than we should be. But I must tell you about our
+winter treat. We have a summer outing as well. About last October, some
+of the lady teachers and friends who attend our chapel, knowing that the
+poorer children of our school would be glad of some warm clothes for the
+winter, got some money together and bought flannel, serge, and
+stockings, and had a sewing meeting every week, and made shirts,
+dresses, flannel petticoats, and skirts; and by Christmas time they had
+a big box full of all these sorts of things, which were brought and
+given away at our treat. The children began tea at four o'clock, after
+singing grace. We had a beautiful tea, and we each had an orange given
+us; and then, after the visitors (and we had a chapel full) had had
+their tea, we sang a hymn, and then our minister, Mr. Barnard, gave a
+nice, interesting address. Several of us recited pieces, and after some
+more singing and one or two other friends had spoken to us, the best
+part of the evening came for us children, for Mr. Barnard gave us our
+prizes--some beautiful books. Mine was a lovely one. Then the big box
+was opened, and the garments were distributed; and after a vote of
+thanks to the ladies, and to Mr. Barnard for presiding, the meeting was
+closed with prayer. I enjoyed myself very much, and I think every one
+else did. I have not had much practice in writing letters, as I am only
+a little girl, ten years old, but I have sent you the best account I
+can of our treat. I remain, your young friend, MERCY RISELY.
+P.S.--Perhaps you don't know me, but I have seen you ever so many times
+at our chapel.
+
+[Illustration: "THE CAPTAIN NEVER SAW ANY ONE LOOK HAPPIER." (_See page
+98._)]
+
+
+
+
+THE JESUIT AND THE BIBLE.
+
+
+There were not many passengers on board the vessel in which I was going
+to Belgium, which rendered our intercourse more intimate. While I was
+conversing with two elderly persons from Holland, I saw a respectable
+looking young man, passing backwards and forwards, who seemed to listen
+to what I said. In the afternoon, as I was seated among some bales of
+goods, the same young man placed himself beside me, and made some remark
+as to the fineness of the weather.
+
+"Yes," I answered, "it is a proof of the goodness of God to us; but to
+be sensible of His goodness is a far greater blessing. Has not a
+Christian double cause for happiness, since all he receives comes from
+the hand of his Father?"
+
+He answered, "The captain and I were just now speaking about you. The
+captain said he never saw any one look happier, and he thought you must
+have some especial cause for it. I wish, sir, I frankly confess, to be
+told what your secret is; for, in truth, I am not free from anxiety."
+
+He then proceeded to relate how he had gone from place to place, in
+order to practise his profession as a painter, and yet all his
+calculations had been disappointed. He was a native of Belgium, and a
+Roman Catholic. "But," he added, with a sort of contempt, "all my
+religion has given me no consolation. What do you think is the use of
+all these rites and ceremonies? They are wearisome, and that is all."
+
+"My secret," I answered, "which is not one in reality, is of a very
+different character. The Bible, sir, by the mercy of God, has rendered
+me happy, not only for this world, but, above all, for eternity. Perhaps
+you never read it?"
+
+"The Bible, sir? Do you not know it is denied, and even forbidden, to us
+Catholics? I have heard, indeed, that some priests allow their
+parishioners to read it, but they are very few; and the truth is that,
+if any of us were to read the Bible, he would be forced to do penance,
+and to give the Book up to our priest. I have never read it, I own."
+
+"Here is a part of it," I said, producing my New Testament. "This is the
+Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."
+
+"The Gospel!" said the young man, with surprise. "Is it all contained in
+that small Book? I should never have supposed it."
+
+"This small Book," I said, "contains, in our language, all that God has
+said to us by Jesus Christ, and costs only one franc" (tenpence).
+
+"Only one franc! Is it possible? I will have one, and read it, you may
+be sure. I promise you, as soon as we arrive at Brussels, the first
+thing I do will be to get that Book."
+
+"But, sir, you say that your priest will not allow you to read it?"
+
+"No, sir; our Church does not permit us to do so. But if you wish to
+know my own views, I must say I feel sure that we are prevented from
+reading the Bible only because it is exactly the reverse of what our
+priests tell us. They say that the Bible is obscure, and not easy to be
+understood, and that, if they comprehend it, it is different with the
+common people. But I do not believe this, especially after something
+that happened to one of my friends, which I will tell you.
+
+"You know, perhaps, that Belgium is full of Jesuits, and the people
+dislike them. A certain abbé, who was only a Jesuit in disguise, was
+confessor to a friend of mine, who, like many others, had been guilty of
+some imprudence, and he confessed it to this same priest, who imposed
+rather a heavy penance on him, particularly requiring him to make a rich
+offering to Our Lady [the Virgin Mary]. Well, on his way home, my
+friend met one of the colporteurs, who sell Bibles and other religious
+books. He bought one, and began to read it, and the result was, that he
+discovered, as he told me, that he must seek the forgiveness of his sins
+from God, through the Saviour, and that to make an offering to the
+Virgin for his faults was at once to lose his pains, his money, and his
+soul.
+
+"Three months had passed, when the priest met my friend, and asked if he
+had done all he was directed, and especially, if he had made the
+offering. My friend answered, 'I have got a Book which has shown me that
+God alone forgives sin, and that to give money for a fault is to mock
+the Holy Spirit.' 'That is the Bible,' exclaimed the Jesuit. 'Wretched
+man, from whom did you get it? Unless you give it up to me this very
+day, woe be unto you!' My friend refused, and there is no sort of
+annoyance or vexation which the priest has not made him suffer. However,
+he was firm. But hitherto, I confess, I cared very little about the
+matter."
+
+"Then," said I, "you remain in ignorance as to whether God loves you or
+not?"
+
+"I am not worse than others," he replied; "and since God is good, I do
+not suppose He hates me."
+
+I explained, with all simplicity and freedom, the glorious doctrine of
+the salvation of God in Christ, and I saw that no thirsty traveller
+hastens to springs in the wilderness more eagerly than this young man
+seemed to turn and hearken to the record of divine love. At length, with
+much earnestness, he cried out, "Sir, how wonderful is the love of God
+to man! We did not deserve that He should give His Son to die for us.
+This was surpassing love. The thought of it overpowers me."
+
+"Will you not, then," I said, "read the Bible, which tells us this
+glorious news?"
+
+"Be assured that I will read it," he answered. "In less than a week I
+will have one like that which belongs to my friend. It is twice as thick
+as that lady's work-box, but this one Book contains all that God has
+said to man; and the print is so clear."
+
+"But if some Jesuit should see your Book, he may take it from you."
+
+"Shall I tell you what I will do, if any one of them meddles with me?"
+he said. "I will read some of its excellent contents to him, and ask him
+what he thinks of them. Then I am sure he will not come again, unless he
+takes a liking to them; and then he will not hurt me."
+
+                                                 C.
+
+
+
+
+A DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
+
+
+The late Mr. Edward Parsons, of Leeds, frequently supplied the pulpit of
+the Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road, London.
+
+Walking out one Monday morning, he was accosted by a stranger, who
+expressed a wish to accompany him. On arriving at a certain house he
+said, "This is my home, sir. Will you walk in and rest yourself?"
+
+Having done so, his host told him he had a design in thus treating him,
+and then related the following remarkable facts:--
+
+Many years before, himself and wife had come from Scotland to London,
+where, as a mechanic, he had for a time full employment; but when his
+work became slack, he was obliged to part with some of his furniture and
+take a smaller house. His circumstances growing worse, his health also
+failing, he was obliged to part with more of his furniture, until he
+found himself, wife, and family driven to reside in a wretched cellar in
+St. Giles'.
+
+One day, being without food, or the means of obtaining any, he resolved
+the next morning to drown himself in the New River, and accordingly
+started to carry out his terrible intention.
+
+It was the Sabbath morning, and as he passed through Tottenham Court
+Road, on his way to the New River, a little before seven o'clock, he
+observed a throng of people entering the Tabernacle. In a sullen mood he
+joined these early worshippers.
+
+Mr. Parsons was in the pulpit, and gave out his text, which was--"When
+the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue
+faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Jacob,
+will not forsake them" (Isa. xli. 17).
+
+It seemed so truly for him that the poor, starving man could not help
+remaining through the sermon.
+
+At its close Mr. Parsons inquired, "Have you put the God of Jacob to the
+test?" The poor man at once said to himself, "I have not put the God of
+Jacob to the test"; and consequently, with a half-resolution to do so,
+he returned to the miserable cellar.
+
+There sat his wretched wife, and there were his starving children,
+crying for the food he could not supply. A short period of pensive
+sadness, and then he said to his wife, "I think we might read a
+chapter."
+
+Poor woman! The remark opened up the well-spring of her heart, and she
+burst into tears. The thought of her early religious training at once
+rushed on her mind. She looked for their Bible, but it had been pawned.
+She, however, found part of an old copy, out of which her husband read a
+chapter.
+
+"We have not put the God of Jacob to the test. Shall we pray?" said he.
+This more surprised the poor wife, but at once they knelt down, and did
+then "put the God of Jacob to the test."
+
+Still the whole day passed without their being supplied with food. The
+next morning, however, the postman, who very seldom entered that
+poverty-stricken street, brought the man a letter from a former
+fellow-workman who had heard of his ill-health and loss of work. The
+letter contained information concerning a large firm in London which had
+an extensive contract, and was requiring a number of hands, and advised
+that he should apply to it for employment. It also contained a one-pound
+note as a loan, which he immediately employed in obtaining food for his
+family and in delivering his best coat from the pawnbroker's.
+
+He then applied to the firm named, and obtained employment, and, being a
+clever workman, his services were secured for a permanency. At length he
+was appointed foreman, and, after a few years, was made a partner in the
+business, and eventually, his former master retiring, he gave up the
+business to him.
+
+With grateful acknowledgments to the Lord, he then told Mr. Parsons that
+he had also been enabled to "put the God of Jacob to the test" with
+reference to the wants of his soul--that he had been led by divine grace
+to seek and find salvation; so that he could set to his seal that God
+was true, and that, "when the poor and needy seek water, and there is
+none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, the Lord will hear them; the
+God of Jacob will not forsake them."
+
+                                                   R. F. R.
+
+
+
+
+TWO WAYS OF DESCENDING.
+
+
+There are two ways of coming down stairs--one is, to fall from the top
+to the bottom; and the other is, to come down step by step; but both
+will take you to the bottom. So also there are two ways of reaching
+hell--one is, to fall into it by the committal of one great and terrible
+sin (comparatively few do this). The other is only too general--to go
+downward by the steps of _little_ sins. Beware of the treachery of
+_little_ sins.
+
+                                                E. BARNE.
+
+
+
+
+COUSIN SUSAN'S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF FATHER
+CHINIQUY.
+
+DOUBLY FREED AND DOUBLY ENRICHED.
+
+"_Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life
+that now is, and of that also which is to come._"--1 TIMOTHY iv. 8.
+
+
+When some notorious Canadian robbers were arrested, Chiniquy was chosen
+by several as their confessor, and he constantly attended the prison,
+instructing them, and trying to teach them how to die.
+
+But, after all his efforts, a terrible fear that they were not converted
+_would_ come over his mind, and doubts of the real efficacy of Popish
+ceremonies to prepare a sinner to meet God troubled him so much, that he
+made a final attempt to rescue the doomed men after sentence of death
+was passed upon some of them. His tears and prayers were successful, and
+the Governor of Canada changed the death-doom to life-long exile in
+Botany Bay. They, with a number of other prisoners, were therefore
+transported to the penal settlement, and good Father Chiniquy gave each
+penitent he visited a New Testament when he took leave of them.
+
+Forty years passed away, and Mr. Chiniquy, the Presbyterian minister,
+was lecturing on "Romanism," in Australia, when he saw an elegant
+carriage driven up to the house at which he was staying, and a venerable
+gentleman, alighting from it, knocked at the door. He went himself to
+open it, to save trouble, and the stranger asked, was Father Chiniquy
+there, and might he see him privately?
+
+"As I am Father Chiniquy," was the reply, "I can at once answer that I
+shall feel much pleasure in granting your request."
+
+He led the way upstairs, and, when alone, the stranger asked--
+
+"Do you remember the thieves who were sentenced to death in Quebec, in
+1837? Well, dear Father Chiniquy, I was one of those criminals.... My
+name was A----. God has blessed me in many ways, but it is to you, under
+Him, that I owe my life, and all the privileges of my present
+existence.... I come to bless and thank you for what you have done for
+me;" and, with tears of joy and gratitude, he threw himself into his
+benefactor's arms.
+
+They knelt together to thank God for His mercy, and then the visitor
+continued his wonderful story.
+
+He said, "After you had given us your last benediction, when on board
+the ship that was to take us to Botany Bay, the first thing I did was,
+to open the New Testament you had given me.... It was the first time I
+had had that Book in my hands. You were the only priest in Canada who
+would put it in the hands of the common people....
+
+"The only good I derived from the first reading was, that I clearly saw
+why the priests of Rome fear and hate that Book. In vain I looked for
+Mass, indulgences, purgatory, confession, the worship of Mary, &c., ...
+and for some weeks I became more of a sceptic than anything else.
+
+"But, if my first reading did me little or no good, I cannot say the
+same of the second. I remembered, when handing us the Book, you told us
+to read it with prayer to God for light to understand it. I was tired of
+my former wicked life. I felt the need of a change.
+
+"You often, when speaking to us, used the words of the Saviour, 'Come
+unto Me, all ye who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you
+rest'; but, like all the other priests, you mixed with them the
+invocation of Mary, confidence in signs of the cross, and confession,
+so that your sublime appeals to the words of Christ were drowned by
+absurd and impious superstitions.
+
+"One morning, after a sleepless night, and feeling so pressed down with
+the weight of my sins, I opened my Gospel Book, after praying for light
+and guidance, and my eyes fell on the words, 'The Lamb of God, that
+takes away the sin of the world.' These words fell on my poor guilty
+soul with a divine power. I spent the day in crying to the Lamb of God
+to take away my sins. Before the day was over I felt and knew that my
+cries had been heard. The Lamb of God had taken away my sins. He had
+changed my heart, and made quite a new man of me.
+
+"From that day the reading of the Gospel was to my soul what bread is to
+the poor, hungry man, and what pure and refreshing waters are to the
+thirsty traveller. My unspeakable joy was, to read the Holy Book, and
+speak to my companions in chains of the dear Saviour's love for poor
+sinners; and, thanks be to God, a good number have found Him altogether
+precious, and have been sincerely converted in the dark holes of that
+convict ship.
+
+"When at work in Sydney with the other culprits, I felt my chains to be
+light when I was sure the heavy chains of sin were gone; and, though
+working hard beneath a burning sun from morning till night, my heart was
+full of joy when I was sure my Saviour had prepared a throne for me in
+His heavenly kingdom.
+
+"About a year afterwards, a minister of the Gospel and another gentleman
+came to me and told me I was pardoned, at the same time handing me a
+document signed by the Governor, and a hundred dollars, adding, 'Go and
+be a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, and God Almighty will bless
+you in all your ways.'
+
+"All this seemed like a dream, but it was a reality, and I spent several
+days and nights weeping for joy, and blessing the God of my salvation.
+
+"Some years after that, we heard of the gold mines, and I started, in
+company with several others; but I separated from the others, for I
+wanted to be alone, and pray to my God as I walked along.
+
+"After a long march, I came to a beautiful spot between three small
+hills, whence a brook was running to the plain below. I sat down to eat
+my dinner, and, while doing so, my eyes fell on a stone by the brook
+about the size of a goose's egg. The rays of the sun shone on it like a
+mirror. I picked it up, and found it was nearly all gold of the purest
+kind....
+
+"With the money I gained from that place I afterwards bought a piece of
+land, and became one of the wealthy men of Australia. I married and
+settled here; ... and it is to you, after God, I owe my life and all the
+privileges I now enjoy."
+
+They wept and praised God together in the beautiful language of the
+103rd Psalm. Both could say, with a full heart, "Bless the Lord, O my
+soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name."
+
+The next day Pastor Chiniquy dined at the house of his unexpected
+visitor, and felt warmly interested in the family and all that he saw
+and heard, and the two separated, not expecting to meet again on earth,
+but confidently hoping to meet around the throne of God, to praise the
+wonders of redeeming love for ever.
+
+May we also be glad, and rejoice in His salvation, and join to sing the
+heavenly song with heart and voice, even now--
+
+"Till sweeter notes our bosoms swell,
+    In yonder world above."
+
+
+WISE work is cheerful as a child's work is.
+
+
+
+
+A BROTHER'S DREAM.
+
+"_God speaketh ... in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep
+falleth upon men, in slumberings on the bed; then He openeth the ears of
+men, and sealeth their instruction._"--JOB xxxiii. 14-16.
+
+
+Superstition attaches much importance to the night wanderings of a
+disturbed mind, and augurs good or ill, according to the nature of the
+dreamy imaginings. Thousands have dreamed themselves to ruin, by
+following the empty speculations of a fervid imagination, and neglecting
+the path of prudent industry.
+
+The text above does not teach that God speaketh in _all_ dreams, but
+that He is pleased _sometimes_ (and the writer believes very
+occasionally) to communicate instruction by such means. He that made the
+soul can approach it by any avenue He pleases, and is shut out from
+none.
+
+Winters and summers, as many as fourteen, have rolled over my head since
+the night made memorable by "a brother's dream." Thirteen years have
+likewise passed since my arms were placed beneath this dying
+brother--since the glad angels conveyed his sweet spirit to the paradise
+of God.
+
+Oh, the heavenly smile--oh, the beaming eye he cast upon me--as he
+gently subsided into endless rest! Never shall I forget that scene.
+Never will be erased from memory's tablet that chamber, and all that
+there I felt, and saw, and heard.
+
+  "Friend after friend departs;
+    Who has not lost a friend?"
+
+Come, then, all sympathizing hearts; come, ye who know what sorrow is;
+come, all who
+
+        "feel an aching void,
+  The world can never fill,"
+
+and listen to "a brother's dream."
+
+Brought up to attend public worship, and under religious instruction,
+the period when spiritual life first animated his soul is not known to
+any survivors; nor, also, what were the peculiar exercises of his mind
+during the first year or two of his Christian life.
+
+Up to the time of his dream, he was associated with many of those whose
+religion consists chiefly in name and show, carnal excitement, and
+flesh-pleasing formality; and, being of a very cheerful disposition, and
+generally beloved by all who knew him, it needed no small
+effort--nothing short of divine power--to sever the confederacy.
+
+As will always be the case where the life of God is, his soul began to
+languish and starve under the "Yea and nay," "Do and live," orations to
+which he from time to time listened. He could not feed on husks.
+Distressed, hungry, and thirsty, his soul at last fainted. Then he cried
+unto God in his trouble. Full of vexation and perplexity, not knowing
+where to go or what to do, he dreamed.
+
+He saw, as he thought, an old woman with a cross-handled basket crying
+her saleables. "Who wants to buy any religion? Who wants to buy any
+religion?" she repeated again and again. Gladly, _eagerly_ he
+vociferated, "I do! I do!"
+
+He bought a large supply. It consisted of a great number of props, which
+supported him all around, and on each prop was written something which
+he was to do--some deed or good work he was to perform.
+
+Almost as soon as he was in possession of his purchased religion, he
+saw, at a great distance, a fire raging, which soon increased, so that
+it seemed to compass the whole sensible horizon. But what was more
+fearful, it burned still nearer and nearer to the spot where he stood,
+consuming everything as it approached. Alarmed, amazed, terrified, his
+horror was increased as he beheld his props already on fire.
+
+Everything had been destroyed as the burning ocean approached, and could
+he escape? Alone and helpless, how could deliverance be effected? Power
+and hope were alike gone, and into the infinite fire he was just
+sinking, when, lo! the mighty Jesus, before unseen, stretched out His
+gracious arm, and with words of promise, instantaneously performed,
+said, "I'll hold you up!"
+
+Forthwith the fire was quenched, and he sang delivering grace.
+
+These solemn scenes, so visibly portrayed in his imagination while
+asleep, became a subject of serious consideration when awake. Who could
+explain the matter to him?
+
+Not long he lacked a teacher. The Gracious Interpreter sent a messenger
+to blow the Gospel trumpet in the neighbourhood. He went; he heard. Oh,
+what a sermon! Never had such statements fallen upon his ears; never had
+such light shone into his mind. And what a text!--"The hail shall sweep
+away your refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
+hiding-place."
+
+One after another, the preacher described the vain hopes on which he had
+rested, and showed their frailty and destruction, in the way he had
+felt. And then his refuge, his hiding-place, his _props_, away, away
+they go, just as he saw, exactly as he felt. In short, the preacher's
+sermon was a map of the path--a verbal unfolding of the secrets of his
+heart.
+
+What was the consequence? The meshes of the devil's fishing-net were
+broken; free-will, creature-dependency, were gone; and hope--Gospel
+hope--"good hope through grace"--filled his anxious bosom. He had been
+down in the horrible pit; he had been sinking in the miry clay. Now he
+is brought to the verge of deliverance. Now he sees, he hopes in, the
+boundless prospects of covenant grace.
+
+Not many miles distant in another direction, lived and preached a
+servant of the Lord, lately taken to his everlasting home. He bent his
+steps to hear the words of truth and grace from his lips. "Wonderful!
+Astonishing! Was it an angel I heard before--one who had assumed a
+bodily shape, to bear those joyful tidings to my soul, and now appears
+again with other features and with another voice? No; he was a man; and
+this is a human voice I hear. But how astonishing! He seems to know all
+the other told me, and to begin where the other left off. Their sermons
+seem like two following pages of a book, in which I read the secrets of
+my life, and behold in legible lines those things I never breathed to
+human friends. 'This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in my
+eyes.'"
+
+It _was_ the Lord's doing; for not only was his whole Christian pathway
+mapped out, but his soul sweetly delivered from legal entanglements,
+from slavish fear and anxious doubt, and brought into that liberty with
+which God makes His people free. He was made "wise unto salvation,
+through faith in Jesus Christ." Moreover, by continuance in that Word,
+he gave unequivocal demonstration that he was a disciple indeed; one who
+was a learner and follower of Jesus; and so, knowing "the truth as it is
+in Jesus," he rejoiced in hope of the glory of God. Nor did he have long
+to wait, for, sinking under the merciless hand of pale consumption, in a
+little more than a year he was suddenly removed to that land of peace
+and love where
+
+  "Jesus sheds the brightest beams
+    Of His o'erflowing grace."
+
+Reader, the dream was instructive to the dear departed; but was it given
+for him alone? It can no longer benefit him, for with him all is
+reality--no shadowy emblem, but everything substantial. May not we
+therefore derive instruction?
+
+Let us look at some of its prominences. Standing out with towering
+majesty and grandeur, like a cloud-capped mountain, appears
+
+_Divine sovereignty_--the sovereign mercy of the Lord, who "hath mercy
+on whom He will have mercy." You will not see this through reason's
+misty glass (which perverts and confuses all things beheld through it),
+no more than the loftiest eminence is discernible in the darkness of
+midnight. But in the light of God's truth it is clearly visible. There
+are many with whom he was associated when he "sought the living among
+the dead"--when he was entangled in the carnal schemes of a false
+religion--who remain where he could not stay, and seem contented, too.
+There have been but comparatively very few brought to seek what he
+sought, and to know what he was taught. "Who hath saved us, and called
+us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
+His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
+world began."
+
+We also discover _the danger of false religion_. Behold that burning
+flame! Thus burns God's wrath against sin. No human efforts can quench
+it or check its progress. All creature performances, like the PROPS,
+will be consumed by it. The best of human works are but as stubble to
+the fire of wrath divine. Indeed, when God tells of that dreadful day
+which shall burn as an oven, the self-righteous, or proud, are put
+before "those that do wickedly," as objects of God's displeasure, and
+doomed to that dreadful burning.
+
+Oh, could I make my words thunder and lightning, to peal and flash this
+solemn truth from hill to hill and from vale to vale!
+
+All false religion begins on the outside, and attempts to alter
+principles by renovating practice; but all true religion commences
+within. The Spirit produces a change in the practice by implanting new
+life and holy principles. "Ye must be born again." Religion is not a new
+patch on an old garment, but a new fabric entirely. "If any man be in
+Christ Jesus, he is a new creature."
+
+We see, likewise, the trouble and anxiety which are felt when one is
+soundly convinced of his sinful life and state. Salvation is then a
+matter of life and death. "Life, life, eternal life!" is the earnest
+cry. Conviction of sin, when it merely penetrates the skin, is soon
+soothed and forgotten; but when the arrows from the bow of God's Word
+pierce the heart, no hand can withdraw them but His who directed them,
+and no balm can heal those painful wounds but that administered by
+Jehovah-Jesus.
+
+It may be seen also that, till He who is "the Way, the Truth, and the
+Life," was proclaimed to his eager soul, he found no solid satisfaction,
+no stable peace.
+
+  "In vain the trembling conscience seeks
+    Some solid ground to rest upon;
+  With long despair the spirit breaks,
+    Till we apply to Christ alone."
+
+He is the only Antidote to our sin, ruin, and disease; and He is freely
+set forth in the Gospel as the gracious, willing, almighty, and
+everlasting Saviour of the lost and undone. Until we are brought
+sensibly to feel our sin and destitution, we are ready and willing to
+try everything but that which God has provided; but when we are brought
+before His infinite holiness, and see the "filthy garments" in which we
+are clad, no arm is long and powerful enough to reach our case but His,
+who is "able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him."
+The blessed Spirit will always glorify Jesus by His teaching, and will
+lead the soul to Him as the All in all of salvation.
+
+Here are exhibited, likewise, the gracious operations of His power and
+wisdom who says, "The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to
+Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." Had his soul's
+salvation rested on his believing, as some would tell us, he had not
+have been where he is. Grace begins, grace carries on, grace performs,
+and finally completes, the grand work of eternal redemption.
+
+In this brief narrative appears, moreover, the peace and joy a knowledge
+of sin forgiven and peace secured produces in the soul. Oh, the blissful
+truth, "Redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
+to the riches of His grace." To taste this, to know this, exceeds ten
+thousand worlds of sordid treasure--transcends the highest delights of
+this terrestrial sphere. How did his happy soul rejoice "with joy
+unspeakable and full of glory"!
+
+But he has long entered his rest. He has forgotten to mourn, and loudly
+sings the praises of the Lamb.
+
+Where is my reader? Is he pursuing the wind, and hunting after the
+shadowy trifles of earth? Is he attempting by creature works to make his
+peace with God?
+
+Doomed to total disappointment and eternal condemnation are all those
+who die in such hostility to the way of peace and Heaven's declared
+will! Oh, delusion! worse than madness! "He that _believeth not_ shall
+be damned!" No salvation but by a living faith in the Lamb of God and
+His all-perfect work.
+
+
+
+
+PROMPT KINDNESS.
+
+
+The fact that we are too apt to suppress our kindest emotions for loved
+ones, and withhold our words of approbation, is but too frequently
+apparent. This is often done with the best intent, fearing that more
+cordial expression and warmer approval may savour of flattery, and very
+frequently it is the outcome of pure carelessness or indifference. In
+this connection it is well to consider the words of Horace Mann. Says
+he:--
+
+"Do not keep the alabaster boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up
+until your friends are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness. Speak
+approving, cheering words while their hearts can be thrilled and made
+happier by them. The kind things you mean to say when they are gone, say
+before they go. The flowers you mean to send for their coffins, send to
+brighten their homes before they leave them. If my friends have
+alabaster boxes laid away, full of fragrant perfumes of sympathy and
+affection, which they mean to break over my dead body, I would rather
+they bring them out in my weary and troubled hours, and open them, that
+I may be refreshed and cheered by them while I need them. I would rather
+have a plain coffin without flowers, a funeral without eulogy, than life
+without the sweetness of love and tenderness and sympathy. Let us learn
+to anoint our friends beforehand for their burial. Post-mortem kindness
+does not cheer the burdened spirit. Flowers on the coffin cast no
+fragrance backward over the weary way."
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+An unknown king.
+
+A place from which the Canaanites were not driven.
+
+One of the dukes of Edom.
+
+A Shuhite.
+
+A place built by the sons of Elpaal.
+
+Where were they once who are now made nigh to God?
+
+The Hebrew name for "pavement."
+
+A name which means "the tower."
+
+Something which God used to give a sign to encourage a king.
+
+
+The initials and finals form two titles of Christ.
+
+                                    CLARA ELLIS
+                                   (Aged 14 years).
+
+
+
+
+A FUGITIVE IN THE HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS.
+
+
+In the summer of 1852 Colonel B----, on an excursion to the snowy range
+of the Himalayas, had proceeded into the mountains some twenty miles
+beyond any known habitation of civilized man, when the natives told him
+that, in a village near by, a white man was living in concealment.
+
+Incredible as it appeared, Colonel B---- followed his guides to a little
+native hut with mud walls and roof of grass. Taking a peep in at the low
+entrance, sure enough, there he spied an elderly person with a white
+face, but in the most shabby dress of the natives, who, on catching a
+glance of the intruder, rushed into a dark corner of his miserable
+hovel, out of which the most earnest entreaties and assurances of good
+intentions scarcely brought him.
+
+He was the son of an English gentleman who, like thousands of the
+high-bred youths of England, had come to India to procure a title to a
+Government pension, and, after remaining here ten or twenty years,
+return home and live in ease. Like not a few who come to this land,
+supposing he could scarcely avoid becoming rich, he had run recklessly
+into debt, until he was threatened with a term of years in close
+confinement unless he should immediately cancel his liabilities, to do
+which he was totally incapable. He fled beyond the limits of the British
+territory to the place where Colonel B---- found him, where he had
+subsisted for some fifteen years, in the manner of the wild natives
+around him, not excepting their revolting vices.
+
+Colonel B---- told him of a debt he owed, which, if not discharged,
+might consign him to chains and darkness, not for a term of years, but
+for eternity; begged him earnestly to seek to escape that everlasting
+imprisonment in the dungeons of the unutterably miserable; prayed with
+him, and gave him a few tracts, which, like many good men, Colonel B----
+is in the habit of taking with him wherever he goes.
+
+Two years after, he again visited him, and found that the seed he had
+been permitted to sow was springing up. On reading the tract, "_It is
+the Last Time_," he could have no peace of mind until he found assurance
+of his greatest debt being cancelled by the blood of Christ.
+
+His brother, who was receiving a large salary in India, was delighted to
+be permitted to meet his earthly liabilities, and requested him to
+return to England and live the remainder of his days in comfortable
+ease. But no; he said he had opposed and reviled the Christian religion
+in India, and here he wished to do what he could to counteract his past
+evil influence.
+
+He is now at S----, daily assisting a missionary in proclaiming to the
+heathen the only way of eternal life. May He whose grace has raised him
+thus far out of the loathsome den, lead him still onward, and make him
+an eminent aid and ornament to the faith which he so long despised and
+reproached.
+
+In what various ways does God enable him to do good whose heart is set
+upon it! The author of that tract probably never thought of its floating
+over the waves fifteen thousand miles, fluttering on the breeze another
+thousand miles into the heart of a heathen country, amidst the bears and
+wolves and wild men of the Himalayas, lighting upon a poor degraded
+immortal, "twice dead and plucked up by the roots," and proving him a
+son and heir of the Lord God Almighty, a being to reign on the throne of
+the universe for ever with the King of kings. "O the depth of the riches
+both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!"
+
+
+
+
+A FEW WORDS FROM THE DUMB.
+
+
+It is the glory of Englishmen to stand up for the defenceless, and to
+scorn the cowardly oppression of the weak. Surely, then, those who own
+and those who use ponies and donkeys will be willing to give a fair
+hearing to a pleader for the helpless, dumb creatures.
+
+If they could speak for themselves, would they not say--"Give us some
+rest one day in the week, and we will do all the more for you the other
+six, and last the longer for it. You yourself work the better, and live
+the longer, for one day's rest.
+
+"Don't beat our sore sides so hard and so often, and we shall be
+stronger and better servants to you. You know how oppression only makes
+_you_ set up your back, but you will do anything for a kind master.
+
+"Don't ride and race us about till we are ready to drop, and our wind is
+almost broken, and we are reeking with heat and rough usage.
+
+"Pray let us have a little more water when we stand weary and thirsty,
+with our poor dry tongues unable to ask for it. _You_ have felt the
+suffering of thirst.
+
+"And for pity's sake," the ponies would say, "loosen this torturing
+bearing-rein. We toss and shake our heads, or we try to keep them still,
+and nothing gives us a moment's ease. You, master, would suffer severely
+if _your_ head were held in such a position, and we could do more work,
+and much better, without it.
+
+"Please remember that we can always hear your voice, and shall
+understand what you want us to do so much more quickly, if you speak to
+us quietly, than if you roar at us, and drag our tender, worn mouths
+about. We get so puzzled and frightened when you're in a rage with us,
+that we only flounder and plunge, and make you more and more angry.
+
+"Our last entreaty is that, when we get old and past our work, you will
+not let our poor, wasted bodies stagger along under some load, when our
+lives have been spent in your service, but that you will reward us by
+having us immediately put out of our pain."
+
+Think how much you owe to mercy yourself, and remember, "The merciful
+man doeth good to his beast."
+
+
+
+
+  ONE LINK GONE.
+
+
+  Take the pillows from the cradle
+    Where the little sufferer lay;
+  Draw the curtain, close the shutters,
+    Shut out every beam of day.
+
+  Spread the pall upon the table;
+    Place the lifeless body there;
+  Back from off the marble features
+    Lay the auburn curls with care.
+
+  With its little blue-veined fingers
+    Crossed upon its painless breast,
+  Free from care, and pain, and anguish,
+    Let the infant beauty rest.
+
+  Smooth its little shroud about it;
+    Pick its toys from off the floor;
+  They, with all their sparkling beauty,
+    Ne'er can charm their owner more.
+
+  Take the little shoes and stockings
+    From the doting mother's sight;
+  Pattering feet no more will need them,
+    In and out with such delight.
+
+  Parents faint and worn with watching
+    Through the long, dark night of grief,
+  Dry your tears, and soothe your sighing;
+    Gain a respite of relief.
+
+  Mother's care no more is needed
+    To allay the rising moan;
+  And though you perchance may leave it,
+    It can never be alone.
+
+  Thus a golden link is broken
+    In a chain of earthly bliss--
+  Thus the distance shorter making
+    'Twixt another world and this.
+
+[Illustration: KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. (_See page 108._)]
+
+
+
+
+A GATHERED ONE.
+
+A SHORT ACCOUNT OF EMMA BEESLEY, OF LEICESTER, WHO DIED ON LORD'S DAY
+MORNING, JANUARY 1ST, 1888, AGED TWENTY-ONE YEARS.
+
+
+Our earliest recollection of Emma was as a child in our Sunday School,
+which she was led, in a very marked way, to attend. Her sister was
+persuaded by a companion to go with her to our school just for one
+afternoon, and she was so interested that she became a regular scholar.
+Emma was at that time attending a school in connection with a General
+Baptist cause, but hearing her sister speak in such high terms of the
+school at Zion Chapel, she was soon persuaded to go with her. Like her
+sister, she felt so at home that she also became a scholar. They each
+became so very much attached to both school and chapel, that they had no
+desire whatever to leave it; and we have good reason to believe the Word
+was made a blessing, and that the seed of divine grace was sown in each
+of their hearts by God the Eternal Spirit.
+
+Emma was of a very quiet turn of mind, and for the last two years was
+the subject of great soul-trouble. All who knew her could testify to the
+deep sense she had of her sinnership before God. Her great fear was,
+that she was too great a sinner for the Lord to look upon; but her whole
+desire was, to be found right with Him.
+
+To a friend she said, "Oh, I should not mind waiting, if only I knew I
+should obtain the blessing; but I am so afraid I shall never have what I
+am seeking after."
+
+Her love for the house of God was so great that no weather would prevent
+her from attending the means. Being of a delicate constitution, her
+mother often reproved her for going so much; but she could say, with the
+poet--
+
+  "I love to meet amongst them now,
+  Before Thy gracious feet to bow,
+    Though vilest of them all."
+
+Truly, she prized the company of the Lord's people, and looked upon them
+as the excellent of the earth; and many times has said, "I want the Lord
+to assure me that I am one of His family, redeemed by precious blood."
+
+For the most part she was very dark in her mind, but had rays of light,
+being often encouraged under the preached Word.
+
+It was about a month before her last illness that the Lord seemed to
+completely wean her from the world. She seemed like one that was indeed
+taking the kingdom of heaven by violence. The things that belonged to
+her soul's happiness were eagerly sought after, while the things of the
+world were only a plague and a burden.
+
+She said to a friend, "Oh, how I long for the Christmas holidays--not
+for the mere holiday, but that I may get away from my work, and be with
+the dear people of God."
+
+About a fortnight before her illness, our dear minister spoke from the
+words, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." It
+seemed to completely cut her up, as she feared she was only a hypocrite,
+and not a true follower, which caused her great sorrow of heart. But
+during the week the Lord was pleased to shine upon her once more with
+these words--"I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with
+loving-kindness have I drawn thee." But the words were so great she
+feared to take them, and yet she could not put them away.
+
+On the following Sunday, our dear pastor took for his text, "Even to Him
+shall men come" (Isa. xlv. 24). That day was indeed a Sabbath to her;
+for, as the character was described, the Lord sweetly made it plain to
+her that she was no longer to cut herself off, and she felt sure that
+she was the character described. She earnestly begged of the Lord that
+day that Mr. Hazlerigg might be led to take the same text in the
+evening. To her great joy the same words were again given out, and the
+sermon was attended with the same sweetness to her. She was indeed full.
+A friend who walked with her from chapel said afterwards, that she
+seemed in a most heavenly frame of mind. She could do nothing but speak
+of the favoured times she had had in hearing.
+
+The next, and indeed the last, time that she was permitted to meet with
+us on earth, was at our prayer-meeting on the Monday evening, and then
+she seemed again to be much favoured.
+
+She was taken ill on the Wednesday evening. On the following Friday, the
+writer, being sent for, went and found her very ill, but her mind seemed
+stayed upon eternal things. I said, "Do you think you shall get better,
+Emma?" to which she replied, "I do not know. If the complaint is not
+stayed, I must sink; but I do not mind." I asked her if she feared
+death. She replied, "No; I only want the Lord to reveal Himself to me
+more, and then I do not mind whether it is life or death." She said, "I
+have only one wish, and that is, that the affliction may be sanctified."
+She said that verse had been so blessed to her--
+
+  "Fenced with Jehovah's 'shalls' and 'wills,'
+  Firm as the everlasting hills."
+
+I said, "Oh, Emma, how good of the Lord to give you those words. He
+knows how full of fears you are, and how Satan would cast his 'buts' and
+'ifs' at you; but the Lord has given you those words to quench Satan's
+darts with." I told her I believed the Lord was either preparing her for
+His Church below, or His Church above. She smiled, and said, "I hope it
+is so."
+
+A friend, to whom she was much attached, called to see her, and said,
+"Emma, should you like me to read to you? I am afraid you are too ill."
+She said, "Oh, do! I should so much like you to do so." The twenty-third
+Psalm was read, and a few words of prayer offered; and to a friend, who
+afterwards went in, she said how very much she enjoyed it.
+
+We did indeed feel it good to be with her; but the affliction was of
+such a painful nature that she could not talk much. The doctor said that
+all that could be done for her was to keep her very quiet, and give her
+support, so that we often refrained from conversing with her, hoping
+very much that it might be the Lord's will to restore her.
+
+On Saturday morning our hopes were raised very high. She was quiet in
+her mind, Satan not being permitted to harass her. Her only fear seemed
+to be that she was ungrateful. She said, "I have so many friends, and
+they are all so kind." But we always found her to be truly grateful for
+every little act of kindness shown to her.
+
+Towards evening a change for the worse took place. Convulsions seized
+her, and, for about twelve hours, it was most painful to witness her
+struggle with the last enemy--so much so that her dear sister, who was
+devoted to her, was led to beg of the Lord to release her.
+
+About six o'clock on Lord's Day morning her spirit took its flight, to
+be "for ever with the Lord." Truly, we could say it was her gain, though
+we felt the loss most keenly. The Lord had been so good in supporting
+her through her painful affliction, that we felt we could justly say,
+with the poet--
+
+  "Her mind was tranquil and serene;
+  No terror in her look was seen;
+  Her Saviour's smile dispelled the gloom,
+  And smoothed her passage to the tomb."
+
+                                      C. WARDLE.
+
+
+
+
+PRAYER ANSWERED.
+
+A TRUE INCIDENT.
+
+
+On the summit of Washington mountain, overlooking the Housatonic Valley,
+stood a hut, the home of John Barry, a poor charcoal-burner, whose
+family consisted of his wife and himself. His occupation brought him in
+but few dollars, and when cold weather came, he had managed to get
+together only a small provision for the winter.
+
+This fall, after a summer of hard work, he fell sick, and was unable to
+keep his fires going, so, when the snow of December, 1874, fell, and the
+drifts had shut off communication with the village at the foot of the
+mountain, John and his wife were in great straits. Their entire stock of
+food consisted of only a few pounds of salt pork and a bushel of
+potatoes. Sugar, flour, coffee, and tea had, early in December, given
+out, and the chances for replenishing the larder were slim indeed.
+
+The snowstorms came again, and the drifts deepened. All the roads, even
+in the valley, were impassable, and no one thought of trying to open the
+mountain highways, which even in summer were only occasionally
+travelled, and none gave the old man and his wife a thought.
+
+December 15th came, and with it the heaviest fall of snow experienced in
+Berkshire County in many years. The food of the old couple on the
+mountain was now reduced to a day's supply, but John did not yet
+despair. He was a Christian and a God-fearing man, and His promises were
+remembered; and so, when evening came, and the north-east gale was
+blowing and the fierce snowstorm was raging, John and his wife were
+praying and asking for help.
+
+In Sheffield village, ten miles away, lived Deacon Brown, a well-to-do
+farmer of fifty years old, who was noted for his consistent and godly
+deportment, both as a man and a Christian. The deacon and his wife had
+gone to bed early, and, in spite of the storm raging without, were
+sleeping soundly, when, with a start, the deacon awoke, and said to his
+wife, "Who spoke? Who's there?"
+
+"Why," said the wife, "no one is here but you and me. What is the matter
+with you?"
+
+"I heard a voice," said the deacon, "saying, 'Send food to John.'"
+
+"Nonsense!" replied Mrs. Brown. "You've been dreaming."
+
+The deacon laid his head on his pillow, and was asleep in a minute. Soon
+he started up again, and, waking his wife, exclaimed--"There, I heard
+that voice again--'Send food to John.'"
+
+"Well, well," said Mrs. Brown. "Deacon, you are not well; your supper
+has not agreed with you. Lie down and try to sleep."
+
+Again the deacon closed his eyes, and again came the voice--"Send food
+to John." This time the deacon was thoroughly awake. "Wife," said he,
+"who do we know named John who needs food?"
+
+"No one I remember," replied Mrs. Brown, "unless it be John Barry, the
+old charcoal-burner on the mountain."
+
+"That's it!" exclaimed the deacon. "Now I remember, when I was at the
+store in Sheffield the other day, Clark, the merchant, speaking of John
+Barry, said, 'I wonder if the old man is alive, for it is six weeks
+since I saw him, and he has not yet laid in his winter stock of
+groceries.' It must be old John is sick, and wanting food." So saying,
+the good deacon arose and proceeded to dress himself.
+
+"Come, wife," said he, "wake our boy Willie, and tell him to feed the
+horses and get ready to go with me; and do you pack up in the two
+largest baskets you have, a good stock of food, and get us an early
+breakfast, for I am going up to the mountain to carry the food I know
+John Barry needs."
+
+Mrs. Brown, accustomed to the sudden impulses of her good husband, and
+believing him to be always in the right, cheerfully complied, and after
+a hot breakfast, Deacon Brown and his son Willie, a boy of nineteen,
+hitched up the horses to the double sleigh, and then, with a month's
+supply of food, and a "Good-bye, mother," started at five o'clock on
+that cold December morning for a journey that almost any other than
+Deacon Brown and his son would not have dared to undertake.
+
+The north-east storm was still raging, and the snow falling and drifting
+fast; but on, on went the stout, well-fed team on its errand of mercy,
+while the occupants of the sleigh, wrapped up in blankets and extra
+buffalo robes, urged the horses through the drifts and in the face of
+the storm. That ten miles' ride, which required in the summer hardly an
+hour or two, was not finished until the deacon's watch showed that five
+hours had passed.
+
+At last they drew up in front of the hut where the poor trusting
+Christian man and woman were on their knees praying for help to Him who
+is always the Hearer and Answerer of prayer; and as the deacon reached
+the door, he heard the voice of supplication, and then he knew that the
+voice which awakened him from sleep was sent from heaven.
+
+He knocked at the door. It was opened; and we can imagine the joy of the
+old couple when the generous supply of food was carried in, and the
+thanksgivings that were uttered by the starving tenants of that mountain
+hut.
+
+"Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will answer
+thee."--_Lantern._
+
+
+NEVER think that you can make yourself great by making another less.
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 91._)
+
+
+"_Create in me a clean heart, O God; renew a right spirit within
+me._"--PSALM li. 10.
+
+C   heba  R    .   Ezekiel i. i.
+R    om   E    .   Acts xviii. 2.
+E   glo   N    .   Judges iii. 15.
+A    x    E    .   Judges ix. 48.
+T    o    W    .   Isaiah i. 31.
+E   liad  A    .   2 Chronicles xvii. 17.
+I   bha   R    .   2 Samuel v. 15.
+N  aphtal I    .   Genesis xxx. 8.
+M   ago   G    .   1 Chronicles i. 5.
+E  leale  H    .   Numbers xxxii. 37.
+A   rara  T    .   Genesis viii. 4.
+C   epha  S    .   John i. 42.
+L    am   P    .   Exodus xxvii. 20.
+E   nged  I    .   1 Samuel xxiii. 29.
+A   roe   R    .   Numbers xxxii. 34.
+N  aphtal I    .   1 Kings vii. 14.
+H  arves  T    .   Genesis viii. 22.
+E    ni   W    .   Proverbs xx. 1.
+A  bisha  I    .   1 Chronicles xviii. 12.
+R    es   T    .   Hebrews iv. 9.
+T  abera  H    .   Deuteronomy ix. 22.
+O    mr   I    .   1 Kings xvi. 25.
+G   ibeo  N[9] .   1 Chronicles viii. 29.
+O bed-edo M    .   2 Samuel vi. 11.
+D    ov   E    .   Genesis viii. 9.
+
+                             THOMAS TYLER
+                           (Aged 14 years).
+
+_Potton_, _Beds_.
+
+  [9] "Gideon" was given by mistake, in the Enigma, instead of "Gibeon."
+
+
+
+
+  WISDOM.
+
+  (PROVERBS iii. 13-15.)
+
+
+  True wisdom doth my soul admire,
+    And would before fine gold prefer;
+  For all the things I could desire
+    Are not to be compared with her.
+
+  While earthly things fill earthly minds,
+    Attracted to their native clod,
+  Happy the man who wisdom finds,
+    And holds her in the fear of God!
+
+
+
+
+THE CLEVER BOY AND THE ELECTRICAL MACHINE.
+
+
+An electrical machine was in the window of a scientific instrument
+maker's shop, and a youth stood looking at it with eager eyes. He was
+observing every part with intense curiosity. At length, after a long,
+absorbing gaze, a neighbouring clock struck. He started like one
+awakened from a sleep, and ran with all speed to his master's workshop.
+
+The boy was the son of a working man--a smith, and was intended also for
+a working man, but not quite so laborious a trade. Perhaps the boy was
+not strong enough for his father's manly trade, so he was apprenticed to
+a bookbinder in Blandford Street, Marylebone. He was a very diligent
+lad, fond of work in hours of business, and fond of a book in hours of
+leisure. His master noticed this, and gave him leave to stay in the
+workshop during the dinner-hour.
+
+Whilst his fellow-workers were drinking and smoking, the orphan boy was
+storing his mind with useful knowledge. In particular he loved books on
+scientific subjects. He liked to read about the wonders of chemistry;
+still more about electricity--that wonderful power that flashes out of
+the thunder-cloud, that dwells unseen in the dew-drop, that, at a touch,
+thrills through the startled nerves, and, like an invisible but mighty
+spirit, pervades all things, from the clouds of heaven to the clods of
+earth.
+
+One day he found out the shop window with the electrical machine, and at
+every spare moment he haunted that window, taking the shape and measure
+of every knob, and wire, and wheel, and plate, with earnest eyes. Then
+he resolved to try and make one for himself; so by the light of the
+early summer mornings, he was up and working away at his machine.
+
+In time he completed it, and found it would act. He touched the knob,
+and the shock that went through him was as nothing compared with the joy
+that throbbed through his heart at seeing his work complete.
+
+He showed it to his master, who, being a kind and sensible man, was
+pleased and surprised at the ingenuity of the lad. The master was fond
+of showing the electrical apparatus of his industrious apprentice to
+every person likely to be interested in a clever youth. Amongst them
+were some Fellows of the Royal Society, who might, perhaps, have an
+admission ticket to give.
+
+Some few years after, the lad, now a young man, was again gazing with
+wide open eyes, and laying up all he saw in his mind. This time it was
+not through a shop window that he looked. It was from a seat in the
+Royal Society's lecture-room that he witnessed Sir Humphrey Davey making
+some beautiful chemical experiments.
+
+The youth did not know which most to admire--the beautiful apparatus,
+the wonderful experiments, or the eloquent lecture. All was so new to
+him--so interesting. But the lecturer himself was, above all the rest,
+the object of his admiration. Our youth, having been a reader, knew that
+Sir Humphrey Davey was not born of rich parents, though his kindred and
+his breeding were virtuous and respectable. In the remote town of
+Penzance, in Cornwall, from the most western extremity in England, the
+great man had come. He had taught himself nearly all he knew; and now
+the youth saw him standing before the mighty and the noble of the land,
+the light of genius in his flashing eyes, the words of wisdom on his
+eloquent lips. "Oh, if I could but follow the steps of such a master!"
+was the involuntary wish of the youthful hearer.
+
+This thought soon produced action. Promptness was a leading part of the
+young man's character, so he resolved to write to the great chemist,
+and state that he wished to follow some other trade than that to which
+he had been apprenticed; that he loved science, and would think himself
+happy to be employed in any way in the laboratory of so great a man. It
+was a bold step, but the request, though urgent, was full of the noble
+humility of real worth. His letter was not neglected. Inquiries were
+made. The good master had no wish to prevent the youth entering on a
+career for which his talents and studious habits fitted him. The
+electrical apparatus was another aid to him, so the wish of his heart
+was granted. He entered the laboratory of the great man, and had ample
+opportunity to study and to improve. There is no need to say he did not
+waste his time or neglect his opportunities.
+
+Sir Humphrey Davey died, leaving a name dear to the philanthropist, as
+well as the man of science; but his place was not long vacant. Who
+filled it? He whose youth we have feebly sketched; he whose lectures at
+the Royal Institution were listened to by the Prince Consort and the
+Prince of Wales--the celebrated and much-beloved Professor Faraday.
+
+"Seest thou the man that is diligent in business? he shall stand before
+kings."
+
+Professor Faraday was not only one of the greatest scientific
+authorities that ever lived, but he was a companion of humble-minded
+Christians. His weekdays he devoted to science, but on the Sunday he
+might be heard telling the story of redeeming love to delighted
+listeners.
+
+
+CHRIST'S time was largely taken up in making people happy. We do well to
+remember that, and to do our best in ministering to the happiness of all
+around us.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+GOD'S INDEPENDENCE OF ALL, AND HIS DECLARED NEED OF SOME OF HIS
+CREATURES.
+
+(PSALM l. 12, AND MATTHEW xxi. 1-3.)
+
+
+That God is independent the Bible everywhere declares. All beings beside
+Himself are His creatures, and He is Lord of all. He needs nothing, for
+He possesses all things.
+
+No _supplies_, for, though He ordained sacrifices and planned His
+temple, heaven is His throne, and earth His footstool, and His own hand
+gives life, power, and sustenance to all (Acts xvii. 25).
+
+No _tribute_. The free-will offerings of David and his people, for the
+building of the temple, were a sweet sacrifice to God; but David truly
+described matters when he said, "Of _Thine own_, O Lord, have we given
+unto Thee" (1 Chron. xxix. 14).
+
+He needs _no information_ or _guidance_ (see Isa. xl. 13-15). "Who hath
+directed the Spirit of the Lord? or being His counsellor, hath taught
+Him?" The question is not asked of angels, but of men; and "all nations
+before Him are as a drop of a bucket"--the little drips that fall from
+it as it is drawn up from the well--while "He taketh up the islands as a
+very little thing"--a light thing, lifted easily with the fingers.
+
+No creatures can give their Creator a single new thought, or any help of
+any kind (Rom. xi. 34-36). "For who hath _known_ the mind of the Lord?"
+Who then could have been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him?
+This can never be, "for _of_ Him, and _through_ Him, and _to_ Him are
+all things, to whom be glory for ever. Amen."
+
+Therefore He needs give no _explanations_ to any of His creatures. "Who
+can say unto Him, What doest Thou?" (Dan. iv. 35.) Thus God is above
+all, and independent of all.
+
+Yet Jesus "needed" the ass and colt (Matt. xxi.). We read of "coming to
+the help of the Lord against the mighty" (Judges v. 23); and Paul spoke
+about "working together with God" in teaching His people.
+
+The Bible is full of these contrasts. God is so high, and yet so
+condescending; full of majesty, yet "plenteous in mercy to all who call
+upon Him."
+
+There is no contradiction in the contrast; but God's needs are never
+necessities. Our needs arise out of our _nature_. We need food,
+clothing, and comforts, friendship and sympathy; but all God's needs
+come from His _will_ and His _love_.
+
+How beautifully this appears in the life of Jesus! He came to earth as a
+little Infant, needing a mother's care. He grew up in humble
+circumstances, and when He went forth, at thirty years of age, to preach
+the Gospel, "the Son of Man had not where to lay His head." He also
+needed the many ministries of love His devoted followers rendered to
+Him. And when He died, others must provide the grave-clothes and the
+tomb, for He had none of His own.
+
+"Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through
+His poverty might be rich."
+
+"For our sakes!" This is the keynote to all the needs of the Almighty.
+
+The Father of the Lord Jesus Christ chose His people in His Son before
+the foundation of the world, and the father of a family needs his
+children because they are his own, and he loves them.
+
+The shepherd needs his sheep to be safe, and will not willingly lose
+them. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who bought His sheep with His own life
+and blood, and must needs gather and keep them every one.
+
+The physician needs patients whose healing shall proclaim his knowledge
+and skill, and the Great Physician of sin-sick hearts will glorify
+Himself by bringing perfect health and cure to all who are led to Him by
+the Holy Spirit.
+
+Do we feel our need of Him? Have we discovered that we are fallen, lost,
+guilty, and diseased? Then _He needs us_, and has shown us our need,
+that He may relieve, supply, and bless us with His great salvation.
+
+In the same way He needs His people's services for _their own_ sakes.
+
+By fighting the Lord's battles of old, His servants were interested in
+His cause. By working with Him now, in preaching, teaching, warning, and
+comforting others, Christ's followers still are honoured and blessed.
+
+When Saul of Tarsus, breathing out slaughter and bitterness against the
+sheep of Christ, was hastening like a wolf to Damascus, Jesus stopped
+Him, made him a new creature, and caused him to utter that cry of
+anguish, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" Like the jailer's
+question, "What must I do to be saved?" it came from a convinced and
+burdened heart.
+
+Saul suddenly discovered that his life had been one terrible
+mistake--that Jesus of Nazareth was the Lord of heaven--and tremblingly
+he wondered, "Could there be pardon for such a rebel as he now felt
+himself to be?"
+
+Could not the same almighty voice have spoken peace to that troubled
+conscience? Certainly; but Jesus required Ananias to be His messenger to
+the humbled Pharisee; and, after three days of suspense and blindness,
+while his tears had been his only food, Ananias arrived with the message
+of peace.
+
+How tenderly it was given! He put his hands on him, and said, "Brother
+Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared to thee by the way as thou
+camest, hath sent me unto thee," and comfort, sight, and joy followed,
+while the believing penitent was baptized in the name of his Lord.
+
+How gracious and wise was all this! How closely it drew Ananias and Saul
+together as brethren--children of the same heavenly family. Paul always
+lovingly remembered his first Christian friend (Acts xxii. 12, 13), and
+we are sure that Ananias never forgot that memorable day.
+
+And in the same way Christ still needs the loving services of His people
+to one another; and those who are taught and helped, love their
+Christian helpers, while the helpers feel a double love towards those to
+whom they have been made useful.
+
+Thus the great and glorious independent and almighty King condescends to
+make use of feeble worms. And which should we most admire, His majesty,
+or His tenderness? We cannot tell. He is all-wise and all-powerful,
+and--
+
+"With heaven and earth at His command,
+  He waits to answer prayer."
+
+Therefore, "blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness,"
+for the time is coming when "they shall hunger no more, neither thirst,
+for the Lamb in the midst of the throne" shall fill them with all good,
+and there will be no more "need" on either side. Jesus shall see His
+people fully saved, and "shall be satisfied"; and they, "beholding His
+face in righteousness, shall be gratefully satisfied, when they awake,
+with His likeness" (Psa. xvii. 15).
+
+May this joy unspeakable be ours.
+
+Our next subject will be, _The Good Shepherd Gathering His Sheep_ (John
+x. 16).
+
+                                    Yours affectionately,
+                                                 H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN MAY.
+
+
+May 6. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 31.
+
+May 13. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 32.
+
+May 20. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 33.
+
+May 27. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 34.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+HOW TO BE USEFUL IN THE WORLD.
+
+
+There are five heads under which this subject may be placed--Love,
+Truthfulness, Obedience, Cheerfulness, Peacemakers.
+
+_Love._ If true love is inspired in our hearts, our chief aim will
+consist in trying to be a help to others, which is very useful and
+needful, even in our own homes. The power of love is of such value, that
+those who know it esteem it as a precious gem set in gold, for without
+it, our life would be a path of misery and woe--two of the most terrible
+burdens in the world. Love is the true spring of usefulness.
+
+_Truthfulness_ is always needful. He who is tempted to tell a lie should
+consider that he may be struck dead while doing so; and then, where will
+his soul awake? Truth _will_ out, if it be a long while hidden. It will
+stand like the mountain against the roaring sea--nothing can move it;
+for with it, is a clear conscience in the sight of God. If truth were
+spoken more freely and carefully, we should be far happier. Its
+preciousness cannot be sufficiently prized.
+
+_Obedience_ is often the root of cheerfulness. An obedient child has
+this motto in view--"Thou, God, seest me." Obedience is useful in
+preserving us from many dangers, which our elders can often foresee, and
+which might prove the ruin of our immortal souls if we were to be
+disobedient. Thus it brings happiness into the homes and hearts of
+children and parents, and so produces cheerfulness.
+
+_Cheerfulness_ is sure to arise, in due course, from godliness. If we
+have trials, we should not give way to despair, and make those about us
+unhappy; but we should try to attend to our work, and look at the
+brighter side of our troubles, and encourage those whom we often find
+in greater difficulties than ourselves; at the same time, not forgetting
+to take our crosses to God. We may cheer many a saddened heart by
+cheerful words, and sometimes entice the young revenger to forget and
+forgive.
+
+_Peacemakers_ are thus spoken of--"Blessed are the peacemakers; for they
+shall be called the children of God" (Matt. v. 9). Christ teaches us
+this in His sermon on the mount; and He also set us the example. A
+little child may be a peacemaker, if it is only to say a word of love,
+and so stem the rising tempest. In time, it may develop itself more
+fully, and we may thus honour our holy Master by treading in His
+footsteps, and proving a help to all who know it, in speaking His truth
+boldly and sincerely.
+
+For an example of usefulness, we must consider the precious Jesus, and
+pray for grace to imitate Him in all His ways; then we shall not
+willingly do wrong, for He is superlatively good.
+
+                                          MARGARET CREASEY
+                                             (Aged 14 years).
+
+_Sydney House, Sleaford._
+
+
+[Our young friend tells us her age will not admit of her writing the
+Essays in future, but we hope she will not forget us, and we pray that
+the Lord may give her grace to live a useful and honourable life as a
+disciple of Jesus.
+
+We have received several creditable Essays this month, those from E. B.
+Knocker, Jane Bell, Lilly Rush, Florrie Rush, and W. E. Cray deserving
+special mention as giving signs of approaching success.]
+
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "Notable Workers in
+Humble Life."
+
+The subject for July will be, "The Difference between 'Uncertain Riches'
+and 'The True Riches'" (see Tim. vi. 17; Prov. xxiii. 5; Luke xvi. 11;
+Prov. viii. 18, &c.); and the prize to be given for the best Essay on
+that subject, a copy of "The Story of the Spanish Armada." All
+competitors must give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of
+age, and that the Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be
+passed over, as the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary
+information. Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117,
+High Street, Hastings, by the first of June.]
+
+
+We insert the following to show what even very young children can
+accomplish by trying, and with a desire to encourage our young friend
+and others to _try again_:--
+
+
+HOW TO BE USEFUL IN THE WORLD.
+
+Little children can be useful in many ways. First, learn to be useful at
+home. Lay the meals, and do the dusting; go on errands, and be kind to
+brothers and sisters. Always speak the truth, and obey your parents; and
+if you are sent out on an errand, or with a message, and any other
+little children try to persuade you to go with them, mind and obey your
+parents. Be gentle in your manner and duties, and be careful with little
+children, if you have to see to them, and with your brothers and
+sisters, and in all your duties. We should be very careful to do what we
+are told to do, and also very careful not to do what we are told not to
+do. Be kind, not selfish; dutiful to parents; and do little things
+willingly; try and persevere at school; be strictly honest, whatever
+occupation you may be in; always be just, and if you do this, people
+will feel they can trust you; but if you do not, people will say they
+cannot trust you. Set an example not to be cruel to anything or any
+body, but to be kind to all, and love and obey your parents.
+
+                                         MERCY PHILLIPS
+                               (Aged 7 years, 10 months).
+
+_Lindfield, Hayward's Heath._
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+OVER 10,000,000 eggs now arrive in New York city weekly. One recent
+Canada train had thirty-one cars, with 200,000 eggs in each. The chief
+supply to the New York market comes from Canada and Michigan.
+
+
+UNITED STATES' FLOUR EXPORTS.--The United States now manufacture yearly
+70,000,000 barrels of flour, and of this one-seventh part is exported.
+The great bulk of this flour is sent from eight Atlantic ports to
+Europe.
+
+
+AMONG the "fowls of the air" are three, the eagle, swan, and raven,
+which live to the age of one hundred years or more. The paroquet and
+heron attain the goodly age of sixty years. The sparrow-hawk, duck, and
+pelican may live to be forty, while the peacock and linnet reach the
+quarter century, and the canary twenty-four years.
+
+
+A SAGACIOUS DOG.--Just recently a dog, of the black and tan terrier
+species, entered the Bolton Infirmary unobserved, and forced itself upon
+the attention of the house-surgeon, who found one of the animal's legs
+broken. With the aid of nurses he set the limb, the dog meanwhile
+licking the surgeon's hand. It refused to leave the institution, and was
+installed as an in-patient. How the dog got into the infirmary is
+unknown.
+
+
+WE understand that the hall which, for the last nearly sixty years, has
+been appropriated in Glasgow to caricaturing religion, and where mockery
+of the Sabbath, recitations, comic songs, dancing, and all sorts of
+diabolical devices to entrap weak souls, were revelled in, where many
+Sabbaths Mrs. Besant and Mr. Bradlaugh gave vent to their mockery and
+blasphemy of God, is henceforth to be used for the worship of the
+Almighty.
+
+
+ORIGIN OF THE WORD "NEWS."--The word "news" is not, as many may imagine,
+derived from the adjective "new." In former years (between 1595 and
+1730) it was a prevalent practice to put over the periodical
+publications of the day the initial letters of the cardinal points of
+the compass, thus--N E W S, implying that those papers contained
+intelligence from the four quarters of the globe, and from this practice
+is derived the term of "newspaper."
+
+
+A TELEGRAM states that the body of Alexander the Great has been found
+among the sarcophagi lately unearthed at Saida, in Syria. It is stated
+that the body can be positively identified by its inscription, and other
+particulars. Alexander is known to have died at Babylon, and on his
+death-bed he is stated to have told his sons to convey his body to
+Alexandria, the city he had founded at the mouth of the Nile. Although
+the monarch did not live thirty-three years, or reign thirteen, he did
+more than all before or since his time.
+
+
+AMONGST the most curious of recorded wills is that of a Mr. Thomas Tuke,
+of Wath, near Rotherham, who, dying in 1810, bequeathed a penny to every
+child that should be present at his funeral. Another provision of the
+will ordered a shilling to be given to every poor woman in Wath, whilst
+to his own daughter he only bequeathed the pittance of four guineas per
+annum. An old woman had for eleven years attended him. To her he
+bequeathed the munificent sum of one guinea only, for, as he expressed
+it, "tucking him up in bed." A further whimsy of the selfish humourist
+was a bequest of forty dozen penny buns to be thrown from the church
+tower at noon on Christmas Day for ever.
+
+
+ONE day, a gentleman's attention was attracted by an unusual commotion
+in his stable, where two carriage horses were kept. Looking in, he saw
+that one of the animals had got out of its loose box, and was helping
+itself to a bucket of mash which the coachman had left at the door. The
+other horse was neighing loudly, evidently demanding a share in the
+feast. What was the gentleman's surprise to see the first horse fill its
+mouth with the mash, and then push its nose through the bars of the
+loose box, for its imprisoned companion to take the relish from its
+mouth. This was repeated several times. The horse which was thus fed had
+often been seen to push over some of his hay into his companion's rack,
+when that was emptied first.
+
+
+A SUBMERGED FOREST.--During the late violent storms in the Channel, the
+sea washed through a high and hard sand-bank near St. Malo, nearly four
+metres thick, laying bare a portion of an ancient forest which was
+already passing into the condition of coal. This forest at the beginning
+of our era covered an extensive tract of the coast; but with the sinking
+of the land it became submerged and covered up by the drifting sand.
+Mont Saint Michel once stood in the middle of it. The forest had quite
+disappeared by the middle of the tenth century. Occasionally, at very
+low tides after storms, remains of it are disclosed, just as at present.
+It is believed that, some centuries ago, the highest tides rose about
+twelve metres above the level of the lowest ebb. Now the high-water
+level is 15.5 metres above the lowest.
+
+
+PREACHING at Kensington the other week, Cardinal Manning said that there
+are labouring in London no less than 350 Roman Catholic priests and
+1,000 nuns.
+
+
+A SNAKE THAT UNDERSTOOD ENGLISH.--It is related that some Americans
+recently going through the Jardin des Plantes of Paris, stopped to look
+at a big rattlesnake in a cage. It lay motionless, apparently asleep,
+but when two of the party who lingered behind began to speak in English,
+it moved, lifted its head, and gave every sign of interest. They told
+their companions that the snake understood English. The whole party then
+returned to the cage. The snake was apparently asleep again. They
+conversed in French, but the snake made no movement. Then the ladies
+began to speak in English. The snake started, lifted its head, and
+showed the same alertness as before at the sounds. The rattlesnake
+proved, on inquiry, to have come from Virginia.
+
+
+THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD FIELDS.--The _Natal Mercury_ says:--"The gold
+exports for January, 1888, from Natal were £31,447, and from the Cape
+£26,115, making a total of £57,562. This is a capital opening for the
+first month of the year, and if continued in the same ratio, will mean
+the handsome total for the year of £690,744. Glowing reports continue to
+come in from the Waterfall, at the Kantoor. A number of buildings are
+going up. Last week a seven-ounce nugget was brought into Barberton. Two
+Portuguese are said to be making, on an average, four ounces per day,
+say £100 per week, and their ground is described as a regular 'bank.' Of
+course they and a few others are exceptionally lucky ones; but all are
+said to be making a good living."
+
+
+ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN NEW YORK.--The following "open letter" has been
+addressed to the Mayor of New York:--"69, Wall Street, New York, March
+19th, 1888.--My dear Sir,--While coming from Washington yesterday on the
+limited express, my eye caught the telegram printed in a Washington
+paper announcing your order forbidding the display of the Irish flag
+from the City Hall on St. Patrick's Day. I could not repress an audible
+and emphatic 'Amen,' quite to the surprise of the ladies and gentlemen
+in the car. For many years I, in company with thousands of Americans and
+adopted citizens from England, France, and Germany, have been outraged
+and scandalized by this annual insult to our intelligence, our pride of
+country, our religious belief. In the minds of many others besides the
+writer, that banner represents in a large degree the worst elements in
+our body politic--ignorance, vice, bigotry, and crime. It is displayed
+on the 17th of March in nearly every rum shop, gambling hell, and
+thieves' den in New York. It was borne in the ranks of the murderous mob
+that held possession of the city in the July riots of '63. But, aside
+from this, no legal or other right exists for the display of that flag
+or any other, except the ones you indicate, from the City Hall of the
+great metropolis of a land whose people are by a large majority
+consistent Protestants, on a day set apart to honour the memory of a
+fabulous Roman Catholic saint. Furthermore, this is literally a
+rum-sellers' and a rum-drinkers' procession. The wholesale rum-seller
+rides on horseback, the retail rum-seller rides in a carriage, the
+drinkers walk, until many of them, overcome by rum, fall in the gutter,
+are gathered up by the police, cared for in the station houses and the
+penitentiary, cleaned, and clothed, and fed at the expense of the
+long-suffering taxpayer. I respect the honest, right-living Irishman or
+woman, Catholic or Protestant, and would not deny them a single right to
+which I, a native-born American citizen, am entitled; but I enter my
+indignant protest against the steadily increasing attacks upon our most
+valued institutions by this largely foreign-born and most turbulent
+portion of our population. It is high time to call a halt and compel
+obedience to decency and law. You will certainly receive the heartfelt
+thanks and unanimous support of every lover of our city, our country,
+our institutions, our laws.--I am, my dear sir, very respectfully yours,
+GEORGE SHEPARD PAGE. To his Honour A. S. Hewitt, Mayor of the City of
+New York." [We say, All due honour to the noble Mayor of New York, for
+such a common-sense decision.--ED.]
+
+
+KEEPING WARM.--It may not be generally known that, when exposed to
+severe cold, a feeling of warmth is readily created by repeatedly
+filling the lungs to their utmost extent in the following manner. Throw
+the shoulders well back, and hold the head well up. Inflate the lungs
+slowly, the air entering entirely through the nose. When the lungs are
+completely filled, hold the breath for ten seconds or longer, and then
+expire it quickly through the mouth. After repeating this exercise while
+one is chilly, a feeling of warmth will be felt over the entire body,
+and even in the feet and hands. It is important to practise this
+exercise many times each day, and especially when in the open air. If
+the habit ever becomes universal, then consumption and many other
+diseases will rarely, if ever, be heard of. Not only while practising
+the breathing exercise must the clothing be loose over the chest, but
+beginners will do well to remember, in having their clothing fitted, to
+allow for the permanent expansion of one, two, and even three inches,
+which will eventually follow.
+
+[Illustration: "SHE NOW FELT THAT SHE HAD LOST HER WAY." (_See page
+122._)]
+
+
+
+
+LOST AND FOUND.
+
+A TRUE STORY FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
+
+
+Little Janet Bruce lived in a pretty village in Scotland. Near to her
+home was a large wood. If you were to go into it without a guide, you
+might go on for miles before you could find your way out of it. In some
+places no path is to be seen, and tall trees and creeping plants cast a
+deep shadow over the ground.
+
+Janet was the only child of a poor widow. Her father had come to the
+village from a distant part of the country in search of work; but he had
+not been there long before he fell ill and died. It was a sad loss to
+Janet and her mother, but God, who looks in pity on the widow and
+fatherless, raised up for them many kind friends.
+
+It was one evening, late in the autumn, that Janet sat at the door of
+her mother's cottage. She had been told never to go far away from the
+house, lest she should be lost. But on this evening, as she looked over
+the fields, she saw some bright blue flowers near a bush; and as she was
+very fond of making little nosegays of wild blossoms, she thought she
+should like to pluck them. When these were gathered, there was still
+further away a hedge with shining buds. "Oh," said she, "I should like
+to have them to put with my blue flowers." In a moment she sprang
+towards them, when a little bird was startled from its nest in the
+hedge. "What a pretty creature!" she cried. "How I should like to see
+where it will fly to!" And so she ran towards it, but the bird could fly
+much faster than she could run. Soon it flew into the wood, and Janet
+followed after it.
+
+Thus we see how one wrong step leads to another. Dear children, beware
+of the first temptation to acts of disobedience.
+
+It was a cool evening, and the wind blew among the trees. A little rain
+had begun to fall, and there were signs of a stormy night. Where had
+little Janet wandered to? and where could she find a shelter should
+there be a storm?
+
+The sun now sank behind the hills, and night came on. Then it was
+dark--quite dark; and her young heart beat quickly as the wind moaned
+among the trees. She now felt that she had lost her way, and then sat
+down to weep. She thought what a naughty child she had been in not
+obeying her mother.
+
+At last she cried herself to sleep. As soon as the daylight came again,
+she awoke, and felt very hungry. But there was no nice breakfast ready
+for her, and no loving mother to kiss her. She was alone in that great
+wood.
+
+Janet thought that it was no use for her to sit still, so she rose up,
+and walked on, but not so fast as before, for her feet were cold, her
+legs were stiff from lying on the damp ground, and she was weak from
+want of food. Yet the more she went forward, the further she was from
+home, for she was going quite another way from that path which led to
+her mother's cottage.
+
+After a time she came to a place where she saw some dark-looking people
+seated on the outside of a little tent or camp. These were gipsies. At
+first she was afraid; but what was a little girl to do in that wide
+wood? So, thinking that they might be kind to her, she went to them, and
+told how she was lost.
+
+They told Janet to sit down by their fire, and then they gave her some
+food out of a large iron kettle that hung from three upright sticks. The
+poor girl stopped with them all that day, and at night she cried, and
+asked them to take her home to her dear mother. But the gipsies looked
+at one another, and then spoke in a whisper, so that she might not hear
+what they said.
+
+At last, the men and women took off Janet's nice frock, and put on her
+an old ragged dress. They also rubbed her face, neck, and hands with a
+dark juice, and then they told her that she must go with them, and she
+should be in the place of one of their own little girls who had died.
+
+The tent was now packed up, and put into a little cart, and all went
+forward into a part of the country Janet had never seen before.
+
+Now, poor child, all days were alike to her. She did not know Sunday
+from any other day. She had no Sabbath School to go to, nor any good
+books to read. Instead of the sweet hymns she used to hear sung, she now
+only heard the vain and foolish songs of the gipsies. The Bible, which
+her mother used to read to her every night and morning, was a Book
+unknown to these wild people.
+
+In what state of mind was Janet's mother all this time? The people of
+the village, when they first heard of her loss, went in search of the
+child. They took with them lanterns, and torches, and tin horns, to
+sound as a signal, should they find the lost one. Onward they went; some
+along the fields, and others into the wood; but hour after hour passed
+away, and the little girl was not found.
+
+Oh, what grief filled the widow's heart! "My child has fallen into the
+river, and is drowned," she cried; "or has strayed into the woods, and
+will be starved to death."
+
+When all the people had come back with the sad tidings that no trace of
+Janet could be found, she wept aloud.
+
+Nearly twelve months passed away, but Janet was not happy with the
+gipsies. "Take me to my mother," she often said with tears. "Oh, do let
+me go home again!" They tried to please her with their wandering ways of
+life, but she could find no pleasure in them. She used to sit on the
+side of the road wherever they went, and look on every passer-by, to see
+if she could find any one she knew. But no, all faces were strange. She
+did not know that she was many miles away from her mother's cottage.
+
+As time went on, the gipsies saw that Janet became very pale and ill.
+She was so weak that they thought she would die. They then told her
+that, in a few weeks, they would go back to the woods where they first
+met with her, and that she should again see her mother. How did Janet
+count the days and hours till the time came; and when they once more
+reached the woods, she clapped her hands for joy.
+
+It was again the autumn of the year, and the reapers were at work in the
+fields. They were very busy, for they were afraid that a storm was
+coming on. It was just such a cloudy evening as that when Janet was
+lost. They had cut down all the corn at the lower part of one of the
+fields, and had just reached a corner which lay against the entrance to
+the wood, when who should they see but a little gipsy girl. She ran as
+well as she could, for she was very feeble, towards them, crying, "I am
+Janet! My name is Janet Bruce. Oh, carry me home to my mother!"
+
+The reapers stopped in their work, and one of them caught the girl up in
+his arms, and looking for a moment in her face, shouted out, "Yes, it is
+she! It is Janet herself!" There could be no mistake, for though she had
+grown taller, and her dress was ragged, and her face was brown, they
+knew her again in a moment.
+
+The work of the day was soon over, and a seat of boughs of trees was
+quickly made, into which they put Janet; then two of the strongest men
+raised her upon their shoulders, and carried her towards her own dear
+home. Some went before--men, boys, and women--and some followed after;
+and as they went they sang aloud for joy.
+
+The glad tidings soon reached Janet's cottage, and the mother rushed
+forward to meet her child. But we cannot tell you what were the feelings
+of the poor widow as she clasped Janet once more in her arms. The gipsy
+dress was taken off, and better clothes put on, and like the father in
+the parable, the widow said, "This my child was dead, and is alive
+again; and was lost, and is found."
+
+And so it is when a sinner is brought by the Holy Spirit to return to
+God. With shame and sorrow he says, "Father, I have sinned." But God,
+who is rich in mercy, is ready to forgive. He will, for Christ's sake,
+hear prayer. Through His precious blood He will pardon sin. He will take
+off the ragged garments of sin, and put on the white robe of Jesus'
+righteousness, and receive coming sinners as His children. Then what
+sounds of joy are heard in heaven, when those who were lost are brought
+home to dwell for ever in their Father's house!
+
+Dear child, through the fall you are _lost_. Have you been truly brought
+as a penitent to Christ? If so, you are _found_.
+
+Do not forget this--all the while any one knows not what it is to come
+to Christ for mercy and pardon, he is lost. But the moment a sinner is
+truly brought to the cross of Christ for salvation, he is found. Are you
+among the lost or among the found?
+
+
+
+
+THE DEAR OLD TIMES.
+
+
+It is interesting to look over household and personal accounts of, say,
+a hundred and fifty years ago. Some of these, which deal with the
+expenses of Mr. Gervase Scrope, and of his son Thomas, both of
+Cockerington, Lincolnshire, lie before me; and from them I find that "my
+dark-coloured cloth suit, trimmed with silver buttons and loops, was
+made November 21st, 1730, and cost in all £17 17s. 6d."
+
+This included two pairs of breeches. The cloth for the suit cost 18s. a
+yard; but Mr. Scrope had a cloak in 1732, the cloth of which cost £1 2s.
+a yard. In 1729, however, he procured a cheap knockabout suit of clothes
+for £9 0s. 6d.
+
+Economy seems to have been necessary, for in 1731, "Tommy had a pair of
+breeches made out of an old scarlet riding-coat of mine."
+
+Boots and wigs were both dear; so also were hats. The squire's
+window-tax in 1748 amounted to £2 17s.
+
+Only in the matter of certain articles of food were the old days cheaper
+than the new. In 1754, eight lbs. of veal cost 2s. 4d., or 3½d. per
+lb.; a tongue cost 1s. 10d.; 31 lbs. of round and rump of beef cost
+12s., or about 4½d. per lb.; a leg and saddle of mutton cost 4s. 7d.;
+a quarter of lamb cost 1s. 6d.; 22 lbs. of pork were bought for 5s. 6d.;
+and rabbits ranged from 6d. to 1s. a couple, according to size. But
+coffee was 6s. a lb., and lump sugar was 10d. Soap at this time cost 7s.
+6d. a stone.
+
+Bread was sometimes cheap, but whenever war broke out, the price always
+went up to a terrible height, and much misery and distress must have
+resulted.
+
+In 1886, the average price of wheat in England was 39s. 4d. per imperial
+quarter; in 1810 it was 106s. 5d.; and in 1801 it was 119s. 6d.; or more
+than three times as much as it was two years ago. Those were indeed dear
+old times.--_Cassell's Saturday Journal._
+
+
+
+
+  POINTS TO BE AIMED AT.
+
+
+  P unctual be throughout the day;
+  O bedient to superiors;
+  I ndustrious in every way;
+  N ot haughty to inferiors:
+  T ruthful in word, and trim in dress;
+  S hun folly, and for wisdom press.
+
+                                    J. B.
+
+
+ALL who now colour for show will hereafter be shown in their true
+colours.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT A PRIEST THOUGHT OF ROMAN CATHOLIC MIRACLES.
+
+"_After the working of Satan with all power, and signs, and lying
+wonders._"--2 THESSALONIANS ii. 9.
+
+
+In the autumn of 1836, the Marine hospital of Quebec, in Canada, was
+filled with patients suffering from ship typhoid fever, and so deadly
+was the disease that, by the following spring, a number of the officials
+and servants of the institution had also been smitten, and died.
+Chiniquy had hitherto been spared, although in constant attendance on
+the patients, but in May, 1837, he was attacked with the fearful
+disease. His life was despaired of, and the last Sacraments were
+administered to him. He could not speak. His tongue became like a piece
+of wood, and all that could be given him was a little cold water,
+dropped with much difficulty through his teeth.
+
+On the thirteenth night of his illness, he heard the doctors whisper,
+"He is dead, or nearly so," and they left the room. A deep horror seized
+him. An icy wave seemed to creep over his whole frame, and a terrible
+vision rose before his mind. A pair of scales stood before him. His sins
+were in one scale; his good works and penances in the other; and all his
+righteousness seemed but a grain of sand compared with a mountain load
+of guilt, and to God he dared not cry for mercy. But he thought of two
+saints--St. Anne, who was believed to have cured hundreds of cripples,
+and St. Philomene, who was just then the favourite saint of Rome. To
+these he cried, with all the earnestness of his failing soul, and soon a
+bright vision came before him of an aged, grave lady, and a young and
+beautiful one, the latter distinctly saying to him, "You will be cured."
+The vision then disappeared, but the fever had gone also. The crisis was
+over. He was hungry, and asked for food, which was at once given him,
+and he ravenously ate the dainties prepared, while the friendly priests
+gathered round him joyfully, and sang a hymn of praise.
+
+Of course they believed that the saints had cured him, and the Roman
+Catholic doctors shared their idea; but a Protestant physician denied it
+altogether, and in a kind manner he tried to prove that no miracle had
+been wrought, but that returning health came from natural causes, by the
+will and blessing of God.
+
+Chiniquy was unwilling, however, to change his mind on the subject, and,
+true to the vow he made in the hour of fear, he got a splendid picture
+painted, at a cost of £50, representing his vision as he lay seemingly
+on the bed of death.
+
+Three months later, he was in the house of the curate of St. Anne, a
+cousin of his, and he showed him the picture he intended to exhibit in
+the church next day. But, to his surprise and grief, his older relative,
+instead of sharing his belief, laughed heartily at his folly, asking him
+how he, as a man of sense, could possibly believe in such a miracle.
+Chiniquy reminded him of all the crutches hanging in St. Anne's Church,
+belonging to the cripples she had cured, which remark gave rise to
+another burst of laughter on the curate's part. But, sobering down, he
+seriously declared that, having carefully watched these so-called cures,
+he had found that ninety-nine out of every hundred were impostures, the
+hundredth one being an honest belief, but a superstitious and fancied
+one.
+
+These pretended cripples were nearly always lazy beggars, who knew that
+their seeming lameness would get them pity and money, and, when tired of
+that game, they would make a begging tour, telling all their helpers
+that they were going to the church of St. Anne, to pray for the use of
+their legs.
+
+They at last arrive there, pay from one to five dollars to have a mass
+said for them, and then, in the midst of the ceremony, just as they
+receive the wafer, there is a cry of joy. They are cured, and they leave
+their crutches behind as witnesses of their cure. They then return, and
+tell all who will listen as they go along, receiving fresh gifts from
+them until they get home again, to take a farm and settle down with
+their dishonest gains.
+
+"Such," said the curate, "is the true history of the ninety-nine
+miracles. In the hundredth case the man is really cured, because he was
+really afflicted; but his nerves were wrought upon just as I was once
+cured of a dreadful toothache by seeing the dentist put his instrument
+on the table. I took my hat and left, and the dentist laughed heartily
+every time he met me afterwards.
+
+"One of the weakest points of our religion is the ridiculous miracles
+said to be wrought by the relics and bones of saints. For the most part,
+they are the bones of chickens or sheep; and were I a Pope, I would
+throw all these Pagan mummeries to the bottom of the sea, and would
+present to the eyes of sinners nothing but 'Christ and Him crucified' as
+the Object of their faith, just as the Apostles of Jesus do in their
+Epistles!"
+
+They talked together in this strain till two o'clock in the morning, and
+then Chiniquy was too puzzled and sad to sleep.
+
+Next morning, multitudes came to see his picture, and hear about his
+cure, which he long afterwards believed to be a miracle. Soon after he
+had finally left his priesthood, however, he again caught the fever,
+while visiting a dying man, and again on the thirteenth day the malady
+took a favourable turn; but this time he had felt happy in the prospect
+of dying, and the vision he saw at the crisis of the disease was not St.
+Anne, or St. Philomene, but a dozen bishops, dagger in hand, rushing on
+him to take his life. He thought he turned on them and slew them, and
+with this the fever left him. He asked for food, and speedily recovered,
+and then he knew that it was the Lord who had forgiven all his
+iniquities, who had also healed his diseases, without the aid of any of
+the saints of Rome, and the snare which had long held him captive was
+broken. He no longer sought the aid of departed saints in heaven, any
+more than he thought of again praying for souls in purgatorial fires.
+The Word of God was henceforth his only guide. May the religion of the
+Bible only, be our religion also.--_Jottings on "The Life and Work of
+Father Chiniquy," by Cousin Susan._
+
+
+
+
+COUNTING THE COST.
+
+
+There are some curious stories respecting Fra Rocco, the celebrated
+preacher of Naples. On one occasion, it is related, he preached a
+penitential sermon, and introduced so many illustrations of terror that
+he soon brought his hearers to their knees. While they were thus showing
+every sign of contrition, he cried out--
+
+"Now, all of you who sincerely repent of your sins, hold up your hands."
+
+Every man in the vast multitude immediately stretched out both his
+hands.
+
+"Holy Archangel Michael," exclaimed Rocco, "thou who with thine
+adamantine sword standest at the right of the judgment-seat of God, hew
+me off every hand which has been raised hypocritically."
+
+In an instant every hand dropped, and Rocco, of course, poured forth a
+fresh torrent of eloquent invective against their sins and their deceit.
+
+[True repentance is given by Jesus Christ, the exalted Prince and
+Saviour. All other is but mere show, and unavailing before God.--ED.]
+
+
+A HEART without a gift is better than a gift without a heart.
+
+
+
+
+JUVENILE GEMS.
+
+
+The subjects of these memoirs--Ann Jane Woolford, George Woolford, and
+Hephzibah Woolford--were born in the beautiful town of Cheltenham,
+August 20th, 1840, January 28th, 1842, and February 14th, 1846.
+
+The names of their parents were George and Ann Woolford, both members of
+the Church assembling for worship in Bethel Chapel, Cheltenham.
+
+In all, four children shared their affection, interested their
+solicitudes, listened to their counsels, and knelt at their domestic
+altar.
+
+Upon three out of the four the grave closed in comparative infancy; and,
+believing the "kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man" appeared
+to them, the bereaved mother, partly to indulge in a subject of mournful
+interest, and partly to record the gracious dealings of God, drew up,
+with her own hand, the subjoined narrative:--
+
+                              GEORGE.
+
+"My eldest child, George Woolford, was attacked by scarlatina on October
+16th, 1851, from which he partially recovered, but died the following
+month.
+
+"Perceiving his soul 'drawing nigh unto the grave, and his life to the
+destroyers,' I remarked, 'It will do you no harm to think of death,
+seeing we must all die.' With tears in his eyes he exclaimed, 'Oh,
+mother, I am afraid I shall not go to heaven.' I asked _why_ he thus
+feared. His answer was, 'I am afraid the Lord will not forgive me.' I
+said, 'My dear, the Lord is ready to forgive _all_ who from their hearts
+are sorry for their sins; and I hope the Holy Ghost will enable you to
+pray for divine forgiveness.' He seemed much affected by these remarks,
+but said he was too ill to talk or listen to me.
+
+"In great earnestness (and I believe under divine influence) I entreated
+God to grant me the great favour of informing me whether my dear boy was
+interested in the everlasting covenant, which is 'ordered in all things,
+and sure.'
+
+"About two or three days after, he commenced a conversation by saying,
+'Mother, I am afraid I shall not go to heaven. I have been such a
+sinner. I am afraid I am so great a sinner that the Lord will not save
+me. I have done so many things that are sinful, and they come into my
+mind and make me grieve.' I repeated several portions of the Holy
+Scripture, to which he listened in great earnestness, and then inquired,
+'But, as I have not long to live, will the Lord forgive me after putting
+it off so long?' I answered in the affirmative, and mentioned the dying
+thief, assuring him the Lord was as willing to pardon him as He had been
+to pardon that malefactor. This relieved his mind, and he asked for his
+Testament to read.
+
+"A few days after, while I was gazing intently on him, he meekly
+exclaimed, 'Do not look at me so, my dear mother. It almost breaks my
+heart.' I said, 'My dear boy, do you ever _pray_?' He answered, 'I _try_
+to do so; but do not know that I pray _aright_.' I remarked, 'If it is
+from your heart, the Lord will answer it in His own time, for the prayer
+of necessity is that in which He delights.'
+
+"On the Lord's Day before his death he appeared much better, ate a
+hearty dinner, and remained up till between four and five in the
+afternoon, when he exclaimed, 'Oh, mother, I am afraid my breath is
+getting bad again.' After several hours of great suffering, he cried
+out, 'Dear Lord, take me--do take me!' Hearing him thus call upon the
+name of the Lord, I approached him softly, and in soothing terms
+expressed my gladness at finding he was not afraid to die. 'No, dear
+mother,' he said, 'I am not afraid to die. I am happy now.' I inquired,
+'Do you love the Lord?' 'Oh, yes,' was his ready answer, and immediately
+ejaculated, 'Dearest Lord, take me--take me--take me!' a great many
+times.
+
+"His pains becoming stronger, he said, 'Dear mother, do pray the dear
+Lord to take me!' I did so; and when risen from my knees, he said,
+'Thank you, my dear mother. I hope the Lord will answer your prayer,'
+and then added, 'Oh, my dear, dear Lord, do take me! Take me from this
+world now. I do not want to live here. Take me with my next breath. This
+moment, dear Lord, take me.'
+
+"Observing the state of his mind, I put this question to him--'My dear
+boy, do you think the Lord has washed you in His blood, and clothed you
+in His precious righteousness?' 'Oh, yes, I do, mother,' was his prompt
+reply.
+
+"His pains abating, he remarked, 'How kind the Lord is to me! I shall
+never be able to praise Him enough.' I said, 'My dear, you will have the
+countless ages of eternity to praise Him in.' He said, 'I want to go.' I
+answered, 'Pray for patience, that you may wait the Lord's time.' 'I am
+not impatient, but my pains are great,' was his meek reply, and he began
+entreating the Lord to remove him from this sinful world.
+
+"A short time after this, he exclaimed, 'Oh, that precious Book, the
+Bible!' I answered, 'It is indeed a precious Book. It tells us of a
+Saviour, who washed you and me in His precious blood!' He said, 'Yes';
+and added, 'Pray for Him to take me soon. Do, dear mother,' &c.
+
+"Expressing a desire to kiss my hand, I gave him one. He held it very
+tightly, and kissed it several times. I asked him if he thought he had
+been a little sinner or a great one. Surprised by this question, and
+apparently hurt, he replied, 'Oh, mother, a _great_ one--a _great_ one.'
+
+"Overhearing a part of my conversation with his aunt, he said, 'Oh,
+mother, do not ask the Lord to let me live. I want to die. I would not
+live half a second.'
+
+"Shortly after, he repeated a similar prayer, wished to see his father,
+kiss him, and take his leave of him, which he did in an affectionate
+manner. He then inquired what o'clock it was, and being disappointed,
+cried out in a tone of thrilling solemnity, 'O Lord of Hosts, come and
+take me!' Shortly afterwards he exclaimed, lifting up his eyes and hands
+to heaven, 'I think I am dying. Pray again, dear mother, that the Lord
+may take me.' Persuaded of his interest in Christ, I was enabled to
+resign him, and much as I loved him, actually entreated the Lord to
+fetch him away. When this was over, he said, 'Thank you, my dearest
+mother. I hope the Lord will answer all your prayers before long.'
+
+"At another time, he remarked, 'How good the Lord is to me, is He not?'
+And again, 'My sufferings are great, but they will soon be over, for I
+shall soon be with the Lord'; and in a manner I cannot describe,
+exclaimed, 'Oh, dear Lord Jesus Christ, and Holy Ghost, come and take
+me.'
+
+"Not long after, he remarked, 'I shall soon go now. Something has broke
+in my head. You may send for some one to lay me out.'
+
+"After a short interval he complained of shortness of breath, and
+proceeded to call upon the Lord in a sweet manner, but in a short time
+suddenly exclaimed, 'Now I know I shall soon be gone, for two things
+have broke within me. Does not my voice get weaker?'
+
+"After giving directions about his books, he again complained of his
+distresses, and I remarked, 'The way to the kingdom was through much
+tribulation.' He requested that I would pray for patience; and upon
+being reminded that the Lord loved him too well to detain him one moment
+beyond the appointed time, he said, 'Oh, why is He so long in coming?
+Dear Lord, come _now_!'
+
+"Referring him to some of the Lord's children who had suffered fire and
+sword, but were now in glory, I added, 'You will soon be with them, and
+have ten thousand smiles from your Redeemer, with love in every smile.'
+This seemed to refresh his spirit, and I continued, 'One moment with
+Christ will more than recompense for all your pain.' He said, 'Oh, yes.
+Come, dear Lord, and take me!'
+
+"Heart and flesh failing, his father was called into his room. The
+patient sufferer looked calmly at him, gently moved to the other side of
+the chair, said 'Mother!' and resting his head on his arm, and with a
+pleasant countenance, and without a groan, quietly fell asleep in
+Christ, November 17th, 1851, at five o'clock a.m."
+
+Thus died George Woolford, aged nine years and nine months.
+
+"Those that sleep in Christ will God bring with Him."
+
+  "'I take these little lambs,' said He,
+    'And lay them in My breast;
+  Protection they shall find in Me;
+    In Me be ever blest.
+
+  "'Death may the bands of life unloose,
+    But can't dissolve My love;
+  Millions of infant souls compose
+    The family above.'
+
+  "His words the happy parents hear,
+    And shout with joys divine--
+  'Dear Saviour, all we have and are
+    Shall be for ever Thine.'"
+
+
+
+
+                              HEPHZIBAH.
+
+"My dear Hephzibah was taken ill on the fifth of November, and though I
+have not many sayings of hers to record, I nevertheless believe that
+there was 'some good thing in her toward the Lord God of Israel,' and
+therefore, in solemn pleasure, rehearse the memorials of His grace.
+
+"On the fourth day of her illness she said, 'Mother, I am very ill, but
+I am not afraid to die, mother. No; I should like to die, and be with
+the Lord, for I do love Him, mother, that I do, better than every one
+besides.' 'But do you not love your father and mother best?' I inquired.
+Her answer was, 'I do love _you_ both very dearly, but I love the Lord
+_most_. Ought I not to love Him most, mother?' I said, 'Yes, my dear.'
+She replied, 'And so I _do_. I want to go to heaven, to be with Him. And
+I should like my dear father, and mother, and Ann Jane, and George, and
+Rhoda to go with me. Would not that be happy, to meet and never part
+again? There we should have all we want.' I replied, 'Yes, my dear, "for
+the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall
+lead them unto living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all
+tears from their eyes." "And there shall be no night there."' 'Oh, will
+not that be happy, mother?' she exclaimed. 'I want to die, that I may
+see the Lord. He is so good and kind to me.' I asked, 'Would you not
+like to get well again?' and her reply was, 'I would rather die and go
+to Jesus.'
+
+"The frequency of her expressed desires to 'depart and be with Christ'
+excited a trembling apprehension in my mind of her speedy dissolution,
+an apprehension fully verified by the event.
+
+"She now sunk into a state of unconsciousness, in which she continued
+for more than a week, suffering very much, indicating the speedy
+disrupture of all earthly ties, and inducing a perpetual vigil.
+
+"To my surprise she suddenly rallied, seemed to get better, and 'hope
+told a flattering tale'; but it disappointed us, and rendered the
+separation more trying.
+
+"The sensitive vigilance of my child's conscience was very remarkable.
+For instance, when any little delicacy had been declined, she remained
+inflexible, remarking that to alter her decision would be to 'tell a
+story,' which, she said, 'would be very wicked.'
+
+"On the day she died, she said, 'Mother, I am very ill. I think I shall
+die. My throat is so bad.' Shortly after, she said, 'Mother,' and was
+silent. A few minutes after that, she lifted up her dear eyes and hands
+to heaven three times, clasping her hands and letting them down again.
+
+"None but a mother knows a mother's heart. I saw the stroke, clasped my
+loved Hephzibah, and impressed the farewell kiss on her dying cheek. She
+looked at me, gave up the ghost, and was 'carried by the angels into
+Abraham's bosom' on November 28th, 1851, in the sixth year of her age."
+
+  "One gentle sigh their fetters breaks,
+    We scarce can say, 'They're gone!'
+  Before the willing spirit takes
+    Her mansion near the throne.
+
+  "Faith strives, but all its efforts fail
+    To trace her in her flight;
+  No eye can pierce within the veil
+    Which hides that world of light.
+
+  "Thus much (and this is all) we know--
+    They are completely blest;
+  Have done with sin, and care, and woe,
+    And with their Saviour rest."
+
+[The memoir of the third child, Ann Jane, will appear next month.]
+
+
+
+
+THE BLIND TORTOISE IN THE WELL.
+
+
+A blind tortoise lived in a well. Another tortoise, a native of the
+ocean, in his inland travels happened to tumble into this well. The
+blind one asked of his new comrade whence he came.
+
+"From the sea."
+
+Hearing of the sea, he of the well swam round a little circle and
+asked--
+
+"Is the water of the ocean as large as this?"
+
+"Larger," replied he of the sea.
+
+The well tortoise then swam two-thirds of the well, and asked if the sea
+was as big as that.
+
+"Much larger than that," said the sea tortoise.
+
+"Well, then," asked the blind tortoise, "is the sea as large as this
+whole well?"
+
+"Larger," said the sea tortoise.
+
+"If that is so," said the well tortoise, "how big, then, is the sea?"
+
+The sea tortoise replied, "You having never seen any other water than
+that of your well, your capability of understanding is small. As to the
+ocean, though you spent many years in it, you would never be able to
+explore the half of it, nor to reach the limit, and it is utterly
+impossible to compare it with this well of yours."
+
+The well tortoise replied, "It is impossible that there can be a larger
+water than this well. You are simply praising up your native place with
+vain words."
+
+How many people there are like the tortoise in the well!
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+  Though 'tis not seen, yet it is known,
+  For oft it makes e'en strong men groan.
+  The proud and bold have shook with fear
+  When they have felt this strong one near.
+  Yea, monarchs have before it fell,
+  And feared that they should sink to hell.
+  But oft the sad have felt this power,
+  And found, in trouble's darkest hour,
+  Such friendly help that they have said
+  They never more should be afraid.
+  And such as felt condemned to die
+  Have been released and filled with joy.
+  Now, reader, search your Bible through,
+  And tell us where these things you view.
+
+
+THE greatest happiness of the creature is not to have the creature for
+his happiness.
+
+
+
+
+"THE SENSE AND SENSES OF ANIMALS."
+
+
+Sir John Lubbock, M.P., some time since, delivered an address in Queen
+Street Hall, Edinburgh, to the members of the Edinburgh Philosophical
+Institution, on "The Sense and Senses of Animals." In the course of his
+remarks the lecturer said that one would gratefully admit that the dog
+was a loyal, and true, and affectionate friend, but when we came to
+consider the nature of the animal, our knowledge was very limited. That
+arose a good deal from the fact that people had tried rather to teach
+animals than to learn from them. It had occurred to him that some such
+method as that which was followed in the case of deaf mutes might prove
+instructive if adapted to the case of dogs. He had tried with a black
+poodle belonging to himself. He then went on to relate several
+experiments he had made with pieces of cardboards, with different words
+marked upon them. He had taken two pieces of card, one blank, and the
+other with the word "food" upon it. He had put the latter on a saucer
+containing some bread and milk, and the blank card he put on an empty
+saucer. The dog was not allowed to eat until it brought the proper card
+to him. This experiment was repeated over and over again, and in about
+ten days the dog began to distinguish the card with the letters on it
+from the plain card. It took a longer time to make the dog realize the
+difference between different words.
+
+In order to try and discover whether the dog could distinguish colours,
+he prepared six cards, marking two of them blue, two yellow, and two
+orange. He put one of each on the floor, and tried to get the dog to
+bring to him a card with the same colour as one which he showed the dog
+in his hand. After trying this for three months, he found that his
+experiment in this direction was a failure.
+
+He had always felt a great longing to know how the world appeared to the
+lower animals. It was still a doubtful point whether ants were able to
+hear. From experiments which he had made, he had come to the conclusion
+they had not the power of addressing each other. His impression on the
+whole was, that bees and ants were not deaf, but that they heard sounds
+so shrill as to be beyond our hearing. There was no doubt about insects
+seeing. He then went on to relate several experiments he had made with
+the view of discovering whether different insects could distinguish
+different colours, and had any preference for particular colours. The
+colours of objects must present a very different impression upon insects
+to that on human beings. The world to them might be full of music which
+we could not hear, colours which we could not see, and sensations which
+we could not feel.
+
+
+
+
+  BEWARE OF THORNS.
+
+
+  A hand encased in leathern glove,
+    One pensive autumn day,
+  Gathered some pretty wayside flowers,
+    To make a bright bouquet.
+
+  With kind intent the flowers were culled,
+    To please a loved one's taste;
+  But ah! unconsciously, some thorns
+    Were with the blossoms placed.
+
+  The hand that grasped the welcome gift
+    Soon felt the piercing smart,
+  And pain dispelled the grateful smile
+    That rayed out from the heart.
+
+  Would we to spirits bowed and sad
+    Convey a transient joy?
+  Let not the lack of tender skill
+    Our kindly deed alloy.
+
+                                        E. D.
+
+
+IF you pursue sin for profit you will never profit by your sin.
+
+
+
+
+THE COST OF A BROKEN SABBATH.
+
+
+A bright Sabbath morning in August, a young minister was on his road to
+a distant parish, where he had engaged to take the services. He overtook
+a group of lads, evidently bent on an excursion of amusement. A boy,
+coming from the opposite direction, was being alternately persuaded and
+chaffed to give up _for once_ going to Sunday School, and join the
+pleasure-party instead. Just then an old man, of venerable appearance,
+who had watched the group from his garden, came forward and addressed
+the boys in the following words--
+
+"Lads, you may think lightly _now_ of what you are doing, but
+Sabbath-breaking leads to ruin--has led to the gallows. Ben"--turning to
+the boy on his way to Sunday School--"don't be ashamed of doing right.
+The Lord saith, 'Them that honour Me I will honour, and they that
+despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.' Ah! boys, be warned in time. You
+cannot reckon _the cost of a broken Sabbath_."
+
+Ben, strengthened thus, went on his way, regardless of the jeers of the
+other lads, who, turning over a stile, were quickly out of sight and
+hearing.
+
+The minister also went on his way, but the earnest tones and sad
+expression of the aged man had made a deep impression on him, and he
+pondered if some personal experience lay behind that solemn warning,
+"You cannot reckon _the cost of a broken Sabbath_."
+
+The evening of that day found him coming through the fields by a path
+which led hard by the door of the cottage of the old man. It had been
+pointed out as shorter and pleasanter than the dusty high road which he
+had travelled in the morning. The day had been hot, and an offer to go
+back to the rectory for refreshment had been declined, as it would
+lengthen the walk considerably; but now, tired and thirsty, he resolved
+to test the hospitality of the owner of the cottage.
+
+The old man sat outside his doorway, with his big Bible on a round
+table. The wayfarer asked for a little water to drink. He was
+courteously requested to enter in and rest, and a draught of milk
+proposed instead, unless he could wait for a cup of tea. The kettle was
+boiling in the back kitchen, and the little table, covered with a snowy
+cloth, was already set for a solitary meal, which the visitor was
+invited to share. He accepted the kindly offer, not sorry to have an
+opportunity of converse with one whose words had lingered with him
+through the day.
+
+Having explained how he had been occupied since passing in the early
+morn, he remarked--
+
+"You live alone?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I am alone in the world, but yet not alone, for the Saviour
+is often with me in my humble dwelling, and I hope in a little while
+He'll come and take me to His home above."
+
+"That is a blessed hope to cheer and make you patient to wait His time,
+my friend," was the rejoinder. "Have you been left long alone?"
+
+"The last went home twenty years ago, come Michaelmas," said the aged
+host. "It has been whiles a weary waiting-time, but it's sinful to
+repine. His time must be the right time."
+
+Whilst the old man went to fetch the tea, the guest looked round and
+observed some articles of carved wood--boxes, flat rulers, and
+leaf-cutters--and was struck with the frequent recurrence of short words
+of Holy Writ on the Sabbath. Some little books lay on the window-sill,
+many of which were on the same subject.
+
+After impressively asking God's blessing, and whilst partaking of the
+simple meal, the visitor remarked--
+
+"I see the sanctity of the Lord's Day is a strong point with you. I
+was struck this morning with the expression you used to those
+lads--'_the cost of a broken Sabbath_.'"
+
+[Illustration: "THE OLD MAN SAT WITH HIS BIG BIBLE." (_See page 132._)]
+
+No response came for some minutes, as if the host was debating some
+question with himself; and so it proved, for at last he raised his head
+and said, with a vast depth of pathos in his tones--
+
+"None have had greater reason to know the bitter cost, sir, than myself.
+It is not often that I speak of the past, but it may be the Lord has
+brought you here for a purpose to-day, and you may be able to use it as
+a warning to some within your influence."
+
+"If your story will not be too painful to you, my friend, I should
+indeed feel grateful to you for it," was the response.
+
+"I do not belong to these parts, sir," he began, "but I've been here
+over a quarter of a century. I lived in a large village in a midland
+county, where some extensive mill-works were carried on, and rose from a
+lad's tasks there to fill the place of foreman. I married happily, and
+had a home of comfort and peace with a loving, godly wife. Four children
+out of six born to us grew up--two sons and two daughters--and after the
+toil and din of the week, Sunday was a day of quiet enjoyment, in the
+midst of my family, spent in God's house and our home, with the aid of
+books and singing, for we all had fair voices. It had never been counted
+a dull day by the young folks. The lovely flowers and birds, and the
+wonders of the book of creation and the Book of grace, made the day of
+holy rest seem all too short. But our circle did not remain unbroken.
+First, our eldest girl, poor Maggie, left home to take a situation in a
+neighbouring town, and soon after, our first-born, David, who had never
+taken kindly to mill-work, obtained employment in an office in the same
+town, within five minutes' walk of his sister. This seemed well for
+both, being much attached to each other. Ned and Mary still clung to the
+old home, and the other two frequently spent the Sabbath in our midst.
+David almost always walked over in the early morn, or late on Saturday
+night, returning, if alone, on Monday morning, or, if Maggie accompanied
+him, the same evening, as she was not allowed out at night. She could
+only, of course, take turns with her fellow-servants; but, unless
+weather prevented, we could surely reckon on the flown birds coming,
+when able, back to their nest on the Sabbath.
+
+"But at last came just such a lovely summer day as this has been. We
+lingered before starting for church till long after the bells had been
+chiming, but neither of them came. We looked to find them on our return,
+and dinner waited long; but the night came, and we had not heard or seen
+aught of either. I overheard Ned in the garden speaking to Mary--
+
+"'I shan't feel easy till I've run over to the town to-morrow, after
+work-hours. I hear there was to be a river excursion from the town
+to-day--a steamer calling for a lot of folks.'
+
+"'But, Ned, you don't believe Davie or Maggie would go?' said Mary, half
+reproachfully.
+
+"'I don't feel comfortable about it,' replied her brother. 'Maggie could
+be persuaded to go anywhere with David, and he and I had a talk not long
+ago on Sunday trips. He said folks could thus get out into pure country
+air, for a few pence, who were cooped up all the week in the smoke of
+the town, and those who desired it could go to a place of worship even
+twice, and get tea, before they had to start on the return voyage.'
+
+"The fear expressed was, alas! too well grounded. David's master's son
+was one of these habitual pleasure-seekers, and had long tried to
+persuade him to join him. He had also become acquainted with Maggie,
+through meeting her out with the children to whom she was nursemaid, and
+often fell in with her on the Sundays she spent in the town. In vain had
+he tried to induce her to join the steamer trip, till one day he said--
+
+"'If David went, you could not scruple about going under his care.'
+
+"'Oh, I'm safe enough not to go at that rate,' was her reply.
+
+"But she was mistaken. David had been persuaded to put his conscience to
+sleep by the resolution that it should only be _for once_, just to see
+for himself how it worked really, for good or evil. He was more than
+half inclined to retract his consent, when he learnt that his sister was
+to be of the party, but the tempter having got his victims into the net,
+did not let them off.
+
+"David and Maggie found a church near the river, and went to morning
+service. Their evil adviser accompanied them on condition that the
+afternoon should be spent in the woods.
+
+"It was not difficult to get separated in the many paths, and when the
+steamer's warning bell was heard, amid the hurried rush onboard, David
+did not discover till too late that, amongst several missing, were
+Maggie, and also his master's son. No entreaty could induce the captain
+to put back.
+
+"Some fresh passengers had come on board, showing views and engravings,
+and David, glad to divert his attention from self-reproach, amused his
+mind with looking through their collection, for he now repented bitterly
+that he had ever come--still more that he had brought his sister, and
+then allowed her to slip out of his charge. One of the new comers was
+especially friendly, explaining the views to 'cheer up his spirits.'
+
+"When within ten minutes of landing, a boat came alongside with two or
+three police in plain clothes, and soon arrested, as well-known
+pickpockets, two of the fresh passengers, whilst all were advised to see
+what they had lost. Much of the booty was found on the prisoners, but
+not all, which led to a general search of the passengers. On my poor
+son, in his coat-pocket, was discovered the rest of the missing plunder,
+which had doubtless been slipped in by his friendly entertainer when he
+saw the police on board. David's protestations of innocence were all
+unavailing. The contents of his pockets were then and afterwards deemed
+conclusive proof of his guilt. All efforts to save him were in vain. He
+never breathed free air again in this life. His sentence placed him
+among convicts at Portland, where his health broke down under grief and
+disgrace. The tidings of his death reached me after I had moved here, in
+a kind letter from the chaplain, sending this precious relic [taking a
+well-worn Testament from his breast], with its marked verses of comfort
+and a few lines from my poor boy--all I have left of him."
+
+A folded sheet of paper, yellow from age and tender from frequent
+handling, lay between the leaves of the little Book. The old man handed
+both to his guest. In the touching farewell to his father were the
+words, "You and mother know I've suffered innocently, and it's now
+nearly over, and I shall soon be free and with Jesus, whose precious
+blood has cleansed me from all sin. But, dear father, never cease to
+_warn_ the young of the fearful _cost of a broken Sabbath_."
+
+The aged man wiped away some falling tears.
+
+"I shall see my boy soon," he continued. "I've tried to keep his
+injunction, and, by tract given or word spoken, not to let a Sabbath go
+by without some warning. His mother scarcely held up her head after his
+trial, and did not survive her first-born many weeks, and I was left
+alone with our youngest--my Mary. That broken Sabbath had lost Maggie
+her place and character. The doors were locked against her that night,
+and no explanation would be accepted next day. She wrote us word she'd
+got another situation at a distance through a friend. We never saw her
+more in the old house, and lost all traces of her. Our other boy, Ned,
+came to us soon after his brother's trial, and, asking our consent and
+forgiveness for going away, said he could not hold up his head in the
+village, and must go to sea. We let him go, hoping time and change of
+scene would heal the wound, and he'd come back to us to a fresh home,
+for I felt like himself, that I could not stay on in the factory, and
+resigned my post and came here, hoping our Davie might soon be free to
+join us also; but the Lord set him free to go to a better mansion in the
+skies.
+
+"Four years after we came here, I had a letter from a neighbour who
+lived hard by in the old place. What Mary had often secretly feared,
+came to pass. Maggie had come back, to find no home left; but the widow
+over the way had seen in the dusk a woman go and return, repulsed from
+the old door, and sit down to weep by the road-side. She brought the
+wanderer to her own fireside. I fetched her away, and we nursed the
+poor, worn, wasted one tenderly, but she had only come home with the
+prodigal's cry, to die--'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and
+before thee.'
+
+"That broken Sabbath was her first step to ruin, but the blessed Lord,
+in His rich mercy, and by the Holy Spirit's gracious leadings, led her
+to the fountain which makes crimson sins white as snow, and she is gone
+before me too.
+
+"The doctor--a good, kind man--shook his head, and bade me keep my Mary
+in the fresh air, and give her plenty of new milk. He feared she had
+taken the seeds of disease in that long nursing, and so it proved; but,
+with the hopefulness of consumption, she did not believe she was going
+to leave me desolate, and I deceived myself, and hoped against hope, as
+I looked on the sweet face and lovely bloom as she lay on this bench,
+enjoying the sight and breath of the flowers.
+
+"By my carving, which went to a London house, we were kept from want,
+and Ned sent us home, with sailor generosity, supplies of money.
+
+"'If he'd only come himself,' said my Mary, 'it would be better than all
+the gold.'
+
+"'Write and tell him so,' I said; and so we both did, and I told him of
+the fading away of his favourite sister, hoping it would draw him back
+over the sea, if anything would; but the brother and sister were not to
+meet here again. My Mary left me one early morn, as the sun's first
+streaks were gilding the sky. No answer came from my sailor son, but the
+good pastor who had ministered to us in our hours of sore need, came one
+day, and gently told me, as I sat alone, that his ship had gone down in
+one of the wild Atlantic storms. My boy is now safe in heaven, where
+there is no more sea."
+
+The aged man ceased. His eye was on the sunset cloud, but his heart was
+in the spirit land. His guest, rising up to depart, took tenderly the
+wrinkled hand, and said, "The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come
+to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall
+obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
+
+Then he hastened homewards, his own heart full with this touching record
+of _the cost of a broken Sabbath_.--_From a Tract, published by S. W.
+Partridge and Co._
+
+
+
+
+A SOFT PILLOW.
+
+
+If the pillow be too hard, it is very unlikely that the sleep should be
+sound. Yet this mainly depends upon circumstances. If the conscience is
+easy, the pillow will be comfortable, even though a block of stone.
+Jacob slept sweetly at Bethel, when the Lord appeared to him and told
+him that He was his God. If, on the other hand, there is guilt on the
+conscience, though the head is laid on the softest down, the pillow will
+not be altogether easy.
+
+
+
+
+RECEIVING THE TRUTH.
+
+
+Mrs. Le Pla was a French lady, who came over to England in the younger
+part of her life, with much of the vivacity for which the French nation
+has been remarkable. She was particularly under the eye of a grave,
+Pharisaic lady, by whom she was persuaded to go to church, but the dull
+manner in which the clergyman performed his office disgusted her so
+much, that she withheld her attention, and fell asleep. At this, her
+English friend was exceedingly angry, and reproved her sharply.
+
+On another Lord's Day her friend took her to hear Dr. F----, but his
+excessive action provoked her to such a degree that she burst into a
+loud laugh, and she was desired to walk out of the place of worship,
+where she had certainly shown too little regard for the Divine Being and
+His worshippers.
+
+On returning home, she was very properly and severely remonstrated with,
+at which she was much hurt. She replied, in broken English, "What can I
+do, madam? I go to church to please you, and there I fall asleep. I go
+to meeting, and there I laugh; and to tell you the truth, I begin to
+think my own religion is not the right religion, for that teaches me to
+worship images, and God says, 'Thou shalt _not_ make any graven image.'
+If, therefore, madam, I go to any place of worship, it shall be to hear
+a Mr. Whitefield, for I have heard great things of him."
+
+"Well," said her English friend, "we will inquire where he preaches."
+
+The good man was then dead. The ladies therefore went to the Tabernacle,
+Moorfields. Mr. T. Knight was the preacher, and the native of France,
+enraptured, cried out--
+
+"This is the good and right doctrine! Here I will attend."
+
+"Yes," said the prudent, self-righteous lady, "it is my opinion that
+they believe in predestination here, and you cannot think it right that
+God made any of His creatures to be damned?"
+
+"Oh, no," said Mrs. Le Pla; "but I will certainly inquire for myself."
+
+The next opportunity was eagerly embraced, and the zealous inquirer,
+seating herself by a good old woman of the congregation, whispered--
+
+"Pray, madam, do they believe in predestination here?"
+
+"Why, predestination," said she, "how can they avoid believing it? The
+Bible is full of it."
+
+The querist was thunderstruck. She hastened home.
+
+"Do they believe in predestination there?"
+
+"An old lady told me they did," was the reply. "But," said the French
+lady, "I am determined to ask the minister myself."
+
+Not long after, she had an interview with Mr. Knight.
+
+"Pray, sir," said she, "will you allow me to ask you a few questions?"
+
+"By all means," said the good man.
+
+"Then you must know," said Mrs. Le Pla, "I was brought up a Roman
+Catholic, and I think that is not the right religion, because they
+worship images, and I come to hear you with pleasure, sir. But my
+friends tell me you believe in predestination, and a good old lady, one
+of your congregation, confirms it. I have therefore taken the liberty to
+ask yourself about it."
+
+Mr. Knight said to her, "Do not believe what every old woman says to
+you. Do you believe you are a sinner?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir!"
+
+"Do you feel the want of Jesus Christ?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir."
+
+"Then," said Mr. Knight, "continue to hear the Word of God, and search
+the Scriptures to see whether I preach the truth or not."
+
+She took his advice, and some little time after, he preached on the
+subject of predestination, and desired his hearers to compare what he
+had to say with their Bibles. The French lady did so, and was quite
+overcome with conviction of the truth. The question now was not with
+her, whether predestination was a truth of God or not, but whether she
+was one of the happy number appointed to salvation.
+
+She afterwards became established in the truth, was joined to Mr.
+Brewer's Church, died in the Lord some years since, and was interred in
+the adjoining burying-ground.
+
+
+
+
+AN EVENING AT THE WEST END.
+
+
+On Monday evening, April 23rd, 1888, we were present at the
+twenty-second Annual Meeting of Gower Street Chapel Sunday School, and,
+although the weather was most unfavourable, the attendance was good,
+which must have been very encouraging to Mr. Cooper, the Superintendent,
+and the teachers. The meeting was presided over by the senior deacon,
+Mr. Link.
+
+The proceedings were opened by singing, and the Chairman read the fourth
+chapter of Malachi, after which Mr. Gray engaged in prayer.
+
+Mr. Link, in the course of a few weighty remarks, said that they were
+gathered to thank the Lord for His goodness. He felt that the children
+were surrounded with many temptations to ensnare them. He spoke of the
+shortness of time, and the solemnity of the day of judgment, and said
+that he often meditated upon these things, and thought about the Lord's
+servants and people, whom he had loved because they were the Lord's, and
+whom he hoped to meet again when he had done with time things.
+
+The report for the past year was then read by Mr. Hale, the Secretary,
+from which it appears that there are 222 scholars on the books, which is
+a slight decrease during the year. The library numbers about 1,030
+books. The report of the Sick and Benevolent Society was also read.
+
+Mr. Boorne, of Greenwich, in addressing the teachers, referred to the
+works, Word, and worship of God. He said that the grass, moss, plants,
+trees, flowers, and fruits showed the sovereignty of God. Then there
+were the various animals for the use and food of mankind, and the
+internal treasures--metals, oxides, salts, &c. God's wise provision of
+the sea for cleansing and purifying the earth--all declared the
+sovereignty, wisdom, power, and goodness of God.
+
+  "Great God, with wonder and with praise,
+    On all Thy works I look;
+  But still Thy wisdom, power, and grace
+    Shine brightest in Thy Book."
+
+He then spoke of the Book of _revelation_, the Bible, and the need that
+the scholars should be taught the value of it, and what it has cost to
+procure it to us--what a privilege it is to be able to read it, and of
+the mercy of understanding it.
+
+He mentioned an instance of a Bible, consisting of nine volumes, being
+sold for £33 6s. 8d., in the thirteenth century, which would represent
+about fifteen times that sum now. To-day a Bible might be bought for a
+few pence.
+
+He referred to the rigid laws of the time of Henry V., to prevent any
+from reading the Bible in the mother tongue; yet still the Book lives.
+
+He referred to the vulgar idea of the "three R's" in education, and said
+that there were three R's which he wished them to oppose in their
+teaching, namely, _Romanism_, _Rationalism_, and _Ritualism_. How many
+worshipped something short of God in the setting up of candles,
+crucifixes, music, and other things. We must "worship in spirit and in
+truth."
+
+He concluded by exhorting them not to grow weary in well-doing, for
+their labour would not be in vain in the Lord.
+
+Mr. Hazlerigg, of Leicester, said he had the difficult task of speaking
+to the children, and he wished to put before them four prizes. But they
+were not tangible--nothing to eat, nor yet anything to see--yet all, he
+thought, might have them, and he recommended them all to aim at getting
+them.
+
+The first thing he wished them to prize was, their Sunday School. He
+said it should be the endeavour of all to keep up the honour of the
+school, and, when any were tempted to do wrong, their first thought
+should be, "What would they say at the Sunday School?" When he was
+formerly in the army, they had what was termed "_esprit de corps_,"
+_i.e._, a pride in keeping up the character of the regiment. He hoped
+none of his audience would ever buy sweets on Sunday, or it might be
+said, that "It is one of the Gower Street Sunday School children."
+
+The second prize was, their Bibles. If they prized and were led by their
+Bibles, they would be good children. It would make them submit to all
+lawful authority. How different it would be if the command, "Thou shalt
+love thy neighbour as thyself," was better learnt and practised than it
+is!
+
+In the third place, he wished them to prize their chapel. He spoke of
+the blessing attending the hearing of the Word of God. He said that some
+children go to school, and then slip off without going to chapel. He
+hoped none of those before him ever did that.
+
+Fourthly, he hoped they would prize their Superintendent and their
+teachers. What a labour of love and self-denial was theirs! They liked
+the work, and their desire was, the glory of God in the children's
+good--in the salvation of their souls, and their prosperity--and they
+sought for this reward--the good of their scholars.
+
+The "touchable" prizes for the past year were then distributed by Mr.
+Hazlerigg, and after Mr. Link had concluded with prayer, the children
+each received a bun and orange, the gift of Mr. Prior, one of their
+teachers.
+
+For the sake of brevity, a vote of thanks was proposed to the latter,
+associated with the names of the visiting ministers and the President,
+which was heartily responded to. Mr. Hazlerigg replied for all in a few
+witty words, which brought the evening to a genial and timely close.
+
+
+
+
+RAGGED TOM.
+
+
+Tom was a poor, ragged boy. His home was an old house in a narrow court.
+A stool, a deal table, an old bed in one corner, and a bag of shavings
+in another, were all the goods contained in the room where Tom, with his
+father and mother, lived.
+
+Tom's hands and face were generally very dirty; his hair matted; his
+clothes were in rags, and his feet were without shoes. He often had
+nothing to eat, and no fire to warm him, however cold the day. Many were
+the blows and kicks the poor boy received from the rude men and lads who
+lived in the court.
+
+It was well for him that a Ragged School was established in the
+neighbourhood, and he was invited to go. He then learned that he had
+three enemies of which he had not hitherto thought much. These were
+dirt, ignorance, and sin.
+
+He speedily vanquished the first at a pump. The second he overcame by
+patient effort at the school. Then Tom became a respectable, happy, and
+useful young man. Best of all, he sought mercy and help from God, and
+lived to prove that he had God's smile and blessing.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+THE GOOD SHEPHERD GATHERING HIS SHEEP.
+
+(JOHN x. 16.)
+
+
+In the city of Jerusalem, at the Feast of Tabernacles, a few months
+before His death, Jesus set forth this beautiful parable of the Good
+Shepherd. He had given sight to a man who from his birth had been blind.
+The Pharisees, as usual, had shown their hatred of Him, and He then
+described Himself as the true Leader, beloved and honoured of all
+believing, obedient souls, declaring that His enemies did not believe
+Him, because they were not His sheep.
+
+"My sheep hear My voice; I know them, they follow Me, and I lay down My
+life for them." "And other sheep I have that are not of _this_
+[Israelite or Jewish] fold; them also I must bring; and they shall hear
+My voice, and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd" (John x. 16).
+
+The Jews who listened to those gracious words were much divided in their
+opinions about them, some declaring that Jesus was mad; others,
+appealing to the great miracle He had wrought in opening the eyes of the
+blind; and three months later, at another feast (see ver. 22), their
+controversy was renewed, and Jesus concluded His striking allegory by
+saying, "I and My Father are One, and no power shall ever be able to
+snatch My people from My hand or from His" (ver. 29, 30).
+
+Returning to our text, we find Jesus declaring that all His people are
+His before they know or love Him.
+
+Up to that time the Jewish Church had been the only earthly fold of
+believers in the living God, and all the Gentiles who were taught by the
+Holy Spirit were led to unite with the house of Israel or the people of
+Judah.
+
+God was Israel's Shepherd (Psa. lxxx. 1). He led His people "like a
+flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron" (Psa. lxxvii. 20). They were
+regarded as "the sheep of His pasture" (Psa. c.), and the world around
+them were strangers and foreigners, "aliens from the commonwealth of
+Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise."
+
+But among these outcasts Jesus had many sheep. He gathered some in olden
+times. He came to lay down His life for a great multitude, to be drawn
+to Himself from every kindred, and tribe, and nation, and tongue. He
+spoke of them as being already His own--"Other sheep I have, and them
+also I must bring," or lead. "The Son of Man came to seek and to save
+that which was lost." "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
+turned every one to his own way"; and He who paid the ransom price of
+His wandering flock, goes after every one for whom He shed His blood.
+
+"He finds them wandering far from God,
+  And brings them to His chosen fold."
+
+"As many as are led by His Spirit"--the Spirit of God--"they are the
+children of God," the sheep of the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+He brings them to feel that they are lost--that they are far off by
+wicked works--that they are guilty, and weak, and helpless--and thus
+they are drawn to the Good Shepherd, who can and will deliver them from
+all evil, and fill them with all good.
+
+And having brought near, He leads in green pastures, beside still
+waters; and even when the way is less pleasant, He always "leads in the
+way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment" (Prov.
+viii. 20).
+
+"They shall hear My voice," He said, and it is by His voice--His Word
+spoken to the heart--that He ever leads His people. Three thousand heard
+it on the day of Pentecost, and were pricked in their heart. Wounded,
+and imploring forgiving, healing grace, they heard again with gladness,
+and followed their Lord in baptism (Acts ii. 37-41).
+
+Lydia's heart was opened to receive the glad tidings, and she followed
+the Good Shepherd; and Jesus leads His disciples all the way home. "In
+all thy ways," the wise man says, "acknowledge Him, and He shall direct
+thy paths" (Prov. iii. 6). "These are they that follow the Lamb
+whithersoever He goeth" (Rev. xiv.).
+
+Happy are they who know the sound of that heavenly voice! Have _we_
+heard it? It may not be _recognized_ at first, as Samuel heard, but did
+not know _who_ called him, until his name had been again and again
+repeated, and Eli had "perceived that the Lord had called the child."
+But as surely as He speaks, we shall, sooner or later, _know_ His voice,
+and long and love to hear it.
+
+Then Jesus promises that all His people, of all nations and all ages of
+time, shall become one flock--one in Jesus; one in heart, and mind, and
+judgment--and the whole redeemed and gathered flock shall at last dwell
+in one fold--the fold of heavenly, eternal life and glory.
+
+  "From sorrow, care, and pain,
+    And sin they shall be free,
+  And perfect love and friendship reign
+    Through all eternity."
+
+"And there shall be one Shepherd." "Jesus only" shall be seen,
+acknowledged, and followed. Now He is loved and honoured as the great
+Chief Shepherd of the sheep, and the ministers of the Gospel are
+pastors, or shepherds, serving under Him. Christ brings them forth,
+gives them their work, and blesses their careful labours. But He removes
+them one by one. He alone abides for evermore. And in the fold above,
+the pastors appear no more as shepherds, but as sheep, the redeemed and
+saved people of the Lord.
+
+Yet, wonderful to relate, the one divine Shepherd is called "the Lamb"
+(Rev. vii. 9-17)--"the Lamb of God," all-seeing and almighty, yet the
+Lamb that once was slain.
+
+"His life and blood the Shepherd paid,
+  A ransom for the flock."
+
+And this wonderful work is to be remembered while the years of eternity
+roll, therefore it is "the Lamb in the midst of the throne that shall
+feed them, and lead them to fountains of living waters; and God shall
+wipe away tears from all eyes."
+
+Shall we be among them? Let us rather ask, Are we asking Him to be our
+Leader now? Are we "hungering and thirsting after righteousness" now?
+And are we mourning over sin, and after Him? If so, our Leader in this
+world will be our Leader still.
+
+  "He that hath fed will feed;
+    He that hath blessed will bless;
+  He that hath led will lead;
+    Can He do less?"
+
+And we shall hunger and thirst no more in that blessed fold, where "in
+His presence there is fulness of joy, and at His right hand are
+pleasures for evermore." This is the life He gives His ransomed ones.
+May it be ours.
+
+Our next subject will be, _Elisha and the Shunammite_ (2 Kings iv. 8-37;
+viii. 1-6).
+
+                                      Yours affectionately,
+                                                 H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN JUNE.
+
+
+June  3. Commit to memory Prov. x. 27,
+June 10. Commit to memory Prov. x. 28.
+June 17. Commit to memory Prov. x. 29.
+June 24. Commit to memory Prov. x. 30.
+
+
+A SANCTIFIED heart is better than a silvered tongue.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+WHAT MARKS DO THE LAMBS OF JESUS CHRIST BEAR?
+
+
+True Christians may be known by their walk and conversation. They are
+anointed ones, and they walk in the narrow way, following in Christ's
+footsteps. They look unto Jesus, who is "the Author and Finisher of
+their faith." They are a despised or persecuted people, as true
+Christians have been in all ages.
+
+The lambs of Christ have always a great deal of trouble, and are tried
+and tempted in many ways, but it is for a token of their eternal
+salvation, if God sanctifies the trouble. If their affliction drives
+them to God, it is a sanctified affliction, and is for their souls'
+good.
+
+An infallible mark of a regenerated character is, when he begins to hate
+evil, and where there is the Spirit's work, there is the panting after
+God.
+
+A child of God looks within, and feels that there is no putting away sin
+but by the blood of Jesus Christ, and no pardon for poor sinners but by
+His sacrifice.
+
+We cannot make ourselves clean, or walk in the right way in our own
+strength, but God will help us if we ask Him in the right way.
+
+The lambs of Jesus Christ are "poor in spirit" and "pure in heart." They
+"hunger and thirst after righteousness." Although they are often
+"persecuted for righteousness' sake," yet Christ's righteousness is
+imputed to them, because He has atoned for their sins. In speaking of
+truly good men, Mr. Gadsby said--
+
+  "Life, light, and holiness divine
+    From Jesus they by faith receive;
+  The Spirit makes His graces shine,
+    And gives them power in Christ to live."
+
+                               JANE BELL
+                           (Aged 14 years).
+
+_Sydney House, Sleaford,
+Lincolnshire._
+
+[Very creditable Essays have been received from Eleanor Saunders, Lilly
+Rush, A. Pease, W. E. Cray, and Laura Creasey. We hope our young friends
+will follow up the various subjects, as the study of them may do them
+good.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Dairyman's
+Daughter."
+
+The subject for August will be, "Contrast the Lesson Taught by the
+Conduct of Solomon and of Rehoboam, at the Commencement of their Reign";
+and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that subject, a copy of
+"The Life of George Whitfield." All competitors must give a guarantee
+that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their
+own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot
+undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the
+first of July.]
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 106._)
+
+
+"_Lamb of God._"--JOHN i. 29. "_Lord of all._"--ACTS x. 36.
+
+L  emue  L  .  Proverbs xxxi. 1.
+A  cch   O  .  Judges i. 31.
+M  ibza  R  .  1 Chronicles i. 53.
+B  ilda  D  .  Job ii. 11.
+
+O    n   O  .  1 Chronicles viii. 12.
+F ar  of F  .  Ephesians ii. 13.
+
+G abbath A  .  John xix. 13.
+O   phe  L  .  2 Chronicles xxvii. 3.
+D   ia   L  .  2 Kings xx. 11.
+
+                                    CLARA ELLIS
+                                 (Aged 14 years).
+
+
+MANY wish to be like Christ in _bliss_ who seek not to be like Him by
+_grace_.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+DAIRYING BY A DUCHESS.--The Duchess of Hamilton has opened a shop in
+Ipswich for the sale of butter, and is crowded with orders, at 1s. 7d.
+per pound.
+
+
+TELEGRAPHING from a moving train has now become a practical success in
+America, and the messages have been successfully transmitted by
+induction through twenty feet of air.
+
+
+A POWERFUL PNEUMATIC GUN.--A pneumatic gun, which is to throw a shell
+containing six hundred pounds of dynamite four miles, is being
+constructed for Italy in Philadelphia.
+
+
+THE QUEEN has presented to St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, a very
+handsome silver gilt altar cross, in commemoration of her Jubilee. The
+royal gift, which has, it is said, cost about £300, was displayed upon
+the table next the reredos for the first time on April 1st.
+
+
+THE Brighton Hotel, on Coney Island, has been successfully moved one
+hundred and twenty feet further inland, in order to escape the
+encroachments of the sea. The building was raised in one mass and rested
+on trucks made to run on rails. Six locomotives were then attached to
+the cars, and dragged the hotel for the distance named. It is intended
+to move it still further.
+
+
+A SPANISH Protestant clergyman, Senor Vila, has been condemned to
+imprisonment for two years four months and one day, and to a fine of two
+hundred and fifty francs and the costs, by the Criminal Court at Malaga,
+for having discussed and condemned the dogmas of the Roman Catholic
+Church in a pamphlet which he published in answer to the attacks of a
+Catholic priest from Paris, who came to Malaga, and published a pamphlet
+against the Protestant religion.
+
+
+THE OLDEST AND YOUNGEST.--The oldest Cabinet Minister is Viscount
+Cranbrook, Lord President of the Council, aged seventy-three; the
+youngest is Mr. Balfour, Chief Secretary for Ireland, aged thirty-nine.
+The oldest member of the Privy Council is Viscount Eversley, aged
+ninety-three, who is also the oldest peer of the realm; the youngest
+member is the Duke of Portland, aged thirty. The youngest duke is H.R.H.
+the Duke of Albany, aged three. The Right Hon. C. P. Villiers (South
+Wolverhampton), aged eighty-six, is the oldest member of the House of
+Commons; and the youngest is Lord H. Cavendish-Bentinck, aged
+twenty-four. Mr. Justice Manisty, aged seventy-eight, is the oldest
+English judge; and Mr. Justice Charles, aged forty-nine, is the
+youngest. The oldest bishop is Dr. Durnford, of Chichester, aged
+eighty-five; and the youngest is Dr. John Wordsworth, of Salisbury, aged
+forty-four.
+
+
+A MILITARY HEROINE.--A handsome marble memorial has been erected in the
+cemetery at Southsea in honour of the late Mrs. Fox, whose death was, by
+special order of the Duke of Cambridge, signalized by a military
+funeral. The inscription on the memorial is as follows:--"Sacred to the
+memory of Mrs. George Fox, wife of Quartermaster George Fox, 2nd
+Connaught Rangers (94th Regiment), who died at Cambridge Barracks,
+Portsmouth, on January 22nd, 1888, from the effects of wounds received
+in the action of Bronker's Sprint, Transvaal. For her heroic and
+unselfish conduct on that occasion in nursing the wounded--desperately
+wounded though she was herself--she was decorated by Her Majesty with
+the Order of the Royal Cross. This monument is erected to her memory as
+a token of affection and esteem by the officers (past and present),
+non-commissioned officers, and men of the 2nd Connaught Rangers. 'Well
+done, thou good and faithful servant' (Matt. xxv. 21)." The inscription
+is surmounted by the regimental crest--a crown, an elephant, the word
+"Seringapatam"--and "2nd Battalion the Connaught Rangers."
+
+
+A RETURN, just prepared at the War Office, of the religious profession
+of non-commissioned officers and men of the British European troops and
+Colonial Corps (exclusive of Indian troops), shows that, at the
+beginning of the present year, there were 158,414 Protestants of various
+denominations on the roll books, of whom 132,537 belonged to the Church
+of England, 15,072 were Presbyterians, 9,437 Wesleyans, and 1,369
+belonged to one or other of the smaller Protestant bodies. The total
+number of Roman Catholics was 40,775; and there were 274 who were either
+Mahometans, Hindoos, or Jews; while the religion of 1,044 was not
+reported. The proportion of Church of England soldiers per thousand (not
+reckoning the Colonial corps) was 668; of Roman Catholics, 205; of
+Presbyterians, 76; of Wesleyans, 46; of men of the smaller Protestant
+denominations, 5; there being thus in all 795 Protestants per 1,000, to
+205 Roman Catholics. The inquiry has not been so complete in the line
+cavalry as in other branches of the service, there being 675 men out of
+17,354 whose religious profession has not been reported; whilst amongst
+the 129,599 men of the line infantry, only 272 were not reported.
+
+
+WATCH GLASSES.--Of watch glasses, 50,000 gross, or 7,200,000, are sold
+annually in the United States. Most of these are imported from England.
+
+
+A MEMORIAL window is to be placed in the Bristol Royal Infirmary to
+commemorate the heroic deed of a young surgeon, William Conner, medical
+officer, who lost his life in a noble and daring effort to save a poor
+patient who had undergone the operation of tracheotomy while suffering
+from diphtheria. A false membrane having formed in the throat, and the
+patient being in imminent danger of his life, young Conner applied his
+lips to the throat tube, and succeeded in removing the obstruction. The
+window is in three panels, representing incidents from the parable of
+the Good Samaritan, and healing the sick, and it will be inscribed, "To
+the glory of God, and in affectionate remembrance of William Conner, who
+was born May 7th, 1851, and died July 4th, 1887."
+
+
+A GREAT LOG RAFT.--Not satisfied with the former experiment and
+catastrophe, the Nova Scotians are putting together another huge log
+raft, to be floated to New York in July or August of this year. This
+raft will be 650 feet long, and will have six masts, and a great spread
+of sail. Confidence seems to be placed in the usual fine weather of July
+and August; but storms are by no means unknown over the course that the
+raft will traverse; and should this huge area of floating timber
+encounter a storm, the chains which will hold the logs together will
+snap like packing-cord, and leave the crew to shift for their lives in
+their boats, or by endeavouring to cling to their logs. These
+experiments, like attempts to swim the rapids of Niagara, should be
+prevented by some law or regulations, since the common sense of those
+concerned is conspicuous by its absence. It is quite possible that the
+raft may be favoured by fine weather, and reach its destination
+successfully; but it is true, nevertheless, that the enterprise is
+hare-brained, and undertaken at great risk of life and property.
+
+
+GREAT STORM AT MADAGASCAR.--Particulars have been received, _viá_ the
+Cape of Good Hope, of a terrific hurricane which raged at Tamatave on
+February 22nd, which will long be remembered by the inhabitants as one
+of the most disastrous storms that have visited the island during this
+century. Eleven vessels at anchor in the harbour were totally wrecked.
+Some of them foundered at their anchors, others parted their cables, and
+were driven on the reefs. The damage done to the town was very great.
+Not a house escaped more or less destruction, numbers of them being
+utterly swept away. The British Consulate, a large new building, only
+erected some months ago by the British Government, was almost totally
+destroyed. Large fragments of this building were carried by the wind for
+hundreds of yards, and for acres around the ground presented an
+extraordinary and melancholy spectacle, being strewn with doors,
+windows, beams, and other pieces of twisted wood and iron, besides
+clothes and furniture. The Consul's wife, Mrs. Haggard (the Consul
+himself was at Mauritius), and those in the Consulate had a narrow
+escape with their lives. Most of the trees were blown down, and all were
+smashed to pieces. Several lives were lost on shore in addition to those
+drowned, but their numbers were few in comparison to the almost
+incredible damage done in so short a time, the hurricane only lasting
+seven hours. A remarkable circumstance in connection with the hurricane
+is, that it was not felt forty miles to the northward of Tamatave, nor
+its full strength sixty miles south.
+
+
+THE CHINESE ALMANACK.--The great value which the Chinese attach to their
+almanack is shown in many ways. Recently the Chinese residents at
+Lhassa, in Thibet, implored the Emperor to cause arrangements to be made
+which would enable them to receive their copies of the almanack at the
+earliest possible date in each year. A writer in a recent issue of the
+_Chinese Recorder_ says that the most important book to the Chinese is
+the almanack. Its space is far too important to be occupied with the
+matter which fills Western almanacks. It contains astronomical
+information, which is useful; but its great mission is to give full and
+accurate information for selecting lucky places for performing all the
+acts, great and small, of every-day life. "And as every act of life,
+however trivial, depends for its success on the time in which, and the
+direction (_i.e._, the point of the compass) towards which it is done,
+it is of the utmost importance that every one should have correct
+information available at all times, to enable him to so order his life
+as to avoid bad luck and calamity, and secure good luck and prosperity.
+Consequently, the almanack is perhaps the most universally circulated
+book in China." The writer speaks of it as a terrible yoke of bondage.
+It is issued by the Government, and the sale of all almanacks but the
+authorized one is prohibited. Quite recently the new Chinese Minister to
+Germany refused to sail for his post on a day which the almanack
+declared to be unlucky, and the departure of the German mail steamer was
+consequently deferred at the request of the German minister to
+Pekin.--[What a pity but these poor deluded creatures were blessed with
+Bible truth and Jesus' grace!--ED.]
+
+[Illustration: "A TROOP OF DRAGOONS CAME UP AT FULL GALLOP." (_See page
+146._)]
+
+
+
+
+THE COVENANTER'S ESCAPE AND DEATH.
+
+
+On the 16th of April, 1685, Peden made a narrow escape. Being then at
+the house of John Nisbet, of Hardhill, a little before nine o'clock in
+the morning, a troop of dragoons were observed by the servants, who were
+working in the fields, coming up to the house at full gallop, upon which
+the servants ran to conceal themselves. Peden, and those who were with
+him in the house, had fled for shelter to a moss nearly two miles
+distant from the place where the servants were working.
+
+The way to this moss was by a very steep ground, and at the edge of the
+moss there was a morass about seven or eight yards broad, and altogether
+the place was well adapted for concealment, as well as for protection
+from military on horseback. Here, however, Peden and his companions were
+discovered. James, the son of John Nisbet, a young man about sixteen
+years of age, had been with the servants in the field when the troop of
+dragoons came up, and in his flight, being chased by some of the party,
+made his way accidentally to where Peden and about twenty more were
+lurking, which occasioned their being discovered. The whole party of
+dragoons were quickly informed of the prize within their reach, and
+about three hours after, they were joined by another party who aided
+them in the pursuit. Peden and his friends, observing the enemy
+dismounting their horses to take the moss on their feet, for the purpose
+of securing them, after some firing on both sides without effect, drew
+off, and kept in the midst of the moss. When the dragoons, on seeing
+this, mounted their horses again, and pursued by the side of the moss,
+the Covenanters always kept themselves on such ground as the horses
+could not approach.
+
+They were pursued during the whole of that day, and ran about thirty
+miles without receiving any refreshment but moss-water till night, when
+they got a little milk. Peden then left his friends, and went away by
+himself.
+
+During this year, and especially the first part of it, great numbers of
+the persecuted witnesses were murdered in the fields. Peden, therefore,
+to escape the hands of the military, after this wandered from one
+lurking-place to another; and from his minute acquaintance with all the
+tracts and haunts of the desert, of which he may be said for years to
+have been an inhabitant, he succeeded in eluding the enemy.
+
+In such circumstances, we need not wonder that he was sometimes weary of
+life, and envied his fellow-sufferers who had gone to death before him,
+and were eternally at rest. At length, Peden's bodily infirmities
+increasing so much as to render him unable to travel, being almost worn
+out with fatigue, and suffering from the many hardships he had
+undergone, he arrived at his native parish of Sorn. He came to his
+brother's house, in the neighbourhood of which he caused a cave to be
+dug, with a willow bush covering its mouth. His persecutors getting
+information where he was, searched every part of the house on many
+occasions.
+
+At last, one day, early in the morning, leaving the cave, he came to the
+door of the house. His brother's wife warned him of his danger, advising
+him to return to his place of concealment. He told her it was needless
+to do that, since it was discovered.
+
+"But," said he, "there is no matter, for within forty-eight hours I will
+be beyond the reach of all the devil's temptations, and his instruments
+in hell and on earth, and they shall trouble me no more."
+
+He had not been in the house above three hours when a party of soldiers
+visited the cave, and not finding him there, they searched first the
+barn, and next the house, stabbing the beds, but they did not enter the
+place where he lay.
+
+Peden died on the 28th of January, 1686, being upwards of sixty years of
+age, and was privately buried in the church of Auchinleck, in the aisle
+of David Boswell, Esq., of Auchinleck. But his ashes were not allowed to
+repose in peace. Though he had never been condemned by any jury, yet the
+enemy, being informed of his death and burial, sent a troop of dragoons,
+who pulled his corpse out of the grave after it had lain about six
+weeks, and having first broken the chest, exposed his remains to
+contempt, and then carried them to the gallows foot at Cumnock, two
+miles distant, and there buried them. The design of the soldiers in
+lifting the body was to hang it in chains upon the gallows at Cumnock,
+but this they were prevented from doing. The Countess of Dumfries and
+the Lady Affleck, shocked at this barbarity, earnestly interceded that
+the body might be again buried; and when the savage commander of the
+dragoons, determined to have it hung in chains, proved unrelenting, they
+applied to the Earl of Dumfries, a Privy Councillor, then at home, who,
+yielding to their request, went to the gibbet and told Murray that it
+was erected for malefactors and murderers, and not for such men as Mr.
+Peden. The corpse was accordingly reinterred at the foot of the gibbet,
+now within the wall of the common burial-ground of Cumnock parish, and a
+suitable memorial erected over the remains, on which was inscribed an
+appropriate epitaph.
+
+
+
+
+A DAY'S WORK.
+
+
+The amount of work some people get through is simply enormous. Few
+people are harder worked than a London physician in active practice. We
+know a doctor who seldom gets more than four hours' sleep out of the
+twenty-four. He says that it is not that he couldn't do with more, but
+it is as much as he can get. Many busy men are constantly at work of
+some kind or the other from eight in the morning till past twelve at
+night. Some, of course, break down, but others can do this year after
+year, apparently without any detriment to their health. Instances are
+known of professional men who have not slept for five days together, and
+who have not been in bed for three weeks at a time. These sound almost
+like travellers' tales, but they are true, although, of course, they are
+exceptional cases. It is astonishing what interest and energy will do in
+enabling a man to dispense with rest. It has been said that the
+twenty-four hours might be advantageously divided into three equal
+parts--eight hours for sleep, eight for meals, exercise, recreation,
+&c., and eight for mental work. Few men really require more than eight
+hours' sleep, but the majority of us have to do considerably more than
+eight hours' work in the day. It is not so much that a man wishes for
+the work, as that it is forced upon him. He, perhaps, is the only person
+who can perform a certain duty, and when, as is often the case, it is a
+question of life and death, it is almost impossible to refuse. Many
+people can never force themselves to do more than a certain amount of
+mental work; they get nervous and headachy, and then it is all over with
+them. Forced work, as a rule, tells on a man much more rapidly than
+purely voluntary work, for in the former case it is usually associated
+with anxiety. Real overwork gives rise to loss of memory, a general
+sense of fatigue, and particularly of discomfort about the head,
+poorness of appetite, lowness of spirits, and other similar symptoms. It
+is worry that injures more than real work. Some people are so happily
+constituted that they never worry much about anything, whilst others are
+in a fever of anxiety on every trivial occasion.--_The Family
+Physician._
+
+
+
+
+JUVENILE GEMS.
+
+(_Concluded from page 130._)
+
+
+                        ANN JANE.
+
+My dear Ann Jane was an affectionate child, but naturally timid, and
+frequently expressed a hope that she should not be taken ill. Yet she
+too was destined to be borne far, far away.
+
+On November 12th, 1851, it pleased God to indicate His intentions by
+placing upon her His afflicting hand. But He who "mingles mercy with His
+might," set His bow in the cloud, answered in the secret place of
+thunder, and revealed His love in the bosom of the storm.
+
+Ann Jane gave pleasing proofs of a work of grace in her soul, the
+progress of which was visible to by-standers and friends.
+
+A short time after the attack, she expressed a wish to die; and upon
+being asked why, she answered, "Because I believe I shall go to heaven.
+I believe the dear Lord has pardoned my sins." She would often say,
+"Pray for me, my dear mother, and I will pray for you, and myself too";
+and would then address herself to God in a sweet, devout manner.
+
+Observing me to be in great trouble, she thus spoke to me--"Do pray the
+dear Lord to take me to Himself." I answered, "How can I do so, seeing I
+cannot give you up?" She replied, "Oh, mother, put your trust in the
+Lord. He will provide. Do ask Him to take me out of this world. Oh,
+mother, there is nothing here worth living for"; and engaging sweetly in
+prayer, uttered, with many other sentences, the following--"Pardon all
+our sins, dear and precious Lord--past sins, present sins, and sins to
+come. Wash us in Thy precious blood, for Thou knowest how sinful we are,
+and Thou rememberest we are but dust. Oh, make us love Thee more! Thy
+love is an everlasting love. Take us, dear Lord, take us to Thyself, and
+then we shall love and serve Thee better."
+
+The second Lord's Day of her affliction, she inquired what day it was. I
+informed her, and asked, "Would you not like to spend a Sabbath in
+heaven?" "Oh, yes, mother!" was the rejoinder. "That would be a Sabbath
+of Sabbaths."
+
+With pleasure I remember some particular times when my precious child
+seemed almost overpowered by the sweetness and glories of Immanuel, who
+is "God with us," not only in our nature, but in our condition. At these
+times, with uplifted hands, she would exclaim, "Oh, my precious Jesus!
+Oh, my precious Christ!"
+
+One day she said, "Mother, my pains are very great. Can you do anything
+to give me relief?" What an appeal to maternal tenderness! What a moment
+of agonizing weakness! I reminded her of the divine sufficiency, and she
+poured out a copious argumentative prayer, not like the prayer of a
+child, pleading the Lord's own Word, and the merits of Christ, as the
+only ground of her expectation. "I know," she would say, "I am not
+worthy. I am a guilty sinner. Oh, wash me in Thy precious blood! Give me
+patience to endure my pains, and to wait all Thy will; and take me to be
+where Thou art, for ever and ever. Amen."
+
+Seeing me weep very much, on one occasion, she exclaimed, "My precious
+mother, I do love you! Why do you grieve about me? I am not afraid to
+die. I want to go to my precious Lord, and be with Him for ever." I
+said, "My dear child, why do you believe you shall go to heaven? Do you
+think you have _merited_ it?" "Oh, no, mother," was her immediate reply.
+"I am a guilty sinner. It is through the Lord Jesus, and for His sake,
+that I hope to be saved. Do you not think, dear mother, He will pardon
+me?" I said, "Yes, if you feel your need of Him." She answered, "I
+believe He has pardoned me."
+
+After the prayer previously mentioned, and partly recorded, she said,
+"How good the Lord is to me! Oh, my precious Jesus," &c. "Oh, mother,"
+she said, in reply to a question, "I know I love the Lord. Yes, I do;
+better than everything else in the world."
+
+At another time she cried out, in a loud impressive tone, "Oh, mother,
+what is there in this world worth living for? It is all stuff and
+vanity--it is, mother. Oh, I do not want to live here! Pray the dear
+Lord to take me to Himself. Oh, how blessed to be with my precious Jesus
+for ever!"
+
+When informed of the death and burial of her brother, she appeared
+excited, but at last said, "Dear boy! I hope I shall soon be with him,
+and then we shall meet to part no more." She then asked me to pray again
+that God would take her. How could I? "Nature has soft but powerful
+bands," and the ligaments were not yet severed. She seemed my earthly
+all. Could I surrender her to the arms of the destroyer? Could I look up
+and say, "Thy will be done"? What grace we need to glorify God in the
+fires!
+
+Nine days after her illness she raised herself up in her bed, and,
+looking at her departing sister, said, "There is my dying sister. Where
+is she going? Where? Why, to the realms of bliss? And who of us next?
+Why, myself, I believe, mother. But I am not afraid of death," &c.
+
+At another time she said, "Do read to me, dear mother"; and upon my
+asking her _where_, she replied, "Read about the sufferings of Christ" I
+did so, and she afterwards engaged in prayer.
+
+At another time the nurse heard her, during the night, earnestly praying
+for both her parents and herself.
+
+Once she requested me to read the seventeenth chapter of John, remarking
+at the time, "That is sweet reading." After listening for a time she
+fell into a short sleep, and I laid the Book down. When she awoke she
+exclaimed, "Won't you read to me, my dear mother?" I said, "You dropped
+off into a sleep, my dear." She then tried to read herself, but failing,
+returned the Book, immediately adding, "Give it me again and let me kiss
+it, for I love it very much."
+
+At different times she expressed earnest desires to go to her brother
+and sister, and for her father and mother and sister to go also; and
+would try to sing a part of that Sabbath School hymn, chorusing--"Oh,
+that will be joyful," &c.
+
+Two days before she died she exclaimed, with sweet simplicity, "Suffer
+the little children to come unto Me"; and shortly after, "Precious
+Bible! what a treasure," &c.
+
+The night on which she died, a friend coming in, she seemed pleased,
+remarking that I could then take some rest. Shortly after this her voice
+began to fail. She called for "Hephzibah," looked at me wishfully,
+exclaimed, "Mother," and talked earnestly for some time; but her voice
+was "thick in death," and language failed as an interpreter of "the
+thoughts and intents of the heart." In vain she laboured to make me
+comprehend her ideas. The bridge had been broken down; the fortress was
+dismantled. Only a word or two was distinct enough to be understood, but
+from these I found her discourse was of a spiritual nature. Overcome by
+the scene, I burst into tears, and said, "My dear child, how I wish I
+could understand you! It almost breaks my heart." At this she looked at
+me so very affectionately, and exclaimed, "Heaven! heaven! heaven!"
+
+She spoke not again, but for twelve long hours "her spirit struggled
+with her clay," when the conflict mercifully ceased, and all was peace,
+and righteousness, and quietness, and assurance for ever. She exchanged
+worlds on December 14th, 1851, aged eleven years and three months.
+
+  "May death conclude my toils and tears;
+  May death conclude my sins and fears;
+  May death, through Jesus, be my Friend;
+  May death be life when life shall end!"
+
+Thus ends the interesting memoirs of three happy children; and as
+reflection should follow reading, we proceed from narrative to
+reflections.
+
+                        REFLECTIONS.
+
+1. From these memoirs we learn how greatly the Lord sometimes tries the
+righteous. In little more than a fortnight, three out of four children
+were borne to their long home. The father had been previously afflicted
+with paralysis, and was at that time unable to follow his employment,
+having lamed himself.
+
+2. We learn that human affliction may consist with divine affection.
+Lazarus sickened and died, though Jesus loved him. "And what son is
+there whom the Father chasteneth not?"
+
+3. We have another lesson upon the inscrutable providence of God. "I
+beheld," says Solomon, "all the works of God, that a man cannot find out
+the work that is done under the sun; because, though a man labour to
+seek it out, yet shall he not find it; yea, further, though a wise man
+think to know it, yet shall he not find it." No man knoweth divine love
+or hatred by the distributions of providential good and evil.
+
+4. But if the events of life are so complicated, and if no application,
+however skilfully conducted, nor any human capacity, whatever its range,
+can fathom the "mysteries of God," then, how unseemly is immoderate
+grief or unmeasured joy! How premature our decisions, and how utterly
+senseless all those infidel cavils against a system which the most
+enlightened, philosophical, and Spirit-taught mind can neither
+understand nor deal with!
+
+5. Nevertheless, we read that "the righteous, and the wise, and their
+works, are in the hand of God" (Eccles. ix. 1), from which we conclude
+that the people of God, wherever located, and however circumstanced, are
+protected by His power, sustained by His agency, supplied by His mercy,
+are under His special care, and safe in His approbation. Let this
+suffice. We walk by faith.
+
+6. We see here the sovereignty of God, both in His providence and grace.
+We read of one being taken and another left; but here three are taken,
+and only one left.
+
+7. Does not God, sometimes, put peculiar honour upon His professing
+people, however He sees fit to try them? If He takes one of a Gentile
+city, He takes two of a Christian family, and brings them to Zion.
+
+8. We observe, too, the earliness and efficacy of His work on the minds
+of some, so that "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings He perfects
+His own praise."
+
+9. Attention, however, may be called to the value of early and maternal
+instruction. These children were instructed for the most part by their
+mother, who watched over them with incessant care, keeping them separate
+from the masses, and attending to their education as an important duty.
+
+  "There is not a grand inspiring thought,
+  There is not a truth by wisdom taught,
+  There is not a feeling pure or high,
+  That may not be read in a mother's eye.
+
+  "There are teachings on earth, and sky, and air;
+  The heavens the glory of God declare;
+  But more loud than the voice beneath, above,
+  Is the voice that speaks through a mother's love."
+
+                                            W. P.
+
+
+
+
+BROUGHT TO THE FOLD.
+
+
+Louisa Ann Jeeves, of Pewsey, Wilts, died on March 24th, 1888, aged
+twenty-four years. She sat under the truth until she was about twenty,
+when she left the place for a short time. But, when taken seriously ill,
+it appears that the Lord laid the weight of her sins upon her, and she
+felt that she had slighted the means of truth, which was a trouble to
+her. The clergyman called, and wished to administer the Sacrament to
+her, but she refused, and told him she dare not, for she had not felt
+the pardon of her sins. From this time she sank very low, and felt her
+sins to be a heavy burden. She now eagerly read her Bible, in which she
+marked many portions. Her bodily sufferings were very great, but she
+bore them without a murmur. Her sins, and the state of her soul before
+God, seemed always uppermost.
+
+I had known her from a child, and hoped there was some good thing in
+her; but when she left the place of truth, I was afraid my hope was
+vain.
+
+I visited her often after my return to Pewsey, and found her in great
+concern about her soul. She said she knew that nothing but an
+application of the blood of Christ could suffice for her great sins, and
+this she longed to feel. She asked me to read and pray with her, which I
+was enabled to do, believing the Lord had given her true conviction of
+sin. Each time I called she was greatly distressed, and seemed without
+hope; and this went on until the last week of her life, when she begged
+me to stay with her altogether, and whenever we were alone she wished me
+to read and pray. She would cry out in agony, "Oh, what shall I do if I
+don't get to heaven?"
+
+On the Tuesday, when she had been greatly tried, this word was brought
+with comfort to her mind, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." I
+said, "If the Lord has given you those words, He will, in His own time,
+bless you with pardon and peace"; and, as she was drawing near her end,
+I said, "When He comes, if you are unable to speak, raise your hand."
+But the next day the Lord was pleased to bless her soul with joy and
+peace. She called for her mother, and when she came, she said, her face
+at the time beaming with joy, "Oh, mother, I am so happy! I am going
+home to be with Jesus! He has put away all my sins by His own precious
+blood, and you will come, too." She would have us sing some hymns,
+herself joining in while able--among others, "How sweet the name of
+Jesus sounds," and "Rock of Ages." When we had finished one she named
+another, and said, "Beautiful! beautiful!"
+
+She gradually sank, but the fear of death was taken away. She was quite
+conscious to the last, and turned her head to look at the clock several
+times. The enemy of souls was not permitted to harass her in her last
+hours, and just before she breathed her last, she raised her arms and
+clapped her hands three times, evidently remembering what I had said to
+her. It may be truly said, she died in peace. She was a constant reader
+of the LITTLE GLEANER.
+
+                                                   C. G.
+
+
+TO lay the salve of our services upon the wound of our sins is as if a
+man who is stung by a wasp should wipe his face with a nettle.
+
+
+
+
+ROME PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES.
+
+"_For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,
+saith the Lord._"--ISAIAH lv. 8.
+
+
+Father Chiniquy had been for some years lecturing on teetotalism, in
+addition to his usual priestly labours, and his success had been so
+great that he had received the title of "Apostle of Temperance" in
+Canada, and the gift of a splendid medal and crucifix from the Pope of
+Rome; and his reputation as a popular influential priest was therefore
+well established, when he was requested to become the leader of a great
+movement.
+
+Emigrants were constantly leaving Europe and Canada for the United
+States, and many of them became connected, on their arrival there, with
+Protestant associations. Some far-seeing bishops consequently felt that,
+if they could divert that tide to places of their own choosing, under
+the direction of their own loyal priests, a splendid triumph would be
+gained for Popery, and in the course of time they would secretly, yet
+surely, rule the United States of America.
+
+Some small colonies had been already formed, and the whole of the
+Mississippi valley and the adjoining country was so fertile and rich,
+even in its wild state, that Chiniquy's warmest hopes were kindled, as
+he saw that beautiful land; and, sitting down, he wrote a glowing
+description of it, and invited intending emigrants to come and see for
+themselves. The result exceeded all anticipations. In a very short time
+fifty families arrived at the chosen spot, and pitched their tents
+around his own. They soon set to work to build small, strong wooden
+houses under their priest's directions, then a larger one for a
+parsonage and school; and, as fresh emigrants were continually arriving,
+they soon became a flourishing, happy community, and objects of the
+bitter jealousy of surrounding priests. Many difficulties arose. When
+his wooden church was just finished, it was maliciously set on fire the
+very night after the first services were conducted in it. A new bishop
+came into power, whose tyranny and greediness were unbearable, and
+Father Chiniquy appealed against him to Napoleon, the French Emperor,
+and the Pope, getting him at length removed from the position he had so
+greatly abused.
+
+But the crowning difficulty, which was designed by God to be the
+crowning blessing of His servant's life, was yet to come, and thus it
+came to pass that the Bible-loving priest forsook his false position,
+and "came out of Babylon."
+
+When Rome's new doctrine, the perfect holiness of the Virgin Mary, was
+first published in 1854, a farmer called on Chiniquy to ask him whether
+the Scriptures taught such a thing, and he honestly confessed that they
+did not, but rather said the opposite, and that the holy fathers had not
+believed or taught it either, but it was with the greatest pain that he,
+as a priest, said this.
+
+On another occasion, the immoral conduct of a priest caused many to ask
+our friend whether the Word of God really forbade the ministers of
+Christ to marry, and he replied, "I will put the Gospel in your hands,
+that you may see for yourselves what the Holy Book says about these
+matters." He accordingly ordered a large number of New Testaments, which
+had been printed by the sanction of one of their own archbishops, and
+soon they were being eagerly read and studied by his large congregation.
+
+And now the decisive hour drew near. Another bishop, who had taken the
+oppressor's place, kindly asked and accepted Chiniquy's submission to
+his authority. But, as that document contained the words, "According to
+the Word and commandments of God, as we find them expressed in the
+Gospel of Christ," the Jesuits found fault. The bishop demanded the
+withdrawal of the words, and upon his refusal to alter them, angrily
+said, "If it be so, sir, you are no longer a Roman Catholic priest."
+"May God Almighty be for ever blessed," was the brave reply, given in a
+loud, determined voice.
+
+But the wrench was a terrible one, and when alone in his hotel, the full
+consequences of his words came forcibly before him, and he felt alone
+and desolate. But God, who had thus mysteriously led him into liberty,
+did not forsake him now. He spoke to his heart, and confirmed him in the
+determination he had made; and when all his sins seemed like a mountain
+to rise before him, Jesus appeared as his perfect, all-sufficient
+Saviour, and the troubled heart was filled with joy unspeakable, so that
+he could and did exclaim, "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt
+His name together!" as he hastened home to tell his dear people all that
+he had experienced of the wrath of man and the love of God.
+
+May we, with him, be favoured to "taste and see that the Lord is good,"
+and we also shall say, "O Lord God of Hosts, blessed is the man that
+trusteth in Thee!"--_Jottings on "The Life and Work of Father Chiniquy,"
+by Cousin Susan._
+
+
+
+
+HOW TO SELECT A BOY.
+
+
+A gentleman advertised for a boy, and nearly fifty applicants presented
+themselves to him. Out of the whole number he selected one, and
+dismissed the rest.
+
+"I should like to know," said a friend, "on what ground you selected
+that boy, who had not a single recommendation."
+
+"You are mistaken," said the gentleman; "he has a great many. He wiped
+his feet when he came in, and closed the door after him, showing that he
+was careful. He gave his seat instantly to that lame old man, showing
+that he was thoughtful. He took off his cap when he came in, and
+answered my questions promptly, showing that he was gentlemanly. He
+picked up the book which I had purposely laid on the floor, and replaced
+it upon the table; and he waited quietly for his turn, instead of
+pushing and crowding, showing that he was honourable and orderly. When I
+talked to him, I noticed that his clothes were brushed, his hair in
+order. When he wrote his name, I noticed that his finger-nails were
+clean. Don't you call those things letters of recommendation? I do; and
+I would give more for what I can tell about a boy by using my eyes ten
+minutes than all the letters he can bring me."
+
+Little things show character, and frequently determine a boy's whole
+career. It is the boy who does the kind, polite, and thoughtful acts
+unconsciously that wins his way to employment and success. And success
+does not mean wealth and fame. A man is valued according to his
+faithfulness and reliability, and these chiefly determine the measure of
+his true usefulness.
+
+It is not always those who are most conspicuous in the eyes of the world
+who are really the most useful. A man who takes money at a ferry gate is
+seen by thousands, but he only does what any one of a thousand could do
+equally well; while a thoughtful and conscientious writer, who may be
+personally known to very few, may have great influence for good. True
+success means the development of a character that is worthy of
+example--a character that is honest to every duty, faithful to every
+trust, and that is unselfish enough to find time for kindly acts that
+are not forced, but the simple expression of a warm and generous
+principle. True success is fidelity to every relation in life.
+
+
+
+
+"NOTHING TO THANK GOD FOR."
+
+
+"Have you nothing to thank God for?" asked the mother of a little girl
+named Helen.
+
+"No," said Helen; "you and papa give me everything."
+
+"Not for your pleasant home?" asked mother.
+
+"It is my papa's house; he lets me live in it."
+
+"Where did the wood come from to build it?" asked mother.
+
+"From trees," answered Helen, "and they growed in big forests."
+
+"Who planted the big forests? Who gave rain to water them? Who gave the
+sun to warm them? Who did not allow the winter to blast them? Who kept
+them growing from little trees to trees big enough to build houses with?
+Not papa, not man; it was God."
+
+Helen looked her mother in the eye, and then said, "Papa bought nails to
+make it with."
+
+"What are nails made of?" asked mamma.
+
+"Iron," answered Helen; "and men dig iron out of the ground."
+
+"Who put iron in the ground, and kept it there safe till the men wanted
+it?" asked mother. "It was God."
+
+"We got this carpet from men," said Helen, drawing her small foot across
+it.
+
+"Where did the carpet-men get the wool to make it from?" asked mother.
+
+"From farmers," answered Helen.
+
+"And where did the farmers get it?"
+
+"From sheep and lambs' backs," said the little girl.
+
+"And who clothed the lambs in dresses good enough for us? for your
+dress, I see, is made of nothing but lambs' wool. Where did the lambs
+get such good stuff?"
+
+"God gave it to them, I suppose," said the little girl. "It is you that
+gives me bread, mother," said she quickly.
+
+"But," said her mother, "the flour we got from the shop, and the
+shopkeeper bought it from the miller, and the miller took the wheat from
+the farmer, and the farmer had it from the ground, and the ground grew
+it all itself."
+
+"No," cried Helen suddenly, "God grew it. The sun and the rain, the wind
+and the air, are His, and He sent them to the corn-field. The earth is
+His too. And so God is at the bottom of everything, isn't He, mother?"
+
+"Yes," said mother; "God is the Origin of every good and perfect gift
+which we enjoy."
+
+The little girl looked serious. She looked thinking. "Then, mamma," she
+said at last, "I can't make a prayer long enough to thank God for
+everything."
+
+"Oh, that men," even as the creatures of God, "would praise the Lord for
+His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"
+
+
+
+
+A CINGALESE ROCK FORTRESS.
+
+
+For the first time for a number of years the Sigiri Rock in Ceylon has
+been scaled by a European, the feat on this occasion being performed by
+General Lennox, who commands the troops in the island. It is said,
+indeed, that only one European, Mr. Creasy, ever succeeded in reaching
+the summit. The rock is cylindrical in shape, and the bulging sides
+render the ascent very difficult and dangerous. There are galleries all
+round, a groove about four inches deep being cut in the solid rock. This
+rises spirally, and in it are fixed the foundation bricks, which support
+a platform about six feet broad, with a chunam-coated wall about nine
+feet high. The whole structure follows the curves and contours of the
+solid rock, and is cunningly constructed so as to make the most of any
+natural support the formation can afford. In some places the gallery
+has fallen completely away, but it still exhibits flights of fine marble
+steps. High up on the rock are several figures of Buddha; but it is a
+mystery how the artist got there, or how, being there, he was able to
+carry on his work. The fortifications consist of platforms, one above
+the other, supported by massive retaining walls, each commanding the
+other.
+
+Owing to the falling away of the gallery, the ascent in parts had to be
+made up a perpendicular face of the cliff, and General Lennox and four
+natives were left to do the latter part of the ascent alone. The top
+they found to be a plateau about an acre in extent, in which were two
+square tanks, with sides thirty yards and fifteen feet respectively in
+length, cut out of the solid rock. A palace is believed to have existed
+on the summit at one time, although time, weather, and the jungle have
+obliterated all traces of it. During the descent the first comer had to
+guide the foot of the next into a safe fissure, but all reached the
+bottom safely after two and a half hours.
+
+It is said that the amount of work expended on the galleries is
+incredible, and the writer of the account of the feat doubts if all the
+machinery of modern times could accomplish the stupendous work that was
+achieved here in old days by manual labour alone.
+
+
+
+
+A QUEER FISHERMAN.
+
+
+Monkeys and apes are (remarks a writer in _Harper's Young People_)
+always amusing creatures, and it is great fun to watch their tricks. But
+there is one ape, a native of the island of Java, who outdoes most of
+his relatives in the way of being ridiculous, especially when he amuses
+himself as a fisherman. This ape is very fond of shellfish, and there is
+a certain kind of sand-crab that suits his palate exactly. These crabs
+dig little homes for themselves deep in the sand, and thither they
+retire when they want a quiet rest, or when any danger threatens. When
+all is well, they spend their time sunning themselves at the entrance of
+their holes, or hopping along the water's edge in search of food. The
+apes know their ways, and while the crabs are looking for a dinner they
+also are bent on obtaining one for themselves. Apes, you know, can move
+very quickly. They wait until they see a party of crabs apparently
+unconscious of danger, and busily engaged in discussing a bit of
+seaweed, or devouring the insects they are so fond of. Moving stealthily
+forward, as close as they dare, the ape gives a sudden leap, and seizes
+as many as possible of the poor, unsuspecting crabs, which are speedily
+crunched into a shapeless mass by his strong jaws, and devoured. But the
+crabs are very active too, and it often happens that they will take
+alarm in time to scamper quickly to their holes, and so cheat the ape
+out of his anticipated meal. When this occurs, the ape has recourse to a
+stratagem which proves how intelligent he really is, and which makes him
+appear, as I have said, one of the most amusing and ridiculous of
+creatures. The ape of Java, unlike others of his species, possesses a
+very long tail. He moves quietly up to the hole into which he has seen
+the crab disappear, thrusts his tail into it, and awaits events. The
+crab, indignant at such an intrusion, makes a spirited attack, and
+fastens upon it. This is precisely what the ape wants. He gives a sudden
+spring forward. The crab, having no time to collect his ideas, is drawn
+to the surface, and in a moment the ape has him in his claws. Poor crab!
+victim of his anxiety to punish the invasion of his home.
+
+One traveller tells us that "there is a comical look of suspense on the
+ape's face as he thrusts his tail into the hole, and waits for the crab
+to seize it."
+
+
+
+
+SAVED BY GRACE.
+
+
+Agreeably to your wishes, I send you the following account of W. B----,
+who had lived a dissolute life for nearly forty years.
+
+He was notorious for drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and his general
+deportment was so abandoned that he was wicked even to a proverb.
+
+On Saturday evening, March 4th, he attended a funeral, and from the
+place of interment he immediately betook himself to a public house,
+where he became so intoxicated that it was with some difficulty he
+reached his own habitation. No sooner was he laid down upon the bed, and
+composed to sleep, than the words of Eliphaz were verified in his
+experience--"In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep
+falleth upon man, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my
+bones to shake," for he dreamed a frightful dream. He thought he saw a
+serpent of the hydra kind, with nine heads, ready to seize him. Whatever
+way he turned, a head presented itself, nor could he, by all the methods
+he devised, extricate himself from the baneful monster. He awoke in
+great distress. Though it was but a dream, it made a strong impression
+upon his mind, and he was afraid it portended some future evil.
+
+The next morning, one of the members of our meeting, as he was going to
+the house of God, observed him in a pensive posture, and asked him if he
+would go with him and hear a sermon upon the old serpent. The sound of
+the word _serpent_ arrested his attention, and excited his curiosity to
+hear what I had to say upon such a subject. But for this expression,
+probably the poor man had remained unmoved. Why the person used it he
+could not tell, nor why he invited him to accompany him that morning--a
+thing which he had never done before. But He could tell who, in the days
+of His flesh, "must needs go through Samaria," and whose providences are
+always in coincidence with the purposes of His grace.
+
+As soon as prayer was ended, I preached from Genesis iii. 13-15, "And
+the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And
+the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God
+said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
+above all cattle," &c.
+
+As I was explaining who that serpent was, and the methods he took to
+beguile sinners, the Lord opened the poor man's eyes, and the Word had
+free course and was glorified. From that moment he gave every
+demonstration of a real change of heart. About four or five months he
+continued in the pangs of the new birth. The anguish of his soul was
+great indeed. He perceived the number of his sins, and felt the weight
+of his guilt. For some time he was tempted to despair--I may say, to put
+an end to his existence--but while he was musing on his wretched
+condition, these words were applied as a sovereign remedy to his
+afflicted soul--"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
+saved." This administered all the joy and comfort he stood in need of.
+Now he was enabled to believe that Christ was as willing to forgive as
+He was mighty to redeem. The burden of his guilt dropped from his mind,
+as Pilgrim's did at the sight of the cross, and immediately he "rejoiced
+with joy unspeakable and full of glory."
+
+I was with him a little while after, and with a heart overflowing with
+gratitude to God, he showed me the place of his Bethel visit, where the
+Lord had opened to him His bleeding heart, and manifested His forgiving
+love. He seems to be, as the Apostle expresses it, "a living epistle of
+Christ, seen and read of all men."
+
+[Illustration: "ONE OF THE MEMBERS OBSERVED HIM IN A PENSIVE POSTURE."
+(_See page 156._)]
+
+
+
+
+TWO BRAVE CHILDREN.
+
+
+The sky at night in the vicinity of Apple Creek, in Dakota, a few weeks
+ago, was red all around the horizon, and the people knew that the
+prairie fires were burning. Every evening, as darkness fell, the farmers
+saw the glare becoming more and more distinct, and during the day the
+smoke increased until it was nearly suffocating.
+
+Not far from Apple Creek is the little village of Sterling, and near
+Sterling lived the Stevens family. Mr. Stevens was away from home on the
+day that the fire approached the house, and it so happened that his wife
+was sick in bed. Their children were a girl of eight years and a boy of
+eleven. The boy had heard that it was a good thing to plough a furrow
+across the path of the advancing flames, and about noon of the day in
+question he tried to protect the property in that manner. With the
+two-horse team and plough he cut a trench around the house and sheds,
+and then another trench around the stacks of unthreshed wheat. He was
+not strong enough to plough the trench to a great depth, but the wide
+line of damp earth thrown up would be hard for the flames to leap
+across, especially since his little sister followed him around, carrying
+away all trash that would add to the fury of the flames.
+
+That night the fire was so near that the poor woman thought of getting
+out of bed, with the purpose of attempting to escape, but she was too
+ill to try such a thing. Moreover, she knew that if her husband could
+reach the house he would come, and she watched and prayed as the light
+came to her room from the crimson skies without.
+
+When the flames, running before the wind, came down upon the Stevens'
+place, they licked up the fences in an instant, swept away the shocks of
+grain in the fields, and then rolled suddenly up to the furrows ploughed
+by the boy. The wheat stacks fell a prey, and numberless sparks were
+scattered around the house; but the brave boy and his sister ran all
+about, trampling out the fire wherever it caught.
+
+The little workers were desperate, for they knew that, should the house
+burn, their poor mother would surely perish in her bed. They fought with
+brooms, shovels, and water. Wherever they could they dug up fresh earth,
+and for a quarter of an hour they did not pause for a single moment.
+Once the house caught, and the wood began to add its crackling to the
+rush and roar of the vast prairie fire; but the children dashed bucket
+after bucket of water upon the burning spot, and so put it out. They
+carried the day. The great fire swept past, and in its wake came the
+father, half frantic with joy to find that his little hero and heroine
+had saved their mother's life.--_Examiner._
+
+
+
+
+A HINT TO BOYS.
+
+
+If I were a boy again, and knew what I know now, I would not be quite so
+positive in my own opinions as I used to be. Boys generally think that
+they are very certain about many things. A boy of fifteen is a great
+deal more sure of what he thinks he knows than is a man of fifty. You
+ask the boy a question, and he will answer you right off, up and down.
+He knows all about it. Ask a man of large experience and ripe wisdom the
+same question, and he will say, "Well, there is much to be said about
+it. I am inclined, on the whole, to think so-and-so, but other
+intelligent men think otherwise."
+
+When I was about eight years old, I travelled from Central Massachusetts
+to Western New York, crossing the river at Albany, and going by canal to
+Syracuse. On the canal-boat a kindly gentleman was talking to me one
+day, and I mentioned the fact that I had crossed the Connecticut River
+at Albany. How I got it into my head that it was the Connecticut River I
+do not know, for I knew my geography very well then; but in some
+unmistakable way I fixed it in my mind that the river at Albany was the
+Connecticut, and I called it so. "Why," said the gentleman, "that is the
+Hudson River." "Oh, no, sir," I replied, politely but firmly. "You're
+mistaken. That is the Connecticut River." The gentleman smiled and said
+no more. In this matter I was perfectly sure that I was right, and so I
+thought it my duty to correct the gentleman's geography. I felt rather
+sorry for him that he should be so ignorant.
+
+One day, a short time after I reached home, I happened to be looking
+over my route on the map, and lo! there was Albany standing on the
+Hudson River, a hundred miles from the Connecticut. Then I did not feel
+half so sorry for the gentleman's ignorance as I did for my own. I never
+told anybody that story until I wrote it down on these pages the other
+day, but I have thought of it a thousand times, and always with a blush
+for my boldness. Nor was it the only time that I was perfectly sure of
+things that were not really so. It is hard for a boy to learn that he
+may be mistaken; but, unless he is a dunce, he learns it after a while.
+The sooner he finds it out the better for him.
+
+                                                         W. G.
+
+
+
+
+DIVINE GUIDANCE.
+
+
+In the life of Mary Pryor, well known among the Quakers a hundred years
+ago, the following incident occurred on the occasion of her visit to the
+Quakers in America.
+
+She visited several of the best ships of the period, but did not feel
+easy to take her passage in any of them. At length, on sitting down in
+an inferior vessel, called the _Fame_, she said she felt "so
+comfortable" that she must go in that ship. Her friends endeavoured to
+dissuade her, one of them saying he would not trust his dog in it. But
+having sought the Lord's direction, she saw no light on any change of
+plan, and she set sail in the _Fame_. She was now sixty years of age.
+
+The voyage occupied three months, and was miserable in the extreme. The
+old vessel sprang a leak, and for weeks crew and passengers had to work
+at the pumps to keep her afloat. At length, when all prospect of rescue
+seemed hopeless, and the men were on the point of giving up in despair,
+Mrs. Pryor, who had maintained her calmness and encouraged the sailors
+all along, came out of her cabin one morning, saying she had good news,
+for she had seen in a dream a vessel coming to their help that very day.
+She had forgotten the name of the ship, but if the female passengers
+would mention their maiden names, it would be recalled to her memory.
+One of them said her name had been "Archibald." "That," said Mrs. Pryor,
+"is the name of the ship that will save us." The men were cheered, and
+turned with new energy to the pumps; and that evening, just before the
+vessel foundered, they were rescued by a small Halifax schooner, named
+the _Archibald_.
+
+The crew and passengers attributed their deliverance, under God, to the
+influence of Mrs. Pryor; and here was the explanation of the guidance
+she believed herself to have received to sail in the _Fame_, contrary to
+the wishes of her friends.
+
+"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord."--_Lantern._
+
+
+IF Christ be not a refiner's fire _in_ you, He will be a consuming fire
+_to_ you.
+
+
+GOD can give a pardon to the greatest sin, but He cannot give a
+patronage to the least sin.
+
+
+
+
+"JESUS LOVES ME!"
+
+
+A few years ago, a poor girl in London, to whose soul the Spirit had
+spoken peace through the blood of Jesus, was very anxious to impart the
+knowledge, and tell some other soul of the dear Saviour she had found.
+She was too poor and ragged to take a class in a Sunday School. She
+especially longed to tell children of Jesus. She thought, if she could
+only be instrumental in the winning of one little child, how blessed it
+would be, so she used to speak to any little child she saw standing
+about in the street.
+
+One little boy, about seven years old, often went to her to hear her
+joyful Gospel tidings. One day she missed him, and searched until she
+found him. Poor little fellow! He was lying in great agony upon a
+miserable bed of straw in a wretched dwelling, and was quite alone.
+
+The kind girl, full of pity for him, and anxious to relieve him, called
+the attention of neighbours to him, but they declined to take any step
+in the matter. At last she called a policeman. He made the case known to
+the authorities, and the little sufferer was taken to the workhouse
+hospital. Here he remained in great suffering, the doctors being unable
+to do anything to relieve him.
+
+In training him for an acrobat, his parents had treated him so severely,
+in order to make his tender little limbs supple, that there was not a
+bone in his body seemingly in its proper place, and his agony was most
+intense. Six doctors, including Queen's physicians, had his case under
+consideration, but their skill could not avail. He was unable to lie on
+his back or side. A frame was made to support his head as he leaned
+forward. His poor little hands were wrapped in cotton-wool steeped in
+morphia, to allay the pain.
+
+When he had been in the hospital about four months, a lady went to see
+him, from whom I heard this most touching and true account. She said she
+should never forget his face when he raised his head to speak to her.
+Such a beautiful face, with sweet blue eyes and placid expression, met
+her gaze. He so frequently said, "Thank you." It was, "Thank you, I am
+not suffering quite so much to-day"; or, "Thank you. You are so kind."
+
+One day, she asked him if he loved Jesus. He looked at her so
+reproachfully that her heart smote her for having asked such a question;
+then he said, "Jesus loves me." She saw then the meaning of his
+reproachful look. How could she ask him whether _he_ loved Jesus when
+Jesus loved _him_? The dear little sufferer had grasped the secret of
+power. It was not _his_ love for Jesus, but the love of Jesus _to him_,
+that was the solid rock on which he stood.
+
+Another time he said, "Oh, I don't mind bearing a little pain for Jesus.
+He died for me."
+
+The language of some in the hospital was very dreadful. Such
+blasphemy--such cursing and swearing--even when dying. But the clear
+voice of the young sufferer often rose high above all others. It
+distressed him beyond all measure, and he called out, "Oh, don't, don't!
+Jesus hears you." Rough men, touched by the sight of his pain, would
+stand by him, listening to his words, silenced by his entreaties. Truly
+he was "out of weakness made strong."
+
+Not long after the visit of the lady to whom I have referred, God
+released the loving little soul from its tenement of suffering, and
+revealed to him, in the "eternal weight of glory," how fully He loved
+him. His brief tale of life on earth, with its pain so bravely borne,
+and its knowledge of love so faithfully testified, is now changed for
+the song and the crown, and the exceeding bliss of being for ever with
+Him who loves him, "whom to know is life eternal," and "in whose
+presence is fulness of joy."
+
+                                              NETTIE.
+
+
+
+
+A RED SEA ROCK.
+
+
+A fourth, and happily a successful, search by Her Majesty's ships has
+just been made for a reported rock towards the southern end of the Red
+Sea, on which two steamships, the _Avocet_ and _Teddington_, are
+supposed to have struck during the year 1887, both ships afterwards
+foundering.
+
+Owing to a considerable error in the position given by the former
+vessel, the first search was mainly over ground too far to the westward,
+and operations were suspended until more accurate information could be
+obtained. The loss of the second ship, in a position given five miles
+north-east of the first, caused a second and careful search to be made
+on a more extended area, still with no indication. A surveying vessel
+was then sent two thousand miles in order to institute a rigorous
+examination; but six weeks' close search--though under great
+difficulties of strong wind and heavy sea--bore no fruit, and various
+theories were started to account for the loss of the two steamships.
+
+The fourth ship, Her Majesty's surveying ship _Stork_, has been more
+successful. Guided by some slight indication afforded by an
+insignificant rise in the sea bottom, the rock has been at last found.
+It is a small coral patch, only fifteen feet under the surface of the
+sea, and stands in twenty-eight fathoms of water, in latitude 14 deg. 22
+min. 8 sec. N., longitude 42 deg. 41 min. 32 sec. E. It lies midway
+between the two best positions that critical cross-examination had
+finally settled as most probable for the respective vessels that were
+lost. Though it is between five and six miles from the direct straight
+line of track, the existence at times of strong currents transverse to
+the axis of the Red Sea, causes the danger presented by it to be by no
+means insignificant, though it is a matter for marvel that it has never
+been struck before.
+
+The difficulty of finding such a small rock may be appreciated from the
+fact that one of the searching ships was at anchor within four hundred
+yards of it, with her boats sounding round her, without its being
+perceived, though she was driven from her anchorage by a gale before the
+spot was passed over by the boats.
+
+Seeing the enormous British trade, valuable both in lives and property,
+that passes down the Red Sea, it is a matter of general congratulation
+that the Admiralty refused to discontinue the search until the last hope
+of finding a rock was dispelled, and that the efforts to discover it
+have at length been crowned by success.
+
+
+
+
+KENILWORTH CASTLE.
+
+
+Willis, the American traveller, in his "Famous Persons and Famous
+Places," observes that, when visiting Kenilworth, he noticed with
+surprise that in one place the swelling root of a creeper had lifted one
+arch from its base, and the protruding branch of a chance spring tree
+(sown, perhaps, by a field-sparrow) had unseated the keystone of the
+next. And so perish castles and reputations--the masonry of the human
+hand, and the fabrics of human thought--not by the strength which they
+feared, but by the weakness of trifling things which they despised.
+
+Little did John O'Gaunt think, when these rudely-hewn blocks were heaved
+into their seats by his herculean workmen, that, after resisting fire
+and foe, they would be sapped and overthrown at last by a vine-tendril
+and a sparrow!
+
+
+
+
+THE PRIEST AND THE LADY; OR, TRANSUBSTANTIATION EXPOSED.
+
+
+A lady once, a Protestant, in ignorance was led
+To think she might with comfort live, though to a Papist wed:
+But Rome decrees no peace they'll have who marry heretics,
+Until their households have been made submissive to her tricks.
+
+It sorely grieved this husband that his wife would not comply
+To join the "mother Church" of Rome, and heresy deny:
+Day after day he flattered her, but still she held it good
+That man should never bow his knee to idols made of wood.
+
+The Mass, the priest, and miracles, were made but to deceive;
+And transubstantiation, too, she never could believe.
+He went unto his clergy, and told him his sad tale--
+"My wife's an unbeliever, sir; try if you can prevail.
+
+"You say you can work miracles--she says it is absurd--
+Convince her and convert her, and great is your reward."
+The priest went with the gentleman--he thought to gain a prize--
+He says, "I will convert your wife, and open quite her eyes."
+
+So when they came unto the house, "My dear," the husband cried,
+"The priest is come to dine with us." "He's welcome," she replied.
+The dinner being ended, the priest to teach began,
+Explaining to the lady the sinful state of man.
+
+The kindness of the Saviour (which no one can deny),
+Who gave Himself a Sacrifice, and once for sin did die.
+"He by His priest still offers up Himself a Sacrifice."
+The lady only answered this by expressing great surprise.
+
+"I will return to-morrow--prepare some bread and wine--
+And then dispense the Sacrament to satisfy your mind."
+"I'll bake the cake," the lady said. "You may," replied he,
+"And when you see this miracle, convinced I'm sure you'll be."
+
+The priest returned accordingly--the bread and wine did bless--
+The lady said, "Sir, is it changed?" His reverence answered, "Yes,
+It's changèd now from bread and wine to real flesh and blood;
+You may depend upon my word, that it is very God."
+
+Thus, having blessed the bread and wine, to eat he did prepare.
+The lady said unto the priest, "I would have you take care;
+For one half ounce of arsenic I have mixed in that cake,
+But as you have its nature changed, it can no difference make."
+
+The priest stood all confused, and looked as pale as death;
+The bread and wine fell from his hands, and he did gasp for breath.
+"Bring me my horse!" his reverence cried; "this is a cursèd place!"
+"Begone! begone!" the dame replied; "you are a cursèd race!"
+
+Her husband sat confounded, and not one word could say.
+At last he spoke--"My dear," said he, "the priest has run away;
+Such mummery and nonsense can never bear the light;
+Apostate Rome I must denounce, and quit it I will quite."
+
+
+HERESIES are views discordant to the truths of God.
+
+
+
+
+STAND BACK.
+
+
+A gentleman spending his holidays in Scotland was fishing for trout. He
+had fishing-tackle and appliances of the best description. He threw out
+his bait all the morning, but caught nothing. Towards afternoon he
+espied a little ragged urchin, with tackle of the most primitive order,
+nipping the fish out of the water with marvellous rapidity. Amazed, he
+watched the lad for a while, and then went and asked him if he could
+explain the reason why he was so successful, in spite of his meagre
+outfit, while the expensive apparatus could catch nothing. The boy
+promptly replied, "The fish will no bite, sir, as lang as ye dinna _keep
+yersel' oot of sight_."
+
+Well has it been said that "fishers of men need not wonder at their want
+of success, if they do not keep themselves out of sight,' and uplift the
+brazen serpent on the Gospel pole, while studiously keeping themselves
+hidden behind the pole."
+
+
+
+
+HIS TITLE DEEDS.
+
+
+The deacon of a Church lay dying. He had been a successful merchant, and
+he was about leaving this world to give an account of his stewardship.
+When he was near his end, he asked his wife to bring him his
+title-deeds. The lady went to his private drawer, and drew out some
+musty papers relating to his property, which she took to him. As soon as
+he saw them, he said--
+
+"No, no; that is not what I mean. Bring me the New Testament."
+
+It was brought, and he had it opened at Romans viii. 33--"Who shall lay
+anything to the charge of God's elect?"
+
+He shortly after closed his eyes in death, his finger continuing to rest
+on the verse.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+ELISHA AND THE SHUNAMMITE.
+
+(2 KINGS iv. 8-37; viii. 1-6.)
+
+
+As the Prophet Elisha carried God's messages, and did His appointed work
+among the Israelites, he passed through Shunem.
+
+"A great woman," or, as we should say, a rich, influential lady, lived
+there with her husband and servants, and in her heart "some good thing
+toward the God of Israel was found," so when the Prophet passed her
+door, she invited him and his attendant to rest and refreshment; and
+since he often came that way, she induced her husband to have a room
+built upon the wall of the house, which she got furnished in a simple
+way, and this was set apart for Elisha's special use. His heart was
+deeply touched by the kind sympathy so freely shown him, and he offered
+to do anything she might ask to show his gratitude. But the good woman
+was not ambitious. "I dwell," said she, "among mine own people. I am
+well content with the blessings I enjoy, and ask no more."
+
+This Shunammite was doing good not for the sake of reward. She honoured
+the Prophet because she perceived that he was "a holy man of God"--a
+beautiful proof that she also loved and served the Lord, for "we know
+that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren."
+In honouring His Prophet she honoured God, and He has said (and He is
+true), "Them that honour Me I will honour."
+
+The Shunammite's honour belongs to all who love God's people for His
+sake, for Jesus also declared that "whosoever shall give one of His
+little ones a cup of cold water to quench his thirst, in the name of a
+disciple, shall in no wise lose his reward" (Matt. x. 41, 42).
+
+The loving services rendered to the Saviour's friends--even to those who
+are most closely connected with us, or who often come in our way--are
+accepted by Jesus as done unto Himself. We may not be able to
+accomplish great and notable things, but, like this woman of old, may we
+do good as we have opportunity, and receive His word of acceptance, like
+Mary, "She hath done what she could."
+
+But the Shunammite was to be rewarded in a very unexpected way. She had
+no children, and Gehazi mentioned this fact to his master, who, in the
+spirit of prophecy, assured her that, in due time, a son should be given
+her. Her joy is described in her reply to Elisha. The news seemed too
+good to be true. But "God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
+that we ask or think." The promised blessing came, and doubtless the
+mother felt that her cup overflowed with happiness.
+
+But earthly hopes are always insecure. The child had grown; and at
+harvest-time he went to the field with his father and the reapers, when
+suddenly what we should call a sunstroke fell upon him. "My head! my
+head!" was all he could say, and the father had him carried to his
+mother. She tended him with loving care, but at noon he died. She took
+the lifeless form upstairs, and laid it on the Prophet's bed, and then
+announced her intention to go and find the man of God, saying, "It shall
+be well," or "peace."
+
+Did she think her child would be restored to life at the Prophet's word?
+Perhaps so. She had received him at first in a miraculous way, and by a
+miracle he might be restored to her. At all events, her words and
+conduct illustrate the divine encouragement, "Trust Him at all times, ye
+people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a Refuge for us."
+
+They saw her in the distance, and Gehazi ran to meet her, with the
+question, "Is it well with thee, thy husband, and the child?" And she
+answered, "Well." She would not tell the servant her sorrow. She
+hastened on to his master, and in her grief she caught hold of his feet,
+as if to hold him fast. Elisha, though a prophet, did not know what had
+befallen her. Perfect knowledge belongs to God alone, and He had not
+revealed this matter to him yet. He heard her story, and sent Gehazi
+with all haste to lay his staff upon the face of the child. But the
+mother refused to leave Elisha, and they together followed Gehazi, who,
+first reaching the chamber of death, laid the Prophet's rod upon the
+dead, but in vain. "There was neither voice nor hearing." A solemn
+picture of spiritual death--no voice to cry to God; no ears to listen to
+His Word. Are we alive or dead?
+
+Elisha next entered the chamber alone, and, shutting the door, he prayed
+to the Lord; and in the end, the child was perfectly restored to life
+and health.
+
+And this wondrous miracle was no doubt intended to foreshadow the
+general resurrection of the last great day, and to show that "with God
+all things are possible."
+
+Here, too, we see a figure of "Him that was to come." The Shunammite
+prayed to God through Elisha, from whose lips she had at first received
+the promise; and in the name of Jesus we are to seek all blessings from
+heaven.
+
+  "He ever lives to intercede
+    Before His Father's face;
+  Give Him, my soul, thy cause to plead,
+    Nor doubt the Father's grace."
+
+Time rolled on, and other sorrows came upon the highly-favoured mother.
+A terrible famine raged in Samaria, and at Elisha's bidding she and her
+household left the land of Israel for seven years (see 2 Kings viii.);
+and then, peace and plenty having been restored, she returned and went
+to the king to ask for her house and land in Shunem. Behold here the
+wonder-working providence of the Lord. At the very time of her visit,
+Gehazi was telling the king of Elisha's miracles, especially that of
+raising one to life; and as the woman presented her appeal, Gehazi,
+recognizing her, exclaimed, "My lord, this is the mother, and this her
+son, whom Elisha restored to life." Deeply interested at once in her
+case, the king granted all her request with the utmost readiness.
+
+So "all things work together for good to them that love God," and Jesus
+always sympathizes with His people's sorrows, and helps and comforts
+them, so that "they who wait for Him shall not be ashamed." May we, in
+every time of trial and difficulty--
+
+  "Wait for His seasonable aid,
+    And though it tarry, wait;
+  The promise may be long delayed,
+    But cannot come too late."
+
+Our next subject will be, _The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard_
+(Matt. xx. 1-16).
+
+                              Your affectionate friend,
+                                          H. S. LAWRENCE.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+  FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
+
+
+  One is in Adam, but not in Moses.
+  One is in Jesus, but not in Daniel.
+  One is in Peter, but not in Aaron.
+  One is in Eden, but not in Spirit.
+  One is in Pharaoh, but not in Matthew.
+  One is in Israel, but not in Abdon.
+
+
+My whole, when arranged, will be found in the Book of Psalms.
+
+                                      ETHEL MARSH
+                                  (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Laxfield._
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN JULY.
+
+
+July  1. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 19.
+July  8. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 20.
+July 15. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 21.
+July 22. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 22.
+July 29. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 23.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "UNCERTAIN RICHES" AND "THE TRUE RICHES."
+
+
+In Proverbs xxiii. 5, the wise man says, "Riches certainly make
+themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven"; and in
+chapter viii. 18, he says, "Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable
+riches and righteousness."
+
+In these two verses may be seen one difference between the "uncertain
+riches" and the "true" ones. The first passage of Scripture refers to
+the uncertain or earthly riches, which "make themselves wings" and "fly
+away." The second riches spoken of are the true ones, which Christ gives
+to His people, and which are durable, inasmuch as they last for ever and
+ever. This verse is spoken by Christ under the name of Wisdom.
+
+In Christ's parable about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke xvi. 19-31),
+both kinds of riches are spoken of. The rich man had the uncertain
+riches in abundance, and was selfish, and kept them to himself, but the
+beggar, though destitute of this world's goods, was one of God's
+children, and had the true riches.
+
+A man may be very rich, and be looking forward to a long life in which
+to enjoy his riches, like the rich man in the parable (see Luke xii.
+16), when he may suddenly die, and then what good can his wealth do him?
+What Paul says in his first Epistle to Timothy is quite true. He says,
+"We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
+nothing out" (1 Tim. vi. 7); and the Psalmist says, in Psalm xlix.
+16-18, "Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his
+house is increased; for when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his
+glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his
+soul."
+
+But it is not so with those who have the true riches. They can never be
+disappointed in having to part with them, for, as before mentioned, they
+are everlasting. Christ said, in His sermon on the mount, "Lay not up
+for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
+and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves
+treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
+thieves do not break through nor steal" (Matt. vi. 19, 20). Our riches
+are, as we know from experience, never really safe from harm and damage,
+as articles of apparel, however costly they may be, are, if very careful
+measures are not used, subject to being eaten by moths. Other things are
+spoiled by rust gathering on them, whilst money is never secure, because
+thieves may steal it; and even in banks the managers or clerks may be
+tempted to steal the money entrusted to them, or the bank may fail.
+Daniel Herbert says, in one of his hymns--
+
+  "Should all the banks in Britain break,
+    The Bank of England smash,
+  Bring in your notes to Zion's bank;
+    You're sure to get your cash."
+
+One of Christ's gifts to His people is spoken of in 1 Peter i. 4. It is
+"an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,"
+reserved in heaven for those who are "kept by the power of God, through
+faith, unto salvation."
+
+Christ also gives His people "a crown of glory, that fadeth not away"
+(see 1 Peter v. 4). This crown is called, in Timothy, "a crown of
+righteousness"; and, in 1 Corinthians ix. 25, Paul calls it an
+"incorruptible" one; and James says, "Blessed is the man that endureth
+temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,
+which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him" (James i. 12).
+
+In conclusion, we might compare the two kinds of riches to the Lord's
+parable about the wise man who built his house upon a rock, and it stood
+firm, "for it was founded upon a rock," and the foolish one, who built
+his upon the sand, and his house "fell, and great was the fall of it."
+The first instance resembles those who do not set their hopes on the
+uncertain, but on the true riches; and the second like those who think
+only of earth, its uncertain pleasures and riches (Matt. vii. 24-27).
+
+                                        E. B. KNOCKER
+                                     (Aged 14 years).
+
+_South Hill House,
+Tunbridge Wells._
+
+[Very good Essays have been received from Nellie Nunn, Laura Creasey,
+Eleanor Saunders, Jane Bell, W. E. Cray, J. Rowbottom, Alice Creasey,
+Rose Holloway, Annetta Hargreaves, E. R. Harris, &c. Their efforts are
+very encouraging.]
+
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Story of the
+Spanish Armada."
+
+The subject for September will be, "The Blessings Conferred on England
+by the Accession to the Throne of William of Orange, and by the
+Protestant Succession thereby Secured to Us"; and the prize to be given
+for the best Essay on that subject, a copy of "The Reformation and its
+Heroes." All competitors must give a guarantee that they are under
+fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their own composition, or
+the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot undertake to write
+for this necessary information. Papers must be sent direct to the
+Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the first of
+August.]
+
+
+ERRATUM.--Through an oversight, the name of the sender of the Enigma was
+given last month instead of the sender of the answer. It should have
+been--Nellie Nunn, aged twelve years.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+THE number of Bibles printed during last year in England alone amounted
+to nearly four millions.
+
+
+A BIRDS' NEST IN A RAILWAY TRUCK.--A water wagtail's nest, containing
+four eggs, was found at Norbiton Station amongst some coal in a truck
+which arrived from Derbyshire, a few weeks ago. The old birds had
+evidently come too, for they were seen flying about the station.
+
+
+THE death is announced of Mr. Norman Macdonald, of Big Bras Dor, Cape
+Breton, at the reputed age of 110 years. It is stated that he was a
+survivor from Waterloo. He was a man of great activity and endurance,
+and up to about two years ago was able to work on his farm at Cape
+Breton.
+
+
+A QUIET REBUKE.--An old minister one Sunday, at the close of the sermon,
+gave notice to the congregation that in the course of the week he
+expected to go on a mission to the heathen. One of the deacons, in great
+agitation, exclaimed, "Why, my dear sir, you have never told us one word
+of this before! What shall we do?" "Oh, brother," said the parson, "I
+don't expect to go out of town."
+
+
+THERE are more beggars in London this year than I ever remember
+before--female beggars, crossing sweeper beggars, and singing beggars.
+And no wonder, if many of them earn as much as one of the fraternity who
+was before a suburban magistrate recently. This man confessed to earning
+5s., 10s., and 15s., and on one occasion as much as £1 1s. 6d. He has
+earned his living by begging for thirty years, and made a very good
+living too. He was sent to prison for fourteen days, and when out will
+doubtless resume his lucrative profession.
+
+
+A CLERICAL MISER.--The Rev. John Trueman, of Daventry, possessed an
+income of about four hundred pounds per annum clear; and, by his
+self-denying management of it, he contrived to amass fifty thousand
+pounds. There were few things too mean for him to do in order to save
+money. He would steal turnips out of the fields as he passed along, on
+the pretence of visiting the farmhouses, and then beg bits of bacon to
+boil with them from the good wives in the parish. Sometimes he would
+quarter himself, without any invitation, in a farmhouse, and in the room
+in which he slept, he has been known to pull the worsted out of the
+corners of the blankets, and take it away with him, in order to darn his
+stockings.
+
+
+IN India we have a few peculiarities because of the great heat. Our
+houses are, generally speaking, on the open ground, no upstair rooms,
+and the doors are left wide open. There was an English mother who had
+the habit, when probably half asleep, of handing out her baby before
+daybreak to the ayah, to administer to its wants and cares. One morning,
+this poor mother, all but asleep, felt, as she thought, the cold touch
+of the ayah (the native nurse), and handed out the baby; but it was a
+wolf that was there. We are asleep, my friends. That mother lost her
+reason when the dear little infant was thus destroyed; but in our sleep
+and in our slumber we lose one child after another by handing them over
+to Rome--to the wolf that destroys them. Oh, let us awake!--_W. Ayerst,
+M.A._
+
+
+STEEL LACE.--A new branch of industry is going to revolutionize the lace
+trade. A New York dealer in laces is exhibiting a specimen of lace of an
+extremely delicate pattern, and so light that it can almost be blown
+away by a breath of air. This lace is made of steel rolled as fine as
+the point of a cambric needle. It is not woven, but stamped out of a
+sheet of low grade steel, so that it should not be too brittle. It was
+turned out of a small Pittsburgh mill, and sent to the dealer to show
+what could be done in that line. In the course of time other patterns
+will be made--heavier, perhaps, but certainly more tenacious than this
+piece. There is said to be no question as to its durability, and its
+cheapness would make it the most saleable of all laces in the market. It
+may create a revolution in the lace market, if rust can be guarded
+against.--_Iron._
+
+
+SULPHUR FOR SORE THROATS.--The value of sulphur in throat difficulties
+is but little known among families, though most physicians prescribe it
+in some form. An ordinary sore throat will be relieved by a gargle of
+sulphur and water--one tablespoonful to a glass of water, and use
+frequently. In every family the flour of sulphur should be always kept
+ready for use, and at the appearance of irritation or cankered spots, a
+gargle should be given, or the powder blown through a paper tube
+directly into the throat. At different times we have seen the throat
+trouble relieved in a few hours by the simple use of this valuable
+remedy. A sore throat is no trivial thing, and no time should be lost in
+the matter. If, after discovering it in a child, it does not improve in
+a few hours' time after the use of sulphur, a reliable physician should
+be called in without further delay.
+
+
+THE Queen Regent of Spain opened the International Exhibition at
+Barcelona on Sunday, May 20th, in the presence of a distinguished
+assemblage, including the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and Prince
+George of Wales. Perhaps this was done as a set-off against our
+Protestant commemorations.
+
+  Oh, England! England! blush with shame!
+  Thy princes stoop to foul thy name.
+
+
+THE present spring has been remarkable for the number of rare birds that
+have appeared in this country and on the Continent. These include the
+golden oriole, pied flycatcher, sand-grouse, dotterel, hoopoe,
+short-toed lark, moustached grass-warbler, and rose-coloured pastor. In
+spite of the Wild Birds' Protection Act, many of these visitants are
+shot immediately upon their arrival. It is only in rare cases that the
+police interfere, even when the killing of the birds is a matter of
+notoriety.
+
+
+HAY FEVER.--Sir Morell Mackenzie has opportunely published a lecture he
+delivered some time ago at the London Hospital Medical College on hay
+fever, which he defines to be a peculiar affection of the mucous
+membrane of the nose, eyes, and air passages, giving rise to catarrh and
+asthma, almost invariably caused by the action of the pollen of grasses
+and flowers, and therefore prevalent only where they are in blossom.
+With regard to the treatment of this disease, Sir Morell Mackenzie
+believes the first thing to do is, to remove the patient from a district
+in which there is much flowering grass, a sea voyage being probably the
+most perfect satisfactory step that can be taken. Patients unable to go
+to sea should reside near the coast, while dwellers in towns should
+avoid the country, and those who reside in the country should make a
+temporary stay in the centre of a large town.
+
+
+EXTRAORDINARY RAFFLE FOR BIBLES.--A curious custom was observed in the
+Parish Church of St. Ives, Hunts, on May 23rd. Dr. Robert Wilde, who
+died in August, 1678, bequeathed £50, the yearly interest of which was
+to be expended in the purchase of six Bibles, not exceeding the price of
+7s. 6d. each, which should be "cast for dice" on the Communion table
+every year by six boys and six girls of the town. A piece of ground was
+bought with the £50, and is now known as "Bible Orchard." The legacy
+also provided for the payment of ten shillings yearly to the vicar for
+preaching a sermon on the occasion "commending the excellency, the
+perfection, and divine authority of the Holy Scriptures." This singular
+custom has been regularly observed in the church since the death of the
+testator, but representations having been made to the Bishop of the
+diocese, the practice of throwing the dice on the Communion table was
+discontinued some years ago, and the raffling now takes place on a table
+erected at the chancel steps. The highest throw this year (three times,
+with three dice) was thirty-seven, by a little girl. The vicar (the Rev.
+E. Tottenham) preached a sermon from the words, "From a child thou hast
+known the Holy Scriptures."
+
+
+ANTIQUARIAN DISCOVERY.--During some excavations on the premises of
+Messrs. Walker and Sons, Otley, Yorkshire, a mass of human and other
+bones, bears' claws, flint, charcoal, and burnt slates or tiles, was
+turned up with the subsoil, and among the _débris_, at a depth of nearly
+eight feet from the modern soil level, six copper and bronze coins and a
+lead seal were found, several of the coins being in a good state of
+preservation. Some of the letters on the coins are worn, but it appears
+certain that some of the coins are of great antiquity. The seal is of
+more recent date. Seals like the one found were attached to the Papal
+bulls, and as this specimen has the usual aperture through its diameter
+to allow of the connection of the bull with the seal being made, there
+is no doubt that this was so attached to a document of this character.
+In years past the archbishops had a palace at Otley, and it is
+conjectured that this is one of the many seals used in the manner
+indicated. The seal in question bears authority from Pope Innocent IV.,
+who occupied the Papal chair from 1243 to 1254. On the obverse are the
+Roman capitals "SPA., SPE.," standing respectively for St. Paul and St.
+Peter. Immediately below are the heads of those saints in relief, a
+cross in the middle dividing them. On the reverse are the letters
+"INNOCENTIVS PP IIII."
+
+
+COLCHESTER.--ST. JOHN'S GREEN CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL.--The anniversary
+services in connection with this school were held on Sunday and Monday,
+May 27th and 28th. The sermons on the Sunday were preached by the
+Minister, Mr. W. Brown. On the Monday, the usual gathering of teachers,
+friends, and scholars was well attended, when suited addresses were
+given, and prizes awarded to many of the scholars for regular and
+punctual attendance. Sixteen gained prizes for good essays on "The Life
+of Joseph." The balance sheet for the last year showed the receipts to
+be £18 14s. 1d., and the expenditure to be £23 10s. 3d., leaving £4 16s.
+2d. due to the treasurer. The amount received on Sunday and Monday was
+£11 6s. 9½d. There are now 187 scholars and 15 teachers in the
+school, 23 scholars and three teachers being added during the past
+year.
+
+[Illustration: THE WOUNDED DRUMMER-BOY.]
+
+
+
+
+CHARLIE COULSON, THE DRUMMER-BOY.
+
+
+During the American War, Dr. Rossvally was surgeon in the army, and
+after the battle of Gettisburg, among hundreds of wounded soldiers, a
+drummer-boy was found entirely helpless on the field. The case seemed
+almost too bad for treatment, but as the lad opened his large blue eyes,
+the doctor felt he could not let him die there, so he ordered him to be
+taken to the hospital, and found that an arm and a leg required
+amputation. The assistant-surgeon wished to administer chloroform to the
+young sufferer, but he refused, and when Dr. Rossvally himself
+remonstrated with him, he replied--
+
+"Doctor, one Sunday afternoon, in the Sabbath School, when I was nine
+and a half years old, I was brought to believe in Christ. I learned to
+trust Him then. I have been trusting Him ever since, and I feel I can
+trust Him now. He will support me while you amputate my arm and leg."
+
+The Jewish doctor's heart was touched in spite of himself, and he
+thereupon asked Charlie a question he had never asked a soldier
+before--would he like to see the chaplain? "Oh, yes, sir!" was the quick
+response; and after seeing the minister, by whom he sent a loving
+message to his mother and the superintendent of his Sunday School, he
+told the doctor he was ready for the operation, promising that he would
+not even groan if no chloroform were offered him. He kept his promise,
+only putting the corner of his pillow in his mouth during the most
+painful part of the process, saying, "Oh, Jesus, blessed Jesus, stand by
+me now!"
+
+That night the doctor could not sleep. Those soft blue eyes and that
+gentle voice seemed to meet him continually, and he could not help
+returning to the hospital in the middle of the night to inquire about
+the lad. He found him sweetly sleeping, and one of the nurses told him
+how two friends had visited him, and had sung "Jesus, Lover of my soul"
+by his bed-side, and Charlie had joined in the sacred song.
+
+Five days afterwards, he felt he was dying, and sending for the doctor,
+he thanked him for all his kindness, and begged him to remain and see
+him die, trusting Jesus to the last moment of his life. He tried to
+stay, but it was too much for his Jewish feelings to see that dying
+youth rejoicing in the love of the Jesus whose very name he had been
+taught to hate, and he hurriedly left the room.
+
+Twenty minutes after, he was again summoned to that bed, and, asking him
+to take his hand, Charlie said, "Doctor, I love you because you are a
+Jew. The best Friend I have found in this world was a Jew, Jesus Christ,
+to whom I want to introduce you before I die; and will you promise me,
+doctor, that what I am about to say to you you will never forget?" The
+doctor promised, and the lad went on--"Five days ago, while you
+amputated my arm and leg, I prayed the Lord Jesus Christ to convert your
+soul."
+
+These words sank into the doctor's heart. How could that sufferer, in
+the midst of such intense pain, be thinking only of his Saviour and an
+unconverted soul? and he could only answer, "Well, my dear boy, you will
+soon be all right." With these words he left him, and a few minutes
+later the youth fell asleep in Jesus, at seventeen years of age.
+
+Dr. Rossvally followed him to the grave, and for some months the
+impression his patience and faith had made upon him still remained.
+Gradually it wore off, however; and for ten years longer he remained a
+despiser of the Saviour, when God, in mercy, sent another message to His
+wandering child.
+
+At the close of the American War, Dr. Rossvally had been made
+inspecting surgeon, with charge of the military hospital in Texas.
+Returning one day from an inspecting tour, he stopped at an hotel in New
+York, and going to be shaved, he found the barber's shop hung around
+with beautifully framed Scripture texts; and what was more, the barber
+began to speak to him of Jesus in such an attractive way, that Charlie
+Coulson's happy death came vividly before his mind. The doctor's mind
+was deeply moved, and when he reached Washington, where he resided, for
+the first time in his life he went to hear an address in a Christian
+place of worship, and he could not restrain the tears that would flow
+while he listened; and when the service was ended, an elderly lady spoke
+to him before he could escape. He told her he would pray to his God--the
+God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--but not to Jesus. "Bless your soul,"
+was the earnest answer, "your God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is my
+Christ, and your Messiah!"
+
+He went home full of conflicting feelings, and then for hours he wept
+and prayed, while many prophecies concerning the Messiah came to his
+mind, and at length the conviction came that Jesus was the Christ, that
+He was his Saviour, and that God had forgiven him for the sake of His
+beloved Son.
+
+He hastened to tell his wife of his newly-found joy, but it only enraged
+her, and leaving home, she went to her parents' house, who forbade her
+to have any further intercourse with her husband, and took the two
+children under their care. So true is it still that a Jew must be
+prepared to forsake all when he follows Jesus.
+
+He went away with a sad heart on his next commission, but regularly
+wrote to his wife, praying that she might read at least one of his
+letters. For fifty-three days each one was destroyed unopened, but one
+night their daughter dreamed that she saw her father die, and next
+morning she determined to take his letter in and read it. She did so,
+and after a while showed it to her mother, who, having secretly read it
+again and again, was overcome with strange new feelings, and she also
+was led to trust in that long-despised but now precious name--Jesus, the
+Son of God.
+
+Husband and wife were now united in the Lord, and their daughter also
+became a new creature. Their son, however, long refused even to
+acknowledge either of his parents, and his mother died without seeing or
+hearing from him, but it is hoped that her prayers for him may be
+answered. Mrs. Rossvally's end was peaceful and happy. Some friends
+sang, "Jesus, Lover of my soul," and when they reached the line, "Thou,
+O Christ, art all I want," she said, "Yes, this is all I want! Come,
+blessed Jesus, and take me home!" and so she "fell asleep."
+
+Dr. Rossvally still lives, and like a well-known ancient trophy of
+divine grace, preaches the faith he once laboured to destroy, and
+"Christ and Him crucified" is his hope and joy.
+
+Dear reader, whoever you may be, may you reflect upon the fact that
+there is salvation in none other than the Lamb of God, who died to put
+sin away, and ever lives to save all who come unto God by Him. And may
+His Holy Spirit impress the truth upon your heart, "He that believeth on
+the Son of God hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the Son
+shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John iii.
+36).--_From a Tract, published at Leeds by Dr. M. L. Rossvally, a
+converted Jew._
+
+
+A WORTHY Quaker thus wrote:--"I expect to pass through this world but
+once; if, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing
+I can do to any fellow human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer
+or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."
+
+
+
+
+MR. EDISON'S PHONOGRAPH.
+
+_To the Editor of The Times._
+
+
+Sir,--At two o'clock this afternoon, at the address below, I had the
+honour to receive from Mr. Edison his "perfected phonograph," which, on
+the authority of Mr. Edison's own statement, in his own familiar voice,
+communicated to me by the phonograph itself, "is the first instrument of
+his latest model that has been seen outside of his laboratory, or has
+left his hands," and is consequently the first to reach this country.
+
+At five minutes past two o'clock precisely, I and my family were
+enjoying the at once unprecedented and astounding experience of
+listening to Mr. Edison's own familiar and unmistakable tones here in
+England--more than three thousand miles from the place where he had
+spoken, and exactly ten days after, the voice having meanwhile voyaged
+across the Atlantic Ocean.
+
+"His first phonogram," as Mr. Edison calls it, tells me, among other
+things, that this instrument contains many modifications of those which,
+a few weeks ago, were exhibited at the Electrical Club in New York, and
+so widely reported by the Press.
+
+In the several long phonogramic communications to me (no single word of
+which had to be repeated in order to be clearly and easily understood by
+every person present, including a child of seven years old), Mr. Edison
+mentions that he will send me phonograms by every mail leaving New York,
+and requests me to correspond with him exclusively through the medium of
+the phonograph, humorously remarking in this connection upon the
+advantages he will himself derive from the substitution of phonograms
+for a style of writing not always too legible.
+
+Next to the phonogram from Mr. Edison himself, and before all the
+remainder of the deeply interesting contents of the "phonogramic
+cabinet" sent me, is an exquisite poem entitled, "The Phonograph's
+Salutation," composed by the well-known and gifted American poet and
+preacher, Horatio Nelson Powers, D.D., of Piermont, on the Hudson. This
+poem makes the phonograph tell its own story of what it is and what it
+does, in a style and with a power that must add not a little to the
+already high reputation of its author. It was spoken by him into the
+phonograph, so that we cannot fail to read it as he would have it
+read--a privilege of no small importance to both the poet and those who
+hear him.
+
+Perhaps the highest justification of the phonograph's description of its
+own power in its "Salutation" is found in the fact that to several
+members of my family who are familiar with the Doctor's style of
+oratory, from having sat under his preaching in former years, the voice
+of the author is perfectly recognizable, even by my youngest child of
+seven years, who had not heard the voice since he was five years old.
+
+Besides the above, Mr. Edison has sent for our amusement numerous
+musical records of great interest and beauty--pianoforte, cornet, and
+other instruments, solos, duets, &c., many of which, he tells me, have
+been very frequently repeated--some, several hundred times.
+
+Altogether, our experiences of the day have been so delightful and
+unusual, not to say supernatural, that it makes it difficult to realize
+that we have not been dreaming--so interesting withal as to make it seem
+a duty, as it is a pleasure, to communicate the above to your
+widely-read paper, which I have so frequently observed to chronicle the
+works of the author of this unparalleled triumph of mind over matter.
+All honour to Edison!
+
+I have the honour to be, sir,
+
+                                       Your obedient servant,
+                                            G. E. GOURAUD.
+
+_Little Menlo, Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, Surrey, June 26th, 1888_.
+
+P.S.--It may be interesting to add that the above communication was
+spoken by me into the phonograph, and written from the phonograph's
+dictation by a member of my family, who had, of course, no previous
+experience of the instrument.
+
+
+
+
+THE HOUSE UPON THE SAND.
+
+
+"Whilst we were conversing with a man named Joachim," says a missionary
+to Syria, "in the city of Nazareth, a sudden but violent storm arose,
+and terrific peals of thunder rolled over our heads. The brow of the
+hill whereon the city was built was every moment gleaming as the
+lightning flashed. The rain fell in torrents, and in the course of an
+hour a river flowed past the convent door, along what lately was a dry
+and quiet street. In the darkness of the night, we heard loud shrieks
+for help. The floods carried away baskets, logs of wood, tables, and
+fruit-stands. At length a general alarm was given. Two houses built on
+the sand were undermined by the water, and both fell together, while the
+people in them escaped with difficulty. It was impossible not to pity
+these poor, houseless creatures, and, at the same time, to thank God we
+were in a secure building."
+
+The power and meaning of these words spoken by our Lord was thus made
+plain--"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth
+them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
+rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
+and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
+rock."
+
+
+
+
+UNSEEN PROTECTION.
+
+
+A lady was wakened up one morning by a strange noise of pecking at the
+window, and when she got up, she saw a butterfly flying backwards and
+forwards inside the window in a great fright, because outside there was
+a sparrow pecking at the glass, wanting to reach the butterfly. The
+butterfly did not see the glass, but it saw the sparrow, and evidently
+expected every moment to be caught. Neither did the sparrow see the
+glass, though it saw the butterfly, and made sure of catching it. Yet,
+all the while, the butterfly, because of that thin, invisible sheet of
+glass, was actually as safe as if it had been miles away from the
+sparrow.
+
+Poor, fearful child of God, it is when our Protector is out of sight
+that our hearts fail us. Elisha's servant was in great fear when he
+awoke in the morning, and saw the city of Dothan encompassed with
+horses, and chariots, and a great host; but when his eyes were opened,
+at the prayer of the prophet, his fears vanished, for he beheld the
+mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. "Thou wilt keep him in
+perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in
+Thee." "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from
+this time forth and even for evermore."
+
+  "Though now unseen by outward sense,
+    Faith sees Him always near;
+  A Guide, a glory, a defence:
+    Then what have you to fear?"
+
+                --_Waymarks for Pilgrims._
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 130._)
+
+
+The omnipotence of God is, in some measure, made known to the heart of
+every individual on the face of the earth. We cannot cast our eyes
+around us without seeing, in some way or other, the wonderful power of
+God in the creating and ordering of all things. Only what God has
+purposed to do will take place; and, on the other hand, whatever God has
+ordered He has power to bring to pass, although to us such things may
+seem utterly impossible, "but with God all things are possible" (Matt.
+xix. 26). If we look through the Bible, the power of God prevails in
+every book, chapter, and verse. Was it not with a mighty hand that He
+brought the Israelites up out of Egypt? and their enemies, who were much
+stronger than they, when they knew the Lord was on Israel's side, feared
+greatly, and were all overthrown and destroyed (Exod. xii. 33; Joshua x.
+2). David, too, realized that wonderful power. He says, "But I will sing
+of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for
+Thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble" (Psa.
+lix. 16). David was often brought very low (Psa. xviii. 4, 5; cxvi. 3),
+but the Lord did not suffer him to despair, for he was one of His most
+precious jewels. Job, too, felt, in a remarkable way, during his
+affliction, the power of the Lord, and he endeavoured to show and
+explain it to his friends, but he had to finish up by saying, "Lo, these
+are parts of His ways, but how little a portion is heard of Him!"
+
+The omnipotence of God is so vast that it is quite impossible for us to
+fathom it. Look at the history of Jehoshaphat. He heard that a great
+army was coming to fight against them, and the army of Jehoshaphat,
+being so small, he knew they must be defeated and slain. But, in his
+extremity, he cried unto the Lord, saying, "O Lord God of our fathers,
+art not Thou God in heaven? and rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of
+the heathen? and in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that
+none is able to withstand Thee?" (2 Chron. xx. 6.) Was any able to
+withstand the Lord? No! Read the twenty-seventh verse--"Then they
+returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the
+forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had
+made them to rejoice over their enemies." Before, they felt condemned to
+die, but now they were released, and filled with joy.
+
+Such are the numerous instances in which the Lord, in His power, has
+raised up the cast down, relieved the oppressed, and comforted mourners,
+and such as are of a sad heart.
+
+                                         AGNES WILLERTON.
+
+_Corby, Grantham._
+
+[This is the best answer we have received, therefore we give it as
+embodying the secret of the Enigma.--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+A giant.
+
+One of David's wives.
+
+A disease.
+
+A piece of money.
+
+A prophetess.
+
+A garment worn by the priests.
+
+A judge.
+
+A brother of David.
+
+A king of Judah.
+
+A brook.
+
+A colour.
+
+The name by which the penitent Israelites were to address God.
+
+A son of Jacob.
+
+The mother of a friend of Paul's.
+
+
+The initials form something which the Saviour said.
+
+                                    HARRY F. FORFEITT
+                                    (Aged 10 years).
+
+
+
+
+ONE "WHOSE HEART THE LORD OPENED."
+
+
+Carrie Foord, the subject of this memoir, was born at Tunbridge, in
+Kent, on 27th September, 1867. At the age of six years she lost her
+mother, and at eight her father, leaving her sister Kate and herself to
+the care of their stepmother, who was in every way most kind to them,
+which kindness they returned with much affection. It was Mrs. Foord's
+wish to keep a home for them to grow up together. Man proposes and God
+disposes. The home had to be given up, Kate going to her grandfather's,
+and Carrie, in the providence of God, brought to live with us at
+Hailsham, much against her inclination, as she neither liked us nor our
+religion. This continued for some time, but
+
+  "God moves in a mysterious way
+    His wonders to perform."
+
+She was brought, through divine grace, to see her state as a sinner in
+the sight of God by hearing the third verse of the 666th hymn of
+Gadsby's Selection given out one evening, as she took her seat in the
+chapel. The arrow of conviction went home to her heart. Well do I
+remember, on her return, finding her alone, and crying. Putting her arms
+round my neck, she said, "What shall I do? I am such a sinner! I'm so
+wicked!" although at the time I did not know what had caused her
+distress.
+
+At another time she was much impressed by a sermon our dear Pastor, Mr.
+Nunn, preached from Hebrews xiii. 14--"For here we have no continuing
+city, but we seek one to come." From this time she became an earnest
+seeker, very regular in her attendance at the house of God, nothing but
+duty keeping her away. Ultimately she was baptized, and became a very
+useful teacher in the Sabbath School, where she was much loved.
+
+Early in 1886 she caught a severe cold, which settled on her lungs,
+causing the rupture of a blood-vessel. Some scattered sayings, spoken at
+different times during her illness, were recorded, of which the
+following are a few:--
+
+"Oh, I do wish he did not think so well of me, and call me good!"
+alluding to a remark of a very dear friend. "He does not know how wicked
+I am, or he would never say I was good. What a mercy I was ever brought
+here, under the sound of the Gospel! But then, God is not confined to
+places, is He, auntie? If I am His child, He would be sure to reveal
+Himself to me, in His own good time; but I do thank Him for bringing me
+here. My dear uncle, how kind he is! How earnestly he has prayed for me,
+and our dear Pastor too! I believe their prayers have been answered.
+What a mercy!"
+
+After a bad fit of bleeding, I said, "Did you think, dear, you should
+die, when bringing up the blood?" She said, "No, auntie; I never once
+thought I should." Our hopes were raised as she got better so quickly,
+and we thought it might have been only a lodgment. She frequently said,
+"I don't mind if it is not my lungs." But when she grew rapidly worse,
+and we called in another doctor, he only confirmed what our own doctor
+had said--that her case was hopeless. After they were gone, she said,
+"What did they say, auntie?" I told her it was the lung. She very
+quietly remarked, "People often live a long time with their right lung
+gone, don't they?" I said, "Yes," not having the heart to tell her, in
+her case, it would not be long.
+
+One day, turning over the leaves of a hymn-book, I came to the one on
+the safety of believers, which I read. The first verse is--
+
+  "There is a safe and secret place,
+    Beneath the wings divine,
+  Reserved for all the heirs of grace;
+    Oh, be that refuge mine!"
+
+She said, "I do like that hymn so much, auntie. I have had such sweet
+times in my little room. Often when you have sent me up to study for my
+class, I have had such sweet enjoyment that I could not study."
+
+On awaking one night, she said, "Oh, auntie, I have had some beautiful
+words come with such power, and I keep saying them--'Thou art Mine, as
+the apple of Mine eye.'" I said, "You could not have a more precious
+portion. That will do to go to sleep on, won't it?" She said, "Oh, yes!"
+and soon fell into a peaceful slumber.
+
+One night she said, "Auntie, do you ever feel your prayers to be very
+formal, as if it was merely a habit, and no heart in it?" I said, "Yes,
+dear; too often." She said, "Do you?" "Oh, yes," I said; "I wish I did
+not."
+
+One morning, going into her room, she said to me, "I have had a nice
+time. The sun shone brightly in at the window, and those words came, 'So
+shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings.'"
+
+One day she said, "I used to cry so when I was at Gravesend. Do you know
+what for?" I said, "No; why did you?" She said, "Because I was coming
+here. I did dislike coming so, and for a long time after I was here I
+would go and pray, as I thought, very earnestly that mother would send a
+letter to fetch me away; but that letter never came. No, it never came;
+and what a mercy it did not! God knew what was best for me. How we can
+look back and say, 'All was for the best.'"
+
+We felt that we should like her to know the state of health she was in,
+but felt quite unfit to tell her. During a visit, a friend asked her if
+she wished to get better? On referring to me, after they were gone, she
+said, "Is it wrong, auntie? Don't you think it is natural for me to wish
+so, who am young?" I said, "Yes, dear, quite natural." She said, "But I
+know the Lord will do what He thinks best."
+
+Previous to her nineteenth birthday (September 27th) she had a return of
+the bleeding, which again confined her to her bed for a time. We all
+felt her end might be very near, and would perhaps come suddenly by the
+rupture of another blood-vessel; therefore we were very anxious she
+should know what a precarious state she was in. It was, therefore, quite
+a relief when she said one day, "Auntie, I did not think at one time I
+should be alive now. I did not think I should live to see my birthday."
+I said, "I am very glad to hear you say this. I quite thought you were
+under the impression you would get better. What were your feelings when
+you thought this?" "Oh," she said, "I felt I could leave it all in the
+Lord's hands. He would do what was best." There was a sweet resignation
+to His will at this time; but, after a little while, her bodily strength
+increasing, she was gradually buoyed up with a hope that she might get
+better. Knowing from the faithfulness of our doctor that her case was
+hopeless, we could not participate in that hope. She was most honest in
+her principles, and could not bear to deceive any one.
+
+One day, as we were sitting alone, she said, "Oh, auntie, you never
+thought I could deceive you or uncle, did you? But I did." I said, "I am
+glad you have spoken of this, dear, although I think in your case it was
+different from many" (knowing that what she alluded to was a private
+matter). "At any rate, you have our pardon." She said, "What stings of
+conscience I have had through it! It has quite taken away any feeling of
+pleasure I may have had; and yet my will was so strong to have my own
+way, I could not give it up.[10] I have not deceived you in anything
+else, auntie. You believe me, don't you?" I said, "Indeed I do."
+
+  [10] We hope all our young readers will mark this honest confession,
+  which was produced by the fear of God, and ever remember that deception
+  is mean and sinful.--ED.
+
+A very dear friend calling to see her one afternoon, who had not seen
+her since she was called by divine grace, said in the course of
+conversation, "Well, my dear, there are times and seasons, I have no
+doubt, when you can say you would not have it otherwise, but that it was
+good for you to be afflicted?" She turned very red, paused, then said
+with her usual candour, "I cannot say that, Miss G----." After her
+departure, she said, "Auntie, I wish to be submissive to the will of the
+Lord, but I felt I could not say that I have ever had a time when I
+would not have it otherwise."
+
+A friend calling one evening, spoke in a very solemn manner of those who
+had a false enjoyment, and put some close questions to her. She said
+little, but after he was gone seemed much put out, and said, "I know I
+cannot talk like those he visits. I expect he thinks there is nothing in
+me. What do you say, auntie?" I said, "He was certainly very searching,
+my dear, but I don't think you understood him. He is so afraid of any
+one resting on a wrong foundation, and knowing what a very delicate
+state of health you were in, he was anxious to know if you were resting
+on Christ, and Christ alone, for salvation." "Well," she said, "I felt
+dumb. I expect he thinks very badly of me."
+
+Her strength seemed to go daily. As Christmas drew near, she said,
+"Auntie, let everything go on the same as it has done other years. Make
+no difference for me. Invite your friends for the day as usual." But we
+felt it a very solemn time, and hard work to put on the appearance of
+cheerfulness, feeling sure, ere another Christmas came, her place would
+be vacant, and she in eternity.
+
+Her dear little cousin was a great sufferer at times all through her
+illness, and it became apparent that she, too, was fast hastening home.
+I said to Carrie one day, "I used to feel, dear, that I should have you
+to leave to see after our dear Flo, if we were taken, but it seems the
+Lord's will to take you, and I sometimes think she won't be long." She
+answered, "No, I don't think she will; but she will be safe whenever she
+goes."
+
+We could have but few quiet times together after this, through the
+serious illness and death of her dear cousin, but she was wonderfully
+buoyed up at this time with the assurance that nothing was too hard for
+the Lord, and apparently rested upon it, for when I was alluding to her
+sad state of health, she said, "I know I am beyond the power of earthly
+physicians to cure, auntie; but, you know, nothing is too hard for the
+Lord."
+
+After the death of her cousin, she was most anxious to have her mourning
+made, which we felt sorry for, as it seemed such a clinging to life; but
+we found it was only a natural desire to show her love for her dear
+little cousin. At any rate, the wish gradually left her, and all things
+of an earthly nature lost their charm.
+
+One day she said, "I have no wish to join in anything now. I don't feel
+to want to go and witness anything. That is a blessing the Lord only can
+give, isn't it?" I said, "Yes," knowing what great delight she used to
+take in many things, and how active she had been, especially in anything
+connected with the chapel or Sabbath School.
+
+After this darkness set in. The Word of God was as a sealed Book, and
+she had no spiritual enjoyment, which she much deplored; also, the
+visits of our dear Pastor and her uncle failed to give any comfort.
+
+One day, after a doze in the easy chair, she said, "Was it not strange?
+It seemed as if, when I was sleeping, a little boy came to me, and said,
+'The Lord hath not forgotten thee, so live in peace.' It did seem so
+strange to see the little boy come up and say this. What do you think
+of it?" I said, "I cannot tell."
+
+She grew rapidly worse, and our dear nurse thought it advisable to ask
+the doctor to call, as he had not been for a few days. He came, and said
+she might be gone in twenty-four hours, or might linger a few days, but
+the beginning of the end had taken place. Our dear Pastor went and spoke
+a few words to her ere he left, and said, "Ah! dear, it is well with
+you," and other words of comfort. But after he was gone she was much
+cast down, and said, "Oh, why did he say that? I don't feel it will be
+well." Then, after a little while, she said, "Do you think I am much
+worse?" "Yes, dear," I replied. "Do you think I shall die?" I said, "I
+fear you will." Then she said, "Oh, auntie, what trouble I am in! I fear
+I have deceived you and myself, and that I shall go to hell." I replied,
+"But, my dear, you have had some sweet promises applied with power,
+haven't you?" "Oh, I've thought so, but if I have been deceiving
+myself?" I said, "You have had a desire after these things, have you
+not?" "Oh, yes!" she replied. "Then," I said, "I feel assured, my dear,
+you would not have had a real desire if you were a deceiver." She said,
+"Auntie, what shall I do? I feel I can't die like this; but I can't do
+anything, can I?" Wringing her hands in agony of mind, she cried, "Do,
+please, Lord, come! Do come! Oh, dear Lord Jesus, do please come!" She
+continued in much distress, until I felt quite unequal to talk to her,
+and said, "My dear, shall I send for some one?" She replied, "Oh, no,
+auntie; don't send for any one. The Lord must do it all" (laying great
+stress on the _all_); "but do pray for me, that He will appear." Her
+distress of mind was very great. No words or texts of Scripture named
+gave her any comfort. I left the room for a short time, leaving her in
+the care of our dear nurse (of whom she was very fond), and on my
+return, found she had had a nice sleep. Going up to her, she said, "How
+can I thank you enough?" I said, "Don't say a word about that, dear. My
+earnest desire is, that you may get a word from the Lord." Her
+countenance looked so placid, and she said, "I have, auntie." I said,
+"Is Jesus precious to you as your Saviour? Can you trust Him?" She
+replied, "Yes. These words came--'Fear not; I will be with you,' and I
+think He will. Yes, His promises stand good. 'He'll never, no, never,
+no, never forsake.'" She then dozed again. I saw her lips moving, and
+caught the words, "With Christ in the vessel I smile at the storm,"
+having evidently been repeating that beautiful hymn of Newton's, "Begone
+unbelief, my Saviour is near."
+
+After this she had a little time of peace. The next morning, on being
+asked if the Lord had again given her comfort, "Yes," she said; "He has
+promised that, when through fiery trials He'll cause me to go, He will
+be with me."
+
+Darkness again took possession of her mind, and she was often saying,
+"Oh, to be a castaway!" She said she would like her uncle to come, which
+he did. On his approaching the bed, she said, "Oh, uncle, what will
+become of me if I am a deceiver? I shall be lost!" He took her hand, and
+said, "Jesus came to save the lost, so you see, dear, you are one. 'The
+whole need not a physician, but those who are sick.'" After a few words,
+he engaged in prayer. She then dozed, and was never again so harassed by
+the enemy of souls.
+
+On Friday morning she was much favoured with the Lord's presence, and
+longed to "depart and be with Christ," saying repeatedly, "Do, dear Lord
+Jesus, take me to-day! I do so want to go!" I said, "We must wait His
+time." "Yes," she replied--
+
+  "Till He bids, I cannot die;
+  Not a single shaft can hit
+  Till the God of love sees fit."
+
+Her throat and breathing at this time were very bad, and she asked the
+doctor when he came if he could relieve her at all. He said he was
+afraid he could not, but it would not be long. After he was gone she
+again said, "I do so hope the Lord will take me to-day. Do come, Lord
+Jesus; do come! Oh, how I long to go! What a glorious meeting it will be
+for me, if I am right!" Then clasping her dear hands together, she said,
+with such a sweet smile as nurse and I shall never forget, "Oh, blissful
+home! What a glorious meeting! I shall see Christ in all His beauty!"
+
+In the afternoon her breathing altered, and she seemed gently passing
+away. Looking up so sweetly, she said, "Am I dying, auntie?" I answered,
+"Yes, dear; it won't be long now. You want to go, don't you?" "Oh, yes,"
+she replied. Her difficulty of breathing returned, and she suffered much
+through the night. In the morning she said, "You thought me dying
+yesterday, and the doctor too; but the dear Lord did not, did He? It was
+not His time." She continued very ill through the day--scarcely able to
+speak. Towards night she slightly rallied, and looking up at the clock,
+said, "Oh, the night!" She had often during her illness dreaded the
+nights. I said, "You know that beautiful hymn, dear--'Sun of my soul'?"
+She took it up, and said--
+
+                  "Thou Saviour dear,
+  It is not night if Thou be near;
+  Oh, may no earth-born cloud arise,
+  To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes,"
+
+after which she did not say any more about the night.
+
+Her dear Pastor and others bade her "good-bye," but her breathing was
+too bad for her to speak, until about two o'clock, when she startled the
+dear friend who was sitting up and myself by turning round, calmly
+putting her hand in mine, and, with a kiss, said, "Good-bye." Then
+turning to Mrs. T----, she did the same to her, and then very quietly
+remarked, "You don't hear it now, auntie?"--alluding to the rattles. I
+said, "No; the conflict will soon be over, darling." Still, it was not
+yet ended--not until a quarter to four on the 8th of May, 1887, was her
+soul permitted to "depart and be with Christ," whom she had longed to
+see in all His beauty.
+
+
+
+
+  LITTLE BY LITTLE.
+
+
+  One step and then another,
+    And the longest walk is ended;
+  One stitch and then another,
+    And the largest rent is mended;
+  One brick upon another,
+    And the highest wall is made;
+  One flake upon another,
+    And the deepest snow is laid.
+
+  So the little coral-workers,
+    By their slow but constant motion,
+  Have built those pretty islands
+    In the distant, dark blue ocean;
+  And the noblest undertakings
+    Man's wisdom hath conceived,
+  By oft-repeated efforts
+    Have been patiently achieved.
+
+  Then do not look disheartened
+    O'er the work you have to do,
+  And say that such a mighty task
+    You never can get through;
+  But just endeavour, day by day,
+    Another point to gain,
+  And soon the mountain which you feared
+    Will prove to be a plain.
+
+  "Rome was not builded in a day,"
+    The ancient proverb teaches;
+  And Nature, by her trees and flowers,
+    The same sweet sermon preaches.
+  Think not of far-off duties,
+    But of duties which are near;
+  And having once begun to work,
+    Resolve to persevere.
+
+                               C. SWAIN.
+
+
+
+
+FLYING FOXES.
+
+
+Among the many anomalies presented by Nature, that of a flying mammal
+has seemed strikingly incongruous, and has always left an impression on
+the popular mind generally the reverse of the truth. The fox-bats are an
+example in point. Superstition has gathered about these strange
+creatures the wildest fears; and their uncouth and weird looks have
+strengthened a foolish credence in the stories of the vampire. They, it
+was declared, settled at night upon the wearied sleeper, and sucked his
+life-blood, or with a malicious bite involved the souls of the virtuous
+in the terrors of their own lost estate.
+
+The examinations of the naturalist long ago put to flight these romantic
+tales; but in their haunts, among the woods of Southern Asia, in Africa,
+Australia, Java, and Sumatra, their black swarms and flying movements
+yet cause dread and disgust.
+
+The flying foxes are ranged under the order of the _Cheiroptera_, or
+hand-winged mammals, and are grouped together in the sub-section of the
+fruit-eating bats, as distinguished from those feeding mostly upon
+insects.
+
+Their depredations upon orchards and vineyards are notorious. Sailing
+through the air at sundown, and guided by an acute sense of smell, they
+will enter the plantations containing some plant upon which the fruit
+has reached maturity, and, covering it in crowds, will revel in the
+delicious repast, leaving the tree or vine at dawn stripped of all its
+precious wealth. They fly rapidly, but never at any great height, and
+sometimes will traverse considerable spaces, migrating from island to
+island over intervening arms of the ocean. On the ground they are agile
+and curiously active. They climb trees with ease, and during the day
+hang by their hind limbs, their wing membrane wrapped around them, from
+the loftier boughs. So densely are they sometimes congregated that the
+tree seems a solid mass of black, motionless bags.
+
+The species is distributed over East India, and finds also a favourable
+habitation in Madagascar. It lives in immense colonies, and its swarms
+have been compared with those of gnats, while the branches they infest
+sometimes break down with their great weight. They feed on dates,
+bananas, the guava fruit, and also eat insects, the young and eggs of
+birds, and apparently at times snakes. Their flesh is edible, and
+esteemed immensely by natives, who catch them in nets in the trees, and
+kill them on the ground.
+
+In flight, they can be brought down by a blow delivered on the expanded
+arms, covered with the flying membrane (patagium), as these are very
+weak.
+
+This species is seen more often in captivity than any other; and Brehm,
+from whose admirable Thierleben these notes are taken, speaks with
+characteristic enthusiasm of his observations made upon one. The "fox"
+slept nearly all day, though regularly he devoted some time to the
+cleansing and preparation of his "flying machine," and occasionally
+bestirred himself for the enjoyment of a cherry or a sip of milk. At the
+approach of night he became restless and excited, stretched his wings,
+and vainly attempted to escape. He displayed temper, and would bite
+sharply any one whose familiarities he resented. The combats of these
+animals with one another are very relentless, and generally terminate
+with the death of one or both contestants.
+
+The head in these bats is long and pointed, the ears moderately large,
+the nose without the appendages seen in the insectivorous bats, and the
+jaws armed with incisors, canines, and molar teeth. They form in their
+habitat interesting spectacles; and their whirring progress through the
+air at night, or the pendent throngs they present by day, alike
+astonish the visitor to Ceylon and India. The bats are naturally
+regarded as one of the most distinctly marked groups of animals; and
+among them the flying-foxes (_Pteropidæ_) are easily identified. They
+have long been known in literature, and the ancient Herodotus spoke of
+them in Arabia, and said that the inhabitants protected themselves
+against them in dresses of leather. Later classic authors referred to
+them, and many naturalists have in the East carefully observed their
+habits.
+
+[Illustration: FLYING FOXES.]
+
+
+
+
+KILLED BY LIGHTNING.
+
+
+DEAR MR. EDITOR,--As a warning to any of our young friends who, when
+they leave home to take part in the battle of life, may be thrown
+amongst revilers and blasphemers, I will relate a sad occurrence which
+took place in the next village to this on Monday, June 25th, 1888.
+
+A club is held in the village of Birdham, where this took place, and on
+the evening previous, being the Sabbath evening, the stall-keepers,
+swinging boat proprietors, &c., were drinking at the village inn, and
+one of the company, a young man of twenty, was swearing and flourishing
+his hands over his head, saying he did not care for any one. God might
+strike him blind if He liked.
+
+The next day, about noon, a heavy thunderstorm burst over the village.
+This young man had gone into the field with the horse, a little boy
+being beside him, when a flash of lightning darted down, cut his hat to
+pieces, and left him a corpse. One ear was split, and one hand and the
+face were black.
+
+Thus it was not long before God dealt with this young mocker in a manner
+more awful than he probably expected. This was so sad that it impressed
+many with solemn thoughts, and led to the following similar sad story
+being again related.
+
+Some years since, in the next village, Earnley, a man being accused of
+taking some money, declared that, if he had it, he hoped his legs and
+arms might be burned off. A storm arose, the lightning darted athwart
+the heavens, fell on the barn wherein he was, burned the barn, and his
+body was afterwards found with legs and arms burned off.
+
+This was related to me by a woman named Shepherd, now living within a
+short distance of where the barn stood, and who saw it on fire.
+
+Still another sad tale. On Sunday last, four young men left Bognor for
+Selsey--a few miles' trip by boat on the sea. At Selsey they took too
+much drink, and, on their return, the boat capsized, and they were in
+the water for an hour crying for help; but although many heard them one
+and two miles away--it being a still night--no one seems to have known
+whence the sounds came. Thus all four Sabbath-breakers perished. One of
+the poor fellows wore the knees of his trousers quite away in his
+attempts to climb on the overturned boat.
+
+                                            A. E. P.
+
+_Sidlesham._
+
+P.S.--Selsey also joins this village. I saw the boat rowing towards it
+about half-past four.
+
+["The wages of sin is death." Reader, how are you living? How shall you
+die, and where shall you go? Remember that all who are out of Christ are
+exposed to the wrath of God, while all who, by faith, flee to Him for
+mercy, are saved from the wrath to come. Beware of mocking God, of
+despising His Word, and of desecrating His day. "The way of
+transgressors is hard," but "whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sin
+shall find mercy."--ED.]
+
+
+THE highest visible form of Christian life is self-denial for the good
+of others.
+
+
+
+
+AN AGED PILGRIM'S HISTORY.
+
+
+An aged pilgrim of seventy-two years, recently made a pensioner of our
+Society, has lately come under our notice, and as an example of
+courageous faith, it may interest our readers and others to know
+something of this poor old man.
+
+Having faithfully served our country for fourteen years as a soldier in
+the 14th Light Dragoons, and having been severely wounded during the
+Crimean War, in which he served in all the special engagements, he was
+paid off as unfit for further service, receiving a pension for only ten
+years, as he was unable to complete the full term of service (twenty-one
+years) which would have entitled him to a pension for life.
+
+After leaving the army he worked as a labourer, whenever he could find
+employment, and was brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus
+Christ about twenty years ago, after which he was soon engaged in
+carrying heavy loads at Cotton's Wharf, in Tooley Street, London.
+
+After seventeen years of this work, he one day, unhappily, stumbled
+whilst carrying a load, and fell backwards some distance, the back of
+his head being split open. This brought about paralysis on the left
+side, and some two years afterwards it resulted in the loss of his
+sight. For three years he has been stone blind, and has suffered at
+times most acutely from pain in the head; but his indomitable energy,
+and strong faith in his "dear Heavenly Father," have kept him from
+falling to the level of a pauper; and rather than gravitate to the
+condition of an inmate of one of our Unions, he has bravely endeavoured
+to make a living by playing a musical instrument in the streets.
+
+To add to his affliction, his wife, in 1883, was run over in the streets
+of London, and died in an hospital under amputation of both legs. Thus,
+left without relation or friend, this poor blind man had to face this
+cold and unheeding world alone; and yet he is never alone, for his faith
+is so bright that he goes out, walking long distances, trusting to God
+to preserve him in his way.
+
+On one occasion, he was taken by a constable before the Lord Mayor of
+London, charged with playing an instrument in the streets, and having
+been questioned as to what he did, answered that he played a small
+instrument by which to keep himself. The Lord Mayor asked him to play a
+tune, which he accordingly did, and he at once took the part of this
+aged pilgrim, gave him five shillings, and reprimanded the constable for
+arresting the poor old man, and told him to look after those who were
+doing really wrong things in the streets, and not to bring poor,
+helpless men to him like that. This poor man, hearing the severe words
+addressed to the constable by his lordship, immediately began to beg
+that no punishment might be meted out, quietly remarking, "My lord, very
+likely he is a young constable, and has not quite learnt his duties.
+Don't punish him; don't punish him." Thus did he show the true Christian
+spirit of love for his enemies.
+
+To illustrate the marvellous energy of will and courage of heart in this
+old veteran, on one occasion he was badly bitten by a ferocious dog,
+which left a terrible wound on his leg. No sooner had it got well enough
+for him to crawl, than he walked four miles in awful agony to see one of
+his friends, taking four and a half hours over the journey. Such men are
+worthy of our support.
+
+Our readers may ask, "How is it that Government does not look after this
+old soldier?" But it is explained when we learn that he married "off the
+strength," _i.e._, without leave, and so is now left to do the best he
+can, unaided by his country.
+
+From town to town this poor man, literally a pilgrim, wanders, seeking
+the "wherewithal" to keep body and soul together. Often would he have
+been starved, but for friends whom the good Lord has raised up for him
+in the most unexpected ways.
+
+Wherever he goes he carries the savour of Christ with him, and boldly
+witnesses for his Saviour, abominating the awful language and behaviour
+which he has to put up with in the houses where he lodges for the night;
+and has even been pushed and struck because he has spoken out against
+the evil by which he was surrounded. Thus actually from day to day
+dependent upon his "Father in heaven" for his "daily bread," he lives by
+faith; and thank God we know that, not having "his portion in this
+life," there awaits him in due time the sweet rest of heaven, where he
+shall be for ever "comforted" and owned in his Father's kingdom.--H. J.
+K., in _Quarterly Record of the Aged Pilgrims' Friend Society_.
+
+
+
+
+A MODEL PRAYER-MEETING.
+
+
+It was a cheerful chapel above ground, filled with seats, wide enough
+apart to kneel down between them, if one wanted to do so, well warmed
+and well ventilated.
+
+At the time fixed for the meeting, first of all came Brother
+_Punctuality_. His watch and actions are always regulated to the minute
+by the town clock. Once he and the minister came together. They waited
+one minute for others who came not, and then each prayed, talked, and
+sang. They spent fifteen minutes thus, and then left.
+
+On their way home they met the rest coming, who said, "Why, are we not
+to have a meeting?" "Oh, _we_ have had one," was the reply. That cured
+all, except the most incorrigible, of their delay. Some people are
+chronically tardy. You can never change them. They are always too late
+for work, too late for dinner, too late for church. What a mercy if they
+are not at last among those who come when the door is shut! They disturb
+the devotions of others. Not so Brother Punctuality; only he has one
+troublesome fault. When the hour is done he opens that inevitable
+hunting-watch of his, and snaps it to with such a nervous jerk that it
+says very plainly to all, "Now, shut up and go home." This is bad enough
+in ordinary and dull times, but when hearts are warm, and prayers are
+strong, and the current of love flows fully, let there then at least be
+a little more latitude.
+
+Congenial with this brother is Brother _Promptitude_. When the leader
+opens the meeting, he is always ready to rise. He shudders at these
+pauses. They are to him as ice-cakes clogging the current of love,
+hindering the wheels of prayer. Yet he would not rush things. I have
+known him to count _seven_, the mystic number of the Scripture, and
+then, if no one rose to speak or pray, he did. He is thus a minute man,
+ready for action in a minute, and hating to lose the minutes. Slower
+natures than his complain that he does not give them time to think. No
+matter; they may learn at last not to be so slow.
+
+In the other seat sits Brother _Brevity_. He has something to say, and
+having said it he sits down. When some overstocked divine or some
+thin-laid layman drags wearily along with a chain of dull platitudes, he
+is very twitchy, wondering why people will waste so much good breath and
+use so many poor words in saying nothing.
+
+Brother _Pointedness_ deeply sympathises with him. He wants to see
+people take good aim at the mark, and hit it--not try to see how near
+they can come and not do it.
+
+Brother _Round-the-Circle_ greatly distresses him, who, if he has a
+fact, an incident, or an illustration, has so many minor details to
+dwell upon that he smothers the infant-truth under his mass of old
+clothes.--_Selected._
+
+[Perhaps this curious sketch may yield useful hints to some who read
+it.--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+GENEROSITY AND LOVE.
+
+
+The late Duke of Portland was a nobleman who contrived to pass through
+life without much noise, but reaped happiness and respect in abundance,
+and, while gratifying his taste for rural occupation, conferred the most
+lasting benefits on the country. The following, among many stories, is
+told of him:--
+
+The duke discovered that one of his tenants, a small farmer, was
+falling, year after year, into arrears of rent. The steward wished to
+know what was to be done. The duke rode to the farm, saw that it was
+rapidly deteriorating, and the man, who was really an experienced and
+industrious farmer, totally unable to manage it, from poverty. In fact,
+all that was on the farm was not enough to pay the arrears.
+
+"John," said the duke, as the farmer came to meet him, as he rode up to
+the house, "I want to look over the farm a little."
+
+As they went along, "Really," said he, "everything is in very bad case.
+This won't do. I see you are quite under it. All your stock and crops
+won't pay the rent in arrear. I will tell you what I must do. I must
+take the farm into my own hands. You shall look after it for me, and I
+will pay you your wages."
+
+Of course, there was no saying nay. The poor man bowed assent.
+
+Presently there came a reinforcement of stock, then loads of manure, at
+the proper time seed, and wood from the plantations for repairing gates
+and buildings. The duke rode over frequently. The man exerted himself,
+and seemed really quite relieved from a load of care by the change.
+Things speedily assumed a new aspect. The crops and stock flourished;
+fences and out-buildings were put into good order. In two or three
+rent-days it was seen by the steward's books that the farm was making
+its way. The duke on his next visit said--
+
+"Well, John, I think the farm does very well now. We will change again.
+You shall once more be tenant, and, as you now have your head fairly
+above water, I hope you will be able to keep it there."
+
+The duke rode off at his usual rapid rate. The man stood in
+astonishment; but a happy fellow he was when, on applying to the
+steward, he found that he was actually re-entered as tenant to the farm,
+just as it stood in its restored condition. We will venture to say,
+however, that the duke himself was the happier man of the two.
+
+He that doeth good enriches his own heart with unspeakable blessings.
+
+"Better a fountain in the heart
+  Than a fountain by the way."
+
+                                              W. H.
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 165._)
+
+
+  "_Praise._"--PSALM cl. 1.
+
+  P is in Peter, but not in Aaron.
+  R is in Pharaoh, but not in Matthew.
+  A is in Adam, but not in Moses.
+  I is in Israel, but not in Abdon.
+  S is in Jesus, but not in Daniel.
+  E is in Eden, but not in Spirit.
+
+                          JOSEPH HUGH WILLERTON
+                                (Aged 6 years).
+
+_Corby, Grantham._
+
+[A correct answer has also been received from Maggie Nunn, aged nine
+years.--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+ZOAR CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL, HAND CROSS.
+
+
+The Sunday School children of the above place of worship met together
+for their annual meeting on Sunday afternoon, May 20th, when our kind
+friend, Mr. Daw, of Hailsham, presided.
+
+The service commenced by our old friend, Mr. Izard, giving out Hymn 59,
+Clifton Hymnal, after which Mr. Daw commenced by saying, as there were a
+goodly number of friends present, as well as children, he would try to
+make it as much like an ordinary service as possible. He then read 1
+Samuel iii., then engaged in prayer, after which Hymn 212 was sung, the
+last line of the chorus being, "What can we give in exchange for the
+soul?"
+
+He said that, when he was about one year old in divine things, he
+thought, if that text was written up on his house in big letters, so as
+people could see it as they passed by, it would convert them, and he
+actually went out one day to see if there was a place where it might be
+put up. That was when he had been quickened into life about one year. He
+said he did not feel very old now. He remembered asking some little
+girls if they could tell him how old he was, and one little girl said
+thirteen; and he thought she was very near right, for he felt sure he
+was not more than fourteen now.
+
+He then said he should preach a short sermon from 1 Samuel iii., and the
+last clause of the eighth verse--"And Eli perceived that the Lord had
+called the child." He said he had tried to preach to children before,
+but this was to be a special trial, so we should see how he got on.
+
+He said, in referring to the Lord calling Samuel, that his mother Hannah
+was of a sorrowful spirit, and prayed and made vows to the Lord that, if
+He would give her a man-child, she would give him to the Lord all the
+days of his life; and the Lord granted her request, and she called his
+name Samuel, because she had asked him of the Lord. So when Samuel was
+very young, she took him up to the temple; and one night, when he lay
+asleep, the Lord called him, and Samuel thought it was Eli that called
+him. But Eli said, "I called thee not; go and lie down again." But the
+Lord called him the second and third time, then "Eli perceived that the
+Lord had called the child."
+
+The Lord called David to be king--the most unlikely one of the lot, for
+all his brothers passed before Samuel first. Great, strong men they
+were, to all appearance--far before David. But no; David, the shepherd
+boy, was chosen to be king, for God often "chooses the foolish things to
+confound the wise."
+
+He said he used to be a teacher in the Sunday School, and he often
+wished he was one now, for he thought he liked talking to children best;
+and when the Lord called him out to preach, one of his greatest trials
+was, to give up the Sunday School, for he thought out of his class the
+Lord had called four boys and four girls.
+
+Some boys and girls, after they have been to a Sunday School a few
+times, will return home and tell a fine tale to their mother, and say,
+"I shall not go to that school any more." "Oh, why not?" "Because they
+don't give such good treats and prizes as they do at other schools." But
+their mothers never ought to encourage that.
+
+He once saw a girl at Polegate Station, and he thought, "That girl is
+going off to service." He was sure of it; and whenever he saw a girl at
+the station, with a box or two and a parcel, going off to service for
+the first time, he generally said to himself, "That girl will have a
+good cry to-night, when she gets into bed." So when he saw this girl, he
+thought he would write her a letter; and he did so--that being five
+years ago--and he saw her only last week, when she said she had cause to
+thank him for that letter, and he quite hoped that letter was the means
+used by the Lord in calling her.
+
+Then he said he wanted to say a word to parents and teachers. He did not
+know who he had before him, because he did not live in the
+neighbourhood. If he did, he should know more about them, and if the
+children did not come to school pretty regularly, he should often call
+on them to know the reason. He said he did not wish to offend them, but
+he often thought that parents sent their children to school, and never
+went to the house of God themselves.
+
+And as to teachers--what a self-denying work theirs was! If there were
+any that needed sympathy, it was the teachers; and if they could not get
+it from the parents, they would draw it from some other source, for we
+read, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many
+days" (Eccles. xi. 1).
+
+The children then repeated several hymns and passages of Scripture,
+which they had learned for the occasion, after which Mr. Daw proceeded
+to distribute the prizes--which consisted of Bibles, hymn-books, and
+other good books--those receiving the best who had the most marks for
+attendance and good behaviour. In presenting a nice Bible to a little
+girl, he made the remark, "I have a Bible in my pocket which is not
+quite so good-looking as yours, but I prize it beyond any Bibles here,
+because it was given to me by a girl that is now in heaven; and there
+are marks in it, against various portions of Scripture, which had been
+blessed to her through my ministry." As they came forward to receive
+their prizes, he addressed each one in a very affectionate manner. He,
+indeed, had a kind word for all. He also wished each one to learn a
+hymn, which he named. After singing another hymn, Mr. Daw concluded with
+prayer.
+
+  "Am I called, and can it be?
+  Has my Saviour chosen me?
+  Vilest of the vile am I;
+  Can I lift my thoughts so high?"
+
+                             A READER.
+
+
+
+
+ZION CHAPEL, TROWBRIDGE.
+
+
+The sixtieth anniversary of the Sabbath School in connection with this
+place was held on Sunday, June 24th. Special sermons were preached by
+Mr. B. C. Turner, of Southport, and the scholars sang specially-selected
+hymns in the evening, at which service the chapel was crowded.
+
+The text in the morning was Ruth iii. 1, and in the evening Mr. Turner
+spoke from Ecclesiastes xi. 6, "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the
+evening withhold not thine hand." In discoursing from these words, he
+spoke many encouraging words to the teachers and parents, and gave good
+advice to the children.
+
+After the sermon, three girls and four boys were promoted to the Senior
+Bible Classes, each of whom was presented with a handsomely-bound Bible,
+and Mr. Turner spoke a few appropriate words to them.
+
+The collections at the two services amounted to £15 1s. 3d. The school
+now numbers 240 scholars, forty teachers, and two superintendents.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN AUGUST.
+
+
+Aug.  5. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 1.
+Aug. 12. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 14.
+Aug. 19. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 25.
+Aug. 26. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 18.
+
+
+WHAT could Jesus do more than die for us? and what can we do less than
+live to Him?
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+THE PARABLE OF THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD.
+
+(MATTHEW xx. 1-16.)
+
+
+Jesus had left Galilee for the last time, and He and His disciples were
+on their way to Jerusalem, where He would be condemned to die. They had
+rested in a house on the road, and He had embraced and blessed the
+little children that were brought to receive His gracious touch. He had
+been met by a rich young man as He resumed His journey--one who wanted
+eternal life, but sorrowfully left the only Giver of that blessing
+because he could not bear to give up his wealth to follow the meek and
+lowly Saviour; and as the youth turned away, Jesus had said to the
+disciples, "Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to
+enter into the kingdom of God" (Mark x. 24). A conversation followed
+(Matt. xix.), in the course of which Peter asked, "What reward shall we
+have, who have forsaken all, and followed Thee?" to which question the
+Saviour replied by a promise and a parable--the promise that all His
+followers should gain a hundred-fold by their losses for His sake, and
+inherit everlasting life; but He added, "Many that are first shall be
+last; and the last shall be first," to illustrate which fact, He told
+them a parable. "For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a householder,
+who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard."
+With those whom he first engaged, a penny a day was the wages agreed
+upon, and they went at once to work. A penny a day, young friends, was
+not such a little as it seems to us. It meant about eightpence halfpenny
+in our money, and would buy a great deal more than we can get for
+eightpence halfpenny now. You could live, in a careful way, at "an inn"
+for a great deal less than a penny a day; and when the good Samaritan
+took the wounded Jew to one of these humble places of rest and
+refreshment, he gave the innkeeper "two pence" to take care of his
+guest, and provide for him, and promised to pay any more expense should
+it be incurred.
+
+The terms were very fair and liberal for a full day's work; but more
+hands were needed, and the master went out again at nine o'clock in the
+morning, then at noon, at three in the afternoon, and yet again at the
+eleventh hour, five p.m.; and finding still some unemployed, he asked,
+"Why stand ye here all the day idle?" "Because," said they, "no man hath
+hired us." "Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that
+shall ye receive." Such were the terms on which all except the earliest
+labourers were hired.
+
+The working day of twelve hours is ended; the men are called to receive
+payment; but, strange to say, the latest comers are first called, and
+each one receives the full amount--one penny. The whole-day workers are
+now dissatisfied. They have got all they were promised, but why should
+those latecomers have as much as themselves, who had been working all
+the time? "Friend," said the good man of the house to one of the
+complainers, "I do thee no wrong. Didst thou not agree with me for a
+penny? Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine
+eye evil, or envious, because I am good?" "So," said the Lord Jesus, "in
+My kingdom the last shall be first, and the first last." And has not He,
+who is your Lord and Master, a right to do what He will with His own?
+
+The disciples were thinking that Jesus would reign on earth, and make
+the Jews a free, prosperous nation, and they, as His first followers,
+wanted to be great men in His kingdom (see verses 20, 21 of this
+chapter). Christ, on the other hand, was thinking of a spiritual,
+heavenly kingdom, where He would reign for ever, ruling His people's
+hearts by love. In this kingdom God has always blessed His servants
+according to His own good pleasure.
+
+Abraham, Isaac, David, and a host of others who served the Lord for many
+years, looked forward to dwelling with Him in blessedness for ever. The
+dying thief, whose day of life was spent in worse than idleness, in the
+service of sin and Satan, received, in answer to his earnest prayer, the
+wonderful assurance, "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with
+Me in paradise."
+
+Prophets laboured, and Apostles reaped the fruit of those labours (John
+iv. 37, 38). John the Baptist was great and honoured as the herald of
+Jesus, yet the least one in Christ's kingdom is equal with, and in some
+respects even greater, than he (Matt. xi. 11).
+
+The Gentiles, in time past, were not a saved people; but now multitudes
+of them have been gathered to Jesus, and become the people of God, while
+the Jews (God's ancient people) have to a great extent despised the
+Gospel, and been shut out from its blessings; so the last have been
+first, and the first have become last.
+
+Among the twelve Apostles, Andrew first found Jesus, and brought Peter,
+his brother, to Him; but Peter afterwards became far more noted than
+Andrew, especially on the Day of Pentecost, and in his Epistles; while
+Paul, the very last of all, the persecutor of Christians, became the
+first and greatest of the apostolic witnesses of Jesus. And Paul took no
+credit to himself for this. "Not I, but the grace of God which was with
+me," he delighted to say was the cause of all the good works done; and
+when he joyfully looked forward to the crown of righteousness laid up
+for him, he gladly adds, "and not for me only, but also for all them
+that love His appearing."
+
+This parable is quite different from the one in Matthew xxi., where
+faithful and unfaithful servants are contrasted. All the labourers in
+this vineyard worked. None are accused of laziness or unfaithfulness.
+None are blamed for the way in which their work was done. Those who
+laboured longest were still well paid, while the late comers were
+rewarded by sheer generosity. So, in the kingdom of God's grace, each
+favoured servant of the Lord "knows in all his heart and soul that not
+one thing has failed of all the good things the Lord his God promised
+him." He never gives less than He said He would. He often gives more
+than we either ask or think.
+
+Does the end of the day in this parable mean the evening of life, or the
+end of the world? And did Jesus represent the feelings of some of His
+people when dying, or at the last day? Oh, no! I do not for one moment
+think so. But you know we sometimes show a pouting, cross little child a
+picture of one like itself, to let it see how ugly it looks; and in the
+same way Jesus, by this parable, taught His disciples and us that when
+we are jealous and envious of others, we are finding fault with God's
+kindness and bounty.
+
+And let us remember that, whether we are rich or poor--whether our
+labours in Christ's cause seem very successful or not--yet, if we have
+been called to serve Him at all, the highest honour has been put upon
+us. Far better to be employed in His vineyard than to be loitering
+outside; infinitely preferable to be "a doorkeeper in His house, than to
+dwell in the tents of wickedness." His "ways are ways of pleasantness,"
+and "in keeping His commandments there is great reward."
+
+May we be His servants, loving and faithful, and receive at last that
+great reward which none but Jesus can deserve, "the free gift of God,
+eternal life," through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour; and our song
+of humble gratitude will be, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto
+Thy name be glory, for Thy mercy and truth's sake. Amen."
+
+Our next subject will be, _Ananias and Sapphira_ (Acts v.).
+
+                             Your affectionate friend,
+                                              H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+CONTRAST THE LESSON TAUGHT BY THE CONDUCT OF SOLOMON AND OF REHOBOAM, AT
+THE COMMENCEMENT OF THEIR REIGN.
+
+
+The chief lesson taught by the conduct of Solomon at the commencement of
+his reign is, humility. We know this by his choice when God asked him,
+in a dream, "What shall I give thee?" He made answer that the people he
+had to rule were as the dust of the earth for multitude, and that he had
+no more power to act as a king than a child. He therefore wished for
+wisdom to help him to do right, and for God to be with him, as He had
+been with his father David.
+
+This incident shows the gracious nature of Solomon's character; and the
+reward that God gave him ought to make us remember that "he that
+humbleth himself shall be exalted."
+
+With Rehoboam it was different. The lesson taught is, that his conduct
+should be shunned by all. Shortly after he was made king, those who had
+lived the greater part of Solomon's reign came and asked him if he would
+be kind to them, and ease the servitude that his father had put upon
+them. He sought to man instead of to God, and chose the counsel of
+foolish young men. After the people had been kept waiting three days, he
+told them that he would add to the yoke that they formerly had borne,
+and as his father had "chastised them with whips," so would he "with
+scorpions." At the time that Rehoboam made that rough and haughty
+answer, he probably had forgotten that the majority of the people had
+most power, but so it was here, for ten of the twelve tribes revolted.
+
+The first lesson taught by Solomon, and the second taught by Rehoboam,
+contrast deeply with each other. The first, if imitated by every one,
+would work a wonderful change in the world. There would be fewer
+quarrels, fewer wars, and, in a word, less sin. The second is the cause
+of many evils with which the earth abounds. The former the Lord is
+delighted with; the latter is an abomination. If Jesus Christ was once
+"made lower than the angels" for our sakes, surely we ought to put away
+all haughtiness, and remember that we are on a level with our
+fellow-creatures by creation, and that all who are saved are saved by
+free grace, through faith in Christ.
+
+                                          WILLIAM ERNEST CRAY
+                                              (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Pearl Cottage, Carlyle Road,
+        Forton, Gosport, Hants._
+
+[Good Essays have been received from Jane Bell, Laura Creasey, E. B.
+Knocker, Alice Creasey, B. Stroud, Annie Judd, Alice Pease, G. A.
+Osmotherly, E. Saunders, M. E. Denly.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Life of George
+Whitfield."
+
+The subject for October will be, "Charity," as commended in the
+Scriptures; and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that
+subject, a copy of Foxe's "Book of Martyrs." All competitors must give a
+guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay
+is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the
+Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers
+must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
+Hastings, by the first of September.]
+
+
+THE cross is the distinct announcement to us of that wonderful law, that
+"through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of heaven."
+Perfection through suffering--that is the doctrine of the cross. There
+is love in that law.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+ON July 15th, after two sermons by Mr. Hull, at Rochdale Road,
+Manchester, £44 9s. 5½d. was collected for the Sunday School there.
+
+
+SALE OF PICTURES.--The _Chester Chronicle_ states authoritatively that
+Lord Tollemache has sold two of his pictures by Sir Joshua Reynolds for
+£15,000 each, and one by Gainsborough for £14,000.
+
+
+IN addition to the present from a London banker of 10,000 books, a lady
+in the City has sent a van load, about one and a half tons, to the
+Mariners' Mission, Burdett Road, London, E., for free distribution among
+sailors and others.
+
+
+LOW RENTAL FOR LAND.--Eight hundred acres of arable land in the Isle of
+Sheppey, well known for its productive nature, have just been let to a
+new tenant at the unprecedentedly low price of 1s. 2d. an acre. The
+tithe on the land is 12s. an acre.
+
+
+ON June 1st, 1883, a toad was placed in a cavity hollowed in a large
+stone, and the opening was sealed up with cement. On the 1st of June,
+this year, the stone was broken open, and the toad was found alive, and
+strangely enough, it had grown considerably.
+
+
+MR. JOHN WHITE, of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, erected a highly horrible
+scarecrow in a field. Three weeks afterwards he went to inquire after
+its health, and found that a robin had built her nest in one of the
+pockets, and a tomtit had utilized a sleeve for the same purpose.
+
+
+A MAIDEN SESSION.--There were no prisoners for trial at Cambridgeshire
+Quarter Sessions, July 13th, 1888. Mr. Sperling, the chairman, who was
+presented with a pair of white gloves, said that, during an experience
+of over thirty years, he did not remember a previous maiden session.
+
+
+THE Dundee sealing steamer _Esquimaux_ arrived the other week at St.
+John's, Newfoundland, from seal fishing, with a catch of 23,000 seals.
+The _Aurora_, another Dundee vessel, followed, with a cargo of 25,000
+seals. The seal fishing off the Newfoundland coast has this season been
+a great success.
+
+
+ARTIFICIAL IVORY.--A substance resembling ivory of creamy whiteness and
+great hardness is made from good potatoes washed in diluted sulphuric
+acid, then boiled in the same solution until they become solid and
+dense. They are then washed free from the acid and slowly dried. This
+ivory can be dyed, and turned, and made useful in many ways.
+
+
+DR. GORDON STABLES, the well-known author, spends the summer in going
+about the country in a caravan. His handsome home on wheels is called
+"The Wanderer." It is drawn by two capital carriage horses, and is
+fitted in most luxurious fashion. He takes a man-servant with him, and
+has a tricycle attached to the vehicle. He stops at night by the
+roadside.
+
+
+NEW GOLD FIELD.--A rich gold field has been discovered between the two
+rivers, Lava and Papanahoni, in Surinam. It is an open question whether
+this district of 20,000 to 25,000 square kilometres belongs to France or
+Holland. M. Condreau, the French traveller, who has been closely
+investigating the district, considers that it will be as productive as
+the gold-fields of Australia and California.
+
+
+MR. GEORGE LE FÈVRE, of the Huguenot Church at Canterbury Cathedral,
+writes thus--"A large and valuable oil painting of a scene in the
+history of the Huguenots has been presented to the French Church. The
+subject is exceedingly appropriate this year, being the tercentenary
+celebration of the defeat of the Spanish invasion of England. The
+picture has been hung up in that part of the Crypt known as the Chantry
+of the Black Prince, and has been much admired by tourists, who are now
+visiting in considerable numbers."
+
+
+BY the steamship _Oonah_, which is the latest addition to the fleet of
+the Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company, there arrived at Melbourne on
+Saturday, April 28th, from Tasmania, the largest shipment of fruit for
+the London market which has left the Australian colonies--about 13,000
+bushels of choice apples. The fruit will be transhipped into the cool
+chamber of the P. and O. mail boat _Oceana_, leaving on the 4th of May,
+and will be followed by another shipment by the _Britannia_, leaving on
+the 18th of May. This, we understand, closes the operations of the
+shippers for this season. Should the outcome of these shipments be as
+encouraging as the telegraphic news already received seems to indicate,
+there is every prospect of a very large export trade in this industry
+being established. We are informed that the parcel now arrived could
+have been very much increased had there been more room in the cool
+chamber of the _Oceana_. No doubt next season all the boats of the P.
+and O. and Orient Companies will make arrangements to take fruit, so
+that shipments can be forwarded every week.--_Launceston (Tasmania)
+Examiner, May 2nd._
+
+
+FURTHER particulars of the floods in Mexico show them to have been of a
+most serious character. It is stated that, in the town of Silao, where
+the river overflowed its banks on the 18th of June, 1,500 persons
+perished. At Leon, over 2,200 houses were destroyed. In some districts
+it is declared that bodies were floating about on the waters as thickly
+as driftwood.
+
+
+DREAD OF COMETS.--A story is related showing the dread with which comets
+were regarded in the early part of the last century. A renowned
+astronomer predicted that a comet would appear on Wednesday, October
+14th, 1712, and that the world would be destroyed by fire on the Friday
+following. The astronomer was correct, so far as the comet was
+concerned. A number of persons got into the boats and barges on the
+Thames, thinking the water the safest place. A captain of a Dutch ship
+threw all his powder into the river, that his ship might not be
+endangered. A number of clergymen, it is said, were ferried over to
+Lambeth, to request that proper prayers might be prepared, there being
+none suitable in the Church service. Sir Gilbert Heathcote, at that time
+head director of the Bank, issued orders to all the fire offices in
+London, requiring them to keep a good look-out, and to have a particular
+eye on the Bank of England.
+
+
+A MILLIONAIRE INVENTOR.--We have more than once pointed out how simple
+inventions (observes a writer in _Invention_) often realize large sums
+for the fortunate inventor. Here is another illustration. The discovery
+of the perforated substance used for bottoming chairs and for other
+purposes has made its inventor a millionaire. George Yeaton, the
+inventor in question, was a poor Yankee cane-seater in Vermont. He first
+distinguished himself by inventing a machine for weaving cane, but he
+made no money out of it, as some one stole his idea, and had the process
+patented. After a number of years experimenting, Yeaton at last hit upon
+this invention, which consists of a number of thin layers of boards of
+different degrees of hardness glued together to give pliability. Yeaton
+went through a number of bitterly contested law-suits before he got his
+invention patented. He was wise in not paying others to manufacture his
+device. He formed a company, and to-day he has a plant valued at half a
+million dollars, and is in the receipt of a princely annual revenue
+derived from this invention.
+
+
+THE FASTEST TRAIN IN THE WORLD.--The fastest train in the world is
+without doubt the "Flying Dutchman," which for many years has succeeded
+in knocking off the seventy-eight miles between London and Swindon in an
+hour and twenty-seven minutes. This is at the rate of fifty-three miles
+an hour. Exeter is 194 miles from Paddington, and is reached in four and
+a quarter hours, or an average pace throughout, including stoppages, of
+forty-five miles and a half per hour. The Prince of Wales has made some
+remarkably quick journeys on the Great Western. Not very long ago the
+North Western took him from Manchester to London in three hours and
+fifty-five minutes, but the Great Western had previously beaten this by
+conveying him from London to Swansea (216 miles) in three hours and
+fifty-three minutes, the average speed throughout that remarkable
+journey being almost fifty-six miles an hour. English trains are much
+quicker than those of the Continent. The speed of the American expresses
+is from thirty-five to forty miles an hour. The Chemin de fer du Nord
+runs its expresses at an average of thirty-seven, and the Paris and
+Mediterranean at thirty-four miles an hour. Some of the German expresses
+cover thirty-six miles an hour.
+
+
+A TERRIBLE SITUATION.--Mr. Ballou, in his recent wanderings under the
+Southern Cross, has found one more unpleasant item for reptile
+literature. In Sydney he heard the following snake story, the facts of
+which occurred not long before, near the town of Parramatta. In the
+family of a settler, who resided some half a league from the town, there
+was an invalid daughter, she being of an extremely nervous temperament.
+She was sleeping, one summer afternoon, in a hammock swung between two
+supporting standards in the shade of the piazza, when she was suddenly
+awakened by feeling something cold and moist clinging about her throat.
+She put her hand to the spot, and clasped the body of a snake just at
+the back of its head, and, with a horrified cry, wrenched with all her
+strength to pull it away. This was the first instinctive action of the
+moment, but so great was her terror that she speedily lost all
+consciousness of the situation. Her hand, however, still grasped the
+snake where she had first seized upon it, and with such a convulsive
+force that the creature was rendered powerless. The cry of the terrified
+girl brought the father from within the house, who instantly came to her
+relief; but in the fit which her fright had induced, her hand slowly
+contracted about the creature's throat with a force which she could not
+possibly have exerted when awake, and before her fingers were unclasped,
+by the aid of a bit of hammock cord, the reptile was completely
+strangled. Fortunately, the creature had not bitten the girl before she
+seized it, and after that it was unable to do so. It is said to have
+been four feet long, and of a poisonous species.
+
+[Illustration: "I GAVE MYSELF UP TO READING THE BIBLE." (_See page
+194._)]
+
+
+
+
+LETTER BY A DYING SOLDIER.
+
+
+My dear wife,--Before these lines reach you, grim death will have swept
+me off the stage of time. No more shalt thou repose in these arms; no
+more shall these eyes behold thy lovely person, or gaze with delight on
+thee or my dear infants.
+
+Yesterday we had a bloody and obstinate fight, in which we had great
+numbers killed and wounded. I received one ball in my leg, another in my
+breast. I am now so weak with the loss of blood that I can hardly write
+these few lines as the last tribute of my unchanging love to thee. The
+surgeons inform me that three hours will be the utmost I can survive.
+Alas! too true was the dire presage in my mind that we should never meet
+again on this side eternity.
+
+On our passage here, I gave myself up to reading the Bible, it being the
+only Book I was possessed of. The Almighty was pleased to draw my heart
+to Him by the sweet attractions of His grace, and at the same time to
+enlighten my mind.
+
+There is in the regiment a corporal who is a Christian. I had no
+knowledge of him till one night when I had been earnest in prayer to God
+to guide me in the way of peace. During my sleep I dreamed of this same
+man, and was directed to him by name, Samuel Pierce. The dream made so
+strong an impression on my mind that the next morning I inquired if
+there was such a person in the regiment, and was greatly astonished to
+find him. I told him my dream, with which he was much pleased. We soon
+contracted a strong friendship, and he was pleased to explain to me the
+amazing love of God in giving His Son Jesus Christ to bleed and die for
+sinners. He unfolded to me the mysteries of salvation, the nature of the
+new birth, and the great necessity of holiness of heart and life. In
+short, he became my spiritual father, and to him, under God, I owe much
+that I am now acquainted with.
+
+Soon after we landed, God was pleased to speak peace to my soul. Oh, the
+bliss, the unutterable joy, that I then felt, through the blood of the
+Lamb! How I longed to tell the whole world what Jesus had done for me!
+But how did I long for thee, my love, to taste and know the love of God
+in Christ Jesus! I would have given the world to have been with thee, to
+have told thee of "the pearl of great price." And as we shall never meet
+more in this vale of tears, this is my dying wish and advice--read the
+Bible and good books, frequent the preaching of the Gospel, and the Lord
+will guide thee in His way. And oh, endeavour to bring up the dear
+little ones in the fear of God. Oh, never fix thine heart upon the vain
+and unsubstantial things of this world! Heaven and the love of God are
+the only things that demand our hearts, or are worthy of engrossing
+them. I have been a worthless husband to thee, and a vile rebel against
+my God. "God be merciful to me a sinner!" I die in peace. I die in a
+full assurance of eternal glory. A few moments and my soul shall be
+ranged in the "general assembly of the Church of the First-born who are
+written in heaven."
+
+And now, my dear infants, the God who blessed Jacob and Joseph will
+bless you. Seek Him, and He will be found of you. Call upon Him, and He
+will hear and bless you. Learn, then, my dear children, when you grow
+up, to seek for permanent happiness in God through a crucified Redeemer.
+
+  "The world recedes, it disappears;
+  Heaven opens on my eyes, my ears
+    With sounds seraphic ring.
+  Lend, lend your wings; I mount, I fly!
+  'O grave, where is thy victory?
+    O death, where is thy sting?'"
+
+Dear wife, more would I say, but life ebbs out apace. Bright angels
+stand around the gory turf on which I lie, ready to escort me to the
+arms of Jesus. Bending saints reveal my shining crown, and beckon me
+away. Yea, methinks my Jesus bids me come. Adieu, adieu!
+
+                                                  JOHN RANDON.
+
+
+
+
+A HOPEFUL CASE.
+
+
+Being called to preach the Word in a parish where there is no resident
+minister, it frequently falls to my lot to visit those who are
+afflicted.
+
+A singular instance, both of ignorance and mercy, appeared in the
+character of a person almost unknown to me till the following
+circumstance took place.
+
+A poor woman, about the middle of August last, was taken very ill with
+pleurisy, and was much alarmed. This being the Sabbath evening, she sent
+for one of the people who usually attend my preaching to come and read
+with her. He accordingly went, and she was much pleased with what he
+read. Before he left her, she solicited him to ask me to come and see
+her. Being out preaching, upon my return home I met this person, who
+told me the request of the poor woman. I immediately went, and found her
+in a helpless, miserable state, both as to body and soul. Her husband
+being gone to harvest, she was left without money to procure any of the
+comforts of life. The marks of poverty appeared in every part of the
+habitation, and the poor creature laid stretched out upon a bed of
+sorrow, being in a languishing state through the violence of the fever.
+
+After condoling with her for a few minutes upon her external situation,
+I began to converse with her pretty freely upon the more important
+affairs belonging to her never-dying soul. The first topic of
+conversation was upon man as a sinful creature, and the enmity of the
+heart in the unconverted. I endeavoured to show that, although some
+might be a little more refined as to gross acts of immorality, yet by
+nature we "are all the children of wrath even as others." I next spoke
+of salvation by Jesus Christ, that it was all of grace.
+
+The woman listened to every word I uttered. The tears began to trickle
+down her cheeks, and at last she said, "I know nothing of the Man of
+whom you have been speaking," immediately adding, "I was never brought
+up in the way of religion--never taught to know a letter of a book, nor
+yet attend any place of worship." After I had engaged in prayer with
+her, I left her.
+
+The next day I made her another visit, and found the fever increased,
+the cough very troublesome, and the pain in her side very acute. I began
+to discourse upon the suitableness, the ability, and willingness of
+Jesus to save perishing sinners, and then she put this question--"And do
+you think, sir, He will save such a wretch as I am?" I observed, "The
+promise runs thus, 'Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast
+out,'" &c.
+
+Her knowledge of divine things rapidly increased, and her earnest
+devotions seemed now to be the perpetual breathings of her soul.
+
+The third visit I made her, she lamented her former state of ignorance
+and sin, and expressed great fears lest her sins should be too enormous
+to be forgiven.
+
+The poor woman continued in this state about six weeks, soliciting the
+company of all Christian friends to converse and pray with her.
+
+The last visit I made to her produced a very affecting scene, both to
+her and me. I talked to her as one actually dying, and prayed for her as
+one who must soon appear before the Judge of all the earth. While I was
+engaged in prayer, she repeated the words after me in the most affecting
+manner, and after I had finished supplicating the Father of mercies, she
+added, "Oh, Lord, hear! Oh, Lord, forgive such a wretch as I am!" A few
+hours after this, she breathed her last, without either sigh or groan.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851.
+
+
+Of late years we have had in Britain almost a surfeit of exhibitions, of
+one sort or another, chief among which have been the splendid series
+which so many witnessed at South Kensington, and which have given to
+many of the inhabitants of these isles a far better ideal of the
+empire's resources than otherwise they would have had, besides having
+contributed not a little to the stimulation of commerce, while
+furnishing agreeable entertainment to the sightseer. That the day of the
+exhibition, as we understand the word, as an educational and
+profit-raising medium, is not yet gone, is proved by the holding of the
+Irish, Italian, and Anglo-Danish Exhibitions in London this year, and
+the popularity of the more general display at Glasgow, not to speak of
+minor shows which have found favour elsewhere.
+
+The forerunner of all these magnificent spectacles was the Great
+Exhibition of 1851, held in Hyde Park, on the initiative of the late
+Prince Consort, who borrowed the idea from the State-supported
+Expositions at Paris. The Prince proposed that an exhibition of colossal
+proportions should be held in London, in a building specially designed
+for the purpose, and that it should be open to competitors from all
+nations, so as to form a veritable "world's fair." The scheme was
+entered into with alacrity by the public. All sorts of representative
+men cordially supported the Prince. A big banquet was given by the Lord
+Mayor of London in the Mansion House, on March 21st, 1850, to the
+municipal magnates of the kingdom, at which the success of the
+undertaking was practically assured; and later on a similar feast was
+given in the ancient city of York, at which the Prince again eloquently
+and effectively pleaded for the accomplishment of the task to which he
+had set his hand. A Royal Commission was appointed to manage the
+undertaking. Hyde Park was fixed upon as the most appropriate site for
+the building, and Sir Joseph Paxton, though not an architect, was
+honoured with instructions to design the fabric--that magnificent
+Crystal Palace, which was subsequently removed to a permanent and
+commanding position at Sydenham, and which is familiar to every London
+resident and visitor. It was formed chiefly of iron and glass, being
+1,848 feet long, 408 feet broad, and 66 feet high; crossed by a transept
+108 feet high, and also 408 feet in length, for the purpose of enclosing
+and encasing a group of noble elms. Within, the nave presented a clear,
+unobstructive avenue, from one end of the building to the other, 72 feet
+in span, and 64 feet in height. The wings, exterior to the centre or
+nave on each side, had also galleries the same height, the wings
+themselves being broken up into a series of courts each 48 feet wide.
+The number of columns used in the entire edifice was 3,230. There were
+34 miles of gutter for carrying off the rain-water to the columns, which
+were hollow, and served as water-pipes; 202 miles of sash-bars, and
+900,000 superficial feet of glass, weighing upwards of 400 tons. The
+building covered about 18 acres of ground, and, with the galleries, gave
+an exhibition surface of 21 acres, with eight miles of tables for laying
+out goods. The building cost £176,000; and though the plan was not
+accepted until the 26th of July, and the first column not fixed until
+two months later, the edifice was virtually completed by the 1st of the
+following January, on which date it was delivered over to the Exhibition
+Commissioners to be fitted up for its destined purpose. The Crystal
+Palace excited universal admiration for its wonderful combination of
+vastness and beauty, and when it was fully furnished, and opened to the
+public, on the 1st of May, 1851, the visitor felt as if he had entered a
+fairy-like scene of enchantment, a gathering-ground of grace,
+brightness, and delight.
+
+It was a splendid sunny morning, and the assembled multitude was
+brilliant in the extreme. The Queen, accompanied by the Prince Consort,
+walked in procession through the immense aggregation of treasures,
+followed by an imposing array of eminent British and foreign
+notabilities. It has been truly said that within the giant palace of
+glass were then massed representatives of all the people and productions
+of the earth--a grand presentment of wealth, intelligence, and
+enterprise. There were over 17,000 exhibitors, some 3,000 of whom
+received medals of merit. The Exhibition remained open until the 15th of
+October, altogether 144 days, during which it was visited by 6,170,000
+persons. The greatest number present in any one day was 109,760, on
+October 8th. On one occasion 93,000 were within the palace at the same
+moment, which surpassed, it is said, in magnitude, any number ever
+assembled together under one roof in the world's history. The charges of
+admission to the Great Exhibition were practically the same as those
+obtained at the recent South Kensington "shows," and the whole affair
+was so well managed and successful in every point that at its close a
+surplus of £150,000 remained, after paying all expenses.
+
+
+
+
+FACTS ABOUT OCEAN STEAMSHIPS.
+
+
+Mr. John Burns contributed to a recent number of _Good Words_ a paper
+entitled "Something about the Cunard Line," which contains some
+interesting facts with regard to the equipment and working of ocean
+steamships. Taking the _Etruria_ as a sample of the present vessels of
+the Cunard fleet, he states that her consumption of coal is 300 tons per
+day, or twelve tons per hour, or 466 lbs. per minute. For a single
+passage across the Atlantic (which takes seven days) she requires the
+following provisions--12,550 lbs. fresh beef, 760 lbs. corned beef, 5
+320 lbs. mutton, 850 lbs. lamb, 350 lbs. veal, 350 lbs. pork, 2,000 lbs.
+fresh fish, 600 fowls, 300 chickens, 100 ducks, 50 geese, 80 turkeys,
+200 brace grouse, 15 tons potatoes, 30 hampers vegetables, 220 quarts
+ice-cream, 1,000 quarts milk, and 11,500 eggs. The groceries for the
+double voyage include 650 lbs. tea, 1,200 lbs. coffee, 1,000 lbs. white
+sugar, 2,880 lbs. moist sugar, 750 lbs. pulverized sugar, 1,500 lbs.
+cheese, 2,000 lbs. butter, 3,500 lbs. ham, and 1,000 lbs. bacon. The
+quantities of wines, spirits, beer, &c., put on board for consumption on
+the double voyage comprise--1,100 bottles of champagne, 850 bottles of
+claret, 6,000 bottles of ale, 2,500 bottles of porter, 4,500 bottles of
+mineral water, 650 bottles of various spirits. Crockery is broken very
+extensively, being at the rate of 900 plates, 280 cups, 438 saucers,
+1,213 tumblers, 200 wine glasses, 27 decanters, and 63 water bottles in
+a single voyage.
+
+The Cunard ships, it is further stated, traverse yearly a distance equal
+to five times that between the earth and the moon.
+
+In the course of a year the fleet consumes 4,656 sheep, 1,800 lambs, and
+2,474 oxen, besides 831,603 eggs; and among other articles of
+consumption are 1½ tons of mustard, 1¾ tons of pepper, 7,216
+bottles pickles, 8,000 tins sardines, 15 tons marmalade, 22 tons
+raisins, currants, and figs, and so on through a long list, finishing
+with 930 tons potatoes, 24,075 fowls, 4,230 ducks, 2,200 turkeys, 2,200
+geese, 31,312 tablets Pears' soap, 3,484 lbs. Windsor soap, 10 tons
+yellow soap. The coal burned during the year amounts to 356,764 tons,
+which, if built as a wall four feet high and one foot thick, would reach
+from Land's End to John o' Groats.
+
+
+
+
+ORPHAN BESS.
+
+
+I am sure that most of our young friends know the meaning of the word
+"orphan"; and perhaps among the numerous readers of the LITTLE GLEANER
+are some that are orphans themselves. But if some of the younger ones do
+not understand what is meant by the word, we must tell them that, when
+children have lost both parents by death, we call them orphans. Very sad
+indeed it is to lose both father and mother while young, for no earthly
+friend can really fill their place. It is of such a child that I am
+writing a few words, and I trust that our little readers will indeed
+feel thankful to God if He has spared them both parents, and granted
+them happy and comfortable homes.
+
+It is more than ten years ago since I first saw her whom I now call
+Orphan Bess, and her baby sister. The first great shadow had then fallen
+upon her home, and I had to attend the funeral. This was in March, 1878.
+A very pale, fragile child our little maid was then, and her baby sister
+was more delicate still. She then sat on the floor, wondering at the
+tears of her mother, frightened at the strange faces and people that
+came to bear her father away, and trying to still the baby, which was
+wailing in the saddest tones. Oh, how unfit to be thrown on the
+world--the cold, rough world--without the strong arm of the father, and
+only the mother to shield! But a Greater Arm than the earthly father
+supported and maintained, and they were not left alone.
+
+A few months later the baby died, and Bess and the mother were left
+again.
+
+Years rolled on, and the mother and child struggled on together, and the
+promise of Him who cares for the widow and fatherless was proved
+faithful and true in their needs.
+
+But a darker cloud than ever now came, when the mother laid down and
+died. Ten years had rolled away, and in March, 1888, this great blow
+came upon Bess. These years had made a great change in our little maid,
+and when we saw her on the day of the funeral she seemed much
+altered--still pale and thin, small and fragile, and very deaf. I have
+seen many affecting sights and many sorrowful cases in my journey
+through life, but as we stood around the grave of the departed mother
+and father of Bess, in St. Thomas's churchyard, at Woolwich, on the 17th
+of March, 1888, I saw the saddest sight of all. The open grave,
+containing the remains of the father; the coffin ready to be lowered
+into it, containing the dead mother; and the pale, thin, deaf orphan,
+standing alone in the world. The blinding snow fell around, and the wind
+blew piercingly through the graveyard. A large crowd of strange faces,
+and the chief object of interest the orphan child. What wonder, then,
+that the child, frightened and trembling, should turn her face away from
+the coffin and crowd, and hide her sobs in the dress of a kind woman
+near? Alone in the world now, yet not alone.
+
+The hymn commencing, "For ever with the Lord," is sung softly, and as
+the strains are heard, we remember that "the Lord liveth." Though father
+and mother are dead, yet "the Lord liveth," who has promised to look to
+the orphan, and whose eyes are ever upon the needy. What a position to
+occupy! No father, no mother, no home, unable to hear, a helpless orphan
+girl cast upon the world! The words of the poet came into my mind at the
+moment--
+
+  "What is home without a mother?
+    What are all the joys we meet,
+  When her gentle smile no longer
+    Greets the coming of our feet?"
+
+I have omitted one matter, and that is, Bessie's mother was my sister;
+and the thought came with power into my mind, while I stood at the
+grave, that while the Lord blessed me with ability and strength, we
+could share our bread with Bess sooner than see her want.
+
+Father and mother may die, and they must die, but there is One that
+cannot alter and that cannot fail.
+
+I trust our young friends who read these few lines are interested in our
+little maid; and if any are living in St. Leonards or Hastings, they may
+sometimes see a thin, pale girl of twelve years, small for her age, with
+dark hair, cut short, sharp nose, and keen grey eyes. This is Orphan
+Bess. Not without friends now, for the Lord has already raised up kind
+friends and strong arms to help her, and made room for her in many
+hearts. May the Lord show her further favour by granting her His grace
+is our sincere prayer, comfort her on earth "as a mother comforteth her
+children," and be her everlasting Portion in heaven.
+
+Gleaners, you that have fathers and mothers, remember they are your best
+earthly friends, and think of desolate Bess. Gleaners that are orphans,
+remember "the Lord liveth," and that He careth for you.
+
+                                                   J. D.
+
+
+
+
+"MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB."
+
+
+The well-known verses beginning, "Mary had a little lamb," were founded
+on actual circumstances, and the heroine, Mary, is still living. About
+seventy years ago she was a little girl, the daughter of a farmer in
+Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States.
+
+One spring, the farmer brought a feeble lamb into the house, and Mary
+adopted it as her especial pet. It became so fond of her that it would
+follow her everywhere.
+
+One day, it followed her to the village school, and, not knowing what
+else to do with it, she put it under her desk and covered it with her
+shawl. There it stayed until Mary was called up to the teacher's desk to
+say her lesson, and then the lamb walked quietly after her, and the
+other children burst out laughing, so the teacher had to shut up the
+little girl's pet in the wood-shed until school was over.
+
+Soon after this, a young student, named John Rollstone, wrote a little
+rhyme about Mary and her lamb, and presented it to her. The lamb grew to
+be a sheep, and lived for many years, and when at last it died, Mary
+grieved so much for it that her mother took some of its wool, which was
+"as white as snow," and knitted a pair of stockings for her to wear in
+remembrance of her darling.
+
+Some years after the lamb's death, Mrs. Sarah Hall, a celebrated woman,
+who wrote many books, composed some verses about Mary's lamb, and added
+them to those written by John Rollstone, making the complete rhyme as we
+know it.
+
+Mary took such good care of the stockings made from her lamb's fleece
+that, when she was a grown-up woman, she was able to give one of them to
+a bazaar in Boston. As soon as the fact became known that the stocking
+was made from the fleece of "Mary's little lamb," every one wanted a
+piece of it; so the stocking was ravelled out, and the yarn cut into
+short pieces. Each piece was tied to a card on which "Mary" wrote her
+full name, and these cards sold so well that they brought the large sum
+of £28 towards the bazaar fund.
+
+
+LORD, I have tried how this thing and that thing will fit my spirit. I
+can find nothing to rest on, for nothing here hath any rest itself. O
+Centre and Source of light and strength--O Fulness of all things--I come
+to Thee!--_Arthur H. Hallam._
+
+
+
+
+UNDER THE LONDON STREETS.
+
+
+It is true that there are tubes beneath the London streets, but with one
+exception, they are not used for the transmission of letters, but for
+telegrams only. This exception is a tube between Euston Station and the
+General Post Office, through which a few day mail-bags to and from towns
+on the London and North-Western are sent. The Post Office authorities
+find that these tubes are quicker than carts, but their speed is not so
+great as is usually supposed. From seventeen to thirty-five miles an
+hour is the average, but with more powerful engines it is believed that
+eighty miles an hour could be attained. The longest tube in London is
+two miles three hundred and thirty-nine yards in length. Originally
+there were only seventeen pneumatic tubes in operation, the longest
+being that which went to Fenchurch Street, namely, nine hundred and
+eighty yards. The second in length was that to Leadenhall Street--six
+hundred and fifty-nine yards. The diameter of the tubes varies from one
+and a half inches to two and a quarter inches. The telegrams are placed
+in little leather cases, called "carriers." The time taken in
+transmission to Fenchurch Street is, by atmospheric pressure, one minute
+five seconds; by suction the speed is somewhat slower--one minute twenty
+seconds.
+
+The steam engine used at the General Post Office is forty horse power.
+For sending one of the carriers from forty to fifty yards not more than
+four or five seconds is necessary. The most complete tubes in London are
+those under the streets between Temple Bar and the General Post Office,
+a distance of 1,333 yards. The tubes form what may be called a pneumatic
+railway, with an up and down line. In these tubes telegrams are sent
+which sometimes are not sent by electricity at all. Thus, if any one
+wishes to wire from Cheapside to the Temple, his message is placed in a
+carrier and sent under the streets.
+
+
+
+
+  SYMPATHY.
+
+  "_Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep._"
+
+
+  When childhood's joyous voice resounds
+    With innocent delight,
+  Check not the infant mirth, nor put
+    Those happy smiles to flight.
+
+  Add to the joy while it remains,
+    For on in riper years
+  Those eyes, now beaming with delight,
+    May be suffused with tears.
+
+  When on the ocean's stormy deep
+    The voyagers are tossed,
+  And seem, in that one stormy hour,
+    To think all hope is lost--
+
+  If they secure the haven reach,
+    And lose their fears and cares,
+  While they rejoice their homes to gain,
+    Mingle thy joy with theirs.
+
+  And is thy neighbour mourning now
+    The loss of kindred dear?
+  Then give thy sympathy, and drop
+    Upon the grave a tear.
+
+  Or knowest thou an orphan, left
+    To tread this world alone?
+  Speak words of comfort, lend thine aid,
+    Or take the wanderer home.
+
+  Tell of the loveliness and bloom
+    Of Nature to the blind;
+  Tell of the joys of heaven, and thus
+    Shed light upon the mind.
+
+  Then sympathize with every one,
+    And the commandment keep--
+  "Rejoice with them that do rejoice,
+    And weep with them that weep."
+
+                                  M. E. C.
+
+
+
+
+FORWARD INTO LIGHT AND LIBERTY.
+
+"JESUS ONLY."
+
+
+When Father Chiniquy reached his much-loved people, after he had left
+the Church of Rome, it was on a Sabbath morning, and they were assembled
+for worship. The bishop had telegraphed to them to turn away their
+priest, but when they saw him, they received him joyfully, and crowded
+round him to know what the bishop had really said. Entering the chapel,
+he told his large congregation how and why he was a priest no longer,
+assuring them that he would leave them, but not until they bade him
+depart. All were deeply affected, but no one spoke, and when he again
+appealed to them to bravely rise and tell him to go away, he saw their
+countenances beam with love and joy more eloquent than words; and when
+he offered to remain with them--the free Christian minister of a
+Christian people, united by the love of God and His Word--they all arose
+in token of their approval, and a thousand people left the Church of
+Rome on that eventful day. And still the movement spread, till nearly
+all who had loved and followed him as he had gradually taught them the
+truths of the Gospel, followed him seeking the full light and liberty of
+God's Word, leading him, and all who heard of it, to exclaim, "This is
+the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."
+
+As might have been expected, they did not see everything at once. There
+was a splendid group of statues, representing the Virgin Mary learning
+to read at the feet of her mother, and before these statues both priest
+and people had often prayed. Chiniquy longed to remove them, with the
+pictures and crosses which hung on the walls of the chapel, but was
+afraid to do it too quickly. One Sunday, however, after preaching from
+the text, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image," he remained
+behind to pray, and, looking up at the images, he said, "My good ladies,
+you must come down from that high position. God Almighty alone is
+worshipped here now. Your reign has come to an end." A thin, strong,
+silken cord secured them on their pedestals. He cut the cord, and, as he
+expected, the very next Sunday, when the people knelt to pray, the
+images gave a couple of jerks, and then fell down, and were smashed to
+fragments on the floor, the people laughing, and saying to one another,
+"How foolish to pray to these idols to protect us, when they cannot take
+care of themselves!" The other images, crosses, and pictures were soon
+cleared away.
+
+The most of the people soon learned to reject purgatory, but some still
+clung to their old belief, and Chiniquy would not too suddenly disturb
+it. When "All Souls' Day" came round, and collections were usually made
+for those in purgatory, two boxes were provided--a white one to receive
+contributions for the widows and the fatherless children, and a black
+one for offerings for the dead. But those who put money into the black
+one were asked kindly to say how their gifts could be conveyed to their
+dead friends, as in every case he had yet heard of, the priests had kept
+them for their own bread and butter. A general smile followed that
+announcement, and thirty-five dollars were put into the white box for
+the living, and nothing at all into the black one for the dead.
+
+So, one by one, all the false doctrines of Rome were renounced, and a
+few months after, six thousand were banded together under the name of
+"Christian Catholics."
+
+Rome, however, would not thus easily lose so many of its children, and
+another bishop thought he would try to win them back again. He appointed
+a day to visit them, with a number of priests, and found a strong,
+large platform prepared for his reception, and a great number of people
+assembled together to see and hear. As he approached, the American flag
+was hoisted over the chapel, and the people shouted, "Hurrah for the
+flag of the free and the brave!" This alarmed the priestly visitors, but
+Chiniquy hastened to assure them that they would not be injured, but
+they, on the contrary, would be received in the most courteous way.
+
+The bishop then alighted from his carriage, the priests gathered round
+him, and his grand vicar told the people to kneel down and receive their
+bishop's benediction. No one moved. He repeated his request still more
+loudly, when some one answered, "Do you not know, sir, that we no longer
+bend the knee to any man? It is only before God we kneel"; and all the
+people said, "Amen."
+
+Forbidding their own beloved Pastor Chiniquy to speak, the bishop then
+tremblingly addressed the crowd. He was evidently staggered by the
+people's courage. Having abused the "wicked, rebellious priest" who had
+led them away from Rome, he concluded by begging them to return to their
+holy Mother Church, and asked who would guide them in the ways of God if
+they forsook the Church of their fathers? After a solemn silence, an old
+farmer, raising his Bible over his head, exclaimed, "This Bible is all
+we want to guide us in the ways of God. We do not want anything but the
+pure Word of God to teach us what we must do to be saved. As for you,
+sir, you had better go away, and never come here any more."
+
+The bishop having failed to gain the people, tried to forcibly prevent
+Chiniquy from speaking. This was too much for the congregation, and it
+was only for his sake, and at his urgent request, that they allowed the
+unwelcome visitors to depart unmolested. They retired, defeated and
+annoyed, and the bishop soon afterwards became a lunatic.
+
+Thus God preserved His servant and His people in the hour of trial, and
+though many other difficulties arose, His Word continued to accomplish
+His purposes of love and grace; and like another Luther, Pastor
+Chiniquy, though often in peril and doomed to death, has lived on to a
+ripe old age, covered and shielded by the shadow of the Almighty. There
+may we also live and rest.--_Jottings on_ "_The Life and Work of Father
+Chiniquy_," _by Cousin Susan_.
+
+
+
+
+RARE AND COSTLY BIBLES.
+
+
+The special feature at the recent sale of the Earl of Crawford's library
+was the disposal of old and rare editions of the Bible in various
+languages. The most important lots were as follows:--
+
+The "Bishops'" Bible, a revision of the "Great Bible" undertaken by
+Archbishop Parker and eight other bishops, black letter, folio, 1568. It
+is sometimes called the "Treacle" Bible, from the words, "Is there no
+_tryacle_ [instead of 'balm'] in Gilead?" £70 [sold to] (Quaritch).
+Second edition of the German Bible, _circa_ 1466, £86 (Quaritch); first
+edition of Luther's Bible, £51 (Quaritch); the Mazarin Bible, or the
+Gutenberg Bible--the first edition of the Bible, and the earliest book
+printed with movable metal types; a rare and much-sought book, two
+volumes, printed by Gutenberg and Füst about 1450, £2,650. This book was
+put up at £695, for which price this particular copy was sold thirty
+years ago. The book will remain in this country. Sir John Thorold's
+copy, a few years ago, fetched £3,900. Another Latin Bible, two volumes,
+first edition, with a date beautifully printed upon vellum, folio, 1462,
+£1,025 (Quaritch); Biblia Slavonica, the Ostrog edition, 1581, £73
+(Quaritch); the Virginian Bible, by John Eliot, with Psalms in metre,
+two volumes in one, quarto, 1685 and 1680, £40 (Quaritch); first
+edition of the Welsh Bible, from the Wepre Hall Library, 1588, £60
+(Quaritch); Block Book, Apocalypsis Sancti Johannis, forty-eight leaves
+printed from wooden blocks, in colours, and the xylographic text in
+brown ink, bound up with other matter in the old oak boards, folio,
+_circa_ 1430. This rare and curious volume is generally considered as
+being the second attempt in xylographic printing, the priority being
+given to the Ars Memorandi. Block books are supposed to have preceded by
+nearly twenty-five years the discovery of printing with metal types, and
+the workmanship is attributed to the press of Laurence Coster at Harlem.
+This specimen was put up at £100, and after a keen competition between
+Mr. Ellis and Mr. Quaritch, it was secured by the latter for £500. The
+day's sale realized upwards of £7,000.
+
+
+
+
+A NEW TELEPHONE.
+
+
+The _Times_ Paris correspondent describes some telephone experiments
+between Paris and Brussels with a new apparatus known as the
+"microtelephone push-button," which he believes to be the most perfect
+yet produced. As its name indicates, it has the form of an ordinary
+electric push-button. When the button has been pushed in, and has made a
+sound at the other extremity, it is taken out, and is found to be
+attached to a long electric wire. There is thus exposed the telephonic
+plate, which is extremely sensitive, so that when it is necessary to
+speak at short distances, it is not necessary to come close to the
+instrument. For communications in the same street, or the same house,
+the operator places the upper part near himself, and without changing
+his position he can speak with the correspondent at the opposite
+extremity. He is not obliged to put his ear to the part which contains
+the button and brings back the reply. Thus, for short distances, those
+who make use of this apparatus speak in their ordinary tone, without
+changing their customary attitudes. They may sit or walk about, and
+speak just as if those they are addressing were present. When great
+distances intervene, in which the speakers and hearers are separated by
+two hundred miles, it is necessary to come nearer to the apparatus, but
+without being obliged to speak quite close to it. What makes this
+apparatus the most successful of telephonic instruments is, that it can
+be made for half-a-crown, that is to say, for not more than the price of
+the ordinary push-button. As it can be fitted to the electric wire of
+the ordinary ringing apparatus, it follows that it introduces a complete
+change in our ordinary modes of intercourse. The railway companies are
+making experiments with this apparatus as a means of communication
+between compartments of carriages, and it is being fitted up on trial in
+hotels. The inventor is Dr. Cornelius Herz.
+
+
+
+
+  "ASK ON."
+
+  (1 KINGS ii. 20; JOHN xiv. 13.)
+
+
+  I hear "a voice from heaven"--
+    I hear my Sovereign say--
+  "Ask on" (He speaks to me);
+    "I will not say thee nay."
+
+  I would not doubt His word,
+    For truth in Him abides;
+  I would not doubt His power;
+    In Him the Godhead hides.
+
+  And since I know He gave
+    Himself, Himself, to move
+  Jehovah's curse from me,
+    I would not doubt His love.
+
+  And so I'll breathe my wish
+    To Christ, my King, to-day;
+  And rest me on His word--
+    "I will not say thee nay."
+
+                                ISA.
+
+
+
+
+"IS NOT A MAN BETTER THAN AN EGG?"
+
+
+"Bacon! bacon! bacon! always bacon! Why don't we have eggs sometimes,
+like we used to?" was the discontented question of a little boy, one
+morning, as he surveyed a rasher of bacon on his plate.
+
+"May you never get anything worse to eat, my boy, than this nice streaky
+bacon," remarked his father, looking up from his newspaper.
+
+"Little boys should eat what is put before them, and be thankful that
+they have food to eat," observed a severe-looking maiden aunt.
+
+"Ralph is not very well to-day," said his sister Nellie, in a low tone.
+"His appetite has not been so good lately as it used to be. He never
+seems to get on with bacon; and there have been very few eggs brought in
+for some time. Do you think the fowls have left off laying, papa?"
+
+"Hardly, my dear; this is just the time of year they lay most freely. I
+suspect they are hiding them, and making nests for themselves in some
+secret place."
+
+"_I_ suspect, John, that the stable-boy takes them. It is not at all
+likely that fourteen or fifteen fowls would hide their eggs, whatever
+one might do," said the severe aunt.
+
+"Hens choose curious places to lay their eggs in sometimes," said Mr.
+Thorn,[11] laughing. "I remember one fine Spanish bird that invariably
+laid hers on the top of a wall."
+
+  [11] The real names are, of course, suppressed throughout.
+
+"What a queer place, papa! Did not the eggs get broken?"
+
+"They did, my dear, to the great distress of the poor fowl, who no doubt
+wished to make a nest in that strange, out-of-the-way place. I used to
+listen for her cackling, in order, if possible, to save the egg; but it
+always tumbled off the wall before I could get to it. Another, a
+Cochin-china fowl, laid hers on a heap of stones, and----"
+
+"Those must have been very badly managed fowls, John," interrupted Miss
+Thorn. "Now, yours, on the contrary, are well cared for, and properly
+housed."
+
+This was quite true, for Mr. Thorn's fowl-house was large and airy, and
+well supplied with every necessary convenience. Indeed, so true a
+fancier was he, that his extensive fowl-house was partitioned off, so
+that his Brahmas, Cochin-chinas, Houdans, and other breeds should be in
+no danger of mixing.
+
+It was Mr. Thorn's custom always to collect his eggs himself, the first
+thing after breakfast; and he never allowed any one to go into the
+fowl-house on any pretence whatever, unless in his company. Owing to
+this precaution the fowls were all very tame, while some would testify
+their pleased sense of his presence by stretching out their necks and
+uttering a little note of welcome. He was the more surprised, therefore,
+on the morning on which our story begins, to notice that all the fowls
+were in a state of intense excitement. To his astonishment, he found
+some of the doors communicating with the various sections of the house
+wide open, and the cocks, that he had supposed were safely guarded from
+each other, fighting together fiercely. Evidently his sister was right.
+Some other hand had collected the eggs.
+
+[Illustration: "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MR. THORN'S EGGS?"]
+
+As he was coming out, after having with some difficulty restored order,
+his little boy came running up to him, with his bag of books on his
+back, on his way to school, saying eagerly--
+
+"I don't want to be dainty, papa, only it is tiresome to have nothing
+but bacon, when there are such lots of eggs."
+
+"How do you know there are lots of eggs, my boy?"
+
+"Because I hear the hens cackling every day, papa. This morning there
+was such a noise before I got up."
+
+"Where did the noise come from, Ralph?"
+
+"From the hen-house, papa."
+
+"Are you quite sure, Ralph?"
+
+"Quite, papa! Oh, I know they don't lay anywhere else, for I have looked
+so often to see if any of them laid their eggs in the garden. I looked
+this morning before breakfast."
+
+"Very well, my boy; run off to school now. Perhaps we may find out soon
+where the hens do lay their eggs; but you had better not say anything
+about it to your schoolfellows."
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I tell you what it is, Bob--I don't believe you come honestly by that
+money. You never do any work to speak of, and yet every now and then you
+bring in a lot of money," said a pale-looking young woman to her
+husband, one morning, as he slouched in to breakfast, and threw a
+handful of silver on the table.
+
+"A deal you know about it, Jane! If I get odd jobs that bring me in an
+odd shilling or two, what business is it of yours, I should like to
+know? If you and the little 'un have enough to eat, that's all you need
+trouble about."
+
+"'Taint no concern of mine, Bob, and yet I can't help feeling a bit
+uncomfortable when I hear folks say that Mr. Thorn gets no eggs now."
+
+"What do you know about Mr. Thorn's eggs?" asked her husband, roughly.
+
+"Well, that gossiping Mrs. Smith told me that Mr. Thorn said as how his
+hens had taken to hiding their eggs of late. She said he thought they
+had nests somewhere, but he couldn't find them, and then she looked at
+them eggs I was frying for dinner so suspicious-like that I got quite
+red, for fear you had taken 'em."
+
+Bob made no reply, but ate his breakfast in sullen silence. As he went
+out, his wife called after him--
+
+"You try to get a reg'lar job, Bob, and don't go loafing about."
+
+That evening Bob came in earlier than usual, and going up to his wife,
+who was rocking the cradle, said in a husky voice--
+
+"Jane, my gal, I'm goin' to turn over a new leaf."
+
+"Bless the man!" exclaimed Jane in alarm, as she saw unwonted tears in
+her husband's eyes. "Are you took bad, Bob?"
+
+"No, Jane," he replied gently; "but I've been bad. Listen, old gal, and
+I'll tell you all about it. You were right when you said the money I
+brought you lately weren't all honestly come by."
+
+"Oh, Bob!"
+
+"Hush, my gal; don't interrupt me. It's hard on a fellow to have such a
+tale to tell. You know, Jennie, how long I've been out of reg'lar work,
+and how hard I tried to get some of the farmers round to take me on; but
+they all said they had nothing for me to do. Well, when you was took
+bad, I got desperate like; and one mornin', when I was doin' an odd job
+o' digging in Mr. Thorn's garden, I heard his hens a-cackling; and as I
+knowed when he collected the eggs, I got up early next day, and managed
+to slip in afore he was about; and as I wasn't found out, I did it again
+and again; and as I had nothing to do after the diggin', I walked to
+Market Littleton and sold 'em; and so I did many a time. Well, this
+morning I met Mr. Thorn in the village. I tried to skulk out of his way,
+but he walked up quite friendly-like, and says he, 'I wish I had known
+you were so fond of eggs. I'd have given you some,' says he, 'and
+welcome.' Well, I tried to brave it out, and swore I knew nought of his
+eggs, but he went on quite friendly in his funny way. 'Bob,' says he,
+'you shall have as many as you like, only let me have the pleasure of
+getting them for you. It's a pity for you to get up so early, and have
+all the trouble of getting over the fence, and opening the door with a
+bit of wire, when I could send them to you without any fuss.' Well,
+Jane, I went down on my knees then, and I said, 'If you'll forgive me
+this time, sir, I'll never do it again; only don't send me to jail.
+'Twould break my gal's heart, it would'; and then he puts half-a-crown
+into my hand, and he goes with me to a friend of his, and gets me taken
+on with the horses."
+
+"Oh, Bob, how could you?" said Jane, crying; "and Mr. Thorn such a nice,
+kind-spoken gentleman! And oh, if anybody else knows, you'll get the
+name of a thief!"
+
+"No one else does know, my gal, and I am sure that Mr. Thorn will keep
+it close. He said he 'spected me the day afore yesterday, when he seed
+me at Market Littleton sellin' some eggs, and says he, 'I didn't like to
+'spect you, Bob; but after my 'spicions was roused, I watched yesterday
+mornin' and this mornin';' and as I was a-coming out of the hen-house
+this mornin', he seed me, and says he, ''Tis an ill deed that has to be
+done in the dark, Bob.'"
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+A night or two afterwards, as Bob was passing a building where services
+were being held, he fancied that he heard Mr. Thorn's voice, and he went
+into the porch to listen. Yes, it was John Thorn's voice. He was
+praying, and it seemed to Bob that he was praying for him. He prayed for
+those who were sorely tempted, and who had no strength to resist--who
+had never savingly heard the voice of the Lord, and who never used His
+name but in oaths. "That's me," said poor Bob, with a groan. After the
+prayer, the hymn, "Just as I am," was sung, and then a short address was
+given by the preacher.
+
+"Needy sinners, come just as you are," said the preacher. "Jesus died
+for sinners. Come with all your sins upon you. Don't try to wash off
+some of the biggest ones; you will only make the dirty stains worse.
+Come just as you are. You perhaps think of others--your old companions
+who will laugh at you, and so you are ashamed. Were you ashamed of that
+mean act you did in the dark the other morning?"
+
+"He knows all about it," thought Bob, and he covered his face with his
+hands. At that moment of supreme misery, some one touched him on the
+shoulder, and looking up in terror, Bob saw the man whom he had robbed
+gazing down upon him, with his kind eyes full of pity and compassion for
+the poor sorrow-stricken man.
+
+"You've bin and told him," hissed Bob.
+
+"My poor fellow, I have told him nothing. God forbid that I should tell
+any one of the sin which you have confessed to me. Come in, Bob."
+
+"I am so bad and so dirty."
+
+"Your clothes are dirty, Bob," replied Mr. Thorn, glancing at Bob's
+soiled and shabby garments. "I wonder that you go on wearing them. They
+are too dirty to be washed."
+
+"Too dirty to be washed, sir!" exclaimed Bob in amazement. "I have no
+others to change with, or my gal would very soon have them in the
+wash-tub."
+
+"Very true, Bob. You have no clothes to change with, but if I gave you a
+clean coat, you would soon put it on, aye?"
+
+"Yes, indeed, Mr. Thorn."
+
+"Then, if you by faith come to Christ, in your filthy rags, just as you
+are, He will wash you in the fountain of His blood, and will cover you
+with the robe of His righteousness."
+
+And Bob came. He felt his guilt and misery, and like a little child he
+asked for mercy. Need we say he found it? We do not pretend to fix the
+exact day and hour of his conversion, but this we know--the once
+dishonest man is now, and has been for years, a man of the strictest
+probity; the blasphemer now worships the Saviour whom once he despised;
+and among that little band of Christians in L----, there is none more
+devoted to his Master's service, none more loving and gentle to wife and
+children, and to all within the sphere of his influence, than Bob.
+
+"And under God, I owe it all to Mr. Thorn," he would say. "Had he, a
+professing Christian, sent me to prison then, could I have believed what
+he said of God's mercy? Mr. Thorn was to me the living witness of God's
+mercy in Christ."
+
+"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also
+forgive you."
+
+  "Just as I am, without one plea,
+  But that Thy blood was shed for me,
+  And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
+            O Lamb of God, I come!
+
+  "Just as I am, and waiting not
+  To rid my soul of one dark blot,
+  To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
+            O Lamb of God, I come!
+
+  "Just as I am Thou wilt receive;
+  Wilt strengthen, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
+  Because Thy promise I believe;
+            O Lamb of God, I come!
+
+  "Just as I am--Thy love unknown
+  Has broken every barrier down;
+  Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
+            O Lamb of God, I come!"
+
+                            --_From a Tract._
+
+
+
+
+SUCCESS.--There is a glare about success which is apt to dazzle men's
+eyes. When we see a man rising in the world, a foolish high opinion is
+formed of his merits. It is said, "What a wonderful man this must be to
+rise so rapidly!" forgetting that straw, dust, and feathers--things
+without value or weight--rise the soonest and easiest. It is not always
+the good and great man who rises rapidly into wealth and notice.
+
+
+
+
+A GOOD EXAMPLE.
+
+
+The following notice, headed, "To the Workmen of Stoke Works," was
+recently issued by Mr. J. Corbett, M.P.:--
+
+"It has been to me a matter of great pain and regret to receive from
+time to time complaints from grocers, bakers, and other tradesmen, that
+the men employed at the works ask for credit, and then refuse to pay
+their lawful debts, thereby bringing a bad name upon the works, and no
+good repute upon me as an employer. Now, considering that the men
+employed here obtain higher wages than at any other salt works in
+England, and receive their wages weekly, I consider such conduct simply
+disgraceful, particularly when evidence is brought before me that the
+money which should go to pay tradesmen for provisions for the wife and
+family is expended in drink, too often leading to drunkenness. I contend
+that workmen who receive their wages weekly should never get into debt,
+and tradesmen ought to know that if men who regularly have their wages
+every Saturday cannot pay one week, they are in no better position to
+pay the week after. I am determined to try to remove this stigma from
+Stoke Works, and hereby give notice that any man or men who expend their
+wages in drinking or otherwise, instead of paying their lawful debts,
+are no men for these works; and I do hope that any such men will take
+advice intended with the best feelings for their good and the comfort of
+their families. A copy of this notice will be sent to the tradesmen of
+Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, and other places. This is, of
+course, only intended to apply to those men who are guilty of the
+conduct herein complained of.--(Signed) JOHN CORBETT, Stoke Prior Salt
+Works."
+
+
+IT is better to be nobly remembered than nobly born.--_Ruskin._
+
+
+
+
+THE DUTCH AND THEIR COUNTRY.
+
+
+The enemies with which they had to contend were three--the sea, the
+lakes, the rivers. They dried up the lakes, imprisoned the rivers, drove
+back the sea.
+
+In order to drain the lakes they made use of the air. The lakes and
+ponds were surrounded by dams, the dams by canals. An army of windmills
+put pumps in motion, which turned the water into the canals, which
+conducted it to the rivers and to the sea. Thus vast spaces of land
+buried under water were transformed as if by enchantment into fertile,
+smiling plains, populated by villages. From 1500 to 1858 the amount of
+land reclaimed was 355 miles.
+
+By the substitution of steam instead of windmills, the great lake of
+Haarlem was dried, the furious tempests of which threatened the cities
+of Haarlem, Amsterdam, and Leyden with destruction; and the Dutch, in
+1883, seriously contemplated the prodigious undertaking of reclaiming
+the land buried under the Zuyder Zee.
+
+The rivers did not cost much less labour than the lakes, but the most
+tremendous struggle was with the ocean. A great part of Holland is below
+sea-level, and the land has to be defended by dykes. If these wonderful
+bulwarks of earth and of wood and granite were not there as monuments to
+attest the courage and perseverance of the Dutch, no one would believe
+that the hand of man, even in the course of centuries, could accomplish
+so great a work.
+
+Holland is an impregnable fortress. The mills are the towers of its
+immense bastions, the cataracts the gates, the islands the advanced
+forts; and she shows to her enemy, the sea, only the belfries and roofs
+of the edifices.
+
+Holland is a fortress, and the Dutch, like people in a fortress, stand
+on a perpetual war-footing with the sea. An army of engineers, dependent
+on the Minister of the Interior, spy upon the enemy continually, watch
+over the state of the internal waters, provide for ruptures in the
+embankments, advise and direct new works of defence to strengthen and
+support the old.
+
+The danger is constant, the sentinels ever at their posts. At the first
+assault of the sea they give the cry of alarm, and Holland sends arms,
+materials, and money. Even when there is not a great battle raging,
+there is always a slow, silent struggle. The innumerable mills are never
+quiet, always pumping the rain-water into the canals. Every day the
+cataracts of the canals and rivers shut their huge gates against the
+rising tide, which struggles to precipitate itself into the heart of the
+country.
+
+But Holland has done more than defend herself from the sea, and master
+it. The waters were her scourge, but she has made them her defence. When
+a foreign army invaded her territory, she opened her sluice-gates,
+unchained the sea and the waves, and let them loose on the enemy,
+defending internal cities with a fleet. The water was her poverty; she
+made it her wealth.
+
+"Nature," says a Dutch poet, "refused all her gifts to Holland. Men had
+to do everything in spite of Nature."
+
+It is enough to look at the monuments of the great struggle with the sea
+to understand that the distinctive characteristics of this people must
+be firmness and patience, accompanied by a calm and never-failing
+courage.
+
+
+YOU can outlive a slander in half the time you can out-argue it.
+
+
+THE soul that cannot entirely trust God, whether man be pleased or
+displeased, can never long be true to Him; for, while you are eyeing
+man, you are losing sight of God and stabbing religion at the very
+heart.--_Manton._
+
+
+
+
+SUNDAY SCHOOL INTELLIGENCE.
+
+
+CLIFTON SUNDAY SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY.
+
+Special services in the above place, on behalf of the Sunday School,
+were held on Sunday, July 22nd.
+
+Two sermons were preached, in the morning and evening, by the Pastor,
+Mr. Frederick Marshall; also an address was given by him in the
+afternoon. Text in the morning, Deuteronomy vi. 6, 7. He spoke of the
+good of Sunday Schools in the cases of many that have left them and gone
+out into the world to earn their living. It was his prayer that the Lord
+would bless the labours of the brethren and sisters in the good work,
+and that they might not be weary in well-doing, for they have the
+promise, "they shall reap if they faint not." He could rest assured that
+what was taught in the school was according to the Scriptures. He warned
+the young people to flee from temptations and from the appearance of
+evil, and directed them to diligently search the Scriptures, and take
+them for a guide.
+
+In the afternoon, in the presence of a goodly number of parents,
+teachers, and scholars, he spoke from the little word "One." He said
+that there must be a oneness between teachers and scholars, or the
+school could not succeed. He also said that each boy and girl, as well
+as the teacher, had his or her individual duty to do, and he said that
+they all ought to try to do that duty well, out of school as well as in.
+
+In the evening, the text was Romans xvi. 26. The sermon was listened to
+very attentively by a good congregation. Suitable pieces for the
+occasion were sung by the children.
+
+On the following Thursday the children had their annual treat. On
+account of the previous wet weather, it was feared that not a very
+enjoyable day was in store; but He who is still the Answerer of prayer
+was pleased to stay the rain, so that a very pleasant day was spent by
+all present.
+
+                                     A SCHOLAR.
+
+
+PROVIDENCE CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL, BURWASH.
+
+The first public meeting took place on Wednesday, August 8th. The
+meeting was opened at two p.m. by singing, and then the Superintendent
+read Proverbs iv. 1-13, and spoke in prayer. The children then amused
+themselves for a time in the adjoining field. They were called in again
+at four o'clock, and after reading and prayer, eight of the senior
+scholars recited from fifteen to thirty verses each of Scripture, and
+some hymns, for which they were presented, six with the Clifton Hymnal,
+one with "The Sack and its Treasure," and the other with "The Morte
+Stone," kindly presented by Mr. J. Wilmshurst, of Cranbrook. Three of
+the junior scholars also said a few verses, for which they were
+presented, two with a New Testament, and one with the Psalms.
+
+At five o'clock about thirty persons sat down to tea, most of whom were
+children.
+
+In the evening Mr. J. Jarvis, of Mayfield, preached a very impressive
+and encouraging sermon from Hebrews xii. 24.
+
+The Sunday School was opened on the last Lord's Day in April with three
+scholars. It now has eighteen, and we trust that the Lord will still
+prosper the good work.
+
+                                            S. H. JARVIS.
+
+
+CARMEL CHAPEL, FLECKNEY.
+
+The anniversary of the Sabbath School in connection with the above place
+of worship was held on Sunday, July 29th, when two sermons were preached
+by Mr. Read, who has now preached on these occasions for thirteen years.
+Both school-rooms and chapel were crowded. Special hymns were sung by
+the scholars, and at the close of the sermon in the evening, twelve
+handsomely-bound Bibles were presented to six girls and six boys, it
+being a custom to give one to each scholar at the age of sixteen. Mr.
+Read spoke very appropriate words as he presented the Bible to each
+scholar.
+
+Collections were made at the close of each service, amounting in the
+whole to £16.
+
+The school, which now numbers 190 scholars, was commenced about thirty
+years since, when our esteemed Superintendent, Mr. J. Garner, was the
+only teacher, with five scholars.
+
+The preaching of the truth of God in our village was begun by our
+beloved minister, Mr. Deacon, thirty-four years ago, in a cottage, which
+has given rise to the building of two chapels, and it is thought that
+the present one, which has only been built ten years, will have to be
+enlarged. We are constrained to say, with one of old, "What hath God
+wrought?"
+
+                                               A READER.
+
+
+
+
+"A SOFT ANSWER."
+
+
+A person went to the late Mr. Longden, of Sheffield, one day, and said,
+"I have something against you, and I am come to tell you of it." "Do
+walk in, sir," he replied. "You are my best friend. If I could but
+engage my friends to be faithful with me, I should be sure to prosper.
+But, if you please, we will both kneel down, in the first place, and ask
+the blessing of God upon our interview." After they rose from their
+knees, Mr. Longden said, "Now, my brother, I will thank you to tell me
+what it is that you had against me." "Oh," said the man, "I really don't
+know what it is. It is all gone; and I believe I was in the wrong."
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.
+
+(ACTS v. 1-16.)
+
+
+In the second chapter of Acts we learn how the Holy Spirit was, on the
+Day of Pentecost, just after Christ's ascension, poured out upon the
+apostles, how they preached the Gospel in languages they had never
+learned before, and how three thousand of their hearers were led to
+confess their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. These were
+baptized according to His commandment, and added to the company of
+disciples at Jerusalem, partaking of the Lord's Supper as He had bidden
+them, and continuing in fellowship and prayer. But besides all this,
+they made a rule for themselves which Jesus had not actually laid down
+for them. The richer members gave up their money and goods, and all
+shared alike. Thus beautifully did they obey the spirit of His new
+commandment, "Love one another, even as I have loved you" (John xv. 12).
+
+But this happy state of things did not long continue. Satan and sin soon
+interrupted its trustful, unselfish course, and we never find again that
+they that believed had all things common, after the events recorded in
+Acts v.
+
+A man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira joined the Church, and seeing
+that others parted with their possessions, they also sold a piece of
+land, and laid a portion of the price at the apostles' feet, pretending
+that they had given up the whole of the money received. Peter, being
+divinely inspired, detected the falsehood, and Ananias fell down dead at
+his feet, was carried from the place of meeting, and buried immediately.
+Sapphira, ignorant of the dreadful fact, came to a later service, and
+repeating the lie to Peter, she also was struck with death in a moment,
+and was borne to her husband's grave.
+
+His seems to have been an _acted_, hers a _spoken_ lie. In each case
+the falsehood was partly true, but the intention was to deceive, and
+this is the very essence of a lie. It was hypocrisy. They "played a
+part," like actors on the stage. They pretended to be different people
+from what they really were, and they wanted to be thought of as loving,
+sincere, and generous Christians, while they were false-hearted and
+hollow all the time.
+
+May we never try to deceive others, to make a false impression--to seem
+better than we are. God sees and knows us altogether. May it be our
+chief desire to have our hearts and lives right with Him.
+
+But why did such a terrible doom fall upon these two false ones at the
+very beginning of the Christian era? In the olden time God's judgments
+fell upon transgressors in a sudden and fearful way, but under the
+gracious reign of Jesus we might scarcely have looked for such a display
+of wrath. Yet, though "God is love," He is also "a consuming fire," and
+there is not all that difference between the old dispensation and the
+present one which might at first appear. David was forgiven ages before,
+and these sinners were destroyed in Gospel times. Then, "God was greatly
+to be feared in the assembly of His saints," and still He must "be had
+in reverence of all them that are about Him."
+
+But what were the effects of this awful occurrence? "Great fear came
+upon the Church, and upon all who heard these things." This is just what
+we should have expected. "And of the rest" (of those who were not true
+and whole-hearted) "no one dared to join that company." So much the
+better, just as the disciples were better off without Judas Iscariot. A
+decaying corpse in the house injures the health of the living inmates,
+and false professors have never done good, but rather harm, to the true
+Church of God.
+
+Yet another result followed which we might not have hoped for--a large
+increase of believing converts. "Multitudes of men and women, believing
+on the Lord, were the more added to the Church." "The more." Yes, for
+this very reason--they saw and felt that "the Lord was there," and
+loving Him, they wished to dwell in His presence, and enjoy His
+protection and care.
+
+Oh, how important motives are! A thief in the company of innocent people
+may, like them, offer to be searched, in order to avoid suspicion, as
+Judas asked, "Lord, is it I?" when all the disciples had first put the
+question to Jesus, but he could not thus escape the searching eyes that
+read his heart, or the words of condemnation that fell upon his ears.
+Are we willing to be searched and tried by God?
+
+But, if we do desire to belong to Jesus, and follow Him, need we, should
+we, hesitate to unite with, or remain among, His people? Oh, no! Though
+He is angry with the wicked every day, and terrible to the hypocrites,
+He is gracious and full of compassion to all who seek His grace. "Will
+He plead against me with His great strength? No, but He will put
+strength in me," said Job (chap. xxiii. 6). And while He burns up all
+who rebel against Him, as the fire consumes briars and thorns, they who
+would be at peace with Him shall find peace by His own strength (Isa.
+xxvii. 4, 5) and love.
+
+Yes, and not only so--it is a blessing for us that He does know us
+altogether. We are sometimes afraid to confess some secret fault to an
+earthly friend, lest we should be loved less when the wrong thing is
+known; and if we could hide ourselves from God, how we might shrink from
+telling Him some of our thoughts and feelings, and this secrecy might
+ruin and destroy us. But He does know all, and knowing, loves His
+children still, so that we may pour out all our heart before Him; and
+while it will be an unspeakable relief to us, it will be no news to Him.
+A sense of our own unworthiness will only precede the joyous assurance
+of pardon and blessing. Peter once said, "Depart from me, for I am a
+sinful man, O Lord!" and Isaiah cried, "Woe is me, for I am undone"
+(Isa. vi. 5); but Peter's fear gave place to the clinging words of
+love--"Lord, to whom shall we go [but unto Thee], for Thou hast the
+words of eternal life?" (John vi. 68); while Isaiah's cry of sorrow
+changed to the gladsome song, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will
+trust, and not be afraid" (Isa. xii. 2).
+
+Oh, that we may be helped to cast ourselves by faith and prayer entirely
+upon Him, and, like Peter, say, "Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou
+knowest that I love Thee." Amen.
+
+Our next subject will be, _The Good Shepherd, His Lambs and Sheep_ (Isa.
+xl. 11).
+
+                                        Yours affectionately,
+                                                    H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+An officer of Pharaoh.
+A city built by Cain.
+A son of Solomon.
+A precious stone.
+The mount where Joshua built an altar.
+A queen of the Ethiopians.
+The land of Haran's nativity.
+One of the seven Churches of Asia.
+A duke of Edom.
+One whom the Lord raised up to
+deliver Israel.
+A daughter of Zelophehad.
+
+The initials of the words do show
+What Christ on earth had to pass through;
+And all His people may prepare,
+While in this world, to have their share.
+
+                                     THOMAS TYLER
+                                  (Aged 13 years).
+
+_Potton, Beds._
+
+
+ADVERSITY borrows its sharpest sting from our impatience.--_Bishop
+Horne._
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+     THE BLESSINGS CONFERRED ON ENGLAND BY THE ACCESSION TO THE THRONE
+     OF WILLIAM OF ORANGE, AND BY THE PROTESTANT SUCCESSION THEREBY
+     SECURED TO US.
+
+
+The blessings conferred on England by the accession of William of Orange
+ought long to be remembered by all those who love to worship God in the
+way their conscience tells them is right.
+
+He came to England at a time in its history when it was especially in
+need of help. He restored liberty, both civil and religious, and backed
+up Protestantism. The Protestant people were greatly burdened by the
+cruelties of James II., who, it is said, had a mind more devoted to the
+infliction of pain than had been since the Romans conquered England.
+Here he persecuted those who held fast to the "common prayer," and in
+Scotland put to death as many as would not adopt it. He had two women
+tied to stakes and drowned in the Solway Firth, because they would not
+repeat the Apostles' Creed.
+
+By these incidents of his cruelty, we plainly see the great blessing of
+liberty which God, through William III., bestowed on England, and the
+great blessing which Protestantism is to the land.
+
+James having thus shown himself to the people, and his cruelties being
+so great, it is naturally to be expected that they would readily accept
+this new sovereign, who was a good man, and who had supported the
+Protestants of Holland all his life. He had a right to the crown by his
+marriage to Mary, the daughter of James II.
+
+England received a great blessing in the year 1701, the Act of
+Settlement being passed by the consent of William and his Parliament,
+which shut out from the English throne all persons who were Roman
+Catholics, or persons married to Roman Catholics.
+
+The successor to him was Queen Anne of Denmark, and when she died,
+leaving no child, another agreement was formed, placing the crown on
+Sophia, Dowager-Electress of Hanover, and her posterity, if they were
+Protestants. Since this Act was passed there has been no Roman Catholic
+on the throne. If it had not been passed, several Romanist sovereigns
+might have reigned.
+
+The Protestant religion is a great blessing, and the main cause of the
+prosperity of our nation. Romanism greatly impoverishes all countries
+which are its victims, such as Ireland, where Popery predominates. Never
+has the accession to the throne of a Protestant king been more needful
+than it was then.
+
+It is since then that England has won a name as a great nation and a
+brave people. If Protestantism is such a standing religion, which "has
+been through the water, and not been overflowed," and "through the fire
+without being burned," surely we ought to labour hard for the overthrow
+of that false religion which is the main curse of many nations in the
+world. By the important incidents we plainly see God's overruling
+providence guarding us and our religion, and, as Wickliffe said, after
+one of his trials, so say we again with still greater force, "The truth
+shall prevail."
+
+                                          WILLIAM ERNEST CRAY
+                                             (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Pearl Cottage_, _Carlyle Road_,
+_Forton_, _Gosport_, _Hants._
+
+[We are sorry that no more of our young friends have sent Essays for
+this month, but our young friend has thereby the advantage of taking a
+second prize.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Reformation and
+its Heroes."
+
+The subject for November will be, "Lessons to be Derived from the
+History of Daniel," and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that
+subject, a copy of "Cowper's Poems." All competitors must give a
+guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay
+is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the
+Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers
+must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
+Hastings, by the first of October.]
+
+
+
+
+"THE NAILS ARE GONE, BUT THE MARKS ARE LEFT."
+
+
+A little boy, whose father desired to see him a good child, was told one
+day that a nail should be driven into a post whenever he should do an
+act that was wrong; and when he should do a good deed, he might pull one
+out.
+
+The little fellow tried to be good, and, though there were a number of
+nails driven into the post, after a while not one remained.
+
+How happy must Benny have been when he saw the last nail disappear from
+the post!
+
+His father was greatly pleased, and was congratulating his son, when he
+was surprised to see that he was weeping; and very touching was the
+remark he made--"Ah! the nails are all gone, but the marks are left!"
+Was not this contrition?
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN SEPTEMBER.
+
+
+Sept.  2. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 12.
+Sept.  9. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 20.
+Sept. 16. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 13.
+Sept. 23. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 14.
+Sept. 30. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 17.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+"GOD save the Queen" is now sung in eighteen languages.
+
+
+THE cost of making a bank-note for any amount is less than one
+halfpenny.
+
+
+EIGHT million baskets of peaches are expected from Delaware and Maryland
+this season.
+
+
+THE Pool of Bethesda has, according to the quarterly statement of the
+Palestine Exploration Fund, been authoritatively discovered.
+
+
+IN the whole sky an eye of average power will see about 6,000 stars.
+With a telescope this number is greatly increased, and the most powerful
+telescopes show more than 60,000,000. Of this number, not one out of
+each hundred has ever been catalogued.
+
+
+THE oldest newspaper in the whole wide world is the _King Pau_, or
+_Capital Sheet_, published in Pekin. It first appeared A.D. 911, but
+came out only at irregular intervals. Since the year 1351, however, it
+has been published weekly and of uniform size. Now it appears in three
+editions daily.
+
+
+ON an average each Englishman writes forty letters a year, each
+Scotchman thirty, and each Irishman sixteen. The average Italian only
+posts six, and the American twenty-one. It must be remembered that in
+the country letter-writing is a rare pursuit, and that the bulk of
+letters are written by business men.
+
+
+THE tomato is, perhaps, used more as a relish than for its nutritive
+value. Uncooked, it forms the prince of salads, and it is one of the
+most appetising, palatable, and popular vegetables we have. Violent heat
+destroys the delicious flavour of this half fruit, half vegetable, so
+when you cook them, be most careful to use only moderate heat.
+
+
+SAVING THE BUFFALO.--The buffaloes on the American prairies were thought
+to be nearly extinct, thanks to the reckless destruction of big game in
+recent years; but a happy find has been made of a herd nearly one
+hundred strong in a remote and uninhabited part of Texas. To prevent any
+danger of their annihilation, an expedition of trained huntsmen is being
+sent to Texas to drive the buffaloes into a given enclosure, where the
+breed will be carefully preserved.
+
+
+THIRTEEN thousand boxes gone astray, thirteen thousand umbrellas left in
+railway carriages, sixty-seven thousand different items of property lost
+on the railways of the United Kingdom during the single month of August,
+1887! The railway companies are not responsible for this property, but
+to their credit be it said, they afford every facility for its recovery.
+
+
+POPERY IN PORTUGAL.--A correspondent in Oporto describes the Romish
+ceremony of washing an image of Christ in Lisbon, and adds--"If those
+who are drifting Romewards could only see the depths of greed,
+hypocrisy, and deceit to which the Church descends in these countries
+where she holds sway, and how immorality, infidelity, and spiritual
+darkness rule among the people, from high to low, they would surely
+hesitate to introduce Popish mummeries into free England."
+
+
+TO CURE FEATHERS.--The following recipe gained a premium from the
+Society of Arts. Mix a quantity of lime-water in the proportion of one
+pound of quicklime to a gallon of water, mixing well, and pouring off
+the clean lime-water for use as soon as the undissolved lime is
+precipitated. Put the feathers in a tub, adding enough of the clean
+lime-water to cover them to a depth of three inches. Stir them about
+until well moistened, when they will sink. Leave for three or four days,
+and then pour the whole through a sieve to get rid of the foul water.
+Wash well in clean water, and dry upon nets in a room where the air can
+be admitted. Cabbage nets will do well, the feathers falling through the
+meshes as they dry. About three weeks will finish the feathers, which
+will only need beating afterwards to get rid of the dust.
+
+
+CURIOUS CUSTOM AT A CITY CHURCH.--The following extract from the last
+will and testament of Peter Symondes, mercer, dated April 24th, 1586,
+refers to a curious custom still observed on Good Friday at All Hallows
+Church, Lombard Street:--"The parson and churchwardens shall every year,
+upon the same Good Fryday, divide the same raisons into threescore parts
+in papers, and when the children of Christ's Hospital shall come upon
+Good Fryday as aforesaid, then the said parson and churchwardens shall
+give unto every child a part of that so appointed; and although this
+gift may be thought very frivolous, yet, my mind and meaning being
+hidden, may, notwithstanding, be performed, praying God to make all
+those children happy members of this Commonwealth. Amen." Under
+directions in the same will, each of the sixty boys also receives a new
+penny. An Easter card is also given by the churchwardens from the parish
+funds.
+
+
+THE EARWIG.--The old-fashioned idea of the much-dreaded earwig is little
+more than a fallacy. The original English word "ear" signified an
+undeveloped flower-bud, especially among corn, and "wic" commonly stood
+for a hiding-place; so that familiar insect (formerly written
+"ear-wig"), through seeking its favourite dwelling beneath the
+closely-shielded bud "ears," has been universally accredited with
+propensities so deadly injurious to mankind of which it naturally stands
+wholly innocent. In this manner popular superstition has often thrown a
+mantle of evil and dread upon surrounding objects, harmless in
+themselves; and so long as the vulgar lend credence to ill-founded
+traditions without instituting intelligent inquiry, so long must such
+discrepancies continue to hold sway over the public mind.
+
+
+SHEEP-SHEARING BY MACHINERY.--A public trial of Mr. P. W. Wolseley's
+"Patent Sheep-Shearing Machine" was recently made in the presence of a
+number of gentlemen interested in sheep-breeding and wool-growing. The
+result--says _The Australasian_--was a complete success. The first test
+was upon a crossbred sheep with an average fleece. The animal was
+closely shorn in four and a half minutes. The second animal was shorn in
+the ordinary way, and then operated upon by the machine, with the result
+that, in addition to the cut of the old-fashioned shears, nine and a
+half ounces of wool were obtained. It is claimed for the invention that
+it works faster than hand labour, leaves no second cut, does not injure
+the skin in the slightest degree, and can be so regulated that the
+fleece can be removed of any length desired.
+
+
+A MONSTER TROUT.--A monster trout was captured the last week in July in
+the river Itchen, at Winchester, weighing 16 lbs. 2 ozs., and measuring
+32 inches in length and 21 inches in circumference. The bait was a live
+minnow, and he was not landed till two hours after he was hooked. He had
+haunted the stream for years, was almost as well known in the city as
+Queen Anne's statue in the High Street, and had acquired quite a
+reputation for the number of rods he had broken, and the quantity of
+fishing tackle he had carried away. His captor was a labourer named
+Turpin, who disposed of him for £1 to a fishmonger, on whose slab it
+attracted almost as many visitors as a monarch lying in state. He was in
+splendid condition, and has now gone into the hands of a taxidermist for
+preservation.
+
+
+A RATHER curious episode in natural history occurred the other day on
+board the French steamboat _Abd-el-Kader_, during the passage from
+Marseilles to Algiers. Just as the vessel was about two hours out, the
+skies became quite black with swallows. It was then about six o'clock in
+the evening. The birds alighted in thousands on the sails, ropes, and
+yards of the _Abd-el-Kader_. After a perky survey of the deck from their
+eminences aloft, they descended coolly on deck, hopped about among the
+sailors and passengers, and eventually found their way into the cabins,
+both fore and aft. The birds were evidently fatigued, after a long
+flight, and allowed themselves to be caught by the people of the ship,
+who gave them a welcome reception, and provided them with food, which
+they enjoyed heartily. The little winged strangers remained all night on
+the vessel, and in the morning, at seven o'clock, the head look-out bird
+had, no doubt, sighted the Balearic Isles, for the whole flock made for
+land, after having spent a comfortable and refreshing night on board
+ship.
+
+
+FACTS ABOUT LONDON.--London is the greatest city the world ever saw. It
+has an influence with all parts of the world, represented by the yearly
+delivery in its postal districts of 295 millions of letters; it covers
+within the fifteen miles' radius of Charing Cross nearly 700 square
+miles; it numbers within these boundaries four million two hundred
+thousand of inhabitants; it contains more country-born persons than the
+counties of Devon and Gloucester combined, or 37 per cent. of its
+population; has, on an average, four fires every day amongst its 500,000
+houses; has a birth in it every four minutes; has a death in it every
+six minutes; has 230 persons every day and 84,000 annually added to its
+population; has nine accidents every day in its 7,000 miles of streets;
+has 55 miles of new streets opened, and 17,000 new houses built in it
+every year; has a vast network of 2,184 miles of sewers and pipes for
+its drainage, and 2,000 miles for its gas supply of 55,000 lamps; has
+1,000 ships and 9,000 sailors in its port every day; has upwards of
+89,000 persons annually taken into custody by the police; has more than
+one-third of all the crime in the country committed in it; has 25,000
+persons living in its common lodging houses; has 43,286 persons annually
+arrested as drunk and disorderly. It is further estimated that it
+comprises 100,000 foreigners from every quarter of the globe. It
+contains more Roman Catholics than Rome itself; it contains more Jews
+than the whole of Palestine; it contains more Irish than Belfast; it
+contains more Scotchmen than Aberdeen; it contains more Welshmen than
+Cardiff; it has as many beershops and gin-palaces, the frontages of
+which would, if placed side by side, stretch from Charing Cross to
+Chichester, a distance of 62 miles. It has nearly as many paupers as
+would occupy every house in Brighton.
+
+[Illustration: "WHO SHALL HAVE IT?" (_See page 218._)]
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE SCOTCH GRANITE.
+
+
+Burt and Johnnie Lee were delighted when their Scotch cousin came to
+live with them. He was little, but very bright and full of fun. He could
+tell curious things about his home in Scotland, and his voyage across
+the ocean. He was as far advanced in his studies as they were, and the
+first day he went to school they thought him remarkably good. He wasted
+no time in play when he should have been studying, and he advanced
+finely.
+
+At night, before the close of the school, the teacher called the roll,
+and the boys began to answer, "Ten." When Willie understood that he was
+to say ten if he had not whispered during the day, he replied, "I have
+whispered."
+
+"More than once?" asked the teacher.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered Willie.
+
+"As many as ten times?"
+
+"Maybe I have," faltered Willie.
+
+"Then I shall mark you zero," said the teacher, sternly; "and that is a
+great disgrace."
+
+"Why, I did not see you whisper once," said Johnnie, that night after
+school.
+
+"Well, I did," said Willie, "I saw others doing it, and so I asked to
+borrow a book; then I lent a slate pencil, and asked a boy for a knife,
+and did several such things. I supposed it was allowed."
+
+"Oh, but we all do it," said Burt, reddening. "There isn't any sense in
+the old rule; and nobody could keep it; nobody does."
+
+"I will, or else I will say I haven't," said Willie. "Do you suppose I
+would tell ten lies in one heap?"
+
+"Oh, we don't call them lies," muttered Johnnie. "There wouldn't be a
+credit among us at night, if we were so strict."
+
+"What of that if you told the truth?" laughed Willie, bravely.
+
+In a short time the boys all saw how it was with him. He studied hard,
+played with all his might in play time; but, according to his account,
+he lost more credits than any of the rest. After some weeks, the boys
+answered "Nine" and "Eight" oftener than they used to. Yet the
+school-room seemed to have grown quieter. Sometimes, when Willie Grant's
+mark was even lower than usual, the teacher would smile peculiarly, but
+said no more of disgrace. Willie never preached at them or told tales;
+but somehow it made the boys ashamed of themselves, just the seeing that
+this sturdy blue-eyed boy must tell the truth. It was putting the clean
+cloth by the half-soiled one, you see; and they felt like cheats and
+story-tellers. They talked him all over, and loved him, if they did
+nickname him "Scotch Granite," he was so firm about a promise.
+
+Well, at the end of the term, Willie's name was very low down on the
+credit list. When it was read, he had hard work not to cry; for he was
+very sensitive, and he had tried hard to be perfect. But the very last
+thing that day was a speech by the teacher, who told of once seeing a
+man muffled up in a cloak. He was passing him without a look, when he
+was told the man was General ----, the great hero.
+
+"The signs of his rank were hidden, but the hero was there just the
+same," said the teacher. "And now, boys, you will see what I mean when I
+give a little gold medal to the most faithful boy--the one really the
+most conscientiously perfect in his deportment among you. Who shall have
+it?"
+
+"Little Scotch Granite!" shouted forty boys at once; for the child whose
+name was so "low" on the credit list had made truth noble in their eyes.
+"A poor man is better than a liar."--_The Lantern._
+
+
+
+
+THE HYACINTH.
+
+
+The sweet-scented pink hyacinth which had been brought me was beautiful
+indeed. It had not yet reached maturity, nor as yet shown all its
+resources of vigour and of beauty, but we took great pleasure in
+watching its gradual unfolding. Some of its beautiful double bells did,
+in fact, come out, and gave forth their delicious perfume. But one day
+there came a stop to its development, which made us anxious. Some of the
+blossoms faded before they had fully displayed their lovely hues, and
+the buds remained stationary in their leaves. Water, sunshine, soft
+spring air, were not lacking to them. The earth in the flower-pot was
+good, and there was sufficient space for the roots to expand, but it was
+speedily evident that the plant was dying. "At all events," I said,
+"I'll save the bulb." So saying, I raised the plant out of the base,
+using great precaution, that I might not break the beautiful white-red
+threads, which I shook, in order to loosen them from the earth. They had
+become wound together, and formed a sort of nest, in which crawled,
+twisting themselves as they went along, as many as eight worms.
+
+It was certainly not to be wondered at that, with eight worms at the
+root, the poor flower should not have been able to thrive. I removed the
+enemy at once, and planted the hyacinth again under more favourable
+conditions; but it is to be feared that the sap had been too much
+impoverished for it ever to thrive again.
+
+I seemed to see a parable in the history of my plant, and I could not
+avoid sighing. Why did I sigh? Because I have known so many young men
+and women who have disappointed the hopes felt about them in their
+childhood. The careful culture these young people have had from tender
+and anxious parents has not succeeded. These promising plants have been
+blighted because some gnawing worm, which their friends had not
+remarked, was at the root. It was vanity--the desire to shine--it was
+deceit--untruthfulness--it was pride--rebellion of the will against all
+authority--it was covetousness--it was selfishness--it was----But why
+should I continue the melancholy enumeration? It is God who alone knows
+the secret enemies of our happiness. "The heart is deceitful above all
+things, and desperately wicked," says the voice of Scripture; "who can
+know it?" "Out of the heart come evil thoughts," says Christ; therefore
+how needful for all of us is the prayer, "Create in me a clean heart, O
+God!" and how cheering the promise, "I will give you a new heart, and I
+will put a new spirit within you."
+
+                                                 J. Y.
+
+
+
+
+WORDS AND DEEDS.
+
+
+One of our party greatly needed some elder-flower water for her face,
+upon which the sun was working great mischief. It was in the Italian
+town of Varallo, and not a word of Italian did I know. I entered a
+chemist's shop, and surveyed his drawers and bottles, but the result was
+nil. Bright thought--I would go down by the river, and walk until I
+could gather a bunch of elder-flowers, for the tree was then in bloom.
+Happily the search was successful. The flowers were exhibited to the
+druggist; the extract was procured.
+
+When you cannot tell in so many words what true religion is, exhibit it
+by your actions. Show by your life what grace can do. There is no
+language in the world so eloquent as a godly life. Men may doubt what
+you say, but they will believe what you do.--_C. H. Spurgeon._
+
+
+IT is a great shame to a man to have a poor heart and a rich
+purse.--_Chaucer._
+
+
+
+
+DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH.
+
+"_He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants
+of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground._"--GENESIS xix. 25.
+
+
+The following extract from "Word Pictures from the Bible," by G. H.
+Taylor, furnishes a good specimen of pictorial teaching, and will serve
+to illustrate the lesson on the above subject:--
+
+In the southern part of Palestine, and about thirty miles south-east
+from Jerusalem, stands the Dead Sea. It is a lake of about forty miles
+in length, with an average breadth of ten miles. On the east and the
+west, steep, rugged, and barren mountains of limestone rise up to the
+height of two thousand feet, and enclose the waters as in a huge
+cauldron. A death-like stillness prevails all around, unbroken save by
+the scream of the wild fowl on the bosom of the lake, or the footstep of
+some daring and solitary traveller. Its shores are deserted. No human
+habitation exists within miles. Even the wandering Arab approaches it
+with superstitious dread. Nothing can exceed the gloomy grandeur of its
+scenery. Rocks piled upon rocks, like ruin upon ruin, look down from the
+east and the west, and are reflected in its sluggish waters. In its
+immediate vicinity all vegetation languishes and dies, and the shores
+are covered as with a coat of salt. In the waters themselves no living
+thing exists. Everything contributes to the ideas of solitude, silence,
+sterility, mystery, ruin, and death.
+
+Now there was a time when the Sea did not exist--when the ground which
+it now covers formed part of a lovely, extensive, and fertile plain. So
+lovely was this plain that it was likened to the garden of paradise, on
+account of its fertility. Everything which was pleasant to the eye and
+good for food grew there. There was one valley in this plain which was
+beautiful beyond all others; it was the vale of Siddim. In this vale
+were built the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, and some
+others. Now, the fertility of the ground caused the inhabitants of these
+places to be very rich and very idle. They forgot the goodness of God in
+placing them in such a lovely spot; and instead of thanking Him for His
+kindness towards them, they gave way to such a beastliness and
+licentiousness of conduct as one cannot think of without shuddering.
+Their very name lives to our times to designate all that is filthy and
+abominable in the conduct of men. They were not only licentious, they
+were proud; not only proud, they were greedy and uncharitable. Although
+they possessed in such abundance all that was necessary for the
+happiness and sustenance of man, yet would they not give anything to
+assist the poor and the needy. The Prophet Ezekiel says, "Behold this
+was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom; pride, fulness of bread, and
+abundance of idleness, was in her and in her daughters; neither did she
+strengthen the hand of the poor and needy, but was haughty, and
+committed abomination before Me." All the worst of sins in the greatest
+excess were to be found among these inhabitants of the cities of the
+plain.
+
+At this time there was living among them a man of the name of Lot, the
+nephew of Abraham. One evening, as Lot sat in the gate of Sodom, two
+angels, in the form of men, appeared unto him. "And Lot, seeing them,
+rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the
+ground; and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into
+your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye
+shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we
+will abide in the street all night." They did not wish to enter; but
+Lot pressed them, and they went in, and he gave them some refreshment.
+That very night the angels communicate to Lot the intelligence that the
+Lord had sent them to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the cities of
+the plain, for the sins of the people had become so great that they were
+an abomination in the land. And the angels said unto Lot, "Hast thou
+here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and
+whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place." This
+awful news must have made Lot very anxious for the safety of his family,
+and accordingly he goes out and tells his relations, and bids them get
+up and leave the place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. "But
+he seemed as one that mocked, unto his sons-in-law." Lot entreats them
+like a kind father who desires the safety of his children; but they only
+mock him in return--"Why should to-morrow differ from other days? Who
+ever saw it rain fire, or whence should the brimstone come? Or, if such
+showers must fall, how shall nothing burn but this valley?" "And when
+the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy
+wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in
+the iniquity of the city." How destruction hunts the wicked! As soon as
+it is morning, Lot is told to hurry out of the guilty city, lest he
+should be consumed in its iniquity. Lot looks upon it, and thinks,
+perhaps, of his property which he must leave to perish. He looks, and
+lingers; but the angels "laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of
+his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being
+merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the
+city." No sooner are they beyond the walls of the city than the angels
+say unto him, "Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay
+thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed."
+The command terrifies Lot. "Escape to the mountain--to a wild, barren,
+desert spot, where I cannot find food to eat, and where the wild beasts
+may destroy me? I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me,
+and I die. Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a
+little one. Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my
+soul shall live." The prayer of Lot is graciously accepted. "See, I have
+accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this
+city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I
+cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the
+city was called Zoar." As Lot enters the little city of Zoar the sun is
+shining. Everything was as usual. The sun is shining upon the cities and
+the beautiful vale of Siddim. The inhabitants, heedless and careless as
+before, are wantoning and revelling. Suddenly the windows of heaven are
+opened, and floods of fiery rain pour down upon the guilty cities and
+all within them. The ground takes fire; the wicked inhabitants fly,
+shrieking, from place to place, but all too late. The swift devouring
+flames follow them, and in a short time the cities, the people, all that
+was fair to look upon in the vale of Siddim, even the solid earth
+itself, are in a blaze! Presently a noise like that of thunder is heard.
+The earth, like some huge animal, opens wide its mouth; the cities sink
+into its jaws and are swallowed up; floods of water, filled with
+sulphur, rush over the place where they stood, and nothing is seen but a
+thick cloud of smoke rising from the water. That water is the Dead Sea.
+
+These were not all the horrors of that dreadful day. Lot escaped into
+Zoar, but his wife, who was behind him, looked back, and she became a
+pillar of salt. The angel had told them not to look back. God was at
+that time showing her the greatest mercy, yet, contrary to His commands,
+she looked back, and became a pillar of salt. It may be that the swift
+flames overtook her as she loitered, or that God, offended at such
+ungrateful disobedience, punished her on the spot by immediately turning
+her into a pillar of salt. It matters not to us which way it was. In
+either case it was the result of disobedience.
+
+
+
+
+THE BIBLE AND ITS CLAIMS.
+
+
+I do not know whether you have seen Mr. Smiles' life of our late friend
+George Moore, but in it we read that, at a certain dinner-party, a
+learned man remarked that it would not be easy to find a person of
+intelligence who believed in the inspiration of the Bible. In an instant
+George Moore's voice was heard across the table saying boldly, "I do,
+for one." Nothing more was said. My dear friend had a strong way of
+speaking, as I well remember, for we have upon occasions vied with each
+other in shouting when we were together at his Cumberland home. I think
+I can hear his emphatic "I do, for one." Let us not be backward to take
+the old-fashioned and unpopular side, and say outright, "I do, for one."
+Where are we, if our Bibles are gone? Where are we if taught to distrust
+them? If we are left in doubt as to what part is inspired and what is
+not, we are as badly off as if we had no Bible at all. I hold no theory
+of inspiration. I accept the inspiration of the Scriptures as a fact.
+Those who thus view the Scriptures need not be ashamed of their company,
+for some of the best and most learned of men have been of the same mind.
+Locke, the great philosopher, spent the last fourteen years of his life
+in the study of the Bible, and when asked what was the shortest way for
+a young gentleman to understand the Christian religion, he bade him read
+the Bible, remarking, "Therein are contained the words of eternal life.
+It has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any
+admixture of error, for its matter." There are those on the side of
+God's Word whom you need not be ashamed of in the matter of intelligence
+and learning; and if it were not so, it should not discourage you, when
+you remember that the Lord has "hid these things from the wise and
+prudent, and revealed them unto babes." We believe, with the Apostle,
+that "the foolishness of God is wiser than men." It is better to believe
+what comes out of God's mouth, and be called a fool, than to believe
+what comes out of the mouths of philosophers, and be therefore esteemed
+a wise man.--_C. H. Spurgeon._
+
+
+
+
+MANKIND'S MISTAKES.
+
+
+It is a mistake to labour when you are not in a fit condition to do so.
+
+To think that the more a person eats the healthier and stronger he will
+become.
+
+To go to bed at midnight and rise at daybreak, and imagine that every
+hour taken from sleep is an hour gained.
+
+To imagine that if a little work or exercise is good, violent or
+prolonged exercise is better.
+
+To conclude that the smallest room in the house is large enough to sleep
+in.
+
+To eat as if you had only a minute to finish the meal in, or to eat
+without an appetite, or continue after it has been satisfied, merely to
+gratify the taste.
+
+To believe that children can do as much work as grown people, and that
+the more hours they study the more they learn.
+
+To imagine that whatever remedy causes one to feel immediately better
+(as alcoholic stimulants) is good for the system, without regard to its
+after effects.
+
+To take off proper clothing out of season, simply because you have
+become heated.
+
+To think that any nostrum or patent medicine is a specific for all the
+diseases flesh is heir to.
+
+
+
+
+POSTAL SERVICE STATISTICS
+
+
+The Right Hon. H. C. Raikes, her Majesty's Postmaster-General, has
+issued the thirty-fourth annual report on the working of the postal
+services in the United Kingdom for the year ended March 31st last. The
+record starts with a table, the figures of which convey some notion of
+the magnitude of the task undertaken. It is estimated that during the
+year the number of letters entrusted to the department for delivery was
+1,512,200,000, in addition to 188,800,000 post-cards, 389,500,000 book
+packets and circulars, 152,300,000 newspapers, and 36,732,000 parcels,
+making a gross total of 2,279,532,000. Compared with the previous year
+these figures show an increase of 3.6 per cent. in letters, 4.8 in
+post-cards, 5.6 in book packets and circulars, 0.8 in newspapers, and
+11.8 in parcels, the increase in the total being 3.9. It is calculated
+that the average number of letters addressed to each person was 41, of
+postcards 5, of book packets and circulars 10, of newspapers 4, of
+parcels 1; or a grand average of 61. The distribution of these figures
+over given areas was marked by the usual disproportion. Of the total
+delivery about 85 per cent. was in England and Wales (28 per cent. being
+in the London postal district), 9.0 per cent. was in Scotland, and 6.0
+per cent. in Ireland. The total number of letters registered was
+10,814,722, being an increase of 0.3 per cent.
+
+The constantly growing work of the department necessitates an increase
+in the numerical strength of the staff. The Postmaster-General shows
+that the permanent establishment consists of about 56,460 persons, being
+an increase of 1,609 over last year. Of the 3,872 females employed, 751
+are engaged as clerks in the central offices in London, Dublin, and
+Edinburgh, and 3,121 as telegraphists, counter-women, sorters, &c.,
+throughout the kingdom. In addition to this staff about 48,900
+supernumeraries are employed in the country to assist in the general
+work of the Post Office. Of these 16,000 are females.
+
+The Parcel Post continues to be much used for the transmission of
+flowers, game, &c. It is calculated that over 12,000 parcels, containing
+upwards of 45,000 grouse, were received in London last autumn, and in
+the month of March vegetables in considerable quantities arrived in
+parcels from Algiers, while it was also noticed that in one week 3,787
+parcels containing hats were posted in London alone. As an illustration
+of the use made of this service by certain firms, it may be mentioned
+that two firms in London each posted 70,000 parcels at one time, while a
+third posted 5,000 parcels. The total postage paid on these parcels
+amounted to £1,875.
+
+The "Dead Letter" department, as it is popularly known, has been called
+upon to deal with 13,436,600 letters, newspapers, postcards, packets,
+and parcels. These figures mark a decrease of 785,387, which is
+attributed firstly to the absence of a general election, and secondly to
+the progress of education, "which causes letter writers to exercise more
+care and accuracy in addressing letters." The report continues:--
+
+"Of the total number received 412,122 were unreturnable; 175,408 were
+registered or contained enclosures of value, and 25,726 were wholly
+unaddressed. Of these unaddressed letters 1,553 contained money and
+cheques, &c., amounting to £7,111. The careless and insecure manner in
+which the public send articles through the post is shown by the facts
+that no less than 24,727 articles of all sorts, including 289 coins,
+were received, having escaped from their covers or wrappers, and that
+the addresses had become detached, through insufficient fastening, from
+4,578 parcels, many of which contained matter of a perishable nature,
+which was thus lost to the owners.
+
+"During the year ended December 31st, 1887, the deposits in the Post
+Office Savings Bank numbered 6,916,327; the amount being £16,535,932, as
+compared with 6,562,395 deposits, amounting to £15,696,852 the year
+before, being an increase of 353,932 in number and £839,080 in amount.
+The sum credited to depositors for interest was £1,244,074, an increase
+of £74,484 over the previous year. The total amount standing to the
+credit of depositors at the end of the year was £53,974,065, being an
+increase of £3,099,727 over last year. This total is exclusive of the
+sum of £3,345,106 Government Stock held by depositors. The number of new
+accounts opened during the year was 794,592 as compared with 758,270 in
+1886; and the accounts closed were 574,252 as compared with 562,499."
+
+Dealing with the Telegraph business, it is shown that the number of
+messages forwarded during the year was 53,403,425, being an increase of
+3,159,786. A reminiscence of the Queen's Jubilee is fittingly recorded.
+The events connected with the celebration caused an immense increase in
+telegraph work in London, amounting to nearly 60 per cent. over the
+ordinary average, and on the day preceding the Jubilee ceremony no less
+than 30,597 local messages were transmitted through the central station,
+the total number of messages dealt with on that day in the Central
+Office being 124,291.
+
+
+THE most valuable, pure, useful, and durable of all metals, is tried
+gold; so is tried faith, among all the Christian virtues.--_Jackson._
+
+
+IT is not enough in this world to "mean well." We ought to do well.
+Thoughtfulness, therefore, becomes a duty, and gratitude one of the
+graces.
+
+
+
+
+NATURE HER OWN SURGEON.
+
+
+Equally worthy of admiration, and all but equally complex, is the
+process by which Nature repairs a fractured limb, especially when the
+injury is such that the broken ends of bone cannot be brought exactly
+into their proper positions. It is remarkable, too, how she adapts her
+process to the different habits of her patients. In the case of a simple
+fracture, if the parts that have been disjoined are set close together
+in their normal line--if it be the leg of a dog, for example--there is
+first a hard sheath, called a "callus," formed round the fracture, and
+this "callus" permits a restricted use of the injured limb, even before
+the two parts have grown together. It is, however, only a temporary
+provision, necessitated by the natural restlessness of the lower
+animals. After the fracture has completely healed the "callus" gradually
+disappears. A human case is treated differently. Here, unless it be a
+broken rib (which requires the provision in consequence of its incessant
+motion in respiration), the healing takes place ordinarily without the
+formation of any _outer_ "callus." Sometimes the broken ends cannot
+be--or at all events are not--brought into their proper relative
+positions. Is it possible, it may be asked, that Nature can provide the
+means for meeting such an emergency, when, that is to say, the two
+portions of bone to be joined are all awry, and something quite new--in
+fact, a kind of bridge, and a bridge not merely serving the purpose of a
+solid connection between opposite banks, but like the bridges which
+carry the appliances of modern civilization, connecting the nerves,
+which answer to the telegraph wires, and the veins and arteries
+corresponding to our water and other conduits, has to be constructed?
+Nature's engineering is equal even to this task.--_Quiver._
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT SWEARING.
+
+A CHAT WITH MY BOYS.
+
+
+Some boys seem to think that it is manly to swear. Passing along the
+street, one is shocked to hear oaths from well-dressed, intelligent
+boys, who evidently belong to cultivated Christian families. I am going
+to tell the boys a true story about swearing, which I trust will
+influence them to break themselves of this ungentlemanly and wicked
+habit.
+
+"When I was a young lad," said a gentleman, "I learned to swear. I had a
+good Christian mother, and she had taught me what a heinous sin it is to
+use the name of God in vain. But I heard other boys swearing, and I
+thought it was very manly to swear as they did, and I tried it too. At
+first the words of an oath came stumbling along, and I felt all the time
+I was using them that God would strike me dead. But after a while I
+could swear as easily and fearlessly as some of my companions. But I
+never swore before my mother. I used the Lord's name in vain so often
+that it seemed as if He had forsaken me, and left me to my sins. I
+became wicked and reckless.
+
+"When I was fifteen years old I went to sea. My mother reluctantly gave
+her consent, only because she knew that I would go without it if she did
+not. My father was dead, and I was her only son. I had no idea then what
+my mother's feelings must have been; now I realize what she must have
+suffered in parting with me.
+
+"When I went to sea I swore in the worst manner. In fact, I scarcely
+spoke a word that was not accompanied by an oath. After a three years'
+voyage I came home. My mother met me with great kindness and affection.
+She had prepared a most tempting supper for me. My trunk was being
+brought into the door, when a misunderstanding between myself and the
+man who had brought it, about the pay, aroused my anger, and, forgetting
+where I was, I swore as only a rough seaman can swear. When oath after
+oath had passed my lips, I chanced to look at my mother, who stood near
+me in the hall. Her face was as white as the face of the dead, and an
+indescribable expression upon it that I can never, never forget. I saw
+that she was falling, and I put my arm around her to support her. She
+shrank away from my touch, and fell senseless to the floor. I paid the
+man the price he demanded, closed the door, lifted my mother up, and
+laid her on the lounge. I thought I had killed her. Oh, the feelings of
+remorse that filled my heart at that moment! But she opened her eyes,
+and seeing me standing before her, said, 'Oh, my son, you have broken my
+heart!' I assured her with tears and kisses that I would never swear
+again, but the habit had taken such strong hold on me that I found
+myself swearing unconsciously many times a day. My mother did not enjoy
+the long-anticipated visit of her only son. Her spirit seemed crushed,
+and I know she felt that she had lost her boy, and a reckless, wicked
+man had come home in his stead. With many tears and kind words of
+pleading she bade me 'good-bye' when, in a few weeks after, I started on
+my second sea voyage. At the first port at which we stopped after
+leaving home, I received a letter from my aunt, containing the sad news
+of my dear mother's death. Instantly that mother's face, as it appeared
+to me on the evening I returned home, was before me. I threw myself on
+my knees in my cabin, and pleaded for forgiveness. I resolved with God's
+help to lead a different life. But habits of sin, that begin in cobwebs,
+end in iron chains. It was not easy to break away from them. But every
+time I began to use an oath, my mother's face, as it looked that night,
+came before me. I shall never forget it to my dying day. With God's
+help, I have overcome that terrible sin. I would give everything I
+possess could I only speak to her once more, and tell her my sorrow and
+remorse. But she is silent in the grave."
+
+When the gentleman had finished his sad story, he said, "When you are
+writing something for the children, tell the boys this story I have told
+you, and tell them always to remember that a sinful habit may begin as a
+cobweb, but it will end as an iron chain about their souls."--_Baptist._
+
+
+
+
+THE WORD WITH POWER.
+
+
+  "Jesus, who lived above the sky,
+  Came down to be a man and die.
+  And those kind hands that did such good,
+  They nailed them to a cross of wood.
+  And, out of pity, Jesus said,
+  He'd bear the punishment instead."
+
+An aged woman sat alone by the fireside, when Mr. ---- came in, and
+simply exclaimed, as he looked out at the window, "The Lord said, 'I
+came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance' (Mark ii.
+17). 'Not the righteous.' What a mercy that is." No more was said, and
+Mr. ---- left the room, but at night, when in bed, the aged one said to
+her sister, who occupied the same room with her, "Mr. ---- came into the
+room below, and, as if speaking to himself, uttered these words, 'I came
+not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Not the righteous.
+What a mercy that is!' and he went out, and said no more, but they made
+the tears roll down my face. There is hope for me."
+
+"A word in season" the Lord alone can give to be effectual. Then, "how
+good it is." Bless His holy name, He shall have all the praise, for ever
+and ever.
+
+                                         D. F.
+
+_August, 1888._
+
+
+
+
+  THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST.
+
+
+  A fountain fulness still remains
+  Of pardoning blood from Jesus' veins,
+  Though millions have its virtues tried,
+  And from its riches been supplied.
+
+  And yet it ever is the same
+  To all that come in Jesus' name;
+  Not one that to it shall repair
+  Will ever perish in despair.
+
+  It makes the filthy sinner clean,
+  Though vile as I or Magdalene;
+  Here David lost his crimson sin,
+  And thousands more as well as him.
+
+  Manasseh here lost all his crimes,
+  And now in glory brightly shines;
+  Also dear Paul, of sinners chief,
+  From this dear fountain got relief,
+
+  And writes so sweetly of its power
+  To save e'en to a dying hour;
+  Yea, all the while he travelled here,
+  This fountain was to him most dear.
+
+  No savèd sinner ever knew
+  Better than Paul what blood can do,
+  For he himself its power had tested,
+  And on its efficacy rested.
+
+  And all the hosts around the throne
+  Bear witness to what blood has done;
+  Their holy joy and heavenly bliss
+  Is concentrated all in this.
+
+  Oh, may this joy and peace be mine
+  When called to leave the things of time!
+  To sing of Jesus' love and blood,
+  And dwell for ever with my God.
+
+                                        B. W.
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE HELPS BY LARGE HEARTS.
+
+
+A friend had been sitting a little while by the bed-side of a poor
+woman--rendered utterly helpless from paralysis--reading the Scriptures
+to her, when the door was gently opened, and three neatly-dressed little
+girls entered the room, each carrying a small basket. One of them
+approached the bed, and after a few simple and kind inquiries, held up
+the little basket she had in her hand, saying, "My mother sent you this,
+and hopes soon to come and see you." The poor woman thanked the child
+gratefully, and said, "Put it away, my dear, for me."
+
+The little girl seemed quite used to the employment. She went over to a
+cupboard, emptied carefully the contents of her basket, and with a
+modest "Good-bye," the three children withdrew.
+
+The poor woman then gave an explanation to the friend who was present.
+"These little girls," she said, "are the children of a very respectable
+butcher, and every Saturday afternoon their mother employs them to carry
+about to poor people scraps of meat and bones. They are nice children,
+and take quite a pleasure in doing it, and they have given me, and many
+others, many a good dinner."
+
+Now, who can calculate the amount of good resulting from the thoughtful
+charity of this mother? We read thus of God's redeemed people--"their
+works do follow them"--not to heaven for recompense, as some vainly
+imagine, but on the earth. Continually we see the truth of this in the
+effects produced, after the lapse of years, from works done by those
+whose bones have long been turned to dust. Who can tell the influence
+this weekly act may have upon these three children, if spared to grow up
+to womanhood? And thus, when their mother's place knows her no more, her
+"works will follow her."
+
+
+
+
+THE PENNY PIECE.
+
+
+I give the following from the lips of one who was well acquainted with
+the facts:--
+
+A frost had been raging for thirteen weeks. The consequence was that
+out-door labourers, for the most part, were stopped in their employment.
+Among these was a poor gardener who had a wife and five or six children.
+He was at length reduced to great straits. He had spent all but his last
+penny, and had not the slightest prospect of more.
+
+Passing down a certain street one day, he happened to see a poor man
+standing in the lobby of a church or chapel. His heart yearned over him,
+and he thought, "How I should like to help him; but I have only a penny
+left for myself and family." Still, he felt that he could not resist the
+inclination. He instantly turned round, stepped back, and gave the man
+his last penny. Immediately there came a peculiar light and gladness
+into his soul. Instead of being burdened by his destitution, he was
+relieved by it. He was rich in his poverty.
+
+That very night the long frost broke, and in the morning he resumed his
+work. He had not been long in the garden before his employer appeared.
+Addressing him, he said, "I am sure you must have felt the effects of
+this long frost very much. Here is a sovereign for you." The poor
+gardener felt amazed, and, to use his own words, it was as though the
+Lord said to him, "Here's a sovereign for the penny you lent Me last
+night."
+
+Reader, it is written, "He that giveth to the poor lendeth unto the
+Lord"; and again, "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and
+there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty."
+
+                                                   O. J.
+
+
+BAD men excuse their faults; good men will leave them.
+
+
+
+
+A BRAND PLUCKED OUT OF THE FIRE.
+
+
+While occasionally serving a destitute Church, between three and four
+months ago, I was requested to visit a dying woman. I found her in the
+most distracting agony of bodily pain, but rejoicing at the same time in
+the consolations of the Gospel. My visits afforded me much pleasure and
+edification. Being informed that she had been once a most abandoned
+character, I solicited a friend to collect from her own mouth the
+history of her life, and since her death have been favoured with a very
+interesting and circumstantial account of this monument of mercy.
+
+When young she was deprived of both father and mother, but by friends
+was introduced into a genteel family, where after some time she fell
+into shameful sin. Her friends abandoned her in her disgrace, but after
+she had endured much suffering, privation, and want, they were persuaded
+to receive her once more, and at length provided another eligible
+situation for her. Thus restored, she might have lived in respect, but a
+particular circumstance which should operate as a warning, especially to
+servants, led her into a more dreadful course of iniquity than ever she
+had been guilty of before.[12] On the Lord's Day, instead of going to
+any place of worship, she contracted the habit of spending those sacred
+hours at the house of an acquaintance. Here she formed her most fatal
+connections, and to this sin of Sabbath-breaking she especially
+attributed her ruin. A bad man persuaded her to accompany him to London.
+Here for some years she lived a most profligate life, the circumstances
+of which cannot be detailed here, further than that sin which brings its
+own reward found her deserted, and in the Lock Hospital. After a
+dreadful operation she somewhat recovered, and went out, but only to
+follow her old sinful course. She was scarcely known to be sober for six
+years together. Her wretched course of life was a continual burden to
+her. She often prayed, if such an one could be said to pray, that God
+would deliver her from it, and accompanied her prayers with resolves to
+forsake it; but all her resolutions were ineffectual till God's time of
+deliverance was come. At length she determined to return into the
+country again. She met with many distressing circumstances by the way,
+and upon her arrival, her friends would not receive her. She was
+therefore obliged to apply to the parish, being incapable of getting her
+living through her disordered state of body. The overseers provided her
+a room in a house with another woman, where, soon after she arrived, her
+complaint assumed an alarming nature, and threatened speedy dissolution.
+In the awful prospect of death she was seized with the most distracting
+horrors. Calling to the woman with whom she lived, she cried, "I shall
+soon be gone, and hell will be my doom!" The woman told her she was mad,
+but she replied, with earnestness, "I am not. I know it will, for I am
+not prepared to die"; and immediately asked her if she knew where any
+minister lived? She had heard some whom they called "Methodists" while
+in the hospital at London. Even then she could not laugh at them as many
+of her unfortunate companions did, but was often much affected by their
+prayers and sermons, and looked upon them as men living in the fear of
+God. The recollection of this suggested the eager inquiry after them
+now. But the woman said, "They cannot save your soul."
+
+  [12] Young readers, mark this dreadful example of sin, and may the Lord
+  bless you with wisdom and strength to resist such temptations to evil.
+  If you would be spared suffering and shame, and spare your best friends
+  much sorrow, be careful what company you keep, and remember that God's
+  eye is upon you.
+
+[Illustration: "SHE PROCURED A LODGING WITH A SERIOUS FEMALE." (_See
+page 230._)]
+
+"I know they cannot," she replied, "but they can pray with me and for
+me to One who can. Go instantly and fetch one, for I am going to hell."
+
+The woman still continued to laugh at her, and told the neighbours she
+was deranged. One of them, however, more compassionate than the rest,
+coming in, said she knew a good man who lived near. He was not a
+minister, but she would go and fetch him.
+
+"Make him promise to come," said the poor creature, "before you leave
+him, and then, if he be a good man, he will come." While the person was
+gone, she cried to the Lord to send him.
+
+He came and found her in the greatest agonies of mind. She told him that
+she was the vilest sinner that ever lived, described the course of life
+she had led, and concluded by saying she saw hell before her eyes, and
+that she should be lost for ever. He pointed out the way of salvation by
+Christ, told her it was free for the vilest, spoke of the encouragement
+there was for the chief of sinners who came to Him, prayed with her, and
+left her a little more composed. She made him promise to come the next
+day, which he did twice. In a short time after, her sorrow was turned
+into gladness, and she was enabled to rejoice in Christ as her Saviour,
+whilst the young man who visited her was reading the verse--
+
+  "Look as when Thy grace beheld
+    The harlot in distress;
+  Dried her tears, her pardon sealed,
+    And bade her go in peace.
+  Foul like her, and self-abhorred,
+    I at Thy feet for mercy groan;
+  Turn and look upon me, Lord,
+    And break my heart of stone."
+
+Soon after this, God removed the violence of her complaint, and thereby
+gave her an opportunity of proving the reality of her conversion. As
+soon as possible she went to the meeting, but oh, the persecution she
+now met with from her former companions! She was obliged to remove from
+place to place to escape their violence. They pelted her with stones,
+broke her windows, &c., because, as they said, she was a hypocrite. But
+she was enabled to endure it with patience, and after a time procured a
+lodging with a serious female. Now she seemed almost in heaven. She
+could now go in and out, none daring to make her afraid, and could
+meditate in peace on the gracious dealings of God with her soul. She
+became a member of the Church in which she continued as long as she
+lived. She seemed to grow daily in an affecting discovery of the evil of
+sin and of her own vileness, and was often quite overwhelmed with a
+sense of the goodness of God, both with respect to her temporal and
+spiritual concerns. She was frequently enabled to rejoice in the Lord
+with exceeding joy, though labouring under the most dreadful pain, being
+literally full of wounds, the sad fruit of her former life. She
+occasionally experienced great conflicts with Satan, but the Lord
+graciously interposed, and brought her off more than conqueror. Several
+months before her death she was grievously afflicted, but in general
+very comfortable. On the Saturday preceding her dissolution, a friend
+called to see her, and inquired after the state of her mind. She said
+she was happy in God, longed to depart, and could scarcely contain
+herself. She was so filled with love to her blessed Lord, for His
+unbounded goodness to her. On the Monday, the person with whom she
+lodged said she was very comfortable in her mind. Her spirit soared
+beyond the fear of death; but through extreme weakness she could not
+speak much, and on Tuesday she departed, we trust, to sing the praises
+of that miraculous grace which snatched her as a brand from the burning.
+
+
+CONDUCT is the great profession. What a man does tells us what he is.
+
+
+
+
+ADMIRAL PYE AND THE INQUISITORS.
+
+
+Admiral Pye having been on a visit to Southampton, and the gentleman
+under whose roof he resided observing an unusual intimacy between him
+and his secretary, inquired into the degree of their relationship. The
+admiral informed him that they were not related, but their intimacy
+arose from a singular circumstance, which, by his permission, he would
+relate.
+
+The admiral said, when he was a captain he was cruising in the
+Mediterranean. While on that station he received a letter from shore,
+stating that the unhappy author of the letter was by birth an
+Englishman; that, having been on a voyage to Spain, he was enticed while
+there to become a Papist, and, in process of time, was made a member of
+the Inquisition; that there he beheld the abominable wickedness and
+barbarities of the inquisitors.
+
+His heart recoiled at having embraced a religion so horribly cruel and
+so repugnant to the nature of God, that he was stung with remorse to
+think that, if his parents knew _what_ and _where_ he was, their hearts
+would break with grief; that he was resolved to escape, if he (the
+captain) would send a boat on shore at such a time and place, but begged
+secrecy, since, if his intentions were discovered, he should be
+immediately assassinated.
+
+The captain returned for answer that he could not with propriety send a
+boat, but if he could devise any means to come on board, he would
+receive him as a British subject, and protect him. He did so; but being
+missed, there was soon raised a hue and cry, and he was followed to the
+ship.
+
+A holy inquisitor demanded him, but he was refused; another, in the name
+of his Holiness the Pope, claimed him, but the captain did not know him,
+or any other master, but his own sovereign, King George. At length a
+third holy brother approached. The young man recognized him at a
+distance, and, in terror, ran to the captain, entreating him not to be
+deceived by him, for he was the most false, wicked, and cruel monster in
+all the Inquisition. He was introduced, the young man being present,
+and, to obtain his object, began with the bitterest accusations against
+him; then he turned to the most fulsome flatteries of the captain; and,
+lastly, offered him a sum of money to resign him. The captain treated
+him with apparent attention, said his offer was very handsome, and, if
+what he affirmed were true, the person in question was unworthy of the
+English name or of his protection.
+
+The holy brother was elated; he thought his errand was accomplished.
+While drawing his purse-strings, the captain inquired what punishment
+would be inflicted upon him. He replied that it was uncertain; but as
+his offences were atrocious, it was likely that his punishment would be
+exemplary. The captain asked if he thought he would be burned in a dry
+pan. He replied, that must be determined by the Holy Inquisition, but it
+was not improbable.
+
+The captain then ordered the great copper to be heated, but no water to
+be put in. All this while the young man stood trembling, his cheeks
+resembling death; he expected to become an unhappy victim to avarice and
+superstition.
+
+The cook soon announced that the orders were executed. "Then I command
+you to take this fellow," pointing to the inquisitor, "and fry him alive
+in the copper." This unexpected command thunderstruck the holy father.
+Alarmed for himself, he rose to be gone. The cook began to bundle him
+away. "Oh, good captain! good captain! spare me, spare me!" "Have him
+away," replied the captain. "Oh, no, my good captain!" "Have him away.
+I'll teach him to attempt to bribe a British commander to sacrifice the
+life of an Englishman to gratify a herd of bloody men." Down the
+inquisitor fell upon his knees, offering him all his money, and
+promising never to return if he would let him begone. When the captain
+had sufficiently alarmed him, he dismissed him, warning him never to
+come again on such an errand.
+
+What must have been the reverse of feelings in the young man to find
+himself thus happily delivered. He fell upon his knees, in a flood of
+tears, before the captain, and poured a thousand blessings upon his
+brave and noble deliverer.
+
+"This," said the admiral to the gentleman, "is the circumstance that
+began our acquaintance. I took him to be my servant; he served me from
+affection; mutual attachment ensued, and it has inviolably subsisted and
+increased to this day."--_From Cyclopædia of Moral and Religious
+Anecdotes, with Introductory Essay by Dr. Cheever._
+
+
+
+
+CHILD HEROISM.
+
+
+"Mother, just look what I've come upon! I found the small board at the
+back loose, and beneath it, this."
+
+Thus spoke Julia White, who was engaged in scrubbing out the single
+cupboard of their one room, and as she uttered the words she held up a
+paper with two sovereigns wrapped in it.
+
+"Why are you so prying, child?" said the mother. "You would have been so
+much better without the knowledge of my secret. Now, if your father
+should come home tipsy to-night, you will be forced to tell him where
+the money is, and I shall lose the whole of it. Wherever to hide it away
+from you, I don't know."
+
+Poor Julia looked frightened enough, for she was only eleven years of
+age, and her dread of her father, who frequently showed himself a
+ferocious ruffian, was extreme; but there was no help for the case now.
+The mother had to leave in little more than an hour to watch a patient
+to whom she was night nurse, and there was no time to find another
+hiding-place. To carry the money with her where she was going would
+scarcely have been safe, so, after seeing little Nancy, with the baby,
+safely returned, and giving the latter its meal at her breast, the good,
+hard-working woman departed to fulfil her engagement.
+
+The children left alone, the terror of the elder one could not escape
+the notice of the younger, although she was only a little over seven;
+and she at length said--
+
+"What can be the matter with you, Julia?"
+
+"I know where mother's money is, and am afraid father will come home and
+want it."
+
+"Tell him you know nothing about it. He always believes you."
+
+"Nancy!"
+
+She had been rightly taught by a good mother, and young as she was,
+realized that this was not the course to take, so, kneeling by the side
+of her child sister, she offered the following simple, but heartfelt,
+prayer--
+
+"Dear Jesus, please don't let father come home to-night and want
+mother's money; but if he should do so, please help me not to tell him
+where it is."
+
+The strength she had thus gained was soon put to a cruel test, for into
+the neat, cleanly room there quickly rushed the brute who represented
+all that she had ever known of father. The scene that ensued was of a
+character not unfrequent in low London districts, but none the less
+worthy of record. Poor little Nancy, dreading what might follow, caught
+up the baby, and fled with it into a corner of the room, as the safest
+place of refuge, for we ought to have stated that the ruffian had
+locked the door upon his entrance. Catching his eldest daughter's arm,
+he said, in not an over loud voice--
+
+"Get me your mother's money."
+
+Meeting with no reply from the white-faced girl, he next said--
+
+"Do you know where it is?"
+
+But still there was no answer. What followed seems dreadful to relate,
+suiting better with the nature of South Sea or African cannibals than
+with the natives of Christian England. First twisting the girl's arm
+round, and causing her dreadful pain, he next bestowed upon her with his
+brute strength a succession of awful blows; but, though she could not
+keep back her cries, she did not yield to him in the least.
+
+Wearied at length, he flung her from him on to the wall, and during the
+ensuing five minutes, with bursts of terrible oaths, threatened that, if
+she did not acquaint him with her secret, he would kill her; but,
+mercifully, the neighbours were enabled at the end of this time to break
+into the room, or there is no telling what mischief might have followed.
+
+But we cannot finish without describing the heroism of poor little
+Nancy, which almost equalled that of her sister. Dodging from side to
+side during the struggle, now in this corner and now in that, and
+shielding the baby with her youthful person, she, with wonderful
+activity and courage, kept it from harm.
+
+It seems something like divine retribution that this dreadful father
+this very evening received a terrible beating in the public-house, and
+his system being unhealthy, as the result of drinking habits, he died in
+hospital of his injuries.
+
+                                                   S. DENNIS.
+
+
+THERE is a pre-established harmony between the voice of the Shepherd and
+the heart of the sheep. "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
+ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you."
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE KINDNESSES.
+
+
+For the intercourse of social life, it is by little acts of watchful
+kindness recurring daily and hourly--and opportunities of doing
+kindnesses, if sought for, are for ever starting up--it is by words, by
+tones, by gestures, by looks, that affection is won and preserved. He
+who neglects these trifles, yet boasts that, whenever a great sacrifice
+is called for, he shall be ready to make it, will rarely be loved. The
+likelihood is, he will not make it, and if he does, it will be much
+rather for his own sake than for his neighbour's. Many persons, indeed,
+are said to be penny wise and pound foolish; but they who are penny
+foolish will hardly be pound wise, although selfish vanity may now and
+then for a moment get the better of selfish indolence, for Wisdom will
+always have a microscope in her hand.
+
+
+
+
+A DRUNKARD'S WILL.
+
+
+I leave to society a ruined character, a wretched example, and a memory
+that will soon rot. I leave to my parents, during the rest of their
+lives, as much sorrow as humanity in a feeble and declining state can
+sustain. I leave to my brothers and sisters as much mortification and
+injury as I could bring on them. I leave my wife a broken heart, a life
+of wretchedness and shame, to weep over my premature death. I give and
+bequeath to each of my children, poverty, ignorance, and low character,
+and the remembrance that their father was a monster.
+
+
+WE may as well attempt to bring pleasure out of pain as to unite
+indulgence in sin with the enjoyment of happiness.--_Hodge._
+
+
+
+
+THE LAND OF THE GIANTS.
+
+"_And we took all his cities at that time: there was not a city which we
+took not from them," &c._--DEUT. iii. 4, 5.
+
+
+Sixty cities in one small province! Can it be true? Has not the copyist
+erred in his arithmetic? Should it not be sixteen, or six? Does it not
+appear improbable? The province mentioned, Argob, is not more than
+thirty miles by twenty; and that within so limited a space there should
+be sixty cities, "besides unwalled towns a great many," can scarcely be
+accepted literally.
+
+Now, it is a great blessing, for the confirmation of our faith in the
+truth of the Bible, and the silencing of those who delighted in making
+others to be of a doubtful mind, that the literal truth of the statement
+is fully established--not by a comparison of parallel passages; not by a
+new translation of the text; not by the testimony of ancient historians;
+but by the remains of the cities themselves. There are they in Argob,
+the oldest specimens of domestic architecture in the whole world.
+
+English travellers have visited the wild land of the giants; they have
+penetrated into the rocky recesses of Argob; they have slept in the
+deserted homes of the Rephaim; and have come back to tell us that the
+stones reared by those ancient idolaters bear witness to the truth of
+the living God.
+
+The Rev. J. L. Porter spent a considerable time in exploring the cities
+of Bashan. At Burak he lodged in a city of several hundred houses, all
+deserted, but all in good repair, though built two or three thousand
+years ago. The walls of these houses were five feet thick, formed of
+large blocks of hewn stone, put together without lime or cement of any
+kind. The roofs were formed of long blocks of the same black basalt,
+measuring twelve feet in length, eighteen inches in breadth, and six
+inches in thickness. The doors were stone slabs hung upon pivots formed
+of projecting parts of the slabs, working in sockets in the lintel and
+threshold; the windows were guarded with stone shutters--everything was
+of stone, as if the builders had designed each edifice to last for ever.
+
+The cities have endured, but the inhabitants have fled. You pass the
+ruined gateway where stern warriors kept watch, and from whose towers
+the watchmen swept the country and signalled the coming of the foe. All
+is hushed. Rank weeds and grass, brambles and creeping plants, have
+overgrown the well-made roads; and in the massive houses, where once on
+a time happy groups assembled, and children shouted with joy, the fox
+and the jackal make their dwelling, while owls and daws take possession
+of the roof. Here is a city that must at one period have contained at
+least twenty thousand inhabitants. Once its streets were noisy and
+bustling, and the dealers made their shrewd bargains in the markets,
+while the grandees dwelt in their stone palaces, haughty of spirit, as
+if the slaves who waited on them were of another flesh than theirs. Here
+dwelt the giants, and after them Jews, and Greeks, and Romans, Saracens
+and Turks, each leaving memorials of their presence; but all gone--the
+whole abandoned to the wild birds and the beasts of prey. There are
+palaces with thorns and thistles growing in the chief room; there are
+temples with branches of trees shooting through the gaping walls; there
+are tombs festooned with the rich luxuriance of nature; there is
+everything to tell of desolation and decay.
+
+You remember that we read in Joshua that the kingdom of Og, the giant,
+included all Bashan unto Salcah; and the Israelites took and occupied
+the whole land, from Mount Hermon unto Salcah. This is the frontier
+city of Bashan, and is one of the most remarkable in Palestine. There
+are about five hundred houses still remaining, a number of square
+towers, a few mosques, and a great old castle on the top of a hill. But
+the city, held at first by the giants, and at last by the Turks, has
+long been deserted, and the tread of horses on the paved street disturbs
+only a fox in its den or a wild bird in its nest. The castle hill is
+about three hundred feet in height, the base encircled by a moat. The
+building itself appears to have been of Jewish foundation, though it is
+probable that the site was occupied by a still older fortress. There is
+Roman masonry in the work, and the Saracens have added to the beauty, if
+not to the strength, of the structure; but though the exterior wall
+remains, the interior is choked with rubbish. The summit of the castle
+commands an extensive prospect--a varied, romantic, but wild scene of
+rugged rocks and luxuriant verdure, comprising no less than thirty
+deserted cities. On the right stretches Moab, on the left Arabia;
+behind, in terraced slopes, the hills of Bashan--a sad and solemn scene
+of utter desolation.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+A son of Gideon.
+
+A king of Moab.
+
+An untruthful woman.
+
+A man slain by God.
+
+The son of a persecuted woman.
+
+What did the Israelites once desire?
+
+A God-fearing man.
+
+An officer of a king.
+
+One of the Apostles.
+
+
+The initials will form a passage of Scripture.
+
+                                   ALFRED CLAPSON
+                                  (Aged 10 years).
+
+_Reigate._
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+THE GOOD SHEPHERD, HIS LAMBS AND SHEEP.
+
+(ISAIAH xl. 11.)
+
+
+We know that Jesus is the Person of whom our text speaks, because His
+herald and forerunner is described in the third verse, and John the
+Baptist applied the prophecy to himself, when the Pharisees wanted to
+know who he really was--"The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
+Prepare ye the way of the Lord."
+
+He came to teach the necessity of repentance, to reprove the pride of
+the Pharisee, bringing low the hills and mountains of their self-esteem;
+while the despised tax-gatherers and soldiers were taught how to rise,
+by the grace of God, to the position of honourable and useful members of
+society, and thus the valleys were exalted (Luke iii. 6-14). God,
+according to His promise, sent His Prophet to turn the hearts of the
+people in some measure before Jesus Himself appeared (Mal. iv. 5, 6).
+
+And then, though in a human form, the "Lord God came with strong hand,"
+"mighty to save." His "reward was with Him, and the recompense of His
+work was before Him," and He did then, and does still, "feed His people
+like a shepherd." It was the Lord God who came among men; but how did He
+come? Not with earthly pomp and glory, and His heavenly majesty was but
+dimly seen.
+
+I thought of this on July 17th last, when the Prince of Wales went with
+the Princess to open the Great Northern Hospital at Upper Holloway,
+London. The Royal party were attired in deep mourning, on account of the
+recent death of the Emperor Frederick of Germany, and so quietly did
+their carriage pass along that many scarcely recognized them, and nearly
+all who were looking expectantly for the Prince's coming were greatly
+disappointed at the absence of a showy retinue. Yet he fulfilled all
+that he promised, and more, for he, with his wife and daughters, visited
+all the patients in the hospital, speaking kindly words, and doubtless
+giving real pleasure to those afflicted ones.
+
+So, when that infinitely greater One, the Prince of Peace, came, He did
+all that had been predicted of Him; and though even His own disciples
+expected grandeur which they did not find, and for a while were grieved
+and perplexed, yet when, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they
+better understood His mission, they perceived that He had finished His
+work most gloriously, and had "done all things well."
+
+The Shepherd of Israel, then, is the Lord God, of whom David sang, "The
+Lord" (Jehovah) "is my Shepherd: I shall not want," which Jesus followed
+up by saying, "I am the Good Shepherd, and am come that My sheep might
+have life, and have more abundantly all the blessings My people enjoyed
+before I came into this world" (see John x.).
+
+"He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd." Jesus here appears as a King
+as well as a Shepherd, for good kings care for and defend their
+subjects, but none can do as He does, who is "over all, blessed for
+evermore." All other shepherds must lead their sheep into green
+pastures, or procure them food in some other way, but Jesus supplies His
+people from Himself. All the fulness of love, grace, and blessing are
+His own, and as the poet sings--
+
+  "On a dying Christ I feed;
+  This is meat and drink indeed."
+
+Christ once crucified for the redemption of His loved ones, but now
+alive for evermore, is the life and joy of all who believe on His name.
+
+And these sheep are divided into two classes--lambs, and their parents.
+Those who are young, inexperienced, and weak, like Christ's followers
+were when He was on earth, how gently He "carried" them, guarding,
+supporting, and instructing so gradually until they became able to lead
+others in the ways of God. And still He tends His feeble ones with
+special care. He is kind and full of compassion, and they who most need
+His protection are most sure to have it, for He fully knows the need.
+
+But the older sheep need the shepherd's consideration as much as the
+lambs of the flock. Those who have young ones to nourish and care for
+must be gently led.
+
+The Apostle Paul said that "the care of all the Churches of Christ
+pressed daily upon him" (2 Cor. xi. 28), yet he could tell how the Lord
+comforted both himself and his fellow-workers in all their trials, so
+that they were enabled to comfort others; and speaking from his own
+experience, he could encourage his friends to "cast all their care upon
+Him" who ever cares for all His people.
+
+And it is Jesus only who can really lead and feed His flock. Ministers
+of the Gospel are called "pastors," "shepherds." As Christ's servants,
+they may be, and often are, the means of leading their hearers into
+green pastures, and of restoring the wandering and the weak; yet every
+true pastor is a sheep after all, and all spiritual, heavenly power and
+blessing must proceed from Him alone.
+
+I was much interested, some time ago, in a pretty little poem,
+illustrated by the picture of a splendid ram, standing beside his
+wounded little one, calling loudly for the help he could not render; and
+the shepherd, hearing his cries, hastened to the spot, and carried the
+helpless little thing to the fold. And methought, "Is not this a
+beautiful parable for us?" If we are longing to help and heal the
+feeble, the straying, and the sin-sick, and feel how little we can do,
+let us seek to follow this sheep's example, and call upon our Shepherd--
+
+  "Whose ears attend the softest call,
+    Whose eyes can never sleep."
+
+He is the Good Shepherd, for He gave His life for the sheep; the Chief
+Shepherd, possessing all the amiable and winning attractions that charm
+and draw the heart; and the Great Shepherd, almighty and unchanging,
+"able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him."
+
+Oh, that we all may know His love, which never can be fully known on
+earth, and enjoy the sweet privilege of commending all our loved ones to
+His gracious care, assured that He is able to do all that His heart
+desireth, and that--
+
+  "With heaven and earth at His command,
+    He waits to answer prayer."
+
+Our next subject will be, _The Glory of Christ, as described by Himself
+in John xvii_.
+
+                                      Yours affectionately,
+                                                   H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+THE POWER OF KINDNESS.
+
+
+Elihu Burritt, speaking of the power of kindness, says, "There is no
+power of love so hard to get and keep as a kind voice. A kind hand is
+deaf and dumb. It may be rough in flesh and blood, yet do the work of a
+soft heart, and do it with a soft touch. But there is no one thing that
+love so much needs as a sweet voice to tell what it means and feels; and
+it is hard to get and keep it in the right tone."
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN OCTOBER.
+
+
+Oct.  7. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 25.
+Oct. 14. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 26.
+Oct. 21. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 27.
+Oct. 28. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 28.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+CHARITY.
+
+
+Paul says (1 Cor. xiii. 4) that "charity suffereth long, and is kind;
+charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up"; and
+in the thirteenth verse, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these
+three; but the greatest of these is charity."
+
+Now, this shows that charity is a very great and good thing, and that we
+ought to desire to have charity above all things. "If we have not
+charity, we are nothing."
+
+Charity means "love," and that is the greatest of all good gifts. Love
+supplies all other wants, however hard they may be; and so, if we have
+not it, we are not by any means complete, for "above all these things
+put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness" (Col. iii. 14). This
+teaches us that charity is perfect above all things, and that we are to
+"love our enemies, and pray for those that despitefully use us"; also,
+we are exhorted to "let brotherly love continue."
+
+  "Brethren, let us walk together
+    In the bonds of love and peace;
+  Can it be a question whether
+    Brethren should from conflict cease?
+        'Tis in union,
+    Hope, and joy, and love increase."
+
+There would be fewer quarrels and less sin if every one had charity.
+"Charity," or love, "covers a multitude of sins." "Flee also youthful
+lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that
+call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Tim. ii. 22).
+
+In 1 Corinthians xvi. 14, it says, "Let all your things be done with
+charity," which means that all our actions are to be done in love. "God
+is love." Jesus had charity or love when He was on earth. His love knew
+no bounds. When God sent His only Son Jesus Christ down into the world,
+it was done thoroughly out of love to sinful man.
+
+Jesus Himself was full of love, for He prayed for His persecutors when
+He was on the cross, and said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not
+what they do."
+
+  "High beyond imagination
+    Is the love of God to man;
+  Far too deep for human reason;
+    Fathom that it never can:
+        Love eternal
+    Richly dwells in Christ the Lamb."
+
+"If God so loved us, ought we not to love one another?"
+
+Charity is being kind and loving to one another, and helping one another
+when we can. If we are not kind and gentle to them, we have not charity,
+and do not love each other. When people do ever such great things, if
+they do it for self-praise, and not for love, it does not profit them
+anything. If we love our neighbours as ourselves, we shall never do them
+any ill, but rather "kill them by kindness," even if they are inclined
+to resent our charity, or love.
+
+                             JESSIE MARTHA COLLINS
+                                (Aged 11 years).
+
+_19, Platt Street, Pancras Road,
+London, N. W._
+
+[Very good Essays have been sent by Ada Dudley Mote, E. B. Knocker, A.
+J. Wells, H. F. Forfeitt, K. E. Thomas, W. E. Cray, C. Bowman, B. E. J.
+Noakes, A. Judd, C. Lack, Winnie Langman, and F. Lawrence.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of Foxe's "Book of
+Martyrs."
+
+The subject for December will be, "The Disobedience of our First Parents
+and its Results"; and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that
+subject, a copy of "The Loss of All Things for Christ." All competitors
+must give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that
+the Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over,
+as the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information.
+Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
+Hastings, before the twentieth of October, in order that the Volume may
+be completed for binding.]
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 213_)
+
+
+"_Persecution._"--2 TIMOTHY iii. 12.
+
+P otiphar      Genesis xxxvii. 36.
+E noch         Genesis iv. 17.
+R ehoboam      1 Kings xi. 43.
+S apphire      Ezekiel i. 26.
+E bal          Joshua viii. 30.
+C andace       Acts viii. 27.
+U r            Genesis xi. 28.
+T hyatira      Revelation i. 11.
+I ram          Genesis xxxvi. 43.
+O thniel       Judges iii. 9.
+N oah          Numbers xxvii. 1.
+
+                           MINNIE LEGG
+                      (Aged 12 years).
+
+_Edinburgh._
+
+
+
+
+AN OLD CLOCK'S ADVICE.
+
+
+A correspondent says that in his great-grandfather's house, as he has
+heard his mother tell, there was a clock on which was the following
+inscription--
+
+  "Here I stand both day and night,
+  To tell the time with all my might;
+  Do thou example take by me,
+  And serve thy God as I serve thee."
+
+The old clock remained in the family for many years, but the time of
+which it told so faithfully at last conquered it, as it conquers all
+things on earth.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+THE National Sunday League lament a deficit of £110 as a result of the
+band performances in the three parks.
+
+
+THE oldest and biggest tree in the world is at Mascoli, near Mount Etna.
+The trunk is seventy yards round, and a flock of sheep can take refuge
+in it.
+
+
+JERUSALEM is rapidly becoming again a veritable city of the Jews. In
+1880 there were probably not more than 5,000 Jews there; now there are
+more than 30,000.
+
+
+THE "threepenny-bit" may well be regarded as the "church coin." At the
+collection at Dr. Parker's Sunday evening meeting in Queen Anne Street
+Church, Dunfermline, there were no fewer than 1,400 threepenny pieces.
+
+
+PHONOGRAPHY, as a system of shorthand, is the best, simplest, soundest,
+and most scientific of any in existence. Ninety-nine out of every
+hundred shorthand writers use it, and none other should be learned.
+
+
+THE buttercup blooms in unwonted places. A horse belonging to a farmer
+near Belford was having an old shoe removed, when a buttercup was found
+to have taken root between the hoof and the shoe, near the toe. It was
+in full bloom.
+
+
+THIS is the day of rapid travelling. A through railway service has been
+organised to run from Charing Cross to Constantinople in seventy-six
+hours. Thus, in three days and a half, one will pass from the city of
+the Queen to the city of the Sultan.
+
+
+IN England and Wales the receipts for first-class railway season tickets
+last year amounted to £720,862, for second-class season tickets the
+receipts amounted to £665,203, and for those of the third-class
+(including workmen's weekly tickets) the amount was £358,142.
+
+
+AMONG the rarities in Dr. Williams' library in Grafton Street, London,
+is a tiny shorthand Bible, exquisitely written, which is said to have
+belonged to an apprentice, who, suspicious of James II.'s intentions
+regarding Protestantism, wrote the whole for himself, fearing that he
+might be deprived of his printed copy.
+
+
+DRS. CHAUVEL and Nimier now announce that, in future warfare with the
+Lebel rifle, the surgeons will not be perplexed by having to extract
+balls from wounded soldiers. These projectiles pass through the body,
+bones, and all, even when fired at a distance of from 1,800 to 2,000
+metres (1,980 to 2,200 yards).
+
+
+A FORTUNATE COBBLER.--It is announced that a Blackburn cobbler has just
+come in for a windfall in the shape of property valued at £40,000. He
+saw an advertisement some time ago with regard to some property in
+America, to which he has proved himself sole heir. He has left for the
+New World to take possession of his unexpected wealth.
+
+
+ONE day last August a boy, nine years old, went to a school treat, and
+ran in several races. On returning home he complained of headache, and
+next morning was seized with pains and became insensible, dying an hour
+afterwards. The post-mortem examination showed that death was the result
+of syncope, brought on by fatigue and excitement.
+
+
+A STATEMENT was made at the Spanish Armada Convention at Exeter Hall,
+recently, to the effect that, during 1878, "in the poor country of
+Ireland there had been bequeathed to the Roman Catholic Church no less
+than £750,000 for masses for the souls of the departed." Doubtless Mr.
+Isaacs had proof of this, for he referred to it as "an ascertained
+fact."
+
+
+A PAPYRUS of extraordinary beauty and completeness, of the fourteenth
+century before our era, has been added to the British Museum. It
+contains certain chapters of the "Book of Death," carefully copied out
+by a scribe of Thebes. Its remarkable feature are the illustrations. The
+colouring of these is as vivid as if the work had been done yesterday,
+instead of more than thirty centuries ago.
+
+
+AN interesting discovery has just been made by Dr. Tschakort, Professor
+of Church History in the University of Konigsberg, who has found in the
+library there numerous manuscript sermons and commentaries by Luther,
+hitherto absolutely unknown. They were written in the years 1519 to
+1521--that is, at the very culminating period of Luther's work as a
+Church Reformer, after the burning of the Papal bull, and before the
+Diet of Worms.
+
+
+STRANGE stories occasionally come from the Black Country, but few are
+stranger than that which is related of a man living at Bilston. A
+collier lost his eyesight in December through the explosion of a
+blasting cartridge, and the other week, as he was being led home from a
+neighbouring village by a brother, a terrific thunderstorm commenced.
+Simultaneously with a flash of lightning, he experienced a piercing
+sensation from the eye to the back of the head and his sight was
+instantly restored.
+
+
+MILDEWED linen may be restored by soaping the spots, and while wet
+covering them with powdered chalk.
+
+
+THE Dead Sea, at its northern end, is but thirteen feet in depth, but at
+the southern end it is thirteen hundred.
+
+
+CHISWICK CEMETERY.--The Home Secretary has ordered that a large tract of
+ground which has been recently acquired and added to the Chiswick
+Cemetery should be set aside for the use of the Roman Catholics of the
+district.
+
+
+A CATHOLIC total abstinence society has been brought into court in
+Philadelphia under the laws against gambling. They pleaded that a
+benevolent enterprise such as theirs, though using lotteries, could not
+be regarded as a swindling speculation. "If such things are allowed to
+be carried on by professedly good people," said Judge Biddle, "it is
+inconsistent to call upon us to convict other people." The relation
+between the grab-bag and the gaming-table is not inconceivable.
+
+
+ON June 8th last, a correspondent at Shepherd's Bush despatched a
+post-card from London, _viâ_ the Brindisi and Suez Canal route, to Hong
+Kong, with the request that it might be forwarded to the addressee _viâ_
+San Francisco and New York. The card was duly received by the original
+sender a short time ago, the time taken in its transit round the world
+being exactly seventy days, which is about forty days less than the time
+taken ten years ago. The card was franked for 3½d.
+
+
+A THANKSGIVING DAY.--Dr. Franklin says that, in a time of great
+despondency among the first settlers of New England, it was proposed in
+one of their public assemblies to proclaim a fast. An old farmer arose,
+spoke of their provoking Heaven with their complaints, reviewed their
+mercies, showed that they had much to be thankful for, and moved that,
+instead of appointing a day of fasting, they should appoint a day of
+thanksgiving. This was accordingly done, and the custom has continued
+ever since.
+
+
+DIPHTHERIA.--An American medical journal gives the following remedy for
+diphtheria, and says that where it has been applied promptly, it has
+never been known to fail. It is simply as follows:--"At the first
+indication of diphtheria in the throat of the child, make the room
+clean. Then take a tin cup and pour into it a quantity of tar and
+turpentine, equal parts. Then hold the cup over a fire so as to fill the
+room with the fumes. The patient, on inhaling the fumes, will fall
+asleep, and, when it awakes, it will cough up and spit out all the
+membranous matter, and diphtheria will pass off. The fumes of the tar
+and turpentine loose the matter in the throat, thus affording the relief
+that has baffled the skill of physicians." As the remedy is so simple,
+parents would do well to cut this out and preserve it.
+
+
+AN extraordinary affray took place at Manchester on Sunday, July 8th.
+The members of several prominent Orange lodges in the city were
+proceeding to a church, where special services were to be held, when
+they encountered in a narrow thoroughfare, inhabited chiefly by Irish
+Roman Catholics, a band of men and women, who rushed upon them with
+hatchets, knives, pokers, and bottles. Two men were seriously injured,
+and, but for the timely arrival of thirty policemen, the affray would
+probably have had a fatal termination.
+
+
+HOW THE COLLIE REACHED HIS HOME.--The following is a true story about a
+collie who took a hansom. He was lost in Oxford Street, London, so,
+after having spent some time in looking for him, his mistress went home,
+and what was her surprise, when she arrived, to see him in the hall. The
+butler told her the story, and it was this. After the dog had been lost,
+he saw an empty hansom, which he got into; and the cabby could not get
+him out, for he showed his teeth. He called a policeman, who could not
+move him either, but with some difficulty they read the name and address
+on his collar, and settled that it would be best to drive him to his
+home. They shut the doors, and drove him home. When he arrived, the
+cabby rang the bell, and asked for his fare (which he of course got),
+and then the butler opened the doors, and the dog jumped out as if
+nothing had happened.--From _Little Folks' Magazine_ for August.
+
+
+WALKING FROM EDINBURGH TO LONDON.--Mr. Ross Fraser, who, accompanied by
+a collie dog, started from Edinburgh on August 15th to walk to London in
+eight days, an average of about fifty miles per day, arrived in London
+on Sunday evening about eight o'clock. The pedestrian was awaited by a
+large concourse of people at Shoreditch Church, and heartily greeted.
+The route taken was from Edinburgh viâ Berwick, Newcastle, Durham,
+Darlington, Northallerton, Boroughbridge, Wetherby, Doncaster, Retford,
+Newark, Grantham, Stamford, Huntingdon, Royston, Ware, and Edmonton. Mr.
+Fraser seemed somewhat footsore on his arrival, but the dog appeared in
+no way the worse for the journey. The walk has not been accomplished in
+the time originally laid down, as Mr. Fraser's feet gave way owing to
+the unsuitability of his boots for the task he had taken upon himself.
+After a rest on this side of Berwick he resumed his walk, and finished
+the journey in excellent health.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE.]
+
+
+
+
+GREAT EVENTS.
+
+
+The great events which occurred in August, 1588, and November, 1688, are
+worthy of our remembrance and grateful acknowledgment before God,
+therefore we bring before our young readers, in a special way, the
+subjects of the Spanish Armada and the accession of William of Orange,
+which are of the greatest importance to all true Englishmen.
+
+The following extracts, taken from an address, by Lord Robert Montagu,
+at a commemoration meeting at Leicester, will give our young readers an
+interesting and truthful account of the great historical facts referred
+to, in a very concise form.
+
+He said there had been many commemoration meetings throughout the
+country, and why did they hold them? What were those meetings? Well, if
+he were asked that question, he should say that that meeting was a
+protest, and it was a commemoration. It was a protest against a
+conspiracy which had extended throughout the country, and had lasted a
+great number of years--a conspiracy to introduce one Romanizing practice
+after another into the worship of the Church of England, and
+endeavouring to assimilate, by all means possible, the Church of England
+to the Church of Rome. It was a protest against an attempt to reduce
+this country again, and bring it under the domination of Rome. It was a
+protest against the attempts that all Governments in recent years had
+had in hand, and made--no matter whether Liberal, Whig, or
+Conservative--to establish diplomatic relations with Rome. It was,
+lastly, a protest against an attempt, now a few centuries old, to ruin
+the backbone of Protestantism in Ireland--he meant the Protestant
+landlords, who were the chief friends of the union between England and
+Ireland. On all those points they protested.
+
+But then that meeting was also a commemoration. Commemorations, it was
+true, might be good, or they might be bad. No one would ever think of
+merely commemorating bloodshed and slaughter, but they often
+commemorated the deeds of daring and prowess on the part of their
+ancestors, and they did so in the hope that others would follow their
+example. He knew not whether that kind of thing was good, because such
+commemorations tended to increase and foster national pride; but there
+was one kind of commemoration which was absolutely and naturally
+good--he meant the commemoration of the signal mercies which God had
+vouchsafed to the land. In doing so, they were merely taking the advice
+of King David, who, speaking of his own people, said, "They remembered
+not the mercy of the Lord, and so they provoked Him at the Red Sea." And
+so also the Apostle said, "We have received mercies, and therefore we
+faint not." Therefore, what he (the speaker) proposed to do that evening
+was to ask them to consider the mercies God had shown to this
+country--great and signal mercies--in the year 1588, in the year 1688,
+and in the year 1788; and, in doing so, he hoped he should be able to
+bring this thought into their minds--that, having received mercies, they
+should "faint not."
+
+Now, first, with regard to 1588, the commemoration of the Spanish
+Armada--the invincible Armada, as it used to be called. They would
+remember, doubtless, from reading history, that King Philip of Spain was
+one of the most powerful monarchs that ever existed. The historian,
+Macaulay, had told them that on his empire the sun never set. King
+Philip counted upwards of one hundred millions of subjects, and he was
+by far the wealthiest sovereign that had existed since the days of
+Darius, and he was also a cruel and bloodthirsty sovereign. They knew
+how many thousands he killed in the Netherlands; how many poor
+Protestants he had slaughtered there. He had burnt at the stake every
+one he could in his dominions who dared to study the Bible.
+
+Well, he it was whom the Pope commissioned to make a crusade against
+this country, to conquer it, and reduce it, so that it might again come
+under the domination of Rome. He was like Pharaoh of old; he had let the
+children of Israel go, and he repented himself of having done so, and
+sent an army to bring them back to the slavery of Egypt; and so the
+Pope, not having an army of his own, told Philip, who had the most
+powerful army and navy in the world, to pursue those English who had
+escaped from the tyranny of Rome and become Protestants, and to bring
+them back again under the domination of the Pope; and the Pope, in order
+to encourage the monarch, promised him certain indulgences and two
+hundred thousand golden crowns as payment at the beginning of the
+expedition, and the payment of another two hundred thousand golden
+crowns as soon as he set foot in England. And the Pope also, in order to
+make the task easier, set the Jesuits in this country to stir up
+disaffection in England and Scotland, and with the same object sent a
+special messenger to Ireland in order to cause a rebellion there, and so
+call off the forces of England.
+
+Philip at once sent to the Duke of Parma, his governor in Belgium,
+instructions to prepare an army and fleet to co-operate with the Spanish
+force as soon as the Armada should arrive in the English Channel. The
+Armada consisted of 136 galleons, and forty smaller vessels, manned by
+twenty thousand marines; and there was also something else sent. What
+was that something else? The Chief Inquisitor, and 150 other
+inquisitors--Dominican monks--to act together, and to use every possible
+engine of torture, and in that way to convert the people of England to
+Rome. Besides these, Philip sent the very pick of his army, thirty-one
+thousand men and four thousand officers, over-land to Dunkerque to
+assist them in England as soon as he arrived. Here was the invincible
+Armada, and it was thought that such an Armada could not be withstood by
+that little puny England, for England was then but a small State, and
+had no colonies. The whole population of England then was not much
+larger than the population of London at the present time. Now, as for
+the Royal Navy, it consisted of twenty-eight ships; and how were they to
+cope with the 176 ships which composed the Spanish Armada? Why, it was
+impossible, unless the hand of God should come down to protect the
+Protestantism of England.
+
+Well, on the 30th of July, the Armada appeared off Plymouth, and Drake
+and Frobisher, and Seymour and Hawkins, and Lord Howard, High Admiral of
+England--who was not a Catholic, whatever might be said to the contrary,
+but a Protestant--determined to oppose the Armada.
+
+It was on Sunday, the 7th of August, that the Armada anchored in the
+roadstead of Dunkerque, and there waited for Parma's fleet. In the
+night, a light southerly wind sprung up, and eight ships were selected
+from the crowd of volunteer vessels that followed the fleet; their masts
+were smeared with pitch, and their hulls filled with powder and all
+kinds of explosive and combustible materials. These ships were set fire
+to, and sent down on to the Armada. What the Spaniards ought to have
+done, and what could have been very easily done, would have been to cut
+their cables and allowed the fire-ships to pass them; but the Spaniards
+seemed to have lost their presence of mind.
+
+However, at length they cut their cables and ran into the North Sea; but
+the English followed them, and there was a tremendous battle. The
+Spanish ships were so full of soldiers and sailors that every English
+shot told ten-fold. Five thousand of the Spanish were killed and not
+one hundred English wounded. A hasty council of officers was held on the
+Duke Medina's ship as to whether they should return to their anchorage
+off Dunkerque, or go back to Spain by way of the Orkneys, and they
+determined, like craven cowards, to run round by the north of Scotland
+and Ireland, and so on to the coast of Spain, because they dared not
+face the English in the Straits of Dover. Admiral Seymour watched them.
+They could not all pursue the Armada. A small squadron only went, and
+when they came to the Firth of Forth, Seymour ran short of ammunition.
+Now what he wanted to show them was, that it was not Seymour that was
+protecting England, but the Almighty Himself. Seymour had no sooner put
+into harbour than a hurricane rose up, and subsequently the shores of
+Ireland were strewn with the bodies of the dead, and the wreckage of the
+galleons. Only a few reached Spain to give mournful tidings of the
+disaster, and then it was found that there was not a family in Spain
+that was not in mourning for the loss of relatives. As the Egyptians
+were overthrown in the Red Sea, so the Spaniards were overthrown in the
+North Sea; and it was God that did all. Queen Elizabeth and the English
+people knew that well, for Queen Elizabeth struck a medal in
+commemoration of the event, and the motto on the medal was, "God blew
+upon them with His winds, and scattered them." She took no credit to
+herself, no credit to her navy, no credit to the English people; for it
+was God who did it all. From that day the power of Spain had dwindled
+and waned, until Spain had sunk to a fifth-rate power, and nobody
+thought of Spain in the councils of Europe. But what was the case with
+little England, then with hardly any colonies? God said, "Thou hast been
+faithful in little things; be thou ruler over ten great cities"; and now
+we had ten great colonies.
+
+And now they would pass away from that subject, and see what happened at
+the end of the next hundred years--in 1688. He must first remind them
+what was the state of things in 1687. There was then a Roman Catholic
+king upon the throne of England. He was not only a Roman Catholic, but
+was an avowed and sworn Jesuit--James II. There was then, also, a
+conspiracy all over England--favoured by some of the bishops and many of
+the clergy--to introduce the ritual of Rome into the English Church.
+There was then, as there is now, attempts to open up diplomatic
+relations between the throne and the Vatican. There was then an attempt
+to ruin the landlords of Ireland, so as to get rid of Protestantism, and
+separate Ireland from England. To whom did England look at that time for
+help? There was then no great Protestant Germany; but there was a small
+State, smaller than England--he meant Holland--but it was not similarly
+yoked. It was here that the hand of God first began to show itself in
+the year 1685. On account of the action of Louis XIV., who was the
+mainstay of Roman Catholicism in Europe, all the best soldiers,
+generals, and artisans in Paris left France and went to Holland. In
+England James II. gradually deposed Protestants and substituted Roman
+Catholics in all positions of importance and influence. The people,
+becoming alarmed, sought the aid of William, Prince of Orange, who had
+married a member of the English Royal family; and on the 1st of
+November, 1688, William sailed on his mission to this country. A strong
+wind was blowing, which took him gaily on his journey; and that wind not
+only sent him gaily on his mission, but prevented Lord Dartmouth, who
+was on the Thames, from getting out. God was determined to show that
+success had not been arrived at by man; and on November 6th, in a fog,
+William and his friends arrived at a distance beyond Torbay. When the
+fog lifted, and the sunshine beamed forth, William gaily sailed into
+Torbay. Then there were two days of calm weather, during which William
+landed his army and his stores, and James's forces could not attack,
+owing to the stillness of the wind. Still James might have struck a
+blow, as his troops had converged at Salisbury; but God struck fear into
+his heart. He dressed himself as a fisherman, got into a fishing-boat,
+and went to France. But our forefathers did not say to William, "Please
+take the crown and govern." They said, "We have certain rights; will you
+promise always to observe those rights? If so, you may sit upon the
+throne." And William promised that he would do so, and, as they knew,
+they had now the Act of Rights. One of the clauses of that Act was that,
+if the sovereign became a Roman Catholic, the throne should be instantly
+vacated. It was settled that no communion should be held with Rome; that
+was to say, that no diplomacy should exist between England and Rome.
+That Act was passed, and remained the same to this day. He would read
+them what Lord Macaulay said of the two events to which he referred:--
+
+"The weather had indeed served the Protestant cause so well that some
+men (_e.g._, Bishop Burnet), of more piety than judgment, fully believed
+the ordinary laws of nature to have been suspended for the preservation
+of the liberty or religion of England. Exactly a hundred years before,
+they said, the Armada, invincible by man, had been scattered by the
+wrath of God. Civil freedom and divine truth were again in jeopardy; and
+again the obedient elements had fought for the good cause. The wind had
+blown strong from the east while the Prince wished to sail down the
+channel, had turned to the south when he wished to enter Torbay, had
+sunk to a calm during the disembarkation, and, as soon as the
+disembarkation was completed, had risen to a storm, and had met the
+pursuers in the face. Nor did men omit to remark that, by an
+extraordinary coincidence, the Prince had reached our shores on a day on
+which the Church of England commemorated, by prayers and thanksgiving,
+the wonderful escape of the Royal House, and of the three Estates, from
+the blackest plot ever designed by Papists."
+
+Now they had seen God's mercy in 1588 and in 1688, and now let them turn
+to 1788. It was not so striking, he would allow, as the other events,
+but it was not less real. And why was it not so striking? In former days
+men knew very well what the Government did, as there was no secrecy
+about it. In these days nobody knew what were the views and the
+intentions of the Government. It was all done underhanded, secretly, and
+no one knew anything about it. They gathered a little from the
+newspapers and tried to put it together as well as they could;
+consequently, that system having been in vogue in 1788, they did not
+know exactly what took place.
+
+In the year 1787, Charles Edward Catesby was a pretender to the throne,
+and the Pope was again anxious to bring England under him, and he made
+secret allies of all the Roman Catholics to put this Charles on the
+throne of England. A body was to land in Scotland, and £20,000 was to be
+given to the Highlanders to rise in rebellion. The French had an army
+ready, and they were to land on the south coast of England and march to
+London, so as to prevent the troops going forth to put down Edward.
+
+In that same year the Prince Regent did that thing which, according to
+the Act of William, made him vacate the throne for ever. He married a
+Roman Catholic in 1787. Notwithstanding the fact that he tried to keep
+it a secret at first, it afterwards leaked out through the indiscretion
+of a member of the House of Commons. Pitt said at first that the Prince
+Regent had denied it stoutly; but there were those present in the Roman
+Catholic Church at the time he was married; and when it was proved,
+Pitt then said the Act of Parliament prevented any one of the Royal
+family being married without the consent of Parliament, and argued that
+the Prince was not married. He married a German princess, and put her
+away, and came to the throne as George IV.
+
+Then came 1788, when God struck that Charles with death; and then an
+alliance was made between Protestant England and Russia to support each
+other against any Roman Catholic emperor. This was not so striking a
+display of God's mercy as was shown in the case of the Armada; but in
+them all they saw the hand of God. They saw great mercy in 1588, in
+1688, and in 1788, for the protection of Protestantism; and what cared
+they whether in 1888 ministers should try to bring them under the
+domination of Rome? They knew that God was a tower of strength, and that
+they could rely on Him. Let them think and meditate on His mercies, and
+then they would not fail.
+
+
+
+
+THE FISH THAT SWALLOWED JONAH.
+
+"_Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah
+was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights._"--JONAH i.
+17.
+
+
+Upon the question as to what was the fish that swallowed Jonah, Dr.
+Raleigh remarks ("The Story of Jonah," p. 148):--
+
+"The Bible does not say that a whale was the prophet's jailer. The
+infidel has said that, and then has enjoyed the easy triumph of proving
+the natural impossibility of it. Jonah says 'a great fish' swallowed
+him. Our Lord uses a phrase exactly similar. He uses a generic term,
+which includes the whale, but is never applied to the whale
+particularly. The dolphin, the seal, the whale, the shark, are all
+included in the term that is used, and there is strong probability in
+the supposition that the white shark is the creature designated as the
+'great fish.' Sharks abounded in the Mediterranean at that time. They
+have been found there ever since, and are found there still. In length
+some of them have attained to thirty feet and upwards, of capacity in
+other ways sufficient to incarcerate Samson of Zorah, or Goliath of
+Gath, as well as the probably attenuated prophet of Gath-hepher.
+
+"It is related that a horse was found in the stomach of a shark, and
+there are many instances of men being swallowed alive--not fabulous and
+doubtful stories, but instances well authenticated. One, of a soldier in
+full armour. One, of a sailor who fell overboard, and, was swallowed in
+the very sight of his comrades. The captain seized a gun, shot the fish
+in a sensitive part, which then cast out the sailor into the sea, who
+was taken up, amazed and terrified, but little hurt.
+
+"Every one knows that the shark is a most voracious creature. Its teeth
+are only incisive. It has no power of holding. It can snap and sever
+limbs, or trunk, or head, sheer and certainly as though its jaws were a
+guillotine. But in that case it secures only what is within the jaws.
+The rest is apt to be lost. Its habit, therefore, is to swallow the prey
+alive, that it may lose nothing. Thus God made the voracity of the fish
+the means of protection and safety to His servant."
+
+
+HEART-WORK must be God's work. Only the great Heart-maker can be the
+great Heart-breaker. If I love Him, my heart will be filled with His
+spirit, and obedient to His commands.--_Baxter._
+
+
+THE great design, both in judgments and mercies, is to convince us that
+_there is none like the Lord our God_; none so wise, so mighty, so good;
+no enemy so formidable, no friend so desirable, so valuable.--_Matthew
+Henry._
+
+
+
+
+TALKING WITH A MAN SEVEN THOUSAND MILES OFF!
+
+
+The longest wire in the world extends from 18, Old Broad Street, London,
+E.C., to 29, Cable Street, Calcutta, over seven thousand miles. A
+telegraphic expert, who visited the London end of the wire, says:--
+
+We have often heard of the wonderful line between this country and
+Teheran, the capital of Persia, a distance of three thousand eight
+hundred miles, but we scarcely realized the fact that good signals were
+obtainable through so great a length of wire until recently, when we
+availed ourselves of an invitation from Mr. W. Andrews, the managing
+director of the Indo-European Telegraph Company, to make a visit of
+inspection.
+
+It was between seven and eight o'clock when we reached the office. In
+the basement of an unpretentious building in Old Broad Street we were
+shown the Morse printer in connection with the main line from London to
+Teheran.
+
+The courteous clerk in charge of the wire, Mr. Blagrove, informed us
+that we were through to Emden, and with the same ease with which one
+"wires" from the City to the West End, we asked a few questions of the
+telegraphist in the German town.
+
+When we had finished with Emden, we spoke with the same facility to the
+gentleman on duty at Odessa. This did not satisfy us, and in a few
+seconds we were through to the Persian capital, Teheran.
+
+There were no messages about, the time was favourable, and the
+_employés_ of the various countries seemed anxious to give us an
+opportunity of testing the capacity of this wonderful wire. T.H.N.
+(Teheran) said, "Call Kurrachee," and in less time than it takes to
+write these words we gained the attention of the Indian town. The
+signals were good, and our speed must have equalled fifteen words a
+minute.
+
+The operator at Kurrachee, when he learnt that London was speaking to
+him, thought it would be a good opportunity to put us through to Agra,
+and to our astonishment the signals did not fail, and we chatted
+pleasantly for a few minutes with Mr. Malcolm Khan, the clerk on duty.
+
+To make this trial of telegraphy complete, Agra switched us on to
+another line, and we were soon talking to a native telegraphist at the
+Indian Government Cable Station, Calcutta.
+
+At first the gentleman at the other end of the wire could not believe
+that he was really in direct communication with the English capital, and
+he exclaimed, in Morse language, "Are you really London?"
+
+Truly this was a great achievement. Metallic communication, without a
+break, from 18, Old Broad Street, London, to the telegraph office in
+Calcutta! Seven thousand miles of wire! The signals were excellent, and
+the speed attained was no fewer than twelve, perhaps fourteen, words per
+minute.
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 235._)
+
+
+"_Jesus wept._"--JOHN xi. 35.
+
+J otham      Judges ix. 5.
+E glon       Judges iii. 14.
+S apphira    Acts v. 1, 2.
+U zzah       2 Samuel vi. 7.
+S amuel      1 Samuel i. 14.
+
+W ater       Exodus xvii. 3.
+E noch       Hebrews xi. 5.
+P otiphar    Genesis xxxix. 1.
+T homas      Acts i. 13.
+
+                         RUTH CROWHURST
+                         (Aged 9 years).
+
+_Hastings._
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF ELLEN AND HENRY HOAD.
+
+  "Around the throne of God in heaven
+    Thousands of children stand;
+  Children whose sins are all forgiven--
+    A holy, happy band."
+
+
+Of the truth of these lines there can be no doubt in the minds of God's
+people, and a very blessed truth it is. There is a heaven of joy and
+love, and in this heaven there is the throne of God, and many dear
+children are standing around this throne, singing praises unto God and
+the Lamb. Their sins forgiven, their sorrows gone, their sufferings
+ended, death past, joy, and peace, and glory eternal now begun, who is
+there that could not desire to be with them, and to be as they are?
+Among this happy band we hope the two young ones--brother and
+sister--Ellen and Henry, whose names are at the top of this page, are
+now standing; and to give some reason of this hope is now our object in
+writing these few lines.
+
+Many, alas! have hopes of salvation and heaven for which their life and
+testimony can afford no solid ground for them to rest upon, and whose
+hope will one day make them ashamed, and, like the flickering lamps of
+the foolish virgins, will go out when the Bridegroom comes.
+
+Ellen and Henry were the children of praying parents, and, both of them
+being members of the Church at Bodle Street, their children attended the
+Sabbath School connected with that cause. The mother died in 1882, of
+consumption, and some of the children soon manifested symptoms of the
+same disease. An elder sister kept house, and as the younger ones grew
+up, they had to go out to earn their bread.
+
+Ellen was sent to service soon after she was twelve years old, and not
+living far from the school, she was permitted still to attend; and
+certainly she was a girl that needed no constraint in this matter, for
+if her duties kept her on Sundays until too late for the lessons, she
+would even then take her seat with the class while she listened to the
+sermon.
+
+How often children manifest a dislike to the house of God, and how soon
+there is an enmity appearing against good things! To many, attendance
+both at school and the house of God is a burden, and when they grow
+older they cast off all restraint and run wildly into sin. To such,
+parental control is hateful; the wise counsels of father and mother are
+scorned; the family altar, if possible, avoided; and their inward idea
+is that, when they leave home, they shall then go on as they like, and
+have their fill of pleasure. If any such children are reading these
+lines, let them pause and tremble, for there is an Eye watching their
+every thought, and an Almighty Arm that can reach them; and, sooner or
+later, there will be a bringing into judgment, and who can say how soon?
+
+But certainly, with Ellen, it was her delight to go to the house of God.
+The writer has met her many times on Sunday mornings on her way, her
+face bright and happy, a stronger bond than duty binding her close to
+God's people.
+
+In the autumn of 1887, the fatal languor that often accompanies
+consumption appeared in Ellen, and, though she bore up bravely for a
+little time, she had at length to leave her place and go home. Going
+home to die seems hard for young ones like Ellen to think of, yet there
+is no staying the Hand that strikes. The summons must be obeyed. In such
+a case the great question arises, "Are we ready, or are we not?" Ellen's
+earthly home had no mother to welcome the child, or to soothe her in her
+dying hours; and no one can truly fill the mother's place at such a
+time. But it was not to be long. Soon she was beyond the reach of mortal
+aid, and want, pain, and care had passed away for ever.
+
+The father gives the following particulars of what he witnessed in
+Ellen, and it is well indeed when parents can give such testimonies of
+their children:--
+
+"She was a very dutiful girl, and very quiet--so much so, that I seldom
+had to rebuke her; always very attentive at school, and, when out at
+service, she would attend the house of God if possible. All this was
+very good; but I wanted something further, and when she first came home
+ill, I wanted it made manifest that the Lord had begun a work of grace
+in her soul, and that she had been truly 'born again.'
+
+"One morning, as I went home from chapel, Ellen said to me, 'Father, Mr.
+D---- has been to see me.' I then asked her, 'Did he talk to you? and
+did you like what he said?' She answered, 'Yes, very much, and I should
+like for him to come again.' Then, bursting into tears, she said, 'I
+should so like to be able to answer him better, but I cannot. I should
+so much like to go to chapel again.' And when her sister asked her if
+she thought she should get better, she said she did not know, but should
+so like to go to school once more.
+
+"The night before she died, I saw a great change in her, and I asked her
+if she ever prayed to the Lord for mercy. 'Yes,' she said, 'sometimes I
+wake up in the night and pray to Him. I should not mind death if I knew
+my sins were pardoned. There is nothing to stop here for if I knew
+this.'"
+
+The writer has seen her weep much, when speaking to her of the certainty
+of death and the judgment, the sufferings of Jesus, and the abundance of
+pardon through His blood. Can there be a more touching sight than to see
+a child fourteen years old weeping and praying in sincerity for mercy,
+as a guilty sinner before God?
+
+Ellen died so suddenly that nothing further was gathered from her lips,
+but we believe her end was peace. She quietly passed away on February
+10th, 1888, aged fourteen years.
+
+In connection with her and her prayers and tears, these lines seem very
+sweet to me--
+
+  "Did ever mourner plead with Thee,
+  And Thou reject that mourner's plea?
+  Does not Thy Word of truth remain,
+  That none shall seek Thy face in vain?"
+
+Henry was two years older than his sister Ellen, and, like her, had to
+commence work early, and bear the yoke in his youth. He had been a
+regular attendant at the Sabbath School, and was truly a promising boy.
+Quiet and serious he went on his way, and read his Bible, which, through
+faith in Christ Jesus, is able to make wise unto salvation. He was, in
+the leadings of Providence, called to labour at a place where he had
+some work to do on Sunday mornings, and it was noticed that he seemed
+put out in his mind if he was ever prevented from attending school.
+
+In the spring of 1888 the same disease that cut down his mother and
+sister appeared in Henry, and he had to leave his place and go home. The
+teachers of the school and the friends around could see his days on
+earth must now be very few, and that he too, like Ellen, had come home
+to die. Yet he went to school a few times after this, and in May went to
+Hailsham to spend a few days with some friends. Here we had an
+opportunity of observing him closely, but he was scarcely able to say a
+word about himself. He was failing fast at this time, and truly it was
+sorrowful to see how feebly he moved about. When visiting the field on
+Whit Monday, where the Sunday School children were having their treat,
+what a contrast we beheld between the bright, healthy, happy children,
+and the poor, pale, languid, dying boy looking on!
+
+Soon after this he went back home, and went out but little afterwards.
+He gradually wasted in body and strength, and could no longer attend the
+school, though living but a few yards from it.
+
+And now came the time of testing the matter, whether there was anything
+of the work of the Holy Spirit in him, or whether it consisted in merely
+coming and going to and from the house of God.
+
+Let our readers reflect, this time of testing is coming to every one of
+us, and we shall soon be brought where our young friend was--to lie down
+and die, and thus appear before God.
+
+We will now give some particulars of his last words and exercises, and
+thus let our readers think for themselves what ground we have for our
+hope that this dear young lad is now in heaven.
+
+His father writes thus of his concern--"I had watched him for some time,
+thinking I could see some signs of concern, and that he was different
+from what he had been. I was almost sure he had been at times trying to
+pray, but he would not let me see him if he could help it. According as
+his illness came on he took more to his Bible and hymn-book, and they
+were his daily and hourly companions. The friends in the school were
+much concerned about him, and talked to him about his soul, but could
+not get anything from him. Yet he seemed to like to hear them, so I
+asked him if he did not enjoy what they said. He said 'Yes,' but did not
+wish to say anything wrong, though he hoped that some of the things
+spoken were the workings of his mind. I was very much concerned about
+him myself, and my desire was, that the Lord would make it manifest that
+He had a favour toward him. Once, when about my work, I could not help
+asking the Lord for this, when these words came with some sweetness, 'At
+evening time it shall be light'; then I had a hope that the Lord would
+appear for him. Soon after this he had these words come with some power,
+'When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through
+the rivers, they shall not overflow thee'; and then he expressed the
+hope that the Lord would be with him in the river of death.
+
+"When he was confined to his bed he seemed very restless, and being in
+great exercise of mind, he folded his hands, and we could see his lips
+move, but could not hear the words.
+
+"Once, when I came home late from my work, and went into his bed-room,
+he called me to him and said, 'I have had a blessed afternoon, for the
+Lord has been with me, and I can leave you all now, and everything of
+earth; and I believe that I shall go to heaven. I have prayed for you
+all.' I told him I was very glad--more so than if any one had given me
+gold, and asked him how it came to pass--whether it was by any word
+coming with power or otherwise? He said, 'No, but it was a sweet,
+humbling influence which so softened my heart, and drew my affections to
+the Lord Jesus. It enables me to bear my sufferings better, and I lie
+more comfortable.'
+
+"A great change was seen in him after this. His mind seemed much
+brighter, and he laid more calm and quiet. I told him that he perhaps
+might feel after this comfort some distress of mind again, and he said,
+'I have been in distress of mind, father, and the Lord has blessed me.'
+This was about a week before he died. We thought he would have been
+taken away sooner, and he felt so himself, for soon after his
+deliverance he called us all around him, and shook hands with us all,
+and gave each one something to keep in remembrance of him. I asked him
+then if he felt the Lord was with him. He said, 'Yes, I fancy I can see
+Him coming.' But he recovered from this, and I then said to him, 'The
+Lord did not come as soon as you expected?' and he answered, 'No; but I
+must wait the Lord's time.'
+
+"He asked once that I would pray to the Lord to come and take him, and
+then asked his sisters to sing the hymn commencing, 'How sweet the name
+of Jesus sounds.' He then said, 'Oh, now I could sing!' I asked him if
+he could sing that hymn. He said, 'Yes, if I had breath.' Mr. Reed asked
+him if he could say that Jesus had done all things well. He answered,
+'Yes, I have said so, and I can say it again.' He was then asked what
+his hopes for eternity were. He soon replied, 'Nothing but the blood and
+righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.'
+
+"Speaking to one of his sisters, he said, 'I hope that you pray to the
+Lord to be your Saviour, and that you read your Bible. Once I did not
+like reading it, and when father made me come in to read, it almost made
+me cry, but now it is the best treasure I have on earth.'
+
+"I asked him if he had anything to tell Mr. Daw, 'Yes,' he replied, 'the
+first Sunday after uncle was buried, June 24th, 1888, when he was
+preaching from this, "I know that my Redeemer liveth," I felt blessed
+then, and the tears ran down my face, but the feeling was soon gone.'
+
+"The hymn commencing--
+
+  "Awake, ye saints, and sweetly sing
+    The ascended Saviour's love,
+
+was very much blessed to him, and he asked for it to be sung when he was
+once suffering much for want of breath; then he said, 'I feel as though
+I could jump into the arms of Jesus.'
+
+"About half-an-hour before he died he cried out, 'Oh, what a mighty
+Saviour! I shall soon be before the throne, and sing the praises of the
+Lamb. Don't sorrow.' I said, 'Not for you,' and he replied, 'No.'
+
+"One remarking how ill he seemed, he said, 'I hope I shall soon be
+better.' 'When you get to heaven,' I whispered, and he said, 'Yes.'
+
+"At another time a remark was made about his pillow being hard. He said,
+'It will be soft in heaven.'
+
+"The last audible words from his lips were, 'Rest, father!' and so he
+died on the 22nd day of August, 1888, aged sixteen years."
+
+Here the father's narrative ends, and truly we can hope that he went
+right to heaven, and that for him to die was gain. Brother and sister
+now lie side by side in the pleasant burial-ground at Bodle Street,
+awaiting the resurrection morning. Can we not, to close these few lines,
+also say the last verse of the hymn of which we have given the first--
+
+  "On earth they sought the Saviour's grace,
+    On earth they loved His name,
+  So now they see His blessed face,
+    And stand before the Lamb"?
+
+                                         J. D.
+
+
+
+
+DENIED, YET ANSWERED.
+
+
+When Augustine, in his home at Carthage, resolved to visit Rome, his
+mother wished either to prevent him from going, or to go with him. He
+would listen to neither proposal, and resorted to a trick to carry out
+his plan. One evening he went to the sea-shore, and his mother followed.
+There were two chapels dedicated to the memory of the martyr Cyprian,
+and he pressed her to spend one evening in the church of the martyr,
+while he would accompany a friend on board a ship, there to say
+farewell. While she was there in tears, praying and wrestling with God
+to prevent the voyage, Augustine sailed for Italy, and his deceived
+mother next morning found herself alone. In quiet resignation she
+returned to the city, and continued to pray for the salvation of her
+son. Though meaning well, yet she erred in her prayers, for the journey
+of Augustine was the means of his salvation. The denial of the prayer
+was, in fact, the answering of it. Instead of the husk, God granted
+rather the substance of her petition in the conversion of her son.
+"Therefore," said he, "O God, Thou hadst regard to the aim and essence
+of her desires, and didst not do what she then prayed for, that Thou
+mightest do for me what she continually implored."
+
+
+
+
+HONOURING THE LORD'S DAY.
+
+
+The following interesting incident was related to the writer by a
+gentleman, who had the narrative from the merchant himself to whom it
+occurred.
+
+When a youth, the latter obtained a situation in a provision store in
+one of the great mercantile cities of the United States. On the first
+Saturday evening, he was told by his employer that he would be expected
+to be at his business post the next day, the same as usual. On the lad
+respectfully replying that he could not do so, as he had always been
+taught by his friends to honour the Lord's Day, he was bluntly told
+that, if he would not do what he was asked, he might come on Monday
+morning and get his wages, as there would be no further occasion for his
+services.
+
+We may imagine how such a notice was calculated to discourage the youth;
+nevertheless he kept to his resolution, and, after a Sabbath spent in a
+right manner, proceeded on the Monday to get his discharge.
+
+It was his duty to open the store, and as he was on his way to it, he
+noticed a man, as the morning was dark, trying to make out the
+inscriptions over the warehouse doors.
+
+Asking him what he wanted, the man replied that he was a ship-captain,
+and was looking for a provision store in order to get supplies for his
+vessel, which was coming down the river with the tide. The youth
+willingly, forgetting his employer's unkind threat of dismissal, at once
+told the stranger that if he would go with him to his master's premises,
+he would be sure to find there the articles he was in search of.
+
+On getting to the stores, the captain selected a large supply of
+provisions, for which he paid well. In short, it was an excellent
+commercial transaction. When he came to pay the money, the chief clerk,
+who had now made his appearance, made out the account, and saw that the
+notes given in payment were those of good banks--a point of no small
+importance in those days of unsound American currency. By this time,
+too, the stranger's ship had arrived at the wharf attached to the store,
+and the goods were placed on board of it, when it proceeded on its
+voyage.
+
+At a later hour the youth's employer came to business, and the clerk
+told him that the new lad had been doing an excellent stroke of business
+before others were astir that morning.
+
+"A very good price, too, he has got for the goods," said the master, as
+he looked at the invoice. "But," he continued, "depend upon it, he has
+been taken in, and got bad notes."
+
+"No," replied the clerk; "that's all right. I attended to that myself."
+
+Presently the youth came up to his employer's desk.
+
+"Well," said he, good-humouredly, "what do you want?"
+
+"Oh, sir, you told me I was to come to you to-day, and get my wages and
+my dismissal."
+
+"Nonsense!" rejoined the master; "go to your work, and let me hear no
+more of that."
+
+So to work he went, and kept his situation, and a good conscience. When
+our informant heard the anecdote from him, he had become a successful
+trader, God having blessed his youthful conscientiousness.
+
+This incident reminds us of another of somewhat the same character,
+which was told us by a gentleman, now dead, who at the time held a very
+important position on the staff of one of our great religious societies.
+
+"When I was a youth," so his narrative ran, "I was sent by my friends to
+one of the principal towns in an island in the West Indies, to be
+apprenticed as an articled clerk to a firm of solicitors there. My
+connections at home, although not Evangelical Christians, respected
+religion, and when I left, they counselled me to be always particular in
+observing the Lord's Day and reverencing it.
+
+[Illustration: "WELL, WHAT DO YOU WANT?" (_See page 252._)]
+
+"On getting to my new situation, the managing clerk, at the close of the
+first week, told me that I should be expected to put in my appearance at
+the office on Sunday. I told him that I had been always taught not to do
+any work on that day, and that I meant to go to church. To church I
+accordingly went. On the Monday, when I returned to the office, one of
+the partners, a lively little man, looked hard at me, but said nothing.
+The next Sunday and the next I pursued the same course, without any
+objection being made to it. There were other articled clerks in the
+office, and they, seeing what I did, gradually did the same, without any
+opposition from the principals. In course of time, some of the partners
+ceased to come, until at last the little man I have named was the only
+one who came, and that for an hour or two. Even this in time ceased, and
+the office was shut up on the Sunday. Then, more curious still, the
+other solicitors in the town followed the example that our office had
+set, till, ere long, no business at all was done on the Lord's Day by
+any solicitor in the place."
+
+A third anecdote connected with the Lord's Day may here also
+appropriately be given. The incident occurred to the grandfather of the
+gentleman who narrated it to us.
+
+The late Lord L---- was well known as a brave warrior during the
+Peninsular War. His lordship, on his return to Scotland, was anxious to
+have some timber on his estate cut down, that he might discharge certain
+pressing debts. Without giving any notice of his intention, he called
+one Sunday morning upon my friend's grandfather, just as he was
+preparing to go with his family to church, and asked him to walk with
+him over the estate, that they might together see what timber was fit
+for cutting.
+
+The grandfather respectfully replied that that day he had another Master
+whom he must serve, but that he would be ready at any hour on a working
+day to be promptly at his lordship's service. His lordship merely said,
+"Very well," and named another day, when the agent attended him, and did
+the work that was wanted of him, apparently to his lordship's
+satisfaction.
+
+The matter seemed to have blown over, when shortly afterwards the agent,
+who had been many years in his lordship's service, received a notice
+that he was wanted to meet Lord L---- at the office of his man of
+business on a particular day, and in a neighbouring town. The request
+was an unusual one, and much surmising took place among his friends as
+to what could be the meaning of it.
+
+"Depend upon it," said some, who pretended to see farther than others,
+"his lordship, though he said nothing at the time, has taken offence at
+your refusal to work for him on Sunday, and, now that the business is
+finished, intends to give you notice of dismissal."
+
+The day came, and the agent kept the appointment, when, to his joyful
+surprise, instead of giving a notice of dismissal, his lordship told
+him, with expressions of esteem, that he desired to show his sense of
+the conscientious manner in which he had so long discharged his duties,
+and that he had asked him to attend in order that he might settle a
+pension upon him.
+
+The reader may imagine his happiness when he found all his fears at an
+end, and had this proof of the approbation of his conduct by a divine
+and an earthly master. The worthy man lived long to enjoy Lord L----'s
+bounty, having died at the age of 102. On the anniversary of his
+hundredth birthday, some of his neighbours, by whom he was much
+respected, entertained him at a public dinner, and gave him a Bible,
+accompanied with the hope that he might have to the end of his
+pilgrimage the guidance of Him who had guided him "a hundred years."--H.
+M., in _Friendly Greetings_.
+
+
+
+
+  LITTLE JOHNNIE.
+
+
+  Shall I vex your patience, Johnnie,
+    If I write again?
+  Would you rather I should leave you
+    Brooding o'er your pain?
+
+  Does your little heart grow tired
+    Of the outside noise?
+  Will you never tell your sorrows?
+    Must you hide your joys?
+
+  Then I'll go to Jesus, Johnnie--
+    Go to Him, and say--
+  "There's a weary child, Lord Jesus,
+    Needs Thy love to-day.
+
+  "Listen to his father's praying;
+    See his mother's tears;
+  Speak, oh, speak to little Johnnie!
+    Speak, and hush our fears.
+
+  "He was born a wretched sinner;
+    Does he know it, Lord?
+  Thou hast promises for sinners,
+    In Thy precious Word.
+
+  "Speak, oh, speak to little Johnnie,
+    That our aching hearts
+  May be comforted about him
+    When his soul departs.
+
+  "We have told him of Thy mercy,
+    Told him of Thy wrath;
+  Told him of the untold terrors
+    Of the second death.
+
+  "But the voice that wakes an echo
+    In the silent one,
+  And the hand that opens heaven,
+    Jesus, are Thine own.
+
+  "Lord, we cannot help repeating,
+    Speak to him to-day;
+  Hope, nor prayer, nor mercy cometh
+    To the mouldering clay.
+
+  "Now the heart and flesh are failing,
+    Now the need is true,
+  Hell beneath, and heaven above him,
+    Stoop, Lord, lift him through."
+
+  I have said all this to Jesus,
+    Johnnie dear, for you;
+  Tell your mother if He answers;
+    She is praying too.
+
+  Oh, if you but hear Him whisper,
+    "Guilty sinner, come!"
+  Break away to Jesus, Johnnie;
+    He will take you home.
+
+                           M. A. CHAPLIN.
+
+_Galleywood, Chelmsford._
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+A king of Israel.
+
+A king of Moab.
+
+Absalom's general.
+
+The son of Ham.
+
+A river.
+
+A son of Jacob.
+
+A king of Israel.
+
+A priest.
+
+Abram's brother.
+
+A precious stone.
+
+A king of Bashan.
+
+Something sent to various kings by God.
+
+A servant of Ahab.
+
+An animal mentioned in the Bible.
+
+                   WINNIE LANGMAN
+                (Aged 10 years).
+
+_Battersea._
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER.
+
+
+Nov.  4. Commit to memory Ps. cxxvii. i.
+Nov. 11. Commit to memory Ps. cxxvii. 2.
+Nov. 18. Commit to memory Ps. cxxv. 2.
+Nov. 25. Commit to memory Ps. cxxv. 3.
+
+
+
+
+BRIMSTONE OR SULPHUR.
+
+"_The Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and
+fire._"--GENESIS xix. 24.
+
+
+Sulphur is one of the most inflammable substances known, and will melt
+in fire but not in water. The meaning of the word "sulphur" is, the
+burning or fiery stone. This substance is obtained in most parts of the
+world, but is very abundant in volcanic regions. It doubtless helps to
+feed those terrific fires of the earth which occasionally burst forth in
+all their fury, pouring liquid lava upon the valleys beneath, and
+overwhelming cities in destruction. The smoke which issues from the
+craters of volcanoes is impregnated with sulphur; indeed, this substance
+is often found encrusted round the mouths of these burning mountains.
+
+Italy and Sicily produce the best sulphur in a native state, and in very
+large quantity. This is imported into England, is refined, and in its
+respective processes produces the roll brimstone, rock brimstone, and
+flowers of sulphur, all so well known in commerce. Sulphur also exists
+in some of our mineral springs, as that of Harrogate, in Yorkshire. It
+is found in the combination of several metallic ores, such as pyrites or
+sulphuret of iron, and sulphurets of zinc, copper, and lead. In some of
+its forms it exists in some plants. This may be proved by leaving a
+silver spoon in mustard; the colour of the spoon will soon be changed to
+a blackish tinge. It is the presence of this principle in assafoetida
+which causes it to smell so disagreeably. Silver put into the same
+pocket with sulphur soon loses its brightness.
+
+Sulphur is applied to a variety of purposes. It is largely used in the
+manufacture of sulphuric acid, and forms about a tenth component part in
+the manufacture of English gunpowder. As a medicine it is very useful.
+
+There appears to be an allusion to its appropriation for gunpowder in
+Revelation ix. 17, 18. Many eminent expositors of the Revelation agree
+in supposing that the flashes of fire, attended by smoke and brimstone,
+"whereby men were killed," which seemed to proceed from the mouths of
+the horses, were really the flashes of artillery. The heads of the
+horses alone would be seen through the sulphureous smoke, while in
+reality the flashes and smoke proceeded from the cannon. The whole
+appears imagery of a battle scene, and is thought to refer to the Turks,
+who first turned to account the invention of gunpowder in carrying on
+their wars.
+
+"The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire" (or burning
+brimstone). As these cities were situated in the vale of Siddim, which,
+as the sacred writer informs us, was full of bitumen pits, many learned
+men are of opinion that it does not detract from the supernatural
+character of this awful visitation to suppose that the wonder-working
+God saw fit to employ natural agencies in effecting the purposes of His
+will; and it is thought that, as sulphur exists in the neighbouring
+hills, it might have been ignited by lightning, and poured down like
+rain upon the vale below. The quantity of pitch already existing in the
+vale would be set on fire, and thus the cities would be destroyed, and
+the character of the valleys thereby changed.
+
+Be this as it may, the statement of the sacred writer is clear, and we
+may safely interpret it as implying a shower of inflamed sulphur or
+nitre. At the same time, it is evident that the whole plain underwent a
+simultaneous convulsion, which seems referable to the consequences of
+bituminous explosion. In accordance with this view, we find the
+materials, as it were, of this awful visitation near at hand, for, at
+the present day, sulphur is found on the shores of the Dead Sea, which
+occupies the site of the cities of the plain; and the Arabs obtain
+enough from the cliffs to make their own gunpowder. Irby and Mangles
+collected on the southern coasts lumps of fine sulphur, from the size of
+a nutmeg up to that of a small hen's egg, which it was evident from
+their situation had been brought down from the neighbouring hills by the
+rain.
+
+                                                 H. H.
+
+
+
+
+  A BIRTHDAY WISH.
+
+
+  Life is before you, friend of mine;
+  What it may bring we cannot divine;
+  The path outspread is all untrod;
+  Unknown are its windings to all but God.
+
+  The sun will shine with its gladsome ray,
+  And sometimes clouds overshadow the day;
+  Your heart may be lifted with joy untold;
+  But remember the same is not yours to hold.
+
+  At your bidding it comes not, nor does it stay;
+  But when One speaks it flies away;
+  And why is this? That One is Love,
+  And seeks to lead your heart above.
+
+  Were earthly happiness all your own,
+  You never would wish a heavenly throne;
+  So joys are given, they come, and end,
+  As seemeth best to our Lord and Friend.
+
+  Then let us entrust them to His care,
+  And of thinking them ours to keep, beware;
+  Let us seek in the gift the Giver to see,
+  And trust to His love and wise decree.
+
+  Should sorrow and sadness our path attend,
+  And dark seem the way to our journey's end,
+  Let us look above to the Hand that guides,
+  And trust His love whatever betides.
+
+  No sorrow is sent with purposeless aim,
+  But each has its destined end to gain;
+  He loves us so dearly, and shed His blood
+  To lead us up to the throne of God.
+
+  And think you that He would afflict His child
+  With needless pains in this desert wild?
+  No; though all that's sent we can't understand,
+  Let us never distrust the guiding Hand.
+
+  His wisdom is perfect, His love divine,
+  And changeth not with the flight of time;
+  To the trustful heart that resteth in Him
+  He has promised joys that never shall dim.
+
+  A quiet peace surrounds its path,
+  Surpassing all that the worldling hath;
+  May this be yours in that winding way;
+  May it lead you up to the "perfect day."
+
+                                LEWARN CLAYTON.
+
+
+
+
+INSECURITY OF PALESTINE.
+
+"_They that sow in tears shall reap in joy._"--PSALM cxxvi. 5.
+
+
+The farmer in Palestine had frequently to sow with an armed man
+attending him, to prevent his being robbed of his seed. A similar state
+of danger appears still to prevail. Tristram, in his "Land of Israel,"
+says:--
+
+"In descending the hill from Bethany we saw an illustration of the
+wretched insecurity of the country, in a drove of donkeys laden with
+firewood for Jerusalem. Each ass was attended by a man armed to the
+teeth with pistols, sword, and a long gun; and in one little valley--the
+only one beyond Bethany where there was any cultivation--each ploughman
+was holding his firelock in one hand while he guided the plough with the
+other."
+
+
+
+
+A HEROIC SCOTCH STUDENT.
+
+
+"A ship ashore! A ship ashore!" was the cry which rang through the
+streets of St. Andrew's, Scotland, one fearful winter's day some years
+ago. This thrilling cry roused every inhabitant. Citizens, University
+students, and sailors, rushed with pale faces and rapid steps along the
+street towards a bay to the eastward of the town. Standing on the shore,
+the crowd was terror-stricken and paralyzed through beholding a vessel
+stranded on a sand-bank but a few rods from the beach. She was shrouded
+in surfy mist; the waves dashed furiously against her, and broke over
+her decks with irresistible fury. Yet, through the thick air and the
+driving sleet, the people on the shore could now and then catch glimpses
+of the doomed crew clinging, with the clutch of despair, to the rigging
+of the wreck. There were many bold, brave men in that sympathizing crowd
+of spectators, but none who dared to venture through the mighty surges
+to save those ill-fated sailors. It seemed, indeed, to the stoutest
+heart, too mighty a task for mortal man to attempt. All could sympathize
+with the wretched ones; none but God, they thought, could save them.
+
+But there was one heroic soul in that eager, wistful crowd who thought
+that man, with God's help, might snatch those perishing men from the
+door of doom. He was a young man--a University student--strong in body,
+but still stronger in spirit. "Bring me a rope," he cried; "I will try
+to save them." A strong rope was brought, and fastened about his waist.
+Followed by the prayers of many and the good wishes of all, this
+chivalric youth struggled, with desperate courage, through the terrific
+surf into the deep water beyond. Then, with the strength of a young
+giant, guided by the skill of the experienced swimmer, he slowly worked
+his way towards the vessel's side. He had nearly reached it when his
+friends, alarmed by the length of time and slowness of his progress,
+began pulling him back. Then his courage rose to the sublimest height of
+self-sacrifice. He forgot himself. He would save the men clinging in
+desperation to yon vessel's shrouds, or perish in the attempt. Grasping
+the knife that he carried between his teeth, he cut the rope by which
+his kind-hearted friends were drawing him to shore and safety. He
+buffeted the rough waves successfully. He reached the breaker-swept deck
+of the stranded sloop. After a word of cheer to the crew, he took a
+fresh rope, plunged anew into the surging waters, and swam back to the
+beach. But four days of starvation, unrest, and exposure had robbed
+those poor creatures on board the wreck of both courage and strength.
+Not one of them dared attempt to escape by means of the rope. What! then
+must they perish? Nay, not yet. The brave student will risk his life
+again in their behalf. Many speak harshly of their lack of pluck. He
+pities their weakness; he rushes into the surf once more, struggles
+through the crested waves, boards the sloop, and brings off a man to the
+shore. Six times he makes the perilous trip, and saves a human life each
+time. The seventh time his charge is a boy, so weak and helpless that he
+loses his hold upon him twice, and twice he dives for him into the
+seething depths and brings him up. Finally, he reaches the beach with a
+limp, corpselike lad--the last of the rescued crew.
+
+The crowd, which had hitherto watched the gallant young hero's movements
+with breathless stillness, now break forth into a loud, triumphal cheer,
+which neither the roar of the wind nor the thunder of the waves can
+drown--they recognize the presence of a genuine hero.
+
+The name of this noble young scion of true chivalry was John Honey, one
+of the college friends of the celebrated Dr. Chalmers. His efforts on
+that memorable day cost him his life--not directly, however, for he
+lived a few years, but the seeds of a mortal malady were sown by his
+humane exertions on that grandest day of his life.--_Great Thoughts._
+
+
+
+
+DUTIES OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
+
+
+It is the duty of brothers and sisters to take a delight in each others'
+society, and readily to share their comforts with each other. The
+kindness of the heart beams in a sister's smile, and speaks in a
+brother's praise. The heart must be sadly corrupted, if the remembrance
+of the scenes that passed under a father's roof ceases to interest. It
+is the duty of brothers and sisters to admonish one another for their
+faults. There are failings in the temper and defects in the manners
+which are concealed with care from the eyes of the world, but which are
+apparent amidst the freedom of domestic life. If follies are not checked
+at home, or by strangers, they will grow into habits. The indolence from
+which the young were never roused has kept them all their after days in
+poverty, and the pride which was never repressed has rendered them
+odious. Never let affection make you blind to the deformity of sin.
+
+It is the duty of brothers and sisters to sympathize tenderly with each
+other. The heart is so framed that it requires the aid and comfort of
+sympathy. How soothing to a sufferer's heart are the attentions of a
+sister, and the word spoken by a brother in season! Let sisters consider
+how much the persuasive language of mildness and affection is adapted to
+transform the roughest and most impetuous temper into meekness and
+wisdom, and that their remarks may direct a brother's attention to
+sentiments full of beauty and feeling, which he has overlooked.
+
+Brothers and sisters should vie with each other in promoting the comfort
+of their parents. Every one should cultivate respect for their parents'
+authority, compassion for their infirmities, attention to their wishes,
+and be solicitous to give them all necessary aid, and reverence, and
+love, undiminished as they witness the decline of their faculties. How
+delightful it is to hear parents say of their children, "I cannot tell
+which is the kindest to me." What peace such children are preparing for
+themselves when their parents shall have passed away!--_Portia._
+
+
+
+
+THE CHILD AND THE EMPEROR.
+
+
+It is related of the late Emperor of Germany that, when passing through
+a pretty country village once, he stopped to visit the village school.
+Taking up an orange, he said to the children--
+
+"To what kingdom does this belong?"
+
+"To the vegetable kingdom," answered a little girl.
+
+"And this?" continued the Emperor, holding out a gold coin, which he had
+taken from his pocket.
+
+"To the mineral kingdom," was the answer.
+
+"And to what kingdom do I belong?" he said, expecting the little girl
+would answer with her former promptitude, "To the animal kingdom." But
+after a pause and many blushes, she replied--
+
+"To God's kingdom, sire."
+
+Thereupon the Emperor, greatly moved, and with a tear in his eye and
+much solemnity in his tone, replied--
+
+"God grant, my child, that I may be counted worthy of that kingdom."
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
+
+(JOHN xvii)
+
+
+In the large, upper room of that house at Jerusalem, where Jesus had
+eaten the Passover with His disciples, and instituted His own new feast,
+"The Lord's Supper," He had been speaking, and they hearing, most
+wonderful truths. "Arise, let us go hence," He had said (John xiv. 31).
+Yet He arose not, and they lingered still, held fast in solemn wonder
+while He spoke the parable of the vine, and warned and encouraged them
+concerning their future course when He had left them. And then, having
+assured them that He had overcome the world, and bidden them rejoice in
+Him, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and prayed for Himself, for them,
+and for all His people to the end of time.
+
+A wondrous prayer! He was just about to enter into His deepest
+sufferings; yet He says not a word of pain or sorrow. "The glory that
+should follow," "the joy that was set before Him," fill His heart and
+tongue, and all His prayer breathes of that reward--that crown of all
+His labours--the everlasting life of all His beloved ones.
+
+He thought of His ancient glory, "the glory which I had with Thee before
+the world was" (ver. 5); and that glory was connected with His dear
+people, as we read in Proverbs viii. 23, where Christ, speaking as
+Wisdom, says, "I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or
+ever the earth was"; and "Then I was beside Jehovah, as One brought up
+with Him: I was daily _His_ delight, and _My_ delights were with the
+sons of men" (ver. 30, 31).
+
+"The sons of men," as yet unborn; but "His gracious eye surveyed them"
+as they should in future days appear, and He was then their "Elder
+Brother," "the First-born among many brethren," and in His image Adam
+was formed as a man, "a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory
+and honour," and the lord of God's earthly creation (Psa. viii.). And
+Jesus looked on to the glorious time when all His people, though they
+have fallen, and become sinners, shall be purified and fully saved, and
+be "presented to God without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." It
+_was_ His glory, before time, to think of this; it _shall_ be His glory,
+when time is ended, to see all His desires fulfilled, and all His wishes
+accomplished.
+
+Next, Jesus thought and spoke of "the glory His Father had given Him"
+(ver. 24)--given Him in the world, in the sight of His people. In
+Revelation xiii. 8, He is called "the Lamb that hath been slain from the
+foundation of the world"--slain in pictures and shadows; "the firstling
+of the flock" that Abel offered; the paschal lamb, and all the
+numberless sacrifices slain of old by God's command, pointed always to
+the Lamb of God; and He was glorified when His people, in by-gone times,
+like Abraham, "saw His day," His coming, and His work, and were glad in
+His salvation.
+
+And Jesus prayed that all whom His Father had given Him might behold His
+glory. When? Not only in heaven, but here. As we read in Paul's wondrous
+description of this sight, "we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in
+a mirror the glory of the Lord" (2 Cor. iii.), do not simply gaze upon
+it as on a lovely picture, but are transformed as we gaze--are changed,
+until we become like our Lord, and bear His image, and reflect His
+glory, as the face of Moses shone when he came down from God on Mount
+Sinai, and he did not know it until he found the Israelites could not
+look at him unless he veiled his face, for true holiness makes us humble
+and lowly, and
+
+  "The more His glories strike our eyes,
+    The humbler we shall lie;
+  Thus while we sink, our joys shall rise
+    Immeasurably high."
+  And if now we see Him thus by faith, we shall see Him as He is, and be
+  like Him for ever.
+
+  "Oh, that with yonder sacred throng
+    We at His feet may fall;
+  Join in the everlasting song,
+    And crown Him Lord of all."
+
+But the prayer of Jesus began with the earnest request for another kind
+of glory--"Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also
+may glorify Thee." "The hour" for which I came into the world--"the
+hour" of deepest woe, yet most glorious victory. Glorify Thy Son by
+strengthening and sustaining Him, that He may glorify Thee by
+accomplishing Thy will, and destroying the works of the devil.
+
+Was not the prayer answered? Hear the dying Saviour cry, with a loud
+voice, on Calvary, "It is finished!" and we behold Him gloriously
+conquering in the very moment of His death, and departing to receive the
+Victor's crown, and the grateful worship of all the redeemed, as they
+sing, "Worthy the Lamb that was slain!"
+
+Lastly, Jesus says of all His glory, "I have given it to My people, My
+followers, My friends" (ver. 22). "My glory, My joy, I share with them."
+He is "anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows" (Psa. xlv.
+7); but to every "good and faithful servant" He will say, "Enter thou
+into the joy of thy Lord."
+
+Is His joy, His glory, ours? Do we delight in His salvation? Do we
+desire to follow Him, and, like Him, do good to others? Do we long to
+see God's kingdom come, and His will done on earth as it is done in
+heaven? If so, He has given us a share in His glory, and we shall meet
+with all His saints around His throne on high--
+
+"And with one heart, and voice, and soul
+  Sing His redeeming grace."
+
+Then will His glory be complete. Oh, that we may behold and enjoy it,
+too! Amen.
+
+Our next subject will be, _Gleanings from the Book of Ruth_.
+
+                            Yours affectionately,
+                                         H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+THE PITCAIRN ISLANDERS AND THE QUEEN.
+
+
+Captain John Lewthwaite, of Maryport, has just returned to England,
+bringing with him a present for the Queen from the inhabitants of
+Pitcairn Island. Captain Lewthwaite is master of the _Cairmont_, of
+Glasgow, and on his homeward voyage from Vancouver Island he called at
+Pitcairn. He found that the descendants of the mutineers of the _Bounty_
+had received papers containing particulars of the Queen's Jubilee. They
+said they were anxious to make Her Majesty a Jubilee present, and in the
+absence of anything more valuable they decided to send some straw hats
+of their manufacture. They also sent other goods made of straw, which
+they manipulate with a great deal of skill. The presents were handed to
+Captain Lewthwaite by M'Avoy, the Governor of the island, and grandson
+of one of the mutineers. The box containing the presents has been lodged
+with the Vicar of Peckham Rye, who acts as agent for the islanders, to
+forward to the Queen.
+
+There are now one hundred and twelve persons on the island, two-thirds
+being women. They use no strong drink, tobacco, or money. Some time ago
+a harmonium was taken out to them, and Captain Lewthwaite says one woman
+plays it remarkably well.
+
+
+A MAN that cannot mind his own business is not to be trusted with the
+king's.--_Saville._
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+LESSONS TO BE DERIVED FROM THE HISTORY OF DANIEL.
+
+
+The principal lessons to be derived from the history of Daniel
+are--faith, moral courage, patience, perseverance, and the value of
+prayer. Daniel's faith was steadfast in God, for, in spite of all
+opposition, he stood firm to his purpose. This also shows his moral
+courage, in standing alone before his God when all others were against
+him. He truly manifested the feeling, "Though He slay me, yet will I
+trust in Him." Envied and persecuted by many, he knew that God was for
+him if men were against him. It is a dreadful sin to conspire against a
+child of God, for Christ will say to such in the day of judgment,
+"Depart from Me, ye cursed." And again (Mark ix. 42) He said, "Whosoever
+shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Me, it is better
+for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast
+into the sea." Daniel knew, too, the efficacy of prayer, for he was
+taught by God Himself; and where God gives faith and a true spirit, He
+is sure to call it into exercise. Daniel possessed an excellent spirit,
+and was preferred by King Darius, who did not worship the true God, and
+was prevailed upon to establish an idolatrous decree. But Daniel openly
+prayed to God. This showed his confidence in Jehovah's omnipotence and
+faithfulness, and he was enabled to leave all in His hands, feeling sure
+that all things would work together for his good. It has been wisely
+said that "not one spark of real saving faith can be kindled in our
+hearts but by God Himself," and if He does this, He will give us the
+supply we so much need. As a weak limb often grows strong by exercise,
+so will our faith, if it be of God, be strengthened by the very effort
+we make in stretching it out towards things unseen. Daniel's chastening
+afterwards yielded "the peaceable fruit of righteousness" when the angel
+Gabriel was sent to tell him he was greatly beloved, and that he should
+"stand in his lot at the end of his days." Oh, what comfort this message
+must have brought to poor Daniel! Happy shall we be if the Lord speaks
+thus to our hearts.
+
+                                LAURA CREASEY
+                              (Aged 14 years).
+
+_Sydney House, Sleaford,
+Lincolnshire._
+
+[Good Essays have been received from Charles Southon, Kate M. Bond,
+Alice J. Wells, E. W. Cray, Martha Ramsay, Sarah Hicks, E. B. Knocker,
+and E. R. Harris.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "Cowper's Poems."
+
+The subject for January will be, "What is the Most Desirable Thing to
+Possess in the Spring-time of Life?" and the prize to be given for the
+best Essay on that subject, a copy of "The Life of Whitfield." All
+competitors must give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of
+age, and that the Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be
+passed over, as the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary
+information. Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117,
+High Street, Hastings, by the first of December.]
+
+
+DEEPER than the love of home, deeper than the love of kindred, deeper
+than rest and recreation, deeper than the love of life, is the love of
+Jesus.--_Hamilton._
+
+
+NOTHING is easier than fault-finding. No talent, no self-denial, no
+brains, no character is required to set up in the grumbling business.
+But those who are moved by a genuine desire to do good and benefit their
+fellows have little time for murmuring or complaint.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+THE length of the Thames from source to mouth is 220 miles.
+
+
+THE greatest height yet reached in a balloon is seven miles and a
+quarter.
+
+
+IN 1707 it took two days and a half to get to Oxford, a distance of
+fifty-five miles.
+
+
+THE number of Bibles sold by the British Bible Society up to 1881 was
+100,035,933.
+
+
+TWO millions and a half is the number of persons who are said to be
+slaves to Sabbath toil in America, and they generally receive no more
+than six days' wages for seven days' work.
+
+
+ANNA SWAN, the Nova Scotia giantess, who, with her husband, Captain Bates,
+the Kentucky giant, was an earnest member of the Baptist Church, is dead.
+She was seven feet nine inches in height.
+
+
+A GREAT improvement in Sunday observance in the army and navy has, it is
+said, taken place. But there are old officers, like the gallant admiral,
+who deplore the fact that "the service is going to the dogs," because
+there is not so much pipeclay used on a Sunday as there was when they
+joined the service.
+
+
+LORD SUDELEY, of Toddington, near Cheltenham, has the following fruit
+trees planted in his grounds--Gooseberry trees, 93,000; plum trees,
+20,083; black currant trees, 167,000; apple trees, 2,919; pear trees,
+852; damson trees, 8,845; cherry trees, 532; red currant trees, 10,000;
+raspberry trees, 25,000; cob nut, 100; strawberries (acres), 52. In
+addition, 100 Scotch firs and 10,000 poplar trees.
+
+
+THE HAMPTON COURT VINE.--This noble vine is more than a hundred and
+fifty years old, and nearly as many feet in length; its stem is
+thirty-two inches in circumference. In a good season it will yield more
+than two thousand bunches of fine grapes, weighing on an average
+seventeen ounces each bunch, or, in the whole, nearly one ton. They are
+of the finest black Hamburg kind, and are said to be reserved chiefly
+for the Queen's table.
+
+
+RUNNING AWAY WITH A RITUALISTIC CRUCIFIX.--It is stated that a crucifix
+adorns the eastern end of Bourn church. Many of the parishioners are
+opposed to certain Ritualistic practices, and have shown their
+disapproval by leaving during divine service. During the week the church
+is left open, and on Monday, September 17th, a young lady entered and
+took away the crucifix. The lady, having secured the crucifix, proceeded
+to Bytham Station, and thence to Essendine. Arrived there, she went into
+a friend's house and had a cup of tea. In the meantime, the Vicar and
+the young lady's brother started in pursuit, discovered the missing
+ornament, and brought it safely back and replaced it in the church. The
+event has created great excitement in the village, and we understand
+that legal proceedings will be taken.
+
+
+WOLVES AND TELEGRAPH LINES.--It is believed in Norway that wolves are
+frightened away by telegraph lines. While a vote was pending on a grant
+to a new line, a member of the Storthing remarked that, while his
+constituents had no direct interest in it, they would support the grant
+because the wires would drive away the wolves. It is stated as a
+remarkable fact that since the first telegraph line was established,
+twenty years ago, wolves have never appeared in its neighbourhood.
+Wolves, it is known, will not enter a roped enclosure.
+
+
+IN connection with the Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, a hospital ship
+was launched from the yard of Messrs. Fellows and Son, of Great
+Yarmouth, on September 29th. She is 100 feet in length, and of 152 tons
+register. She is to be fitted up as a hospital ship, for the treatment
+of accident and illness among the fishermen of the North Sea. She is
+named the _Queen Victoria_, and Her Majesty, who takes much interest in
+the Mission, subscribed £50 towards the cost of the vessel. The launch
+was witnessed by a large number of people. The _Queen Victoria_ is the
+same type of vessel as those already in the Mission service.
+
+
+A NEW ALPINE RAILWAY.--A railway from Visp to Zermatt is about to be
+built, an undertaking that has for a long time been considered
+impracticable. From the year 1891 travellers will be able to reach the
+El Dorado of Alpine tourists in about two hours and a half from the main
+line in the Rhone Valley, and step out of the railway carriage almost at
+the foot of the mighty Matterhorn. The line is already marked out, and
+follows pretty closely the present bridle path. It is to be narrow
+gauge, without cogwheels, and will cross the Visp torrent five times.
+The curves will be rather sharp, and there are to be six small tunnels.
+The capital for building the line is said to amount to six million
+francs, and work is to be commenced this autumn. The length will be
+twenty-eight miles, and as Zermatt is 3,160 feet higher than the
+starting point, the incline will be over two per cent.
+
+
+AN ANCIENT DOCUMENT.--According to a telegram received from Lloyds'
+Signal Station at St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight, a letter,
+supposed to have been written 103 years ago, was picked up on the beach,
+at Rock End, on October 3rd. The following is a copy of the
+document:--"Office of Ordnance, 11th July, 1785. Gentlemen,--His
+Majesty's ship the _Trusty_, being ordered to be paid off at Portsmouth,
+you are, by the Board's directions, to cause her powder to be taken on
+shore, and lodged in His Majesty's magazine, under your charge.--I am,
+gentlemen, your humble servant, AUG. ROGERS, Secretary. Respective
+Officers, Prondy's Hard, W. A." There is a memo, on the back of the
+letter--"11th July, 1785. Aug. Rogers, Esq. _Trusty_ paid off."
+
+
+THE number of preserves in Austria alone, not counting those in Hungary,
+is stated at 15,764. and on these there were shot, in 1887, 32 bears,
+113 wolves, 24 lynxes, 9,490 stags, 60,252 roebucks, 7,709 chamois,
+2,998 wild boars, 26,411 foxes, 9,729 polecats, 1,055 otters, 2,672
+badgers, 333 marmots, and no fewer than 1,439,134 hares. Wild rabbits
+are scarce in this country, and are not counted in the general record,
+but 27,797 were shot in Bohemia, where there are most warrens. The
+totals for feathered game are--4,498 grouse, 1,300 wild geese, 102,748
+pheasants, 1,336,934 partridges, 34,448 quails, 12,652 woodcock, 7,614
+snipe, and 28,914 wild ducks. The birds of prey shot were 561 eagles,
+38,610 owls, 1,365 horned owls, and 106,353 hawks, kestrels, kites, and
+vultures.
+
+
+THE RABBIT PEST IN NEW ZEALAND.--The United States Consul at Auckland,
+in a recent report, describes the extent to which New Zealand has been
+economically injured by rabbits, and the cost incurred in endeavouring
+to exterminate them. Nothing, he says, could so overrun a country since
+the locusts in Egypt. The rabbits have so eaten out the ranges that the
+capacity for maintaining sheep has greatly lessened, and the flocks have
+fallen off in numbers. At the Stock Conference of 1886, it was stated
+that rabbits reduced by a third the feeding capacity of land, and the
+weight of fleeces had decreased by 1 lb. to 1½ lb. each. The number
+of lambs decreased from thirty to forty per cent., while the death-rate
+increased from three to thirteen per cent. Since 1882, when the Rabbit
+Act became law, Government has expended £7,000 on Crown lands alone, and
+it is estimated that during the last eight years private persons have
+spent £2,400,000 in extirpating rabbits. The methods generally in favour
+were fencing, poisoned grain (generally phosphorized oats), and ferrets,
+weasels, and stoats. Large numbers of men have been hired from time to
+time to make war upon the rabbits, and it is said that these "rabbiters"
+encourage the vermin in every way, and have been caught killing the
+stoats and ferrets. The bonus system has been found objectionable and
+expensive. Notwithstanding all that has been done, in some localities
+the rabbits have continually increased, and the damage has continued. It
+is hoped, however, that as the country becomes more populous, and the
+large tracts of land are occupied and cultivated, the numerous herds of
+rabbits which now roam over the land will disappear.
+
+
+ONE THOUSAND MEN DROWNED.--It is reported from China that the whole of
+the new embankment of the Yellow River, which was commenced last autumn
+at the spot where the old embankment gave way, has been completely swept
+away by the summer floods. It is said to have cost about £2,000,000
+sterling (9,000,000 taels). As the floods rose, it was seen that the
+strain was becoming dangerous, and Li Hang-tsao, the high official in
+charge of the work, was sent for in hot haste, but before he could
+arrive the whole bank went down before the flood, and of the eight
+thousand feet of river wall lately completed, not an inch remains, and
+the waters are pouring unchecked through the immense gap into the Honan
+province. From eight hundred to one thousand labourers, who were on the
+bank, were also swept away and drowned. It is reported from Peking that
+all the officials concerned are being severely punished.
+
+
+A SHARK STORY.--Sir,--The following story may be of some interest to
+many readers of your valuable paper. The sailing-ship _Grassendale_
+(registered 1,800 tons, and classed A1 at Lloyds'), with a crew of about
+thirty-five hands, on its voyage from Sydney to San Francisco, met with
+great numbers of sharks, about twenty of which the crew killed. One
+shark, in particular, had a quantity of young ones with her. By some
+means the little ones were frightened, and swam into its mouth.
+Naturally the crew were curious, and tried to hook it, which they
+eventually did. When they cut it open on deck, imagine their surprise to
+find no less than forty-two little sharks, measuring from twelve to
+fifteen inches in length, all alive, and capable of swimming as well as
+ever--a most remarkable incident, not heard of before, even in America,
+being, to all appearances, a shark's wonderful way to shelter their
+young. This information the writer has received this week direct from
+his brother, who is chief officer of the said ship, and he can,
+therefore, vouch for its truth.--Yours truly, H. H. WHITE. Rye, October
+10th, 1888.--_South Eastern Advertiser._
+
+[Illustration: "IT WAS AGREED THAT SOME ONE SHOULD READ THE BIBLE TO
+HER." (_See page 266._)]
+
+
+
+
+THE BLIND WIDOW.
+
+"_Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many
+days._"--ECCLESIASTES xi. 1.
+
+
+Recollecting the feelings of discouragement and sadness which often
+oppressed my mind during the first months of our employment as district
+visitors and Sunday School teachers in a retired village, and the many
+instances affording cause for joy and thankfulness which occurred during
+the latter years of our residence there, I am led to record one of them,
+with the hope of encouraging my fellow-labourers in this interesting
+occupation.
+
+One of the first cases which came under my own observation was that of a
+blind, aged widow, who lived a few steps from the church. Her husband,
+who had been dead at this time about seven years, had led an ungodly
+life, and had fallen a victim to the habit of intemperance. She was left
+with one son, who was a lad at the time of his father's death, and was
+soon after bound as a parish apprentice to a good neighbour, a
+blacksmith, with whom he afterwards lived as servant. I think he was a
+good boy. He had remembered and taken pleasure in what he had learned at
+the Sunday and National School. He was constant in his attendance at
+public worship, and showed much dutiful affection and attention to his
+widowed mother. In his spare hours he took care of her little garden,
+drew water, and tended the nursery of beautiful geraniums which adorned
+her windows; and when he could, he would come and read aloud to her on
+Sundays out of the Bible or some good book. All the poor widow's
+happiness centred in Henry. It was her delight to do all she could for
+him; and many a time have I seen her, blind as she was, bestowing her
+cheerful labour in making his shirts as white as snow. She had one other
+son, older than Henry, who had accompanied an uncle to the West Indies,
+and as she had never heard of them since, she thought they had very
+likely both of them died in that climate, so unhealthy to English
+constitutions.
+
+Mrs. Worthington was, I think, naturally an amiable woman. Many sorrows
+had subdued and broken her spirits, for she had once lived near London
+in very good circumstances. Though in some degree acquainted with the
+leading doctrines of Scripture, and believing them to be true, she was,
+it seemed, quite destitute of any hope towards God, or true faith in our
+Lord Jesus Christ, as her Saviour and her Friend. To use her own words,
+"she had long ago given up herself for lost." When I asked what led her
+to do so, she replied that she knew she had not led a good life, and
+that some neighbours had told her it was no use for such a person as she
+was to think of going to heaven. In this sad state she was lingering on
+in a painful earthly existence, without one hope of anything better
+beyond it.
+
+There was a kind woman who lived in the next house who, when able, would
+lead her to church and back again. There she paid attention, and thus
+had many interesting Scripture histories stored in her memory, for she
+had never learned to read.
+
+At length, with her own consent, it was agreed that some one should read
+the Bible to her every forenoon. She listened with earnest attention and
+much interest, and at length found, to her great joy, that she was not
+excluded from hope in the mercy of that gracious God and Saviour whose
+loving-kindness and tender mercy towards a lost and fallen race it
+reveals and declares. She discovered with delight that she was one of
+those very characters that had moved His heart to pity, and for whose
+redemption and happiness He had sent His only-begotten Son into the
+world, and spared Him not, "but delivered Him up for us all," that He
+might make satisfaction for fallen sinners, and lead such back as
+reconciled children to their Father and God. She received the gracious
+message with a sense of her own extreme need of its blessings, and
+welcomed it with her whole heart, as sent to her by the God of love.
+
+I think the first word of promise which was fixed in her mind was the
+engagement which God makes, in Luke xi., to give the Holy Spirit to them
+that ask Him. She felt that her mind was dark, and her heart cold and
+dead towards God. She wished it were otherwise, and prayed for the Holy
+Spirit. It was delightful to observe the heavenly light dawn in her once
+benighted soul, and to behold the altered state of all within. Humility,
+thankfulness, hope, and love all appeared in their loveliness, and in
+various ways did she give incontestable evidence that old things had
+passed away, and that all things had become new.
+
+I remember calling one morning, and finding her much out of spirits. On
+inquiring the cause, I found that, it being the wake season, some of her
+former friends and acquaintances had visited her. It was their
+conversation which had grieved her, consisting very much of scandal and
+detraction, and she was greatly distressed at being obliged to hear it,
+and felt that she had done wrong by listening to it, so truly had her
+mind become conformed to the principles of the Gospel of peace.
+
+Before her change of heart she was much disposed to murmur, but when
+enabled to apprehend the love of God to her, her spirit was filled with
+gratitude to Him for all His undeserved mercies; and however depressed
+her circumstances on earth might be, she had the comfortable hope of
+eternal bliss in that world where all tears will be for ever wiped away,
+and there will be no more want and pain, for "the Lamb which is in the
+midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living
+fountains of waters" (Rev. vii. 17).
+
+One morning, to my great sorrow, I found her very ill. She was suffering
+from an attack of paralysis, which took away the use of her left side,
+and very much affected her speech. She was suddenly rendered almost
+helpless. At first she was greatly distressed, knowing that her own
+means were insufficient to pay any one to help her, and that the only
+alternative was a removal to the workhouse, a prospect which to her mind
+was full of terror and disgrace. It became, however, quite needful, for
+there was no prospect of amendment; and in about a fortnight she was
+obliged to quit a home endeared to her by a long residence, and the
+honourable independence with which she had occupied it, for though often
+obliged to take only bread for her breakfast and supper, she invariably
+paid her quarter's rent. Her faith in Christ, however, soon gained the
+ascendancy over her natural regret and sorrow, and she received this
+painful dispensation as her Heavenly Father's will, and submitted to it
+with quietness.
+
+The workhouse was about nine miles from our village. It was a
+well-conducted one, and favoured with the visits of some Christian
+friends and a good clergyman. The matron was a kind person, and treated
+our blind friend with much consideration. Her son visited her as often
+as he could, and paid her every dutiful attention, so that her home
+there was, I think, more comfortable than the one she had left. I never
+saw her afterwards, but I occasionally heard of her. She was almost
+entirely confined to her bed, but quite able to enjoy and profit by the
+kind visits and Christian conversation of some persons who visited the
+workhouse. She found her God was present with her there, and He
+fulfilled to her that beautiful promise made to His people of old--"Even
+to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I
+have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you"
+(Isa. xlvi. 4).
+
+                                          A. E. H.
+
+
+
+
+TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE OF A SHIPWRECKED CREW.
+
+
+Two seamen, named John G. Crone and James R. Wilson, late of the Scotch
+barque _Henry James_, arrived a short time ago at the Liverpool Sailors'
+Home, and gave information of the loss of that vessel, through which
+they underwent an extraordinary experience.
+
+The _Henry James_ struck a coral reef near the island of Palmyra, in the
+Pacific Ocean, and became a wreck. In an hour the crew had to abandon
+her, experiencing the greatest difficulty in getting away. The
+shipwrecked people only saved what they stood in, even the ship's papers
+and the captain's instruments being lost. They were in a sad plight. One
+boat containing provisions was swamped and the food lost. The captain
+nearly lost his life by being thrown into the sea. Fortunately a box of
+matches was got ashore dry, and with these a fire was lighted.
+
+The island of Palmyra was found to be uninhabited, but a search next day
+revealed a number of small huts made of boards and leaves. The island is
+about nine hundred miles from Samoa. The mate, who had saved his
+sextant, volunteered to go in a small boat to Samoa to seek for aid, and
+a boat was accordingly manned, the mate having for his companions the
+boatswain and three seamen. These poor fellows were three weeks in the
+open boat, in a tropical climate, and their sufferings were very severe.
+They traversed about thirteen hundred miles, and some days before
+arrival their food and water gave out. Their sufferings were then
+terrible, and when they reached Apia, their condition plainly showed
+what they had passed through. Had their voyage been lengthened but a
+couple of days, it is likely all would have either gone mad or perished
+from starvation. The shipwrecked people on the island were in the
+meantime living on wild birds, birds' eggs, and on cocoa-nuts. They had
+no arms with them, and the only means of catching the birds was by
+sticks, the men having to get within reach of the birds before they
+could be caught. In the first days the only water the people had was
+what they caught by spreading out the leaves of trees. The matches at
+last got wet, and the poor people could not make their accustomed fire.
+A powerful telescope glass then furnished a burning glass, and enabled
+them to get fires once more. Altogether they were on the island six
+weeks. At the end of this time the mail steamer _Mariposa_ called at the
+island, and rescued the people from their island imprisonment. The party
+included two ladies (passengers) and six children.
+
+The Board of Trade have awarded a piece of plate to Captain Hayward, of
+the _Mariposa_; a gold medal to Mr. Hart, first officer; and a silver
+medal and a sum of £2 each to seamen Barpark, Erving, Allan, and
+Driscoll, in connection with the rescue of the castaways. Captain
+Hayward, who was bound to San Francisco with mails and passengers,
+voluntarily incurred the risk of a heavy fine for breach of contract,
+and set off with the above-named crew in an open boat, and rescued the
+unfortunate people.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN DECEMBER.
+
+
+Dec.  2. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 2.
+Dec.  9. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 4.
+Dec. 16. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 10.
+Dec. 23. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 12.
+Dec. 30. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 14.
+
+
+
+
+HE WENT WRONG, BUT HE FOUND MERCY.
+
+
+On Sunday afternoon, August 26th, 1888, Mr. Carr, of Leicester, gave an
+interesting address to the scholars attending the Zion Sunday School,
+Trowbridge. After singing and prayer, Mr. Carr took "The Prodigal Son"
+as his subject, which he explained in a most interesting manner. He
+said:--
+
+"Once upon a time there were two brothers. One of them ran away, but he
+got into no end of trouble. But while he was so wretched, something
+occurred with him, and by-and-bye he was brought back in peace to his
+father's house, and was happy for ever afterward.
+
+"Most of you know that this is the outline of the parable of 'The
+Prodigal Son,' and I am going to try and tell you the details of it. I
+shall divide it into four parts. The first one is _Ruin_; the second,
+_Repentance_; the third, _Return_; the fourth, _Reception_. He was
+ruined. By grace he repented, returned to his father, and was joyfully
+received by him.
+
+"First, then, _Ruin_. Now, there are steps leading to ruin. You find the
+prodigal was happy at home at first. Like Adam, in the garden of Eden,
+God gave him a great many good gifts, as He has given you. He has given
+us life, hearing, eyesight, and intellect. The prodigal had a large
+portion of good gifts, but what did he do? He wandered away from his
+father, and went into a far country. Do you like to be away from home?
+Remember this--if you do, it is the first step to your ruin, as it was
+with the prodigal. He took his journey into a far country, where he was
+far away from his father; and so we, in our natural state, are far away
+from God. Do you ever think what a dreadful thing it is to be far away
+from God? The prodigal wanted to be far from Him. But when there, at a
+distance from his father, he had no God to go to in his troubles. He
+doubtless did not like the text, 'Thou God seest me.' If you are like
+this, remember that every sin you commit is written in His remembrance
+book. But the prodigal made up his mind not to trouble about that. Have
+you thus done so? If so, you will have to trouble about it some day.
+There is a day coming when we shall all have to stand before God, and it
+is a dreadful subject for those to think of who, like the prodigal, are
+now at a distance from God. Therefore, we see that _Distance_ is the
+first step.
+
+"The next one is _Dissipation_. He wasted his substance--put his gifts
+to a wrong use. Have we wasted the good things which God has given us?
+If so, it is the road to ruin.
+
+"After he had thus wasted his substance by riotous living and falling
+into bad company, there came another step, namely, _Destitution_, which
+we all have come to spiritually, and ere long we who have life, health,
+bright eyes, rosy cheeks, and busy hands, shall be going to the grave.
+By-and-bye we shall have spent it all, and we shall be nothing but a
+heap of dust and ashes.
+
+"But you find that, when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine,
+and he began to be in want. He then fell into disgrace, and went to a
+citizen of that country to see if he could help him. He went into the
+fields to feed swine, and he had not a friend to speak to--none to help
+him. The hand of God had gone out against him, and all his friends
+forsook him.
+
+"That is just the state of the ungodly. But when he was in the very heat
+of this ruin, something happened to him. He was brought to _Repentance_.
+What was his first step to repentance? He was brought to himself--that
+is, a right understanding was given to him. What had the prodigal a
+right understanding about? About himself. Sin had made a madman of him,
+but now he began to consider the extent of his misery. How many of you
+have considered what you are in the sight of God? You may be dead before
+next Sunday. Where would you be? In heaven or in hell? The prodigal
+began to consider what his sin had done for him. He said, 'How many
+hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare, and I perish
+with hunger!' He knew he was perishing; and we are, if Christ has not
+saved us.
+
+"The first step was, a right understanding. Now comes the second step,
+knowledge of the extent of his misery, thirdly, a felt sense that he was
+perishing; then, fourthly, a wise resolution--'I will arise, and go to
+my father.' He had been trying to make himself more respectable, but
+found he could not, but that he must go to his father just as he was.
+Thus he was brought to himself. Grace did this, and if grace works in us
+there will be a willingness to go to God. Either you want to be near to
+God, or, like the prodigal, you want to shun the very thoughts of God.
+We are either on the road to ruin or salvation. What did the prodigal
+say to his father? 'Father, I have sinned.' He knew he was a sinner, and
+that he had sinned, and he confessed his unworthiness. He said, 'I am no
+more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.'
+He was brought to repentance, and he made up his mind to return to his
+father. But his father was a long way off--too far for him to see him.
+But his father saw him while he was yet a great way off, and had
+compassion on him. He did not say, 'I see that naughty boy that wandered
+from me, and got into so much trouble and sin, and now I will punish
+him.' But he had compassion on him, and did not say a word about his
+wicked ways. 'He ran.' Now, look, here was the prodigal creeping to his
+father, but the father 'ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.' No
+doubt he had a dirty face, but the father did not wait till his face was
+clean. Just as we are as sinners, so the prodigal here was in all his
+rags. He said to his father, 'But, father, I am a vile sinner. I have
+sinned against heaven and in thy sight.' Thus he told his father just
+what he was.
+
+"Now then comes the fourth part--_his reception by his father_. When his
+father met him he took no notice of his sins, did not answer him a word,
+but he said to his servants, 'Bring forth the best robe.' That was the
+robe of righteousness. Here were manifested the riches of divine grace.
+The prodigal had nothing but sin and grief, but now his father gave him
+a better robe than he ever had before. His first robe was not the best.
+It was one of creature-righteousness, but now he had lost it; and when
+he was brought back by grace he had a better robe given him. A robe of
+righteousness is better than one of creature-righteousness. The best
+robe was brought forth, and a ring was put on his finger. A ring is
+something which has no beginning nor end, and the ring is a most blessed
+emblem of eternity. It has neither beginning nor end. And a ring denotes
+love--love of the giver to the receiver. This ring denotes a Father's
+eternal love. His father loved him, all the time the prodigal was
+sinning against him, with an eternal love. And they put shoes on his
+feet--shoes of the preparation of the Gospel. They were shoes that would
+wear well. The saints have a rough road to travel, and therefore they
+need shoes of iron and brass. Then the fatted calf was brought and
+killed, and they had a great feast and were merry, and we do not read
+that they ever left off. There is no end to the rejoicings over
+repenting, returning sinners. Oh, that we all may know what it is to be
+redeemed by grace! This parable teaches us man's ruin, Christ's
+redemption, and a Father's eternal love."
+
+                                           M. G.
+
+
+
+
+JOHNNIE'S CHRISTMAS.
+
+[This, and three other pieces of poetry, including the one given last
+month, were written for a boy who recently died. After long and severe
+suffering he was seized with a fit. He held up both arms, and, as the
+struggles ceased, he looked up and said, "Come! Come!" His mother asked
+him if he thought he should go to heaven. He replied, "I'm sure of it.
+Jesus told me He would take me, and He wouldn't have said it if He
+didn't mean it."--ED.]
+
+
+  Hang out the toys for the little ones;
+  Pile up the raisins, and take out the stones;
+  But nut, and pudding, and Christmas tree,
+  Says little Johnnie, are not for me.
+
+  If the children frolic I have to start,
+  With a bitter pain at my silent heart;
+  And my throbbing head is afraid to move
+  At sound of the voices which most I love.
+
+  It is nice to feel, though sitting here,
+  That mother is with me, and baby dear,
+  For some of my little friends have lain
+  On a hospital bed, in lonely pain.
+
+  Oh, God, my Friend, Thou art surely kind,
+  And we, poor sinners, are weak and blind;
+  Little we think, and little know,
+  Of the love that suffered for human woe.
+
+  We hail Thy birth with a gladsome song,
+  But Thou hadst sorrow life's journey long;
+  And Thou hadst power Thyself to free,
+  Yet chose to suffer for things like me.
+
+  Oh, come to my heart this Christmas Day!
+  I am weak and weary, and far away;
+  Since help and mercy are Thy delight,
+  Oh, come to my father's house to-night!
+
+  Bring rest for my mother, and joy for me;
+  My head will not throb as I listen to Thee;
+  And my heart, though too weak for a footfall below,
+  Will bound, without aching, Thy coming to know.
+
+  Thou callest the children, and I am a child;
+  Thou callest the guilty, and I am defiled;
+  They gather about Thee in joyful array;
+  Oh, put me among them, Lord Jesus, to-day!
+
+  Put one of my hands in that right hand of Thine,
+  And hold out Thy wounds to Thy Father divine;
+  He would not, He could not, say nay unto Thee,
+  And I should for ever Thy diadem be.
+
+                             M. A. CHAPLIN.
+
+_Galleywood, Chelmsford._
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 255._)
+
+
+"_Peace be unto you._"--JOHN xx. 19.
+
+P ekah        2 Kings xv. 25.
+E glon        Judges iii. 14.
+A masa        2 Samuel xvii. 25.
+C ush         1 Chronicles i. 8.
+E uphrates    Deuteronomy i. 7.
+
+B enjamin     Genesis xxxv. 24.
+E lah         1 Kings xvi. 8.
+
+U rijah       2 Kings xvi. 10.
+N ahor        Genesis xi. 26.
+T opaz        Exodus xxxix. 10.
+O g           Psalm cxxxvi. 20.
+
+Y oke         Jeremiah xxvii. 8.
+O badiah      1 Kings xviii. 3.
+U nicorn      Numbers xxiii. 22.
+
+                           ANN PICKWORTH
+                         (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Sydney House, Sleaford._
+
+
+BUNYAN'S DEATH.
+
+
+It was on the 31st of August, 1688, that John Bunyan left the Valley of
+the Shadow of Death, Doubting Castle, Vanity Fair, and all those other
+stages of the progress of a soul in its efforts to find rest and peace,
+to cross the dark river that, in his immortal dream, flowed under the
+walls of the Celestial City. This is how Mr. Froude describes the
+closing scene of his great life:--
+
+"His end was characteristic. It was brought on by exposure when he was
+engaged in an act of charity. A quarrel had broken out in a family at
+Reading with which Bunyan had some acquaintance. A father had taken
+offence at his son, and threatened to disinherit him. Bunyan undertook a
+journey on horseback from Bedford to Reading, in the hope of reconciling
+them. He succeeded, but at the cost of his life. Returning by London, he
+was overtaken on the road by a storm of rain, and was wetted through
+before he could find shelter. The chill, falling on a constitution
+already weakened by illness, brought on fever. He was able to reach the
+house of Mr. Strudwick, one of his London friends, but he never left his
+bed afterwards. In ten days he was dead."
+
+Mr. Froude thinks that the exact date is uncertain; but Southey and
+other biographers generally fix it upon the 31st of August. He was
+buried in a vault belonging to the Strudwick family, in the famous old
+Nonconformist burial ground of Bunhill Fields, where his
+monument--restored of late years by admiring and appreciative
+friends--may be seen any day by the passer-by, on which runs this
+inscription--"Mr. John Bunyan, Author of 'The Pilgrim's Progress,' ob.
+31st August, 1688, æt. 60."
+
+John Bunyan wrote sixty books, and lived sixty years. His chief work,
+"The Pilgrim's Progress," has been translated into seventy-two distinct
+languages and dialects, and thus has had a wider circulation and been
+more read than any book next to the Scriptures. More than fifty years
+ago Macaulay spoke of it as "the only book of its kind that possesses a
+strong human interest--that, while other allegories only amuse the
+fancy, this has been read by thousands with tears." What was true then
+is no less true now.
+
+
+
+
+EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE SEA.
+
+
+A Queenstown correspondent telegraphs that the National Line steamer
+_Spain_, from New York, which arrived at Queenstown recently, brings
+intelligence that an aged gentleman, named Murtagh, residing in
+Brooklyn, received a letter on October 11th, from one of the uninhabited
+islands of the South Sea group, Ojee, written by a friend of his, named
+Captain Green, who was supposed to have been lost at sea in 1858, in a
+vessel commanded by him, called the _Confederation_. She sailed from New
+York, in February of that year, for Australia, and not having been heard
+of afterwards, it was presumed that she had foundered with all on board,
+numbering sixteen, including two women. The letter, written on a soiled
+leaf of a ship's log, was dated July, 1887, and had been put aboard a
+whaling barque which passed near the island about that time. The writer
+observes that no doubt all hands aboard the _Confederation_ had been
+given up as lost. He then relates how the vessel foundered in a gale
+after being nine weeks at sea, and how her crew, including himself and
+two women, having taken to the boats, after forty days, landed on the
+coral reefs of the Island of Ojee, there being no signs of habitation,
+but an abundance of game, fish, fruits, and water. No vessel came near
+the place until one evening in December, 1862, when eight of the crew
+put off in a boat to intercept her. The weather being very stormy, they
+never returned to the island, and Captain Green thinks they were lost.
+He further states that the women became the wives of two of the
+remaining castaways, and that although there had been several deaths on
+the island, the population at the time he wrote consisted of twelve
+persons, who felt quite contented. They were, however, badly in need of
+clothing. During thirty years, they had communicated from the island
+with only three vessels, and this letter had been four years written and
+ready to be sent by some ship. Captain Green adds that he is sixty-eight
+years of age, and in good health.
+
+
+
+
+  PLEADING.
+
+  (RUTH i. 16.)
+
+
+  "Intreat me not to leave Thee," Lord;
+    What is this world to me?
+  No happiness can it afford,
+    O God, apart from Thee.
+
+  Thou art the joy of my delights;
+    The Life of life to me;
+  The comfort of my darkest nights;
+    Yea, All in all to me.
+
+  Dark were this world without Thee, Lord,
+    But, lighted with Thy love,
+  Thy watchfulness, Thy tender care,
+    More fully here I prove.
+
+  More subject for my song above
+    I gather day by day;
+  Deeper experience of that love
+    Which guides my pilgrim way.
+
+  Oh, give me grace to serve Thee, Lord,
+    Each swiftly-passing day,
+  That I the approving word, "Well done,"
+    At last may hear Thee say.
+
+                                          A SOWER.
+
+
+
+
+THE ANTI-ROMISH BOOK.
+
+
+During the reign of that Popish King, James II., the law in Scotland
+was, that no clergyman might preach, and that no bookseller might sell,
+any book that reflected on the Romish Church.
+
+One of the Royal messengers entered a bookseller's shop in Edinburgh.
+
+"Had he any books in stock written against the Roman Catholic Church?"
+
+"Yes, he had a Book that reflected very severely indeed against that
+Church. Might he sell it?"
+
+"Let me see it," said the messenger.
+
+The old bookseller went to his shelves and took down a volume--a Book
+which does certainly speak very emphatically against Romanism--the
+Bible!
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+My 1, 11, 7, 6, 9, 5, a governor of the Jews.
+My 2, 10, 5, 14, 6, the father of Joanna.
+My 3, 13, a king of Bashan.
+My 4, 6, 14, 10, 9, 11, a disobedient queen.
+My 5, 8, 11, a priest.
+My 6, 4, 11, 9, 10, the city of Hadad.
+My 7, 3, 9, 6, 12, the brother of Timna.
+My 8, 5, 4, 11, one of the twelve tribes.
+My 9, 3, 7, 6, a son of Issachar.
+My 10, 5, 12, the son of Zephaniah.
+My 11, 14, 2, 6, 5, 8, the surname of Jacob.
+My 12, 3, 1, 10, a city threatened with a plague.
+My 13, 11, 10, 3, 12, a river of Eden.
+My 14, 11, 4, 6, 12, a Jewish month.
+
+My whole is a precept given by an Apostle to a Christian Church.
+
+                                      THOMAS TYLER
+                                 (Aged 13 years).
+
+_Potton, Beds._
+
+
+
+
+HOP PICKING.--THE LAST POLE.
+
+(_Frontispiece to Volume._)
+
+
+The LITTLE GLEANER no doubt is read and welcomed as well by the aged and
+middle-aged as the young, for whom it is especially intended. In the
+southern counties, the readers of the LITTLE GLEANER, of all ages, are
+more or less familiar with "the last pole." In the counties more north,
+where we hope the LITTLE GLEANER is read with equal interest, many dear
+children have never seen that lovely and charming sight of Nature in
+cultivation, the hop garden. To us who, by the hand of Providence, are
+located in these hop-growing districts, the hop gardens in the months of
+August and September are always interesting, and share largely in our
+love and admiration for the products of Nature and industry combined.
+
+For the information of those not so familiar as ourselves with the hop
+plant under cultivation, we would say that many hundreds of poor people
+find employment for a few weeks in the autumn at hop picking, by which
+they are able to earn a little money, which is useful in helping them to
+pay their rent and provide the necessaries of life. This time is looked
+forward to, year by year, with deep interest by such.
+
+Among the customs and ceremonies of the hop gardens, at the time of
+picking, or gathering, there is generally a little ceremony in pulling
+and picking the last pole. In September, 1886, the writer of these lines
+was one of the pickers in a very lovely hop garden in Kent, and
+witnessed the pulling down of many thousands of these heavily-laden hop
+poles, in all their fresh and lively beauty. But lo and behold! it came
+not only to the last day, and the last hill (or stool of three poles),
+but to the last pole, which was selected beforehand, and remained
+standing until all the others were picked. Then comes the master
+himself, and takes down this last pole, amid the waving of hats, and
+shouts of "Hurrah! Hurrah!" But was this all? No, no! There were sad
+hearts that sighed as they remembered the days of adversity endured by
+them, and as they wondered what was to be their next employment, and how
+their table was to be supplied during the coming winter, should it not
+be their turn to be gathered in like the poles that had passed under
+their hands. But one poor, trembling heart among the rest could not help
+thinking of that last great day, when the last stone of that great
+temple not made with hands should be carried up with shouts of "Grace,
+grace unto it!" and the following lines came softly into the mind--
+
+  "The moon and stars shall lose their light;
+  The sun shall sink in endless night;
+  Both heaven and earth shall pass away;
+  The works of Nature all decay.
+
+  "But they who in the Lord confide,
+  And shelter in His wounded side,
+  Shall see the danger overpast,
+  Stand every storm, and live at last."
+
+What! those poor bruised reeds who fear that they shall never hold up
+their heads again--shall they outlive the moon? Shall they outshine the
+sun?
+
+However, let us return to our subject--the last pole--and reflect.
+
+  "We, like the crowded poles, all stand,
+    And all are sure to fall;
+  The dog and hook[13] are in God's hand,
+    And soon will reach us all."
+
+    [13] In hop gardens these are instruments used by those who lift
+    the poles.--ED.
+
+Yes, my dear young readers, whatever may be those delightsome games of
+which you are so fond, the last game will soon come. Yea, how soon will
+be the end of all our earthly pleasures none of us can tell. If we look
+forward to any day or time of some kind of pleasure, it may seem to
+approach us very slowly, but how soon do we look behind us, and say,
+"Alas! that too has gone, never, never more to return."
+
+In like manner also we miss a dear brother or dear sister, a friend,
+schoolmate, or teacher; perhaps a dear, loving mother or father. "Ah!"
+we say, "they will never return again." Sometimes we reflect with sorrow
+upon some unkind words or actions towards them--some pain and grief that
+we caused them. Perhaps we were too proud or too stubborn to ask their
+forgiveness while they were with us, so we let the sun go down upon our
+wrath, and now we can never forgive ourselves. Though they are gone, we
+see them still--
+
+  "We see their smiles, we see their tears;
+    The grave can never hide them;
+  A few more days, or months, or years,
+  A few more sighs, a few more tears,
+    And we shall lie beside them."
+
+Seeing that it is quite uncertain which of us will be the next to have
+our earthly ties cut, and all our bloom and beauty stripped off, may I
+ask my dear young friends what are their thoughts on the subject?
+Whether it is passed over with indifference, presuming you shall be as
+well off in the end as other people, or are there moments when thoughts
+arise like these--"Oh, if death should overtake me as I am--so careless,
+so unconcerned, so thoughtless, and yet unpardoned! Oh, if my name
+should be left out--and how can I expect anything else--so prayerless as
+I am, for the most part, and my performance so unlike prayer when I do
+make the attempt? Oh, if I could but know that the dear Lord had a
+favour towards me! Why, if all the world were mine, I would lay it all
+down this minute to be sure that Jesus died for me"? And is there
+sometimes a little thought stealing from thine heart, and a tear like a
+drop of the morning dew trickling from thine eye, which says, "Oh, if
+ever I should be able to say, 'Bless the Lord, O my soul,' how I should
+leap for joy to be thus quite sure of being the Lord's"? Then, if this
+is your feeling after Christ Jesus, I will tell you how it will be with
+you some day. The Lord, who has said, "Seek, and ye shall find," will
+give you the desire of your heart, even pardon and peace through faith
+in His blood, and at last--
+
+  "When shivering in the arms of death,
+  When friends shall watch thy parting breath,
+  Though then thy lips can no more speak,
+  Though deathly paleness clads thy cheek,
+    Glory shall fill thy soul."
+
+                                        T. G.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+GLEANINGS FROM THE BOOK OF RUTH.
+
+
+The Book of Ruth is supposed to have been written in the reign of her
+great-grandson, perhaps by his own pen. It is a beautifully interesting
+story. As a fragment of history, it is connected with the birth of David
+and of David's Lord. As a record of God's providence, it shows how "all
+things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
+called according to His purpose."
+
+The two chief personages in this Book, the hero and heroine of the
+narrative, are Boaz, the near kinsman of Naomi, "the mighty man of
+wealth" in Bethlehem, and Ruth, the Moabitess, the stranger and
+foreigner, who left her own people and her father's false gods, and came
+to put her trust beneath the shadow of Jehovah's wings.
+
+We will look at the hero first, because, though the Book is called by
+Ruth's name, all her honour was derived from her connection with Israel,
+the chosen nation, to which Boaz naturally belonged, and because, as we
+think of his riches, his faithfulness, and his kindness, we cannot help
+exclaiming, "Surely a Greater than Boaz is here!" He was the near
+kinsman of Naomi's husband, and the same Hebrew word is called
+"redeemer" (Job xix. 25). And how often we speak of Jesus as "the
+Redeemer," who "gave Himself a Ransom for many." The ancient "goel," or
+"near kinsman," had many important rights and responsibilities. Abraham
+was nearly related to Lot, and when the latter was taken prisoner, his
+uncle took all his servants with him and went to the rescue, because he
+was his near kinsman, and he redeemed him by conquest, through the help
+of God, in whom he trusted (Gen. xiv.).
+
+If a man of Israel died, leaving no children to take his property, his
+"near kinsman," if unmarried, was expected to marry the widow, and the
+children that they might have afterwards were to be called by the name
+and take the lands of the first husband.
+
+If a Hebrew became poor, and sold his land--or, still worse, sold
+himself for a slave--his kinsman was expected to redeem him and his
+possessions if he could (Lev. xxv. 25, 47-49).
+
+Thus Boaz, as Naomi's kinsman, redeemed her inheritance, and married the
+childless widow of her son Chilion, the woman who was no longer to be
+called a stranger and a foreigner, but a fellow-subject of Israel's God
+and King.
+
+So Jesus--who redeemed His Church, His bride, His people, and secured to
+them the rich inheritance they had lost by sin--was, and is, the Near
+Kinsman of His beloved ones. They were, and always will be, "a people
+near unto Him" (Psa. cxlviii. 14). His own kindred He called them when
+He came to redeem them (Matt. xii. 50). His Father loved them, and He
+loved them also, and the kindness of God the Saviour was shown when He
+came down from heaven for their sakes. "Kindness!" Sweet word! It means
+the act of a kinsman, and God's kindness is "loving-kindness," the
+sweetest description we can possibly have of the tender pity and grace
+of the Lord.
+
+But the kindness shown by Boaz was only a dim shadow of the love of the
+"Great Redeemer from above." He did not make much sacrifice apparently
+when he purchased Naomi's inheritance and made Ruth his wife, but "ye
+know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet
+for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be
+rich."
+
+And more, far more, than this--He suffered scorn, and shame, and death
+itself--the bitterest of deaths. He gave Himself--He laid down the life
+that was so dear to Himself, so precious to His Father--that He might
+redeem, buy them back to God by His blood. He endured their punishment,
+He paid their debts, and then, since Satan had made them his slaves,
+like Abraham, Jesus fought for His kindred, only He fought alone. He
+conquered the strong one, and set the captives free, and Satan still
+must yield up his prey at Christ's command. The Redeemer ever proves
+Himself "mighty to save" those for whom He died.
+
+Then Ruth furnishes us with a striking picture of one who is seeking
+Jesus.
+
+She was not a native of the promised land--not born of Israelitish
+parents. She reminds us of what Paul says--we all are, as sinners,
+"children of disobedience," "children of wrath," "far from God by wicked
+works." But a change came over her mind and spirit. "The Lord opened her
+heart to attend unto the things spoken" by Naomi. A new, a heavenly
+light dawned upon her, and she saw the evil of idolatry and sin--the
+beauty of holiness and God--so that, like Moses, she "chose rather to
+suffer affliction with His people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
+for a season." She would sooner "lodge" with Naomi in poverty, than
+dwell in comfort among her former companions; and before she thought of
+being enriched and made happy by Boaz, she had "chosen that good part"
+which shall never be taken away from those who seek and find it.
+
+The diligent shall be made prosperous, and Ruth gleaned in the fields of
+Boaz before she knew anything of the relationship he bore to her late
+husband's family. She was not ashamed to labour as a poor and needy
+woman, and she gained a good supply of corn from her work by the special
+favour of Boaz.
+
+There is a remarkable little word connected with her choice of that
+field. It was her "hap" to light upon it--a word not very often found in
+the Bible, which always traces everything, great or small, to the will
+and permission of God. Yet this syllable of three letters came "of
+purpose" into the record, and teaches us that all the "accidents" of our
+lives, pleasant as well as painful, are directed and overruled by the
+Lord. Things "come to pass," and we are filled with wonder, but it is
+because "He doeth all things well."
+
+About thirty years ago, one Sabbath morning, a group of youths were
+starting from Clerkenwell, intending to spend the day gathering
+blackberries in Highgate Woods. It so happened that a dispute arose just
+outside the chapel where my late dear Pastor preached, and one lad
+refused to go any further with his companions. To while away the time he
+peeped into the chapel just as the hymn, "When Thou, my righteous Judge,
+shalt come," was being given out, and he ventured to slip into a seat in
+the gallery. He was so much impressed by what he heard that he came
+again, was savingly converted to God, was baptized, and remained for
+many years an honourable member of the Church. His "hap was to light
+upon" a field of Gospel corn, and he received a rich blessing, but his
+steps, like Ruth's, were directed by the Lord.[14]
+
+  [14] From the "Memoir of the late Mr. John Hazelton."
+
+And we learn the benefit of wise, Christian counsel. Ruth needed Naomi
+very much, poor and lonely though she was. From her she learned the good
+news of the rich man's kinship; from her she received instructions how
+to act so as to ensure his protection and care. Her conduct, strange as
+it would be to-day, was in those early times quite in harmony with the
+behaviour of a virtuous, modest woman, but it has its chief charm when
+we see in it a picture of one who is seeking Jesus.
+
+Some dear Christian friend, like Naomi, encourages and instructs the
+youthful seeker by telling of the love and grace of the Saviour, and
+saying, as a beloved minister once said to a young person, "I cannot
+give you the blessing; _He_ can." Naomi wanted the help of Boaz as well
+as Ruth, and all God's people, old or young, strong or weak, need and
+crave the loving care of Jesus, but it is a privilege and joy to commend
+one another to Him, and tell of His goodness and grace "who is rich unto
+all that call upon Him."
+
+In seeking Ruth's happiness Naomi found her own great joy (see chap. iv.
+14). In dutiful consideration for Naomi, Ruth obtained a hundred-fold
+more than she could ever have hoped to find, as an honoured wife and
+mother favoured with both earthly and heavenly prosperity. Those who
+honour God He will honour. Those who water others shall be watered
+themselves. May we receive from the Lord that spirit of love which seeks
+the welfare of others, and the glory of God, as well as our own
+happiness.
+
+Our next subject will be, Isaiah xxxv. 8--_The King's Highway, and its
+Travellers._
+
+                           Your affectionate friend,
+                                            H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+THE EDITOR'S CLOSING ADDRESS TO HIS YOUNG FRIENDS.
+
+
+Dear young friends,--We are nearing the close of another year, and we
+may be nearer the close of our mortal career than we think. What a mercy
+if we belong to Christ! If so, we are blessed indeed, for those who are
+His are forgiven their iniquity, are justified from all unrighteousness,
+are reconciled to God, and made "accepted in the Beloved." Oh, that you,
+dear reader, may enjoy that blessed portion! Then, come poverty or
+wealth, sickness or health, life or death, all will be well with you.
+All such are the children of God, and none besides. To those who love
+Him, He will say, "Come, ye blessed of My Father"; but to those who are
+"without Christ" He will say, "Depart, ye cursed!" Which will be your
+lot? God grant that you may be taught to flee as sinners to Him who
+"died for the ungodly," and who has said, "Him that cometh unto Me I
+will in no wise cast out." We trust you will never find rest and peace
+only in coming to Christ. If our feeble labours in sending forth the
+GLEANER are but blessed to this end, we shall be amply rewarded, and we
+wish the Lord to have all the glory.
+
+Dear young friends, we do not ask you to join the "Salvation Army," so
+called, but we hope you may be an army yourselves, seeking to spread
+abroad good reading among both young and old; and we believe that the
+GLEANER and SOWER will be found most acceptable and adapted for such a
+purpose, therefore we ask you to join the "Try Army," and shall be glad
+to receive the names of any who are willing to enlist, to whom we will
+send sixteen Magazines, post free, monthly, for one shilling and
+twopence. The postage rate, however, will not allow us to send a less
+number at a reduction, but a larger number can be sent in proportion,
+for schools. The Almanacks are nicely got up, and will be found useful
+to put on walls in bed-rooms, &c. We hope that you will get orders for
+as many as possible. We will send fifteen for one shilling, post free;
+no less number can be sent at a reduction. This we do to encourage our
+readers to obtain subscribers, and to spread abroad the Magazines. The
+Yearly Volumes are very nice books for presents. GLEANER, picture
+boards, very attractive, three volumes, four shillings; GLEANER, cloth,
+also SOWER, cloth, three volumes, five shillings, post free.
+
+Now, dear young friends, we hope you will become a "Try Army," and that
+we shall see pleasing results arise from your efforts. We hope, too, if
+spared, shortly to greet you again with "A Happy New Year," and may the
+Lord bless you each and all with the best of all blessings, that we and
+you may rejoice together in His mercy, and live to show forth His
+praise.
+
+Trusting you will not forget us, and that we may still be helped to pray
+and labour for your good, we remain,
+
+                                Your affectionate friend,
+                                              THE EDITOR.
+
+P.S.--Scatter abroad our _Friendly Words_, 1s. 6d. per hundred, post
+free. All are pleased to receive them.
+
+
+AN EXPLANATION.
+
+In inserting the article, "The Fish that Swallowed Jonah," in last
+month's GLEANER, we had no idea of controverting the testimony of
+Scripture, but merely to show that the quibbles raised by sceptics, as
+to the truth of a whale being able to do so, are at least very silly.
+God could very easily prepare a whale for such a purpose. But, as sharks
+are included in the term used in the original by Christ, the word
+"fish," as in Jonah, would be quite as correct.
+
+                                               THE EDITOR.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+THE DISOBEDIENCE OF OUR FIRST PARENTS, AND ITS RESULTS.
+
+
+In the Bible it is said that Adam was formed before Eve, and that they
+were both placed in Eden, where there was one tree of which God said
+they might not eat. It is also said that Adam was not deceived, but the
+woman, being deceived, was first in the transgression (1 Tim. ii. 13,
+14).
+
+Probably the woman was by herself when the tempter came to her in the
+likeness of a serpent, and told her that she would not die if she
+partook of the fruit which God had commanded her not to eat; but if they
+took of it they would be as gods, knowing good and evil. With this
+saying the tempter succeeded in getting the woman to take the fruit of
+the tree of which God told her not to eat, for she looked upon it as "a
+tree good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to
+make one wise" (Gen. iii. 6), and she wanted to be as God. All this was
+instilled into the heart of the woman by the tempter, and God being left
+out of her thoughts, she now takes of the fruit of the tree, eats of it,
+and gives to her husband, and he also eats of it.
+
+Such was the fact of disobedience, which was most heinous in the sight
+of God. Thus they both fell from that happy state by this one act of
+disobedience, and were no longer allowed to remain in paradise. Their
+life was forfeited. Man became dead in sin, and was placed at a great
+distance from God, no more in paradise, but under the power of the
+prince and ruler of this world. The result of this act of disobedience
+has filled the earth with pride, self-will, and violence; for all the
+vice and misery that have ever been known in this world, have been the
+result of disobedience. All that descend from Adam are born in his
+fallen image, are sinners against God, and judgment has come upon all
+men to condemnation. But "where sin abounded, grace has much more
+abounded," since Christ, the Seed of the woman, has come, as God said,
+and has bruised the serpent's head, that as "sin has reigned unto death,
+even so might grace reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by
+Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. v. 20, 21), who hath abolished death, and
+"brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel" (2 Tim. i. 10);
+and by His act of obedience unto death, even the death of the cross,
+believers are made righteous in Him--"For if by one man's offence death
+reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of
+the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ"
+(Rom. v. 17).
+
+                                        JAMES HERBERT COLLINS
+                                              (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Commissariat Office, Cork._
+
+[Very good Essays have also been received from Ada Cannings, Leonard
+Lucock, Bessie Hills, E. B. Knocker, W. E. Cray, W. A. Tooke, and R. A.
+Stevens.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Loss of All
+Things for Christ."
+
+The subject for February will be, "Why was Saul Rejected of God?" and
+the prize to be given for the best Essay on that subject, a copy of "The
+Life of John Newton." All competitors must give a guarantee that they
+are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their own
+composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot
+undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the
+first of January.]
+
+
+  IF aught good thou canst not say
+    Of thy brother, foe, or friend,
+  Take thou, then, the silent way,
+    Lest in word thou shouldst offend.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+M. DE LESSEPS declares that the Panama Canal will be opened in July,
+1890.
+
+
+SINCE the beginning of her reign, Queen Victoria has been paid
+approximately £30,000,000 by her subjects.
+
+
+THE daily consumption of needles in America is said to be 4,200,000,
+most of which come from Redditch, England.
+
+
+THERE are 3,100 Smiths enrolled in the city directory of Philadelphia.
+There are 250 John Smiths and 310 William Smiths.
+
+
+CAPTURE OF A SWORD FISH.--A specimen of the sword fish was captured, a
+week or two ago, in Long Reach, Milton Creek, Sittingbourne, by a
+bargeman. The fish measured 5 ft. 2 in. from end of tail to tip of
+sword.
+
+
+CAROLINE HERSCHEL, the accomplished partner of her brother's
+astronomical labours, never could remember the multiplication table, and
+always had to carry a copy of it about with her.
+
+
+THERE are now in the United Kingdom 1,350 workmen's retail stores,
+with nearly one million members, and a capital of £9,000,000,
+besides some millions on deposit. The sales last year to members were
+over £25,000,000, with £3,000,000 profits.
+
+
+VALUABLE REMEDY FOR ERYSIPELAS.--One handful of sage, two handfuls of
+elder leaves, one ounce of alum. The whole of the foregoing to be boiled
+in a quart of iron water from the blacksmith's forge, until reduced to a
+pint. To be used as a wash.
+
+
+THOMAS EMMITT, a man employed on the permanent way of the Lancashire and
+Yorkshire Railway, has received intimation that a gold medal will be
+presented to him for his bravery in jumping on to a runaway engine at
+Blackburn, and stopping it.
+
+
+IT is said that, in 1887, no fewer than 22,131 human beings died from
+snake-bite in India, and the number of cattle killed by snakes was
+2,514; 417,596 snakes were destroyed, and 25,360 rupees were paid by the
+Government as rewards for their destruction.
+
+
+THE question of the Sunday opening of libraries is being excitedly
+agitated in Bolton. A week or two ago Lord Hobhouse addressed a meeting,
+presided over by the Vicar, in favour of opening, and quoted a letter in
+support from the Bishop of Manchester. The clergy of the diocese have
+organized an opposition, the Vicar standing alone in support of the
+opening, and recently, at a large gathering, a resolution against
+opening was carried with the wildest enthusiasm, an amendment by a
+leading Socialist being defeated.
+
+
+THE probabilities of there being large coal deposits under London are
+discussed at considerable length by a correspondent of the _Times_. The
+speculations of geologists on the subject have recently been much
+assisted by several deep borings, the principal of which have been those
+of Kentish Town.
+
+
+A BOAT drifted from its moorings off Camia; a fishing village nine miles
+from Boulogne, on Tuesday evening, October 16th. An old fisherman, named
+Charles Coffier, was the only person on board, and he had nothing to eat
+for four nights and three and a half days, when the boat was driven by a
+breeze into Hastings.
+
+
+THE Queen reads, or rather, has read to her, the _Times_ and the
+_Morning Post_ every morning. Copies are sent direct to her, printed on
+specially thick paper. Her secretary goes through them, marks with a
+blue pencil all the important items, and these are then read to her by
+the two ladies who officiate as readers.
+
+
+SUNDAY SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY, MILTON STREET, HOLLINWOOD, LANCASHIRE.--This
+was held on October 14th, when two sermons were preached, morning and
+evening, by Mr. D. Smith, of Halifax, and an address was delivered by
+Mr. J. Holgate, of Burnley, special hymns being sung by the scholars.
+The congregations were good, and the services were much appreciated. The
+collections amounted to £13 14s. 11d.
+
+                                                C. H. W.
+
+
+ROMAN CATHOLIC PILGRIMS IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.--On Saturday, October
+13th, the "Feast of St. Edward, King and Confessor," was celebrated in
+all the Roman Catholic churches in London, and with more than ordinary
+pomp at that of SS. Peter and Edward (which is dedicated to his memory)
+in Palace Street, Westminster, where a Pontifical High Mass _coram
+episcopo_ was sung by Dr. J. L. Patterson, "Bishop of Emmaus." At the
+conclusion of the Mass, the congregation, which included several persons
+who had come from Preston and other parts of Lancashire and different
+counties of England for the occasion, formed a procession and wended
+their way to the Abbey, where they offered up prayers at the shrine of
+St. Edward, King and Confessor. No opposition was offered to the
+pilgrims and devotees by the authorities of the Abbey. Where is our
+Protestantism gone to?
+
+
+CHINESE is spoken by 400,000,000, Hindostani by something more than
+100,000,000, English by more than 100,000,000, Russian by more than
+70,000,000, German by more than 58,000,000, and French by about
+40,000,000.
+
+
+WILL Spain ever be tolerant? The Supreme Court of Madrid has confirmed
+the decision of a provincial tribunal condemning a Spanish Protestant to
+five days' imprisonment, with a fine of one pound and costs, for having
+persisted in remaining with his hat on when he met a Catholic
+procession.
+
+
+AN ARMY OF SPIDERS.--A dangerous spider that is found on the pampas of
+Central America, and belonging to the Lycoss species, is thus described
+in a letter:--"When a person passes near, say within three or four feet
+of its lurking place, it starts up and gives chase, and will often
+follow for a distance of thirty or forty yards. I came once very nearly
+getting bitten by one of these savage creatures. Riding at an easy trot
+over the dry grass, I suddenly observed a spider pursuing me, leaping
+swiftly along and keeping up with my beast. I aimed a blow with my whip,
+and the point of the lash struck the ground close to it, when it leaped
+upon and ran up the lash, and was within three or four inches of my
+hand, when I flung the whip from me. The gauchos have a very quaint
+ballad which tells that the city of Cordova was once invaded by an army
+of monstrous spiders, and that the townspeople went out with beating
+drums and flags flying to repel the invasion, and, after firing several
+volleys, they were forced to return and fly for their lives."
+
+
+THE WHALE HUNT AT SPITHEAD.--The little coast villages of Bembridge and
+Sea View, in the Isle of Wight, were thrown into quite a commotion on
+Friday, September 21st, by the appearance of a huge whale, between
+thirty and forty feet long, off the mouth of Brading Harbour. It was
+observed to be swimming about early in the morning, and the little
+steamer _Island Queen_, which runs between Southsea and Bembridge, had
+an unpleasant meeting with the creature. Much to the alarm of the
+passengers, the whale would "keep company," and for some time it was
+dangerously close to the little vessel. It furiously lashed the sea with
+its tail, and commenced to "blow," the result being that the captain,
+who was on the bridge, and many of the passengers were deluged with
+water. No harm, however, was done, and the steamer eventually got clear,
+the whale swimming out to sea. Later on it again put in an appearance,
+but by this time the islanders were ready for it, and a large number of
+fishing-boats, watermen, and others put out. The creature was
+surrounded, and was at length shot. It was then towed on to Sea View
+beach, where it has been visited by some hundreds of people. At high
+tide the whale was partially covered. Its dimensions are as
+follow--length of fish, 35 ft.; girth, 20 ft.; length of mouth from
+point to top of jaw, 7 ft.; length of fins, 4 ft. each; width of tail, 8
+ft.; supposed weight, 10 tons. Estimated value of a sperm whale, £100.
+The whale has been purchased by Mr. G. Drover, of Cowes.
+
+
+CHIMNEYS.--In the year 1200 chimneys were scarcely known in England. One
+only was allowed in a religious house, one in a manor house, and one in
+the great hall of a castle or lord's house; but in other houses the
+smoke found its way out as it could. The writers of the fourteenth
+century seem to have considered them as the newest invention of luxury.
+In Henry VIII.'s reign the University of Oxford had no fire allowed, for
+it is mentioned that after the students had supped, having no fire in
+the winter, they were obliged to take a good run for half an hour to get
+heat in their feet before they retired for the night. Holinshed, in the
+reign of Elizabeth, describes the rudeness of the preceding generation
+in the arts of life. "There were," says he, "very few chimneys; even in
+the capital towns the fire was laid to the wall, and the smoke issued
+out at the door, roof, or window. The houses were wattled and plastered
+over with clay, and all the furniture and utensils were of wood." In
+1639 a tax of two shillings was laid on chimneys.
+
+
+BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE POST OFFICE.--"How can one get admitted to the
+General Post Office, and what departments are best worth seeing there?"
+asks "A Country Cleric." Admission to that remarkably interesting
+building, the General Post Office, can be had on application to the
+Secretary. A banker's reference is necessary. The sight is one well
+worth seeing, and should on no account be missed by country visitors to
+London. Visitors are admitted at six in the evening, and are shown over
+the telegraph department. Here may be seen the pneumatic tubes, through
+which messages are received from many parts of London. Into this office
+run wires from Belfast, Edinburgh, and all parts of the United Kingdom,
+and the whole system is explained by an expert. Crossing the road one
+then enters the Post Office itself. Here one sees the "blind men," as
+they are called, at work deciphering illegible addresses; and men and
+machines stamping postmarks at the rate of from one hundred to three
+hundred a minute. But in order to see the Post Office properly, two or
+three visits should be made. Not one person in a hundred has any notion
+of the peculiar experiences of a letter between the times of its postage
+and receipt.
+
+
+
+
+Published on the first of every Month. Price One Penny.
+
+                       THE LITTLE GLEANER.
+
+An Illustrated Monthly Magazine of Religious and General Instruction for
+Children.
+
+The Editor seeks as much as possible to make this Magazine both
+interesting and useful to its readers, and hopes that all true friends
+of the young will try to secure for it a still wider circulation.
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+            Published on the first of every Month. Price One Penny.
+
+                              THE SOWER
+
+Is well adapted for general circulation, since it aims to spread abroad
+the pure truth of the Gospel of Christ.
+
+Seeing how very industriously the abettors of error sow their tares,
+lovers of truth, with equal or greater industry, should sow that truth
+which is "able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in
+Christ Jesus."
+
+The Editor earnestly solicits all who desire the spread of Bible truth
+to help him in this work by increasing the circulation of THE LITTLE
+GLEANER and THE SOWER.
+
+  Two, four, six, or more copies of the above Magazines post free of
+                            the EDITOR,
+                  117, High Street, Hastings.
+          London: HOULSTON AND SONS, Paternoster Buildings.
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+                           FRIENDLY WORDS.
+
+This is a little work of four pages, GLEANER size, which we publish
+monthly, for the purpose of supplying friends with a sheet of short
+readings, which will suit many who do not care to read page after page
+of a magazine or lengthy tract. It has a front-page illustration, which
+renders it very attractive in general distribution. We hope our friends
+will spread them freely everywhere. "Wherever I distribute FRIENDLY
+WORDS, I find they are most heartily welcomed and eagerly read. I hope
+they will be widely circulated, and that the Lord will make them very
+useful among the masses.--L. T." "I am pleased to see how eagerly
+FRIENDLY WORDS are received and read where I distribute them. I only
+wish that all who desire the good of souls, would spread them abroad
+wherever they can do so.--S." Will other friends kindly try this plan?
+They can have a good assortment at a small cost.
+
+Price 1s. 6d. per 100; 3d. per dozen (assorted packets at the same
+price). Post free from the EDITOR, 117, High Street, Hastings.
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+       THE ANNUAL VOLUMES of "GLEANER" and "SOWER."
+
+  These Volumes are acknowledged to be most admirably adapted for
+    Presents, where sound and interesting books are desired.
+
+The LITTLE GLEANER, Boards, Illustrated      1s. 6d., or six vols, for 8s.
+The LITTLE GLEANER, Cloth,     do.           2s.          do.         10s.
+The SOWER, Cloth,              do.           2s.          do.         10s.
+
+Sent, at above prices, post free, if ordered of the Editor, Mr. HULL,
+117, High Street, Hastings.
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+                Fact Superior to Fiction.
+
+        OUR YOUNG PEOPLE'S TREASURY.--Vols. I. and II.
+
+These little Volumes contain a collection of interesting narratives,
+setting forth the good old truths of the Gospel, and will, we believe,
+help to meet a want greatly felt in our families and schools, as they
+supply sound Scriptural reading in an interesting form, without
+resorting to fictitious tales. We earnestly commend them to all who seek
+the good of the rising race, as books which may, with the Lord's
+blessing, be of great spiritual use among the young.
+
+Price One Shilling each, or eight volumes for 6s. 6d., post free, if
+  ordered of the Editor, Mr. T. HULL, 117, High Street, Hastings.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+                PAGE
+
+  About Swearing,  225
+
+  Admiral Pye and the Inquisitors,  231
+
+  Aged Pilgrim's History, An,  183
+
+  Answer of George III. to Lord Grenville,  66
+
+  Answers to Bible Enigmas,  19, 28, 59, 88, 113, 142, 174,
+        185, 238, 247, 271
+
+  Anti-Romish Book, The,  273
+
+  "Ask On",  203
+
+
+  Be Gentle,  28
+
+  Beware of Thorns,  131
+
+  Bible and its Claims,  The 222
+
+  Bible Class, Our,  20, 44, 67, 91, 115, 140, 163, 188, 211, 235,
+        260, 275
+
+  Bible Enigmas,  41, 66, 91, 106, 130, 165, 174, 213, 235, 255, 273
+
+  Bible Subjects,  11, 35, 52, 81, 117, 141, 165, 187, 214, 237,
+        255, 268
+
+  Bible with Pins in it, A,  66
+
+  Biblical Discovery,  29
+
+  Birthday Wish,  257
+
+  Blind Tortoise in the Well,  130
+
+  Blind Widow, The,  266
+
+  Brand Plucked out of the Fire, A,  228
+
+  Brave Rescue, A,  84
+
+  Brimstone or Sulphur,  256
+
+  Brother's Dream, A,  103
+
+  Brought to the Fold,  151
+
+  Budding of Hope, A,  51
+
+  Bunyan's Death,  272
+
+
+  Caring for the Little Ones,  50
+
+  Charcoal Burner's Star, The,  7,  30
+
+  Charlie Coulson, the Drummer-Boy,  170
+
+  Child and the Emperor, The,  259
+
+  Child Heroism,  232
+
+  Child's Prayer, A,  22
+
+  Cingalese Rock Fortress, A,  154
+
+  Clever Boy and Electrical Machine,  114
+
+  Cost of a Broken Sabbath,  132
+
+  Counting the Cost,  126
+
+  Cousin Susan's Note-Book on Father Chiniquy,  56, 76, 101, 152, 201
+
+  Covenanter's Escape and Death, The,  146
+
+
+  Day's Work, A,  147
+
+  Dear Old Times, The,  124
+
+  Denied, yet Answered,  251
+
+  Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,  220
+
+  Dirge of an Englishwoman, The,  57
+
+  Divine Guidance,  159
+
+  Divine Providence, A,  99
+
+  "Draw Me",  83
+
+  Drunkard's Will, A,  233
+
+  Dutch and their Country, The,  209
+
+  Duties of Brothers and Sisters,  259
+
+
+  Edison's Phonograph,  172
+
+  Editor's Closing Address to his Young Friends, The,  278
+
+  Editor's New Year's Address,  2
+
+  Enemies of God and His People Scattered,  40
+
+  Experiences in the Arctic Ocean,  58
+
+  Explanation, An,  278
+
+  Extraordinary Story of the Sea,  272
+
+
+  Facts about Ocean Steamships,  197
+
+  Famous Dog, A,  82
+
+  Few Words from the Dumb,  108
+
+  Fish that Swallowed Jonah, The,  246
+
+  Flesh-Eating Plants,  83
+
+  Flying Foxes,  180
+
+  From Darkness to Light,  34
+
+  Fugitive in the Himalaya Mountains, A,  107
+
+
+  Generosity and Love,  185
+
+  Good Example, A,  208
+
+  Great Events,  242
+
+  Great Exhibition of 1851,  196
+
+
+  Heroic Scotch Student, A,  258
+
+  He Went Wrong, but He Found Mercy,  269
+
+  Hint to Boys, A,  158
+
+  Hint to Parents, A,  41
+
+  His Title-Deeds,  163
+
+  Honouring the Lord's Day,  252
+
+  Hopeful Case, A,  195
+
+  Hop-Picking.--The Last Pole,  274
+
+  House on the Sand, The,  173
+
+  How a Great Mistake was Discovered,  39
+
+  How to Select a Boy,  153
+
+  Hyacinth, The,  219
+
+
+  Incident in the Life of a Barrister,  74
+
+  Insecurity of Palestine,  257
+
+  Interesting Items,  23, 47, 71, 95, 119, 143, 167, 191, 215,
+        239, 263, 280
+
+  "Is not a Man Better than an Egg?",  204
+
+
+  Jesuit and the Bible, The,  98
+
+  "Jesus Loves Me!",  160
+
+  Johnnie's Christmas,  271
+
+  Juvenile Gems,  127, 148
+
+
+  "Keep the Star in Sight",  65
+
+  Kenilworth Castle,  161
+
+  Killed by Lightning,  182
+
+  Kindness to Animals,  94
+
+
+  Land of Giants, The,  234
+
+  "Let No Man Despise Thee",  46
+
+  Letter by a Dying Soldier,  194
+
+  Lines on the New Year,  5
+
+  Little by Little,  179
+
+  Little Helps by Large Hearts,  227
+
+  Little Johnnie,  255
+
+  Little Kindnesses,  233
+
+  Little Scotch Granite,  218
+
+  Lost and Found,  122
+
+
+  Mankind's Mistakes,  222
+
+  "Mary had a Little Lamb",  199
+
+  Memoir of Carrie Foord,  175
+
+  Memoir of Ellen and Henry Hoad,  248
+
+  Memoir of Emma Beesley,  110
+
+  Memoir of Mary Stubbs,  78
+
+  Model Prayer-Meeting, A,  184
+
+  Modes of Travel in Persia,  75
+
+  Morning's Walk in a Country Lane, A,  63
+
+  Mummy of Sesostris, The,  84
+
+
+  Nails Gone, but Marks Left,  214
+
+  Nature her own Surgeon,  224
+
+  New Telephone, A,  203
+
+  "Nothing to Thank God For",  154
+
+
+  Old Clock's Advice, An,  238
+
+  Old Quilt and its Story, An,  12
+
+  One Link Gone,  108
+
+  One Poor Stone,  62
+
+  "Only Once",  4
+
+  Orphan Bess,  198
+
+
+  Penny Piece, The,  227
+
+  Pharisee and the Publican,  93
+
+  Pitcairn Islanders and the Queen, The,  261
+
+  Pleading,  273
+
+  Points to be Aimed At,  124
+
+  Postal Service Statistics,  223
+
+  Power of Kindness,  237
+
+  Prayer Answered,  112
+
+  Precious Blood of Christ, The,  226
+
+  Priest and the Lady, The,  162
+
+  Priest's Thoughts of Roman Catholic Miracles,  125
+
+  Prince Consort's Opinion of Popery,  66
+
+  Prize Essays,  21, 45, 69, 93, 117, 142, 165, 190, 213, 237,
+        262, 279
+
+  Prompt Kindness,  106
+
+
+  Queer Fisherman, A,  155
+
+  Questions with Answers,  77
+
+
+  Ragged Tom,  139
+
+  Rare and Costly Bibles,  202
+
+  Receiving the Truth,  137
+
+  Red Sea Rock, A,  161
+
+
+  Saved by Grace,  156
+
+  Scotch Thistle, The,  55
+
+  Scripture Enigma,  10
+
+  Sense and Senses of Animals,  131
+
+  Singular Cause of Death,  59
+
+  Soft Answer, A,  211
+
+  Soft Pillow, A,  136
+
+  Something about Foxes,  60
+
+  Stage-Coach Companion, My,  16
+
+  Stand Back,  163
+
+  Sunday School Meetings:--
+    Burwash, Providence,  210
+    Clifton,  210
+    Fleckney, Carmel,  210
+    Gower Street,  138
+    Greenwich, Devonshire Road,  89
+    Hand Cross, Zoar Chapel,  186
+    Hastings, Ebenezer,  42
+    Trowbridge, Zion,  187
+
+  Sympathy,  200
+
+
+  Talking With a Man Seven Thousand Miles Off,  247
+
+  Terrible Experience of a Shipwrecked Crew,  268
+
+  "The Day of Small Things",  36
+
+  "There is No Rest in Hell",  53
+
+  "This is the Way; Walk Ye in It",  86
+
+  "Thou God Seest Me",  86
+
+  Thrilling Scenes at the Forth Bridge Works,  67
+
+  Touching Incident,  3
+
+  Two Brave Children,  158
+
+  Two Ways of Descending,  100
+
+
+  Under the London Streets,  200
+
+  Unseen Protection,  173
+
+
+  Value of Work, The,  75
+
+  Visit to the Idrian Mines,  87
+
+
+  What a Tract may Do,  26
+
+  Wisdom,  113
+
+  Wise and Foolish Builders,  90
+
+  Wonderful Grace,  15
+
+  Words and Deeds,  219
+
+  Word to Self-Seekers, A,  69
+
+  Word with Power, The,  226
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+1. Punctuation has been normalized. Inconsistent
+   hyphenation and spellings have been left as printed.
+
+2. The illustration caption on page 204 is missing text following (see--
+
+   "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MR. THORN'S EGGS?" (see
+
+3. Page 231 "having been on a voyage to Spain"--missing word "on"
+   was added.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Gleaner, Vol. X., by Various
+
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+
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+at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Gleaner, Vol. X., by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Little Gleaner, Vol. X.
+       A Monthly Magazine for the Young
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: February 1, 2012 [EBook #38745]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE GLEANER, VOL. X. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Hope, Delphine Lettau, Clive Pickton,
+Julia Neufeld and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 363px;"><br /><br />
+<img src="images/img001.jpg" width="363" height="500" alt=" HOP PICKING" title="HOP PICKING" />
+<span class="caption"> HOP PICKING (<i>See page 274.</i>)</span><br /><br />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center"><big>THE</big></p>
+<h1><span class="smcap">Little Gleaner.</span></h1>
+
+<p class="center">A</p>
+
+<h3>Monthly Magazine for the Young.</h3>
+
+<div class="center">VOL. X., NEW SERIES.<br />
+1888.<br /><br /><br />
+
+LONDON:<br />
+HOULSTON AND SONS, 7, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C.;<br />
+AND E. WILMSHURST, BOOKSELLER, BLACKHEATH, S.E.<br /><br /><br />
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+
+LONDON:<br />
+PRINTED BY W. H. AND L. COLLINGRIDGE,<br />
+148 AND 149, ALDERSGATE STREET, E.C.
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 389px;">
+<img src="images/img004.jpg" width="389" height="500" alt="COME TO THE CANAL.&quot; (See page 4.)" title="COME TO THE CANAL" />
+<span class="caption"><i>Engraved by S. W. Partridge &amp; Co.</i><br />
+
+&quot;WELL, THEN, COME TO THE CANAL.&quot;<br /> (<i>See page 4.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE EDITOR'S NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS TO HIS YOUNG FRIENDS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Dear young friends,&mdash;We
+wish you each and all a very
+Happy New Year, and, above all
+things else, that it may prove to many
+of you a year of grace&mdash;that is, we pray
+that the rich saving grace of God may
+be put in the hearts of many of our
+readers who hitherto have not called
+upon Him for mercy.</p>
+
+<p>How many who began the year 1887 in
+health are now laid in the grave! Some,
+no doubt, who read this address will be
+thinking of others who read last year's,
+and who were interested in <span class="smcap">The Little
+Gleaner</span>, watching for its appearance
+month by month, but who now have
+passed away, and will no more read it,
+nor walk and talk with them again.</p>
+
+<p>The other month, a wrapper in which a
+<span class="smcap">Gleaner</span> had been enclosed by some
+friend to a person in Ireland was sent to
+us bearing this solemn mark, "<i>Dead</i>."
+This told us that the person to whom
+the <span class="smcap">Gleaner</span> had been sent had become
+the prey of death, and would never read
+another.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, how solemn that word looked and
+sounded to us&mdash;"<i>dead</i>!" and the thought
+rushed into our mind, "How did he die?
+Where is he? If he died in Christ, it is
+well with him, for all who thus die are
+eternally at rest, free from sin, care,
+pain, and sorrow. Yea, they are 'for
+ever with the Lord.'"</p>
+
+<p>Dear reader, how is it with you? You
+are spared, while some have been called
+from time into eternity. We hope you
+feel this to be a mercy, and we now
+ask, Have you ever been led to the
+throne of grace, concerned about sin and
+salvation? Has the cry ever gone from
+your heart to the Lord, "God be merciful
+to me a sinner"? If not, oh, that, as
+this year begins to pass away, the Spirit
+may cause your heart to feel the guilt
+of your sin, and lead you, a poor, burdened,
+contrite one, to the feet of Him
+who died on the cross, and whose blood
+cleanses those who are thus brought
+unto Him from all sin. Then you shall
+prove that He is "mighty to save"&mdash;yea,
+"able to save all those to the uttermost
+that come unto God by Him."</p>
+
+<p>We believe that many who will read
+these words have proved the ability of
+Christ Jesus to save, and that others are
+seeking Him, and longing to know that
+their sins are forgiven. We rejoice over
+them, and pray that many more may be
+brought to walk the same way, for it is
+the way from sin, death, and hell, and
+the way to Christ, peace, and heaven.
+All who walk therein belong to the flock
+of the Good Shepherd; and we can say
+to each one who has thus fled to Him for
+refuge, "He careth for you." His love
+is stronger than death, and knows no
+change, for He is "the same yesterday,
+and to-day, and for ever."</p>
+
+<p>Dear young friends, there is a reality
+in the religion of Jesus, and we pray that,
+in this truth-despising day, you may feel
+the power of grace, and, by the work of
+the Spirit in your hearts, be so grounded
+in the truth that you may turn with contempt
+from all those who, while they
+profess to preach, have not the knowledge
+of God and His truth in them;
+and, although they are anxious to discredit
+the Word of God, and set aside
+the atonement of Christ, yet they do not
+know what to substitute for them. All
+who follow such leaders are certainly
+being led on "the down grade," and even
+the leaders themselves confess that they
+do not know where they shall be landed.
+Some have already been landed in
+Socinianism, and others in infidelity.
+Therefore, we say to all our readers,
+Abide by and hold fast the Word of God,
+Cleave to those who preach the pure and
+simple truths of the Gospel of Christ, as
+recorded in the Scriptures, and may the
+Lord bless you with faith to receive them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
+in your heart. Then you shall "know
+the truth, and the truth shall make
+you free."</p>
+
+<p>Dear young friends, we seek your
+good, therefore we thus write, hoping
+that our word of warning may not be in
+vain, but that some may be put on their
+guard against preachers and teachers
+who have nothing but the shifting sands
+of science for a foundation, which must
+all be swept away, and those who build
+thereon must perish in the ruin.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, may we be found on the Rock,
+Christ, living and dying, and be enabled
+to declare before all these deceivers, "I
+know whom I have believed, and am
+persuaded that He is able to keep that
+which I have committed unto Him
+against that day."</p>
+
+<p>Children, do not forget the Bible.
+Obey, honour, and love your parents.
+Avoid bad company, bad and foolish
+books, and evil habits. These things
+will bring shame and misery to those
+who follow them, therefore shun them
+all.</p>
+
+<p>We still ask your help in spreading the
+<span class="smcap">Gleaner</span> and the <span class="smcap">Sower</span>. May the
+Lord make them useful, and bless you
+with His covenant blessing, is the desire
+of</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">The Editor.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A TOUCHING INCIDENT.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A very touching incident occurred
+lately at Governeur Hospital, New
+York City.</p>
+
+<p>Little Annie Ashpurvis was sent by her
+parents to the cellar for some firewood.
+The child, who was but six years old,
+took a lighted lamp in her hand, and
+while descending the stairs, her foot
+slipped, and she fell, breaking the lamp,
+the flames of the burning fluid soon
+enveloping her entire body. As soon as
+the surgeon was called, the little sufferer
+was driven in an ambulance to the
+hospital. The child was put on a sofa
+cot, and the surgeon did all he could to
+alleviate her suffering, but it was impossible
+to save her life. Under the influence
+of a narcotic, she soon fell asleep. Thus
+she lay slowly breathing for some hours.
+Her face was so swollen that she could
+not open her eyes. About half-past two
+in the morning she showed signs of returning
+consciousness. The watchful
+nurse asked her if she would take a
+drink. She distinctly answered, "Yes."
+In a moment the house surgeon was
+beside her cot. He felt the pulse, but
+shook his head, and turned to go away.
+As he did so, the little creature moved
+her body. She turned half around.
+The dim light of the candle shone on the
+blackened face. The swollen lips pursed
+out, and in a clear, sweet voice, the dying
+child began to sing, "Nearer, my God, to
+Thee." The doctor and the nurse stood
+transfixed. The other patients in the
+silent, darkened ward leaned on their
+elbows and drank in the sweet melody.
+The first verse completed, she gradually
+sank back on her pillow. Her strength
+began to fail, and with it her voice, and
+only the humming, like distant music,
+of the air of the hymn could be heard.
+How sweet, yet weird, that humming
+sounded! The candle lent its meagre
+light, and the big clock in the corner told
+out its seconds, as the sweet little soul
+passed out to its Maker. The humming
+ceased. All was over. The doctor
+turned away with his handkerchief raised
+to his eyes. The nurse gazed into the
+flame of the candle, and heaved a sigh.
+She seemed to read the little one's death
+there.</p>
+
+<p>When the remains were buried, the
+coffin was strewn with flowers, offerings
+of her little schoolmates, with whom the
+dead child had been a great favourite.&mdash;
+<i>Evangelist</i>.
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">Self-denial.</span>&mdash;There never did, and
+never will, exist anything permanent, and
+noble, and excellent in a character which
+was a stranger to the exercise of resolute
+self-denial.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p>
+<h2>"ONLY ONCE."</h2>
+
+
+<p>"Stop a minute, James. We're
+making up a skating party to go
+down the river to-night. We shall
+build a fire on the island, and have a
+grand time. Come, go with us."</p>
+
+<p>"No, George, I can't. Father says I
+must skate on the canal. It isn't so
+wide, nor quite so good skating, I know,
+but it's safe."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense! The ice is at least two
+inches thick anywhere, even in the thinnest
+places."</p>
+
+<p>"No matter. I can't skate on the
+river."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, come to the canal. You
+can skate out to the fork, where it joins
+the river, and see us all. Will you do
+that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Be there at seven."</p>
+
+<p>James was ready with his skates at
+the time appointed, and about to leave
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>"Where now, James?" asked his
+father.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to skate awhile on the
+canal, father."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's a bright evening, but
+don't stay late, and don't go on the
+river."</p>
+
+<p>Just then James's little sister, Marion,
+who was ready to go to bed, shouted
+after him, "Stop, James! Give me a
+kiss," and holding up her rosebud
+mouth, in a plump face, from which
+the laughing eyes were shining, she received
+his good-night kiss, and he went
+out. As he passed the window, he saw,
+through the half-drawn curtains, little
+Marion by her mother, with the Bible.
+The father had laid his Book down, and
+they sat reverently listening while his
+petition went up to heaven. It was a
+beautiful picture. Poor Jamie! With
+what different feelings would he have
+looked upon it, had he then known what
+was to happen within the next two
+hours!</p>
+
+<p>He crossed the field before the house,
+and was soon on the canal, and gliding
+swiftly towards the river, from which the
+sound of merry voices already reached
+his ear; and as he wheeled splendidly,
+just at the entrance of the canal, the
+boys saw him, and came bearing down
+upon him like a fleet of swift ships before
+the wind.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurrah, James!" cried a dozen of
+them, as they joined company on the
+canal.</p>
+
+<p>There they amused themselves awhile,
+racing, skating backward, and cutting
+all sorts of fanciful figures upon the ice,
+until George gave the word, "Now for
+the island!" and with loud shouts they
+shot out together upon the river, all but
+James.</p>
+
+<p>"I must leave you now," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, James, don't!" cried several at
+once.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, see here, James," said George;
+"what's the use of being so set? Go
+down with us this time."</p>
+
+<p>"Father said, 'Don't go on the
+river.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, as to that, you've been on the
+river two or three times. Look at your
+marks."</p>
+
+<p>James now saw that, in the excitement
+of their sport, he had repeatedly
+rushed out of the canal quite across
+the channel of the river. He wanted to
+go with the boys. He didn't really think
+there was much danger, and the discovery
+that he had already unwittingly
+broken his father's command, did not
+help him in his hour of weakness and
+temptation. The boys all clamoured
+for him to join them. James slowly
+glided out of the canal, stood still a
+moment, and the tempter prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'll go down this once&mdash;mind
+you, only once," and he darted like an
+arrow to the front, for he was the best
+skater in the company, and soon was
+far in advance of the rest.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>Alas! none of the boys knew of the
+murderous "breathing-hole" which had
+opened that day in the ice in the channel,
+and now lay right in James's path,
+waiting to receive him; and the first
+notice they had of its existence was a
+despairing cry of terror from him as he
+plunged in.</p>
+
+<p>All was confusion among the boys;
+but George, more self-possessed than
+the others, hurried to the shore, and,
+shouting cheerily, "Hold on, Jamie!
+I'll help you out," broke off the limb of
+a tree, as large and long as he could
+handle, brought it on, and tried, by
+carefully creeping towards James, to
+put it within his reach. But the current
+was strong; the water was bitterly
+cold; and James, who had been urging
+his friend to make haste, now began to
+lose his strength and become benumbed,
+and before the limb came within his
+grasp, he said, faintly, "Oh, George, I
+can't hold on any longer! Ask father&mdash;to
+forgive&mdash;&mdash;" and went down with the
+tide.</p>
+
+<p>An hour later, the men at the mill
+below, who had broken the ice above the
+barred outlet of the dam, and were
+watching and waiting in expectation
+of their mournful work, lifted James's
+body out of the water, and tenderly
+carried it to his home.</p>
+
+<p>Boys, I have seldom told you a more
+sad story. Oh, that I could now impress
+upon your young hearts the lesson
+of obedience to parents so deeply that
+it shall never be forgotten! If you are
+ever tempted to disregard a kind father's
+commands, or his advice, even though
+it be "only once," may you have
+strength to resist the temptation. Remember
+Jamie. It is true that disobedience
+to parents is not always&mdash;nor
+indeed often&mdash;followed so speedily
+by such sad consequences, but we know
+that the smile of God for this life will
+rest upon those children who obey their
+parents.</p>
+
+<p>"Honour thy father and mother" is
+the first commandment with promise.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LINES ON THE NEW YEAR.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+In some simple words of rhyme<br />
+Read, and mark the flight of time;<br />
+Seasons come and disappear,<br />
+As we pass from year to year.<br />
+<br />
+All things ever on the move,<br />
+Whether them we hate or love;<br />
+'Tis a changing scene below&mdash;<br />
+This we own, for this we know.<br />
+<br />
+Blest are they&mdash;and only they&mdash;<br />
+Who are in the "narrow way";<br />
+Seeking Jesus' blessed face;<br />
+Longing much to know His grace.<br />
+<br />
+Mourning over inward sin;<br />
+Panting only Him to win<br />
+Who for sin and sinners died,<br />
+When on Calvary crucified.<br />
+<br />
+Do I, who these lines now read,<br />
+Of redemption feel my need?<br />
+Do I really long to know<br />
+That His blood for me did flow?<br />
+<br />
+Do my heart and mouth confess<br />
+I am all unrighteousness?<br />
+Do I pray indeed to see<br />
+Christ my Righteousness to be?<br />
+<br />
+Do I feel I cannot die<br />
+Till He does His blood apply?<br />
+And my doubting soul assure<br />
+I shall to the end endure?<br />
+<br />
+If 'tis so, I know full well<br />
+I shall surely with Him dwell,<br />
+And shall, in His house on high,<br />
+Shout His praise beyond the sky.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;" class="smcap">A. Hammond</span>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p>Supposing all the great points of
+atheism were formed into a kind of
+creed, I would fain ask whether it would
+not require an infinitely greater measure
+of faith than any set of articles which
+they so violently oppose?&mdash;<i>Addison.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE CHARCOAL BURNER'S STAR.</h2>
+
+
+<p>In one of the Protestant cantons
+of Switzerland dwelt a lady of
+fortune, in a handsome mansion,
+surrounded with extensive grounds.
+These were laid out with the greatest
+taste, so as to command at every
+convenient point a favourable view of the
+romantic and interesting country that
+rose on all sides round the lovely and
+fertile plain in which it was situated.</p>
+
+<p>Madame de Blénal was a widow
+who had, at an early age, married a
+gentleman of property in the canton
+who, like herself, was a humble follower
+and sincere lover of the Redeemer, but
+who, after a year or two of as perfect
+happiness as this world can be expected
+to afford, died in faith, looking forward
+with assured hope to the promises made
+by the Lord Jesus to all who truly believe
+in Him.</p>
+
+<p>With a heart prepared by faith to
+submit to the decrees of Providence,
+whether for this world's good or ill,
+Madame de Blénal, though she deeply
+felt the blow which her Heavenly Father
+had inflicted upon her, soothed her grief
+with the reflection that her husband was
+now at peace, and removed from the
+troubles which beset every sojourner in
+this mortal world. Too fondly attached
+to his memory ever to enter a second
+time into married life, she applied herself
+entirely to the cultivation of a treasure
+he had left behind, in the person of a
+little boy named Alfred, whom she
+endeavoured prayerfully to bring up "in
+the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
+Neither did she neglect to enrich his
+mind with such knowledge as might
+enable him to manage the earthly
+inheritance which was hereafter to belong
+to him, if it pleased God that he should
+live to arrive at the age of manhood.</p>
+
+<p>At the time of which we are writing,
+Madame de Blénal had just resigned to
+him the management of the property
+which he inherited from his father, reserving
+to herself only the portion which
+she had brought with her when she
+married. Still, as, in his own opinion
+as well as hers, he was yet too young to
+think of taking a wife, Madame de Blénal
+remained the mistress of his household,
+while he applied himself to studying the
+nature of the duties that had devolved
+upon him, and to endeavouring to acquire
+personal experience in the management
+of his estate, as well as to improve the
+characters and condition of his tenants
+and labourers.</p>
+
+<p>It happened one day, towards the end
+of summer, that a party who were friends
+of her son's, together with some older
+ones of her own, had been dining at her
+house, and the whole party had retired
+after dinner, to take their coffee in an
+open part of the grounds which commanded
+the best view both of the plain
+and of the mountains beyond it. The
+former was already involved in the shades
+of evening, which, gradually ascending
+the latter, soon reached the glaciers in
+the distance, and converted the roseate
+tint with which the last beams of the
+departing sun had invested them into
+that cold, lurid hue that heralds in the
+approaching night. The stars now began
+to appear, one by one, in the clear
+blue sky, and led the thoughts of many, if
+not all, of the party from Nature up to
+Nature's God. Some of the younger ones,
+however, began to amuse themselves by
+counting them, as they came into view;
+and one or two, rather vain of their
+knowledge of astronomy, informed the
+others of their names. Suddenly Alfred
+exclaimed&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I can see one which is not to be
+found in the lists furnished by any
+astronomer, and yet it is by far the most
+brilliant."</p>
+
+<p>His friends thought that he was jesting,
+but yet attempted to discover it in
+the sky.</p>
+
+<p>"You are all looking too high," he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+said, laughing, and pointed to a distant
+mountain, where the fire of a charcoal
+burner had just made its appearance.</p>
+
+<p>The party gazed attentively for some
+time, when one of the ladies said, with a
+sigh&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Poor man! How much he is to be
+pitied, sitting all alone up there!"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps, madame, he is not so
+solitary as you imagine. The mountaineers
+of these parts seldom leave their
+village homes for the summer season
+without taking a Bible with them, so that
+I trust it may be said of this one, even if
+his solitude is not sometimes broken by
+a passing visit from a goatherd, that he
+is never quite alone, for God is always
+near them that fear Him."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a blessed thing indeed,"
+said the lady; "but is he not in danger
+from the wolves?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, madame. First of all, the wolves
+are not so numerous about here as many
+persons think; and, even where they are
+more abundant, there are few, at this
+season, so pressed by hunger as to
+have the courage to attack a man; and
+besides, the fire itself would keep them
+at a distance. They have an instinctive
+dread of it."</p>
+
+<p>"So far so good, Mr. Alfred. Still,
+if I were in the place of this man, I
+should not be quite at ease. I should
+every moment be expecting the approach
+of robbers."</p>
+
+<p>"Robbers, madame, are very considerate
+people. They do not like to lose
+either their time or their labour. Now,
+what could they find worth stealing from
+this poor charcoal burner?"</p>
+
+<p>"What? Why, his money, to be
+sure!"</p>
+
+<p>"His money? If he happens to have
+any. He does not carry it with him into
+the forest, where he has no use for it,
+but leaves it at home with his wife."</p>
+
+<p>"A very good husband! But his
+watch?"</p>
+
+<p>"An article quite useless to him. He
+marks the time by the sun and stars; or,
+if the weather is cloudy, most of the
+mountain châlets are furnished with a
+small wooden clock, which holds out no
+great temptation to men whose thoughts
+are fixed upon the well-stored purses of
+travellers."</p>
+
+<p>"You have an answer for everything,
+Mr. Alfred. Do you know the man?"</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot say that I do, madame. We
+have few, if any, charcoal burners in our
+domain. That mountain is at some distance,
+and he belongs most probably to
+another village. But I have had occasion
+to observe the habits of these
+mountaineers, and have acquired a tolerable
+knowledge of them generally."</p>
+
+<p>"And what can he possibly be doing
+at this hour, in that wild place?"</p>
+
+<p>"Precisely what we are doing ourselves&mdash;he
+is watching his fire."</p>
+
+<p>After many other conjectures had
+been hazarded as to the way in which
+the charcoal burner was passing his
+time, Madame de Blénal said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"A truce with these idle fancies. Our
+pastors in this canton are not idle, and our
+peasantry are generally well instructed
+in their Christian duties, so I trust that
+he is better employed than any of you
+suppose. Perhaps, at this moment, he
+is sitting with the Bible on his knee,
+reading of the mercies of Jesus, meditating
+upon them as he watches his
+fire, and lifting up his heart in prayer to
+Him who alone is able to inspire it with
+holy thoughts and divine affections."</p>
+
+<p>"However," said the lady who had
+first begun the conversation, "I should
+really like to know what he is about. I
+wish some one could tell us who has
+actually seen him."</p>
+
+<p>"I can easily satisfy your curiosity,
+madame," said young Alfred. "I have
+nothing to do but to mount my horse and
+gallop to the foot of the mountain. It
+will not be more than an hour's ride. I
+will then engage a guide to take me to
+the charcoal burner's hut, and, without
+losing a moment, I will find out what he
+was doing at nightfall."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you not afraid of your son's undertaking
+such an enterprise at this late<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+hour?" asked a young lady of Madame
+de Blénal.</p>
+
+<p>Madame de Blénal smiled, and replied,
+"No, mademoiselle. My son is well
+acquainted with the road. We are not
+infested with robbers in this canton, and,
+as the object of his pursuit is perfectly
+innocent, I can confide him to the protection
+of Him on whom I know his
+own trust is constantly fixed. Go, then,
+Alfred, but exercise your usual prudence,
+and do not heedlessly expose yourself to
+danger."</p>
+
+<p>An old lady who had not yet spoken,
+but who knew how to "speak a word in
+season," then remarked, "Place, each
+of you, a small sum of money in Alfred's
+hands. If he finds the charcoal burner
+worthily employed, let him bestow it
+upon him. If otherwise, as some of
+you have supposed may be the case, let
+him bring it back, and restore to each
+one what he has contributed."</p>
+
+<p>Every one readily agreed to the proposal.
+Each drew out his purse, and
+Alfred received a very respectable sum.
+He was leaving the party, when some
+one asked how soon they might expect
+him back?</p>
+
+<p>"By midnight," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"And where shall we meet?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here," said Madame de Blénal.
+"We will return into the house when
+Alfred is gone, for the air is getting
+cold, and it will not be prudent to sit
+here any longer."</p>
+
+<p>Alfred then set out; and as soon as
+the sound of his horse's hoofs was
+heard, the young men pulled out their
+watches, that the precise length of his
+absence might be ascertained when he
+returned.</p>
+
+<p>We will now leave Madame de Blénal
+to order supper for her party, and the
+remainder to amuse themselves with
+conversation, music, and such resources
+as her house afforded, while we accompany
+Alfred on his nocturnal excursion.</p>
+
+<p>The moon had just begun to rise in
+full splendour above the mountains as
+he started, and to spread her silver light
+over the plain. This, together with the
+increasing freshness of the air, infused
+spirits into the rider as well as his horse.
+Notwithstanding, however, the knowledge
+which both of them possessed of
+the road they had to traverse, they
+scarcely reached the foot of the mountain
+within the time upon which Alfred
+had calculated. Here were situated
+two or three picturesque cottages, inhabited
+by guides, one of whom was
+known to Alfred by name. Him therefore
+he sought out, and engaged to
+conduct him to the object of his journey.
+The man was rather surprised at a
+summons so late in the evening, and
+asked the traveller whether he had
+not better wait at his cottage till daybreak.</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied Alfred; "I only wish
+to go as far as the charcoal burner's hut,
+whose fire can be seen for some miles
+off, and I must return to where I came
+from before midnight."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! my friend Gervais. I know him
+well, sir. But it is a good way up the
+mountain, and if you have far to ride
+back, you will hardly keep to the time
+you have mentioned."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind," said the young man;
+"I must go on now. Where can I put
+my horse?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here in this shed, sir. There is a
+bit of hay and some beans, with which
+he can amuse himself while we are
+gone."</p>
+
+<p>The path was not steep, for it was cut
+in a zig-zag form, sometimes leading
+over pastures, and sometimes through
+woods so thick that the moonlight
+could not penetrate them; but the guide
+was provided with a torch of pine, to
+prevent the danger of a false step. For
+the first part of the journey they travelled
+on in silence, the guide amusing himself
+with forming conjectures as to the object
+of Alfred's visit to the charcoal burner
+after night had set in. "Can it be," he
+said to himself, "a relation from the
+Indies, or from Algeria? I never heard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+that Gervais had any relations in those
+parts. Or a creditor? No, that cannot
+be, for my honest friend, I am sure, does
+not owe any one a single penny. Or has
+he gained a prize in the lottery? He
+would consider it a sin to risk the
+smallest fraction upon such a hazard.
+Ah! perhaps some one has left him a
+legacy. So much the better, if it is so.
+I shall be well paid for the trouble I have
+had. He is too good a fellow not to reward
+me to the utmost of his power."</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was that the guide employed
+himself in vain conjectures. When the
+uncertain light by which they travelled,
+whether of the moon or of the torch, fell
+sufficiently clear upon Alfred's features,
+he examined them attentively, as if he
+could have read his secret in them.
+His curiosity made him not less impatient
+to reach the charcoal furnace than the
+young man himself. At length, by a
+sudden turn of the path, it appeared at
+once before them. The wood, heaped in
+the form of a cone, and covered with a
+thick coating of earth, was burning
+slowly, openings being made at different
+heights on the mound, to give a
+passage to the flames, and to afford a
+proper proportion of atmospheric air, to
+keep them alive.</p>
+
+<p>Alfred, though born in the neighbourhood,
+had never before visited a charcoal
+furnace; but, new as the sight was
+to him, he did not pause long to observe
+it. His attention was arrested by the
+hut which stood near, built something
+in the form of a tent, and composed of
+planks leaning on both sides against a
+cross-beam, which rested on two others
+placed one at each end of the building.
+This kind of hut is common to most of
+the charcoal burners of these mountains,
+where they make their dwelling during
+the whole of the summer months, having
+no other bed than dried leaves&mdash;no other
+apparent occupation than cutting and
+piling up the wood, and watching their
+fires. One moment only Alfred stopped
+to gaze upon this humble dwelling, compared
+with which the châlets of the cowherds
+were almost splendid mansions;
+the next instant, his attention was
+arrested by something far more interesting.
+A chorus of youthful voices burst
+upon his ears, accompanied by one deep,
+clear bass, which was powerful enough
+to support and regulate the trebles.
+They were singing the following hymn,
+to a beautiful Swiss air, well known to
+Alfred as one used in the churches of
+that Protestant canton&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Look to Jesus, weary wanderer,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sinful, wretched as thou art;</span><br />
+He is precious; thou shalt know it;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Only trust His loving heart.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Trust it wholly; it was broken<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That thine own might be at peace;</span><br />
+Every sin its streams atone for;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He can bid all anguish cease.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Now He reigns above the heavens,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And shall reign for evermore;</span><br />
+But His mighty arm is guarding<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Those for whom He died before.</span><br />
+<br />
+"He shall come again in glory;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">All creation shall bow down;</span><br />
+Those who seek not His salvation<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Must endure His awful frown.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Wait upon Him, then, His people;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Let Him be your constant strength;</span><br />
+Lean upon Him daily, hourly;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ye shall reign with Him at length.</span><br />
+<br />
+"May the Spirit of adoption,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Which our Heavenly Father gives,</span><br />
+Help us all and each to please Him<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">More each moment of our lives."</span>
+</p>
+<p class="center">(<i>To be continued</i>.)
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Envy</span> shoots at others and wounds
+itself.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap"><br />We</span> should often have reason to be
+ashamed of our most brilliant actions, if
+the world could see the motives from
+which they spring.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p>
+<h2>SCRIPTURE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<h3>A PARABLE FROM A FARMER'S SON TO ALL GLEANERS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>I was born in a house where there
+were many fields attached&mdash;in
+fact, it was called a farm-house,
+so, from a boy, I well knew what
+a "gleaner" meant. I have seen all sizes
+in a field, picking up corn. But gleaning
+is not so general as it used to be. One
+reason is, many farmers are too covetous
+to leave much in their fields for gleaners.
+Another is, many persons are too proud
+to be gleaners. But still there are many
+who are entitled to the character of
+"gleaner."</p>
+
+<p>Now, gleaners, let us come a little
+closer. First, there must be the person
+known as the farmer; secondly, there
+must be the fields. These fields must be
+sown with corn. It must ripen, be cut
+and carried. Then is the time for the
+gleaner to take his or her part. The
+gleaners must have a will, and patience
+to wait. They need eyes, hands, and
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>At the time the farmer's son is writing
+this, gleaning is over. It is winter. But
+he can tell gleaners of a farm containing
+sixty-six fields, some much larger than
+others, but all the fields grow the best
+corn that can be found at any market in
+the world. There is not one whole grass
+field found on the farm. There are a
+number of young and old people live near
+this farm, but they do not want to be
+gleaners. They look over the gates
+sometimes, but, having eyes so much
+like the mole, they either do not take
+that to be corn which is really so, or else
+they pursue other things they feel are so
+much better than gleaning in any of
+these fields; and not being very poor, but
+having enough gold to buy a few oxen,
+they tell some of the farmer's workmen
+they prefer <i>buying</i> or <i>taking</i> to gleaning,
+so they wish them "good morning"; but
+they are very polite to the men they join
+in conversation with. Then there are
+other people near these fields who say
+they hate the great farmer. In fact, they
+are so evil-disposed that they talk freely
+of hating the fields and the corn too; and
+there is not one workman on the estate
+they will give a good word to. This the
+farmer's son can vouch for truth; and he
+has a good many brothers belonging to
+his family, who could be called as witnesses
+if there was any need.</p>
+
+<p>But we must not overlook others who
+live near the farm. Most of them dwell
+in a very low-built house; there is no upstairs.
+They live on the ground floor, and
+not far from the spot where they dwell,
+some of the labourers on the farm live,
+and they join in conversation occasionally.
+But these poor people who dwell
+in the low-built cottages are shy, and
+think they take a liberty even in saying
+a few words to these labourers; and as
+for talking freely to the great farmer,
+they dare not. If he passes, they only
+bow before him and look on the ground.
+You would almost wonder how they are
+kept alive. They are nearly always
+hungry, but, now and then, they get just
+enough to keep them alive.</p>
+
+<p>When the "season" comes round,
+those that observe may soon find these
+are the old-fashioned gleaners. They possess
+willing legs, eyes, and hands. They
+use their legs by starting from their poor
+home; and, after walking some distance,
+the road brings them to this farm of sixty-six
+fields. These fields are all numbered.
+Some look at one field, and some at
+another, but the hedges are all good. No
+one can get through them, and a high
+gate is at each entrance. One of the
+gleaners looked with a very wishful eye
+over the gate of the eighth field, and she
+desired to be among the gleaners, but
+there was a notice that "trespassers will
+be prosecuted." How earnestly the
+gleaner uses his eyes, and looks through
+the bars of the gate; but there are no
+ears of corn to be seen at present by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+him, so he cannot use his hands, though
+they are both ready to pick up; and the
+thought comes, "No doubt there will
+soon be plenty of corn seen, and, if I
+might, would I not pick up? I feel I
+would glean beside any gleaner. If he
+could pick faster than I, he would
+have to be very nimble. I do not know
+that the great landowner and farmer
+would allow me to go into his field. But,
+though my hands now hang down, and I
+cannot use them, I will go home and
+wait, and come again. If I cannot get
+admission to one field, I may to another.
+I should be happy if I could glean in the
+smallest field on the farm. Perhaps,
+when I come again, that notice-board
+may be taken down. If so, I think I shall
+venture into No. 8 or 17; but should I
+not have nerve enough, I shall humbly
+ask one of the labourers, and if he says
+he does not know, I will, if an opportunity
+occurs, bow myself to the earth
+and ask the great owner. I have been
+told by some that he often appears as if
+he could not condescend to speak to
+those that live in such a low house, yet,
+if you press your suit, he will speak in
+the kindest manner, and ask what you
+really want."</p>
+
+<p>The farmer's son noticed, as this
+gleaner returned to his humble home,
+one of the labourers greeted him with a
+"Good evening," and asked him why he
+looked so sad? He replied, "I have
+been a long journey to glean on the farm
+owned by your master, and I looked at
+the eighth field, but could not see that
+there were any ears of corn for me to
+pick up; and besides, I noticed a board,
+that 'trespassers will be prosecuted,' and
+thoughts would keep coming in my mind
+as I returned, that possibly I should never
+be admitted into any of the fields as a
+gleaner." The labourer said, "You must
+not faint, but, as soon as the sun rises in
+the morning, try and find the forty-second
+field, and most probably you will find
+the gate open. If, as you enter, the first
+part of the field looks bare, walk to
+almost the middle, and I think you will
+find some gleanings to pick up." He
+returned thanks, bowed, and they
+parted.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, as soon as the sun
+was up, he arose and did as he was bid.
+After reaching the field, he found the
+part where the ears of corn lay, and he
+picked up as many as he needed. On
+his return, he met several other gleaners
+who were seeking a field to glean in.
+He bade them go to the same one where
+he had picked up an armful, and there
+they would find the result of perseverance.</p>
+
+<p>The parable is closed for this time.
+Will any reader, under twelve years of
+age, expound it? Who are the farmer
+and the son? Who are the labourers
+and gleaners? What are the sixty-six
+fields? And what are the names of
+those specially referred to? Search from
+Genesis to Revelation.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Your true friend,<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Farmer's Son</span><br />
+(<i>Over fifteen years old</i>).
+</div>
+
+<p>[A volume, "The Loss of All Things
+for Christ," will be given for the best
+answer. The writer must be under
+twelve.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN JANUARY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Jan. 1. Commit to memory 1 Chrn. v. 10.<br />
+Jan. 8. Commit to memory Psa. cxi. 10.<br />
+Jan. 15. Commit to memory Prov. viii. 10.<br />
+Jan. 22. Commit to memory Prov. viii. 32.<br />
+Jan. 29. Commit to memory John iv. 10.<br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">What</span> the world calls virtue is a
+name and a dream without Christ. The
+foundation of all human excellence must
+be laid deep in the blood of the
+Redeemer's cross and in the power of
+His resurrection.&mdash;<i>Robertson.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p>
+<h2>AN OLD QUILT AND ITS STORY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Among all the beautiful needlework
+exhibited in the "Woman's
+Industry Department" of the recent
+Edinburgh Exhibition, many must
+have observed a bed-quilt worked in a
+quaint conventional pattern, on a white
+linen ground, which bore a label to the
+effect that it was "designed and commenced
+by a Countess of Aberdeen towards
+the middle of the last century,
+and recently completed by a crofter
+woman in Aberdeenshire."</p>
+
+<p>Could the quilt tell its own tale, its history,
+no doubt, would be most pathetic
+and interesting; but we will try, with the
+knowledge we have, to lightly sketch
+that history.</p>
+
+<p>The Countess who commenced it was
+Anne, daughter of Alexander, second
+Duke of Gordon. The third wife of
+William, Earl of Aberdeen, she was still
+a young woman when, by his death in
+1745, she was left a widow. Quitting
+Haddo, the home of her married life,
+she went with her young family to reside
+in the fine old historic castle of Fyvie, a
+few miles distant, which, with her dower,
+had been bought by the Earl as her jointure
+house. The Countess seems to have
+been gifted with artistic tastes, as she
+left in Haddo many evidences of her
+skill and industry&mdash;several sets of beautifully-worked
+curtains, with long-forgotten
+curious stitches, producing varied
+and admirable effects. But the bright,
+pretty industry of the Countess was
+checked. Sickness, to be followed by
+death, entered her home.</p>
+
+<p>We may fancy that by her husband's
+sick-bed the first beginning of this quilt
+was made&mdash;how, in the intervals of
+watching the invalid, a few sprays and
+scrolls were delicately traced. But the
+summons had gone forth, and, as death
+approached, the work, which had been
+in part the occupation of happier days,
+and a resource in affliction, was thrown
+aside.</p>
+
+<p>When the widowed Countess had
+settled in a new home, and again faced
+the ordinary duties of life, we need not
+wonder that she thought no more of the
+discarded work left at Haddo House, but
+set herself to design afresh and embroider
+the curtains which have ever
+since (until recently) adorned a bed-room
+in Fyvie Castle.</p>
+
+<p>Into these no doubt was woven many
+a thought for the Jacobite cause, and
+many an anxiety for dear ones, as her
+own family, the ducal house of Gordon,
+had been keen supporters of the Stuarts,
+and it is said that the Countess came
+out on the road-side, near Fyvie Castle,
+with her children, to see the Duke of
+Cumberland's troops pass on their way
+to Culloden to put down the Scotch rebellion,
+and boldly avowed to him her
+sympathy with his foe.</p>
+
+<p>But what of the work the Countess left
+at Haddo House? As to it, our history
+is silent for more than a hundred years.
+It has lain folded by the fingers of the
+busy worker that have long been still.
+Sorrow and joy have come by turns to
+the house&mdash;birth and death. Children
+have prattled, and statesmen have discussed
+the affairs of nations. Those
+who have made history have come and
+gone; philanthropy and romance have
+alike been woven into the family story;
+but the piece of discarded broderie has
+been unheeded.</p>
+
+<p>At length the present Countess of
+Aberdeen, whose name will ever be
+associated with earnest desire and effort
+for the good of others, and whose taste
+and love of the beautiful led to her interest
+in such work, unfolding the long-forgotten
+quilt, conceived the idea of
+having it completed, if possible. To
+whom, however, could the beautiful
+work be entrusted to be finished, by deft
+fingers and graceful appreciation?</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 373px;">
+<img src="images/img016.jpg" width="373" height="500" alt="INTERIOR OF A CROFTER&#39;S COTTAGE." title="INTERIOR OF A CROFTER&#39;S COTTAGE." />
+<span class="caption">INTERIOR OF A CROFTER&#39;S COTTAGE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>We now turn to another scene. About
+five-and-twenty years ago, on the top of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+a bare hill in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, stood
+a cottage, tenanted by a crofter named
+Sandieson, with his wife and family.
+Though at a comparatively high elevation,
+the land around was all cultivated,
+but, arid and stony as the soil was, it
+seemed as if cultivation were one long
+struggle against Nature, rather than
+aided by it. Life was hard; still, contentment
+sweetened the peasant's lot,
+and they got on pretty well till sickness
+during three successive winters told
+hardly on his means. Father, mother,
+and children all worked; still the wolf
+was at the door. Bed clothing was
+scant, and money to buy still scantier.
+A mother's love and care quickened
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>The woman, as she tells her story, bethought
+herself what she could do for
+bedding for a covering against cold.
+Scraps she had, bits of old clothes and
+stockings, and tacked them together,
+fold upon fold, to attain a certain thickness;
+then, buying a pennyworth of log-wood,
+and with it dyeing what had once
+been a tartan shawl, but which had long
+lost all its colour, she spread it over her
+scraps for a cover. But, alas! the holes
+were but too apparent.</p>
+
+<p>Necessity again quickened invention.
+She selected some of the better pieces of
+the old garments, cut them into the
+shape of leaves and birds, and laid them
+on the holes, adding one or two more
+for uniformity, and then, with a darning
+needle and "fingering" wool, she veined
+the leaves and made effective marking
+on the birds.</p>
+
+<p>Such was her first attempt at fancy
+work. An admiring neighbour asked
+her to do a similar quilt for her, offering
+some scraps of new material. Another
+commission followed, this time with the
+offer of green wool for leaves. But one
+cold, hard green did not please the
+worker, now growing daily more experienced
+and critical, so a visit was made
+to the little country town a few miles
+distant, in search of greater variety in
+greens and browns, the appreciation of
+Nature's varied tints becoming daily
+stronger and clearer.</p>
+
+<p>About this time, a lady to whom the
+woman had taken some work, on sight
+gave her a quantity of old floss silks.
+The possession of these was a new power
+to her, and from that time she rapidly
+acquired a skill in shading leaves and
+flowers with a beauty which it is impossible
+to describe.</p>
+
+<p>A farmer from a little distance, having
+heard of her work, went to see her. After
+looking at what, to him, seemed so marvellous,
+he turned to her, and said,
+"Well, well, it's wonderful! But you
+will have to do no more rough work to
+keep your hands fit for this; and how
+will that do with the croft?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, sir," was her reply, "it
+would never do. But I assure you this
+is not my only work, for I have just
+finished building a hundred and thirty-four
+yards of a stone dyke with my own
+hands. My husband had work elsewhere,
+which he could not afford to miss.
+The cattle were straying where they
+should not, so I have just built it myself,
+the children helping me by handing up
+the smaller stones."</p>
+
+<p>After gaining some experience, Mrs.
+Sandieson gave up the earlier style of
+work with which she had begun, and
+devoted herself almost entirely to embroidery
+in silks. She has trained a
+daughter, who lives with her, to work as
+well as herself, and no description can
+do justice to the beauty of their finer
+work. Their designs are, with very few
+exceptions, their own, and many of their
+pieces are singularly beautiful. They
+have even copied the plate representing
+a peacock on a branch of a tree, from
+Gould's "Asiatic Birds," and no one
+but those who have seen it, could believe
+in the wondrous working of the bird,
+and in the feathers of the neck, with the
+faint change of tint where it catches the
+light as the bird turns its head. It is
+marvellous!</p>
+
+<p>But copying flowers from nature is
+what they chiefly do, and their careful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+observation and fidelity in representation
+are very characteristic in their work.
+Trails of thunbergia, scarlet tropæolum,
+apple blossom, cherry, and bramble;
+willow, with its catkins, a little titmouse
+on the branch; snowberry, with a robin
+perched on it; the red and white lapageria,
+eucalyptus, pepper tree, and
+others are some of their subjects. And
+this is what the crofter's wife, who commenced
+with the old dyed shawl for a
+foundation, has, totally unaided, taught
+herself and her daughter to accomplish;
+and this is the crofter's wife who, one
+hundred and forty years afterwards, was
+employed by Lady Aberdeen to finish
+the quilt which the Countess of 1745
+had commenced. Is there not a little
+pathos in the history of a piece of work
+begun and completed in such different
+circumstances?</p>
+
+<p>The work of these peasant-artists,
+mother and daughter, is now very well
+known among ladies in Aberdeenshire,
+and has lately been brought under the
+notice of Her Majesty, who condescended
+to purchase largely of it; but the writer
+believes the quilt shown by Lady Aberdeen,
+in Edinburgh, to be the only
+specimen that has been exhibited publicly.&mdash;<i>Ladies'
+Treasury.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>WONDERFUL GRACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>John Dickson, a farmer in the
+parish of Ratho, near Edinburgh,
+was long a stranger to the riches
+of divine grace. He paid no regard to
+the sacred ordinances, or, if ever on the
+Lord's Day he entered the house of God,
+it was more for a desire of ridiculing
+than profiting by what he heard. The
+Word preached did not profit him, not
+being mixed with faith.</p>
+
+<p>In this dreadful situation was he
+when his wife died, after bringing into
+the world an infant daughter. The good
+providence of that gracious God who
+calleth the weak things of this world to
+confound the strong had ordained that
+the nurse of this child should be a
+woman of exemplary faith, who walked
+in the Spirit, being sanctified by the
+Holy Ghost. The carnal mind of the
+father still continued at enmity with
+God; but he was, ere long, to be brought
+to a full conviction of his own unworthiness,
+and a delightful experience of the
+riches of redeeming love.</p>
+
+<p>The child, being now about twenty
+months old, and beginning to prattle a
+few words, was one day sent for by her
+father, who was sitting after dinner with
+some of his profane acquaintances. To
+his great astonishment the child repeated,
+two or three times, in its infant
+tones, "Oh, the grace of God!" These
+words made a deep impression upon the
+father. He began to reflect upon his
+sins, and the power of that grace which
+cleanseth from sin, so long the subject
+of his impious ridicule. The Holy Ghost
+had opened his heart, and now brought
+him, like a sheep that had been astray,
+into the fold of divine love. Since that
+time he has walked as becometh one
+called in the Lord, bringing forth fruit
+meet for repentance. The words which,
+through the grace of God, became the
+happy instrument of his conversion were
+the customary ejaculation of the godly
+nurse, and had thus been learned by the
+infant. So truly was the Scripture verified
+that "out of the mouths of babes
+and sucklings the Lord hath ordained
+praise."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">R.</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Endeavour</span> to be always patient of
+the faults and imperfections of others,
+for thou hast many faults and imperfections
+of thy own that require a reciprocation
+of forbearance. If thou art not
+able to make thyself that which thou
+wishest to be, how canst thou expect
+to mould another in conformity to thy
+will?&mdash;<i>Thomas à Kempis.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p>
+<h2>MY STAGE-COACH COMPANION.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was on a dull, chilly morning, I
+remember, that I left my country
+home by the coach which was
+to convey me to London. I was then
+about twenty years of age. I had never
+before been very far, or very long absent
+from my father's house; and my young
+mind was filled with thoughts of the
+pleasures in store for me in a long visit
+I was about to pay to my London relations.</p>
+
+<p>Among the enjoyments I most reckoned
+on, apart from the society of my aunt
+and cousins, were those of the theatre,
+balls, and evening parties. Very different
+engagements these, from the domestic
+duties and rural recreations to which I
+had been accustomed in a retired country
+residence.</p>
+
+<p>Thoughts like these had softened the
+pain of separation from my kind and
+indulgent parents; but there were tears
+in my eyes on bidding them farewell, and
+I was glad to let fall my veil, to hide them
+from the only passenger in the coach.</p>
+
+<p>This passenger was a gentleman of
+middle age, well wrapped up in a greatcoat
+of rather formal cut, and with a
+clerical-looking hat on his head. He
+had a pleasant, though a rather serious
+expression of countenance, as he lifted
+his eyes from the book he was reading.
+It was not long before he shut up the
+book, and made some remarks about the
+weather and the scenery. A short
+silence followed, which was broken by
+my fellow-traveller saying that he had
+just been passing a few weeks in a
+watering-place which I knew to be a
+fashionable one.</p>
+
+<p>"I have never been there," I said.
+"I suppose it is a very gay place, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is a fine town, and the country
+around it is very beautiful," said the
+gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>This was not the answer I expected,
+and I varied my question by referring to
+the visitors and places of amusement,
+particularly mentioning the theatre and
+the public assemblies.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger smiled pleasantly, and
+said, "I saw only the outside of the
+theatre; but during my stay there I was
+present at several public assemblies."</p>
+
+<p>"How very enchanting they must
+be!" I remarked, with youthful ardour.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not sure that 'enchanting' is
+quite the right word," he said, looking
+thoughtful; "but they were very delightful,
+certainly."</p>
+
+<p>"They were crowded, I suppose,
+sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, generally," he said, and added
+that, at the last of these public assemblies,
+there were present more than a
+thousand people.</p>
+
+<p>This seemed to me to be a great
+number, and to need a large assembly
+room to hold them. I made some
+remark which led him to say that no
+doubt there were many varieties of
+character present, and of different
+degrees in life. "But," he added, "I
+have reason to know that many honourable
+personages were to be met with
+there, and even the King Himself was
+there."</p>
+
+<p>"The King, sir? I did not know that
+the King ever visited &mdash;&mdash;"; and I
+began to feel incredulous. I was not
+so ignorant as not to know that King
+George the Fourth, in whose reign we
+were then living, had for some time
+almost secluded himself from his subjects,
+and resided generally at Windsor.</p>
+
+<p>"I see," continued the stranger,
+speaking more earnestly and seriously
+than before, "that you do not quite
+understand me; and I apprehend that
+we have each been using the same words
+to express a different set of ideas on
+which our minds have been fixed."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not understand you, sir," I said,
+rather coldly.</p>
+
+<p>"Permit me, madam, to explain. I
+am a minister of the Gospel. The public<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+assemblies of which I have been speaking
+are the assembling together of those
+who meet for God's worship and service;
+the honourable persons to whom I referred
+are those whom the Bible calls the
+children of God; and the King whom I
+believe to have been present at these
+assemblies is He who is 'King of kings
+and Lord of lords,' who Himself has
+told us that, where two or three are
+gathered together in His name, there
+He is in the midst of them."</p>
+
+<p>There was such kindness and courtesy
+and respect in the gentleman's manner,
+that I could not feel vexed at his having
+spoken in a sort of parable, so I smiled,
+and said, "I had no idea that you were
+a minister, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad that you are not angry
+with me, young lady," said he, "for
+having wilfully misinterpreted your
+questions. You know it is 'out of the
+abundance of the heart' that 'the mouth
+speaketh'; and when you got into the
+coach I was engaged in thought, studying
+a subject which I hope to speak
+about next Sunday; and, singularly,
+this subject is so far like that which has
+engaged a few minutes of our conversation,
+as that it refers to an assembly,
+though one of a very superior character
+to any the world has ever seen or
+known."</p>
+
+<p>"May I ask, sir, what assembly it is
+you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly," replied he; and taking
+from his pocket a New Testament, he
+opened it and read, "Ye are come unto
+Mount Sion, and unto the city of the
+living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and
+to an innumerable company of angels,
+to the general assembly and Church of
+the First-born which are written in
+heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and
+to the spirits of just men made perfect,
+and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new
+covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling,
+that speaketh better things than that of
+Abel."</p>
+
+<p>Having read this, my fellow-traveller
+again put up his Book, and there was a
+short silence between us, until he said,
+"That is the text, madam. Do you
+think it possible for any preacher to do
+justice to it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know indeed, sir," I said;
+and I added (what I truly thought) that
+the words struck me as being very
+beautiful.</p>
+
+<p>"They are indeed beautiful, and magnificent,
+and solemn," he said; and he
+continued to remark that they were
+highly calculated to arouse in the mind
+emotions of no ordinary nature. Did I
+not think so?</p>
+
+<p>I hesitated what to reply, for I shrank
+from expressing sentiments which I did
+not really feel. Doubtless he saw my
+embarrassment, and, instead of pressing
+for an answer, he asked me if he might
+mention a few of the thoughts which had
+passed through his mind, as he had
+pondered over the passage. I said, if he
+pleased to do so, I should be glad to hear
+him, and accordingly he went on&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that the words I have read
+referred not so much to the future, as to
+the present position or condition of those
+to whom they were addressed, and that
+they may be applied also to certain
+characters at the present time. I have
+no doubt, madam, that you understand
+of what characters I speak?"</p>
+
+<p>"I could not misunderstand you," I
+said. "Of course you mean Christians?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; of all true Christians it may be
+said that they are come to Mount Sion.
+All who truly believe in Christ live under
+a dispensation of mercy. They are even
+now 'fellow-citizens with the saints, and
+of the household of God.' Their names
+are enrolled in the Lamb's book of life;
+angels are their invisible attendants;
+they are united in spirit to 'Jesus, the
+Mediator of the new covenant'; they
+are admitted into the gracious presence
+of the Father, 'the Judge of all,' so as
+to find access at every hour to God
+within the veil; and they have even now
+received the atonement, 'the blood of
+sprinkling,' by which their polluted
+consciences are cleansed and purified.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+These are great and exalted privileges,
+are they not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," I said, feeling as I said
+it how incapable I was of appreciating
+them. The stranger did not notice my
+hesitation, however, but went on with
+still more animation&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot help thinking that more
+than I have mentioned is implied in the
+words which you justly think so beautiful,
+and that the writer had in his mind
+the future as well as the present life.
+The final and everlasting <i>residence</i> of
+all believers, after all the cares and toils
+of their earthly pilgrimage are past, is
+to be Mount Sion, the city of the living
+God, the heavenly Jerusalem; part of
+their <i>employment</i> will be holy and devout
+adoration; their <i>society</i>, myriads of
+angels and a vast assembly of the perfected
+spirits of the just; the <i>chief source
+of their happiness</i> will be the presence
+of 'the Judge of all,' in 'Jesus the
+Mediator'; and the cause of all this
+blessedness is indicated in the closing
+words&mdash;'the blood of sprinkling,' or the
+atonement of Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>I was interested, and wished he would
+continue. Probably he could see that
+I was not unwilling to listen, for, after
+the pause of a minute or two, he began
+to expatiate a little on some of the
+ideas he had already expressed. He
+spoke of the unbroken repose and perfect
+security of the city of God, and then of
+the happy employments of the great
+assembly in heaven. Here he drew a
+contrast between the amusements of
+the world and the enjoyments of the
+heavenly state, and added that, to
+worldly and unsanctified minds, these
+enjoyments had no attractions.</p>
+
+<p>"Those who live only for this life,"
+he said, "cannot conceive of any
+pleasure to be found in heavenly adoration
+and praise. Accustomed to account
+the Sabbath of the Lord a weariness, and
+devotional services irksome and tedious,
+it cannot appear to them desirable to
+enter upon a state of existence in which
+the worship of the Almighty is one of
+the choicest occupations of its inhabitants.
+Nor can we wonder," continued
+my companion, "that it should be thus,
+so long as the heart remains at enmity
+with God, while the affections are earthly
+and sensual, and where there is no fear
+of God, no love to God, no delight in
+God, no earnest desire to serve and
+honour Him. Am I not right?" the
+stranger asked, fixing his eyes upon
+me.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, I think you are," I replied,
+faintly; and, after some further conversation
+on the same subjects, my fellow-traveller
+told me that he was going only
+to the end of the present stage. "There
+we shall part," he said, "and possibly
+we shall not meet again in this world;
+but if, by divine grace, we should be
+fellow-heirs of the same glorious inheritance,
+we <i>shall</i> meet in that general
+assembly."</p>
+
+<p>These were almost the last words he
+spoke, for, in a few minutes, the coach
+stopped, and the stranger, alighting
+and bidding me farewell, disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>Many years passed away, and I was
+a happy wife and mother. My husband
+was a true and earnest Christian; and I&mdash;yes
+(and therein was my happiness), I,
+too, was a believer in Christ. My
+Christian life had been, in some respects,
+an eventful one. My first steps in it had
+been beset with difficulties and no
+ordinary opposition; but patience was
+given me to endure; strength, to overcome;
+and, blessed be God, my heart's
+desire and prayer to Him on behalf of
+some very dear to me had, I trust, been
+heard and answered.</p>
+
+<p>My conversion was in part, at least,
+the result of the stage-coach conversation
+I have recorded. God, in His
+infinite mercy, by means of the words of
+a stranger, called me to consideration.
+The Holy Spirit showed me my miserable
+condition, as being "a lover of pleasures
+more than a lover of God." Through a
+long, dark passage of soul-distress and
+great conflict I was led into the light
+and faith of the glorious Gospel&mdash;from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+the thunders of Sinai to "Mount Sion, the
+city of the living God; to Jesus, the
+Mediator of the new covenant, and to
+the blood of sprinkling."</p>
+
+<p>One thing troubled me&mdash;or, if not
+troubled exactly, left within me an unsatisfied
+desire. For years I had longed
+to see, to meet once more, the stranger
+who had so kindly and so wisely invited
+my attention to religion. I wished to
+hear his voice again, and to tell him
+what the Lord had done for my soul.
+Sometimes, indeed, I recalled his parting
+words with something like awe, though
+yet with a thrill of pleasurable assurance&mdash;"Possibly
+we shall not meet again in
+this world; but if, by divine grace, we
+should be fellow-heirs of the same
+glorious inheritance, we shall meet in
+that general assembly."</p>
+
+<p>"Annie," said my husband one day&mdash;he
+had an open letter in his hand&mdash;"a
+visitor is coming, whom I shall be very
+glad for you to know&mdash;my old friend
+and pastor, Mr. J&mdash;&mdash;"; and he put
+the letter into my hands. It was a short
+note, merely stating that, finding he
+should be at a certain time within easy
+reach of my husband's home, the writer
+would, if he might, avail himself of the
+opportunity of renewing the personal
+intercourse which time and distance had
+so long interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>A few days later, a chaise drove to
+our door, and my husband, eager to welcome
+his old friend, met him in the hall,
+where I also was waiting to receive him.
+He was an elderly man, but with a firm
+step, a strong frame, a pleasant smile,
+a kindly voice, and a benevolent countenance.</p>
+
+<p>"Annie, my dear, this is&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>I cannot go on to describe a scene in
+which I became all at once and unexpectedly
+so personally interested. In
+my husband's friend I recognized, at a
+single glance, my stage-coach companion,
+though he had no recollection
+of me.</p>
+
+<p>It was a happy meeting&mdash;the faint
+foreshadowing, it may be, of such meetings
+innumerable in that general
+assembly in the heavenly Jerusalem
+above, when they who have sown, and
+those who have reaped, shall rejoice
+together with "joy unspeakable and full
+of glory."&mdash;<i>A Tract issued by the Religious
+Tract Society.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 275.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>
+"<i>I am the Rose of Sharon.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Song<br />
+of Solomon</span> ii. 1.<br />
+<br />
+I ssachar   Genesis xxxv. 23.<br />
+<br />
+A biram     Numbers xxvi. 9.<br />
+M icah      Judges xvii. 1.<br />
+<br />
+T irzah     1 Kings xvi. 6.<br />
+H oreb      Exodus iii. 1.<br />
+E bal       Joshua viii. 30.<br />
+<br />
+R ehoboam   1 Kings xi. 43.<br />
+O g         Numbers xxi. 33.<br />
+S hammah    1 Samuel xvii. 13.<br />
+E dom       2 Samuel viii. 14.<br />
+<br />
+O nan       Genesis xlvi. 12.<br />
+F elix      Acts xxiv. 25.<br />
+<br />
+S imon      Mark iii. 18.<br />
+H adadezer  2 Samuel viii. 3.<br />
+A maziah    Amos vii. 10.<br />
+R aven      Leviticus xi. 15.<br />
+O bed-edom  2 Samuel vi. 11.<br />
+N adab      Numbers iii. 4.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Ada Willerton</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(Aged 9 years).</span><br />
+<i>Corby, Grantham.</i>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">I have</span> found, by a strict and diligent
+observation, that a due observance of the
+duty of Sunday has ever had joined to
+it a blessing upon the rest of my time.&mdash;<i>Sir
+Matthew Hale.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE CROSS OF CHRIST.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The "cross of Christ" is mentioned
+by the Apostle Paul in his
+Epistles to different Churches,
+but we may confidently say that
+the wooden gibbet upon which the Saviour
+suffered was never loved or reverenced
+by that honoured servant of the Lord,
+or the people to whom he wrote.</p>
+
+<p>The brazen serpent, that divinely appointed
+means of Israel's cure, was
+broken in pieces by good Hezekiah,
+who contemptuously called it a bit of
+brass, because the Israelites worshipped
+it; and their idolatry is described as a
+base crime in 2 Kings xviii. 4, although
+it was a figure of Him that was to come;
+and Jesus Himself declared, "As Moses
+lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
+even so must the Son of Man be lifted
+up, that whosoever believeth in Him
+should not perish, but have eternal life"
+(John iii. 14, 15); and the "true cross,"
+if it now existed, would only be a bit of
+wood&mdash;a thing in itself worthless&mdash;and
+the adoration of it would be nothing
+better than idolatry.</p>
+
+<p>"Christ and Him crucified" is the
+sinner's hope, the believer's joy, and this
+is what we are to understand by the
+apostolic mention of the cross of Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>The cross was the sign, the illustration,
+of His sufferings and death. Crucifixion
+was most painful and most
+shameful, and both these facts appear in
+Hebrews xii. 2. He "endured the cross,
+despising the shame." With the hands
+and feet nailed to the cross, and the
+weight of the body borne by those pierced
+hands, the sufferer, who generally was
+first cruelly scourged, expired after long,
+lingering torture; and it was a shameful
+death, to which only the lowest and worst
+of men were supposed to be sentenced.
+Yet Jesus, the High and Holy One,
+"humbled Himself unto death, even the
+death of the cross."</p>
+
+<p>But there was deep spiritual meaning
+in all this. "Tribulation and anguish"
+(Rom. ii. 9), sorrow and death, are sin's
+reward. "Dying, thou shalt die" (Gen.
+ii. 17, margin) is the divine sentence
+upon every transgressor, and "sin is a
+reproach to any people" (Prov. xiv. 34).
+"Shame and everlasting contempt" will
+be the sinner's recompense. And Jesus
+was His people's Surety and Substitute.
+He stood for them; He took their place.
+The Just One suffered for the unjust.
+The King of Glory bore reproach and
+shame for the sake of the sinners He
+eternally loved, that whosoever believeth
+in Him should have everlasting
+life, glory, and joy (Dan. xii. 2).</p>
+
+<p>"The death of the cross," as Jesus
+suffered it, involved the shedding of
+blood, and "the blood is the life." "He
+poured out His soul unto death." "He
+gave His life a ransom for many," because
+"without shedding of blood there
+is no remission," no forgiveness of sin.</p>
+
+<p>But crucifixion, unlike many violent
+deaths, did not divide or dismember the
+body. In stoning, the back was often
+broken; by other modes of execution,
+the head was cut off, the neck broken,
+or the body otherwise mutilated. The
+legs of the crucified might be broken
+to hasten death, but this was no necessary
+part of the sentence; and concerning
+Jesus it was prophesied, "None of
+His bones shall be broken" (Psa. xxxiv.
+20; John xix. 36). And this also was
+fraught with deep spiritual meaning.
+That bruised and torn, yet perfect body
+which hung on the cross, and was laid
+in the grave, was but a picture of that
+holy soul, that perfect spirit, which He
+yielded up to God. How clear was His
+memory! That the Scripture might be
+fulfilled, He said, "I thirst." How perfect
+His love! He prayed for His executioners;
+He remembered Mary. How
+full His knowledge of His people, and
+how perfect His confidence in Himself!
+He blessed the penitent thief, and assured
+him of a home with Himself in
+heaven.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, wondrous Sufferer! almighty Saviour!
+None ever died as Jesus died,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+bearing sin and guilt away, and overcoming
+death, while He laid down His
+sacred life.</p>
+
+<p>The cross of Christ has a mighty influence
+upon all who believe on His
+name. Paul said, with holy earnestness,
+"God forbid that I should glory
+in anything but the cross of our Lord
+Jesus Christ, by which the world is
+crucified unto me, and I unto the world"
+(Gal. vi. 14). Once, as a Pharisee, he
+loved the world&mdash;the religious world&mdash;the
+esteem of men, the applause of his
+fellow-Pharisees; but now they hated
+and persecuted him, and he despised
+their favour. So, if we are led to behold
+by faith Jesus crucified for us, the sins,
+the pleasures, and the friendships of the
+world will lose their power and attractions,
+and the love of Christ will constrain
+us to live to Him who died and
+rose again for us.</p>
+
+<p>We find that, when the Apostles were
+first beaten and threatened for preaching
+the Gospel, "they departed from
+the presence of the council, rejoicing
+that they were counted worthy to suffer
+shame for His sake" (Acts v. 40, 41).
+They knew that Jesus loved and gave
+Himself for them, and they, out of love
+to their Saviour, were willing to lay down
+their lives for His sake, or to live despised
+and hated by the world.</p>
+
+<p>Before He died, Christ said, "If any
+man will come after Me, let him deny
+himself, and take up his cross, and follow
+Me." He foresaw His own sufferings
+from the first, but the joy that was
+set before Him animated Him all the
+while, and, as His people's Leader, He
+says, "Follow Me, and enter at last into
+My joy." But Jesus never said, "Take
+up My cross." Oh, no! His cross He
+alone could bear! His saving sufferings
+He only could endure! It is our
+own cross that we are called to bear as
+His followers, and His love will
+strengthen and support us.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, that we may indeed know Him
+as our once crucified, but now exalted
+Saviour, and follow Him through all
+life's changes to the bright home whither
+He has gone, living henceforth to Him,
+and Him alone.</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, Psalm xxxii.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">Your loving friend,<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">How to Live Well.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>We cannot live well without we acknowledge
+God in all our ways.
+A Christian cannot exist without
+prayer. Thus, in 1 Thessalonians v. 17,
+it says, "Pray without ceasing," which
+shows us that we cannot live well without
+prayer. To live well also means that
+we should obey and honour our parents,
+as enjoined in Ephesians vi. 1, 2, and
+make ourselves useful to those that surround
+us. And, in 2 Thessalonians iii.
+13, it says, "Brethren, be not weary in
+well doing." Jesus Christ has also set
+a pattern, for He was always doing good.
+He even came into this world to die for
+sinners. As Jane Taylor says&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Jesus, who lived above the sky,<br />
+Came down to be a Man, and die;<br />
+And in the Bible we may see<br />
+How very good He used to be.<br />
+<br />
+"And so He died; and this is why<br />
+He came to be a Man, and die:<br />
+The Bible says He came from heaven<br />
+That sinners' sins might be forgiven."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>If we are taught to live a Christian
+life&mdash;to trust in, and fear God&mdash;He will
+be sure to provide for our every want.</p>
+
+<p>To live well is to try and always do the
+things that are just, treating people with
+respect, and to love those who hate us,
+and those who despitefully use us, for
+Jesus Christ's sake. He says, in John xv.
+20, "Remember the word that I said unto
+you, The servant is not greater than his
+lord. If they have persecuted Me, they
+will also persecute you; if they have
+kept My sayings, they will keep yours
+also." If we wish to live well, we must
+seek God in little things as well as in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+larger things; for He takes account of
+the thoughts, words, and actions of men,
+which are to be revealed at the last day.</p>
+
+<p>Living well also means that we should
+do those things that are pleasing in
+God's sight; for if we love and serve
+Him truly, we shall be happy here and
+in the life to come, for the righteous
+Christ will gather as His jewels at the
+great judgment day, and they will be
+happy for evermore in that beautiful
+heaven which Jesus has prepared for
+those who love Him, and do His will;
+for Jesus says, in John xiv. 3, "If I go
+to prepare a place for you, I will come
+again, and receive you unto Myself;
+that where I am, there ye may be also."</p>
+
+<p>To live well is to live as expecting every
+day to be our last, and to be looking for
+that time when the trump of the archangel
+shall sound, and all the dead arise
+from their graves. We do not know the
+day, nor the hour, when the Son of Man
+shall come to judge the quick and the
+dead, for it says, in Matthew xxiv. 36,
+"But of that day and hour knoweth no
+man, no, not the angels in heaven, but
+My Father only."</p>
+
+<p>Newton expresses in the following
+verse some good thoughts upon the right
+way to learn how to live, and that is, by
+seeking God's direction&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Show me what I have to do;<br />
+Every hour my strength renew;<br />
+Let me live a life of faith;<br />
+Let me die Thy people's death."<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Lilly Rush</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(Aged 13 years).</span>
+<br />
+<i>Red House, Thornham,<br />
+near Eye, Suffolk.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>[There have been several creditable
+Essays sent, but none that have reached
+the desired mark. We may mention
+those by Ernest Sawyer, Margaret
+Creasey, E. B. Knocker, Jane Bell,
+Maria Reeder, E. T. Mann, Edith Hirst,
+Ella Saunders, W. B. Beckwith (aged
+11 years), A. Pease, Sarah Hicks, and
+Jesse Hammond. The age of the writer
+must always be given.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of <span class="smcap">The Little Gleaner</span>
+(cloth).</p>
+
+<p>The subject for March will be, "Self-Help,"
+and a kind friend has promised
+a copy of "From the Loom to a Lawyer's
+Gown; or, Self-Help that was not all for
+Self," for the best Essay. We hope we
+shall have some good Essays on the
+subject. All competitors must give a
+guarantee that they are under fifteen
+years of age, and that the Essay is
+their own composition, or the papers
+will be passed over, as the Editor
+cannot undertake to write for this necessary
+information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117,
+High Street, Hastings, by the first of
+February.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A CHILD'S PRAYER.</h2>
+
+<h3>SUITABLE FOR THE NEW YEAR.</h3>
+
+
+<p>
+Oh, blessed Jesus, care for me,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And wash me in Thy blood;</span><br />
+Teach me to ever look to Thee,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And help me to be good.</span><br />
+<br />
+Give me Thy Holy Spirit, Lord,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And teach me how to pray;</span><br />
+Oh, let me understand Thy Word,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And take my sins away.</span><br />
+<br />
+Whene'er I'm tempted to do wrong,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh, let me think of Thee;</span><br />
+Help me to always guard my tongue,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When naughty I would be.</span><br />
+<br />
+Teach me to tread the narrow way,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Which all Thy saints have trod;</span><br />
+And guard and guide me every day;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Be Thou my Lord and God.</span><br />
+<br />
+Help me to trust in Thee alone,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And not have fear of men;</span><br />
+To seek Thy will before my own,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For Jesus' sake. Amen.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Jane Bell</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(Aged 14 years).</span><br />
+<i>Sleaford.</i>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Rarely-blooming Flower.</span>&mdash;In one of
+the conservatories at Hamilton Palace gardens
+there is a fine specimen of the <i>Angeavia variegata</i>
+in full bloom. The tradition is, that the plant
+only flowers once in a hundred years.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Steam</span> heating and electric lighting of trains
+is receiving very close attention from a number
+of the leading railway managers in the United
+States. On some roads the change has been
+decided upon, and cars are being reconstructed
+on the new plans as rapidly as possible.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Pilots' Pay.</span>&mdash;From London to Gravesend
+the pilot's fee may range from 18s. to £7 18s.,
+and from Gravesend to the Nore from £1 12s.
+to £7 8s.; and while a vessel drawing less than
+seven feet of water is piloted from the Downs
+to the Isle of Wight for £3 4s., one that draws
+twenty-five feet will cost for the same distance,
+either way, as much as £14 6s.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Romanism</span> in America is throwing off its
+sheep's clothing, and revealing its wolfish
+nature. The following is an extract from
+one of its journals, the <i>Western Watchman</i>&mdash;"Protestantism!
+We would draw and quarter
+it. We would impale it and hang it up for
+crows' nests. We would tear it with pincers,
+and fire it with hot irons. We would fill it
+with molten lead, and sink it in hell fire a hundred
+fathoms deep." Only the genius that
+invented the multiform cruelties of the Inquisition
+could express itself in such an infernally
+varied vocabulary of torture.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Warrant for Bunyan's last Imprisonment.</span>&mdash;Among
+the Chauncy collection of autographs
+recently dispersed by Messrs. Sotheby,
+there lay, hidden and unnoticed, the original
+warrant under which Bunyan was apprehended
+for that third and final imprisonment of some
+six months' duration, during which, according
+to his latest biographer, he wrote the first part
+of "The Pilgrim's Progress." It fills a half-sheet
+of foolscap, and is dated March 4th,
+1674-5, under the hands and seals of twelve
+justices, six of them, either then or in the Parliament
+of 1678, members for county or borough,
+and three of whom had originally committed
+him for the previous twelve years' imprisonment.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Composition During Sleep.</span>&mdash;Lord Thurlow
+told his nephew that, when young, he read
+much at night, and that once, while at college,
+having been unable to complete a particular line
+in a Latin poem he was composing, it rested so
+on his mind that he dreamed of it, completed it
+in his sleep, wrote it out next morning, and
+received many compliments on its classical and
+felicitous turn. In my own experience, I have
+imagined myself, during sleep, to be listening
+to instrumental music quite new to me, and
+have been able to reproduce the melody next
+day; and I have now in my possession a MS.
+copy of a Dead March composed by the author,
+from whom I had it, in a dream.&mdash;<i>Correspondent
+of "Notes and Queries.</i>"</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Dangers of Eating Orange Peel.</span>&mdash;It
+is a very bad habit to eat orange peel. Nor
+is the juvenile habit of eating apples with the
+peel on to be recommended either. Parents who
+do not care as yet to correct these evil propensities
+will perhaps be more inclined to do so
+when they hear that the little black specks
+which may be found on the skins of oranges
+and apples that have been kept some time are
+clusters of fungi, precisely similar to those
+to which whooping-cough is attributed. Dr.
+Tschamer, of Graz, who has made the discovery,
+scraped some of these black specks off an orange,
+and introduced them into his lungs by a strong
+inspiration. Next day he was troubled with
+violent tickling in the throat, which by the end
+of the week had developed into an acute attack
+of whooping-cough.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Brave Child.</span>&mdash;One day recently at Sandown,
+while a gentleman was showing his little
+girl how Lion, a splendid St. Bernard dog, and
+a great favourite in the family, caught pieces
+of biscuit in his mouth, the poor child stole up
+to put her arm round the dog's neck. Unhappily
+Lion was so engrossed, he never heard the fairy
+footstep. Taking the little face for a dainty
+morsel intended for him, he sharply closed his
+large teeth in the tender cheek and nostril.
+Elsie bravely struggled to conceal the blood
+which fast flowed from the wound, and assured
+her mother without a tear that she was "far
+more frightened than hurt." Lion, who had
+been taught to apologise for wrong-doing by
+standing up, at once assumed that plaintive
+attitude, while Elsie entreated his master not
+to punish him, as she knew "it was all a mistake."
+The little face is still strapped up, but
+as the dog was perfectly healthy, the only fear
+entertained is that a permanent mark may be
+left there. One lasting impression was certainly
+made. The self-control and calmness of the
+mother, who saw the sharp, sudden bite inflicted
+on her only child, and the unflinching
+courage displayed by Elsie while she pleaded
+for the dumb friend who had so unwittingly
+injured her, will never be forgotten by Lion's
+master or any one who witnessed the unfortunate
+incident.&mdash;<i>Lady's Pictorial.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span><span class="smcap">The General and the Sparrow.</span>&mdash;General
+Robert E. Lee was one of the bravest soldiers
+and ablest leaders of the Southern States armies
+in the great American Civil War. Along with
+an almost culpable indifference to danger he
+joined an intense love for animals and a deep
+feeling for the helpless, as the following story
+will show. He was once visiting a battery near
+Richmond, in Virginia, when the soldiers (with
+whom he was immensely popular) crowded
+round him, and thus offered a good target for
+the enemy's fire. Lee at once bade them retire
+to the rear, out of reach of harm. The men did
+so, but&mdash;as if unaware of the risk he ran&mdash;he
+walked across the yard, and picked up some
+object from the ground, and put it on a tree
+branch above his head. It was afterwards
+found that this object was an unfledged
+sparrow, which had fallen out of its nest,
+and which the general had restored to its home
+at such imminent danger to himself.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The End of a Dog's Quarrel.</span>&mdash;One day, a
+fine Newfoundland dog and a mastiff had a
+sharp discussion over a bone, and warred away
+as angrily as two boys. They were fighting on
+a bridge, and before they knew it, over they
+went into the water. The banks were so high
+that they were forced to swim some distance
+before they came to a landing-place. It was
+very easy for the Newfoundlander. He was as
+much at home in the water as a seal. But not
+so poor Bruce. He struggled and tried to swim,
+but made little headway. The Newfoundland
+dog quickly reached the land, and then turned
+to look at his old enemy. He saw plainly that
+his strength was fast failing, and that he was
+likely to drown, so what should the noble
+fellow do but plunge in, seize him gently by the
+collar, and, keeping his nose above water, tow
+him safely into port. It was funny to see these
+dogs look at each other as they shook their wet
+coats. Their glance said as plainly as words,
+"We'll never quarrel any more."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> following tragical story of a pen is
+deeply interesting, since to an instrument in
+itself so humble the death of a little Liverpool
+schoolboy is due. The lad, sitting at his desk
+at St. Anthony's School, saw on the floor a
+piece of paper which he wished to pick up. To
+leave his right hand free he put his pen in his
+breast pocket. He was sitting at the end of a
+bench, from which, in stooping, he fell to the
+floor. The weight of his body fell on the point
+of the pen. The nib pierced the poor little
+fellow's heart. Amid the silent work of the
+writing lesson his cry of agony rang out with
+startling effect, and a whole town, hearing of
+a boy's death from such a cause, shares the
+painful surprise of the school-room. The one
+ray of relief in this painful story shines over
+the grief-stricken home. The public sympathy
+directed to this house, finds it inhabited by a
+struggling widow, with four young children still
+surviving. A subscription is forthwith got up
+for her benefit, and the son's death is likely to
+be the means of saving the mother from destitution.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Manchester Ship Canal will be a stone-banked
+stream, 25 feet in depth, and at least
+120 feet in width, supplied with numerous docks,
+crossed by lofty bridges for trains, and swing-bridges
+for road traffic, and forming a waterway
+in which the biggest steamships and sailing
+vessels will be able to pass one another at a fair
+speed. It will be wider and deeper than the
+Suez Canal, and will depend for its construction
+chiefly on the huge steam excavators, which are
+a kind of cross between cranes and the dredgers
+we see in rivers and harbours, and which remove
+a cubic yard of soil at a time. It will enable
+Manchester to send her calicoes direct to all
+quarters of the globe, and will tap the chemical
+region of Runcorn, and the salt districts of
+Cheshire, saving the present cost of transhipment
+of a million tons per annum of the latter
+condiment. Nearly 20,000 men will find employment
+for the next four years in the construction
+of this big canal for the passage of
+ocean ships between Liverpool and Manchester.
+The first sod has been quietly cut with a navvy's
+spade by Lord Egerton of Tatton, the chairman
+of the company, in the presence of twenty
+directors and a few shareholders, at Eastham,
+where the canal will lead out of the Mersey.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Hanover Baptist Sunday School, Tunbridge
+Wells.</span>&mdash;The half-yearly meeting of the
+above school was held on Wednesday, October
+26th. The meeting was presided over by
+the Superintendent, who in a few opening remarks
+urged the parents to try and send their
+children to school in time, and in the morning
+as well as the afternoon; after which the
+children recited their various pieces to the
+Pastor, Mr. Newton. Mr. Botten then proceeded
+to give away the rewards, which he said
+he hoped they would prize, and lend to their
+brothers and sisters to read if they wanted
+them; and he hoped they would never read the
+pernicious books and periodicals that found
+such favour amongst boys in our day, but, if
+they were offered a book to read, to show it to
+father and mother, and, if they did not mind
+their reading it, then all right. In conclusion,
+he wished the teachers God-speed in the work.
+Mr. Saltmarsh and Mr. House also gave parcels
+of books away, and a pleasant meeting was
+brought to a close by singing the hymn,
+"Around the throne of God in heaven," Mr.
+Newton concluding with prayer. Each child
+received a bun on departing.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+W. L. W.
+</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 387px;">
+<img src="images/img028.jpg" width="387" height="500" alt="&quot;PAPER, SIR?&quot; (See page 26.)" title="PAPER, SIR?" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;PAPER, SIR?&quot; (<i>See page 26.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p>
+<h2>WHAT A TRACT MAY DO.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Often, as we journey from place
+to place by rail, we notice with
+peculiar interest the newsboys at
+the different stations as they politely inquire,
+"Paper, sir?" and, as we think
+what advantages they have of reading
+the different kinds of papers and books
+which pass through their hands, we
+wonder, as we look upon them, what
+kind of reading they prefer, good or
+bad; and, from the appearance of many,
+we fear it is the latter. We know that
+many young people of both sexes prefer
+light, foolish, and fictitious books, over
+which they spend a lot of their precious
+time, reading made-up tales&mdash;things
+that never occurred&mdash;and we say, What
+a pity that they should thus waste their
+time in doing worse than nothing, when
+they might be storing their minds with
+useful knowledge!</p>
+
+<p>We hope our young friend in the illustration
+is not one of these, for, as we
+look upon his open and pleasant countenance,
+we are inclined to believe he is
+not, in mind, of such a low order; and,
+while he may have to carry books and
+papers which we should advise him
+never to read, we can but reflect as to
+the power for good of such an agency,
+if used for the spread of pure Scriptural
+truth. Oh, that it were so! Who can
+tell, if good books and tracts were thus
+scattered, what good might result therefrom?</p>
+
+<p>We have read with pleasure, and here
+give to our readers, the following narrative,
+showing the way the Lord sometimes
+signally blesses even the giving of
+a tract to a stranger, and may many be
+encouraged to "go and do likewise":&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Roger M&mdash;&mdash; was one of a family
+resident in the town of D&mdash;&mdash;, where his
+first days were spent, without anything
+remarkable taking place to distinguish
+his boyhood from that of many around
+him. It was, however, his privilege,
+though unvalued at the time, to receive
+religious training in a Sabbath School.
+It is not known that at this period any
+particular progress was made by him in
+any department of useful or of religious
+knowledge. Indeed, his after-course
+would rather prove that, like many who
+have enjoyed similar advantages, he
+grew up only to show that, by nature, he
+possessed a heart averse from God, and
+prone to depart from Him.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of time Roger M&mdash;&mdash;
+was placed with a respectable tradesman
+of his native town, with a fair
+prospect of becoming acquainted with a
+business in which he might have obtained
+an honest livelihood; but he turned his
+back on his friends and prospects, and
+enlisted in the marines. From his own
+lips the subsequent account of himself
+was derived.</p>
+
+<p>Year after year passed on, and though
+often engaged in scenes of carnage and
+bloodshed, he was yet wonderfully preserved
+both from wounds and death. At
+length, just on the eve of the battle of
+Waterloo, he was drafted from his ship
+to take a part in that fearful and eventful
+conflict. Amidst wounds and slaughter,
+and disabled and dying comrades, he
+stood unscathed; and after the peace
+which followed on that memorable victory,
+he was discharged from the service,
+and took up his residence in the
+city of E&mdash;&mdash;. Here, however, he only
+lived to prove how ineffectual, of themselves,
+are the most terrible scenes
+savingly to touch the rebellious heart of
+man, or even to awaken the mind to any
+just sense of the amazing goodness and
+long-suffering of God, independently of
+the grace and influence of the Holy
+Spirit. He spent his days in a life of
+dissipation and drunkenness, unmoved
+by any reflection on the past, or by any
+regard for the future. Yet was there
+mercy in store for Roger M&mdash;&mdash;. God's
+ways are not as our ways, neither His
+thoughts as our thoughts.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>Returning home one evening in a state
+of intoxication, a lady placed in his
+hand a religious tract, which, by the
+mercy of God, he carried home, and the
+next morning read. It is not easy to
+describe the state of feeling that arose
+in his heart from its perusal. His own
+account of that moment was deeply
+affecting. Conviction of sin, remorse,
+alarm of conscience, strong desire after
+peace and pardon, the cry of the jailor,
+"What must I do to be saved?"&mdash;all,
+in tumultuous conflict, agitated his
+spirit. Day after day, week after week,
+he sought relief to his mind, and direction
+to his anxious heart, by entering
+various places of worship in the city. At
+length in a little chapel he found that
+which his soul longed for. The word of
+peace, the glad tidings of salvation
+through the blood of Christ, came home
+with power to his heart, and he obtained
+peace through believing.</p>
+
+<p>Having become "a new creature in
+Christ Jesus," he next lived a new life,
+and rendered up himself a living sacrifice
+to the great Redeemer. As Roger
+M&mdash;&mdash; had pursued a course of sin unto
+death, so now he pursued a course of
+obedience unto righteousness, the end of
+which is eternal life. A new life had
+opened upon him, and as a soldier of
+the cross he served Jesus Christ, his new
+Captain, with humble zeal and holy joy.</p>
+
+<p>In the last interview which the writer
+had with him, his expressions of overwhelming
+love to Jesus were most fervent.
+Tears of gratitude rolled down his
+thin, furrowed cheeks as, with emphasis,
+and a feeling most touching, he acknowledged
+the debt of love which he owed
+to his beloved Lord. Never did the
+writer witness so strong an exhibition of
+heartfelt, deep, religious feeling. Roger
+could speak of nothing but the unmerited
+and wonderful love of his Lord and
+Saviour, and of His amazing goodness
+in sparing and saving so vile a transgressor.</p>
+
+<p>When the burst of feeling had a little
+subsided, he expressed a strong desire
+to see his former teacher, then an aged
+Christian. An interview was sought for
+him, that he might express his gratitude
+to his instructor in the days of his youth,
+and thank him for all the good counsels
+which had then been given him. Here,
+again, the sobs and tears of the humble
+child of God burst forth anew, and the
+friend who accompanied him was obliged
+to shorten the interview, from fear of the
+consequences to both the old men. The
+scene will never be obliterated from the
+memory of him who pens this recital,
+nor the conviction, moreover, of the
+deep-seated piety and gratitude of the
+penitent veteran.</p>
+
+<p>One thing amongst others which Roger
+confessed was this&mdash;that, in the midst of
+the conflicts in which he had been engaged,
+the lessons and truths presented
+to him in the Sabbath School were constantly
+rushing into his mind with indescribable
+freshness, producing a conflict
+there, compared with which that without
+was as nothing. Yet, strange to say,
+this resulted in no real conviction or
+conversion when the danger was past.
+It was not till the little messenger of
+mercy had reached his hand, and its
+truths, by divine mercy, touched his
+heart, that he became a contrite sinner
+and humble suppliant at the feet of Jesus,
+and at length was brought to know that,
+"being justified by faith," he had
+"peace with God through our Lord
+Jesus Christ" (Rom. v. 1).</p>
+
+<p>One point in the character of this converted
+sinner remains to be mentioned&mdash;that,
+although latterly so afflicted by
+entire deafness as to require communication
+by means of writing, yet was he constant
+in his attendance at the house of
+God, where, as one of the true circumcision,
+he doubtless "worshipped God in
+the spirit, rejoiced in Christ Jesus, and
+had no confidence in the flesh" (Phil.
+iii. 3).</p>
+
+<p>He has long since gone to the unseen
+world to be with Jesus, "which is far
+better."</p>
+
+<p>This narrative affords no small encouragement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+to those who distribute, even
+under unpromising circumstances, those
+leaves which are intended for the healing
+of the soul. "Cast thy bread upon the
+waters: for thou shalt find it after many
+days." "In the morning sow thy seed,
+and in the evening withhold not thine
+hand; for thou knowest not whether
+shall prosper, either this or that, or
+whether they both shall be alike good"
+(Eccles. xi. 6).</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER TO SCRIPTURE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 10.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>The Farmer is the Lord. "I am
+the true Vine, and My Father is
+the Husbandman," said the Son,
+Jesus (John xv. i). The farm
+is the Bible, and the sixty-six fields are
+the books thereof. The Bible is sown
+all over with spiritual food, which is the
+Word of God, for His people. Those
+people who seek after the Lord must
+have a will to come, and patience to wait
+for an answer. There are some people
+who have the Bible, but have no desire
+after the Lord; but they find other things
+they think better of than seeking after
+the Lord. There are some people who
+say they hate the Lord, and the Bible,
+and there is not a minister that they will
+say a good word to. This, Jesus and
+His servants can vouch for a truth. The
+people who live in those low-built houses
+are those who are humble in the sight of
+the Lord; and not far from where they
+dwell the ministers live, and they think
+it a great liberty to speak a few words to
+the ministers, and, as for the Lord, they
+often feel they dare not attempt to speak
+to Him. But the Lord says, in Luke xii.
+32, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your
+Father's good pleasure to give you the
+kingdom." You would almost wonder
+how these people exist; but they get a
+little help from the Lord now and then,
+which keeps them alive.</p>
+
+<p>And then it is said, one came to the
+Bible, and looked in the Book of Ruth,
+but could not gather anything; and
+Christians cannot gather anything from
+God's Word unless God opens it to
+them; and if they do not get good out
+of one part of the Bible they go to
+another, and would be glad to glean
+in either field of Ruth or Esther. In the
+end, the labourer directed the gleaner
+to the forty-second field, and he gathered
+handfuls (Luke xi. 9-13), and then he
+told others where to go to find plenty of
+food.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Mary Willerton</span><br />
+(Aged 11 years).</div>
+
+<p><i>Corby, Grantham.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>[This is the most correct answer received
+up to the time of going to press.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BE GENTLE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+There is a plant that in its cell<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">All trembling seems to stand,</span><br />
+And bends its stalk and folds its leaves<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From each approaching hand.</span><br />
+<br />
+And thus there is a conscious nerve<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Within the human breast,</span><br />
+That from the rash and careless hand<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shrinks and retires distressed.</span><br />
+<br />
+The pressure rude, the touch severe,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Will raise within the mind</span><br />
+A nameless thrill, a secret tear,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A torture undefined.</span><br />
+<br />
+Oh, you whose nature is so formed<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Each thought refined to know,</span><br />
+Repress the word, the glance, that wakes<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That trembling nerve to woe!</span><br />
+<br />
+And be it still your joy to raise<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The trembler from the shade;</span><br />
+To bind the broken, and to heal<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The wound you never made.</span><br />
+<br />
+Whene'er you see the feeling mind,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh, let this care begin!</span><br />
+And though the cell be e'er so low,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Respect the guest within.&mdash;L. H.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A BIBLICAL DISCOVERY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Bible students will gladly read
+the account of a remarkable and
+interesting discovery sent to the
+Council of the Egypt Exploration Fund
+by their explorer, Mr. Flinders Petrie.
+He has apparently found the remains of
+a royal palace, mentioned in the Bible
+as "Tahpanhes," and referred to by the
+Father of History in his record of the
+adventures of the first Greek colonists
+who, six hundred years before the Christian
+era, settled in a corner of the northeastern
+Delta of Egypt.</p>
+
+<p>These early Greeks conveyed to their
+countrymen the wisdom of the Egyptians;
+and the science, art, and literature of the
+older civilization was filtered through
+the artistic Greek intellect to the western
+world.</p>
+
+<p>Students of Egyptian and Greek history
+will take deep interest in this discovery.
+But the finding of the remains
+of this royal palace appeals to a more
+numerous and humbler class of students.</p>
+
+<p>In the book of Jeremiah the Prophet,
+from chapter thirty-seven to chapter
+forty-seven, the reader will find a graphic
+record of the events that preceded, accompanied,
+and followed the destruction
+of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
+A great portion of the action of this
+story took place in the country in which
+Mr. Petrie and his Arab labourers have
+been at work for some time past.</p>
+
+<p>After the tumults that followed the
+departure from Jerusalem of Nebuchadnezzar
+with the captive Jews to Babylon,
+it was decided by Johanan, against the
+advice and the prophecy of Jeremiah, to
+fly into Egypt, the land of King Zedekiah's
+old ally. The princesses, and the
+captains, and Jeremiah, were taken across
+the frontier by Johanan, and hospitably
+received by Pharaoh Hophra, who installed
+his guests in the royal residence
+in Tahpanhes. Jeremiah could not rest
+even in the stronghold thus provided for
+himself and his countrymen by the kindness
+of Hophra, and in the court-yard or
+square of the royal palace of Tahpanhes
+he made a remarkable prophecy. Taking
+great stones in his hands, and burying
+them in the pavement, the Prophet declared
+that in that very spot King Nebuchadnezzar
+would spread his pavilion
+when he came, with his destroying army,
+to punish the Jews, and to execute vengeance
+on their Egyptian allies.</p>
+
+<p>The prophecy, there is every reason to
+believe, was fulfilled. The Babylonish
+conqueror invaded Egypt, and burnt
+Pharaoh's house at Tahpanhes. Centuries
+have passed. The sand of the
+desert, and the mud of old Nile, have
+swept over the site of the remarkable
+prophecy, and about 2,500 years after
+the death of the Prophet, an Englishman
+rolls away the encrustations of time.
+He discovers the basement floor of the
+old citadel&mdash;half prison and half palace.
+From the ruins he extracts slabs of fine
+limestone covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions,
+figures of captives delicately
+sculptured and painted, iron and bronze
+tools. In the kitchen he finds pokers,
+and spits, and broken bottles. The room
+of the little scullery maid is found almost
+intact. It contains a recess with a sink
+and a bench for the ancient pots and
+pans.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Petrie's communication, which
+can be had from the Secretary of the
+Egypt Exploration Fund, throws a strong
+light on the wondrous story in the grand
+old Book which has been for centuries a
+household treasure in English homes,
+and will be read with delight by all
+lovers of the Bible.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Every</span> season of life has its appropriate
+duties.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Through</span> all our troubles, the tangled
+skein is in the hands of One who sees the
+end from the beginning. He shall yet
+unravel all.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE CHARCOAL BURNER'S STAR.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Concluded from page 9.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>Alfred was struck mute with
+surprise. Even the guide seemed
+astonished at this unexpected
+welcome to the hut.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until a minute or two after
+the voices had ceased that they ventured
+to approach the entrance. When they
+did, they saw the charcoal burner standing
+at the end of a rude table, formed of
+one broad deal plank, supported by four
+legs, along one side of which were
+ranged three boys between twelve and
+fourteen years old. Books and paper,
+with an inkstand and pens, were lying
+on the table. It was a forest school.</p>
+
+<p>The intruders again paused at a sight
+as unexpected as had been the melody
+they had just heard. But their footsteps
+had caught the ears of those within the
+hut.</p>
+
+<p>"Who goes there?" asked the man,
+in a calm voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Friends," replied both Alfred and
+the guide, and the latter added&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Good evening, Gervais. It is only
+your friend Michel. I have brought you
+a gentleman who is very anxious to see
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"What is your pleasure with me,
+sir?" asked the charcoal burner, taking
+off his woollen cap.</p>
+
+<p>"First, to wish you a good evening,
+Monsieur Gervais; and next, to apologize
+for my visit."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there anything you wish to say in
+private?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing very important; but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"These boys are in your way?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, pray do not let me interrupt
+you! My business here is not of sufficient
+consequence."</p>
+
+<p>"We have done, sir. Indeed, our
+evening studies, and more particularly
+our Scripture readings, have been prolonged
+rather beyond our usual hour.
+We have only one more duty to fulfil,
+which we never omit. You will excuse
+it, sir."</p>
+
+<p>Without waiting for a reply, Gervais
+assumed a serious air. The boys knelt
+down before the wooden bench on which
+they had been sitting. Alfred, and even
+the guide, followed their example, and the
+woodman offered up a brief, but solemn
+evening prayer; after which he pressed
+affectionately the hands of the young
+herdsmen, and dismissed them with a
+kind remembrance to their employers.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-night, Monsieur Gervais!"
+said the boys cheerfully, and in an instant
+they were all leaping up the heights
+beyond the fir trees, which soon hid them
+from the sight of those who remained
+behind.</p>
+
+<p>"I expected to find you alone,
+Monsieur Gervais," said Alfred, "and I
+wished to put a question to you which is
+now very plainly answered by the scene
+I have just witnessed. Two hours ago, I
+was with a party of friends in the plain
+below, at some distance from this mountain.
+At nightfall, when we saw the
+light of your furnace beginning to shine,
+we said among ourselves, as we looked,
+with no small degree of interest, upon
+this earthly star, as it seemed to us,
+'What can the man be doing who is
+watching by the side of this fire?' You
+see, sir, that I am young, and you know
+that, at my age, good-humoured frolics
+are not uncommon. 'I will soon know,'
+I said. Well, I mounted my horse
+immediately, and rode at full speed to
+the foot of the mountain. And now that
+I am here, I find that I have reason to
+rejoice in my freak, Monsieur Gervais,
+since it has made me the witness of a
+most interesting scene. These pens and
+paper, and these books&mdash;this one in
+particular&mdash;afford sufficient evidence of
+the manner in which you have passed
+the evening. Here, to my surprise, I
+have found, at this late hour, in the deep
+recesses of the woods, on a wild and
+lofty mountain, a school for useful learning
+in general, but more especially, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+the closing of the scene has informed me,
+for the most important of all knowledge&mdash;that
+of the Creator who made, of the
+Son who redeemed, and of the Holy
+Spirit who sanctifies us. You pass your
+evenings in pointing out to these boys,
+who might otherwise be running wild
+along the mountains and through the
+forests, like the beasts that perish, the
+only way that leads to everlasting life.
+May I ask if you have any particular
+interest in them? Are they your children,
+or are they employed by you in your
+business?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir," said the charcoal burner;
+"I am neither their father nor their
+master. Alas! they have but one Father,
+which is in heaven. They are orphans,
+sir, and are employed by the herdsmen.
+They remain here for several months in
+the year, to assist in tending their cattle
+and their goats, which are kept during
+the summer in the mountain pastures.
+They are therefore serving an apprenticeship
+to the line of life for which they
+are destined. But there are other things
+which are needful for them, as well as
+learning to look after cows, and sheep,
+and goats; and one thing more needful
+than all the rest, which they might learn
+to neglect, were they left to themselves,
+without some one to lead them in the
+right path, and to speak to them of the
+faith and love of the Lord Jesus. It is
+true they are here far removed from the
+temptations which they would meet with
+in towns, and even in villages; but
+Satan has his snares in all parts&mdash;in
+the wilderness, where he dared to tempt
+the Son of God Himself, as well as in the
+city, where, they say, his traps are set
+so thickly that it is impossible to avoid
+them, unless the light of God's Holy
+Spirit is shining on our path. But even
+here, had he no other means of leading
+them astray, they might fall, by his devices,
+into the worst of sins&mdash;the forgetfulness
+of God, and all they owe to Him.
+The condition, then, of these poor boys
+has interested me very greatly. I have
+prevailed upon their masters to let them
+come to me for two hours every evening,
+as soon as the cows and goats are milked,
+and the sheep are in the folds, when I
+endeavour, with God's help, to teach
+them to read and write, and cast up an
+account; but, above all, to seek to find
+out the Lord in His holy Word, and to
+pray to Him. For myself, too, it is a
+profitable as well as a cheerful occupation
+in this solitude. I wish, indeed,
+that I were able to have them longer with
+me each day, but that our labours will
+not allow of. On Sundays, indeed, they
+have rather less to do, and we take
+advantage of this to devote more time to
+the service of God."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Rather</i> less to do on Sundays!"
+said Alfred. "Is the Lord's Day, then,
+made only partially a day of rest?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," replied Gervais, "there are
+works of <i>absolute necessity</i> which require
+our attention, here in the mountains,
+nearly as much on the Lord's Day as on
+the other days of the week. We do not
+cut wood on the Sabbath Day, but my
+fire must not be allowed to go out. It
+must be kept constantly burning till the
+operation is complete. So far, indeed,
+it affords a lesson of holy instruction to
+my young pupils as well as myself, and
+shows us the necessity of the flame of
+Christian love, and faith, and hope being
+kept alive in our hearts, even when pursuing
+our daily occupations. Then those
+who have the charge of cattle and sheep
+must attend to their wants, or the poor
+creatures would suffer sadly by their
+neglect. It takes up a large portion of
+the day to milk the cows and the goats,
+and I dare say you can understand that,
+to say nothing of the loss their owners
+would incur were this omitted, the poor
+beasts themselves would suffer bitterly
+from bodily pain and disease."</p>
+
+<p>"I ought to have thought of this, as I
+am myself learning to be a farmer,"
+observed Alfred. "But do you not draw
+any spiritual improvement for your
+scholars from this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, sir! I show them how Jesus,
+the Good Shepherd, is constantly feeding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+and caring for <i>His</i> flock, watching over
+them, and keeping the young lambs
+from going astray; carrying them in
+His bosom, and giving them the bread
+of life to eat, and the waters of everlasting
+comfort to drink."</p>
+
+<p>"And are your kind instructions confined
+to these three boys?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not altogether, sir. Most of their
+masters, when their necessary work is
+done, come with such of their servants
+as can be spared, on the evening of the
+Lord's Day; and, as we have no pastor
+up here to teach us in the way of holiness,
+we join together in prayer. We
+sing 'psalms, and hymns, and spiritual
+songs,' and we 'search the Scriptures,'
+and nourish our souls with the holy Word
+of God. Most of them, I assure you, sir,
+are very seriously disposed, and love to
+hear me talk to them of the Lord Jesus,
+and tell them of all He has done to save
+sinners, to take away their sin, to give
+them repentance, and everlasting life
+after death."</p>
+
+<p>"And it is thus you have been passing
+your time," exclaimed Alfred, "when
+some of my thoughtless young friends
+below fancied you might be drinking or
+smoking while you were watching your
+fire. Happy man! These solitudes are
+no solitudes to you. How far more profitably,
+how far more pleasantly, are you
+employed than the greater number of
+those who live in the world! I must
+entreat you to pardon my having intruded
+upon you, I am ashamed to say, from a
+motive of mere curiosity. But see how
+God often causes even our follies and
+weaknesses to turn out to our profit. I
+have learned a lesson that I trust, by
+His grace, I shall never forget. It has
+taught me that every godly man has a
+part assigned to him for others as well
+as for himself, to show forth the great
+salvation that Christ brought upon earth.
+You are diligently fulfilling your part.
+You have prayed for work, and our great
+Master has mercifully provided it for
+you. You are laying up treasure for
+yourself in heaven, while many of those
+who would be inclined to pity your
+worldly position are wasting their lives
+in idleness and sin, neglecting the work
+they might do, and burying in the earth
+the talent committed to their charge.
+Numbers there are in the world who are
+attempting to secure to themselves a
+memorial among posterity, by erecting
+hospitals and schools, while you are
+consecrating this little hovel to God in a
+way that might never have been known
+in this world, but which will not be forgotten
+by the Lord 'in the day when He
+maketh up His jewels.'"</p>
+
+<p>As he said this, Alfred cast his eyes
+round the hut, and fixed them upon an
+open chest which stood in one corner,
+supported upon one or two short beams
+of wood, to preserve the contents from
+the damp.</p>
+
+<p>"You are not unprovided with books,
+I see, besides those that lie on the table."</p>
+
+<p>"We have indeed a little library there,
+sir," replied Gervais. "It is very small,
+but quite equal to our wants. You would
+find there 'The Histories of the Old and
+New Testaments,' 'The Imitation of
+Jesus Christ,' 'The History of France,'
+'Robinson Crusoe,' and a few others.
+Would you like to look at the writing
+of these boys, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>Alfred examined some copy-books
+lying on the table, and could not help
+expressing his surprise at the progress
+the lads appeared to have made in three
+short months. Then, looking at his
+watch, he said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I fear I have overstayed my time, but
+before I go I have yet a duty to perform.
+While I congratulate you most sincerely
+on the success with which God seems to
+have blessed your endeavours in behalf
+of these destitute youths, I must add
+that the interest which the idea of your
+isolated situation excited among the
+party I left in the plain below was such
+that they said I ought not, without some
+good reason, to intrude upon you, and
+desired me to bring this little offering to
+you, begging of you to accept it, in token
+of their good-will."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>Vainly, however, did the young man
+press the offering upon the charcoal
+burner. He absolutely refused it.</p>
+
+<p>"Money!" said he; "for what?
+From whom does it come? Excuse me,
+sir, but you must recollect that you are
+quite a stranger to me. I do not even
+know your name."</p>
+
+<p>Alfred looked greatly disappointed,
+but replied that his name was Alfred de
+Blénal.</p>
+
+<p>"What! the son of Madame de Blénal,
+of &mdash;&mdash;?"</p>
+
+<p>"The same."</p>
+
+<p>"You are no longer a stranger, sir.
+Your excellent mother's piety and benevolence
+are well known to all the country
+around. Well, sir, as you seem distressed
+by my refusal, I will accept your liberal
+offer, but not for myself. I will only take
+it as trustee for these three boys, to be
+applied to their future maintenance, till
+they are able to support themselves."</p>
+
+<p>"Excellent man!" replied Alfred,
+deeply affected. "This sum will hardly
+be sufficient for your benevolent purpose,
+and it will give us pleasure to make it
+up to such an amount as may be
+required. I have promised to return to
+the persons who are expecting me by
+midnight, and I fear they will be uneasy
+at my prolonged absence. Take it, then,
+Monsieur Gervais, and whenever you
+require a little more money for the good
+works you may find occasion to perform
+in your neighbourhood, do not fail to put
+me under contribution. I shall tell my
+friends all I have seen and heard, and be
+assured that they will envy me my good
+fortune. Farewell, and remember that,
+by applying to me when you want anything,
+either for yourself or others, you
+will only prove that I have inspired you
+with sentiments of esteem and friendship."</p>
+
+<p>Saying this, Alfred gave the charcoal
+burner a cordial embrace, and
+departed.</p>
+
+<p>The thoughts of Michel, the guide, as
+he descended the mountain, were very
+different from those with which he had
+gone up. He was an altered man from
+that night.</p>
+
+<p>Midnight had passed. The supper was
+waiting at Madame de Blénal's. The
+guests were beginning to be impatient,
+some from hunger, some from curiosity,
+but more from anxiety. Had he miscalculated
+the distance? Had he mistaken
+the way? Had he met with an accident?
+The former conjectures were spoken
+aloud; the latter was only whispered
+by some who were not within Madame
+de Blénal's hearing. She herself remained
+silent, but perfectly calm. We
+do not say that the mother's heart was
+free from anxiety, but there was a
+remedy within it which served as a preventive
+against all idle and unnecessary
+fears. The eye of God was upon her son,
+and she knew that his own trust was
+fixed upon His saving arm. She knew,
+too, that, although full of the spirit and
+buoyancy of youth, he would avoid the
+sin of running into needless danger. If
+an accident had detained him, it was
+permitted as a trial of her faith, and she
+was prepared to submit.</p>
+
+<p>The impatience of the party was just
+beginning to reach its height, when the
+sound of a horse's hoofs was heard.
+Every eye was turned to the door, which
+was soon opened, and Alfred stood before
+them, smiling, cheerful, and uninjured,
+though in a condition that at first occasioned
+some alarm, but soon excited a
+burst of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is ocular proof," cried one,
+"that he has seen the charcoal burner."</p>
+
+<p>"And been at close quarters with
+him," said another. "He is covered
+with soot."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Mr. Alfred," said a young
+lady, "one would think you had embraced
+him!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have, mademoiselle, and I am not
+ashamed of owning it. Had you seen
+what I have, you would have done the
+same, without considering your dress."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what have you seen?" was
+asked by more than one.</p>
+
+<p>"I have found a preacher of righteousness,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+'a teacher of babes,' in the forest&mdash;one
+who is an example to us all&mdash;and I
+have learned that, whatever our station
+in life may be, we may do good service
+to our Lord."</p>
+
+<p>Alfred then gave a full detail of his
+adventure.</p>
+
+<p>"So then," said the old lady who had
+decided the question about the money,
+"while we were indulging in foolish
+conjectures, and idly jesting about this
+worthy man, he was engaged in the pious
+task of teaching young boys to read God's
+holy Word, and the eye of that God
+was upon us all. My dear young friends,
+this is a lesson which I trust you will
+never forget. I see by your looks that
+it has produced its effect, and given birth
+to serious thoughts in your hearts. God
+has caused your inconsiderate frolic to
+turn out well, and I suspect that this will
+be a happy day for the pupils of Gervais.
+The orphans will not want protectors.
+Now let us go to supper. Our friend
+Alfred must be hungry after his ride, and
+he has well earned his meal."</p>
+
+<p>These words, together with the circumstances
+that gave rise to them,
+made a deep and salutary impression
+upon the hearers. The supper passed
+cheerfully, and the conversation turned
+upon what could best be done for the
+charcoal burner and the poor orphans.
+Many plans were proposed, and at last
+one was suggested which met with
+general approbation.</p>
+
+<p>The young men, in consequence, all
+visited the mountain forest and the hut,
+which, under their exertions and superintendence,
+soon disappeared, and a
+comfortable châlet rose in its place, in
+which Gervais continued for many summers
+to pursue his useful labours, and
+more than one or two successive generations
+of boys owed their teaching to
+him, and their establishment in the world
+to the care of the patrons whom Alfred's
+visit had, by God's mercy, raised up for
+them.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT.</h2>
+
+
+<p>In a conversation with the late
+Richard de Courcy, John Berridge
+observed that he had, for
+many years, been preaching up
+self, but not Christ Jesus the Lord:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I was a length of time in Arminian
+fetters. John and Charles Wesley got
+me into their cradle, and the devil kept
+rocking; but the Holy Spirit, in a most
+remarkable manner, delivered me from
+the sleep of sin by slaying the legality
+of my heart. I used to lament the unprofitableness
+of my preaching, and
+though I was a dealer in fire and brimstone,
+I could make no impression on my
+hearers.</p>
+
+<p>One day, my man Thomas was sawing
+a sturdy piece of oak, and, as I was
+standing by him, he threw down his saw,
+and turning to me, said, "Master, I must
+give this job up; it is so knotty." I
+took up the saw, and said, "Tom, let
+me try"; and to work I went, and, being
+of muscular strength, I soon overcame
+the difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>It occurred to me, when leaving the
+field, that my preaching resembled Tom's
+sawing, and these words were impressed
+on my mind&mdash;"Who art thou, O great
+mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt
+become a plain." I returned to my
+chamber, and poured out my heart to the
+Lord. A conviction arose in my mind
+that the work that God alone can perform
+I looked for the creature to produce.
+On reflection, I found the drift of
+my preaching for twenty years had been
+to tell the sinner to put the key into the
+lock of the door, so as to open it. I
+never thought of my Beloved putting His
+hand by the hole of the door, nor of
+applying to Him who has the keys of
+David, who "openeth, and no man
+shutteth; and shutteth, and no man
+openeth."</p>
+
+<p>On the Sunday following, I took my
+text from Isaiah&mdash;"Ye also made a ditch
+between two walls, for the water of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+old pool; but ye have not looked unto
+the Maker thereof, neither had respect
+unto Him."</p>
+
+<p>From that time God the Holy Ghost
+has given me better tools for my workmanship.
+In addressing those whose
+hearts are unrenewed and unchanged, I
+make no propositions or calls. I cry
+aloud, and lift up my voice, and show
+my people their transgressions and their
+sins. I then turn from the unconverted,
+and implore my Master to take the work
+in hand, to convince of sin, and to lead
+them to Christ. With uplifted eyes and
+outstretched arms I cry, "Lay hold of
+these rebels, O Lord, as the angel did
+of lingering Lot, and overcome them by
+Thy omnipotent power, so as to lay down
+their arms to come in, that Thy house
+may be filled." John Berridge can do
+nothing but say, "Awake, O arm of the
+Lord!" This is my province; a step
+further I cannot, I dare not, go.</p>
+
+<p>For the last twelve years the Lord has,
+in a most wonderful manner, displayed
+the riches of His grace in giving me
+innumerable seals to my ministry, both
+in town and country&mdash;trophies of mercy,
+as studs in the Mediatorial crown of my
+dear Redeemer.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Old Everton.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>[Oh, that there were more such
+preachers in the present day!]</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p>
+When bold, presumptuous men stand up,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And fain would make believe</span><br />
+That they are teachers sent of God,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And thus poor souls deceive,</span><br />
+<br />
+They should, by every God-taught soul,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Be faithfully withstood,</span><br />
+If aught they bring to us as truth<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But Jesus and His blood.</span><br />
+<br />
+Such men as these the Word declares<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shall come, and shall deceive;</span><br />
+But sinners, truly born of God,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Will not such men receive.</span><br />
+<br />
+If possible, we know they would<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Deceive Thine own elect;</span><br />
+But, bless Thy precious name, dear Lord,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Thou wilt Thine own protect.</span><br />
+<br />
+How solemn is the thought to me&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Such men may think they're right,</span><br />
+Yet their profession will, if left,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">End in eternal night!</span><br />
+<br />
+"Depart, ye cursèd!" will be said<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By lips that cannot lie;</span><br />
+"Since you have hated Me and Mine,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Your doom is now to die.</span><br />
+<br />
+"You see, though now it is too late,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The oil-less lamp won't do;</span><br />
+The door against you now is shut;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">There is no passing through."</span><br />
+<br />
+My soul, reflect! How stands the case<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With me, a helpless sinner?</span><br />
+I cannot hope to win the race;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But Jesus is my Winner.</span><br />
+<br />
+I never should have sought to Thee,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dear Lord, Thou knowest well,</span><br />
+If Thou hadst not first callèd me,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And plucked my feet from hell.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">B. W.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN FEBRUARY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Feb. 5. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 7.<br />
+Feb. 12. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 8.<br />
+Feb. 19. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 9.<br />
+Feb. 26. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 10.<br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Put</span> heart in your work, whatever it is.
+If it be the lowliest, simplest little task,
+it will be ennobled by your doing it well
+and cheerfully, and taking real pleasure
+in it.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p>
+<h2>"THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS."</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Zechariah</span> iv. 10.)</p>
+
+
+<p>The second temple was much
+smaller than, and very inferior
+to, the first, and from it were
+wanting the ark, the Shechinah
+glory, the sacred fire, and the Urim and
+Thummim. Hence we read that, when
+it was erected and dedicated, the older
+men that had seen the former temple
+wept (Ezra iii. 12). Compared with
+that, the second temple saw but a
+"day of small things" (Hag. ii. 3).</p>
+
+<p>And thus do we sometimes speak of
+the days of childhood and youth, and
+rightly so. Young people are small in
+stature and little in ability. Their
+minds are not much cultivated at
+present, their faculties undeveloped.
+Their views of things are narrow and
+circumscribed. They have seen and
+know but little of the world, or, indeed,
+of anything at all. But children are not
+to be despised on that account. We
+who are older must not think depreciatingly
+of them, nor should the young
+depreciate themselves&mdash;their abilities,
+their time, their opportunities. Do not
+waste your precious moments, for yours
+is a golden age, which will quickly pass
+away, and can never return.</p>
+
+<p>Do not imagine that you are too
+young to exert any influence over others
+for good or harm. You may, and do,
+influence not only your companions, but
+many older people also. As children
+and youths are old enough to sin, they
+are old enough also to be impressed by
+the Spirit of God&mdash;yea, even savingly
+converted, if God so will it.</p>
+
+<p>Not long ago, a very little boy, dying,
+was heard to say, "Oh, Lord Jesus,
+please make room for a little boy!"
+and I doubt not, his prayer was as real
+and as acceptable to God as was that
+of the dying malefactor, "Lord, remember
+me," &amp;c. Another dear little fellow
+said, "If I ever get to heaven, I'll go
+straight up to Jesus, throw my arms
+around His neck, and say, 'I'm come!
+I'm come!'"</p>
+
+<p>Very little things are not without their
+importance or value. The earth is
+nourished all summer by tiny dew-drops.
+The greatest mountains, even huge
+Chimilari, towering five and a half miles
+into the clouds, and all the other peaks
+in the Himalaya and Andes ranges, are
+formed of tiny molecules of earthy
+matter.</p>
+
+<p>Take a lesson from the coral formations.
+These are the work of a very
+little creature called a <i>polype</i>, or sea-anemone.
+Recent research has led to
+the discovery of much that is highly
+interesting respecting these little creatures.
+One polype, fixing its minute
+body to the rocky bottom of the sea,
+discharges a chalky secretion, which
+gradually grows up a branched trunk.
+The end of each branch is terminated
+by another polype; and thus it divides
+and multiplies itself, until a huge mass
+of red coral is formed. The more
+common white coral is similarly produced.</p>
+
+<p>Beware of what are called "little sins."
+Do not think them mere trifles. Bad in
+themselves, they likewise extend and
+grow into habits. These, once acquired,
+will hold you down with the force of a
+mighty chain.</p>
+
+<p>Of late years vine-stocks have been
+imported from America into France and
+Italy. Upon these a tiny insect, called
+<i>phylloxera</i>, has been found&mdash;so small
+that thirty-three of them placed lengthwise
+would not measure more than an
+inch; and yet so destructive have these
+tiny things proved, and so rapidly have
+they been known to spread, that they
+have been the destruction of more than a
+million acres of vines.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 374px;">
+<img src="images/img040.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="HARD LIFE" title="HARD LIFE" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;HER FATHER&#39;S BAD WAYS MADE HER LIFE HARD.&quot; (<i>See page 38.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>One has well observed that "a great
+sin committed once shows where the
+devil has been; but petty sins, nourished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+into a habit, show where the devil
+lives."</p>
+
+
+
+<p>One of the discoveries of modern
+medical science is, that the disease
+known as cholera may be produced
+by a microscopic insect (the <i>Conina
+Bacillus</i>) being taken into the stomach
+inadvertently with our food. This
+minute creature propagates with enormous
+rapidity in the blood, until that
+terrible malady is the result. Thus
+many great things are developed from
+the very smallest&mdash;not only great evils,
+but great blessings also.</p>
+
+<p>In doing good, we must not despise
+"the day of small things." The beginnings,
+though imperfect and weak, are
+not without their own peculiar value, and
+ultimately they lead on to excellence.</p>
+
+<p>Travellers on the continent are often
+struck by the contrast exhibited between
+two paintings which are shown in the
+museum at Rotterdam. The one is
+exceedingly poor&mdash;a mere daub. The
+most enthusiastic connoisseur cannot
+discover in it any mark of genius. The
+other painting is a grand work of art,
+almost priceless in value. Yet, strange
+to say, the same painter executed both&mdash;the
+celebrated Rembrandt. The first
+illustrates the commencement of his
+career as an artist; the other is a
+masterpiece, while many years of earnest,
+patient toil intervened.</p>
+
+<p>There must be a beginning to all
+things, and many dear Sabbath scholars
+have been instrumental of good to their
+parents and friends. I will mention one
+instance of this, selected from scores
+which have come under notice at different
+times.</p>
+
+<p>In a miserable home there once resided
+a drunken father, with one girl, his only
+child. Of course, he took no particular
+interest in her welfare, either body or
+soul. But some kind friend got her to
+attend a Sabbath School. There she
+was brought to know and love the
+Saviour, and often during the week,
+while attending to the house, she was
+known to sing the sweet hymns she had
+learned. This was her only comfort,
+for her father's bad ways made her life
+hard.</p>
+
+<p>One day, when she was thus occupied,
+her father was in another room,
+sleeping off his drunkenness. On awaking,
+he heard the little maid singing&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"There is a happy land,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Far, far away."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The Lord was pleased to use these
+words for another awakening. The
+grace of God touched his heart, and he
+said to himself, "Yes, it must be far
+away for her, poor thing; it cannot be
+here with me." That thought came
+from God. It melted his frozen heart,
+brought him to his knees, caused him to
+utter strong cries for mercy, led him to
+ask his little daughter to explain the way
+of salvation, and ultimately he was
+enabled to rejoice in pardoning mercy.</p>
+
+<p>Dear young Gleaners, may the Lord
+thus be pleased to bless the reading of
+the <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span>, and the instruction
+imparted in the Sabbath School, first
+to your own soul, and then make you a
+similarly honoured instrument of good
+to others.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">A. E. Realff</span>.</div>
+<p><i>Dunstable.</i>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">God</span> never wrought miracles to convince
+atheism, because His ordinary
+works convince it.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A sunny</span>, happy face naturally, is
+worth a world of recipes upon cheerfulness.
+Only let one possessing it come
+into a room where there are a number of
+melancholy souls, and see how soon the
+magnetic influence begins to relax the
+lines of care around the mouth and eyes
+of the burdened ones, and the light of
+forgotten smiles to illumine the dark
+faces! The very breath of summer has
+blown through the room, bringing the
+breath of meadow sweets on its wings.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p>
+<h2>HOW A GREAT MISTAKE WAS DISCOVERED.</h2>
+
+<h3>A TRUE INCIDENT.</h3>
+
+
+<p>My grandmother was always looked
+upon by those who knew her as
+a good Churchwoman, a dutiful
+wife, an affectionate mother, and a good
+neighbour. She attended the services
+and partook of the Sacrament regularly,
+visited the sick, gave alms to the poor,
+and was generally regarded as a very
+religious, upright, consistent, and exemplary
+person. Yet, notwithstanding this
+outward goodness, her mind was not at
+rest. Her religion yielded no joy, her
+service brought no satisfaction. Nor
+could it be otherwise, for, instead of it
+being the spontaneous outflow of a heart
+constrained by love, it was as a task imposed&mdash;a
+duty performed in the hope of
+pleasing God, and meriting His favour,
+and in this way obtaining peace and rest
+to her soul.</p>
+
+<p>Poor grandmother! These were
+"deadly doings"; but she knew it not,
+for her eyes were blinded by the god of
+this world (Satan), and her unsuccessful
+attempts to procure peace by these means
+often left her depressed in spirit and cast
+down in mind. But God had better things
+in store for her, although it was by no
+ordinary means that He was pleased to
+make known to her His more excellent
+way.</p>
+
+<p>One Sunday, she went to church as
+usual, and took part in the singing and
+prayers, which were performed in the
+same mechanical order as at other times.
+It was not until the text was read out
+that her attention was particularly
+aroused; but this so arrested her that it
+all seemed to be intended for herself.
+The words, "Ye must be born again,"
+uttered by the lips of an unconverted
+preacher, were made the message of God
+to her soul, but not as yet the message of
+peace. Her conscience was troubled,
+and as the words of the text were revolved
+in her mind, and the necessity of the new
+birth laid hold upon her heart, she
+trembled in her seat, and all her fancied
+goodness fled away; for here was
+Nicodemus, a good man, a teacher of
+religion, a pattern of morality, being told
+by the Lord Jesus that he must be "born
+again," or he could not enter heaven.
+She could see now that her almsgiving
+and church-going would not satisfy the
+righteous claims of a just and holy God.</p>
+
+<p>She had made a most blessed discovery&mdash;that
+she was a lost sinner, "having no
+hope, and without God in the world."
+She returned home in great distress of
+mind, and so continued until the next
+day. These painful exercises then showed
+no signs of abatement, for the words of
+the text kept ringing in her ears; so, on
+the morrow, as early as convenient, she
+sought an interview with the clergyman,
+in the hope that he might be able to
+minister relief to her troubled heart.</p>
+
+<p>But "woe unto you, ye blind guides!"
+The only counsel he could give was, to
+remind her of her good deeds, her consistent
+life, her regular attendance at
+church, &amp;c., urging her to be calm and
+to banish from her mind these distressing
+thoughts, as there was not the slightest
+foundation for her fears. But this only
+increased her trouble, and she cried out,
+in great anguish of soul, "Tell me how I
+can be 'born again'! Tell me over again
+what you were telling the people yesterday."
+As she earnestly entreated him
+thus, he became greatly perplexed, for,
+alas! the sermon he had preached the
+day previous was borrowed, and had since
+been returned to its owner; so, in much
+confusion, he had to confess his
+inability to help her; but said he, "You
+must get into cheerful company, read
+lively books [at the same time offering to
+lend her some of Shakespeare's plays],
+and these impressions will soon wear off."
+But the solemn words from John iii. 7<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+were fastened in her mind by the
+"Master of Assemblies," to bring forth
+their fruit in due season.</p>
+
+<p>My grandmother left the minister in
+great despair, which continued and increased
+to such an extent that eventually
+it became necessary to remove her to an
+asylum, and her cries of distress were
+heartrending, her incessant and unchanging
+cry being, "I must be 'born
+again'! Tell me how I must be 'born
+again'!" But strange as it may appear,
+this was God's way of bringing her both
+mental and spiritual relief. A Christian
+lady who visited the asylum became
+acquainted with her case, and learning
+that there were times when grandmother
+was quieter and more herself,
+she resolved, if possible, to enlist the
+co-operation of a godly minister of her
+acquaintance; and having made it a
+matter of prayer, the way was soon open
+for him to see her, and the visit was
+made with the happiest results.</p>
+
+<p>As the glorious Gospel message was
+set before her, in simple and earnest
+language, she listened with rapt attention,
+and drank in the blessed truth
+which was soon to become the power of
+God unto her salvation. After this visit
+she was a little restless at times, but as
+the truth entered her soul, and she was
+enabled by "precious faith" to lay hold
+upon Christ, her fears all vanished, and
+she gradually became more calm and
+peaceful. She was led to see that peace
+was made for her by the "blood of the
+cross," and not by her works; and,
+"being justified by faith, she had peace
+with God, through our Lord Jesus
+Christ."</p>
+
+<p>She had now known and experienced
+the blessed change so long sought, and
+which might have been set forth at her
+first awakening had a wise counsellor
+been at hand. The change wrought in
+her soul was very real, and acted so
+beneficially upon her mind that shortly
+afterwards she was able to return to her
+home and friends, to tell "what great
+things the Lord had done unto her."
+The remainder of her life was one of
+settled peace and joy, fruitful in good
+works, and abounding in thanksgiving
+and praise to God.</p>
+
+<p>Dear reader, how is it with you? Have
+you experienced this great change?
+Remember, nothing but reality will do for
+God and eternity. Neither education,
+morality, reformation, nor religious profession,
+can take the place of the new
+birth. "They that are in the flesh cannot
+please God." There must be a new
+life and a new power communicated, in
+which to love and serve God; and this
+can only be "by the washing of regeneration
+and renewing of the Holy Ghost."
+"Except a man be born again, he cannot
+see the kingdom of God" (John iii. 3).&mdash;<i>Selected.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE ENEMIES OF GOD AND
+OF HIS PEOPLE SCATTERED.</h2>
+
+
+<p>As the anniversary of the defeat of
+the Spanish Armada is to be celebrated
+this year, the following
+anecdote may not be uninteresting to
+our readers, as showing a like providence
+in the case of New England
+Christians.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Wisner remarks that the destruction
+of the French armament, under the
+Duc D'Auville, should be remembered
+with gratitude and admiration by every
+inhabitant of America. This fleet consisted
+of forty ships of war, and was
+destined for the destruction of New
+England. It sailed from Chebucto, in
+Nova Scotia, for that purpose. In the
+meantime the godly people, apprized of
+their danger, had appointed a season of
+fasting and prayer to be observed in all
+their churches.</p>
+
+<p>While Mr. Prince was officiating in
+Old South Church, Boston, on the fast
+day, and praying most fervently that the
+dreaded calamity might be averted, a
+sudden gust of wind arose (the day till
+then had bean perfectly calm)&mdash;so violent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+as to cause a loud clattering of the windows.
+The pastor paused in his prayer,
+and, looking round upon the congregation
+with a countenance of hope, he
+again commenced, and, with great
+ardour, supplicated the Almighty to
+cause that wind to frustrate the object
+of their enemies.</p>
+
+<p>A tempest ensued, in which the
+greater part of the French fleet was
+wrecked. The Duc D'Auville, the principal
+general, and his second in command,
+both committed suicide. Many
+died from disease, and thousands found
+a watery grave.</p>
+
+<p>A late President remarks&mdash;"I am
+bound, as an inhabitant of New England,
+to declare, were there no other
+instance than the above to be found, the
+blessings communicated on the occasion
+now referred to would furnish ample
+proof, concerning answers to prayer, to
+every sober and intelligent man."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A HINT TO PARENTS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>In writing upon the education of
+the young, a thoughtful writer
+has made the following observations:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The little triumphs and successes of
+the young mind should never be lightly
+passed over without a token of just and
+fitting praise from the lips of its parents.
+The love of approbation is one of the
+strongest incentives to improvement and
+industry which the Creator has implanted
+in the human mind. In the child, this
+feeling is very predominant; and, if disappointed
+of its justly-earned tribute,
+will be checked, and the child disheartened
+and mortified.</p>
+
+<p>"Benjamin West relates that he owed
+his success in life to the fond kiss of
+delighted approval bestowed on him by
+his mother, on his bringing her a rude
+production of his pencil when quite a
+little boy. 'That kiss,' said the great
+artist, 'made me a painter.'</p>
+
+<p>"Praise, then, when merited, should
+never be withheld. It is the chief&mdash;indeed,
+generally the only&mdash;recompense to
+which children look; and it is a bitter
+and injudicious cruelty to deprive them
+of it. The approval and the censure of
+its parents and teachers should, in this
+sense, be the guiding stars of a child's
+existence. But care should be taken
+that neither should be bestowed carelessly
+or with partiality, so as to induce
+vanity, or, on the other hand, bitterness
+of feeling."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>An Apostle employed as a messenger.</p>
+
+<p>The son of Zephaniah.</p>
+
+<p>A disciple called "the chamberlain
+of the city."</p>
+
+<p>A place whence gold was brought to
+the temple.</p>
+
+<p>An idol of Damascus.</p>
+
+<p>He who arrested a prophet that was
+put into a dungeon.</p>
+
+<p>Who said, "The Lord is good, a
+Stronghold in the day of trouble," &amp;c.?</p>
+
+<p>A disciple who dwelt at Troas.</p>
+
+<p>A sorcerer struck blind.</p>
+
+<p>The name given to the sockets for
+fastening the stones in the ephod.</p>
+
+<p>That without which it is impossible to
+please God.</p>
+
+<p>The place where one was struck dead
+for touching the ark.</p>
+
+<p>Aaron's wife.</p>
+
+<p>The Syriac name for "Father."</p>
+
+<p>The Epistle where the words are&mdash;"Ye
+are not your own," &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>The place to which Samson gave a
+name, where he quenched his thirst
+after slaying the Philistines.</p>
+
+<p><br />Total&mdash;one of the titles of Christ, used
+prophetically.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Low</span> expense is the highway to
+fortune.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE SIXTH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS GATHERING OF EBENEZER
+SUNDAY SCHOOL, HASTINGS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Year succeeds year and marks
+the flight of time, and, in its
+flight, leaves the impress of
+many changes, proving to every
+thoughtful mind that "here we have
+no continuing city." But, amid the
+changes of life, the Lord encourages
+His people to wait upon Him; and none
+need to do so more than they who are
+engaged in the work of spreading His
+truth, whether among old or young; and
+when the spirit of prayer is kept alive in
+their midst, they are not without testimony
+that "the Lord is with them."
+These thoughts were in the minds of
+some who witnessed the assembling of
+the scholars of this school on December
+27th, and they marvelled how any God-fearing
+man or woman can feel indifferent
+to the welfare of the young, or
+look on unmoved as they assemble together.
+To some of us these gatherings
+are as "the solemn assembly." We see
+an eager, expectant throng, seeking for
+that which shall please them&mdash;for the
+most part, seemingly unconscious, for
+the time at least, that they have immortal
+souls that must live in eternal happiness
+or eternal misery, and, therefore,
+without a knowledge of their state before
+God. We see our own children,
+and yearn over them in prayer before
+God, and, like Ezra, we would "afflict
+ourselves before God" to seek a right
+way for ourselves and our little ones.</p>
+
+<p>The scholars assembled in the chapel,
+as usual, at half-past two, when the
+proceedings were opened by a short
+address from our Pastor and President,
+Mr. T. Hull. Many friends encouraged
+us by their presence, though the severe
+weather considerably influenced their
+number.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as a hymn had been sung,
+Mr. Hull read and expounded the first
+Psalm, showing the character of that
+man whom God had pronounced blessed.
+He then earnestly besought the Lord's
+blessing, and followed it by a few words
+on the preciousness of truth.</p>
+
+<p>The report was then read by the
+Secretary, Mr. Ellis, and again proved
+to be of a most interesting and encouraging
+character. The steady increase
+that marked the earlier years of
+this school has been continuous, the
+number on the register now being 250,
+showing an increase of sixteen during
+the year. The average attendance has
+been 153 in the morning, and 194 in the
+afternoon, as compared with 135 and 169
+in 1886. The highest single attendance
+was 223. Two scholars have been lost
+by death, and one teacher by removal.</p>
+
+<p>We give an extract from the report,
+as expressing the earnest feeling of
+those engaged in the work&mdash;"To record
+an increase in numbers is pleasing,
+as showing outward success; but the
+success we desire is, that our scholars
+may be brought to a knowledge of the
+Lord, that God's truth may be established
+in their hearts, and that many that
+meet with us now may bless the Lord
+for the instrumentality of Ebenezer
+Sunday School."</p>
+
+<p>The financial statement showed a
+balance in hand of £5 16s. 7d. This
+would be to December 1st, the date to
+which the accounts are made up, and,
+therefore, leaves the expenses of this
+day, with the prizes, to be met by the
+balance in hand, which, of course, is
+quite inadequate. But the executive
+feel sure that the same kind thoughtfulness
+that has put them beyond anxiety
+in the past will not be wanting in the
+future. The expenses of the year have
+been £34 11s. 4d.; the income £32 10s.,
+which, added to the balance brought
+forward from last year, makes £40 8s.</p>
+
+<p>Several addresses were next given,
+and listened to with marked attention.
+The Superintendent, Mr. J. Trimming,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+spoke of his own feeling in the work,
+and how earnestly he looked for the
+blessing of the Lord; the anxiety he felt
+for the young, and the vast importance
+of putting a right value on the Word of
+God.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. R. Funnell, who is in his seventy-eighth
+year, was most enthusiastically
+received. He is a pattern of diligence
+and earnestness in everything connected
+with the welfare of this school and
+Church. He very nicely used the illustration
+of Elijah gathering the people on
+Mount Carmel, as showing his thoughts
+on Sunday School work. Though we
+may build altars, yet, if no living fire
+comes down from heaven, no saving work
+will be accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Poole enforced the importance of
+taking heed to both what we read and
+what we hear, and to treasure up the
+Word, that it might be of profit.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ellis, the Secretary, followed
+with a few affectionate and earnest
+words, at the close of which, Mr. Hull
+proceeded to distribute the prizes&mdash;the
+most interesting event of the afternoon.
+Before distributing to the scholars, Mr.
+Hull called on three teachers, namely,
+Miss P. Funnell, Miss M. Funnell, and
+Mr. Jesse Vine, to receive a present
+from their respective classes&mdash;a proceeding
+most heartily received by the whole
+school. And now, class after class filed
+past the President to receive the book
+prize awarded to them; and though the
+list was long, and the recipients many,
+he had a kindly word for all. Mr. Hull
+does not spare himself on these occasions,
+and by his pithy remarks and enforcement
+of precepts, suggested by the
+proceedings, contributes in no small
+degree to the success of the gathering.</p>
+
+<p>Tea was now announced, the arrangements
+for which&mdash;both for scholars
+and friends&mdash;were excellent, and most
+heartily did the assembly respond to the
+invitation.</p>
+
+<p>At the close of the tea, the scholars
+again took their places in the chapel,
+and proceeded to carry out a plan
+wholly devised and arranged by the
+Superintendent. In introducing the
+subject, Mr. Trimming spoke of the
+importance of the study of the Word
+of God&mdash;a study which he had reason to
+fear was sadly neglected; and with a
+view to show the Word of God as a harmonious
+whole, and to bring into prominence
+the Book of Proverbs, he had
+prepared a subject, or a series of subjects,
+which he called, "The Crown of
+Glory." He read Proverbs iv. 7-9, as
+the basis of his plan. In a crown there
+are precious stones, the precious stones
+in this crown being&mdash;first, the fear of
+the Lord; secondly, repentance; thirdly,
+seeking God; fourthly, shunning evil;
+fifthly, obedience to instruction; sixthly,
+waiting upon God; seventhly, acknowledging
+God's sovereignty; eighthly,
+truthfulness and honesty; ninthly,
+guards for the temper; tenthly, guards
+for the tongue; eleventhly, God's power
+over all hearts; twelfthly, true friendship.</p>
+
+<p>To illustrate and bring out into bold
+relief each of these precious stones, each
+class had prepared portions of Scripture,
+hymns, or poems to recite as each subject
+was announced. It must have repaid
+the Superintendent for all the
+trouble he had taken, and given the
+friends much pleasure to hear the manner
+in which the different classes acquitted
+themselves, the Young Men's Bible
+Class especially. Throughout the entire
+proceedings, hymns, specially selected
+for the occasion, were nicely sung
+by the scholars, and contributed much
+to the heartiness of the gathering.</p>
+
+<p>The school-room was decorated in the
+usual manner, namely, with garments
+destined for distribution among the deserving
+poor. These garments have
+been made, as in former years, by the
+scholars and friends&mdash;in fact, the School
+Dorcas is now an established institution,
+and shows what may be done by
+kind hearts and nimble fingers.</p>
+
+<p>The meeting was brought to a close,
+shortly before nine o'clock, with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+usual acknowledgments, the singing of
+"Shall we meet beyond the river?"
+and prayer, every one feeling that
+another pleasant and profitable meeting
+had been held.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">C. E.</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">PSALM XXXII.</p>
+
+
+<p>With our Bibles open before us,
+dear young friends, we will try
+to make a few comments on
+this portion of Scripture. But
+let us first turn to Psalm li., for there is
+the sad confession of sin which went
+before this joyful song of "Blessed is he
+whose transgression is forgiven." This
+first verse is a shout of joy and gratitude.
+Oh, the happiness&mdash;the indescribable
+happiness&mdash;of the forgiven sinner!</p>
+
+<p>Four words are used to describe
+wrong-doing and guilt: <i>transgression</i>,
+or trespass&mdash;a venturing on forbidden
+ground; <i>sin</i>&mdash;a failing, or falling short
+of goodness; <i>iniquity</i> (second verse),
+wilfulness, rebellion; and <i>guile</i>&mdash;deceit
+and falsehood.</p>
+
+<p>And here are four pictures of God's
+saving love. <i>Forgive</i> means "forth give."
+Pardon flows forth freely and fully from
+the heart of God to all who truly confess
+their sins and entreat His mercy. Sin is
+<i>covered</i>, for Christ is the <i>Propitiation</i>
+for His people's sins, and these two
+words carry us back to the tabernacle's
+most holy place, and bring to view the
+covering, or lid, of the ark, the mercy-seat,
+sprinkled with atoning blood and
+bright with the divine glory. Jesus has
+died, and His blood cleanseth from all
+sin. To Him David looked, and was
+saved, and faith now looks back to His
+perfect Sacrifice, and rejoices in Him
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>Then iniquity is not imputed to the
+pardoned one, for "it is God that justifieth."
+"Impute" or "reckon" reminds
+us of an account book, with its columns
+of debt and credit entries. God will not
+charge His children with iniquity, for
+Jesus paid their debts, and Christ's
+goodness and merits are reckoned in
+their favour, and they shall receive all
+blessings for His sake.</p>
+
+<p>And then these blessed ones are <i>made</i>
+as well as "reckoned" righteous. In
+their "spirit there is no guile." They,
+through God's Spirit, become honest
+and sincere. Oh, how blessed are these
+forgiven ones!</p>
+
+<p>Then David, for the sake of contrast,
+presents another picture&mdash;his own attempts
+at covering his sin. What
+clumsy, miserable failures! He tried
+to cover one stain by another blot,
+and then threw the cloak of falsehood
+over all. But the weary months passed
+on, and brought him no relief from the
+unspeakable wretchedness that filled his
+heart and wore out his body by day and
+by night, till Nathan, the prophet, was
+sent by God to reprove him, and then,
+with a full heart, David acknowledged
+all, and received the free pardon of his
+Heavenly Father.</p>
+
+<p>Now, David would be useful to others,
+and warn sinners against the evil ways
+they are pursuing (see ver. 10, first
+clause), and would encourage all who
+are seeking the Lord to hope in His
+mercy, who had been so merciful to him.
+God had often been his Hiding-place
+(ver. 7) when he fled from Saul into rocks
+and caves of the earth. His sure defence
+was the Lord Himself. He preserved
+him from death; and now he had afresh
+experienced His loving-kindness. And
+as we read this verse, are we not reminded
+of the sweet lines&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,<br />
+Let me hide myself in Thee"?<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The Lord Himself is the great Instructor
+and Leader of His people, and
+He guides them with His eye always
+upon them, watching and protecting the
+objects of His care (ver. 8). But David
+would tenderly exhort all who heard,
+and still hear him, to dread sin, and be
+afraid of all wayward, self-willed feelings.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+"Be ye not as the horse, or the
+mule, that have no understanding" of
+their owners' will sometimes, but will, if
+possible, get their own way, and need to
+be steered and restrained. "I have
+been like them," David seems to say,
+"and I was allowed to take my own
+course; and oh, how fearfully I went
+astray! Be warned by my fall, and
+learn, with me, to pray, 'Hold Thou me
+up, and I shall be safe.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked,
+but they that trust in the Lord," though
+they are weak, and foolish, and imperfect,
+"shall be compassed about with
+mercy." Therefore, "be glad in the
+Lord, ye righteous: and shout for joy,
+all ye that are upright in heart," for
+He is good and faithful, and will preserve
+you; He is gracious, and will forgive;
+He is holy and almighty, and He
+will cleanse you from all unrighteousness,
+and fill and crown you with His
+glory for ever.</p>
+
+<p>May we be kept by the power and providence
+of God from falling into sin and
+evil, but since we have sinned and come
+short of His glory&mdash;since we need pardon
+and cleansing&mdash;may we be led to pray,
+with David, "Wash me, and I shall
+be whiter than snow. Create in me a
+clean heart, O God, and renew a right
+spirit within me." Like him, may we
+know the joys of divine forgiveness, and
+then be helped to show forth our Saviour's
+praise, not only by our words, but in our
+lives, by walking in the way of His commandments,
+and "cleaving to Him with
+purpose of heart."</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, John xvii. 22.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">Your loving friend,<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Do</span> those things that you judge to be
+good, although, after you have done
+them, you may be disesteemed, being
+regardless of the praise or blame of the
+vulgar.&mdash;<i>Pythagoras.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">What Kind of Service is Most
+Acceptable to God?</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>God accepts that service which is
+prompted entirely out of love to
+Him with greater pleasure than
+any other. If we obey our parents
+and serve God only with a view of being
+praised by men, He does not accept our
+service, and we may be compared with
+the scribes and Pharisees washing the
+outside of the platter and of the cup,
+but leaving the inside unclean. Jesus
+says, "Woe unto you, scribes and
+Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean
+the outside of the cup and of the platter,
+but within they are full of extortion and
+excess" (Matt. xxiii. 25). Jesus means
+by this that the scribes and Pharisees
+gave heed to all the outward ceremonies
+of religion, and were, to all appearance,
+good and upright; but they did not
+really love God in their hearts. God
+looks upon the motive which prompts
+any little kindness to any one. He does
+not look so much at the action. He
+says, even a cup of cold water, if given
+for Jesus' sake, will be remembered and
+rewarded (Matt. x. 42; Mark ix. 41).
+Jesus says that even the widow who put
+her farthing into the treasury, gave more
+than the scribes and Pharisees, who put
+in large sums of money. He means by
+this that the widow put in all she had.
+She must have had great love to God to
+give her last farthing for the use of God's
+house, and the Pharisees were really
+prompted to put in their large sums of
+money because of the praise of man. In
+obeying our parents, and in whatever
+we do, we should do it as unto the
+Lord.</p>
+
+<p>Paul says, "Not with eye-service, as
+men pleasers; but as the servants of
+Christ, doing the will of God from the
+heart; with good will doing service as
+to the Lord, and not to men" (Eph. vi.
+6, 7).</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+"Only a kindly action,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Done to a child of God;</span><br />
+Not done to cause attraction,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But as unto Christ the Lord."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>When Mary poured the precious box
+of ointment on Jesus' head, and anointed
+His feet, and wiped them with her hair,
+she did it out of love to Him, and Jesus
+accepted her service; and when some
+were angry at what they termed the
+woman's waste of ointment, Jesus reproved
+them, and said, "She hath done
+what she could."</p>
+
+<p>Oh, that we may have our sins forgiven
+through the blood of Jesus, and be
+enabled to serve Him acceptably, so
+that we may have the joy of hearing
+Him say, at the last day, "Come, thou
+blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
+prepared for you from the foundation
+of the world" (Matt. xxv. 34).</p>
+
+<p>
+"Search me, O God, is my desire,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nor let me from Thy ways depart;</span><br />
+To love and serve Thee I aspire,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Enriched with Mary's better part."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Mabel Ellen Denly</span><br />
+(Aged 11 years).
+</div>
+
+<p><i>197, High Street, Hounslow.</i></p>
+
+<p>[We have received several good Essays
+this month, especially those from E. B.
+Knocker, Jane Bell, Margaret Creasey,
+L. Rush, and P. Rackham. We hope
+all of them, as well as the very young
+friend who wrote the above, will feel
+encouraged to persevere.]</p>
+
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of <span class="smcap">The Sower</span> for 1887.</p>
+
+<p>The subject for April will be, "Who
+are they that will Stand Perfect in the
+Day of Judgment?" and the prize to
+be given for the best Essay on that
+subject, a copy of "The Life of John
+Newton." All competitors must give a
+guarantee that they are under fifteen
+years of age, and that the Essay is
+their own composition, or the papers
+will be passed over, as the Editor
+cannot undertake to write for this necessary
+information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117,
+High Street, Hastings, by the first of
+March.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>"LET NO MAN DESPISE THEE."</h2>
+
+
+<p>Does the injunction to Timothy and
+Titus respectively&mdash;"Let no man
+less despise thy youth," and "Let no
+man despise thee"&mdash;give any sanction
+to self-assertiveness? Let it not be
+thought so. Am I eccentric for the sake
+of eccentricity, or for the sake of attracting
+notoriety? Am I tenacious of my
+own rights, while sublimely indifferent
+to the rights of others? Do I try to
+pass myself off for better, wiser, richer,
+or nobler than I am? Then I deserve to
+be despised. But if, in the vindication
+of unpalatable truth, or in the steadfast
+and unostentatious discharge of duty, I
+encounter scorn, be scorn my portion.
+The sum of the matter seems to me to be
+this&mdash;While, on the one hand, I must
+be willing, for conscience' sake, to endure
+reproach, opposition, buffeting, and
+contempt, I must be equally concerned,
+on the other, to avoid every questionable
+act or thing that, with any show of
+reason, may cause me to be despised,
+and may thus materially mar my influence
+for good.</p>
+
+<p>Herein does the poet of the "Night
+Thoughts" hit the mark&mdash;"Revere thyself,
+and yet thyself despise." Let self
+be "of no reputation," but, at the same
+time, do thou faithfully and prayerfully
+pursue intrinsic worth, and let not "a
+good name" be of no account in thy
+regard.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Thomson Sharp.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Egotism</span> and self-assertion are unamiable
+traits.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A correspondent</span> of the <i>Echo</i> calls attention
+to the fact that, at Dr. Lee's church, in the
+New Cut, on Sunday night, January 1st, the <i>Te
+Deum</i> was sung in thanksgiving for the Papal
+Jubilee, and wishes to know what is to prevent
+it. "Nothing," replies the editor.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">According</span> to the <i>Charity Record</i>, the amount
+of money bequeathed in great sums for charitable
+purposes during the year just closed was
+more than £700,000; and if bequests under
+£1,000 be added, the total would at least reach
+£1,000,000. This is exclusive of the money
+given to several religious and book-publishing
+societies.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Thieving Elephant.</span>&mdash;The contents of a
+clothes-chest, belonging to one of the people
+recently employed in the carnival in the
+Waverley Market, Edinburgh, disappeared in a
+rather amusing fashion. The chest had been
+lying near the performing elephants, and in the
+morning it was observed that one of these
+animals was particularly lively, and apparently
+in the very highest spirits. Later on, the owner
+of the chest discovered that the whole of the
+contents had been abstracted. Subsequent
+examination satisfied the searchers that one of
+the animals was responsible for the disappearance
+of the wardrobe, and as none of the articles
+could be discovered hidden away in its vicinity,
+the only conclusion that could be come to was,
+that the mischievous animal had swallowed the
+whole lot&mdash;boots, brushes, trousers, shirts, and
+several other articles of wearing apparel.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Baku Naphtha Springs.</span>&mdash;Although
+within the last two years intelligence has
+frequently reached Europe of extraordinary
+outbursts of mineral oil on the Apsheron peninsula,
+near Baku, nothing has yet equalled the
+astonishing outbreak which the Northern Telegraph
+Agency telegraphed a few days ago.
+Their telegram was to the effect that, near the
+petroleum works of a certain M. Arafeloff, a
+fountain of oil was throwing out over 2,400 tons
+daily, that this had been continuing without
+intermission for four weeks, and that more than
+the half of this enormous output was going to
+waste. It is to this loss of the oil that attention
+is now being directed. Not only at Arafeloff's
+fountain, but at almost every large fountain in
+the Balakhan-Sabuntchin district, the waste of
+this most valuable product has been enormous.
+Millions of poods of oil have been lost owing
+to the inefficient way in which it is reservoired
+and stored. It is now understood that the
+Government will take immediate steps to
+prevent this ruinous waste, and to compel the
+owners of oil-springs to adopt more scientific
+methods of boring, collecting, and storing.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An Irish Cabin Paved with Gold.</span>&mdash;The
+<i>Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette</i> of December 31st
+contains the following:&mdash;"A few weeks ago, the
+writer was in a bank office in a country town
+in the south of Ireland, when a very common-looking,
+roughly-dressed man passed out after
+a conference with the manager. The latter
+said, 'Did you see that man? Well, some time
+ago, there was a run on the Bank of Ireland
+here, and he withdrew (receiving it in gold)
+£700 which he had there on deposit. That sum
+he informs me he still has at home, "under the
+kitchen flure." He has also more than £400
+on deposit here with us.' Is it not hard to know
+'what is truth' in Ireland? Here you have the
+floor of an Irish cabin literally paved with gold
+at a time when the payment of rent is impossible.
+It may be said that this is an exceptional case,
+but we believe such cases are not at all so rare
+as some suppose."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Roman correspondent of <i>Le Paris</i> of
+January 5th states that, at Florence, Mr. Gladstone
+was heard to express a desire to see Leo
+XIII. This being repeated at the Vatican, the
+Pope sent word to Mr. Gladstone that nothing
+would delight him more than to have a visit
+from him. It is therefore arranged, says the
+correspondent of the <i>Paris</i>, that he is to go to
+Rome, and when he calls at the Vatican, is to be
+received according to the ceremonial adopted
+there when non-Catholic visitors are admitted
+to audiences. The correspondent thinks that
+anxiety about the Irish question moved Mr.
+Gladstone to manifest the desire above mentioned,
+and that the Pope's celerity in reciprocating
+it sprung from the same cause. The
+Pope has been urged to stand out against the
+Land League; but, feeling what a momentous
+thing it would be to do this, he is, we are told,
+delighted to talk over the matter with Mr.
+Gladstone. Thus we see Salisbury and Co. and
+Gladstone and Co. are in perfect agreement as
+to giving their power to the Pope. It is only a
+keen competition between them as to which
+shall be first, and do it most effectually. Since
+Salisbury and Co. have encouraged the Queen
+to despise her coronation oath, we need no
+longer wonder that they are so quiet about Mr.
+Bradlaugh. Perhaps Lord R. Churchill's expressions
+on the subject were anticipatory of
+the whole matter. We find that neither party
+is worthy of being entrusted with our Protestant
+interests.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span><span class="smcap">Nine</span> hundred thousand dog licenses were
+issued for the past year. The duty amounted
+to £340,000.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Christmas at the London Post Office</span>.&mdash;From
+statistics it would seem that never before
+have the Post Office officials had their energies
+so severely taxed as on Christmas Eve last,
+during which day no fewer than 15,000,000
+letters and newspapers were forwarded to their
+destination. In all some 3,000 supernumerary
+men were engaged, these being in addition to
+the regular staff. At Coldbath Fields, where
+the Parcel Post is now conducted, some 65,000
+inland and 5,000 foreign parcels were disposed
+of during the day, for the conveyance of which
+to the various railway termini more than 800
+vans were brought into requisition.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An Atlantic Wave</span>.&mdash;An immense wave recently
+fell upon the steamship <i>Umbria</i> with a
+deafening roar when a thousand miles from
+Queenstown, bringing the ship to a standstill,
+and causing much damage to the decks. Stout
+brass rods, an inch in diameter, that formed
+the railing about the bridge, were twisted
+and bent like straws. An eye-witness,
+who has made thirteen ocean voyages, thus
+describes the occurrence:&mdash;"The look-out
+saw the wave coming, and the course of
+the vessel was altered so that she met it
+obliquely, while the speed of the engines was
+slackened. As I saw the huge wave, it looked
+like a black mass of water with white waves on
+the top, and it rolled higher and higher as it
+neared the vessel. When it struck her she
+shivered from stem to stern, and the combing
+of the wave fell with the weight of tons on the
+deck. The wood cover of the forward hatch
+was splintered in pieces, while the water poured
+in torrents into the hold, but the bulkheads
+were closed. The bridge was broken, and the
+iron stanchions were twisted with enormous
+force, while the turtle-back was flattened by
+the tremendous weight of the water. There
+was also a panic among the passengers, most
+of whom were sleeping in their berths. When
+the force of the wave was felt, they thought the
+ship was going to the bottom, and many in their
+night-clothes rushed into the main dining-room.
+Of course the danger was past, as the wave
+rolled by, and the excitement subsided."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Zion Sunday School, Herden Bridge,
+Yorkshire</span>.&mdash;The friends, teachers, and
+scholars connected with the above place celebrated
+their annual Christmas tea festival
+on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1887.
+The school-room was very tastefully decorated
+with evergreens and mottoes in touch with the
+season; also the tables, so richly laden with
+all sorts of nice and dainty things, had not
+escaped the eye of the decorators, for at intervals
+luxuriant exotics were placed, thereby contributing
+a very pleasing appearance. The
+children's features were lightened up with the
+thought of their happy treat; also the older
+people seemed to wear pleasant countenances,
+and apparently enjoyed the time, notwithstanding
+their thoughts were in a much loftier
+strain. The tea was served by the young ladies
+of the place to about one hundred and forty.
+After tea, a public meeting was held in the
+chapel, presided over by Mr. John Smith, of
+Halifax. The meeting was opened by singing
+a Christmas hymn, after which Mr. T. Barritt,
+senior deacon, offered prayer. Mr. E. Hargreaves
+presented the prizes to the scholars for
+good attendance. Addresses were also delivered
+by Messrs. T. Smith, Jos. Smith, and T. Barritt.
+Hymns were sung. The report was read by the
+Secretary, which showed an increase of eight
+during the year, the present number on the
+books being eighty-two. Recitations were
+given by the scholars, and a very good meeting
+was brought to a close a little after nine
+o'clock.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Albert Street Chapel Sunday School,
+Oxford</span>.&mdash;The prizes were distributed to the
+scholars on Tuesday, December 27th, 1887.
+The meeting was opened by singing, "I thank
+the goodness and the grace"; this was followed
+by prayer. Owing to the indisposition of Mr.
+Newton, the friends, teachers, and scholars
+were greatly disappointed in not having the
+usual address they look forward to every year
+from the Superintendent. There were twenty-eight
+boys and girls who said pieces, and they,
+one and all, deserve great commendation for
+the capital way in which they recited. One
+girl, aged twelve, rehearsed the story of
+"Giving Away a Child," in prose, from Volume
+IX. of the <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span>. Another scholar,
+aged twelve, repeated in a very perfect manner
+a lengthy piece containing seventy-nine verses,
+entitled "The Little Pilgrim." This too was
+taken from an early volume of the <span class="smcap">Little
+Gleaner</span>. A boy, aged eleven, rehearsed very
+nicely a difficult piece called "The Two
+Brothers, and what Echo said to them," and
+he imitated the echo capitally. Then followed,
+perhaps, the greatest attraction of the evening,
+namely, the distribution of the prizes. The first
+prize in the boys' class was awarded to William
+Tombs, and in the girls' class to Elizabeth
+Leech. As usual, a prize was given for the best
+essay&mdash;the subject, "The History of Joseph."
+This prize was awarded to a boy, who received
+a nicely-bound book, entitled "Pebbles from
+the Brook." The meeting was closed with
+prayer.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+M. S. P.</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 374px;">
+<img src="images/img052.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="CARING FOR THE LITTLE ONES" title="CARING FOR THE LITTLE ONES" />
+<span class="caption">CARING FOR THE LITTLE ONES</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CARING FOR THE LITTLE ONES.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The faithful guardians of our cities
+have many and varied duties to
+perform, but perhaps in none of
+them does the kindness of their hearts
+shine forth as it does in their tenderness
+to little ones who have lost themselves
+in the winding streets of a great city. In
+wet or wintry weather they treat them
+tenderly, and take them home, or to the
+warm fire at the nearest station, till
+their parents claim them. This incident
+may well call to mind the kindness of
+Jesus to the little ones when on earth,
+as we read&mdash;"And they brought young
+children to Him, that He should touch
+them: and His disciples rebuked those
+that brought them. But when Jesus
+saw it, He was much displeased, and
+said unto them, Suffer the little children
+to come unto Me, and forbid them not:
+for of such is the kingdom of God. And
+He took them up in His arms, put His
+hands upon them, and blessed them"
+(Mark x. 13, 14, 16).</p>
+
+<p>
+The mothers came, in days of old,<br />
+To Jesus, that He might enfold<br />
+Within His arms their children dear,<br />
+And then His kindness did appear.<br />
+<br />
+Disciples thought it waste of time;<br />
+Rebuked, as though it was a crime;<br />
+But it was ne'er the Saviour's way<br />
+To turn poor coming ones away.<br />
+<br />
+Therefore the Lord was much displeased,<br />
+And thus the happy moment seized;<br />
+Them in His arms did take and bear,<br />
+Showing His love and kindly care.<br />
+<br />
+His loving voice could never say&mdash;<br />
+"Oh, take these little ones away!"<br />
+And though the parents' hearts might fear,<br />
+He loved to see them coming near.<br />
+<br />
+His blessed words, "Forbid them not,"<br />
+Are with much heavenly comfort fraught;<br />
+And "Suffer them to come to Me,"<br />
+Gives forth a welcome kind and free.<br />
+<br />
+In Him sweet rays of mercy shine&mdash;<br />
+So tender, harmless, yet divine;<br />
+Upon them He His hands doth place,<br />
+And blesses them in truth and grace.<br />
+<br />
+Displeased with what His servants did,<br />
+And having their unkindness chid,<br />
+He makes His pleasure shine so bright,<br />
+Causing the mothers much delight.<br />
+<br />
+Oh, tell it out, to heal the smart<br />
+Of many an anxious parent's heart&mdash;<br />
+He hears the sigh, He sees the tear,<br />
+And each poor pleader welcomes near.<br />
+<br />
+Oh, tell it out, that children dear<br />
+May seek His face, and never fear,<br />
+That He will hear their feeble prayer,<br />
+And give them in His love to share.<br />
+<br />
+He speaks of heaven and glorious things,<br />
+And is so meek, though King of kings;<br />
+Of children says, to cheer and please,<br />
+"The kingdom is of such as these."<br />
+<br />
+Oh, eyes that saw with kindly look!<br />
+Oh, arms that thus the children took!<br />
+Oh, hands, parental-like, thus laid!<br />
+Oh, words to bless, what grace displayed!<br />
+<br />
+Lord, fix our youthful eyes on Thee;<br />
+Grant us Thy love and grace to see;<br />
+Cause us to love Thy blessed name,<br />
+And tune our tongues to speak Thy fame.<br />
+<br />
+The proud, the lofty, all defiled,<br />
+Must be made as a little child;<br />
+Must all their sins and vileness own,<br />
+And seek for mercy at Thy throne.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a><br />
+<br />
+Oh, Saviour, may Thy love so free<br />
+Encourage souls to come to Thee;<br />
+And may they, finding all they need,<br />
+Confess that they are blest indeed.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">B. B.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> biggest lies are told for the least
+cause.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A BUDDING OF HOPE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Dear young readers of the <span class="smcap">Little
+Gleaner</span>, how very true and
+solemn are the words of the poet&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"The moment when our lives begin<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We all begin to die."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>And at what age death may take us
+none of us can say. From among the
+large number who read the <span class="smcap">Gleaner</span>,
+we every now and again hear of one
+being taken away by death.</p>
+
+<p>Lizzie Winchester, of Cross-in-Hand,
+was a constant reader of the <span class="smcap">Gleaner</span>,
+and of other good books, but not to the
+neglecting of her Bible. She was a
+scholar in the Sunday School at Ebenezer
+Chapel, Heathfield, where she was
+always very quiet and attentive, and she
+was also very fond of her teacher. When
+she left school, she regularly attended
+chapel with her sisters, sitting where
+she could see the school children, and
+would complain when she got home if
+she saw any that did not behave themselves
+properly. She had a great reverence
+for the house of God and for the
+servants of God. She had but few companions,
+but was much beloved for her
+little acts of kindness in sending to one
+and another small presents. Some little
+time before her death she sent "The
+Sack and its Treasure" to a young
+friend at Eastbourne, as a birthday present;
+and who can say how much real
+good may result from such little gifts as
+that? I should not think that any one
+could point out a flaw in her moral
+character. But this was not grace; and
+although she needed no outward reformation,
+yet if the heart be not changed,
+there can be no entering into the kingdom
+of God.</p>
+
+<p>The last time that she walked to chapel,
+a distance of three miles&mdash;making six
+miles both ways&mdash;was on August 21st.
+It was not then known that anything was
+the matter with her. First her throat
+was sore, and she felt poorly, but she
+still kept about. On Wednesday, September
+14th, she was out, and gathered
+half a gallon of blackberries. She was
+up on Thursday and Friday, and put her
+clothes on on Saturday, but could not
+get down stairs. Towards night she was
+much worse, and it was found that her
+affliction was diabetes.</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday she was very ill, and the
+doctor said she could not last long.
+Her Sunday School teacher, Miss C&mdash;&mdash;,
+was sent for, and when she arrived, she
+saw that Lizzie was sinking fast, and
+found that she could say but little.</p>
+
+<p>I am not going to set her up, and
+positively say she was a partaker of
+grace, for the very few words she uttered
+are not of themselves sufficient evidence
+for that. About five o'clock, during her
+mother's absence, she said, in a very
+low tone of voice, "I hope Jesus will
+heal my soul," or, "Perhaps Jesus will
+heal my soul." Miss C&mdash;&mdash; could not
+distinguish the words so as to be sure
+which.</p>
+
+<p>Early on Monday morning, the 19th
+of September, 1887, she died. Had she
+lived till the 26th, she would have been
+eighteen years of age. Just as she departed
+there was a beautiful smile came
+over her countenance; and as Miss
+C&mdash;&mdash; afterwards went with several
+friends to see the corpse, these words
+came into her mind as if some one had
+spoken them to her&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not a wave of trouble rolls<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Across her peaceful breast."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Mockford buried her on the following
+Saturday; and, among other
+things, he spoke from these words&mdash;"If
+the tree fall toward the south, or toward
+the north, in the place where the tree
+falleth there it shall be." He spoke of
+the departed as being toward the south&mdash;toward
+the house of God, the people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+of God, and the ways and Word of God;
+and as she was so far joined to the
+living, there was hope that she would be
+found among that people at the resurrection
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday morning in the school,
+one of the teachers read that chapter
+where the same words stand, and, though
+not at the funeral, some very similar remarks
+were made, and the same hope
+concerning the departed was expressed.
+I am sure of this&mdash;that, if she had that
+good thing in her heart toward the Lord
+God of Israel, namely, faith toward
+Jesus and His blood, she is now joining</p>
+
+<p>
+"The host of virgin saints<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Made to salvation wise."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The question may arise, "Why say
+anything about her, since there is no
+more ground for hope than this?"</p>
+
+<p>It is to the living I want to say a few
+words, hoping the Lord will make use of
+this feeble account to lead the young
+readers of the <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span> to consider
+how matters stand with them before
+God and for eternity.</p>
+
+<p>
+"Reflect, young friend, I humbly crave,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Thy sins, how high they mount!</span><br />
+What are thy hopes beyond the grave?<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">How stands that dark account?"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Oh, how solemn your case, if you are
+in an unpardoned state! Death may
+come upon you speedily, and then what
+will you do? All who die without repentance
+and forgiveness must hear that
+solemn word from the lips of Christ,
+"Depart from Me!" Are you blessed
+with a good hope, through grace? Then
+you certainly have something to be
+thankful to God for. Or are you in some
+doubt as to whether you have a living
+hope in Christ? And do you fear that,
+if called to die, you could say no more
+than Lizzie Winchester did? Then
+my prayer for such an one is, that the
+Lord may stir you up to real, earnest,
+wrestling prayer and importunity respecting
+your salvation.</p>
+
+<p>
+"If hellish foes beset thee round,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And would thy way withstand,</span><br />
+On Jesus call, nor yield thy ground,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And He will help command."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>It is no small mercy, reader, if your
+moral character will compare with
+Lizzie Winchester's. She was a model
+in this respect, and I hope you may be
+found in every way as consistent as she
+was, and, above all, may you be found
+in Christ Jesus, living and dying.</p>
+
+<p>I had thought of saying more, but, as
+I wish to be brief, I will conclude by
+telling you that, notwithstanding her
+reservedness, several friends, with myself,
+had a good hope of Lizzie. We do
+trust she is now</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">"completely blest;</span><br />
+Has done with sin, and care, and woe,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And entered Jesus' rest."</span><br />
+</p>
+<div class="signature">
+W. L.
+</div>
+
+<p>[We hope our readers will bear in
+mind the motive our friend has in writing,
+and we in giving, this brief account
+of Lizzie Winchester; and may the Holy
+Spirit cause the reading of it to make
+them feel the importance of the new
+birth, and stir them up to seek clear and
+certain evidences of their salvation, so
+that, when they come to die, they may
+be able to confess, "I know whom I
+have believed, and am persuaded that
+He is able to keep that which I have
+committed unto Him."&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed</span>.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN MARCH.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Mar.  4. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 23.<br />
+Mar. 11. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 24.<br />
+Mar. 18. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 25.<br />
+Mar. 25. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 26.<br /><br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> first character of right childhood
+is, that it is modest.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p>
+<h2>"THERE IS NO REST IN HELL!"</h2>
+
+<h3>AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Dear Reader,&mdash;The following
+account being "an authenticated
+fact," it is put before you with
+the hope that you may be thereby led to
+solemnly consider the subject of a future
+state. God's truth does not require fiction
+to make it effectual; therefore, the
+net of truth should only be weighted
+with words of truth.</p>
+
+<p>The awful, but true, narrative now put
+before you takes us back for something
+like a century, to the city of Glasgow,
+where, at that time, was a club of gentlemen
+of the first rank in that city.
+They met professedly for card-playing;
+but the members were distinguished by
+such a fearless excess of profligacy as to
+obtain for it the name of "The Hell Club."</p>
+
+<p>Besides their nightly or weekly meetings,
+they held a grand annual festival,
+at which each member endeavoured to
+"outdo all his former outdoings" in
+drunkenness, blasphemy, and licentiousness.
+Of all who shone on these occasions,
+none shone half so brilliantly as
+Archibald Boyle. Educated by a fond
+and foolishly indulgent mother, he was
+early allowed to meet in society with
+members of "The Hell Club."</p>
+
+<p>One night, on retiring to sleep, after
+returning from one of the annual meetings
+of the club, Boyle dreamt that he
+was still riding, as usual, upon his
+famous black horse, towards his own
+house&mdash;then a country seat embowered
+by ancient trees, and situated upon a
+hill now built over by the most fashionable
+part of Glasgow&mdash;and that he was
+suddenly accosted by some one, whose
+personal appearance he could not, in the
+gloom of night, distinctly discern, but
+who, seizing the reins, said, in a voice
+apparently accustomed to command,
+"You must go with me." "And who
+are you?" exclaimed Boyle, with a
+volley of blasphemous execrations, while
+he struggled to disengage his reins from
+the intruder's grasp. "That you will
+see by-and-bye," replied the same voice,
+in a cold, sneering tone, that thrilled
+through his very heart. Boyle plunged
+his spurs into the panting sides of his
+steed. The noble animal reared, and
+then darted forward with a speed which
+nearly deprived his rider of breath. But
+in vain&mdash;in vain! Fleeter than the wind
+he flew, the mysterious, half-seen guide
+still in front of him! Agonized by he
+knew not what of indescribable horror
+and awe, Boyle again furiously spurred
+the gallant horse. It fiercely reared
+and plunged. He lost his seat, and expected
+at the moment to feel himself
+dashed to the earth. But not so, for he
+continued to fall&mdash;fall&mdash;fall&mdash;it appeared
+to himself with an ever-increasing velocity.
+At length this terrific rapidity of
+motion abated, and, to his amazement
+and horror, he perceived that this mysterious
+attendant was close by his side.
+"Where," he exclaimed, in the frantic
+energy of despair, "where are you taking
+me? Where am I? Where am I
+going?" "To hell!" replied the same
+iron voice, and from the depths below
+the sound so familiar to his lips was
+suddenly re-echoed&mdash;"To hell!"</p>
+
+<p>Onward, onward they hurried in darkness,
+rendered more horrible still by the
+conscious presence of his spectral conductor.
+At length a glimmering light
+appeared in the distance, and soon increased
+to a blaze. But, as they approached
+it, in addition to the hideously
+discordant groans and yells of agony
+and despair, his ears were assailed with
+what seemed to be the echoes of frantic
+revelry.</p>
+
+<p>Boyle at length perceived that he was
+surrounded by those whom he had known
+on earth, but were some time dead, each
+one of them betraying his agony at the
+bitter recollections of the vain pursuits
+that had engrossed his time here.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>Suddenly observing that his unearthly
+conductor had disappeared, he felt so
+relieved by his absence that he ventured
+to address his former friend, Mrs. D&mdash;&mdash;,
+whom he saw sitting with eyes fixed in
+intense earnestness, as she was wont
+on earth, apparently absorbed at her
+favourite game of loo. "Ha! Mrs.
+D&mdash;&mdash;! Delighted to see you! D'ye
+know a fellow told me to-night he was
+bringing me to hell! Ha! ha! If this
+be hell," said he, scoffingly, "what a
+&mdash;&mdash; pleasant place it must be! Ha!
+ha! Come now, my good Mrs. D&mdash;&mdash;,
+for auld lang syne, do just stop for a
+moment, rest, and"&mdash;"show me
+through the pleasures of hell," he was
+going, with reckless profanity, to add;
+but, with a shriek that seemed to cleave
+through his very soul, she exclaimed,
+"<i>Rest!</i> There is no rest in hell!" and
+from the interminable vaults, voices, as
+loud as thunder, repeated the awful, the
+heart-withering sound, "<i>There is no
+rest in hell!</i>" and he who, in his vision,
+walked among them in a mortal frame
+of flesh and blood, felt how inexpressibly
+more horrible such sounds could be than
+ever was the wildest shriek of agony on
+earth.</p>
+
+<p>He saw Maxwell, the former companion
+of his own boyish profligacy,
+and said, "Stop, Harry! stop! Speak
+to me! Oh, rest one moment!" Scarce
+had the words been breathed from his
+faltering lips, when again his terror-stricken
+ear was stunned with the same
+wild yell of agony, re-echoed by ten
+thousand thousand voices&mdash;"<i>There is
+no rest in hell!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>All at once he perceived that his unearthly
+conductor was once more by
+his side. "Take me," shrieked Boyle,
+"take me from this place! By the
+living God, whose name I have so often
+outraged, I adjure thee! Take me from
+this place!"</p>
+
+<p>"Canst thou still name His name?"
+said the fiend, with a hideous sneer.
+"Go, then; but, in a year and a day,
+<i>we</i> meet, to part no more!"</p>
+
+<p>Boyle awoke; and he felt as if the
+last words of the fiend were traced in
+letters of living fire upon his heart and
+brain. Unable, from actual bodily ailment,
+to leave his bed for several days,
+the horrid vision had full time to take
+effect upon his mind; and many were
+the pangs of tardy remorse and ill-defined
+terror that beset his vice-stained
+soul, as he lay in darkness and seclusion&mdash;to
+him so very unusual. He resolved,
+utterly and for ever, to forsake
+"The Hell Club." Above all, he determined
+that nothing on earth should
+tempt him to join the next annual
+festival.</p>
+
+<p>The companions of his licentiousness
+bound themselves by an oath never to
+desist till they had discovered what was
+the matter with him, and had cured him
+of <i>playing the Methodist;</i> for their
+alarm as to losing "the life of the
+Club" had been wrought up to the
+highest pitch by one of their number
+declaring that, on unexpectedly entering
+Boyle's room, he detected him in
+the act of hastily hiding a Book, which
+he actually believed was the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>Alas! alas! poor Boyle! Like many
+a youth, he was ashamed to avow his
+convictions, and his endless ruin followed.</p>
+
+<p>From the annual meeting he shrank
+with an instinctive horror, and made
+up his mind <i>utterly to avoid it</i>. Well
+aware of this resolve, his tempters determined
+he should have no choice.
+How potent, how active, is the spirit
+of evil! How feeble is <i>unassisted</i>,
+<i>Christless</i>, <i>unprayerful</i> man! Boyle
+found himself, he could not tell how,
+seated at that table on that very day,
+where he had sworn to himself a thousand
+and a thousand times nothing on
+earth should make him sit.</p>
+
+<p>His ears tingled, and his eyes swam,
+as he listened to the opening sentence of
+the president's address&mdash;"Gentlemen,
+this is leap year; therefore, it is <i>a year
+and a day</i> since our last annual meeting."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>Every nerve in Boyle's body twanged
+in agony at the ominous, the well-remembered
+words. His first impulse was
+to rise and fly; but then&mdash;the sneers!
+the sneers!</p>
+
+<p>How many in this world, as well as
+poor Boyle, have dreaded a sneer, and
+dared the wrath of an almighty and
+eternal God, rather than encounter the
+sarcastic curl of a fellow-creature's lip!</p>
+
+<p>The night was gloomy, with frequent
+and fitful gusts of chill and howling
+wind, as Boyle, with fevered nerves and
+a reeling brain, mounted his horse to
+return home.</p>
+
+<p>The following morning, the well-known
+black steed was found, with saddle and
+bridle on, quietly grazing on the road-side,
+about half-way to Boyle's country-house,
+and a few yards from it lay the
+stiffened corpse of its master.</p>
+
+<p>Reader, the dream is horrible&mdash;truly
+horrible&mdash;yet not half so horrible as the
+reality. Ah! no. No dream can picture
+the full, long misery of "the worm
+that dieth not," "the fire that is never
+quenched," the woe that never ends.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, reader, if, under the poison of
+infidelity, you have been led to doubt the
+existence of hell, I pray God you may
+believe the awful reality ere you are in
+it!</p>
+
+<p>If God did not punish sin, His indifference
+to it would encourage it. If
+God did not punish sin, where were His
+holy abhorrence of it? If God did not
+punish sin, His kingdom would be a
+moral chaos. But His Word declares
+that "we must all appear before the
+judgment-seat of Christ, that every one
+may receive the things done in his body,
+according to that he hath done, whether
+it be good or bad" (2 Cor. v. 10).</p>
+
+<p>Reader, as in the days of Noah, so
+now. Death threatens all who are out
+of Christ, and, therefore, in their sins.
+There was then only one place of
+safety; there is only one place of safety
+now&mdash;that is, in the Ark, Christ. "<span class="smcap">Ye
+must be born again</span>." The horror
+you have felt in reading this dream
+will be no benefit to you if it is not
+made, in the hands of the Spirit, the
+means of your flying to Christ for refuge.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, that in some hearts, the reading of
+this sad narrative may prove the means
+of producing the earnest cry, "Deliver
+me from going down to the pit!" and
+"What must I do to be saved?" To
+such God's free invitation to the heavy-laden
+sinner to come to Christ for rest
+is given, and Jesus Himself declares,
+"Him that cometh to Me, I will in no
+wise cast out" (John vi. 37).</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE SCOTCH THISTLE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Why the Scots chose the thistle for
+a national insignia is told in this
+legend. It was at the time of
+an invasion, when the destinies
+of Scotland hung upon the result of a
+battle soon to come. The invaders knew
+that the Scots were desperate, and
+availed themselves of a dark, stormy
+night, and planned to fall upon the
+Scottish army on every side at the same
+moment. Had they been suffered to
+execute their plan undetected, they would
+certainly have succeeded in destroying
+the Scots; but a simple accident betrayed
+them. When near the Scottish
+camp, the foremost of the invaders removed
+the heavy shoes from their feet,
+so that their steps might not be heard,
+and thus stealthily advancing barefooted,
+a heavy, quick-tempered soldier trod
+squarely upon a huge thistle, the sharp
+point of which gave such sudden and
+exquisite pain that he cried out with a
+bitter curse. His cry aroused the outlying
+Scots, and apprized them of their
+danger, and meeting the foe widely
+divided for the purpose of encompassing
+the camp, they were enabled easily to
+overcome them with great slaughter.
+When the Scots discovered that it was
+to a thistle that they owed their victory,
+they adopted the prickly plant as their
+national emblem.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p>
+<h2>COUSIN SUSAN'S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND
+WORK OF FATHER CHINIQUY.</h2>
+
+<h3>"BELOVED, BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT."</h3>
+
+
+<p>We have often wondered why any
+one should believe that a bit of
+consecrated bread was the true
+body and soul of the Lord Jesus,
+and that, as such, it should be reverenced
+and adored. But our surprise abates,
+though our sorrow increases, when we
+trace the steps by which a Roman
+Catholic reaches that point of folly and
+superstition, as the interesting narrative
+of Father Chiniquy brings them to our
+view.</p>
+
+<p>When he was eleven or twelve years
+old, he met with a class of lads about the
+same age, to be prepared for his first
+communion; and there he was taught
+that, just as his mother punished him
+more seldom and less severely than his
+father for his faults, and just as his
+mother often interceded for him and
+saved him from punishment altogether,
+so Mary was more pitiful, more tender,
+than Jesus, and when He was righteously
+angry, His mother&mdash;the mother of all
+who pray to her&mdash;turned away His
+anger, and averted the strokes He was
+about to inflict on the sinner.</p>
+
+<p>The thought of <i>this</i> Christ&mdash;terrible,
+angry, unapproachable&mdash;was dark and
+chilling in the extreme. He seemed a
+Being to be feared, but not beloved.</p>
+
+<p>And then the false Church presented
+another Christ to view&mdash;a god made with
+hands, not of wood or stone, but of
+wheaten flour. The priest's servant girl
+or attendant takes the dough, bakes it
+between two heated irons, on which are
+graven the letters, I. H. S., and the
+figure of a cross. These wafers, about
+four or five inches large, when well
+baked, are cut with a pair of scissors
+into smaller ones, about one inch in
+size, and then the priest, taking them to
+the altar, and pronouncing Latin words
+for "This is My body," is supposed to
+turn each of these into the Christ who
+lived and loved and suffered here, a
+gentle, tender, loving Saviour; and the
+poor deluded creatures who tremble
+before Christ in heaven, bow down and
+adore, when they do not eat, the paltry
+wafer which the priest has blessed.</p>
+
+<p>Chiniquy himself passed whole hours,
+in biting wintry weather, in a church
+never warmed by a fire, worshipping
+this wafer god. He was yearning for
+divine sympathy and love, and hoped he
+had it then.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, though he tried to "believe
+a lie" so earnestly, his faith was often
+shaken by what he saw and heard.</p>
+
+<p>In a company of priests, a strange
+story was told of a drunken curate and
+his deacon, who, called to go a long
+journey in snowy weather, to carry the
+sacred wafer to a sick person, had a
+dispute with a traveller as to which
+should lead his horses into the deep
+snow, the cleared path being too narrow
+for the vehicles to pass each other. A
+terrible fight took place. The priest's
+horses took fright and returned home,
+breaking the sleigh all to pieces, and
+the little silk bag containing their
+"god" was lost in the snow. It was
+carefully sought in vain, and not till
+the month of June was it found, and then
+the wafer inside the little silver box had
+melted away! And the priests laughed
+boisterously when they heard it. Did
+they believe what they taught the
+people?</p>
+
+<p>At another time, a blind priest had
+been adoring the bit of bread he had
+just consecrated, but when he went to
+eat it, it was gone. In alarm, he sent
+for Chiniquy, who was hearing confessions
+not far away, and as it could nowhere
+be found, he knew that a rat had
+taken it, for the rats were both numerous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+and bold in that place. The old priest
+was inconsolable, though he blessed
+another piece and then concluded his
+devotions. But his lamentations were so
+deep and long that Chiniquy at last lost
+patience, and said a word or two which
+greatly shocked the superstitious priest,
+who severely rebuked him, and ordered
+him for a penance to kneel every day before
+the fourteen images representing
+"the way of the cross," and say a penitential
+psalm before each for nine days,
+and on no account to tell the story of the
+rat to any one. He complied with these
+requests, and received a very gracious
+absolution. But on the sixth day he
+pierced the skin of his knees while kneeling,
+and the blood flowed freely, causing
+him great pain whenever he knelt or
+walked, and all because he for a moment
+had doubted the right of Rome to call
+that a god which a priest could professedly
+create and a rat destroy!</p>
+
+<p>Alas! for those who follow such pernicious
+teachings! Let us pity and pray
+for them, and more than ever cleave to
+that Gospel which tells us that "there
+is only one name given under heaven
+by which we must be saved"&mdash;"one
+Mediator between God and men, the
+Man Christ Jesus," who lives in glory,
+no more to suffer or die, but who is
+"Jesus of Nazareth" (Acts xxii. 8),
+still tender and loving as when He dwelt
+below, while He is eternally mighty to
+"save to the uttermost all that come unto
+God by Him."</p>
+
+<p>Oh, that all our hope and confidence
+may rest on Him&mdash;entirely on Him
+alone!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE DIRGE OF AN ENGLISHWOMAN.</h2>
+
+<p>
+And ought the Queen of England's land<br />
+A gift to send by Norfolk's hand<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To the old Pope of Rome,</span><br />
+His Jubilee to celebrate,<br />
+With Popish pomp, in grandest state,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In his Italian home?</span><br />
+<br />
+Chalice and basin, richly made<br />
+Of shining gold; to him conveyed<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By one of his trained band.</span><br />
+He used them both at his High Mass,<br />
+And proud of such a gift he was<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From our dear native land.</span><br />
+<br />
+Our own Victoria should be free,<br />
+True to "the rights" she swore when she<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sat in the abbey old;</span><br />
+And crown was placed upon her head,<br />
+And coronation oath she said<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Over God's Word, we're told.</span><br />
+<br />
+Up, English men and women all!<br />
+To the red beast<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> ne'er bow at all,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But leave him to his fate;</span><br />
+For Babylon will surely fall,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a><br />
+And with her, nations great and small,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who follow in her wake.</span><br />
+<br />
+In days of yore she sat a queen,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a><br />
+On seven hills,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> so vile, unclean,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And shed the blood of saints.</span><br />
+"Come out of her, My people"<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> all,<br />
+Nor of her plagues receive at all,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or listen to her plaints.</span><br />
+<br />
+The Ritualists are helping fast<br />
+To bring us now, as in times past,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Beneath the sway of Rome.</span><br />
+You silly men and (silly) women<a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> all,<br />
+Oh, why take heed to them at all<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who creep into the home?<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Alas! alas! for England's Queen,<br />
+And English nation too, I ween,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">If e'er the Pope gets sway!</span><br />
+True Christians ne'er will bend the knee<br />
+To kiss Pope's toe so impiously,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nor pence to Peter pay.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">N. P. W.</span><br />
+
+<i>Southsea.</i>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">Nothing</span> doth more hurt in a State
+than that cunning men pass for wise.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p>
+<h2>EXPERIENCES IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Captain Adams, of the whaling
+steamer <i>Maud</i>, which lately
+arrived at Dundee from Davis
+Straits, has related a few interesting
+incidents of his voyage.</p>
+
+<p>When in Exeter Sound, Captain Adams
+was informed, by a native, of an island
+which was a favourite resort of the walrus,
+and where the animals could be often
+found asleep. He accordingly determined
+to try and secure an old specimen,
+and sent out four boats, with twenty-four
+men, to effect a capture. On arriving at
+the island, a large number of walrus were
+seen basking on the shore, and a landing
+was attempted, with the result that
+the colony soon showed their tusks, and
+made a deliberate attack on the boats.
+Ten of the foremost animals had to be
+shot to prevent mischief, and after a
+severe struggle a female walrus was
+lassoed. A number of small ropes were
+then fastened about it, and the huge
+animal was, after immense labour,
+hoisted into an empty boat, to which it
+had to be secured, to prevent it smashing
+the planks. On being towed to the ship,
+the boat and the walrus were hoisted on
+board, and suitable quarters were then
+found for it. It is fully eighteen months
+old, and Captain Adams is hopeful that
+it will survive. A young live bear has
+also been brought home.</p>
+
+<p>One of the noteworthy incidents of the
+voyage was the landing of Urio Etawango
+(the Esquimaux whom Captain Adams
+had staying in Dundee over last winter)
+at Durban, the residence of his tribe.
+For several days previous to the arrival
+of the <i>Maud</i> off Durban, Urio was moody
+and disconsolate, but he did not reveal
+his mind, so that the crew were ignorant
+of his thoughts. The conjecture was,
+that he was sorry to return to the rude
+life of an Inuit, after his experience of
+civilized life. When the ship first arrived
+off Durban, there was a long stretch of
+ice running out from the land, and Urio
+and one of the officers travelled about
+fifteen miles, and lighted a fire as a signal
+to the tribe of his return. The signal
+was soon recognized, and ere long the
+whole tribe were seen making their way
+over the ice. Meantime Urio had returned
+to the ship, and he was taking a
+nap in his berth when the news was
+communicated to him of the arrival of
+the tribe, with his wife and child amongst
+them. The Inuits are a very impassive
+race, and it was amusing to see the cool
+way in which Urio and his wife shook
+hands, as though they had been parted
+twelve days instead of twelve months.
+Urio showed more affection towards his
+child, with whom he rubbed cheeks in
+the manner peculiar to the Inuits. But
+if the young wife was undemonstrative at
+meeting with her husband, she got into
+transports of joy at the sight of the
+numerous presents which friends of her
+husband in Dundee had sent out to her.
+One of these was a pretty melodion, and
+the young woman's eyes sparkled when
+she beheld it. To the astonishment of
+the ship's company, she lifted the instrument
+and played "There is nae luck
+aboot the hoose," finishing with "The
+Keel Row." It was subsequently ascertained
+that she had learned to play
+several tunes on the concertina whilst
+resident at the American settlements on
+Cumberland Gulf. When the other
+presents were laid out, the delight of
+Urio and his wife and friends was unbounded.
+Several of the gaudy petticoats
+were seized, and the women put
+them on above their sealskin dresses,
+being so fond of display that the most
+showy articles are always worn outermost.
+Owing to the distance of the ship
+from the shore, only a few of the lighter
+presents were removed at that time, but
+a month later the ship got near the land,
+when the remainder of the articles were
+put ashore and taken possession of by
+Urio.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Adams gives the Esquimaux
+chief the character of an honest, hard-working,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+warm-hearted fellow. He
+proved a good sailor, was beloved by all
+the crew, and he was a dead shot while
+seal-hunting. It is evident that his experience
+of civilized life has given him
+a distaste for his former mode of life, for
+he pleaded with Captain Adams to
+promise to take himself and his wife and
+child to Scotland next year.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Adams is of opinion that the
+whaling at Davis Straits and Greenland
+is virtually exhausted. He saw only
+seventeen whales throughout the season.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>SINGULAR CAUSE OF DEATH.</h2>
+
+
+<p>On Friday, January 13th, Mr.
+Wynne E. Baxter held an inquiry
+at the London Hospital, Whitechapel,
+respecting the death of Moses
+Raphael, aged thirty-two years, a commercial
+traveller, lately residing at
+Bromley-by-Bow, who died on the previous
+day in the above hospital. About
+six weeks previously he complained of
+pains in his head and also of shivers,
+and eventually it was decided to remove
+him to the hospital. Until the last
+few weeks the deceased had been in
+apparently good health. He was a
+wonderful brain-worker, and had kept a
+set of books most accurately.</p>
+
+<p>Henry Muir Doyle, house-surgeon,
+stated that the deceased, on his admission,
+appeared drowsy, and complained
+of a pain in his head. He continued
+in that state till the 10th, but at times
+appeared quite clear-headed and rational.
+On the 10th, symptoms of
+apoplexy appeared, and deceased expired
+at twelve o'clock the same night.
+Witness said that, since death, he had
+made a most searching examination of
+the head and brain. On opening the
+former, he discovered an abscess in the
+brain. It was about the size of a turkey's
+egg, and had evidently been there
+some time. On removing the abscess,
+a penholder and nib were found protruding
+from the top of the right orbital
+plate. This had produced the abscess,
+and the abscess had caused death.
+The holder and nib must have entered
+the brain by way of the right eye, or
+through the right part of the nose. It
+was probable that they had been in there
+for a considerable time, as the bone had
+grown over them, and it was with difficulty
+they were separated. He had
+examined the eye, but had failed to
+detect any injury. It was, however,
+quite possible for such a thing to enter
+beneath the lid of the open eye, and the
+wound to heal up, showing no signs of
+the entry.</p>
+
+<p>The widow of the deceased man was
+called in, and said that her husband
+never mentioned to her anything about
+being hurt by a pen.</p>
+
+<p>The coroner said that the case was
+the most extraordinary that had ever
+come before him.&mdash;<i>Times.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 41.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>"<i>The Prince of Peace.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> ix. 6.</p>
+
+<p>
+T ychicus           Colossians iv. 7.<br />
+H en                Zechariah vi. 14.<br />
+E rastus            Romans xvi. 23.<br />
+<br />
+P arvaim            2 Chronicles iii. 6.<br />
+R immon             Joshua xv. 32.<br />
+I rijah             Jeremiah xxxvii. 14.<br />
+N ahum              Nahum i. 7.<br />
+C arpus             2 Timothy iv. 13.<br />
+E lymas             Acts xiii. 11.<br />
+<br />
+O uches             Exodus xxviii. 11.<br />
+F aith              Hebrews xi. 6.<br />
+<br />
+P erez-uzzah        2 Samuel vi. 8.<br />
+E lisheba           Exodus vi. 23.<br />
+A bba               Romans viii. 15.<br />
+C orinthians        1 Corinthians vi. 19.<br />
+E n-hakkore         Judges xv. 19.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;" class="smcap">John West</span><br />
+<br />
+<i>Biggleswade.</i>   (Aged 9 years).
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p>
+<h2>SOMETHING ABOUT FOXES.</h2>
+
+
+<p>That always entertaining writer
+about birds and animals, J. G.
+Wood, has a pleasant paper on
+"Foxes" in the <i>Child's Pictorial</i>. The
+author of "Homes without Hands"
+says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Many foxes have been known to climb
+trees, and hide among the branches,
+where no dog could smell them. Only
+a few months before these lines were
+written, the East Kent foxhounds met
+near Dover. The master of the hunt had
+been told that foxes had been seen to
+run up a tree, which was pointed out. A
+man was sent up the tree, and out came
+a fox, which was hidden among some
+ivy about twenty feet from the ground.
+The animal was chased, but after a while
+the scent failed and the fox escaped. The
+hunt then returned to the tree, and again
+sent a man up it. Presently a second
+fox came tumbling out of the ivy, but mistook
+his distance, and jumped into the
+middle of the hounds, which tore it to
+pieces before it could recover from the
+fall. The man continued to search the
+tree, and a third fox leaped out, and was
+killed close to the South Foreland.</p>
+
+<p>In December, 1885, a fox was found
+near Oswestry, and after being chased
+for some time, it ran up a tree, to the
+height of at least forty feet, and hid itself
+among the ivy with which the tree was
+clothed. It was soon turned out of its
+shelter, and, after running for about half
+an hour, got away from the hounds, probably
+by some equally clever trick.</p>
+
+<p>There are foxes known which have
+been hunted for several seasons and
+never taken; and those who have seen
+them run, say that the animals do not
+seem in the least afraid of the hounds,
+but trot on quite gently for some time,
+knowing that, in the end, they will give
+their enemies the slip.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Webster relates an amusing story
+about a cunning old American fox. It
+had been chased over and over again,
+and always escaped near the same place,
+namely, a wooden fence outside a plantation,
+which led into a thick forest.
+Hounds were brought from great distances
+in order to catch this fox, but
+never succeeded. The fox always made
+its bed in the middle of a large field,
+and did not try to hide, but gave the
+hounds a good run, and then disappeared
+at the fence.</p>
+
+<p>Now, in America there are no hedges,
+the fields being divided by railed fences.
+Westward, where wood is almost valueless,
+the "snake" fence is used, but in the
+more cultivated parts the fence is made
+by fixing two strong stakes in the ground,
+so as to cross each other like the letter
+X, and nailing them together where
+they cross. Long poles are then laid
+on the crossed stakes, so that the fence
+can be made to any height which is most
+convenient, the poles being seldom
+nailed, but held in their place by their
+own weight.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/img064.jpg" width="500" height="373" alt="FOX AND RABBIT" title="FOX AND RABBIT" />
+<span class="caption">THE FOX SEES THE EAR, THE RABBIT SEES THE TAIL.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Now, foxes often run along a fence, or
+the top of a wall, as far as the end.
+Then they go back for some distance on
+their own track, and leap off the wall
+as far as they can, so as to mislead the
+hounds. Knowing this trick, Mr.
+Webber took the hounds all round the
+fence and the plantation, but could find
+no signs of the fox. At last he determined
+to hide himself near the place,
+when the hounds were again set on the
+fox, and try to discover the trick. After
+a while the fox came quite slowly until
+he reached the fence. Then he jumped
+on the top rail, and ran along it for
+about two hundred yards, until he came
+opposite a dead tree, nearly sixteen feet
+from the fence. He paused for a moment,
+and, with a tremendous jump,
+leaped upon a tree, alighting on a large
+knot on the side of the trunk. Then he
+ran up the trunk, which was slightly
+sloping, and entered a hollow at the top,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+he lay hid, no one even suspecting that
+he could leap from a fence to the tree,
+much less run up it. This feat was the
+more wonderful, because ivy does not
+grow out of doors in America, so that
+there seemed to be no foot-hold. Indeed,
+had it not been for the knot, the fox
+could not have climbed the tree.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>Mr. Webber was so pleased with the
+cleverness of the fox that he would not
+betray the trick, but amused himself on
+many occasions by watching the fox
+baffle the hounds.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes the mother fox chooses a
+hollow tree, instead of a burrow, for her
+nursery.</p>
+
+<p>In April, 1868, a strange discovery
+was made in Warwickshire, seven dead
+cubs having been found in the top of a
+pollard oak. It was clear that the
+mother had been killed, and that the
+poor little cubs had died of hunger.</p>
+
+<p>The cubs, when very young, are odd-looking
+little creatures&mdash;not in the least
+like their parents. They are pale brown
+in colour, have short, snub noses, like
+those of pug dogs, and little, short,
+pointed tails, not at all like the beautiful
+"brushes" into which they will grow
+in course of time.</p>
+
+<p>The courage of the fox is wonderful.
+A fox was on one occasion sent to Mr.
+Bartlett for the purpose of being stuffed.
+It had only three feet, and, on opening
+it, Mr. Bartlett found the missing foot
+in its stomach! The animal had clearly
+been taken in a trap, and had freed
+itself by biting off the foot by which it
+was caught. We can understand why
+it should bite off the foot by which it was
+detained, but why it should eat its own
+foot seems rather puzzling. I am inclined
+to think that it did so by mere
+instinct, which made it eat any morsel
+of bleeding flesh that came between its
+jaws.</p>
+
+<p>[If foxes are only fit to be hunted
+down, why are they preserved for that
+cruelty?&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ONE POOR STONE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Two masons were working together
+on the rear wall of a
+church, when one stopped the
+other just as he was putting a
+stone in its place.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't put in that stone," he said;
+"it is flakey, and will soon fall to pieces."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it isn't a very good one, but
+it is so handy, and just fits here. Nobody
+will see it up here, and it is too much
+trouble to get another."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't put it in. Take time to send
+for another. That stone won't stand the
+weather, and when it falls the whole
+building will be damaged."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess not. It won't hurt us, so
+here goes."</p>
+
+<p>Then he lifted the stone into its place,
+poor, and loose-grained, and flakey as
+it was, covered it over with mortar, and
+went on with his work. Nobody could
+see the stone, and none knew of its
+worthlessness but the two masons, and
+the church was finished and accepted.</p>
+
+<p>But time and the weather did their
+work, and soon it began to flake and
+crumble. Every rain-storm and every
+hot, sultry day helped its decay, and it
+soon crumbled away. But that was not
+all, nor the worst. The loss of the stone
+weakened the wall, and soon a great
+beam which it should have supported
+sunk into the cavity, a crack appeared
+in the roof, and the rain soon made sad
+havoc with ceiling and fresco; so a new
+roof and ceiling, and expensive repairs,
+were the result of one poor stone being
+put in the place of a good one.</p>
+
+<p>Each one of us, young or old, is building
+a structure for himself. The structure
+is our character, and every act of
+our lives is a stone in the building. Don't
+work in poor stones. Every mean action,
+every wrong act or impure word, will
+show itself in your after life, though it
+may pass unnoticed at first. Let every
+act and word of every day be pure and
+right, and your character will stand the
+test of any time.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A MORNING'S WALK IN A COUNTRY LANE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is pleasing, during the bright
+summer time, to rise early and, if
+our lot is so cast, to stroll into the
+country lanes and breathe the pure air
+of heaven, inhale the sweet scent of
+the hay, and gaze upon God's beautiful
+creation around us, and, if possible,
+learn some of the many lessons which
+even a tiny flower or a feeble insect may
+be able to teach us.</p>
+
+<p>One Monday morning during the last
+summer, when staying in Hampshire,
+we had such a walk, the memory of
+which, and its profitable lessons, are
+still fresh upon our minds.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving the town where we were staying,
+we quickly found ourselves between
+the hedgerows, and our first impulse was
+to turn at once into the green fields, but
+another feeling led us to keep to the
+lane.</p>
+
+<p>Was that change of plan the result
+of chance? Nay; the great Ruler of
+all things, who guides the flight of a
+sparrow, as surely orders the footsteps
+of His children.</p>
+
+<p>John Knox had a usual seat at his
+table, with his back to the window. A
+sudden impulse led him to take another
+seat. That night the assassin's bullet
+came through the window, and but for
+an overruling Providence, Knox would
+have lost his life.</p>
+
+<p>How many such instances might be
+related, which shows that even more
+surely than the smallest wheel of some
+vast machinery is as readily controlled
+as the largest, so surely does Infinite
+Wisdom control all the great machinery
+of life, from its most momentous events
+down to the smallest circumstance,
+such as the movement of a leaf. "If
+a pestilence stalk through our land,
+we say, 'The Lord hath done it.' Is
+it not also His doings when an aphis
+creepeth on a rosebud? If an avalanche
+fall from the Alps, we tremble at the
+will of Providence. Is not that will also
+concerned when the sere leaf falls from
+the poplar?"</p>
+
+<p>Pursuing our walk, we soon found that
+we were in the most delightful of country
+lanes, with high hedgerows and
+overhanging trees, that formed a most
+delightful shade from the fierce burning
+sun, which, even at that early hour, was
+almost unbearable. What must be the
+sufferings of a traveller in the desert,
+with the fierce orb of day beating down
+upon his head, as mile after mile he
+traverses the burning sand without shade
+or water? How grateful to him must be
+"the shadow of a great rock in a weary
+land," or some delightful Elim, with its
+seventy shady palms, and its twelve refreshing
+wells of water!</p>
+
+<p>But there is yet another person to
+whom a shade is more delightful than
+even this desert traveller, and that is, a
+poor sinner upon whom is beating down
+the threatened wrath of an offended
+God.</p>
+
+<p>When Thomas Bilney, as a young
+man, was feeling this, he endeavoured
+for a long time to find a shelter in some
+of the foolish and deceptive lies of the
+Romish Church. He gave his money
+for Masses and performed his penances
+till his purse was empty, and his body
+reduced to great weakness, and yet no
+shelter could he find in these from the
+wrath of God. At length he purchased
+a Greek Testament, and there he found
+the blessed shade, for with delight he
+read therein, "This is a faithful saying,
+and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
+Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
+of whom I am chief." Well might he
+exclaim, as he sat down under the
+shadow of the cross, with great delight,
+"Oh, blessed saying of St. Paul!
+Oh, blessed saying of St. Paul!"</p>
+
+<p>Dear young reader, have you felt your
+need of this precious shade?</p>
+
+<p>Presently we noticed in the hedge a
+rose-bush, a large portion of which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+hanging down broken&mdash;doubtless the
+work of some thoughtless person, who
+had plucked the flowers in such a reckless
+manner as to leave a sad memento
+of his thoughtless action. But people
+who live in glass houses must be careful
+what stones they throw at others. That
+little boy, for instance, was just as
+thoughtless who played with his ball in
+so careless a manner as to break two
+windows in one week. That little girl,
+too, was equally thoughtless who, when
+left at home to take care of baby, carelessly
+left it on the bed while she went
+up the street to see some dancing dogs,
+and who found, on her return, that the
+baby had fallen on the floor, and had so
+injured its head as to nearly result in
+its death.</p>
+
+<p>Ah! and how many are now in our
+workhouses or prisons who would have
+to confess they were brought there because
+they did <i>not think</i> what trouble
+their thoughtless actions would bring
+upon them! Yea, we fear that there are
+many among the lost who would have to
+make the same sad confession. May
+the Lord cause each of our young
+readers to think of what will be the
+sad consequence of seeking only after
+earthly pleasure. It will be worse than
+a destroyed rose-bush. It may be destroyed
+health&mdash;destroyed reputation&mdash;destroyed
+prospects in life&mdash;yea, and, if
+grace prevent not, destroyed happiness
+for ever.</p>
+
+<p>As we proceeded further up the lane,
+we noticed that the hedges on both sides
+were blooming with wild roses, which
+were truly charming to behold. Our
+first thought on seeing them was of the
+dear ones at home (many miles away),
+and how we should like to transport
+them to this shady bower, to enjoy what
+we were beholding. But, as this desire
+was impracticable, the next thought was,
+to gather some of these roses and take
+them home, that they, too, might, in
+some measure, share in our pleasure.
+Henceforth our endeavours to please
+others made our walk doubly pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>A selfish person, young or old, can
+never be happy. But find one who tries
+to share his pleasures or comforts with
+others, and he is surely happy&mdash;like
+the little girl who stretched her small
+cloak round her young brother to shelter
+him from the wintry blast, although,
+strictly speaking, the cloak was scarcely
+big enough for herself. And how happy
+was that little girl who nursed a sick
+cat in the garret, and shared her meals
+with it, till pussy was quite well again!</p>
+
+<p>Boys and girls, share your pleasures
+with others.</p>
+
+<p>The next thought was, to look after the
+little roses, knowing they would last
+longer than the big ones.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, fellow-teachers, look after the
+little rosebuds just blooming into life.
+Who can tell but what the Master may
+use you to gather them from the world,
+that they may, by His grace, be prepared
+for His mansion above?</p>
+
+<p><i>But the thorns!</i> Not a single little
+rosebud without a thorn, yet so beautiful
+in other respects. Before Adam's
+fall, roses grew in Eden without thorns.
+Thorns are a badge of the curse, and
+even the smallest child has the thorn of
+sin. And how often we see it manifest!
+The thorn of pride, the thorn of self-will,
+the thorn of temper, the thorn of deceit.</p>
+
+<p>But, dear young friends, are these
+thorns a trouble to you? Would you
+like their power destroyed, and guilt
+pardoned? Listen, then, to God's way
+of salvation.</p>
+
+<p>As we gathered the roses, the thorns
+pricked our hands. But never mind
+that. We love them too much to mind a
+few pricks.</p>
+
+<p>Have you ever thought how the
+thorns (as long as your finger) were
+plaited into a crown, and pierced the
+head of Jesus? Yes, He loved His
+children so much that He willingly endured
+even the "nails," as well as the
+thorns, that they might be for ever saved
+from the wrath to come.</p>
+
+<p>A child once cried for fear when a
+wasp was near, but his mother said,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+"Don't fear, my child! It has left its
+sting in my hand. It won't hurt you."</p>
+
+<p>Yes, Jesus has been pricked and stung
+by sin that His people may for ever be
+delivered from its fatal power.</p>
+
+<p>May you, dear young friends, from a
+living faith, be enabled to commit your
+soul into His keeping who is able to
+"save unto the uttermost all that come
+unto God through Him."</p>
+
+<p>But how easily many of the roses
+scattered! We only touched the branch,
+and they were gone. Such is life! We
+may be in full bloom one day, but in a
+moment we may be carried into eternity.
+"We all do fade as a leaf." The
+longest life is but brief. Then well
+may we pray&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Prepare me, gracious God,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To stand before Thy face;</span><br />
+Thy Spirit must the work perform,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For it is all of grace."</span>
+</p>
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Ebenezer.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>"KEEP THE STAR IN SIGHT."</h2>
+
+
+<p>On a wild spot on the coast of Cornwall
+I fell in with Will Treherne.
+He was as sound an "old salt"
+as ever manned a lifeboat or went aloft
+in a gale of wind. He was getting an
+old man when I used to see him sitting
+on the beach, when his day's work was
+done, smoking his pipe and gazing at
+the evening star. He told us boys stirring
+stories of sea life and adventure. One
+evening he narrated the following:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Thirty years ago, in just such a
+night as this, the wind whistling as it
+does now, with the sea rising, and with
+as crazy a craft as seamen ever sailed
+in, I found myself drifting along a dangerous
+coast.</p>
+
+<p>"Our captain was an experienced one,
+and, when he saw what weather we were
+threatened with, he took his place at the
+wheel, and did his best to keep our
+courage up. He was in terribly poor
+health, but his spirits rose above his
+bodily weakness, and he gave his orders
+with a pluck and decision that made men
+of every one of us.</p>
+
+<p>"'Will Treherne,' he cried, 'stand by
+me if you can be spared. My strength is
+going. Do you see that star right
+ahead?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, sir.'</p>
+
+<p>"'If my strength should fail, steer
+right ahead for that, and you are safe.
+And oh, remember, Will, that there is
+another Star you must always keep in
+view if you are to get safely into port at
+last.'</p>
+
+<p>"I knew what he meant. He was
+pointing me to the Lord Jesus Christ, for
+he was as good a Christian as he was a
+captain, and he never lost a chance of
+saying a word that might steady us
+youngsters, and make us think of our
+souls. I have heard many a sermon since
+that night in the storm, when he told me
+to keep the star ahead, but none took
+more hold on me than that one that
+night, when I lost my truest and best
+friend."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you lose him that night?" I
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my lad," the sailor answered,
+sadly. "His hour was come. When
+he could stand the gale no longer, he
+shouted as loud as he could, 'Keep the
+star in sight, my lads; keep the star in
+sight!' Then he was helped down to
+the cabin, and I never saw him alive
+again. I was lashed to the wheel, and
+though the spray well-nigh blinded me,
+yet I managed to keep the star in sight,
+as the first officer gave his orders for the
+working of the ship.</p>
+
+<p>"After two hours of steering through a
+narrow and dangerous channel, we found
+ourselves in a friendly sea. The star had
+guided us right.</p>
+
+<p>"When the ship was in safety, and my
+turn of work was over, I went down to
+the captain's cabin. A flag was thrown
+over his body, but his manly, resolute
+face, which even death had not much
+altered, was visible. I knelt down there
+and prayed God to guide me through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+storms of life; and I believe I can say
+that, from that night, in spite of my
+faults and failings, I have kept the Star
+in sight. Now you will know why I am
+such a star-gazer; and if I may give you
+a bit of counsel, my lad, let me advise
+you to seek grace to begin and steer
+your course by the Star of Bethlehem;
+and, if your eye is fixed on that Star,
+you will come safely through the dangers
+of life into the port of peace at last."&mdash;<i>Chatterbox.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER OF GEORGE III. TO LORD GRENVILLE,</h2>
+
+<h3>
+WHEN APPLIED TO ON THE ROMAN<br />
+CATHOLIC BILL, MARCH, 1807.
+</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,&mdash;I am one of those that
+respect an oath. I have firmness sufficient
+to quit my throne and retire to a
+cottage, or to place my neck upon a
+block on a scaffold, if my people require
+it; but I have not resolution enough to
+break an oath&mdash;an oath I took in the
+most solemn manner at my coronation.</p>
+
+<p>[God grant that the legislators of the
+present day may feel speedily the justice
+and wisdom of the noble sentiment
+of this illustrious monarch.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE LATE PRINCE CONSORT'S OPINION OF POPERY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>"It is an open secret," says the <i>Christian</i>,
+"that the Queen insists on exercising
+her right of private judgment on
+all ecclesiastical affairs in which she has
+to act. Before giving her assent to the
+selection of a golden Mass bowl as her
+Jubilee present to the Pope of Rome, the
+fact possibly escaped Her Majesty's
+memory that the late Prince Consort's
+opinion of Romanism was summed up
+in Adam Smith's statement, as follows&mdash;'The
+greatest conspiracy ever hatched
+against human liberty, civil and religious,
+is the Roman Catholic Church.'
+This quotation appears on the title-page
+of the 'Prince Consort's Speeches,'
+edited by His Royal Highness himself."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A BIBLE WITH PINS IN IT.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was an old Bible, a family Bible,
+a well-worn Bible&mdash;the Bible of
+an old lady who had read it, and
+walked by it, and fed on it, and prayed
+over it for a long lifetime. As she grew
+older and older, her sight began to fail,
+and she found it hard to find her favourite
+verses. But she could not live without
+them, so what did she do? She stuck a
+pin in them, one by one; and after her
+death they counted 168.</p>
+
+<p>When people went to see her, she
+would open her Bible, and feeling over
+the page after her pin, would say, "Read
+there," or "Read here"; and she knew
+pretty well what verse was stuck by that
+pin, and what by this pin. She could
+indeed say of her precious Bible, "I love
+Thy commandments above gold; yea,
+above fine gold; they are sweeter to me
+than honey and the honey-comb."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+The father of a blind man.<br />
+An ancient musical instrument.<br />
+A measure of time.<br />
+An immense fish.<br />
+A non-believer.<br />
+A foreign language.<br />
+A relation of Jacob.<br />
+An animal.<br />
+One of Joseph's sons.<br />
+A domestic animal.<br />
+A very valuable stone.<br />
+A particular time in the day.<br />
+Another word for a letter.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Joseph Smith</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(Aged 12 years).</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THRILLING SCENES AT THE FORTH BRIDGE WORKS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Two more fatal accidents were,
+some time since, reported from
+the Forth Bridge works, making
+thirty-four since the work began.
+One of the engineers of the bridge, Mr.
+Benjamin Baker, recently gave a lecture
+in Dundee, descriptive of the work, in
+the course of which he gave the following
+account of the dangers of the
+undertaking:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Much of the work, he said, required
+men of exceptional hardiness, courage,
+and presence of mind. In August last,
+six men were standing on a few planks
+hanging by iron hooks, at a height of
+about 140 feet above sea level. One of the
+hooks gave way without any warning,
+and in a fraction of a second the planks
+slipped away from under the men's feet.
+Short as the time was, with the lightning
+quickness of thought, three of the six
+men saved themselves by springing at
+and clutching hold of pieces of the steel
+work. Another man plunged headlong
+down twice the height of the Tay bridge
+into the water. His hardiness was such
+that the terrible flight through mid-air
+and shock on striking the water&mdash;a shock
+which he had seen break planks like
+matches&mdash;did not incapacitate him from
+grasping the rope which was cast to him,
+or from resuming work after he had recovered
+from the immediate effects of
+the shock.</p>
+
+<p>As regards courage, two of the men
+were left hanging by the arms with
+a clean drop of 140 feet below them.
+Although presumably unnerved by seeing
+their comrades take that terrible
+flight, the first man reached by the
+rescue party said, "I can hold on. Go
+to the other man; he is dazed." Such
+workmen upheld the best traditions of
+their fellow-craftsmen in the past.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">"<i>And the glory which Thou gavest
+Me I have given them; that they may
+be one, even as We are One.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span>
+xvii. 22.</p>
+
+
+<p>"The glory of the Lord endureth
+for ever"; and in this sublime
+prayer Jesus speaks of the glory
+that He had with His Father before the
+world began, and asks that He may
+be glorified in finishing His saving
+work.</p>
+
+<p>But what is the "glory" spoken of in
+our text? Two thoughts must guide us
+to its meaning&mdash;first, the Father had
+given it to His Son; secondly, Jesus
+had given it to His disciples.</p>
+
+<p>Christ is God, and, as God, is, and
+ever must be, glorious. But this glory
+was <i>not given</i> Him; it was <i>His own</i>.
+Christ is the one Mediator between God
+and men&mdash;the only Way to heaven and
+happiness&mdash;the all-sufficient and only
+Saviour of sinners, who redeemed them
+by His blood, and saves them by His
+life. But His glory, as Mediator and
+Saviour, He will not give to another.
+He received it, and is crowned with it,
+<i>alone</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Yet He says, "I have given My disciples"&mdash;"the
+men Thou gavest out of
+the world"&mdash;"the glory Thou hast
+given Me." He is the Truth. His words
+were always divinely full of heavenly
+meaning. Let us try by other Scriptures
+to understand this one.</p>
+
+<p>In Isaiah xl. 10, we read, "Behold,
+the Lord God will come with strong
+hand"&mdash;or will come as a Mighty One&mdash;"behold,
+His reward is with Him,
+and the recompense of His work [see
+margin] is before Him." In Hebrews
+xii. 2, we are told that, "for the joy that
+was set before Him, He endured the
+cross, despising the shame, and is set
+down," now and for ever, "at the right
+hand of God." This recompense, this
+joy, is Christ's glory. And what is it?
+In one word, it is <i>salvation</i>&mdash;the satisfaction,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+the honour, and delight, of
+rescuing, and eternally enriching, the
+people whom He loved from eternity,
+and will for ever love. As Cowper
+sweetly sings&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of all the crowns Jehovah wears,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Salvation is His dearest claim;</span><br />
+That gracious sound well-pleased He hears,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And owns Emmanuel for His name."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>In this&mdash;His joy, His glory&mdash;He makes
+His people share here in this world, and
+in this present time&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Before they reach the heavenly fields,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or tread the golden streets."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>They are interested in His salvation,
+and on this word we may reflect a little,
+for "interest" has a two-fold meaning.
+It means, benefit or profit; and it also
+means, friendly, loving concern for a
+person or an object. If I am interested
+in a paying business, I share in its
+profits, and am benefited by it; but I
+am interested in many things that bring
+me no money, and I gladly give them
+all the help I can, because I long for
+their success and prosperity.</p>
+
+<p>And in this double way believers are
+interested in Christ's salvation. They
+are for ever benefited by it. His death
+secures their endless life; His sorrow
+yields them joy and peace; and His
+poverty has made them rich for evermore.
+"Thanks be unto God for His
+unspeakable gift," is the glad cry of all
+who know that this precious salvation is
+their own.</p>
+
+<p>Then comes the other form of interest&mdash;loving,
+prayerful desire that Christ
+may be glorified; that "the kingdom of
+God may come"; that sinners may be
+brought to the Saviour. The burdened
+heart, longing for peace, may be too full
+of its own sorrows to think much of
+others; but the forgiven child of God,
+rejoicing in Jesus as his own dear,
+almighty Friend, says, or desires to
+say&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now will I tell to sinners round<br />
+What a dear Saviour I have found;<br />
+I'll point to His redeeming blood,<br />
+And say, 'Behold the way to God!'"<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Thus the apostles laboured to carry
+the Gospel wherever they could travel,
+though, by so doing, they were exposed
+to persecution, suffering, and death.
+But they longed to spread the joyful
+news abroad, and to be the means of
+leading their hearers to Jesus; and
+when they "saw the grace of God," they
+were glad with an unspeakable joy.
+And, so far as we are animated with
+Christ's spirit, we, too, shall seek after
+the same blessed results.</p>
+
+<p>And Jesus has given His glory to His
+people that they may all be united
+together, even as He and His Father
+are One&mdash;one in heart, and mind, and
+aims.</p>
+
+<p>We hear a great deal just now about
+the "unity of Christendom," or the
+"Christian world," and some would like
+to blend the Greek and Roman with
+the English Church. Now, what sort of
+union would that be? Others do not go
+quite so far, and yet they would unite
+together a variety of creeds and people
+by dropping every important difference,
+and giving up whatever was not generally
+acceptable. But let us never forget
+that there can be no Christian union
+without Christ; no holy unity unless
+founded on God's Word. Gas jets
+affixed in a certain way to our ceilings
+are called "sun-lights." They are only
+artificial lights, after all; and whatever
+name it may assume, unless Christ is
+the Centre of unity, the union is not
+Christian, for "if any one have not the
+Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." But
+union to and in Christ is very real and
+true even now, and those who follow
+Jesus can hold sweet intercourse together
+in this world. "Grace be with
+all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ
+in sincerity."</p>
+
+<p>We are, at best, imperfect in the
+present state. We know but in part.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+Our love is often cold, and sin still dwells
+in the heart; but in the glory that is yet
+to come, we, if we are His, shall know,
+even as we have been known of Him.
+Perfect love will cast out all distance and
+coldness, and perfect holiness will possess
+every saved one.</p>
+
+<p>"Beloved," wrote the same Apostle
+who recorded the Saviour's prayer,
+"now are we the sons of God, and it
+doth not yet appear what we shall be;
+but we know that, when He shall appear,
+we shall be like Him, for we shall
+see Him as He is." May this glorious
+prospect be ours, through His grace.</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, Matthew vi.
+22, 23&mdash;<i>Mental Eyes: Darkened and
+Illuminated</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Yours affectionately,
+<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A WORD TO SELF-SEEKERS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+I would not lead the selfish life<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That never seeks to throw</span><br />
+A pleasant ray of happiness<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">On other people's woe.</span><br />
+<br />
+I scorn the folks who will not strive<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To lessen want and care;</span><br />
+Nor lend a helping hand to those<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who have so much to bear.</span><br />
+<br />
+Is there not misery enough<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">On this terrestrial ball</span><br />
+To spring some sympathetic chord<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Within the hearts of all?</span><br />
+<br />
+Oh, ye who only seek your own&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who hold yourselves so dear</span><br />
+That ye can never give the sad<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">One simple word of cheer&mdash;</span><br />
+<br />
+Believe me, if ye wish to spend<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A life of happy ease,</span><br />
+Seek not your own, but how ye may<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Your weary brothers please.</span><br />
+<br />
+And He who marks each gentle deed<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of loving sympathy,</span><br />
+May whisper His approving word&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Ye did it unto Me."</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Carrie Light.</span><br />
+<i>Brighton.</i>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Self-Help.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>There are six important heads
+which this subject may be placed
+under, viz., Industry, Patience,
+Perseverance, Cheerfulness, Courage,
+and Prudence.</p>
+
+<p><i>Industry.</i>&mdash;This is a very important
+thing in life, and you will never be any
+good to the world without you possess it.
+There have been men who, by their
+patient industry, have done their country
+a great deal of good by inventing
+engines and machines to mitigate the
+labours of men; and some of these men
+have been mobbed and nearly killed by
+their townsmen, who thought their work
+would be taken away instead of enlarged,
+and very often their inventions
+have been broken to pieces.</p>
+
+<p>Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes
+ix. 10, says, "Whatsoever thy hand
+findeth to do, do it with thy might";
+and in Proverbs vi. 6&mdash;"Go to the ant,
+thou sluggard; consider her ways and
+be wise."</p>
+
+<p><i>Patience.</i>&mdash;Patience is a very needful
+thing to self-help, for without it you will
+not be able to do anything that requires
+time and trouble. You have need of
+patience when you are waiting for a
+thing which you are in great haste to
+obtain.</p>
+
+<p>David says, in Psalm xxxvii. 7, "Rest
+in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."</p>
+
+<p><i>Perseverance.</i>&mdash;There are some people
+who, if they start a certain thing, have
+not the necessary perseverance to finish
+it; while others, who persevere, succeed.
+Great men you read of in history would
+never have been so distinguished had it
+not been for their perseverance. Bernard
+Palissy, who discovered the white
+enamel for pottery, had a great many
+trials to bear, and was years before he
+perfected it; but he persevered, and at
+last succeeded.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>Oh, that we may be taught to trust in
+Christ, and pray, with the poet&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Lord, hast Thou made me know Thy ways?<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Conduct me in Thy fear;</span><br />
+And grant me such supplies of grace<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That I may persevere."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><i>Cheerfulness.</i>&mdash;This is a very essential
+thing to self-help. If you have a
+task, and you have somebody to cheer
+you up, your task feels lighter, and the
+time passes better. People who are
+dull, and not cheerful, find the time pass
+slower, and the work seems heavier.
+There have been men who have been
+cheerful even when they have been in
+great difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>Christ said to the man sick of the
+palsy, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins
+be forgiven thee."</p>
+
+<p><i>Courage.</i>&mdash;Moral courage is one of
+the most important features in this subject.
+You will be more likely to succeed
+if you are bold and courageous. It is
+right to be courageous in a good cause,
+but not in a wrong one. It is real
+courage, when wicked persons try to
+entice you to drinking, gambling, and
+other vices, if you boldly answer, "No."</p>
+
+<p>Solomon says, in the Book of Proverbs
+xxviii. 1&mdash;"The wicked flee when no
+man pursueth, but the righteous are
+as bold as a lion."</p>
+
+<p><i>Prudence, or Foresight.</i>&mdash;It is wise
+to consider what the consequences of
+your actions will be. Some people do
+not stop to do so, and thus run needlessly
+into danger. You cannot rightly
+practise self-help without you are prudent.
+It is very imprudent to risk life
+or anything unnecessarily, or to leave
+things to the last minute or two. If you
+are imprudent, you will regret it in after
+life.</p>
+
+<p>In Proverbs xvi. 21, it says, "The wise
+in heart shall be called prudent."</p>
+
+<p>Self-help is not a spiritual thing, but
+a temporal one; but you cannot truly
+succeed in these things without God's
+help and blessing. May we, in the
+things of daily life, and especially in
+spiritual things, be led to say, like David,
+in Psalm cxxi., "I will lift up mine
+eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh
+my help. My help cometh from the
+Lord, which made heaven and earth,"
+remembering that He does not approve
+selfish living, but says, "To do good
+and to communicate, forget not."&mdash;(<i>Abridged.</i>)</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">F. E. H. Andrews</span><br />
+(Aged 13 years 5 months).</div>
+
+<p>1, <i>Tavistock Terrace,<br />
+Upper Holloway, London, N.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>[Lilly Rush, W. E. Cray (age not given),
+A. M. Cray, E. B. West, A. Pease,
+and Margaret Creasey have sent fair
+Essays, especially the first-named, and
+we hope they will still persevere.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of "From the Loom to a Lawyer's
+Gown; or, Self-Help that was not
+all for Self," presented by a friend who
+reads the <span class="smcap">Gleaner</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The subject for May will be, "How
+to be Useful in the World," and the
+prize to be given for the best Essay
+on that subject, a copy of "Notable
+Workers in Humble Life." All competitors
+must give a guarantee that they
+are under fifteen years of age, and
+that the Essay is their own composition,
+or the papers will be passed
+over, as the Editor cannot undertake
+to write for this necessary information.
+Papers must be sent direct to the Editor,
+Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings,
+by the first of April.]</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> good mother is worth a hundred
+schoolmasters. In the home, she is the
+"loadstone to all hearts, and loadstar
+to all eyes." Imitation of her is constant&mdash;imitation
+which Bacon likens to
+"a globe of precepts." But example is
+far more than precept. In its instruction
+is action.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Elephant's Strength.</span>&mdash;The ordinary
+strength of an elephant is calculated as equal to
+that of 147 men.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Fight among Lions.</span>&mdash;A fearful struggle
+took place recently between eight lions in a
+cage at the menagerie at Liverpool Exhibition.
+One lion, valued at £150, was killed.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> red-wood forests of California, Oregon,
+and Washington Territory are, perhaps, the
+most wonderful of the world. The average
+yield per acre is 100,000 feet lumber, or
+64,000,000 feet to the square mile.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir John Coode's</span> scheme for the protection
+of the foreshore at Hastings, by means of two
+stone groynes and an extended breastwork at
+the east end of the town, was completed last
+August. The total cost has been £30,000. Sir
+John remarked that the beach was accumulating
+at the rate of 40,000 to 50,000 tons per
+annum.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Extraordinary Case of Strangulation.</span>&mdash;An
+extraordinary case has occurred at Howick,
+near Preston. A little boy named Fisher, the
+son of a farmer, was climbing an apple tree,
+when he slipped between two branches. His
+jacket turned up fast round his neck, and as
+he could not get a button undone, he was
+strangled.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Monster Dogfish.</span>&mdash;A gigantic dogfish,
+weighing ten cwt., has been hauled ashore by
+a fisherman at Mazargues, in the Department
+of the Bouches-du-Rhone. The animal made a
+desperate struggle on the bank, and its head
+had to be battered in with a club before it
+could be mastered. A monster of a similar kind,
+some time ago, ate up a boatman and his boy,
+whose boat had been capsized in the river.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> has been calculated that, after Prince von
+Bismarck's recent great speech, 1,218 telegrams,
+containing 194,296 words, were despatched
+to 326 different places on the world's
+surface. Two hundred and thirty-five telegraph
+clerks were employed at sixty Hughes' apparatus,
+155 Morse's, and seven Estienne's, to
+carry out the work; and the number of words
+in the Chancellor's speech is computed at
+10,997.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Peculiar Case.</span>&mdash;Captain Russell has had
+under treatment a valuable and favourite cat,
+belonging to a resident of Spittlegate, Grantham.
+The poor animal was taken with a choking
+sensation about three weeks ago, and, as it
+could not eat, soon grew very thin, and appeared
+to be going "the way of all flesh." After vain
+attempts at restoration, pussy was taken to the
+afore-named veterinary surgeon, who prescribed
+for her. She was fed with a spoon for
+some days, and at length a substance was discovered
+to be forming by the side of the neck.
+Supposing it to be a boil, he lanced it, and
+found it to contain a piece of metal, which he
+at once extracted, in the shape of a sewing-needle
+with a piece of cotton attached. The cat
+is now recovered, and but little the worse for
+the painful operation.&mdash;<i>Grantham Journal.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Emperor of China, who is about to be
+married, is doing the thing handsomely. His
+wedding gifts to his young bride include a gold
+seal richly inlaid with jewels, the handle being
+formed by two gold dragons; ten piebald horses
+with complete trappings; ten gilt helmets and
+cuirasses: 1,000 pieces of satin of the first
+quality, and 200 pieces of cotton material; 200
+ounces of gold; 10,000 ounces of silver; one
+gold tea service, and one silver tea service;
+twenty horses with complete trappings, and
+twenty without. The parents of the lady
+receive also 100 ounces of gold; one gold tea
+set; 5,000 taels of silver; one silver tea set;
+500 pieces of silk; 1,000 pieces of cotton material;
+six horses, completely harnessed; a helmet
+and cuirass; a bow and a quiver, with arrows;
+each parent one Court dress for summer, and
+one for winter, one every-day dress, and a sable
+coat. The brothers and servants of the bride
+also receive rich and costly presents.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">From Dover to Calais in Twenty-five
+Minutes.</span>&mdash;A novel ship has recently been invented
+by Mr. Thomas Hitt, of Brandon, Suffolk.
+She is somewhat of a semi-twin type,
+one-third wider than the ordinary sailing ship,
+but not so wide as a paddle-steamer. Between
+the supposed divided halves, which ascend to
+about eighteen inches above the water-line, is
+a wheel-race, extending from bow to stern.
+In the centre of this wheel-race a pit is formed,
+into which the lower part of the periphery of
+the wheel descends. The wheel, when rotating,
+drives the water through the race, and out at
+the stern, with great velocity. The maximum
+result of experiments indicates that a ship of
+500 tons, with a wheel of 50 feet diameter,
+making 50 revolutions per minute, will attain
+a speed of 56 knots an hour, after allowing
+one-fourth for slip and other contingencies.
+Although the wheel is described as making 50
+revolutions per minute, it may reach 100, more
+or less. This excess of power may be utilized
+for the production and storage of electricity,
+to be used either for illuminating purposes, or
+for propelling the ship when becalmed.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span><span class="smcap">A Faithful Mastiff.</span>&mdash;John Templeton is a
+blacksmith, who owns a fine specimen of the
+English mastiff. Recently Mr. Templeton was
+working at his forge, putting a new steel in
+the point of a pick. The steel was slightly
+burned in the heating, and, instead of welding,
+flew into half-a-dozen pieces. One piece struck
+the blacksmith above the right eye with such
+force as to fasten itself in firmly. He staggered
+and fell backwards. How long he was
+unconscious he does not know, but when he
+revived, the dog lay in the middle of the shop,
+crying almost like a human being, and rubbing
+his jaws in the dust of the floor. The piece of
+steel which had struck Mr. Templeton lay a
+short distance from the dog. The faithful
+animal had seized the hot steel with his teeth,
+and drew it from the frontal bone of Mr.
+Templeton's head. The dog's mouth was
+badly burned.&mdash;<i>Albany Journal.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Discoveries at Pompeii.</span>&mdash;A Naples
+correspondent says&mdash;"The waxed tablets found,
+together with silver vases, &amp;c., at Pompeii, all
+belong to one woman, Decidia Margaris, and
+are contracts precisely similar to those found
+twelve years ago belonging to one Lucio Cecilio
+Giocondo; but unlike those, which were
+enclosed in a strong iron box, and had undergone
+a process of carbonization which preserved
+their legibility for eighteen centuries, the present
+ones were only folded, together with the
+vases, in a thick cloth, which the rain-water had
+penetrated, reducing the wood to pulp, and
+wearing away the wax on which the characters
+are impressed, so that only some fragments preserved
+the writing; and a few days after the
+discovery these too were lost, the wax separating
+from the wooden tablets and breaking up
+into minute particles. There remains now only
+one tablet, which has been naturally preserved
+by being impregnated with oxide of copper. It
+is the contract for the sale of young slaves to
+Decidia Margaris."&mdash;<i>Daily News.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Genuine Fast of Twenty Days.</span>&mdash;An
+extraordinary case of prolonged fasting is reported
+in connection with the severe weather.
+On December 22nd, 1887, a peasant woman
+from Opergrabern, near Vienna, went to receive
+some money that was owing to her at a small
+village a few miles distant. The amount was not
+paid, and the woman had only four kreutzers
+in her pocket, with which she bought two rolls of
+bread. On the way home she was caught in a
+heavy snow-storm, and took shelter in a small
+hut in a vineyard. The storm continuing, she
+decided to spend the night where she was, and
+divested herself of some of her upper garments
+to wrap up her feet. The next morning, when
+she awoke, she could not rise, being partially
+paralyzed by the cold. Her cries for help were
+unheard, and it was only on the 11th of January
+she was found by a woodcutter's wife, having
+been twenty days without food. She was in a
+precarious condition, but there is some hope of
+her recovery.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Youthful Heroines.</span>&mdash;The Royal Humane
+Society have awarded their highest honour&mdash;a
+silver medal&mdash;to a young lady named Fanny
+Rowe, only fifteen years of age, daughter of
+the Rev. J. G. Rowe, vicar of Topcroft, Bungay,
+for saving the life of a lad named Franchs, at
+Neuchatel, under circumstances of great gallantry.
+The lad was playing by the jetty with
+his brother, when he fell into deep water. His
+brother jumped in to save him, but, not being
+able to swim, was soon in difficulties. A
+number of men ran about crying out "Who
+can swim?" but no one attempted a rescue
+until Miss Rowe came up, kicked off her shoes,
+but otherwise fully dressed, without a moment's
+hesitation rushed into the water, swam to the
+place, dived, and caught the younger brother,
+but could not keep hold of him, his hair being
+so short. She dived again and caught him, this
+time by the ear, and brought him to the jetty,
+where he was lifted out, and then she returned
+and saved the elder brother. The bronze medal
+was also unanimously bestowed upon Miss M.
+Strachy, aged seventeen, daughter of Her
+Majesty's Consul at Dresden, for saving Miss
+Taylor at Sandy Island, Heligoland.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Zion Chapel, Folkestone.</span>&mdash;The New Year's
+Meeting of the Sunday School took place on
+January 16th. After doing justice to the tea,
+the children and friends met in the chapel,
+where Mr. Weeks, of Tenterden, opened the
+meeting with the reading of the fifty-fifth
+chapter of Isaiah and prayer. Some of the
+children repeated the Epistle of James, having
+learned various portions of it. Mr. Brown, of
+Tadworth, spoke on the beginnings of true
+religion, using the alphabet&mdash;A for attention to
+various good things, and not to wickedness;
+B for the Bible; C for conviction, which he
+described as a sure and certain knowledge of
+our sinful state, not fancies floating in the
+mind, and he illustrated it by a condemned
+convict's knowledge of his own sad case. Mr.
+Weeks then sought to encourage the children
+in the ways of obedience to parents and storing
+Scripture in the memory, of which latter no
+enemy could rob them. He also spoke to the
+teachers and friends, giving a word of encouragement.
+Mr. Smith spoke of the need of
+Jesus Christ being formed in the heart as the
+only hope for lost sinners, after which the
+yearly prizes were handed to their respective
+owners, also the gifts of clothing by an old
+friend of the children. A few words of prayer
+closed a happy meeting.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+E. M.</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 391px;">
+<img src="images/img076.jpg" width="391" height="500" alt="(See page 74.)" title="(See page 74.)" />
+<span class="caption">"ARE YOU SURE THAT NOTHING IS LEFT UNDONE?" (<i>See page 74.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p>
+<h2>AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF A BARRISTER.</h2>
+
+
+<p>I was engaged in my study one
+morning, when a client of mine,
+a Mr. B&mdash;&mdash;, was introduced.
+He was in a state of great excitement,
+having heard that the Lord
+Chancellor was to pronounce judgment
+on his case that day.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure," he inquired, "that
+nothing is left undone? If judgment is
+given against me, I am a ruined man.
+All my hopes are centred in its results.
+On the issue hang the prospects of my
+darling wife and children. Oh, tell me,
+can anything further be done to, if
+possible, ensure success?"</p>
+
+<p>I endeavoured to calm him by saying
+that we were fully prepared, and that
+counsel's opinion was in his favour.
+This assurance having appeased him a
+little, he left me, appointing to meet
+again in an hour at the court. The
+Chancellor had just taken his seat as I
+entered, and was proceeding to give
+judgment in my client's case.</p>
+
+<p>Casting my eyes around, I observed
+poor Mr. B&mdash;&mdash; seated on a bench, immediately
+opposite his lordship. He did
+not recognize me, for his entire attention
+was riveted on the oracle from
+whence was to proceed the eagerly
+wished for, but dreaded decision. To
+look upon that man was painful indeed;
+and although many years of professional
+experience had familiarized me to such
+scenes, yet I could not behold him without
+emotion, and trembled to think of the
+awful effect an adverse decision would
+have on a mind so sensitive as his, and
+wrought to the highest degree of painful
+suspense. My fears were but too soon
+realized. After an elaborate and carefully
+considered review of the case, a
+final decree was awarded against my
+client. Never shall I forget the agony
+of despair depicted on his countenance
+at that moment as, rushing from the
+court, he hissed into my ear the fearful
+words, "Oh, I am undone!"</p>
+
+<p>It was a damp November day on
+which the circumstance above narrated
+occurred. Wending my way homewards
+through Chancery Lane, the words of my
+unfortunate client recurred to me. "Will
+<i>my</i> case be called on to-day?" thought
+I; "and is nothing left undone to ensure
+me a favourable decree at the hands of
+that eternal Judge before whom I must
+stand, sooner or later?"</p>
+
+<p>Dear reader, you and I have both a
+case of vital importance, the judgment
+of which will be eternal happiness or
+eternal misery. If we have no Friend
+at court, no skilful Advocate to plead,
+anything of our own&mdash;any pleadings
+based upon our own works or performances&mdash;will
+most assuredly fail. A form
+without the power will not stand the test
+of that tremendous, awful day. All false
+coverings will then be stripped off.
+Naked, ruined, and undone for ever must
+we be unless found clothed with the
+righteousness of Jesus Christ, the God-Man.
+The lines of one of our poets have
+aptly described the case&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"A debtor to Jehovah's law,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My soul by nature stood,</span><br />
+And Justice was about to draw<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His sword to shed my blood.</span><br />
+<br />
+"'Stand forth! Stand forth!' he sternly cried,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'And pay me what you owe!'</span><br />
+"'Tis done,' said Jesus, 'for I died;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Loose him, and let him go!'"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>What a solemn consideration it is
+that I who write and you who read will
+stand in one case or the other&mdash;"Loose
+him, and let him go!" or, "Bind him
+hand and foot, and cast him into outer
+darkness!" I ask myself&mdash;and may I
+ask you&mdash;Does it cause you any searchings
+of heart, any anxious thoughts, any
+tossings to and fro upon your bed?
+"How stands the case, my soul, with
+thee?" Are matters right between God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+and thy soul? Have I any reason to
+hope that I shall be acquitted? Or are
+you, Gallio-like, caring for none of these
+things, "dancing the hellward road
+apace"? This we are sure of&mdash;that the
+judgment of God will be according to
+truth, and those who die in their sins,
+destitute of an interest and hope in
+Christ, will have to confess that the
+Judge of all the earth has done right.
+Your debts are great&mdash;too great for you
+ever to pay. Are you trying to wipe off
+part of the score, endeavouring to do
+your best, and trusting Jesus Christ to
+make up the rest? Hopeless case,
+for&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Could thy zeal no respite know,<br />
+Could thy tears for ever flow,<br />
+All for sin could not atone;<br />
+Christ must save, and Christ alone."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>But if, from a sense of your true state
+and condition, your entirely bankrupt
+state, with no hope or help in yourself,
+you have fallen down at Jesus' feet,
+crying, "Lord, save, or I perish!" you
+are on safe ground. Thy Surety paid
+for thee; and thou shalt know it in His
+own time, to the joy of thy heart.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">A Barrister.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>MODES OF TRAVEL IN PERSIA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>There are two modes of travel in
+Persia, caravan and chappah.
+The former is slow, at the pace
+which loaded mules can follow,
+say twenty-five miles a day. To travel
+in caravan means not to go with a large
+company, but in this leisurely manner.
+Hence our word "caravan," because
+large trains in the East must necessarily
+travel in caravan style.</p>
+
+<p>Chappah travelling, on the other
+hand, means rapid going, at an average
+of eighty to a hundred and fifty miles
+per diem. This can only be done by
+riding at a steady gallop&mdash;horses rarely
+trot in the East&mdash;and changing horses
+at short intervals. The post carriers
+invariably travel chappah.</p>
+
+<p>The method of measuring distances
+in Persia is by farsakhs, a farsakh representing
+four miles. Post stations are
+placed four farsakhs, or sixteen miles
+apart, and more rarely five farsakhs.
+Fresh relays of horses are kept in readiness
+at these stations. The post carriers,
+accompanied by a single attendant,
+both heavily armed, and wielding a
+fierce whip of hide, carry the mail in
+saddle bags. On arriving at a station
+they dismount, take a hasty cup of tea
+which is in readiness, and a few pulls
+at the kalian, or water-pipe. Then the
+horses are led out, and the postman
+starts for another sixteen-mile gallop
+over the mountain and plain, through
+forest and waste. These postmen are,
+so far as I could learn, very faithful and
+courageous, as they must need be, for
+they are sometimes attacked and killed,
+especially when it had leaked out that
+they are carrying money. Thus they go
+through Persia, and through life, on
+horseback. In summer, they have to
+rest during the heat of the day, but,
+summer and winter, they gallop all
+night, and practically have no rest until
+the end of the journey. The post rider
+from Teheran to Bushire goes nearly
+seven hundred miles before he can take
+a solid sleep.&mdash;<i>S. G. W. Benjamin.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE VALUE OF WORK.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Earn your own bread, and see how
+sweet it will be! Work, and see how
+well you will be! Work, and see how
+cheerful you will be! Work, and see
+how independent you will be! Work,
+and see how happy your family will be!
+Work, and, instead of repining at Providence,
+you may, perhaps, find yourself
+offering up thanks for all the numerous
+blessings you enjoy.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p>
+<h2>COUSIN SUSAN'S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND
+WORK OF FATHER CHINIQUY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Cow, the Sucking Pig, and Purgatory.</span></h3>
+
+<p class="center">"<i>The tree is known by its fruit.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xii. 33.</p>
+
+
+<p>Mr. Chiniquy died very suddenly,
+when his little son
+Charlie was only twelve years
+old. The boy had been fetched home
+from the house of a relative who lived at
+a distance, and where he had attended
+a good school, kept by a Protestant
+gentleman. He had gone through
+various lessons with his father, and
+delighted him with the progress he had
+made. They had read the fifteenth
+chapter of Luke, and retired to rest
+full of joy; but before the next day
+dawned, the boy awoke to his mother's
+heartrending cry, "Oh, my dear child,
+you have no more a father! He is
+dead!"</p>
+
+<p>Poor child! He felt he could not believe
+it. He ran to his father's bed,
+kissed him, pressed his hands, and
+prayed that he might live. But it was
+too true. The breath had fled, and only
+a lifeless corpse remained.</p>
+
+<p>After such overwhelming sorrow, surely
+they needed the tenderest sympathy; but
+only a few days elapsed before the parish
+priest (who had, years before, tried to get
+their Bible away) called on them, and,
+after a few cold words, he said that something
+was owing for the prayers that had
+been offered for the departed, and he
+would be glad to receive it! Poor Mrs.
+Chiniquy assured him that, although her
+husband had received a considerable income
+as a notary, yet their expenses had
+been so heavy that he had left her little
+besides debts. The house he had had
+built, and the piece of land he purchased
+not long ago, were only half paid for,
+"and I fear," said she, "I shall lose
+them both. I hope, sir," she added,
+"that you are not the man to take away
+from us our last piece of bread."</p>
+
+<p>"But, madam," was the cruel answer,
+"the money for the masses offered for
+the rest of your husband's soul must be
+paid!"</p>
+
+<p>For some time the widow sat shedding
+silent tears. At length she raised
+her tearful eyes, and said, "Sir, you see
+that cow in the meadow? Her milk,
+and the butter made from it, form the
+principal part of my children's food. I
+hope you will not take her away from us.
+If, however, such a sacrifice must be
+made to deliver my poor husband's soul
+from purgatory, take her as the payment
+of the masses to be offered to extinguish
+those devouring flames."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, madam," said the priest,
+rising, and walking out.</p>
+
+<p>They anxiously watched to see what
+he would do; and, to their horror, he
+went straight to the meadow and drove
+away their useful and cherished favourite.
+Poor Mrs. Chiniquy nearly fainted; and
+when able to speak, she said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Dear child, if ever you become a
+priest, never be so hard-hearted towards
+poor widows as are the priests of to-day."</p>
+
+<p>Those words were never forgotten, as
+our next story will show.</p>
+
+<p>Many years had passed. The child
+had become a man and a priest, when
+he was invited to preach a course of
+three sermons in the church of a rich
+curate. On the second day, walking
+with him to the parsonage, a very poor,
+ragged, and miserable man took off his
+hat, and tremblingly addressed the
+curate, saying&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"You know, sir, that my poor wife
+died, and was buried ten days ago; but
+I was too poor to have a funeral service
+sung for her, and I fear she is in purgatory.
+Almost every night I see her in my
+dreams in burning flames, and she cries<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+to me to help her. Will you be so kind
+as to sing that high mass for her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," answered the curate.
+"Your wife is suffering in purgatory.
+Give me five dollars, and I will sing the
+mass to-morrow morning."</p>
+
+<p>The poor man replied that his wife
+had long been ill, and he was too distressed
+to pay the money, and begged
+that five low masses might be said for
+her. The priest told him he must pay
+five shillings for them, but the wretched
+man declared he had no money, and that
+he and his children were starving.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well," said the curate, "I saw
+two beautiful sucking pigs before your
+house this morning. Give me one of
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"Those pigs, sir," said the man,
+"were given me by a charitable neighbour,
+that I might raise them for my
+children's food next winter. They will
+surely starve if I give my pigs away."</p>
+
+<p>Chiniquy could not wait to hear the
+conclusion of the shameful bargain. He
+hurried away to his room, refused to
+take tea, and spent a sleepless night
+wondering whether the Church of Rome
+could be the Church of Christ. Next
+morning, he gave five dollars to the
+poor man, and went breakfastless to
+church.</p>
+
+<p>After preaching, he was led by the
+curate to his dining-room. The long
+fast had made him very hungry, and the
+foremost dish was a delicious sucking
+pig. He had cut a piece, and was just
+about to eat, when the scene of yesterday
+flashed across his mind, and he inquired,
+"Was this <i>that</i> sucking pig?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied the curate, with a
+hearty laugh, "it is just that. If we
+cannot take the poor woman's soul out
+of purgatory, we will, at all events, eat
+a fine sucking pig."</p>
+
+<p>The priestly guests all joined in the
+laugh except Chiniquy, who, with a burst
+of righteous indignation, pushed his
+plate away, and in a few thrilling words
+told them what he thought of the whole
+proceeding. Of course they were very
+angry; but the sucking pig was untouched
+by any one.</p>
+
+<p>Thus were Chiniquy's eyes gradually
+opened, and he "saw men as trees walking,"
+until the final touch gave him to
+"see all things clearly."</p>
+
+<p>Lord, open Thou our eyes, and give
+us clearer and yet clearer light, that we
+not only may forsake every evil way, but
+may follow Thee with full purpose of
+heart.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+What is earth, sexton? A place to dig graves.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, rich man? A place to work slaves.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, grey-beard? A place to grow old.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, miser? A place to dig gold.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, schoolboy? A place for my play.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, maiden? A place to be gay.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, seamstress? A place where I weep.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, sluggard? A good place to sleep.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, soldier? A place for a battle.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, herdsman? A place to raise cattle.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, widow? A place of true sorrow.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, tradesman? I'll tell you to-morrow.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, sick man? 'Tis nothing to me.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, sailor? My home is the sea.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, statesman? A place to win fame.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, author? I'll write there my name.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, monarch? For my realm 'tis given.<br />
+<br />
+What is earth, Christian? The gateway of heaven.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p>
+<h2>SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LORD'S GRACIOUS DEALINGS WITH MARY STUBBS,</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">WHO DIED AT GODMANCHESTER, DECEMBER 19TH, 1887, AGED TWENTY-FOUR
+YEARS.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>We cannot say when, or by what
+means, the Lord first implanted
+the seed of eternal life in our
+sister's soul; but as in nature,
+so in grace&mdash;there is first the dropping
+of the seed, then the blade and the ear,
+and after that, the full corn in the ear;
+the full corn in many, as in our sister's
+case, not appearing until they are laid
+down by a fatal disease.</p>
+
+<p>By letters which I received from her
+the last few years, I had a hope the seed
+was sown from the love which she manifested
+to the truth and people of God.
+At the same time, many of her words and
+actions manifested much impatience,
+showing that she was a child of fallen
+Adam, and that she was under another
+influence than the Holy Spirit of God.
+This was a trial to us, giving us many
+errands to the throne of grace, not knowing
+what the end might be; and not only
+was it a grief to us, but also to herself.</p>
+
+<p>Some months ago, writing to me, she
+said, "I feel so very unhappy. I wish I
+had never been born, for I do not feel
+fit to live, nor yet fit to die."</p>
+
+<p>Her sister, with whom she lived, says,
+"Once or twice before her last affliction
+have we found her weeping, after she
+returned from the house of God&mdash;once
+especially, when Mr. Oldfield spoke
+from the words, 'Thou shalt preserve
+me from trouble,' at which time she
+seemed sorely tried; and referring to it
+on her dying bed, said, 'Satan did
+tempt me so then; but what a mercy God
+preserved me! I felt that, if I had died
+then, I must have been lost.'"</p>
+
+<p>At another time she found her in great
+distress, and, inquiring the cause, she
+said, "I feel so ill! I do not think I
+shall live long, and I know I am not
+prepared to die."</p>
+
+<p>About three weeks after this, she went
+to St. Ives' anniversary, and heard Mr.
+Hull preach from the text, "In this place
+will I give you peace." The words
+seemed to have an abiding-place in her
+heart, and proved a promise to her in
+her affliction. They were as "bread
+cast upon the waters, found and enjoyed
+after many days." When she returned
+from St. Ives, she looked quite ill, and
+said, "It seems as though I am not to
+go anywhere and enjoy myself."</p>
+
+<p>A few weeks after this, she took to her
+room, which she never left again. But,
+as her bodily strength decreased, she
+became more and more anxious about
+eternal things, and said to her sister and
+one of the members, who were sitting
+with her, "I do not think I shall get
+better. If I was sure I should go to
+heaven, I should not mind dying; but I
+keep thinking of all my past sins, and
+all that I have done and said. Do you
+think the Lord will forgive?" and with
+great earnestness she exclaimed, "Oh,
+do tell me&mdash;do you think He will forgive
+all my sins, and take me to heaven?"
+They told her they felt sure, if the Lord
+had made her sins a burden to her, and
+enabled her to beg of Him to cleanse
+her in His precious blood, He would, in
+His own time, answer her petitions,
+and they encouraged her to give Him
+no rest until He spoke home peace and
+pardon to her soul.</p>
+
+<p>On Saturday, November 12th, Mr.
+Oldfield called to see her. She asked
+him if he thought the Lord would forgive
+her. He assured her that, if the Lord
+had made her long for His pardoning
+love, He would appear for her. He had
+sweet liberty in prayer on her behalf,
+and, having read at her request the
+twenty-seventh Psalm, he inquired if she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+had any favourite hymns. She replied,
+"Yes&mdash;'There is a fountain filled with
+blood.'" He remarked, "The dying
+thief felt he needed that fountain, and
+so do you and I, Mary." She answered,
+"Yes, we do."</p>
+
+<p>In the evening, two of her sisters
+came to see her, and she exclaimed,
+"What! are you both come so far to
+see me? I am not worthy," and burst
+into tears.</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday, November 13th, she said
+but little during the day, but still kept
+begging of the Lord to forgive her all
+her sins, and take her to heaven; and in
+the evening He answered her prayer,
+and sweetly spoke home peace and pardon
+to her heart. She exclaimed,
+"Jesus has pardoned all my sins! Yes,
+yes, He has told me so! I am so
+happy! Oh, so happy! Jesus! Jesus!
+Thou art precious to my soul! Oh,
+come and take me! I long to be with
+You, dear Jesus!" and, with solemn
+sweetness, she added, "'Yea, though I
+walk through the valley of the shadow
+of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou
+art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they
+comfort me.'</p>
+
+<p>
+"Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Unworthy though I be,</span><br />
+For me a rich, a free reward,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A golden harp for me.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Jesus is 'the Chiefest among ten
+thousand, and the altogether lovely.'"
+Thus she laid, blessing and praising
+His dear name till she was completely
+exhausted.</p>
+
+<p>Early the next morning she said, "I
+am still on this bed of affliction. The
+Lord has spared me one more day, but
+I hope He will soon come and fetch me.
+I do so long to go, but</p>
+
+<p>
+"I must wait a little longer,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Till His appointed time,</span><br />
+And glory in the knowledge<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That such a home is mine.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, 'that such a home is mine!' I
+shall wear a white robe there, and sing
+'Hallelujah! Hallelujah!'</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, loudest of the crowd I'll sing,<br />
+Whilst heaven's resounding mansions ring<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With shouts of sovereign grace."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>On Monday, November 14th, I and
+my brother visited her for the first time.
+She was at first overcome, but soon revived,
+and said, "I am so pleased to see
+you both. I asked the Lord to spare
+me to see you all before I died. How
+kind He is to hear me!"</p>
+
+<p>I spent, altogether, the greatest part
+of four days with her, and those will be
+reckoned amongst the happiest days of
+my life, though mixed with sorrow at the
+thought of losing one made doubly dear
+by the sweet manifestation of the spirit
+of Christ in her. We could but look on
+and say, "What hath God wrought!"
+she herself saying, "I am not the one I
+was once, but am a new creature in Christ
+Jesus, for the Lord has heard my prayers,
+and forgiven all my sins, and now I know
+I am going to heaven," her countenance
+at the same time beaming with joy.</p>
+
+<p>On Tuesday, November 15th, she
+asked her eldest brother to read to her&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"When languor and disease invade<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This trembling house of clay,</span><br />
+'Tis sweet to look beyond our cage,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And long to fly away,"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>which she much enjoyed.</p>
+
+<p>On Wednesday, November 16th, she
+said to me, "Oh, Joseph, I feel Jesus is
+all around me, and I know He is soon
+coming to take me home. I am so happy,
+and waiting to go to my home of eternal
+rest."</p>
+
+<p>Turning to those present, she said,
+"You do not mind parting with me, now
+you know I am going to heaven, do
+you?" and, seeing us in tears, she said,
+"I cannot think what you have to
+grieve about. If I were not going to
+heaven, then you might grieve."</p>
+
+<p>At times she seemed completely lost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+to all around, and was in sweet communion
+with God, and laid blessing and
+praising His dear name. The following
+are only a few of the sweet words that
+fell from her lips&mdash;"Oh, Jesus, I am so
+happy! Thou art precious to my soul.
+I long to be with Thee, dear Jesus&mdash;not
+that I wish to leave my brothers and
+sisters, only to come to Thee. I can
+leave everything to come to Thee, dear
+Jesus. Come and fetch me. Fetch me
+soon, if it is Thy will; but if I must wait
+a little longer, give me patience to wait
+Thy time."</p>
+
+<p>At other times, she would repeat with
+sweet feeling her favourite hymns and
+chapters, amongst which were, Psalms
+xxiii., xxvii., and ciii.; and hymns, "How
+sweet the name of Jesus sounds," "There
+is a fountain filled with blood," and
+"Father, whate'er of earthly bliss."
+The last verse of the latter seemed particularly
+precious to her&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">My life and death attend;</span><br />
+Thy presence through my journey shine,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And crown my journey's end."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>One morning, she wished her books,
+&amp;c., brought to her, that she might give
+us each a parting gift, saying, "Keep
+them in remembrance of me, when I am
+gone to heaven to be with Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>On Wednesday, November 16th, in the
+evening, Mr. Oldfield again saw her.
+She spoke very freely to him, and said,
+"Won't it be nice to depart and be with
+Jesus?&mdash;much better than remaining
+here. I think He will soon come and
+fetch me. He has pardoned all my sins.
+Yes, He told me so." He read John x.
+at her wish, and spoke in prayer, which
+she much enjoyed and spoke of afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>When I was about to leave her, she
+said, "I want you all to sing, 'How
+sweet the name of Jesus sounds,'" which
+we did, she joining with all the strength
+she had, her face being radiant with joy.</p>
+
+<p>Another morning she awoke, and commenced
+singing several sweet hymns.
+Truly she experienced the words of
+Isaiah, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect
+peace whose mind is stayed on
+Thee."</p>
+
+<p>One Sunday she said, "How I should
+love to get to chapel! If I ever went
+again, I should like to be baptized; but
+I do not think I shall have strength to go
+any more. No; Jesus is going to take
+me to Himself. How kind of Him!
+Don't you think so? I do."</p>
+
+<p>On November 26th, being her eldest
+sister's birthday, she wished us to get
+a card for her. One being selected with
+the words, "The Lord will bless His
+people with peace," she said, "Yes, that
+is the peace Mr. Hull spoke of at St.
+Ives, and God has given me that peace."</p>
+
+<p>In presenting the card, she said to her
+sister, "Take it from me. It will be the
+last present I shall give you on your
+birthday. Before another I shall be in
+heaven.</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, I shall soon be landed<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">On yonder shores of bliss;</span><br />
+There, with my powers expanded,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shall dwell where Jesus is."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>During the night she remarked, "How
+good Jesus is in taking me away so
+gently! I thought, after all I have done
+and said, I should suffer much more.
+My sufferings are nothing to what Christ
+suffered on the cross."</p>
+
+<p>The next day Mr. Oldfield came, and
+she wished him to read Psalm ciii.&mdash;"Bless
+the Lord, O my soul"&mdash;and the
+hymn commencing, "My hope is built
+on nothing less." He commented on
+the last verse, and spoke of the robe
+prepared for her, and the glory that
+awaited her in heaven.</p>
+
+<p>On Monday, November 28th, with
+deep feeling, she said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"E'er since by faith I saw the stream<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Thy flowing wounds supply,</span><br />
+Redeeming love has been my theme,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And shall be till I die."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>One day, her doctor said he thought
+her a little better. When she was told,
+she burst into tears, and said, "Oh, I
+do not want to get better! Dear Jesus,
+do come and take me!</p>
+
+<p>
+"Weary of earth, myself, and sin,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dear Jesus, set me free!</span><br />
+And to Thy glory take me in,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For there I long to be."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Another time she said, "I think I
+shall soon reach my journey's end now.
+Won't it be nice when my last day
+comes? I did not think I should be
+taken first, but I do now. I wonder who
+will be the next? Jesus knows. I should
+like to have on my tombstone, 'To depart
+and be with Christ is far better,' and I
+hope Mr. Oldfield will bury me; but it
+little matters about my body. I shall be
+singing in heaven when they are putting
+my poor body in the grave."</p>
+
+<p>The last time Mr. Oldfield visited her
+she could say but very little to him, her
+cough being so incessant. He read
+Psalms cxv. and cxvi., and remarked,
+"The heathen have no God to cry to
+in their affliction, but you have. What
+a mercy!</p>
+
+<p>
+"When your poor, lisping, stammering tongue<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lies silent in the grave,</span><br />
+Then, in a nobler, sweeter song,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">You'll sing His power to save.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"You have had a foretaste of heaven
+here, haven't you?" She answered,
+"Yes, I have."</p>
+
+<p>At times her sufferings seemed more
+than she knew how to bear, and caused
+her to become impatient; but afterwards
+she would express much sorrow
+for it, and beg earnestly of the Lord to
+forgive her, and enable her to bear all
+He should see fit to lay upon her, adding,
+"My sufferings are nothing to what
+Christ suffered."</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday, December 18th, she said
+but little during the day, but in the evening
+she wished the hundredth Psalm to
+be read, and the hymn, "Oh, bless the
+Lord, my soul."</p>
+
+<p>Between eleven and twelve o'clock at
+night she said to her sisters, "I think I
+shall go to-night. Yes, I feel sure I
+shall." They asked her if she still felt
+happy, and if Jesus was precious. She
+answered, "Yes! yes!</p>
+
+<p>
+"My hope is built on nothing less<br />
+Than Jesus' blood and righteousness."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Turning to them, she said, "Good-bye,
+good-bye. Say 'Good-bye' to all for
+me. I am going home! home! home!
+I am going home!"</p>
+
+<p>She then fell asleep, to awake in a
+happier world, "where the inhabitant
+shall no more say, I am sick; and where
+they that dwell therein shall be forgiven
+their iniquity."</p>
+
+<p>She was interred at Godmanchester on
+December 26th, 1887, many of the friends
+and scholars of the Sunday School being
+present.</p>
+
+<p>Truly, "the memory of the just is
+blessed."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+J. S.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN APRIL.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+April 1. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 1.<br />
+<br />
+April 8. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 2.<br />
+<br />
+April 15. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 21.<br />
+<br />
+April 22. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 22.<br />
+<br />
+April 29. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 23.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">A Chinaman</span> applied for membership
+in a San Francisco Baptist Church. In
+answer to the question, "How he found
+Jesus?" he is reported to have answered,
+"I no find Jesus at all; He find me."
+There is a great deal of theology as well
+as evidence of religion in his answer.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A FAMOUS DOG.</h2>
+
+
+<p>In 1779, a young dog, who apparently
+had no master, came, no
+one knew how, to Caen, France,
+and met there a regiment of
+grenadiers starting for Italy. Urged
+on, apparently by destiny, he followed
+them. He was, to all appearance, a
+common street cur, dirty and ugly, but
+he had such a bright expression and
+seemed so intelligent that they did not
+hesitate to take him.</p>
+
+<p>His new companions forced him to act
+as sentinel, to obey orders, to keep step,
+to become accustomed to the sound of
+fire-arms, to obey roll call, and all other
+duties the soldiers were called upon to
+perform. He received and ate his
+rations with them, and lived in every
+respect as his regiment was commanded
+to do.</p>
+
+<p>In going to Italy, Moustache crossed
+St. Bernard, at the cost of unknown
+hardships, and encamped with the regiment
+above Alexandria. It was here
+that he was to accomplish his first great
+feat of arms. A detachment of Austrians,
+hidden in the Valley of Balbo,
+advanced in the night to surprise the
+grenadiers, and was heard by this vigilant
+dog as he was making his rounds.
+The soldiers were awakened by his barking.
+In a moment every one was on
+foot, and the enemy dislodged. To
+reward Moustache, the colonel had his
+name inscribed on the regimental roll,
+and ordered that he should have every
+day the ration of a soldier. He ordered
+that there should be put on his neck a
+collar bearing the name of the regiment,
+and the barber was ordered to wash and
+comb him every week.</p>
+
+<p>Some time afterwards there was a
+slight engagement, and Moustache conducted
+himself very bravely. He here
+received his first wound&mdash;a bayonet
+thrust in the shoulder. It must be said
+here that Moustache was never wounded
+except in front.</p>
+
+<p>About this time he quarrelled with the
+grenadiers and deserted, because they
+had left him tied in the garrison.
+Taking refuge with a company of chasseurs,
+he saw a disguised Austrian spy
+enter the French camp. Moustache,
+forgetting the insult he had received,
+welcomed the stranger by springing at
+his throat with much fierceness. This
+action astonished all at first, but they
+had time for reflection, and then remembered
+the sagacity of the faithful dog.
+The stranger was arrested, searched,
+and found to be a spy.</p>
+
+<p>Moustache continued the series of his
+exploits. At the battle of Austerlitz,
+seeing the colour-bearer surrounded by
+enemies, he flew to his rescue, defended
+him as well as he could, and when the
+soldier fell, pierced with bullets, enveloped
+in his colours, Moustache, seizing
+with his teeth that part of the glorious
+flag which he could get, fairly flew past
+the enemy, and brought back to his
+company the blood-stained remnants.
+It must be said here that a charge of
+musketry had taken off one of his legs.
+This saving of the flag brought him
+merited honour. They took off the
+collar he wore, and Marshal Lannes
+ordered that they should put on him a red
+ribbon, with a copper medal, bearing
+this inscription on one side&mdash;"He lost a
+leg at the battle of Austerlitz, and saved
+the colours of his regiment." On the
+other side it read&mdash;"Moustache should
+be loved and honoured as a brave French
+dog."</p>
+
+<p>As it was easy to recognise him by
+his ribbon and medal, they decided that,
+in whatever regiment he should present
+himself, he should receive the portion of
+a soldier.</p>
+
+<p>He took part yet in several battles,
+and among others that of Essling (1809).
+He made with the dragoons two campaigns,
+and the brave dog fought every
+time he had the opportunity. He always<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+walked in front on the alert, barking
+when he heard any noise, and could
+not find out the cause. In the Sierra
+Morena mountains, he brought back to
+camp the horse of a dragoon who had
+been killed. It is said that at several
+times he showed this same act of intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>He made his last campaign with the
+artillery, and was killed at the battle of
+Badajoz, on March 11th, 1811, at the age
+of twelve years. They buried him on
+the spot where he fell, with his medal
+and his ribbon. On the stone which
+served as his monument they wrote&mdash;"Here
+lies Moustache." These simple
+words are more eloquent than the most
+pompous epitaph.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FLESH-EATING PLANTS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is said that there are about a
+hundred kinds of flesh-eating
+plants all the world over, and of
+these, three&mdash;the sundew, butterwort,
+and bladderwort&mdash;grow in this
+country.</p>
+
+<p>The member of this species best
+known to British botanists is the sundew.
+The leaves of this plant resemble
+in shape a flat spoon, and the surface of
+their blades is covered with stout, erect,
+hair-like objects, each with a roundish
+head, which is surrounded with a sticky
+fluid. Flies are the usual prey of the
+sundew. When one of these insects
+touches the blade of a leaf of the plant,
+the sticky points detain it, and the edges
+of the blade begin bending towards the
+centre, and continue to so fold themselves
+until the fly is entirely enveloped
+by them. After remaining in this position
+for many hours, or even days, the
+leaf gradually resumes its original
+shape, and an examination will show
+that nothing remains of the fly but the
+hard parts&mdash;as the wings, outer skin,
+&amp;c. The rest of the insect has been
+dissolved in the sticky secretions, and
+absorbed by the plant.</p>
+
+<p>Several of these plants have been
+placed near one another, and some have
+been covered by fine gauze, so that no
+flies could be caught by their leaves.
+The superiority of the plants that have
+been left in their natural state has
+clearly proved that a supply of animal
+food is not only advantageous, but
+almost necessary to them. (See Psalm
+civ. 24.)</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>"DRAW ME."</h2>
+
+
+<p>"<i>No man can come to Me except the
+Father, which hath sent Me, draw
+him.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> vi. 44.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Him that cometh to Me I will in
+no wise cast out.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> vi. 37.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>I am the Door.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> x. 9.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Draw me, we will run after Thee.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Solomon's
+Song</span> i. 4.</p>
+
+<p>
+Oh, draw me, Holy Father,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For in Thy Word I read</span><br />
+That they who go to Jesus<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With all their guilt and need,</span><br />
+Are certainly attracted<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By Thy almighty power,</span><br />
+To find a happy entrance<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Through heaven's Living Door.</span><br />
+<br />
+The world, which once did furnish<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The trifles I desired,</span><br />
+Now gives no satisfaction;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">There's something else required:</span><br />
+The devil would allure me<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With charms by him designed</span><br />
+To cry, "Peace! peace!" but cannot<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Relieve my troubled mind.</span><br />
+<br />
+I see no place of refuge<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To which I may retreat;</span><br />
+No home, or kindly shelter,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To rest my weary feet.</span><br />
+Where shall I go? where <i>can</i> I?<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dear Saviour, hear my plea&mdash;</span><br />
+"Draw me, and I'll run gladly;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Yes, draw me unto Thee."</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">A. B.</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A BRAVE RESCUE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is only within the last few weeks
+that particulars have been published
+in the Swiss papers of a
+brave rescue effected on Mount St.
+Bernard on the night of the last Sunday
+in November.</p>
+
+<p>While a violent snow-storm was in
+progress, Grand, the manager of the
+hospice, noticed that his own special
+dog that was alone with him in his room
+became very restless, and made signs
+to him to go out. He took the lantern
+and fog-horn, and went out on the mountain,
+the dog leading him. In a very
+short time he heard a call and groaning,
+and, helped by the dog, dug out of the
+snow an Italian, whom he carried on his
+back into the hospice.</p>
+
+<p>The rescued man stated that his
+father, two brothers, and another Italian,
+all journeying home with him over the
+pass, lay buried in the snow. He had
+pushed on to obtain help, but had been
+overpowered by the storm. Grand made
+ready and went out again. This second
+search was more tedious, and led him
+further away, but at last the barking
+of the dog announced a discovery. It
+was the Italian stranger who was now
+saved and carried up to the hospice. A
+third time Grand and his dog sallied out
+into the tempest, and after a quarter of
+an hour's search found the others, near
+where the second man had been discovered.
+They were quite buried under
+the snow, and almost insensible. He
+took the most feeble on his shoulders,
+and with difficulty conducted the others
+to the hospice. It was now past midnight,
+and his toilsome task had occupied
+Grand over four hours, in a blinding
+snow-storm.</p>
+
+<p>A recent telegram from Geneva states
+that two avalanches have fallen on the
+above famous hospice of St. Bernard.
+The church has been almost entirely
+buried in snow. No loss of life is reported.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE MUMMY OF SESOSTRIS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A new Egyptian labyrinth was
+some time ago discovered at a
+place named Deyr-el-Baharee by
+M. Maspero, an orientalist of French
+nationality, who found in one of the
+underground galleries, hollowed through
+a mountain of granite, three sarcophagi
+of the Mosaic period. They resembled
+somewhat our modern coffins, except
+that they were much larger and rather
+clumsier in shape. But they were beautifully
+adorned with images of Egyptian
+gods and sacred animals, painted in
+colours that were still of admirable
+freshness, on a dark-brown ground.
+They bore numerous inscriptions in
+hieroglyphics and the demotic character,
+wherefrom the clue was obtained as
+to their identity.</p>
+
+<p>The sarcophagi, with their contents,
+were transported down the Nile to Boulag,
+at the gates of Cairo, and were
+opened in the presence of the Khedive
+and several pashas. The coil of thick
+cloth in which the first mummy lay was
+ripped open; then a narrow linen band
+of about eight inches in breadth, that
+went round and round the body several
+hundred times from head to foot, was
+unwound; after that, a second winding
+sheet of the finest linen was with great
+care cut open with scissors. At last a
+head appeared, totally unlike that of
+any modern human being. The description
+of it is given by M. Maspero in his
+report:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The head is long and small in proportion
+to the body. The crown is
+utterly bald; the hair is scanty about
+the temples, but grows in thick, lank
+tufts on the nape. It was white before
+death, but has been stained light yellow
+by the sweet essences with which the
+body was embalmed. The ears were
+almost round, standing out from the
+head, and are pierced like those of a
+woman. The mouth is small, and bordered
+with thick, fleshy lips, behind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">&nbsp;</a></span>
+which is a row of white teeth that were
+kept clean with evident care. Whiskers
+and beard are thin. They were shaved
+during lifetime, but grew in the last illness,
+or may-be after death. The low
+forehead is narrow, and the brow prominent,
+and covered with white hairs. The
+eyes are small, and set close to one
+another; the nose long, thin, aquiline,
+and slightly flattened at the tip by the
+pressure of the bandages. The temple
+is hollow, the cheek-bones are prominent,
+the jaw is strong, and the chin
+very underhung. The face of the
+mummy is certainly not an intelligent
+one, and almost appears bestial; but it
+has an unmistakable look of pride, doggedness,
+and majesty."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 393px;">
+<img src="images/img088.jpg" width="393" height="500" alt="RESCUE BY DOGS OF ST. BERNARD." title="RESCUE BY DOGS OF ST. BERNARD." />
+<span class="caption">RESCUE BY DOGS OF ST. BERNARD.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>As regards the body, it is that of an
+aged man, who was singularly vigorous
+and robust, and must have lived to
+nearly a hundred years of age.</p>
+
+<p>From the inscriptions on the coffin, it
+appeared that the body it held had
+reigned over Egypt for sixty-seven years,
+during which time the country had
+attained the pinnacle of national greatness.
+The Hebrews groaned under his
+oppression, and hundreds of thousands,
+while employed to build the city of
+Ramesis, had died under the taskmasters'
+lash. This mummy was the greatest
+among the Pharaohs&mdash;Sesostris. He
+was found in a wonderful state of preservation,
+after having remained in that
+coffin for thirty-five centuries.</p>
+
+<p>The second mummy proved to be that
+of Rameses III.</p>
+
+<p>The third mummy became putrid from
+exposure to air, and was accordingly
+buried by M. Maspero. It turned out
+to be that of a queen named Nofritari,
+of the eighteenth dynasty.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">When</span> thy hand hath done a good
+act, ask thy heart whether it is well
+done.&mdash;<i>Fuller.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>"THIS IS THE WAY; WALK YE IN IT."</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxix. 9.)</p>
+
+
+<p>
+Wherewith shall the inquiring youth<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Attempt to cleanse his way?</span><br />
+This question asked the lips of Truth,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And many since that day.</span><br />
+<br />
+The answer's ready for the meek,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And easy to be found;</span><br />
+No far-fetched knowledge need you seek<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">On false, on foreign ground.</span><br />
+<br />
+Take heed unto your steps, dear friend,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Bible does declare;</span><br />
+May you unto God's Word attend<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With energy and prayer.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Take heed unto thyself," wrote Paul,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"And to the doctrines, too";</span><br />
+Young Timothy obeyed the call,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And God's salvation knew.</span><br />
+<br />
+Friend, you may study well the law,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And try to do your best;</span><br />
+Remember, you will have to know<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This lesson with the rest.</span><br />
+<br />
+But if you find yourself at last<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A guiltier sinner still,</span><br />
+The Gospel is revealed for such&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Come, whosoever will."</span><br />
+<br />
+Yes, there the secret is made known&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The remedy you need&mdash;</span><br />
+The precious blood of Christ alone<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Can cleanse thought, word, and deed.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">M. E. S.</span><br />
+<i>Corby.</i>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>"THOU, GOD, SEEST ME!"</h2>
+
+
+<p>"George," said a big boy, winking
+hard at his curly-headed little comrade,
+"you may pick me some of those
+apples. Your father has fallen asleep
+over his book in the study." George
+raised his fearless, honest eyes to the
+older lad's face, and replied, "My
+Father is father's Father too, and He
+neither slumbers nor sleeps" (Psa. cxxi.
+4). George's Father was the all-seeing
+God.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A VISIT TO THE IDRIAN MINES.</h2>
+
+
+<p>After passing through several
+parts of the Alps, and having
+visited Germany, I thought I
+could not return home without
+visiting those dreadful subterraneous
+caverns, where thousands are condemned
+to reside, shut out from all
+hopes of ever seeing the cheerful light
+of the sun, and obliged to toil out a
+miserable life under the whips of imperious
+task-masters.</p>
+
+<p>Imagine to yourself a hole in the
+side of a mountain, about five yards
+over. Down this you are lowered in a
+kind of bucket to a depth of more than
+one hundred fathoms, the prospect growing
+still more gloomy, yet still widening
+as you descend. At length, after swinging
+in terrible suspense for some time in
+this precarious situation, you reach the
+bottom, and tread on the ground, which,
+by its hollow sound under your feet, and
+the reverberations of the echo, seems
+thundering at every step you take. In
+this gloomy and frightful solitude you
+are enlightened by the feeble gleam of
+lamps, here and there dispersed, so as
+that the wretched inhabitants of these
+mansions can go from one place to
+another without a guide; though I
+could scarcely discern, for some time,
+anything&mdash;not even the person who came
+to show me these scenes of horror.</p>
+
+<p>From this description, I suppose you
+have but a disagreeable idea of the
+place; yet let me assure you that it is
+a palace, if the habitation be compared
+with the inhabitants. Such wretches my
+eyes never yet beheld. The blackness
+of their visages only serves to cover a
+horrid paleness, caused by the noxious
+qualities of the mineral they are employed
+in procuring.</p>
+
+<p>As they, in general, consist of malefactors,
+condemned for life to this task,
+they are fed at the public expense; but
+seldom consume much provision, as
+they lose their appetites in a short time,
+and commonly, in about two years, expire,
+through a total contraction of all
+the joints.</p>
+
+<p>In this horrid mansion I walked after
+my guide for some time, pondering on
+the strange tyranny and avarice of mankind,
+when I was accosted by a voice
+behind me, calling me by name, and
+inquiring after my health with the most
+cordial affection. I turned, and saw a
+creature all black and hideous, who approached
+me, and, with a piteous accent,
+said, "Ah! Everard, do you not know
+me?" What was my surprise when,
+through the veil of this wretchedness, I
+discovered the features of a dear old
+friend. I flew to him with affection, and,
+after a tear of condolence, asked him
+how he came there. To this he replied
+that, having fought a duel with an
+officer of the Austrian Infantry, against
+the Emperor's command, and having
+left him for dead, he was obliged to flee
+into the forests of Istria, where he was
+first taken, and afterwards sheltered by
+some banditti, who had long infested
+that quarter. With these he lived nine
+months, till, by a close investiture of the
+place in which they were concealed, and
+after a very obstinate resistance, in
+which the greater part of them were
+killed, he was taken, and carried to
+Vienna, in order to be broken alive upon
+the wheel. However, upon arriving at
+the capital, he was quickly known, and
+several of the associates of his accusation
+and danger witnessing his innocence,
+his punishment of the rack was
+changed into that of perpetual banishment
+and labour in the mines of Idria.</p>
+
+<p>As my old friend was giving me this
+account, a young woman came up to him
+who at once I perceived to be born for
+a better fortune. The dreadful situation
+of this place was not able to destroy
+her beauty; and, even in this scene of
+wretchedness, she seemed to have charms
+sufficient to grace the most brilliant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+assembly. This lady was, in fact,
+daughter to one of the first families in
+Germany; and having tried every means
+to procure her husband's pardon without
+effect, was at last resolved to share his
+miseries, as she could not relieve them.
+She accordingly descended with him
+into these mansions, whence few of the
+living return, despising the splendour
+of opulence, and contented with the
+consciousness of her own constancy.</p>
+
+<p>I was afterwards spectator of the most
+affecting scene I ever beheld. In the
+course of some days after my visiting
+the gloomy mansion I have represented
+to you, a person came post from Vienna
+to the Idrian bottom, who was followed
+by a second, and he by a third. The
+first inquiry was after my unfortunate
+friend, and I, happening to overhear
+the demand, gave them the first intelligence.
+Two of these were the brother and
+cousin of the lady; the third was an
+intimate acquaintance and fellow-soldier
+of my friend. They came with his
+pardon, which had been procured by the
+general with whom the duel had been
+fought, and who was perfectly cured of
+his wounds. I led him, with all the
+expedition of joy, down to this dreary
+abode, presented to him his friends, and
+informed him of the happy change of
+his circumstances. It would be impossible
+to describe the joy that brightened
+upon his grief-worn countenance, nor
+were the young lady's emotions less vivid
+at seeing her friends, and hearing of her
+husband's liberty.</p>
+
+<p>Some hours were employed in mending
+the appearance of this faithful couple;
+nor could I, without a tear, behold my
+friend taking leave of the former wretched
+companions of his toil. To one he left
+his mattock, to another his working
+clothes, and to a third such utensils as
+were necessary for him in that situation.
+We soon emerged from the mine, where
+he once again revisited the light of the
+sun, that he had totally despaired of ever
+seeing again. A post-chaise and four
+were ready the next morning to take
+them to Vienna, where, I am since informed
+by a letter from himself, they are
+returned. The Emperor has again taken
+him into favour, his fortune and rank are
+restored, and he and his fair partner
+have now the pleasing satisfaction of
+feeling happiness with double relish, as
+they once knew what it was to be miserable.&mdash;<i>Selected.</i></p>
+
+<p>["What a happy deliverance!" say
+you. Ah! but it is only a faint emblem
+of that deliverance which Jesus wrought.
+These people were delivered from sufferings
+which would only have been for a
+short time, but Jesus died to deliver His
+people from the wrath to come&mdash;the fire
+that shall not be quenched.</p>
+
+<p>Reader, have you been brought to
+Him? Can you say, "He loved me,
+and gave Himself for me"? or are you
+without hope of eternal life? Oh, that
+you may seek to win Christ, and be found
+in Him!&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 66.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>
+"<i>Thy will be done.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Matthew</span>
+xxvi. 42.<br />
+<br />
+T imæus      Mark x. 46.<br />
+H arp        Genesis iv. 21.<br />
+Y ear        Leviticus xxv. 4.<br />
+<br />
+W hale       Job vii. 12.<br />
+I nfidel     2 Corinthians vi. 15.<br />
+L atin       Luke xxiii. 38.<br />
+L aban       Genesis xxix. 10.<br />
+<br />
+B ehemoth    Job xl. 15.<br />
+E phraim     Genesis xli. 52.<br />
+<br />
+D og         Exodus xi. 7.<br />
+O nyx        Genesis ii. 12.<br />
+N oon        Solomon's Song i. 7.<br />
+E pistle     2 Corinthians iii. 1.<br />
+<br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Harry Frederick Forfeitt</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(Aged 10 years).</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><i>Thong, near Gravesend.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p>
+<h2>AN ENCOURAGING SUNDAY SCHOOL GATHERING.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The twelfth annual meeting of the
+Sunday School, Devonshire Road
+Chapel, Greenwich, was held on
+February 8th. The singing of a
+hymn was followed by the reading of
+Psalm xix. by Mr. Boorne, the Pastor,
+and prayer by Mr. Joseph Whittome.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Boorne, in his remarks, referred
+to Pharaoh's desire to keep the children
+in Egypt, even if the God of Israel compelled
+him to let their parents go. But
+they also had to come out from bondage.</p>
+
+<p>He said a phrase was sometimes used
+to hinder the planting of Sunday Schools,
+namely, "that they are often only a
+nursery for the Church." His opinion
+was, that a Sunday School might be put
+to a much worse use. He thought it a
+good and desirable thing when it was
+so; and scholars taught of God, as well
+as by their teachers, passed from the
+Sunday School into the Church.</p>
+
+<p>The Secretary and Acting-Superintendent,
+Mr. Samuel Boorne, then read
+the report. He noted four encouraging
+facts. The increase of numbers&mdash;twenty
+new scholars, making 140 in all. That
+the infant class, the <i>feeder</i> of the school,
+was increasing. The manifest interest
+taken in their school by many of the
+scholars, for, though it was twelve
+years old, some of the original scholars
+were still connected with the Bible
+Classes. Her Majesty's Jubilee year
+was commemorated by the gift to each
+child of an ornamental card, on which
+was printed the Coronation Oath, taken
+by Her Majesty on her accession, to preserve
+the Protestant liberties of her
+country. It was put into a gilt frame,
+and was much appreciated by the
+scholars. The collecting cards for the
+Aged Pilgrims' Friend Society, issued
+this year <i>by request</i>, and always a
+voluntary effort on the part of the
+children, resulted in £6 10s.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Marshall, of Clifton, then interested
+many by his pleasant and solemn
+remarks. The <i>possibilities</i> for the future
+represented by such a gathering of boys
+and girls formed a fitting theme. He
+hoped there were none present who
+would be the means of breaking their
+parents' hearts. A page from the life of
+a youth who really did do it, and who
+traced the beginning of his evil doings
+to <i>drink</i>, was pointed and solemn, Mr.
+Marshall saying it was his conviction
+that children should never be allowed to
+acquire a taste for so dangerous a luxury.
+He said he was a total abstainer himself,
+and did not think&mdash;and probably the
+audience agreed with him&mdash;he looked
+any the worse for it.</p>
+
+<p>His concluding words will be remembered.
+After fifty years' experience of
+the love and ways of God, he testified to
+young and old that there was no happiness
+in anything but the knowledge of
+God in Christ. It surpasses and eclipses
+all. "He will do everything for those
+who are His."</p>
+
+<p>He then addressed a few words to the
+teachers, advising them to stick to the
+Word of God. The Holy Spirit was able
+to teach even children. He once baptized
+a girl of fourteen, of whom he could say
+he <i>knew</i> she was a vessel of mercy; and
+why should he keep her out of the
+privileges of the Lord's people? He
+would not hesitate to baptize a child of
+ten if he or she gave sufficient evidence
+that they knew something of their own
+sinfulness, and something of the Lord
+Jesus. "Can any man forbid water,
+that these should not be baptized, which
+have received the Holy Ghost as well as
+we?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Wilmshurst then began his address
+by reminding his young friends of
+the many happy Sundays they had spent
+together. What pleasant gatherings they
+were! He had not forgotten them, if
+they had. But now he wished to speak
+of a most <i>remarkable</i> gathering of
+people. He referred to the four hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+men who gathered to David in the cave
+Adullam (1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2). The remarkable
+points were these:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>First, they were all remarkably <i>poor</i>&mdash;"in
+debt"&mdash;and bankrupts in those
+days were liable to be taken for bondmen,
+or slaves (see 2 Kings iv. 1). We are
+all in debt to God, and have "nothing
+to pay." We add to it hourly, and unless
+the heavy debt is paid by us (which
+is <i>impossible</i>), or by Another, we shall
+be shut up for ever in prison with Satan
+and his angels.</p>
+
+<p>Secondly, these men were remarkably
+<i>discontented</i>&mdash;discontented with Saul,
+the reigning king, his service, and his
+rewards; and they came to David, an
+uncrowned king, with no apparent advantage
+to offer them. True type of
+those who, like Moses in a similar case,
+have "<i>chosen</i> rather to suffer affliction
+with the people of God, than to enjoy the
+pleasures of sin for a season."</p>
+
+<p>Thirdly, they were in remarkable
+<i>distress</i>. So are all those who come to
+King Jesus&mdash;a distress which others
+cannot understand, and often cannot
+account for. "What must I do to be
+saved?" is a strange trouble to many.</p>
+
+<p>Fourthly, they had remarkable <i>desires</i>.
+They wished to find David, to dwell with
+him, and have him for their leader and
+captain. And David himself was a
+fugitive, hunted by Saul&mdash;poor, powerless,
+and hidden away in a cave in a
+mountain, where, probably, it was very
+difficult to find him. So there are some
+(only a few compared with the number of
+the people of the land, like David's four
+hundred) whose hearts are set on finding
+Jesus. They wish to be near Him
+always. He (like David) is difficult to
+find. He must be usually searched for
+"as for hid treasures" (Prov. ii. 4), but
+when found, He becomes their Captain.</p>
+
+<p>Fifthly, these men had a remarkable
+<i>reception</i>. They had no good characters&mdash;nothing
+to recommend them&mdash;but they
+were received. So Jesus also "receiveth
+sinners and eateth with them." As the
+Pharisees despised Jesus for keeping
+such company, so Saul and his servants
+despised David. Jesus says, "Him
+that <i>cometh to Me</i> I will in no wise cast
+out."</p>
+
+<p>The reception of the four hundred
+was also remarkable because they were
+<i>uninvited</i>. But here the type fails.
+Jesus <i>has</i> invited those who "come" to
+Him (see Matt. xi. 28).</p>
+
+<p>Sixthly, the men made remarkable
+<i>soldiers</i>. Their doings are recorded in
+2 Samuel xxiii., and the doings and
+victories of the good soldiers of Jesus
+Christ are to be found in Hebrews xi.
+David's soldiers did not live <i>idle</i> lives in
+the cave, nor do Christ's soldiers have
+peace always. They have to "fight the
+good fight of faith" with "the sword of
+the Spirit, which is the Word of God,"
+and the bow of <i>prayer</i>. They fight,
+however, with their Captain's eye upon
+them (see Psa. xxxiv. 15).</p>
+
+<p>Lastly, they were remarkably <i>rewarded</i>.
+When David came to the throne, they
+were put in positions of honour. The
+visible reward of Christ's followers is
+yet to come (Dan. vii. 22, 27; Matt.
+xix. 28; Luke xxii. 29, 30). He has
+promised also to give them "manifold
+more in <i>this present time</i>," as well as
+"life everlasting" (Luke xviii. 28-30).</p>
+
+<p>The prizes were then distributed by
+the Pastor, and after a concluding word
+of prayer, this encouraging meeting was
+brought to a close.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+E. M.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE WISE AND FOOLISH BUILDERS.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> vii. 24-29.)</p>
+
+
+<p>
+This is a wilderness of sand,<br />
+With driving winds on every hand;<br />
+How many build their houses here,<br />
+Nor seem the coming storm to fear!<br />
+<br />
+There is a sure Foundation-Stone;<br />
+May I be builded thereupon!<br />
+Then shall I stand the last dread shock,<br />
+Safe on the Everlasting Rock.
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p>
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The name of a river.</p>
+
+<p>A place where all Jews were commanded
+to depart from.</p>
+
+<p>A king to whom the children of Israel
+sent a present.</p>
+
+<p>What did Abimelech take with him
+when he went up Mount Zalmon?</p>
+
+<p>What did the Lord say the strong
+shall be as?</p>
+
+<p>A mighty man of valour.</p>
+
+<p>One of David's children.</p>
+
+<p>Name one of Jacob's sons.</p>
+
+<p>A brother of Tubal.</p>
+
+<p>One of the cities which the children of
+Reuben built.</p>
+
+<p>A mountain.</p>
+
+<p>What did Jesus say a disciple should
+be called?</p>
+
+<p>That which was to be burned always.</p>
+
+<p>A place where David dwelt.</p>
+
+<p>One of the cities which the children of
+Gad built.</p>
+
+<p>Of what tribe was Hiram?</p>
+
+<p>What did the Lord say should not
+cease while the earth remaineth?</p>
+
+<p>The name of a thing declared to be a
+mocker (spell it backwards).</p>
+
+<p>One who slew, in the valley of salt,
+eighteen thousand.</p>
+
+<p>That which remains to the people of
+God.</p>
+
+<p>A place where the children of Israel
+provoked the Lord to wrath.</p>
+
+<p>A wicked king.</p>
+
+<p>The place where the father of Gideon
+dwelt.</p>
+
+<p>One whom the Lord blessed.</p>
+
+<p>A bird that found no rest save in one
+place.</p>
+
+<p><br />The initials and finals will form a
+prayer.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Alice Cole.</span><br />
+<i>Basingstoke.</i>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> law of love requires us to sacrifice
+our own comfort to promote the
+happiness of others.&mdash;<i>Albert Barnes.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Mental Eyes: Darkened and
+Illuminated.</span></h3>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> vi. 22, 23.)</p>
+
+
+<p>Light sometimes means that
+which <i>gives</i>, sometimes that
+which <i>receives</i> or <i>reflects</i>, light;
+as the sun is the light of the
+world, and the windows through which
+he shines are the lights of the room and
+the house. Our eyes are the lights, or
+windows, of our body. Through them we
+look out upon the world around us; and
+light, knowledge, and pleasure come in
+to us from what we see, as well as what
+we hear.</p>
+
+<p>Jesus here refers to the eyes of the
+mind&mdash;the understanding. How often,
+when a difficult matter has been explained,
+we say, "Oh, yes; I see it
+all now!" and yet the eyes behold no
+new object. We mean that we now
+<i>understand</i> what puzzled us so much
+before.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, in these two verses we are told
+about <i>minds</i> that are darkened, and
+also about <i>understandings</i> that are enlightened
+with the light of life.</p>
+
+<p>"If the light that is in thee be darkness,
+how great is that darkness!" If
+the windows are bricked up, no ray of
+light can force an entrance, even at
+noonday, into the darkened rooms; or,
+if the casements are thickly curtained,
+or closely shuttered, how dark the house
+must be! So sin of some kind&mdash;pride,
+prejudice, or superstition&mdash;darkens the
+sinner's understanding, shuts out the
+light of heavenly truth, and lulls him to
+sleep in the arms of the wicked one&mdash;the
+sleep of death.</p>
+
+<p>People often tell us that we can do
+something to enlighten our own understanding.
+We can unfasten the shutters,
+or draw back the curtains, and let in
+the light. Alas! unless the grace of
+God has reached us in its almighty
+power, we do not <i>want</i> the light. Our
+deeds are evil, and the light that makes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+them manifest is hateful (see John iii.
+18, 19). The thief, the murderer, the
+coiner of bad money, and all who are
+knowingly guilty of wrong-doing, love
+darkness, secresy, and concealment
+"rather than light"; and this is our
+"condemnation," as fallen creatures&mdash;we
+love the darkness, and we shun
+God's holy light. "Having the understanding
+darkened, being alienated [or
+estranged] from the life of God through
+the ignorance that is in them, because
+of the hardness of their heart" (Eph.
+iv. 18). Such was <i>our</i> state by nature.
+What are our feelings now?</p>
+
+<p>Saul of Tarsus, as a Pharisee, was
+learned, intelligent, and moral; but how
+dark, how blind, he was in those days!
+Jesus, God's beloved Son, was the Object
+of his hatred. The altogether Lovely
+One had no beauty at all for him, and
+the children of God he viewed as enemies
+whom he felt bound to conquer and destroy.
+How great his darkness was&mdash;the
+darkness of prejudice and pride!</p>
+
+<p>Chiniquy, the Romish priest, of whom
+some of us have heard so much, was
+blinded by <i>superstition</i> for many a year,
+and even the light of the Bible, as he
+read and studied it, could not remove
+that darkness till God Himself said,
+"Let there be light," and made the
+night of superstitious error flee away.</p>
+
+<p>Then minds are blinded as was
+Balaam's of old, and the Pharisees, to
+whom Christ said, "If ye were blind"&mdash;that
+is, if they had not heard His words,
+and seen His works (see John xv. 22,
+24)&mdash;"ye had not had sin"&mdash;you would
+have been <i>comparatively</i> free from
+blame&mdash;"but now ye say, We see;
+therefore your sin remaineth."</p>
+
+<p>They hated the light they had, and
+closed their eyes against it. As the
+proverb says, "None are so blind as
+those who will not see."</p>
+
+<p>But "God, who commanded light to
+shine out of darkness [at the world's
+creation], hath shined in our hearts,"
+wrote the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. iv. 6),
+"to give the light of the knowledge of
+the glory of God in the face of Jesus
+Christ."</p>
+
+<p>The once blinded Pharisee could see
+now, and how different were all his feelings!
+His own righteousness was cast
+away. Jesus was precious to his heart,
+and Christians were his "own company,"
+his beloved friends.</p>
+
+<p>No darkness is too dense, no barrier
+too strong, for almighty grace to remove.
+Has the Sun of Righteousness arisen in
+our hearts? How may we know? Jesus
+tells us (John iii. 21)&mdash;"He that doeth
+truth cometh to the light." God is
+Light, and His Word is a light that
+makes all things manifest. It shows
+sin, how black it is. It reveals the
+hollowness of the world, the glory of
+Christ. It points out our dangers, our
+disease, our wants, and our foes; while
+it sets forth the remedy of all our ills,
+the great Refuge and Deliverer who can
+save unto the uttermost all who confide
+in Him.</p>
+
+<p>Do we try ourselves by the Scriptures?
+Abraham compared himself to "dust
+and ashes"&mdash;worthless. Job said, "I
+have heard of Thee by the hearing of
+the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee,
+wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in
+dust and ashes" (Job xlii. 5, 6). David,
+king of Israel, said, "I am poor, and
+needy." Are we anything like these
+saints of God? God says, He "will
+give strength to those who have no
+might," will "fill the hungry with good
+things," and for His own name's sake
+will bless those who feel themselves unworthy
+of His favour. Do these promises
+suit us? Are we glad that God's
+mercy is so free? And do we, like the
+Psalmist, "esteem <i>all</i> His precepts
+concerning all things to be right, and
+hate every false way"? (Psa. cxix. 128.)
+If so, we are children of the light, and,
+while we examine ourselves, we shall
+pray God to search and try us, and lead
+us in His everlasting way.</p>
+
+<p>Jesus said, "He that followeth Me
+shall not walk in darkness" (John viii.
+12), yet they who fear the Lord, and obey<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+His beloved Servant, may, for a time,
+have no bright shinings on their pathway
+(Isa. l. 10), just as sometimes a
+change of wind, or some other cause,
+may make a sudden darkness overspread
+the sky. But day-darkness generally
+passes off again before long. So "light
+is sown for the righteous," and the glad
+harvest shall certainly be reaped, for
+"the path of the just is as the shining
+light, which shineth more and more unto
+the perfect day" (Prov. iv. 18). The
+morning twilight in nature may be dim
+and clouded, but when once the sun has
+risen, the light grows clearer and brighter
+till noon is reached; but then it begins
+to decline, and evening gradually comes
+on. But the spiritual day <i>ends</i> in noontide
+glory, the <i>everlasting ending</i> of all
+sorrow, sin, and fear; and to His people
+the Saviour says, "Thy sun shall no
+more go down, for the Lord shall be thy
+everlasting Light, and the days of thy
+mourning shall be ended" (Isa. lx. 20).</p>
+
+<p>May He "open our eyes, that we may
+behold wondrous things out of His law."
+May the "Sun of Righteousness arise
+upon us, with healing in His wings,"
+that "in His light we may see light,"
+and follow Him who has "redeemed us
+from all evil" to the realms of endless
+day.</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, <i>God's Independence
+of All, and His Declared
+Need of Some of His Creatures</i>. Compare
+Psalm l. 12, with Matthew xxi. 3,
+and other passages.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Yours affectionately,<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+The Word of God records a potent test<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By which a true possessor may be known&mdash;</span><br />
+<br />
+The <i>Pharisee</i> will smite his fellow's breast;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The grace-taught <i>publican</i> will smite his own.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Who are they that will Stand
+Perfect in the Day of Judgment?</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Those who will stand perfect in
+the day of judgment are those
+who, by the grace of God, have
+been enabled to trust in, and
+wait on, the Lord for salvation from sin
+and its consequences; for, by the Holy
+Spirit working in them, they see their
+sin, and feel the anger of God.</p>
+
+<p>"The heart is deceitful above all
+things, and desperately wicked: who
+can know it?" (Jer. xvii. 9); and, when
+we see and feel a little of our wickedness,
+we despair, and Satan begins to
+torment us, and say, "You are too
+wicked to go to heaven." But Jesus
+says, "Him that cometh to Me I will in
+no wise cast out" (John vi. 37); "Come
+unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy
+laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt.
+xi. 28).</p>
+
+<p>Jesus says "heavy laden," showing
+that, no matter how wicked, how laden,
+His word to all those who are weary of
+sin, and "heavy laden" with sorrow for
+sin, is, "Come, and I will give you rest"&mdash;rest
+from Satan and his temptations,
+rest from the world and all its busy
+cares.</p>
+
+<p>His rest is so different from all other,
+for He says, in John xiv. 27, "Peace I
+leave with you; My peace I give unto
+you: not as the world giveth, give I unto
+you. Let not your heart be troubled,
+neither let it be afraid."</p>
+
+<p>Those who will stand perfect are
+those who have been chosen by God as
+vessels of mercy, for Peter says, "Elect
+according to the foreknowledge of God
+the Father, through sanctification of the
+Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of
+the blood of Jesus Christ."</p>
+
+<p>Then, when sprinkled by the blood of
+Jesus Christ, they are perfectly free from
+sin; as the hymn says&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"There is a fountain filled with blood,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Drawn from Immanuel's veins;</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And sinners plunged beneath that flood</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lose all their guilty stains."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>And this is how God's people stand
+before Him&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Dear, dying Lamb, Thy precious blood</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall never lose its power</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Till all the ransomed Church of God</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be saved to sin no more."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>And when the final judgment is pronounced,
+those whose names are not
+recorded in the book of life will hear
+those awful words, "Depart from Me, ye
+cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for
+the devil and his angels" (Matt. xxv. 41).
+But if our names are written in God's
+book of life, how sweet to hear, "Come,
+ye blessed of My Father, inherit the
+kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
+of the world" (Matt. xxv. 34).</p>
+
+<p>Oh, that we may be found at God's
+right hand, perfect in Christ's righteousness,
+singing and praising God through
+all eternity! "Unto Him that loved us,
+and washed us from our sins in His own
+blood, and hath made us kings and
+priests unto God and His Father: to
+Him be glory and dominion for ever and
+ever. Amen" (Rev. i. 5, 6).</p>
+
+<p>
+"But can I bear the piercing thought&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'What if my name should be left out</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When Thou for them shalt call?'</span><br />
+<br />
+"Let me among thy saints be found<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Whene'er the archangel's trump shall sound,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To see Thy smiling face:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Then loudest of the crowd I'll sing,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">While heaven's resounding mansions ring</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With shouts of sovereign grace."</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Grace Annie Osmotherly</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(Aged 12 years).</span><br />
+<br />
+<i>45, Cutmore Street,<br />
+Gravesend, Kent.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>[We have received many tolerably
+good Essays for this month, among which
+the following claim special notice&mdash;E.
+B. Knocker; Lilly Rush; Margaret
+Creasey; J. E. Wright; P. Rackham;
+Jane Bell; Florrie Rush; Claude Rush
+(aged 10 years); Laura Creasey; E.
+Wightman; E. B. West; D. Newbury;
+B. M. Dennis; A. M. Cray; W. E.
+Cray, &amp;c.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of "The Life of John
+Newton."</p>
+
+<p>The subject for June will be, "What
+Marks do the Lambs of Jesus Christ
+Bear?" and the prize to be given for
+the best Essay on that subject, a copy
+of "The Dairyman's Daughter." All
+competitors must give a guarantee that
+they are under fifteen years of age, and
+that the Essay is their own composition,
+or the papers will be passed over, as the
+Editor cannot undertake to write for this
+necessary information. Papers must be
+sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull,
+117, High Street, Hastings, by the first
+of May.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The following lines are printed on a
+board over a watering-trough in Holloway,
+Bath:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+A man of kindness to his beast is kind,<br />
+But brutish actions show a brutish mind.<br />
+Remember, He who made thee made the brute;<br />
+Who gave thee speech and reason, made him mute.<br />
+He can't complain, but God's all-seeing eye<br />
+Beholds thy cruelty and hears his cry.<br />
+He was designed thy servant&mdash;not thy drudge.<br />
+Remember his Creator is thy Judge.<br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">He</span> acts but a fool's part who aims at
+heaven, but lives at random.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Deepest Running Stream.</span>&mdash;The deepest
+running stream that is known is the
+Niagara river, just under the suspension bridge,
+where it is seven hundred feet deep by actual
+measurement.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sabbath-Breaking.</span>&mdash;On Sunday afternoon,
+March 4th, at Sheffield, a little boy, whose
+name was Thomas Haigh, was drowned in a
+dam, caused by the breaking of the ice. He
+was sent to the Sunday School by his parents.
+Instead of going there, however, he and another
+boy went to what is known as the Little
+London dam. The ice was not safe, but they
+ventured on it, and ultimately both fell in.
+Haigh was drowned, and his body has not yet
+been discovered; the other escaped. Children,
+beware of disobedience and Sabbath-breaking.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Great Snowstorm in New York.</span>&mdash;Every
+one declares it to be the worst storm they have
+ever known. Saturday, March 10th, was a
+balmy, spring day. On Sunday evening some
+cold rain fell, changing at midnight into a
+freezing sleet. On Monday there was a veritable
+Dakota blizzard. The air was filled with
+snow flying before the wind at the rate of
+sixty miles an hour. It was impossible in the
+street to keep the eyes open, and almost impossible
+to walk. Those who did venture out of
+doors were to be seen clinging to trees for support
+against the gale, or turning breezy corners
+upon their hands and knees. Vehicular traffic
+was totally suspended. Huge snow-ploughs,
+drawn along the tramways by a score of horses,
+had to be abandoned in the streets. The tram-car
+drivers unhitched their teams of three
+horses, and left the cars wherever they happened
+to be. Unbroken drifts, as high as the
+hips, or even in some cases up to the shoulders,
+filled nine-tenths of the shop doors along
+Broadway. The storm is believed to be without
+a parallel. It extended all along the
+Hudson River and around New York.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Death of the Emperor William of Germany.</span>&mdash;Berlin
+has been a city of mourning,
+and Germany a nation of grief, in consequence
+of the death of the Emperor William, who
+closed his long, eventful, and successful life in
+his palace there, Unter den Linden, about half-past
+eight a.m., March 9th. Just before he died,
+when Dr. Kogel, the Court chaplain, repeated
+to the Emperor the words of the Psalmist&mdash;"Yea,
+though I walk through the valley of the
+shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou
+art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort
+me," the Emperor observed, "That is
+beautiful." His last words are said to have
+been those with which he replied to a question
+from his daughter, the Grand Duchess of Baden,
+as to whether he was tired, and would like to
+rest. "I have no time at present to be tired,"
+responded His Majesty. Sometimes, when his
+thoughts were wandering, the dying monarch
+would think of his afflicted son and successor
+far away on the Mediterranean shore, and
+murmur, "Fritz, lieber Fritz." The Emperor
+was a man who acknowledged God, and God
+prospered his work, as in the case of the Franco-Prussian
+war, for instance, although many of
+his enemies sneered at that acknowledgment.
+A special funeral service was held on Saturday,
+the 10th ult., in the mortuary chamber of the
+late Emperor, at which the Dowager Empress,
+the Grand Duke and Duchess of Baden, the
+Crown Prince and Princess of Sweden, and
+other Royal personages were present. The deceased
+monarch lay in the same position as that
+in which he expired, having a crucifix on the
+breast, and holding an ivory cross in the right
+hand. [What Popery!]</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Berlin Telegraph Office.</span>&mdash;Friday,
+March 9th, will long be remembered as the
+busiest day on record at the Central Telegraph
+Office of Berlin. The pressure was great on
+Thursday, when 29,878 telegrams, aggregating
+799,926 words, had to be sent off. But this record,
+was eclipsed by the following day, no
+fewer than 36,615 telegrams, containing together
+1,115,551 words, being despatched to
+all parts of the globe, and in different languages.
+All the Government telegraphists fit
+for duty had to be called in to meet the pressure,
+and all the available instruments were
+worked. It was a fortunate circumstance that
+the Berlin Bourse was closed, as this enabled
+the authorities to make use of the instruments
+there for the work. During the busiest hours
+of the day, no less than 346 telegraphists were
+at work at the same time in the great instrument
+room of the Central Telegraph Office, and
+230 instruments were operated.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Epping Baptist Sunday School.</span>&mdash;On
+Wednesday, February 1st, a lecture was delivered
+by Mr. William Hazelton, of College
+Park, Lewisham, entitled, "Wit and its Uses."
+The lecture was listened to with great interest.
+Pieces were sung by the teachers and scholars,
+conducted by Mr. G. Nokes. The chair was
+taken by Mr. C. Cottis. There was a good
+attendance, and collections amounted to over
+two pounds. On Tuesday, February 14th, the
+children, with their teachers and friends, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+their annual tea, after which short addresses
+were given by the teachers, and recitations and
+singing by the children. The prizes, consisting
+of books, were then distributed by the Superintendent,
+Mr. William Cottis; and singing the
+Doxology and prayer brought a very pleasant
+meeting to a close.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Siddal, Halifax.</span>&mdash;On Shrove Tuesday, the
+annual tea in connection with the Strict Baptist
+Sunday School took place, when about 160
+sat down to tea. The meeting was presided
+over by the respected minister, Mr. D. Smith,
+who gave a short address on "Stealing." A
+few suitable recitations by the young children
+followed. Mr. H. E. Greenwood gave a short
+address on "Prizes," and said how necessary
+it was for young people to have something to aim
+at, and also on the value of a good name. Mr.
+James Moss, Superintendent of Hebden Bridge
+Sunday School, exhorted the children to obedience
+to their parents, and related instances
+where disobedience had been punished in a
+remarkable way. Mr. Thos. Smith, Mr. Jos.
+Smith, and Mr. M. H. Robinson also gave short
+addresses. Mr. John Smith presented the certificates
+for attendance and good conduct, and
+gave excellent counsel to the recipients. After
+the singing of the Doxology, a very encouraging
+meeting was brought to a close.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Southsea.&mdash;Salem Street Sunday School.</span>&mdash;The
+annual distribution of prizes took place
+on Sunday, February 12th, 1888. After the opening
+services, Mr. Lowe spoke to the scholars
+respecting regularity and punctuality, trying to
+impress on their minds that these things would
+be a good recommendation for their future life.
+He also gave a hint that teachers should set the
+example. He then spoke of love as being the
+mainspring to win the affections of the scholars,
+for if love will not, the reverse will not do so.
+He also spoke affectionately to the young men
+present. He felt surprised that they came so
+regularly to school. He was brought up to the
+Sunday School, but as he grew older, he left
+and sought worldly amusements; but, as he remarked,
+being a vessel of mercy, God sought
+him out in His own time. He felt there was
+nothing in the school to attract young men, but
+if they were seeking the one thing needful, they
+would not desire such amusements as those by
+which many congregations seek to draw the
+minds of youth. Mr. Hitchens, the Superintendent,
+then remarked that it was twenty
+years since he first became connected with the
+school, and that he had seen many changes
+during that period; but still he could say,
+"having obtained help of God, he had continued
+until the present day." Then came the
+distribution of prizes. One received a book
+about the sagacity of animals, and his teacher
+also gave him a Bible for his good attendance
+and punctuality, as he did not remember him
+being away once through the year. The service
+was ended by singing and prayer.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">E. A. Hitchens.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Cirencester.&mdash;Park Street Chapel Sunday
+School.</span>&mdash;Dear Mr. Editor,&mdash;I am one of
+the readers of the <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span>. We take
+a lot of them in our Sunday School, and the
+girls and boys like them very much. I have
+been pleased to read about the treats which
+have been given at other Sunday Schools, and
+thinking other children like reading about such
+things too, I send you an account of our Christmas
+treat, held on January 26th. If you think
+it worth putting in the <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span>, I
+shall be very pleased to see it there. Ours is
+not a very large school, there being only about
+fifty; but I think it is very nice to go there.
+Mr. Barnard tells us that some of the ministers
+who give us an address tell him that ours is a
+very nice school, for they go to some schools
+where the children are not so nicely behaved
+and attentive as we are; but I expect we are
+not any better than we should be. But I must
+tell you about our winter treat. We have a
+summer outing as well. About last October,
+some of the lady teachers and friends who
+attend our chapel, knowing that the poorer
+children of our school would be glad of some
+warm clothes for the winter, got some money
+together and bought flannel, serge, and stockings,
+and had a sewing meeting every week, and
+made shirts, dresses, flannel petticoats, and
+skirts; and by Christmas time they had a big
+box full of all these sorts of things, which were
+brought and given away at our treat. The
+children began tea at four o'clock, after singing
+grace. We had a beautiful tea, and we each
+had an orange given us; and then, after the
+visitors (and we had a chapel full) had had their
+tea, we sang a hymn, and then our minister,
+Mr. Barnard, gave a nice, interesting address.
+Several of us recited pieces, and after some
+more singing and one or two other friends had
+spoken to us, the best part of the evening came
+for us children, for Mr. Barnard gave us our
+prizes&mdash;some beautiful books. Mine was a lovely
+one. Then the big box was opened, and the
+garments were distributed; and after a vote of
+thanks to the ladies, and to Mr. Barnard for
+presiding, the meeting was closed with prayer.
+I enjoyed myself very much, and I think every
+one else did. I have not had much practice in
+writing letters, as I am only a little girl, ten
+years old, but I have sent you the best account
+I can of our treat. I remain, your young friend,
+<span class="smcap">Mercy Risely</span>. P.S.&mdash;Perhaps you don't know
+me, but I have seen you ever so many times at
+our chapel.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 383px;">
+<img src="images/img100.jpg" width="383" height="500" alt="THE CAPTAIN (See page 98.)" title="THE CAPTAIN (See page 98.)" />
+<span class="caption">"THE CAPTAIN NEVER SAW ANY ONE LOOK HAPPIER." (<i>See page 98.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE JESUIT AND THE BIBLE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>There were not many passengers
+on board the vessel in which I
+was going to Belgium, which
+rendered our intercourse more intimate.
+While I was conversing with two elderly
+persons from Holland, I saw a respectable
+looking young man, passing backwards
+and forwards, who seemed to
+listen to what I said. In the afternoon,
+as I was seated among some bales of
+goods, the same young man placed himself
+beside me, and made some remark
+as to the fineness of the weather.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," I answered, "it is a proof of
+the goodness of God to us; but to be
+sensible of His goodness is a far greater
+blessing. Has not a Christian double
+cause for happiness, since all he receives
+comes from the hand of his
+Father?"</p>
+
+<p>He answered, "The captain and I
+were just now speaking about you. The
+captain said he never saw any one look
+happier, and he thought you must have
+some especial cause for it. I wish, sir,
+I frankly confess, to be told what your
+secret is; for, in truth, I am not free
+from anxiety."</p>
+
+<p>He then proceeded to relate how he
+had gone from place to place, in order
+to practise his profession as a painter,
+and yet all his calculations had been
+disappointed. He was a native of Belgium,
+and a Roman Catholic. "But,"
+he added, with a sort of contempt, "all
+my religion has given me no consolation.
+What do you think is the use of
+all these rites and ceremonies? They
+are wearisome, and that is all."</p>
+
+<p>"My secret," I answered, "which is
+not one in reality, is of a very different
+character. The Bible, sir, by the mercy
+of God, has rendered me happy, not
+only for this world, but, above all, for
+eternity. Perhaps you never read it?"</p>
+
+<p>"The Bible, sir? Do you not know
+it is denied, and even forbidden, to us
+Catholics? I have heard, indeed, that
+some priests allow their parishioners to
+read it, but they are very few; and the
+truth is that, if any of us were to read
+the Bible, he would be forced to do
+penance, and to give the Book up to our
+priest. I have never read it, I own."</p>
+
+<p>"Here is a part of it," I said, producing
+my New Testament. "This is
+the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."</p>
+
+<p>"The Gospel!" said the young man,
+with surprise. "Is it all contained in
+that small Book? I should never have
+supposed it."</p>
+
+<p>"This small Book," I said, "contains,
+in our language, all that God has
+said to us by Jesus Christ, and costs
+only one franc" (tenpence).</p>
+
+<p>"Only one franc! Is it possible? I
+will have one, and read it, you may be
+sure. I promise you, as soon as we
+arrive at Brussels, the first thing I do
+will be to get that Book."</p>
+
+<p>"But, sir, you say that your priest
+will not allow you to read it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir; our Church does not permit
+us to do so. But if you wish to know
+my own views, I must say I feel sure
+that we are prevented from reading the
+Bible only because it is exactly the reverse
+of what our priests tell us. They
+say that the Bible is obscure, and not
+easy to be understood, and that, if they
+comprehend it, it is different with the
+common people. But I do not believe
+this, especially after something that
+happened to one of my friends, which I
+will tell you.</p>
+
+<p>"You know, perhaps, that Belgium
+is full of Jesuits, and the people dislike
+them. A certain abbé, who was
+only a Jesuit in disguise, was confessor
+to a friend of mine, who, like many
+others, had been guilty of some imprudence,
+and he confessed it to this same
+priest, who imposed rather a heavy
+penance on him, particularly requiring
+him to make a rich offering to Our Lady
+[the Virgin Mary]. Well, on his way<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+home, my friend met one of the colporteurs,
+who sell Bibles and other religious
+books. He bought one, and began to
+read it, and the result was, that he discovered,
+as he told me, that he must
+seek the forgiveness of his sins from
+God, through the Saviour, and that to
+make an offering to the Virgin for his
+faults was at once to lose his pains, his
+money, and his soul.</p>
+
+<p>"Three months had passed, when the
+priest met my friend, and asked if he
+had done all he was directed, and
+especially, if he had made the offering.
+My friend answered, 'I have got a Book
+which has shown me that God alone
+forgives sin, and that to give money
+for a fault is to mock the Holy Spirit.'
+'That is the Bible,' exclaimed the
+Jesuit. 'Wretched man, from whom
+did you get it? Unless you give it up
+to me this very day, woe be unto you!'
+My friend refused, and there is no sort
+of annoyance or vexation which the
+priest has not made him suffer. However,
+he was firm. But hitherto, I
+confess, I cared very little about the
+matter."</p>
+
+<p>"Then," said I, "you remain in
+ignorance as to whether God loves you
+or not?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am not worse than others," he
+replied; "and since God is good, I do
+not suppose He hates me."</p>
+
+<p>I explained, with all simplicity and
+freedom, the glorious doctrine of the
+salvation of God in Christ, and I saw
+that no thirsty traveller hastens to
+springs in the wilderness more eagerly
+than this young man seemed to turn
+and hearken to the record of divine love.
+At length, with much earnestness, he
+cried out, "Sir, how wonderful is the
+love of God to man! We did not deserve
+that He should give His Son to
+die for us. This was surpassing love.
+The thought of it overpowers me."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you not, then," I said, "read
+the Bible, which tells us this glorious
+news?"</p>
+
+<p>"Be assured that I will read it," he
+answered. "In less than a week I will
+have one like that which belongs to my
+friend. It is twice as thick as that lady's
+work-box, but this one Book contains all
+that God has said to man; and the print
+is so clear."</p>
+
+<p>"But if some Jesuit should see your
+Book, he may take it from you."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I tell you what I will do, if
+any one of them meddles with me?" he
+said. "I will read some of its excellent
+contents to him, and ask him what he
+thinks of them. Then I am sure he
+will not come again, unless he takes a
+liking to them; and then he will not
+hurt me."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">C.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A DIVINE PROVIDENCE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The late Mr. Edward Parsons, of
+Leeds, frequently supplied the
+pulpit of the Tabernacle, Tottenham
+Court Road, London.</p>
+
+<p>Walking out one Monday morning, he
+was accosted by a stranger, who expressed
+a wish to accompany him. On
+arriving at a certain house he said,
+"This is my home, sir. Will you walk in
+and rest yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>Having done so, his host told him he
+had a design in thus treating him, and
+then related the following remarkable
+facts:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Many years before, himself and wife
+had come from Scotland to London,
+where, as a mechanic, he had for a time
+full employment; but when his work
+became slack, he was obliged to part
+with some of his furniture and take a
+smaller house. His circumstances growing
+worse, his health also failing, he was
+obliged to part with more of his furniture,
+until he found himself, wife, and
+family driven to reside in a wretched
+cellar in St. Giles'.</p>
+
+<p>One day, being without food, or the
+means of obtaining any, he resolved the
+next morning to drown himself in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+New River, and accordingly started to
+carry out his terrible intention.</p>
+
+<p>It was the Sabbath morning, and as
+he passed through Tottenham Court
+Road, on his way to the New River, a
+little before seven o'clock, he observed a
+throng of people entering the Tabernacle.
+In a sullen mood he joined these
+early worshippers.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Parsons was in the pulpit, and
+gave out his text, which was&mdash;"When
+the poor and needy seek water, and there
+is none, and their tongue faileth for
+thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them; I,
+the God of Jacob, will not forsake them"
+(Isa. xli. 17).</p>
+
+<p>It seemed so truly for him that the
+poor, starving man could not help remaining
+through the sermon.</p>
+
+<p>At its close Mr. Parsons inquired,
+"Have you put the God of Jacob to the
+test?" The poor man at once said to
+himself, "I have not put the God of
+Jacob to the test"; and consequently,
+with a half-resolution to do so, he returned
+to the miserable cellar.</p>
+
+<p>There sat his wretched wife, and there
+were his starving children, crying for
+the food he could not supply. A short
+period of pensive sadness, and then he
+said to his wife, "I think we might read
+a chapter."</p>
+
+<p>Poor woman! The remark opened up
+the well-spring of her heart, and she
+burst into tears. The thought of her
+early religious training at once rushed
+on her mind. She looked for their Bible,
+but it had been pawned. She, however,
+found part of an old copy, out of which
+her husband read a chapter.</p>
+
+<p>"We have not put the God of Jacob
+to the test. Shall we pray?" said he.
+This more surprised the poor wife,
+but at once they knelt down, and did
+then "put the God of Jacob to the test."</p>
+
+<p>Still the whole day passed without
+their being supplied with food. The
+next morning, however, the postman,
+who very seldom entered that poverty-stricken
+street, brought the man a letter
+from a former fellow-workman who had
+heard of his ill-health and loss of work.
+The letter contained information concerning
+a large firm in London which
+had an extensive contract, and was requiring
+a number of hands, and advised
+that he should apply to it for employment.
+It also contained a one-pound
+note as a loan, which he immediately
+employed in obtaining food for his family
+and in delivering his best coat from the
+pawnbroker's.</p>
+
+<p>He then applied to the firm named,
+and obtained employment, and, being a
+clever workman, his services were secured
+for a permanency. At length he
+was appointed foreman, and, after a
+few years, was made a partner in the
+business, and eventually, his former
+master retiring, he gave up the business
+to him.</p>
+
+<p>With grateful acknowledgments to the
+Lord, he then told Mr. Parsons that he
+had also been enabled to "put the God
+of Jacob to the test" with reference
+to the wants of his soul&mdash;that he had
+been led by divine grace to seek and
+find salvation; so that he could set to
+his seal that God was true, and that,
+"when the poor and needy seek water,
+and there is none, and their tongue
+faileth for thirst, the Lord will hear
+them; the God of Jacob will not forsake
+them."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+R. F. R.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>TWO WAYS OF DESCENDING.</h2>
+
+
+<p>There are two ways of coming down
+stairs&mdash;one is, to fall from the top to the
+bottom; and the other is, to come down
+step by step; but both will take you to
+the bottom. So also there are two ways
+of reaching hell&mdash;one is, to fall into it by
+the committal of one great and terrible
+sin (comparatively few do this). The
+other is only too general&mdash;to go downward
+by the steps of <i>little</i> sins. Beware
+of the treachery of <i>little</i> sins.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">E. Barne.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p>
+<h2>COUSIN SUSAN'S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF FATHER CHINIQUY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Doubly Freed and Doubly Enriched.</span></h3>
+
+<p>"<i>Godliness is profitable unto all
+things, having promise of the life
+that now is, and of that also which
+is to come.</i>"&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Timothy</span> iv. 8.</p>
+
+
+<p>When some notorious Canadian
+robbers were arrested, Chiniquy
+was chosen by several as their
+confessor, and he constantly
+attended the prison, instructing them,
+and trying to teach them how to die.</p>
+
+<p>But, after all his efforts, a terrible fear
+that they were not converted <i>would</i> come
+over his mind, and doubts of the real
+efficacy of Popish ceremonies to prepare
+a sinner to meet God troubled him so
+much, that he made a final attempt to
+rescue the doomed men after sentence
+of death was passed upon some of them.
+His tears and prayers were successful,
+and the Governor of Canada changed
+the death-doom to life-long exile in
+Botany Bay. They, with a number of
+other prisoners, were therefore transported
+to the penal settlement, and
+good Father Chiniquy gave each penitent
+he visited a New Testament when
+he took leave of them.</p>
+
+<p>Forty years passed away, and Mr.
+Chiniquy, the Presbyterian minister, was
+lecturing on "Romanism," in Australia,
+when he saw an elegant carriage driven
+up to the house at which he was staying,
+and a venerable gentleman, alighting
+from it, knocked at the door. He went
+himself to open it, to save trouble, and
+the stranger asked, was Father Chiniquy
+there, and might he see him privately?</p>
+
+<p>"As I am Father Chiniquy," was the
+reply, "I can at once answer that I shall
+feel much pleasure in granting your request."</p>
+
+<p>He led the way upstairs, and, when
+alone, the stranger asked&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Do you remember the thieves who
+were sentenced to death in Quebec, in
+1837? Well, dear Father Chiniquy, I
+was one of those criminals.... My
+name was A&mdash;&mdash;. God has blessed me
+in many ways, but it is to you, under
+Him, that I owe my life, and all the
+privileges of my present existence....
+I come to bless and thank you for what
+you have done for me;" and, with tears
+of joy and gratitude, he threw himself
+into his benefactor's arms.</p>
+
+<p>They knelt together to thank God for
+His mercy, and then the visitor continued
+his wonderful story.</p>
+
+<p>He said, "After you had given us
+your last benediction, when on board the
+ship that was to take us to Botany Bay,
+the first thing I did was, to open the New
+Testament you had given me.... It
+was the first time I had had that Book
+in my hands. You were the only priest
+in Canada who would put it in the hands
+of the common people....</p>
+
+<p>"The only good I derived from the
+first reading was, that I clearly saw why
+the priests of Rome fear and hate that
+Book. In vain I looked for Mass, indulgences,
+purgatory, confession, the worship
+of Mary, &amp;c., ... and for some
+weeks I became more of a sceptic than
+anything else.</p>
+
+<p>"But, if my first reading did me little
+or no good, I cannot say the same of the
+second. I remembered, when handing
+us the Book, you told us to read it with
+prayer to God for light to understand it.
+I was tired of my former wicked life. I
+felt the need of a change.</p>
+
+<p>"You often, when speaking to us,
+used the words of the Saviour, 'Come
+unto Me, all ye who are weary and heavy-laden,
+and I will give you rest'; but,
+like all the other priests, you mixed with
+them the invocation of Mary, confidence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+in signs of the cross, and confession, so
+that your sublime appeals to the words
+of Christ were drowned by absurd and
+impious superstitions.</p>
+
+<p>"One morning, after a sleepless night,
+and feeling so pressed down with the
+weight of my sins, I opened my Gospel
+Book, after praying for light and guidance,
+and my eyes fell on the words,
+'The Lamb of God, that takes away the
+sin of the world.' These words fell on
+my poor guilty soul with a divine power.
+I spent the day in crying to the Lamb of
+God to take away my sins. Before the
+day was over I felt and knew that my
+cries had been heard. The Lamb of
+God had taken away my sins. He had
+changed my heart, and made quite a new
+man of me.</p>
+
+<p>"From that day the reading of the
+Gospel was to my soul what bread is to
+the poor, hungry man, and what pure
+and refreshing waters are to the thirsty
+traveller. My unspeakable joy was, to
+read the Holy Book, and speak to my
+companions in chains of the dear
+Saviour's love for poor sinners; and,
+thanks be to God, a good number have
+found Him altogether precious, and have
+been sincerely converted in the dark
+holes of that convict ship.</p>
+
+<p>"When at work in Sydney with the
+other culprits, I felt my chains to be
+light when I was sure the heavy chains
+of sin were gone; and, though working
+hard beneath a burning sun from morning
+till night, my heart was full of joy
+when I was sure my Saviour had prepared
+a throne for me in His heavenly
+kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>"About a year afterwards, a minister
+of the Gospel and another gentleman
+came to me and told me I was pardoned,
+at the same time handing me a
+document signed by the Governor, and a
+hundred dollars, adding, 'Go and be a
+faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, and
+God Almighty will bless you in all your
+ways.'</p>
+
+<p>"All this seemed like a dream, but it
+was a reality, and I spent several days
+and nights weeping for joy, and blessing
+the God of my salvation.</p>
+
+<p>"Some years after that, we heard of
+the gold mines, and I started, in company
+with several others; but I separated
+from the others, for I wanted to be alone,
+and pray to my God as I walked along.</p>
+
+<p>"After a long march, I came to a
+beautiful spot between three small hills,
+whence a brook was running to the plain
+below. I sat down to eat my dinner,
+and, while doing so, my eyes fell on a
+stone by the brook about the size of a
+goose's egg. The rays of the sun shone
+on it like a mirror. I picked it up, and
+found it was nearly all gold of the purest
+kind....</p>
+
+<p>"With the money I gained from that
+place I afterwards bought a piece of
+land, and became one of the wealthy
+men of Australia. I married and
+settled here; ... and it is to you, after
+God, I owe my life and all the privileges
+I now enjoy."</p>
+
+<p>They wept and praised God together
+in the beautiful language of the 103rd
+Psalm. Both could say, with a full
+heart, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and
+all that is within me, bless His holy
+name."</p>
+
+<p>The next day Pastor Chiniquy dined
+at the house of his unexpected visitor,
+and felt warmly interested in the family
+and all that he saw and heard, and the
+two separated, not expecting to meet
+again on earth, but confidently hoping
+to meet around the throne of God, to
+praise the wonders of redeeming love for
+ever.</p>
+
+<p>May we also be glad, and rejoice in
+His salvation, and join to sing the
+heavenly song with heart and voice, even
+now&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Till sweeter notes our bosoms swell,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In yonder world above."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">Wise</span> work is cheerful as a child's
+work is.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A BROTHER'S DREAM.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>God speaketh ... in a dream,
+in a vision of the night, when deep
+sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings
+on the bed; then He openeth
+the ears of men, and sealeth their
+instruction.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Job</span> xxxiii. 14-16.</p>
+
+
+<p>Superstition attaches much
+importance to the night wanderings
+of a disturbed mind, and
+augurs good or ill, according to the
+nature of the dreamy imaginings.
+Thousands have dreamed themselves to
+ruin, by following the empty speculations
+of a fervid imagination, and neglecting
+the path of prudent industry.</p>
+
+<p>The text above does not teach that
+God speaketh in <i>all</i> dreams, but that
+He is pleased <i>sometimes</i> (and the writer
+believes very occasionally) to communicate
+instruction by such means. He
+that made the soul can approach it by
+any avenue He pleases, and is shut out
+from none.</p>
+
+<p>Winters and summers, as many as
+fourteen, have rolled over my head since
+the night made memorable by "a
+brother's dream." Thirteen years have
+likewise passed since my arms were
+placed beneath this dying brother&mdash;since
+the glad angels conveyed his sweet
+spirit to the paradise of God.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, the heavenly smile&mdash;oh, the
+beaming eye he cast upon me&mdash;as he
+gently subsided into endless rest! Never
+shall I forget that scene. Never will be
+erased from memory's tablet that chamber,
+and all that there I felt, and saw,
+and heard.</p>
+
+<p>
+"Friend after friend departs;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who has not lost a friend?"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Come, then, all sympathizing hearts;
+come, ye who know what sorrow is;
+come, all who</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"feel an aching void,</span><br />
+The world can never fill,"<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>and listen to "a brother's dream."</p>
+
+<p>Brought up to attend public worship,
+and under religious instruction, the
+period when spiritual life first animated
+his soul is not known to any survivors;
+nor, also, what were the peculiar exercises
+of his mind during the first year or
+two of his Christian life.</p>
+
+<p>Up to the time of his dream, he was
+associated with many of those whose
+religion consists chiefly in name and
+show, carnal excitement, and flesh-pleasing
+formality; and, being of a very
+cheerful disposition, and generally beloved
+by all who knew him, it needed
+no small effort&mdash;nothing short of divine
+power&mdash;to sever the confederacy.</p>
+
+<p>As will always be the case where the
+life of God is, his soul began to languish
+and starve under the "Yea and nay,"
+"Do and live," orations to which he
+from time to time listened. He could
+not feed on husks. Distressed, hungry,
+and thirsty, his soul at last fainted.
+Then he cried unto God in his trouble.
+Full of vexation and perplexity, not
+knowing where to go or what to do, he
+dreamed.</p>
+
+<p>He saw, as he thought, an old
+woman with a cross-handled basket
+crying her saleables. "Who wants to
+buy any religion? Who wants to buy
+any religion?" she repeated again and
+again. Gladly, <i>eagerly</i> he vociferated,
+"I do! I do!"</p>
+
+<p>He bought a large supply. It consisted
+of a great number of props, which
+supported him all around, and on each
+prop was written something which he
+was to do&mdash;some deed or good work he
+was to perform.</p>
+
+<p>Almost as soon as he was in possession
+of his purchased religion, he saw,
+at a great distance, a fire raging, which
+soon increased, so that it seemed to compass
+the whole sensible horizon. But
+what was more fearful, it burned still
+nearer and nearer to the spot where he
+stood, consuming everything as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+approached. Alarmed, amazed, terrified,
+his horror was increased as he
+beheld his props already on fire.</p>
+
+<p>Everything had been destroyed as the
+burning ocean approached, and could
+he escape? Alone and helpless, how
+could deliverance be effected? Power
+and hope were alike gone, and into the
+infinite fire he was just sinking, when,
+lo! the mighty Jesus, before unseen,
+stretched out His gracious arm, and with
+words of promise, instantaneously performed,
+said, "I'll hold you up!"</p>
+
+<p>Forthwith the fire was quenched, and
+he sang delivering grace.</p>
+
+<p>These solemn scenes, so visibly portrayed
+in his imagination while asleep,
+became a subject of serious consideration
+when awake. Who could explain
+the matter to him?</p>
+
+<p>Not long he lacked a teacher. The
+Gracious Interpreter sent a messenger
+to blow the Gospel trumpet in the neighbourhood.
+He went; he heard. Oh,
+what a sermon! Never had such statements
+fallen upon his ears; never had
+such light shone into his mind. And
+what a text!&mdash;"The hail shall sweep
+away your refuge of lies, and the waters
+shall overflow the hiding-place."</p>
+
+<p>One after another, the preacher described
+the vain hopes on which he had
+rested, and showed their frailty and
+destruction, in the way he had felt. And
+then his refuge, his hiding-place, his
+<i>props</i>, away, away they go, just as he
+saw, exactly as he felt. In short, the
+preacher's sermon was a map of the
+path&mdash;a verbal unfolding of the secrets
+of his heart.</p>
+
+<p>What was the consequence? The
+meshes of the devil's fishing-net were
+broken; free-will, creature-dependency,
+were gone; and hope&mdash;Gospel hope&mdash;"good
+hope through grace"&mdash;filled his
+anxious bosom. He had been down in
+the horrible pit; he had been sinking in
+the miry clay. Now he is brought to the
+verge of deliverance. Now he sees, he
+hopes in, the boundless prospects of
+covenant grace.</p>
+
+<p>Not many miles distant in another
+direction, lived and preached a servant
+of the Lord, lately taken to his everlasting
+home. He bent his steps to hear
+the words of truth and grace from his
+lips. "Wonderful! Astonishing! Was
+it an angel I heard before&mdash;one who had
+assumed a bodily shape, to bear those
+joyful tidings to my soul, and now appears
+again with other features and with
+another voice? No; he was a man;
+and this is a human voice I hear. But
+how astonishing! He seems to know
+all the other told me, and to begin where
+the other left off. Their sermons seem
+like two following pages of a book, in
+which I read the secrets of my life, and
+behold in legible lines those things I
+never breathed to human friends. 'This
+is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous
+in my eyes.'"</p>
+
+<p>It <i>was</i> the Lord's doing; for not only
+was his whole Christian pathway mapped
+out, but his soul sweetly delivered from
+legal entanglements, from slavish fear
+and anxious doubt, and brought into
+that liberty with which God makes His
+people free. He was made "wise unto
+salvation, through faith in Jesus
+Christ." Moreover, by continuance in
+that Word, he gave unequivocal demonstration
+that he was a disciple indeed;
+one who was a learner and follower of
+Jesus; and so, knowing "the truth as it
+is in Jesus," he rejoiced in hope of the
+glory of God. Nor did he have long to
+wait, for, sinking under the merciless
+hand of pale consumption, in a little
+more than a year he was suddenly removed
+to that land of peace and love
+where</p>
+
+<p>
+"Jesus sheds the brightest beams<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of His o'erflowing grace."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Reader, the dream was instructive to
+the dear departed; but was it given for
+him alone? It can no longer benefit
+him, for with him all is reality&mdash;no
+shadowy emblem, but everything substantial.
+May not we therefore derive
+instruction?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>Let us look at some of its prominences.
+Standing out with towering
+majesty and grandeur, like a cloud-capped
+mountain, appears</p>
+
+<p><i>Divine sovereignty</i>&mdash;the sovereign
+mercy of the Lord, who "hath mercy on
+whom He will have mercy." You will not
+see this through reason's misty glass
+(which perverts and confuses all things
+beheld through it), no more than the
+loftiest eminence is discernible in the
+darkness of midnight. But in the light
+of God's truth it is clearly visible. There
+are many with whom he was associated
+when he "sought the living among the
+dead"&mdash;when he was entangled in the
+carnal schemes of a false religion&mdash;who
+remain where he could not stay, and
+seem contented, too. There have been
+but comparatively very few brought
+to seek what he sought, and to know
+what he was taught. "Who hath
+saved us, and called us with an holy
+calling, not according to our works,
+but according to His own purpose and
+grace, which was given us in Christ
+Jesus before the world began."</p>
+
+<p>We also discover <i>the danger of false
+religion</i>. Behold that burning flame!
+Thus burns God's wrath against sin.
+No human efforts can quench it or
+check its progress. All creature performances,
+like the <span class="smcap">PROPS</span>, will be consumed
+by it. The best of human works
+are but as stubble to the fire of wrath
+divine. Indeed, when God tells of that
+dreadful day which shall burn as an
+oven, the self-righteous, or proud, are
+put before "those that do wickedly," as
+objects of God's displeasure, and doomed
+to that dreadful burning.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, could I make my words thunder
+and lightning, to peal and flash this
+solemn truth from hill to hill and from
+vale to vale!</p>
+
+<p>All false religion begins on the outside,
+and attempts to alter principles by
+renovating practice; but all true religion
+commences within. The Spirit
+produces a change in the practice by
+implanting new life and holy principles.
+"Ye must be born again." Religion is
+not a new patch on an old garment, but
+a new fabric entirely. "If any man be
+in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature."</p>
+
+<p>We see, likewise, the trouble and
+anxiety which are felt when one is
+soundly convinced of his sinful life and
+state. Salvation is then a matter of life
+and death. "Life, life, eternal life!"
+is the earnest cry. Conviction of sin,
+when it merely penetrates the skin, is
+soon soothed and forgotten; but when
+the arrows from the bow of God's Word
+pierce the heart, no hand can withdraw
+them but His who directed them, and no
+balm can heal those painful wounds but
+that administered by Jehovah-Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>It may be seen also that, till He who
+is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life,"
+was proclaimed to his eager soul, he
+found no solid satisfaction, no stable
+peace.</p>
+
+<p>
+"In vain the trembling conscience seeks<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Some solid ground to rest upon;</span><br />
+With long despair the spirit breaks,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Till we apply to Christ alone."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>He is the only Antidote to our sin,
+ruin, and disease; and He is freely set
+forth in the Gospel as the gracious,
+willing, almighty, and everlasting
+Saviour of the lost and undone. Until
+we are brought sensibly to feel our sin
+and destitution, we are ready and willing
+to try everything but that which
+God has provided; but when we are
+brought before His infinite holiness, and
+see the "filthy garments" in which we
+are clad, no arm is long and powerful
+enough to reach our case but His, who
+is "able to save them to the uttermost
+that come unto God by Him." The
+blessed Spirit will always glorify Jesus
+by His teaching, and will lead the soul
+to Him as the All in all of salvation.</p>
+
+<p>Here are exhibited, likewise, the gracious
+operations of His power and wisdom
+who says, "The ransomed of the
+Lord shall return and come to Zion, with
+songs and everlasting joy upon their
+heads." Had his soul's salvation rested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+on his believing, as some would tell us,
+he had not have been where he is.
+Grace begins, grace carries on, grace
+performs, and finally completes, the
+grand work of eternal redemption.</p>
+
+<p>In this brief narrative appears, moreover,
+the peace and joy a knowledge of
+sin forgiven and peace secured produces
+in the soul. Oh, the blissful
+truth, "Redemption through His
+blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
+to the riches of His grace."
+To taste this, to know this, exceeds
+ten thousand worlds of sordid treasure&mdash;transcends
+the highest delights of
+this terrestrial sphere. How did his
+happy soul rejoice "with joy unspeakable
+and full of glory"!</p>
+
+<p>But he has long entered his rest.
+He has forgotten to mourn, and loudly
+sings the praises of the Lamb.</p>
+
+<p>Where is my reader? Is he pursuing
+the wind, and hunting after the shadowy
+trifles of earth? Is he attempting by
+creature works to make his peace with
+God?</p>
+
+<p>Doomed to total disappointment and
+eternal condemnation are all those who
+die in such hostility to the way of peace
+and Heaven's declared will! Oh, delusion!
+worse than madness! "He
+that <i>believeth not</i> shall be damned!"
+No salvation but by a living faith in the
+Lamb of God and His all-perfect work.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PROMPT KINDNESS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The fact that we are too apt to
+suppress our kindest emotions
+for loved ones, and withhold our
+words of approbation, is but too frequently
+apparent. This is often done
+with the best intent, fearing that more
+cordial expression and warmer approval
+may savour of flattery, and very frequently
+it is the outcome of pure carelessness
+or indifference. In this connection
+it is well to consider the words
+of Horace Mann. Says he:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Do not keep the alabaster boxes of
+your love and tenderness sealed up until
+your friends are dead. Fill their lives
+with sweetness. Speak approving, cheering
+words while their hearts can be
+thrilled and made happier by them. The
+kind things you mean to say when they
+are gone, say before they go. The
+flowers you mean to send for their coffins,
+send to brighten their homes before
+they leave them. If my friends have
+alabaster boxes laid away, full of fragrant
+perfumes of sympathy and affection,
+which they mean to break over my
+dead body, I would rather they bring
+them out in my weary and troubled
+hours, and open them, that I may be refreshed
+and cheered by them while I
+need them. I would rather have a plain
+coffin without flowers, a funeral without
+eulogy, than life without the sweetness
+of love and tenderness and sympathy.
+Let us learn to anoint our friends beforehand
+for their burial. Post-mortem
+kindness does not cheer the burdened
+spirit. Flowers on the coffin cast no
+fragrance backward over the weary
+way."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>An unknown king.</p>
+
+<p>A place from which the Canaanites
+were not driven.</p>
+
+<p>One of the dukes of Edom.</p>
+
+<p>A Shuhite.</p>
+
+<p>A place built by the sons of Elpaal.</p>
+
+<p>Where were they once who are now
+made nigh to God?</p>
+
+<p>The Hebrew name for "pavement."</p>
+
+<p>A name which means "the tower."</p>
+
+<p>Something which God used to give
+a sign to encourage a king.</p>
+
+<p><br />The initials and finals form two titles
+of Christ.<br /><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">Clara Ellis</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">(Aged 14 years).</span>
+</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A FUGITIVE IN THE HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>In the summer of 1852 Colonel
+B&mdash;&mdash;, on an excursion to the
+snowy range of the Himalayas,
+had proceeded into the mountains
+some twenty miles beyond any
+known habitation of civilized man, when
+the natives told him that, in a village
+near by, a white man was living in concealment.</p>
+
+<p>Incredible as it appeared, Colonel
+B&mdash;&mdash; followed his guides to a little
+native hut with mud walls and roof of
+grass. Taking a peep in at the low
+entrance, sure enough, there he spied
+an elderly person with a white face, but
+in the most shabby dress of the natives,
+who, on catching a glance of the intruder,
+rushed into a dark corner of his
+miserable hovel, out of which the most
+earnest entreaties and assurances of
+good intentions scarcely brought him.</p>
+
+<p>He was the son of an English gentleman
+who, like thousands of the high-bred
+youths of England, had come to
+India to procure a title to a Government
+pension, and, after remaining here
+ten or twenty years, return home and
+live in ease. Like not a few who come
+to this land, supposing he could scarcely
+avoid becoming rich, he had run recklessly
+into debt, until he was threatened
+with a term of years in close confinement
+unless he should immediately
+cancel his liabilities, to do which he
+was totally incapable. He fled beyond
+the limits of the British territory to the
+place where Colonel B&mdash;&mdash; found him,
+where he had subsisted for some fifteen
+years, in the manner of the wild natives
+around him, not excepting their revolting
+vices.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel B&mdash;&mdash; told him of a debt he
+owed, which, if not discharged, might
+consign him to chains and darkness,
+not for a term of years, but for eternity;
+begged him earnestly to seek to
+escape that everlasting imprisonment in
+the dungeons of the unutterably miserable;
+prayed with him, and gave him a
+few tracts, which, like many good men,
+Colonel B&mdash;&mdash; is in the habit of taking
+with him wherever he goes.</p>
+
+<p>Two years after, he again visited him,
+and found that the seed he had been
+permitted to sow was springing up. On
+reading the tract, "<i>It is the Last Time</i>,"
+he could have no peace of mind until he
+found assurance of his greatest debt
+being cancelled by the blood of Christ.</p>
+
+<p>His brother, who was receiving a
+large salary in India, was delighted to
+be permitted to meet his earthly liabilities,
+and requested him to return to
+England and live the remainder of his
+days in comfortable ease. But no; he
+said he had opposed and reviled the
+Christian religion in India, and here he
+wished to do what he could to counteract
+his past evil influence.</p>
+
+<p>He is now at S&mdash;&mdash;, daily assisting a
+missionary in proclaiming to the heathen
+the only way of eternal life. May He
+whose grace has raised him thus far out
+of the loathsome den, lead him still onward,
+and make him an eminent aid and
+ornament to the faith which he so long
+despised and reproached.</p>
+
+<p>In what various ways does God enable
+him to do good whose heart is set upon
+it! The author of that tract probably
+never thought of its floating over the
+waves fifteen thousand miles, fluttering
+on the breeze another thousand miles
+into the heart of a heathen country,
+amidst the bears and wolves and wild
+men of the Himalayas, lighting upon a
+poor degraded immortal, "twice dead
+and plucked up by the roots," and
+proving him a son and heir of the Lord
+God Almighty, a being to reign on the
+throne of the universe for ever with the
+King of kings. "O the depth of the
+riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
+of God!"</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A FEW WORDS FROM THE DUMB.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is the glory of Englishmen to
+stand up for the defenceless, and
+to scorn the cowardly oppression
+of the weak. Surely, then, those who
+own and those who use ponies and
+donkeys will be willing to give a fair
+hearing to a pleader for the helpless,
+dumb creatures.</p>
+
+<p>If they could speak for themselves,
+would they not say&mdash;"Give us some rest
+one day in the week, and we will do all
+the more for you the other six, and last
+the longer for it. You yourself work the
+better, and live the longer, for one day's
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't beat our sore sides so hard
+and so often, and we shall be stronger
+and better servants to you. You know
+how oppression only makes <i>you</i> set up
+your back, but you will do anything for
+a kind master.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't ride and race us about till we
+are ready to drop, and our wind is almost
+broken, and we are reeking with
+heat and rough usage.</p>
+
+<p>"Pray let us have a little more water
+when we stand weary and thirsty, with
+our poor dry tongues unable to ask for
+it. <i>You</i> have felt the suffering of thirst.</p>
+
+<p>"And for pity's sake," the ponies
+would say, "loosen this torturing bearing-rein.
+We toss and shake our heads,
+or we try to keep them still, and nothing
+gives us a moment's ease. You, master,
+would suffer severely if <i>your</i> head were
+held in such a position, and we could do
+more work, and much better, without it.</p>
+
+<p>"Please remember that we can always
+hear your voice, and shall understand
+what you want us to do so much more
+quickly, if you speak to us quietly, than
+if you roar at us, and drag our tender,
+worn mouths about. We get so puzzled
+and frightened when you're in a rage
+with us, that we only flounder and plunge,
+and make you more and more angry.</p>
+
+<p>"Our last entreaty is that, when we
+get old and past our work, you will not
+let our poor, wasted bodies stagger along
+under some load, when our lives have
+been spent in your service, but that you
+will reward us by having us immediately
+put out of our pain."</p>
+
+<p>Think how much you owe to mercy
+yourself, and remember, "The merciful
+man doeth good to his beast."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ONE LINK GONE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Take the pillows from the cradle<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where the little sufferer lay;</span><br />
+Draw the curtain, close the shutters,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shut out every beam of day.</span><br />
+<br />
+Spread the pall upon the table;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Place the lifeless body there;</span><br />
+Back from off the marble features<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lay the auburn curls with care.</span><br />
+<br />
+With its little blue-veined fingers<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Crossed upon its painless breast,</span><br />
+Free from care, and pain, and anguish,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Let the infant beauty rest.</span><br />
+<br />
+Smooth its little shroud about it;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pick its toys from off the floor;</span><br />
+They, with all their sparkling beauty,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ne'er can charm their owner more.</span><br />
+<br />
+Take the little shoes and stockings<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From the doting mother's sight;</span><br />
+Pattering feet no more will need them,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In and out with such delight.</span><br />
+<br />
+Parents faint and worn with watching<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Through the long, dark night of grief,</span><br />
+Dry your tears, and soothe your sighing;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gain a respite of relief.</span><br />
+<br />
+Mother's care no more is needed<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To allay the rising moan;</span><br />
+And though you perchance may leave it,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">It can never be alone.</span><br />
+<br />
+Thus a golden link is broken<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In a chain of earthly bliss&mdash;</span><br />
+Thus the distance shorter making<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Twixt another world and this.</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 381px;">
+<img src="images/img112.jpg" width="381" height="500" alt="KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. (See page 108.)" title="KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. (See page 108.)" />
+<span class="caption">KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. (<i>See page 108.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A GATHERED ONE.</h2>
+
+<h3>A SHORT ACCOUNT OF EMMA BEESLEY, OF LEICESTER, WHO DIED ON LORD'S
+DAY MORNING, JANUARY 1ST, 1888, AGED TWENTY-ONE YEARS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Our earliest recollection of Emma
+was as a child in our Sunday
+School, which she was led, in a
+very marked way, to attend. Her sister
+was persuaded by a companion to go
+with her to our school just for one afternoon,
+and she was so interested that she
+became a regular scholar. Emma was
+at that time attending a school in connection
+with a General Baptist cause,
+but hearing her sister speak in such
+high terms of the school at Zion Chapel,
+she was soon persuaded to go with her.
+Like her sister, she felt so at home that
+she also became a scholar. They each
+became so very much attached to both
+school and chapel, that they had no
+desire whatever to leave it; and we have
+good reason to believe the Word was
+made a blessing, and that the seed of
+divine grace was sown in each of their
+hearts by God the Eternal Spirit.</p>
+
+<p>Emma was of a very quiet turn of mind,
+and for the last two years was the subject
+of great soul-trouble. All who knew her
+could testify to the deep sense she had
+of her sinnership before God. Her great
+fear was, that she was too great a sinner
+for the Lord to look upon; but her whole
+desire was, to be found right with Him.</p>
+
+<p>To a friend she said, "Oh, I should
+not mind waiting, if only I knew I should
+obtain the blessing; but I am so afraid
+I shall never have what I am seeking
+after."</p>
+
+<p>Her love for the house of God was so
+great that no weather would prevent her
+from attending the means. Being of a
+delicate constitution, her mother often
+reproved her for going so much; but she
+could say, with the poet&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"I love to meet amongst them now,<br />
+Before Thy gracious feet to bow,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Though vilest of them all."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Truly, she prized the company of the
+Lord's people, and looked upon them as
+the excellent of the earth; and many
+times has said, "I want the Lord to
+assure me that I am one of His family,
+redeemed by precious blood."</p>
+
+<p>For the most part she was very dark
+in her mind, but had rays of light, being
+often encouraged under the preached
+Word.</p>
+
+<p>It was about a month before her last
+illness that the Lord seemed to completely
+wean her from the world. She
+seemed like one that was indeed taking
+the kingdom of heaven by violence.
+The things that belonged to her soul's
+happiness were eagerly sought after,
+while the things of the world were only
+a plague and a burden.</p>
+
+<p>She said to a friend, "Oh, how I long
+for the Christmas holidays&mdash;not for the
+mere holiday, but that I may get away
+from my work, and be with the dear
+people of God."</p>
+
+<p>About a fortnight before her illness,
+our dear minister spoke from the words,
+"My sheep hear My voice, and I know
+them, and they follow Me." It seemed
+to completely cut her up, as she feared
+she was only a hypocrite, and not a
+true follower, which caused her great
+sorrow of heart. But during the week
+the Lord was pleased to shine upon her
+once more with these words&mdash;"I have
+loved thee with an everlasting love;
+therefore with loving-kindness have I
+drawn thee." But the words were so
+great she feared to take them, and yet
+she could not put them away.</p>
+
+<p>On the following Sunday, our dear
+pastor took for his text, "Even to Him
+shall men come" (Isa. xlv. 24). That
+day was indeed a Sabbath to her; for,
+as the character was described, the
+Lord sweetly made it plain to her that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+she was no longer to cut herself off, and
+she felt sure that she was the character
+described. She earnestly begged of the
+Lord that day that Mr. Hazlerigg might
+be led to take the same text in the evening.
+To her great joy the same words
+were again given out, and the sermon
+was attended with the same sweetness
+to her. She was indeed full. A friend
+who walked with her from chapel said
+afterwards, that she seemed in a most
+heavenly frame of mind. She could do
+nothing but speak of the favoured times
+she had had in hearing.</p>
+
+<p>The next, and indeed the last, time
+that she was permitted to meet with us
+on earth, was at our prayer-meeting on
+the Monday evening, and then she
+seemed again to be much favoured.</p>
+
+<p>She was taken ill on the Wednesday
+evening. On the following Friday, the
+writer, being sent for, went and found
+her very ill, but her mind seemed stayed
+upon eternal things. I said, "Do you
+think you shall get better, Emma?" to
+which she replied, "I do not know. If
+the complaint is not stayed, I must sink;
+but I do not mind." I asked her if she
+feared death. She replied, "No; I only
+want the Lord to reveal Himself to me
+more, and then I do not mind whether it
+is life or death." She said, "I have
+only one wish, and that is, that the
+affliction may be sanctified." She said
+that verse had been so blessed to her&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Fenced with Jehovah's 'shalls' and 'wills,'<br />
+Firm as the everlasting hills."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>I said, "Oh, Emma, how good of the
+Lord to give you those words. He knows
+how full of fears you are, and how Satan
+would cast his 'buts' and 'ifs' at you;
+but the Lord has given you those words
+to quench Satan's darts with." I told
+her I believed the Lord was either preparing
+her for His Church below, or
+His Church above. She smiled, and
+said, "I hope it is so."</p>
+
+<p>A friend, to whom she was much
+attached, called to see her, and said,
+"Emma, should you like me to read to
+you? I am afraid you are too ill." She
+said, "Oh, do! I should so much like
+you to do so." The twenty-third Psalm
+was read, and a few words of prayer
+offered; and to a friend, who afterwards
+went in, she said how very much she
+enjoyed it.</p>
+
+<p>We did indeed feel it good to be with
+her; but the affliction was of such a
+painful nature that she could not talk
+much. The doctor said that all that
+could be done for her was to keep her
+very quiet, and give her support, so
+that we often refrained from conversing
+with her, hoping very much that it might
+be the Lord's will to restore her.</p>
+
+<p>On Saturday morning our hopes were
+raised very high. She was quiet in her
+mind, Satan not being permitted to
+harass her. Her only fear seemed to be
+that she was ungrateful. She said, "I
+have so many friends, and they are all
+so kind." But we always found her to
+be truly grateful for every little act of
+kindness shown to her.</p>
+
+<p>Towards evening a change for the
+worse took place. Convulsions seized
+her, and, for about twelve hours, it was
+most painful to witness her struggle with
+the last enemy&mdash;so much so that her
+dear sister, who was devoted to her, was
+led to beg of the Lord to release her.</p>
+
+<p>About six o'clock on Lord's Day
+morning her spirit took its flight, to be
+"for ever with the Lord." Truly, we could
+say it was her gain, though we felt the
+loss most keenly. The Lord had been
+so good in supporting her through her
+painful affliction, that we felt we could
+justly say, with the poet&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Her mind was tranquil and serene;<br />
+No terror in her look was seen;<br />
+Her Saviour's smile dispelled the gloom,<br />
+And smoothed her passage to the tomb."
+</p>
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">C. Wardle.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PRAYER ANSWERED.</h2>
+
+<h3>A TRUE INCIDENT.</h3>
+
+
+<p>On the summit of Washington
+mountain, overlooking the Housatonic
+Valley, stood a hut, the
+home of John Barry, a poor charcoal-burner,
+whose family consisted of his
+wife and himself. His occupation brought
+him in but few dollars, and when cold
+weather came, he had managed to get
+together only a small provision for the
+winter.</p>
+
+<p>This fall, after a summer of hard
+work, he fell sick, and was unable to
+keep his fires going, so, when the snow
+of December, 1874, fell, and the drifts
+had shut off communication with the village
+at the foot of the mountain, John
+and his wife were in great straits. Their
+entire stock of food consisted of only a
+few pounds of salt pork and a bushel of
+potatoes. Sugar, flour, coffee, and tea
+had, early in December, given out, and
+the chances for replenishing the larder
+were slim indeed.</p>
+
+<p>The snowstorms came again, and the
+drifts deepened. All the roads, even in
+the valley, were impassable, and no one
+thought of trying to open the mountain
+highways, which even in summer were
+only occasionally travelled, and none
+gave the old man and his wife a thought.</p>
+
+<p>December 15th came, and with it the
+heaviest fall of snow experienced in
+Berkshire County in many years. The
+food of the old couple on the mountain
+was now reduced to a day's supply, but
+John did not yet despair. He was a
+Christian and a God-fearing man, and
+His promises were remembered; and so,
+when evening came, and the north-east
+gale was blowing and the fierce snowstorm
+was raging, John and his wife
+were praying and asking for help.</p>
+
+<p>In Sheffield village, ten miles away,
+lived Deacon Brown, a well-to-do farmer
+of fifty years old, who was noted
+for his consistent and godly deportment,
+both as a man and a Christian. The
+deacon and his wife had gone to bed
+early, and, in spite of the storm raging
+without, were sleeping soundly, when,
+with a start, the deacon awoke, and
+said to his wife, "Who spoke? Who's
+there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why," said the wife, "no one is
+here but you and me. What is the
+matter with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I heard a voice," said the deacon,
+"saying, 'Send food to John.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!" replied Mrs. Brown.
+"You've been dreaming."</p>
+
+<p>The deacon laid his head on his pillow,
+and was asleep in a minute. Soon
+he started up again, and, waking his
+wife, exclaimed&mdash;"There, I heard that
+voice again&mdash;'Send food to John.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well," said Mrs. Brown.
+"Deacon, you are not well; your supper
+has not agreed with you. Lie down and
+try to sleep."</p>
+
+<p>Again the deacon closed his eyes,
+and again came the voice&mdash;"Send food
+to John." This time the deacon was
+thoroughly awake. "Wife," said he,
+"who do we know named John who
+needs food?"</p>
+
+<p>"No one I remember," replied Mrs.
+Brown, "unless it be John Barry, the
+old charcoal-burner on the mountain."</p>
+
+<p>"That's it!" exclaimed the deacon.
+"Now I remember, when I was at the
+store in Sheffield the other day, Clark,
+the merchant, speaking of John Barry,
+said, 'I wonder if the old man is alive,
+for it is six weeks since I saw him, and
+he has not yet laid in his winter stock
+of groceries.' It must be old John is
+sick, and wanting food." So saying,
+the good deacon arose and proceeded
+to dress himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, wife," said he, "wake our
+boy Willie, and tell him to feed the
+horses and get ready to go with me;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+and do you pack up in the two largest
+baskets you have, a good stock of food,
+and get us an early breakfast, for I
+am going up to the mountain to carry
+the food I know John Barry needs."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Brown, accustomed to the sudden
+impulses of her good husband, and believing
+him to be always in the right,
+cheerfully complied, and after a hot
+breakfast, Deacon Brown and his son
+Willie, a boy of nineteen, hitched up
+the horses to the double sleigh, and
+then, with a month's supply of food, and
+a "Good-bye, mother," started at five
+o'clock on that cold December morning
+for a journey that almost any other
+than Deacon Brown and his son would
+not have dared to undertake.</p>
+
+<p>The north-east storm was still raging,
+and the snow falling and drifting fast;
+but on, on went the stout, well-fed team
+on its errand of mercy, while the occupants
+of the sleigh, wrapped up in
+blankets and extra buffalo robes, urged
+the horses through the drifts and in the
+face of the storm. That ten miles' ride,
+which required in the summer hardly an
+hour or two, was not finished until the
+deacon's watch showed that five hours
+had passed.</p>
+
+<p>At last they drew up in front of the
+hut where the poor trusting Christian
+man and woman were on their knees
+praying for help to Him who is always
+the Hearer and Answerer of prayer; and
+as the deacon reached the door, he heard
+the voice of supplication, and then he
+knew that the voice which awakened
+him from sleep was sent from heaven.</p>
+
+<p>He knocked at the door. It was
+opened; and we can imagine the joy of
+the old couple when the generous supply
+of food was carried in, and the
+thanksgivings that were uttered by the
+starving tenants of that mountain hut.</p>
+
+<p>"Call upon Me in the day of trouble,
+and I will answer thee."&mdash;<i>Lantern.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">Never</span> think that you can make yourself
+great by making another less.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 91.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>"<i>Create in me a clean heart, O
+God; renew a right spirit within
+me.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> li. 10.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align="left">C</td><td align="left">heba</td><td align="left">R</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Ezekiel i. i.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">R</td><td align="left">om</td><td align="left">E</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Acts xviii. 2.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">E</td><td align="left">glo</td><td align="left">N</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Judges iii. 15.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">A</td><td align="left">x</td><td align="left">E</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Judges ix. 48.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">T</td><td align="left">o</td><td align="left">W</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Isaiah i. 31.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">E</td><td align="left">liad</td><td align="left">A</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">2 Chronicles xvii. 17.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">I</td><td align="left">bha</td><td align="left">R</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">2 Samuel v. 15.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">N</td><td align="left">aphtal</td><td align="left">I</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Genesis xxx. 8.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">M</td><td align="left">ago</td><td align="left">G</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">1 Chronicles i. 5.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">E</td><td align="left">leale</td><td align="left">H</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Numbers xxxii. 37.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">A</td><td align="left">rara</td><td align="left">T</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Genesis viii. 4.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">C</td><td align="left">epha</td><td align="left">S</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">John i. 42.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">L</td><td align="left">am</td><td align="left">P</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Exodus xxvii. 20.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">E</td><td align="left">nged</td><td align="left">I</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">1 Samuel xxiii. 29.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">A</td><td align="left">roe</td><td align="left">R</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Numbers xxxii. 34.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">N</td><td align="left">aphtal</td><td align="left">I</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">1 Kings vii. 14.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">H</td><td align="left">arves</td><td align="left">T</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Genesis viii. 22.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">E</td><td align="left">ni</td><td align="left">W</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Proverbs xx. 1.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">A</td><td align="left">bisha</td><td align="left">I</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">1 Chronicles xviii. 12.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">R</td><td align="left">es</td><td align="left">T</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Hebrews iv. 9.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">T</td><td align="left">abera</td><td align="left">H</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Deuteronomy ix. 22.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">O</td><td align="left">mr</td><td align="left">I</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">1 Kings xvi. 25.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">G</td><td align="left">ibeo</td><td align="left">N<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></td><td>.</td><td align="left">1 Chronicles viii. 29.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">O</td><td>bed-edo</td><td align="left">M</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">2 Samuel vi. 11.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">D</td><td align="left">ov</td><td align="left">E</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Genesis viii. 9.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 15em;">Thomas Tyler</span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;"> (Aged 14 years).</span><br />
+<i>Potton</i>, <i>Beds</i>.
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>WISDOM.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Proverbs</span> iii. 13-15.)</p>
+
+
+<p>
+True wisdom doth my soul admire,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And would before fine gold prefer;</span><br />
+For all the things I could desire<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Are not to be compared with her.</span><br />
+<br />
+While earthly things fill earthly minds,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Attracted to their native clod,</span><br />
+Happy the man who wisdom finds,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And holds her in the fear of God!</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE CLEVER BOY AND THE ELECTRICAL MACHINE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>An electrical machine was in the
+window of a scientific instrument
+maker's shop, and a youth stood
+looking at it with eager eyes.
+He was observing every part with intense
+curiosity. At length, after a long,
+absorbing gaze, a neighbouring clock
+struck. He started like one awakened
+from a sleep, and ran with all speed to
+his master's workshop.</p>
+
+<p>The boy was the son of a working man&mdash;a
+smith, and was intended also for a
+working man, but not quite so laborious
+a trade. Perhaps the boy was not strong
+enough for his father's manly trade, so
+he was apprenticed to a bookbinder in
+Blandford Street, Marylebone. He was
+a very diligent lad, fond of work in hours
+of business, and fond of a book in hours
+of leisure. His master noticed this,
+and gave him leave to stay in the workshop
+during the dinner-hour.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst his fellow-workers were drinking
+and smoking, the orphan boy was
+storing his mind with useful knowledge.
+In particular he loved books on scientific
+subjects. He liked to read about
+the wonders of chemistry; still more
+about electricity&mdash;that wonderful power
+that flashes out of the thunder-cloud,
+that dwells unseen in the dew-drop,
+that, at a touch, thrills through the
+startled nerves, and, like an invisible but
+mighty spirit, pervades all things, from
+the clouds of heaven to the clods of
+earth.</p>
+
+<p>One day he found out the shop window
+with the electrical machine, and at every
+spare moment he haunted that window,
+taking the shape and measure of every
+knob, and wire, and wheel, and plate,
+with earnest eyes. Then he resolved to
+try and make one for himself; so by the
+light of the early summer mornings,
+he was up and working away at his
+machine.</p>
+
+<p>In time he completed it, and found it
+would act. He touched the knob, and
+the shock that went through him was as
+nothing compared with the joy that
+throbbed through his heart at seeing his
+work complete.</p>
+
+<p>He showed it to his master, who, being
+a kind and sensible man, was pleased
+and surprised at the ingenuity of the lad.
+The master was fond of showing the
+electrical apparatus of his industrious
+apprentice to every person likely to be
+interested in a clever youth. Amongst
+them were some Fellows of the Royal
+Society, who might, perhaps, have an
+admission ticket to give.</p>
+
+<p>Some few years after, the lad, now a
+young man, was again gazing with wide
+open eyes, and laying up all he saw in
+his mind. This time it was not through
+a shop window that he looked. It was
+from a seat in the Royal Society's lecture-room
+that he witnessed Sir Humphrey
+Davey making some beautiful
+chemical experiments.</p>
+
+<p>The youth did not know which most
+to admire&mdash;the beautiful apparatus, the
+wonderful experiments, or the eloquent
+lecture. All was so new to him&mdash;so interesting.
+But the lecturer himself was,
+above all the rest, the object of his
+admiration. Our youth, having been a
+reader, knew that Sir Humphrey Davey
+was not born of rich parents, though his
+kindred and his breeding were virtuous
+and respectable. In the remote town of
+Penzance, in Cornwall, from the most
+western extremity in England, the great
+man had come. He had taught himself
+nearly all he knew; and now the youth
+saw him standing before the mighty and
+the noble of the land, the light of genius
+in his flashing eyes, the words of wisdom
+on his eloquent lips. "Oh, if I could
+but follow the steps of such a master!"
+was the involuntary wish of the youthful
+hearer.</p>
+
+<p>This thought soon produced action.
+Promptness was a leading part of the
+young man's character, so he resolved to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+write to the great chemist, and state
+that he wished to follow some other
+trade than that to which he had been
+apprenticed; that he loved science,
+and would think himself happy to be
+employed in any way in the laboratory
+of so great a man. It was a bold step,
+but the request, though urgent, was
+full of the noble humility of real worth.
+His letter was not neglected. Inquiries
+were made. The good master had no
+wish to prevent the youth entering on a
+career for which his talents and studious
+habits fitted him. The electrical apparatus
+was another aid to him, so the
+wish of his heart was granted. He
+entered the laboratory of the great man,
+and had ample opportunity to study and
+to improve. There is no need to say he
+did not waste his time or neglect his
+opportunities.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Humphrey Davey died, leaving a
+name dear to the philanthropist, as well
+as the man of science; but his place
+was not long vacant. Who filled it?
+He whose youth we have feebly
+sketched; he whose lectures at the
+Royal Institution were listened to by
+the Prince Consort and the Prince of
+Wales&mdash;the celebrated and much-beloved
+Professor Faraday.</p>
+
+<p>"Seest thou the man that is diligent
+in business? he shall stand before
+kings."</p>
+
+<p>Professor Faraday was not only one
+of the greatest scientific authorities that
+ever lived, but he was a companion of
+humble-minded Christians. His weekdays
+he devoted to science, but on the
+Sunday he might be heard telling the
+story of redeeming love to delighted
+listeners.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Christ's</span> time was largely taken up
+in making people happy. We do well
+to remember that, and to do our best
+in ministering to the happiness of all
+around us.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">God's Independence of All, and
+His Declared Need of Some of
+His Creatures.</span></h3>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> l. 12, <span class="smcap">and Matthew</span> xxi. 1-3.)</p>
+
+
+<p>That God is independent the Bible
+everywhere declares. All beings
+beside Himself are His creatures,
+and He is Lord of all. He needs nothing,
+for He possesses all things.</p>
+
+<p>No <i>supplies</i>, for, though He ordained
+sacrifices and planned His temple,
+heaven is His throne, and earth His
+footstool, and His own hand gives life,
+power, and sustenance to all (Acts xvii.
+25).</p>
+
+<p>No <i>tribute</i>. The free-will offerings of
+David and his people, for the building of
+the temple, were a sweet sacrifice to
+God; but David truly described matters
+when he said, "Of <i>Thine own</i>, O Lord,
+have we given unto Thee" (1 Chron.
+xxix. 14).</p>
+
+<p>He needs <i>no information</i> or <i>guidance</i>
+(see Isa. xl. 13-15). "Who
+hath directed the Spirit of the Lord?
+or being His counsellor, hath taught
+Him?" The question is not asked
+of angels, but of men; and "all nations
+before Him are as a drop of a
+bucket"&mdash;the little drips that fall from
+it as it is drawn up from the well&mdash;while
+"He taketh up the islands as a very
+little thing"&mdash;a light thing, lifted easily
+with the fingers.</p>
+
+<p>No creatures can give their Creator a
+single new thought, or any help of any
+kind (Rom. xi. 34-36). "For who
+hath <i>known</i> the mind of the Lord?"
+Who then could have been His counsellor?
+Or who hath first given to Him?
+This can never be, "for <i>of</i> Him, and
+<i>through</i> Him, and <i>to</i> Him are all things,
+to whom be glory for ever. Amen."</p>
+
+<p>Therefore He needs give no <i>explanations</i>
+to any of His creatures. "Who
+can say unto Him, What doest Thou?"
+(Dan. iv. 35.) Thus God is above all,
+and independent of all.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>Yet Jesus "needed" the ass and colt
+(Matt. xxi.). We read of "coming to the
+help of the Lord against the mighty"
+(Judges v. 23); and Paul spoke about
+"working together with God" in teaching
+His people.</p>
+
+<p>The Bible is full of these contrasts.
+God is so high, and yet so condescending;
+full of majesty, yet "plenteous in
+mercy to all who call upon Him."</p>
+
+<p>There is no contradiction in the contrast;
+but God's needs are never necessities.
+Our needs arise out of our <i>nature</i>.
+We need food, clothing, and comforts,
+friendship and sympathy; but all God's
+needs come from His <i>will</i> and His <i>love</i>.</p>
+
+<p>How beautifully this appears in the
+life of Jesus! He came to earth as a
+little Infant, needing a mother's care. He
+grew up in humble circumstances, and
+when He went forth, at thirty years of
+age, to preach the Gospel, "the Son of
+Man had not where to lay His head."
+He also needed the many ministries of
+love His devoted followers rendered to
+Him. And when He died, others must
+provide the grave-clothes and the tomb,
+for He had none of His own.</p>
+
+<p>"Though He was rich, yet for our
+sakes He became poor, that we through
+His poverty might be rich."</p>
+
+<p>"For our sakes!" This is the keynote
+to all the needs of the Almighty.</p>
+
+<p>The Father of the Lord Jesus Christ
+chose His people in His Son before the
+foundation of the world, and the father
+of a family needs his children because
+they are his own, and he loves them.</p>
+
+<p>The shepherd needs his sheep to be
+safe, and will not willingly lose them.
+Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who bought
+His sheep with His own life and blood,
+and must needs gather and keep them
+every one.</p>
+
+<p>The physician needs patients whose
+healing shall proclaim his knowledge
+and skill, and the Great Physician of
+sin-sick hearts will glorify Himself by
+bringing perfect health and cure to all
+who are led to Him by the Holy Spirit.</p>
+
+<p>Do we feel our need of Him? Have
+we discovered that we are fallen, lost,
+guilty, and diseased? Then <i>He needs
+us</i>, and has shown us our need, that He
+may relieve, supply, and bless us with
+His great salvation.</p>
+
+<p>In the same way He needs His people's
+services for <i>their own</i> sakes.</p>
+
+<p>By fighting the Lord's battles of old,
+His servants were interested in His
+cause. By working with Him now, in
+preaching, teaching, warning, and comforting
+others, Christ's followers still are
+honoured and blessed.</p>
+
+<p>When Saul of Tarsus, breathing out
+slaughter and bitterness against the
+sheep of Christ, was hastening like a
+wolf to Damascus, Jesus stopped Him,
+made him a new creature, and caused
+him to utter that cry of anguish, "Lord,
+what wilt Thou have me to do?" Like
+the jailer's question, "What must I do
+to be saved?" it came from a convinced
+and burdened heart.</p>
+
+<p>Saul suddenly discovered that his life
+had been one terrible mistake&mdash;that
+Jesus of Nazareth was the Lord of
+heaven&mdash;and tremblingly he wondered,
+"Could there be pardon for such a rebel
+as he now felt himself to be?"</p>
+
+<p>Could not the same almighty voice
+have spoken peace to that troubled conscience?
+Certainly; but Jesus required
+Ananias to be His messenger to the
+humbled Pharisee; and, after three
+days of suspense and blindness, while
+his tears had been his only food, Ananias
+arrived with the message of peace.</p>
+
+<p>How tenderly it was given! He put
+his hands on him, and said, "Brother
+Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared
+to thee by the way as thou camest, hath
+sent me unto thee," and comfort, sight,
+and joy followed, while the believing
+penitent was baptized in the name of his
+Lord.</p>
+
+<p>How gracious and wise was all this!
+How closely it drew Ananias and Saul
+together as brethren&mdash;children of the
+same heavenly family. Paul always
+lovingly remembered his first Christian
+friend (Acts xxii. 12, 13), and we are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+sure that Ananias never forgot that
+memorable day.</p>
+
+<p>And in the same way Christ still needs
+the loving services of His people to one
+another; and those who are taught and
+helped, love their Christian helpers,
+while the helpers feel a double love towards
+those to whom they have been
+made useful.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the great and glorious independent
+and almighty King condescends to
+make use of feeble worms. And which
+should we most admire, His majesty, or
+His tenderness? We cannot tell. He
+is all-wise and all-powerful, and&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"With heaven and earth at His command,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He waits to answer prayer."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, "blessed are they who hunger
+and thirst after righteousness," for
+the time is coming when "they shall
+hunger no more, neither thirst, for the
+Lamb in the midst of the throne" shall
+fill them with all good, and there will
+be no more "need" on either side.
+Jesus shall see His people fully saved,
+and "shall be satisfied"; and they,
+"beholding His face in righteousness,
+shall be gratefully satisfied, when they
+awake, with His likeness" (Psa. xvii.
+15).</p>
+
+<p>May this joy unspeakable be ours.</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, <i>The Good
+Shepherd Gathering His Sheep</i> (John
+x. 16).</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Yours affectionately,<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN MAY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>May 6. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 31.</p>
+
+<p>May 13. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 32.</p>
+
+<p>May 20. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 33.</p>
+
+<p>May 27. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 34.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">How to be Useful in the
+World.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>There are five heads under which
+this subject may be placed&mdash;Love,
+Truthfulness, Obedience,
+Cheerfulness, Peacemakers.</p>
+
+<p><i>Love.</i> If true love is inspired in our
+hearts, our chief aim will consist in trying
+to be a help to others, which is very
+useful and needful, even in our own
+homes. The power of love is of such
+value, that those who know it esteem it
+as a precious gem set in gold, for without
+it, our life would be a path of misery
+and woe&mdash;two of the most terrible burdens
+in the world. Love is the true
+spring of usefulness.</p>
+
+<p><i>Truthfulness</i> is always needful. He
+who is tempted to tell a lie should consider
+that he may be struck dead while
+doing so; and then, where will his soul
+awake? Truth <i>will</i> out, if it be a long
+while hidden. It will stand like the
+mountain against the roaring sea&mdash;nothing
+can move it; for with it, is a
+clear conscience in the sight of God. If
+truth were spoken more freely and carefully,
+we should be far happier. Its
+preciousness cannot be sufficiently
+prized.</p>
+
+<p><i>Obedience</i> is often the root of cheerfulness.
+An obedient child has this
+motto in view&mdash;"Thou, God, seest me."
+Obedience is useful in preserving us
+from many dangers, which our elders
+can often foresee, and which might
+prove the ruin of our immortal souls if
+we were to be disobedient. Thus it
+brings happiness into the homes and
+hearts of children and parents, and so
+produces cheerfulness.</p>
+
+<p><i>Cheerfulness</i> is sure to arise, in due
+course, from godliness. If we have
+trials, we should not give way to despair,
+and make those about us unhappy;
+but we should try to attend to
+our work, and look at the brighter side
+of our troubles, and encourage those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+whom we often find in greater difficulties
+than ourselves; at the same time, not
+forgetting to take our crosses to God.
+We may cheer many a saddened heart
+by cheerful words, and sometimes entice
+the young revenger to forget and forgive.</p>
+
+<p><i>Peacemakers</i> are thus spoken of&mdash;"Blessed
+are the peacemakers; for they
+shall be called the children of God"
+(Matt. v. 9). Christ teaches us this in
+His sermon on the mount; and He also
+set us the example. A little child may
+be a peacemaker, if it is only to say a
+word of love, and so stem the rising
+tempest. In time, it may develop itself
+more fully, and we may thus honour our
+holy Master by treading in His footsteps,
+and proving a help to all who know
+it, in speaking His truth boldly and
+sincerely.</p>
+
+<p>For an example of usefulness, we must
+consider the precious Jesus, and pray
+for grace to imitate Him in all His ways;
+then we shall not willingly do wrong,
+for He is superlatively good.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Margaret Creasey</span><br />
+
+(Aged 14 years).
+</div>
+<p><i>Sydney House, Sleaford.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>[Our young friend tells us her age will
+not admit of her writing the Essays in
+future, but we hope she will not forget
+us, and we pray that the Lord may give
+her grace to live a useful and honourable
+life as a disciple of Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>We have received several creditable
+Essays this month, those from E. B.
+Knocker, Jane Bell, Lilly Rush, Florrie
+Rush, and W. E. Cray deserving special
+mention as giving signs of approaching
+success.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of "Notable Workers in
+Humble Life."</p>
+
+<p>The subject for July will be, "The
+Difference between 'Uncertain Riches'
+and 'The True Riches'" (see Tim. vi.
+17; Prov. xxiii. 5; Luke xvi. 11; Prov.
+viii. 18, &amp;c.); and the prize to be given
+for the best Essay on that subject, a copy
+of "The Story of the Spanish Armada."
+All competitors must give a guarantee
+that they are under fifteen years of age,
+and that the Essay is their own composition,
+or the papers will be passed over,
+as the Editor cannot undertake to write
+for this necessary information. Papers
+must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr.
+T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by
+the first of June.]</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p>We insert the following to show what
+even very young children can accomplish
+by trying, and with a desire to encourage
+our young friend and others
+to <i>try again</i>:&mdash;</p>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">How to be Useful in the World.</span></h3>
+
+<p>Little children can be useful in many
+ways. First, learn to be useful at home.
+Lay the meals, and do the dusting; go
+on errands, and be kind to brothers and
+sisters. Always speak the truth, and
+obey your parents; and if you are sent
+out on an errand, or with a message,
+and any other little children try to persuade
+you to go with them, mind and
+obey your parents. Be gentle in your
+manner and duties, and be careful with
+little children, if you have to see to them,
+and with your brothers and sisters, and
+in all your duties. We should be very
+careful to do what we are told to do, and
+also very careful not to do what we are
+told not to do. Be kind, not selfish;
+dutiful to parents; and do little things
+willingly; try and persevere at school;
+be strictly honest, whatever occupation
+you may be in; always be just, and if
+you do this, people will feel they can
+trust you; but if you do not, people will
+say they cannot trust you. Set an example
+not to be cruel to anything or any
+body, but to be kind to all, and love and
+obey your parents.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Mercy Phillips</span><br />
+(Aged 7 years, 10 months).
+</div>
+<p><i>Lindfield, Hayward's Heath.</i>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Over</span> 10,000,000 eggs now arrive in New
+York city weekly. One recent Canada train
+had thirty-one cars, with 200,000 eggs in each.
+The chief supply to the New York market comes
+from Canada and Michigan.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">United States' Flour Exports.</span>&mdash;The United
+States now manufacture yearly 70,000,000
+barrels of flour, and of this one-seventh part is
+exported. The great bulk of this flour is sent
+from eight Atlantic ports to Europe.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Among</span> the "fowls of the air" are three, the
+eagle, swan, and raven, which live to the age
+of one hundred years or more. The paroquet
+and heron attain the goodly age of sixty years.
+The sparrow-hawk, duck, and pelican may
+live to be forty, while the peacock and linnet
+reach the quarter century, and the canary
+twenty-four years.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Sagacious Dog.</span>&mdash;Just recently a dog, of
+the black and tan terrier species, entered the
+Bolton Infirmary unobserved, and forced itself
+upon the attention of the house-surgeon, who
+found one of the animal's legs broken. With
+the aid of nurses he set the limb, the dog meanwhile
+licking the surgeon's hand. It refused to
+leave the institution, and was installed as an
+in-patient. How the dog got into the infirmary
+is unknown.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">We</span> understand that the hall which, for the
+last nearly sixty years, has been appropriated in
+Glasgow to caricaturing religion, and where
+mockery of the Sabbath, recitations, comic songs,
+dancing, and all sorts of diabolical devices to
+entrap weak souls, were revelled in, where
+many Sabbaths Mrs. Besant and Mr. Bradlaugh
+gave vent to their mockery and blasphemy of
+God, is henceforth to be used for the worship
+of the Almighty.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Origin of the Word "News."</span>&mdash;The word
+"news" is not, as many may imagine, derived
+from the adjective "new." In former years
+(between 1595 and 1730) it was a prevalent
+practice to put over the periodical publications
+of the day the initial letters of the cardinal
+points of the compass, thus&mdash;<span class="smcap">N E W S</span>, implying
+that those papers contained intelligence from
+the four quarters of the globe, and from this
+practice is derived the term of "newspaper."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A telegram</span> states that the body of Alexander
+the Great has been found among the sarcophagi
+lately unearthed at Saida, in Syria. It is stated
+that the body can be positively identified by its
+inscription, and other particulars. Alexander
+is known to have died at Babylon, and on his
+death-bed he is stated to have told his sons to
+convey his body to Alexandria, the city he had
+founded at the mouth of the Nile. Although
+the monarch did not live thirty-three years, or
+reign thirteen, he did more than all before or
+since his time.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Amongst</span> the most curious of recorded wills is
+that of a Mr. Thomas Tuke, of Wath, near
+Rotherham, who, dying in 1810, bequeathed a
+penny to every child that should be present at
+his funeral. Another provision of the will
+ordered a shilling to be given to every poor
+woman in Wath, whilst to his own daughter
+he only bequeathed the pittance of four guineas
+per annum. An old woman had for eleven
+years attended him. To her he bequeathed the
+munificent sum of one guinea only, for, as he
+expressed it, "tucking him up in bed." A
+further whimsy of the selfish humourist was a
+bequest of forty dozen penny buns to be thrown
+from the church tower at noon on Christmas
+Day for ever.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> day, a gentleman's attention was attracted
+by an unusual commotion in his stable,
+where two carriage horses were kept. Looking
+in, he saw that one of the animals had got out
+of its loose box, and was helping itself to a
+bucket of mash which the coachman had left
+at the door. The other horse was neighing
+loudly, evidently demanding a share in the
+feast. What was the gentleman's surprise to
+see the first horse fill its mouth with the mash,
+and then push its nose through the bars of the
+loose box, for its imprisoned companion to take
+the relish from its mouth. This was repeated
+several times. The horse which was thus fed
+had often been seen to push over some of his
+hay into his companion's rack, when that was
+emptied first.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Submerged Forest.</span>&mdash;During the late
+violent storms in the Channel, the sea washed
+through a high and hard sand-bank near St.
+Malo, nearly four metres thick, laying bare a
+portion of an ancient forest which was already
+passing into the condition of coal. This forest
+at the beginning of our era covered an extensive
+tract of the coast; but with the sinking of the
+land it became submerged and covered up by
+the drifting sand. Mont Saint Michel once
+stood in the middle of it. The forest had quite
+disappeared by the middle of the tenth century.
+Occasionally, at very low tides after storms,
+remains of it are disclosed, just as at present.
+It is believed that, some centuries ago, the
+highest tides rose about twelve metres above the
+level of the lowest ebb. Now the high-water
+level is 15.5 metres above the lowest.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span><span class="smcap">Preaching</span> at Kensington the other week,
+Cardinal Manning said that there are labouring
+in London no less than 350 Roman Catholic
+priests and 1,000 nuns.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Snake that Understood English.</span>&mdash;It is
+related that some Americans recently going
+through the Jardin des Plantes of Paris, stopped
+to look at a big rattlesnake in a cage. It lay
+motionless, apparently asleep, but when two of
+the party who lingered behind began to speak
+in English, it moved, lifted its head, and gave
+every sign of interest. They told their companions
+that the snake understood English.
+The whole party then returned to the cage.
+The snake was apparently asleep again. They
+conversed in French, but the snake made no
+movement. Then the ladies began to speak in
+English. The snake started, lifted its head, and
+showed the same alertness as before at the
+sounds. The rattlesnake proved, on inquiry,
+to have come from Virginia.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The South African Gold Fields.</span>&mdash;The
+<i>Natal Mercury</i> says:&mdash;"The gold exports for
+January, 1888, from Natal were £31,447, and
+from the Cape £26,115, making a total of
+£57,562. This is a capital opening for the first
+month of the year, and if continued in the same
+ratio, will mean the handsome total for the year
+of £690,744. Glowing reports continue to come
+in from the Waterfall, at the Kantoor. A
+number of buildings are going up. Last week
+a seven-ounce nugget was brought into Barberton.
+Two Portuguese are said to be making,
+on an average, four ounces per day, say £100
+per week, and their ground is described as a
+regular 'bank.' Of course they and a few
+others are exceptionally lucky ones; but all are
+said to be making a good living."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">St. Patrick's Day in New York.</span>&mdash;The following
+"open letter" has been addressed to the
+Mayor of New York:&mdash;"69, Wall Street, New
+York, March 19th, 1888.&mdash;My dear Sir,&mdash;While
+coming from Washington yesterday on the
+limited express, my eye caught the telegram
+printed in a Washington paper announcing
+your order forbidding the display of the Irish
+flag from the City Hall on St. Patrick's Day. I
+could not repress an audible and emphatic
+'Amen,' quite to the surprise of the ladies and
+gentlemen in the car. For many years I, in
+company with thousands of Americans and
+adopted citizens from England, France, and
+Germany, have been outraged and scandalized
+by this annual insult to our intelligence, our
+pride of country, our religious belief. In the
+minds of many others besides the writer, that
+banner represents in a large degree the worst
+elements in our body politic&mdash;ignorance, vice,
+bigotry, and crime. It is displayed on the 17th
+of March in nearly every rum shop, gambling
+hell, and thieves' den in New York. It was
+borne in the ranks of the murderous mob that
+held possession of the city in the July riots of
+'63. But, aside from this, no legal or other
+right exists for the display of that flag or any
+other, except the ones you indicate, from the
+City Hall of the great metropolis of a land whose
+people are by a large majority consistent Protestants,
+on a day set apart to honour the
+memory of a fabulous Roman Catholic saint.
+Furthermore, this is literally a rum-sellers' and
+a rum-drinkers' procession. The wholesale rum-seller
+rides on horseback, the retail rum-seller
+rides in a carriage, the drinkers walk, until
+many of them, overcome by rum, fall in the
+gutter, are gathered up by the police, cared for
+in the station houses and the penitentiary,
+cleaned, and clothed, and fed at the expense of
+the long-suffering taxpayer. I respect the
+honest, right-living Irishman or woman, Catholic
+or Protestant, and would not deny them a
+single right to which I, a native-born American
+citizen, am entitled; but I enter my indignant
+protest against the steadily increasing attacks
+upon our most valued institutions by this largely
+foreign-born and most turbulent portion of our
+population. It is high time to call a halt and
+compel obedience to decency and law. You
+will certainly receive the heartfelt thanks and
+unanimous support of every lover of our city,
+our country, our institutions, our laws.&mdash;I am,
+my dear sir, very respectfully yours, <span class="smcap">George
+Shepard Page</span>. To his Honour A. S. Hewitt,
+Mayor of the City of New York." [We say,
+All due honour to the noble Mayor of New
+York, for such a common-sense decision.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Keeping Warm.</span>&mdash;It may not be generally
+known that, when exposed to severe cold, a
+feeling of warmth is readily created by repeatedly
+filling the lungs to their utmost extent
+in the following manner. Throw the shoulders
+well back, and hold the head well up. Inflate
+the lungs slowly, the air entering entirely
+through the nose. When the lungs are completely
+filled, hold the breath for ten seconds
+or longer, and then expire it quickly through
+the mouth. After repeating this exercise while
+one is chilly, a feeling of warmth will be felt
+over the entire body, and even in the feet and
+hands. It is important to practise this exercise
+many times each day, and especially when in
+the open air. If the habit ever becomes universal,
+then consumption and many other
+diseases will rarely, if ever, be heard of. Not
+only while practising the breathing exercise
+must the clothing be loose over the chest, but
+beginners will do well to remember, in having
+their clothing fitted, to allow for the permanent
+expansion of one, two, and even three inches,
+which will eventually follow.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 382px;">
+<img src="images/img124.jpg" width="382" height="500" alt="LOST GIRL (See page 122.)" title="LOST GIRL (See page 122.)" />
+<span class="caption">"SHE NOW FELT THAT SHE HAD LOST HER WAY." (<i>See page 122.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p>
+<h2>LOST AND FOUND.</h2>
+
+<h3>A TRUE STORY FOR THE LITTLE ONES.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Little Janet Bruce lived in a
+pretty village in Scotland. Near
+to her home was a large wood.
+If you were to go into it without a guide,
+you might go on for miles before you
+could find your way out of it. In some
+places no path is to be seen, and tall
+trees and creeping plants cast a deep
+shadow over the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Janet was the only child of a poor
+widow. Her father had come to the
+village from a distant part of the country
+in search of work; but he had not been
+there long before he fell ill and died. It
+was a sad loss to Janet and her mother,
+but God, who looks in pity on the widow
+and fatherless, raised up for them many
+kind friends.</p>
+
+<p>It was one evening, late in the autumn,
+that Janet sat at the door of her mother's
+cottage. She had been told never to go
+far away from the house, lest she should
+be lost. But on this evening, as she
+looked over the fields, she saw some
+bright blue flowers near a bush; and as
+she was very fond of making little nosegays
+of wild blossoms, she thought she
+should like to pluck them. When these
+were gathered, there was still further
+away a hedge with shining buds. "Oh,"
+said she, "I should like to have them to
+put with my blue flowers." In a moment
+she sprang towards them, when a little
+bird was startled from its nest in the
+hedge. "What a pretty creature!" she
+cried. "How I should like to see where
+it will fly to!" And so she ran towards
+it, but the bird could fly much faster
+than she could run. Soon it flew into
+the wood, and Janet followed after it.</p>
+
+<p>Thus we see how one wrong step leads
+to another. Dear children, beware of the
+first temptation to acts of disobedience.</p>
+
+<p>It was a cool evening, and the wind
+blew among the trees. A little rain had
+begun to fall, and there were signs of a
+stormy night. Where had little Janet
+wandered to? and where could she find
+a shelter should there be a storm?</p>
+
+<p>The sun now sank behind the hills,
+and night came on. Then it was dark&mdash;quite
+dark; and her young heart beat
+quickly as the wind moaned among the
+trees. She now felt that she had lost
+her way, and then sat down to weep.
+She thought what a naughty child she
+had been in not obeying her mother.</p>
+
+<p>At last she cried herself to sleep. As
+soon as the daylight came again, she
+awoke, and felt very hungry. But there
+was no nice breakfast ready for her, and
+no loving mother to kiss her. She was
+alone in that great wood.</p>
+
+<p>Janet thought that it was no use for
+her to sit still, so she rose up, and
+walked on, but not so fast as before, for
+her feet were cold, her legs were stiff
+from lying on the damp ground, and
+she was weak from want of food. Yet
+the more she went forward, the further
+she was from home, for she was going
+quite another way from that path which
+led to her mother's cottage.</p>
+
+<p>After a time she came to a place
+where she saw some dark-looking people
+seated on the outside of a little tent or
+camp. These were gipsies. At first
+she was afraid; but what was a little
+girl to do in that wide wood? So, thinking
+that they might be kind to her, she
+went to them, and told how she was
+lost.</p>
+
+<p>They told Janet to sit down by their
+fire, and then they gave her some food
+out of a large iron kettle that hung from
+three upright sticks. The poor girl
+stopped with them all that day, and at
+night she cried, and asked them to take
+her home to her dear mother. But the
+gipsies looked at one another, and then
+spoke in a whisper, so that she might
+not hear what they said.</p>
+
+<p>At last, the men and women took off
+Janet's nice frock, and put on her an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>
+old ragged dress. They also rubbed
+her face, neck, and hands with a dark
+juice, and then they told her that she
+must go with them, and she should be
+in the place of one of their own little
+girls who had died.</p>
+
+<p>The tent was now packed up, and
+put into a little cart, and all went forward
+into a part of the country Janet
+had never seen before.</p>
+
+<p>Now, poor child, all days were alike
+to her. She did not know Sunday from
+any other day. She had no Sabbath
+School to go to, nor any good books to
+read. Instead of the sweet hymns she
+used to hear sung, she now only heard
+the vain and foolish songs of the gipsies.
+The Bible, which her mother used to
+read to her every night and morning,
+was a Book unknown to these wild
+people.</p>
+
+<p>In what state of mind was Janet's
+mother all this time? The people of the
+village, when they first heard of her loss,
+went in search of the child. They took
+with them lanterns, and torches, and tin
+horns, to sound as a signal, should they
+find the lost one. Onward they went;
+some along the fields, and others into
+the wood; but hour after hour passed
+away, and the little girl was not found.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, what grief filled the widow's
+heart! "My child has fallen into the
+river, and is drowned," she cried; "or
+has strayed into the woods, and will be
+starved to death."</p>
+
+<p>When all the people had come back
+with the sad tidings that no trace of
+Janet could be found, she wept aloud.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly twelve months passed away,
+but Janet was not happy with the
+gipsies. "Take me to my mother,"
+she often said with tears. "Oh, do let me
+go home again!" They tried to please
+her with their wandering ways of life,
+but she could find no pleasure in them.
+She used to sit on the side of the road
+wherever they went, and look on every
+passer-by, to see if she could find any
+one she knew. But no, all faces were
+strange. She did not know that she was
+many miles away from her mother's cottage.</p>
+
+<p>As time went on, the gipsies saw that
+Janet became very pale and ill. She was
+so weak that they thought she would
+die. They then told her that, in a few
+weeks, they would go back to the woods
+where they first met with her, and that
+she should again see her mother. How
+did Janet count the days and hours till
+the time came; and when they once
+more reached the woods, she clapped
+her hands for joy.</p>
+
+<p>It was again the autumn of the year,
+and the reapers were at work in the
+fields. They were very busy, for they
+were afraid that a storm was coming on.
+It was just such a cloudy evening as
+that when Janet was lost. They had
+cut down all the corn at the lower part
+of one of the fields, and had just reached
+a corner which lay against the entrance
+to the wood, when who should they see
+but a little gipsy girl. She ran as well
+as she could, for she was very feeble,
+towards them, crying, "I am Janet!
+My name is Janet Bruce. Oh, carry me
+home to my mother!"</p>
+
+<p>The reapers stopped in their work,
+and one of them caught the girl up in
+his arms, and looking for a moment in
+her face, shouted out, "Yes, it is she!
+It is Janet herself!" There could be no
+mistake, for though she had grown
+taller, and her dress was ragged, and
+her face was brown, they knew her
+again in a moment.</p>
+
+<p>The work of the day was soon over,
+and a seat of boughs of trees was
+quickly made, into which they put
+Janet; then two of the strongest men
+raised her upon their shoulders, and
+carried her towards her own dear home.
+Some went before&mdash;men, boys, and
+women&mdash;and some followed after; and
+as they went they sang aloud for joy.</p>
+
+<p>The glad tidings soon reached Janet's
+cottage, and the mother rushed forward
+to meet her child. But we cannot tell
+you what were the feelings of the poor
+widow as she clasped Janet once more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+in her arms. The gipsy dress was
+taken off, and better clothes put on, and
+like the father in the parable, the widow
+said, "This my child was dead, and is
+alive again; and was lost, and is
+found."</p>
+
+<p>And so it is when a sinner is brought
+by the Holy Spirit to return to God.
+With shame and sorrow he says,
+"Father, I have sinned." But God,
+who is rich in mercy, is ready to forgive.
+He will, for Christ's sake, hear prayer.
+Through His precious blood He will
+pardon sin. He will take off the ragged
+garments of sin, and put on the white
+robe of Jesus' righteousness, and receive
+coming sinners as His children. Then
+what sounds of joy are heard in heaven,
+when those who were lost are brought
+home to dwell for ever in their Father's
+house!</p>
+
+<p>Dear child, through the fall you are
+<i>lost</i>. Have you been truly brought as
+a penitent to Christ? If so, you are
+<i>found</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Do not forget this&mdash;all the while any
+one knows not what it is to come to
+Christ for mercy and pardon, he is lost.
+But the moment a sinner is truly brought
+to the cross of Christ for salvation, he
+is found. Are you among the lost or
+among the found?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE DEAR OLD TIMES.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is interesting to look over
+household and personal accounts
+of, say, a hundred and
+fifty years ago. Some of these,
+which deal with the expenses of Mr.
+Gervase Scrope, and of his son Thomas,
+both of Cockerington, Lincolnshire, lie
+before me; and from them I find that
+"my dark-coloured cloth suit, trimmed
+with silver buttons and loops, was made
+November 21st, 1730, and cost in all
+£17 17s. 6d."</p>
+
+<p>This included two pairs of breeches.
+The cloth for the suit cost 18s. a yard;
+but Mr. Scrope had a cloak in 1732, the
+cloth of which cost £1 2s. a yard. In
+1729, however, he procured a cheap
+knockabout suit of clothes for £9 0s. 6d.</p>
+
+<p>Economy seems to have been necessary,
+for in 1731, "Tommy had a pair
+of breeches made out of an old scarlet
+riding-coat of mine."</p>
+
+<p>Boots and wigs were both dear; so
+also were hats. The squire's window-tax
+in 1748 amounted to £2 17s.</p>
+
+<p>Only in the matter of certain articles
+of food were the old days cheaper than
+the new. In 1754, eight lbs. of veal
+cost 2s. 4d., or 3&frac12;d. per lb.; a tongue
+cost 1s. 10d.; 31 lbs. of round and
+rump of beef cost 12s., or about 4&frac12;d. per
+lb.; a leg and saddle of mutton cost
+4s. 7d.; a quarter of lamb cost 1s. 6d.;
+22 lbs. of pork were bought for 5s. 6d.;
+and rabbits ranged from 6d. to 1s. a
+couple, according to size. But coffee
+was 6s. a lb., and lump sugar was 10d.
+Soap at this time cost 7s. 6d. a stone.</p>
+
+<p>Bread was sometimes cheap, but
+whenever war broke out, the price
+always went up to a terrible height,
+and much misery and distress must have
+resulted.</p>
+
+<p>In 1886, the average price of wheat in
+England was 39s. 4d. per imperial quarter;
+in 1810 it was 106s. 5d.; and in
+1801 it was 119s. 6d.; or more than
+three times as much as it was two years
+ago. Those were indeed dear old times.&mdash;<i>Cassell's
+Saturday Journal.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>POINTS TO BE AIMED AT.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+P unctual be throughout the day;<br />
+O bedient to superiors;<br />
+I ndustrious in every way;<br />
+N ot haughty to inferiors:<br />
+T ruthful in word, and trim in dress;<br />
+S hun folly, and for wisdom press.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">J. B.</span><br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">All</span> who now colour for show will
+hereafter be shown in their true colours.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p>
+<h2>WHAT A PRIEST THOUGHT OF ROMAN CATHOLIC MIRACLES.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>After the working of Satan with
+all power, and signs, and lying wonders.</i>"&mdash;2
+<span class="smcap">Thessalonians</span> ii. 9.</p>
+
+
+<p>In the autumn of 1836, the Marine
+hospital of Quebec, in Canada,
+was filled with patients suffering
+from ship typhoid fever, and so
+deadly was the disease that, by the following
+spring, a number of the officials
+and servants of the institution had also
+been smitten, and died. Chiniquy had
+hitherto been spared, although in constant
+attendance on the patients, but in
+May, 1837, he was attacked with the
+fearful disease. His life was despaired
+of, and the last Sacraments were administered
+to him. He could not speak.
+His tongue became like a piece of wood,
+and all that could be given him was a
+little cold water, dropped with much
+difficulty through his teeth.</p>
+
+<p>On the thirteenth night of his illness,
+he heard the doctors whisper, "He is
+dead, or nearly so," and they left the
+room. A deep horror seized him. An
+icy wave seemed to creep over his whole
+frame, and a terrible vision rose before
+his mind. A pair of scales stood before
+him. His sins were in one scale; his
+good works and penances in the other;
+and all his righteousness seemed but a
+grain of sand compared with a mountain
+load of guilt, and to God he dared not
+cry for mercy. But he thought of two
+saints&mdash;St. Anne, who was believed to
+have cured hundreds of cripples, and
+St. Philomene, who was just then the
+favourite saint of Rome. To these he
+cried, with all the earnestness of his
+failing soul, and soon a bright vision
+came before him of an aged, grave lady,
+and a young and beautiful one, the
+latter distinctly saying to him, "You
+will be cured." The vision then disappeared,
+but the fever had gone also.
+The crisis was over. He was hungry,
+and asked for food, which was at once
+given him, and he ravenously ate the
+dainties prepared, while the friendly
+priests gathered round him joyfully, and
+sang a hymn of praise.</p>
+
+<p>Of course they believed that the saints
+had cured him, and the Roman Catholic
+doctors shared their idea; but a Protestant
+physician denied it altogether, and
+in a kind manner he tried to prove that
+no miracle had been wrought, but that
+returning health came from natural
+causes, by the will and blessing of God.</p>
+
+<p>Chiniquy was unwilling, however, to
+change his mind on the subject, and,
+true to the vow he made in the hour of
+fear, he got a splendid picture painted,
+at a cost of £50, representing his vision
+as he lay seemingly on the bed of death.</p>
+
+<p>Three months later, he was in the
+house of the curate of St. Anne, a cousin
+of his, and he showed him the picture
+he intended to exhibit in the church next
+day. But, to his surprise and grief, his
+older relative, instead of sharing his
+belief, laughed heartily at his folly, asking
+him how he, as a man of sense,
+could possibly believe in such a miracle.
+Chiniquy reminded him of all the
+crutches hanging in St. Anne's Church,
+belonging to the cripples she had cured,
+which remark gave rise to another burst
+of laughter on the curate's part. But,
+sobering down, he seriously declared
+that, having carefully watched these
+so-called cures, he had found that
+ninety-nine out of every hundred were
+impostures, the hundredth one being an
+honest belief, but a superstitious and
+fancied one.</p>
+
+<p>These pretended cripples were nearly
+always lazy beggars, who knew that
+their seeming lameness would get them
+pity and money, and, when tired of that
+game, they would make a begging tour,
+telling all their helpers that they were
+going to the church of St. Anne, to pray
+for the use of their legs.</p>
+
+<p>They at last arrive there, pay from one
+to five dollars to have a mass said for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+them, and then, in the midst of the
+ceremony, just as they receive the wafer,
+there is a cry of joy. They are cured,
+and they leave their crutches behind
+as witnesses of their cure. They then
+return, and tell all who will listen as
+they go along, receiving fresh gifts from
+them until they get home again, to
+take a farm and settle down with their
+dishonest gains.</p>
+
+<p>"Such," said the curate, "is the true
+history of the ninety-nine miracles. In
+the hundredth case the man is really
+cured, because he was really afflicted;
+but his nerves were wrought upon just
+as I was once cured of a dreadful toothache
+by seeing the dentist put his instrument
+on the table. I took my hat
+and left, and the dentist laughed
+heartily every time he met me afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>"One of the weakest points of our
+religion is the ridiculous miracles said
+to be wrought by the relics and bones of
+saints. For the most part, they are the
+bones of chickens or sheep; and were I
+a Pope, I would throw all these Pagan
+mummeries to the bottom of the sea,
+and would present to the eyes of sinners
+nothing but 'Christ and Him crucified'
+as the Object of their faith, just as the
+Apostles of Jesus do in their Epistles!"</p>
+
+<p>They talked together in this strain till
+two o'clock in the morning, and then
+Chiniquy was too puzzled and sad to
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning, multitudes came to see
+his picture, and hear about his cure,
+which he long afterwards believed to be
+a miracle. Soon after he had finally left
+his priesthood, however, he again caught
+the fever, while visiting a dying man,
+and again on the thirteenth day the
+malady took a favourable turn; but this
+time he had felt happy in the prospect
+of dying, and the vision he saw at the
+crisis of the disease was not St. Anne,
+or St. Philomene, but a dozen bishops,
+dagger in hand, rushing on him to take
+his life. He thought he turned on them
+and slew them, and with this the fever
+left him. He asked for food, and speedily
+recovered, and then he knew that it was
+the Lord who had forgiven all his iniquities,
+who had also healed his diseases,
+without the aid of any of the saints of
+Rome, and the snare which had long held
+him captive was broken. He no longer
+sought the aid of departed saints in
+heaven, any more than he thought of
+again praying for souls in purgatorial
+fires. The Word of God was henceforth
+his only guide. May the religion
+of the Bible only, be our religion also.&mdash;<i>Jottings
+on "The Life and Work of
+Father Chiniquy," by Cousin Susan.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>COUNTING THE COST.</h2>
+
+
+<p>There are some curious stories
+respecting Fra Rocco, the celebrated
+preacher of Naples. On
+one occasion, it is related, he preached
+a penitential sermon, and introduced so
+many illustrations of terror that he soon
+brought his hearers to their knees.
+While they were thus showing every
+sign of contrition, he cried out&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Now, all of you who sincerely repent
+of your sins, hold up your hands."</p>
+
+<p>Every man in the vast multitude immediately
+stretched out both his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Holy Archangel Michael," exclaimed
+Rocco, "thou who with thine adamantine
+sword standest at the right of the
+judgment-seat of God, hew me off every
+hand which has been raised hypocritically."</p>
+
+<p>In an instant every hand dropped,
+and Rocco, of course, poured forth a
+fresh torrent of eloquent invective against
+their sins and their deceit.</p>
+
+<p>[True repentance is given by Jesus
+Christ, the exalted Prince and Saviour.
+All other is but mere show, and unavailing
+before God.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed</span>.]</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A heart</span> without a gift is better than
+a gift without a heart.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p>
+<h2>JUVENILE GEMS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The subjects of these memoirs&mdash;Ann
+Jane Woolford, George
+Woolford, and Hephzibah Woolford&mdash;were
+born in the beautiful
+town of Cheltenham, August 20th, 1840,
+January 28th, 1842, and February 14th,
+1846.</p>
+
+<p>The names of their parents were
+George and Ann Woolford, both members
+of the Church assembling for worship
+in Bethel Chapel, Cheltenham.</p>
+
+<p>In all, four children shared their affection,
+interested their solicitudes, listened
+to their counsels, and knelt at their
+domestic altar.</p>
+
+<p>Upon three out of the four the grave
+closed in comparative infancy; and, believing
+the "kindness and love of God
+our Saviour toward man" appeared to
+them, the bereaved mother, partly to
+indulge in a subject of mournful interest,
+and partly to record the gracious dealings
+of God, drew up, with her own hand,
+the subjoined narrative:&mdash;</p>
+
+
+<p class="center">
+<span class="smcap">George.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>"My eldest child, George Woolford,
+was attacked by scarlatina on October
+16th, 1851, from which he partially recovered,
+but died the following month.</p>
+
+<p>"Perceiving his soul 'drawing nigh
+unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers,'
+I remarked, 'It will do you no
+harm to think of death, seeing we must
+all die.' With tears in his eyes he exclaimed,
+'Oh, mother, I am afraid I
+shall not go to heaven.' I asked <i>why</i>
+he thus feared. His answer was, 'I am
+afraid the Lord will not forgive me.' I
+said, 'My dear, the Lord is ready to
+forgive <i>all</i> who from their hearts are
+sorry for their sins; and I hope the Holy
+Ghost will enable you to pray for divine
+forgiveness.' He seemed much affected
+by these remarks, but said he was too
+ill to talk or listen to me.</p>
+
+<p>"In great earnestness (and I believe
+under divine influence) I entreated God
+to grant me the great favour of informing
+me whether my dear boy was interested
+in the everlasting covenant,
+which is 'ordered in all things, and
+sure.'</p>
+
+<p>"About two or three days after, he
+commenced a conversation by saying,
+'Mother, I am afraid I shall not go to
+heaven. I have been such a sinner. I
+am afraid I am so great a sinner that
+the Lord will not save me. I have done
+so many things that are sinful, and they
+come into my mind and make me grieve.'
+I repeated several portions of the Holy
+Scripture, to which he listened in great
+earnestness, and then inquired, 'But, as
+I have not long to live, will the Lord
+forgive me after putting it off so long?'
+I answered in the affirmative, and mentioned
+the dying thief, assuring him the
+Lord was as willing to pardon him as
+He had been to pardon that malefactor.
+This relieved his mind, and he asked for
+his Testament to read.</p>
+
+<p>"A few days after, while I was gazing
+intently on him, he meekly exclaimed,
+'Do not look at me so, my dear mother.
+It almost breaks my heart.' I said, 'My
+dear boy, do you ever <i>pray</i>?' He answered,
+'I <i>try</i> to do so; but do not
+know that I pray <i>aright</i>.' I remarked,
+'If it is from your heart, the Lord will
+answer it in His own time, for the prayer
+of necessity is that in which He delights.'</p>
+
+<p>"On the Lord's Day before his death
+he appeared much better, ate a hearty
+dinner, and remained up till between
+four and five in the afternoon, when he
+exclaimed, 'Oh, mother, I am afraid my
+breath is getting bad again.' After
+several hours of great suffering, he cried
+out, 'Dear Lord, take me&mdash;do take me!'
+Hearing him thus call upon the name of
+the Lord, I approached him softly, and
+in soothing terms expressed my gladness
+at finding he was not afraid to die.
+'No, dear mother,' he said, 'I am not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+afraid to die. I am happy now.' I
+inquired, 'Do you love the Lord?'
+'Oh, yes,' was his ready answer, and
+immediately ejaculated, 'Dearest Lord,
+take me&mdash;take me&mdash;take me!' a great
+many times.</p>
+
+<p>"His pains becoming stronger, he
+said, 'Dear mother, do pray the dear
+Lord to take me!' I did so; and when
+risen from my knees, he said, 'Thank
+you, my dear mother. I hope the Lord
+will answer your prayer,' and then
+added, 'Oh, my dear, dear Lord, do
+take me! Take me from this world
+now. I do not want to live here. Take
+me with my next breath. This moment,
+dear Lord, take me.'</p>
+
+<p>"Observing the state of his mind, I
+put this question to him&mdash;'My dear
+boy, do you think the Lord has washed
+you in His blood, and clothed you in
+His precious righteousness?' 'Oh,
+yes, I do, mother,' was his prompt reply.</p>
+
+<p>"His pains abating, he remarked,
+'How kind the Lord is to me! I shall
+never be able to praise Him enough.'
+I said, 'My dear, you will have the
+countless ages of eternity to praise
+Him in.' He said, 'I want to go.' I
+answered, 'Pray for patience, that you
+may wait the Lord's time.' 'I am not
+impatient, but my pains are great,' was
+his meek reply, and he began entreating
+the Lord to remove him from this sinful
+world.</p>
+
+<p>"A short time after this, he exclaimed,
+'Oh, that precious Book, the
+Bible!' I answered, 'It is indeed a
+precious Book. It tells us of a Saviour,
+who washed you and me in His precious
+blood!' He said, 'Yes'; and added,
+'Pray for Him to take me soon. Do,
+dear mother,' &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>"Expressing a desire to kiss my
+hand, I gave him one. He held it very
+tightly, and kissed it several times. I
+asked him if he thought he had been a
+little sinner or a great one. Surprised
+by this question, and apparently hurt,
+he replied, 'Oh, mother, a <i>great</i> one&mdash;a
+<i>great</i> one.'</p>
+
+<p>"Overhearing a part of my conversation
+with his aunt, he said, 'Oh, mother,
+do not ask the Lord to let me live. I
+want to die. I would not live half a
+second.'</p>
+
+<p>"Shortly after, he repeated a similar
+prayer, wished to see his father, kiss
+him, and take his leave of him, which
+he did in an affectionate manner. He
+then inquired what o'clock it was, and
+being disappointed, cried out in a tone
+of thrilling solemnity, 'O Lord of
+Hosts, come and take me!' Shortly
+afterwards he exclaimed, lifting up his
+eyes and hands to heaven, 'I think I
+am dying. Pray again, dear mother,
+that the Lord may take me.' Persuaded
+of his interest in Christ, I was enabled
+to resign him, and much as I loved him,
+actually entreated the Lord to fetch him
+away. When this was over, he said,
+'Thank you, my dearest mother. I
+hope the Lord will answer all your
+prayers before long.'</p>
+
+<p>"At another time, he remarked,
+'How good the Lord is to me, is He
+not?' And again, 'My sufferings are
+great, but they will soon be over, for I
+shall soon be with the Lord'; and in a
+manner I cannot describe, exclaimed,
+'Oh, dear Lord Jesus Christ, and Holy
+Ghost, come and take me.'</p>
+
+<p>"Not long after, he remarked, 'I
+shall soon go now. Something has
+broke in my head. You may send for
+some one to lay me out.'</p>
+
+<p>"After a short interval he complained
+of shortness of breath, and proceeded
+to call upon the Lord in a sweet manner,
+but in a short time suddenly exclaimed,
+'Now I know I shall soon be gone, for
+two things have broke within me. Does
+not my voice get weaker?'</p>
+
+<p>"After giving directions about his
+books, he again complained of his distresses,
+and I remarked, 'The way to the
+kingdom was through much tribulation.'
+He requested that I would pray for
+patience; and upon being reminded that
+the Lord loved him too well to detain
+him one moment beyond the appointed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+time, he said, 'Oh, why is He so long
+in coming? Dear Lord, come <i>now</i>!'</p>
+
+<p>"Referring him to some of the Lord's
+children who had suffered fire and sword,
+but were now in glory, I added, 'You will
+soon be with them, and have ten thousand
+smiles from your Redeemer, with
+love in every smile.' This seemed to
+refresh his spirit, and I continued, 'One
+moment with Christ will more than
+recompense for all your pain.' He said,
+'Oh, yes. Come, dear Lord, and take
+me!'</p>
+
+<p>"Heart and flesh failing, his father
+was called into his room. The patient
+sufferer looked calmly at him, gently
+moved to the other side of the chair,
+said 'Mother!' and resting his head
+on his arm, and with a pleasant countenance,
+and without a groan, quietly fell
+asleep in Christ, November 17th, 1851,
+at five o'clock a.m."</p>
+
+<p>Thus died George Woolford, aged nine
+years and nine months.</p>
+
+<p>"Those that sleep in Christ will God
+bring with Him."</p>
+
+<p>
+"'I take these little lambs,' said He,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'And lay them in My breast;</span><br />
+Protection they shall find in Me;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In Me be ever blest.</span><br />
+<br />
+"'Death may the bands of life unloose,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But can't dissolve My love;</span><br />
+Millions of infant souls compose<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The family above.'</span><br />
+<br />
+"His words the happy parents hear,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And shout with joys divine&mdash;</span><br />
+'Dear Saviour, all we have and are<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shall be for ever Thine.'"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p class="center">
+<span class="smcap">Hephzibah.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Hephzibah was taken ill on
+the fifth of November, and though I have
+not many sayings of hers to record, I
+nevertheless believe that there was 'some
+good thing in her toward the Lord God
+of Israel,' and therefore, in solemn pleasure,
+rehearse the memorials of His
+grace.</p>
+
+<p>"On the fourth day of her illness she
+said, 'Mother, I am very ill, but I am
+not afraid to die, mother. No; I should
+like to die, and be with the Lord, for I do
+love Him, mother, that I do, better than
+every one besides.' 'But do you not love
+your father and mother best?' I inquired.
+Her answer was, 'I do love <i>you</i> both
+very dearly, but I love the Lord <i>most</i>.
+Ought I not to love Him most, mother?'
+I said, 'Yes, my dear.' She replied, 'And
+so I <i>do</i>. I want to go to heaven, to be
+with Him. And I should like my dear
+father, and mother, and Ann Jane, and
+George, and Rhoda to go with me.
+Would not that be happy, to meet and
+never part again? There we should
+have all we want.' I replied, 'Yes, my
+dear, "for the Lamb which is in the
+midst of the throne shall feed them, and
+shall lead them unto living fountains of
+water, and God shall wipe away all tears
+from their eyes." "And there shall be
+no night there."' 'Oh, will not that be
+happy, mother?' she exclaimed. 'I want
+to die, that I may see the Lord. He is
+so good and kind to me.' I asked,
+'Would you not like to get well again?'
+and her reply was, 'I would rather die
+and go to Jesus.'</p>
+
+<p>"The frequency of her expressed desires
+to 'depart and be with Christ'
+excited a trembling apprehension in my
+mind of her speedy dissolution, an apprehension
+fully verified by the event.</p>
+
+<p>"She now sunk into a state of unconsciousness,
+in which she continued for
+more than a week, suffering very much,
+indicating the speedy disrupture of all
+earthly ties, and inducing a perpetual
+vigil.</p>
+
+<p>"To my surprise she suddenly rallied,
+seemed to get better, and 'hope told a
+flattering tale'; but it disappointed
+us, and rendered the separation more
+trying.</p>
+
+<p>"The sensitive vigilance of my child's
+conscience was very remarkable. For
+instance, when any little delicacy had
+been declined, she remained inflexible,
+remarking that to alter her decision<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+would be to 'tell a story,' which, she
+said, 'would be very wicked.'</p>
+
+<p>"On the day she died, she said,
+'Mother, I am very ill. I think I shall
+die. My throat is so bad.' Shortly after,
+she said, 'Mother,' and was silent. A
+few minutes after that, she lifted up her
+dear eyes and hands to heaven three
+times, clasping her hands and letting
+them down again.</p>
+
+<p>"None but a mother knows a mother's
+heart. I saw the stroke, clasped my
+loved Hephzibah, and impressed the
+farewell kiss on her dying cheek. She
+looked at me, gave up the ghost, and
+was 'carried by the angels into Abraham's
+bosom' on November 28th, 1851,
+in the sixth year of her age."</p>
+
+<p>
+"One gentle sigh their fetters breaks,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We scarce can say, 'They're gone!'</span><br />
+Before the willing spirit takes<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Her mansion near the throne.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Faith strives, but all its efforts fail<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To trace her in her flight;</span><br />
+No eye can pierce within the veil<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Which hides that world of light.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Thus much (and this is all) we know&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">They are completely blest;</span><br />
+Have done with sin, and care, and woe,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And with their Saviour rest."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>[The memoir of the third child, Ann
+Jane, will appear next month.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE BLIND TORTOISE IN THE WELL.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A blind tortoise lived in a well.
+Another tortoise, a native of the
+ocean, in his inland travels happened
+to tumble into this well. The
+blind one asked of his new comrade
+whence he came.</p>
+
+<p>"From the sea."</p>
+
+<p>Hearing of the sea, he of the well
+swam round a little circle and asked&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Is the water of the ocean as large
+as this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Larger," replied he of the sea.</p>
+
+<p>The well tortoise then swam two-thirds
+of the well, and asked if the sea was as
+big as that.</p>
+
+<p>"Much larger than that," said the
+sea tortoise.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then," asked the blind tortoise,
+"is the sea as large as this whole well?"</p>
+
+<p>"Larger," said the sea tortoise.</p>
+
+<p>"If that is so," said the well tortoise,
+"how big, then, is the sea?"</p>
+
+<p>The sea tortoise replied, "You having
+never seen any other water than that of
+your well, your capability of understanding
+is small. As to the ocean, though
+you spent many years in it, you would
+never be able to explore the half of it,
+nor to reach the limit, and it is utterly
+impossible to compare it with this well
+of yours."</p>
+
+<p>The well tortoise replied, "It is impossible
+that there can be a larger water
+than this well. You are simply praising
+up your native place with vain words."</p>
+
+<p>How many people there are like the
+tortoise in the well!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Though 'tis not seen, yet it is known,<br />
+For oft it makes e'en strong men groan.<br />
+The proud and bold have shook with fear<br />
+When they have felt this strong one near.<br />
+Yea, monarchs have before it fell,<br />
+And feared that they should sink to hell.<br />
+But oft the sad have felt this power,<br />
+And found, in trouble's darkest hour,<br />
+Such friendly help that they have said<br />
+They never more should be afraid.<br />
+And such as felt condemned to die<br />
+Have been released and filled with joy.<br />
+Now, reader, search your Bible through,<br />
+And tell us where these things you view.<br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> greatest happiness of the creature
+is not to have the creature for his happiness.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p>
+<h2>"THE SENSE AND SENSES OF ANIMALS."</h2>
+
+
+<p>Sir John Lubbock, M.P.,
+some time since, delivered an
+address in Queen Street Hall,
+Edinburgh, to the members of the Edinburgh
+Philosophical Institution, on
+"The Sense and Senses of Animals."
+In the course of his remarks the lecturer
+said that one would gratefully admit that
+the dog was a loyal, and true, and affectionate
+friend, but when we came to consider
+the nature of the animal, our
+knowledge was very limited. That
+arose a good deal from the fact that
+people had tried rather to teach animals
+than to learn from them. It had occurred
+to him that some such method as that
+which was followed in the case of deaf
+mutes might prove instructive if adapted
+to the case of dogs. He had tried with
+a black poodle belonging to himself.
+He then went on to relate several experiments
+he had made with pieces of cardboards,
+with different words marked
+upon them. He had taken two pieces
+of card, one blank, and the other with
+the word "food" upon it. He had put
+the latter on a saucer containing some
+bread and milk, and the blank card he
+put on an empty saucer. The dog was
+not allowed to eat until it brought the
+proper card to him. This experiment
+was repeated over and over again, and
+in about ten days the dog began to distinguish
+the card with the letters on it
+from the plain card. It took a longer
+time to make the dog realize the difference
+between different words.</p>
+
+<p>In order to try and discover whether
+the dog could distinguish colours, he
+prepared six cards, marking two of
+them blue, two yellow, and two orange.
+He put one of each on the floor, and
+tried to get the dog to bring to him a
+card with the same colour as one which
+he showed the dog in his hand. After
+trying this for three months, he found
+that his experiment in this direction was
+a failure.</p>
+
+<p>He had always felt a great longing to
+know how the world appeared to the
+lower animals. It was still a doubtful
+point whether ants were able to hear.
+From experiments which he had made,
+he had come to the conclusion they had
+not the power of addressing each other.
+His impression on the whole was, that
+bees and ants were not deaf, but that
+they heard sounds so shrill as to be
+beyond our hearing. There was no
+doubt about insects seeing. He then
+went on to relate several experiments he
+had made with the view of discovering
+whether different insects could distinguish
+different colours, and had any
+preference for particular colours. The
+colours of objects must present a very
+different impression upon insects to that
+on human beings. The world to them
+might be full of music which we could
+not hear, colours which we could not see,
+and sensations which we could not feel.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BEWARE OF THORNS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+A hand encased in leathern glove,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">One pensive autumn day,</span><br />
+Gathered some pretty wayside flowers,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To make a bright bouquet.</span><br />
+<br />
+With kind intent the flowers were culled,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To please a loved one's taste;</span><br />
+But ah! unconsciously, some thorns<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Were with the blossoms placed.</span><br />
+<br />
+The hand that grasped the welcome gift<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Soon felt the piercing smart,</span><br />
+And pain dispelled the grateful smile<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That rayed out from the heart.</span><br />
+<br />
+Would we to spirits bowed and sad<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Convey a transient joy?</span><br />
+Let not the lack of tender skill<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Our kindly deed alloy.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">E. D.</span><br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">If</span> you pursue sin for profit you will
+never profit by your sin.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE COST OF A BROKEN SABBATH.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A bright Sabbath morning in
+August, a young minister was on
+his road to a distant parish, where
+he had engaged to take the services. He
+overtook a group of lads, evidently bent
+on an excursion of amusement. A boy,
+coming from the opposite direction, was
+being alternately persuaded and chaffed
+to give up <i>for once</i> going to Sunday
+School, and join the pleasure-party instead.
+Just then an old man, of venerable
+appearance, who had watched the
+group from his garden, came forward
+and addressed the boys in the following
+words&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Lads, you may think lightly <i>now</i> of
+what you are doing, but Sabbath-breaking
+leads to ruin&mdash;has led to the gallows.
+Ben"&mdash;turning to the boy on his way to
+Sunday School&mdash;"don't be ashamed of
+doing right. The Lord saith, 'Them
+that honour Me I will honour, and they
+that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.'
+Ah! boys, be warned in time.
+You cannot reckon <i>the cost of a broken
+Sabbath</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Ben, strengthened thus, went on his
+way, regardless of the jeers of the other
+lads, who, turning over a stile, were
+quickly out of sight and hearing.</p>
+
+<p>The minister also went on his way,
+but the earnest tones and sad expression
+of the aged man had made a deep impression
+on him, and he pondered if
+some personal experience lay behind that
+solemn warning, "You cannot reckon
+<i>the cost of a broken Sabbath</i>."</p>
+
+<p>The evening of that day found him
+coming through the fields by a path
+which led hard by the door of the cottage
+of the old man. It had been pointed out
+as shorter and pleasanter than the dusty
+high road which he had travelled in the
+morning. The day had been hot, and
+an offer to go back to the rectory for
+refreshment had been declined, as it
+would lengthen the walk considerably;
+but now, tired and thirsty, he resolved
+to test the hospitality of the owner of the
+cottage.</p>
+
+<p>The old man sat outside his doorway,
+with his big Bible on a round table.
+The wayfarer asked for a little water
+to drink. He was courteously requested
+to enter in and rest, and a draught of
+milk proposed instead, unless he could
+wait for a cup of tea. The kettle was
+boiling in the back kitchen, and the
+little table, covered with a snowy cloth,
+was already set for a solitary meal,
+which the visitor was invited to share.
+He accepted the kindly offer, not sorry
+to have an opportunity of converse with
+one whose words had lingered with him
+through the day.</p>
+
+<p>Having explained how he had been
+occupied since passing in the early
+morn, he remarked&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"You live alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, I am alone in the world,
+but yet not alone, for the Saviour is often
+with me in my humble dwelling, and I
+hope in a little while He'll come and
+take me to His home above."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a blessed hope to cheer and
+make you patient to wait His time, my
+friend," was the rejoinder. "Have you
+been left long alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"The last went home twenty years
+ago, come Michaelmas," said the aged
+host. "It has been whiles a weary waiting-time,
+but it's sinful to repine. His
+time must be the right time."</p>
+
+<p>Whilst the old man went to fetch the
+tea, the guest looked round and observed
+some articles of carved wood&mdash;boxes,
+flat rulers, and leaf-cutters&mdash;and was
+struck with the frequent recurrence of
+short words of Holy Writ on the Sabbath.
+Some little books lay on the window-sill,
+many of which were on the same subject.</p>
+
+<p>After impressively asking God's blessing,
+and whilst partaking of the simple
+meal, the visitor remarked&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I see the sanctity of the Lord's Day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">&nbsp;</a></span>
+is a strong point with you. I was struck
+this morning with the expression you
+used to those lads&mdash;'<i>the cost of a broken
+Sabbath</i>.'"</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 407px;">
+<img src="images/img136.jpg" width="407" height="500" alt="MAN  WITH BIBLE (See page 132.)" title="MAN  WITH BIBLE (See page 132.)" />
+<span class="caption">"THE OLD MAN SAT WITH HIS BIG BIBLE." (<i>See page 132.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>No response came for some minutes,
+as if the host was debating some question
+with himself; and so it proved, for
+at last he raised his head and said, with
+a vast depth of pathos in his tones&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"None have had greater reason to
+know the bitter cost, sir, than myself. It
+is not often that I speak of the past, but
+it may be the Lord has brought you here
+for a purpose to-day, and you may be
+able to use it as a warning to some
+within your influence."</p>
+
+<p>"If your story will not be too painful
+to you, my friend, I should indeed feel
+grateful to you for it," was the response.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not belong to these parts, sir,"
+he began, "but I've been here over a
+quarter of a century. I lived in a large
+village in a midland county, where some
+extensive mill-works were carried on,
+and rose from a lad's tasks there to fill
+the place of foreman. I married happily,
+and had a home of comfort and
+peace with a loving, godly wife. Four
+children out of six born to us grew up&mdash;two
+sons and two daughters&mdash;and after
+the toil and din of the week, Sunday
+was a day of quiet enjoyment, in the
+midst of my family, spent in God's house
+and our home, with the aid of books and
+singing, for we all had fair voices. It
+had never been counted a dull day by
+the young folks. The lovely flowers and
+birds, and the wonders of the book of
+creation and the Book of grace, made
+the day of holy rest seem all too short.
+But our circle did not remain unbroken.
+First, our eldest girl, poor Maggie, left
+home to take a situation in a neighbouring
+town, and soon after, our first-born,
+David, who had never taken kindly to
+mill-work, obtained employment in an
+office in the same town, within five
+minutes' walk of his sister. This seemed
+well for both, being much attached to
+each other. Ned and Mary still clung to
+the old home, and the other two frequently
+spent the Sabbath in our midst. David
+almost always walked over in the early
+morn, or late on Saturday night, returning,
+if alone, on Monday morning, or, if
+Maggie accompanied him, the same
+evening, as she was not allowed out at
+night. She could only, of course, take
+turns with her fellow-servants; but,
+unless weather prevented, we could
+surely reckon on the flown birds coming,
+when able, back to their nest on the
+Sabbath.</p>
+
+<p>"But at last came just such a lovely
+summer day as this has been. We lingered
+before starting for church till long
+after the bells had been chiming, but
+neither of them came. We looked to
+find them on our return, and dinner
+waited long; but the night came, and
+we had not heard or seen aught of either.
+I overheard Ned in the garden speaking
+to Mary&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"'I shan't feel easy till I've run over
+to the town to-morrow, after work-hours.
+I hear there was to be a river excursion
+from the town to-day&mdash;a steamer calling
+for a lot of folks.'</p>
+
+<p>"'But, Ned, you don't believe Davie
+or Maggie would go?' said Mary, half
+reproachfully.</p>
+
+<p>"'I don't feel comfortable about it,'
+replied her brother. 'Maggie could be
+persuaded to go anywhere with David,
+and he and I had a talk not long ago on
+Sunday trips. He said folks could thus
+get out into pure country air, for a few
+pence, who were cooped up all the week
+in the smoke of the town, and those who
+desired it could go to a place of worship
+even twice, and get tea, before they had
+to start on the return voyage.'</p>
+
+<p>"The fear expressed was, alas! too
+well grounded. David's master's son
+was one of these habitual pleasure-seekers,
+and had long tried to persuade
+him to join him. He had also become
+acquainted with Maggie, through meeting
+her out with the children to whom
+she was nursemaid, and often fell in with
+her on the Sundays she spent in the
+town. In vain had he tried to induce<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+her to join the steamer trip, till one day
+he said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"'If David went, you could not scruple
+about going under his care.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, I'm safe enough not to go at
+that rate,' was her reply.</p>
+
+<p>"But she was mistaken. David had
+been persuaded to put his conscience to
+sleep by the resolution that it should
+only be <i>for once</i>, just to see for himself
+how it worked really, for good or evil.
+He was more than half inclined to retract
+his consent, when he learnt that his
+sister was to be of the party, but the
+tempter having got his victims into the
+net, did not let them off.</p>
+
+<p>"David and Maggie found a church
+near the river, and went to morning
+service. Their evil adviser accompanied
+them on condition that the afternoon
+should be spent in the woods.</p>
+
+<p>"It was not difficult to get separated in
+the many paths, and when the steamer's
+warning bell was heard, amid the hurried
+rush onboard, David did not discover till
+too late that, amongst several missing,
+were Maggie, and also his master's son.
+No entreaty could induce the captain to
+put back.</p>
+
+<p>"Some fresh passengers had come
+on board, showing views and engravings,
+and David, glad to divert his attention
+from self-reproach, amused his mind
+with looking through their collection,
+for he now repented bitterly that he had
+ever come&mdash;still more that he had
+brought his sister, and then allowed her
+to slip out of his charge. One of the
+new comers was especially friendly, explaining
+the views to 'cheer up his
+spirits.'</p>
+
+<p>"When within ten minutes of landing,
+a boat came alongside with two or three
+police in plain clothes, and soon arrested,
+as well-known pickpockets, two of the
+fresh passengers, whilst all were advised
+to see what they had lost. Much of the
+booty was found on the prisoners, but
+not all, which led to a general search of
+the passengers. On my poor son, in his
+coat-pocket, was discovered the rest of
+the missing plunder, which had doubtless
+been slipped in by his friendly entertainer
+when he saw the police on
+board. David's protestations of innocence
+were all unavailing. The contents
+of his pockets were then and afterwards
+deemed conclusive proof of his guilt.
+All efforts to save him were in vain. He
+never breathed free air again in this
+life. His sentence placed him among
+convicts at Portland, where his health
+broke down under grief and disgrace.
+The tidings of his death reached me
+after I had moved here, in a kind letter
+from the chaplain, sending this precious
+relic [taking a well-worn Testament from
+his breast], with its marked verses of
+comfort and a few lines from my poor
+boy&mdash;all I have left of him."</p>
+
+<p>A folded sheet of paper, yellow from
+age and tender from frequent handling,
+lay between the leaves of the little Book.
+The old man handed both to his guest.
+In the touching farewell to his father
+were the words, "You and mother know
+I've suffered innocently, and it's now
+nearly over, and I shall soon be free
+and with Jesus, whose precious blood
+has cleansed me from all sin. But, dear
+father, never cease to <i>warn</i> the young
+of the fearful <i>cost of a broken Sabbath</i>."</p>
+
+<p>The aged man wiped away some falling
+tears.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall see my boy soon," he continued.
+"I've tried to keep his injunction,
+and, by tract given or word spoken,
+not to let a Sabbath go by without some
+warning. His mother scarcely held up
+her head after his trial, and did not survive
+her first-born many weeks, and I
+was left alone with our youngest&mdash;my
+Mary. That broken Sabbath had lost
+Maggie her place and character. The
+doors were locked against her that
+night, and no explanation would be
+accepted next day. She wrote us word
+she'd got another situation at a distance
+through a friend. We never saw her
+more in the old house, and lost all traces
+of her. Our other boy, Ned, came to
+us soon after his brother's trial, and, asking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+our consent and forgiveness for
+going away, said he could not hold up
+his head in the village, and must go to
+sea. We let him go, hoping time and
+change of scene would heal the wound,
+and he'd come back to us to a fresh
+home, for I felt like himself, that I could
+not stay on in the factory, and resigned
+my post and came here, hoping our
+Davie might soon be free to join us
+also; but the Lord set him free to go to
+a better mansion in the skies.</p>
+
+<p>"Four years after we came here, I
+had a letter from a neighbour who lived
+hard by in the old place. What Mary
+had often secretly feared, came to pass.
+Maggie had come back, to find no
+home left; but the widow over the way
+had seen in the dusk a woman go and
+return, repulsed from the old door, and
+sit down to weep by the road-side. She
+brought the wanderer to her own fireside.
+I fetched her away, and we nursed
+the poor, worn, wasted one tenderly, but
+she had only come home with the prodigal's
+cry, to die&mdash;'Father, I have sinned
+against heaven, and before thee.'</p>
+
+<p>"That broken Sabbath was her first
+step to ruin, but the blessed Lord, in
+His rich mercy, and by the Holy Spirit's
+gracious leadings, led her to the fountain
+which makes crimson sins white as
+snow, and she is gone before me too.</p>
+
+<p>"The doctor&mdash;a good, kind man&mdash;shook
+his head, and bade me keep my
+Mary in the fresh air, and give her plenty
+of new milk. He feared she had taken
+the seeds of disease in that long nursing,
+and so it proved; but, with the
+hopefulness of consumption, she did not
+believe she was going to leave me desolate,
+and I deceived myself, and hoped
+against hope, as I looked on the sweet
+face and lovely bloom as she lay on this
+bench, enjoying the sight and breath of
+the flowers.</p>
+
+<p>"By my carving, which went to a
+London house, we were kept from want,
+and Ned sent us home, with sailor generosity,
+supplies of money.</p>
+
+<p>"'If he'd only come himself,' said
+my Mary, 'it would be better than all
+the gold.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Write and tell him so,' I said; and
+so we both did, and I told him of the
+fading away of his favourite sister,
+hoping it would draw him back over the
+sea, if anything would; but the brother
+and sister were not to meet here again.
+My Mary left me one early morn, as the
+sun's first streaks were gilding the sky.
+No answer came from my sailor son,
+but the good pastor who had ministered
+to us in our hours of sore need, came
+one day, and gently told me, as I sat
+alone, that his ship had gone down in
+one of the wild Atlantic storms. My
+boy is now safe in heaven, where there
+is no more sea."</p>
+
+<p>The aged man ceased. His eye was
+on the sunset cloud, but his heart was
+in the spirit land. His guest, rising up
+to depart, took tenderly the wrinkled
+hand, and said, "The ransomed of the
+Lord shall return and come to Zion,
+with songs and everlasting joy upon
+their heads: they shall obtain joy and
+gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall
+flee away."</p>
+
+<p>Then he hastened homewards, his
+own heart full with this touching record
+of <i>the cost of a broken Sabbath</i>.&mdash;<i>From
+a Tract, published by S. W.
+Partridge and Co.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A SOFT PILLOW.</h2>
+
+
+<p>If the pillow be too hard, it is very unlikely
+that the sleep should be sound.
+Yet this mainly depends upon circumstances.
+If the conscience is easy, the
+pillow will be comfortable, even though
+a block of stone. Jacob slept sweetly
+at Bethel, when the Lord appeared to
+him and told him that He was his God.
+If, on the other hand, there is guilt on
+the conscience, though the head is laid
+on the softest down, the pillow will not
+be altogether easy.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p>
+<h2>RECEIVING THE TRUTH.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Mrs. Le Pla was a French lady,
+who came over to England in the
+younger part of her life, with
+much of the vivacity for which the French
+nation has been remarkable. She was
+particularly under the eye of a grave,
+Pharisaic lady, by whom she was persuaded
+to go to church, but the dull
+manner in which the clergyman performed
+his office disgusted her so much,
+that she withheld her attention, and fell
+asleep. At this, her English friend was
+exceedingly angry, and reproved her
+sharply.</p>
+
+<p>On another Lord's Day her friend took
+her to hear Dr. F&mdash;&mdash;, but his excessive
+action provoked her to such a degree
+that she burst into a loud laugh, and
+she was desired to walk out of the place
+of worship, where she had certainly
+shown too little regard for the Divine
+Being and His worshippers.</p>
+
+<p>On returning home, she was very
+properly and severely remonstrated with,
+at which she was much hurt. She replied,
+in broken English, "What can I
+do, madam? I go to church to please
+you, and there I fall asleep. I go to
+meeting, and there I laugh; and to tell
+you the truth, I begin to think my own
+religion is not the right religion, for that
+teaches me to worship images, and God
+says, 'Thou shalt <i>not</i> make any graven
+image.' If, therefore, madam, I go to
+any place of worship, it shall be to hear
+a Mr. Whitefield, for I have heard great
+things of him."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said her English friend, "we
+will inquire where he preaches."</p>
+
+<p>The good man was then dead. The
+ladies therefore went to the Tabernacle,
+Moorfields. Mr. T. Knight was the
+preacher, and the native of France, enraptured,
+cried out&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"This is the good and right doctrine!
+Here I will attend."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the prudent, self-righteous
+lady, "it is my opinion that they believe
+in predestination here, and you cannot
+think it right that God made any of His
+creatures to be damned?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no," said Mrs. Le Pla; "but I
+will certainly inquire for myself."</p>
+
+<p>The next opportunity was eagerly
+embraced, and the zealous inquirer,
+seating herself by a good old woman of
+the congregation, whispered&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, madam, do they believe in
+predestination here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, predestination," said she,
+"how can they avoid believing it? The
+Bible is full of it."</p>
+
+<p>The querist was thunderstruck. She
+hastened home.</p>
+
+<p>"Do they believe in predestination
+there?"</p>
+
+<p>"An old lady told me they did," was
+the reply. "But," said the French lady,
+"I am determined to ask the minister
+myself."</p>
+
+<p>Not long after, she had an interview
+with Mr. Knight.</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, sir," said she, "will you allow
+me to ask you a few questions?"</p>
+
+<p>"By all means," said the good man.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you must know," said Mrs. Le
+Pla, "I was brought up a Roman
+Catholic, and I think that is not the
+right religion, because they worship
+images, and I come to hear you with
+pleasure, sir. But my friends tell me
+you believe in predestination, and a good
+old lady, one of your congregation, confirms
+it. I have therefore taken the
+liberty to ask yourself about it."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Knight said to her, "Do not
+believe what every old woman says to
+you. Do you believe you are a sinner?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, sir!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you feel the want of Jesus
+Christ?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Then," said Mr. Knight, "continue
+to hear the Word of God, and search
+the Scriptures to see whether I preach
+the truth or not."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>She took his advice, and some little
+time after, he preached on the subject
+of predestination, and desired his hearers
+to compare what he had to say with
+their Bibles. The French lady did so,
+and was quite overcome with conviction
+of the truth. The question now was
+not with her, whether predestination was
+a truth of God or not, but whether she
+was one of the happy number appointed
+to salvation.</p>
+
+<p>She afterwards became established in
+the truth, was joined to Mr. Brewer's
+Church, died in the Lord some years
+since, and was interred in the adjoining
+burying-ground.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>AN EVENING AT THE WEST END.</h2>
+
+
+<p>On Monday evening, April 23rd,
+1888, we were present at the
+twenty-second Annual Meeting
+of Gower Street Chapel Sunday School,
+and, although the weather was most unfavourable,
+the attendance was good,
+which must have been very encouraging
+to Mr. Cooper, the Superintendent, and
+the teachers. The meeting was presided
+over by the senior deacon, Mr. Link.</p>
+
+<p>The proceedings were opened by singing,
+and the Chairman read the fourth
+chapter of Malachi, after which Mr.
+Gray engaged in prayer.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Link, in the course of a few
+weighty remarks, said that they were
+gathered to thank the Lord for His
+goodness. He felt that the children
+were surrounded with many temptations
+to ensnare them. He spoke of the
+shortness of time, and the solemnity of
+the day of judgment, and said that he
+often meditated upon these things, and
+thought about the Lord's servants and
+people, whom he had loved because they
+were the Lord's, and whom he hoped to
+meet again when he had done with time
+things.</p>
+
+<p>The report for the past year was then
+read by Mr. Hale, the Secretary, from
+which it appears that there are 222
+scholars on the books, which is a slight
+decrease during the year. The library
+numbers about 1,030 books. The report
+of the Sick and Benevolent Society
+was also read.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Boorne, of Greenwich, in addressing
+the teachers, referred to the works,
+Word, and worship of God. He said
+that the grass, moss, plants, trees,
+flowers, and fruits showed the sovereignty
+of God. Then there were the
+various animals for the use and food of
+mankind, and the internal treasures&mdash;metals,
+oxides, salts, &amp;c. God's wise
+provision of the sea for cleansing and
+purifying the earth&mdash;all declared the
+sovereignty, wisdom, power, and goodness
+of God.</p>
+
+<p>
+"Great God, with wonder and with praise,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">On all Thy works I look;</span><br />
+But still Thy wisdom, power, and grace<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shine brightest in Thy Book."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>He then spoke of the Book of <i>revelation</i>,
+the Bible, and the need that the
+scholars should be taught the value of
+it, and what it has cost to procure it to
+us&mdash;what a privilege it is to be able to
+read it, and of the mercy of understanding
+it.</p>
+
+<p>He mentioned an instance of a Bible,
+consisting of nine volumes, being sold
+for £33 6s. 8d., in the thirteenth century,
+which would represent about fifteen times
+that sum now. To-day a Bible might
+be bought for a few pence.</p>
+
+<p>He referred to the rigid laws of the
+time of Henry V., to prevent any from
+reading the Bible in the mother tongue;
+yet still the Book lives.</p>
+
+<p>He referred to the vulgar idea of the
+"three R's" in education, and said that
+there were three R's which he wished
+them to oppose in their teaching, namely,
+<i>Romanism</i>, <i>Rationalism</i>, and <i>Ritualism</i>.
+How many worshipped something
+short of God in the setting up of candles,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+crucifixes, music, and other things. We
+must "worship in spirit and in truth."</p>
+
+<p>He concluded by exhorting them not
+to grow weary in well-doing, for their
+labour would not be in vain in the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hazlerigg, of Leicester, said he
+had the difficult task of speaking to the
+children, and he wished to put before
+them four prizes. But they were not
+tangible&mdash;nothing to eat, nor yet anything
+to see&mdash;yet all, he thought, might
+have them, and he recommended them
+all to aim at getting them.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing he wished them to prize
+was, their Sunday School. He said it
+should be the endeavour of all to keep
+up the honour of the school, and, when
+any were tempted to do wrong, their first
+thought should be, "What would they
+say at the Sunday School?" When he
+was formerly in the army, they had what
+was termed "<i>esprit de corps</i>," <i>i.e.</i>, a
+pride in keeping up the character of the
+regiment. He hoped none of his audience
+would ever buy sweets on Sunday, or it
+might be said, that "It is one of the
+Gower Street Sunday School children."</p>
+
+<p>The second prize was, their Bibles. If
+they prized and were led by their Bibles,
+they would be good children. It would
+make them submit to all lawful authority.
+How different it would be if the command,
+"Thou shalt love thy neighbour
+as thyself," was better learnt and practised
+than it is!</p>
+
+<p>In the third place, he wished them to
+prize their chapel. He spoke of the
+blessing attending the hearing of the
+Word of God. He said that some children
+go to school, and then slip off without
+going to chapel. He hoped none of
+those before him ever did that.</p>
+
+<p>Fourthly, he hoped they would prize
+their Superintendent and their teachers.
+What a labour of love and self-denial
+was theirs! They liked the work, and
+their desire was, the glory of God in the
+children's good&mdash;in the salvation of their
+souls, and their prosperity&mdash;and they
+sought for this reward&mdash;the good of their
+scholars.</p>
+
+<p>The "touchable" prizes for the past
+year were then distributed by Mr. Hazlerigg,
+and after Mr. Link had concluded
+with prayer, the children each received
+a bun and orange, the gift of Mr. Prior,
+one of their teachers.</p>
+
+<p>For the sake of brevity, a vote of thanks
+was proposed to the latter, associated
+with the names of the visiting ministers
+and the President, which was heartily responded
+to. Mr. Hazlerigg replied for
+all in a few witty words, which brought
+the evening to a genial and timely close.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>RAGGED TOM.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Tom was a poor, ragged boy. His
+home was an old house in a
+narrow court. A stool, a deal
+table, an old bed in one corner,
+and a bag of shavings in another, were
+all the goods contained in the room
+where Tom, with his father and mother,
+lived.</p>
+
+<p>Tom's hands and face were generally
+very dirty; his hair matted; his clothes
+were in rags, and his feet were without
+shoes. He often had nothing to eat,
+and no fire to warm him, however cold
+the day. Many were the blows and
+kicks the poor boy received from the
+rude men and lads who lived in the
+court.</p>
+
+<p>It was well for him that a Ragged
+School was established in the neighbourhood,
+and he was invited to go.
+He then learned that he had three
+enemies of which he had not hitherto
+thought much. These were dirt, ignorance,
+and sin.</p>
+
+<p>He speedily vanquished the first at a
+pump. The second he overcame by
+patient effort at the school. Then Tom
+became a respectable, happy, and useful
+young man. Best of all, he sought
+mercy and help from God, and lived
+to prove that he had God's smile and
+blessing.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span></p>
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Good Shepherd Gathering
+His Sheep.</span></h3>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">John</span> x. 16.)</p>
+
+
+<p>In the city of Jerusalem, at the
+Feast of Tabernacles, a few
+months before His death, Jesus
+set forth this beautiful parable
+of the Good Shepherd. He had given
+sight to a man who from his birth had
+been blind. The Pharisees, as usual,
+had shown their hatred of Him, and He
+then described Himself as the true
+Leader, beloved and honoured of all
+believing, obedient souls, declaring that
+His enemies did not believe Him, because
+they were not His sheep.</p>
+
+<p>"My sheep hear My voice; I know
+them, they follow Me, and I lay down
+My life for them." "And other sheep
+I have that are not of <i>this</i> [Israelite or
+Jewish] fold; them also I must bring;
+and they shall hear My voice, and there
+shall be one fold and one Shepherd"
+(John x. 16).</p>
+
+<p>The Jews who listened to those gracious
+words were much divided in their
+opinions about them, some declaring
+that Jesus was mad; others, appealing
+to the great miracle He had wrought in
+opening the eyes of the blind; and three
+months later, at another feast (see ver.
+22), their controversy was renewed, and
+Jesus concluded His striking allegory
+by saying, "I and My Father are One,
+and no power shall ever be able to snatch
+My people from My hand or from His"
+(ver. 29, 30).</p>
+
+<p>Returning to our text, we find Jesus
+declaring that all His people are His
+before they know or love Him.</p>
+
+<p>Up to that time the Jewish Church
+had been the only earthly fold of believers
+in the living God, and all the
+Gentiles who were taught by the Holy
+Spirit were led to unite with the house
+of Israel or the people of Judah.</p>
+
+<p>God was Israel's Shepherd (Psa. lxxx.
+1). He led His people "like a flock by
+the hand of Moses and Aaron" (Psa.
+lxxvii. 20). They were regarded as "the
+sheep of His pasture" (Psa. c.), and
+the world around them were strangers
+and foreigners, "aliens from the commonwealth
+of Israel, and strangers to the
+covenant of promise."</p>
+
+<p>But among these outcasts Jesus had
+many sheep. He gathered some in olden
+times. He came to lay down His life for
+a great multitude, to be drawn to Himself
+from every kindred, and tribe, and
+nation, and tongue. He spoke of them as
+being already His own&mdash;"Other sheep I
+have, and them also I must bring," or
+lead. "The Son of Man came to seek and
+to save that which was lost." "All we like
+sheep have gone astray; we have turned
+every one to his own way"; and He who
+paid the ransom price of His wandering
+flock, goes after every one for whom He
+shed His blood.</p>
+
+<p>
+"He finds them wandering far from God,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And brings them to His chosen fold."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"As many as are led by His Spirit"&mdash;the
+Spirit of God&mdash;"they are the children
+of God," the sheep of the Lord Jesus
+Christ.</p>
+
+<p>He brings them to feel that they are
+lost&mdash;that they are far off by wicked
+works&mdash;that they are guilty, and weak,
+and helpless&mdash;and thus they are drawn
+to the Good Shepherd, who can and will
+deliver them from all evil, and fill them
+with all good.</p>
+
+<p>And having brought near, He leads in
+green pastures, beside still waters; and
+even when the way is less pleasant, He
+always "leads in the way of righteousness,
+in the midst of the paths of judgment"
+(Prov. viii. 20).</p>
+
+<p>"They shall hear My voice," He said,
+and it is by His voice&mdash;His Word spoken
+to the heart&mdash;that He ever leads His
+people. Three thousand heard it on
+the day of Pentecost, and were pricked
+in their heart. Wounded, and imploring
+forgiving, healing grace, they heard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+again with gladness, and followed their
+Lord in baptism (Acts ii. 37-41).</p>
+
+<p>Lydia's heart was opened to receive
+the glad tidings, and she followed the
+Good Shepherd; and Jesus leads His
+disciples all the way home. "In all thy
+ways," the wise man says, "acknowledge
+Him, and He shall direct thy
+paths" (Prov. iii. 6). "These are they
+that follow the Lamb whithersoever He
+goeth" (Rev. xiv.).</p>
+
+<p>Happy are they who know the sound
+of that heavenly voice! Have <i>we</i> heard
+it? It may not be <i>recognized</i> at first, as
+Samuel heard, but did not know <i>who</i>
+called him, until his name had been
+again and again repeated, and Eli had
+"perceived that the Lord had called the
+child." But as surely as He speaks, we
+shall, sooner or later, <i>know</i> His voice,
+and long and love to hear it.</p>
+
+<p>Then Jesus promises that all His
+people, of all nations and all ages of
+time, shall become one flock&mdash;one in
+Jesus; one in heart, and mind, and
+judgment&mdash;and the whole redeemed and
+gathered flock shall at last dwell in one
+fold&mdash;the fold of heavenly, eternal life
+and glory.</p>
+
+<p>
+"From sorrow, care, and pain,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And sin they shall be free,</span><br />
+And perfect love and friendship reign<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Through all eternity."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"And there shall be one Shepherd."
+"Jesus only" shall be seen, acknowledged,
+and followed. Now He is loved
+and honoured as the great Chief Shepherd
+of the sheep, and the ministers of
+the Gospel are pastors, or shepherds,
+serving under Him. Christ brings them
+forth, gives them their work, and blesses
+their careful labours. But He removes
+them one by one. He alone abides for
+evermore. And in the fold above, the
+pastors appear no more as shepherds,
+but as sheep, the redeemed and saved
+people of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, wonderful to relate, the one
+divine Shepherd is called "the Lamb"
+(Rev. vii. 9-17)&mdash;"the Lamb of God,"
+all-seeing and almighty, yet the Lamb
+that once was slain.</p>
+
+<p>
+"His life and blood the Shepherd paid,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A ransom for the flock."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>And this wonderful work is to be remembered
+while the years of eternity
+roll, therefore it is "the Lamb in the
+midst of the throne that shall feed them,
+and lead them to fountains of living
+waters; and God shall wipe away tears
+from all eyes."</p>
+
+<p>Shall we be among them? Let us
+rather ask, Are we asking Him to be
+our Leader now? Are we "hungering
+and thirsting after righteousness" now?
+And are we mourning over sin, and
+after Him? If so, our Leader in this
+world will be our Leader still.</p>
+
+<p>
+"He that hath fed will feed;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He that hath blessed will bless;</span><br />
+He that hath led will lead;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Can He do less?"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>And we shall hunger and thirst no
+more in that blessed fold, where "in
+His presence there is fulness of joy, and
+at His right hand are pleasures for evermore."
+This is the life He gives His
+ransomed ones. May it be ours.</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, <i>Elisha and
+the Shunammite</i> (2 Kings iv. 8-37;
+viii. 1-6).</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Yours affectionately,<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN JUNE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+June  3. Commit to memory Prov. x. 27,<br />
+June 10. Commit to memory Prov. x. 28.<br />
+June 17. Commit to memory Prov. x. 29.<br />
+June 24. Commit to memory Prov. x. 30.<br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A sanctified</span> heart is better than a silvered tongue.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">What Marks do the Lambs of
+Jesus Christ Bear?</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>True Christians may be known
+by their walk and conversation.
+They are anointed ones, and
+they walk in the narrow way,
+following in Christ's footsteps. They
+look unto Jesus, who is "the Author
+and Finisher of their faith." They are a
+despised or persecuted people, as true
+Christians have been in all ages.</p>
+
+<p>The lambs of Christ have always a
+great deal of trouble, and are tried and
+tempted in many ways, but it is for a
+token of their eternal salvation, if God
+sanctifies the trouble. If their affliction
+drives them to God, it is a sanctified
+affliction, and is for their souls' good.</p>
+
+<p>An infallible mark of a regenerated
+character is, when he begins to hate evil,
+and where there is the Spirit's work,
+there is the panting after God.</p>
+
+<p>A child of God looks within, and feels
+that there is no putting away sin but by
+the blood of Jesus Christ, and no pardon
+for poor sinners but by His sacrifice.</p>
+
+<p>We cannot make ourselves clean, or
+walk in the right way in our own
+strength, but God will help us if we ask
+Him in the right way.</p>
+
+<p>The lambs of Jesus Christ are "poor
+in spirit" and "pure in heart." They
+"hunger and thirst after righteousness."
+Although they are often "persecuted
+for righteousness' sake," yet
+Christ's righteousness is imputed to
+them, because He has atoned for their
+sins. In speaking of truly good men,
+Mr. Gadsby said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Life, light, and holiness divine<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From Jesus they by faith receive;</span><br />
+The Spirit makes His graces shine,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And gives them power in Christ to live."</span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Jane Bell</span><br />
+(Aged 14 years).
+</div>
+<p>
+<i>Sydney House, Sleaford,<br />
+Lincolnshire.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>[Very creditable Essays have been
+received from Eleanor Saunders, Lilly
+Rush, A. Pease, W. E. Cray, and Laura
+Creasey. We hope our young friends
+will follow up the various subjects, as
+the study of them may do them good.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of "The Dairyman's
+Daughter."</p>
+
+<p>The subject for August will be, "Contrast
+the Lesson Taught by the Conduct
+of Solomon and of Rehoboam, at
+the Commencement of their Reign";
+and the prize to be given for the best
+Essay on that subject, a copy of "The
+Life of George Whitfield." All competitors
+must give a guarantee that they
+are under fifteen years of age, and that
+the Essay is their own composition, or
+the papers will be passed over, as the
+Editor cannot undertake to write for this
+necessary information. Papers must be
+sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull,
+117, High Street, Hastings, by the first
+of July.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 106.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>"<i>Lamb of God.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> i. 29.
+"<i>Lord of all.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Acts</span> x. 36.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="ENIGMA">
+<tr><td align="left">L</td><td align="left">emue</td><td align="left">L</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Proverbs xxxi. 1.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">A</td><td align="left">cch</td><td align="left">O</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Judges i. 31.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">M</td><td align="left">ibza</td><td align="left">R</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">1 Chronicles i. 53.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">B</td><td align="left">ilda</td><td align="left">D</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Job ii. 11.</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">O</td><td align="left">n</td><td align="left">O</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">1 Chronicles viii. 12.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">F</td><td> ar of</td><td align="left">F</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">Ephesians ii. 13.</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">G</td><td> abbath</td><td>A</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">John xix. 13.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">O</td><td align="left">phe</td><td align="left">L</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">2 Chronicles xxvii. 3.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">D</td><td align="left">ia</td><td align="left">L</td><td align="left">.</td><td align="left">2 Kings xx. 11.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Clara Ellis</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(Aged 14 years).</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Many</span> wish to be like Christ in <i>bliss</i>
+who seek not to be like Him by <i>grace</i>.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dairying by a Duchess.</span>&mdash;The Duchess of
+Hamilton has opened a shop in Ipswich for the
+sale of butter, and is crowded with orders, at
+1s. 7d. per pound.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Telegraphing</span> from a moving train has now
+become a practical success in America, and the
+messages have been successfully transmitted by
+induction through twenty feet of air.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Powerful Pneumatic Gun.</span>&mdash;A pneumatic
+gun, which is to throw a shell containing six
+hundred pounds of dynamite four miles, is
+being constructed for Italy in Philadelphia.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Queen has presented to St. George's
+Chapel, Windsor Castle, a very handsome silver
+gilt altar cross, in commemoration of her
+Jubilee. The royal gift, which has, it is said,
+cost about £300, was displayed upon the table
+next the reredos for the first time on April 1st.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Brighton Hotel, on Coney Island, has
+been successfully moved one hundred and
+twenty feet further inland, in order to escape
+the encroachments of the sea. The building
+was raised in one mass and rested on trucks
+made to run on rails. Six locomotives were
+then attached to the cars, and dragged the hotel
+for the distance named. It is intended to move
+it still further.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Spanish</span> Protestant clergyman, Senor Vila,
+has been condemned to imprisonment for two
+years four months and one day, and to a fine of
+two hundred and fifty francs and the costs, by
+the Criminal Court at Malaga, for having discussed
+and condemned the dogmas of the Roman
+Catholic Church in a pamphlet which he published
+in answer to the attacks of a Catholic
+priest from Paris, who came to Malaga, and
+published a pamphlet against the Protestant
+religion.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Oldest and Youngest.</span>&mdash;The oldest
+Cabinet Minister is Viscount Cranbrook, Lord
+President of the Council, aged seventy-three;
+the youngest is Mr. Balfour, Chief Secretary
+for Ireland, aged thirty-nine. The oldest
+member of the Privy Council is Viscount
+Eversley, aged ninety-three, who is also the
+oldest peer of the realm; the youngest member
+is the Duke of Portland, aged thirty. The
+youngest duke is H.R.H. the Duke of Albany,
+aged three. The Right Hon. C. P. Villiers
+(South Wolverhampton), aged eighty-six, is
+the oldest member of the House of Commons;
+and the youngest is Lord H. Cavendish-Bentinck,
+aged twenty-four. Mr. Justice Manisty,
+aged seventy-eight, is the oldest English judge;
+and Mr. Justice Charles, aged forty-nine, is
+the youngest. The oldest bishop is Dr. Durnford,
+of Chichester, aged eighty-five; and the
+youngest is Dr. John Wordsworth, of Salisbury,
+aged forty-four.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Military Heroine.</span>&mdash;A handsome marble
+memorial has been erected in the cemetery at
+Southsea in honour of the late Mrs. Fox, whose
+death was, by special order of the Duke of
+Cambridge, signalized by a military funeral.
+The inscription on the memorial is as follows:&mdash;"Sacred
+to the memory of Mrs. George Fox,
+wife of Quartermaster George Fox, 2nd Connaught
+Rangers (94th Regiment), who died at
+Cambridge Barracks, Portsmouth, on January
+22nd, 1888, from the effects of wounds received
+in the action of Bronker's Sprint, Transvaal.
+For her heroic and unselfish conduct on that
+occasion in nursing the wounded&mdash;desperately
+wounded though she was herself&mdash;she was
+decorated by Her Majesty with the Order of the
+Royal Cross. This monument is erected to her
+memory as a token of affection and esteem by
+the officers (past and present), non-commissioned
+officers, and men of the 2nd Connaught
+Rangers. 'Well done, thou good and faithful
+servant' (Matt. xxv. 21)." The inscription is
+surmounted by the regimental crest&mdash;a crown,
+an elephant, the word "Seringapatam"&mdash;and
+"2nd Battalion the Connaught Rangers."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A return</span>, just prepared at the War Office,
+of the religious profession of non-commissioned
+officers and men of the British European troops
+and Colonial Corps (exclusive of Indian troops),
+shows that, at the beginning of the present year,
+there were 158,414 Protestants of various denominations
+on the roll books, of whom 132,537
+belonged to the Church of England, 15,072
+were Presbyterians, 9,437 Wesleyans, and
+1,369 belonged to one or other of the smaller
+Protestant bodies. The total number of Roman
+Catholics was 40,775; and there were 274 who
+were either Mahometans, Hindoos, or Jews;
+while the religion of 1,044 was not reported.
+The proportion of Church of England soldiers
+per thousand (not reckoning the Colonial corps)
+was 668; of Roman Catholics, 205; of Presbyterians,
+76; of Wesleyans, 46; of men of the
+smaller Protestant denominations, 5; there
+being thus in all 795 Protestants per 1,000, to
+205 Roman Catholics. The inquiry has not
+been so complete in the line cavalry as in
+other branches of the service, there being 675
+men out of 17,354 whose religious profession
+has not been reported; whilst amongst the
+129,599 men of the line infantry, only 272 were
+not reported.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span><span class="smcap">Watch Glasses.</span>&mdash;Of watch glasses, 50,000
+gross, or 7,200,000, are sold annually in the
+United States. Most of these are imported
+from England.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A memorial</span> window is to be placed in the
+Bristol Royal Infirmary to commemorate the
+heroic deed of a young surgeon, William Conner,
+medical officer, who lost his life in a noble and
+daring effort to save a poor patient who had
+undergone the operation of tracheotomy while
+suffering from diphtheria. A false membrane
+having formed in the throat, and the patient
+being in imminent danger of his life, young
+Conner applied his lips to the throat tube, and
+succeeded in removing the obstruction. The
+window is in three panels, representing incidents
+from the parable of the Good Samaritan,
+and healing the sick, and it will be inscribed,
+"To the glory of God, and in affectionate remembrance
+of William Conner, who was born
+May 7th, 1851, and died July 4th, 1887."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Great Log Raft.</span>&mdash;Not satisfied with the
+former experiment and catastrophe, the Nova
+Scotians are putting together another huge log
+raft, to be floated to New York in July or
+August of this year. This raft will be 650 feet
+long, and will have six masts, and a great
+spread of sail. Confidence seems to be placed
+in the usual fine weather of July and August;
+but storms are by no means unknown over the
+course that the raft will traverse; and should
+this huge area of floating timber encounter a
+storm, the chains which will hold the logs
+together will snap like packing-cord, and
+leave the crew to shift for their lives in their
+boats, or by endeavouring to cling to their logs.
+These experiments, like attempts to swim the
+rapids of Niagara, should be prevented by some
+law or regulations, since the common sense of
+those concerned is conspicuous by its absence.
+It is quite possible that the raft may be
+favoured by fine weather, and reach its destination
+successfully; but it is true, nevertheless,
+that the enterprise is hare-brained, and undertaken
+at great risk of life and property.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Great Storm at Madagascar.</span>&mdash;Particulars
+have been received, <i>viá</i> the Cape of Good
+Hope, of a terrific hurricane which raged at
+Tamatave on February 22nd, which will long
+be remembered by the inhabitants as one of
+the most disastrous storms that have visited
+the island during this century. Eleven vessels
+at anchor in the harbour were totally wrecked.
+Some of them foundered at their anchors,
+others parted their cables, and were driven on
+the reefs. The damage done to the town was
+very great. Not a house escaped more or less
+destruction, numbers of them being utterly
+swept away. The British Consulate, a large
+new building, only erected some months ago
+by the British Government, was almost totally
+destroyed. Large fragments of this building
+were carried by the wind for hundreds of yards,
+and for acres around the ground presented an
+extraordinary and melancholy spectacle, being
+strewn with doors, windows, beams, and other
+pieces of twisted wood and iron, besides clothes
+and furniture. The Consul's wife, Mrs. Haggard
+(the Consul himself was at Mauritius),
+and those in the Consulate had a narrow
+escape with their lives. Most of the trees
+were blown down, and all were smashed to
+pieces. Several lives were lost on shore in
+addition to those drowned, but their numbers
+were few in comparison to the almost incredible
+damage done in so short a time, the
+hurricane only lasting seven hours. A remarkable
+circumstance in connection with the
+hurricane is, that it was not felt forty miles to
+the northward of Tamatave, nor its full
+strength sixty miles south.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Chinese Almanack.</span>&mdash;The great value
+which the Chinese attach to their almanack is
+shown in many ways. Recently the Chinese
+residents at Lhassa, in Thibet, implored the
+Emperor to cause arrangements to be made
+which would enable them to receive their
+copies of the almanack at the earliest possible
+date in each year. A writer in a recent issue
+of the <i>Chinese Recorder</i> says that the most important
+book to the Chinese is the almanack.
+Its space is far too important to be occupied
+with the matter which fills Western almanacks.
+It contains astronomical information, which is
+useful; but its great mission is to give full and
+accurate information for selecting lucky places
+for performing all the acts, great and small, of
+every-day life. "And as every act of life, however
+trivial, depends for its success on the time
+in which, and the direction (<i>i.e.</i>, the point of
+the compass) towards which it is done, it is of
+the utmost importance that every one should
+have correct information available at all times,
+to enable him to so order his life as to avoid
+bad luck and calamity, and secure good luck
+and prosperity. Consequently, the almanack
+is perhaps the most universally circulated book
+in China." The writer speaks of it as a terrible
+yoke of bondage. It is issued by the Government,
+and the sale of all almanacks but the
+authorized one is prohibited. Quite recently
+the new Chinese Minister to Germany refused
+to sail for his post on a day which the almanack
+declared to be unlucky, and the departure of
+the German mail steamer was consequently
+deferred at the request of the German minister
+to Pekin.&mdash;[What a pity but these poor deluded
+creatures were blessed with Bible truth and
+Jesus' grace!&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 391px;">
+<img src="images/img148.jpg" width="391" height="500" alt="Horse (See page 146.)" title="Horse (See page 146.)" />
+<span class="caption">"A TROOP OF DRAGOONS CAME UP AT FULL GALLOP." (<i>See page 146.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE COVENANTER'S ESCAPE AND DEATH.</h2>
+
+
+<p>On the 16th of April, 1685, Peden
+made a narrow escape. Being
+then at the house of John Nisbet,
+of Hardhill, a little before nine o'clock
+in the morning, a troop of dragoons
+were observed by the servants, who were
+working in the fields, coming up to the
+house at full gallop, upon which the
+servants ran to conceal themselves.
+Peden, and those who were with him in
+the house, had fled for shelter to a moss
+nearly two miles distant from the place
+where the servants were working.</p>
+
+<p>The way to this moss was by a very
+steep ground, and at the edge of the
+moss there was a morass about seven or
+eight yards broad, and altogether the
+place was well adapted for concealment,
+as well as for protection from military
+on horseback. Here, however, Peden
+and his companions were discovered.
+James, the son of John Nisbet, a young
+man about sixteen years of age, had
+been with the servants in the field when
+the troop of dragoons came up, and in
+his flight, being chased by some of the
+party, made his way accidentally to where
+Peden and about twenty more were lurking,
+which occasioned their being discovered.
+The whole party of dragoons
+were quickly informed of the prize within
+their reach, and about three hours
+after, they were joined by another party
+who aided them in the pursuit. Peden
+and his friends, observing the enemy
+dismounting their horses to take the
+moss on their feet, for the purpose of
+securing them, after some firing on both
+sides without effect, drew off, and kept
+in the midst of the moss. When the
+dragoons, on seeing this, mounted their
+horses again, and pursued by the side of
+the moss, the Covenanters always kept
+themselves on such ground as the horses
+could not approach.</p>
+
+<p>They were pursued during the whole
+of that day, and ran about thirty miles
+without receiving any refreshment but
+moss-water till night, when they got a
+little milk. Peden then left his friends,
+and went away by himself.</p>
+
+<p>During this year, and especially the
+first part of it, great numbers of the persecuted
+witnesses were murdered in the
+fields. Peden, therefore, to escape the
+hands of the military, after this wandered
+from one lurking-place to another; and
+from his minute acquaintance with all
+the tracts and haunts of the desert, of
+which he may be said for years to have
+been an inhabitant, he succeeded in
+eluding the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>In such circumstances, we need not
+wonder that he was sometimes weary of
+life, and envied his fellow-sufferers who
+had gone to death before him, and were
+eternally at rest. At length, Peden's
+bodily infirmities increasing so much as
+to render him unable to travel, being
+almost worn out with fatigue, and
+suffering from the many hardships he
+had undergone, he arrived at his native
+parish of Sorn. He came to his brother's
+house, in the neighbourhood of which
+he caused a cave to be dug, with a
+willow bush covering its mouth. His
+persecutors getting information where
+he was, searched every part of the house
+on many occasions.</p>
+
+<p>At last, one day, early in the morning,
+leaving the cave, he came to the door of
+the house. His brother's wife warned
+him of his danger, advising him to
+return to his place of concealment.
+He told her it was needless to do that,
+since it was discovered.</p>
+
+<p>"But," said he, "there is no matter,
+for within forty-eight hours I will be beyond
+the reach of all the devil's temptations,
+and his instruments in hell and on
+earth, and they shall trouble me no
+more."</p>
+
+<p>He had not been in the house above
+three hours when a party of soldiers
+visited the cave, and not finding him
+there, they searched first the barn, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+next the house, stabbing the beds, but
+they did not enter the place where he
+lay.</p>
+
+<p>Peden died on the 28th of January,
+1686, being upwards of sixty years of
+age, and was privately buried in the
+church of Auchinleck, in the aisle of
+David Boswell, Esq., of Auchinleck.
+But his ashes were not allowed to
+repose in peace. Though he had never
+been condemned by any jury, yet the
+enemy, being informed of his death and
+burial, sent a troop of dragoons, who
+pulled his corpse out of the grave after
+it had lain about six weeks, and having
+first broken the chest, exposed his
+remains to contempt, and then carried
+them to the gallows foot at Cumnock,
+two miles distant, and there buried them.
+The design of the soldiers in lifting the
+body was to hang it in chains upon the
+gallows at Cumnock, but this they were
+prevented from doing. The Countess of
+Dumfries and the Lady Affleck, shocked
+at this barbarity, earnestly interceded
+that the body might be again buried;
+and when the savage commander of the
+dragoons, determined to have it hung in
+chains, proved unrelenting, they applied
+to the Earl of Dumfries, a Privy Councillor,
+then at home, who, yielding to
+their request, went to the gibbet and
+told Murray that it was erected for malefactors
+and murderers, and not for such
+men as Mr. Peden. The corpse was
+accordingly reinterred at the foot of the
+gibbet, now within the wall of the common
+burial-ground of Cumnock parish,
+and a suitable memorial erected over
+the remains, on which was inscribed an
+appropriate epitaph.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A DAY'S WORK.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The amount of work some people
+get through is simply enormous.
+Few people are harder worked
+than a London physician in
+active practice. We know a doctor
+who seldom gets more than four hours'
+sleep out of the twenty-four. He says
+that it is not that he couldn't do with
+more, but it is as much as he can get.
+Many busy men are constantly at work
+of some kind or the other from eight in
+the morning till past twelve at night.
+Some, of course, break down, but others
+can do this year after year, apparently
+without any detriment to their health.
+Instances are known of professional men
+who have not slept for five days together,
+and who have not been in bed for three
+weeks at a time. These sound almost
+like travellers' tales, but they are true,
+although, of course, they are exceptional
+cases. It is astonishing what interest
+and energy will do in enabling a man to
+dispense with rest. It has been said
+that the twenty-four hours might be
+advantageously divided into three equal
+parts&mdash;eight hours for sleep, eight for
+meals, exercise, recreation, &amp;c., and
+eight for mental work. Few men really
+require more than eight hours' sleep, but
+the majority of us have to do considerably
+more than eight hours' work in the
+day. It is not so much that a man
+wishes for the work, as that it is forced
+upon him. He, perhaps, is the only
+person who can perform a certain duty,
+and when, as is often the case, it is a
+question of life and death, it is almost
+impossible to refuse. Many people can
+never force themselves to do more than a
+certain amount of mental work; they get
+nervous and headachy, and then it is all
+over with them. Forced work, as a rule,
+tells on a man much more rapidly than
+purely voluntary work, for in the former
+case it is usually associated with anxiety.
+Real overwork gives rise to loss of
+memory, a general sense of fatigue, and
+particularly of discomfort about the head,
+poorness of appetite, lowness of spirits,
+and other similar symptoms. It is worry
+that injures more than real work. Some
+people are so happily constituted that
+they never worry much about anything,
+whilst others are in a fever of anxiety
+on every trivial occasion.&mdash;<i>The Family
+Physician.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p>
+<h2>JUVENILE GEMS.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Concluded from page 130.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p class="center"><br />
+<span class="smcap">Ann Jane.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>My dear Ann Jane was an affectionate
+child, but naturally timid, and
+frequently expressed a hope that
+she should not be taken ill. Yet she
+too was destined to be borne far, far
+away.</p>
+
+<p>On November 12th, 1851, it pleased
+God to indicate His intentions by placing
+upon her His afflicting hand. But
+He who "mingles mercy with His
+might," set His bow in the cloud,
+answered in the secret place of thunder,
+and revealed His love in the bosom of
+the storm.</p>
+
+<p>Ann Jane gave pleasing proofs of a
+work of grace in her soul, the progress
+of which was visible to by-standers and
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>A short time after the attack, she
+expressed a wish to die; and upon being
+asked why, she answered, "Because I
+believe I shall go to heaven. I believe
+the dear Lord has pardoned my sins."
+She would often say, "Pray for me, my
+dear mother, and I will pray for you,
+and myself too"; and would then address
+herself to God in a sweet, devout
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>Observing me to be in great trouble,
+she thus spoke to me&mdash;"Do pray the
+dear Lord to take me to Himself." I
+answered, "How can I do so, seeing I
+cannot give you up?" She replied, "Oh,
+mother, put your trust in the Lord. He
+will provide. Do ask Him to take me
+out of this world. Oh, mother, there is
+nothing here worth living for"; and engaging
+sweetly in prayer, uttered, with
+many other sentences, the following&mdash;"Pardon
+all our sins, dear and precious
+Lord&mdash;past sins, present sins, and sins
+to come. Wash us in Thy precious blood,
+for Thou knowest how sinful we are, and
+Thou rememberest we are but dust. Oh,
+make us love Thee more! Thy love is
+an everlasting love. Take us, dear
+Lord, take us to Thyself, and then we
+shall love and serve Thee better."</p>
+
+<p>The second Lord's Day of her affliction,
+she inquired what day it was. I
+informed her, and asked, "Would you
+not like to spend a Sabbath in heaven?"
+"Oh, yes, mother!" was the rejoinder.
+"That would be a Sabbath of Sabbaths."</p>
+
+<p>With pleasure I remember some particular
+times when my precious child
+seemed almost overpowered by the sweetness
+and glories of Immanuel, who is
+"God with us," not only in our nature,
+but in our condition. At these times,
+with uplifted hands, she would exclaim,
+"Oh, my precious Jesus! Oh, my precious
+Christ!"</p>
+
+<p>One day she said, "Mother, my pains
+are very great. Can you do anything to
+give me relief?" What an appeal to
+maternal tenderness! What a moment
+of agonizing weakness! I reminded her
+of the divine sufficiency, and she poured
+out a copious argumentative prayer, not
+like the prayer of a child, pleading the
+Lord's own Word, and the merits of
+Christ, as the only ground of her expectation.
+"I know," she would say, "I
+am not worthy. I am a guilty sinner.
+Oh, wash me in Thy precious blood! Give
+me patience to endure my pains, and to
+wait all Thy will; and take me to be
+where Thou art, for ever and ever.
+Amen."</p>
+
+<p>Seeing me weep very much, on one
+occasion, she exclaimed, "My precious
+mother, I do love you! Why do you
+grieve about me? I am not afraid to
+die. I want to go to my precious Lord,
+and be with Him for ever." I said, "My
+dear child, why do you believe you shall
+go to heaven? Do you think you have
+<i>merited</i> it?" "Oh, no, mother," was
+her immediate reply. "I am a guilty
+sinner. It is through the Lord Jesus,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+and for His sake, that I hope to be
+saved. Do you not think, dear mother,
+He will pardon me?" I said, "Yes, if
+you feel your need of Him." She
+answered, "I believe He has pardoned
+me."</p>
+
+<p>After the prayer previously mentioned,
+and partly recorded, she said, "How
+good the Lord is to me! Oh, my precious
+Jesus," &amp;c. "Oh, mother," she said,
+in reply to a question, "I know I love
+the Lord. Yes, I do; better than everything
+else in the world."</p>
+
+<p>At another time she cried out, in a loud
+impressive tone, "Oh, mother, what is
+there in this world worth living for? It
+is all stuff and vanity&mdash;it is, mother. Oh,
+I do not want to live here! Pray the
+dear Lord to take me to Himself. Oh,
+how blessed to be with my precious Jesus
+for ever!"</p>
+
+<p>When informed of the death and burial
+of her brother, she appeared excited,
+but at last said, "Dear boy! I hope I
+shall soon be with him, and then we
+shall meet to part no more." She then
+asked me to pray again that God would
+take her. How could I? "Nature has
+soft but powerful bands," and the ligaments
+were not yet severed. She seemed
+my earthly all. Could I surrender her
+to the arms of the destroyer? Could I
+look up and say, "Thy will be done"?
+What grace we need to glorify God in
+the fires!</p>
+
+<p>Nine days after her illness she raised
+herself up in her bed, and, looking at
+her departing sister, said, "There is my
+dying sister. Where is she going?
+Where? Why, to the realms of bliss?
+And who of us next? Why, myself, I
+believe, mother. But I am not afraid of
+death," &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>At another time she said, "Do read to
+me, dear mother"; and upon my asking
+her <i>where</i>, she replied, "Read about the
+sufferings of Christ" I did so, and she
+afterwards engaged in prayer.</p>
+
+<p>At another time the nurse heard her,
+during the night, earnestly praying for
+both her parents and herself.</p>
+
+<p>Once she requested me to read the
+seventeenth chapter of John, remarking
+at the time, "That is sweet reading."
+After listening for a time she fell into a
+short sleep, and I laid the Book down.
+When she awoke she exclaimed, "Won't
+you read to me, my dear mother?" I
+said, "You dropped off into a sleep, my
+dear." She then tried to read herself,
+but failing, returned the Book, immediately
+adding, "Give it me again
+and let me kiss it, for I love it very
+much."</p>
+
+<p>At different times she expressed
+earnest desires to go to her brother and
+sister, and for her father and mother
+and sister to go also; and would try to
+sing a part of that Sabbath School
+hymn, chorusing&mdash;"Oh, that will be joyful,"
+&amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>Two days before she died she exclaimed,
+with sweet simplicity, "Suffer
+the little children to come unto Me";
+and shortly after, "Precious Bible! what
+a treasure," &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>The night on which she died, a
+friend coming in, she seemed pleased,
+remarking that I could then take some
+rest. Shortly after this her voice began
+to fail. She called for "Hephzibah,"
+looked at me wishfully, exclaimed,
+"Mother," and talked earnestly for
+some time; but her voice was "thick
+in death," and language failed as an
+interpreter of "the thoughts and intents
+of the heart." In vain she laboured to
+make me comprehend her ideas. The
+bridge had been broken down; the fortress
+was dismantled. Only a word or
+two was distinct enough to be understood,
+but from these I found her discourse
+was of a spiritual nature. Overcome
+by the scene, I burst into tears,
+and said, "My dear child, how I wish I
+could understand you! It almost breaks
+my heart." At this she looked at me
+so very affectionately, and exclaimed,
+"Heaven! heaven! heaven!"</p>
+
+<p>She spoke not again, but for twelve
+long hours "her spirit struggled with
+her clay," when the conflict mercifully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+ceased, and all was peace, and righteousness,
+and quietness, and assurance
+for ever. She exchanged worlds on
+December 14th, 1851, aged eleven years
+and three months.</p>
+
+<p>
+"May death conclude my toils and tears;<br />
+May death conclude my sins and fears;<br />
+May death, through Jesus, be my Friend;<br />
+May death be life when life shall end!"<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Thus ends the interesting memoirs of
+three happy children; and as reflection
+should follow reading, we proceed from
+narrative to reflections.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center">
+<span class="smcap">Reflections.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>1. From these memoirs we learn how
+greatly the Lord sometimes tries the
+righteous. In little more than a fortnight,
+three out of four children were
+borne to their long home. The father
+had been previously afflicted with paralysis,
+and was at that time unable to
+follow his employment, having lamed
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>2. We learn that human affliction
+may consist with divine affection. Lazarus
+sickened and died, though Jesus
+loved him. "And what son is there
+whom the Father chasteneth not?"</p>
+
+<p>3. We have another lesson upon the
+inscrutable providence of God. "I beheld,"
+says Solomon, "all the works of
+God, that a man cannot find out the
+work that is done under the sun; because,
+though a man labour to seek it
+out, yet shall he not find it; yea, further,
+though a wise man think to know
+it, yet shall he not find it." No man
+knoweth divine love or hatred by the
+distributions of providential good and
+evil.</p>
+
+<p>4. But if the events of life are so
+complicated, and if no application, however
+skilfully conducted, nor any human
+capacity, whatever its range, can fathom
+the "mysteries of God," then, how unseemly
+is immoderate grief or unmeasured
+joy! How premature our decisions,
+and how utterly senseless all those
+infidel cavils against a system which the
+most enlightened, philosophical, and
+Spirit-taught mind can neither understand
+nor deal with!</p>
+
+<p>5. Nevertheless, we read that "the
+righteous, and the wise, and their works,
+are in the hand of God" (Eccles. ix. 1),
+from which we conclude that the people
+of God, wherever located, and however
+circumstanced, are protected by His
+power, sustained by His agency, supplied
+by His mercy, are under His
+special care, and safe in His approbation.
+Let this suffice. We walk by
+faith.</p>
+
+<p>6. We see here the sovereignty of
+God, both in His providence and grace.
+We read of one being taken and another
+left; but here three are taken, and only
+one left.</p>
+
+<p>7. Does not God, sometimes, put
+peculiar honour upon His professing
+people, however He sees fit to try them?
+If He takes one of a Gentile city, He
+takes two of a Christian family, and
+brings them to Zion.</p>
+
+<p>8. We observe, too, the earliness and
+efficacy of His work on the minds of
+some, so that "out of the mouths of
+babes and sucklings He perfects His
+own praise."</p>
+
+<p>9. Attention, however, may be called
+to the value of early and maternal
+instruction. These children were instructed
+for the most part by their
+mother, who watched over them with
+incessant care, keeping them separate
+from the masses, and attending to their
+education as an important duty.</p>
+
+<p>
+"There is not a grand inspiring thought,<br />
+There is not a truth by wisdom taught,<br />
+There is not a feeling pure or high,<br />
+That may not be read in a mother's eye.<br />
+<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>"There are teachings on earth, and sky, and air;<br />
+The heavens the glory of God declare;<br />
+But more loud than the voice beneath, above,<br />
+Is the voice that speaks through a mother's love."<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">W. P.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BROUGHT TO THE FOLD.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Louisa Ann Jeeves, of Pewsey,
+Wilts, died on March 24th,
+1888, aged twenty-four years.
+She sat under the truth until she was
+about twenty, when she left the place for
+a short time. But, when taken seriously
+ill, it appears that the Lord laid the
+weight of her sins upon her, and she
+felt that she had slighted the means
+of truth, which was a trouble to her.
+The clergyman called, and wished to
+administer the Sacrament to her, but
+she refused, and told him she dare not,
+for she had not felt the pardon of her
+sins. From this time she sank very low,
+and felt her sins to be a heavy burden.
+She now eagerly read her Bible, in which
+she marked many portions. Her bodily
+sufferings were very great, but she bore
+them without a murmur. Her sins, and
+the state of her soul before God, seemed
+always uppermost.</p>
+
+<p>I had known her from a child, and
+hoped there was some good thing in
+her; but when she left the place of truth,
+I was afraid my hope was vain.</p>
+
+<p>I visited her often after my return to
+Pewsey, and found her in great concern
+about her soul. She said she knew that
+nothing but an application of the blood
+of Christ could suffice for her great sins,
+and this she longed to feel. She asked
+me to read and pray with her, which I
+was enabled to do, believing the Lord
+had given her true conviction of sin.
+Each time I called she was greatly
+distressed, and seemed without hope;
+and this went on until the last week of
+her life, when she begged me to stay
+with her altogether, and whenever we
+were alone she wished me to read and
+pray. She would cry out in agony,
+"Oh, what shall I do if I don't get to
+heaven?"</p>
+
+<p>On the Tuesday, when she had been
+greatly tried, this word was brought
+with comfort to her mind, "I will never
+leave thee, nor forsake thee." I said,
+"If the Lord has given you those words,
+He will, in His own time, bless you with
+pardon and peace"; and, as she was
+drawing near her end, I said, "When
+He comes, if you are unable to speak,
+raise your hand." But the next day the
+Lord was pleased to bless her soul with
+joy and peace. She called for her
+mother, and when she came, she said,
+her face at the time beaming with joy,
+"Oh, mother, I am so happy! I am
+going home to be with Jesus! He has
+put away all my sins by His own precious
+blood, and you will come, too." She
+would have us sing some hymns, herself
+joining in while able&mdash;among others,
+"How sweet the name of Jesus
+sounds," and "Rock of Ages." When
+we had finished one she named another,
+and said, "Beautiful! beautiful!"</p>
+
+<p>She gradually sank, but the fear of
+death was taken away. She was quite
+conscious to the last, and turned her
+head to look at the clock several times.
+The enemy of souls was not permitted
+to harass her in her last hours, and just
+before she breathed her last, she raised
+her arms and clapped her hands three
+times, evidently remembering what I
+had said to her. It may be truly said,
+she died in peace. She was a constant
+reader of the <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span>.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+C. G.
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">To</span> lay the salve of our services upon
+the wound of our sins is as if a man who
+is stung by a wasp should wipe his face
+with a nettle.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p>
+<h2>ROME PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>For My thoughts are not your
+thoughts, neither are your ways My
+ways, saith the Lord.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> lv. 8.</p>
+
+
+<p>Father Chiniquy had been
+for some years lecturing on teetotalism,
+in addition to his usual
+priestly labours, and his success had
+been so great that he had received the
+title of "Apostle of Temperance" in
+Canada, and the gift of a splendid
+medal and crucifix from the Pope of
+Rome; and his reputation as a popular
+influential priest was therefore well
+established, when he was requested to
+become the leader of a great movement.</p>
+
+<p>Emigrants were constantly leaving
+Europe and Canada for the United
+States, and many of them became
+connected, on their arrival there, with
+Protestant associations. Some far-seeing
+bishops consequently felt that, if
+they could divert that tide to places
+of their own choosing, under the
+direction of their own loyal priests, a
+splendid triumph would be gained for
+Popery, and in the course of time they
+would secretly, yet surely, rule the
+United States of America.</p>
+
+<p>Some small colonies had been already
+formed, and the whole of the Mississippi
+valley and the adjoining country was so
+fertile and rich, even in its wild state,
+that Chiniquy's warmest hopes were
+kindled, as he saw that beautiful land;
+and, sitting down, he wrote a glowing
+description of it, and invited intending
+emigrants to come and see for themselves.
+The result exceeded all anticipations.
+In a very short time fifty families
+arrived at the chosen spot, and pitched
+their tents around his own. They soon
+set to work to build small, strong wooden
+houses under their priest's directions,
+then a larger one for a parsonage and
+school; and, as fresh emigrants were
+continually arriving, they soon became
+a flourishing, happy community, and
+objects of the bitter jealousy of surrounding
+priests. Many difficulties arose.
+When his wooden church was just
+finished, it was maliciously set on fire
+the very night after the first services
+were conducted in it. A new bishop
+came into power, whose tyranny and
+greediness were unbearable, and Father
+Chiniquy appealed against him to
+Napoleon, the French Emperor, and the
+Pope, getting him at length removed
+from the position he had so greatly
+abused.</p>
+
+<p>But the crowning difficulty, which
+was designed by God to be the crowning
+blessing of His servant's life, was
+yet to come, and thus it came to pass
+that the Bible-loving priest forsook his
+false position, and "came out of Babylon."</p>
+
+<p>When Rome's new doctrine, the perfect
+holiness of the Virgin Mary, was
+first published in 1854, a farmer called
+on Chiniquy to ask him whether the
+Scriptures taught such a thing, and he
+honestly confessed that they did not, but
+rather said the opposite, and that the
+holy fathers had not believed or taught
+it either, but it was with the greatest
+pain that he, as a priest, said this.</p>
+
+<p>On another occasion, the immoral conduct
+of a priest caused many to ask our
+friend whether the Word of God really
+forbade the ministers of Christ to marry,
+and he replied, "I will put the Gospel
+in your hands, that you may see for
+yourselves what the Holy Book says
+about these matters." He accordingly
+ordered a large number of New Testaments,
+which had been printed by the
+sanction of one of their own archbishops,
+and soon they were being eagerly read
+and studied by his large congregation.</p>
+
+<p>And now the decisive hour drew near.
+Another bishop, who had taken the
+oppressor's place, kindly asked and
+accepted Chiniquy's submission to his
+authority. But, as that document contained
+the words, "According to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+Word and commandments of God, as
+we find them expressed in the Gospel of
+Christ," the Jesuits found fault. The
+bishop demanded the withdrawal of the
+words, and upon his refusal to alter
+them, angrily said, "If it be so, sir, you
+are no longer a Roman Catholic priest."
+"May God Almighty be for ever
+blessed," was the brave reply, given in a
+loud, determined voice.</p>
+
+<p>But the wrench was a terrible one, and
+when alone in his hotel, the full consequences
+of his words came forcibly
+before him, and he felt alone and desolate.
+But God, who had thus mysteriously
+led him into liberty, did not forsake
+him now. He spoke to his heart,
+and confirmed him in the determination
+he had made; and when all his sins
+seemed like a mountain to rise before
+him, Jesus appeared as his perfect, all-sufficient
+Saviour, and the troubled
+heart was filled with joy unspeakable,
+so that he could and did exclaim, "O
+magnify the Lord with me, and let us
+exalt His name together!" as he hastened
+home to tell his dear people all
+that he had experienced of the wrath of
+man and the love of God.</p>
+
+<p>May we, with him, be favoured to
+"taste and see that the Lord is good,"
+and we also shall say, "O Lord God of
+Hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth
+in Thee!"&mdash;<i>Jottings on "The Life
+and Work of Father Chiniquy," by
+Cousin Susan.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>HOW TO SELECT A BOY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A gentleman advertised for a
+boy, and nearly fifty applicants
+presented themselves to him.
+Out of the whole number he
+selected one, and dismissed the rest.</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to know," said a friend,
+"on what ground you selected that boy,
+who had not a single recommendation."</p>
+
+<p>"You are mistaken," said the gentleman;
+"he has a great many. He
+wiped his feet when he came in,
+and closed the door after him, showing
+that he was careful. He gave his
+seat instantly to that lame old man,
+showing that he was thoughtful. He
+took off his cap when he came in,
+and answered my questions promptly,
+showing that he was gentlemanly. He
+picked up the book which I had purposely
+laid on the floor, and replaced it
+upon the table; and he waited quietly
+for his turn, instead of pushing and
+crowding, showing that he was honourable
+and orderly. When I talked to him,
+I noticed that his clothes were brushed,
+his hair in order. When he wrote his
+name, I noticed that his finger-nails
+were clean. Don't you call those things
+letters of recommendation? I do; and
+I would give more for what I can tell
+about a boy by using my eyes ten
+minutes than all the letters he can bring
+me."</p>
+
+<p>Little things show character, and frequently
+determine a boy's whole career.
+It is the boy who does the kind, polite,
+and thoughtful acts unconsciously that
+wins his way to employment and success.
+And success does not mean wealth
+and fame. A man is valued according
+to his faithfulness and reliability, and
+these chiefly determine the measure of
+his true usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>It is not always those who are most
+conspicuous in the eyes of the world
+who are really the most useful. A man
+who takes money at a ferry gate is seen
+by thousands, but he only does what any
+one of a thousand could do equally well;
+while a thoughtful and conscientious
+writer, who may be personally known to
+very few, may have great influence for
+good. True success means the development
+of a character that is worthy of
+example&mdash;a character that is honest to
+every duty, faithful to every trust, and
+that is unselfish enough to find time
+for kindly acts that are not forced, but
+the simple expression of a warm and
+generous principle. True success is
+fidelity to every relation in life.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p>
+<h2>"NOTHING TO THANK GOD FOR."</h2>
+
+
+<p>"Have you nothing to thank God
+for?" asked the mother of a
+little girl named Helen.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Helen; "you and papa
+give me everything."</p>
+
+<p>"Not for your pleasant home?" asked
+mother.</p>
+
+<p>"It is my papa's house; he lets me
+live in it."</p>
+
+<p>"Where did the wood come from to
+build it?" asked mother.</p>
+
+<p>"From trees," answered Helen, "and
+they growed in big forests."</p>
+
+<p>"Who planted the big forests? Who
+gave rain to water them? Who gave
+the sun to warm them? Who did not
+allow the winter to blast them? Who
+kept them growing from little trees to
+trees big enough to build houses with?
+Not papa, not man; it was God."</p>
+
+<p>Helen looked her mother in the eye,
+and then said, "Papa bought nails to
+make it with."</p>
+
+<p>"What are nails made of?" asked
+mamma.</p>
+
+<p>"Iron," answered Helen; "and men
+dig iron out of the ground."</p>
+
+<p>"Who put iron in the ground, and
+kept it there safe till the men wanted
+it?" asked mother. "It was God."</p>
+
+<p>"We got this carpet from men," said
+Helen, drawing her small foot across it.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did the carpet-men get the
+wool to make it from?" asked mother.</p>
+
+<p>"From farmers," answered Helen.</p>
+
+<p>"And where did the farmers get it?"</p>
+
+<p>"From sheep and lambs' backs," said
+the little girl.</p>
+
+<p>"And who clothed the lambs in dresses
+good enough for us? for your dress, I
+see, is made of nothing but lambs' wool.
+Where did the lambs get such good
+stuff?"</p>
+
+<p>"God gave it to them, I suppose,"
+said the little girl. "It is you that
+gives me bread, mother," said she
+quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"But," said her mother, "the flour we
+got from the shop, and the shopkeeper
+bought it from the miller, and the miller
+took the wheat from the farmer, and the
+farmer had it from the ground, and the
+ground grew it all itself."</p>
+
+<p>"No," cried Helen suddenly, "God
+grew it. The sun and the rain, the
+wind and the air, are His, and He sent
+them to the corn-field. The earth is His
+too. And so God is at the bottom of
+everything, isn't He, mother?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said mother; "God is the
+Origin of every good and perfect gift
+which we enjoy."</p>
+
+<p>The little girl looked serious. She
+looked thinking. "Then, mamma,"
+she said at last, "I can't make a prayer
+long enough to thank God for everything."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that men," even as the creatures
+of God, "would praise the Lord for His
+goodness, and for His wonderful works
+to the children of men!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A CINGALESE ROCK FORTRESS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>For the first time for a number of
+years the Sigiri Rock in Ceylon
+has been scaled by a European,
+the feat on this occasion being performed
+by General Lennox, who commands
+the troops in the island. It is
+said, indeed, that only one European,
+Mr. Creasy, ever succeeded in reaching
+the summit. The rock is cylindrical in
+shape, and the bulging sides render
+the ascent very difficult and dangerous.
+There are galleries all round, a groove
+about four inches deep being cut in the
+solid rock. This rises spirally, and in it
+are fixed the foundation bricks, which
+support a platform about six feet broad,
+with a chunam-coated wall about nine
+feet high. The whole structure follows
+the curves and contours of the solid
+rock, and is cunningly constructed so as
+to make the most of any natural support
+the formation can afford. In some places<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+the gallery has fallen completely away,
+but it still exhibits flights of fine marble
+steps. High up on the rock are several
+figures of Buddha; but it is a mystery
+how the artist got there, or how, being
+there, he was able to carry on his work.
+The fortifications consist of platforms,
+one above the other, supported by massive
+retaining walls, each commanding
+the other.</p>
+
+<p>Owing to the falling away of the
+gallery, the ascent in parts had to be
+made up a perpendicular face of the
+cliff, and General Lennox and four
+natives were left to do the latter part of
+the ascent alone. The top they found to
+be a plateau about an acre in extent, in
+which were two square tanks, with sides
+thirty yards and fifteen feet respectively
+in length, cut out of the solid rock. A
+palace is believed to have existed on the
+summit at one time, although time,
+weather, and the jungle have obliterated
+all traces of it. During the descent the
+first comer had to guide the foot of the
+next into a safe fissure, but all reached
+the bottom safely after two and a half
+hours.</p>
+
+<p>It is said that the amount of work
+expended on the galleries is incredible,
+and the writer of the account of the feat
+doubts if all the machinery of modern
+times could accomplish the stupendous
+work that was achieved here in old days
+by manual labour alone.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A QUEER FISHERMAN.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Monkeys and apes are (remarks
+a writer in <i>Harper's Young
+People</i>) always amusing creatures,
+and it is great fun to watch their
+tricks. But there is one ape, a native of
+the island of Java, who outdoes most of
+his relatives in the way of being ridiculous,
+especially when he amuses himself
+as a fisherman. This ape is very fond of
+shellfish, and there is a certain kind of
+sand-crab that suits his palate exactly.
+These crabs dig little homes for themselves
+deep in the sand, and thither they
+retire when they want a quiet rest, or
+when any danger threatens. When all
+is well, they spend their time sunning
+themselves at the entrance of their holes,
+or hopping along the water's edge in
+search of food. The apes know their
+ways, and while the crabs are looking
+for a dinner they also are bent on obtaining
+one for themselves. Apes, you know,
+can move very quickly. They wait until
+they see a party of crabs apparently unconscious
+of danger, and busily engaged
+in discussing a bit of seaweed, or devouring
+the insects they are so fond of.
+Moving stealthily forward, as close as
+they dare, the ape gives a sudden leap,
+and seizes as many as possible of the
+poor, unsuspecting crabs, which are
+speedily crunched into a shapeless mass
+by his strong jaws, and devoured. But
+the crabs are very active too, and it
+often happens that they will take alarm
+in time to scamper quickly to their
+holes, and so cheat the ape out of his
+anticipated meal. When this occurs,
+the ape has recourse to a stratagem
+which proves how intelligent he really
+is, and which makes him appear, as I
+have said, one of the most amusing and
+ridiculous of creatures. The ape of
+Java, unlike others of his species, possesses
+a very long tail. He moves
+quietly up to the hole into which he has
+seen the crab disappear, thrusts his tail
+into it, and awaits events. The crab,
+indignant at such an intrusion, makes a
+spirited attack, and fastens upon it.
+This is precisely what the ape wants.
+He gives a sudden spring forward. The
+crab, having no time to collect his ideas,
+is drawn to the surface, and in a moment
+the ape has him in his claws. Poor
+crab! victim of his anxiety to punish the
+invasion of his home.</p>
+
+<p>One traveller tells us that "there is a
+comical look of suspense on the ape's
+face as he thrusts his tail into the hole,
+and waits for the crab to seize it."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p>
+<h2>SAVED BY GRACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Agreeably to your wishes, I
+send you the following account of
+W. B&mdash;&mdash;, who had lived a dissolute
+life for nearly forty years.</p>
+
+<p>He was notorious for drinking and
+Sabbath-breaking, and his general deportment
+was so abandoned that he was
+wicked even to a proverb.</p>
+
+<p>On Saturday evening, March 4th, he
+attended a funeral, and from the place
+of interment he immediately betook himself
+to a public house, where he became
+so intoxicated that it was with some difficulty
+he reached his own habitation.
+No sooner was he laid down upon the
+bed, and composed to sleep, than the
+words of Eliphaz were verified in his experience&mdash;"In
+thoughts from the visions
+of the night, when deep sleep falleth
+upon man, fear came upon me, and
+trembling, which made all my bones to
+shake," for he dreamed a frightful
+dream. He thought he saw a serpent of
+the hydra kind, with nine heads, ready
+to seize him. Whatever way he turned,
+a head presented itself, nor could he, by
+all the methods he devised, extricate
+himself from the baneful monster. He
+awoke in great distress. Though it was
+but a dream, it made a strong impression
+upon his mind, and he was afraid it
+portended some future evil.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, one of the members
+of our meeting, as he was going to
+the house of God, observed him in a
+pensive posture, and asked him if he
+would go with him and hear a sermon
+upon the old serpent. The sound of the
+word <i>serpent</i> arrested his attention, and
+excited his curiosity to hear what I had
+to say upon such a subject. But for this
+expression, probably the poor man had
+remained unmoved. Why the person
+used it he could not tell, nor why he
+invited him to accompany him that
+morning&mdash;a thing which he had never
+done before. But He could tell who,
+in the days of His flesh, "must needs
+go through Samaria," and whose providences
+are always in coincidence with
+the purposes of His grace.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as prayer was ended, I
+preached from Genesis iii. 13-15, "And
+the Lord God said unto the woman,
+What is this that thou hast done? And
+the woman said, The serpent beguiled
+me, and I did eat. And the Lord God
+said unto the serpent, Because thou
+hast done this, thou art cursed above all
+cattle," &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>As I was explaining who that serpent
+was, and the methods he took to beguile
+sinners, the Lord opened the poor man's
+eyes, and the Word had free course and
+was glorified. From that moment he
+gave every demonstration of a real
+change of heart. About four or five
+months he continued in the pangs of the
+new birth. The anguish of his soul was
+great indeed. He perceived the number
+of his sins, and felt the weight of his
+guilt. For some time he was tempted to
+despair&mdash;I may say, to put an end to his
+existence&mdash;but while he was musing on
+his wretched condition, these words were
+applied as a sovereign remedy to his
+afflicted soul&mdash;"Believe on the Lord
+Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
+This administered all the joy and comfort
+he stood in need of. Now he was
+enabled to believe that Christ was as
+willing to forgive as He was mighty to
+redeem. The burden of his guilt dropped
+from his mind, as Pilgrim's did at the
+sight of the cross, and immediately he
+"rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full
+of glory."</p>
+
+<p>I was with him a little while after, and
+with a heart overflowing with gratitude
+to God, he showed me the place of his
+Bethel visit, where the Lord had opened
+to him His bleeding heart, and manifested
+His forgiving love. He seems to
+be, as the Apostle expresses it, "a
+living epistle of Christ, seen and read of
+all men."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 403px;">
+<img src="images/img160.jpg" width="403" height="500" alt="IN A PENSIVE POSTURE. (See page 156.)" title="IN A PENSIVE POSTURE. (See page 156.)" />
+<span class="caption">"ONE OF THE MEMBERS OBSERVED HIM IN A PENSIVE POSTURE." (<i>See page 156.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p>
+<h2>TWO BRAVE CHILDREN.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The sky at night in the vicinity of
+Apple Creek, in Dakota, a few
+weeks ago, was red all around
+the horizon, and the people knew that
+the prairie fires were burning. Every
+evening, as darkness fell, the farmers
+saw the glare becoming more and more
+distinct, and during the day the smoke
+increased until it was nearly suffocating.</p>
+
+<p>Not far from Apple Creek is the little
+village of Sterling, and near Sterling
+lived the Stevens family. Mr. Stevens
+was away from home on the day that
+the fire approached the house, and it so
+happened that his wife was sick in bed.
+Their children were a girl of eight years
+and a boy of eleven. The boy had
+heard that it was a good thing to
+plough a furrow across the path of the
+advancing flames, and about noon of
+the day in question he tried to protect
+the property in that manner. With the
+two-horse team and plough he cut a
+trench around the house and sheds, and
+then another trench around the stacks
+of unthreshed wheat. He was not
+strong enough to plough the trench to
+a great depth, but the wide line of damp
+earth thrown up would be hard for the
+flames to leap across, especially since
+his little sister followed him around,
+carrying away all trash that would add
+to the fury of the flames.</p>
+
+<p>That night the fire was so near that
+the poor woman thought of getting out
+of bed, with the purpose of attempting
+to escape, but she was too ill to try such
+a thing. Moreover, she knew that if
+her husband could reach the house he
+would come, and she watched and
+prayed as the light came to her room
+from the crimson skies without.</p>
+
+<p>When the flames, running before the
+wind, came down upon the Stevens'
+place, they licked up the fences in an instant,
+swept away the shocks of grain in
+the fields, and then rolled suddenly up
+to the furrows ploughed by the boy. The
+wheat stacks fell a prey, and numberless
+sparks were scattered around the house;
+but the brave boy and his sister ran all
+about, trampling out the fire wherever it
+caught.</p>
+
+<p>The little workers were desperate, for
+they knew that, should the house burn,
+their poor mother would surely perish in
+her bed. They fought with brooms,
+shovels, and water. Wherever they
+could they dug up fresh earth, and for
+a quarter of an hour they did not pause
+for a single moment. Once the house
+caught, and the wood began to add its
+crackling to the rush and roar of the
+vast prairie fire; but the children
+dashed bucket after bucket of water
+upon the burning spot, and so put it
+out. They carried the day. The great
+fire swept past, and in its wake came
+the father, half frantic with joy to find
+that his little hero and heroine had
+saved their mother's life.&mdash;<i>Examiner.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A HINT TO BOYS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>If I were a boy again, and knew
+what I know now, I would not
+be quite so positive in my own
+opinions as I used to be. Boys
+generally think that they are very certain
+about many things. A boy of fifteen is
+a great deal more sure of what he thinks
+he knows than is a man of fifty. You
+ask the boy a question, and he will
+answer you right off, up and down. He
+knows all about it. Ask a man of large
+experience and ripe wisdom the same
+question, and he will say, "Well, there
+is much to be said about it. I am inclined,
+on the whole, to think so-and-so,
+but other intelligent men think otherwise."</p>
+
+<p>When I was about eight years old, I
+travelled from Central Massachusetts to
+Western New York, crossing the river at
+Albany, and going by canal to Syracuse.
+On the canal-boat a kindly gentleman
+was talking to me one day, and I mentioned
+the fact that I had crossed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+Connecticut River at Albany. How I
+got it into my head that it was the
+Connecticut River I do not know, for I
+knew my geography very well then; but
+in some unmistakable way I fixed it in
+my mind that the river at Albany was
+the Connecticut, and I called it so.
+"Why," said the gentleman, "that is
+the Hudson River." "Oh, no, sir," I
+replied, politely but firmly. "You're
+mistaken. That is the Connecticut
+River." The gentleman smiled and said
+no more. In this matter I was perfectly
+sure that I was right, and so I thought
+it my duty to correct the gentleman's
+geography. I felt rather sorry for him
+that he should be so ignorant.</p>
+
+<p>One day, a short time after I reached
+home, I happened to be looking over
+my route on the map, and lo! there was
+Albany standing on the Hudson River,
+a hundred miles from the Connecticut.
+Then I did not feel half so sorry for the
+gentleman's ignorance as I did for my
+own. I never told anybody that story
+until I wrote it down on these pages the
+other day, but I have thought of it a
+thousand times, and always with a blush
+for my boldness. Nor was it the only
+time that I was perfectly sure of things
+that were not really so. It is hard for a
+boy to learn that he may be mistaken;
+but, unless he is a dunce, he learns it
+after a while. The sooner he finds it out
+the better for him.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+W. G.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>DIVINE GUIDANCE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>In the life of Mary Pryor, well
+known among the Quakers a
+hundred years ago, the following
+incident occurred on the occasion of her
+visit to the Quakers in America.</p>
+
+<p>She visited several of the best ships
+of the period, but did not feel easy to
+take her passage in any of them. At
+length, on sitting down in an inferior
+vessel, called the <i>Fame</i>, she said she
+felt "so comfortable" that she must go
+in that ship. Her friends endeavoured
+to dissuade her, one of them saying he
+would not trust his dog in it. But having
+sought the Lord's direction, she saw no
+light on any change of plan, and she set
+sail in the <i>Fame</i>. She was now sixty
+years of age.</p>
+
+<p>The voyage occupied three months,
+and was miserable in the extreme. The
+old vessel sprang a leak, and for weeks
+crew and passengers had to work at the
+pumps to keep her afloat. At length,
+when all prospect of rescue seemed
+hopeless, and the men were on the point
+of giving up in despair, Mrs. Pryor, who
+had maintained her calmness and encouraged
+the sailors all along, came out
+of her cabin one morning, saying she
+had good news, for she had seen in a
+dream a vessel coming to their help that
+very day. She had forgotten the name
+of the ship, but if the female passengers
+would mention their maiden names, it
+would be recalled to her memory. One
+of them said her name had been "Archibald."
+"That," said Mrs. Pryor, "is
+the name of the ship that will save us."
+The men were cheered, and turned with
+new energy to the pumps; and that
+evening, just before the vessel foundered,
+they were rescued by a small Halifax
+schooner, named the <i>Archibald</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The crew and passengers attributed
+their deliverance, under God, to the influence
+of Mrs. Pryor; and here was the
+explanation of the guidance she believed
+herself to have received to sail in the
+<i>Fame</i>, contrary to the wishes of her
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>"The steps of a good man are ordered
+by the Lord."&mdash;<i>Lantern.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">If</span> Christ be not a refiner's fire <i>in</i> you,
+He will be a consuming fire <i>to</i> you.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">God</span> can give a pardon to the greatest
+sin, but He cannot give a patronage to
+the least sin.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p>
+<h2>"JESUS LOVES ME!"</h2>
+
+
+<p>A few years ago, a poor girl in
+London, to whose soul the Spirit
+had spoken peace through the
+blood of Jesus, was very anxious to
+impart the knowledge, and tell some
+other soul of the dear Saviour she had
+found. She was too poor and ragged to
+take a class in a Sunday School. She
+especially longed to tell children of
+Jesus. She thought, if she could only
+be instrumental in the winning of one
+little child, how blessed it would be, so
+she used to speak to any little child she
+saw standing about in the street.</p>
+
+<p>One little boy, about seven years old,
+often went to her to hear her joyful Gospel
+tidings. One day she missed him, and
+searched until she found him. Poor little
+fellow! He was lying in great agony
+upon a miserable bed of straw in a
+wretched dwelling, and was quite
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>The kind girl, full of pity for him, and
+anxious to relieve him, called the attention
+of neighbours to him, but they declined
+to take any step in the matter.
+At last she called a policeman. He made
+the case known to the authorities, and
+the little sufferer was taken to the workhouse
+hospital. Here he remained in
+great suffering, the doctors being unable
+to do anything to relieve him.</p>
+
+<p>In training him for an acrobat, his
+parents had treated him so severely, in
+order to make his tender little limbs
+supple, that there was not a bone in his
+body seemingly in its proper place, and
+his agony was most intense. Six doctors,
+including Queen's physicians, had his
+case under consideration, but their skill
+could not avail. He was unable to lie
+on his back or side. A frame was made
+to support his head as he leaned forward.
+His poor little hands were wrapped
+in cotton-wool steeped in morphia, to
+allay the pain.</p>
+
+<p>When he had been in the hospital
+about four months, a lady went to see
+him, from whom I heard this most
+touching and true account. She said
+she should never forget his face when
+he raised his head to speak to her.
+Such a beautiful face, with sweet blue
+eyes and placid expression, met her
+gaze. He so frequently said, "Thank
+you." It was, "Thank you, I am not
+suffering quite so much to-day"; or,
+"Thank you. You are so kind."</p>
+
+<p>One day, she asked him if he loved
+Jesus. He looked at her so reproachfully
+that her heart smote her for having
+asked such a question; then he said,
+"Jesus loves me." She saw then the
+meaning of his reproachful look. How
+could she ask him whether <i>he</i> loved
+Jesus when Jesus loved <i>him</i>? The
+dear little sufferer had grasped the
+secret of power. It was not <i>his</i> love
+for Jesus, but the love of Jesus <i>to him</i>,
+that was the solid rock on which he
+stood.</p>
+
+<p>Another time he said, "Oh, I don't
+mind bearing a little pain for Jesus. He
+died for me."</p>
+
+<p>The language of some in the hospital
+was very dreadful. Such blasphemy&mdash;such
+cursing and swearing&mdash;even when
+dying. But the clear voice of the young
+sufferer often rose high above all others.
+It distressed him beyond all measure,
+and he called out, "Oh, don't, don't!
+Jesus hears you." Rough men, touched
+by the sight of his pain, would stand by
+him, listening to his words, silenced by
+his entreaties. Truly he was "out of
+weakness made strong."</p>
+
+<p>Not long after the visit of the lady to
+whom I have referred, God released the
+loving little soul from its tenement of
+suffering, and revealed to him, in the
+"eternal weight of glory," how fully He
+loved him. His brief tale of life on
+earth, with its pain so bravely borne, and
+its knowledge of love so faithfully testified,
+is now changed for the song and
+the crown, and the exceeding bliss of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+being for ever with Him who loves him,
+"whom to know is life eternal," and
+"in whose presence is fulness of joy."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Nettie.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A RED SEA ROCK.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A fourth, and happily a successful,
+search by Her Majesty's
+ships has just been made for a
+reported rock towards the southern end
+of the Red Sea, on which two steamships,
+the <i>Avocet</i> and <i>Teddington</i>, are
+supposed to have struck during the year
+1887, both ships afterwards foundering.</p>
+
+<p>Owing to a considerable error in the
+position given by the former vessel, the
+first search was mainly over ground too
+far to the westward, and operations were
+suspended until more accurate information
+could be obtained. The loss of the
+second ship, in a position given five
+miles north-east of the first, caused a
+second and careful search to be made on
+a more extended area, still with no indication.
+A surveying vessel was then sent
+two thousand miles in order to institute
+a rigorous examination; but six weeks'
+close search&mdash;though under great difficulties
+of strong wind and heavy sea&mdash;bore
+no fruit, and various theories were
+started to account for the loss of the two
+steamships.</p>
+
+<p>The fourth ship, Her Majesty's surveying
+ship <i>Stork</i>, has been more successful.
+Guided by some slight indication
+afforded by an insignificant rise in the
+sea bottom, the rock has been at last
+found. It is a small coral patch, only
+fifteen feet under the surface of the sea,
+and stands in twenty-eight fathoms of
+water, in latitude 14 deg. 22 min. 8 sec.
+N., longitude 42 deg. 41 min. 32 sec. E.
+It lies midway between the two best
+positions that critical cross-examination
+had finally settled as most probable for
+the respective vessels that were lost.
+Though it is between five and six miles
+from the direct straight line of track,
+the existence at times of strong currents
+transverse to the axis of the Red Sea,
+causes the danger presented by it to be
+by no means insignificant, though it is a
+matter for marvel that it has never been
+struck before.</p>
+
+<p>The difficulty of finding such a small
+rock may be appreciated from the fact
+that one of the searching ships was at
+anchor within four hundred yards of it,
+with her boats sounding round her,
+without its being perceived, though she
+was driven from her anchorage by a gale
+before the spot was passed over by the
+boats.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing the enormous British trade,
+valuable both in lives and property,
+that passes down the Red Sea, it is a
+matter of general congratulation that
+the Admiralty refused to discontinue the
+search until the last hope of finding a
+rock was dispelled, and that the efforts
+to discover it have at length been
+crowned by success.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>KENILWORTH CASTLE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Willis, the American traveller,
+in his "Famous Persons and
+Famous Places," observes that,
+when visiting Kenilworth, he noticed
+with surprise that in one place the
+swelling root of a creeper had lifted
+one arch from its base, and the protruding
+branch of a chance spring tree
+(sown, perhaps, by a field-sparrow) had
+unseated the keystone of the next. And
+so perish castles and reputations&mdash;the
+masonry of the human hand, and the
+fabrics of human thought&mdash;not by the
+strength which they feared, but by the
+weakness of trifling things which they
+despised.</p>
+
+<p>Little did John O'Gaunt think, when
+these rudely-hewn blocks were heaved
+into their seats by his herculean workmen,
+that, after resisting fire and foe,
+they would be sapped and overthrown
+at last by a vine-tendril and a sparrow!</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE PRIEST AND THE LADY; OR, TRANSUBSTANTIATION EXPOSED.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+A lady once, a Protestant, in ignorance was led<br />
+To think she might with comfort live, though to a Papist wed:<br />
+But Rome decrees no peace they'll have who marry heretics,<br />
+Until their households have been made submissive to her tricks.<br />
+<br />
+It sorely grieved this husband that his wife would not comply<br />
+To join the "mother Church" of Rome, and heresy deny:<br />
+Day after day he flattered her, but still she held it good<br />
+That man should never bow his knee to idols made of wood.<br />
+<br />
+The Mass, the priest, and miracles, were made but to deceive;<br />
+And transubstantiation, too, she never could believe.<br />
+He went unto his clergy, and told him his sad tale&mdash;<br />
+"My wife's an unbeliever, sir; try if you can prevail.<br />
+<br />
+"You say you can work miracles&mdash;she says it is absurd&mdash;<br />
+Convince her and convert her, and great is your reward."<br />
+The priest went with the gentleman&mdash;he thought to gain a prize&mdash;<br />
+He says, "I will convert your wife, and open quite her eyes."<br />
+<br />
+So when they came unto the house, "My dear," the husband cried,<br />
+"The priest is come to dine with us." "He's welcome," she replied.<br />
+The dinner being ended, the priest to teach began,<br />
+Explaining to the lady the sinful state of man.<br />
+<br />
+The kindness of the Saviour (which no one can deny),<br />
+Who gave Himself a Sacrifice, and once for sin did die.<br />
+"He by His priest still offers up Himself a Sacrifice."<br />
+The lady only answered this by expressing great surprise.<br />
+<br />
+"I will return to-morrow&mdash;prepare some bread and wine&mdash;<br />
+And then dispense the Sacrament to satisfy your mind."<br />
+"I'll bake the cake," the lady said. "You may," replied he,<br />
+"And when you see this miracle, convinced I'm sure you'll be."<br />
+<br />
+The priest returned accordingly&mdash;the bread and wine did bless&mdash;<br />
+The lady said, "Sir, is it changed?" His reverence answered, "Yes,<br />
+It's changèd now from bread and wine to real flesh and blood;<br />
+You may depend upon my word, that it is very God."<br />
+<br />
+Thus, having blessed the bread and wine, to eat he did prepare.<br />
+The lady said unto the priest, "I would have you take care;<br />
+For one half ounce of arsenic I have mixed in that cake,<br />
+But as you have its nature changed, it can no difference make."<br />
+<br />
+The priest stood all confused, and looked as pale as death;<br />
+The bread and wine fell from his hands, and he did gasp for breath.<br />
+"Bring me my horse!" his reverence cried; "this is a cursèd place!"<br />
+"Begone! begone!" the dame replied; "you are a cursèd race!"<br />
+<br />
+Her husband sat confounded, and not one word could say.<br />
+At last he spoke&mdash;"My dear," said he, "the priest has run away;<br />
+Such mummery and nonsense can never bear the light;<br />
+Apostate Rome I must denounce, and quit it I will quite."<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">Heresies</span> are views discordant to the
+truths of God.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p>
+<h2>STAND BACK.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A gentleman spending his holidays
+in Scotland was fishing for
+trout. He had fishing-tackle
+and appliances of the best description.
+He threw out his bait all the morning,
+but caught nothing. Towards afternoon
+he espied a little ragged urchin,
+with tackle of the most primitive order,
+nipping the fish out of the water
+with marvellous rapidity. Amazed, he
+watched the lad for a while, and then
+went and asked him if he could explain
+the reason why he was so successful, in
+spite of his meagre outfit, while the expensive
+apparatus could catch nothing.
+The boy promptly replied, "The fish
+will no bite, sir, as lang as ye dinna
+<i>keep yersel' oot of sight</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Well has it been said that "fishers of
+men need not wonder at their want of
+success, if they do not keep themselves
+out of sight,' and uplift the brazen serpent
+on the Gospel pole, while studiously
+keeping themselves hidden behind the
+pole."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>HIS TITLE DEEDS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The deacon of a Church lay dying.
+He had been a successful merchant,
+and he was about leaving
+this world to give an account of his
+stewardship. When he was near his
+end, he asked his wife to bring him his
+title-deeds. The lady went to his private
+drawer, and drew out some musty papers
+relating to his property, which she took
+to him. As soon as he saw them, he
+said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"No, no; that is not what I mean.
+Bring me the New Testament."</p>
+
+<p>It was brought, and he had it opened
+at Romans viii. 33&mdash;"Who shall lay anything
+to the charge of God's elect?"</p>
+
+<p>He shortly after closed his eyes in
+death, his finger continuing to rest on
+the verse.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Elisha and the Shunammite.</span></h3>
+
+<p class="center">(2 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> iv. 8-37; viii. 1-6.)</p>
+
+
+<p>As the Prophet Elisha carried God's
+messages, and did His appointed
+work among the Israelites, he
+passed through Shunem.</p>
+
+<p>"A great woman," or, as we should
+say, a rich, influential lady, lived there
+with her husband and servants, and in
+her heart "some good thing toward the
+God of Israel was found," so when the
+Prophet passed her door, she invited him
+and his attendant to rest and refreshment;
+and since he often came that way,
+she induced her husband to have a room
+built upon the wall of the house, which
+she got furnished in a simple way, and
+this was set apart for Elisha's special
+use. His heart was deeply touched by
+the kind sympathy so freely shown him,
+and he offered to do anything she might
+ask to show his gratitude. But the good
+woman was not ambitious. "I dwell,"
+said she, "among mine own people. I
+am well content with the blessings I
+enjoy, and ask no more."</p>
+
+<p>This Shunammite was doing good not
+for the sake of reward. She honoured
+the Prophet because she perceived that
+he was "a holy man of God"&mdash;a beautiful
+proof that she also loved and served
+the Lord, for "we know that we have
+passed from death unto life, because we
+love the brethren." In honouring His
+Prophet she honoured God, and He has
+said (and He is true), "Them that honour
+Me I will honour."</p>
+
+<p>The Shunammite's honour belongs to
+all who love God's people for His sake,
+for Jesus also declared that "whosoever
+shall give one of His little ones a cup of
+cold water to quench his thirst, in the
+name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose
+his reward" (Matt. x. 41, 42).</p>
+
+<p>The loving services rendered to the
+Saviour's friends&mdash;even to those who are
+most closely connected with us, or who
+often come in our way&mdash;are accepted by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+Jesus as done unto Himself. We may
+not be able to accomplish great and
+notable things, but, like this woman of
+old, may we do good as we have opportunity,
+and receive His word of acceptance,
+like Mary, "She hath done what
+she could."</p>
+
+<p>But the Shunammite was to be rewarded
+in a very unexpected way. She
+had no children, and Gehazi mentioned
+this fact to his master, who, in the spirit
+of prophecy, assured her that, in due
+time, a son should be given her. Her
+joy is described in her reply to Elisha.
+The news seemed too good to be true.
+But "God is able to do exceeding abundantly
+above all that we ask or think."
+The promised blessing came, and doubtless
+the mother felt that her cup overflowed
+with happiness.</p>
+
+<p>But earthly hopes are always insecure.
+The child had grown; and at harvest-time
+he went to the field with his father
+and the reapers, when suddenly what
+we should call a sunstroke fell upon him.
+"My head! my head!" was all he could
+say, and the father had him carried to
+his mother. She tended him with loving
+care, but at noon he died. She took the
+lifeless form upstairs, and laid it on the
+Prophet's bed, and then announced her
+intention to go and find the man of God,
+saying, "It shall be well," or "peace."</p>
+
+<p>Did she think her child would be restored
+to life at the Prophet's word?
+Perhaps so. She had received him at
+first in a miraculous way, and by a
+miracle he might be restored to her.
+At all events, her words and conduct
+illustrate the divine encouragement,
+"Trust Him at all times, ye people;
+pour out your heart before Him; God is
+a Refuge for us."</p>
+
+<p>They saw her in the distance, and
+Gehazi ran to meet her, with the question,
+"Is it well with thee, thy husband,
+and the child?" And she answered,
+"Well." She would not tell the servant
+her sorrow. She hastened on to his
+master, and in her grief she caught hold
+of his feet, as if to hold him fast.
+Elisha, though a prophet, did not know
+what had befallen her. Perfect knowledge
+belongs to God alone, and He had
+not revealed this matter to him yet. He
+heard her story, and sent Gehazi with
+all haste to lay his staff upon the face
+of the child. But the mother refused
+to leave Elisha, and they together followed
+Gehazi, who, first reaching the
+chamber of death, laid the Prophet's
+rod upon the dead, but in vain. "There
+was neither voice nor hearing." A
+solemn picture of spiritual death&mdash;no
+voice to cry to God; no ears to listen to
+His Word. Are we alive or dead?</p>
+
+<p>Elisha next entered the chamber
+alone, and, shutting the door, he prayed
+to the Lord; and in the end, the child
+was perfectly restored to life and health.</p>
+
+<p>And this wondrous miracle was no
+doubt intended to foreshadow the general
+resurrection of the last great day, and
+to show that "with God all things are
+possible."</p>
+
+<p>Here, too, we see a figure of "Him
+that was to come." The Shunammite
+prayed to God through Elisha, from
+whose lips she had at first received the
+promise; and in the name of Jesus we
+are to seek all blessings from heaven.</p>
+
+<p>
+"He ever lives to intercede<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Before His Father's face;</span><br />
+Give Him, my soul, thy cause to plead,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nor doubt the Father's grace."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Time rolled on, and other sorrows
+came upon the highly-favoured mother.
+A terrible famine raged in Samaria, and
+at Elisha's bidding she and her household
+left the land of Israel for seven
+years (see 2 Kings viii.); and then, peace
+and plenty having been restored, she
+returned and went to the king to ask for
+her house and land in Shunem. Behold
+here the wonder-working providence of
+the Lord. At the very time of her visit,
+Gehazi was telling the king of Elisha's
+miracles, especially that of raising one
+to life; and as the woman presented
+her appeal, Gehazi, recognizing her, exclaimed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+"My lord, this is the mother,
+and this her son, whom Elisha restored
+to life." Deeply interested at once in
+her case, the king granted all her request
+with the utmost readiness.</p>
+
+<p>So "all things work together for good
+to them that love God," and Jesus always
+sympathizes with His people's sorrows,
+and helps and comforts them, so that
+"they who wait for Him shall not be
+ashamed." May we, in every time of
+trial and difficulty&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Wait for His seasonable aid,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And though it tarry, wait;</span><br />
+The promise may be long delayed,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But cannot come too late."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, <i>The Parable
+of the Labourers in the Vineyard</i>
+(Matt. xx. 1-16).</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Your affectionate friend,
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">H. S. Lawrence.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<h3>FOR THE LITTLE ONES.</h3>
+
+
+<p>
+One is in Adam, but not in Moses.<br />
+One is in Jesus, but not in Daniel.<br />
+One is in Peter, but not in Aaron.<br />
+One is in Eden, but not in Spirit.<br />
+One is in Pharaoh, but not in Matthew.<br />
+One is in Israel, but not in Abdon.<br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>My whole, when arranged, will be
+found in the Book of Psalms.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Ethel Marsh</span><br />
+(Aged 11 years).
+</div>
+<p><i>Laxfield.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN JULY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+July  1. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 19.<br />
+July  8. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 20.<br />
+July 15. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 21.<br />
+July 22. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 22.<br />
+July 29. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 23.<br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Difference between "Uncertain
+Riches" and "The True
+Riches."</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In Proverbs xxiii. 5, the wise
+man says, "Riches certainly
+make themselves wings; they
+fly away as an eagle toward
+heaven"; and in chapter viii. 18, he
+says, "Riches and honour are with me;
+yea, durable riches and righteousness."</p>
+
+<p>In these two verses may be seen one
+difference between the "uncertain
+riches" and the "true" ones. The
+first passage of Scripture refers to the
+uncertain or earthly riches, which "make
+themselves wings" and "fly away."
+The second riches spoken of are the
+true ones, which Christ gives to His
+people, and which are durable, inasmuch
+as they last for ever and ever.
+This verse is spoken by Christ under
+the name of Wisdom.</p>
+
+<p>In Christ's parable about the rich
+man and Lazarus (Luke xvi. 19-31),
+both kinds of riches are spoken of. The
+rich man had the uncertain riches in
+abundance, and was selfish, and kept
+them to himself, but the beggar, though
+destitute of this world's goods, was one
+of God's children, and had the true
+riches.</p>
+
+<p>A man may be very rich, and be
+looking forward to a long life in which
+to enjoy his riches, like the rich man in
+the parable (see Luke xii. 16), when he
+may suddenly die, and then what good
+can his wealth do him? What Paul
+says in his first Epistle to Timothy is
+quite true. He says, "We brought
+nothing into this world, and it is certain
+we can carry nothing out" (1 Tim.
+vi. 7); and the Psalmist says, in Psalm
+xlix. 16-18, "Be not thou afraid when
+one is made rich, when the glory of his
+house is increased; for when he dieth
+he shall carry nothing away: his glory
+shall not descend after him. Though
+while he lived he blessed his soul."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>But it is not so with those who have
+the true riches. They can never be disappointed
+in having to part with them,
+for, as before mentioned, they are everlasting.
+Christ said, in His sermon on
+the mount, "Lay not up for yourselves
+treasures upon earth, where moth and
+rust doth corrupt, and where thieves
+break through and steal: but lay up for
+yourselves treasures in heaven, where
+neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
+where thieves do not break through nor
+steal" (Matt. vi. 19, 20). Our riches
+are, as we know from experience, never
+really safe from harm and damage, as
+articles of apparel, however costly they
+may be, are, if very careful measures
+are not used, subject to being eaten by
+moths. Other things are spoiled by
+rust gathering on them, whilst money is
+never secure, because thieves may steal
+it; and even in banks the managers or
+clerks may be tempted to steal the money
+entrusted to them, or the bank may fail.
+Daniel Herbert says, in one of his
+hymns&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Should all the banks in Britain break,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Bank of England smash,</span><br />
+Bring in your notes to Zion's bank;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">You're sure to get your cash."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>One of Christ's gifts to His people is
+spoken of in 1 Peter i. 4. It is "an inheritance
+incorruptible, and undefiled,
+and that fadeth not away," reserved in
+heaven for those who are "kept by the
+power of God, through faith, unto salvation."</p>
+
+<p>Christ also gives His people "a crown
+of glory, that fadeth not away" (see 1
+Peter v. 4). This crown is called, in
+Timothy, "a crown of righteousness";
+and, in 1 Corinthians ix. 25, Paul calls
+it an "incorruptible" one; and James
+says, "Blessed is the man that endureth
+temptation; for when he is tried, he
+shall receive the crown of life, which the
+Lord hath promised to them that love
+Him" (James i. 12).</p>
+
+<p>In conclusion, we might compare the
+two kinds of riches to the Lord's parable
+about the wise man who built his house
+upon a rock, and it stood firm, "for it
+was founded upon a rock," and the
+foolish one, who built his upon the sand,
+and his house "fell, and great was the
+fall of it." The first instance resembles
+those who do not set their hopes on the
+uncertain, but on the true riches; and
+the second like those who think only of
+earth, its uncertain pleasures and riches
+(Matt. vii. 24-27).</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">E. B. Knocker</span><br />
+(Aged 14 years).
+</div>
+<p>
+<i>South Hill House,<br />
+Tunbridge Wells.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>[Very good Essays have been received
+from Nellie Nunn, Laura Creasey,
+Eleanor Saunders, Jane Bell, W. E.
+Cray, J. Rowbottom, Alice Creasey,
+Rose Holloway, Annetta Hargreaves,
+E. R. Harris, &amp;c. Their efforts are
+very encouraging.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of "The Story of the
+Spanish Armada."</p>
+
+<p>The subject for September will be,
+"The Blessings Conferred on England by
+the Accession to the Throne of William
+of Orange, and by the Protestant Succession
+thereby Secured to Us"; and the
+prize to be given for the best Essay on
+that subject, a copy of "The Reformation
+and its Heroes." All competitors
+must give a guarantee that they are
+under fifteen years of age, and that the
+Essay is their own composition, or the
+papers will be passed over, as the Editor
+cannot undertake to write for this necessary
+information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117,
+High Street, Hastings, by the first of
+August.]</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Erratum.</span>&mdash;Through an oversight,
+the name of the sender of the Enigma
+was given last month instead of the
+sender of the answer. It should have
+been&mdash;Nellie Nunn, aged twelve years.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> number of Bibles printed during last
+year in England alone amounted to nearly four
+millions.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Birds' Nest in a Railway Truck.</span>&mdash;A
+water wagtail's nest, containing four eggs, was
+found at Norbiton Station amongst some coal in
+a truck which arrived from Derbyshire, a few
+weeks ago. The old birds had evidently come
+too, for they were seen flying about the
+station.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> death is announced of Mr. Norman
+Macdonald, of Big Bras Dor, Cape Breton, at
+the reputed age of 110 years. It is stated that
+he was a survivor from Waterloo. He was a
+man of great activity and endurance, and up to
+about two years ago was able to work on his
+farm at Cape Breton.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Quiet Rebuke.</span>&mdash;An old minister one Sunday,
+at the close of the sermon, gave notice to
+the congregation that in the course of the week
+he expected to go on a mission to the heathen.
+One of the deacons, in great agitation, exclaimed,
+"Why, my dear sir, you have never
+told us one word of this before! What shall
+we do?" "Oh, brother," said the parson, "I
+don't expect to go out of town."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> are more beggars in London this year
+than I ever remember before&mdash;female beggars,
+crossing sweeper beggars, and singing beggars.
+And no wonder, if many of them earn
+as much as one of the fraternity who was before
+a suburban magistrate recently. This man
+confessed to earning 5s., 10s., and 15s., and on
+one occasion as much as £1 1s. 6d. He has
+earned his living by begging for thirty years,
+and made a very good living too. He was sent
+to prison for fourteen days, and when out will
+doubtless resume his lucrative profession.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Clerical Miser.</span>&mdash;The Rev. John Trueman,
+of Daventry, possessed an income of about
+four hundred pounds per annum clear; and,
+by his self-denying management of it, he contrived
+to amass fifty thousand pounds. There
+were few things too mean for him to do in order
+to save money. He would steal turnips out of
+the fields as he passed along, on the pretence of
+visiting the farmhouses, and then beg bits of
+bacon to boil with them from the good wives in
+the parish. Sometimes he would quarter himself,
+without any invitation, in a farmhouse,
+and in the room in which he slept, he has been
+known to pull the worsted out of the corners of
+the blankets, and take it away with him, in
+order to darn his stockings.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> India we have a few peculiarities because
+of the great heat. Our houses are, generally
+speaking, on the open ground, no upstair rooms,
+and the doors are left wide open. There was
+an English mother who had the habit, when
+probably half asleep, of handing out her baby
+before daybreak to the ayah, to administer to
+its wants and cares. One morning, this poor
+mother, all but asleep, felt, as she thought, the
+cold touch of the ayah (the native nurse), and
+handed out the baby; but it was a wolf that
+was there. We are asleep, my friends. That
+mother lost her reason when the dear little
+infant was thus destroyed; but in our sleep
+and in our slumber we lose one child after
+another by handing them over to Rome&mdash;to the
+wolf that destroys them. Oh, let us awake!&mdash;<i>W.
+Ayerst, M.A.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Steel Lace.</span>&mdash;A new branch of industry is
+going to revolutionize the lace trade. A New
+York dealer in laces is exhibiting a specimen of
+lace of an extremely delicate pattern, and so
+light that it can almost be blown away by a
+breath of air. This lace is made of steel rolled
+as fine as the point of a cambric needle. It is
+not woven, but stamped out of a sheet of low
+grade steel, so that it should not be too brittle.
+It was turned out of a small Pittsburgh mill,
+and sent to the dealer to show what could be
+done in that line. In the course of time other
+patterns will be made&mdash;heavier, perhaps, but
+certainly more tenacious than this piece. There
+is said to be no question as to its durability,
+and its cheapness would make it the most saleable
+of all laces in the market. It may create a
+revolution in the lace market, if rust can be
+guarded against.&mdash;<i>Iron.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sulphur for Sore Throats.</span>&mdash;The value of
+sulphur in throat difficulties is but little known
+among families, though most physicians prescribe
+it in some form. An ordinary sore throat
+will be relieved by a gargle of sulphur and
+water&mdash;one tablespoonful to a glass of water,
+and use frequently. In every family the flour
+of sulphur should be always kept ready for use,
+and at the appearance of irritation or cankered
+spots, a gargle should be given, or the powder
+blown through a paper tube directly into the
+throat. At different times we have seen the
+throat trouble relieved in a few hours by the
+simple use of this valuable remedy. A sore
+throat is no trivial thing, and no time should be
+lost in the matter. If, after discovering it in a
+child, it does not improve in a few hours' time
+after the use of sulphur, a reliable physician
+should be called in without further delay.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span><span class="smcap">The</span> Queen Regent of Spain opened the
+International Exhibition at Barcelona on Sunday,
+May 20th, in the presence of a distinguished
+assemblage, including the Duke and Duchess
+of Edinburgh, and Prince George of Wales.
+Perhaps this was done as a set-off against our
+Protestant commemorations.</p>
+
+<p>
+Oh, England! England! blush with shame!<br />
+Thy princes stoop to foul thy name.<br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> present spring has been remarkable for
+the number of rare birds that have appeared in
+this country and on the Continent. These
+include the golden oriole, pied flycatcher,
+sand-grouse, dotterel, hoopoe, short-toed lark,
+moustached grass-warbler, and rose-coloured
+pastor. In spite of the Wild Birds' Protection
+Act, many of these visitants are shot immediately
+upon their arrival. It is only in rare
+cases that the police interfere, even when the
+killing of the birds is a matter of notoriety.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Hay Fever.</span>&mdash;Sir Morell Mackenzie has opportunely
+published a lecture he delivered
+some time ago at the London Hospital Medical
+College on hay fever, which he defines to be a
+peculiar affection of the mucous membrane of
+the nose, eyes, and air passages, giving rise to
+catarrh and asthma, almost invariably caused
+by the action of the pollen of grasses and
+flowers, and therefore prevalent only where
+they are in blossom. With regard to the treatment
+of this disease, Sir Morell Mackenzie
+believes the first thing to do is, to remove the
+patient from a district in which there is much
+flowering grass, a sea voyage being probably
+the most perfect satisfactory step that can be
+taken. Patients unable to go to sea should
+reside near the coast, while dwellers in towns
+should avoid the country, and those who reside
+in the country should make a temporary stay
+in the centre of a large town.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Extraordinary Raffle for Bibles.</span>&mdash;A
+curious custom was observed in the Parish
+Church of St. Ives, Hunts, on May 23rd. Dr.
+Robert Wilde, who died in August, 1678,
+bequeathed £50, the yearly interest of which
+was to be expended in the purchase of six
+Bibles, not exceeding the price of 7s. 6d. each,
+which should be "cast for dice" on the Communion
+table every year by six boys and six
+girls of the town. A piece of ground was bought
+with the £50, and is now known as "Bible
+Orchard." The legacy also provided for the
+payment of ten shillings yearly to the vicar for
+preaching a sermon on the occasion "commending
+the excellency, the perfection, and divine
+authority of the Holy Scriptures." This singular
+custom has been regularly observed in
+the church since the death of the testator, but
+representations having been made to the Bishop
+of the diocese, the practice of throwing the dice
+on the Communion table was discontinued
+some years ago, and the raffling now takes
+place on a table erected at the chancel steps.
+The highest throw this year (three times, with
+three dice) was thirty-seven, by a little girl.
+The vicar (the Rev. E. Tottenham) preached a
+sermon from the words, "From a child thou
+hast known the Holy Scriptures."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Antiquarian Discovery.</span>&mdash;During some excavations
+on the premises of Messrs. Walker and
+Sons, Otley, Yorkshire, a mass of human and
+other bones, bears' claws, flint, charcoal, and
+burnt slates or tiles, was turned up with the
+subsoil, and among the <i>débris</i>, at a depth of
+nearly eight feet from the modern soil level, six
+copper and bronze coins and a lead seal were
+found, several of the coins being in a good
+state of preservation. Some of the letters on
+the coins are worn, but it appears certain that
+some of the coins are of great antiquity. The
+seal is of more recent date. Seals like the
+one found were attached to the Papal bulls,
+and as this specimen has the usual aperture
+through its diameter to allow of the connection
+of the bull with the seal being made, there is
+no doubt that this was so attached to a document
+of this character. In years past the archbishops
+had a palace at Otley, and it is conjectured
+that this is one of the many seals used in
+the manner indicated. The seal in question
+bears authority from Pope Innocent IV., who
+occupied the Papal chair from 1243 to 1254.
+On the obverse are the Roman capitals "<span class="smcap">SPA.,
+SPE.</span>," standing respectively for St. Paul and
+St. Peter. Immediately below are the heads of
+those saints in relief, a cross in the middle
+dividing them. On the reverse are the letters
+"<span class="smcap">INNOCENTIVS PP IIII.</span>"</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Colchester.&mdash;St. John's Green Chapel
+Sunday School.</span>&mdash;The anniversary services
+in connection with this school were held on
+Sunday and Monday, May 27th and 28th. The
+sermons on the Sunday were preached by the
+Minister, Mr. W. Brown. On the Monday,
+the usual gathering of teachers, friends, and
+scholars was well attended, when suited addresses
+were given, and prizes awarded to
+many of the scholars for regular and punctual
+attendance. Sixteen gained prizes for good
+essays on "The Life of Joseph." The balance
+sheet for the last year showed the receipts to
+be £18 14s. 1d., and the expenditure to be
+£23 10s. 3d., leaving £4 16s. 2d. due to the
+treasurer. The amount received on Sunday
+and Monday was £11 6s. 9&frac12;d. There are now
+187 scholars and 15 teachers in the school, 23
+scholars and three teachers being added during
+the past year.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 375px;">
+<img src="images/img172.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="THE WOUNDED DRUMMER-BOY." title="THE WOUNDED DRUMMER-BOY." />
+<span class="caption">THE WOUNDED DRUMMER-BOY.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHARLIE COULSON, THE DRUMMER-BOY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>During the American War, Dr.
+Rossvally was surgeon in the
+army, and after the battle of Gettisburg,
+among hundreds of wounded
+soldiers, a drummer-boy was found
+entirely helpless on the field. The
+case seemed almost too bad for treatment,
+but as the lad opened his large
+blue eyes, the doctor felt he could not
+let him die there, so he ordered him
+to be taken to the hospital, and found
+that an arm and a leg required amputation.
+The assistant-surgeon wished to
+administer chloroform to the young sufferer,
+but he refused, and when Dr.
+Rossvally himself remonstrated with
+him, he replied&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor, one Sunday afternoon, in the
+Sabbath School, when I was nine and a
+half years old, I was brought to believe
+in Christ. I learned to trust Him then.
+I have been trusting Him ever since, and
+I feel I can trust Him now. He will
+support me while you amputate my arm
+and leg."</p>
+
+<p>The Jewish doctor's heart was touched
+in spite of himself, and he thereupon
+asked Charlie a question he had never
+asked a soldier before&mdash;would he like to
+see the chaplain? "Oh, yes, sir!" was
+the quick response; and after seeing
+the minister, by whom he sent a loving
+message to his mother and the superintendent
+of his Sunday School, he told
+the doctor he was ready for the operation,
+promising that he would not even groan
+if no chloroform were offered him. He
+kept his promise, only putting the corner
+of his pillow in his mouth during the
+most painful part of the process, saying,
+"Oh, Jesus, blessed Jesus, stand by me
+now!"</p>
+
+<p>That night the doctor could not sleep.
+Those soft blue eyes and that gentle
+voice seemed to meet him continually,
+and he could not help returning to the
+hospital in the middle of the night to
+inquire about the lad. He found him
+sweetly sleeping, and one of the nurses
+told him how two friends had visited
+him, and had sung "Jesus, Lover of my
+soul" by his bed-side, and Charlie had
+joined in the sacred song.</p>
+
+<p>Five days afterwards, he felt he was
+dying, and sending for the doctor, he
+thanked him for all his kindness, and
+begged him to remain and see him die,
+trusting Jesus to the last moment of his
+life. He tried to stay, but it was too
+much for his Jewish feelings to see that
+dying youth rejoicing in the love of the
+Jesus whose very name he had been
+taught to hate, and he hurriedly left the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>Twenty minutes after, he was again
+summoned to that bed, and, asking him
+to take his hand, Charlie said, "Doctor,
+I love you because you are a Jew. The
+best Friend I have found in this world
+was a Jew, Jesus Christ, to whom I want
+to introduce you before I die; and will
+you promise me, doctor, that what I am
+about to say to you you will never forget?"
+The doctor promised, and the
+lad went on&mdash;"Five days ago, while you
+amputated my arm and leg, I prayed the
+Lord Jesus Christ to convert your soul."</p>
+
+<p>These words sank into the doctor's
+heart. How could that sufferer, in the
+midst of such intense pain, be thinking
+only of his Saviour and an unconverted
+soul? and he could only answer, "Well,
+my dear boy, you will soon be all right."
+With these words he left him, and a few
+minutes later the youth fell asleep in
+Jesus, at seventeen years of age.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Rossvally followed him to the
+grave, and for some months the impression
+his patience and faith had made
+upon him still remained. Gradually it
+wore off, however; and for ten years
+longer he remained a despiser of the
+Saviour, when God, in mercy, sent
+another message to His wandering child.</p>
+
+<p>At the close of the American War, Dr.
+Rossvally had been made inspecting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+surgeon, with charge of the military hospital
+in Texas. Returning one day from
+an inspecting tour, he stopped at an
+hotel in New York, and going to be
+shaved, he found the barber's shop hung
+around with beautifully framed Scripture
+texts; and what was more, the barber
+began to speak to him of Jesus in such
+an attractive way, that Charlie Coulson's
+happy death came vividly before
+his mind. The doctor's mind was deeply
+moved, and when he reached Washington,
+where he resided, for the first time
+in his life he went to hear an address in
+a Christian place of worship, and he
+could not restrain the tears that would
+flow while he listened; and when the
+service was ended, an elderly lady spoke
+to him before he could escape. He told
+her he would pray to his God&mdash;the God
+of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob&mdash;but not
+to Jesus. "Bless your soul," was the
+earnest answer, "your God of Abraham,
+Isaac, and Jacob is my Christ, and your
+Messiah!"</p>
+
+<p>He went home full of conflicting feelings,
+and then for hours he wept and
+prayed, while many prophecies concerning
+the Messiah came to his mind, and
+at length the conviction came that Jesus
+was the Christ, that He was his Saviour,
+and that God had forgiven him for the
+sake of His beloved Son.</p>
+
+<p>He hastened to tell his wife of his
+newly-found joy, but it only enraged her,
+and leaving home, she went to her
+parents' house, who forbade her to have
+any further intercourse with her husband,
+and took the two children under
+their care. So true is it still that a Jew
+must be prepared to forsake all when he
+follows Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>He went away with a sad heart on his
+next commission, but regularly wrote to
+his wife, praying that she might read at
+least one of his letters. For fifty-three
+days each one was destroyed unopened,
+but one night their daughter dreamed
+that she saw her father die, and next
+morning she determined to take his letter
+in and read it. She did so, and after
+a while showed it to her mother, who,
+having secretly read it again and again,
+was overcome with strange new feelings,
+and she also was led to trust in that
+long-despised but now precious name&mdash;Jesus,
+the Son of God.</p>
+
+<p>Husband and wife were now united in
+the Lord, and their daughter also became
+a new creature. Their son, however,
+long refused even to acknowledge
+either of his parents, and his mother
+died without seeing or hearing from
+him, but it is hoped that her prayers for
+him may be answered. Mrs. Rossvally's
+end was peaceful and happy. Some
+friends sang, "Jesus, Lover of my soul,"
+and when they reached the line, "Thou,
+O Christ, art all I want," she said, "Yes,
+this is all I want! Come, blessed Jesus,
+and take me home!" and so she "fell
+asleep."</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Rossvally still lives, and like a well-known
+ancient trophy of divine grace,
+preaches the faith he once laboured to
+destroy, and "Christ and Him crucified"
+is his hope and joy.</p>
+
+<p>Dear reader, whoever you may be,
+may you reflect upon the fact that there
+is salvation in none other than the
+Lamb of God, who died to put sin away,
+and ever lives to save all who come unto
+God by Him. And may His Holy Spirit
+impress the truth upon your heart, "He
+that believeth on the Son of God hath
+everlasting life, but he that believeth not
+the Son shall not see life, but the wrath
+of God abideth on him" (John iii. 36).&mdash;<i>From
+a Tract, published at Leeds
+by Dr. M. L. Rossvally, a converted
+Jew.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">A worthy</span> Quaker thus wrote:&mdash;"I
+expect to pass through this world but
+once; if, therefore, there be any kindness
+I can show, or any good thing
+I can do to any fellow human being,
+let me do it now. Let me not defer or
+neglect it, for I shall not pass this way
+again."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p>
+<h2>MR. EDISON'S PHONOGRAPH.</h2>
+
+<h3><i>To the Editor of The Times.</i></h3>
+
+
+<p>Sir,&mdash;At two o'clock this afternoon,
+at the address below, I
+had the honour to receive from
+Mr. Edison his "perfected phonograph,"
+which, on the authority of Mr.
+Edison's own statement, in his own
+familiar voice, communicated to me by
+the phonograph itself, "is the first
+instrument of his latest model that has
+been seen outside of his laboratory, or
+has left his hands," and is consequently
+the first to reach this country.</p>
+
+<p>At five minutes past two o'clock
+precisely, I and my family were enjoying
+the at once unprecedented and astounding
+experience of listening to Mr.
+Edison's own familiar and unmistakable
+tones here in England&mdash;more than
+three thousand miles from the place
+where he had spoken, and exactly ten
+days after, the voice having meanwhile
+voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean.</p>
+
+<p>"His first phonogram," as Mr. Edison
+calls it, tells me, among other
+things, that this instrument contains
+many modifications of those which, a
+few weeks ago, were exhibited at the
+Electrical Club in New York, and so
+widely reported by the Press.</p>
+
+<p>In the several long phonogramic communications
+to me (no single word of
+which had to be repeated in order to
+be clearly and easily understood by
+every person present, including a child
+of seven years old), Mr. Edison mentions
+that he will send me phonograms by
+every mail leaving New York, and requests
+me to correspond with him exclusively
+through the medium of the
+phonograph, humorously remarking in
+this connection upon the advantages he
+will himself derive from the substitution
+of phonograms for a style of writing not
+always too legible.</p>
+
+<p>Next to the phonogram from Mr.
+Edison himself, and before all the remainder
+of the deeply interesting contents
+of the "phonogramic cabinet"
+sent me, is an exquisite poem entitled,
+"The Phonograph's Salutation," composed
+by the well-known and gifted
+American poet and preacher, Horatio
+Nelson Powers, D.D., of Piermont, on
+the Hudson. This poem makes the
+phonograph tell its own story of what it
+is and what it does, in a style and with
+a power that must add not a little to the
+already high reputation of its author.
+It was spoken by him into the phonograph,
+so that we cannot fail to read it
+as he would have it read&mdash;a privilege
+of no small importance to both the poet
+and those who hear him.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the highest justification of
+the phonograph's description of its own
+power in its "Salutation" is found in
+the fact that to several members of my
+family who are familiar with the Doctor's
+style of oratory, from having sat under
+his preaching in former years, the voice
+of the author is perfectly recognizable,
+even by my youngest child of seven
+years, who had not heard the voice
+since he was five years old.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the above, Mr. Edison has
+sent for our amusement numerous
+musical records of great interest and
+beauty&mdash;pianoforte, cornet, and other
+instruments, solos, duets, &amp;c., many of
+which, he tells me, have been very frequently
+repeated&mdash;some, several hundred
+times.</p>
+
+<p>Altogether, our experiences of the day
+have been so delightful and unusual,
+not to say supernatural, that it makes it
+difficult to realize that we have not been
+dreaming&mdash;so interesting withal as to
+make it seem a duty, as it is a pleasure,
+to communicate the above to your
+widely-read paper, which I have so
+frequently observed to chronicle the
+works of the author of this unparalleled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+triumph of mind over matter. All
+honour to Edison!</p>
+
+<p>I have the honour to be, sir,</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Your obedient servant,<br />
+<span class="smcap">G. E. Gouraud.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><i>Little Menlo, Beulah Hill, Upper
+Norwood, Surrey, June 26th, 1888</i>.</p>
+
+<p>P.S.&mdash;It may be interesting to add
+that the above communication was
+spoken by me into the phonograph, and
+written from the phonograph's dictation
+by a member of my family, who
+had, of course, no previous experience
+of the instrument.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE HOUSE UPON THE SAND.</h2>
+
+
+<p>"Whilst we were conversing with
+a man named Joachim," says
+a missionary to Syria, "in
+the city of Nazareth, a sudden
+but violent storm arose, and terrific
+peals of thunder rolled over our heads.
+The brow of the hill whereon the city
+was built was every moment gleaming
+as the lightning flashed. The rain fell
+in torrents, and in the course of an hour
+a river flowed past the convent door,
+along what lately was a dry and quiet
+street. In the darkness of the night,
+we heard loud shrieks for help. The
+floods carried away baskets, logs of
+wood, tables, and fruit-stands. At length
+a general alarm was given. Two houses
+built on the sand were undermined by
+the water, and both fell together, while
+the people in them escaped with difficulty.
+It was impossible not to pity
+these poor, houseless creatures, and, at
+the same time, to thank God we were in
+a secure building."</p>
+
+<p>The power and meaning of these words
+spoken by our Lord was thus made plain&mdash;"Therefore
+whosoever heareth these
+sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will
+liken him unto a wise man, which built
+his house upon a rock; and the rain
+descended, and the floods came, and the
+winds blew, and beat upon that house;
+and it fell not: for it was founded upon
+a rock."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>UNSEEN PROTECTION.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A lady was wakened up one
+morning by a strange noise of
+pecking at the window, and when
+she got up, she saw a butterfly flying
+backwards and forwards inside the window
+in a great fright, because outside
+there was a sparrow pecking at the
+glass, wanting to reach the butterfly.
+The butterfly did not see the glass, but
+it saw the sparrow, and evidently expected
+every moment to be caught.
+Neither did the sparrow see the glass,
+though it saw the butterfly, and made
+sure of catching it. Yet, all the while,
+the butterfly, because of that thin, invisible
+sheet of glass, was actually as
+safe as if it had been miles away from
+the sparrow.</p>
+
+<p>Poor, fearful child of God, it is when
+our Protector is out of sight that our
+hearts fail us. Elisha's servant was in
+great fear when he awoke in the morning,
+and saw the city of Dothan encompassed
+with horses, and chariots, and a
+great host; but when his eyes were
+opened, at the prayer of the prophet, his
+fears vanished, for he beheld the mountain
+full of horses and chariots of fire.
+"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
+whose mind is stayed on Thee, because
+he trusteth in Thee." "The Lord shall
+preserve thy going out and thy coming
+in from this time forth and even for
+evermore."</p>
+
+<p>
+"Though now unseen by outward sense,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Faith sees Him always near;</span><br />
+A Guide, a glory, a defence:<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Then what have you to fear?"</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">&mdash;<i>Waymarks for Pilgrims.</i></span>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p>
+<h2>ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 130.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>The omnipotence of God is, in
+some measure, made known to
+the heart of every individual on
+the face of the earth. We cannot cast
+our eyes around us without seeing, in
+some way or other, the wonderful power
+of God in the creating and ordering of
+all things. Only what God has purposed
+to do will take place; and, on the other
+hand, whatever God has ordered He has
+power to bring to pass, although to us
+such things may seem utterly impossible,
+"but with God all things are possible"
+(Matt. xix. 26). If we look through the
+Bible, the power of God prevails in every
+book, chapter, and verse. Was it not
+with a mighty hand that He brought the
+Israelites up out of Egypt? and their
+enemies, who were much stronger than
+they, when they knew the Lord was on
+Israel's side, feared greatly, and were
+all overthrown and destroyed (Exod. xii.
+33; Joshua x. 2). David, too, realized
+that wonderful power. He says, "But
+I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing
+aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for
+Thou hast been my defence and refuge
+in the day of my trouble" (Psa. lix. 16).
+David was often brought very low (Psa.
+xviii. 4, 5; cxvi. 3), but the Lord did
+not suffer him to despair, for he was one
+of His most precious jewels. Job, too,
+felt, in a remarkable way, during his
+affliction, the power of the Lord, and he
+endeavoured to show and explain it to
+his friends, but he had to finish up by
+saying, "Lo, these are parts of His
+ways, but how little a portion is heard of
+Him!"</p>
+
+<p>The omnipotence of God is so vast
+that it is quite impossible for us to
+fathom it. Look at the history of Jehoshaphat.
+He heard that a great army
+was coming to fight against them, and
+the army of Jehoshaphat, being so small,
+he knew they must be defeated and slain.
+But, in his extremity, he cried unto
+the Lord, saying, "O Lord God of our
+fathers, art not Thou God in heaven?
+and rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms
+of the heathen? and in Thine hand
+is there not power and might, so that
+none is able to withstand Thee?" (2
+Chron. xx. 6.) Was any able to withstand
+the Lord? No! Read the twenty-seventh
+verse&mdash;"Then they returned,
+every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and
+Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to
+go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the
+Lord had made them to rejoice over their
+enemies." Before, they felt condemned
+to die, but now they were released, and
+filled with joy.</p>
+
+<p>Such are the numerous instances in
+which the Lord, in His power, has raised
+up the cast down, relieved the oppressed,
+and comforted mourners, and such as
+are of a sad heart.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Agnes Willerton.</span>
+</div>
+<p><i>Corby, Grantham.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>[This is the best answer we have received,
+therefore we give it as embodying
+the secret of the Enigma.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A giant.</p>
+
+<p>One of David's wives.</p>
+
+<p>A disease.</p>
+
+<p>A piece of money.</p>
+
+<p>A prophetess.</p>
+
+<p>A garment worn by the priests.</p>
+
+<p>A judge.</p>
+
+<p>A brother of David.</p>
+
+<p>A king of Judah.</p>
+
+<p>A brook.</p>
+
+<p>A colour.</p>
+
+<p>The name by which the penitent
+Israelites were to address God.</p>
+
+<p>A son of Jacob.</p>
+
+<p>The mother of a friend of Paul's.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />The initials form something which the
+Saviour said.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Harry F. Forfeitt</span><br />
+(Aged 10 years).
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p>
+<h2>ONE "WHOSE HEART THE LORD OPENED."</h2>
+
+
+<p>Carrie Foord, the subject of
+this memoir, was born at Tunbridge,
+in Kent, on 27th September,
+1867. At the age of six years she
+lost her mother, and at eight her father,
+leaving her sister Kate and herself to
+the care of their stepmother, who was
+in every way most kind to them,
+which kindness they returned with
+much affection. It was Mrs. Foord's
+wish to keep a home for them to grow
+up together. Man proposes and God
+disposes. The home had to be given
+up, Kate going to her grandfather's,
+and Carrie, in the providence of God,
+brought to live with us at Hailsham,
+much against her inclination, as she
+neither liked us nor our religion. This
+continued for some time, but</p>
+
+<p>
+"God moves in a mysterious way<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His wonders to perform."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>She was brought, through divine
+grace, to see her state as a sinner in the
+sight of God by hearing the third verse
+of the 666th hymn of Gadsby's Selection
+given out one evening, as she took her
+seat in the chapel. The arrow of conviction
+went home to her heart. Well
+do I remember, on her return, finding
+her alone, and crying. Putting her arms
+round my neck, she said, "What shall I
+do? I am such a sinner! I'm so
+wicked!" although at the time I did
+not know what had caused her distress.</p>
+
+<p>At another time she was much impressed
+by a sermon our dear Pastor,
+Mr. Nunn, preached from Hebrews xiii.
+14&mdash;"For here we have no continuing
+city, but we seek one to come."
+From this time she became an earnest
+seeker, very regular in her attendance
+at the house of God, nothing but duty
+keeping her away. Ultimately she was
+baptized, and became a very useful
+teacher in the Sabbath School, where
+she was much loved.</p>
+
+<p>Early in 1886 she caught a severe
+cold, which settled on her lungs, causing
+the rupture of a blood-vessel. Some
+scattered sayings, spoken at different
+times during her illness, were recorded,
+of which the following are a few:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I do wish he did not think so
+well of me, and call me good!" alluding
+to a remark of a very dear friend. "He
+does not know how wicked I am, or he
+would never say I was good. What a
+mercy I was ever brought here, under
+the sound of the Gospel! But then, God
+is not confined to places, is He, auntie?
+If I am His child, He would be sure to
+reveal Himself to me, in His own good
+time; but I do thank Him for bringing
+me here. My dear uncle, how kind he
+is! How earnestly he has prayed for me,
+and our dear Pastor too! I believe their
+prayers have been answered. What a
+mercy!"</p>
+
+<p>After a bad fit of bleeding, I said,
+"Did you think, dear, you should die,
+when bringing up the blood?" She
+said, "No, auntie; I never once thought
+I should." Our hopes were raised as
+she got better so quickly, and we thought
+it might have been only a lodgment.
+She frequently said, "I don't mind if it
+is not my lungs." But when she grew
+rapidly worse, and we called in another
+doctor, he only confirmed what our own
+doctor had said&mdash;that her case was
+hopeless. After they were gone, she
+said, "What did they say, auntie?" I
+told her it was the lung. She very quietly
+remarked, "People often live a long
+time with their right lung gone, don't
+they?" I said, "Yes," not having the
+heart to tell her, in her case, it would
+not be long.</p>
+
+<p>One day, turning over the leaves of a
+hymn-book, I came to the one on the
+safety of believers, which I read. The
+first verse is&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"There is a safe and secret place,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Beneath the wings divine,</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>Reserved for all the heirs of grace;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh, be that refuge mine!"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>She said, "I do like that hymn so much,
+auntie. I have had such sweet times in
+my little room. Often when you have
+sent me up to study for my class, I have
+had such sweet enjoyment that I could
+not study."</p>
+
+<p>On awaking one night, she said, "Oh,
+auntie, I have had some beautiful
+words come with such power, and I keep
+saying them&mdash;'Thou art Mine, as the
+apple of Mine eye.'" I said, "You
+could not have a more precious portion.
+That will do to go to sleep on, won't it?"
+She said, "Oh, yes!" and soon fell into
+a peaceful slumber.</p>
+
+<p>One night she said, "Auntie, do you
+ever feel your prayers to be very formal,
+as if it was merely a habit, and no heart
+in it?" I said, "Yes, dear; too often."
+She said, "Do you?" "Oh, yes," I
+said; "I wish I did not."</p>
+
+<p>One morning, going into her room,
+she said to me, "I have had a nice time.
+The sun shone brightly in at the window,
+and those words came, 'So shall the
+Sun of Righteousness arise with healing
+in His wings.'"</p>
+
+<p>One day she said, "I used to cry so
+when I was at Gravesend. Do you
+know what for?" I said, "No; why
+did you?" She said, "Because I was
+coming here. I did dislike coming so,
+and for a long time after I was here I
+would go and pray, as I thought, very
+earnestly that mother would send a
+letter to fetch me away; but that letter
+never came. No, it never came; and
+what a mercy it did not! God knew
+what was best for me. How we can look
+back and say, 'All was for the best.'"</p>
+
+<p>We felt that we should like her to
+know the state of health she was in, but
+felt quite unfit to tell her. During a
+visit, a friend asked her if she wished to
+get better? On referring to me, after
+they were gone, she said, "Is it wrong,
+auntie? Don't you think it is natural
+for me to wish so, who am young?" I
+said, "Yes, dear, quite natural." She
+said, "But I know the Lord will do what
+He thinks best."</p>
+
+<p>Previous to her nineteenth birthday
+(September 27th) she had a return of
+the bleeding, which again confined her
+to her bed for a time. We all felt her
+end might be very near, and would perhaps
+come suddenly by the rupture of
+another blood-vessel; therefore we were
+very anxious she should know what a
+precarious state she was in. It was,
+therefore, quite a relief when she said
+one day, "Auntie, I did not think at one
+time I should be alive now. I did not
+think I should live to see my birthday."
+I said, "I am very glad to hear you say
+this. I quite thought you were under
+the impression you would get better.
+What were your feelings when you
+thought this?" "Oh," she said, "I
+felt I could leave it all in the Lord's
+hands. He would do what was best."
+There was a sweet resignation to His
+will at this time; but, after a little while,
+her bodily strength increasing, she was
+gradually buoyed up with a hope that
+she might get better. Knowing from the
+faithfulness of our doctor that her case
+was hopeless, we could not participate
+in that hope. She was most honest in
+her principles, and could not bear to
+deceive any one.</p>
+
+<p>One day, as we were sitting alone, she
+said, "Oh, auntie, you never thought I
+could deceive you or uncle, did you?
+But I did." I said, "I am glad you
+have spoken of this, dear, although I
+think in your case it was different from
+many" (knowing that what she alluded to
+was a private matter). "At any rate, you
+have our pardon." She said, "What
+stings of conscience I have had through
+it! It has quite taken away any feeling
+of pleasure I may have had; and yet my
+will was so strong to have my own way,
+I could not give it up.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> I have not deceived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+you in anything else, auntie. You
+believe me, don't you?" I said, "Indeed
+I do."</p>
+
+<p>A very dear friend calling to see her
+one afternoon, who had not seen her
+since she was called by divine grace,
+said in the course of conversation,
+"Well, my dear, there are times and
+seasons, I have no doubt, when you can
+say you would not have it otherwise, but
+that it was good for you to be afflicted?"
+She turned very red, paused, then said
+with her usual candour, "I cannot say
+that, Miss G&mdash;&mdash;." After her departure,
+she said, "Auntie, I wish to be submissive
+to the will of the Lord, but I felt I
+could not say that I have ever had a
+time when I would not have it otherwise."</p>
+
+<p>A friend calling one evening, spoke in
+a very solemn manner of those who had
+a false enjoyment, and put some close
+questions to her. She said little, but
+after he was gone seemed much put out,
+and said, "I know I cannot talk like
+those he visits. I expect he thinks there
+is nothing in me. What do you say,
+auntie?" I said, "He was certainly
+very searching, my dear, but I don't
+think you understood him. He is so
+afraid of any one resting on a wrong
+foundation, and knowing what a very
+delicate state of health you were in, he
+was anxious to know if you were resting
+on Christ, and Christ alone, for salvation."
+"Well," she said, "I felt dumb.
+I expect he thinks very badly of me."</p>
+
+<p>Her strength seemed to go daily. As
+Christmas drew near, she said, "Auntie,
+let everything go on the same as it has
+done other years. Make no difference
+for me. Invite your friends for the day
+as usual." But we felt it a very solemn
+time, and hard work to put on the appearance
+of cheerfulness, feeling sure,
+ere another Christmas came, her place
+would be vacant, and she in eternity.</p>
+
+<p>Her dear little cousin was a great
+sufferer at times all through her illness,
+and it became apparent that she, too,
+was fast hastening home. I said to
+Carrie one day, "I used to feel, dear,
+that I should have you to leave to see
+after our dear Flo, if we were taken,
+but it seems the Lord's will to take you,
+and I sometimes think she won't be
+long." She answered, "No, I don't
+think she will; but she will be safe whenever
+she goes."</p>
+
+<p>We could have but few quiet times
+together after this, through the serious
+illness and death of her dear cousin, but
+she was wonderfully buoyed up at this
+time with the assurance that nothing
+was too hard for the Lord, and apparently
+rested upon it, for when I was
+alluding to her sad state of health, she
+said, "I know I am beyond the power
+of earthly physicians to cure, auntie;
+but, you know, nothing is too hard for
+the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>After the death of her cousin, she was
+most anxious to have her mourning
+made, which we felt sorry for, as it
+seemed such a clinging to life; but we
+found it was only a natural desire to
+show her love for her dear little cousin.
+At any rate, the wish gradually left her,
+and all things of an earthly nature lost
+their charm.</p>
+
+<p>One day she said, "I have no wish to
+join in anything now. I don't feel to
+want to go and witness anything. That
+is a blessing the Lord only can give,
+isn't it?" I said, "Yes," knowing
+what great delight she used to take in
+many things, and how active she had
+been, especially in anything connected
+with the chapel or Sabbath School.</p>
+
+<p>After this darkness set in. The Word
+of God was as a sealed Book, and she
+had no spiritual enjoyment, which she
+much deplored; also, the visits of our
+dear Pastor and her uncle failed to give
+any comfort.</p>
+
+<p>One day, after a doze in the easy
+chair, she said, "Was it not strange?
+It seemed as if, when I was sleeping, a
+little boy came to me, and said, 'The
+Lord hath not forgotten thee, so live in
+peace.' It did seem so strange to see
+the little boy come up and say this.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+What do you think of it?" I said, "I
+cannot tell."</p>
+
+<p>She grew rapidly worse, and our dear
+nurse thought it advisable to ask the
+doctor to call, as he had not been for a
+few days. He came, and said she might
+be gone in twenty-four hours, or might
+linger a few days, but the beginning of
+the end had taken place. Our dear
+Pastor went and spoke a few words to
+her ere he left, and said, "Ah! dear, it
+is well with you," and other words of
+comfort. But after he was gone she
+was much cast down, and said, "Oh,
+why did he say that? I don't feel it
+will be well." Then, after a little while,
+she said, "Do you think I am much
+worse?" "Yes, dear," I replied. "Do
+you think I shall die?" I said, "I fear
+you will." Then she said, "Oh, auntie,
+what trouble I am in! I fear I have
+deceived you and myself, and that I
+shall go to hell." I replied, "But, my
+dear, you have had some sweet promises
+applied with power, haven't you?"
+"Oh, I've thought so, but if I have been
+deceiving myself?" I said, "You have
+had a desire after these things, have
+you not?" "Oh, yes!" she replied.
+"Then," I said, "I feel assured, my
+dear, you would not have had a real
+desire if you were a deceiver." She
+said, "Auntie, what shall I do? I feel I
+can't die like this; but I can't do anything,
+can I?" Wringing her hands in
+agony of mind, she cried, "Do, please,
+Lord, come! Do come! Oh, dear Lord
+Jesus, do please come!" She continued
+in much distress, until I felt quite unequal
+to talk to her, and said, "My
+dear, shall I send for some one?" She
+replied, "Oh, no, auntie; don't send for
+any one. The Lord must do it all"
+(laying great stress on the <i>all</i>); "but do
+pray for me, that He will appear." Her
+distress of mind was very great. No
+words or texts of Scripture named gave
+her any comfort. I left the room for a
+short time, leaving her in the care of
+our dear nurse (of whom she was very
+fond), and on my return, found she had
+had a nice sleep. Going up to her, she
+said, "How can I thank you enough?"
+I said, "Don't say a word about that,
+dear. My earnest desire is, that you
+may get a word from the Lord." Her
+countenance looked so placid, and she
+said, "I have, auntie." I said, "Is
+Jesus precious to you as your Saviour?
+Can you trust Him?" She replied,
+"Yes. These words came&mdash;'Fear not; I
+will be with you,' and I think He will.
+Yes, His promises stand good. 'He'll
+never, no, never, no, never forsake.'"
+She then dozed again. I saw her lips
+moving, and caught the words, "With
+Christ in the vessel I smile at the storm,"
+having evidently been repeating that
+beautiful hymn of Newton's, "Begone
+unbelief, my Saviour is near."</p>
+
+<p>After this she had a little time of
+peace. The next morning, on being
+asked if the Lord had again given her
+comfort, "Yes," she said; "He has
+promised that, when through fiery trials
+He'll cause me to go, He will be with
+me."</p>
+
+<p>Darkness again took possession of
+her mind, and she was often saying,
+"Oh, to be a castaway!" She said she
+would like her uncle to come, which he
+did. On his approaching the bed, she
+said, "Oh, uncle, what will become of
+me if I am a deceiver? I shall be lost!"
+He took her hand, and said, "Jesus
+came to save the lost, so you see, dear,
+you are one. 'The whole need not a physician,
+but those who are sick.'" After
+a few words, he engaged in prayer. She
+then dozed, and was never again so
+harassed by the enemy of souls.</p>
+
+<p>On Friday morning she was much
+favoured with the Lord's presence, and
+longed to "depart and be with Christ,"
+saying repeatedly, "Do, dear Lord
+Jesus, take me to-day! I do so want
+to go!" I said, "We must wait His
+time." "Yes," she replied&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Till He bids, I cannot die;<br />
+Not a single shaft can hit<br />
+Till the God of love sees fit."
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>Her throat and breathing at this time
+were very bad, and she asked the doctor
+when he came if he could relieve her at
+all. He said he was afraid he could
+not, but it would not be long. After he
+was gone she again said, "I do so hope
+the Lord will take me to-day. Do come,
+Lord Jesus; do come! Oh, how I long
+to go! What a glorious meeting it will
+be for me, if I am right!" Then clasping
+her dear hands together, she said,
+with such a sweet smile as nurse and I
+shall never forget, "Oh, blissful home!
+What a glorious meeting! I shall see
+Christ in all His beauty!"</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon her breathing altered,
+and she seemed gently passing away.
+Looking up so sweetly, she said, "Am I
+dying, auntie?" I answered, "Yes,
+dear; it won't be long now. You want to
+go, don't you?" "Oh, yes," she replied.
+Her difficulty of breathing returned, and
+she suffered much through the night.
+In the morning she said, "You thought
+me dying yesterday, and the doctor
+too; but the dear Lord did not, did
+He? It was not His time." She continued
+very ill through the day&mdash;scarcely
+able to speak. Towards night she
+slightly rallied, and looking up at the
+clock, said, "Oh, the night!" She had
+often during her illness dreaded the
+nights. I said, "You know that beautiful
+hymn, dear&mdash;'Sun of my soul'?"
+She took it up, and said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">"Thou Saviour dear,</span><br />
+It is not night if Thou be near;<br />
+Oh, may no earth-born cloud arise,<br />
+To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes,"<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>after which she did not say any more
+about the night.</p>
+
+<p>Her dear Pastor and others bade her
+"good-bye," but her breathing was too
+bad for her to speak, until about two
+o'clock, when she startled the dear
+friend who was sitting up and myself
+by turning round, calmly putting her
+hand in mine, and, with a kiss, said,
+"Good-bye." Then turning to Mrs.
+T&mdash;&mdash;, she did the same to her, and then
+very quietly remarked, "You don't hear
+it now, auntie?"&mdash;alluding to the rattles.
+I said, "No; the conflict will soon be
+over, darling." Still, it was not yet
+ended&mdash;not until a quarter to four on
+the 8th of May, 1887, was her soul permitted
+to "depart and be with Christ,"
+whom she had longed to see in all His
+beauty.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LITTLE BY LITTLE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+One step and then another,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the longest walk is ended;</span><br />
+One stitch and then another,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the largest rent is mended;</span><br />
+One brick upon another,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the highest wall is made;</span><br />
+One flake upon another,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the deepest snow is laid.</span><br />
+<br />
+So the little coral-workers,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By their slow but constant motion,</span><br />
+Have built those pretty islands<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In the distant, dark blue ocean;</span><br />
+And the noblest undertakings<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Man's wisdom hath conceived,</span><br />
+By oft-repeated efforts<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Have been patiently achieved.</span><br />
+<br />
+Then do not look disheartened<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">O'er the work you have to do,</span><br />
+And say that such a mighty task<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">You never can get through;</span><br />
+But just endeavour, day by day,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Another point to gain,</span><br />
+And soon the mountain which you feared<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Will prove to be a plain.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Rome was not builded in a day,"<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The ancient proverb teaches;</span><br />
+And Nature, by her trees and flowers,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The same sweet sermon preaches.</span><br />
+Think not of far-off duties,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But of duties which are near;</span><br />
+And having once begun to work,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Resolve to persevere.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">C. Swain.</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p>
+<h2>FLYING FOXES.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Among the many anomalies presented
+by Nature, that of a flying
+mammal has seemed strikingly
+incongruous, and has always left an impression
+on the popular mind generally
+the reverse of the truth. The fox-bats
+are an example in point. Superstition
+has gathered about these strange creatures
+the wildest fears; and their uncouth
+and weird looks have strengthened a
+foolish credence in the stories of the
+vampire. They, it was declared, settled
+at night upon the wearied sleeper, and
+sucked his life-blood, or with a malicious
+bite involved the souls of the virtuous
+in the terrors of their own lost estate.</p>
+
+<p>The examinations of the naturalist
+long ago put to flight these romantic
+tales; but in their haunts, among the
+woods of Southern Asia, in Africa,
+Australia, Java, and Sumatra, their black
+swarms and flying movements yet cause
+dread and disgust.</p>
+
+<p>The flying foxes are ranged under the
+order of the <i>Cheiroptera</i>, or hand-winged
+mammals, and are grouped together
+in the sub-section of the fruit-eating
+bats, as distinguished from those
+feeding mostly upon insects.</p>
+
+<p>Their depredations upon orchards and
+vineyards are notorious. Sailing through
+the air at sundown, and guided by an
+acute sense of smell, they will enter the
+plantations containing some plant upon
+which the fruit has reached maturity,
+and, covering it in crowds, will revel in
+the delicious repast, leaving the tree or
+vine at dawn stripped of all its precious
+wealth. They fly rapidly, but never at
+any great height, and sometimes will
+traverse considerable spaces, migrating
+from island to island over intervening
+arms of the ocean. On the ground they
+are agile and curiously active. They
+climb trees with ease, and during the
+day hang by their hind limbs, their wing
+membrane wrapped around them, from
+the loftier boughs. So densely are they
+sometimes congregated that the tree
+seems a solid mass of black, motionless
+bags.</p>
+
+<p>The species is distributed over East
+India, and finds also a favourable habitation
+in Madagascar. It lives in immense
+colonies, and its swarms have been compared
+with those of gnats, while the
+branches they infest sometimes break
+down with their great weight. They
+feed on dates, bananas, the guava fruit,
+and also eat insects, the young and eggs
+of birds, and apparently at times snakes.
+Their flesh is edible, and esteemed immensely
+by natives, who catch them in
+nets in the trees, and kill them on the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>In flight, they can be brought down by
+a blow delivered on the expanded arms,
+covered with the flying membrane (patagium),
+as these are very weak.</p>
+
+<p>This species is seen more often in captivity
+than any other; and Brehm, from
+whose admirable Thierleben these notes
+are taken, speaks with characteristic
+enthusiasm of his observations made
+upon one. The "fox" slept nearly all
+day, though regularly he devoted some
+time to the cleansing and preparation of
+his "flying machine," and occasionally
+bestirred himself for the enjoyment of a
+cherry or a sip of milk. At the approach
+of night he became restless and excited,
+stretched his wings, and vainly attempted
+to escape. He displayed temper, and
+would bite sharply any one whose familiarities
+he resented. The combats of
+these animals with one another are very
+relentless, and generally terminate with
+the death of one or both contestants.</p>
+
+<p>The head in these bats is long and
+pointed, the ears moderately large, the
+nose without the appendages seen in the
+insectivorous bats, and the jaws armed
+with incisors, canines, and molar teeth.
+They form in their habitat interesting
+spectacles; and their whirring progress
+through the air at night, or the pendent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">&nbsp;</a></span>
+throngs they present by day, alike astonish
+the visitor to Ceylon and India.
+The bats are naturally regarded as one
+of the most distinctly marked groups of
+animals; and among them the flying-foxes
+(<i>Pteropidæ</i>) are easily identified.
+They have long been known in literature,
+and the ancient Herodotus spoke of them
+in Arabia, and said that the inhabitants
+protected themselves against them in
+dresses of leather. Later classic authors
+referred to them, and many naturalists
+have in the East carefully observed their
+habits.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 387px;">
+<img src="images/img184.jpg" width="387" height="500" alt="FLYING FOXES." title="FLYING FOXES." />
+<span class="caption">FLYING FOXES.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>KILLED BY LIGHTNING.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Editor</span>,&mdash;As a warning
+to any of our young friends who, when
+they leave home to take part in the
+battle of life, may be thrown amongst
+revilers and blasphemers, I will relate a
+sad occurrence which took place in the
+next village to this on Monday, June
+25th, 1888.</p>
+
+<p>A club is held in the village of Birdham,
+where this took place, and on the
+evening previous, being the Sabbath
+evening, the stall-keepers, swinging
+boat proprietors, &amp;c., were drinking at
+the village inn, and one of the company,
+a young man of twenty, was swearing
+and flourishing his hands over his head,
+saying he did not care for any one.
+God might strike him blind if He
+liked.</p>
+
+<p>The next day, about noon, a heavy
+thunderstorm burst over the village.
+This young man had gone into the field
+with the horse, a little boy being beside
+him, when a flash of lightning darted
+down, cut his hat to pieces, and left him
+a corpse. One ear was split, and one
+hand and the face were black.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was not long before God dealt
+with this young mocker in a manner
+more awful than he probably expected.
+This was so sad that it impressed many
+with solemn thoughts, and led to the
+following similar sad story being again
+related.</p>
+
+<p>Some years since, in the next village,
+Earnley, a man being accused of taking
+some money, declared that, if he had it,
+he hoped his legs and arms might be
+burned off. A storm arose, the lightning
+darted athwart the heavens, fell on the
+barn wherein he was, burned the barn,
+and his body was afterwards found with
+legs and arms burned off.</p>
+
+<p>This was related to me by a woman
+named Shepherd, now living within a
+short distance of where the barn stood,
+and who saw it on fire.</p>
+
+<p>Still another sad tale. On Sunday
+last, four young men left Bognor for
+Selsey&mdash;a few miles' trip by boat on the
+sea. At Selsey they took too much
+drink, and, on their return, the boat
+capsized, and they were in the water
+for an hour crying for help; but although
+many heard them one and two miles
+away&mdash;it being a still night&mdash;no one
+seems to have known whence the sounds
+came. Thus all four Sabbath-breakers
+perished. One of the poor fellows wore
+the knees of his trousers quite away in
+his attempts to climb on the overturned
+boat.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">A. E. P.
+</div>
+<p><i>Sidlesham.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>P.S.&mdash;Selsey also joins this village.
+I saw the boat rowing towards it about
+half-past four.</p>
+
+<p>["The wages of sin is death."
+Reader, how are you living? How shall
+you die, and where shall you go? Remember
+that all who are out of Christ
+are exposed to the wrath of God, while
+all who, by faith, flee to Him for mercy,
+are saved from the wrath to come. Beware
+of mocking God, of despising His
+Word, and of desecrating His day.
+"The way of transgressors is hard,"
+but "whoso confesseth and forsaketh
+his sin shall find mercy."&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p>The highest visible form of Christian
+life is self-denial for the good of others.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p>
+<h2>AN AGED PILGRIM'S HISTORY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>An aged pilgrim of seventy-two
+years, recently made a pensioner
+of our Society, has lately come
+under our notice, and as an
+example of courageous faith, it may interest
+our readers and others to know
+something of this poor old man.</p>
+
+<p>Having faithfully served our country
+for fourteen years as a soldier in the
+14th Light Dragoons, and having been
+severely wounded during the Crimean
+War, in which he served in all the
+special engagements, he was paid off
+as unfit for further service, receiving a
+pension for only ten years, as he was
+unable to complete the full term of service
+(twenty-one years) which would
+have entitled him to a pension for
+life.</p>
+
+<p>After leaving the army he worked as
+a labourer, whenever he could find employment,
+and was brought to a saving
+knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ
+about twenty years ago, after which he
+was soon engaged in carrying heavy
+loads at Cotton's Wharf, in Tooley
+Street, London.</p>
+
+<p>After seventeen years of this work, he
+one day, unhappily, stumbled whilst
+carrying a load, and fell backwards
+some distance, the back of his head
+being split open. This brought about
+paralysis on the left side, and some two
+years afterwards it resulted in the loss
+of his sight. For three years he has
+been stone blind, and has suffered at
+times most acutely from pain in the
+head; but his indomitable energy, and
+strong faith in his "dear Heavenly
+Father," have kept him from falling to
+the level of a pauper; and rather than
+gravitate to the condition of an inmate
+of one of our Unions, he has bravely endeavoured
+to make a living by playing a
+musical instrument in the streets.</p>
+
+<p>To add to his affliction, his wife, in
+1883, was run over in the streets of
+London, and died in an hospital under
+amputation of both legs. Thus, left
+without relation or friend, this poor
+blind man had to face this cold and unheeding
+world alone; and yet he is
+never alone, for his faith is so bright
+that he goes out, walking long distances,
+trusting to God to preserve him
+in his way.</p>
+
+<p>On one occasion, he was taken by a
+constable before the Lord Mayor of
+London, charged with playing an instrument
+in the streets, and having been
+questioned as to what he did, answered
+that he played a small instrument by
+which to keep himself. The Lord Mayor
+asked him to play a tune, which he accordingly
+did, and he at once took the
+part of this aged pilgrim, gave him five
+shillings, and reprimanded the constable
+for arresting the poor old man, and told
+him to look after those who were doing
+really wrong things in the streets, and
+not to bring poor, helpless men to him
+like that. This poor man, hearing the
+severe words addressed to the constable
+by his lordship, immediately began to
+beg that no punishment might be meted
+out, quietly remarking, "My lord, very
+likely he is a young constable, and has
+not quite learnt his duties. Don't punish
+him; don't punish him." Thus did he
+show the true Christian spirit of love for
+his enemies.</p>
+
+<p>To illustrate the marvellous energy of
+will and courage of heart in this old
+veteran, on one occasion he was badly
+bitten by a ferocious dog, which left a
+terrible wound on his leg. No sooner
+had it got well enough for him to crawl,
+than he walked four miles in awful
+agony to see one of his friends, taking
+four and a half hours over the journey.
+Such men are worthy of our support.</p>
+
+<p>Our readers may ask, "How is it that
+Government does not look after this old
+soldier?" But it is explained when we
+learn that he married "off the strength,"
+<i>i.e.</i>, without leave, and so is now left to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+do the best he can, unaided by his
+country.</p>
+
+<p>From town to town this poor man,
+literally a pilgrim, wanders, seeking the
+"wherewithal" to keep body and soul
+together. Often would he have been
+starved, but for friends whom the good
+Lord has raised up for him in the most
+unexpected ways.</p>
+
+<p>Wherever he goes he carries the
+savour of Christ with him, and boldly
+witnesses for his Saviour, abominating
+the awful language and behaviour which
+he has to put up with in the houses
+where he lodges for the night; and has
+even been pushed and struck because
+he has spoken out against the evil by
+which he was surrounded. Thus actually
+from day to day dependent upon
+his "Father in heaven" for his "daily
+bread," he lives by faith; and thank
+God we know that, not having "his
+portion in this life," there awaits him in
+due time the sweet rest of heaven,
+where he shall be for ever "comforted"
+and owned in his Father's kingdom.&mdash;H.
+J. K., in <i>Quarterly Record of the
+Aged Pilgrims' Friend Society</i>.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A MODEL PRAYER-MEETING.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was a cheerful chapel above
+ground, filled with seats, wide
+enough apart to kneel down between
+them, if one wanted to do
+so, well warmed and well ventilated.</p>
+
+<p>At the time fixed for the meeting,
+first of all came Brother <i>Punctuality</i>.
+His watch and actions are always regulated
+to the minute by the town clock.
+Once he and the minister came together.
+They waited one minute for others who
+came not, and then each prayed, talked,
+and sang. They spent fifteen minutes
+thus, and then left.</p>
+
+<p>On their way home they met the rest
+coming, who said, "Why, are we not to
+have a meeting?" "Oh, <i>we</i> have had
+one," was the reply. That cured all,
+except the most incorrigible, of their
+delay. Some people are chronically
+tardy. You can never change them.
+They are always too late for work, too
+late for dinner, too late for church.
+What a mercy if they are not at last
+among those who come when the door is
+shut! They disturb the devotions of
+others. Not so Brother Punctuality;
+only he has one troublesome fault. When
+the hour is done he opens that inevitable
+hunting-watch of his, and snaps it to
+with such a nervous jerk that it says
+very plainly to all, "Now, shut up and
+go home." This is bad enough in ordinary
+and dull times, but when hearts
+are warm, and prayers are strong, and
+the current of love flows fully, let there
+then at least be a little more latitude.</p>
+
+<p>Congenial with this brother is Brother
+<i>Promptitude</i>. When the leader opens
+the meeting, he is always ready to rise.
+He shudders at these pauses. They are
+to him as ice-cakes clogging the current
+of love, hindering the wheels of prayer.
+Yet he would not rush things. I have
+known him to count <i>seven</i>, the mystic
+number of the Scripture, and then, if no
+one rose to speak or pray, he did. He
+is thus a minute man, ready for action in
+a minute, and hating to lose the minutes.
+Slower natures than his complain that
+he does not give them time to think. No
+matter; they may learn at last not to be
+so slow.</p>
+
+<p>In the other seat sits Brother <i>Brevity</i>.
+He has something to say, and having
+said it he sits down. When some overstocked
+divine or some thin-laid layman
+drags wearily along with a chain of dull
+platitudes, he is very twitchy, wondering
+why people will waste so much good
+breath and use so many poor words in
+saying nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Brother <i>Pointedness</i> deeply sympathises
+with him. He wants to see
+people take good aim at the mark, and
+hit it&mdash;not try to see how near they can
+come and not do it.</p>
+
+<p>Brother <i>Round-the-Circle</i> greatly
+distresses him, who, if he has a fact,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+an incident, or an illustration, has so
+many minor details to dwell upon that
+he smothers the infant-truth under his
+mass of old clothes.&mdash;<i>Selected.</i></p>
+
+<p>[Perhaps this curious sketch may
+yield useful hints to some who read it.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>GENEROSITY AND LOVE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The late Duke of Portland was a
+nobleman who contrived to pass
+through life without much noise,
+but reaped happiness and respect
+in abundance, and, while gratifying
+his taste for rural occupation, conferred
+the most lasting benefits on the country.
+The following, among many stories, is
+told of him:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>The duke discovered that one of his
+tenants, a small farmer, was falling, year
+after year, into arrears of rent. The
+steward wished to know what was to be
+done. The duke rode to the farm, saw
+that it was rapidly deteriorating, and the
+man, who was really an experienced and
+industrious farmer, totally unable to
+manage it, from poverty. In fact, all
+that was on the farm was not enough to
+pay the arrears.</p>
+
+<p>"John," said the duke, as the farmer
+came to meet him, as he rode up to the
+house, "I want to look over the farm a
+little."</p>
+
+<p>As they went along, "Really," said
+he, "everything is in very bad case.
+This won't do. I see you are quite under
+it. All your stock and crops won't pay
+the rent in arrear. I will tell you what
+I must do. I must take the farm into
+my own hands. You shall look after it
+for me, and I will pay you your wages."</p>
+
+<p>Of course, there was no saying nay.
+The poor man bowed assent.</p>
+
+<p>Presently there came a reinforcement
+of stock, then loads of manure, at the
+proper time seed, and wood from the
+plantations for repairing gates and
+buildings. The duke rode over frequently.
+The man exerted himself, and
+seemed really quite relieved from a load
+of care by the change. Things speedily
+assumed a new aspect. The crops and
+stock flourished; fences and out-buildings
+were put into good order. In two
+or three rent-days it was seen by the
+steward's books that the farm was making
+its way. The duke on his next visit
+said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well, John, I think the farm does
+very well now. We will change again.
+You shall once more be tenant, and, as
+you now have your head fairly above
+water, I hope you will be able to keep it
+there."</p>
+
+<p>The duke rode off at his usual rapid
+rate. The man stood in astonishment;
+but a happy fellow he was when, on
+applying to the steward, he found that
+he was actually re-entered as tenant to
+the farm, just as it stood in its restored
+condition. We will venture to say, however,
+that the duke himself was the happier
+man of the two.</p>
+
+<p>He that doeth good enriches his own
+heart with unspeakable blessings.</p>
+
+<p>
+"Better a fountain in the heart<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Than a fountain by the way."</span><br />
+</p>
+<div class="signature">W. H.
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 165.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>"<i>Praise.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cl. 1.</p>
+
+<p>
+P is in Peter, but not in Aaron.<br />
+R is in Pharaoh, but not in Matthew.<br />
+A is in Adam, but not in Moses.<br />
+I is in Israel, but not in Abdon.<br />
+S is in Jesus, but not in Daniel.<br />
+E is in Eden, but not in Spirit.
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Joseph Hugh Willerton</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">(Aged 6 years).</span>
+</p>
+
+<p><i>Corby, Grantham.</i></p>
+
+<p>[A correct answer has also been received
+from Maggie Nunn, aged nine
+years.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p>
+<h2>ZOAR CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL, HAND CROSS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The Sunday School children of
+the above place of worship met
+together for their annual meeting
+on Sunday afternoon, May 20th,
+when our kind friend, Mr. Daw, of
+Hailsham, presided.</p>
+
+<p>The service commenced by our old
+friend, Mr. Izard, giving out Hymn 59,
+Clifton Hymnal, after which Mr. Daw
+commenced by saying, as there were a
+goodly number of friends present, as
+well as children, he would try to make
+it as much like an ordinary service as
+possible. He then read 1 Samuel iii.,
+then engaged in prayer, after which
+Hymn 212 was sung, the last line of the
+chorus being, "What can we give in
+exchange for the soul?"</p>
+
+<p>He said that, when he was about one
+year old in divine things, he thought, if
+that text was written up on his house in
+big letters, so as people could see it as
+they passed by, it would convert them,
+and he actually went out one day to see
+if there was a place where it might be
+put up. That was when he had been
+quickened into life about one year. He
+said he did not feel very old now. He
+remembered asking some little girls if
+they could tell him how old he was, and
+one little girl said thirteen; and he
+thought she was very near right, for he
+felt sure he was not more than fourteen
+now.</p>
+
+<p>He then said he should preach a short
+sermon from 1 Samuel iii., and the last
+clause of the eighth verse&mdash;"And Eli
+perceived that the Lord had called the
+child." He said he had tried to preach
+to children before, but this was to be a
+special trial, so we should see how he
+got on.</p>
+
+<p>He said, in referring to the Lord
+calling Samuel, that his mother Hannah
+was of a sorrowful spirit, and prayed and
+made vows to the Lord that, if He would
+give her a man-child, she would give him
+to the Lord all the days of his life; and
+the Lord granted her request, and she
+called his name Samuel, because she had
+asked him of the Lord. So when Samuel
+was very young, she took him up to the
+temple; and one night, when he lay
+asleep, the Lord called him, and Samuel
+thought it was Eli that called him. But
+Eli said, "I called thee not; go and lie
+down again." But the Lord called him
+the second and third time, then "Eli
+perceived that the Lord had called the
+child."</p>
+
+<p>The Lord called David to be king&mdash;the
+most unlikely one of the lot, for all his
+brothers passed before Samuel first.
+Great, strong men they were, to all appearance&mdash;far
+before David. But no;
+David, the shepherd boy, was chosen to
+be king, for God often "chooses the
+foolish things to confound the wise."</p>
+
+<p>He said he used to be a teacher in the
+Sunday School, and he often wished he
+was one now, for he thought he liked
+talking to children best; and when the
+Lord called him out to preach, one of
+his greatest trials was, to give up the
+Sunday School, for he thought out of his
+class the Lord had called four boys and
+four girls.</p>
+
+<p>Some boys and girls, after they have
+been to a Sunday School a few times,
+will return home and tell a fine tale to
+their mother, and say, "I shall not go
+to that school any more." "Oh, why
+not?" "Because they don't give such
+good treats and prizes as they do at
+other schools." But their mothers never
+ought to encourage that.</p>
+
+<p>He once saw a girl at Polegate Station,
+and he thought, "That girl is going off
+to service." He was sure of it; and
+whenever he saw a girl at the station,
+with a box or two and a parcel, going off
+to service for the first time, he generally
+said to himself, "That girl will have a
+good cry to-night, when she gets into
+bed." So when he saw this girl, he
+thought he would write her a letter; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+he did so&mdash;that being five years ago&mdash;and
+he saw her only last week, when she
+said she had cause to thank him for that
+letter, and he quite hoped that letter
+was the means used by the Lord in calling
+her.</p>
+
+<p>Then he said he wanted to say a word
+to parents and teachers. He did not
+know who he had before him, because
+he did not live in the neighbourhood. If
+he did, he should know more about
+them, and if the children did not come
+to school pretty regularly, he should often
+call on them to know the reason. He
+said he did not wish to offend them, but
+he often thought that parents sent their
+children to school, and never went to
+the house of God themselves.</p>
+
+<p>And as to teachers&mdash;what a self-denying
+work theirs was! If there were
+any that needed sympathy, it was the
+teachers; and if they could not get it
+from the parents, they would draw it
+from some other source, for we read,
+"Cast thy bread upon the waters, for
+thou shalt find it after many days"
+(Eccles. xi. 1).</p>
+
+<p>The children then repeated several
+hymns and passages of Scripture, which
+they had learned for the occasion, after
+which Mr. Daw proceeded to distribute
+the prizes&mdash;which consisted of Bibles,
+hymn-books, and other good books&mdash;those
+receiving the best who had the
+most marks for attendance and good behaviour.
+In presenting a nice Bible to
+a little girl, he made the remark, "I
+have a Bible in my pocket which is not
+quite so good-looking as yours, but I
+prize it beyond any Bibles here, because
+it was given to me by a girl that is now
+in heaven; and there are marks in it,
+against various portions of Scripture,
+which had been blessed to her through
+my ministry." As they came forward to
+receive their prizes, he addressed each
+one in a very affectionate manner. He,
+indeed, had a kind word for all. He also
+wished each one to learn a hymn, which
+he named. After singing another hymn,
+Mr. Daw concluded with prayer.</p>
+
+<p>
+"Am I called, and can it be?<br />
+Has my Saviour chosen me?<br />
+Vilest of the vile am I;<br />
+Can I lift my thoughts so high?"</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">A Reader.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ZION CHAPEL, TROWBRIDGE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The sixtieth anniversary of the
+Sabbath School in connection
+with this place was held on Sunday,
+June 24th. Special sermons were
+preached by Mr. B. C. Turner, of Southport,
+and the scholars sang specially-selected
+hymns in the evening, at which
+service the chapel was crowded.</p>
+
+<p>The text in the morning was Ruth
+iii. 1, and in the evening Mr. Turner
+spoke from Ecclesiastes xi. 6, "In the
+morning sow thy seed, and in the evening
+withhold not thine hand." In discoursing
+from these words, he spoke many
+encouraging words to the teachers and
+parents, and gave good advice to the
+children.</p>
+
+<p>After the sermon, three girls and four
+boys were promoted to the Senior Bible
+Classes, each of whom was presented
+with a handsomely-bound Bible, and Mr.
+Turner spoke a few appropriate words
+to them.</p>
+
+<p>The collections at the two services
+amounted to £15 1s. 3d. The school
+now numbers 240 scholars, forty teachers,
+and two superintendents.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN AUGUST.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Aug.  5. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 1.<br />
+Aug. 12. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 14.<br />
+Aug. 19. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 25.<br />
+Aug. 26. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 18.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">What</span> could Jesus do more than die
+for us? and what can we do less than
+live to Him?</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span></p>
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Parable of the Labourers
+in the Vineyard.</span></h3>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xx. 1-16.)</p>
+
+
+<p>Jesus had left Galilee for the last
+time, and He and His disciples
+were on their way to Jerusalem,
+where He would be condemned to die.
+They had rested in a house on the road,
+and He had embraced and blessed the
+little children that were brought to receive
+His gracious touch. He had been
+met by a rich young man as He resumed
+His journey&mdash;one who wanted eternal
+life, but sorrowfully left the only Giver
+of that blessing because he could not
+bear to give up his wealth to follow the
+meek and lowly Saviour; and as the
+youth turned away, Jesus had said to
+the disciples, "Children, how hard is it
+for them that trust in riches to enter
+into the kingdom of God" (Mark x.
+24). A conversation followed (Matt. xix.),
+in the course of which Peter asked,
+"What reward shall we have, who have
+forsaken all, and followed Thee?" to
+which question the Saviour replied by a
+promise and a parable&mdash;the promise
+that all His followers should gain a hundred-fold
+by their losses for His sake,
+and inherit everlasting life; but He
+added, "Many that are first shall be
+last; and the last shall be first," to
+illustrate which fact, He told them a
+parable. "For the kingdom of heaven
+is like unto a householder, who went out
+early in the morning to hire labourers
+into his vineyard." With those whom
+he first engaged, a penny a day was the
+wages agreed upon, and they went at
+once to work. A penny a day, young
+friends, was not such a little as it seems
+to us. It meant about eightpence halfpenny
+in our money, and would buy a
+great deal more than we can get for
+eightpence halfpenny now. You could
+live, in a careful way, at "an inn" for a
+great deal less than a penny a day;
+and when the good Samaritan took the
+wounded Jew to one of these humble
+places of rest and refreshment, he gave
+the innkeeper "two pence" to take care
+of his guest, and provide for him, and
+promised to pay any more expense
+should it be incurred.</p>
+
+<p>The terms were very fair and liberal
+for a full day's work; but more hands
+were needed, and the master went out
+again at nine o'clock in the morning,
+then at noon, at three in the afternoon,
+and yet again at the eleventh hour, five
+p.m.; and finding still some unemployed,
+he asked, "Why stand ye here
+all the day idle?" "Because," said
+they, "no man hath hired us." "Go
+ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever
+is right, that shall ye receive."
+Such were the terms on which all except
+the earliest labourers were hired.</p>
+
+<p>The working day of twelve hours is
+ended; the men are called to receive
+payment; but, strange to say, the latest
+comers are first called, and each one
+receives the full amount&mdash;one penny.
+The whole-day workers are now dissatisfied.
+They have got all they were
+promised, but why should those latecomers
+have as much as themselves,
+who had been working all the time?
+"Friend," said the good man of the
+house to one of the complainers, "I do
+thee no wrong. Didst thou not agree
+with me for a penny? Is it not lawful
+for me to do what I will with mine own?
+Is thine eye evil, or envious, because I
+am good?" "So," said the Lord Jesus,
+"in My kingdom the last shall be first,
+and the first last." And has not He,
+who is your Lord and Master, a right to
+do what He will with His own?</p>
+
+<p>The disciples were thinking that Jesus
+would reign on earth, and make the Jews
+a free, prosperous nation, and they, as
+His first followers, wanted to be great
+men in His kingdom (see verses 20, 21
+of this chapter). Christ, on the other
+hand, was thinking of a spiritual,
+heavenly kingdom, where He would
+reign for ever, ruling His people's hearts
+by love. In this kingdom God has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+always blessed His servants according
+to His own good pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>Abraham, Isaac, David, and a host
+of others who served the Lord for many
+years, looked forward to dwelling with
+Him in blessedness for ever. The dying
+thief, whose day of life was spent in
+worse than idleness, in the service of
+sin and Satan, received, in answer to his
+earnest prayer, the wonderful assurance,
+"Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt
+thou be with Me in paradise."</p>
+
+<p>Prophets laboured, and Apostles
+reaped the fruit of those labours (John
+iv. 37, 38). John the Baptist was great
+and honoured as the herald of Jesus,
+yet the least one in Christ's kingdom is
+equal with, and in some respects even
+greater, than he (Matt. xi. 11).</p>
+
+<p>The Gentiles, in time past, were not
+a saved people; but now multitudes of
+them have been gathered to Jesus, and
+become the people of God, while the
+Jews (God's ancient people) have to a
+great extent despised the Gospel, and
+been shut out from its blessings; so the
+last have been first, and the first have
+become last.</p>
+
+<p>Among the twelve Apostles, Andrew
+first found Jesus, and brought Peter, his
+brother, to Him; but Peter afterwards
+became far more noted than Andrew,
+especially on the Day of Pentecost, and
+in his Epistles; while Paul, the very last
+of all, the persecutor of Christians, became
+the first and greatest of the apostolic
+witnesses of Jesus. And Paul took
+no credit to himself for this. "Not I,
+but the grace of God which was with
+me," he delighted to say was the cause
+of all the good works done; and when he
+joyfully looked forward to the crown of
+righteousness laid up for him, he gladly
+adds, "and not for me only, but also
+for all them that love His appearing."</p>
+
+<p>This parable is quite different from the
+one in Matthew xxi., where faithful and
+unfaithful servants are contrasted. All
+the labourers in this vineyard worked.
+None are accused of laziness or unfaithfulness.
+None are blamed for the way
+in which their work was done. Those
+who laboured longest were still well
+paid, while the late comers were rewarded
+by sheer generosity. So, in the
+kingdom of God's grace, each favoured
+servant of the Lord "knows in all his
+heart and soul that not one thing has
+failed of all the good things the Lord
+his God promised him." He never gives
+less than He said He would. He often
+gives more than we either ask or think.</p>
+
+<p>Does the end of the day in this parable
+mean the evening of life, or the end
+of the world? And did Jesus represent
+the feelings of some of His people when
+dying, or at the last day? Oh, no! I
+do not for one moment think so. But
+you know we sometimes show a pouting,
+cross little child a picture of one like
+itself, to let it see how ugly it looks;
+and in the same way Jesus, by this
+parable, taught His disciples and us
+that when we are jealous and envious of
+others, we are finding fault with God's
+kindness and bounty.</p>
+
+<p>And let us remember that, whether we
+are rich or poor&mdash;whether our labours in
+Christ's cause seem very successful or
+not&mdash;yet, if we have been called to serve
+Him at all, the highest honour has been
+put upon us. Far better to be employed
+in His vineyard than to be loitering outside;
+infinitely preferable to be "a doorkeeper
+in His house, than to dwell in the
+tents of wickedness." His "ways are
+ways of pleasantness," and "in keeping
+His commandments there is great reward."</p>
+
+<p>May we be His servants, loving and
+faithful, and receive at last that great
+reward which none but Jesus can deserve,
+"the free gift of God, eternal
+life," through Jesus Christ our Lord and
+Saviour; and our song of humble gratitude
+will be, "Not unto us, O Lord, not
+unto us, but unto Thy name be glory,
+for Thy mercy and truth's sake. Amen."</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, <i>Ananias
+and Sapphira</i> (Acts v.).</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Your affectionate friend,<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Contrast the Lesson Taught by
+the Conduct of Solomon and of
+Rehoboam, at the Commencement
+of their Reign.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The chief lesson taught by the
+conduct of Solomon at the commencement
+of his reign is, humility.
+We know this by his choice
+when God asked him, in a dream,
+"What shall I give thee?" He made
+answer that the people he had to rule
+were as the dust of the earth for multitude,
+and that he had no more power to
+act as a king than a child. He therefore
+wished for wisdom to help him to do
+right, and for God to be with him, as He
+had been with his father David.</p>
+
+<p>This incident shows the gracious
+nature of Solomon's character; and the
+reward that God gave him ought to
+make us remember that "he that
+humbleth himself shall be exalted."</p>
+
+<p>With Rehoboam it was different.
+The lesson taught is, that his conduct
+should be shunned by all. Shortly after
+he was made king, those who had lived
+the greater part of Solomon's reign
+came and asked him if he would be kind
+to them, and ease the servitude that his
+father had put upon them. He sought
+to man instead of to God, and chose
+the counsel of foolish young men. After
+the people had been kept waiting three
+days, he told them that he would add to
+the yoke that they formerly had borne,
+and as his father had "chastised them
+with whips," so would he "with scorpions."
+At the time that Rehoboam
+made that rough and haughty answer,
+he probably had forgotten that the majority
+of the people had most power, but
+so it was here, for ten of the twelve
+tribes revolted.</p>
+
+<p>The first lesson taught by Solomon,
+and the second taught by Rehoboam,
+contrast deeply with each other. The
+first, if imitated by every one, would
+work a wonderful change in the world.
+There would be fewer quarrels, fewer
+wars, and, in a word, less sin. The
+second is the cause of many evils with
+which the earth abounds. The former
+the Lord is delighted with; the latter is
+an abomination. If Jesus Christ was
+once "made lower than the angels" for
+our sakes, surely we ought to put away
+all haughtiness, and remember that we
+are on a level with our fellow-creatures
+by creation, and that all who are saved
+are saved by free grace, through faith in
+Christ.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">William Ernest Cray</span><br />
+(Aged 11 years).
+</div>
+<p>
+<i>Pearl Cottage, Carlyle Road,</i><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>Forton, Gosport, Hants.</i></span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>[Good Essays have been received
+from Jane Bell, Laura Creasey, E. B.
+Knocker, Alice Creasey, B. Stroud,
+Annie Judd, Alice Pease, G. A. Osmotherly,
+E. Saunders, M. E. Denly.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of "The Life of George
+Whitfield."</p>
+
+<p>The subject for October will be,
+"Charity," as commended in the Scriptures;
+and the prize to be given for the
+best Essay on that subject, a copy of
+Foxe's "Book of Martyrs." All competitors
+must give a guarantee that
+they are under fifteen years of age, and
+that the Essay is their own composition,
+or the papers will be passed over, as the
+Editor cannot undertake to write for this
+necessary information. Papers must be
+sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull,
+117, High Street, Hastings, by the first
+of September.]</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> cross is the distinct announcement
+to us of that wonderful law, that
+"through much tribulation we must enter
+into the kingdom of heaven." Perfection
+through suffering&mdash;that is the doctrine
+of the cross. There is love in that
+law.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">On</span> July 15th, after two sermons by Mr. Hull,
+at Rochdale Road, Manchester, £44 9s. 5&frac12;d. was
+collected for the Sunday School there.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sale of Pictures.</span>&mdash;The <i>Chester Chronicle</i>
+states authoritatively that Lord Tollemache has
+sold two of his pictures by Sir Joshua Reynolds
+for £15,000 each, and one by Gainsborough for
+£14,000.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> addition to the present from a London
+banker of 10,000 books, a lady in the City has
+sent a van load, about one and a half tons, to the
+Mariners' Mission, Burdett Road, London, E.,
+for free distribution among sailors and others.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Low Rental for Land.</span>&mdash;Eight hundred
+acres of arable land in the Isle of Sheppey, well
+known for its productive nature, have just been
+let to a new tenant at the unprecedentedly low
+price of 1s. 2d. an acre. The tithe on the land
+is 12s. an acre.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">On</span> June 1st, 1883, a toad was placed in a
+cavity hollowed in a large stone, and the opening
+was sealed up with cement. On the 1st of
+June, this year, the stone was broken open, and
+the toad was found alive, and strangely enough,
+it had grown considerably.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Mr. John White</span>, of Nuneaton, Warwickshire,
+erected a highly horrible scarecrow in a
+field. Three weeks afterwards he went to inquire
+after its health, and found that a robin had
+built her nest in one of the pockets, and a tomtit
+had utilized a sleeve for the same purpose.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Maiden Session.</span>&mdash;There were no prisoners
+for trial at Cambridgeshire Quarter Sessions,
+July 13th, 1888. Mr. Sperling, the chairman,
+who was presented with a pair of white gloves,
+said that, during an experience of over thirty
+years, he did not remember a previous maiden
+session.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Dundee sealing steamer <i>Esquimaux</i>
+arrived the other week at St. John's, Newfoundland,
+from seal fishing, with a catch of
+23,000 seals. The <i>Aurora</i>, another Dundee
+vessel, followed, with a cargo of 25,000 seals.
+The seal fishing off the Newfoundland coast has
+this season been a great success.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Artificial Ivory.</span>&mdash;A substance resembling
+ivory of creamy whiteness and great hardness
+is made from good potatoes washed in diluted
+sulphuric acid, then boiled in the same solution
+until they become solid and dense. They are
+then washed free from the acid and slowly
+dried. This ivory can be dyed, and turned, and
+made useful in many ways.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dr. Gordon Stables</span>, the well-known author,
+spends the summer in going about the country
+in a caravan. His handsome home on wheels
+is called "The Wanderer." It is drawn by
+two capital carriage horses, and is fitted in most
+luxurious fashion. He takes a man-servant
+with him, and has a tricycle attached to the
+vehicle. He stops at night by the roadside.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">New Gold Field.</span>&mdash;A rich gold field has been
+discovered between the two rivers, Lava and
+Papanahoni, in Surinam. It is an open question
+whether this district of 20,000 to 25,000 square
+kilometres belongs to France or Holland. M.
+Condreau, the French traveller, who has been
+closely investigating the district, considers that
+it will be as productive as the gold-fields of
+Australia and California.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Mr. George Le Fèvre</span>, of the Huguenot
+Church at Canterbury Cathedral, writes thus&mdash;"A
+large and valuable oil painting of a scene
+in the history of the Huguenots has been presented
+to the French Church. The subject is
+exceedingly appropriate this year, being the
+tercentenary celebration of the defeat of the
+Spanish invasion of England. The picture has
+been hung up in that part of the Crypt known
+as the Chantry of the Black Prince, and has
+been much admired by tourists, who are now
+visiting in considerable numbers."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">By</span> the steamship <i>Oonah</i>, which is the latest
+addition to the fleet of the Tasmanian Steam
+Navigation Company, there arrived at Melbourne
+on Saturday, April 28th, from Tasmania,
+the largest shipment of fruit for the
+London market which has left the Australian
+colonies&mdash;about 13,000 bushels of choice apples.
+The fruit will be transhipped into the cool
+chamber of the P. and O. mail boat <i>Oceana</i>,
+leaving on the 4th of May, and will be followed
+by another shipment by the <i>Britannia</i>, leaving
+on the 18th of May. This, we understand, closes
+the operations of the shippers for this season.
+Should the outcome of these shipments be as
+encouraging as the telegraphic news already
+received seems to indicate, there is every
+prospect of a very large export trade in this
+industry being established. We are informed
+that the parcel now arrived could have been
+very much increased had there been more room
+in the cool chamber of the <i>Oceana</i>. No doubt
+next season all the boats of the P. and O. and
+Orient Companies will make arrangements to
+take fruit, so that shipments can be forwarded
+every week.&mdash;<i>Launceston (Tasmania) Examiner,
+May 2nd.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span><span class="smcap">Further</span> particulars of the floods in Mexico
+show them to have been of a most serious
+character. It is stated that, in the town of
+Silao, where the river overflowed its banks on
+the 18th of June, 1,500 persons perished. At
+Leon, over 2,200 houses were destroyed. In
+some districts it is declared that bodies were
+floating about on the waters as thickly as driftwood.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dread of Comets.</span>&mdash;A story is related showing
+the dread with which comets were regarded
+in the early part of the last century. A renowned
+astronomer predicted that a comet
+would appear on Wednesday, October 14th,
+1712, and that the world would be destroyed by
+fire on the Friday following. The astronomer
+was correct, so far as the comet was concerned.
+A number of persons got into the boats and
+barges on the Thames, thinking the water the
+safest place. A captain of a Dutch ship threw
+all his powder into the river, that his ship
+might not be endangered. A number of clergymen,
+it is said, were ferried over to Lambeth,
+to request that proper prayers might be prepared,
+there being none suitable in the Church
+service. Sir Gilbert Heathcote, at that time
+head director of the Bank, issued orders to all
+the fire offices in London, requiring them to
+keep a good look-out, and to have a particular
+eye on the Bank of England.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Millionaire Inventor.</span>&mdash;We have more
+than once pointed out how simple inventions
+(observes a writer in <i>Invention</i>) often realize
+large sums for the fortunate inventor. Here is
+another illustration. The discovery of the
+perforated substance used for bottoming chairs
+and for other purposes has made its inventor a
+millionaire. George Yeaton, the inventor in
+question, was a poor Yankee cane-seater in
+Vermont. He first distinguished himself by
+inventing a machine for weaving cane, but he
+made no money out of it, as some one stole his
+idea, and had the process patented. After a
+number of years experimenting, Yeaton at last
+hit upon this invention, which consists of a
+number of thin layers of boards of different
+degrees of hardness glued together to give
+pliability. Yeaton went through a number of
+bitterly contested law-suits before he got his
+invention patented. He was wise in not paying
+others to manufacture his device. He formed
+a company, and to-day he has a plant valued at
+half a million dollars, and is in the receipt of a
+princely annual revenue derived from this
+invention.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Fastest Train in the World.</span>&mdash;The
+fastest train in the world is without doubt the
+"Flying Dutchman," which for many years
+has succeeded in knocking off the seventy-eight
+miles between London and Swindon in an hour
+and twenty-seven minutes. This is at the rate
+of fifty-three miles an hour. Exeter is 194 miles
+from Paddington, and is reached in four and a
+quarter hours, or an average pace throughout,
+including stoppages, of forty-five miles and a
+half per hour. The Prince of Wales has
+made some remarkably quick journeys on
+the Great Western. Not very long ago
+the North Western took him from Manchester
+to London in three hours and fifty-five
+minutes, but the Great Western had previously
+beaten this by conveying him from
+London to Swansea (216 miles) in three hours
+and fifty-three minutes, the average speed
+throughout that remarkable journey being
+almost fifty-six miles an hour. English trains
+are much quicker than those of the Continent.
+The speed of the American expresses is from
+thirty-five to forty miles an hour. The Chemin
+de fer du Nord runs its expresses at an average
+of thirty-seven, and the Paris and Mediterranean
+at thirty-four miles an hour. Some
+of the German expresses cover thirty-six miles
+an hour.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Terrible Situation.</span>&mdash;Mr. Ballou, in his
+recent wanderings under the Southern Cross,
+has found one more unpleasant item for reptile
+literature. In Sydney he heard the following
+snake story, the facts of which occurred not
+long before, near the town of Parramatta.
+In the family of a settler, who resided some half
+a league from the town, there was an invalid
+daughter, she being of an extremely nervous
+temperament. She was sleeping, one summer
+afternoon, in a hammock swung between two
+supporting standards in the shade of the piazza,
+when she was suddenly awakened by feeling
+something cold and moist clinging about her
+throat. She put her hand to the spot, and
+clasped the body of a snake just at the back of
+its head, and, with a horrified cry, wrenched
+with all her strength to pull it away. This was
+the first instinctive action of the moment, but
+so great was her terror that she speedily lost
+all consciousness of the situation. Her hand,
+however, still grasped the snake where she had
+first seized upon it, and with such a convulsive
+force that the creature was rendered powerless.
+The cry of the terrified girl brought the father
+from within the house, who instantly came to
+her relief; but in the fit which her fright had
+induced, her hand slowly contracted about the
+creature's throat with a force which she could
+not possibly have exerted when awake, and
+before her fingers were unclasped, by the aid
+of a bit of hammock cord, the reptile was
+completely strangled. Fortunately, the creature
+had not bitten the girl before she seized it,
+and after that it was unable to do so. It is
+said to have been four feet long, and of a
+poisonous species.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 388px;">
+<img src="images/img196.jpg" width="388" height="500" alt="READING THE BIBLE (See page 194.)" title="READING THE BIBLE (See page 194.)" />
+<span class="caption">"I GAVE MYSELF UP TO READING THE BIBLE." (<i>See page 194.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p>
+<h2>LETTER BY A DYING SOLDIER.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">My dear wife</span>,&mdash;Before these
+lines reach you, grim death will
+have swept me off the stage of
+time. No more shalt thou repose in
+these arms; no more shall these eyes
+behold thy lovely person, or gaze with
+delight on thee or my dear infants.</p>
+
+<p>Yesterday we had a bloody and obstinate
+fight, in which we had great numbers
+killed and wounded. I received
+one ball in my leg, another in my breast.
+I am now so weak with the loss of blood
+that I can hardly write these few lines
+as the last tribute of my unchanging
+love to thee. The surgeons inform me
+that three hours will be the utmost I can
+survive. Alas! too true was the dire
+presage in my mind that we should
+never meet again on this side eternity.</p>
+
+<p>On our passage here, I gave myself up
+to reading the Bible, it being the only
+Book I was possessed of. The Almighty
+was pleased to draw my heart to Him by
+the sweet attractions of His grace, and
+at the same time to enlighten my mind.</p>
+
+<p>There is in the regiment a corporal
+who is a Christian. I had no knowledge
+of him till one night when I had been
+earnest in prayer to God to guide me in
+the way of peace. During my sleep I
+dreamed of this same man, and was
+directed to him by name, Samuel Pierce.
+The dream made so strong an impression
+on my mind that the next morning I
+inquired if there was such a person in
+the regiment, and was greatly astonished
+to find him. I told him my dream, with
+which he was much pleased. We soon
+contracted a strong friendship, and he
+was pleased to explain to me the amazing
+love of God in giving His Son Jesus
+Christ to bleed and die for sinners. He
+unfolded to me the mysteries of salvation,
+the nature of the new birth, and the
+great necessity of holiness of heart and
+life. In short, he became my spiritual
+father, and to him, under God, I owe
+much that I am now acquainted with.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after we landed, God was pleased
+to speak peace to my soul. Oh, the
+bliss, the unutterable joy, that I then felt,
+through the blood of the Lamb! How
+I longed to tell the whole world what
+Jesus had done for me! But how did I
+long for thee, my love, to taste and know
+the love of God in Christ Jesus! I
+would have given the world to have been
+with thee, to have told thee of "the pearl
+of great price." And as we shall never
+meet more in this vale of tears, this is my
+dying wish and advice&mdash;read the Bible
+and good books, frequent the preaching
+of the Gospel, and the Lord will guide
+thee in His way. And oh, endeavour to
+bring up the dear little ones in the fear
+of God. Oh, never fix thine heart upon
+the vain and unsubstantial things of
+this world! Heaven and the love of
+God are the only things that demand our
+hearts, or are worthy of engrossing them.
+I have been a worthless husband to
+thee, and a vile rebel against my God.
+"God be merciful to me a sinner!" I
+die in peace. I die in a full assurance
+of eternal glory. A few moments and
+my soul shall be ranged in the "general
+assembly of the Church of the First-born
+who are written in heaven."</p>
+
+<p>And now, my dear infants, the God
+who blessed Jacob and Joseph will
+bless you. Seek Him, and He will be
+found of you. Call upon Him, and He
+will hear and bless you. Learn, then,
+my dear children, when you grow up, to
+seek for permanent happiness in God
+through a crucified Redeemer.</p>
+
+<p>
+"The world recedes, it disappears;<br />
+Heaven opens on my eyes, my ears<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With sounds seraphic ring.</span><br />
+Lend, lend your wings; I mount, I fly!<br />
+'O grave, where is thy victory?<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">O death, where is thy sting?'"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Dear wife, more would I say, but life
+ebbs out apace. Bright angels stand
+around the gory turf on which I lie,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>
+ready to escort me to the arms of Jesus.
+Bending saints reveal my shining crown,
+and beckon me away. Yea, methinks
+my Jesus bids me come. Adieu, adieu!</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">John Randon.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A HOPEFUL CASE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Being called to preach the Word
+in a parish where there is no resident
+minister, it frequently falls
+to my lot to visit those who are afflicted.</p>
+
+<p>A singular instance, both of ignorance
+and mercy, appeared in the character of
+a person almost unknown to me till the
+following circumstance took place.</p>
+
+<p>A poor woman, about the middle of
+August last, was taken very ill with
+pleurisy, and was much alarmed. This
+being the Sabbath evening, she sent for
+one of the people who usually attend my
+preaching to come and read with her.
+He accordingly went, and she was much
+pleased with what he read. Before he
+left her, she solicited him to ask me to
+come and see her. Being out preaching,
+upon my return home I met this person,
+who told me the request of the poor
+woman. I immediately went, and found
+her in a helpless, miserable state, both
+as to body and soul. Her husband being
+gone to harvest, she was left without
+money to procure any of the comforts of
+life. The marks of poverty appeared in
+every part of the habitation, and the
+poor creature laid stretched out upon a
+bed of sorrow, being in a languishing
+state through the violence of the fever.</p>
+
+<p>After condoling with her for a few
+minutes upon her external situation, I
+began to converse with her pretty freely
+upon the more important affairs belonging
+to her never-dying soul. The first
+topic of conversation was upon man as
+a sinful creature, and the enmity of the
+heart in the unconverted. I endeavoured
+to show that, although some might be
+a little more refined as to gross acts of
+immorality, yet by nature we "are all
+the children of wrath even as others."
+I next spoke of salvation by Jesus
+Christ, that it was all of grace.</p>
+
+<p>The woman listened to every word I
+uttered. The tears began to trickle
+down her cheeks, and at last she said,
+"I know nothing of the Man of whom
+you have been speaking," immediately
+adding, "I was never brought up in the
+way of religion&mdash;never taught to know a
+letter of a book, nor yet attend any place
+of worship." After I had engaged in
+prayer with her, I left her.</p>
+
+<p>The next day I made her another visit,
+and found the fever increased, the cough
+very troublesome, and the pain in her
+side very acute. I began to discourse
+upon the suitableness, the ability, and
+willingness of Jesus to save perishing
+sinners, and then she put this question&mdash;"And
+do you think, sir, He will save such
+a wretch as I am?" I observed, "The
+promise runs thus, 'Him that cometh
+unto Me I will in no wise cast out,'" &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>Her knowledge of divine things rapidly
+increased, and her earnest devotions
+seemed now to be the perpetual breathings
+of her soul.</p>
+
+<p>The third visit I made her, she lamented
+her former state of ignorance
+and sin, and expressed great fears lest
+her sins should be too enormous to be
+forgiven.</p>
+
+<p>The poor woman continued in this
+state about six weeks, soliciting the
+company of all Christian friends to converse
+and pray with her.</p>
+
+<p>The last visit I made to her produced
+a very affecting scene, both to her and
+me. I talked to her as one actually
+dying, and prayed for her as one who
+must soon appear before the Judge of all
+the earth. While I was engaged in
+prayer, she repeated the words after me
+in the most affecting manner, and after
+I had finished supplicating the Father of
+mercies, she added, "Oh, Lord, hear!
+Oh, Lord, forgive such a wretch as I
+am!" A few hours after this, she
+breathed her last, without either sigh or
+groan.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Of late years we have had in
+Britain almost a surfeit of exhibitions,
+of one sort or another, chief
+among which have been the splendid
+series which so many witnessed at South
+Kensington, and which have given to
+many of the inhabitants of these isles a
+far better ideal of the empire's resources
+than otherwise they would have had, besides
+having contributed not a little to
+the stimulation of commerce, while furnishing
+agreeable entertainment to the
+sightseer. That the day of the exhibition,
+as we understand the word, as an
+educational and profit-raising medium,
+is not yet gone, is proved by the holding
+of the Irish, Italian, and Anglo-Danish
+Exhibitions in London this year, and the
+popularity of the more general display
+at Glasgow, not to speak of minor shows
+which have found favour elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>The forerunner of all these magnificent
+spectacles was the Great Exhibition of
+1851, held in Hyde Park, on the initiative
+of the late Prince Consort, who borrowed
+the idea from the State-supported Expositions
+at Paris. The Prince proposed
+that an exhibition of colossal proportions
+should be held in London, in a building
+specially designed for the purpose, and
+that it should be open to competitors
+from all nations, so as to form a veritable
+"world's fair." The scheme was entered
+into with alacrity by the public. All
+sorts of representative men cordially
+supported the Prince. A big banquet
+was given by the Lord Mayor of London
+in the Mansion House, on March 21st,
+1850, to the municipal magnates of the
+kingdom, at which the success of the
+undertaking was practically assured;
+and later on a similar feast was given in
+the ancient city of York, at which the
+Prince again eloquently and effectively
+pleaded for the accomplishment of the
+task to which he had set his hand. A
+Royal Commission was appointed to
+manage the undertaking. Hyde Park
+was fixed upon as the most appropriate
+site for the building, and Sir Joseph
+Paxton, though not an architect, was
+honoured with instructions to design
+the fabric&mdash;that magnificent Crystal
+Palace, which was subsequently removed
+to a permanent and commanding
+position at Sydenham, and which is
+familiar to every London resident and
+visitor. It was formed chiefly of iron
+and glass, being 1,848 feet long, 408 feet
+broad, and 66 feet high; crossed by a
+transept 108 feet high, and also 408 feet
+in length, for the purpose of enclosing
+and encasing a group of noble elms.
+Within, the nave presented a clear, unobstructive
+avenue, from one end of the
+building to the other, 72 feet in span, and
+64 feet in height. The wings, exterior to
+the centre or nave on each side, had
+also galleries the same height, the wings
+themselves being broken up into a series
+of courts each 48 feet wide. The number
+of columns used in the entire edifice was
+3,230. There were 34 miles of gutter for
+carrying off the rain-water to the columns,
+which were hollow, and served as water-pipes;
+202 miles of sash-bars, and
+900,000 superficial feet of glass, weighing
+upwards of 400 tons. The building
+covered about 18 acres of ground, and,
+with the galleries, gave an exhibition
+surface of 21 acres, with eight miles of
+tables for laying out goods. The building
+cost £176,000; and though the plan
+was not accepted until the 26th of July,
+and the first column not fixed until two
+months later, the edifice was virtually
+completed by the 1st of the following
+January, on which date it was delivered
+over to the Exhibition Commissioners to
+be fitted up for its destined purpose.
+The Crystal Palace excited universal
+admiration for its wonderful combination
+of vastness and beauty, and when it was
+fully furnished, and opened to the public,
+on the 1st of May, 1851, the visitor felt
+as if he had entered a fairy-like scene<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+of enchantment, a gathering-ground of
+grace, brightness, and delight.</p>
+
+<p>It was a splendid sunny morning, and
+the assembled multitude was brilliant
+in the extreme. The Queen, accompanied
+by the Prince Consort, walked in
+procession through the immense aggregation
+of treasures, followed by an
+imposing array of eminent British and
+foreign notabilities. It has been truly
+said that within the giant palace of
+glass were then massed representatives
+of all the people and productions of the
+earth&mdash;a grand presentment of wealth,
+intelligence, and enterprise. There were
+over 17,000 exhibitors, some 3,000 of
+whom received medals of merit. The
+Exhibition remained open until the 15th
+of October, altogether 144 days, during
+which it was visited by 6,170,000 persons.
+The greatest number present in
+any one day was 109,760, on October
+8th. On one occasion 93,000 were within
+the palace at the same moment, which
+surpassed, it is said, in magnitude, any
+number ever assembled together under
+one roof in the world's history. The
+charges of admission to the Great Exhibition
+were practically the same as those
+obtained at the recent South Kensington
+"shows," and the whole affair was so
+well managed and successful in every
+point that at its close a surplus of
+£150,000 remained, after paying all expenses.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FACTS ABOUT OCEAN STEAMSHIPS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Mr. John Burns contributed to
+a recent number of <i>Good Words</i>
+a paper entitled "Something
+about the Cunard Line," which contains
+some interesting facts with regard to the
+equipment and working of ocean steamships.
+Taking the <i>Etruria</i> as a sample
+of the present vessels of the Cunard
+fleet, he states that her consumption of
+coal is 300 tons per day, or twelve tons
+per hour, or 466 lbs. per minute. For a
+single passage across the Atlantic
+(which takes seven days) she requires
+the following provisions&mdash;12,550 lbs.
+fresh beef, 760 lbs. corned beef, 5 320 lbs.
+mutton, 850 lbs. lamb, 350 lbs. veal, 350
+lbs. pork, 2,000 lbs. fresh fish, 600 fowls,
+300 chickens, 100 ducks, 50 geese, 80
+turkeys, 200 brace grouse, 15 tons potatoes,
+30 hampers vegetables, 220 quarts
+ice-cream, 1,000 quarts milk, and 11,500
+eggs. The groceries for the double
+voyage include 650 lbs. tea, 1,200 lbs.
+coffee, 1,000 lbs. white sugar, 2,880 lbs.
+moist sugar, 750 lbs. pulverized sugar,
+1,500 lbs. cheese, 2,000 lbs. butter, 3,500
+lbs. ham, and 1,000 lbs. bacon. The
+quantities of wines, spirits, beer, &amp;c.,
+put on board for consumption on the
+double voyage comprise&mdash;1,100 bottles
+of champagne, 850 bottles of claret,
+6,000 bottles of ale, 2,500 bottles of
+porter, 4,500 bottles of mineral water,
+650 bottles of various spirits. Crockery
+is broken very extensively, being at the
+rate of 900 plates, 280 cups, 438 saucers,
+1,213 tumblers, 200 wine glasses, 27
+decanters, and 63 water bottles in a
+single voyage.</p>
+
+<p>The Cunard ships, it is further stated,
+traverse yearly a distance equal to five
+times that between the earth and the
+moon.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of a year the fleet consumes
+4,656 sheep, 1,800 lambs, and
+2,474 oxen, besides 831,603 eggs; and
+among other articles of consumption are
+1&frac12; tons of mustard, 1&frac34; tons of pepper,
+7,216 bottles pickles, 8,000 tins sardines,
+15 tons marmalade, 22 tons raisins, currants,
+and figs, and so on through a long
+list, finishing with 930 tons potatoes,
+24,075 fowls, 4,230 ducks, 2,200 turkeys,
+2,200 geese, 31,312 tablets Pears' soap,
+3,484 lbs. Windsor soap, 10 tons yellow
+soap. The coal burned during the year
+amounts to 356,764 tons, which, if built
+as a wall four feet high and one foot
+thick, would reach from Land's End to
+John o' Groats.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p>
+<h2>ORPHAN BESS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>I am sure that most of our young
+friends know the meaning of the
+word "orphan"; and perhaps
+among the numerous readers of the
+<span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span> are some that are
+orphans themselves. But if some of the
+younger ones do not understand what is
+meant by the word, we must tell them
+that, when children have lost both
+parents by death, we call them orphans.
+Very sad indeed it is to lose both father
+and mother while young, for no earthly
+friend can really fill their place. It is of
+such a child that I am writing a few
+words, and I trust that our little readers
+will indeed feel thankful to God if He
+has spared them both parents, and
+granted them happy and comfortable
+homes.</p>
+
+<p>It is more than ten years ago since I
+first saw her whom I now call Orphan
+Bess, and her baby sister. The first
+great shadow had then fallen upon her
+home, and I had to attend the funeral.
+This was in March, 1878. A very pale,
+fragile child our little maid was then, and
+her baby sister was more delicate still.
+She then sat on the floor, wondering at
+the tears of her mother, frightened at
+the strange faces and people that came
+to bear her father away, and trying to
+still the baby, which was wailing in the
+saddest tones. Oh, how unfit to be
+thrown on the world&mdash;the cold, rough
+world&mdash;without the strong arm of the
+father, and only the mother to shield!
+But a Greater Arm than the earthly
+father supported and maintained, and
+they were not left alone.</p>
+
+<p>A few months later the baby died, and
+Bess and the mother were left again.</p>
+
+<p>Years rolled on, and the mother and
+child struggled on together, and the
+promise of Him who cares for the widow
+and fatherless was proved faithful and
+true in their needs.</p>
+
+<p>But a darker cloud than ever now came,
+when the mother laid down and died.
+Ten years had rolled away, and in March,
+1888, this great blow came upon Bess.
+These years had made a great change
+in our little maid, and when we saw
+her on the day of the funeral she seemed
+much altered&mdash;still pale and thin, small
+and fragile, and very deaf. I have seen
+many affecting sights and many sorrowful
+cases in my journey through life,
+but as we stood around the grave of the
+departed mother and father of Bess, in
+St. Thomas's churchyard, at Woolwich,
+on the 17th of March, 1888, I saw the
+saddest sight of all. The open grave,
+containing the remains of the father; the
+coffin ready to be lowered into it, containing
+the dead mother; and the pale,
+thin, deaf orphan, standing alone in the
+world. The blinding snow fell around,
+and the wind blew piercingly through
+the graveyard. A large crowd of strange
+faces, and the chief object of interest
+the orphan child. What wonder, then,
+that the child, frightened and trembling,
+should turn her face away from the coffin
+and crowd, and hide her sobs in the
+dress of a kind woman near? Alone in
+the world now, yet not alone.</p>
+
+<p>The hymn commencing, "For ever
+with the Lord," is sung softly, and as the
+strains are heard, we remember that
+"the Lord liveth." Though father and
+mother are dead, yet "the Lord liveth,"
+who has promised to look to the orphan,
+and whose eyes are ever upon the needy.
+What a position to occupy! No father,
+no mother, no home, unable to hear, a
+helpless orphan girl cast upon the world!
+The words of the poet came into my
+mind at the moment&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"What is home without a mother?<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">What are all the joys we meet,</span><br />
+When her gentle smile no longer<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Greets the coming of our feet?"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>I have omitted one matter, and that is,
+Bessie's mother was my sister; and the
+thought came with power into my mind,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+while I stood at the grave, that while
+the Lord blessed me with ability and
+strength, we could share our bread with
+Bess sooner than see her want.</p>
+
+<p>Father and mother may die, and they
+must die, but there is One that cannot
+alter and that cannot fail.</p>
+
+<p>I trust our young friends who read
+these few lines are interested in our little
+maid; and if any are living in St.
+Leonards or Hastings, they may sometimes
+see a thin, pale girl of twelve
+years, small for her age, with dark hair,
+cut short, sharp nose, and keen grey
+eyes. This is Orphan Bess. Not without
+friends now, for the Lord has already
+raised up kind friends and strong arms
+to help her, and made room for her in
+many hearts. May the Lord show her
+further favour by granting her His grace
+is our sincere prayer, comfort her on
+earth "as a mother comforteth her
+children," and be her everlasting Portion
+in heaven.</p>
+
+<p>Gleaners, you that have fathers and
+mothers, remember they are your best
+earthly friends, and think of desolate
+Bess. Gleaners that are orphans, remember
+"the Lord liveth," and that He
+careth for you.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+J. D.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>"MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB."</h2>
+
+
+<p>The well-known verses beginning,
+"Mary had a little lamb," were
+founded on actual circumstances,
+and the heroine, Mary, is still living.
+About seventy years ago she was a little
+girl, the daughter of a farmer in Worcester
+County, Massachusetts, United
+States.</p>
+
+<p>One spring, the farmer brought a feeble
+lamb into the house, and Mary adopted
+it as her especial pet. It became so
+fond of her that it would follow her
+everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>One day, it followed her to the village
+school, and, not knowing what else to
+do with it, she put it under her desk and
+covered it with her shawl. There it
+stayed until Mary was called up to the
+teacher's desk to say her lesson, and
+then the lamb walked quietly after her,
+and the other children burst out laughing,
+so the teacher had to shut up the
+little girl's pet in the wood-shed until
+school was over.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this, a young student,
+named John Rollstone, wrote a little
+rhyme about Mary and her lamb, and
+presented it to her. The lamb grew to
+be a sheep, and lived for many years,
+and when at last it died, Mary grieved
+so much for it that her mother took
+some of its wool, which was "as white
+as snow," and knitted a pair of stockings
+for her to wear in remembrance of
+her darling.</p>
+
+<p>Some years after the lamb's death,
+Mrs. Sarah Hall, a celebrated woman,
+who wrote many books, composed some
+verses about Mary's lamb, and added
+them to those written by John Rollstone,
+making the complete rhyme as we know
+it.</p>
+
+<p>Mary took such good care of the
+stockings made from her lamb's fleece
+that, when she was a grown-up woman,
+she was able to give one of them to a
+bazaar in Boston. As soon as the fact
+became known that the stocking was
+made from the fleece of "Mary's little
+lamb," every one wanted a piece of it;
+so the stocking was ravelled out, and
+the yarn cut into short pieces. Each
+piece was tied to a card on which
+"Mary" wrote her full name, and these
+cards sold so well that they brought the
+large sum of £28 towards the bazaar
+fund.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Lord</span>, I have tried how this thing and
+that thing will fit my spirit. I can find
+nothing to rest on, for nothing here hath
+any rest itself. O Centre and Source of
+light and strength&mdash;O Fulness of all
+things&mdash;I come to Thee!&mdash;<i>Arthur H.
+Hallam.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p>
+<h2>UNDER THE LONDON
+STREETS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is true that there are tubes beneath
+the London streets, but
+with one exception, they are not
+used for the transmission of
+letters, but for telegrams only. This
+exception is a tube between Euston
+Station and the General Post Office,
+through which a few day mail-bags to
+and from towns on the London and
+North-Western are sent. The Post
+Office authorities find that these tubes
+are quicker than carts, but their speed is
+not so great as is usually supposed.
+From seventeen to thirty-five miles an
+hour is the average, but with more
+powerful engines it is believed that
+eighty miles an hour could be attained.
+The longest tube in London is two miles
+three hundred and thirty-nine yards in
+length. Originally there were only
+seventeen pneumatic tubes in operation,
+the longest being that which went to
+Fenchurch Street, namely, nine hundred
+and eighty yards. The second in length
+was that to Leadenhall Street&mdash;six hundred
+and fifty-nine yards. The diameter
+of the tubes varies from one and a half
+inches to two and a quarter inches. The
+telegrams are placed in little leather
+cases, called "carriers." The time taken
+in transmission to Fenchurch Street is,
+by atmospheric pressure, one minute
+five seconds; by suction the speed is
+somewhat slower&mdash;one minute twenty
+seconds.</p>
+
+<p>The steam engine used at the General
+Post Office is forty horse power. For
+sending one of the carriers from forty to
+fifty yards not more than four or five
+seconds is necessary. The most complete
+tubes in London are those under
+the streets between Temple Bar and the
+General Post Office, a distance of 1,333
+yards. The tubes form what may be
+called a pneumatic railway, with an up
+and down line. In these tubes telegrams
+are sent which sometimes are not sent
+by electricity at all. Thus, if any one
+wishes to wire from Cheapside to the
+Temple, his message is placed in a carrier
+and sent under the streets.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>SYMPATHY.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>Rejoice with them that do rejoice,
+and weep with them that weep.</i>"</p>
+
+
+<p>
+When childhood's joyous voice resounds<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With innocent delight,</span><br />
+Check not the infant mirth, nor put<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Those happy smiles to flight.</span><br />
+<br />
+Add to the joy while it remains,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For on in riper years</span><br />
+Those eyes, now beaming with delight,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">May be suffused with tears.</span><br />
+<br />
+When on the ocean's stormy deep<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The voyagers are tossed,</span><br />
+And seem, in that one stormy hour,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To think all hope is lost&mdash;</span><br />
+<br />
+If they secure the haven reach,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And lose their fears and cares,</span><br />
+While they rejoice their homes to gain,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mingle thy joy with theirs.</span><br />
+<br />
+And is thy neighbour mourning now<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The loss of kindred dear?</span><br />
+Then give thy sympathy, and drop<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Upon the grave a tear.</span><br />
+<br />
+Or knowest thou an orphan, left<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To tread this world alone?</span><br />
+Speak words of comfort, lend thine aid,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or take the wanderer home.</span><br />
+<br />
+Tell of the loveliness and bloom<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of Nature to the blind;</span><br />
+Tell of the joys of heaven, and thus<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shed light upon the mind.</span><br />
+<br />
+Then sympathize with every one,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the commandment keep&mdash;</span><br />
+"Rejoice with them that do rejoice,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And weep with them that weep."</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">M. E. C.</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>FORWARD INTO LIGHT AND LIBERTY.</h2>
+
+<h3>"<span class="smcap">Jesus Only.</span>"</h3>
+
+
+<p>When Father Chiniquy reached
+his much-loved people, after he
+had left the Church of Rome, it
+was on a Sabbath morning, and
+they were assembled for worship. The
+bishop had telegraphed to them to turn
+away their priest, but when they saw
+him, they received him joyfully, and
+crowded round him to know what the
+bishop had really said. Entering the
+chapel, he told his large congregation
+how and why he was a priest no longer,
+assuring them that he would leave them,
+but not until they bade him depart. All
+were deeply affected, but no one spoke,
+and when he again appealed to them to
+bravely rise and tell him to go away, he
+saw their countenances beam with love
+and joy more eloquent than words; and
+when he offered to remain with them&mdash;the
+free Christian minister of a Christian
+people, united by the love of God and
+His Word&mdash;they all arose in token of
+their approval, and a thousand people
+left the Church of Rome on that eventful
+day. And still the movement spread,
+till nearly all who had loved and followed
+him as he had gradually taught them
+the truths of the Gospel, followed him
+seeking the full light and liberty of God's
+Word, leading him, and all who heard
+of it, to exclaim, "This is the Lord's
+doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."</p>
+
+<p>As might have been expected, they
+did not see everything at once. There
+was a splendid group of statues, representing
+the Virgin Mary learning to
+read at the feet of her mother, and
+before these statues both priest and
+people had often prayed. Chiniquy
+longed to remove them, with the pictures
+and crosses which hung on the walls of
+the chapel, but was afraid to do it too
+quickly. One Sunday, however, after
+preaching from the text, "Thou shalt
+not make to thyself any graven image,"
+he remained behind to pray, and, looking
+up at the images, he said, "My
+good ladies, you must come down from
+that high position. God Almighty alone
+is worshipped here now. Your reign
+has come to an end." A thin, strong,
+silken cord secured them on their
+pedestals. He cut the cord, and, as he
+expected, the very next Sunday, when
+the people knelt to pray, the images
+gave a couple of jerks, and then fell
+down, and were smashed to fragments
+on the floor, the people laughing, and
+saying to one another, "How foolish to
+pray to these idols to protect us, when
+they cannot take care of themselves!"
+The other images, crosses, and pictures
+were soon cleared away.</p>
+
+<p>The most of the people soon learned
+to reject purgatory, but some still clung
+to their old belief, and Chiniquy would
+not too suddenly disturb it. When "All
+Souls' Day" came round, and collections
+were usually made for those in purgatory,
+two boxes were provided&mdash;a white
+one to receive contributions for the
+widows and the fatherless children, and
+a black one for offerings for the dead.
+But those who put money into the black
+one were asked kindly to say how their
+gifts could be conveyed to their dead
+friends, as in every case he had yet
+heard of, the priests had kept them for
+their own bread and butter. A general
+smile followed that announcement, and
+thirty-five dollars were put into the
+white box for the living, and nothing at
+all into the black one for the dead.</p>
+
+<p>So, one by one, all the false doctrines
+of Rome were renounced, and a few
+months after, six thousand were banded
+together under the name of "Christian
+Catholics."</p>
+
+<p>Rome, however, would not thus easily
+lose so many of its children, and another
+bishop thought he would try to win them
+back again. He appointed a day to
+visit them, with a number of priests, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>
+found a strong, large platform prepared
+for his reception, and a great number of
+people assembled together to see and
+hear. As he approached, the American
+flag was hoisted over the chapel, and
+the people shouted, "Hurrah for the flag
+of the free and the brave!" This
+alarmed the priestly visitors, but Chiniquy
+hastened to assure them that they
+would not be injured, but they, on the
+contrary, would be received in the most
+courteous way.</p>
+
+<p>The bishop then alighted from his
+carriage, the priests gathered round
+him, and his grand vicar told the people
+to kneel down and receive their bishop's
+benediction. No one moved. He repeated
+his request still more loudly,
+when some one answered, "Do you not
+know, sir, that we no longer bend the
+knee to any man? It is only before God
+we kneel"; and all the people said,
+"Amen."</p>
+
+<p>Forbidding their own beloved Pastor
+Chiniquy to speak, the bishop then tremblingly
+addressed the crowd. He was
+evidently staggered by the people's
+courage. Having abused the "wicked,
+rebellious priest" who had led them away
+from Rome, he concluded by begging
+them to return to their holy Mother
+Church, and asked who would guide
+them in the ways of God if they forsook
+the Church of their fathers? After a
+solemn silence, an old farmer, raising
+his Bible over his head, exclaimed,
+"This Bible is all we want to guide us
+in the ways of God. We do not want
+anything but the pure Word of God to
+teach us what we must do to be saved.
+As for you, sir, you had better go away,
+and never come here any more."</p>
+
+<p>The bishop having failed to gain the
+people, tried to forcibly prevent Chiniquy
+from speaking. This was too much for
+the congregation, and it was only for
+his sake, and at his urgent request, that
+they allowed the unwelcome visitors to
+depart unmolested. They retired, defeated
+and annoyed, and the bishop soon
+afterwards became a lunatic.</p>
+
+<p>Thus God preserved His servant and
+His people in the hour of trial, and
+though many other difficulties arose, His
+Word continued to accomplish His purposes
+of love and grace; and like another
+Luther, Pastor Chiniquy, though often
+in peril and doomed to death, has lived
+on to a ripe old age, covered and
+shielded by the shadow of the Almighty.
+There may we also live and rest.&mdash;<i>Jottings
+on</i> "<i>The Life and Work of
+Father Chiniquy</i>," <i>by Cousin Susan</i>.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>RARE AND COSTLY BIBLES.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The special feature at the recent
+sale of the Earl of Crawford's
+library was the disposal of old
+and rare editions of the Bible in
+various languages. The most important
+lots were as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>The "Bishops'" Bible, a revision of
+the "Great Bible" undertaken by Archbishop
+Parker and eight other bishops,
+black letter, folio, 1568. It is sometimes
+called the "Treacle" Bible, from the
+words, "Is there no <i>tryacle</i> [instead of
+'balm'] in Gilead?" £70 [sold to]
+(Quaritch). Second edition of the German
+Bible, <i>circa</i> 1466, £86 (Quaritch);
+first edition of Luther's Bible, £51
+(Quaritch); the Mazarin Bible, or the
+Gutenberg Bible&mdash;the first edition of the
+Bible, and the earliest book printed with
+movable metal types; a rare and much-sought
+book, two volumes, printed
+by Gutenberg and Füst about 1450,
+£2,650. This book was put up at £695,
+for which price this particular copy was
+sold thirty years ago. The book will
+remain in this country. Sir John
+Thorold's copy, a few years ago, fetched
+£3,900. Another Latin Bible, two
+volumes, first edition, with a date beautifully
+printed upon vellum, folio, 1462,
+£1,025 (Quaritch); Biblia Slavonica, the
+Ostrog edition, 1581, £73 (Quaritch); the
+Virginian Bible, by John Eliot, with
+Psalms in metre, two volumes in one,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>
+quarto, 1685 and 1680, £40 (Quaritch);
+first edition of the Welsh Bible, from
+the Wepre Hall Library, 1588, £60
+(Quaritch); Block Book, Apocalypsis
+Sancti Johannis, forty-eight leaves
+printed from wooden blocks, in colours,
+and the xylographic text in brown ink,
+bound up with other matter in the old
+oak boards, folio, <i>circa</i> 1430. This rare
+and curious volume is generally considered
+as being the second attempt in
+xylographic printing, the priority being
+given to the Ars Memorandi. Block
+books are supposed to have preceded
+by nearly twenty-five years the discovery
+of printing with metal types, and the
+workmanship is attributed to the press
+of Laurence Coster at Harlem. This
+specimen was put up at £100, and after
+a keen competition between Mr. Ellis
+and Mr. Quaritch, it was secured by
+the latter for £500. The day's sale
+realized upwards of £7,000.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A NEW TELEPHONE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The <i>Times</i> Paris correspondent
+describes some telephone experiments
+between Paris and Brussels
+with a new apparatus known as the
+"microtelephone push-button," which
+he believes to be the most perfect yet
+produced. As its name indicates, it
+has the form of an ordinary electric
+push-button. When the button has been
+pushed in, and has made a sound at the
+other extremity, it is taken out, and is
+found to be attached to a long electric
+wire. There is thus exposed the telephonic
+plate, which is extremely sensitive,
+so that when it is necessary to speak
+at short distances, it is not necessary to
+come close to the instrument. For communications
+in the same street, or the
+same house, the operator places the
+upper part near himself, and without
+changing his position he can speak with
+the correspondent at the opposite extremity.
+He is not obliged to put his
+ear to the part which contains the button
+and brings back the reply. Thus, for
+short distances, those who make use of
+this apparatus speak in their ordinary
+tone, without changing their customary
+attitudes. They may sit or walk about,
+and speak just as if those they are addressing
+were present. When great distances
+intervene, in which the speakers
+and hearers are separated by two hundred
+miles, it is necessary to come
+nearer to the apparatus, but without
+being obliged to speak quite close to it.
+What makes this apparatus the most
+successful of telephonic instruments is,
+that it can be made for half-a-crown,
+that is to say, for not more than the
+price of the ordinary push-button. As
+it can be fitted to the electric wire of the
+ordinary ringing apparatus, it follows
+that it introduces a complete change in
+our ordinary modes of intercourse. The
+railway companies are making experiments
+with this apparatus as a means of
+communication between compartments
+of carriages, and it is being fitted up on
+trial in hotels. The inventor is Dr.
+Cornelius Herz.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>"ASK ON."</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(1 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> ii. 20; <span class="smcap">John</span> xiv. 13.)</p>
+
+
+<p>
+I hear "a voice from heaven"&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I hear my Sovereign say&mdash;</span><br />
+"Ask on" (He speaks to me);<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I will not say thee nay."</span><br />
+<br />
+I would not doubt His word,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For truth in Him abides;</span><br />
+I would not doubt His power;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In Him the Godhead hides.</span><br />
+<br />
+And since I know He gave<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Himself, Himself, to move</span><br />
+Jehovah's curse from me,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I would not doubt His love.</span><br />
+<br />
+And so I'll breathe my wish<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To Christ, my King, to-day;</span><br />
+And rest me on His word&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I will not say thee nay."</span><br /><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Isa.</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p>
+<h2>"IS NOT A MAN BETTER THAN AN EGG?"</h2>
+
+
+<p>"Bacon! bacon! bacon! always
+bacon! Why don't we have eggs
+sometimes, like we used to?"
+was the discontented question of a little
+boy, one morning, as he surveyed a
+rasher of bacon on his plate.</p>
+
+<p>"May you never get anything worse
+to eat, my boy, than this nice streaky
+bacon," remarked his father, looking up
+from his newspaper.</p>
+
+<p>"Little boys should eat what is put
+before them, and be thankful that they
+have food to eat," observed a severe-looking
+maiden aunt.</p>
+
+<p>"Ralph is not very well to-day," said
+his sister Nellie, in a low tone. "His
+appetite has not been so good lately as
+it used to be. He never seems to get
+on with bacon; and there have been very
+few eggs brought in for some time. Do
+you think the fowls have left off laying,
+papa?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hardly, my dear; this is just the
+time of year they lay most freely. I
+suspect they are hiding them, and
+making nests for themselves in some
+secret place."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>I</i> suspect, John, that the stable-boy
+takes them. It is not at all likely that
+fourteen or fifteen fowls would hide their
+eggs, whatever one might do," said the
+severe aunt.</p>
+
+<p>"Hens choose curious places to lay
+their eggs in sometimes," said Mr.
+Thorn,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> laughing. "I remember one fine
+Spanish bird that invariably laid hers on
+the top of a wall."</p>
+
+<p>"What a queer place, papa! Did
+not the eggs get broken?"</p>
+
+<p>"They did, my dear, to the great distress
+of the poor fowl, who no doubt
+wished to make a nest in that strange,
+out-of-the-way place. I used to listen
+for her cackling, in order, if possible, to
+save the egg; but it always tumbled off
+the wall before I could get to it. Another,
+a Cochin-china fowl, laid hers on a heap
+of stones, and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Those must have been very badly
+managed fowls, John," interrupted Miss
+Thorn. "Now, yours, on the contrary,
+are well cared for, and properly housed."</p>
+
+<p>This was quite true, for Mr. Thorn's
+fowl-house was large and airy, and well
+supplied with every necessary convenience.
+Indeed, so true a fancier was
+he, that his extensive fowl-house was
+partitioned off, so that his Brahmas,
+Cochin-chinas, Houdans, and other
+breeds should be in no danger of mixing.</p>
+
+<p>It was Mr. Thorn's custom always to
+collect his eggs himself, the first thing
+after breakfast; and he never allowed
+any one to go into the fowl-house on
+any pretence whatever, unless in his
+company. Owing to this precaution the
+fowls were all very tame, while some
+would testify their pleased sense of his
+presence by stretching out their necks
+and uttering a little note of welcome.
+He was the more surprised, therefore, on
+the morning on which our story begins,
+to notice that all the fowls were in a
+state of intense excitement. To his
+astonishment, he found some of the doors
+communicating with the various sections
+of the house wide open, and the cocks,
+that he had supposed were safely
+guarded from each other, fighting together
+fiercely. Evidently his sister was
+right. Some other hand had collected
+the eggs.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 364px;">
+<img src="images/img208.jpg" width="364" height="500" alt="ABOUT MR. THORN&#39;S EGGS" title="ABOUT MR. THORN&#39;S EGGS" />
+<span class="caption">"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MR. THORN'S EGGS?" (<i>See</i></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>As he was coming out, after having
+with some difficulty restored order, his
+little boy came running up to him, with
+his bag of books on his back, on his way
+to school, saying eagerly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to be dainty, papa, only
+it is tiresome to have nothing but bacon,
+when there are such lots of eggs."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know there are lots of
+eggs, my boy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I hear the hens cackling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">&nbsp;</a></span>
+every day, papa. This morning there
+was such a noise before I got up."</p>
+
+<p>"Where did the noise come from,
+Ralph?"</p>
+
+<p>"From the hen-house, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you quite sure, Ralph?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite, papa! Oh, I know they don't
+lay anywhere else, for I have looked so
+often to see if any of them laid their
+eggs in the garden. I looked this
+morning before breakfast."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, my boy; run off to school
+now. Perhaps we may find out soon
+where the hens do lay their eggs; but
+you had better not say anything about it
+to your schoolfellows."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"I tell you what it is, Bob&mdash;I don't
+believe you come honestly by that money.
+You never do any work to speak of, and
+yet every now and then you bring in a
+lot of money," said a pale-looking young
+woman to her husband, one morning, as
+he slouched in to breakfast, and threw a
+handful of silver on the table.</p>
+
+<p>"A deal you know about it, Jane! If
+I get odd jobs that bring me in an odd
+shilling or two, what business is it of
+yours, I should like to know? If you
+and the little 'un have enough to eat,
+that's all you need trouble about."</p>
+
+<p>"'Taint no concern of mine, Bob, and
+yet I can't help feeling a bit uncomfortable
+when I hear folks say that Mr.
+Thorn gets no eggs now."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you know about Mr.
+Thorn's eggs?" asked her husband,
+roughly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that gossiping Mrs. Smith
+told me that Mr. Thorn said as how his
+hens had taken to hiding their eggs of
+late. She said he thought they had nests
+somewhere, but he couldn't find them,
+and then she looked at them eggs I was
+frying for dinner so suspicious-like that
+I got quite red, for fear you had taken
+'em."</p>
+
+<p>Bob made no reply, but ate his breakfast
+in sullen silence. As he went out,
+his wife called after him&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"You try to get a reg'lar job, Bob,
+and don't go loafing about."</p>
+
+<p>That evening Bob came in earlier than
+usual, and going up to his wife, who
+was rocking the cradle, said in a husky
+voice&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Jane, my gal, I'm goin' to turn over
+a new leaf."</p>
+
+<p>"Bless the man!" exclaimed Jane in
+alarm, as she saw unwonted tears in her
+husband's eyes. "Are you took bad,
+Bob?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, Jane," he replied gently; "but
+I've been bad. Listen, old gal, and I'll
+tell you all about it. You were right
+when you said the money I brought you
+lately weren't all honestly come by."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Bob!"</p>
+
+<p>"Hush, my gal; don't interrupt me.
+It's hard on a fellow to have such a tale
+to tell. You know, Jennie, how long
+I've been out of reg'lar work, and how
+hard I tried to get some of the farmers
+round to take me on; but they all said
+they had nothing for me to do. Well,
+when you was took bad, I got desperate
+like; and one mornin', when I was doin'
+an odd job o' digging in Mr. Thorn's
+garden, I heard his hens a-cackling;
+and as I knowed when he collected the
+eggs, I got up early next day, and
+managed to slip in afore he was about;
+and as I wasn't found out, I did it again
+and again; and as I had nothing to do
+after the diggin', I walked to Market
+Littleton and sold 'em; and so I did
+many a time. Well, this morning I met
+Mr. Thorn in the village. I tried to
+skulk out of his way, but he walked up
+quite friendly-like, and says he, 'I wish
+I had known you were so fond of eggs.
+I'd have given you some,' says he, 'and
+welcome.' Well, I tried to brave it out,
+and swore I knew nought of his eggs,
+but he went on quite friendly in his
+funny way. 'Bob,' says he, 'you shall
+have as many as you like, only let me
+have the pleasure of getting them for
+you. It's a pity for you to get up so
+early, and have all the trouble of getting
+over the fence, and opening the door<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+with a bit of wire, when I could send
+them to you without any fuss.' Well,
+Jane, I went down on my knees then,
+and I said, 'If you'll forgive me this
+time, sir, I'll never do it again; only
+don't send me to jail. 'Twould break my
+gal's heart, it would'; and then he puts
+half-a-crown into my hand, and he goes
+with me to a friend of his, and gets me
+taken on with the horses."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Bob, how could you?" said Jane,
+crying; "and Mr. Thorn such a nice,
+kind-spoken gentleman! And oh, if anybody
+else knows, you'll get the name of
+a thief!"</p>
+
+<p>"No one else does know, my gal, and
+I am sure that Mr. Thorn will keep it
+close. He said he 'spected me the day
+afore yesterday, when he seed me at
+Market Littleton sellin' some eggs, and
+says he, 'I didn't like to 'spect you,
+Bob; but after my 'spicions was roused,
+I watched yesterday mornin' and this
+mornin';' and as I was a-coming out of
+the hen-house this mornin', he seed me,
+and says he, ''Tis an ill deed that has
+to be done in the dark, Bob.'"</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>A night or two afterwards, as Bob was
+passing a building where services were
+being held, he fancied that he heard
+Mr. Thorn's voice, and he went into
+the porch to listen. Yes, it was John
+Thorn's voice. He was praying, and it
+seemed to Bob that he was praying for
+him. He prayed for those who were
+sorely tempted, and who had no strength
+to resist&mdash;who had never savingly heard
+the voice of the Lord, and who never
+used His name but in oaths. "That's
+me," said poor Bob, with a groan. After
+the prayer, the hymn, "Just as I am,"
+was sung, and then a short address was
+given by the preacher.</p>
+
+<p>"Needy sinners, come just as you
+are," said the preacher. "Jesus died
+for sinners. Come with all your sins
+upon you. Don't try to wash off some
+of the biggest ones; you will only make
+the dirty stains worse. Come just as
+you are. You perhaps think of others&mdash;your
+old companions who will laugh at
+you, and so you are ashamed. Were
+you ashamed of that mean act you did
+in the dark the other morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"He knows all about it," thought
+Bob, and he covered his face with his
+hands. At that moment of supreme
+misery, some one touched him on the
+shoulder, and looking up in terror, Bob
+saw the man whom he had robbed gazing
+down upon him, with his kind eyes
+full of pity and compassion for the poor
+sorrow-stricken man.</p>
+
+<p>"You've bin and told him," hissed
+Bob.</p>
+
+<p>"My poor fellow, I have told him
+nothing. God forbid that I should tell
+any one of the sin which you have confessed
+to me. Come in, Bob."</p>
+
+<p>"I am so bad and so dirty."</p>
+
+<p>"Your clothes are dirty, Bob," replied
+Mr. Thorn, glancing at Bob's
+soiled and shabby garments. "I wonder
+that you go on wearing them. They
+are too dirty to be washed."</p>
+
+<p>"Too dirty to be washed, sir!" exclaimed
+Bob in amazement. "I have
+no others to change with, or my gal
+would very soon have them in the wash-tub."</p>
+
+<p>"Very true, Bob. You have no clothes
+to change with, but if I gave you a clean
+coat, you would soon put it on, aye?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed, Mr. Thorn."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, if you by faith come to Christ,
+in your filthy rags, just as you are, He
+will wash you in the fountain of His
+blood, and will cover you with the robe
+of His righteousness."</p>
+
+<p>And Bob came. He felt his guilt and
+misery, and like a little child he asked
+for mercy. Need we say he found it?
+We do not pretend to fix the exact day
+and hour of his conversion, but this we
+know&mdash;the once dishonest man is now,
+and has been for years, a man of the
+strictest probity; the blasphemer now
+worships the Saviour whom once he
+despised; and among that little band of
+Christians in L&mdash;&mdash;, there is none more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+devoted to his Master's service, none
+more loving and gentle to wife and
+children, and to all within the sphere of
+his influence, than Bob.</p>
+
+<p>"And under God, I owe it all to Mr.
+Thorn," he would say. "Had he, a
+professing Christian, sent me to prison
+then, could I have believed what he said
+of God's mercy? Mr. Thorn was to
+me the living witness of God's mercy in
+Christ."</p>
+
+<p>"For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
+your Heavenly Father will also
+forgive you."</p>
+
+<p>
+"Just as I am, without one plea,<br />
+But that Thy blood was shed for me,<br />
+And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">O Lamb of God, I come!</span><br />
+<br />
+"Just as I am, and waiting not<br />
+To rid my soul of one dark blot,<br />
+To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">O Lamb of God, I come!</span><br />
+<br />
+"Just as I am Thou wilt receive;<br />
+Wilt strengthen, pardon, cleanse, relieve;<br />
+Because Thy promise I believe;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">O Lamb of God, I come!</span><br />
+<br />
+"Just as I am&mdash;Thy love unknown<br />
+Has broken every barrier down;<br />
+Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">O Lamb of God, I come!"</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 5em;">&mdash;<i>From a Tract.</i></span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">Success.</span>&mdash;There is a glare about
+success which is apt to dazzle men's
+eyes. When we see a man rising in the
+world, a foolish high opinion is formed
+of his merits. It is said, "What a
+wonderful man this must be to rise so
+rapidly!" forgetting that straw, dust,
+and feathers&mdash;things without value or
+weight&mdash;rise the soonest and easiest.
+It is not always the good and great man
+who rises rapidly into wealth and notice.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A GOOD EXAMPLE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The following notice, headed, "To
+the Workmen of Stoke Works,"
+was recently issued by Mr. J.
+Corbett, M.P.:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"It has been to me a matter of great
+pain and regret to receive from time to
+time complaints from grocers, bakers,
+and other tradesmen, that the men employed
+at the works ask for credit, and
+then refuse to pay their lawful debts,
+thereby bringing a bad name upon the
+works, and no good repute upon me as
+an employer. Now, considering that
+the men employed here obtain higher
+wages than at any other salt works in
+England, and receive their wages weekly,
+I consider such conduct simply disgraceful,
+particularly when evidence is brought
+before me that the money which should
+go to pay tradesmen for provisions for
+the wife and family is expended in drink,
+too often leading to drunkenness. I
+contend that workmen who receive their
+wages weekly should never get into
+debt, and tradesmen ought to know that
+if men who regularly have their wages
+every Saturday cannot pay one week,
+they are in no better position to pay the
+week after. I am determined to try to
+remove this stigma from Stoke Works,
+and hereby give notice that any man or
+men who expend their wages in drinking
+or otherwise, instead of paying their
+lawful debts, are no men for these works;
+and I do hope that any such men will
+take advice intended with the best feelings
+for their good and the comfort of
+their families. A copy of this notice
+will be sent to the tradesmen of Stoke
+Prior, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, and other
+places. This is, of course, only intended
+to apply to those men who are guilty
+of the conduct herein complained of.&mdash;(Signed)
+<span class="smcap">John Corbett</span>, Stoke Prior
+Salt Works."</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is better to be nobly remembered
+than nobly born.&mdash;<i>Ruskin.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE DUTCH AND THEIR COUNTRY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The enemies with which they had
+to contend were three&mdash;the sea,
+the lakes, the rivers. They dried
+up the lakes, imprisoned the
+rivers, drove back the sea.</p>
+
+<p>In order to drain the lakes they made
+use of the air. The lakes and ponds
+were surrounded by dams, the dams by
+canals. An army of windmills put pumps
+in motion, which turned the water into
+the canals, which conducted it to the
+rivers and to the sea. Thus vast spaces
+of land buried under water were transformed
+as if by enchantment into fertile,
+smiling plains, populated by villages.
+From 1500 to 1858 the amount of land
+reclaimed was 355 miles.</p>
+
+<p>By the substitution of steam instead
+of windmills, the great lake of Haarlem
+was dried, the furious tempests of which
+threatened the cities of Haarlem,
+Amsterdam, and Leyden with destruction;
+and the Dutch, in 1883, seriously
+contemplated the prodigious undertaking
+of reclaiming the land buried
+under the Zuyder Zee.</p>
+
+<p>The rivers did not cost much less
+labour than the lakes, but the most tremendous
+struggle was with the ocean.
+A great part of Holland is below sea-level,
+and the land has to be defended by
+dykes. If these wonderful bulwarks of
+earth and of wood and granite were not
+there as monuments to attest the courage
+and perseverance of the Dutch, no one
+would believe that the hand of man, even
+in the course of centuries, could accomplish
+so great a work.</p>
+
+<p>Holland is an impregnable fortress.
+The mills are the towers of its immense
+bastions, the cataracts the gates, the
+islands the advanced forts; and she
+shows to her enemy, the sea, only the
+belfries and roofs of the edifices.</p>
+
+<p>Holland is a fortress, and the Dutch,
+like people in a fortress, stand on a perpetual
+war-footing with the sea. An
+army of engineers, dependent on the
+Minister of the Interior, spy upon the
+enemy continually, watch over the state
+of the internal waters, provide for ruptures
+in the embankments, advise and
+direct new works of defence to strengthen
+and support the old.</p>
+
+<p>The danger is constant, the sentinels
+ever at their posts. At the first assault
+of the sea they give the cry of alarm, and
+Holland sends arms, materials, and
+money. Even when there is not a great
+battle raging, there is always a slow,
+silent struggle. The innumerable mills
+are never quiet, always pumping the rain-water
+into the canals. Every day the
+cataracts of the canals and rivers shut
+their huge gates against the rising tide,
+which struggles to precipitate itself into
+the heart of the country.</p>
+
+<p>But Holland has done more than
+defend herself from the sea, and master
+it. The waters were her scourge, but
+she has made them her defence. When
+a foreign army invaded her territory, she
+opened her sluice-gates, unchained the
+sea and the waves, and let them loose on
+the enemy, defending internal cities with
+a fleet. The water was her poverty; she
+made it her wealth.</p>
+
+<p>"Nature," says a Dutch poet, "refused
+all her gifts to Holland. Men had
+to do everything in spite of Nature."</p>
+
+<p>It is enough to look at the monuments
+of the great struggle with the sea to
+understand that the distinctive characteristics
+of this people must be firmness
+and patience, accompanied by a calm
+and never-failing courage.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">You</span> can outlive a slander in half the
+time you can out-argue it.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> soul that cannot entirely trust
+God, whether man be pleased or displeased,
+can never long be true to Him;
+for, while you are eyeing man, you are
+losing sight of God and stabbing religion
+at the very heart.&mdash;<i>Manton.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p>
+<h2>SUNDAY SCHOOL INTELLIGENCE.</h2>
+
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Clifton Sunday School
+Anniversary.</span></p>
+
+<p>Special services in the above
+place, on behalf of the Sunday
+School, were held on Sunday,
+July 22nd.</p>
+
+<p>Two sermons were preached, in the
+morning and evening, by the Pastor, Mr.
+Frederick Marshall; also an address was
+given by him in the afternoon. Text in
+the morning, Deuteronomy vi. 6, 7. He
+spoke of the good of Sunday Schools in
+the cases of many that have left them
+and gone out into the world to earn their
+living. It was his prayer that the Lord
+would bless the labours of the brethren
+and sisters in the good work, and that
+they might not be weary in well-doing,
+for they have the promise, "they shall
+reap if they faint not." He could rest
+assured that what was taught in the
+school was according to the Scriptures.
+He warned the young people to flee from
+temptations and from the appearance of
+evil, and directed them to diligently
+search the Scriptures, and take them
+for a guide.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon, in the presence of a
+goodly number of parents, teachers, and
+scholars, he spoke from the little word
+"One." He said that there must be a
+oneness between teachers and scholars,
+or the school could not succeed. He
+also said that each boy and girl, as well
+as the teacher, had his or her individual
+duty to do, and he said that they all
+ought to try to do that duty well, out of
+school as well as in.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening, the text was Romans
+xvi. 26. The sermon was listened to
+very attentively by a good congregation.
+Suitable pieces for the occasion were
+sung by the children.</p>
+
+<p>On the following Thursday the children
+had their annual treat. On account of
+the previous wet weather, it was feared
+that not a very enjoyable day was in
+store; but He who is still the Answerer
+of prayer was pleased to stay the rain,
+so that a very pleasant day was spent
+by all present.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">A Scholar.</span><br /><br />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Providence Chapel Sunday
+School, Burwash.</span></p>
+
+<p>The first public meeting took place on
+Wednesday, August 8th. The meeting
+was opened at two p.m. by singing, and
+then the Superintendent read Proverbs
+iv. 1-13, and spoke in prayer. The
+children then amused themselves for a
+time in the adjoining field. They were
+called in again at four o'clock, and after
+reading and prayer, eight of the senior
+scholars recited from fifteen to thirty
+verses each of Scripture, and some
+hymns, for which they were presented,
+six with the Clifton Hymnal, one with
+"The Sack and its Treasure," and the
+other with "The Morte Stone," kindly
+presented by Mr. J. Wilmshurst, of Cranbrook.
+Three of the junior scholars
+also said a few verses, for which they
+were presented, two with a New Testament,
+and one with the Psalms.</p>
+
+<p>At five o'clock about thirty persons
+sat down to tea, most of whom were
+children.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening Mr. J. Jarvis, of Mayfield,
+preached a very impressive and
+encouraging sermon from Hebrews xii.
+24.</p>
+
+<p>The Sunday School was opened on the
+last Lord's Day in April with three
+scholars. It now has eighteen, and we
+trust that the Lord will still prosper the
+good work.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">S. H. Jarvis.</span><br /><br />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Carmel Chapel, Fleckney.</span></p>
+
+<p>The anniversary of the Sabbath School
+in connection with the above place of
+worship was held on Sunday, July 29th,
+when two sermons were preached by
+Mr. Read, who has now preached on
+these occasions for thirteen years. Both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>
+school-rooms and chapel were crowded.
+Special hymns were sung by the scholars,
+and at the close of the sermon in
+the evening, twelve handsomely-bound
+Bibles were presented to six girls and
+six boys, it being a custom to give one
+to each scholar at the age of sixteen.
+Mr. Read spoke very appropriate words
+as he presented the Bible to each
+scholar.</p>
+
+<p>Collections were made at the close of
+each service, amounting in the whole
+to £16.</p>
+
+<p>The school, which now numbers 190
+scholars, was commenced about thirty
+years since, when our esteemed Superintendent,
+Mr. J. Garner, was the only
+teacher, with five scholars.</p>
+
+<p>The preaching of the truth of God in
+our village was begun by our beloved
+minister, Mr. Deacon, thirty-four years
+ago, in a cottage, which has given rise
+to the building of two chapels, and it is
+thought that the present one, which has
+only been built ten years, will have to
+be enlarged. We are constrained to say,
+with one of old, "What hath God
+wrought?"</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">A Reader.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>"A SOFT ANSWER."</h2>
+
+<p>A person went to the late Mr. Longden,
+of Sheffield, one day, and said, "I
+have something against you, and I am
+come to tell you of it." "Do walk in,
+sir," he replied. "You are my best
+friend. If I could but engage my friends
+to be faithful with me, I should be sure
+to prosper. But, if you please, we will
+both kneel down, in the first place, and
+ask the blessing of God upon our interview."
+After they rose from their knees,
+Mr. Longden said, "Now, my brother,
+I will thank you to tell me what it is that
+you had against me." "Oh," said the
+man, "I really don't know what it is.
+It is all gone; and I believe I was in the
+wrong."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Ananias and Sapphira.</span></h3>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Acts</span> v. 1-16.)</p>
+
+
+<p>In the second chapter of Acts we
+learn how the Holy Spirit was,
+on the Day of Pentecost, just
+after Christ's ascension, poured
+out upon the apostles, how they preached
+the Gospel in languages they had never
+learned before, and how three thousand
+of their hearers were led to confess their
+sins and believe on the Lord Jesus
+Christ. These were baptized according
+to His commandment, and added to the
+company of disciples at Jerusalem, partaking
+of the Lord's Supper as He had
+bidden them, and continuing in fellowship
+and prayer. But besides all this,
+they made a rule for themselves which
+Jesus had not actually laid down for
+them. The richer members gave up
+their money and goods, and all shared
+alike. Thus beautifully did they obey
+the spirit of His new commandment,
+"Love one another, even as I have
+loved you" (John xv. 12).</p>
+
+<p>But this happy state of things did not
+long continue. Satan and sin soon interrupted
+its trustful, unselfish course,
+and we never find again that they that
+believed had all things common, after
+the events recorded in Acts v.</p>
+
+<p>A man named Ananias and his wife
+Sapphira joined the Church, and seeing
+that others parted with their possessions,
+they also sold a piece of land, and laid
+a portion of the price at the apostles'
+feet, pretending that they had given
+up the whole of the money received.
+Peter, being divinely inspired, detected
+the falsehood, and Ananias fell down
+dead at his feet, was carried from the
+place of meeting, and buried immediately.
+Sapphira, ignorant of the
+dreadful fact, came to a later service,
+and repeating the lie to Peter, she also
+was struck with death in a moment, and
+was borne to her husband's grave.</p>
+
+<p>His seems to have been an <i>acted</i>, hers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+a <i>spoken</i> lie. In each case the falsehood
+was partly true, but the intention
+was to deceive, and this is the very
+essence of a lie. It was hypocrisy. They
+"played a part," like actors on the
+stage. They pretended to be different
+people from what they really were, and
+they wanted to be thought of as loving,
+sincere, and generous Christians, while
+they were false-hearted and hollow all
+the time.</p>
+
+<p>May we never try to deceive others, to
+make a false impression&mdash;to seem better
+than we are. God sees and knows us
+altogether. May it be our chief desire
+to have our hearts and lives right with
+Him.</p>
+
+<p>But why did such a terrible doom fall
+upon these two false ones at the very beginning
+of the Christian era? In the
+olden time God's judgments fell upon
+transgressors in a sudden and fearful
+way, but under the gracious reign of
+Jesus we might scarcely have looked for
+such a display of wrath. Yet, though
+"God is love," He is also "a consuming
+fire," and there is not all that difference
+between the old dispensation and the
+present one which might at first appear.
+David was forgiven ages before, and
+these sinners were destroyed in Gospel
+times. Then, "God was greatly to be
+feared in the assembly of His saints,"
+and still He must "be had in reverence
+of all them that are about Him."</p>
+
+<p>But what were the effects of this awful
+occurrence? "Great fear came upon
+the Church, and upon all who heard
+these things." This is just what we
+should have expected. "And of the
+rest" (of those who were not true and
+whole-hearted) "no one dared to join
+that company." So much the better,
+just as the disciples were better off without
+Judas Iscariot. A decaying corpse
+in the house injures the health of the
+living inmates, and false professors have
+never done good, but rather harm, to the
+true Church of God.</p>
+
+<p>Yet another result followed which we
+might not have hoped for&mdash;a large
+increase of believing converts. "Multitudes
+of men and women, believing on
+the Lord, were the more added to the
+Church." "The more." Yes, for this
+very reason&mdash;they saw and felt that
+"the Lord was there," and loving Him,
+they wished to dwell in His presence,
+and enjoy His protection and care.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, how important motives are! A
+thief in the company of innocent people
+may, like them, offer to be searched, in
+order to avoid suspicion, as Judas
+asked, "Lord, is it I?" when all the
+disciples had first put the question to
+Jesus, but he could not thus escape the
+searching eyes that read his heart, or
+the words of condemnation that fell
+upon his ears. Are we willing to be
+searched and tried by God?</p>
+
+<p>But, if we do desire to belong to Jesus,
+and follow Him, need we, should we,
+hesitate to unite with, or remain among,
+His people? Oh, no! Though He is
+angry with the wicked every day, and
+terrible to the hypocrites, He is gracious
+and full of compassion to all who seek
+His grace. "Will He plead against me
+with His great strength? No, but He
+will put strength in me," said Job (chap.
+xxiii. 6). And while He burns up all
+who rebel against Him, as the fire
+consumes briars and thorns, they who
+would be at peace with Him shall find
+peace by His own strength (Isa. xxvii.
+4, 5) and love.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, and not only so&mdash;it is a blessing
+for us that He does know us altogether.
+We are sometimes afraid to confess
+some secret fault to an earthly friend,
+lest we should be loved less when the
+wrong thing is known; and if we could
+hide ourselves from God, how we might
+shrink from telling Him some of our
+thoughts and feelings, and this secrecy
+might ruin and destroy us. But He does
+know all, and knowing, loves His children
+still, so that we may pour out all our
+heart before Him; and while it will be an
+unspeakable relief to us, it will be no
+news to Him. A sense of our own unworthiness
+will only precede the joyous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>
+assurance of pardon and blessing.
+Peter once said, "Depart from me, for
+I am a sinful man, O Lord!" and Isaiah
+cried, "Woe is me, for I am undone"
+(Isa. vi. 5); but Peter's fear gave place
+to the clinging words of love&mdash;"Lord, to
+whom shall we go [but unto Thee], for
+Thou hast the words of eternal life?"
+(John vi. 68); while Isaiah's cry of sorrow
+changed to the gladsome song,
+"Behold, God is my salvation; I will
+trust, and not be afraid" (Isa. xii. 2).</p>
+
+<p>Oh, that we may be helped to cast
+ourselves by faith and prayer entirely
+upon Him, and, like Peter, say, "Lord,
+Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest
+that I love Thee." Amen.</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, <i>The Good
+Shepherd, His Lambs and Sheep</i> (Isa.
+xl. 11).</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Yours affectionately,<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+An officer of Pharaoh.<br />
+A city built by Cain.<br />
+A son of Solomon.<br />
+A precious stone.<br />
+The mount where Joshua built an altar.<br />
+A queen of the Ethiopians.<br />
+The land of Haran's nativity.<br />
+One of the seven Churches of Asia.<br />
+A duke of Edom.<br />
+One whom the Lord raised up to<br />
+deliver Israel.<br />
+A daughter of Zelophehad.<br />
+<br />
+The initials of the words do show<br />
+What Christ on earth had to pass through;<br />
+And all His people may prepare,<br />
+While in this world, to have their share.<br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;" class="smcap">Thomas Tyler</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">(Aged 13 years).</span><br />
+<br />
+<i>Potton, Beds.</i><br /><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">Adversity</span> borrows its sharpest sting
+from our impatience.&mdash;<i>Bishop Horne.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Blessings Conferred on England
+by the Accession to the
+Throne of William of Orange,
+and by the Protestant Succession
+thereby Secured to Us.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The blessings conferred on England
+by the accession of William
+of Orange ought long to be
+remembered by all those who love to
+worship God in the way their conscience
+tells them is right.</p>
+
+<p>He came to England at a time in its
+history when it was especially in need
+of help. He restored liberty, both civil
+and religious, and backed up Protestantism.
+The Protestant people were
+greatly burdened by the cruelties of
+James II., who, it is said, had a mind
+more devoted to the infliction of pain
+than had been since the Romans conquered
+England. Here he persecuted
+those who held fast to the "common
+prayer," and in Scotland put to death as
+many as would not adopt it. He had
+two women tied to stakes and drowned
+in the Solway Firth, because they would
+not repeat the Apostles' Creed.</p>
+
+<p>By these incidents of his cruelty, we
+plainly see the great blessing of liberty
+which God, through William III., bestowed
+on England, and the great blessing
+which Protestantism is to the land.</p>
+
+<p>James having thus shown himself to
+the people, and his cruelties being so
+great, it is naturally to be expected that
+they would readily accept this new
+sovereign, who was a good man, and
+who had supported the Protestants of
+Holland all his life. He had a right to
+the crown by his marriage to Mary, the
+daughter of James II.</p>
+
+<p>England received a great blessing in
+the year 1701, the Act of Settlement
+being passed by the consent of William
+and his Parliament, which shut out from
+the English throne all persons who were
+Roman Catholics, or persons married to
+Roman Catholics.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>The successor to him was Queen Anne
+of Denmark, and when she died, leaving
+no child, another agreement was formed,
+placing the crown on Sophia, Dowager-Electress
+of Hanover, and her posterity,
+if they were Protestants. Since this Act
+was passed there has been no Roman
+Catholic on the throne. If it had not
+been passed, several Romanist sovereigns
+might have reigned.</p>
+
+<p>The Protestant religion is a great
+blessing, and the main cause of the
+prosperity of our nation. Romanism
+greatly impoverishes all countries which
+are its victims, such as Ireland, where
+Popery predominates. Never has the
+accession to the throne of a Protestant
+king been more needful than it was
+then.</p>
+
+<p>It is since then that England has won
+a name as a great nation and a brave
+people. If Protestantism is such a
+standing religion, which "has been
+through the water, and not been overflowed,"
+and "through the fire without
+being burned," surely we ought to
+labour hard for the overthrow of that
+false religion which is the main curse
+of many nations in the world. By the
+important incidents we plainly see
+God's overruling providence guarding
+us and our religion, and, as Wickliffe
+said, after one of his trials, so say we
+again with still greater force, "The
+truth shall prevail."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">William Ernest Cray</span><br />
+(Aged 11 years).
+</div>
+<p>
+<i>Pearl Cottage</i>, <i>Carlyle Road</i>,<br />
+<i>Forton</i>, <i>Gosport</i>, <i>Hants.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>[We are sorry that no more of our
+young friends have sent Essays for this
+month, but our young friend has thereby
+the advantage of taking a second
+prize.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of "The Reformation
+and its Heroes."</p>
+
+<p>The subject for November will be,
+"Lessons to be Derived from the History
+of Daniel," and the prize to be given
+for the best Essay on that subject, a
+copy of "Cowper's Poems." All competitors
+must give a guarantee that
+they are under fifteen years of age, and
+that the Essay is their own composition,
+or the papers will be passed over, as the
+Editor cannot undertake to write for this
+necessary information. Papers must be
+sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull,
+117, High Street, Hastings, by the first
+of October.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>"THE NAILS ARE GONE, BUT THE MARKS ARE LEFT."</h2>
+
+
+<p>A little boy, whose father desired to
+see him a good child, was told one day
+that a nail should be driven into a post
+whenever he should do an act that was
+wrong; and when he should do a good
+deed, he might pull one out.</p>
+
+<p>The little fellow tried to be good, and,
+though there were a number of nails
+driven into the post, after a while not
+one remained.</p>
+
+<p>How happy must Benny have been
+when he saw the last nail disappear
+from the post!</p>
+
+<p>His father was greatly pleased, and
+was congratulating his son, when he was
+surprised to see that he was weeping;
+and very touching was the remark he
+made&mdash;"Ah! the nails are all gone, but
+the marks are left!" Was not this
+contrition?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN SEPTEMBER.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Sept.  2. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 12.<br />
+Sept.  9. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 20.<br />
+Sept. 16. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 13.<br />
+Sept. 23. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 14.<br />
+Sept. 30. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 17.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">God</span> save the Queen" is now sung in
+eighteen languages.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> cost of making a bank-note for any
+amount is less than one halfpenny.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Eight</span> million baskets of peaches are expected
+from Delaware and Maryland this
+season.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Pool of Bethesda has, according to the
+quarterly statement of the Palestine Exploration
+Fund, been authoritatively discovered.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the whole sky an eye of average power
+will see about 6,000 stars. With a telescope
+this number is greatly increased, and the most
+powerful telescopes show more than 60,000,000.
+Of this number, not one out of each hundred
+has ever been catalogued.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> oldest newspaper in the whole wide
+world is the <i>King Pau</i>, or <i>Capital Sheet</i>, published
+in Pekin. It first appeared <span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 911, but
+came out only at irregular intervals. Since the
+year 1351, however, it has been published
+weekly and of uniform size. Now it appears
+in three editions daily.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">On</span> an average each Englishman writes forty
+letters a year, each Scotchman thirty, and each
+Irishman sixteen. The average Italian only
+posts six, and the American twenty-one. It
+must be remembered that in the country letter-writing
+is a rare pursuit, and that the bulk of
+letters are written by business men.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> tomato is, perhaps, used more as a relish
+than for its nutritive value. Uncooked, it
+forms the prince of salads, and it is one of the
+most appetising, palatable, and popular vegetables
+we have. Violent heat destroys the
+delicious flavour of this half fruit, half vegetable,
+so when you cook them, be most careful
+to use only moderate heat.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Saving the Buffalo.</span>&mdash;The buffaloes on the
+American prairies were thought to be nearly
+extinct, thanks to the reckless destruction of
+big game in recent years; but a happy find has
+been made of a herd nearly one hundred strong
+in a remote and uninhabited part of Texas. To
+prevent any danger of their annihilation, an
+expedition of trained huntsmen is being sent to
+Texas to drive the buffaloes into a given enclosure,
+where the breed will be carefully preserved.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Thirteen</span> thousand boxes gone astray, thirteen
+thousand umbrellas left in railway carriages,
+sixty-seven thousand different items of
+property lost on the railways of the United
+Kingdom during the single month of August,
+1887! The railway companies are not responsible
+for this property, but to their credit be it
+said, they afford every facility for its recovery.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Popery in Portugal.</span>&mdash;A correspondent in
+Oporto describes the Romish ceremony of
+washing an image of Christ in Lisbon, and
+adds&mdash;"If those who are drifting Romewards
+could only see the depths of greed, hypocrisy,
+and deceit to which the Church descends in
+these countries where she holds sway, and how
+immorality, infidelity, and spiritual darkness
+rule among the people, from high to low, they
+would surely hesitate to introduce Popish mummeries
+into free England."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">To Cure Feathers.</span>&mdash;The following recipe
+gained a premium from the Society of Arts.
+Mix a quantity of lime-water in the proportion
+of one pound of quicklime to a gallon of water,
+mixing well, and pouring off the clean lime-water
+for use as soon as the undissolved lime
+is precipitated. Put the feathers in a tub,
+adding enough of the clean lime-water to
+cover them to a depth of three inches. Stir
+them about until well moistened, when they
+will sink. Leave for three or four days, and
+then pour the whole through a sieve to get
+rid of the foul water. Wash well in clean
+water, and dry upon nets in a room where the
+air can be admitted. Cabbage nets will do
+well, the feathers falling through the meshes as
+they dry. About three weeks will finish the
+feathers, which will only need beating afterwards
+to get rid of the dust.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Curious Custom at a City Church.</span>&mdash;The
+following extract from the last will and testament
+of Peter Symondes, mercer, dated April
+24th, 1586, refers to a curious custom still observed
+on Good Friday at All Hallows Church,
+Lombard Street:&mdash;"The parson and churchwardens
+shall every year, upon the same Good
+Fryday, divide the same raisons into threescore
+parts in papers, and when the children of
+Christ's Hospital shall come upon Good Fryday
+as aforesaid, then the said parson and churchwardens
+shall give unto every child a part of
+that so appointed; and although this gift may
+be thought very frivolous, yet, my mind and
+meaning being hidden, may, notwithstanding,
+be performed, praying God to make all those
+children happy members of this Commonwealth.
+Amen." Under directions in the
+same will, each of the sixty boys also receives
+a new penny. An Easter card is also given by
+the churchwardens from the parish funds.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span><span class="smcap">The Earwig.</span>&mdash;The old-fashioned idea of the
+much-dreaded earwig is little more than a fallacy.
+The original English word "ear" signified
+an undeveloped flower-bud, especially among
+corn, and "wic" commonly stood for a hiding-place;
+so that familiar insect (formerly written
+"ear-wig"), through seeking its favourite dwelling
+beneath the closely-shielded bud "ears," has
+been universally accredited with propensities so
+deadly injurious to mankind of which it naturally
+stands wholly innocent. In this manner
+popular superstition has often thrown a mantle
+of evil and dread upon surrounding objects,
+harmless in themselves; and so long as the vulgar
+lend credence to ill-founded traditions without
+instituting intelligent inquiry, so long must
+such discrepancies continue to hold sway over
+the public mind.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sheep-Shearing by Machinery.</span>&mdash;A public
+trial of Mr. P. W. Wolseley's "Patent Sheep-Shearing
+Machine" was recently made in the
+presence of a number of gentlemen interested
+in sheep-breeding and wool-growing. The result&mdash;says
+<i>The Australasian</i>&mdash;was a complete
+success. The first test was upon a crossbred
+sheep with an average fleece. The animal was
+closely shorn in four and a half minutes. The
+second animal was shorn in the ordinary way,
+and then operated upon by the machine, with
+the result that, in addition to the cut of the
+old-fashioned shears, nine and a half ounces of
+wool were obtained. It is claimed for the invention
+that it works faster than hand labour,
+leaves no second cut, does not injure the skin
+in the slightest degree, and can be so regulated
+that the fleece can be removed of any length
+desired.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Monster Trout.</span>&mdash;A monster trout was
+captured the last week in July in the river
+Itchen, at Winchester, weighing 16 lbs. 2 ozs.,
+and measuring 32 inches in length and 21 inches
+in circumference. The bait was a live minnow,
+and he was not landed till two hours after he
+was hooked. He had haunted the stream for
+years, was almost as well known in the city as
+Queen Anne's statue in the High Street, and
+had acquired quite a reputation for the number
+of rods he had broken, and the quantity of fishing
+tackle he had carried away. His captor
+was a labourer named Turpin, who disposed of
+him for £1 to a fishmonger, on whose slab it
+attracted almost as many visitors as a monarch
+lying in state. He was in splendid condition,
+and has now gone into the hands of a taxidermist
+for preservation.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A rather</span> curious episode in natural history
+occurred the other day on board the French
+steamboat <i>Abd-el-Kader</i>, during the passage
+from Marseilles to Algiers. Just as the vessel
+was about two hours out, the skies became quite
+black with swallows. It was then about six
+o'clock in the evening. The birds alighted in
+thousands on the sails, ropes, and yards of the
+<i>Abd-el-Kader</i>. After a perky survey of the
+deck from their eminences aloft, they descended
+coolly on deck, hopped about among the sailors
+and passengers, and eventually found their
+way into the cabins, both fore and aft. The
+birds were evidently fatigued, after a long
+flight, and allowed themselves to be caught by
+the people of the ship, who gave them a welcome
+reception, and provided them with food,
+which they enjoyed heartily. The little winged
+strangers remained all night on the vessel, and
+in the morning, at seven o'clock, the head look-out
+bird had, no doubt, sighted the Balearic
+Isles, for the whole flock made for land, after
+having spent a comfortable and refreshing
+night on board ship.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Facts about London.</span>&mdash;London is the greatest
+city the world ever saw. It has an influence
+with all parts of the world, represented by the
+yearly delivery in its postal districts of 295
+millions of letters; it covers within the fifteen
+miles' radius of Charing Cross nearly 700 square
+miles; it numbers within these boundaries four
+million two hundred thousand of inhabitants;
+it contains more country-born persons than the
+counties of Devon and Gloucester combined, or
+37 per cent. of its population; has, on an average,
+four fires every day amongst its 500,000
+houses; has a birth in it every four minutes;
+has a death in it every six minutes; has 230
+persons every day and 84,000 annually added to
+its population; has nine accidents every day in
+its 7,000 miles of streets; has 55 miles of new
+streets opened, and 17,000 new houses built in
+it every year; has a vast network of 2,184
+miles of sewers and pipes for its drainage, and
+2,000 miles for its gas supply of 55,000 lamps;
+has 1,000 ships and 9,000 sailors in its port every
+day; has upwards of 89,000 persons annually
+taken into custody by the police; has more than
+one-third of all the crime in the country committed
+in it; has 25,000 persons living in its
+common lodging houses; has 43,286 persons
+annually arrested as drunk and disorderly. It
+is further estimated that it comprises 100,000
+foreigners from every quarter of the globe. It
+contains more Roman Catholics than Rome
+itself; it contains more Jews than the whole of
+Palestine; it contains more Irish than Belfast;
+it contains more Scotchmen than Aberdeen; it
+contains more Welshmen than Cardiff; it has as
+many beershops and gin-palaces, the frontages
+of which would, if placed side by side, stretch
+from Charing Cross to Chichester, a distance of
+62 miles. It has nearly as many paupers as
+would occupy every house in Brighton.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 397px;">
+<img src="images/img220.jpg" width="397" height="500" alt="&quot;WHO SHALL HAVE IT?&quot; (See page 218.)" title="&quot;WHO SHALL HAVE IT?&quot; (See page 218.)" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;WHO SHALL HAVE IT?&quot; (<i>See page 218.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p>
+<h2>LITTLE SCOTCH GRANITE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Burt and Johnnie Lee were delighted
+when their Scotch cousin
+came to live with them. He was
+little, but very bright and full of fun. He
+could tell curious things about his home
+in Scotland, and his voyage across the
+ocean. He was as far advanced in his
+studies as they were, and the first day
+he went to school they thought him remarkably
+good. He wasted no time in
+play when he should have been studying,
+and he advanced finely.</p>
+
+<p>At night, before the close of the
+school, the teacher called the roll, and
+the boys began to answer, "Ten." When
+Willie understood that he was to say
+ten if he had not whispered during the
+day, he replied, "I have whispered."</p>
+
+<p>"More than once?" asked the teacher.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," answered Willie.</p>
+
+<p>"As many as ten times?"</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe I have," faltered Willie.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I shall mark you zero," said
+the teacher, sternly; "and that is a
+great disgrace."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I did not see you whisper
+once," said Johnnie, that night after
+school.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I did," said Willie, "I saw
+others doing it, and so I asked to borrow
+a book; then I lent a slate pencil, and
+asked a boy for a knife, and did several
+such things. I supposed it was allowed."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, but we all do it," said Burt, reddening.
+"There isn't any sense in the
+old rule; and nobody could keep it; nobody
+does."</p>
+
+<p>"I will, or else I will say I haven't,"
+said Willie. "Do you suppose I would
+tell ten lies in one heap?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we don't call them lies," muttered
+Johnnie. "There wouldn't be a
+credit among us at night, if we were so
+strict."</p>
+
+<p>"What of that if you told the truth?"
+laughed Willie, bravely.</p>
+
+<p>In a short time the boys all saw how it
+was with him. He studied hard, played
+with all his might in play time; but, according
+to his account, he lost more
+credits than any of the rest. After some
+weeks, the boys answered "Nine" and
+"Eight" oftener than they used to.
+Yet the school-room seemed to have
+grown quieter. Sometimes, when Willie
+Grant's mark was even lower than usual,
+the teacher would smile peculiarly, but
+said no more of disgrace. Willie never
+preached at them or told tales; but
+somehow it made the boys ashamed of
+themselves, just the seeing that this
+sturdy blue-eyed boy must tell the truth.
+It was putting the clean cloth by the
+half-soiled one, you see; and they felt
+like cheats and story-tellers. They
+talked him all over, and loved him, if
+they did nickname him "Scotch Granite,"
+he was so firm about a promise.</p>
+
+<p>Well, at the end of the term, Willie's
+name was very low down on the credit
+list. When it was read, he had hard
+work not to cry; for he was very sensitive,
+and he had tried hard to be perfect.
+But the very last thing that day was
+a speech by the teacher, who told of
+once seeing a man muffled up in a cloak.
+He was passing him without a look,
+when he was told the man was General
+&mdash;&mdash;, the great hero.</p>
+
+<p>"The signs of his rank were hidden,
+but the hero was there just the same,"
+said the teacher. "And now, boys, you
+will see what I mean when I give a little
+gold medal to the most faithful boy&mdash;the
+one really the most conscientiously
+perfect in his deportment among you.
+Who shall have it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Little Scotch Granite!" shouted
+forty boys at once; for the child whose
+name was so "low" on the credit list
+had made truth noble in their eyes.
+"A poor man is better than a liar."&mdash;<i>The
+Lantern.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE HYACINTH.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The sweet-scented pink hyacinth
+which had been brought me was
+beautiful indeed. It had not yet
+reached maturity, nor as yet
+shown all its resources of vigour and of
+beauty, but we took great pleasure in
+watching its gradual unfolding. Some
+of its beautiful double bells did, in fact,
+come out, and gave forth their delicious
+perfume. But one day there came a
+stop to its development, which made us
+anxious. Some of the blossoms faded
+before they had fully displayed their
+lovely hues, and the buds remained
+stationary in their leaves. Water, sunshine,
+soft spring air, were not lacking
+to them. The earth in the flower-pot
+was good, and there was sufficient space
+for the roots to expand, but it was
+speedily evident that the plant was dying.
+"At all events," I said, "I'll save the
+bulb." So saying, I raised the plant
+out of the base, using great precaution,
+that I might not break the beautiful
+white-red threads, which I shook, in
+order to loosen them from the earth.
+They had become wound together, and
+formed a sort of nest, in which crawled,
+twisting themselves as they went along,
+as many as eight worms.</p>
+
+<p>It was certainly not to be wondered
+at that, with eight worms at the root,
+the poor flower should not have been
+able to thrive. I removed the enemy at
+once, and planted the hyacinth again
+under more favourable conditions; but
+it is to be feared that the sap had been
+too much impoverished for it ever to
+thrive again.</p>
+
+<p>I seemed to see a parable in the history
+of my plant, and I could not avoid
+sighing. Why did I sigh? Because I
+have known so many young men and
+women who have disappointed the hopes
+felt about them in their childhood. The
+careful culture these young people have
+had from tender and anxious parents
+has not succeeded. These promising
+plants have been blighted because some
+gnawing worm, which their friends had
+not remarked, was at the root. It was
+vanity&mdash;the desire to shine&mdash;it was deceit&mdash;untruthfulness&mdash;it
+was pride&mdash;rebellion
+of the will against all authority&mdash;it
+was covetousness&mdash;it was selfishness&mdash;it
+was&mdash;&mdash;But why should I continue
+the melancholy enumeration? It
+is God who alone knows the secret
+enemies of our happiness. "The heart
+is deceitful above all things, and desperately
+wicked," says the voice of
+Scripture; "who can know it?" "Out
+of the heart come evil thoughts," says
+Christ; therefore how needful for all of
+us is the prayer, "Create in me a clean
+heart, O God!" and how cheering the
+promise, "I will give you a new heart,
+and I will put a new spirit within you."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+J. Y.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>WORDS AND DEEDS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>One of our party greatly needed
+some elder-flower water for her
+face, upon which the sun was
+working great mischief. It was in the
+Italian town of Varallo, and not a word
+of Italian did I know. I entered a
+chemist's shop, and surveyed his drawers
+and bottles, but the result was nil.
+Bright thought&mdash;I would go down by the
+river, and walk until I could gather a
+bunch of elder-flowers, for the tree was
+then in bloom. Happily the search was
+successful. The flowers were exhibited
+to the druggist; the extract was procured.</p>
+
+<p>When you cannot tell in so many
+words what true religion is, exhibit it by
+your actions. Show by your life what
+grace can do. There is no language in
+the world so eloquent as a godly life.
+Men may doubt what you say, but they
+will believe what you do.&mdash;<i>C. H. Spurgeon.</i></p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is a great shame to a man to have
+a poor heart and a rich purse.&mdash;<i>Chaucer.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span></p>
+<h2>DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>He overthrew those cities, and all
+the plain, and all the inhabitants of
+the cities, and that which grew upon
+the ground.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xix. 25.</p>
+
+
+<p>The following extract from "Word
+Pictures from the Bible," by
+G. H. Taylor, furnishes a good
+specimen of pictorial teaching,
+and will serve to illustrate the lesson on
+the above subject:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>In the southern part of Palestine,
+and about thirty miles south-east from
+Jerusalem, stands the Dead Sea. It is
+a lake of about forty miles in length,
+with an average breadth of ten miles.
+On the east and the west, steep, rugged,
+and barren mountains of limestone rise
+up to the height of two thousand feet, and
+enclose the waters as in a huge cauldron.
+A death-like stillness prevails all around,
+unbroken save by the scream of the wild
+fowl on the bosom of the lake, or the
+footstep of some daring and solitary
+traveller. Its shores are deserted. No
+human habitation exists within miles.
+Even the wandering Arab approaches
+it with superstitious dread. Nothing
+can exceed the gloomy grandeur of its
+scenery. Rocks piled upon rocks, like
+ruin upon ruin, look down from the east
+and the west, and are reflected in its
+sluggish waters. In its immediate
+vicinity all vegetation languishes and
+dies, and the shores are covered as
+with a coat of salt. In the waters themselves
+no living thing exists. Everything
+contributes to the ideas of solitude,
+silence, sterility, mystery, ruin, and
+death.</p>
+
+<p>Now there was a time when the Sea
+did not exist&mdash;when the ground which
+it now covers formed part of a lovely,
+extensive, and fertile plain. So lovely
+was this plain that it was likened to the
+garden of paradise, on account of its
+fertility. Everything which was pleasant
+to the eye and good for food grew there.
+There was one valley in this plain which
+was beautiful beyond all others; it was
+the vale of Siddim. In this vale were
+built the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,
+Admah and Zeboim, and some others.
+Now, the fertility of the ground caused the
+inhabitants of these places to be very
+rich and very idle. They forgot the
+goodness of God in placing them in such
+a lovely spot; and instead of thanking
+Him for His kindness towards them, they
+gave way to such a beastliness and licentiousness
+of conduct as one cannot think
+of without shuddering. Their very name
+lives to our times to designate all that is
+filthy and abominable in the conduct of
+men. They were not only licentious, they
+were proud; not only proud, they were
+greedy and uncharitable. Although they
+possessed in such abundance all that was
+necessary for the happiness and sustenance
+of man, yet would they not give
+anything to assist the poor and the needy.
+The Prophet Ezekiel says, "Behold this
+was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom;
+pride, fulness of bread, and abundance
+of idleness, was in her and in her
+daughters; neither did she strengthen
+the hand of the poor and needy, but was
+haughty, and committed abomination
+before Me." All the worst of sins in the
+greatest excess were to be found among
+these inhabitants of the cities of the
+plain.</p>
+
+<p>At this time there was living among
+them a man of the name of Lot, the
+nephew of Abraham. One evening, as
+Lot sat in the gate of Sodom, two
+angels, in the form of men, appeared
+unto him. "And Lot, seeing them, rose
+up to meet them; and he bowed himself
+with his face toward the ground; and he
+said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I
+pray you, into your servant's house, and
+tarry all night, and wash your feet, and
+ye shall rise up early, and go on your
+ways. And they said, Nay; but we will
+abide in the street all night." They did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+not wish to enter; but Lot pressed them,
+and they went in, and he gave them some
+refreshment. That very night the angels
+communicate to Lot the intelligence that
+the Lord had sent them to destroy Sodom
+and Gomorrah, and all the cities of the
+plain, for the sins of the people had
+become so great that they were an
+abomination in the land. And the angels
+said unto Lot, "Hast thou here any
+besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and
+thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast
+in the city, bring them out of this place."
+This awful news must have made Lot
+very anxious for the safety of his family,
+and accordingly he goes out and tells his
+relations, and bids them get up and
+leave the place, for the Lord is about
+to destroy the city. "But he seemed as
+one that mocked, unto his sons-in-law."
+Lot entreats them like a kind father who
+desires the safety of his children; but
+they only mock him in return&mdash;"Why
+should to-morrow differ from other days?
+Who ever saw it rain fire, or whence
+should the brimstone come? Or, if such
+showers must fall, how shall nothing
+burn but this valley?" "And when the
+morning arose, then the angels hastened
+Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and
+thy two daughters, which are here; lest
+thou be consumed in the iniquity of
+the city." How destruction hunts the
+wicked! As soon as it is morning,
+Lot is told to hurry out of the guilty
+city, lest he should be consumed in its
+iniquity. Lot looks upon it, and thinks,
+perhaps, of his property which he must
+leave to perish. He looks, and lingers;
+but the angels "laid hold upon his hand,
+and upon the hand of his wife, and
+upon the hand of his two daughters; the
+Lord being merciful unto him: and they
+brought him forth, and set him without
+the city." No sooner are they beyond
+the walls of the city than the angels say
+unto him, "Escape for thy life; look not
+behind thee, neither stay thou in all the
+plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou
+be consumed." The command terrifies
+Lot. "Escape to the mountain&mdash;to a
+wild, barren, desert spot, where I cannot
+find food to eat, and where the wild beasts
+may destroy me? I cannot escape to the
+mountain, lest some evil take me, and
+I die. Behold now, this city is near
+to flee unto, and it is a little one. Oh,
+let me escape thither, (is it not a little
+one?) and my soul shall live." The
+prayer of Lot is graciously accepted.
+"See, I have accepted thee concerning
+this thing also, that I will not overthrow
+this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
+Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot
+do anything till thou be come thither.
+Therefore the name of the city was called
+Zoar." As Lot enters the little city of
+Zoar the sun is shining. Everything was
+as usual. The sun is shining upon the
+cities and the beautiful vale of Siddim.
+The inhabitants, heedless and careless
+as before, are wantoning and revelling.
+Suddenly the windows of heaven are
+opened, and floods of fiery rain pour down
+upon the guilty cities and all within
+them. The ground takes fire; the wicked
+inhabitants fly, shrieking, from place to
+place, but all too late. The swift devouring
+flames follow them, and in a short
+time the cities, the people, all that was
+fair to look upon in the vale of Siddim,
+even the solid earth itself, are in a blaze!
+Presently a noise like that of thunder is
+heard. The earth, like some huge animal,
+opens wide its mouth; the cities sink into
+its jaws and are swallowed up; floods of
+water, filled with sulphur, rush over the
+place where they stood, and nothing is
+seen but a thick cloud of smoke rising
+from the water. That water is the Dead
+Sea.</p>
+
+<p>These were not all the horrors of that
+dreadful day. Lot escaped into Zoar,
+but his wife, who was behind him,
+looked back, and she became a pillar of
+salt. The angel had told them not to
+look back. God was at that time showing
+her the greatest mercy, yet, contrary
+to His commands, she looked back, and
+became a pillar of salt. It may be that
+the swift flames overtook her as she
+loitered, or that God, offended at such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>
+ungrateful disobedience, punished her
+on the spot by immediately turning her
+into a pillar of salt. It matters not to
+us which way it was. In either case it
+was the result of disobedience.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE BIBLE AND ITS CLAIMS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>I do not know whether you have
+seen Mr. Smiles' life of our late
+friend George Moore, but in it
+we read that, at a certain dinner-party,
+a learned man remarked that it
+would not be easy to find a person of
+intelligence who believed in the inspiration
+of the Bible. In an instant George
+Moore's voice was heard across the
+table saying boldly, "I do, for one."
+Nothing more was said. My dear friend
+had a strong way of speaking, as I well
+remember, for we have upon occasions
+vied with each other in shouting when
+we were together at his Cumberland
+home. I think I can hear his emphatic
+"I do, for one." Let us not be backward
+to take the old-fashioned and unpopular
+side, and say outright, "I do, for one."
+Where are we, if our Bibles are gone?
+Where are we if taught to distrust
+them? If we are left in doubt as to
+what part is inspired and what is not,
+we are as badly off as if we had no Bible
+at all. I hold no theory of inspiration.
+I accept the inspiration of the Scriptures
+as a fact. Those who thus view the
+Scriptures need not be ashamed of their
+company, for some of the best and most
+learned of men have been of the same
+mind. Locke, the great philosopher,
+spent the last fourteen years of his life
+in the study of the Bible, and when asked
+what was the shortest way for a young
+gentleman to understand the Christian
+religion, he bade him read the Bible,
+remarking, "Therein are contained the
+words of eternal life. It has God for its
+Author, salvation for its end, and truth,
+without any admixture of error, for its
+matter." There are those on the side of
+God's Word whom you need not be
+ashamed of in the matter of intelligence
+and learning; and if it were not so, it
+should not discourage you, when you
+remember that the Lord has "hid these
+things from the wise and prudent, and
+revealed them unto babes." We believe,
+with the Apostle, that "the foolishness
+of God is wiser than men." It is
+better to believe what comes out of
+God's mouth, and be called a fool, than
+to believe what comes out of the mouths
+of philosophers, and be therefore esteemed
+a wise man.&mdash;<i>C. H. Spurgeon.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>MANKIND'S MISTAKES.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is a mistake to labour when you are
+not in a fit condition to do so.</p>
+
+<p>To think that the more a person eats
+the healthier and stronger he will become.</p>
+
+<p>To go to bed at midnight and rise at
+daybreak, and imagine that every hour
+taken from sleep is an hour gained.</p>
+
+<p>To imagine that if a little work or
+exercise is good, violent or prolonged
+exercise is better.</p>
+
+<p>To conclude that the smallest room in
+the house is large enough to sleep in.</p>
+
+<p>To eat as if you had only a minute to
+finish the meal in, or to eat without an
+appetite, or continue after it has been
+satisfied, merely to gratify the taste.</p>
+
+<p>To believe that children can do as
+much work as grown people, and that
+the more hours they study the more they
+learn.</p>
+
+<p>To imagine that whatever remedy
+causes one to feel immediately better
+(as alcoholic stimulants) is good for the
+system, without regard to its after effects.</p>
+
+<p>To take off proper clothing out of
+season, simply because you have become
+heated.</p>
+
+<p>To think that any nostrum or patent
+medicine is a specific for all the diseases
+flesh is heir to.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p>
+<h2>POSTAL SERVICE STATISTICS</h2>
+
+
+<p>The Right Hon. H. C. Raikes, her
+Majesty's Postmaster-General,
+has issued the thirty-fourth
+annual report on the working of
+the postal services in the United Kingdom
+for the year ended March 31st last.
+The record starts with a table, the figures
+of which convey some notion of the magnitude
+of the task undertaken. It is
+estimated that during the year the number
+of letters entrusted to the department
+for delivery was 1,512,200,000, in
+addition to 188,800,000 post-cards,
+389,500,000 book packets and circulars,
+152,300,000 newspapers, and 36,732,000
+parcels, making a gross total of
+2,279,532,000. Compared with the previous
+year these figures show an increase
+of 3.6 per cent. in letters, 4.8 in post-cards,
+5.6 in book packets and circulars,
+0.8 in newspapers, and 11.8 in parcels,
+the increase in the total being 3.9. It is
+calculated that the average number of
+letters addressed to each person was 41,
+of postcards 5, of book packets and
+circulars 10, of newspapers 4, of parcels
+1; or a grand average of 61. The distribution
+of these figures over given areas
+was marked by the usual disproportion.
+Of the total delivery about 85 per cent.
+was in England and Wales (28 per cent.
+being in the London postal district), 9.0
+per cent. was in Scotland, and 6.0 per
+cent. in Ireland. The total number of
+letters registered was 10,814,722, being
+an increase of 0.3 per cent.</p>
+
+<p>The constantly growing work of the
+department necessitates an increase in
+the numerical strength of the staff. The
+Postmaster-General shows that the permanent
+establishment consists of about
+56,460 persons, being an increase of
+1,609 over last year. Of the 3,872 females
+employed, 751 are engaged as clerks in
+the central offices in London, Dublin,
+and Edinburgh, and 3,121 as telegraphists,
+counter-women, sorters, &amp;c.,
+throughout the kingdom. In addition
+to this staff about 48,900 supernumeraries
+are employed in the country to
+assist in the general work of the Post
+Office. Of these 16,000 are females.</p>
+
+<p>The Parcel Post continues to be much
+used for the transmission of flowers,
+game, &amp;c. It is calculated that over
+12,000 parcels, containing upwards of
+45,000 grouse, were received in London
+last autumn, and in the month of March
+vegetables in considerable quantities
+arrived in parcels from Algiers, while it
+was also noticed that in one week 3,787
+parcels containing hats were posted in
+London alone. As an illustration of the
+use made of this service by certain firms,
+it may be mentioned that two firms in
+London each posted 70,000 parcels at
+one time, while a third posted 5,000
+parcels. The total postage paid on these
+parcels amounted to £1,875.</p>
+
+<p>The "Dead Letter" department, as it
+is popularly known, has been called upon
+to deal with 13,436,600 letters, newspapers,
+postcards, packets, and parcels.
+These figures mark a decrease of 785,387,
+which is attributed firstly to the absence
+of a general election, and secondly to the
+progress of education, "which causes
+letter writers to exercise more care and
+accuracy in addressing letters." The
+report continues:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Of the total number received 412,122
+were unreturnable; 175,408 were registered
+or contained enclosures of value,
+and 25,726 were wholly unaddressed.
+Of these unaddressed letters 1,553 contained
+money and cheques, &amp;c., amounting
+to £7,111. The careless and insecure
+manner in which the public send
+articles through the post is shown by the
+facts that no less than 24,727 articles of
+all sorts, including 289 coins, were received,
+having escaped from their covers
+or wrappers, and that the addresses had
+become detached, through insufficient
+fastening, from 4,578 parcels, many of
+which contained matter of a perishable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+nature, which was thus lost to the
+owners.</p>
+
+<p>"During the year ended December
+31st, 1887, the deposits in the Post Office
+Savings Bank numbered 6,916,327; the
+amount being £16,535,932, as compared
+with 6,562,395 deposits, amounting to
+£15,696,852 the year before, being an
+increase of 353,932 in number and
+£839,080 in amount. The sum credited
+to depositors for interest was £1,244,074,
+an increase of £74,484 over the previous
+year. The total amount standing to the
+credit of depositors at the end of the
+year was £53,974,065, being an increase
+of £3,099,727 over last year. This total
+is exclusive of the sum of £3,345,106
+Government Stock held by depositors.
+The number of new accounts opened
+during the year was 794,592 as compared
+with 758,270 in 1886; and the accounts
+closed were 574,252 as compared with
+562,499."</p>
+
+<p>Dealing with the Telegraph business,
+it is shown that the number of messages
+forwarded during the year was 53,403,425,
+being an increase of 3,159,786. A reminiscence
+of the Queen's Jubilee is fittingly
+recorded. The events connected with
+the celebration caused an immense increase
+in telegraph work in London,
+amounting to nearly 60 per cent. over
+the ordinary average, and on the day
+preceding the Jubilee ceremony no less
+than 30,597 local messages were transmitted
+through the central station, the
+total number of messages dealt with on
+that day in the Central Office being
+124,291.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> most valuable, pure, useful, and
+durable of all metals, is tried gold; so
+is tried faith, among all the Christian
+virtues.&mdash;<i>Jackson.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is not enough in this world to
+"mean well." We ought to do well.
+Thoughtfulness, therefore, becomes a
+duty, and gratitude one of the graces.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>NATURE HER OWN SURGEON.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Equally worthy of admiration,
+and all but equally complex, is
+the process by which Nature
+repairs a fractured limb, especially when
+the injury is such that the broken ends
+of bone cannot be brought exactly into
+their proper positions. It is remarkable,
+too, how she adapts her process to the
+different habits of her patients. In the
+case of a simple fracture, if the parts
+that have been disjoined are set close
+together in their normal line&mdash;if it be the
+leg of a dog, for example&mdash;there is first a
+hard sheath, called a "callus," formed
+round the fracture, and this "callus"
+permits a restricted use of the injured
+limb, even before the two parts have
+grown together. It is, however, only a
+temporary provision, necessitated by the
+natural restlessness of the lower animals.
+After the fracture has completely healed
+the "callus" gradually disappears. A
+human case is treated differently. Here,
+unless it be a broken rib (which requires
+the provision in consequence of its incessant
+motion in respiration), the healing
+takes place ordinarily without the formation
+of any <i>outer</i> "callus." Sometimes
+the broken ends cannot be&mdash;or at all
+events are not&mdash;brought into their proper
+relative positions. Is it possible, it may
+be asked, that Nature can provide the
+means for meeting such an emergency,
+when, that is to say, the two portions of
+bone to be joined are all awry, and something
+quite new&mdash;in fact, a kind of bridge,
+and a bridge not merely serving the purpose
+of a solid connection between opposite
+banks, but like the bridges which
+carry the appliances of modern civilization,
+connecting the nerves, which answer
+to the telegraph wires, and the veins and
+arteries corresponding to our water and
+other conduits, has to be constructed?
+Nature's engineering is equal even to
+this task.&mdash;<i>Quiver.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p>
+<h2>ABOUT SWEARING.</h2>
+
+<h3>A CHAT WITH MY BOYS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Some boys seem to think that it is
+manly to swear. Passing along
+the street, one is shocked to hear
+oaths from well-dressed, intelligent boys,
+who evidently belong to cultivated Christian
+families. I am going to tell the
+boys a true story about swearing, which
+I trust will influence them to break themselves
+of this ungentlemanly and wicked
+habit.</p>
+
+<p>"When I was a young lad," said a
+gentleman, "I learned to swear. I had
+a good Christian mother, and she had
+taught me what a heinous sin it is to use
+the name of God in vain. But I heard
+other boys swearing, and I thought it
+was very manly to swear as they did, and
+I tried it too. At first the words of an
+oath came stumbling along, and I felt
+all the time I was using them that God
+would strike me dead. But after a while
+I could swear as easily and fearlessly as
+some of my companions. But I never
+swore before my mother. I used the
+Lord's name in vain so often that it
+seemed as if He had forsaken me, and
+left me to my sins. I became wicked
+and reckless.</p>
+
+<p>"When I was fifteen years old I went
+to sea. My mother reluctantly gave her
+consent, only because she knew that I
+would go without it if she did not. My
+father was dead, and I was her only son.
+I had no idea then what my mother's
+feelings must have been; now I realize
+what she must have suffered in parting
+with me.</p>
+
+<p>"When I went to sea I swore in the
+worst manner. In fact, I scarcely spoke
+a word that was not accompanied by an
+oath. After a three years' voyage I
+came home. My mother met me with
+great kindness and affection. She had
+prepared a most tempting supper for me.
+My trunk was being brought into the
+door, when a misunderstanding between
+myself and the man who had brought it,
+about the pay, aroused my anger, and,
+forgetting where I was, I swore as only
+a rough seaman can swear. When oath
+after oath had passed my lips, I chanced
+to look at my mother, who stood near
+me in the hall. Her face was as white
+as the face of the dead, and an indescribable
+expression upon it that I can
+never, never forget. I saw that she
+was falling, and I put my arm around
+her to support her. She shrank away
+from my touch, and fell senseless to the
+floor. I paid the man the price he
+demanded, closed the door, lifted my
+mother up, and laid her on the lounge.
+I thought I had killed her. Oh, the
+feelings of remorse that filled my heart
+at that moment! But she opened her
+eyes, and seeing me standing before her,
+said, 'Oh, my son, you have broken my
+heart!' I assured her with tears and
+kisses that I would never swear again,
+but the habit had taken such strong
+hold on me that I found myself swearing
+unconsciously many times a day. My
+mother did not enjoy the long-anticipated
+visit of her only son. Her spirit
+seemed crushed, and I know she felt
+that she had lost her boy, and a reckless,
+wicked man had come home in his
+stead. With many tears and kind
+words of pleading she bade me 'good-bye'
+when, in a few weeks after, I started
+on my second sea voyage. At the first
+port at which we stopped after leaving
+home, I received a letter from my aunt,
+containing the sad news of my dear
+mother's death. Instantly that mother's
+face, as it appeared to me on the evening
+I returned home, was before me. I
+threw myself on my knees in my cabin,
+and pleaded for forgiveness. I resolved
+with God's help to lead a different life.
+But habits of sin, that begin in cobwebs,
+end in iron chains. It was not easy
+to break away from them. But every
+time I began to use an oath, my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+mother's face, as it looked that night,
+came before me. I shall never forget it
+to my dying day. With God's help, I
+have overcome that terrible sin. I
+would give everything I possess could
+I only speak to her once more, and tell
+her my sorrow and remorse. But she is
+silent in the grave."</p>
+
+<p>When the gentleman had finished his
+sad story, he said, "When you are
+writing something for the children, tell
+the boys this story I have told you, and
+tell them always to remember that a
+sinful habit may begin as a cobweb,
+but it will end as an iron chain about
+their souls."&mdash;<i>Baptist.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE WORD WITH POWER.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+"Jesus, who lived above the sky,<br />
+Came down to be a man and die.<br />
+And those kind hands that did such good,<br />
+They nailed them to a cross of wood.<br />
+And, out of pity, Jesus said,<br />
+He'd bear the punishment instead."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>An aged woman sat alone by the
+fireside, when Mr. &mdash;&mdash; came in,
+and simply exclaimed, as he
+looked out at the window, "The
+Lord said, 'I came not to call the
+righteous, but sinners to repentance'
+(Mark ii. 17). 'Not the righteous.'
+What a mercy that is." No more was
+said, and Mr. &mdash;&mdash; left the room, but at
+night, when in bed, the aged one said
+to her sister, who occupied the same
+room with her, "Mr. &mdash;&mdash; came into the
+room below, and, as if speaking to himself,
+uttered these words, 'I came not
+to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
+Not the righteous. What a
+mercy that is!' and he went out, and
+said no more, but they made the tears
+roll down my face. There is hope for
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"A word in season" the Lord alone
+can give to be effectual. Then, "how
+good it is." Bless His holy name, He
+shall have all the praise, for ever and
+ever.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+D. F.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<i>August, 1888.</i>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+A fountain fulness still remains<br />
+Of pardoning blood from Jesus' veins,<br />
+Though millions have its virtues tried,<br />
+And from its riches been supplied.<br />
+<br />
+And yet it ever is the same<br />
+To all that come in Jesus' name;<br />
+Not one that to it shall repair<br />
+Will ever perish in despair.<br />
+<br />
+It makes the filthy sinner clean,<br />
+Though vile as I or Magdalene;<br />
+Here David lost his crimson sin,<br />
+And thousands more as well as him.<br />
+<br />
+Manasseh here lost all his crimes,<br />
+And now in glory brightly shines;<br />
+Also dear Paul, of sinners chief,<br />
+From this dear fountain got relief,<br />
+<br />
+And writes so sweetly of its power<br />
+To save e'en to a dying hour;<br />
+Yea, all the while he travelled here,<br />
+This fountain was to him most dear.<br />
+<br />
+No savèd sinner ever knew<br />
+Better than Paul what blood can do,<br />
+For he himself its power had tested,<br />
+And on its efficacy rested.<br />
+<br />
+And all the hosts around the throne<br />
+Bear witness to what blood has done;<br />
+Their holy joy and heavenly bliss<br />
+Is concentrated all in this.<br />
+<br />
+Oh, may this joy and peace be mine<br />
+When called to leave the things of time!<br />
+To sing of Jesus' love and blood,<br />
+And dwell for ever with my God.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">B. W.</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p>
+<h2>LITTLE HELPS BY LARGE HEARTS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A friend had been sitting a little
+while by the bed-side of a poor
+woman&mdash;rendered utterly helpless
+from paralysis&mdash;reading the Scriptures
+to her, when the door was gently
+opened, and three neatly-dressed little
+girls entered the room, each carrying a
+small basket. One of them approached
+the bed, and after a few simple and kind
+inquiries, held up the little basket she
+had in her hand, saying, "My mother
+sent you this, and hopes soon to come
+and see you." The poor woman thanked
+the child gratefully, and said, "Put it
+away, my dear, for me."</p>
+
+<p>The little girl seemed quite used to
+the employment. She went over to a
+cupboard, emptied carefully the contents
+of her basket, and with a modest
+"Good-bye," the three children withdrew.</p>
+
+<p>The poor woman then gave an explanation
+to the friend who was present.
+"These little girls," she said, "are the
+children of a very respectable butcher,
+and every Saturday afternoon their
+mother employs them to carry about to
+poor people scraps of meat and bones.
+They are nice children, and take quite a
+pleasure in doing it, and they have given
+me, and many others, many a good dinner."</p>
+
+<p>Now, who can calculate the amount of
+good resulting from the thoughtful
+charity of this mother? We read thus
+of God's redeemed people&mdash;"their works
+do follow them"&mdash;not to heaven for
+recompense, as some vainly imagine,
+but on the earth. Continually we see
+the truth of this in the effects produced,
+after the lapse of years, from works done
+by those whose bones have long been
+turned to dust. Who can tell the influence
+this weekly act may have upon
+these three children, if spared to grow
+up to womanhood? And thus, when
+their mother's place knows her no more,
+her "works will follow her."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE PENNY PIECE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>I give the following from the
+lips of one who was well acquainted
+with the facts:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>A frost had been raging for
+thirteen weeks. The consequence was
+that out-door labourers, for the most
+part, were stopped in their employment.
+Among these was a poor gardener who
+had a wife and five or six children. He
+was at length reduced to great straits.
+He had spent all but his last penny,
+and had not the slightest prospect of
+more.</p>
+
+<p>Passing down a certain street one day,
+he happened to see a poor man standing
+in the lobby of a church or chapel. His
+heart yearned over him, and he thought,
+"How I should like to help him; but I
+have only a penny left for myself and
+family." Still, he felt that he could not
+resist the inclination. He instantly
+turned round, stepped back, and gave
+the man his last penny. Immediately
+there came a peculiar light and gladness
+into his soul. Instead of being
+burdened by his destitution, he was relieved
+by it. He was rich in his poverty.</p>
+
+<p>That very night the long frost broke,
+and in the morning he resumed his
+work. He had not been long in the
+garden before his employer appeared.
+Addressing him, he said, "I am sure
+you must have felt the effects of this
+long frost very much. Here is a sovereign
+for you." The poor gardener felt
+amazed, and, to use his own words, it
+was as though the Lord said to him,
+"Here's a sovereign for the penny you
+lent Me last night."</p>
+
+<p>Reader, it is written, "He that giveth
+to the poor lendeth unto the Lord"; and
+again, "There is that scattereth, and
+yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth
+more than is meet, but it tendeth
+to poverty."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+O. J.
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">Bad</span> men excuse their faults; good
+men will leave them.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A BRAND PLUCKED OUT OF THE FIRE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>While occasionally serving a
+destitute Church, between three
+and four months ago, I was requested
+to visit a dying woman.
+I found her in the most distracting
+agony of bodily pain, but rejoicing at
+the same time in the consolations of the
+Gospel. My visits afforded me much
+pleasure and edification. Being informed
+that she had been once a most abandoned
+character, I solicited a friend to collect
+from her own mouth the history of her
+life, and since her death have been
+favoured with a very interesting and circumstantial
+account of this monument of
+mercy.</p>
+
+<p>When young she was deprived of both
+father and mother, but by friends was introduced
+into a genteel family, where
+after some time she fell into shameful
+sin. Her friends abandoned her in her
+disgrace, but after she had endured much
+suffering, privation, and want, they were
+persuaded to receive her once more, and
+at length provided another eligible situation
+for her. Thus restored, she might
+have lived in respect, but a particular
+circumstance which should operate as a
+warning, especially to servants, led her
+into a more dreadful course of iniquity
+than ever she had been guilty of before.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>
+On the Lord's Day, instead of going to
+any place of worship, she contracted the
+habit of spending those sacred hours at
+the house of an acquaintance. Here she
+formed her most fatal connections, and
+to this sin of Sabbath-breaking she
+especially attributed her ruin. A bad
+man persuaded her to accompany him
+to London. Here for some years she
+lived a most profligate life, the circumstances
+of which cannot be detailed here,
+further than that sin which brings its own
+reward found her deserted, and in the
+Lock Hospital. After a dreadful operation
+she somewhat recovered, and went
+out, but only to follow her old sinful
+course. She was scarcely known to be
+sober for six years together. Her
+wretched course of life was a continual
+burden to her. She often prayed, if such
+an one could be said to pray, that God
+would deliver her from it, and accompanied
+her prayers with resolves to forsake
+it; but all her resolutions were
+ineffectual till God's time of deliverance
+was come. At length she determined
+to return into the country again. She
+met with many distressing circumstances
+by the way, and upon her arrival, her
+friends would not receive her. She was
+therefore obliged to apply to the parish,
+being incapable of getting her living
+through her disordered state of body.
+The overseers provided her a room in a
+house with another woman, where, soon
+after she arrived, her complaint assumed
+an alarming nature, and threatened
+speedy dissolution. In the awful prospect
+of death she was seized with the
+most distracting horrors. Calling to the
+woman with whom she lived, she cried,
+"I shall soon be gone, and hell will be my
+doom!" The woman told her she was
+mad, but she replied, with earnestness,
+"I am not. I know it will, for I am not
+prepared to die"; and immediately
+asked her if she knew where any minister
+lived? She had heard some whom they
+called "Methodists" while in the hospital
+at London. Even then she could not
+laugh at them as many of her unfortunate
+companions did, but was often much
+affected by their prayers and sermons,
+and looked upon them as men living in
+the fear of God. The recollection of this
+suggested the eager inquiry after them
+now. But the woman said, "They cannot
+save your soul."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 376px;">
+<img src="images/img232.jpg" width="376" height="500" alt="SERIOUS FEMALE (See page 230.)" title="SERIOUS FEMALE (See page 230.)" />
+<span class="caption">"SHE PROCURED A LODGING WITH A SERIOUS FEMALE." (<i>See page 230.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"I know they cannot," she replied,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">&nbsp;</a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>"but they can pray with me and for me
+to One who can. Go instantly and fetch
+one, for I am going to hell."</p>
+
+<p>The woman still continued to laugh at
+her, and told the neighbours she was
+deranged. One of them, however, more
+compassionate than the rest, coming in,
+said she knew a good man who lived
+near. He was not a minister, but she
+would go and fetch him.</p>
+
+<p>"Make him promise to come," said
+the poor creature, "before you leave
+him, and then, if he be a good man, he
+will come." While the person was gone,
+she cried to the Lord to send him.</p>
+
+<p>He came and found her in the greatest
+agonies of mind. She told him that she
+was the vilest sinner that ever lived,
+described the course of life she had led,
+and concluded by saying she saw hell
+before her eyes, and that she should be
+lost for ever. He pointed out the way of
+salvation by Christ, told her it was free
+for the vilest, spoke of the encouragement
+there was for the chief of sinners
+who came to Him, prayed with her,
+and left her a little more composed.
+She made him promise to come the next
+day, which he did twice. In a short
+time after, her sorrow was turned into
+gladness, and she was enabled to
+rejoice in Christ as her Saviour, whilst
+the young man who visited her was
+reading the verse&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Look as when Thy grace beheld<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The harlot in distress;</span><br />
+Dried her tears, her pardon sealed,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And bade her go in peace.</span><br />
+Foul like her, and self-abhorred,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I at Thy feet for mercy groan;</span><br />
+Turn and look upon me, Lord,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And break my heart of stone."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this, God removed the
+violence of her complaint, and thereby
+gave her an opportunity of proving the
+reality of her conversion. As soon
+as possible she went to the meeting,
+but oh, the persecution she now met
+with from her former companions! She
+was obliged to remove from place to
+place to escape their violence. They
+pelted her with stones, broke her windows,
+&amp;c., because, as they said, she
+was a hypocrite. But she was enabled
+to endure it with patience, and after a
+time procured a lodging with a serious
+female. Now she seemed almost in
+heaven. She could now go in and out,
+none daring to make her afraid, and
+could meditate in peace on the gracious
+dealings of God with her soul. She
+became a member of the Church in
+which she continued as long as she
+lived. She seemed to grow daily in an
+affecting discovery of the evil of sin and
+of her own vileness, and was often quite
+overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness
+of God, both with respect to her
+temporal and spiritual concerns. She
+was frequently enabled to rejoice in the
+Lord with exceeding joy, though labouring
+under the most dreadful pain, being
+literally full of wounds, the sad fruit of
+her former life. She occasionally experienced
+great conflicts with Satan,
+but the Lord graciously interposed, and
+brought her off more than conqueror.
+Several months before her death she
+was grievously afflicted, but in general
+very comfortable. On the Saturday
+preceding her dissolution, a friend
+called to see her, and inquired after the
+state of her mind. She said she was
+happy in God, longed to depart, and
+could scarcely contain herself. She was
+so filled with love to her blessed Lord,
+for His unbounded goodness to her. On
+the Monday, the person with whom she
+lodged said she was very comfortable
+in her mind. Her spirit soared beyond
+the fear of death; but through extreme
+weakness she could not speak much,
+and on Tuesday she departed, we trust,
+to sing the praises of that miraculous
+grace which snatched her as a brand
+from the burning.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">Conduct</span> is the great profession.
+What a man does tells us what he is.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p>
+<h2>ADMIRAL PYE AND THE INQUISITORS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Admiral Pye having been on a
+visit to Southampton, and the
+gentleman under whose roof he
+resided observing an unusual intimacy
+between him and his secretary, inquired
+into the degree of their relationship.
+The admiral informed him that they
+were not related, but their intimacy
+arose from a singular circumstance,
+which, by his permission, he would
+relate.</p>
+
+<p>The admiral said, when he was a
+captain he was cruising in the Mediterranean.
+While on that station he received
+a letter from shore, stating that
+the unhappy author of the letter was by
+birth an Englishman; that, having been on
+a voyage to Spain, he was enticed while
+there to become a Papist, and, in process
+of time, was made a member of the
+Inquisition; that there he beheld the
+abominable wickedness and barbarities
+of the inquisitors.</p>
+
+<p>His heart recoiled at having embraced
+a religion so horribly cruel and so repugnant
+to the nature of God, that he was
+stung with remorse to think that, if his
+parents knew <i>what</i> and <i>where</i> he was,
+their hearts would break with grief;
+that he was resolved to escape, if he
+(the captain) would send a boat on shore
+at such a time and place, but begged
+secrecy, since, if his intentions were
+discovered, he should be immediately
+assassinated.</p>
+
+<p>The captain returned for answer that
+he could not with propriety send a boat,
+but if he could devise any means to
+come on board, he would receive him as
+a British subject, and protect him. He
+did so; but being missed, there was
+soon raised a hue and cry, and he was
+followed to the ship.</p>
+
+<p>A holy inquisitor demanded him, but
+he was refused; another, in the name
+of his Holiness the Pope, claimed him,
+but the captain did not know him, or
+any other master, but his own sovereign,
+King George. At length a third
+holy brother approached. The young
+man recognized him at a distance, and,
+in terror, ran to the captain, entreating
+him not to be deceived by him, for he was
+the most false, wicked, and cruel monster
+in all the Inquisition. He was introduced,
+the young man being present,
+and, to obtain his object, began with the
+bitterest accusations against him; then
+he turned to the most fulsome flatteries
+of the captain; and, lastly, offered him
+a sum of money to resign him. The
+captain treated him with apparent attention,
+said his offer was very handsome,
+and, if what he affirmed were true, the
+person in question was unworthy of the
+English name or of his protection.</p>
+
+<p>The holy brother was elated; he
+thought his errand was accomplished.
+While drawing his purse-strings, the
+captain inquired what punishment would
+be inflicted upon him. He replied that
+it was uncertain; but as his offences
+were atrocious, it was likely that his
+punishment would be exemplary. The
+captain asked if he thought he would
+be burned in a dry pan. He replied,
+that must be determined by the Holy
+Inquisition, but it was not improbable.</p>
+
+<p>The captain then ordered the great
+copper to be heated, but no water to be
+put in. All this while the young man
+stood trembling, his cheeks resembling
+death; he expected to become an unhappy
+victim to avarice and superstition.</p>
+
+<p>The cook soon announced that the
+orders were executed. "Then I command
+you to take this fellow," pointing
+to the inquisitor, "and fry him alive in
+the copper." This unexpected command
+thunderstruck the holy father.
+Alarmed for himself, he rose to be gone.
+The cook began to bundle him away.
+"Oh, good captain! good captain!
+spare me, spare me!" "Have him
+away," replied the captain. "Oh, no,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>
+my good captain!" "Have him away.
+I'll teach him to attempt to bribe a
+British commander to sacrifice the life
+of an Englishman to gratify a herd of
+bloody men." Down the inquisitor fell
+upon his knees, offering him all his
+money, and promising never to return if
+he would let him begone. When the
+captain had sufficiently alarmed him,
+he dismissed him, warning him never to
+come again on such an errand.</p>
+
+<p>What must have been the reverse of
+feelings in the young man to find himself
+thus happily delivered. He fell
+upon his knees, in a flood of tears, before
+the captain, and poured a thousand
+blessings upon his brave and noble
+deliverer.</p>
+
+<p>"This," said the admiral to the gentleman,
+"is the circumstance that began
+our acquaintance. I took him to
+be my servant; he served me from affection;
+mutual attachment ensued, and it
+has inviolably subsisted and increased
+to this day."&mdash;<i>From Cyclopædia of
+Moral and Religious Anecdotes, with
+Introductory Essay by Dr. Cheever.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHILD HEROISM.</h2>
+
+
+<p>"Mother, just look what I've come
+upon! I found the small board
+at the back loose, and beneath it,
+this."</p>
+
+<p>Thus spoke Julia White, who was engaged
+in scrubbing out the single cupboard
+of their one room, and as she
+uttered the words she held up a paper
+with two sovereigns wrapped in it.</p>
+
+<p>"Why are you so prying, child?" said
+the mother. "You would have been so
+much better without the knowledge of
+my secret. Now, if your father should
+come home tipsy to-night, you will be
+forced to tell him where the money is,
+and I shall lose the whole of it.
+Wherever to hide it away from you, I
+don't know."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Julia looked frightened enough,
+for she was only eleven years of age, and
+her dread of her father, who frequently
+showed himself a ferocious ruffian, was
+extreme; but there was no help for the
+case now. The mother had to leave in
+little more than an hour to watch a
+patient to whom she was night nurse,
+and there was no time to find another
+hiding-place. To carry the money with
+her where she was going would scarcely
+have been safe, so, after seeing little
+Nancy, with the baby, safely returned,
+and giving the latter its meal at her
+breast, the good, hard-working woman
+departed to fulfil her engagement.</p>
+
+<p>The children left alone, the terror of
+the elder one could not escape the
+notice of the younger, although she was
+only a little over seven; and she at
+length said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"What can be the matter with you,
+Julia?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know where mother's money is,
+and am afraid father will come home
+and want it."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell him you know nothing about it.
+He always believes you."</p>
+
+<p>"Nancy!"</p>
+
+<p>She had been rightly taught by a good
+mother, and young as she was, realized
+that this was not the course to take,
+so, kneeling by the side of her child
+sister, she offered the following simple,
+but heartfelt, prayer&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Jesus, please don't let father
+come home to-night and want mother's
+money; but if he should do so, please
+help me not to tell him where it is."</p>
+
+<p>The strength she had thus gained was
+soon put to a cruel test, for into the
+neat, cleanly room there quickly rushed
+the brute who represented all that she
+had ever known of father. The scene
+that ensued was of a character not unfrequent
+in low London districts, but
+none the less worthy of record. Poor
+little Nancy, dreading what might follow,
+caught up the baby, and fled with it into
+a corner of the room, as the safest place
+of refuge, for we ought to have stated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>
+that the ruffian had locked the door
+upon his entrance. Catching his eldest
+daughter's arm, he said, in not an over
+loud voice&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Get me your mother's money."</p>
+
+<p>Meeting with no reply from the white-faced
+girl, he next said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know where it is?"</p>
+
+<p>But still there was no answer. What
+followed seems dreadful to relate, suiting
+better with the nature of South Sea or
+African cannibals than with the natives
+of Christian England. First twisting the
+girl's arm round, and causing her dreadful
+pain, he next bestowed upon her with
+his brute strength a succession of awful
+blows; but, though she could not keep
+back her cries, she did not yield to him
+in the least.</p>
+
+<p>Wearied at length, he flung her from
+him on to the wall, and during the ensuing
+five minutes, with bursts of terrible
+oaths, threatened that, if she did not
+acquaint him with her secret, he would
+kill her; but, mercifully, the neighbours
+were enabled at the end of this time to
+break into the room, or there is no telling
+what mischief might have followed.</p>
+
+<p>But we cannot finish without describing
+the heroism of poor little Nancy,
+which almost equalled that of her sister.
+Dodging from side to side during the
+struggle, now in this corner and now
+in that, and shielding the baby with her
+youthful person, she, with wonderful
+activity and courage, kept it from harm.</p>
+
+<p>It seems something like divine retribution
+that this dreadful father this
+very evening received a terrible beating
+in the public-house, and his system being
+unhealthy, as the result of drinking
+habits, he died in hospital of his injuries.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">S. Dennis.</span><br />
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> is a pre-established harmony
+between the voice of the Shepherd and
+the heart of the sheep. "If ye abide in
+Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall
+ask what ye will and it shall be done
+unto you."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LITTLE KINDNESSES.</h2>
+
+
+<p>For the intercourse of social life, it
+is by little acts of watchful kindness
+recurring daily and hourly&mdash;and
+opportunities of doing kindnesses,
+if sought for, are for ever starting
+up&mdash;it is by words, by tones, by
+gestures, by looks, that affection is won
+and preserved. He who neglects these
+trifles, yet boasts that, whenever a great
+sacrifice is called for, he shall be ready
+to make it, will rarely be loved. The
+likelihood is, he will not make it, and if
+he does, it will be much rather for his
+own sake than for his neighbour's.
+Many persons, indeed, are said to be
+penny wise and pound foolish; but they
+who are penny foolish will hardly be
+pound wise, although selfish vanity may
+now and then for a moment get the
+better of selfish indolence, for Wisdom
+will always have a microscope in her
+hand.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A DRUNKARD'S WILL.</h2>
+
+
+<p>I leave to society a ruined character,
+a wretched example, and a memory that
+will soon rot. I leave to my parents,
+during the rest of their lives, as much
+sorrow as humanity in a feeble and
+declining state can sustain. I leave to
+my brothers and sisters as much mortification
+and injury as I could bring on
+them. I leave my wife a broken heart,
+a life of wretchedness and shame, to
+weep over my premature death. I give
+and bequeath to each of my children,
+poverty, ignorance, and low character,
+and the remembrance that their father
+was a monster.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">We</span> may as well attempt to bring
+pleasure out of pain as to unite indulgence
+in sin with the enjoyment of
+happiness.&mdash;<i>Hodge.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE LAND OF THE GIANTS.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>And we took all his cities at that
+time: there was not a city which we
+took not from them," &amp;c.</i>&mdash;<span class="smcap">Deut.</span> iii.
+4, 5.</p>
+
+
+<p>Sixty cities in one small province!
+Can it be true? Has not the
+copyist erred in his arithmetic?
+Should it not be sixteen, or six? Does
+it not appear improbable? The province
+mentioned, Argob, is not more
+than thirty miles by twenty; and that
+within so limited a space there should
+be sixty cities, "besides unwalled towns
+a great many," can scarcely be accepted
+literally.</p>
+
+<p>Now, it is a great blessing, for the confirmation
+of our faith in the truth of the
+Bible, and the silencing of those who
+delighted in making others to be of a
+doubtful mind, that the literal truth of
+the statement is fully established&mdash;not
+by a comparison of parallel passages;
+not by a new translation of the text;
+not by the testimony of ancient historians;
+but by the remains of the cities
+themselves. There are they in Argob,
+the oldest specimens of domestic architecture
+in the whole world.</p>
+
+<p>English travellers have visited the
+wild land of the giants; they have penetrated
+into the rocky recesses of Argob;
+they have slept in the deserted homes of
+the Rephaim; and have come back to
+tell us that the stones reared by those
+ancient idolaters bear witness to the
+truth of the living God.</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. J. L. Porter spent a considerable
+time in exploring the cities of
+Bashan. At Burak he lodged in a city
+of several hundred houses, all deserted,
+but all in good repair, though built two
+or three thousand years ago. The walls
+of these houses were five feet thick,
+formed of large blocks of hewn stone,
+put together without lime or cement of
+any kind. The roofs were formed of long
+blocks of the same black basalt,
+measuring twelve feet in length,
+eighteen inches in breadth, and six
+inches in thickness. The doors were
+stone slabs hung upon pivots formed of
+projecting parts of the slabs, working
+in sockets in the lintel and threshold;
+the windows were guarded with stone
+shutters&mdash;everything was of stone, as if
+the builders had designed each edifice
+to last for ever.</p>
+
+<p>The cities have endured, but the inhabitants
+have fled. You pass the
+ruined gateway where stern warriors
+kept watch, and from whose towers the
+watchmen swept the country and signalled
+the coming of the foe. All is
+hushed. Rank weeds and grass, brambles
+and creeping plants, have overgrown
+the well-made roads; and in the massive
+houses, where once on a time happy
+groups assembled, and children shouted
+with joy, the fox and the jackal make
+their dwelling, while owls and daws take
+possession of the roof. Here is a city
+that must at one period have contained
+at least twenty thousand inhabitants.
+Once its streets were noisy and bustling,
+and the dealers made their shrewd bargains
+in the markets, while the grandees
+dwelt in their stone palaces, haughty of
+spirit, as if the slaves who waited on
+them were of another flesh than theirs.
+Here dwelt the giants, and after them
+Jews, and Greeks, and Romans, Saracens
+and Turks, each leaving memorials
+of their presence; but all gone&mdash;the
+whole abandoned to the wild birds and
+the beasts of prey. There are palaces
+with thorns and thistles growing in the
+chief room; there are temples with
+branches of trees shooting through the
+gaping walls; there are tombs festooned
+with the rich luxuriance of nature; there
+is everything to tell of desolation and
+decay.</p>
+
+<p>You remember that we read in Joshua
+that the kingdom of Og, the giant, included
+all Bashan unto Salcah; and
+the Israelites took and occupied the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+whole land, from Mount Hermon unto
+Salcah. This is the frontier city of
+Bashan, and is one of the most remarkable
+in Palestine. There are about five
+hundred houses still remaining, a number
+of square towers, a few mosques,
+and a great old castle on the top of a
+hill. But the city, held at first by the
+giants, and at last by the Turks, has
+long been deserted, and the tread of
+horses on the paved street disturbs only
+a fox in its den or a wild bird in its
+nest. The castle hill is about three
+hundred feet in height, the base encircled
+by a moat. The building itself appears
+to have been of Jewish foundation,
+though it is probable that the site was
+occupied by a still older fortress. There
+is Roman masonry in the work, and the
+Saracens have added to the beauty, if
+not to the strength, of the structure; but
+though the exterior wall remains, the
+interior is choked with rubbish. The
+summit of the castle commands an extensive
+prospect&mdash;a varied, romantic,
+but wild scene of rugged rocks and
+luxuriant verdure, comprising no less
+than thirty deserted cities. On the right
+stretches Moab, on the left Arabia; behind,
+in terraced slopes, the hills of
+Bashan&mdash;a sad and solemn scene of
+utter desolation.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A son of Gideon.</p>
+
+<p>A king of Moab.</p>
+
+<p>An untruthful woman.</p>
+
+<p>A man slain by God.</p>
+
+<p>The son of a persecuted woman.</p>
+
+<p>What did the Israelites once desire?</p>
+
+<p>A God-fearing man.</p>
+
+<p>An officer of a king.</p>
+
+<p>One of the Apostles.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />The initials will form a passage of
+Scripture.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Alfred Clapson</span>
+<br />
+(Aged 10 years).
+</div>
+<p><i>Reigate.</i>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Good Shepherd, His Lambs
+and Sheep.</span></h3>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xl. 11.)</p>
+
+
+<p>We know that Jesus is the Person
+of whom our text speaks, because
+His herald and forerunner is
+described in the third verse, and John
+the Baptist applied the prophecy to
+himself, when the Pharisees wanted to
+know who he really was&mdash;"The voice of
+one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye
+the way of the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>He came to teach the necessity of repentance,
+to reprove the pride of the
+Pharisee, bringing low the hills and
+mountains of their self-esteem; while
+the despised tax-gatherers and soldiers
+were taught how to rise, by the grace
+of God, to the position of honourable
+and useful members of society, and thus
+the valleys were exalted (Luke iii.
+6-14). God, according to His promise,
+sent His Prophet to turn the hearts of
+the people in some measure before Jesus
+Himself appeared (Mal. iv. 5, 6).</p>
+
+<p>And then, though in a human form,
+the "Lord God came with strong hand,"
+"mighty to save." His "reward was
+with Him, and the recompense of His
+work was before Him," and He did then,
+and does still, "feed His people like a
+shepherd." It was the Lord God who
+came among men; but how did He
+come? Not with earthly pomp and glory,
+and His heavenly majesty was but dimly
+seen.</p>
+
+<p>I thought of this on July 17th last,
+when the Prince of Wales went with the
+Princess to open the Great Northern
+Hospital at Upper Holloway, London.
+The Royal party were attired in deep
+mourning, on account of the recent
+death of the Emperor Frederick of Germany,
+and so quietly did their carriage
+pass along that many scarcely recognized
+them, and nearly all who were looking
+expectantly for the Prince's coming were
+greatly disappointed at the absence of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>
+a showy retinue. Yet he fulfilled all that
+he promised, and more, for he, with his
+wife and daughters, visited all the
+patients in the hospital, speaking kindly
+words, and doubtless giving real pleasure
+to those afflicted ones.</p>
+
+<p>So, when that infinitely greater One, the
+Prince of Peace, came, He did all that
+had been predicted of Him; and though
+even His own disciples expected grandeur
+which they did not find, and for a
+while were grieved and perplexed, yet
+when, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
+they better understood His mission, they
+perceived that He had finished His
+work most gloriously, and had "done all
+things well."</p>
+
+<p>The Shepherd of Israel, then, is the
+Lord God, of whom David sang, "The
+Lord" (Jehovah) "is my Shepherd: I
+shall not want," which Jesus followed
+up by saying, "I am the Good Shepherd,
+and am come that My sheep might have
+life, and have more abundantly all the
+blessings My people enjoyed before I
+came into this world" (see John x.).</p>
+
+<p>"He shall feed His flock like a
+Shepherd." Jesus here appears as a
+King as well as a Shepherd, for good
+kings care for and defend their subjects,
+but none can do as He does, who is
+"over all, blessed for evermore." All
+other shepherds must lead their sheep
+into green pastures, or procure them
+food in some other way, but Jesus
+supplies His people from Himself. All
+the fulness of love, grace, and blessing
+are His own, and as the poet sings&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"On a dying Christ I feed;<br />
+This is meat and drink indeed."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Christ once crucified for the redemption
+of His loved ones, but now alive for
+evermore, is the life and joy of all who
+believe on His name.</p>
+
+<p>And these sheep are divided into two
+classes&mdash;lambs, and their parents.
+Those who are young, inexperienced,
+and weak, like Christ's followers were
+when He was on earth, how gently He
+"carried" them, guarding, supporting,
+and instructing so gradually until they
+became able to lead others in the ways
+of God. And still He tends His feeble
+ones with special care. He is kind and
+full of compassion, and they who most
+need His protection are most sure to
+have it, for He fully knows the need.</p>
+
+<p>But the older sheep need the
+shepherd's consideration as much as
+the lambs of the flock. Those who have
+young ones to nourish and care for
+must be gently led.</p>
+
+<p>The Apostle Paul said that "the care
+of all the Churches of Christ pressed
+daily upon him" (2 Cor. xi. 28), yet
+he could tell how the Lord comforted
+both himself and his fellow-workers in
+all their trials, so that they were enabled
+to comfort others; and speaking from
+his own experience, he could encourage
+his friends to "cast all their care upon
+Him" who ever cares for all His people.</p>
+
+<p>And it is Jesus only who can really
+lead and feed His flock. Ministers of the
+Gospel are called "pastors," "shepherds."
+As Christ's servants, they may
+be, and often are, the means of leading
+their hearers into green pastures, and of
+restoring the wandering and the weak;
+yet every true pastor is a sheep after all,
+and all spiritual, heavenly power and
+blessing must proceed from Him alone.</p>
+
+<p>I was much interested, some time ago,
+in a pretty little poem, illustrated by the
+picture of a splendid ram, standing
+beside his wounded little one, calling
+loudly for the help he could not render;
+and the shepherd, hearing his cries,
+hastened to the spot, and carried the
+helpless little thing to the fold. And
+methought, "Is not this a beautiful
+parable for us?" If we are longing to
+help and heal the feeble, the straying,
+and the sin-sick, and feel how little
+we can do, let us seek to follow this
+sheep's example, and call upon our
+Shepherd&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Whose ears attend the softest call,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Whose eyes can never sleep."</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>He is the Good Shepherd, for He gave
+His life for the sheep; the Chief Shepherd,
+possessing all the amiable and
+winning attractions that charm and
+draw the heart; and the Great Shepherd,
+almighty and unchanging, "able to save
+to the uttermost all who come unto God
+by Him."</p>
+
+<p>Oh, that we all may know His love,
+which never can be fully known on
+earth, and enjoy the sweet privilege of
+commending all our loved ones to His
+gracious care, assured that He is able
+to do all that His heart desireth, and
+that&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"With heaven and earth at His command,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He waits to answer prayer."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, <i>The Glory
+of Christ, as described by Himself in
+John xvii</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Yours affectionately,<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE POWER OF KINDNESS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Elihu Burritt, speaking of the power
+of kindness, says, "There is no power
+of love so hard to get and keep as a
+kind voice. A kind hand is deaf and
+dumb. It may be rough in flesh and
+blood, yet do the work of a soft heart,
+and do it with a soft touch. But there
+is no one thing that love so much needs
+as a sweet voice to tell what it means
+and feels; and it is hard to get and keep
+it in the right tone."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN OCTOBER.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Oct.  7. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 25.<br />
+Oct. 14. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 26.<br />
+Oct. 21. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 27.<br />
+Oct. 28. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 28.<br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Charity.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Paul says (1 Cor. xiii. 4) that
+"charity suffereth long, and is
+kind; charity envieth not; charity
+vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up";
+and in the thirteenth verse, "And now
+abideth faith, hope, charity, these three;
+but the greatest of these is charity."</p>
+
+<p>Now, this shows that charity is a
+very great and good thing, and that we
+ought to desire to have charity above all
+things. "If we have not charity, we
+are nothing."</p>
+
+<p>Charity means "love," and that is the
+greatest of all good gifts. Love supplies
+all other wants, however hard they may
+be; and so, if we have not it, we are
+not by any means complete, for "above
+all these things put on charity, which is
+the bond of perfectness" (Col. iii. 14).
+This teaches us that charity is perfect
+above all things, and that we are to
+"love our enemies, and pray for those
+that despitefully use us"; also, we are
+exhorted to "let brotherly love continue."</p>
+
+<p>
+"Brethren, let us walk together<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In the bonds of love and peace;</span><br />
+Can it be a question whether<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Brethren should from conflict cease?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Tis in union,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hope, and joy, and love increase."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>There would be fewer quarrels and
+less sin if every one had charity.
+"Charity," or love, "covers a multitude
+of sins." "Flee also youthful lusts:
+but follow righteousness, faith, charity,
+peace, with them that call on the Lord
+out of a pure heart" (2 Tim. ii. 22).</p>
+
+<p>In 1 Corinthians xvi. 14, it says, "Let
+all your things be done with charity,"
+which means that all our actions are to
+be done in love. "God is love." Jesus
+had charity or love when He was on
+earth. His love knew no bounds.
+When God sent His only Son Jesus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>
+Christ down into the world, it was done
+thoroughly out of love to sinful man.</p>
+
+<p>Jesus Himself was full of love, for He
+prayed for His persecutors when He was
+on the cross, and said, "Father, forgive
+them, for they know not what they do."</p>
+
+<p>
+"High beyond imagination<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Is the love of God to man;</span><br />
+Far too deep for human reason;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fathom that it never can:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Love eternal</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Richly dwells in Christ the Lamb."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"If God so loved us, ought we not to
+love one another?"</p>
+
+<p>Charity is being kind and loving to
+one another, and helping one another
+when we can. If we are not kind and
+gentle to them, we have not charity,
+and do not love each other. When
+people do ever such great things, if they
+do it for self-praise, and not for love, it
+does not profit them anything. If we
+love our neighbours as ourselves, we
+shall never do them any ill, but rather
+"kill them by kindness," even if they are
+inclined to resent our charity, or love.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Jessie Martha Collins</span><br />
+(Aged 11 years).
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<i>19, Platt Street, Pancras Road,<br />
+London, N. W.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>[Very good Essays have been sent by
+Ada Dudley Mote, E. B. Knocker, A. J.
+Wells, H. F. Forfeitt, K. E. Thomas,
+W. E. Cray, C. Bowman, B. E. J.
+Noakes, A. Judd, C. Lack, Winnie
+Langman, and F. Lawrence.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of Foxe's "Book of
+Martyrs."</p>
+
+<p>The subject for December will be,
+"The Disobedience of our First Parents
+and its Results"; and the prize to be
+given for the best Essay on that subject,
+a copy of "The Loss of All Things for
+Christ." All competitors must give a
+guarantee that they are under fifteen
+years of age, and that the Essay is their
+own composition, or the papers will be
+passed over, as the Editor cannot undertake
+to write for this necessary information.
+Papers must be sent direct to the
+Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
+Hastings, before the twentieth of October,
+in order that the Volume may be completed
+for binding.]</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 213</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>"<i>Persecution.</i>"&mdash;2 <span class="smcap">Timothy</span> iii. 12.</p>
+
+<p>
+P otiphar      Genesis xxxvii. 36.<br />
+E noch         Genesis iv. 17.<br />
+R ehoboam      1 Kings xi. 43.<br />
+S apphire      Ezekiel i. 26.<br />
+E bal          Joshua viii. 30.<br />
+C andace       Acts viii. 27.<br />
+U r            Genesis xi. 28.<br />
+T hyatira      Revelation i. 11.<br />
+I ram          Genesis xxxvi. 43.<br />
+O thniel       Judges iii. 9.<br />
+N oah          Numbers xxvii. 1.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Minnie Legg</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(Aged 12 years).</span>
+<i>Edinburgh.</i>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>AN OLD CLOCK'S ADVICE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A correspondent says that in his
+great-grandfather's house, as he has
+heard his mother tell, there was a clock
+on which was the following inscription&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Here I stand both day and night,<br />
+To tell the time with all my might;<br />
+Do thou example take by me,<br />
+And serve thy God as I serve thee."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The old clock remained in the family
+for many years, but the time of which it
+told so faithfully at last conquered it, as
+it conquers all things on earth.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> National Sunday League lament a deficit
+of £110 as a result of the band performances in
+the three parks.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> oldest and biggest tree in the world is
+at Mascoli, near Mount Etna. The trunk is
+seventy yards round, and a flock of sheep can
+take refuge in it.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Jerusalem</span> is rapidly becoming again a veritable
+city of the Jews. In 1880 there were
+probably not more than 5,000 Jews there; now
+there are more than 30,000.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> "threepenny-bit" may well be regarded
+as the "church coin." At the collection at Dr.
+Parker's Sunday evening meeting in Queen
+Anne Street Church, Dunfermline, there were
+no fewer than 1,400 threepenny pieces.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Phonography</span>, as a system of shorthand, is
+the best, simplest, soundest, and most scientific
+of any in existence. Ninety-nine out of every
+hundred shorthand writers use it, and none
+other should be learned.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> buttercup blooms in unwonted places.
+A horse belonging to a farmer near Belford was
+having an old shoe removed, when a buttercup
+was found to have taken root between the hoof
+and the shoe, near the toe. It was in full
+bloom.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">This</span> is the day of rapid travelling. A through
+railway service has been organised to run from
+Charing Cross to Constantinople in seventy-six
+hours. Thus, in three days and a half, one will
+pass from the city of the Queen to the city of
+the Sultan.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> England and Wales the receipts for first-class
+railway season tickets last year amounted
+to £720,862, for second-class season tickets the
+receipts amounted to £665,203, and for those of
+the third-class (including workmen's weekly
+tickets) the amount was £358,142.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Among</span> the rarities in Dr. Williams' library
+in Grafton Street, London, is a tiny shorthand
+Bible, exquisitely written, which is said to have
+belonged to an apprentice, who, suspicious of
+James II.'s intentions regarding Protestantism,
+wrote the whole for himself, fearing that he
+might be deprived of his printed copy.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Drs. Chauvel</span> and Nimier now announce
+that, in future warfare with the Lebel rifle, the
+surgeons will not be perplexed by having to
+extract balls from wounded soldiers. These
+projectiles pass through the body, bones, and
+all, even when fired at a distance of from 1,800
+to 2,000 metres (1,980 to 2,200 yards).</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Fortunate Cobbler.</span>&mdash;It is announced
+that a Blackburn cobbler has just come in for a
+windfall in the shape of property valued at
+£40,000. He saw an advertisement some time
+ago with regard to some property in America,
+to which he has proved himself sole heir. He
+has left for the New World to take possession
+of his unexpected wealth.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> day last August a boy, nine years old,
+went to a school treat, and ran in several races.
+On returning home he complained of headache,
+and next morning was seized with pains and
+became insensible, dying an hour afterwards.
+The post-mortem examination showed that
+death was the result of syncope, brought on
+by fatigue and excitement.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A statement</span> was made at the Spanish
+Armada Convention at Exeter Hall, recently,
+to the effect that, during 1878, "in the poor
+country of Ireland there had been bequeathed
+to the Roman Catholic Church no less than
+£750,000 for masses for the souls of the departed."
+Doubtless Mr. Isaacs had proof of
+this, for he referred to it as "an ascertained
+fact."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A papyrus</span> of extraordinary beauty and
+completeness, of the fourteenth century before
+our era, has been added to the British Museum.
+It contains certain chapters of the "Book of
+Death," carefully copied out by a scribe of
+Thebes. Its remarkable feature are the illustrations.
+The colouring of these is as vivid as
+if the work had been done yesterday, instead of
+more than thirty centuries ago.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An</span> interesting discovery has just been made
+by Dr. Tschakort, Professor of Church History
+in the University of Konigsberg, who has found
+in the library there numerous manuscript sermons
+and commentaries by Luther, hitherto
+absolutely unknown. They were written in
+the years 1519 to 1521&mdash;that is, at the very
+culminating period of Luther's work as a Church
+Reformer, after the burning of the Papal bull,
+and before the Diet of Worms.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Strange</span> stories occasionally come from the
+Black Country, but few are stranger than that
+which is related of a man living at Bilston. A
+collier lost his eyesight in December through
+the explosion of a blasting cartridge, and the
+other week, as he was being led home from a
+neighbouring village by a brother, a terrific
+thunderstorm commenced. Simultaneously
+with a flash of lightning, he experienced a
+piercing sensation from the eye to the back of
+the head and his sight was instantly restored.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span><span class="smcap">Mildewed</span> linen may be restored by soaping
+the spots, and while wet covering them with
+powdered chalk.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Dead Sea, at its northern end, is but
+thirteen feet in depth, but at the southern end
+it is thirteen hundred.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Chiswick Cemetery.</span>&mdash;The Home Secretary
+has ordered that a large tract of ground
+which has been recently acquired and added
+to the Chiswick Cemetery should be set aside
+for the use of the Roman Catholics of the
+district.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Catholic</span> total abstinence society has been
+brought into court in Philadelphia under the
+laws against gambling. They pleaded that a
+benevolent enterprise such as theirs, though
+using lotteries, could not be regarded as a
+swindling speculation. "If such things are
+allowed to be carried on by professedly good
+people," said Judge Biddle, "it is inconsistent
+to call upon us to convict other people." The
+relation between the grab-bag and the gaming-table
+is not inconceivable.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">On</span> June 8th last, a correspondent at Shepherd's
+Bush despatched a post-card from London,
+<i>viâ</i> the Brindisi and Suez Canal route, to
+Hong Kong, with the request that it might be
+forwarded to the addressee <i>viâ</i> San Francisco
+and New York. The card was duly received
+by the original sender a short time ago,
+the time taken in its transit round the world
+being exactly seventy days, which is about forty
+days less than the time taken ten years ago.
+The card was franked for 3&frac12;d.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Thanksgiving Day.</span>&mdash;Dr. Franklin says
+that, in a time of great despondency among the
+first settlers of New England, it was proposed
+in one of their public assemblies to proclaim a
+fast. An old farmer arose, spoke of their provoking
+Heaven with their complaints, reviewed
+their mercies, showed that they had much to
+be thankful for, and moved that, instead of
+appointing a day of fasting, they should appoint
+a day of thanksgiving. This was accordingly
+done, and the custom has continued ever since.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Diphtheria.</span>&mdash;An American medical journal
+gives the following remedy for diphtheria, and
+says that where it has been applied promptly, it
+has never been known to fail. It is simply as
+follows:&mdash;"At the first indication of diphtheria
+in the throat of the child, make the room
+clean. Then take a tin cup and pour into it a
+quantity of tar and turpentine, equal parts.
+Then hold the cup over a fire so as to fill the
+room with the fumes. The patient, on inhaling
+the fumes, will fall asleep, and, when it
+awakes, it will cough up and spit out all the
+membranous matter, and diphtheria will pass
+off. The fumes of the tar and turpentine loose
+the matter in the throat, thus affording the
+relief that has baffled the skill of physicians."
+As the remedy is so simple, parents would do
+well to cut this out and preserve it.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An</span> extraordinary affray took place at Manchester
+on Sunday, July 8th. The members of
+several prominent Orange lodges in the city
+were proceeding to a church, where special
+services were to be held, when they encountered
+in a narrow thoroughfare, inhabited
+chiefly by Irish Roman Catholics, a band of
+men and women, who rushed upon them with
+hatchets, knives, pokers, and bottles. Two
+men were seriously injured, and, but for the
+timely arrival of thirty policemen, the affray
+would probably have had a fatal termination.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">How the Collie Reached his Home.</span>&mdash;The
+following is a true story about a collie who
+took a hansom. He was lost in Oxford Street,
+London, so, after having spent some time in
+looking for him, his mistress went home, and
+what was her surprise, when she arrived, to see
+him in the hall. The butler told her the story,
+and it was this. After the dog had been lost,
+he saw an empty hansom, which he got into;
+and the cabby could not get him out, for he
+showed his teeth. He called a policeman, who
+could not move him either, but with some
+difficulty they read the name and address on his
+collar, and settled that it would be best to drive
+him to his home. They shut the doors, and
+drove him home. When he arrived, the cabby
+rang the bell, and asked for his fare (which he
+of course got), and then the butler opened the
+doors, and the dog jumped out as if nothing
+had happened.&mdash;From <i>Little Folks' Magazine</i>
+for August.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Walking from Edinburgh to London.</span>&mdash;Mr.
+Ross Fraser, who, accompanied by a collie
+dog, started from Edinburgh on August 15th to
+walk to London in eight days, an average of
+about fifty miles per day, arrived in London on
+Sunday evening about eight o'clock. The
+pedestrian was awaited by a large concourse of
+people at Shoreditch Church, and heartily
+greeted. The route taken was from Edinburgh
+viâ Berwick, Newcastle, Durham, Darlington,
+Northallerton, Boroughbridge, Wetherby,
+Doncaster, Retford, Newark, Grantham, Stamford,
+Huntingdon, Royston, Ware, and Edmonton.
+Mr. Fraser seemed somewhat footsore on
+his arrival, but the dog appeared in no way the
+worse for the journey. The walk has not been
+accomplished in the time originally laid down,
+as Mr. Fraser's feet gave way owing to the
+unsuitability of his boots for the task he had
+taken upon himself. After a rest on this side
+of Berwick he resumed his walk, and finished
+the journey in excellent health.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 375px;">
+<img src="images/img244.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE." title="WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE." />
+<span class="caption">WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p>
+<h2>GREAT EVENTS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The great events which occurred
+in August, 1588, and November,
+1688, are worthy of our remembrance
+and grateful acknowledgment before
+God, therefore we bring before our
+young readers, in a special way, the
+subjects of the Spanish Armada and the
+accession of William of Orange, which
+are of the greatest importance to all
+true Englishmen.</p>
+
+<p>The following extracts, taken from an
+address, by Lord Robert Montagu, at a
+commemoration meeting at Leicester,
+will give our young readers an interesting
+and truthful account of the great
+historical facts referred to, in a very concise
+form.</p>
+
+<p>He said there had been many commemoration
+meetings throughout the
+country, and why did they hold them?
+What were those meetings? Well, if he
+were asked that question, he should say
+that that meeting was a protest, and it
+was a commemoration. It was a protest
+against a conspiracy which had
+extended throughout the country, and
+had lasted a great number of years&mdash;a
+conspiracy to introduce one Romanizing
+practice after another into the worship
+of the Church of England, and endeavouring
+to assimilate, by all means possible,
+the Church of England to the Church of
+Rome. It was a protest against an
+attempt to reduce this country again, and
+bring it under the domination of Rome.
+It was a protest against the attempts
+that all Governments in recent years
+had had in hand, and made&mdash;no matter
+whether Liberal, Whig, or Conservative&mdash;to
+establish diplomatic relations with
+Rome. It was, lastly, a protest against
+an attempt, now a few centuries old, to
+ruin the backbone of Protestantism in
+Ireland&mdash;he meant the Protestant landlords,
+who were the chief friends of the
+union between England and Ireland. On
+all those points they protested.</p>
+
+<p>But then that meeting was also a
+commemoration. Commemorations, it
+was true, might be good, or they might
+be bad. No one would ever think of
+merely commemorating bloodshed and
+slaughter, but they often commemorated
+the deeds of daring and prowess on the
+part of their ancestors, and they did so
+in the hope that others would follow their
+example. He knew not whether that
+kind of thing was good, because such
+commemorations tended to increase and
+foster national pride; but there was one
+kind of commemoration which was absolutely
+and naturally good&mdash;he meant the
+commemoration of the signal mercies
+which God had vouchsafed to the land.
+In doing so, they were merely taking the
+advice of King David, who, speaking
+of his own people, said, "They remembered
+not the mercy of the Lord, and
+so they provoked Him at the Red Sea."
+And so also the Apostle said, "We have
+received mercies, and therefore we faint
+not." Therefore, what he (the speaker)
+proposed to do that evening was to ask
+them to consider the mercies God had
+shown to this country&mdash;great and signal
+mercies&mdash;in the year 1588, in the year
+1688, and in the year 1788; and, in doing
+so, he hoped he should be able to bring
+this thought into their minds&mdash;that, having
+received mercies, they should "faint
+not."</p>
+
+<p>Now, first, with regard to 1588, the
+commemoration of the Spanish Armada&mdash;the
+invincible Armada, as it used to be
+called. They would remember, doubtless,
+from reading history, that King
+Philip of Spain was one of the most
+powerful monarchs that ever existed.
+The historian, Macaulay, had told them
+that on his empire the sun never set.
+King Philip counted upwards of one
+hundred millions of subjects, and he was
+by far the wealthiest sovereign that had
+existed since the days of Darius, and he
+was also a cruel and bloodthirsty sovereign.
+They knew how many thousands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>
+he killed in the Netherlands; how many
+poor Protestants he had slaughtered
+there. He had burnt at the stake every
+one he could in his dominions who dared
+to study the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>Well, he it was whom the Pope commissioned
+to make a crusade against
+this country, to conquer it, and reduce
+it, so that it might again come under the
+domination of Rome. He was like Pharaoh
+of old; he had let the children of
+Israel go, and he repented himself of
+having done so, and sent an army to
+bring them back to the slavery of Egypt;
+and so the Pope, not having an army of
+his own, told Philip, who had the most
+powerful army and navy in the world, to
+pursue those English who had escaped
+from the tyranny of Rome and become
+Protestants, and to bring them back
+again under the domination of the Pope;
+and the Pope, in order to encourage the
+monarch, promised him certain indulgences
+and two hundred thousand golden
+crowns as payment at the beginning of
+the expedition, and the payment of
+another two hundred thousand golden
+crowns as soon as he set foot in England.
+And the Pope also, in order to
+make the task easier, set the Jesuits in
+this country to stir up disaffection in
+England and Scotland, and with the
+same object sent a special messenger to
+Ireland in order to cause a rebellion
+there, and so call off the forces of England.</p>
+
+<p>Philip at once sent to the Duke of
+Parma, his governor in Belgium, instructions
+to prepare an army and fleet
+to co-operate with the Spanish force as
+soon as the Armada should arrive in the
+English Channel. The Armada consisted
+of 136 galleons, and forty smaller
+vessels, manned by twenty thousand
+marines; and there was also something
+else sent. What was that something
+else? The Chief Inquisitor, and 150
+other inquisitors&mdash;Dominican monks&mdash;to
+act together, and to use every possible
+engine of torture, and in that way to
+convert the people of England to Rome.
+Besides these, Philip sent the very pick
+of his army, thirty-one thousand men
+and four thousand officers, over-land to
+Dunkerque to assist them in England
+as soon as he arrived. Here was the
+invincible Armada, and it was thought
+that such an Armada could not be withstood
+by that little puny England, for
+England was then but a small State, and
+had no colonies. The whole population
+of England then was not much larger
+than the population of London at the
+present time. Now, as for the Royal
+Navy, it consisted of twenty-eight ships;
+and how were they to cope with the 176
+ships which composed the Spanish Armada?
+Why, it was impossible, unless
+the hand of God should come down to
+protect the Protestantism of England.</p>
+
+<p>Well, on the 30th of July, the Armada
+appeared off Plymouth, and Drake and
+Frobisher, and Seymour and Hawkins,
+and Lord Howard, High Admiral of
+England&mdash;who was not a Catholic, whatever
+might be said to the contrary, but
+a Protestant&mdash;determined to oppose the
+Armada.</p>
+
+<p>It was on Sunday, the 7th of August,
+that the Armada anchored in the roadstead
+of Dunkerque, and there waited
+for Parma's fleet. In the night, a light
+southerly wind sprung up, and eight
+ships were selected from the crowd of
+volunteer vessels that followed the fleet;
+their masts were smeared with pitch,
+and their hulls filled with powder and all
+kinds of explosive and combustible materials.
+These ships were set fire to, and
+sent down on to the Armada. What
+the Spaniards ought to have done, and
+what could have been very easily done,
+would have been to cut their cables and
+allowed the fire-ships to pass them; but
+the Spaniards seemed to have lost their
+presence of mind.</p>
+
+<p>However, at length they cut their
+cables and ran into the North Sea; but
+the English followed them, and there
+was a tremendous battle. The Spanish
+ships were so full of soldiers and sailors
+that every English shot told ten-fold.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>
+Five thousand of the Spanish were killed
+and not one hundred English wounded.
+A hasty council of officers was held on
+the Duke Medina's ship as to whether
+they should return to their anchorage off
+Dunkerque, or go back to Spain by way
+of the Orkneys, and they determined,
+like craven cowards, to run round by the
+north of Scotland and Ireland, and so on
+to the coast of Spain, because they dared
+not face the English in the Straits of
+Dover. Admiral Seymour watched them.
+They could not all pursue the Armada.
+A small squadron only went, and when
+they came to the Firth of Forth, Seymour
+ran short of ammunition. Now what he
+wanted to show them was, that it was
+not Seymour that was protecting England,
+but the Almighty Himself. Seymour
+had no sooner put into harbour
+than a hurricane rose up, and subsequently
+the shores of Ireland were strewn
+with the bodies of the dead, and the
+wreckage of the galleons. Only a few
+reached Spain to give mournful tidings
+of the disaster, and then it was found
+that there was not a family in Spain
+that was not in mourning for the loss of
+relatives. As the Egyptians were overthrown
+in the Red Sea, so the Spaniards
+were overthrown in the North Sea; and
+it was God that did all. Queen Elizabeth
+and the English people knew that
+well, for Queen Elizabeth struck a medal
+in commemoration of the event, and the
+motto on the medal was, "God blew
+upon them with His winds, and scattered
+them." She took no credit to herself,
+no credit to her navy, no credit to the
+English people; for it was God who did
+it all. From that day the power of Spain
+had dwindled and waned, until Spain
+had sunk to a fifth-rate power, and nobody
+thought of Spain in the councils of
+Europe. But what was the case with little
+England, then with hardly any colonies?
+God said, "Thou hast been faithful in
+little things; be thou ruler over ten
+great cities"; and now we had ten great
+colonies.</p>
+
+<p>And now they would pass away from
+that subject, and see what happened at
+the end of the next hundred years&mdash;in
+1688. He must first remind them what
+was the state of things in 1687. There
+was then a Roman Catholic king upon
+the throne of England. He was not
+only a Roman Catholic, but was an
+avowed and sworn Jesuit&mdash;James II.
+There was then, also, a conspiracy all
+over England&mdash;favoured by some of
+the bishops and many of the clergy&mdash;to
+introduce the ritual of Rome into the
+English Church. There was then, as
+there is now, attempts to open up diplomatic
+relations between the throne and
+the Vatican. There was then an attempt
+to ruin the landlords of Ireland,
+so as to get rid of Protestantism, and
+separate Ireland from England. To
+whom did England look at that time
+for help? There was then no great Protestant
+Germany; but there was a small
+State, smaller than England&mdash;he meant
+Holland&mdash;but it was not similarly yoked.
+It was here that the hand of God first
+began to show itself in the year 1685.
+On account of the action of Louis XIV.,
+who was the mainstay of Roman Catholicism
+in Europe, all the best soldiers,
+generals, and artisans in Paris left
+France and went to Holland. In
+England James II. gradually deposed
+Protestants and substituted Roman
+Catholics in all positions of importance
+and influence. The people, becoming
+alarmed, sought the aid of William,
+Prince of Orange, who had married a
+member of the English Royal family;
+and on the 1st of November, 1688,
+William sailed on his mission to this
+country. A strong wind was blowing,
+which took him gaily on his journey;
+and that wind not only sent him gaily on
+his mission, but prevented Lord Dartmouth,
+who was on the Thames, from
+getting out. God was determined to
+show that success had not been arrived
+at by man; and on November 6th, in a
+fog, William and his friends arrived at a
+distance beyond Torbay. When the fog
+lifted, and the sunshine beamed forth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>
+William gaily sailed into Torbay. Then
+there were two days of calm weather,
+during which William landed his army
+and his stores, and James's forces could
+not attack, owing to the stillness of the
+wind. Still James might have struck a
+blow, as his troops had converged at
+Salisbury; but God struck fear into his
+heart. He dressed himself as a fisherman,
+got into a fishing-boat, and went
+to France. But our forefathers did not
+say to William, "Please take the crown
+and govern." They said, "We have
+certain rights; will you promise always
+to observe those rights? If so, you may
+sit upon the throne." And William
+promised that he would do so, and, as
+they knew, they had now the Act of
+Rights. One of the clauses of that Act
+was that, if the sovereign became a
+Roman Catholic, the throne should be
+instantly vacated. It was settled that
+no communion should be held with
+Rome; that was to say, that no diplomacy
+should exist between England and
+Rome. That Act was passed, and remained
+the same to this day. He would
+read them what Lord Macaulay said of
+the two events to which he referred:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The weather had indeed served the
+Protestant cause so well that some men
+(<i>e.g.</i>, Bishop Burnet), of more piety than
+judgment, fully believed the ordinary
+laws of nature to have been suspended
+for the preservation of the liberty or religion
+of England. Exactly a hundred
+years before, they said, the Armada,
+invincible by man, had been scattered
+by the wrath of God. Civil freedom and
+divine truth were again in jeopardy; and
+again the obedient elements had fought
+for the good cause. The wind had blown
+strong from the east while the Prince
+wished to sail down the channel, had
+turned to the south when he wished to
+enter Torbay, had sunk to a calm during
+the disembarkation, and, as soon as
+the disembarkation was completed, had
+risen to a storm, and had met the pursuers
+in the face. Nor did men omit to
+remark that, by an extraordinary coincidence,
+the Prince had reached our
+shores on a day on which the Church of
+England commemorated, by prayers and
+thanksgiving, the wonderful escape of
+the Royal House, and of the three
+Estates, from the blackest plot ever designed
+by Papists."</p>
+
+<p>Now they had seen God's mercy in
+1588 and in 1688, and now let them turn
+to 1788. It was not so striking, he would
+allow, as the other events, but it was not
+less real. And why was it not so striking?
+In former days men knew very
+well what the Government did, as there
+was no secrecy about it. In these days
+nobody knew what were the views
+and the intentions of the Government.
+It was all done underhanded, secretly,
+and no one knew anything about it.
+They gathered a little from the newspapers
+and tried to put it together as
+well as they could; consequently, that
+system having been in vogue in 1788,
+they did not know exactly what took
+place.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1787, Charles Edward
+Catesby was a pretender to the throne,
+and the Pope was again anxious to bring
+England under him, and he made secret
+allies of all the Roman Catholics to put
+this Charles on the throne of England.
+A body was to land in Scotland, and
+£20,000 was to be given to the Highlanders
+to rise in rebellion. The French
+had an army ready, and they were to
+land on the south coast of England and
+march to London, so as to prevent the
+troops going forth to put down Edward.</p>
+
+<p>In that same year the Prince Regent
+did that thing which, according to the
+Act of William, made him vacate the
+throne for ever. He married a Roman
+Catholic in 1787. Notwithstanding the
+fact that he tried to keep it a secret at
+first, it afterwards leaked out through
+the indiscretion of a member of the
+House of Commons. Pitt said at first
+that the Prince Regent had denied it
+stoutly; but there were those present in
+the Roman Catholic Church at the time
+he was married; and when it was proved,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>
+Pitt then said the Act of Parliament prevented
+any one of the Royal family being
+married without the consent of Parliament,
+and argued that the Prince was
+not married. He married a German
+princess, and put her away, and came
+to the throne as George IV.</p>
+
+<p>Then came 1788, when God struck that
+Charles with death; and then an alliance
+was made between Protestant England
+and Russia to support each other against
+any Roman Catholic emperor. This was
+not so striking a display of God's mercy
+as was shown in the case of the Armada;
+but in them all they saw the hand of
+God. They saw great mercy in 1588, in
+1688, and in 1788, for the protection of
+Protestantism; and what cared they
+whether in 1888 ministers should try to
+bring them under the domination of
+Rome? They knew that God was a
+tower of strength, and that they could
+rely on Him. Let them think and meditate
+on His mercies, and then they would
+not fail.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE FISH THAT SWALLOWED JONAH.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>Now the Lord had prepared a
+great fish to swallow up Jonah. And
+Jonah was in the belly of the fish three
+days and three nights.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Jonah</span> i. 17.</p>
+
+
+<p>Upon the question as to what was
+the fish that swallowed Jonah,
+Dr. Raleigh remarks ("The
+Story of Jonah," p. 148):&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The Bible does not say that a whale
+was the prophet's jailer. The infidel has
+said that, and then has enjoyed the easy
+triumph of proving the natural impossibility
+of it. Jonah says 'a great fish'
+swallowed him. Our Lord uses a phrase
+exactly similar. He uses a generic term,
+which includes the whale, but is never
+applied to the whale particularly. The
+dolphin, the seal, the whale, the shark,
+are all included in the term that is used,
+and there is strong probability in the
+supposition that the white shark is the
+creature designated as the 'great fish.'
+Sharks abounded in the Mediterranean
+at that time. They have been found
+there ever since, and are found there
+still. In length some of them have attained
+to thirty feet and upwards, of
+capacity in other ways sufficient to incarcerate
+Samson of Zorah, or Goliath
+of Gath, as well as the probably attenuated
+prophet of Gath-hepher.</p>
+
+<p>"It is related that a horse was found
+in the stomach of a shark, and there are
+many instances of men being swallowed
+alive&mdash;not fabulous and doubtful stories,
+but instances well authenticated. One,
+of a soldier in full armour. One, of a
+sailor who fell overboard, and, was swallowed
+in the very sight of his comrades.
+The captain seized a gun, shot the fish
+in a sensitive part, which then cast out
+the sailor into the sea, who was taken
+up, amazed and terrified, but little hurt.</p>
+
+<p>"Every one knows that the shark is a
+most voracious creature. Its teeth are
+only incisive. It has no power of holding.
+It can snap and sever limbs, or
+trunk, or head, sheer and certainly as
+though its jaws were a guillotine. But
+in that case it secures only what is
+within the jaws. The rest is apt to be
+lost. Its habit, therefore, is to swallow
+the prey alive, that it may lose nothing.
+Thus God made the voracity of the fish
+the means of protection and safety to
+His servant."</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Heart-work</span> must be God's work.
+Only the great Heart-maker can be the
+great Heart-breaker. If I love Him, my
+heart will be filled with His spirit, and
+obedient to His commands.&mdash;<i>Baxter.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> great design, both in judgments
+and mercies, is to convince us that <i>there
+is none like the Lord our God</i>; none
+so wise, so mighty, so good; no enemy
+so formidable, no friend so desirable, so
+valuable.&mdash;<i>Matthew Henry.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span></p>
+<h2>TALKING WITH A MAN SEVEN THOUSAND MILES OFF!</h2>
+
+
+<p>The longest wire in the world
+extends from 18, Old Broad
+Street, London, E.C., to 29,
+Cable Street, Calcutta, over
+seven thousand miles. A telegraphic
+expert, who visited the London end of
+the wire, says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>We have often heard of the wonderful
+line between this country and Teheran,
+the capital of Persia, a distance of three
+thousand eight hundred miles, but we
+scarcely realized the fact that good
+signals were obtainable through so great
+a length of wire until recently, when we
+availed ourselves of an invitation from
+Mr. W. Andrews, the managing director
+of the Indo-European Telegraph Company,
+to make a visit of inspection.</p>
+
+<p>It was between seven and eight o'clock
+when we reached the office. In the
+basement of an unpretentious building
+in Old Broad Street we were shown the
+Morse printer in connection with the
+main line from London to Teheran.</p>
+
+<p>The courteous clerk in charge of the
+wire, Mr. Blagrove, informed us that we
+were through to Emden, and with the
+same ease with which one "wires"
+from the City to the West End, we asked
+a few questions of the telegraphist in the
+German town.</p>
+
+<p>When we had finished with Emden,
+we spoke with the same facility to the
+gentleman on duty at Odessa. This did
+not satisfy us, and in a few seconds we
+were through to the Persian capital,
+Teheran.</p>
+
+<p>There were no messages about, the
+time was favourable, and the <i>employés</i> of
+the various countries seemed anxious to
+give us an opportunity of testing the
+capacity of this wonderful wire. T.H.N.
+(Teheran) said, "Call Kurrachee," and
+in less time than it takes to write these
+words we gained the attention of the
+Indian town. The signals were good,
+and our speed must have equalled
+fifteen words a minute.</p>
+
+<p>The operator at Kurrachee, when he
+learnt that London was speaking to him,
+thought it would be a good opportunity
+to put us through to Agra, and to our
+astonishment the signals did not fail,
+and we chatted pleasantly for a few
+minutes with Mr. Malcolm Khan, the
+clerk on duty.</p>
+
+<p>To make this trial of telegraphy complete,
+Agra switched us on to another
+line, and we were soon talking to a
+native telegraphist at the Indian Government
+Cable Station, Calcutta.</p>
+
+<p>At first the gentleman at the other end
+of the wire could not believe that he was
+really in direct communication with the
+English capital, and he exclaimed, in
+Morse language, "Are you really London?"</p>
+
+<p>Truly this was a great achievement.
+Metallic communication, without a
+break, from 18, Old Broad Street, London,
+to the telegraph office in Calcutta!
+Seven thousand miles of wire! The
+signals were excellent, and the speed
+attained was no fewer than twelve, perhaps
+fourteen, words per minute.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 235.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>"<i>Jesus wept.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> xi. 35.</p>
+
+<p>
+J otham      Judges ix. 5.<br />
+E glon       Judges iii. 14.<br />
+S apphira    Acts v. 1, 2.<br />
+U zzah       2 Samuel vi. 7.<br />
+S amuel      1 Samuel i. 14.<br />
+<br />
+W ater       Exodus xvii. 3.<br />
+E noch       Hebrews xi. 5.<br />
+P otiphar    Genesis xxxix. 1.<br />
+T homas      Acts i. 13.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Ruth Crowhurst</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(Aged 9 years).</span>
+<br />
+<i>Hastings.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p>
+<h2>MEMOIRS OF ELLEN AND HENRY HOAD.</h2>
+
+<p>
+"Around the throne of God in heaven<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Thousands of children stand;</span><br />
+Children whose sins are all forgiven&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A holy, happy band."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>Of the truth of these lines there can
+be no doubt in the minds of God's
+people, and a very blessed truth
+it is. There is a heaven of joy and love,
+and in this heaven there is the throne of
+God, and many dear children are standing
+around this throne, singing praises
+unto God and the Lamb. Their sins
+forgiven, their sorrows gone, their sufferings
+ended, death past, joy, and peace,
+and glory eternal now begun, who is
+there that could not desire to be with
+them, and to be as they are? Among
+this happy band we hope the two young
+ones&mdash;brother and sister&mdash;Ellen and
+Henry, whose names are at the top of
+this page, are now standing; and to
+give some reason of this hope is now
+our object in writing these few lines.</p>
+
+<p>Many, alas! have hopes of salvation
+and heaven for which their life and
+testimony can afford no solid ground for
+them to rest upon, and whose hope will
+one day make them ashamed, and, like
+the flickering lamps of the foolish virgins,
+will go out when the Bridegroom
+comes.</p>
+
+<p>Ellen and Henry were the children of
+praying parents, and, both of them being
+members of the Church at Bodle Street,
+their children attended the Sabbath
+School connected with that cause. The
+mother died in 1882, of consumption,
+and some of the children soon manifested
+symptoms of the same disease.
+An elder sister kept house, and as the
+younger ones grew up, they had to go
+out to earn their bread.</p>
+
+<p>Ellen was sent to service soon after
+she was twelve years old, and not living
+far from the school, she was permitted
+still to attend; and certainly she was a
+girl that needed no constraint in this
+matter, for if her duties kept her on Sundays
+until too late for the lessons, she
+would even then take her seat with the
+class while she listened to the sermon.</p>
+
+<p>How often children manifest a dislike
+to the house of God, and how soon there
+is an enmity appearing against good
+things! To many, attendance both at
+school and the house of God is a burden,
+and when they grow older they cast off
+all restraint and run wildly into sin.
+To such, parental control is hateful;
+the wise counsels of father and mother
+are scorned; the family altar, if possible,
+avoided; and their inward idea is
+that, when they leave home, they shall
+then go on as they like, and have their
+fill of pleasure. If any such children are
+reading these lines, let them pause and
+tremble, for there is an Eye watching
+their every thought, and an Almighty
+Arm that can reach them; and, sooner
+or later, there will be a bringing into
+judgment, and who can say how soon?</p>
+
+<p>But certainly, with Ellen, it was her
+delight to go to the house of God. The
+writer has met her many times on Sunday
+mornings on her way, her face
+bright and happy, a stronger bond than
+duty binding her close to God's people.</p>
+
+<p>In the autumn of 1887, the fatal languor
+that often accompanies consumption
+appeared in Ellen, and, though she bore
+up bravely for a little time, she had at
+length to leave her place and go home.
+Going home to die seems hard for young
+ones like Ellen to think of, yet there is
+no staying the Hand that strikes. The
+summons must be obeyed. In such a case
+the great question arises, "Are we ready,
+or are we not?" Ellen's earthly home
+had no mother to welcome the child, or
+to soothe her in her dying hours; and
+no one can truly fill the mother's place
+at such a time. But it was not to be
+long. Soon she was beyond the reach
+of mortal aid, and want, pain, and care
+had passed away for ever.</p>
+
+<p>The father gives the following particulars<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>
+of what he witnessed in Ellen, and
+it is well indeed when parents can give
+such testimonies of their children:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"She was a very dutiful girl, and very
+quiet&mdash;so much so, that I seldom had to
+rebuke her; always very attentive at
+school, and, when out at service, she
+would attend the house of God if possible.
+All this was very good; but I
+wanted something further, and when
+she first came home ill, I wanted it made
+manifest that the Lord had begun a work
+of grace in her soul, and that she had
+been truly 'born again.'</p>
+
+<p>"One morning, as I went home from
+chapel, Ellen said to me, 'Father, Mr.
+D&mdash;&mdash; has been to see me.' I then
+asked her, 'Did he talk to you? and did
+you like what he said?' She answered,
+'Yes, very much, and I should like for
+him to come again.' Then, bursting
+into tears, she said, 'I should so like to
+be able to answer him better, but I cannot.
+I should so much like to go to
+chapel again.' And when her sister
+asked her if she thought she should get
+better, she said she did not know, but
+should so like to go to school once more.</p>
+
+<p>"The night before she died, I saw a
+great change in her, and I asked her if
+she ever prayed to the Lord for mercy.
+'Yes,' she said, 'sometimes I wake up
+in the night and pray to Him. I should
+not mind death if I knew my sins were
+pardoned. There is nothing to stop here
+for if I knew this.'"</p>
+
+<p>The writer has seen her weep much,
+when speaking to her of the certainty of
+death and the judgment, the sufferings
+of Jesus, and the abundance of pardon
+through His blood. Can there be a
+more touching sight than to see a child
+fourteen years old weeping and praying
+in sincerity for mercy, as a guilty sinner
+before God?</p>
+
+<p>Ellen died so suddenly that nothing
+further was gathered from her lips, but
+we believe her end was peace. She
+quietly passed away on February 10th,
+1888, aged fourteen years.</p>
+
+<p>In connection with her and her prayers
+and tears, these lines seem very sweet to
+me&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Did ever mourner plead with Thee,<br />
+And Thou reject that mourner's plea?<br />
+Does not Thy Word of truth remain,<br />
+That none shall seek Thy face in vain?"<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Henry was two years older than his
+sister Ellen, and, like her, had to commence
+work early, and bear the yoke in
+his youth. He had been a regular
+attendant at the Sabbath School, and
+was truly a promising boy. Quiet and
+serious he went on his way, and read his
+Bible, which, through faith in Christ
+Jesus, is able to make wise unto salvation.
+He was, in the leadings of Providence,
+called to labour at a place where
+he had some work to do on Sunday
+mornings, and it was noticed that he
+seemed put out in his mind if he was
+ever prevented from attending school.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1888 the same disease
+that cut down his mother and sister
+appeared in Henry, and he had to leave
+his place and go home. The teachers
+of the school and the friends around
+could see his days on earth must now be
+very few, and that he too, like Ellen, had
+come home to die. Yet he went to
+school a few times after this, and in
+May went to Hailsham to spend a few
+days with some friends. Here we had
+an opportunity of observing him closely,
+but he was scarcely able to say a word
+about himself. He was failing fast at
+this time, and truly it was sorrowful to
+see how feebly he moved about. When
+visiting the field on Whit Monday,
+where the Sunday School children were
+having their treat, what a contrast we
+beheld between the bright, healthy,
+happy children, and the poor, pale,
+languid, dying boy looking on!</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this he went back home,
+and went out but little afterwards. He
+gradually wasted in body and strength,
+and could no longer attend the school,
+though living but a few yards from it.</p>
+
+<p>And now came the time of testing the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>
+matter, whether there was anything of
+the work of the Holy Spirit in him, or
+whether it consisted in merely coming
+and going to and from the house of God.</p>
+
+<p>Let our readers reflect, this time of
+testing is coming to every one of us, and
+we shall soon be brought where our
+young friend was&mdash;to lie down and die,
+and thus appear before God.</p>
+
+<p>We will now give some particulars of
+his last words and exercises, and thus
+let our readers think for themselves
+what ground we have for our hope that
+this dear young lad is now in heaven.</p>
+
+<p>His father writes thus of his concern&mdash;"I
+had watched him for some time,
+thinking I could see some signs of
+concern, and that he was different from
+what he had been. I was almost sure he
+had been at times trying to pray, but he
+would not let me see him if he could
+help it. According as his illness came
+on he took more to his Bible and hymn-book,
+and they were his daily and hourly
+companions. The friends in the school
+were much concerned about him, and
+talked to him about his soul, but could
+not get anything from him. Yet he
+seemed to like to hear them, so I asked
+him if he did not enjoy what they said.
+He said 'Yes,' but did not wish to say
+anything wrong, though he hoped that
+some of the things spoken were the
+workings of his mind. I was very much
+concerned about him myself, and my
+desire was, that the Lord would make it
+manifest that He had a favour toward
+him. Once, when about my work, I
+could not help asking the Lord for this,
+when these words came with some sweetness,
+'At evening time it shall be
+light'; then I had a hope that the
+Lord would appear for him. Soon after
+this he had these words come with some
+power, 'When thou passest through the
+waters I will be with thee; and through
+the rivers, they shall not overflow thee';
+and then he expressed the hope that
+the Lord would be with him in the river
+of death.</p>
+
+<p>"When he was confined to his bed
+he seemed very restless, and being in
+great exercise of mind, he folded his
+hands, and we could see his lips move,
+but could not hear the words.</p>
+
+<p>"Once, when I came home late from
+my work, and went into his bed-room, he
+called me to him and said, 'I have had a
+blessed afternoon, for the Lord has been
+with me, and I can leave you all now,
+and everything of earth; and I believe
+that I shall go to heaven. I have prayed
+for you all.' I told him I was very glad&mdash;more
+so than if any one had given me
+gold, and asked him how it came to
+pass&mdash;whether it was by any word coming
+with power or otherwise? He said, 'No,
+but it was a sweet, humbling influence
+which so softened my heart, and drew
+my affections to the Lord Jesus. It
+enables me to bear my sufferings better,
+and I lie more comfortable.'</p>
+
+<p>"A great change was seen in him after
+this. His mind seemed much brighter,
+and he laid more calm and quiet. I told
+him that he perhaps might feel after this
+comfort some distress of mind again,
+and he said, 'I have been in distress of
+mind, father, and the Lord has blessed
+me.' This was about a week before he
+died. We thought he would have been
+taken away sooner, and he felt so himself,
+for soon after his deliverance he
+called us all around him, and shook
+hands with us all, and gave each one
+something to keep in remembrance of
+him. I asked him then if he felt the
+Lord was with him. He said, 'Yes, I
+fancy I can see Him coming.' But he
+recovered from this, and I then said to
+him, 'The Lord did not come as soon as
+you expected?' and he answered, 'No;
+but I must wait the Lord's time.'</p>
+
+<p>"He asked once that I would pray to
+the Lord to come and take him, and
+then asked his sisters to sing the hymn
+commencing, 'How sweet the name of
+Jesus sounds.' He then said, 'Oh,
+now I could sing!' I asked him if he
+could sing that hymn. He said, 'Yes,
+if I had breath.' Mr. Reed asked him
+if he could say that Jesus had done<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>
+all things well. He answered, 'Yes,
+I have said so, and I can say it again.'
+He was then asked what his hopes for
+eternity were. He soon replied,
+'Nothing but the blood and righteousness
+of the Lord Jesus Christ.'</p>
+
+<p>"Speaking to one of his sisters, he
+said, 'I hope that you pray to the Lord
+to be your Saviour, and that you read
+your Bible. Once I did not like reading
+it, and when father made me come in
+to read, it almost made me cry, but
+now it is the best treasure I have on
+earth.'</p>
+
+<p>"I asked him if he had anything
+to tell Mr. Daw, 'Yes,' he replied, 'the
+first Sunday after uncle was buried,
+June 24th, 1888, when he was preaching
+from this, "I know that my Redeemer
+liveth," I felt blessed then, and the tears
+ran down my face, but the feeling was
+soon gone.'</p>
+
+<p>"The hymn commencing&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"Awake, ye saints, and sweetly sing<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The ascended Saviour's love,</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>was very much blessed to him, and he
+asked for it to be sung when he was
+once suffering much for want of breath;
+then he said, 'I feel as though I could
+jump into the arms of Jesus.'</p>
+
+<p>"About half-an-hour before he died he
+cried out, 'Oh, what a mighty Saviour!
+I shall soon be before the throne, and sing
+the praises of the Lamb. Don't sorrow.'
+I said, 'Not for you,' and he replied,
+'No.'</p>
+
+<p>"One remarking how ill he seemed,
+he said, 'I hope I shall soon be better.'
+'When you get to heaven,' I whispered,
+and he said, 'Yes.'</p>
+
+<p>"At another time a remark was made
+about his pillow being hard. He said,
+'It will be soft in heaven.'</p>
+
+<p>"The last audible words from his lips
+were, 'Rest, father!' and so he died on
+the 22nd day of August, 1888, aged
+sixteen years."</p>
+
+<p>Here the father's narrative ends, and
+truly we can hope that he went right to
+heaven, and that for him to die was gain.
+Brother and sister now lie side by side
+in the pleasant burial-ground at Bodle
+Street, awaiting the resurrection morning.
+Can we not, to close these few
+lines, also say the last verse of the
+hymn of which we have given the first&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"On earth they sought the Saviour's grace,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">On earth they loved His name,</span><br />
+So now they see His blessed face,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And stand before the Lamb"?</span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+J. D.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>DENIED, YET ANSWERED.</h2>
+
+
+<p>When Augustine, in his home at
+Carthage, resolved to visit Rome,
+his mother wished either to prevent
+him from going, or to go
+with him. He would listen to neither
+proposal, and resorted to a trick to carry
+out his plan. One evening he went to
+the sea-shore, and his mother followed.
+There were two chapels dedicated to the
+memory of the martyr Cyprian, and he
+pressed her to spend one evening in the
+church of the martyr, while he would
+accompany a friend on board a ship,
+there to say farewell. While she was
+there in tears, praying and wrestling
+with God to prevent the voyage, Augustine
+sailed for Italy, and his deceived
+mother next morning found herself alone.
+In quiet resignation she returned to the
+city, and continued to pray for the salvation
+of her son. Though meaning well,
+yet she erred in her prayers, for the journey
+of Augustine was the means of his
+salvation. The denial of the prayer was,
+in fact, the answering of it. Instead of the
+husk, God granted rather the substance
+of her petition in the conversion of her
+son. "Therefore," said he, "O God,
+Thou hadst regard to the aim and
+essence of her desires, and didst not do
+what she then prayed for, that Thou
+mightest do for me what she continually
+implored."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p>
+<h2>HONOURING THE LORD'S DAY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The following interesting incident
+was related to the writer by a
+gentleman, who had the narrative
+from the merchant himself
+to whom it occurred.</p>
+
+<p>When a youth, the latter obtained a
+situation in a provision store in one of
+the great mercantile cities of the United
+States. On the first Saturday evening,
+he was told by his employer that he
+would be expected to be at his business
+post the next day, the same as usual.
+On the lad respectfully replying that he
+could not do so, as he had always been
+taught by his friends to honour the
+Lord's Day, he was bluntly told that, if
+he would not do what he was asked, he
+might come on Monday morning and
+get his wages, as there would be no
+further occasion for his services.</p>
+
+<p>We may imagine how such a notice
+was calculated to discourage the youth;
+nevertheless he kept to his resolution,
+and, after a Sabbath spent in a right
+manner, proceeded on the Monday to
+get his discharge.</p>
+
+<p>It was his duty to open the store, and
+as he was on his way to it, he noticed
+a man, as the morning was dark, trying
+to make out the inscriptions over the
+warehouse doors.</p>
+
+<p>Asking him what he wanted, the man
+replied that he was a ship-captain, and
+was looking for a provision store in
+order to get supplies for his vessel,
+which was coming down the river with
+the tide. The youth willingly, forgetting
+his employer's unkind threat of
+dismissal, at once told the stranger that
+if he would go with him to his master's
+premises, he would be sure to find there
+the articles he was in search of.</p>
+
+<p>On getting to the stores, the captain
+selected a large supply of provisions, for
+which he paid well. In short, it was
+an excellent commercial transaction.
+When he came to pay the money, the
+chief clerk, who had now made his
+appearance, made out the account, and
+saw that the notes given in payment
+were those of good banks&mdash;a point of no
+small importance in those days of
+unsound American currency. By this
+time, too, the stranger's ship had
+arrived at the wharf attached to the
+store, and the goods were placed on
+board of it, when it proceeded on its
+voyage.</p>
+
+<p>At a later hour the youth's employer
+came to business, and the clerk told
+him that the new lad had been doing an
+excellent stroke of business before others
+were astir that morning.</p>
+
+<p>"A very good price, too, he has got
+for the goods," said the master, as he
+looked at the invoice. "But," he
+continued, "depend upon it, he has
+been taken in, and got bad notes."</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied the clerk; "that's all
+right. I attended to that myself."</p>
+
+<p>Presently the youth came up to his
+employer's desk.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said he, good-humouredly,
+"what do you want?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir, you told me I was to come
+to you to-day, and get my wages and
+my dismissal."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!" rejoined the master;
+"go to your work, and let me hear no
+more of that."</p>
+
+<p>So to work he went, and kept his
+situation, and a good conscience.
+When our informant heard the anecdote
+from him, he had become a successful
+trader, God having blessed his youthful
+conscientiousness.</p>
+
+<p>This incident reminds us of another
+of somewhat the same character, which
+was told us by a gentleman, now dead,
+who at the time held a very important
+position on the staff of one of our great
+religious societies.</p>
+
+<p>"When I was a youth," so his narrative
+ran, "I was sent by my friends to
+one of the principal towns in an island
+in the West Indies, to be apprenticed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">&nbsp;</a></span>
+as an articled clerk to a firm of solicitors
+there. My connections at home, although
+not Evangelical Christians,
+respected religion, and when I left, they
+counselled me to be always particular in
+observing the Lord's Day and reverencing
+it.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 375px;">
+<img src="images/img256.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="OLD and YOUNG MAN (See page 252.)" title="OLD and YOUNG MAN (See page 252.)" />
+<span class="caption">"WELL, WHAT DO YOU WANT?" (<i>See page 252.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"On getting to my new situation, the
+managing clerk, at the close of the first
+week, told me that I should be expected
+to put in my appearance at the office on
+Sunday. I told him that I had been
+always taught not to do any work on
+that day, and that I meant to go to
+church. To church I accordingly went.
+On the Monday, when I returned to the
+office, one of the partners, a lively little
+man, looked hard at me, but said
+nothing. The next Sunday and the
+next I pursued the same course, without
+any objection being made to it. There
+were other articled clerks in the office,
+and they, seeing what I did, gradually
+did the same, without any opposition
+from the principals. In course of time,
+some of the partners ceased to come,
+until at last the little man I have named
+was the only one who came, and that
+for an hour or two. Even this in time
+ceased, and the office was shut up on
+the Sunday. Then, more curious still,
+the other solicitors in the town followed
+the example that our office had set, till,
+ere long, no business at all was done on
+the Lord's Day by any solicitor in the
+place."</p>
+
+<p>A third anecdote connected with the
+Lord's Day may here also appropriately
+be given. The incident occurred to
+the grandfather of the gentleman who
+narrated it to us.</p>
+
+<p>The late Lord L&mdash;&mdash; was well known
+as a brave warrior during the Peninsular
+War. His lordship, on his return to
+Scotland, was anxious to have some
+timber on his estate cut down, that he
+might discharge certain pressing debts.
+Without giving any notice of his intention,
+he called one Sunday morning upon
+my friend's grandfather, just as he was
+preparing to go with his family to
+church, and asked him to walk with him
+over the estate, that they might together
+see what timber was fit for cutting.</p>
+
+<p>The grandfather respectfully replied
+that that day he had another Master
+whom he must serve, but that he would
+be ready at any hour on a working day
+to be promptly at his lordship's service.
+His lordship merely said, "Very well,"
+and named another day, when the agent
+attended him, and did the work that
+was wanted of him, apparently to his
+lordship's satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>The matter seemed to have blown
+over, when shortly afterwards the agent,
+who had been many years in his lordship's
+service, received a notice that he
+was wanted to meet Lord L&mdash;&mdash; at the
+office of his man of business on a particular
+day, and in a neighbouring town.
+The request was an unusual one, and
+much surmising took place among his
+friends as to what could be the meaning
+of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Depend upon it," said some, who
+pretended to see farther than others,
+"his lordship, though he said nothing
+at the time, has taken offence at your
+refusal to work for him on Sunday, and,
+now that the business is finished, intends
+to give you notice of dismissal."</p>
+
+<p>The day came, and the agent kept the
+appointment, when, to his joyful surprise,
+instead of giving a notice of dismissal,
+his lordship told him, with
+expressions of esteem, that he desired to
+show his sense of the conscientious manner
+in which he had so long discharged
+his duties, and that he had asked him to
+attend in order that he might settle a
+pension upon him.</p>
+
+<p>The reader may imagine his happiness
+when he found all his fears at an end,
+and had this proof of the approbation of
+his conduct by a divine and an earthly
+master. The worthy man lived long to
+enjoy Lord L&mdash;&mdash;'s bounty, having died
+at the age of 102. On the anniversary
+of his hundredth birthday, some of his
+neighbours, by whom he was much
+respected, entertained him at a public<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>
+dinner, and gave him a Bible, accompanied
+with the hope that he might have
+to the end of his pilgrimage the guidance
+of Him who had guided him "a
+hundred years."&mdash;H. M., in <i>Friendly
+Greetings</i>.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LITTLE JOHNNIE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Shall I vex your patience, Johnnie,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">If I write again?</span><br />
+Would you rather I should leave you<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Brooding o'er your pain?</span><br />
+<br />
+Does your little heart grow tired<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of the outside noise?</span><br />
+Will you never tell your sorrows?<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Must you hide your joys?</span><br />
+<br />
+Then I'll go to Jesus, Johnnie&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Go to Him, and say&mdash;</span><br />
+"There's a weary child, Lord Jesus,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Needs Thy love to-day.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Listen to his father's praying;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">See his mother's tears;</span><br />
+Speak, oh, speak to little Johnnie!<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Speak, and hush our fears.</span><br />
+<br />
+"He was born a wretched sinner;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Does he know it, Lord?</span><br />
+Thou hast promises for sinners,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In Thy precious Word.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Speak, oh, speak to little Johnnie,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That our aching hearts</span><br />
+May be comforted about him<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When his soul departs.</span><br />
+<br />
+"We have told him of Thy mercy,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Told him of Thy wrath;</span><br />
+Told him of the untold terrors<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of the second death.</span><br />
+<br />
+"But the voice that wakes an echo<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In the silent one,</span><br />
+And the hand that opens heaven,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jesus, are Thine own.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Lord, we cannot help repeating,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Speak to him to-day;</span><br />
+Hope, nor prayer, nor mercy cometh<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To the mouldering clay.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Now the heart and flesh are failing,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Now the need is true,</span><br />
+Hell beneath, and heaven above him,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Stoop, Lord, lift him through."</span><br />
+<br />
+I have said all this to Jesus,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Johnnie dear, for you;</span><br />
+Tell your mother if He answers;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">She is praying too.</span><br />
+<br />
+Oh, if you but hear Him whisper,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Guilty sinner, come!"</span><br />
+Break away to Jesus, Johnnie;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He will take you home.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">M. A. Chaplin.</span><br />
+<br />
+<i>Galleywood, Chelmsford.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A king of Israel.</p>
+
+<p>A king of Moab.</p>
+
+<p>Absalom's general.</p>
+
+<p>The son of Ham.</p>
+
+<p>A river.</p>
+
+<p>A son of Jacob.</p>
+
+<p>A king of Israel.</p>
+
+<p>A priest.</p>
+
+<p>Abram's brother.</p>
+
+<p>A precious stone.</p>
+
+<p>A king of Bashan.</p>
+
+<p>Something sent to various kings by God.</p>
+
+<p>A servant of Ahab.</p>
+
+<p>An animal mentioned in the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Winnie Langman</span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;">(Aged 10 years).</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><i>Battersea.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Nov.  4. Commit to memory Ps. cxxvii. i.<br />
+Nov. 11. Commit to memory Ps. cxxvii. 2.<br />
+Nov. 18. Commit to memory Ps. cxxv. 2.<br />
+Nov. 25. Commit to memory Ps. cxxv. 3.
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p>
+<h2>BRIMSTONE OR SULPHUR.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>The Lord rained upon Sodom and
+upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Genesis</span>
+xix. 24.</p>
+
+
+<p>Sulphur is one of the most
+inflammable substances known,
+and will melt in fire but not in
+water. The meaning of the word "sulphur"
+is, the burning or fiery stone. This
+substance is obtained in most parts of
+the world, but is very abundant in volcanic
+regions. It doubtless helps to feed
+those terrific fires of the earth which
+occasionally burst forth in all their fury,
+pouring liquid lava upon the valleys beneath,
+and overwhelming cities in destruction.
+The smoke which issues from
+the craters of volcanoes is impregnated
+with sulphur; indeed, this substance is
+often found encrusted round the mouths
+of these burning mountains.</p>
+
+<p>Italy and Sicily produce the best
+sulphur in a native state, and in very
+large quantity. This is imported into
+England, is refined, and in its respective
+processes produces the roll brimstone,
+rock brimstone, and flowers of sulphur,
+all so well known in commerce. Sulphur
+also exists in some of our mineral
+springs, as that of Harrogate, in Yorkshire.
+It is found in the combination
+of several metallic ores, such as pyrites
+or sulphuret of iron, and sulphurets of
+zinc, copper, and lead. In some of its
+forms it exists in some plants. This
+may be proved by leaving a silver spoon
+in mustard; the colour of the spoon will
+soon be changed to a blackish tinge.
+It is the presence of this principle in
+assaf&oelig;tida which causes it to smell so
+disagreeably. Silver put into the same
+pocket with sulphur soon loses its
+brightness.</p>
+
+<p>Sulphur is applied to a variety of purposes.
+It is largely used in the manufacture
+of sulphuric acid, and forms
+about a tenth component part in the
+manufacture of English gunpowder. As
+a medicine it is very useful.</p>
+
+<p>There appears to be an allusion to
+its appropriation for gunpowder in
+Revelation ix. 17, 18. Many eminent
+expositors of the Revelation agree
+in supposing that the flashes of fire,
+attended by smoke and brimstone,
+"whereby men were killed," which
+seemed to proceed from the mouths of
+the horses, were really the flashes of
+artillery. The heads of the horses alone
+would be seen through the sulphureous
+smoke, while in reality the flashes and
+smoke proceeded from the cannon. The
+whole appears imagery of a battle scene,
+and is thought to refer to the Turks, who
+first turned to account the invention of
+gunpowder in carrying on their wars.</p>
+
+<p>"The Lord rained upon Sodom and
+Gomorrah brimstone and fire" (or burning
+brimstone). As these cities were
+situated in the vale of Siddim, which, as
+the sacred writer informs us, was full of
+bitumen pits, many learned men are of
+opinion that it does not detract from the
+supernatural character of this awful
+visitation to suppose that the wonder-working
+God saw fit to employ natural
+agencies in effecting the purposes of
+His will; and it is thought that, as
+sulphur exists in the neighbouring hills,
+it might have been ignited by lightning,
+and poured down like rain upon the
+vale below. The quantity of pitch already
+existing in the vale would be set on fire,
+and thus the cities would be destroyed,
+and the character of the valleys thereby
+changed.</p>
+
+<p>Be this as it may, the statement of the
+sacred writer is clear, and we may safely
+interpret it as implying a shower of inflamed
+sulphur or nitre. At the same
+time, it is evident that the whole plain
+underwent a simultaneous convulsion,
+which seems referable to the consequences
+of bituminous explosion. In
+accordance with this view, we find the
+materials, as it were, of this awful visitation
+near at hand, for, at the present<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>
+day, sulphur is found on the shores of
+the Dead Sea, which occupies the site of
+the cities of the plain; and the Arabs
+obtain enough from the cliffs to make
+their own gunpowder. Irby and Mangles
+collected on the southern coasts lumps
+of fine sulphur, from the size of a nutmeg
+up to that of a small hen's egg, which it
+was evident from their situation had
+been brought down from the neighbouring
+hills by the rain.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+H. H.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A BIRTHDAY WISH.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Life is before you, friend of mine;<br />
+What it may bring we cannot divine;<br />
+The path outspread is all untrod;<br />
+Unknown are its windings to all but God.<br />
+<br />
+The sun will shine with its gladsome ray,<br />
+And sometimes clouds overshadow the day;<br />
+Your heart may be lifted with joy untold;<br />
+But remember the same is not yours to hold.<br />
+<br />
+At your bidding it comes not, nor does it stay;<br />
+But when One speaks it flies away;<br />
+And why is this? That One is Love,<br />
+And seeks to lead your heart above.<br />
+<br />
+Were earthly happiness all your own,<br />
+You never would wish a heavenly throne;<br />
+So joys are given, they come, and end,<br />
+As seemeth best to our Lord and Friend.<br />
+<br />
+Then let us entrust them to His care,<br />
+And of thinking them ours to keep, beware;<br />
+Let us seek in the gift the Giver to see,<br />
+And trust to His love and wise decree.<br />
+<br />
+Should sorrow and sadness our path attend,<br />
+And dark seem the way to our journey's end,<br />
+Let us look above to the Hand that guides,<br />
+And trust His love whatever betides.<br />
+<br />
+No sorrow is sent with purposeless aim,<br />
+But each has its destined end to gain;<br />
+He loves us so dearly, and shed His blood<br />
+To lead us up to the throne of God.<br />
+<br />
+And think you that He would afflict His child<br />
+With needless pains in this desert wild?<br />
+No; though all that's sent we can't understand,<br />
+Let us never distrust the guiding Hand.<br />
+<br />
+His wisdom is perfect, His love divine,<br />
+And changeth not with the flight of time;<br />
+To the trustful heart that resteth in Him<br />
+He has promised joys that never shall dim.<br />
+<br />
+A quiet peace surrounds its path,<br />
+Surpassing all that the worldling hath;<br />
+May this be yours in that winding way;<br />
+May it lead you up to the "perfect day."<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Lewarn Clayton.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>INSECURITY OF PALESTINE.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>They that sow in tears shall reap in
+joy.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxxvi. 5.</p>
+
+
+<p>The farmer in Palestine had frequently
+to sow with an armed
+man attending him, to prevent
+his being robbed of his seed. A similar
+state of danger appears still to prevail.
+Tristram, in his "Land of Israel,"
+says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"In descending the hill from Bethany
+we saw an illustration of the wretched
+insecurity of the country, in a drove of
+donkeys laden with firewood for Jerusalem.
+Each ass was attended by a
+man armed to the teeth with pistols,
+sword, and a long gun; and in one
+little valley&mdash;the only one beyond
+Bethany where there was any cultivation&mdash;each
+ploughman was holding his
+firelock in one hand while he guided
+the plough with the other."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A HEROIC SCOTCH STUDENT.</h2>
+
+
+<p>"A ship ashore! A ship ashore!"
+was the cry which rang through
+the streets of St. Andrew's, Scotland,
+one fearful winter's day some
+years ago. This thrilling cry roused
+every inhabitant. Citizens, University
+students, and sailors, rushed with pale
+faces and rapid steps along the street
+towards a bay to the eastward of the
+town. Standing on the shore, the
+crowd was terror-stricken and paralyzed
+through beholding a vessel stranded on
+a sand-bank but a few rods from the
+beach. She was shrouded in surfy mist;
+the waves dashed furiously against her,
+and broke over her decks with irresistible
+fury. Yet, through the thick
+air and the driving sleet, the people on
+the shore could now and then catch
+glimpses of the doomed crew clinging,
+with the clutch of despair, to the rigging
+of the wreck. There were many bold,
+brave men in that sympathizing crowd
+of spectators, but none who dared to
+venture through the mighty surges to
+save those ill-fated sailors. It seemed,
+indeed, to the stoutest heart, too mighty
+a task for mortal man to attempt. All
+could sympathize with the wretched
+ones; none but God, they thought,
+could save them.</p>
+
+<p>But there was one heroic soul in that
+eager, wistful crowd who thought that
+man, with God's help, might snatch
+those perishing men from the door of
+doom. He was a young man&mdash;a University
+student&mdash;strong in body, but still
+stronger in spirit. "Bring me a rope,"
+he cried; "I will try to save them." A
+strong rope was brought, and fastened
+about his waist. Followed by the prayers
+of many and the good wishes of all, this
+chivalric youth struggled, with desperate
+courage, through the terrific surf
+into the deep water beyond. Then, with
+the strength of a young giant, guided
+by the skill of the experienced swimmer,
+he slowly worked his way towards the
+vessel's side. He had nearly reached it
+when his friends, alarmed by the length
+of time and slowness of his progress,
+began pulling him back. Then his
+courage rose to the sublimest height of
+self-sacrifice. He forgot himself. He
+would save the men clinging in desperation
+to yon vessel's shrouds, or perish in
+the attempt. Grasping the knife that
+he carried between his teeth, he cut the
+rope by which his kind-hearted friends
+were drawing him to shore and safety.
+He buffeted the rough waves successfully.
+He reached the breaker-swept
+deck of the stranded sloop. After a
+word of cheer to the crew, he took a
+fresh rope, plunged anew into the surging
+waters, and swam back to the beach.
+But four days of starvation, unrest, and
+exposure had robbed those poor creatures
+on board the wreck of both courage
+and strength. Not one of them dared
+attempt to escape by means of the rope.
+What! then must they perish? Nay,
+not yet. The brave student will risk his
+life again in their behalf. Many speak
+harshly of their lack of pluck. He pities
+their weakness; he rushes into the surf
+once more, struggles through the crested
+waves, boards the sloop, and brings off
+a man to the shore. Six times he makes
+the perilous trip, and saves a human life
+each time. The seventh time his charge
+is a boy, so weak and helpless that he
+loses his hold upon him twice, and
+twice he dives for him into the seething
+depths and brings him up. Finally, he
+reaches the beach with a limp, corpselike
+lad&mdash;the last of the rescued crew.</p>
+
+<p>The crowd, which had hitherto
+watched the gallant young hero's movements
+with breathless stillness, now
+break forth into a loud, triumphal cheer,
+which neither the roar of the wind nor
+the thunder of the waves can drown&mdash;they
+recognize the presence of a genuine
+hero.</p>
+
+<p>The name of this noble young scion of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>
+true chivalry was John Honey, one of the
+college friends of the celebrated Dr.
+Chalmers. His efforts on that memorable
+day cost him his life&mdash;not directly,
+however, for he lived a few years, but
+the seeds of a mortal malady were sown
+by his humane exertions on that grandest
+day of his life.&mdash;<i>Great Thoughts.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>DUTIES OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is the duty of brothers and sisters
+to take a delight in each others'
+society, and readily to share their
+comforts with each other. The kindness
+of the heart beams in a sister's smile,
+and speaks in a brother's praise. The
+heart must be sadly corrupted, if the remembrance
+of the scenes that passed
+under a father's roof ceases to interest.
+It is the duty of brothers and sisters to
+admonish one another for their faults.
+There are failings in the temper and defects
+in the manners which are concealed
+with care from the eyes of the world, but
+which are apparent amidst the freedom
+of domestic life. If follies are not
+checked at home, or by strangers, they
+will grow into habits. The indolence
+from which the young were never roused
+has kept them all their after days in
+poverty, and the pride which was never
+repressed has rendered them odious.
+Never let affection make you blind to
+the deformity of sin.</p>
+
+<p>It is the duty of brothers and sisters
+to sympathize tenderly with each other.
+The heart is so framed that it requires
+the aid and comfort of sympathy. How
+soothing to a sufferer's heart are the
+attentions of a sister, and the word
+spoken by a brother in season! Let
+sisters consider how much the persuasive
+language of mildness and affection
+is adapted to transform the roughest
+and most impetuous temper into meekness
+and wisdom, and that their remarks
+may direct a brother's attention to sentiments
+full of beauty and feeling, which
+he has overlooked.</p>
+
+<p>Brothers and sisters should vie with
+each other in promoting the comfort of
+their parents. Every one should cultivate
+respect for their parents' authority,
+compassion for their infirmities, attention
+to their wishes, and be solicitous to
+give them all necessary aid, and reverence,
+and love, undiminished as they
+witness the decline of their faculties.
+How delightful it is to hear parents say
+of their children, "I cannot tell which is
+the kindest to me." What peace such
+children are preparing for themselves
+when their parents shall have passed
+away!&mdash;<i>Portia.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE CHILD AND THE EMPEROR.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is related of the late Emperor
+of Germany that, when passing
+through a pretty country village
+once, he stopped to visit the village
+school. Taking up an orange, he
+said to the children&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"To what kingdom does this belong?"</p>
+
+<p>"To the vegetable kingdom," answered
+a little girl.</p>
+
+<p>"And this?" continued the Emperor,
+holding out a gold coin, which he had
+taken from his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"To the mineral kingdom," was the
+answer.</p>
+
+<p>"And to what kingdom do I belong?"
+he said, expecting the little girl would
+answer with her former promptitude,
+"To the animal kingdom." But after a
+pause and many blushes, she replied&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"To God's kingdom, sire."</p>
+
+<p>Thereupon the Emperor, greatly
+moved, and with a tear in his eye and
+much solemnity in his tone, replied&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"God grant, my child, that I may be
+counted worthy of that kingdom."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p>
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Glory of Christ.</span></h3>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">John</span> xvii)</p>
+
+
+<p>In the large, upper room of that
+house at Jerusalem, where Jesus
+had eaten the Passover with His
+disciples, and instituted His own new
+feast, "The Lord's Supper," He had
+been speaking, and they hearing, most
+wonderful truths. "Arise, let us go
+hence," He had said (John xiv. 31).
+Yet He arose not, and they lingered
+still, held fast in solemn wonder while
+He spoke the parable of the vine, and
+warned and encouraged them concerning
+their future course when He had left
+them. And then, having assured them
+that He had overcome the world, and
+bidden them rejoice in Him, He lifted
+up His eyes to heaven, and prayed for
+Himself, for them, and for all His people
+to the end of time.</p>
+
+<p>A wondrous prayer! He was just
+about to enter into His deepest sufferings;
+yet He says not a word of pain or
+sorrow. "The glory that should follow,"
+"the joy that was set before Him,"
+fill His heart and tongue, and all His
+prayer breathes of that reward&mdash;that
+crown of all His labours&mdash;the everlasting
+life of all His beloved ones.</p>
+
+<p>He thought of His ancient glory, "the
+glory which I had with Thee before the
+world was" (ver. 5); and that glory was
+connected with His dear people, as we
+read in Proverbs viii. 23, where Christ,
+speaking as Wisdom, says, "I was set
+up from everlasting, from the beginning,
+or ever the earth was"; and "Then I
+was beside Jehovah, as One brought up
+with Him: I was daily <i>His</i> delight, and
+<i>My</i> delights were with the sons of men"
+(ver. 30, 31).</p>
+
+<p>"The sons of men," as yet unborn;
+but "His gracious eye surveyed them"
+as they should in future days appear,
+and He was then their "Elder Brother,"
+"the First-born among many brethren,"
+and in His image Adam was formed as
+a man, "a little lower than the angels,
+crowned with glory and honour," and
+the lord of God's earthly creation (Psa.
+viii.). And Jesus looked on to the
+glorious time when all His people,
+though they have fallen, and become
+sinners, shall be purified and fully saved,
+and be "presented to God without spot,
+or wrinkle, or any such thing." It <i>was</i>
+His glory, before time, to think of this;
+it <i>shall</i> be His glory, when time is
+ended, to see all His desires fulfilled,
+and all His wishes accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>Next, Jesus thought and spoke of
+"the glory His Father had given Him"
+(ver. 24)&mdash;given Him in the world, in
+the sight of His people. In Revelation
+xiii. 8, He is called "the Lamb that
+hath been slain from the foundation
+of the world"&mdash;slain in pictures and
+shadows; "the firstling of the flock"
+that Abel offered; the paschal lamb,
+and all the numberless sacrifices slain
+of old by God's command, pointed
+always to the Lamb of God; and He was
+glorified when His people, in by-gone
+times, like Abraham, "saw His day,"
+His coming, and His work, and were
+glad in His salvation.</p>
+
+<p>And Jesus prayed that all whom His
+Father had given Him might behold
+His glory. When? Not only in heaven,
+but here. As we read in Paul's wondrous
+description of this sight, "we all, with
+unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror
+the glory of the Lord" (2 Cor. iii.), do
+not simply gaze upon it as on a lovely
+picture, but are transformed as we gaze&mdash;are
+changed, until we become like our
+Lord, and bear His image, and reflect
+His glory, as the face of Moses shone
+when he came down from God on Mount
+Sinai, and he did not know it until he
+found the Israelites could not look at
+him unless he veiled his face, for true
+holiness makes us humble and lowly,
+and</p>
+
+<p>
+"The more His glories strike our eyes,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The humbler we shall lie;</span><br />
+Thus while we sink, our joys shall rise<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Immeasurably high."</span>,
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>
+And if now we see Him thus by faith,
+we shall see Him as He is, and be like
+Him for ever.</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, that with yonder sacred throng<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We at His feet may fall;</span><br />
+Join in the everlasting song,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And crown Him Lord of all."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>But the prayer of Jesus began with
+the earnest request for another kind of
+glory&mdash;"Father, the hour is come;
+glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may
+glorify Thee." "The hour" for which
+I came into the world&mdash;"the hour" of
+deepest woe, yet most glorious victory.
+Glorify Thy Son by strengthening and
+sustaining Him, that He may glorify
+Thee by accomplishing Thy will, and
+destroying the works of the devil.</p>
+
+<p>Was not the prayer answered? Hear
+the dying Saviour cry, with a loud voice,
+on Calvary, "It is finished!" and we
+behold Him gloriously conquering in the
+very moment of His death, and departing
+to receive the Victor's crown, and
+the grateful worship of all the redeemed,
+as they sing, "Worthy the Lamb that
+was slain!"</p>
+
+<p>Lastly, Jesus says of all His glory, "I
+have given it to My people, My followers,
+My friends" (ver. 22). "My glory, My
+joy, I share with them." He is "anointed
+with the oil of gladness above His
+fellows" (Psa. xlv. 7); but to every
+"good and faithful servant" He will
+say, "Enter thou into the joy of thy
+Lord."</p>
+
+<p>Is His joy, His glory, ours? Do we
+delight in His salvation? Do we desire
+to follow Him, and, like Him, do good
+to others? Do we long to see God's
+kingdom come, and His will done on
+earth as it is done in heaven? If so, He
+has given us a share in His glory, and
+we shall meet with all His saints around
+His throne on high&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"And with one heart, and voice, and soul<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sing His redeeming grace."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Then will His glory be complete. Oh,
+that we may behold and enjoy it, too!
+Amen.</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, <i>Gleanings
+from the Book of Ruth</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Yours affectionately,<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE PITCAIRN ISLANDERS
+AND THE QUEEN.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Captain John Lewthwaite, of Maryport,
+has just returned to England,
+bringing with him a present for the
+Queen from the inhabitants of Pitcairn
+Island. Captain Lewthwaite is master
+of the <i>Cairmont</i>, of Glasgow, and on
+his homeward voyage from Vancouver
+Island he called at Pitcairn. He found
+that the descendants of the mutineers of
+the <i>Bounty</i> had received papers containing
+particulars of the Queen's
+Jubilee. They said they were anxious
+to make Her Majesty a Jubilee present,
+and in the absence of anything more
+valuable they decided to send some
+straw hats of their manufacture. They
+also sent other goods made of straw,
+which they manipulate with a great deal
+of skill. The presents were handed to
+Captain Lewthwaite by M'Avoy, the
+Governor of the island, and grandson of
+one of the mutineers. The box containing
+the presents has been lodged with
+the Vicar of Peckham Rye, who acts as
+agent for the islanders, to forward to
+the Queen.</p>
+
+<p>There are now one hundred and twelve
+persons on the island, two-thirds being
+women. They use no strong drink,
+tobacco, or money. Some time ago a
+harmonium was taken out to them, and
+Captain Lewthwaite says one woman
+plays it remarkably well.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> that cannot mind his own
+business is not to be trusted with the
+king's.&mdash;<i>Saville.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Lessons to be Derived from the
+History of Daniel.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The principal lessons to be derived
+from the history of Daniel are&mdash;faith,
+moral courage, patience,
+perseverance, and the value of prayer.
+Daniel's faith was steadfast in God, for,
+in spite of all opposition, he stood firm
+to his purpose. This also shows his
+moral courage, in standing alone before
+his God when all others were against
+him. He truly manifested the feeling,
+"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in
+Him." Envied and persecuted by many,
+he knew that God was for him if men
+were against him. It is a dreadful sin
+to conspire against a child of God, for
+Christ will say to such in the day of
+judgment, "Depart from Me, ye cursed."
+And again (Mark ix. 42) He said, "Whosoever
+shall offend one of these little
+ones that believe in Me, it is better for
+him that a millstone were hanged about
+his neck, and he were cast into the sea."
+Daniel knew, too, the efficacy of prayer,
+for he was taught by God Himself; and
+where God gives faith and a true spirit,
+He is sure to call it into exercise. Daniel
+possessed an excellent spirit, and was
+preferred by King Darius, who did not
+worship the true God, and was prevailed
+upon to establish an idolatrous decree.
+But Daniel openly prayed to God. This
+showed his confidence in Jehovah's
+omnipotence and faithfulness, and he
+was enabled to leave all in His hands,
+feeling sure that all things would work
+together for his good. It has been
+wisely said that "not one spark of real
+saving faith can be kindled in our hearts
+but by God Himself," and if He does this,
+He will give us the supply we so much
+need. As a weak limb often grows
+strong by exercise, so will our faith, if it
+be of God, be strengthened by the very
+effort we make in stretching it out towards
+things unseen. Daniel's chastening
+afterwards yielded "the peaceable
+fruit of righteousness" when the angel
+Gabriel was sent to tell him he was
+greatly beloved, and that he should
+"stand in his lot at the end of his days."
+Oh, what comfort this message must
+have brought to poor Daniel! Happy
+shall we be if the Lord speaks thus to
+our hearts.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Laura Creasey</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(Aged 14 years).</span>
+</div>
+<p><i>Sydney House, Sleaford,<br />
+Lincolnshire.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>[Good Essays have been received from
+Charles Southon, Kate M. Bond, Alice
+J. Wells, E. W. Cray, Martha Ramsay,
+Sarah Hicks, E. B. Knocker, and E. R.
+Harris.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay receives
+a copy of "Cowper's Poems."</p>
+
+<p>The subject for January will be,
+"What is the Most Desirable Thing to
+Possess in the Spring-time of Life?"
+and the prize to be given for the best
+Essay on that subject, a copy of "The
+Life of Whitfield." All competitors
+must give a guarantee that they are
+under fifteen years of age, and that the
+Essay is their own composition, or the
+papers will be passed over, as the Editor
+cannot undertake to write for this necessary
+information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117,
+High Street, Hastings, by the first of
+December.]</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Deeper</span> than the love of home, deeper
+than the love of kindred, deeper than
+rest and recreation, deeper than the love
+of life, is the love of Jesus.&mdash;<i>Hamilton.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Nothing</span> is easier than fault-finding.
+No talent, no self-denial, no brains, no
+character is required to set up in the
+grumbling business. But those who are
+moved by a genuine desire to do good
+and benefit their fellows have little time
+for murmuring or complaint.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> length of the Thames from source to
+mouth is 220 miles.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> greatest height yet reached in a balloon
+is seven miles and a quarter.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> 1707 it took two days and a half to get to
+Oxford, a distance of fifty-five miles.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> number of Bibles sold by the British
+Bible Society up to 1881 was 100,035,933.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Two</span> millions and a half is the number of persons
+who are said to be slaves to Sabbath toil
+in America, and they generally receive no more
+than six days' wages for seven days' work.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Anna Swan</span>, the Nova Scotia giantess, who,
+with her husband, Captain Bates, the Kentucky
+giant, was an earnest member of the Baptist
+Church, is dead. She was seven feet nine
+inches in height.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A great</span> improvement in Sunday observance
+in the army and navy has, it is said, taken place.
+But there are old officers, like the gallant
+admiral, who deplore the fact that "the service
+is going to the dogs," because there is not so
+much pipeclay used on a Sunday as there was
+when they joined the service.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Lord Sudeley</span>, of Toddington, near Cheltenham,
+has the following fruit trees planted
+in his grounds&mdash;Gooseberry trees, 93,000;
+plum trees, 20,083; black currant trees,
+167,000; apple trees, 2,919; pear trees, 852;
+damson trees, 8,845; cherry trees, 532; red
+currant trees, 10,000; raspberry trees, 25,000;
+cob nut, 100; strawberries (acres), 52. In
+addition, 100 Scotch firs and 10,000 poplar trees.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Hampton Court Vine.</span>&mdash;This noble vine
+is more than a hundred and fifty years old, and
+nearly as many feet in length; its stem is
+thirty-two inches in circumference. In a good
+season it will yield more than two thousand
+bunches of fine grapes, weighing on an average
+seventeen ounces each bunch, or, in the whole,
+nearly one ton. They are of the finest black
+Hamburg kind, and are said to be reserved
+chiefly for the Queen's table.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Running Away with a Ritualistic Crucifix.</span>&mdash;It
+is stated that a crucifix adorns the
+eastern end of Bourn church. Many of the
+parishioners are opposed to certain Ritualistic
+practices, and have shown their disapproval by
+leaving during divine service. During the week
+the church is left open, and on Monday, September
+17th, a young lady entered and took
+away the crucifix. The lady, having secured
+the crucifix, proceeded to Bytham Station, and
+thence to Essendine. Arrived there, she went
+into a friend's house and had a cup of tea. In
+the meantime, the Vicar and the young lady's
+brother started in pursuit, discovered the missing
+ornament, and brought it safely back and
+replaced it in the church. The event has created
+great excitement in the village, and we understand
+that legal proceedings will be taken.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Wolves and Telegraph Lines.</span>&mdash;It is believed
+in Norway that wolves are frightened
+away by telegraph lines. While a vote was
+pending on a grant to a new line, a member of
+the Storthing remarked that, while his constituents
+had no direct interest in it, they
+would support the grant because the wires
+would drive away the wolves. It is stated as
+a remarkable fact that since the first telegraph
+line was established, twenty years ago, wolves
+have never appeared in its neighbourhood.
+Wolves, it is known, will not enter a roped
+enclosure.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> connection with the Mission to Deep Sea
+Fishermen, a hospital ship was launched from
+the yard of Messrs. Fellows and Son, of Great
+Yarmouth, on September 29th. She is 100 feet
+in length, and of 152 tons register. She is to be
+fitted up as a hospital ship, for the treatment
+of accident and illness among the fishermen of
+the North Sea. She is named the <i>Queen Victoria</i>,
+and Her Majesty, who takes much interest in
+the Mission, subscribed £50 towards the cost of
+the vessel. The launch was witnessed by a
+large number of people. The <i>Queen Victoria</i>
+is the same type of vessel as those already in
+the Mission service.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A New Alpine Railway.</span>&mdash;A railway from
+Visp to Zermatt is about to be built, an undertaking
+that has for a long time been considered
+impracticable. From the year 1891 travellers
+will be able to reach the El Dorado of Alpine
+tourists in about two hours and a half from the
+main line in the Rhone Valley, and step out of
+the railway carriage almost at the foot of the
+mighty Matterhorn. The line is already marked
+out, and follows pretty closely the present bridle
+path. It is to be narrow gauge, without cogwheels,
+and will cross the Visp torrent five
+times. The curves will be rather sharp, and
+there are to be six small tunnels. The capital
+for building the line is said to amount to six
+million francs, and work is to be commenced
+this autumn. The length will be twenty-eight
+miles, and as Zermatt is 3,160 feet higher than
+the starting point, the incline will be over two
+per cent.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span><span class="smcap">An Ancient Document.</span>&mdash;According to a
+telegram received from Lloyds' Signal Station
+at St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight, a letter,
+supposed to have been written 103 years ago,
+was picked up on the beach, at Rock End, on
+October 3rd. The following is a copy of the
+document:&mdash;"Office of Ordnance, 11th July,
+1785. Gentlemen,&mdash;His Majesty's ship the
+<i>Trusty</i>, being ordered to be paid off at Portsmouth,
+you are, by the Board's directions, to
+cause her powder to be taken on shore, and
+lodged in His Majesty's magazine, under your
+charge.&mdash;I am, gentlemen, your humble servant,
+<span class="smcap">Aug. Rogers</span>, Secretary. Respective Officers,
+Prondy's Hard, W. A." There is a memo, on
+the back of the letter&mdash;"11th July, 1785. Aug.
+Rogers, Esq. <i>Trusty</i> paid off."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> number of preserves in Austria alone,
+not counting those in Hungary, is stated at
+15,764. and on these there were shot, in 1887, 32
+bears, 113 wolves, 24 lynxes, 9,490 stags, 60,252
+roebucks, 7,709 chamois, 2,998 wild boars,
+26,411 foxes, 9,729 polecats, 1,055 otters, 2,672
+badgers, 333 marmots, and no fewer than
+1,439,134 hares. Wild rabbits are scarce in this
+country, and are not counted in the general
+record, but 27,797 were shot in Bohemia,
+where there are most warrens. The totals for
+feathered game are&mdash;4,498 grouse, 1,300 wild
+geese, 102,748 pheasants, 1,336,934 partridges,
+34,448 quails, 12,652 woodcock, 7,614 snipe, and
+28,914 wild ducks. The birds of prey shot were
+561 eagles, 38,610 owls, 1,365 horned owls, and
+106,353 hawks, kestrels, kites, and vultures.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Rabbit Pest in New Zealand.</span>&mdash;The
+United States Consul at Auckland, in a recent
+report, describes the extent to which New
+Zealand has been economically injured by rabbits,
+and the cost incurred in endeavouring to
+exterminate them. Nothing, he says, could so
+overrun a country since the locusts in Egypt.
+The rabbits have so eaten out the ranges that
+the capacity for maintaining sheep has greatly
+lessened, and the flocks have fallen off in
+numbers. At the Stock Conference of 1886, it
+was stated that rabbits reduced by a third the
+feeding capacity of land, and the weight of
+fleeces had decreased by 1 lb. to 1&frac12; lb. each.
+The number of lambs decreased from thirty to
+forty per cent., while the death-rate increased
+from three to thirteen per cent. Since 1882,
+when the Rabbit Act became law, Government
+has expended £7,000 on Crown lands alone, and
+it is estimated that during the last eight years
+private persons have spent £2,400,000 in extirpating
+rabbits. The methods generally in
+favour were fencing, poisoned grain (generally
+phosphorized oats), and ferrets, weasels, and
+stoats. Large numbers of men have been hired
+from time to time to make war upon the rabbits,
+and it is said that these "rabbiters"
+encourage the vermin in every way, and have
+been caught killing the stoats and ferrets.
+The bonus system has been found objectionable
+and expensive. Notwithstanding all that has
+been done, in some localities the rabbits have
+continually increased, and the damage has continued.
+It is hoped, however, that as the
+country becomes more populous, and the large
+tracts of land are occupied and cultivated, the
+numerous herds of rabbits which now roam over
+the land will disappear.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One Thousand Men Drowned.</span>&mdash;It is reported
+from China that the whole of the new
+embankment of the Yellow River, which was
+commenced last autumn at the spot where the
+old embankment gave way, has been completely
+swept away by the summer floods. It
+is said to have cost about £2,000,000 sterling
+(9,000,000 taels). As the floods rose, it was
+seen that the strain was becoming dangerous,
+and Li Hang-tsao, the high official in charge of
+the work, was sent for in hot haste, but before
+he could arrive the whole bank went down
+before the flood, and of the eight thousand feet
+of river wall lately completed, not an inch remains,
+and the waters are pouring unchecked
+through the immense gap into the Honan
+province. From eight hundred to one thousand
+labourers, who were on the bank, were also
+swept away and drowned. It is reported from
+Peking that all the officials concerned are being
+severely punished.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Shark Story.</span>&mdash;Sir,&mdash;The following story
+may be of some interest to many readers of your
+valuable paper. The sailing-ship <i>Grassendale</i>
+(registered 1,800 tons, and classed A1 at Lloyds'),
+with a crew of about thirty-five hands, on its
+voyage from Sydney to San Francisco, met with
+great numbers of sharks, about twenty of which
+the crew killed. One shark, in particular, had
+a quantity of young ones with her. By some
+means the little ones were frightened, and
+swam into its mouth. Naturally the crew were
+curious, and tried to hook it, which they
+eventually did. When they cut it open on deck,
+imagine their surprise to find no less than forty-two
+little sharks, measuring from twelve to
+fifteen inches in length, all alive, and capable of
+swimming as well as ever&mdash;a most remarkable
+incident, not heard of before, even in America,
+being, to all appearances, a shark's wonderful
+way to shelter their young. This information
+the writer has received this week direct from
+his brother, who is chief officer of the said ship,
+and he can, therefore, vouch for its truth.&mdash;Yours
+truly, <span class="smcap">H. H. White</span>. Rye, October 10th,
+1888.&mdash;<i>South Eastern Advertiser.</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">&nbsp;</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 369px;">
+<img src="images/img268.jpg" width="369" height="500" alt="READING THE BIBLE (See page 266.)" title="READING THE BIBLE (See page 266.)" />
+<span class="caption">"IT WAS AGREED THAT SOME ONE SHOULD READ THE BIBLE TO HER." (<i>See page 266.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE BLIND WIDOW.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>Cast thy bread upon the waters:
+for thou shalt find it after many
+days.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ecclesiastes</span> xi. 1.</p>
+
+
+<p>Recollecting the feelings of
+discouragement and sadness
+which often oppressed my mind
+during the first months of our employment
+as district visitors and Sunday
+School teachers in a retired village, and
+the many instances affording cause for
+joy and thankfulness which occurred
+during the latter years of our residence
+there, I am led to record one of them,
+with the hope of encouraging my fellow-labourers
+in this interesting occupation.</p>
+
+<p>One of the first cases which came
+under my own observation was that of a
+blind, aged widow, who lived a few steps
+from the church. Her husband, who
+had been dead at this time about seven
+years, had led an ungodly life, and had
+fallen a victim to the habit of intemperance.
+She was left with one son, who
+was a lad at the time of his father's
+death, and was soon after bound as a
+parish apprentice to a good neighbour,
+a blacksmith, with whom he afterwards
+lived as servant. I think he was a good
+boy. He had remembered and taken
+pleasure in what he had learned at the
+Sunday and National School. He was
+constant in his attendance at public
+worship, and showed much dutiful
+affection and attention to his widowed
+mother. In his spare hours he took
+care of her little garden, drew water,
+and tended the nursery of beautiful
+geraniums which adorned her windows;
+and when he could, he would come
+and read aloud to her on Sundays out
+of the Bible or some good book. All
+the poor widow's happiness centred in
+Henry. It was her delight to do all she
+could for him; and many a time have
+I seen her, blind as she was, bestowing
+her cheerful labour in making his
+shirts as white as snow. She had one
+other son, older than Henry, who had
+accompanied an uncle to the West
+Indies, and as she had never heard of
+them since, she thought they had very
+likely both of them died in that climate,
+so unhealthy to English constitutions.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Worthington was, I think,
+naturally an amiable woman. Many
+sorrows had subdued and broken her
+spirits, for she had once lived near
+London in very good circumstances.
+Though in some degree acquainted with
+the leading doctrines of Scripture, and
+believing them to be true, she was, it
+seemed, quite destitute of any hope
+towards God, or true faith in our Lord
+Jesus Christ, as her Saviour and her
+Friend. To use her own words, "she
+had long ago given up herself for lost."
+When I asked what led her to do so, she
+replied that she knew she had not led
+a good life, and that some neighbours
+had told her it was no use for such a person
+as she was to think of going to
+heaven. In this sad state she was
+lingering on in a painful earthly existence,
+without one hope of anything
+better beyond it.</p>
+
+<p>There was a kind woman who lived
+in the next house who, when able, would
+lead her to church and back again.
+There she paid attention, and thus had
+many interesting Scripture histories
+stored in her memory, for she had never
+learned to read.</p>
+
+<p>At length, with her own consent, it
+was agreed that some one should
+read the Bible to her every forenoon.
+She listened with earnest attention
+and much interest, and at length
+found, to her great joy, that she was
+not excluded from hope in the mercy
+of that gracious God and Saviour whose
+loving-kindness and tender mercy towards
+a lost and fallen race it reveals and
+declares. She discovered with delight
+that she was one of those very characters
+that had moved His heart to pity, and
+for whose redemption and happiness He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>
+had sent His only-begotten Son into the
+world, and spared Him not, "but delivered
+Him up for us all," that He might
+make satisfaction for fallen sinners, and
+lead such back as reconciled children to
+their Father and God. She received the
+gracious message with a sense of her
+own extreme need of its blessings, and
+welcomed it with her whole heart, as
+sent to her by the God of love.</p>
+
+<p>I think the first word of promise which
+was fixed in her mind was the engagement
+which God makes, in Luke xi., to
+give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
+Him. She felt that her mind was dark,
+and her heart cold and dead towards
+God. She wished it were otherwise, and
+prayed for the Holy Spirit. It was delightful
+to observe the heavenly light
+dawn in her once benighted soul, and
+to behold the altered state of all within.
+Humility, thankfulness, hope, and love
+all appeared in their loveliness, and in
+various ways did she give incontestable
+evidence that old things had passed
+away, and that all things had become
+new.</p>
+
+<p>I remember calling one morning, and
+finding her much out of spirits. On inquiring
+the cause, I found that, it being
+the wake season, some of her former
+friends and acquaintances had visited
+her. It was their conversation which
+had grieved her, consisting very much
+of scandal and detraction, and she was
+greatly distressed at being obliged to
+hear it, and felt that she had done wrong
+by listening to it, so truly had her mind
+become conformed to the principles of
+the Gospel of peace.</p>
+
+<p>Before her change of heart she was
+much disposed to murmur, but when
+enabled to apprehend the love of God to
+her, her spirit was filled with gratitude
+to Him for all His undeserved mercies;
+and however depressed her circumstances
+on earth might be, she had the
+comfortable hope of eternal bliss in that
+world where all tears will be for ever
+wiped away, and there will be no more
+want and pain, for "the Lamb which
+is in the midst of the throne shall feed
+them, and shall lead them unto living
+fountains of waters" (Rev. vii. 17).</p>
+
+<p>One morning, to my great sorrow, I
+found her very ill. She was suffering
+from an attack of paralysis, which took
+away the use of her left side, and very
+much affected her speech. She was
+suddenly rendered almost helpless. At
+first she was greatly distressed, knowing
+that her own means were insufficient to
+pay any one to help her, and that the
+only alternative was a removal to the
+workhouse, a prospect which to her mind
+was full of terror and disgrace. It became,
+however, quite needful, for there
+was no prospect of amendment; and
+in about a fortnight she was obliged to
+quit a home endeared to her by a long
+residence, and the honourable independence
+with which she had occupied it,
+for though often obliged to take only
+bread for her breakfast and supper, she
+invariably paid her quarter's rent. Her
+faith in Christ, however, soon gained the
+ascendancy over her natural regret and
+sorrow, and she received this painful
+dispensation as her Heavenly Father's
+will, and submitted to it with quietness.</p>
+
+<p>The workhouse was about nine miles
+from our village. It was a well-conducted
+one, and favoured with the visits
+of some Christian friends and a good
+clergyman. The matron was a kind
+person, and treated our blind friend with
+much consideration. Her son visited
+her as often as he could, and paid her
+every dutiful attention, so that her home
+there was, I think, more comfortable
+than the one she had left. I never saw
+her afterwards, but I occasionally heard
+of her. She was almost entirely confined
+to her bed, but quite able to enjoy and
+profit by the kind visits and Christian
+conversation of some persons who visited
+the workhouse. She found her God was
+present with her there, and He fulfilled
+to her that beautiful promise made to
+His people of old&mdash;"Even to your old
+age I am He; and even to hoar hairs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>
+will I carry you; I have made, and I
+will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver
+you" (Isa. xlvi. 4).</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+A. E. H.
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE OF A
+SHIPWRECKED CREW.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Two seamen, named John G.
+Crone and James R. Wilson,
+late of the Scotch barque <i>Henry
+James</i>, arrived a short time ago at the
+Liverpool Sailors' Home, and gave information
+of the loss of that vessel,
+through which they underwent an extraordinary
+experience.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Henry James</i> struck a coral
+reef near the island of Palmyra, in the
+Pacific Ocean, and became a wreck. In
+an hour the crew had to abandon her,
+experiencing the greatest difficulty in
+getting away. The shipwrecked people
+only saved what they stood in, even the
+ship's papers and the captain's instruments
+being lost. They were in a sad
+plight. One boat containing provisions
+was swamped and the food lost. The
+captain nearly lost his life by being
+thrown into the sea. Fortunately a box
+of matches was got ashore dry, and with
+these a fire was lighted.</p>
+
+<p>The island of Palmyra was found to be
+uninhabited, but a search next day revealed
+a number of small huts made of
+boards and leaves. The island is about
+nine hundred miles from Samoa. The
+mate, who had saved his sextant, volunteered
+to go in a small boat to Samoa to
+seek for aid, and a boat was accordingly
+manned, the mate having for his companions
+the boatswain and three seamen.
+These poor fellows were three weeks in
+the open boat, in a tropical climate, and
+their sufferings were very severe. They
+traversed about thirteen hundred miles,
+and some days before arrival their food
+and water gave out. Their sufferings were
+then terrible, and when they reached Apia,
+their condition plainly showed what they
+had passed through. Had their voyage
+been lengthened but a couple of days, it
+is likely all would have either gone mad
+or perished from starvation. The shipwrecked
+people on the island were in
+the meantime living on wild birds, birds'
+eggs, and on cocoa-nuts. They had
+no arms with them, and the only means
+of catching the birds was by sticks, the
+men having to get within reach of the
+birds before they could be caught. In
+the first days the only water the people
+had was what they caught by spreading
+out the leaves of trees. The matches at
+last got wet, and the poor people could
+not make their accustomed fire. A
+powerful telescope glass then furnished
+a burning glass, and enabled them to
+get fires once more. Altogether they
+were on the island six weeks. At the
+end of this time the mail steamer
+<i>Mariposa</i> called at the island, and
+rescued the people from their island imprisonment.
+The party included two
+ladies (passengers) and six children.</p>
+
+<p>The Board of Trade have awarded a
+piece of plate to Captain Hayward, of
+the <i>Mariposa</i>; a gold medal to Mr. Hart,
+first officer; and a silver medal and a
+sum of £2 each to seamen Barpark,
+Erving, Allan, and Driscoll, in connection
+with the rescue of the castaways.
+Captain Hayward, who was bound to
+San Francisco with mails and passengers,
+voluntarily incurred the risk of a heavy
+fine for breach of contract, and set off
+with the above-named crew in an open
+boat, and rescued the unfortunate
+people.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH
+SUNDAY IN DECEMBER.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+Dec.  2. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 2.<br />
+Dec.  9. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 4.<br />
+Dec. 16. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 10.<br />
+Dec. 23. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 12.<br />
+Dec. 30. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 14.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p>
+<h2>HE WENT WRONG, BUT HE FOUND MERCY.</h2>
+
+<p>On Sunday afternoon, August 26th,
+1888, Mr. Carr, of Leicester, gave
+an interesting address to the
+scholars attending the Zion Sunday
+School, Trowbridge. After singing and
+prayer, Mr. Carr took "The Prodigal
+Son" as his subject, which he explained
+in a most interesting manner. He said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Once upon a time there were two
+brothers. One of them ran away, but he
+got into no end of trouble. But while he
+was so wretched, something occurred
+with him, and by-and-bye he was brought
+back in peace to his father's house, and
+was happy for ever afterward.</p>
+
+<p>"Most of you know that this is the
+outline of the parable of 'The Prodigal
+Son,' and I am going to try and tell you
+the details of it. I shall divide it into
+four parts. The first one is <i>Ruin</i>; the
+second, <i>Repentance</i>; the third, <i>Return</i>;
+the fourth, <i>Reception</i>. He was
+ruined. By grace he repented, returned
+to his father, and was joyfully received
+by him.</p>
+
+<p>"First, then, <i>Ruin</i>. Now, there are
+steps leading to ruin. You find the
+prodigal was happy at home at first.
+Like Adam, in the garden of Eden, God
+gave him a great many good gifts, as
+He has given you. He has given us
+life, hearing, eyesight, and intellect.
+The prodigal had a large portion of
+good gifts, but what did he do? He
+wandered away from his father, and went
+into a far country. Do you like to be
+away from home? Remember this&mdash;if
+you do, it is the first step to your ruin,
+as it was with the prodigal. He took
+his journey into a far country, where he
+was far away from his father; and so we,
+in our natural state, are far away from
+God. Do you ever think what a dreadful
+thing it is to be far away from God?
+The prodigal wanted to be far from Him.
+But when there, at a distance from his
+father, he had no God to go to in his
+troubles. He doubtless did not like the
+text, 'Thou God seest me.' If you are
+like this, remember that every sin you
+commit is written in His remembrance
+book. But the prodigal made up his
+mind not to trouble about that. Have
+you thus done so? If so, you will have
+to trouble about it some day. There is
+a day coming when we shall all have to
+stand before God, and it is a dreadful
+subject for those to think of who, like
+the prodigal, are now at a distance from
+God. Therefore, we see that <i>Distance</i>
+is the first step.</p>
+
+<p>"The next one is <i>Dissipation</i>. He
+wasted his substance&mdash;put his gifts to a
+wrong use. Have we wasted the good
+things which God has given us? If so,
+it is the road to ruin.</p>
+
+<p>"After he had thus wasted his substance
+by riotous living and falling into
+bad company, there came another step,
+namely, <i>Destitution</i>, which we all have
+come to spiritually, and ere long we who
+have life, health, bright eyes, rosy
+cheeks, and busy hands, shall be going
+to the grave. By-and-bye we shall have
+spent it all, and we shall be nothing but
+a heap of dust and ashes.</p>
+
+<p>"But you find that, when he had spent
+all, there arose a mighty famine, and he
+began to be in want. He then fell into
+disgrace, and went to a citizen of that
+country to see if he could help him. He
+went into the fields to feed swine, and he
+had not a friend to speak to&mdash;none to
+help him. The hand of God had gone
+out against him, and all his friends forsook
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"That is just the state of the ungodly.
+But when he was in the very
+heat of this ruin, something happened to
+him. He was brought to <i>Repentance</i>.
+What was his first step to repentance?
+He was brought to himself&mdash;that is, a
+right understanding was given to him.
+What had the prodigal a right understanding
+about? About himself. Sin
+had made a madman of him, but now he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>
+began to consider the extent of his
+misery. How many of you have considered
+what you are in the sight of God?
+You may be dead before next Sunday.
+Where would you be? In heaven or in
+hell? The prodigal began to consider
+what his sin had done for him. He said,
+'How many hired servants of my father
+have bread enough and to spare, and I
+perish with hunger!' He knew he was
+perishing; and we are, if Christ has not
+saved us.</p>
+
+<p>"The first step was, a right understanding.
+Now comes the second step,
+knowledge of the extent of his misery,
+thirdly, a felt sense that he was perishing;
+then, fourthly, a wise resolution&mdash;'I
+will arise, and go to my father.'
+He had been trying to make himself
+more respectable, but found he could not,
+but that he must go to his father just as
+he was. Thus he was brought to himself.
+Grace did this, and if grace works
+in us there will be a willingness to go
+to God. Either you want to be near to
+God, or, like the prodigal, you want to
+shun the very thoughts of God. We are
+either on the road to ruin or salvation.
+What did the prodigal say to his father?
+'Father, I have sinned.' He knew he
+was a sinner, and that he had sinned,
+and he confessed his unworthiness. He
+said, 'I am no more worthy to be called
+thy son; make me as one of thy hired
+servants.' He was brought to repentance,
+and he made up his mind to return
+to his father. But his father was a long
+way off&mdash;too far for him to see him. But
+his father saw him while he was yet a
+great way off, and had compassion on
+him. He did not say, 'I see that
+naughty boy that wandered from me,
+and got into so much trouble and sin,
+and now I will punish him.' But he
+had compassion on him, and did not say
+a word about his wicked ways. 'He
+ran.' Now, look, here was the prodigal
+creeping to his father, but the father
+'ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed
+him.' No doubt he had a dirty face,
+but the father did not wait till his face
+was clean. Just as we are as sinners,
+so the prodigal here was in all his rags.
+He said to his father, 'But, father, I
+am a vile sinner. I have sinned against
+heaven and in thy sight.' Thus he told
+his father just what he was.</p>
+
+<p>"Now then comes the fourth part&mdash;<i>his
+reception by his father</i>. When his
+father met him he took no notice of his
+sins, did not answer him a word, but he
+said to his servants, 'Bring forth the
+best robe.' That was the robe of
+righteousness. Here were manifested
+the riches of divine grace. The prodigal
+had nothing but sin and grief, but now
+his father gave him a better robe than
+he ever had before. His first robe was
+not the best. It was one of creature-righteousness,
+but now he had lost it;
+and when he was brought back by grace
+he had a better robe given him. A robe
+of righteousness is better than one of
+creature-righteousness. The best robe
+was brought forth, and a ring was put
+on his finger. A ring is something
+which has no beginning nor end, and
+the ring is a most blessed emblem of
+eternity. It has neither beginning nor
+end. And a ring denotes love&mdash;love
+of the giver to the receiver. This ring
+denotes a Father's eternal love. His
+father loved him, all the time the prodigal
+was sinning against him, with an eternal
+love. And they put shoes on his feet&mdash;shoes
+of the preparation of the Gospel.
+They were shoes that would wear well.
+The saints have a rough road to travel,
+and therefore they need shoes of iron
+and brass. Then the fatted calf was
+brought and killed, and they had a great
+feast and were merry, and we do not
+read that they ever left off. There is no
+end to the rejoicings over repenting, returning
+sinners. Oh, that we all may
+know what it is to be redeemed by grace!
+This parable teaches us man's ruin,
+Christ's redemption, and a Father's
+eternal love."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+M. G.</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span></p>
+<h2>JOHNNIE'S CHRISTMAS.</h2>
+
+<p>[This, and three other pieces of poetry,
+including the one given last month, were
+written for a boy who recently died.
+After long and severe suffering he was
+seized with a fit. He held up both arms,
+and, as the struggles ceased, he looked
+up and said, "Come! Come!" His
+mother asked him if he thought he
+should go to heaven. He replied, "I'm
+sure of it. Jesus told me He would take
+me, and He wouldn't have said it if He
+didn't mean it."&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p>
+
+
+<p>
+Hang out the toys for the little ones;<br />
+Pile up the raisins, and take out the stones;<br />
+But nut, and pudding, and Christmas tree,<br />
+Says little Johnnie, are not for me.<br />
+<br />
+If the children frolic I have to start,<br />
+With a bitter pain at my silent heart;<br />
+And my throbbing head is afraid to move<br />
+At sound of the voices which most I love.<br />
+<br />
+It is nice to feel, though sitting here,<br />
+That mother is with me, and baby dear,<br />
+For some of my little friends have lain<br />
+On a hospital bed, in lonely pain.<br />
+<br />
+Oh, God, my Friend, Thou art surely kind,<br />
+And we, poor sinners, are weak and blind;<br />
+Little we think, and little know,<br />
+Of the love that suffered for human woe.<br />
+<br />
+We hail Thy birth with a gladsome song,<br />
+But Thou hadst sorrow life's journey long;<br />
+And Thou hadst power Thyself to free,<br />
+Yet chose to suffer for things like me.<br />
+<br />
+Oh, come to my heart this Christmas Day!<br />
+I am weak and weary, and far away;<br />
+Since help and mercy are Thy delight,<br />
+Oh, come to my father's house to-night!<br />
+<br />
+Bring rest for my mother, and joy for me;<br />
+My head will not throb as I listen to Thee;<br />
+And my heart, though too weak for a footfall below,<br />
+Will bound, without aching, Thy coming to know.<br />
+<br />
+Thou callest the children, and I am a child;<br />
+Thou callest the guilty, and I am defiled;<br />
+They gather about Thee in joyful array;<br />
+Oh, put me among them, Lord Jesus, to-day!<br />
+<br />
+Put one of my hands in that right hand of Thine,<br />
+And hold out Thy wounds to Thy Father divine;<br />
+He would not, He could not, say nay unto Thee,<br />
+And I should for ever Thy diadem be.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">M. A. CHAPLIN.</span><br /><br />
+<i>Galleywood, Chelmsford.</i>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<i>Page 255.</i>)</p>
+
+
+<p>"<i>Peace be unto you.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> xx. 19.</p>
+
+<p>
+P ekah        2 Kings xv. 25.<br />
+E glon        Judges iii. 14.<br />
+A masa        2 Samuel xvii. 25.<br />
+C ush         1 Chronicles i. 8.<br />
+E uphrates    Deuteronomy i. 7.<br />
+<br />
+B enjamin     Genesis xxxv. 24.<br />
+E lah         1 Kings xvi. 8.<br />
+<br />
+U rijah       2 Kings xvi. 10.<br />
+N ahor        Genesis xi. 26.<br />
+T opaz        Exodus xxxix. 10.<br />
+O g           Psalm cxxxvi. 20.<br />
+<br />
+Y oke         Jeremiah xxvii. 8.<br />
+O badiah      1 Kings xviii. 3.<br />
+U nicorn      Numbers xxiii. 22.<br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Ann Pickworth</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">(Aged 11 years).</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><i>Sydney House, Sleaford.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span></p>
+<h2>BUNYAN'S DEATH.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was on the 31st of August,
+1688, that John Bunyan left the
+Valley of the Shadow of Death,
+Doubting Castle, Vanity Fair,
+and all those other stages of the progress
+of a soul in its efforts to find rest and
+peace, to cross the dark river that, in
+his immortal dream, flowed under the
+walls of the Celestial City. This is how
+Mr. Froude describes the closing scene
+of his great life:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"His end was characteristic. It was
+brought on by exposure when he was
+engaged in an act of charity. A quarrel
+had broken out in a family at Reading
+with which Bunyan had some acquaintance.
+A father had taken offence at his
+son, and threatened to disinherit him.
+Bunyan undertook a journey on horseback
+from Bedford to Reading, in the
+hope of reconciling them. He succeeded,
+but at the cost of his life. Returning by
+London, he was overtaken on the road
+by a storm of rain, and was wetted
+through before he could find shelter.
+The chill, falling on a constitution already
+weakened by illness, brought on
+fever. He was able to reach the house
+of Mr. Strudwick, one of his London
+friends, but he never left his bed afterwards.
+In ten days he was dead."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Froude thinks that the exact date
+is uncertain; but Southey and other
+biographers generally fix it upon the
+31st of August. He was buried in a
+vault belonging to the Strudwick family,
+in the famous old Nonconformist burial
+ground of Bunhill Fields, where his
+monument&mdash;restored of late years by
+admiring and appreciative friends&mdash;may
+be seen any day by the passer-by,
+on which runs this inscription&mdash;"Mr.
+John Bunyan, Author of 'The Pilgrim's
+Progress,' ob. 31st August, 1688, æt.
+60."</p>
+
+<p>John Bunyan wrote sixty books, and
+lived sixty years. His chief work, "The
+Pilgrim's Progress," has been translated
+into seventy-two distinct languages and
+dialects, and thus has had a wider circulation
+and been more read than any
+book next to the Scriptures. More than
+fifty years ago Macaulay spoke of it as
+"the only book of its kind that possesses
+a strong human interest&mdash;that, while
+other allegories only amuse the fancy,
+this has been read by thousands with
+tears." What was true then is no less
+true now.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF
+THE SEA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A Queenstown correspondent
+telegraphs that the National
+Line steamer <i>Spain</i>, from New
+York, which arrived at Queenstown
+recently, brings intelligence that
+an aged gentleman, named Murtagh,
+residing in Brooklyn, received a letter
+on October 11th, from one of the uninhabited
+islands of the South Sea group,
+Ojee, written by a friend of his, named
+Captain Green, who was supposed to
+have been lost at sea in 1858, in a vessel
+commanded by him, called the <i>Confederation</i>.
+She sailed from New York,
+in February of that year, for Australia,
+and not having been heard of afterwards,
+it was presumed that she had foundered
+with all on board, numbering sixteen, including
+two women. The letter, written
+on a soiled leaf of a ship's log, was dated
+July, 1887, and had been put aboard a
+whaling barque which passed near the
+island about that time. The writer observes
+that no doubt all hands aboard
+the <i>Confederation</i> had been given up
+as lost. He then relates how the vessel
+foundered in a gale after being nine
+weeks at sea, and how her crew, including
+himself and two women, having
+taken to the boats, after forty days,
+landed on the coral reefs of the Island
+of Ojee, there being no signs of habitation,
+but an abundance of game, fish,
+fruits, and water. No vessel came near
+the place until one evening in December,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>
+1862, when eight of the crew put off in a
+boat to intercept her. The weather being
+very stormy, they never returned to the
+island, and Captain Green thinks they
+were lost. He further states that the
+women became the wives of two of the
+remaining castaways, and that although
+there had been several deaths on the
+island, the population at the time he
+wrote consisted of twelve persons, who
+felt quite contented. They were, however,
+badly in need of clothing. During
+thirty years, they had communicated
+from the island with only three vessels,
+and this letter had been four years written
+and ready to be sent by some ship. Captain
+Green adds that he is sixty-eight
+years of age, and in good health.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PLEADING.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Ruth</span> i. 16.)</p>
+
+
+<p>
+"Intreat me not to leave Thee," Lord;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">What is this world to me?</span><br />
+No happiness can it afford,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">O God, apart from Thee.</span><br />
+<br />
+Thou art the joy of my delights;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Life of life to me;</span><br />
+The comfort of my darkest nights;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Yea, All in all to me.</span><br />
+<br />
+Dark were this world without Thee, Lord,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But, lighted with Thy love,</span><br />
+Thy watchfulness, Thy tender care,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">More fully here I prove.</span><br />
+<br />
+More subject for my song above<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I gather day by day;</span><br />
+Deeper experience of that love<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Which guides my pilgrim way.</span><br />
+<br />
+Oh, give me grace to serve Thee, Lord,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Each swiftly-passing day,</span><br />
+That I the approving word, "Well done,"<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">At last may hear Thee say.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">A Sower.</span>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE ANTI-ROMISH BOOK.</h2>
+
+
+<p>During the reign of that Popish
+King, James II., the law in Scotland
+was, that no clergyman
+might preach, and that no bookseller
+might sell, any book that reflected on
+the Romish Church.</p>
+
+<p>One of the Royal messengers entered
+a bookseller's shop in Edinburgh.</p>
+
+<p>"Had he any books in stock written
+against the Roman Catholic Church?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he had a Book that reflected
+very severely indeed against that Church.
+Might he sell it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Let me see it," said the messenger.</p>
+
+<p>The old bookseller went to his shelves
+and took down a volume&mdash;a Book which
+does certainly speak very emphatically
+against Romanism&mdash;the Bible!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIBLE ENIGMA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+My 1, 11, 7, 6, 9, 5, a governor of the Jews.<br />
+My 2, 10, 5, 14, 6, the father of Joanna.<br />
+My 3, 13, a king of Bashan.<br />
+My 4, 6, 14, 10, 9, 11, a disobedient queen.<br />
+My 5, 8, 11, a priest.<br />
+My 6, 4, 11, 9, 10, the city of Hadad.<br />
+My 7, 3, 9, 6, 12, the brother of Timna.<br />
+My 8, 5, 4, 11, one of the twelve tribes.<br />
+My 9, 3, 7, 6, a son of Issachar.<br />
+My 10, 5, 12, the son of Zephaniah.<br />
+My 11, 14, 2, 6, 5, 8, the surname of Jacob.<br />
+My 12, 3, 1, 10, a city threatened with a plague.<br />
+My 13, 11, 10, 3, 12, a river of Eden.<br />
+My 14, 11, 4, 6, 12, a Jewish month.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>My whole is a precept given by an
+Apostle to a Christian Church.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;" class="smcap">Thomas Tyler</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">(Aged 13 years).</span>
+</p>
+
+<p><i>Potton, Beds.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span></p>
+<h2>HOP PICKING.&mdash;THE LAST POLE.</h2>
+
+<h3>(<i>Frontispiece to Volume.</i>)</h3>
+
+
+<p>The <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span> no doubt
+is read and welcomed as well
+by the aged and middle-aged as
+the young, for whom it is especially intended.
+In the southern counties, the
+readers of the <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span>, of all
+ages, are more or less familiar with "the
+last pole." In the counties more north,
+where we hope the <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span>
+is read with equal interest, many dear
+children have never seen that lovely
+and charming sight of Nature in cultivation,
+the hop garden. To us who, by
+the hand of Providence, are located in
+these hop-growing districts, the hop
+gardens in the months of August and
+September are always interesting, and
+share largely in our love and admiration
+for the products of Nature and industry
+combined.</p>
+
+<p>For the information of those not so
+familiar as ourselves with the hop plant
+under cultivation, we would say that
+many hundreds of poor people find employment
+for a few weeks in the autumn
+at hop picking, by which they are able
+to earn a little money, which is useful in
+helping them to pay their rent and provide
+the necessaries of life. This time is
+looked forward to, year by year, with
+deep interest by such.</p>
+
+<p>Among the customs and ceremonies
+of the hop gardens, at the time of picking,
+or gathering, there is generally a
+little ceremony in pulling and picking
+the last pole. In September, 1886, the
+writer of these lines was one of the
+pickers in a very lovely hop garden in
+Kent, and witnessed the pulling down of
+many thousands of these heavily-laden
+hop poles, in all their fresh and lively
+beauty. But lo and behold! it came
+not only to the last day, and the last hill
+(or stool of three poles), but to the last
+pole, which was selected beforehand, and
+remained standing until all the others
+were picked. Then comes the master
+himself, and takes down this last pole,
+amid the waving of hats, and shouts
+of "Hurrah! Hurrah!" But was this
+all? No, no! There were sad hearts
+that sighed as they remembered the
+days of adversity endured by them, and
+as they wondered what was to be their
+next employment, and how their table
+was to be supplied during the coming
+winter, should it not be their turn to be
+gathered in like the poles that had
+passed under their hands. But one
+poor, trembling heart among the rest
+could not help thinking of that last
+great day, when the last stone of that
+great temple not made with hands
+should be carried up with shouts of
+"Grace, grace unto it!" and the following
+lines came softly into the mind&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"The moon and stars shall lose their light;<br />
+The sun shall sink in endless night;<br />
+Both heaven and earth shall pass away;<br />
+The works of Nature all decay.<br />
+<br />
+"But they who in the Lord confide,<br />
+And shelter in His wounded side,<br />
+Shall see the danger overpast,<br />
+Stand every storm, and live at last."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>What! those poor bruised reeds who
+fear that they shall never hold up their
+heads again&mdash;shall they outlive the
+moon? Shall they outshine the sun?</p>
+
+<p>However, let us return to our subject&mdash;the
+last pole&mdash;and reflect.</p>
+
+<p>
+"We, like the crowded poles, all stand,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And all are sure to fall;</span><br />
+The dog and hook<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> are in God's hand,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And soon will reach us all."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Yes, my dear young readers, whatever
+may be those delightsome games<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>
+of which you are so fond, the last game
+will soon come. Yea, how soon will be
+the end of all our earthly pleasures none
+of us can tell. If we look forward to any
+day or time of some kind of pleasure,
+it may seem to approach us very slowly,
+but how soon do we look behind us, and
+say, "Alas! that too has gone, never,
+never more to return."</p>
+
+<p>In like manner also we miss a dear
+brother or dear sister, a friend, schoolmate,
+or teacher; perhaps a dear, loving
+mother or father. "Ah!" we say, "they
+will never return again." Sometimes we
+reflect with sorrow upon some unkind
+words or actions towards them&mdash;some
+pain and grief that we caused them.
+Perhaps we were too proud or too stubborn
+to ask their forgiveness while they
+were with us, so we let the sun go down
+upon our wrath, and now we can never
+forgive ourselves. Though they are
+gone, we see them still&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"We see their smiles, we see their tears;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The grave can never hide them;</span><br />
+A few more days, or months, or years,<br />
+A few more sighs, a few more tears,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And we shall lie beside them."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that it is quite uncertain which
+of us will be the next to have our earthly
+ties cut, and all our bloom and beauty
+stripped off, may I ask my dear young
+friends what are their thoughts on the
+subject? Whether it is passed over
+with indifference, presuming you shall
+be as well off in the end as other people,
+or are there moments when thoughts
+arise like these&mdash;"Oh, if death should
+overtake me as I am&mdash;so careless, so
+unconcerned, so thoughtless, and yet
+unpardoned! Oh, if my name should
+be left out&mdash;and how can I expect anything
+else&mdash;so prayerless as I am, for
+the most part, and my performance so
+unlike prayer when I do make the
+attempt? Oh, if I could but know that
+the dear Lord had a favour towards me!
+Why, if all the world were mine, I
+would lay it all down this minute to be
+sure that Jesus died for me"? And is
+there sometimes a little thought stealing
+from thine heart, and a tear like a
+drop of the morning dew trickling from
+thine eye, which says, "Oh, if ever I
+should be able to say, 'Bless the Lord,
+O my soul,' how I should leap for joy to
+be thus quite sure of being the Lord's"?
+Then, if this is your feeling after Christ
+Jesus, I will tell you how it will be with
+you some day. The Lord, who has said,
+"Seek, and ye shall find," will give you
+the desire of your heart, even pardon
+and peace through faith in His blood,
+and at last&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+"When shivering in the arms of death,<br />
+When friends shall watch thy parting breath,<br />
+Though then thy lips can no more speak,<br />
+Though deathly paleness clads thy cheek,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Glory shall fill thy soul."</span>
+</p>
+<div class="signature">
+T. G.<br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>OUR BIBLE CLASS.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Gleanings from the Book of
+Ruth.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The Book of Ruth is supposed to
+have been written in the reign of
+her great-grandson, perhaps by
+his own pen. It is a beautifully interesting
+story. As a fragment of history, it
+is connected with the birth of David
+and of David's Lord. As a record of
+God's providence, it shows how "all
+things work together for good to them
+that love God, to them who are the
+called according to His purpose."</p>
+
+<p>The two chief personages in this Book,
+the hero and heroine of the narrative,
+are Boaz, the near kinsman of Naomi,
+"the mighty man of wealth" in Bethlehem,
+and Ruth, the Moabitess, the
+stranger and foreigner, who left her own
+people and her father's false gods, and
+came to put her trust beneath the
+shadow of Jehovah's wings.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>We will look at the hero first, because,
+though the Book is called by Ruth's
+name, all her honour was derived from
+her connection with Israel, the chosen
+nation, to which Boaz naturally belonged,
+and because, as we think of his
+riches, his faithfulness, and his kindness,
+we cannot help exclaiming, "Surely
+a Greater than Boaz is here!" He
+was the near kinsman of Naomi's husband,
+and the same Hebrew word is
+called "redeemer" (Job xix. 25). And
+how often we speak of Jesus as "the
+Redeemer," who "gave Himself a Ransom
+for many." The ancient "goel,"
+or "near kinsman," had many important
+rights and responsibilities. Abraham
+was nearly related to Lot, and
+when the latter was taken prisoner, his
+uncle took all his servants with him and
+went to the rescue, because he was his
+near kinsman, and he redeemed him by
+conquest, through the help of God, in
+whom he trusted (Gen. xiv.).</p>
+
+<p>If a man of Israel died, leaving no
+children to take his property, his "near
+kinsman," if unmarried, was expected
+to marry the widow, and the children
+that they might have afterwards were to
+be called by the name and take the lands
+of the first husband.</p>
+
+<p>If a Hebrew became poor, and sold
+his land&mdash;or, still worse, sold himself for
+a slave&mdash;his kinsman was expected to
+redeem him and his possessions if he
+could (Lev. xxv. 25, 47-49).</p>
+
+<p>Thus Boaz, as Naomi's kinsman, redeemed
+her inheritance, and married the
+childless widow of her son Chilion, the
+woman who was no longer to be called
+a stranger and a foreigner, but a fellow-subject
+of Israel's God and King.</p>
+
+<p>So Jesus&mdash;who redeemed His Church,
+His bride, His people, and secured to
+them the rich inheritance they had lost
+by sin&mdash;was, and is, the Near Kinsman
+of His beloved ones. They were, and
+always will be, "a people near unto
+Him" (Psa. cxlviii. 14). His own kindred
+He called them when He came
+to redeem them (Matt. xii. 50). His
+Father loved them, and He loved them
+also, and the kindness of God the
+Saviour was shown when He came down
+from heaven for their sakes. "Kindness!"
+Sweet word! It means the act
+of a kinsman, and God's kindness is
+"loving-kindness," the sweetest description
+we can possibly have of the tender
+pity and grace of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>But the kindness shown by Boaz was
+only a dim shadow of the love of the
+"Great Redeemer from above." He did
+not make much sacrifice apparently
+when he purchased Naomi's inheritance
+and made Ruth his wife, but "ye know
+the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who,
+though He was rich, yet for your sakes
+He became poor, that ye through His
+poverty might be rich."</p>
+
+<p>And more, far more, than this&mdash;He
+suffered scorn, and shame, and death
+itself&mdash;the bitterest of deaths. He gave
+Himself&mdash;He laid down the life that was
+so dear to Himself, so precious to His
+Father&mdash;that He might redeem, buy them
+back to God by His blood. He endured
+their punishment, He paid their debts,
+and then, since Satan had made them
+his slaves, like Abraham, Jesus fought
+for His kindred, only He fought alone.
+He conquered the strong one, and set
+the captives free, and Satan still must
+yield up his prey at Christ's command.
+The Redeemer ever proves Himself
+"mighty to save" those for whom He
+died.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ruth furnishes us with a striking
+picture of one who is seeking Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>She was not a native of the promised
+land&mdash;not born of Israelitish parents.
+She reminds us of what Paul says&mdash;we
+all are, as sinners, "children of disobedience,"
+"children of wrath," "far from
+God by wicked works." But a change
+came over her mind and spirit. "The
+Lord opened her heart to attend unto
+the things spoken" by Naomi. A new,
+a heavenly light dawned upon her, and
+she saw the evil of idolatry and sin&mdash;the
+beauty of holiness and God&mdash;so that, like
+Moses, she "chose rather to suffer affliction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>
+with His people than to enjoy the
+pleasures of sin for a season." She would
+sooner "lodge" with Naomi in poverty,
+than dwell in comfort among her former
+companions; and before she thought of
+being enriched and made happy by Boaz,
+she had "chosen that good part" which
+shall never be taken away from those
+who seek and find it.</p>
+
+<p>The diligent shall be made prosperous,
+and Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz
+before she knew anything of the relationship
+he bore to her late husband's
+family. She was not ashamed to labour
+as a poor and needy woman, and she
+gained a good supply of corn from her
+work by the special favour of Boaz.</p>
+
+<p>There is a remarkable little word
+connected with her choice of that field.
+It was her "hap" to light upon it&mdash;a
+word not very often found in the Bible,
+which always traces everything, great
+or small, to the will and permission of
+God. Yet this syllable of three letters
+came "of purpose" into the record, and
+teaches us that all the "accidents" of
+our lives, pleasant as well as painful,
+are directed and overruled by the Lord.
+Things "come to pass," and we are
+filled with wonder, but it is because
+"He doeth all things well."</p>
+
+<p>About thirty years ago, one Sabbath
+morning, a group of youths were starting
+from Clerkenwell, intending to spend the
+day gathering blackberries in Highgate
+Woods. It so happened that a dispute
+arose just outside the chapel where my
+late dear Pastor preached, and one lad
+refused to go any further with his companions.
+To while away the time he
+peeped into the chapel just as the hymn,
+"When Thou, my righteous Judge, shalt
+come," was being given out, and he
+ventured to slip into a seat in the
+gallery. He was so much impressed by
+what he heard that he came again, was
+savingly converted to God, was baptized,
+and remained for many years an honourable
+member of the Church. His "hap
+was to light upon" a field of Gospel
+corn, and he received a rich blessing,
+but his steps, like Ruth's, were directed
+by the Lord.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p>
+
+<p>And we learn the benefit of wise,
+Christian counsel. Ruth needed Naomi
+very much, poor and lonely though she
+was. From her she learned the good
+news of the rich man's kinship; from her
+she received instructions how to act so
+as to ensure his protection and care.
+Her conduct, strange as it would be to-day,
+was in those early times quite in
+harmony with the behaviour of a virtuous,
+modest woman, but it has its chief charm
+when we see in it a picture of one who is
+seeking Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>Some dear Christian friend, like
+Naomi, encourages and instructs the
+youthful seeker by telling of the love
+and grace of the Saviour, and saying, as
+a beloved minister once said to a young
+person, "I cannot give you the blessing;
+<i>He</i> can." Naomi wanted the help of
+Boaz as well as Ruth, and all God's
+people, old or young, strong or weak,
+need and crave the loving care of Jesus,
+but it is a privilege and joy to commend
+one another to Him, and tell of His
+goodness and grace "who is rich unto
+all that call upon Him."</p>
+
+<p>In seeking Ruth's happiness Naomi
+found her own great joy (see chap. iv.
+14). In dutiful consideration for Naomi,
+Ruth obtained a hundred-fold more than
+she could ever have hoped to find, as
+an honoured wife and mother favoured
+with both earthly and heavenly prosperity.
+Those who honour God He will
+honour. Those who water others shall
+be watered themselves. May we receive
+from the Lord that spirit of love which
+seeks the welfare of others, and the
+glory of God, as well as our own happiness.</p>
+
+<p>Our next subject will be, Isaiah xxxv.
+8&mdash;<i>The King's Highway, and its
+Travellers.</i></p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Your affectionate friend,<br />
+H. S. L.
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE EDITOR'S CLOSING ADDRESS TO HIS YOUNG FRIENDS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Dear young friends,&mdash;We
+are nearing the close of another
+year, and we may be nearer the
+close of our mortal career than we think.
+What a mercy if we belong to Christ! If
+so, we are blessed indeed, for those who
+are His are forgiven their iniquity, are
+justified from all unrighteousness, are reconciled
+to God, and made "accepted in
+the Beloved." Oh, that you, dear reader,
+may enjoy that blessed portion! Then,
+come poverty or wealth, sickness or
+health, life or death, all will be well with
+you. All such are the children of God,
+and none besides. To those who love
+Him, He will say, "Come, ye blessed of
+My Father"; but to those who are
+"without Christ" He will say, "Depart,
+ye cursed!" Which will be your
+lot? God grant that you may be taught
+to flee as sinners to Him who "died for
+the ungodly," and who has said, "Him
+that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast
+out." We trust you will never find rest
+and peace only in coming to Christ. If
+our feeble labours in sending forth the
+<span class="smcap">Gleaner</span> are but blessed to this end,
+we shall be amply rewarded, and we
+wish the Lord to have all the glory.</p>
+
+<p>Dear young friends, we do not ask you
+to join the "Salvation Army," so called,
+but we hope you may be an army yourselves,
+seeking to spread abroad good
+reading among both young and old;
+and we believe that the <span class="smcap">Gleaner</span> and
+<span class="smcap">Sower</span> will be found most acceptable
+and adapted for such a purpose, therefore
+we ask you to join the "Try Army,"
+and shall be glad to receive the names
+of any who are willing to enlist, to whom
+we will send sixteen Magazines, post
+free, monthly, for one shilling and twopence.
+The postage rate, however, will
+not allow us to send a less number at a
+reduction, but a larger number can be
+sent in proportion, for schools. The
+Almanacks are nicely got up, and will be
+found useful to put on walls in bed-rooms,
+&amp;c. We hope that you will get orders
+for as many as possible. We will send
+fifteen for one shilling, post free; no less
+number can be sent at a reduction. This
+we do to encourage our readers to obtain
+subscribers, and to spread abroad the
+Magazines. The Yearly Volumes are
+very nice books for presents. <span class="smcap">Gleaner</span>,
+picture boards, very attractive, three
+volumes, four shillings; <span class="smcap">Gleaner</span>, cloth,
+also <span class="smcap">Sower</span>, cloth, three volumes, five
+shillings, post free.</p>
+
+<p>Now, dear young friends, we hope you
+will become a "Try Army," and that
+we shall see pleasing results arise from
+your efforts. We hope, too, if spared,
+shortly to greet you again with "A Happy
+New Year," and may the Lord bless you
+each and all with the best of all blessings,
+that we and you may rejoice together
+in His mercy, and live to show
+forth His praise.</p>
+
+<p>Trusting you will not forget us, and
+that we may still be helped to pray and
+labour for your good, we remain,</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+Your affectionate friend,<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Editor.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>P.S.&mdash;Scatter abroad our <i>Friendly
+Words</i>, 1s. 6d. per hundred, post free.
+All are pleased to receive them.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center">AN EXPLANATION.</p>
+
+<p>In inserting the article, "The Fish that
+Swallowed Jonah," in last month's
+<span class="smcap">Gleaner</span>, we had no idea of controverting
+the testimony of Scripture, but
+merely to show that the quibbles raised
+by sceptics, as to the truth of a whale
+being able to do so, are at least very
+silly. God could very easily prepare a
+whale for such a purpose. But, as
+sharks are included in the term used in
+the original by Christ, the word "fish,"
+as in Jonah, would be quite as correct.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">The Editor.</span></div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PRIZE ESSAY.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Disobedience of our First
+Parents, and its Results.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In the Bible it is said that Adam
+was formed before Eve, and that
+they were both placed in Eden,
+where there was one tree of
+which God said they might not eat. It
+is also said that Adam was not deceived,
+but the woman, being deceived, was first
+in the transgression (1 Tim. ii. 13, 14).</p>
+
+<p>Probably the woman was by herself
+when the tempter came to her in the
+likeness of a serpent, and told her that
+she would not die if she partook of the
+fruit which God had commanded her not
+to eat; but if they took of it they would
+be as gods, knowing good and evil.
+With this saying the tempter succeeded
+in getting the woman to take the fruit
+of the tree of which God told her not to
+eat, for she looked upon it as "a tree
+good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and
+a tree to be desired to make one wise"
+(Gen. iii. 6), and she wanted to be as
+God. All this was instilled into the
+heart of the woman by the tempter, and
+God being left out of her thoughts, she
+now takes of the fruit of the tree, eats of
+it, and gives to her husband, and he also
+eats of it.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the fact of disobedience,
+which was most heinous in the sight of
+God. Thus they both fell from that happy
+state by this one act of disobedience,
+and were no longer allowed to remain in
+paradise. Their life was forfeited. Man
+became dead in sin, and was placed at
+a great distance from God, no more in
+paradise, but under the power of the
+prince and ruler of this world. The
+result of this act of disobedience has
+filled the earth with pride, self-will, and
+violence; for all the vice and misery
+that have ever been known in this world,
+have been the result of disobedience. All
+that descend from Adam are born in his
+fallen image, are sinners against God,
+and judgment has come upon all men
+to condemnation. But "where sin
+abounded, grace has much more
+abounded," since Christ, the Seed of
+the woman, has come, as God said, and
+has bruised the serpent's head, that as
+"sin has reigned unto death, even so
+might grace reign, through righteousness,
+unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ
+our Lord" (Rom. v. 20, 21), who hath
+abolished death, and "brought life and
+immortality to light by the Gospel" (2
+Tim. i. 10); and by His act of obedience
+unto death, even the death of the cross,
+believers are made righteous in Him&mdash;"For
+if by one man's offence death
+reigned by one, much more they which
+receive abundance of grace and of the
+gift of righteousness shall reign in life
+by One, Jesus Christ" (Rom. v. 17).</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">James Herbert Collins</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6em;">(Aged 11 years).</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><i>Commissariat Office, Cork.</i></p>
+
+<p>[Very good Essays have also been
+received from Ada Cannings, Leonard
+Lucock, Bessie Hills, E. B. Knocker,
+W. E. Cray, W. A. Tooke, and R. A.
+Stevens.]</p>
+
+<p>[The writer of the above Essay
+receives a copy of "The Loss of All
+Things for Christ."</p>
+
+<p>The subject for February will be, "Why
+was Saul Rejected of God?" and the
+prize to be given for the best Essay on
+that subject, a copy of "The Life of John
+Newton." All competitors must give a
+guarantee that they are under fifteen
+years of age, and that the Essay is their
+own composition, or the papers will be
+passed over, as the Editor cannot undertake
+to write for this necessary information.
+Papers must be sent direct to the
+Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
+Hastings, by the first of January.]</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">IF</span> aught good thou canst not say<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of thy brother, foe, or friend,</span><br />
+Take thou, then, the silent way,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lest in word thou shouldst offend.</span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Interesting Items.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">M. de Lesseps</span> declares that the Panama Canal
+will be opened in July, 1890.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Since</span> the beginning of her reign, Queen Victoria
+has been paid approximately £30,000,000
+by her subjects.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> daily consumption of needles in America
+is said to be 4,200,000, most of which come from
+Redditch, England.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> are 3,100 Smiths enrolled in the city
+directory of Philadelphia. There are 250 John
+Smiths and 310 William Smiths.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Capture of a Sword Fish.</span>&mdash;A specimen of
+the sword fish was captured, a week or two
+ago, in Long Reach, Milton Creek, Sittingbourne,
+by a bargeman. The fish measured
+5 ft. 2 in. from end of tail to tip of sword.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Caroline Herschel</span>, the accomplished partner of her
+brother's astronomical labours, never could
+remember the multiplication table, and always
+had to carry a copy of it about with her.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> are now in the United Kingdom 1,350
+workmen's retail stores, with nearly one
+million members, and a capital of £9,000,000,
+besides some millions on deposit. The sales last
+year to members were over £25,000,000, with
+£3,000,000 profits.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Valuable Remedy for Erysipelas.</span>&mdash;One
+handful of sage, two handfuls of elder leaves,
+one ounce of alum. The whole of the foregoing
+to be boiled in a quart of iron water from
+the blacksmith's forge, until reduced to a pint.
+To be used as a wash.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Thomas Emmitt</span>, a man employed on the
+permanent way of the Lancashire and Yorkshire
+Railway, has received intimation that a
+gold medal will be presented to him for his
+bravery in jumping on to a runaway engine at
+Blackburn, and stopping it.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is said that, in 1887, no fewer than 22,131
+human beings died from snake-bite in India,
+and the number of cattle killed by snakes was
+2,514; 417,596 snakes were destroyed, and
+25,360 rupees were paid by the Government as
+rewards for their destruction.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> question of the Sunday opening of
+libraries is being excitedly agitated in Bolton.
+A week or two ago Lord Hobhouse addressed a
+meeting, presided over by the Vicar, in favour
+of opening, and quoted a letter in support from
+the Bishop of Manchester. The clergy of the
+diocese have organized an opposition, the Vicar
+standing alone in support of the opening, and
+recently, at a large gathering, a resolution
+against opening was carried with the wildest
+enthusiasm, an amendment by a leading
+Socialist being defeated.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> probabilities of there being large coal
+deposits under London are discussed at considerable
+length by a correspondent of the
+<i>Times</i>. The speculations of geologists on the
+subject have recently been much assisted by
+several deep borings, the principal of which
+have been those of Kentish Town.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A boat</span> drifted from its moorings off Camia;
+a fishing village nine miles from Boulogne, on
+Tuesday evening, October 16th. An old fisherman,
+named Charles Coffier, was the only person
+on board, and he had nothing to eat for four
+nights and three and a half days, when the
+boat was driven by a breeze into Hastings.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Queen reads, or rather, has read to her,
+the <i>Times</i> and the <i>Morning Post</i> every morning.
+Copies are sent direct to her, printed on
+specially thick paper. Her secretary goes
+through them, marks with a blue pencil all the
+important items, and these are then read to her
+by the two ladies who officiate as readers.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sunday School Anniversary, Milton
+Street, Hollinwood, Lancashire.</span>&mdash;This was
+held on October 14th, when two sermons were
+preached, morning and evening, by Mr. D.
+Smith, of Halifax, and an address was delivered
+by Mr. J. Holgate, of Burnley, special
+hymns being sung by the scholars. The congregations
+were good, and the services were
+much appreciated. The collections amounted
+to £13 14s. 11d.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+C. H. W.
+</div>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Roman Catholic Pilgrims in Westminster
+Abbey.</span>&mdash;On Saturday, October 13th, the
+"Feast of St. Edward, King and Confessor," was
+celebrated in all the Roman Catholic churches
+in London, and with more than ordinary pomp
+at that of SS. Peter and Edward (which is
+dedicated to his memory) in Palace Street,
+Westminster, where a Pontifical High Mass
+<i>coram episcopo</i> was sung by Dr. J. L. Patterson,
+"Bishop of Emmaus." At the conclusion of
+the Mass, the congregation, which included
+several persons who had come from Preston and
+other parts of Lancashire and different counties
+of England for the occasion, formed a procession
+and wended their way to the Abbey, where
+they offered up prayers at the shrine of St.
+Edward, King and Confessor. No opposition
+was offered to the pilgrims and devotees by
+the authorities of the Abbey. Where is our
+Protestantism gone to?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span><span class="smcap">Chinese</span> is spoken by 400,000,000, Hindostani
+by something more than 100,000,000, English by
+more than 100,000,000, Russian by more than
+70,000,000, German by more than 58,000,000,
+and French by about 40,000,000.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Will</span> Spain ever be tolerant? The Supreme
+Court of Madrid has confirmed the decision of
+a provincial tribunal condemning a Spanish
+Protestant to five days' imprisonment, with a
+fine of one pound and costs, for having persisted
+in remaining with his hat on when he met a
+Catholic procession.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An Army of Spiders.</span>&mdash;A dangerous spider
+that is found on the pampas of Central America,
+and belonging to the Lycoss species, is thus
+described in a letter:&mdash;"When a person passes
+near, say within three or four feet of its lurking
+place, it starts up and gives chase, and will often
+follow for a distance of thirty or forty yards.
+I came once very nearly getting bitten by one
+of these savage creatures. Riding at an easy
+trot over the dry grass, I suddenly observed a
+spider pursuing me, leaping swiftly along and
+keeping up with my beast. I aimed a blow
+with my whip, and the point of the lash struck
+the ground close to it, when it leaped upon and
+ran up the lash, and was within three or four
+inches of my hand, when I flung the whip from
+me. The gauchos have a very quaint ballad
+which tells that the city of Cordova was once
+invaded by an army of monstrous spiders, and
+that the townspeople went out with beating
+drums and flags flying to repel the invasion,
+and, after firing several volleys, they were
+forced to return and fly for their lives."</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Whale Hunt at Spithead.</span>&mdash;The little
+coast villages of Bembridge and Sea View, in
+the Isle of Wight, were thrown into quite a
+commotion on Friday, September 21st, by the
+appearance of a huge whale, between thirty and
+forty feet long, off the mouth of Brading Harbour.
+It was observed to be swimming about
+early in the morning, and the little steamer
+<i>Island Queen</i>, which runs between Southsea and
+Bembridge, had an unpleasant meeting with the
+creature. Much to the alarm of the passengers,
+the whale would "keep company," and for some
+time it was dangerously close to the little vessel.
+It furiously lashed the sea with its tail, and commenced
+to "blow," the result being that the
+captain, who was on the bridge, and many of
+the passengers were deluged with water. No
+harm, however, was done, and the steamer eventually
+got clear, the whale swimming out to sea.
+Later on it again put in an appearance, but by
+this time the islanders were ready for it, and a
+large number of fishing-boats, watermen, and
+others put out. The creature was surrounded, and
+was at length shot. It was then towed on to Sea
+View beach, where it has been visited by some
+hundreds of people. At high tide the whale was
+partially covered. Its dimensions are as follow&mdash;length
+of fish, 35 ft.; girth, 20 ft.; length of
+mouth from point to top of jaw, 7 ft.; length of
+fins, 4 ft. each; width of tail, 8 ft.; supposed
+weight, 10 tons. Estimated value of a sperm
+whale, £100. The whale has been purchased
+by Mr. G. Drover, of Cowes.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Chimneys.</span>&mdash;In the year 1200 chimneys were
+scarcely known in England. One only was
+allowed in a religious house, one in a manor
+house, and one in the great hall of a castle or
+lord's house; but in other houses the smoke
+found its way out as it could. The writers of
+the fourteenth century seem to have considered
+them as the newest invention of luxury. In
+Henry VIII.'s reign the University of Oxford
+had no fire allowed, for it is mentioned that
+after the students had supped, having no fire in
+the winter, they were obliged to take a good
+run for half an hour to get heat in their feet
+before they retired for the night. Holinshed,
+in the reign of Elizabeth, describes the rudeness
+of the preceding generation in the arts of life.
+"There were," says he, "very few chimneys;
+even in the capital towns the fire was laid to
+the wall, and the smoke issued out at the door,
+roof, or window. The houses were wattled
+and plastered over with clay, and all the furniture
+and utensils were of wood." In 1639 a
+tax of two shillings was laid on chimneys.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Behind the Scenes in the Post Office.</span>&mdash;"How
+can one get admitted to the General Post
+Office, and what departments are best worth
+seeing there?" asks "A Country Cleric."
+Admission to that remarkably interesting
+building, the General Post Office, can be had
+on application to the Secretary. A banker's
+reference is necessary. The sight is one well
+worth seeing, and should on no account be
+missed by country visitors to London. Visitors
+are admitted at six in the evening, and are
+shown over the telegraph department. Here
+may be seen the pneumatic tubes, through
+which messages are received from many parts
+of London. Into this office run wires from
+Belfast, Edinburgh, and all parts of the United
+Kingdom, and the whole system is explained by
+an expert. Crossing the road one then enters
+the Post Office itself. Here one sees the "blind
+men," as they are called, at work deciphering
+illegible addresses; and men and machines
+stamping postmarks at the rate of from one
+hundred to three hundred a minute. But in
+order to see the Post Office properly, two or
+three visits should be made. Not one person
+in a hundred has any notion of the peculiar
+experiences of a letter between the times of its
+postage and receipt.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 75%;" />
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center">Published on the first of every Month. Price One Penny.</p>
+
+<h4>
+THE LITTLE GLEANER.
+</h4>
+
+<p>An Illustrated Monthly Magazine of Religious and General Instruction for Children.</p>
+
+<p>The Editor seeks as much as possible to make this Magazine both interesting and useful
+to its readers, and hopes that all true friends of the young will try to secure for it a still wider
+circulation.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p class="center">
+Published on the first of every Month. Price One Penny.</p>
+<h4>THE SOWER</h4>
+
+<p>Is well adapted for general circulation, since it aims to spread abroad the pure truth of the
+Gospel of Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing how very industriously the abettors of error sow their tares, lovers of truth, with
+equal or greater industry, should sow that truth which is "able to make wise unto salvation,
+through faith which is in Christ Jesus."</p>
+
+<p>The Editor earnestly solicits all who desire the spread of Bible truth to help him in this
+work by increasing the circulation of <span class="smcap">The Little Gleaner</span> and <span class="smcap">The Sower</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Two, four, six, or more copies of the above Magazines post free of the <span class="smcap">Editor</span>,<br />
+117, High Street, Hastings.<br />
+<br />
+London: <span class="smcap">Houlston and Sons</span>, Paternoster Buildings.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h4>FRIENDLY WORDS.</h4>
+
+<p>This is a little work of four pages, <span class="smcap">Gleaner</span> size, which we publish monthly, for the
+purpose of supplying friends with a sheet of short readings, which will suit many who do not
+care to read page after page of a magazine or lengthy tract. It has a front-page illustration,
+which renders it very attractive in general distribution. We hope our friends will spread them
+freely everywhere. "Wherever I distribute <span class="smcap">Friendly Words</span>, I find they are most heartily
+welcomed and eagerly read. I hope they will be widely circulated, and that the Lord will
+make them very useful among the masses.&mdash;L. T." "I am pleased to see how eagerly
+<span class="smcap">Friendly Words</span> are received and read where I distribute them. I only wish that all who
+desire the good of souls, would spread them abroad wherever they can do so.&mdash;S." Will other
+friends kindly try this plan? They can have a good assortment at a small cost.</p>
+
+<p>Price 1s. 6d. per 100; 3d. per dozen (assorted packets at the same price). Post free from
+the <span class="smcap">Editor</span>, 117, High Street, Hastings.</p>
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h4>THE ANNUAL VOLUMES of "GLEANER" and "SOWER."</h4>
+
+<p>These Volumes are acknowledged to be most admirably adapted for Presents, where sound
+and interesting books are desired.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="VOLUMES">
+<tr><td align="left">The <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span>, Boards, Illustrated</td><td align="left">1s. 6d., or six vols, for 8s.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">The <span class="smcap">Little Gleaner</span>, Cloth, &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; do.</td><td align="left">2s.</td><td align="left">do.</td><td align="left">10s.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">The <span class="smcap">Sower</span>, Cloth, &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; do.</td><td align="left">2s.</td><td align="left">do.</td><td align="left">10s.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>Sent, at above prices, post free, if ordered of the Editor, Mr. <span class="smcap">Hull</span>, 117, High Street, Hastings.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p class="center">Fact Superior to Fiction.</p>
+
+<h4>OUR YOUNG PEOPLE'S TREASURY.&mdash;Vols. I. and II.</h4>
+
+<p>These little Volumes contain a collection of interesting narratives, setting forth the good old
+truths of the Gospel, and will, we believe, help to meet a want greatly felt in our families and
+schools, as they supply sound Scriptural reading in an interesting form, without resorting to
+fictitious tales. We earnestly commend them to all who seek the good of the rising race, as
+books which may, with the Lord's blessing, be of great spiritual use among the young.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Price One Shilling each, or eight volumes for 6s. 6d., post free, if ordered of the Editor,<br />
+Mr. <span class="smcap">T. Hull</span>, 117, High Street, Hastings.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p>
+<h2>INDEX.</h2>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<div>
+<span style="margin-left: 7em;">PAGE</span><br />
+<br />
+About Swearing, <a href="#Page_225">225</a><br />
+<br />
+Admiral Pye and the Inquisitors, <a href="#Page_231">231</a><br />
+<br />
+Aged Pilgrim's History, An, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Answer of George III. to Lord Grenville, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br />
+<br />
+Answers to Bible Enigmas, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a><br />
+<br />
+Anti-Romish Book, The, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+<br />
+"Ask On", <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Be Gentle, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br />
+<br />
+Beware of Thorns, <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br />
+<br />
+Bible and its Claims, The, <a href="#Page_222">222</a><br />
+<br />
+Bible Class, Our, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br />
+<br />
+Bible Enigmas, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+<br />
+Bible Subjects, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br />
+<br />
+Bible with Pins in it, A, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br />
+<br />
+Biblical Discovery, <a href="#Page_29">29</a><br />
+<br />
+Birthday Wish, <a href="#Page_257">257</a><br />
+<br />
+Blind Tortoise in the Well, <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br />
+<br />
+Blind Widow, The, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br />
+<br />
+Brand Plucked out of the Fire, A, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br />
+<br />
+Brave Rescue, A, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br />
+<br />
+Brimstone or Sulphur, <a href="#Page_256">256</a><br />
+<br />
+Brother's Dream, A, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br />
+<br />
+Brought to the Fold, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br />
+<br />
+Budding of Hope, A, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+Bunyan's Death, <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Caring for the Little Ones, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br />
+<br />
+Charcoal Burner's Star, The, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Charlie Coulson, the Drummer-Boy, <a href="#Page_170">170</a><br />
+<br />
+Child and the Emperor, The, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br />
+<br />
+Child Heroism, <a href="#Page_232">232</a><br />
+<br />
+Child's Prayer, A, <a href="#Page_22">22</a><br />
+<br />
+Cingalese Rock Fortress, A, <a href="#Page_154">154</a><br />
+<br />
+Clever Boy and Electrical Machine, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br />
+<br />
+Cost of a Broken Sabbath, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br />
+<br />
+Counting the Cost, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br />
+<br />
+Cousin Susan's Note-Book on Father Chiniquy, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br />
+<br />
+Covenanter's Escape and Death, The, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Day's Work, A, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br />
+<br />
+Dear Old Times, The, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br />
+<br />
+Denied, yet Answered, <a href="#Page_251">251</a><br />
+<br />
+Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br />
+<br />
+Dirge of an Englishwoman, The, <a href="#Page_57">57</a><br />
+<br />
+Divine Guidance, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br />
+<br />
+Divine Providence, A, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br />
+<br />
+"Draw Me", <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Drunkard's Will, A, <a href="#Page_233">233</a><br />
+<br />
+Dutch and their Country, The, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br />
+<br />
+Duties of Brothers and Sisters, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Edison's Phonograph, <a href="#Page_172">172</a><br />
+<br />
+Editor's Closing Address to his Young Friends, The, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br />
+<br />
+Editor's New Year's Address, <a href="#Page_2">2</a><br />
+<br />
+Enemies of God and His People Scattered, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Experiences in the Arctic Ocean, <a href="#Page_58">58</a><br />
+<br />
+Explanation, An, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br />
+<br />
+Extraordinary Story of the Sea, <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Facts about Ocean Steamships, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br />
+<br />
+Famous Dog, A, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br />
+<br />
+Few Words from the Dumb, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br />
+<br />
+Fish that Swallowed Jonah, The, <a href="#Page_246">246</a><br />
+<br />
+Flesh-Eating Plants, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Flying Foxes, <a href="#Page_180">180</a><br />
+<br />
+From Darkness to Light, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+Fugitive in the Himalaya Mountains, A, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Generosity and Love, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br />
+<br />
+Good Example, A, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br />
+<br />
+Great Events, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br />
+<br />
+Great Exhibition of 1851, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Heroic Scotch Student, A, <a href="#Page_258">258</a><br />
+<br />
+He Went Wrong, but He Found Mercy, <a href="#Page_269">269</a><br />
+<br />
+Hint to Boys, A, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br />
+<br />
+Hint to Parents, A, <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br />
+<br />
+His Title-Deeds, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br />
+<br />
+Honouring the Lord's Day, <a href="#Page_252">252</a><br />
+<br />
+Hopeful Case, A, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br />
+<br />
+Hop-Picking.&mdash;The Last Pole, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br />
+<br />
+House on the Sand, The, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br />
+<br />
+How a Great Mistake was Discovered, <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br />
+<br />
+How to Select a Boy, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br />
+<br />
+Hyacinth, The, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Incident in the Life of a Barrister, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br />
+<br />
+Insecurity of Palestine, <a href="#Page_257">257</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span><br />
+Interesting Items, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a><br />
+<br />
+"Is not a Man Better than an Egg?", <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Jesuit and the Bible, The, <a href="#Page_98">98</a><br />
+<br />
+"Jesus Loves Me!", <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br />
+<br />
+Johnnie's Christmas, <a href="#Page_271">271</a><br />
+<br />
+Juvenile Gems, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+"Keep the Star in Sight", <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br />
+<br />
+Kenilworth Castle, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br />
+<br />
+Killed by Lightning, <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br />
+<br />
+Kindness to Animals, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Land of Giants, The, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+"Let No Man Despise Thee", <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br />
+<br />
+Letter by a Dying Soldier, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br />
+<br />
+Lines on the New Year, <a href="#Page_5">5</a><br />
+<br />
+Little by Little, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br />
+<br />
+Little Helps by Large Hearts, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br />
+<br />
+Little Johnnie, <a href="#Page_255">255</a><br />
+<br />
+Little Kindnesses, <a href="#Page_233">233</a><br />
+<br />
+Little Scotch Granite, <a href="#Page_218">218</a><br />
+<br />
+Lost and Found, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Mankind's Mistakes, <a href="#Page_222">222</a><br />
+<br />
+"Mary had a Little Lamb", <a href="#Page_199">199</a><br />
+<br />
+Memoir of Carrie Foord, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+<br />
+Memoir of Ellen and Henry Hoad, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br />
+<br />
+Memoir of Emma Beesley, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br />
+<br />
+Memoir of Mary Stubbs, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br />
+<br />
+Model Prayer-Meeting, A, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br />
+<br />
+Modes of Travel in Persia, <a href="#Page_75">75</a><br />
+<br />
+Morning's Walk in a Country Lane, A, <a href="#Page_63">63</a><br />
+<br />
+Mummy of Sesostris, The, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Nails Gone, but Marks Left, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+<br />
+Nature her own Surgeon, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br />
+<br />
+New Telephone, A, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+"Nothing to Thank God For", <a href="#Page_154">154</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Old Clock's Advice, An, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br />
+<br />
+Old Quilt and its Story, An, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br />
+<br />
+One Link Gone, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br />
+<br />
+One Poor Stone, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br />
+<br />
+"Only Once", <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br />
+<br />
+Orphan Bess, <a href="#Page_198">198</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Penny Piece, The, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br />
+<br />
+Pharisee and the Publican, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br />
+<br />
+Pitcairn Islanders and the Queen, The, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br />
+<br />
+Pleading, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+<br />
+Points to be Aimed At, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br />
+<br />
+Postal Service Statistics, <a href="#Page_223">223</a><br />
+<br />
+Power of Kindness, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br />
+<br />
+Prayer Answered, <a href="#Page_112">112</a><br />
+<br />
+Precious Blood of Christ, The, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br />
+<br />
+Priest and the Lady, The, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+<br />
+Priest's Thoughts of Roman Catholic Miracles, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br />
+<br />
+Prince Consort's Opinion of Popery, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br />
+<br />
+Prize Essays, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br />
+<br />
+Prompt Kindness, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Queer Fisherman, A, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br />
+<br />
+Questions with Answers, <a href="#Page_77">77</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Ragged Tom, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br />
+<br />
+Rare and Costly Bibles, <a href="#Page_202">202</a><br />
+<br />
+Receiving the Truth, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br />
+<br />
+Red Sea Rock, A, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Saved by Grace, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br />
+<br />
+Scotch Thistle, The, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br />
+<br />
+Scripture Enigma, <a href="#Page_10">10</a><br />
+<br />
+Sense and Senses of Animals, <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br />
+<br />
+Singular Cause of Death, <a href="#Page_59">59</a><br />
+<br />
+Soft Answer, A, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br />
+<br />
+Soft Pillow, A, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br />
+<br />
+Something about Foxes, <a href="#Page_60">60</a><br />
+<br />
+Stage-Coach Companion, My, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br />
+<br />
+Stand Back, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br />
+<br />
+Sunday School Meetings:&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Burwash, Providence, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clifton, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fleckney, Carmel, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gower Street, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Greenwich, Devonshire Road, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hand Cross, Zoar Chapel, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hastings, Ebenezer, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Trowbridge, Zion, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Sympathy, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Talking With a Man Seven Thousand Miles Off, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+Terrible Experience of a Shipwrecked Crew, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br />
+<br />
+"The Day of Small Things", <a href="#Page_36">36</a><br />
+<br />
+"There is No Rest in Hell", <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br />
+<br />
+"This is the Way; Walk Ye in It", <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+"Thou God Seest Me", <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Thrilling Scenes at the Forth Bridge Works, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br />
+<br />
+Touching Incident, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br />
+<br />
+Two Brave Children, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br />
+<br />
+Two Ways of Descending, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Under the London Streets, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+Unseen Protection, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Value of Work, The, <a href="#Page_75">75</a><br />
+<br />
+Visit to the Idrian Mines, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+What a Tract may Do, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br />
+<br />
+Wisdom, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br />
+<br />
+Wise and Foolish Builders, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br />
+<br />
+Wonderful Grace, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br />
+<br />
+Words and Deeds, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br />
+<br />
+Word to Self-Seekers, A, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br />
+<br />
+Word with Power, The, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Throne of grace.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Revelation xvii. 3.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Revelation xiv. 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Revelation xviii. 7.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Revelation xvii. 9.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Revelation xviii. 4.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> 2 Timothy iii. 6.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> For a fuller account of Palissy, see <span class="smcap">Little
+Gleaner</span> for July, 1879.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> "Gideon" was given by mistake, in the Enigma,
+instead of "Gibeon."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> We hope all our young readers will mark this
+honest confession, which was produced by the fear of
+God, and ever remember that deception is mean and
+sinful.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The real names are, of course, suppressed throughout.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Young readers, mark this dreadful example of sin,
+and may the Lord bless you with wisdom and strength
+to resist such temptations to evil. If you would be
+spared suffering and shame, and spare your best friends
+much sorrow, be careful what company you keep, and
+remember that God's eye is upon you.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> In hop gardens these are instruments used by those
+who lift the poles.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> From the "Memoir of the late Mr. John Hazelton."</p></div>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="tn"><h3>Transcriber's Note:</h3>
+<p>1. Punctuation has been normalized. Inconsistent hyphenation and spellings have been left as printed.</p>
+
+<p>2. The illustration caption on page 204 is missing text following (see&mdash;<br /><br />
+
+
+"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MR. THORN'S EGGS?" (see</p>
+
+<p>3. Page 231 "having been on a voyage to Spain"&mdash;missing word "on" was added.</p>
+
+<p>4. Some illustrations were originally located in the middle of paragraphs.
+These have been adjusted to not interrupt the flow of reading.
+In some cases this means that the page number that the illustration was originally on is not visible.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Gleaner, Vol. X., by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE GLEANER, VOL. X. ***
+
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+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Gleaner, Vol. X., by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Little Gleaner, Vol. X.
+       A Monthly Magazine for the Young
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: February 1, 2012 [EBook #38745]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE GLEANER, VOL. X. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Hope, Delphine Lettau, Clive Pickton,
+Julia Neufeld and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: HOP-PICKING. (_See page 274._)]
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+
+  LITTLE GLEANER.
+
+  A
+
+  Monthly Magazine for the Young.
+
+  VOL. X., NEW SERIES.
+  1888.
+
+  LONDON:
+  HOULSTON AND SONS, 7, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C.;
+  AND E. WILMSHURST, BOOKSELLER, BLACKHEATH, S.E.
+
+
+
+
+  LONDON:
+  PRINTED BY W. H. AND L. COLLINGRIDGE,
+  148 AND 149, ALDERSGATE STREET, E.C.
+
+[Illustration: _Engraved by S. W. Partridge & Co._
+
+"WELL, THEN, COME TO THE CANAL." (_See page 4._)]
+
+
+
+
+THE EDITOR'S NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS TO HIS YOUNG FRIENDS.
+
+
+Dear young friends,--We wish you each and all a very Happy New Year,
+and, above all things else, that it may prove to many of you a year of
+grace--that is, we pray that the rich saving grace of God may be put in
+the hearts of many of our readers who hitherto have not called upon Him
+for mercy.
+
+How many who began the year 1887 in health are now laid in the grave!
+Some, no doubt, who read this address will be thinking of others who
+read last year's, and who were interested in THE LITTLE GLEANER,
+watching for its appearance month by month, but who now have passed
+away, and will no more read it, nor walk and talk with them again.
+
+The other month, a wrapper in which a GLEANER had been enclosed by some
+friend to a person in Ireland was sent to us bearing this solemn mark,
+"_Dead_." This told us that the person to whom the GLEANER had been sent
+had become the prey of death, and would never read another.
+
+Oh, how solemn that word looked and sounded to us--"_dead_!" and the
+thought rushed into our mind, "How did he die? Where is he? If he died
+in Christ, it is well with him, for all who thus die are eternally at
+rest, free from sin, care, pain, and sorrow. Yea, they are 'for ever
+with the Lord.'"
+
+Dear reader, how is it with you? You are spared, while some have been
+called from time into eternity. We hope you feel this to be a mercy, and
+we now ask, Have you ever been led to the throne of grace, concerned
+about sin and salvation? Has the cry ever gone from your heart to the
+Lord, "God be merciful to me a sinner"? If not, oh, that, as this year
+begins to pass away, the Spirit may cause your heart to feel the guilt
+of your sin, and lead you, a poor, burdened, contrite one, to the feet
+of Him who died on the cross, and whose blood cleanses those who are
+thus brought unto Him from all sin. Then you shall prove that He is
+"mighty to save"--yea, "able to save all those to the uttermost that
+come unto God by Him."
+
+We believe that many who will read these words have proved the ability
+of Christ Jesus to save, and that others are seeking Him, and longing to
+know that their sins are forgiven. We rejoice over them, and pray that
+many more may be brought to walk the same way, for it is the way from
+sin, death, and hell, and the way to Christ, peace, and heaven. All who
+walk therein belong to the flock of the Good Shepherd; and we can say to
+each one who has thus fled to Him for refuge, "He careth for you." His
+love is stronger than death, and knows no change, for He is "the same
+yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."
+
+Dear young friends, there is a reality in the religion of Jesus, and we
+pray that, in this truth-despising day, you may feel the power of grace,
+and, by the work of the Spirit in your hearts, be so grounded in the
+truth that you may turn with contempt from all those who, while they
+profess to preach, have not the knowledge of God and His truth in them;
+and, although they are anxious to discredit the Word of God, and set
+aside the atonement of Christ, yet they do not know what to substitute
+for them. All who follow such leaders are certainly being led on "the
+down grade," and even the leaders themselves confess that they do not
+know where they shall be landed. Some have already been landed in
+Socinianism, and others in infidelity. Therefore, we say to all our
+readers, Abide by and hold fast the Word of God, Cleave to those who
+preach the pure and simple truths of the Gospel of Christ, as recorded
+in the Scriptures, and may the Lord bless you with faith to receive
+them in your heart. Then you shall "know the truth, and the truth shall
+make you free."
+
+Dear young friends, we seek your good, therefore we thus write, hoping
+that our word of warning may not be in vain, but that some may be put on
+their guard against preachers and teachers who have nothing but the
+shifting sands of science for a foundation, which must all be swept
+away, and those who build thereon must perish in the ruin.
+
+Oh, may we be found on the Rock, Christ, living and dying, and be
+enabled to declare before all these deceivers, "I know whom I have
+believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have
+committed unto Him against that day."
+
+Children, do not forget the Bible. Obey, honour, and love your parents.
+Avoid bad company, bad and foolish books, and evil habits. These things
+will bring shame and misery to those who follow them, therefore shun
+them all.
+
+We still ask your help in spreading the GLEANER and the SOWER. May the
+Lord make them useful, and bless you with His covenant blessing, is the
+desire of
+
+                                                     THE EDITOR.
+
+
+
+
+A TOUCHING INCIDENT.
+
+
+A very touching incident occurred lately at Governeur Hospital, New York
+City.
+
+Little Annie Ashpurvis was sent by her parents to the cellar for some
+firewood. The child, who was but six years old, took a lighted lamp in
+her hand, and while descending the stairs, her foot slipped, and she
+fell, breaking the lamp, the flames of the burning fluid soon enveloping
+her entire body. As soon as the surgeon was called, the little sufferer
+was driven in an ambulance to the hospital. The child was put on a sofa
+cot, and the surgeon did all he could to alleviate her suffering, but it
+was impossible to save her life. Under the influence of a narcotic, she
+soon fell asleep. Thus she lay slowly breathing for some hours. Her face
+was so swollen that she could not open her eyes. About half-past two in
+the morning she showed signs of returning consciousness. The watchful
+nurse asked her if she would take a drink. She distinctly answered,
+"Yes." In a moment the house surgeon was beside her cot. He felt the
+pulse, but shook his head, and turned to go away. As he did so, the
+little creature moved her body. She turned half around. The dim light of
+the candle shone on the blackened face. The swollen lips pursed out, and
+in a clear, sweet voice, the dying child began to sing, "Nearer, my God,
+to Thee." The doctor and the nurse stood transfixed. The other patients
+in the silent, darkened ward leaned on their elbows and drank in the
+sweet melody. The first verse completed, she gradually sank back on her
+pillow. Her strength began to fail, and with it her voice, and only the
+humming, like distant music, of the air of the hymn could be heard. How
+sweet, yet weird, that humming sounded! The candle lent its meagre
+light, and the big clock in the corner told out its seconds, as the
+sweet little soul passed out to its Maker. The humming ceased. All was
+over. The doctor turned away with his handkerchief raised to his eyes.
+The nurse gazed into the flame of the candle, and heaved a sigh. She
+seemed to read the little one's death there.
+
+When the remains were buried, the coffin was strewn with flowers,
+offerings of her little schoolmates, with whom the dead child had been a
+great favourite.--
+
+                                             _Evangelist_.
+
+
+SELF-DENIAL.--There never did, and never will, exist anything permanent,
+and noble, and excellent in a character which was a stranger to the
+exercise of resolute self-denial.
+
+
+
+
+"ONLY ONCE."
+
+
+"Stop a minute, James. We're making up a skating party to go down the
+river to-night. We shall build a fire on the island, and have a grand
+time. Come, go with us."
+
+"No, George, I can't. Father says I must skate on the canal. It isn't so
+wide, nor quite so good skating, I know, but it's safe."
+
+"Nonsense! The ice is at least two inches thick anywhere, even in the
+thinnest places."
+
+"No matter. I can't skate on the river."
+
+"Well, then, come to the canal. You can skate out to the fork, where it
+joins the river, and see us all. Will you do that?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"All right. Be there at seven."
+
+James was ready with his skates at the time appointed, and about to
+leave the house.
+
+"Where now, James?" asked his father.
+
+"I'm going to skate awhile on the canal, father."
+
+"Well, it's a bright evening, but don't stay late, and don't go on the
+river."
+
+Just then James's little sister, Marion, who was ready to go to bed,
+shouted after him, "Stop, James! Give me a kiss," and holding up her
+rosebud mouth, in a plump face, from which the laughing eyes were
+shining, she received his good-night kiss, and he went out. As he passed
+the window, he saw, through the half-drawn curtains, little Marion by
+her mother, with the Bible. The father had laid his Book down, and they
+sat reverently listening while his petition went up to heaven. It was a
+beautiful picture. Poor Jamie! With what different feelings would he
+have looked upon it, had he then known what was to happen within the
+next two hours!
+
+He crossed the field before the house, and was soon on the canal, and
+gliding swiftly towards the river, from which the sound of merry voices
+already reached his ear; and as he wheeled splendidly, just at the
+entrance of the canal, the boys saw him, and came bearing down upon him
+like a fleet of swift ships before the wind.
+
+"Hurrah, James!" cried a dozen of them, as they joined company on the
+canal.
+
+There they amused themselves awhile, racing, skating backward, and
+cutting all sorts of fanciful figures upon the ice, until George gave
+the word, "Now for the island!" and with loud shouts they shot out
+together upon the river, all but James.
+
+"I must leave you now," he said.
+
+"Oh, James, don't!" cried several at once.
+
+"Now, see here, James," said George; "what's the use of being so set? Go
+down with us this time."
+
+"Father said, 'Don't go on the river.'"
+
+"Well, as to that, you've been on the river two or three times. Look at
+your marks."
+
+James now saw that, in the excitement of their sport, he had repeatedly
+rushed out of the canal quite across the channel of the river. He wanted
+to go with the boys. He didn't really think there was much danger, and
+the discovery that he had already unwittingly broken his father's
+command, did not help him in his hour of weakness and temptation. The
+boys all clamoured for him to join them. James slowly glided out of the
+canal, stood still a moment, and the tempter prevailed.
+
+"Well, I'll go down this once--mind you, only once," and he darted like
+an arrow to the front, for he was the best skater in the company, and
+soon was far in advance of the rest.
+
+Alas! none of the boys knew of the murderous "breathing-hole" which had
+opened that day in the ice in the channel, and now lay right in James's
+path, waiting to receive him; and the first notice they had of its
+existence was a despairing cry of terror from him as he plunged in.
+
+All was confusion among the boys; but George, more self-possessed than
+the others, hurried to the shore, and, shouting cheerily, "Hold on,
+Jamie! I'll help you out," broke off the limb of a tree, as large and
+long as he could handle, brought it on, and tried, by carefully creeping
+towards James, to put it within his reach. But the current was strong;
+the water was bitterly cold; and James, who had been urging his friend
+to make haste, now began to lose his strength and become benumbed, and
+before the limb came within his grasp, he said, faintly, "Oh, George, I
+can't hold on any longer! Ask father--to forgive----" and went down with
+the tide.
+
+An hour later, the men at the mill below, who had broken the ice above
+the barred outlet of the dam, and were watching and waiting in
+expectation of their mournful work, lifted James's body out of the
+water, and tenderly carried it to his home.
+
+Boys, I have seldom told you a more sad story. Oh, that I could now
+impress upon your young hearts the lesson of obedience to parents so
+deeply that it shall never be forgotten! If you are ever tempted to
+disregard a kind father's commands, or his advice, even though it be
+"only once," may you have strength to resist the temptation. Remember
+Jamie. It is true that disobedience to parents is not always--nor indeed
+often--followed so speedily by such sad consequences, but we know that
+the smile of God for this life will rest upon those children who obey
+their parents.
+
+"Honour thy father and mother" is the first commandment with promise.
+
+
+
+
+LINES ON THE NEW YEAR.
+
+
+In some simple words of rhyme
+Read, and mark the flight of time;
+Seasons come and disappear,
+As we pass from year to year.
+
+All things ever on the move,
+Whether them we hate or love;
+'Tis a changing scene below--
+This we own, for this we know.
+
+Blest are they--and only they--
+Who are in the "narrow way";
+Seeking Jesus' blessed face;
+Longing much to know His grace.
+
+Mourning over inward sin;
+Panting only Him to win
+Who for sin and sinners died,
+When on Calvary crucified.
+
+Do I, who these lines now read,
+Of redemption feel my need?
+Do I really long to know
+That His blood for me did flow?
+
+Do my heart and mouth confess
+I am all unrighteousness?
+Do I pray indeed to see
+Christ my Righteousness to be?
+
+Do I feel I cannot die
+Till He does His blood apply?
+And my doubting soul assure
+I shall to the end endure?
+
+If 'tis so, I know full well
+I shall surely with Him dwell,
+And shall, in His house on high,
+Shout His praise beyond the sky.
+
+                                     A. HAMMOND.
+
+
+SUPPOSING all the great points of atheism were formed into a kind of
+creed, I would fain ask whether it would not require an infinitely
+greater measure of faith than any set of articles which they so
+violently oppose?--_Addison._
+
+
+
+
+THE CHARCOAL BURNER'S STAR.
+
+
+In one of the Protestant cantons of Switzerland dwelt a lady of fortune,
+in a handsome mansion, surrounded with extensive grounds. These were
+laid out with the greatest taste, so as to command at every convenient
+point a favourable view of the romantic and interesting country that
+rose on all sides round the lovely and fertile plain in which it was
+situated.
+
+Madame de Blenal was a widow who had, at an early age, married a
+gentleman of property in the canton who, like herself, was a humble
+follower and sincere lover of the Redeemer, but who, after a year or two
+of as perfect happiness as this world can be expected to afford, died in
+faith, looking forward with assured hope to the promises made by the
+Lord Jesus to all who truly believe in Him.
+
+With a heart prepared by faith to submit to the decrees of Providence,
+whether for this world's good or ill, Madame de Blenal, though she
+deeply felt the blow which her Heavenly Father had inflicted upon her,
+soothed her grief with the reflection that her husband was now at peace,
+and removed from the troubles which beset every sojourner in this mortal
+world. Too fondly attached to his memory ever to enter a second time
+into married life, she applied herself entirely to the cultivation of a
+treasure he had left behind, in the person of a little boy named Alfred,
+whom she endeavoured prayerfully to bring up "in the nurture and
+admonition of the Lord." Neither did she neglect to enrich his mind with
+such knowledge as might enable him to manage the earthly inheritance
+which was hereafter to belong to him, if it pleased God that he should
+live to arrive at the age of manhood.
+
+At the time of which we are writing, Madame de Blenal had just resigned
+to him the management of the property which he inherited from his
+father, reserving to herself only the portion which she had brought with
+her when she married. Still, as, in his own opinion as well as hers, he
+was yet too young to think of taking a wife, Madame de Blenal remained
+the mistress of his household, while he applied himself to studying the
+nature of the duties that had devolved upon him, and to endeavouring to
+acquire personal experience in the management of his estate, as well as
+to improve the characters and condition of his tenants and labourers.
+
+It happened one day, towards the end of summer, that a party who were
+friends of her son's, together with some older ones of her own, had been
+dining at her house, and the whole party had retired after dinner, to
+take their coffee in an open part of the grounds which commanded the
+best view both of the plain and of the mountains beyond it. The former
+was already involved in the shades of evening, which, gradually
+ascending the latter, soon reached the glaciers in the distance, and
+converted the roseate tint with which the last beams of the departing
+sun had invested them into that cold, lurid hue that heralds in the
+approaching night. The stars now began to appear, one by one, in the
+clear blue sky, and led the thoughts of many, if not all, of the party
+from Nature up to Nature's God. Some of the younger ones, however, began
+to amuse themselves by counting them, as they came into view; and one or
+two, rather vain of their knowledge of astronomy, informed the others of
+their names. Suddenly Alfred exclaimed--
+
+"I can see one which is not to be found in the lists furnished by any
+astronomer, and yet it is by far the most brilliant."
+
+His friends thought that he was jesting, but yet attempted to discover
+it in the sky.
+
+"You are all looking too high," he said, laughing, and pointed to a
+distant mountain, where the fire of a charcoal burner had just made its
+appearance.
+
+The party gazed attentively for some time, when one of the ladies said,
+with a sigh--
+
+"Poor man! How much he is to be pitied, sitting all alone up there!"
+
+"Perhaps, madame, he is not so solitary as you imagine. The mountaineers
+of these parts seldom leave their village homes for the summer season
+without taking a Bible with them, so that I trust it may be said of this
+one, even if his solitude is not sometimes broken by a passing visit
+from a goatherd, that he is never quite alone, for God is always near
+them that fear Him."
+
+"That is a blessed thing indeed," said the lady; "but is he not in
+danger from the wolves?"
+
+"No, madame. First of all, the wolves are not so numerous about here as
+many persons think; and, even where they are more abundant, there are
+few, at this season, so pressed by hunger as to have the courage to
+attack a man; and besides, the fire itself would keep them at a
+distance. They have an instinctive dread of it."
+
+"So far so good, Mr. Alfred. Still, if I were in the place of this man,
+I should not be quite at ease. I should every moment be expecting the
+approach of robbers."
+
+"Robbers, madame, are very considerate people. They do not like to lose
+either their time or their labour. Now, what could they find worth
+stealing from this poor charcoal burner?"
+
+"What? Why, his money, to be sure!"
+
+"His money? If he happens to have any. He does not carry it with him
+into the forest, where he has no use for it, but leaves it at home with
+his wife."
+
+"A very good husband! But his watch?"
+
+"An article quite useless to him. He marks the time by the sun and
+stars; or, if the weather is cloudy, most of the mountain chalets are
+furnished with a small wooden clock, which holds out no great temptation
+to men whose thoughts are fixed upon the well-stored purses of
+travellers."
+
+"You have an answer for everything, Mr. Alfred. Do you know the man?"
+
+"I cannot say that I do, madame. We have few, if any, charcoal burners
+in our domain. That mountain is at some distance, and he belongs most
+probably to another village. But I have had occasion to observe the
+habits of these mountaineers, and have acquired a tolerable knowledge of
+them generally."
+
+"And what can he possibly be doing at this hour, in that wild place?"
+
+"Precisely what we are doing ourselves--he is watching his fire."
+
+After many other conjectures had been hazarded as to the way in which
+the charcoal burner was passing his time, Madame de Blenal said--
+
+"A truce with these idle fancies. Our pastors in this canton are not
+idle, and our peasantry are generally well instructed in their Christian
+duties, so I trust that he is better employed than any of you suppose.
+Perhaps, at this moment, he is sitting with the Bible on his knee,
+reading of the mercies of Jesus, meditating upon them as he watches his
+fire, and lifting up his heart in prayer to Him who alone is able to
+inspire it with holy thoughts and divine affections."
+
+"However," said the lady who had first begun the conversation, "I should
+really like to know what he is about. I wish some one could tell us who
+has actually seen him."
+
+"I can easily satisfy your curiosity, madame," said young Alfred. "I
+have nothing to do but to mount my horse and gallop to the foot of the
+mountain. It will not be more than an hour's ride. I will then engage a
+guide to take me to the charcoal burner's hut, and, without losing a
+moment, I will find out what he was doing at nightfall."
+
+"Are you not afraid of your son's undertaking such an enterprise at this
+late hour?" asked a young lady of Madame de Blenal.
+
+Madame de Blenal smiled, and replied, "No, mademoiselle. My son is well
+acquainted with the road. We are not infested with robbers in this
+canton, and, as the object of his pursuit is perfectly innocent, I can
+confide him to the protection of Him on whom I know his own trust is
+constantly fixed. Go, then, Alfred, but exercise your usual prudence,
+and do not heedlessly expose yourself to danger."
+
+An old lady who had not yet spoken, but who knew how to "speak a word in
+season," then remarked, "Place, each of you, a small sum of money in
+Alfred's hands. If he finds the charcoal burner worthily employed, let
+him bestow it upon him. If otherwise, as some of you have supposed may
+be the case, let him bring it back, and restore to each one what he has
+contributed."
+
+Every one readily agreed to the proposal. Each drew out his purse, and
+Alfred received a very respectable sum. He was leaving the party, when
+some one asked how soon they might expect him back?
+
+"By midnight," he replied.
+
+"And where shall we meet?"
+
+"Here," said Madame de Blenal. "We will return into the house when
+Alfred is gone, for the air is getting cold, and it will not be prudent
+to sit here any longer."
+
+Alfred then set out; and as soon as the sound of his horse's hoofs was
+heard, the young men pulled out their watches, that the precise length
+of his absence might be ascertained when he returned.
+
+We will now leave Madame de Blenal to order supper for her party, and
+the remainder to amuse themselves with conversation, music, and such
+resources as her house afforded, while we accompany Alfred on his
+nocturnal excursion.
+
+The moon had just begun to rise in full splendour above the mountains as
+he started, and to spread her silver light over the plain. This,
+together with the increasing freshness of the air, infused spirits into
+the rider as well as his horse. Notwithstanding, however, the knowledge
+which both of them possessed of the road they had to traverse, they
+scarcely reached the foot of the mountain within the time upon which
+Alfred had calculated. Here were situated two or three picturesque
+cottages, inhabited by guides, one of whom was known to Alfred by name.
+Him therefore he sought out, and engaged to conduct him to the object of
+his journey. The man was rather surprised at a summons so late in the
+evening, and asked the traveller whether he had not better wait at his
+cottage till daybreak.
+
+"No," replied Alfred; "I only wish to go as far as the charcoal burner's
+hut, whose fire can be seen for some miles off, and I must return to
+where I came from before midnight."
+
+"Ah! my friend Gervais. I know him well, sir. But it is a good way up
+the mountain, and if you have far to ride back, you will hardly keep to
+the time you have mentioned."
+
+"Never mind," said the young man; "I must go on now. Where can I put my
+horse?"
+
+"Here in this shed, sir. There is a bit of hay and some beans, with
+which he can amuse himself while we are gone."
+
+The path was not steep, for it was cut in a zig-zag form, sometimes
+leading over pastures, and sometimes through woods so thick that the
+moonlight could not penetrate them; but the guide was provided with a
+torch of pine, to prevent the danger of a false step. For the first part
+of the journey they travelled on in silence, the guide amusing himself
+with forming conjectures as to the object of Alfred's visit to the
+charcoal burner after night had set in. "Can it be," he said to himself,
+"a relation from the Indies, or from Algeria? I never heard that
+Gervais had any relations in those parts. Or a creditor? No, that cannot
+be, for my honest friend, I am sure, does not owe any one a single
+penny. Or has he gained a prize in the lottery? He would consider it a
+sin to risk the smallest fraction upon such a hazard. Ah! perhaps some
+one has left him a legacy. So much the better, if it is so. I shall be
+well paid for the trouble I have had. He is too good a fellow not to
+reward me to the utmost of his power."
+
+Thus it was that the guide employed himself in vain conjectures. When
+the uncertain light by which they travelled, whether of the moon or of
+the torch, fell sufficiently clear upon Alfred's features, he examined
+them attentively, as if he could have read his secret in them. His
+curiosity made him not less impatient to reach the charcoal furnace than
+the young man himself. At length, by a sudden turn of the path, it
+appeared at once before them. The wood, heaped in the form of a cone,
+and covered with a thick coating of earth, was burning slowly, openings
+being made at different heights on the mound, to give a passage to the
+flames, and to afford a proper proportion of atmospheric air, to keep
+them alive.
+
+Alfred, though born in the neighbourhood, had never before visited a
+charcoal furnace; but, new as the sight was to him, he did not pause
+long to observe it. His attention was arrested by the hut which stood
+near, built something in the form of a tent, and composed of planks
+leaning on both sides against a cross-beam, which rested on two others
+placed one at each end of the building. This kind of hut is common to
+most of the charcoal burners of these mountains, where they make their
+dwelling during the whole of the summer months, having no other bed than
+dried leaves--no other apparent occupation than cutting and piling up
+the wood, and watching their fires. One moment only Alfred stopped to
+gaze upon this humble dwelling, compared with which the chalets of the
+cowherds were almost splendid mansions; the next instant, his attention
+was arrested by something far more interesting. A chorus of youthful
+voices burst upon his ears, accompanied by one deep, clear bass, which
+was powerful enough to support and regulate the trebles. They were
+singing the following hymn, to a beautiful Swiss air, well known to
+Alfred as one used in the churches of that Protestant canton--
+
+  "Look to Jesus, weary wanderer,
+    Sinful, wretched as thou art;
+  He is precious; thou shalt know it;
+    Only trust His loving heart.
+
+  "Trust it wholly; it was broken
+    That thine own might be at peace;
+  Every sin its streams atone for;
+    He can bid all anguish cease.
+
+  "Now He reigns above the heavens,
+    And shall reign for evermore;
+  But His mighty arm is guarding
+    Those for whom He died before.
+
+  "He shall come again in glory;
+    All creation shall bow down;
+  Those who seek not His salvation
+    Must endure His awful frown.
+
+  "Wait upon Him, then, His people;
+    Let Him be your constant strength;
+  Lean upon Him daily, hourly;
+    Ye shall reign with Him at length.
+
+  "May the Spirit of adoption,
+    Which our Heavenly Father gives,
+  Help us all and each to please Him
+    More each moment of our lives."
+
+  (_To be continued_.)
+
+
+
+ENVY shoots at others and wounds itself.
+
+WE should often have reason to be ashamed of our most brilliant actions,
+if the world could see the motives from which they spring.
+
+
+
+
+SCRIPTURE ENIGMA.
+
+A PARABLE FROM A FARMER'S SON TO ALL GLEANERS.
+
+
+I was born in a house where there were many fields attached--in fact, it
+was called a farm-house, so, from a boy, I well knew what a "gleaner"
+meant. I have seen all sizes in a field, picking up corn. But gleaning
+is not so general as it used to be. One reason is, many farmers are too
+covetous to leave much in their fields for gleaners. Another is, many
+persons are too proud to be gleaners. But still there are many who are
+entitled to the character of "gleaner."
+
+Now, gleaners, let us come a little closer. First, there must be the
+person known as the farmer; secondly, there must be the fields. These
+fields must be sown with corn. It must ripen, be cut and carried. Then
+is the time for the gleaner to take his or her part. The gleaners must
+have a will, and patience to wait. They need eyes, hands, and feet.
+
+At the time the farmer's son is writing this, gleaning is over. It is
+winter. But he can tell gleaners of a farm containing sixty-six fields,
+some much larger than others, but all the fields grow the best corn that
+can be found at any market in the world. There is not one whole grass
+field found on the farm. There are a number of young and old people live
+near this farm, but they do not want to be gleaners. They look over the
+gates sometimes, but, having eyes so much like the mole, they either do
+not take that to be corn which is really so, or else they pursue other
+things they feel are so much better than gleaning in any of these
+fields; and not being very poor, but having enough gold to buy a few
+oxen, they tell some of the farmer's workmen they prefer _buying_ or
+_taking_ to gleaning, so they wish them "good morning"; but they are
+very polite to the men they join in conversation with. Then there are
+other people near these fields who say they hate the great farmer. In
+fact, they are so evil-disposed that they talk freely of hating the
+fields and the corn too; and there is not one workman on the estate they
+will give a good word to. This the farmer's son can vouch for truth; and
+he has a good many brothers belonging to his family, who could be called
+as witnesses if there was any need.
+
+But we must not overlook others who live near the farm. Most of them
+dwell in a very low-built house; there is no upstairs. They live on the
+ground floor, and not far from the spot where they dwell, some of the
+labourers on the farm live, and they join in conversation occasionally.
+But these poor people who dwell in the low-built cottages are shy, and
+think they take a liberty even in saying a few words to these labourers;
+and as for talking freely to the great farmer, they dare not. If he
+passes, they only bow before him and look on the ground. You would
+almost wonder how they are kept alive. They are nearly always hungry,
+but, now and then, they get just enough to keep them alive.
+
+When the "season" comes round, those that observe may soon find these
+are the old-fashioned gleaners. They possess willing legs, eyes, and
+hands. They use their legs by starting from their poor home; and, after
+walking some distance, the road brings them to this farm of sixty-six
+fields. These fields are all numbered. Some look at one field, and some
+at another, but the hedges are all good. No one can get through them,
+and a high gate is at each entrance. One of the gleaners looked with a
+very wishful eye over the gate of the eighth field, and she desired to
+be among the gleaners, but there was a notice that "trespassers will be
+prosecuted." How earnestly the gleaner uses his eyes, and looks through
+the bars of the gate; but there are no ears of corn to be seen at
+present by him, so he cannot use his hands, though they are both ready
+to pick up; and the thought comes, "No doubt there will soon be plenty
+of corn seen, and, if I might, would I not pick up? I feel I would glean
+beside any gleaner. If he could pick faster than I, he would have to be
+very nimble. I do not know that the great landowner and farmer would
+allow me to go into his field. But, though my hands now hang down, and I
+cannot use them, I will go home and wait, and come again. If I cannot
+get admission to one field, I may to another. I should be happy if I
+could glean in the smallest field on the farm. Perhaps, when I come
+again, that notice-board may be taken down. If so, I think I shall
+venture into No. 8 or 17; but should I not have nerve enough, I shall
+humbly ask one of the labourers, and if he says he does not know, I
+will, if an opportunity occurs, bow myself to the earth and ask the
+great owner. I have been told by some that he often appears as if he
+could not condescend to speak to those that live in such a low house,
+yet, if you press your suit, he will speak in the kindest manner, and
+ask what you really want."
+
+The farmer's son noticed, as this gleaner returned to his humble home,
+one of the labourers greeted him with a "Good evening," and asked him
+why he looked so sad? He replied, "I have been a long journey to glean
+on the farm owned by your master, and I looked at the eighth field, but
+could not see that there were any ears of corn for me to pick up; and
+besides, I noticed a board, that 'trespassers will be prosecuted,' and
+thoughts would keep coming in my mind as I returned, that possibly I
+should never be admitted into any of the fields as a gleaner." The
+labourer said, "You must not faint, but, as soon as the sun rises in the
+morning, try and find the forty-second field, and most probably you will
+find the gate open. If, as you enter, the first part of the field looks
+bare, walk to almost the middle, and I think you will find some
+gleanings to pick up." He returned thanks, bowed, and they parted.
+
+The next morning, as soon as the sun was up, he arose and did as he was
+bid. After reaching the field, he found the part where the ears of corn
+lay, and he picked up as many as he needed. On his return, he met
+several other gleaners who were seeking a field to glean in. He bade
+them go to the same one where he had picked up an armful, and there they
+would find the result of perseverance.
+
+The parable is closed for this time. Will any reader, under twelve years
+of age, expound it? Who are the farmer and the son? Who are the
+labourers and gleaners? What are the sixty-six fields? And what are the
+names of those specially referred to? Search from Genesis to Revelation.
+
+                                         Your true friend,
+                                          THE FARMER'S SON
+                                 (_Over fifteen years old_).
+
+[A volume, "The Loss of All Things for Christ," will be given for the
+best answer. The writer must be under twelve.]
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN JANUARY.
+
+
+Jan. 1. Commit to memory 1 Chrn. v. 10.
+Jan. 8. Commit to memory Psa. cxi. 10.
+Jan. 15. Commit to memory Prov. viii. 10.
+Jan. 22. Commit to memory Prov. viii. 32.
+Jan. 29. Commit to memory John iv. 10.
+
+
+WHAT the world calls virtue is a name and a dream without Christ. The
+foundation of all human excellence must be laid deep in the blood of the
+Redeemer's cross and in the power of His resurrection.--_Robertson._
+
+
+
+
+AN OLD QUILT AND ITS STORY.
+
+
+Among all the beautiful needlework exhibited in the "Woman's Industry
+Department" of the recent Edinburgh Exhibition, many must have observed
+a bed-quilt worked in a quaint conventional pattern, on a white linen
+ground, which bore a label to the effect that it was "designed and
+commenced by a Countess of Aberdeen towards the middle of the last
+century, and recently completed by a crofter woman in Aberdeenshire."
+
+Could the quilt tell its own tale, its history, no doubt, would be most
+pathetic and interesting; but we will try, with the knowledge we have,
+to lightly sketch that history.
+
+The Countess who commenced it was Anne, daughter of Alexander, second
+Duke of Gordon. The third wife of William, Earl of Aberdeen, she was
+still a young woman when, by his death in 1745, she was left a widow.
+Quitting Haddo, the home of her married life, she went with her young
+family to reside in the fine old historic castle of Fyvie, a few miles
+distant, which, with her dower, had been bought by the Earl as her
+jointure house. The Countess seems to have been gifted with artistic
+tastes, as she left in Haddo many evidences of her skill and
+industry--several sets of beautifully-worked curtains, with
+long-forgotten curious stitches, producing varied and admirable effects.
+But the bright, pretty industry of the Countess was checked. Sickness,
+to be followed by death, entered her home.
+
+We may fancy that by her husband's sick-bed the first beginning of this
+quilt was made--how, in the intervals of watching the invalid, a few
+sprays and scrolls were delicately traced. But the summons had gone
+forth, and, as death approached, the work, which had been in part the
+occupation of happier days, and a resource in affliction, was thrown
+aside.
+
+When the widowed Countess had settled in a new home, and again faced the
+ordinary duties of life, we need not wonder that she thought no more of
+the discarded work left at Haddo House, but set herself to design afresh
+and embroider the curtains which have ever since (until recently)
+adorned a bed-room in Fyvie Castle.
+
+Into these no doubt was woven many a thought for the Jacobite cause, and
+many an anxiety for dear ones, as her own family, the ducal house of
+Gordon, had been keen supporters of the Stuarts, and it is said that the
+Countess came out on the road-side, near Fyvie Castle, with her
+children, to see the Duke of Cumberland's troops pass on their way to
+Culloden to put down the Scotch rebellion, and boldly avowed to him her
+sympathy with his foe.
+
+But what of the work the Countess left at Haddo House? As to it, our
+history is silent for more than a hundred years. It has lain folded by
+the fingers of the busy worker that have long been still. Sorrow and joy
+have come by turns to the house--birth and death. Children have
+prattled, and statesmen have discussed the affairs of nations. Those who
+have made history have come and gone; philanthropy and romance have
+alike been woven into the family story; but the piece of discarded
+broderie has been unheeded.
+
+At length the present Countess of Aberdeen, whose name will ever be
+associated with earnest desire and effort for the good of others, and
+whose taste and love of the beautiful led to her interest in such work,
+unfolding the long-forgotten quilt, conceived the idea of having it
+completed, if possible. To whom, however, could the beautiful work be
+entrusted to be finished, by deft fingers and graceful appreciation?
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A CROFTER'S COTTAGE.]
+
+We now turn to another scene. About five-and-twenty years ago, on the
+top of a bare hill in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, stood a cottage, tenanted
+by a crofter named Sandieson, with his wife and family. Though at a
+comparatively high elevation, the land around was all cultivated, but,
+arid and stony as the soil was, it seemed as if cultivation were one
+long struggle against Nature, rather than aided by it. Life was hard;
+still, contentment sweetened the peasant's lot, and they got on pretty
+well till sickness during three successive winters told hardly on his
+means. Father, mother, and children all worked; still the wolf was at
+the door. Bed clothing was scant, and money to buy still scantier. A
+mother's love and care quickened thought.
+
+The woman, as she tells her story, bethought herself what she could do
+for bedding for a covering against cold. Scraps she had, bits of old
+clothes and stockings, and tacked them together, fold upon fold, to
+attain a certain thickness; then, buying a pennyworth of log-wood, and
+with it dyeing what had once been a tartan shawl, but which had long
+lost all its colour, she spread it over her scraps for a cover. But,
+alas! the holes were but too apparent.
+
+Necessity again quickened invention. She selected some of the better
+pieces of the old garments, cut them into the shape of leaves and birds,
+and laid them on the holes, adding one or two more for uniformity, and
+then, with a darning needle and "fingering" wool, she veined the leaves
+and made effective marking on the birds.
+
+Such was her first attempt at fancy work. An admiring neighbour asked
+her to do a similar quilt for her, offering some scraps of new material.
+Another commission followed, this time with the offer of green wool for
+leaves. But one cold, hard green did not please the worker, now growing
+daily more experienced and critical, so a visit was made to the little
+country town a few miles distant, in search of greater variety in greens
+and browns, the appreciation of Nature's varied tints becoming daily
+stronger and clearer.
+
+About this time, a lady to whom the woman had taken some work, on sight
+gave her a quantity of old floss silks. The possession of these was a
+new power to her, and from that time she rapidly acquired a skill in
+shading leaves and flowers with a beauty which it is impossible to
+describe.
+
+A farmer from a little distance, having heard of her work, went to see
+her. After looking at what, to him, seemed so marvellous, he turned to
+her, and said, "Well, well, it's wonderful! But you will have to do no
+more rough work to keep your hands fit for this; and how will that do
+with the croft?"
+
+"Indeed, sir," was her reply, "it would never do. But I assure you this
+is not my only work, for I have just finished building a hundred and
+thirty-four yards of a stone dyke with my own hands. My husband had work
+elsewhere, which he could not afford to miss. The cattle were straying
+where they should not, so I have just built it myself, the children
+helping me by handing up the smaller stones."
+
+After gaining some experience, Mrs. Sandieson gave up the earlier style
+of work with which she had begun, and devoted herself almost entirely to
+embroidery in silks. She has trained a daughter, who lives with her, to
+work as well as herself, and no description can do justice to the beauty
+of their finer work. Their designs are, with very few exceptions, their
+own, and many of their pieces are singularly beautiful. They have even
+copied the plate representing a peacock on a branch of a tree, from
+Gould's "Asiatic Birds," and no one but those who have seen it, could
+believe in the wondrous working of the bird, and in the feathers of the
+neck, with the faint change of tint where it catches the light as the
+bird turns its head. It is marvellous!
+
+But copying flowers from nature is what they chiefly do, and their
+careful observation and fidelity in representation are very
+characteristic in their work. Trails of thunbergia, scarlet tropaeolum,
+apple blossom, cherry, and bramble; willow, with its catkins, a little
+titmouse on the branch; snowberry, with a robin perched on it; the red
+and white lapageria, eucalyptus, pepper tree, and others are some of
+their subjects. And this is what the crofter's wife, who commenced with
+the old dyed shawl for a foundation, has, totally unaided, taught
+herself and her daughter to accomplish; and this is the crofter's wife
+who, one hundred and forty years afterwards, was employed by Lady
+Aberdeen to finish the quilt which the Countess of 1745 had commenced.
+Is there not a little pathos in the history of a piece of work begun and
+completed in such different circumstances?
+
+The work of these peasant-artists, mother and daughter, is now very well
+known among ladies in Aberdeenshire, and has lately been brought under
+the notice of Her Majesty, who condescended to purchase largely of it;
+but the writer believes the quilt shown by Lady Aberdeen, in Edinburgh,
+to be the only specimen that has been exhibited publicly.--_Ladies'
+Treasury._
+
+
+
+
+WONDERFUL GRACE.
+
+
+John Dickson, a farmer in the parish of Ratho, near Edinburgh, was long
+a stranger to the riches of divine grace. He paid no regard to the
+sacred ordinances, or, if ever on the Lord's Day he entered the house of
+God, it was more for a desire of ridiculing than profiting by what he
+heard. The Word preached did not profit him, not being mixed with faith.
+
+In this dreadful situation was he when his wife died, after bringing
+into the world an infant daughter. The good providence of that gracious
+God who calleth the weak things of this world to confound the strong had
+ordained that the nurse of this child should be a woman of exemplary
+faith, who walked in the Spirit, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. The
+carnal mind of the father still continued at enmity with God; but he
+was, ere long, to be brought to a full conviction of his own
+unworthiness, and a delightful experience of the riches of redeeming
+love.
+
+The child, being now about twenty months old, and beginning to prattle a
+few words, was one day sent for by her father, who was sitting after
+dinner with some of his profane acquaintances. To his great astonishment
+the child repeated, two or three times, in its infant tones, "Oh, the
+grace of God!" These words made a deep impression upon the father. He
+began to reflect upon his sins, and the power of that grace which
+cleanseth from sin, so long the subject of his impious ridicule. The
+Holy Ghost had opened his heart, and now brought him, like a sheep that
+had been astray, into the fold of divine love. Since that time he has
+walked as becometh one called in the Lord, bringing forth fruit meet for
+repentance. The words which, through the grace of God, became the happy
+instrument of his conversion were the customary ejaculation of the godly
+nurse, and had thus been learned by the infant. So truly was the
+Scripture verified that "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings the
+Lord hath ordained praise."
+
+                                                           R.
+
+
+ENDEAVOR to be always patient of the faults and imperfections of
+others, for thou hast many faults and imperfections of thy own that
+require a reciprocation of forbearance. If thou art not able to make
+thyself that which thou wishest to be, how canst thou expect to mould
+another in conformity to thy will?--_Thomas a Kempis._
+
+
+
+
+MY STAGE-COACH COMPANION.
+
+
+It was on a dull, chilly morning, I remember, that I left my country
+home by the coach which was to convey me to London. I was then about
+twenty years of age. I had never before been very far, or very long
+absent from my father's house; and my young mind was filled with
+thoughts of the pleasures in store for me in a long visit I was about to
+pay to my London relations.
+
+Among the enjoyments I most reckoned on, apart from the society of my
+aunt and cousins, were those of the theatre, balls, and evening parties.
+Very different engagements these, from the domestic duties and rural
+recreations to which I had been accustomed in a retired country
+residence.
+
+Thoughts like these had softened the pain of separation from my kind and
+indulgent parents; but there were tears in my eyes on bidding them
+farewell, and I was glad to let fall my veil, to hide them from the only
+passenger in the coach.
+
+This passenger was a gentleman of middle age, well wrapped up in a
+greatcoat of rather formal cut, and with a clerical-looking hat on his
+head. He had a pleasant, though a rather serious expression of
+countenance, as he lifted his eyes from the book he was reading. It was
+not long before he shut up the book, and made some remarks about the
+weather and the scenery. A short silence followed, which was broken by
+my fellow-traveller saying that he had just been passing a few weeks in
+a watering-place which I knew to be a fashionable one.
+
+"I have never been there," I said. "I suppose it is a very gay place,
+sir?"
+
+"It is a fine town, and the country around it is very beautiful," said
+the gentleman.
+
+This was not the answer I expected, and I varied my question by
+referring to the visitors and places of amusement, particularly
+mentioning the theatre and the public assemblies.
+
+The stranger smiled pleasantly, and said, "I saw only the outside of the
+theatre; but during my stay there I was present at several public
+assemblies."
+
+"How very enchanting they must be!" I remarked, with youthful ardour.
+
+"I am not sure that 'enchanting' is quite the right word," he said,
+looking thoughtful; "but they were very delightful, certainly."
+
+"They were crowded, I suppose, sir?"
+
+"Yes, generally," he said, and added that, at the last of these public
+assemblies, there were present more than a thousand people.
+
+This seemed to me to be a great number, and to need a large assembly
+room to hold them. I made some remark which led him to say that no doubt
+there were many varieties of character present, and of different degrees
+in life. "But," he added, "I have reason to know that many honourable
+personages were to be met with there, and even the King Himself was
+there."
+
+"The King, sir? I did not know that the King ever visited ----"; and I
+began to feel incredulous. I was not so ignorant as not to know that
+King George the Fourth, in whose reign we were then living, had for some
+time almost secluded himself from his subjects, and resided generally at
+Windsor.
+
+"I see," continued the stranger, speaking more earnestly and seriously
+than before, "that you do not quite understand me; and I apprehend that
+we have each been using the same words to express a different set of
+ideas on which our minds have been fixed."
+
+"I do not understand you, sir," I said, rather coldly.
+
+"Permit me, madam, to explain. I am a minister of the Gospel. The
+public assemblies of which I have been speaking are the assembling
+together of those who meet for God's worship and service; the honourable
+persons to whom I referred are those whom the Bible calls the children
+of God; and the King whom I believe to have been present at these
+assemblies is He who is 'King of kings and Lord of lords,' who Himself
+has told us that, where two or three are gathered together in His name,
+there He is in the midst of them."
+
+There was such kindness and courtesy and respect in the gentleman's
+manner, that I could not feel vexed at his having spoken in a sort of
+parable, so I smiled, and said, "I had no idea that you were a minister,
+sir."
+
+"I am glad that you are not angry with me, young lady," said he, "for
+having wilfully misinterpreted your questions. You know it is 'out of
+the abundance of the heart' that 'the mouth speaketh'; and when you got
+into the coach I was engaged in thought, studying a subject which I hope
+to speak about next Sunday; and, singularly, this subject is so far like
+that which has engaged a few minutes of our conversation, as that it
+refers to an assembly, though one of a very superior character to any
+the world has ever seen or known."
+
+"May I ask, sir, what assembly it is you mean?"
+
+"Certainly," replied he; and taking from his pocket a New Testament, he
+opened it and read, "Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of
+the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of
+angels, to the general assembly and Church of the First-born which are
+written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of
+just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant,
+and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of
+Abel."
+
+Having read this, my fellow-traveller again put up his Book, and there
+was a short silence between us, until he said, "That is the text, madam.
+Do you think it possible for any preacher to do justice to it?"
+
+"I do not know indeed, sir," I said; and I added (what I truly thought)
+that the words struck me as being very beautiful.
+
+"They are indeed beautiful, and magnificent, and solemn," he said; and
+he continued to remark that they were highly calculated to arouse in the
+mind emotions of no ordinary nature. Did I not think so?
+
+I hesitated what to reply, for I shrank from expressing sentiments which
+I did not really feel. Doubtless he saw my embarrassment, and, instead
+of pressing for an answer, he asked me if he might mention a few of the
+thoughts which had passed through his mind, as he had pondered over the
+passage. I said, if he pleased to do so, I should be glad to hear him,
+and accordingly he went on--
+
+"I suppose that the words I have read referred not so much to the
+future, as to the present position or condition of those to whom they
+were addressed, and that they may be applied also to certain characters
+at the present time. I have no doubt, madam, that you understand of what
+characters I speak?"
+
+"I could not misunderstand you," I said. "Of course you mean
+Christians?"
+
+"Yes; of all true Christians it may be said that they are come to Mount
+Sion. All who truly believe in Christ live under a dispensation of
+mercy. They are even now 'fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the
+household of God.' Their names are enrolled in the Lamb's book of life;
+angels are their invisible attendants; they are united in spirit to
+'Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant'; they are admitted into the
+gracious presence of the Father, 'the Judge of all,' so as to find
+access at every hour to God within the veil; and they have even now
+received the atonement, 'the blood of sprinkling,' by which their
+polluted consciences are cleansed and purified. These are great and
+exalted privileges, are they not?"
+
+"Yes, sir," I said, feeling as I said it how incapable I was of
+appreciating them. The stranger did not notice my hesitation, however,
+but went on with still more animation--
+
+"I cannot help thinking that more than I have mentioned is implied in
+the words which you justly think so beautiful, and that the writer had
+in his mind the future as well as the present life. The final and
+everlasting _residence_ of all believers, after all the cares and toils
+of their earthly pilgrimage are past, is to be Mount Sion, the city of
+the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; part of their _employment_ will
+be holy and devout adoration; their _society_, myriads of angels and a
+vast assembly of the perfected spirits of the just; the _chief source of
+their happiness_ will be the presence of 'the Judge of all,' in 'Jesus
+the Mediator'; and the cause of all this blessedness is indicated in the
+closing words--'the blood of sprinkling,' or the atonement of Jesus."
+
+I was interested, and wished he would continue. Probably he could see
+that I was not unwilling to listen, for, after the pause of a minute or
+two, he began to expatiate a little on some of the ideas he had already
+expressed. He spoke of the unbroken repose and perfect security of the
+city of God, and then of the happy employments of the great assembly in
+heaven. Here he drew a contrast between the amusements of the world and
+the enjoyments of the heavenly state, and added that, to worldly and
+unsanctified minds, these enjoyments had no attractions.
+
+"Those who live only for this life," he said, "cannot conceive of any
+pleasure to be found in heavenly adoration and praise. Accustomed to
+account the Sabbath of the Lord a weariness, and devotional services
+irksome and tedious, it cannot appear to them desirable to enter upon a
+state of existence in which the worship of the Almighty is one of the
+choicest occupations of its inhabitants. Nor can we wonder," continued
+my companion, "that it should be thus, so long as the heart remains at
+enmity with God, while the affections are earthly and sensual, and where
+there is no fear of God, no love to God, no delight in God, no earnest
+desire to serve and honour Him. Am I not right?" the stranger asked,
+fixing his eyes upon me.
+
+"Yes, sir, I think you are," I replied, faintly; and, after some further
+conversation on the same subjects, my fellow-traveller told me that he
+was going only to the end of the present stage. "There we shall part,"
+he said, "and possibly we shall not meet again in this world; but if, by
+divine grace, we should be fellow-heirs of the same glorious
+inheritance, we _shall_ meet in that general assembly."
+
+These were almost the last words he spoke, for, in a few minutes, the
+coach stopped, and the stranger, alighting and bidding me farewell,
+disappeared.
+
+Many years passed away, and I was a happy wife and mother. My husband
+was a true and earnest Christian; and I--yes (and therein was my
+happiness), I, too, was a believer in Christ. My Christian life had
+been, in some respects, an eventful one. My first steps in it had been
+beset with difficulties and no ordinary opposition; but patience was
+given me to endure; strength, to overcome; and, blessed be God, my
+heart's desire and prayer to Him on behalf of some very dear to me had,
+I trust, been heard and answered.
+
+My conversion was in part, at least, the result of the stage-coach
+conversation I have recorded. God, in His infinite mercy, by means of
+the words of a stranger, called me to consideration. The Holy Spirit
+showed me my miserable condition, as being "a lover of pleasures more
+than a lover of God." Through a long, dark passage of soul-distress and
+great conflict I was led into the light and faith of the glorious
+Gospel--from the thunders of Sinai to "Mount Sion, the city of the
+living God; to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood
+of sprinkling."
+
+One thing troubled me--or, if not troubled exactly, left within me an
+unsatisfied desire. For years I had longed to see, to meet once more,
+the stranger who had so kindly and so wisely invited my attention to
+religion. I wished to hear his voice again, and to tell him what the
+Lord had done for my soul. Sometimes, indeed, I recalled his parting
+words with something like awe, though yet with a thrill of pleasurable
+assurance--"Possibly we shall not meet again in this world; but if, by
+divine grace, we should be fellow-heirs of the same glorious
+inheritance, we shall meet in that general assembly."
+
+"Annie," said my husband one day--he had an open letter in his hand--"a
+visitor is coming, whom I shall be very glad for you to know--my old
+friend and pastor, Mr. J----"; and he put the letter into my hands. It
+was a short note, merely stating that, finding he should be at a certain
+time within easy reach of my husband's home, the writer would, if he
+might, avail himself of the opportunity of renewing the personal
+intercourse which time and distance had so long interrupted.
+
+A few days later, a chaise drove to our door, and my husband, eager to
+welcome his old friend, met him in the hall, where I also was waiting to
+receive him. He was an elderly man, but with a firm step, a strong
+frame, a pleasant smile, a kindly voice, and a benevolent countenance.
+
+"Annie, my dear, this is----"
+
+I cannot go on to describe a scene in which I became all at once and
+unexpectedly so personally interested. In my husband's friend I
+recognized, at a single glance, my stage-coach companion, though he had
+no recollection of me.
+
+It was a happy meeting--the faint foreshadowing, it may be, of such
+meetings innumerable in that general assembly in the heavenly Jerusalem
+above, when they who have sown, and those who have reaped, shall rejoice
+together with "joy unspeakable and full of glory."--_A Tract issued by
+the Religious Tract Society._
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 275._)
+
+
+"_I am the Rose of Sharon._"--SONG
+OF SOLOMON ii. 1.
+
+I ssachar   Genesis xxxv. 23.
+
+A biram     Numbers xxvi. 9.
+M icah      Judges xvii. 1.
+
+T irzah     1 Kings xvi. 6.
+H oreb      Exodus iii. 1.
+E bal       Joshua viii. 30.
+
+R ehoboam   1 Kings xi. 43.
+O g         Numbers xxi. 33.
+S hammah    1 Samuel xvii. 13.
+E dom       2 Samuel viii. 14.
+
+O nan       Genesis xlvi. 12.
+F elix      Acts xxiv. 25.
+
+S imon      Mark iii. 18.
+H adadezer  2 Samuel viii. 3.
+A maziah    Amos vii. 10.
+R aven      Leviticus xi. 15.
+O bed-edom  2 Samuel vi. 11.
+N adab      Numbers iii. 4.
+
+                                 ADA WILLERTON
+                                  (Aged 9 years).
+
+_Corby, Grantham._
+
+
+I HAVE found, by a strict and diligent observation, that a due
+observance of the duty of Sunday has ever had joined to it a blessing
+upon the rest of my time.--_Sir Matthew Hale._
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
+
+
+The "cross of Christ" is mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his Epistles
+to different Churches, but we may confidently say that the wooden gibbet
+upon which the Saviour suffered was never loved or reverenced by that
+honoured servant of the Lord, or the people to whom he wrote.
+
+The brazen serpent, that divinely appointed means of Israel's cure, was
+broken in pieces by good Hezekiah, who contemptuously called it a bit of
+brass, because the Israelites worshipped it; and their idolatry is
+described as a base crime in 2 Kings xviii. 4, although it was a figure
+of Him that was to come; and Jesus Himself declared, "As Moses lifted up
+the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
+that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal
+life" (John iii. 14, 15); and the "true cross," if it now existed, would
+only be a bit of wood--a thing in itself worthless--and the adoration of
+it would be nothing better than idolatry.
+
+"Christ and Him crucified" is the sinner's hope, the believer's joy, and
+this is what we are to understand by the apostolic mention of the cross
+of Jesus.
+
+The cross was the sign, the illustration, of His sufferings and death.
+Crucifixion was most painful and most shameful, and both these facts
+appear in Hebrews xii. 2. He "endured the cross, despising the shame."
+With the hands and feet nailed to the cross, and the weight of the body
+borne by those pierced hands, the sufferer, who generally was first
+cruelly scourged, expired after long, lingering torture; and it was a
+shameful death, to which only the lowest and worst of men were supposed
+to be sentenced. Yet Jesus, the High and Holy One, "humbled Himself unto
+death, even the death of the cross."
+
+But there was deep spiritual meaning in all this. "Tribulation and
+anguish" (Rom. ii. 9), sorrow and death, are sin's reward. "Dying, thou
+shalt die" (Gen. ii. 17, margin) is the divine sentence upon every
+transgressor, and "sin is a reproach to any people" (Prov. xiv. 34).
+"Shame and everlasting contempt" will be the sinner's recompense. And
+Jesus was His people's Surety and Substitute. He stood for them; He took
+their place. The Just One suffered for the unjust. The King of Glory
+bore reproach and shame for the sake of the sinners He eternally loved,
+that whosoever believeth in Him should have everlasting life, glory, and
+joy (Dan. xii. 2).
+
+"The death of the cross," as Jesus suffered it, involved the shedding of
+blood, and "the blood is the life." "He poured out His soul unto death."
+"He gave His life a ransom for many," because "without shedding of blood
+there is no remission," no forgiveness of sin.
+
+But crucifixion, unlike many violent deaths, did not divide or dismember
+the body. In stoning, the back was often broken; by other modes of
+execution, the head was cut off, the neck broken, or the body otherwise
+mutilated. The legs of the crucified might be broken to hasten death,
+but this was no necessary part of the sentence; and concerning Jesus it
+was prophesied, "None of His bones shall be broken" (Psa. xxxiv. 20;
+John xix. 36). And this also was fraught with deep spiritual meaning.
+That bruised and torn, yet perfect body which hung on the cross, and was
+laid in the grave, was but a picture of that holy soul, that perfect
+spirit, which He yielded up to God. How clear was His memory! That the
+Scripture might be fulfilled, He said, "I thirst." How perfect His love!
+He prayed for His executioners; He remembered Mary. How full His
+knowledge of His people, and how perfect His confidence in Himself! He
+blessed the penitent thief, and assured him of a home with Himself in
+heaven.
+
+Oh, wondrous Sufferer! almighty Saviour! None ever died as Jesus died,
+bearing sin and guilt away, and overcoming death, while He laid down His
+sacred life.
+
+The cross of Christ has a mighty influence upon all who believe on His
+name. Paul said, with holy earnestness, "God forbid that I should glory
+in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world
+is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. vi. 14). Once, as a
+Pharisee, he loved the world--the religious world--the esteem of men,
+the applause of his fellow-Pharisees; but now they hated and persecuted
+him, and he despised their favour. So, if we are led to behold by faith
+Jesus crucified for us, the sins, the pleasures, and the friendships of
+the world will lose their power and attractions, and the love of Christ
+will constrain us to live to Him who died and rose again for us.
+
+We find that, when the Apostles were first beaten and threatened for
+preaching the Gospel, "they departed from the presence of the council,
+rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His sake"
+(Acts v. 40, 41). They knew that Jesus loved and gave Himself for them,
+and they, out of love to their Saviour, were willing to lay down their
+lives for His sake, or to live despised and hated by the world.
+
+Before He died, Christ said, "If any man will come after Me, let him
+deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." He foresaw His own
+sufferings from the first, but the joy that was set before Him animated
+Him all the while, and, as His people's Leader, He says, "Follow Me, and
+enter at last into My joy." But Jesus never said, "Take up My cross."
+Oh, no! His cross He alone could bear! His saving sufferings He only
+could endure! It is our own cross that we are called to bear as His
+followers, and His love will strengthen and support us.
+
+Oh, that we may indeed know Him as our once crucified, but now exalted
+Saviour, and follow Him through all life's changes to the bright home
+whither He has gone, living henceforth to Him, and Him alone.
+
+Our next subject will be, Psalm xxxii.
+
+                                     Your loving friend,
+                                                 H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+HOW TO LIVE WELL.
+
+
+We cannot live well without we acknowledge God in all our ways. A
+Christian cannot exist without prayer. Thus, in 1 Thessalonians v. 17,
+it says, "Pray without ceasing," which shows us that we cannot live well
+without prayer. To live well also means that we should obey and honour
+our parents, as enjoined in Ephesians vi. 1, 2, and make ourselves
+useful to those that surround us. And, in 2 Thessalonians iii. 13, it
+says, "Brethren, be not weary in well doing." Jesus Christ has also set
+a pattern, for He was always doing good. He even came into this world to
+die for sinners. As Jane Taylor says--
+
+"Jesus, who lived above the sky,
+Came down to be a Man, and die;
+And in the Bible we may see
+How very good He used to be.
+
+"And so He died; and this is why
+He came to be a Man, and die:
+The Bible says He came from heaven
+That sinners' sins might be forgiven."
+
+If we are taught to live a Christian life--to trust in, and fear God--He
+will be sure to provide for our every want.
+
+To live well is to try and always do the things that are just, treating
+people with respect, and to love those who hate us, and those who
+despitefully use us, for Jesus Christ's sake. He says, in John xv. 20,
+"Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than
+his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if
+they have kept My sayings, they will keep yours also." If we wish to
+live well, we must seek God in little things as well as in larger
+things; for He takes account of the thoughts, words, and actions of men,
+which are to be revealed at the last day.
+
+Living well also means that we should do those things that are pleasing
+in God's sight; for if we love and serve Him truly, we shall be happy
+here and in the life to come, for the righteous Christ will gather as
+His jewels at the great judgment day, and they will be happy for
+evermore in that beautiful heaven which Jesus has prepared for those who
+love Him, and do His will; for Jesus says, in John xiv. 3, "If I go to
+prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself;
+that where I am, there ye may be also."
+
+To live well is to live as expecting every day to be our last, and to be
+looking for that time when the trump of the archangel shall sound, and
+all the dead arise from their graves. We do not know the day, nor the
+hour, when the Son of Man shall come to judge the quick and the dead,
+for it says, in Matthew xxiv. 36, "But of that day and hour knoweth no
+man, no, not the angels in heaven, but My Father only."
+
+Newton expresses in the following verse some good thoughts upon the
+right way to learn how to live, and that is, by seeking God's
+direction--
+
+"Show me what I have to do;
+Every hour my strength renew;
+Let me live a life of faith;
+Let me die Thy people's death."
+
+                               LILLY RUSH
+                             (Aged 13 years).
+
+_Red House, Thornham,
+near Eye, Suffolk._
+
+[There have been several creditable Essays sent, but none that have
+reached the desired mark. We may mention those by Ernest Sawyer,
+Margaret Creasey, E. B. Knocker, Jane Bell, Maria Reeder, E. T. Mann,
+Edith Hirst, Ella Saunders, W. B. Beckwith (aged 11 years), A. Pease,
+Sarah Hicks, and Jesse Hammond. The age of the writer must always be
+given.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of THE LITTLE GLEANER
+(cloth).
+
+The subject for March will be, "Self-Help," and a kind friend has
+promised a copy of "From the Loom to a Lawyer's Gown; or, Self-Help that
+was not all for Self," for the best Essay. We hope we shall have some
+good Essays on the subject. All competitors must give a guarantee that
+they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their own
+composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot
+undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the
+first of February.]
+
+
+
+
+A CHILD'S PRAYER.
+
+SUITABLE FOR THE NEW YEAR.
+
+
+Oh, blessed Jesus, care for me,
+  And wash me in Thy blood;
+Teach me to ever look to Thee,
+  And help me to be good.
+
+Give me Thy Holy Spirit, Lord,
+  And teach me how to pray;
+Oh, let me understand Thy Word,
+  And take my sins away.
+
+Whene'er I'm tempted to do wrong,
+  Oh, let me think of Thee;
+Help me to always guard my tongue,
+  When naughty I would be.
+
+Teach me to tread the narrow way,
+  Which all Thy saints have trod;
+And guard and guide me every day;
+  Be Thou my Lord and God.
+
+Help me to trust in Thee alone,
+  And not have fear of men;
+To seek Thy will before my own,
+  For Jesus' sake. Amen.
+
+                           JANE BELL
+                     (Aged 14 years).
+
+_Sleaford._
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+A RARELY-BLOOMING FLOWER.--In one of the conservatories at Hamilton
+Palace gardens there is a fine specimen of the _Angeavia variegata_ in
+full bloom. The tradition is, that the plant only flowers once in a
+hundred years.
+
+
+STEAM heating and electric lighting of trains is receiving very close
+attention from a number of the leading railway managers in the United
+States. On some roads the change has been decided upon, and cars are
+being reconstructed on the new plans as rapidly as possible.
+
+
+PILOTS' PAY.--From London to Gravesend the pilot's fee may range from
+18s. to L7 18s., and from Gravesend to the Nore from L1 12s. to L7 8s.;
+and while a vessel drawing less than seven feet of water is piloted from
+the Downs to the Isle of Wight for L3 4s., one that draws twenty-five
+feet will cost for the same distance, either way, as much as L14 6s.
+
+
+ROMANISM in America is throwing off its sheep's clothing, and revealing
+its wolfish nature. The following is an extract from one of its
+journals, the _Western Watchman_--"Protestantism! We would draw and
+quarter it. We would impale it and hang it up for crows' nests. We would
+tear it with pincers, and fire it with hot irons. We would fill it with
+molten lead, and sink it in hell fire a hundred fathoms deep." Only the
+genius that invented the multiform cruelties of the Inquisition could
+express itself in such an infernally varied vocabulary of torture.
+
+
+THE WARRANT FOR BUNYAN'S LAST IMPRISONMENT.--Among the Chauncy
+collection of autographs recently dispersed by Messrs. Sotheby, there
+lay, hidden and unnoticed, the original warrant under which Bunyan was
+apprehended for that third and final imprisonment of some six months'
+duration, during which, according to his latest biographer, he wrote the
+first part of "The Pilgrim's Progress." It fills a half-sheet of
+foolscap, and is dated March 4th, 1674-5, under the hands and seals of
+twelve justices, six of them, either then or in the Parliament of 1678,
+members for county or borough, and three of whom had originally
+committed him for the previous twelve years' imprisonment.
+
+
+COMPOSITION DURING SLEEP.--Lord Thurlow told his nephew that, when
+young, he read much at night, and that once, while at college, having
+been unable to complete a particular line in a Latin poem he was
+composing, it rested so on his mind that he dreamed of it, completed it
+in his sleep, wrote it out next morning, and received many compliments
+on its classical and felicitous turn. In my own experience, I have
+imagined myself, during sleep, to be listening to instrumental music
+quite new to me, and have been able to reproduce the melody next day;
+and I have now in my possession a MS. copy of a Dead March composed by
+the author, from whom I had it, in a dream.--_Correspondent of "Notes
+and Queries._"
+
+
+THE DANGERS OF EATING ORANGE PEEL.--It is a very bad habit to eat orange
+peel. Nor is the juvenile habit of eating apples with the peel on to be
+recommended either. Parents who do not care as yet to correct these evil
+propensities will perhaps be more inclined to do so when they hear that
+the little black specks which may be found on the skins of oranges and
+apples that have been kept some time are clusters of fungi, precisely
+similar to those to which whooping-cough is attributed. Dr. Tschamer, of
+Graz, who has made the discovery, scraped some of these black specks off
+an orange, and introduced them into his lungs by a strong inspiration.
+Next day he was troubled with violent tickling in the throat, which by
+the end of the week had developed into an acute attack of
+whooping-cough.
+
+
+A BRAVE CHILD.--One day recently at Sandown, while a gentleman was
+showing his little girl how Lion, a splendid St. Bernard dog, and a
+great favourite in the family, caught pieces of biscuit in his mouth,
+the poor child stole up to put her arm round the dog's neck. Unhappily
+Lion was so engrossed, he never heard the fairy footstep. Taking the
+little face for a dainty morsel intended for him, he sharply closed his
+large teeth in the tender cheek and nostril. Elsie bravely struggled to
+conceal the blood which fast flowed from the wound, and assured her
+mother without a tear that she was "far more frightened than hurt."
+Lion, who had been taught to apologise for wrong-doing by standing up,
+at once assumed that plaintive attitude, while Elsie entreated his
+master not to punish him, as she knew "it was all a mistake." The little
+face is still strapped up, but as the dog was perfectly healthy, the
+only fear entertained is that a permanent mark may be left there. One
+lasting impression was certainly made. The self-control and calmness of
+the mother, who saw the sharp, sudden bite inflicted on her only child,
+and the unflinching courage displayed by Elsie while she pleaded for the
+dumb friend who had so unwittingly injured her, will never be forgotten
+by Lion's master or any one who witnessed the unfortunate
+incident.--_Lady's Pictorial._
+
+
+THE GENERAL AND THE SPARROW.--General Robert E. Lee was one of the
+bravest soldiers and ablest leaders of the Southern States armies in the
+great American Civil War. Along with an almost culpable indifference to
+danger he joined an intense love for animals and a deep feeling for the
+helpless, as the following story will show. He was once visiting a
+battery near Richmond, in Virginia, when the soldiers (with whom he was
+immensely popular) crowded round him, and thus offered a good target for
+the enemy's fire. Lee at once bade them retire to the rear, out of reach
+of harm. The men did so, but--as if unaware of the risk he ran--he
+walked across the yard, and picked up some object from the ground, and
+put it on a tree branch above his head. It was afterwards found that
+this object was an unfledged sparrow, which had fallen out of its nest,
+and which the general had restored to its home at such imminent danger
+to himself.
+
+
+THE END OF A DOG'S QUARREL.--One day, a fine Newfoundland dog and a
+mastiff had a sharp discussion over a bone, and warred away as angrily
+as two boys. They were fighting on a bridge, and before they knew it,
+over they went into the water. The banks were so high that they were
+forced to swim some distance before they came to a landing-place. It was
+very easy for the Newfoundlander. He was as much at home in the water as
+a seal. But not so poor Bruce. He struggled and tried to swim, but made
+little headway. The Newfoundland dog quickly reached the land, and then
+turned to look at his old enemy. He saw plainly that his strength was
+fast failing, and that he was likely to drown, so what should the noble
+fellow do but plunge in, seize him gently by the collar, and, keeping
+his nose above water, tow him safely into port. It was funny to see
+these dogs look at each other as they shook their wet coats. Their
+glance said as plainly as words, "We'll never quarrel any more."
+
+
+THE following tragical story of a pen is deeply interesting, since to an
+instrument in itself so humble the death of a little Liverpool schoolboy
+is due. The lad, sitting at his desk at St. Anthony's School, saw on the
+floor a piece of paper which he wished to pick up. To leave his right
+hand free he put his pen in his breast pocket. He was sitting at the end
+of a bench, from which, in stooping, he fell to the floor. The weight of
+his body fell on the point of the pen. The nib pierced the poor little
+fellow's heart. Amid the silent work of the writing lesson his cry of
+agony rang out with startling effect, and a whole town, hearing of a
+boy's death from such a cause, shares the painful surprise of the
+school-room. The one ray of relief in this painful story shines over the
+grief-stricken home. The public sympathy directed to this house, finds
+it inhabited by a struggling widow, with four young children still
+surviving. A subscription is forthwith got up for her benefit, and the
+son's death is likely to be the means of saving the mother from
+destitution.
+
+
+THE Manchester Ship Canal will be a stone-banked stream, 25 feet in
+depth, and at least 120 feet in width, supplied with numerous docks,
+crossed by lofty bridges for trains, and swing-bridges for road traffic,
+and forming a waterway in which the biggest steamships and sailing
+vessels will be able to pass one another at a fair speed. It will be
+wider and deeper than the Suez Canal, and will depend for its
+construction chiefly on the huge steam excavators, which are a kind of
+cross between cranes and the dredgers we see in rivers and harbours, and
+which remove a cubic yard of soil at a time. It will enable Manchester
+to send her calicoes direct to all quarters of the globe, and will tap
+the chemical region of Runcorn, and the salt districts of Cheshire,
+saving the present cost of transhipment of a million tons per annum of
+the latter condiment. Nearly 20,000 men will find employment for the
+next four years in the construction of this big canal for the passage of
+ocean ships between Liverpool and Manchester. The first sod has been
+quietly cut with a navvy's spade by Lord Egerton of Tatton, the chairman
+of the company, in the presence of twenty directors and a few
+shareholders, at Eastham, where the canal will lead out of the Mersey.
+
+
+HANOVER BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL, TUNBRIDGE WELLS.--The half-yearly meeting
+of the above school was held on Wednesday, October 26th. The meeting was
+presided over by the Superintendent, who in a few opening remarks urged
+the parents to try and send their children to school in time, and in the
+morning as well as the afternoon; after which the children recited their
+various pieces to the Pastor, Mr. Newton. Mr. Botten then proceeded to
+give away the rewards, which he said he hoped they would prize, and lend
+to their brothers and sisters to read if they wanted them; and he hoped
+they would never read the pernicious books and periodicals that found
+such favour amongst boys in our day, but, if they were offered a book to
+read, to show it to father and mother, and, if they did not mind their
+reading it, then all right. In conclusion, he wished the teachers
+God-speed in the work. Mr. Saltmarsh and Mr. House also gave parcels of
+books away, and a pleasant meeting was brought to a close by singing the
+hymn, "Around the throne of God in heaven," Mr. Newton concluding with
+prayer. Each child received a bun on departing.
+
+                                                  W. L. W.
+
+[Illustration: "PAPER, SIR?" (_See page 26._)]
+
+
+
+
+WHAT A TRACT MAY DO.
+
+
+Often, as we journey from place to place by rail, we notice with
+peculiar interest the newsboys at the different stations as they
+politely inquire, "Paper, sir?" and, as we think what advantages they
+have of reading the different kinds of papers and books which pass
+through their hands, we wonder, as we look upon them, what kind of
+reading they prefer, good or bad; and, from the appearance of many, we
+fear it is the latter. We know that many young people of both sexes
+prefer light, foolish, and fictitious books, over which they spend a lot
+of their precious time, reading made-up tales--things that never
+occurred--and we say, What a pity that they should thus waste their time
+in doing worse than nothing, when they might be storing their minds with
+useful knowledge!
+
+We hope our young friend in the illustration is not one of these, for,
+as we look upon his open and pleasant countenance, we are inclined to
+believe he is not, in mind, of such a low order; and, while he may have
+to carry books and papers which we should advise him never to read, we
+can but reflect as to the power for good of such an agency, if used for
+the spread of pure Scriptural truth. Oh, that it were so! Who can tell,
+if good books and tracts were thus scattered, what good might result
+therefrom?
+
+We have read with pleasure, and here give to our readers, the following
+narrative, showing the way the Lord sometimes signally blesses even the
+giving of a tract to a stranger, and may many be encouraged to "go and
+do likewise":--
+
+Roger M---- was one of a family resident in the town of D----, where his
+first days were spent, without anything remarkable taking place to
+distinguish his boyhood from that of many around him. It was, however,
+his privilege, though unvalued at the time, to receive religious
+training in a Sabbath School. It is not known that at this period any
+particular progress was made by him in any department of useful or of
+religious knowledge. Indeed, his after-course would rather prove that,
+like many who have enjoyed similar advantages, he grew up only to show
+that, by nature, he possessed a heart averse from God, and prone to
+depart from Him.
+
+In the course of time Roger M----was placed with a respectable tradesman
+of his native town, with a fair prospect of becoming acquainted with a
+business in which he might have obtained an honest livelihood; but he
+turned his back on his friends and prospects, and enlisted in the
+marines. From his own lips the subsequent account of himself was
+derived.
+
+Year after year passed on, and though often engaged in scenes of carnage
+and bloodshed, he was yet wonderfully preserved both from wounds and
+death. At length, just on the eve of the battle of Waterloo, he was
+drafted from his ship to take a part in that fearful and eventful
+conflict. Amidst wounds and slaughter, and disabled and dying comrades,
+he stood unscathed; and after the peace which followed on that memorable
+victory, he was discharged from the service, and took up his residence
+in the city of E----. Here, however, he only lived to prove how
+ineffectual, of themselves, are the most terrible scenes savingly to
+touch the rebellious heart of man, or even to awaken the mind to any
+just sense of the amazing goodness and long-suffering of God,
+independently of the grace and influence of the Holy Spirit. He spent
+his days in a life of dissipation and drunkenness, unmoved by any
+reflection on the past, or by any regard for the future. Yet was there
+mercy in store for Roger M----. God's ways are not as our ways, neither
+His thoughts as our thoughts.
+
+Returning home one evening in a state of intoxication, a lady placed in
+his hand a religious tract, which, by the mercy of God, he carried home,
+and the next morning read. It is not easy to describe the state of
+feeling that arose in his heart from its perusal. His own account of
+that moment was deeply affecting. Conviction of sin, remorse, alarm of
+conscience, strong desire after peace and pardon, the cry of the jailor,
+"What must I do to be saved?"--all, in tumultuous conflict, agitated his
+spirit. Day after day, week after week, he sought relief to his mind,
+and direction to his anxious heart, by entering various places of
+worship in the city. At length in a little chapel he found that which
+his soul longed for. The word of peace, the glad tidings of salvation
+through the blood of Christ, came home with power to his heart, and he
+obtained peace through believing.
+
+Having become "a new creature in Christ Jesus," he next lived a new
+life, and rendered up himself a living sacrifice to the great Redeemer.
+As Roger M---- had pursued a course of sin unto death, so now he pursued
+a course of obedience unto righteousness, the end of which is eternal
+life. A new life had opened upon him, and as a soldier of the cross he
+served Jesus Christ, his new Captain, with humble zeal and holy joy.
+
+In the last interview which the writer had with him, his expressions of
+overwhelming love to Jesus were most fervent. Tears of gratitude rolled
+down his thin, furrowed cheeks as, with emphasis, and a feeling most
+touching, he acknowledged the debt of love which he owed to his beloved
+Lord. Never did the writer witness so strong an exhibition of heartfelt,
+deep, religious feeling. Roger could speak of nothing but the unmerited
+and wonderful love of his Lord and Saviour, and of His amazing goodness
+in sparing and saving so vile a transgressor.
+
+When the burst of feeling had a little subsided, he expressed a strong
+desire to see his former teacher, then an aged Christian. An interview
+was sought for him, that he might express his gratitude to his
+instructor in the days of his youth, and thank him for all the good
+counsels which had then been given him. Here, again, the sobs and tears
+of the humble child of God burst forth anew, and the friend who
+accompanied him was obliged to shorten the interview, from fear of the
+consequences to both the old men. The scene will never be obliterated
+from the memory of him who pens this recital, nor the conviction,
+moreover, of the deep-seated piety and gratitude of the penitent
+veteran.
+
+One thing amongst others which Roger confessed was this--that, in the
+midst of the conflicts in which he had been engaged, the lessons and
+truths presented to him in the Sabbath School were constantly rushing
+into his mind with indescribable freshness, producing a conflict there,
+compared with which that without was as nothing. Yet, strange to say,
+this resulted in no real conviction or conversion when the danger was
+past. It was not till the little messenger of mercy had reached his
+hand, and its truths, by divine mercy, touched his heart, that he became
+a contrite sinner and humble suppliant at the feet of Jesus, and at
+length was brought to know that, "being justified by faith," he had
+"peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. v. 1).
+
+One point in the character of this converted sinner remains to be
+mentioned--that, although latterly so afflicted by entire deafness as to
+require communication by means of writing, yet was he constant in his
+attendance at the house of God, where, as one of the true circumcision,
+he doubtless "worshipped God in the spirit, rejoiced in Christ Jesus,
+and had no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. iii. 3).
+
+He has long since gone to the unseen world to be with Jesus, "which is
+far better."
+
+This narrative affords no small encouragement to those who distribute,
+even under unpromising circumstances, those leaves which are intended
+for the healing of the soul. "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou
+shalt find it after many days." "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the
+evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall
+prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good"
+(Eccles. xi. 6).
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO SCRIPTURE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 10._)
+
+
+The Farmer is the Lord. "I am the true Vine, and My Father is the
+Husbandman," said the Son, Jesus (John xv. i). The farm is the Bible,
+and the sixty-six fields are the books thereof. The Bible is sown all
+over with spiritual food, which is the Word of God, for His people.
+Those people who seek after the Lord must have a will to come, and
+patience to wait for an answer. There are some people who have the
+Bible, but have no desire after the Lord; but they find other things
+they think better of than seeking after the Lord. There are some people
+who say they hate the Lord, and the Bible, and there is not a minister
+that they will say a good word to. This, Jesus and His servants can
+vouch for a truth. The people who live in those low-built houses are
+those who are humble in the sight of the Lord; and not far from where
+they dwell the ministers live, and they think it a great liberty to
+speak a few words to the ministers, and, as for the Lord, they often
+feel they dare not attempt to speak to Him. But the Lord says, in Luke
+xii. 32, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure
+to give you the kingdom." You would almost wonder how these people
+exist; but they get a little help from the Lord now and then, which
+keeps them alive.
+
+And then it is said, one came to the Bible, and looked in the Book of
+Ruth, but could not gather anything; and Christians cannot gather
+anything from God's Word unless God opens it to them; and if they do not
+get good out of one part of the Bible they go to another, and would be
+glad to glean in either field of Ruth or Esther. In the end, the
+labourer directed the gleaner to the forty-second field, and he gathered
+handfuls (Luke xi. 9-13), and then he told others where to go to find
+plenty of food.
+
+                             MARY WILLERTON
+                             (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Corby, Grantham._
+
+[This is the most correct answer received up to the time of going to
+press.--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+  BE GENTLE.
+
+
+  There is a plant that in its cell
+    All trembling seems to stand,
+  And bends its stalk and folds its leaves
+    From each approaching hand.
+
+  And thus there is a conscious nerve
+    Within the human breast,
+  That from the rash and careless hand
+    Shrinks and retires distressed.
+
+  The pressure rude, the touch severe,
+    Will raise within the mind
+  A nameless thrill, a secret tear,
+    A torture undefined.
+
+  Oh, you whose nature is so formed
+    Each thought refined to know,
+  Repress the word, the glance, that wakes
+    That trembling nerve to woe!
+
+  And be it still your joy to raise
+    The trembler from the shade;
+  To bind the broken, and to heal
+    The wound you never made.
+
+  Whene'er you see the feeling mind,
+    Oh, let this care begin!
+  And though the cell be e'er so low,
+    Respect the guest within.--L. H.
+
+
+
+
+A BIBLICAL DISCOVERY.
+
+
+Bible students will gladly read the account of a remarkable and
+interesting discovery sent to the Council of the Egypt Exploration Fund
+by their explorer, Mr. Flinders Petrie. He has apparently found the
+remains of a royal palace, mentioned in the Bible as "Tahpanhes," and
+referred to by the Father of History in his record of the adventures of
+the first Greek colonists who, six hundred years before the Christian
+era, settled in a corner of the northeastern Delta of Egypt.
+
+These early Greeks conveyed to their countrymen the wisdom of the
+Egyptians; and the science, art, and literature of the older
+civilization was filtered through the artistic Greek intellect to the
+western world.
+
+Students of Egyptian and Greek history will take deep interest in this
+discovery. But the finding of the remains of this royal palace appeals
+to a more numerous and humbler class of students.
+
+In the book of Jeremiah the Prophet, from chapter thirty-seven to
+chapter forty-seven, the reader will find a graphic record of the events
+that preceded, accompanied, and followed the destruction of Jerusalem by
+Nebuchadnezzar. A great portion of the action of this story took place
+in the country in which Mr. Petrie and his Arab labourers have been at
+work for some time past.
+
+After the tumults that followed the departure from Jerusalem of
+Nebuchadnezzar with the captive Jews to Babylon, it was decided by
+Johanan, against the advice and the prophecy of Jeremiah, to fly into
+Egypt, the land of King Zedekiah's old ally. The princesses, and the
+captains, and Jeremiah, were taken across the frontier by Johanan, and
+hospitably received by Pharaoh Hophra, who installed his guests in the
+royal residence in Tahpanhes. Jeremiah could not rest even in the
+stronghold thus provided for himself and his countrymen by the kindness
+of Hophra, and in the court-yard or square of the royal palace of
+Tahpanhes he made a remarkable prophecy. Taking great stones in his
+hands, and burying them in the pavement, the Prophet declared that in
+that very spot King Nebuchadnezzar would spread his pavilion when he
+came, with his destroying army, to punish the Jews, and to execute
+vengeance on their Egyptian allies.
+
+The prophecy, there is every reason to believe, was fulfilled. The
+Babylonish conqueror invaded Egypt, and burnt Pharaoh's house at
+Tahpanhes. Centuries have passed. The sand of the desert, and the mud of
+old Nile, have swept over the site of the remarkable prophecy, and about
+2,500 years after the death of the Prophet, an Englishman rolls away the
+encrustations of time. He discovers the basement floor of the old
+citadel--half prison and half palace. From the ruins he extracts slabs
+of fine limestone covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions, figures of
+captives delicately sculptured and painted, iron and bronze tools. In
+the kitchen he finds pokers, and spits, and broken bottles. The room of
+the little scullery maid is found almost intact. It contains a recess
+with a sink and a bench for the ancient pots and pans.
+
+Mr. Petrie's communication, which can be had from the Secretary of the
+Egypt Exploration Fund, throws a strong light on the wondrous story in
+the grand old Book which has been for centuries a household treasure in
+English homes, and will be read with delight by all lovers of the Bible.
+
+
+EVERY season of life has its appropriate duties.
+
+
+THROUGH all our troubles, the tangled skein is in the hands of One who
+sees the end from the beginning. He shall yet unravel all.
+
+
+
+
+THE CHARCOAL BURNER'S STAR.
+
+(_Concluded from page 9._)
+
+
+Alfred was struck mute with surprise. Even the guide seemed astonished
+at this unexpected welcome to the hut.
+
+It was not until a minute or two after the voices had ceased that they
+ventured to approach the entrance. When they did, they saw the charcoal
+burner standing at the end of a rude table, formed of one broad deal
+plank, supported by four legs, along one side of which were ranged three
+boys between twelve and fourteen years old. Books and paper, with an
+inkstand and pens, were lying on the table. It was a forest school.
+
+The intruders again paused at a sight as unexpected as had been the
+melody they had just heard. But their footsteps had caught the ears of
+those within the hut.
+
+"Who goes there?" asked the man, in a calm voice.
+
+"Friends," replied both Alfred and the guide, and the latter added--
+
+"Good evening, Gervais. It is only your friend Michel. I have brought
+you a gentleman who is very anxious to see you."
+
+"What is your pleasure with me, sir?" asked the charcoal burner, taking
+off his woollen cap.
+
+"First, to wish you a good evening, Monsieur Gervais; and next, to
+apologize for my visit."
+
+"Is there anything you wish to say in private?"
+
+"Nothing very important; but----"
+
+"These boys are in your way?"
+
+"Oh, pray do not let me interrupt you! My business here is not of
+sufficient consequence."
+
+"We have done, sir. Indeed, our evening studies, and more particularly
+our Scripture readings, have been prolonged rather beyond our usual
+hour. We have only one more duty to fulfil, which we never omit. You
+will excuse it, sir."
+
+Without waiting for a reply, Gervais assumed a serious air. The boys
+knelt down before the wooden bench on which they had been sitting.
+Alfred, and even the guide, followed their example, and the woodman
+offered up a brief, but solemn evening prayer; after which he pressed
+affectionately the hands of the young herdsmen, and dismissed them with
+a kind remembrance to their employers.
+
+"Good-night, Monsieur Gervais!" said the boys cheerfully, and in an
+instant they were all leaping up the heights beyond the fir trees, which
+soon hid them from the sight of those who remained behind.
+
+"I expected to find you alone, Monsieur Gervais," said Alfred, "and I
+wished to put a question to you which is now very plainly answered by
+the scene I have just witnessed. Two hours ago, I was with a party of
+friends in the plain below, at some distance from this mountain. At
+nightfall, when we saw the light of your furnace beginning to shine, we
+said among ourselves, as we looked, with no small degree of interest,
+upon this earthly star, as it seemed to us, 'What can the man be doing
+who is watching by the side of this fire?' You see, sir, that I am
+young, and you know that, at my age, good-humoured frolics are not
+uncommon. 'I will soon know,' I said. Well, I mounted my horse
+immediately, and rode at full speed to the foot of the mountain. And now
+that I am here, I find that I have reason to rejoice in my freak,
+Monsieur Gervais, since it has made me the witness of a most interesting
+scene. These pens and paper, and these books--this one in
+particular--afford sufficient evidence of the manner in which you have
+passed the evening. Here, to my surprise, I have found, at this late
+hour, in the deep recesses of the woods, on a wild and lofty mountain, a
+school for useful learning in general, but more especially, as the
+closing of the scene has informed me, for the most important of all
+knowledge--that of the Creator who made, of the Son who redeemed, and of
+the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us. You pass your evenings in pointing
+out to these boys, who might otherwise be running wild along the
+mountains and through the forests, like the beasts that perish, the only
+way that leads to everlasting life. May I ask if you have any particular
+interest in them? Are they your children, or are they employed by you in
+your business?"
+
+"No, sir," said the charcoal burner; "I am neither their father nor
+their master. Alas! they have but one Father, which is in heaven. They
+are orphans, sir, and are employed by the herdsmen. They remain here for
+several months in the year, to assist in tending their cattle and their
+goats, which are kept during the summer in the mountain pastures. They
+are therefore serving an apprenticeship to the line of life for which
+they are destined. But there are other things which are needful for
+them, as well as learning to look after cows, and sheep, and goats; and
+one thing more needful than all the rest, which they might learn to
+neglect, were they left to themselves, without some one to lead them in
+the right path, and to speak to them of the faith and love of the Lord
+Jesus. It is true they are here far removed from the temptations which
+they would meet with in towns, and even in villages; but Satan has his
+snares in all parts--in the wilderness, where he dared to tempt the Son
+of God Himself, as well as in the city, where, they say, his traps are
+set so thickly that it is impossible to avoid them, unless the light of
+God's Holy Spirit is shining on our path. But even here, had he no other
+means of leading them astray, they might fall, by his devices, into the
+worst of sins--the forgetfulness of God, and all they owe to Him. The
+condition, then, of these poor boys has interested me very greatly. I
+have prevailed upon their masters to let them come to me for two hours
+every evening, as soon as the cows and goats are milked, and the sheep
+are in the folds, when I endeavour, with God's help, to teach them to
+read and write, and cast up an account; but, above all, to seek to find
+out the Lord in His holy Word, and to pray to Him. For myself, too, it
+is a profitable as well as a cheerful occupation in this solitude. I
+wish, indeed, that I were able to have them longer with me each day, but
+that our labours will not allow of. On Sundays, indeed, they have rather
+less to do, and we take advantage of this to devote more time to the
+service of God."
+
+"_Rather_ less to do on Sundays!" said Alfred. "Is the Lord's Day, then,
+made only partially a day of rest?"
+
+"Sir," replied Gervais, "there are works of _absolute necessity_ which
+require our attention, here in the mountains, nearly as much on the
+Lord's Day as on the other days of the week. We do not cut wood on the
+Sabbath Day, but my fire must not be allowed to go out. It must be kept
+constantly burning till the operation is complete. So far, indeed, it
+affords a lesson of holy instruction to my young pupils as well as
+myself, and shows us the necessity of the flame of Christian love, and
+faith, and hope being kept alive in our hearts, even when pursuing our
+daily occupations. Then those who have the charge of cattle and sheep
+must attend to their wants, or the poor creatures would suffer sadly by
+their neglect. It takes up a large portion of the day to milk the cows
+and the goats, and I dare say you can understand that, to say nothing of
+the loss their owners would incur were this omitted, the poor beasts
+themselves would suffer bitterly from bodily pain and disease."
+
+"I ought to have thought of this, as I am myself learning to be a
+farmer," observed Alfred. "But do you not draw any spiritual improvement
+for your scholars from this?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir! I show them how Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is constantly
+feeding and caring for _His_ flock, watching over them, and keeping the
+young lambs from going astray; carrying them in His bosom, and giving
+them the bread of life to eat, and the waters of everlasting comfort to
+drink."
+
+"And are your kind instructions confined to these three boys?"
+
+"Not altogether, sir. Most of their masters, when their necessary work
+is done, come with such of their servants as can be spared, on the
+evening of the Lord's Day; and, as we have no pastor up here to teach us
+in the way of holiness, we join together in prayer. We sing 'psalms, and
+hymns, and spiritual songs,' and we 'search the Scriptures,' and nourish
+our souls with the holy Word of God. Most of them, I assure you, sir,
+are very seriously disposed, and love to hear me talk to them of the
+Lord Jesus, and tell them of all He has done to save sinners, to take
+away their sin, to give them repentance, and everlasting life after
+death."
+
+"And it is thus you have been passing your time," exclaimed Alfred,
+"when some of my thoughtless young friends below fancied you might be
+drinking or smoking while you were watching your fire. Happy man! These
+solitudes are no solitudes to you. How far more profitably, how far more
+pleasantly, are you employed than the greater number of those who live
+in the world! I must entreat you to pardon my having intruded upon you,
+I am ashamed to say, from a motive of mere curiosity. But see how God
+often causes even our follies and weaknesses to turn out to our profit.
+I have learned a lesson that I trust, by His grace, I shall never
+forget. It has taught me that every godly man has a part assigned to him
+for others as well as for himself, to show forth the great salvation
+that Christ brought upon earth. You are diligently fulfilling your part.
+You have prayed for work, and our great Master has mercifully provided
+it for you. You are laying up treasure for yourself in heaven, while
+many of those who would be inclined to pity your worldly position are
+wasting their lives in idleness and sin, neglecting the work they might
+do, and burying in the earth the talent committed to their charge.
+Numbers there are in the world who are attempting to secure to
+themselves a memorial among posterity, by erecting hospitals and
+schools, while you are consecrating this little hovel to God in a way
+that might never have been known in this world, but which will not be
+forgotten by the Lord 'in the day when He maketh up His jewels.'"
+
+As he said this, Alfred cast his eyes round the hut, and fixed them upon
+an open chest which stood in one corner, supported upon one or two short
+beams of wood, to preserve the contents from the damp.
+
+"You are not unprovided with books, I see, besides those that lie on the
+table."
+
+"We have indeed a little library there, sir," replied Gervais. "It is
+very small, but quite equal to our wants. You would find there 'The
+Histories of the Old and New Testaments,' 'The Imitation of Jesus
+Christ,' 'The History of France,' 'Robinson Crusoe,' and a few others.
+Would you like to look at the writing of these boys, sir?"
+
+Alfred examined some copy-books lying on the table, and could not help
+expressing his surprise at the progress the lads appeared to have made
+in three short months. Then, looking at his watch, he said--
+
+"I fear I have overstayed my time, but before I go I have yet a duty to
+perform. While I congratulate you most sincerely on the success with
+which God seems to have blessed your endeavours in behalf of these
+destitute youths, I must add that the interest which the idea of your
+isolated situation excited among the party I left in the plain below was
+such that they said I ought not, without some good reason, to intrude
+upon you, and desired me to bring this little offering to you, begging
+of you to accept it, in token of their good-will."
+
+Vainly, however, did the young man press the offering upon the charcoal
+burner. He absolutely refused it.
+
+"Money!" said he; "for what? From whom does it come? Excuse me, sir, but
+you must recollect that you are quite a stranger to me. I do not even
+know your name."
+
+Alfred looked greatly disappointed, but replied that his name was Alfred
+de Blenal.
+
+"What! the son of Madame de Blenal, of ----?"
+
+"The same."
+
+"You are no longer a stranger, sir. Your excellent mother's piety and
+benevolence are well known to all the country around. Well, sir, as you
+seem distressed by my refusal, I will accept your liberal offer, but not
+for myself. I will only take it as trustee for these three boys, to be
+applied to their future maintenance, till they are able to support
+themselves."
+
+"Excellent man!" replied Alfred, deeply affected. "This sum will hardly
+be sufficient for your benevolent purpose, and it will give us pleasure
+to make it up to such an amount as may be required. I have promised to
+return to the persons who are expecting me by midnight, and I fear they
+will be uneasy at my prolonged absence. Take it, then, Monsieur Gervais,
+and whenever you require a little more money for the good works you may
+find occasion to perform in your neighbourhood, do not fail to put me
+under contribution. I shall tell my friends all I have seen and heard,
+and be assured that they will envy me my good fortune. Farewell, and
+remember that, by applying to me when you want anything, either for
+yourself or others, you will only prove that I have inspired you with
+sentiments of esteem and friendship."
+
+Saying this, Alfred gave the charcoal burner a cordial embrace, and
+departed.
+
+The thoughts of Michel, the guide, as he descended the mountain, were
+very different from those with which he had gone up. He was an altered
+man from that night.
+
+Midnight had passed. The supper was waiting at Madame de Blenal's. The
+guests were beginning to be impatient, some from hunger, some from
+curiosity, but more from anxiety. Had he miscalculated the distance? Had
+he mistaken the way? Had he met with an accident? The former conjectures
+were spoken aloud; the latter was only whispered by some who were not
+within Madame de Blenal's hearing. She herself remained silent, but
+perfectly calm. We do not say that the mother's heart was free from
+anxiety, but there was a remedy within it which served as a preventive
+against all idle and unnecessary fears. The eye of God was upon her son,
+and she knew that his own trust was fixed upon His saving arm. She knew,
+too, that, although full of the spirit and buoyancy of youth, he would
+avoid the sin of running into needless danger. If an accident had
+detained him, it was permitted as a trial of her faith, and she was
+prepared to submit.
+
+The impatience of the party was just beginning to reach its height, when
+the sound of a horse's hoofs was heard. Every eye was turned to the
+door, which was soon opened, and Alfred stood before them, smiling,
+cheerful, and uninjured, though in a condition that at first occasioned
+some alarm, but soon excited a burst of laughter.
+
+"Here is ocular proof," cried one, "that he has seen the charcoal
+burner."
+
+"And been at close quarters with him," said another. "He is covered with
+soot."
+
+"Why, Mr. Alfred," said a young lady, "one would think you had embraced
+him!"
+
+"I have, mademoiselle, and I am not ashamed of owning it. Had you seen
+what I have, you would have done the same, without considering your
+dress."
+
+"Why, what have you seen?" was asked by more than one.
+
+"I have found a preacher of righteousness, 'a teacher of babes,' in the
+forest--one who is an example to us all--and I have learned that,
+whatever our station in life may be, we may do good service to our
+Lord."
+
+Alfred then gave a full detail of his adventure.
+
+"So then," said the old lady who had decided the question about the
+money, "while we were indulging in foolish conjectures, and idly jesting
+about this worthy man, he was engaged in the pious task of teaching
+young boys to read God's holy Word, and the eye of that God was upon us
+all. My dear young friends, this is a lesson which I trust you will
+never forget. I see by your looks that it has produced its effect, and
+given birth to serious thoughts in your hearts. God has caused your
+inconsiderate frolic to turn out well, and I suspect that this will be a
+happy day for the pupils of Gervais. The orphans will not want
+protectors. Now let us go to supper. Our friend Alfred must be hungry
+after his ride, and he has well earned his meal."
+
+These words, together with the circumstances that gave rise to them,
+made a deep and salutary impression upon the hearers. The supper passed
+cheerfully, and the conversation turned upon what could best be done for
+the charcoal burner and the poor orphans. Many plans were proposed, and
+at last one was suggested which met with general approbation.
+
+The young men, in consequence, all visited the mountain forest and the
+hut, which, under their exertions and superintendence, soon disappeared,
+and a comfortable chalet rose in its place, in which Gervais continued
+for many summers to pursue his useful labours, and more than one or two
+successive generations of boys owed their teaching to him, and their
+establishment in the world to the care of the patrons whom Alfred's
+visit had, by God's mercy, raised up for them.
+
+
+
+
+FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT.
+
+
+In a conversation with the late Richard de Courcy, John Berridge
+observed that he had, for many years, been preaching up self, but not
+Christ Jesus the Lord:--
+
+I was a length of time in Arminian fetters. John and Charles Wesley got
+me into their cradle, and the devil kept rocking; but the Holy Spirit,
+in a most remarkable manner, delivered me from the sleep of sin by
+slaying the legality of my heart. I used to lament the unprofitableness
+of my preaching, and though I was a dealer in fire and brimstone, I
+could make no impression on my hearers.
+
+One day, my man Thomas was sawing a sturdy piece of oak, and, as I was
+standing by him, he threw down his saw, and turning to me, said,
+"Master, I must give this job up; it is so knotty." I took up the saw,
+and said, "Tom, let me try"; and to work I went, and, being of muscular
+strength, I soon overcame the difficulty.
+
+It occurred to me, when leaving the field, that my preaching resembled
+Tom's sawing, and these words were impressed on my mind--"Who art thou,
+O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain." I
+returned to my chamber, and poured out my heart to the Lord. A
+conviction arose in my mind that the work that God alone can perform I
+looked for the creature to produce. On reflection, I found the drift of
+my preaching for twenty years had been to tell the sinner to put the key
+into the lock of the door, so as to open it. I never thought of my
+Beloved putting His hand by the hole of the door, nor of applying to Him
+who has the keys of David, who "openeth, and no man shutteth; and
+shutteth, and no man openeth."
+
+On the Sunday following, I took my text from Isaiah--"Ye also made a
+ditch between two walls, for the water of the old pool; but ye have not
+looked unto the Maker thereof, neither had respect unto Him."
+
+From that time God the Holy Ghost has given me better tools for my
+workmanship. In addressing those whose hearts are unrenewed and
+unchanged, I make no propositions or calls. I cry aloud, and lift up my
+voice, and show my people their transgressions and their sins. I then
+turn from the unconverted, and implore my Master to take the work in
+hand, to convince of sin, and to lead them to Christ. With uplifted eyes
+and outstretched arms I cry, "Lay hold of these rebels, O Lord, as the
+angel did of lingering Lot, and overcome them by Thy omnipotent power,
+so as to lay down their arms to come in, that Thy house may be filled."
+John Berridge can do nothing but say, "Awake, O arm of the Lord!" This
+is my province; a step further I cannot, I dare not, go.
+
+For the last twelve years the Lord has, in a most wonderful manner,
+displayed the riches of His grace in giving me innumerable seals to my
+ministry, both in town and country--trophies of mercy, as studs in the
+Mediatorial crown of my dear Redeemer.
+
+                                           OLD EVERTON.
+
+[Oh, that there were more such preachers in the present day!]
+
+
+  When bold, presumptuous men stand up,
+    And fain would make believe
+  That they are teachers sent of God,
+    And thus poor souls deceive,
+
+  They should, by every God-taught soul,
+    Be faithfully withstood,
+  If aught they bring to us as truth
+    But Jesus and His blood.
+
+  Such men as these the Word declares
+    Shall come, and shall deceive;
+  But sinners, truly born of God,
+    Will not such men receive.
+
+  If possible, we know they would
+    Deceive Thine own elect;
+  But, bless Thy precious name, dear Lord,
+    Thou wilt Thine own protect.
+
+  How solemn is the thought to me--
+    Such men may think they're right,
+  Yet their profession will, if left,
+    End in eternal night!
+
+  "Depart, ye cursed!" will be said
+    By lips that cannot lie;
+  "Since you have hated Me and Mine,
+    Your doom is now to die.
+
+  "You see, though now it is too late,
+    The oil-less lamp won't do;
+  The door against you now is shut;
+    There is no passing through."
+
+  My soul, reflect! How stands the case
+    With me, a helpless sinner?
+  I cannot hope to win the race;
+    But Jesus is my Winner.
+
+  I never should have sought to Thee,
+    Dear Lord, Thou knowest well,
+  If Thou hadst not first called me,
+    And plucked my feet from hell.
+
+                                      B. W.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN FEBRUARY.
+
+
+Feb. 5. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 7.
+Feb. 12. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 8.
+Feb. 19. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 9.
+Feb. 26. Commit to memory Ruth ii. 10.
+
+
+PUT heart in your work, whatever it is. If it be the lowliest, simplest
+little task, it will be ennobled by your doing it well and cheerfully,
+and taking real pleasure in it.
+
+
+
+
+"THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS."
+
+(ZECHARIAH iv. 10.)
+
+
+The second temple was much smaller than, and very inferior to, the
+first, and from it were wanting the ark, the Shechinah glory, the sacred
+fire, and the Urim and Thummim. Hence we read that, when it was erected
+and dedicated, the older men that had seen the former temple wept (Ezra
+iii. 12). Compared with that, the second temple saw but a "day of small
+things" (Hag. ii. 3).
+
+And thus do we sometimes speak of the days of childhood and youth, and
+rightly so. Young people are small in stature and little in ability.
+Their minds are not much cultivated at present, their faculties
+undeveloped. Their views of things are narrow and circumscribed. They
+have seen and know but little of the world, or, indeed, of anything at
+all. But children are not to be despised on that account. We who are
+older must not think depreciatingly of them, nor should the young
+depreciate themselves--their abilities, their time, their opportunities.
+Do not waste your precious moments, for yours is a golden age, which
+will quickly pass away, and can never return.
+
+Do not imagine that you are too young to exert any influence over others
+for good or harm. You may, and do, influence not only your companions,
+but many older people also. As children and youths are old enough to
+sin, they are old enough also to be impressed by the Spirit of God--yea,
+even savingly converted, if God so will it.
+
+Not long ago, a very little boy, dying, was heard to say, "Oh, Lord
+Jesus, please make room for a little boy!" and I doubt not, his prayer
+was as real and as acceptable to God as was that of the dying
+malefactor, "Lord, remember me," &c. Another dear little fellow said,
+"If I ever get to heaven, I'll go straight up to Jesus, throw my arms
+around His neck, and say, 'I'm come! I'm come!'"
+
+Very little things are not without their importance or value. The earth
+is nourished all summer by tiny dew-drops. The greatest mountains, even
+huge Chimilari, towering five and a half miles into the clouds, and all
+the other peaks in the Himalaya and Andes ranges, are formed of tiny
+molecules of earthy matter.
+
+Take a lesson from the coral formations. These are the work of a very
+little creature called a _polype_, or sea-anemone. Recent research has
+led to the discovery of much that is highly interesting respecting these
+little creatures. One polype, fixing its minute body to the rocky bottom
+of the sea, discharges a chalky secretion, which gradually grows up a
+branched trunk. The end of each branch is terminated by another polype;
+and thus it divides and multiplies itself, until a huge mass of red
+coral is formed. The more common white coral is similarly produced.
+
+Beware of what are called "little sins." Do not think them mere trifles.
+Bad in themselves, they likewise extend and grow into habits. These,
+once acquired, will hold you down with the force of a mighty chain.
+
+Of late years vine-stocks have been imported from America into France
+and Italy. Upon these a tiny insect, called _phylloxera_, has been
+found--so small that thirty-three of them placed lengthwise would not
+measure more than an inch; and yet so destructive have these tiny things
+proved, and so rapidly have they been known to spread, that they have
+been the destruction of more than a million acres of vines.
+
+One has well observed that "a great sin committed once shows where the
+devil has been; but petty sins, nourished into a habit, show where the
+devil lives."
+
+[Illustration: "HER FATHER'S BAD WAYS MADE HER LIFE HARD." (_See page
+38._)]
+
+One of the discoveries of modern medical science is, that the disease
+known as cholera may be produced by a microscopic insect (the _Conina
+Bacillus_) being taken into the stomach inadvertently with our food.
+This minute creature propagates with enormous rapidity in the blood,
+until that terrible malady is the result. Thus many great things are
+developed from the very smallest--not only great evils, but great
+blessings also.
+
+In doing good, we must not despise "the day of small things." The
+beginnings, though imperfect and weak, are not without their own
+peculiar value, and ultimately they lead on to excellence.
+
+Travellers on the continent are often struck by the contrast exhibited
+between two paintings which are shown in the museum at Rotterdam. The
+one is exceedingly poor--a mere daub. The most enthusiastic connoisseur
+cannot discover in it any mark of genius. The other painting is a grand
+work of art, almost priceless in value. Yet, strange to say, the same
+painter executed both--the celebrated Rembrandt. The first illustrates
+the commencement of his career as an artist; the other is a masterpiece,
+while many years of earnest, patient toil intervened.
+
+There must be a beginning to all things, and many dear Sabbath scholars
+have been instrumental of good to their parents and friends. I will
+mention one instance of this, selected from scores which have come under
+notice at different times.
+
+In a miserable home there once resided a drunken father, with one girl,
+his only child. Of course, he took no particular interest in her
+welfare, either body or soul. But some kind friend got her to attend a
+Sabbath School. There she was brought to know and love the Saviour, and
+often during the week, while attending to the house, she was known to
+sing the sweet hymns she had learned. This was her only comfort, for her
+father's bad ways made her life hard.
+
+One day, when she was thus occupied, her father was in another room,
+sleeping off his drunkenness. On awaking, he heard the little maid
+singing--
+
+"There is a happy land,
+  Far, far away."
+
+The Lord was pleased to use these words for another awakening. The grace
+of God touched his heart, and he said to himself, "Yes, it must be far
+away for her, poor thing; it cannot be here with me." That thought came
+from God. It melted his frozen heart, brought him to his knees, caused
+him to utter strong cries for mercy, led him to ask his little daughter
+to explain the way of salvation, and ultimately he was enabled to
+rejoice in pardoning mercy.
+
+Dear young Gleaners, may the Lord thus be pleased to bless the reading
+of the LITTLE GLEANER, and the instruction imparted in the Sabbath
+School, first to your own soul, and then make you a similarly honoured
+instrument of good to others.
+
+                                A. E. REALFF.
+
+_Dunstable._
+
+
+GOD never wrought miracles to convince atheism, because His ordinary
+works convince it.
+
+
+A SUNNY, happy face naturally, is worth a world of recipes upon
+cheerfulness. Only let one possessing it come into a room where there
+are a number of melancholy souls, and see how soon the magnetic
+influence begins to relax the lines of care around the mouth and eyes of
+the burdened ones, and the light of forgotten smiles to illumine the
+dark faces! The very breath of summer has blown through the room,
+bringing the breath of meadow sweets on its wings.
+
+
+
+
+HOW A GREAT MISTAKE WAS DISCOVERED.
+
+A TRUE INCIDENT.
+
+
+My grandmother was always looked upon by those who knew her as a good
+Churchwoman, a dutiful wife, an affectionate mother, and a good
+neighbour. She attended the services and partook of the Sacrament
+regularly, visited the sick, gave alms to the poor, and was generally
+regarded as a very religious, upright, consistent, and exemplary person.
+Yet, notwithstanding this outward goodness, her mind was not at rest.
+Her religion yielded no joy, her service brought no satisfaction. Nor
+could it be otherwise, for, instead of it being the spontaneous outflow
+of a heart constrained by love, it was as a task imposed--a duty
+performed in the hope of pleasing God, and meriting His favour, and in
+this way obtaining peace and rest to her soul.
+
+Poor grandmother! These were "deadly doings"; but she knew it not, for
+her eyes were blinded by the god of this world (Satan), and her
+unsuccessful attempts to procure peace by these means often left her
+depressed in spirit and cast down in mind. But God had better things in
+store for her, although it was by no ordinary means that He was pleased
+to make known to her His more excellent way.
+
+One Sunday, she went to church as usual, and took part in the singing
+and prayers, which were performed in the same mechanical order as at
+other times. It was not until the text was read out that her attention
+was particularly aroused; but this so arrested her that it all seemed to
+be intended for herself. The words, "Ye must be born again," uttered by
+the lips of an unconverted preacher, were made the message of God to her
+soul, but not as yet the message of peace. Her conscience was troubled,
+and as the words of the text were revolved in her mind, and the
+necessity of the new birth laid hold upon her heart, she trembled in her
+seat, and all her fancied goodness fled away; for here was Nicodemus, a
+good man, a teacher of religion, a pattern of morality, being told by
+the Lord Jesus that he must be "born again," or he could not enter
+heaven. She could see now that her almsgiving and church-going would not
+satisfy the righteous claims of a just and holy God.
+
+She had made a most blessed discovery--that she was a lost sinner,
+"having no hope, and without God in the world." She returned home in
+great distress of mind, and so continued until the next day. These
+painful exercises then showed no signs of abatement, for the words of
+the text kept ringing in her ears; so, on the morrow, as early as
+convenient, she sought an interview with the clergyman, in the hope that
+he might be able to minister relief to her troubled heart.
+
+But "woe unto you, ye blind guides!" The only counsel he could give was,
+to remind her of her good deeds, her consistent life, her regular
+attendance at church, &c., urging her to be calm and to banish from her
+mind these distressing thoughts, as there was not the slightest
+foundation for her fears. But this only increased her trouble, and she
+cried out, in great anguish of soul, "Tell me how I can be 'born again'!
+Tell me over again what you were telling the people yesterday." As she
+earnestly entreated him thus, he became greatly perplexed, for, alas!
+the sermon he had preached the day previous was borrowed, and had since
+been returned to its owner; so, in much confusion, he had to confess his
+inability to help her; but said he, "You must get into cheerful company,
+read lively books [at the same time offering to lend her some of
+Shakespeare's plays], and these impressions will soon wear off." But the
+solemn words from John iii. 7 were fastened in her mind by the "Master
+of Assemblies," to bring forth their fruit in due season.
+
+My grandmother left the minister in great despair, which continued and
+increased to such an extent that eventually it became necessary to
+remove her to an asylum, and her cries of distress were heartrending,
+her incessant and unchanging cry being, "I must be 'born again'! Tell me
+how I must be 'born again'!" But strange as it may appear, this was
+God's way of bringing her both mental and spiritual relief. A Christian
+lady who visited the asylum became acquainted with her case, and
+learning that there were times when grandmother was quieter and more
+herself, she resolved, if possible, to enlist the co-operation of a
+godly minister of her acquaintance; and having made it a matter of
+prayer, the way was soon open for him to see her, and the visit was made
+with the happiest results.
+
+As the glorious Gospel message was set before her, in simple and earnest
+language, she listened with rapt attention, and drank in the blessed
+truth which was soon to become the power of God unto her salvation.
+After this visit she was a little restless at times, but as the truth
+entered her soul, and she was enabled by "precious faith" to lay hold
+upon Christ, her fears all vanished, and she gradually became more calm
+and peaceful. She was led to see that peace was made for her by the
+"blood of the cross," and not by her works; and, "being justified by
+faith, she had peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."
+
+She had now known and experienced the blessed change so long sought, and
+which might have been set forth at her first awakening had a wise
+counsellor been at hand. The change wrought in her soul was very real,
+and acted so beneficially upon her mind that shortly afterwards she was
+able to return to her home and friends, to tell "what great things the
+Lord had done unto her." The remainder of her life was one of settled
+peace and joy, fruitful in good works, and abounding in thanksgiving and
+praise to God.
+
+Dear reader, how is it with you? Have you experienced this great change?
+Remember, nothing but reality will do for God and eternity. Neither
+education, morality, reformation, nor religious profession, can take the
+place of the new birth. "They that are in the flesh cannot please God."
+There must be a new life and a new power communicated, in which to love
+and serve God; and this can only be "by the washing of regeneration and
+renewing of the Holy Ghost." "Except a man be born again, he cannot see
+the kingdom of God" (John iii. 3).--_Selected._
+
+
+
+
+THE ENEMIES OF GOD AND OF HIS PEOPLE SCATTERED.
+
+
+As the anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada is to be
+celebrated this year, the following anecdote may not be uninteresting to
+our readers, as showing a like providence in the case of New England
+Christians.
+
+Dr. Wisner remarks that the destruction of the French armament, under
+the Duc D'Auville, should be remembered with gratitude and admiration by
+every inhabitant of America. This fleet consisted of forty ships of war,
+and was destined for the destruction of New England. It sailed from
+Chebucto, in Nova Scotia, for that purpose. In the meantime the godly
+people, apprized of their danger, had appointed a season of fasting and
+prayer to be observed in all their churches.
+
+While Mr. Prince was officiating in Old South Church, Boston, on the
+fast day, and praying most fervently that the dreaded calamity might be
+averted, a sudden gust of wind arose (the day till then had bean
+perfectly calm)--so violent as to cause a loud clattering of the
+windows. The pastor paused in his prayer, and, looking round upon the
+congregation with a countenance of hope, he again commenced, and, with
+great ardour, supplicated the Almighty to cause that wind to frustrate
+the object of their enemies.
+
+A tempest ensued, in which the greater part of the French fleet was
+wrecked. The Duc D'Auville, the principal general, and his second in
+command, both committed suicide. Many died from disease, and thousands
+found a watery grave.
+
+A late President remarks--"I am bound, as an inhabitant of New England,
+to declare, were there no other instance than the above to be found, the
+blessings communicated on the occasion now referred to would furnish
+ample proof, concerning answers to prayer, to every sober and
+intelligent man."
+
+
+
+
+A HINT TO PARENTS.
+
+
+In writing upon the education of the young, a thoughtful writer has made
+the following observations:--
+
+"The little triumphs and successes of the young mind should never be
+lightly passed over without a token of just and fitting praise from the
+lips of its parents. The love of approbation is one of the strongest
+incentives to improvement and industry which the Creator has implanted
+in the human mind. In the child, this feeling is very predominant; and,
+if disappointed of its justly-earned tribute, will be checked, and the
+child disheartened and mortified.
+
+"Benjamin West relates that he owed his success in life to the fond kiss
+of delighted approval bestowed on him by his mother, on his bringing her
+a rude production of his pencil when quite a little boy. 'That kiss,'
+said the great artist, 'made me a painter.'
+
+"Praise, then, when merited, should never be withheld. It is the
+chief--indeed, generally the only--recompense to which children look;
+and it is a bitter and injudicious cruelty to deprive them of it. The
+approval and the censure of its parents and teachers should, in this
+sense, be the guiding stars of a child's existence. But care should be
+taken that neither should be bestowed carelessly or with partiality, so
+as to induce vanity, or, on the other hand, bitterness of feeling."
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+An Apostle employed as a messenger.
+
+The son of Zephaniah.
+
+A disciple called "the chamberlain of the city."
+
+A place whence gold was brought to the temple.
+
+An idol of Damascus.
+
+He who arrested a prophet that was put into a dungeon.
+
+Who said, "The Lord is good, a Stronghold in the day of trouble," &c.?
+
+A disciple who dwelt at Troas.
+
+A sorcerer struck blind.
+
+The name given to the sockets for fastening the stones in the ephod.
+
+That without which it is impossible to please God.
+
+The place where one was struck dead for touching the ark.
+
+Aaron's wife.
+
+The Syriac name for "Father."
+
+The Epistle where the words are--"Ye are not your own," &c.
+
+The place to which Samson gave a name, where he quenched his thirst
+after slaying the Philistines.
+
+
+Total--one of the titles of Christ, used prophetically.
+
+
+LOW expense is the highway to fortune.
+
+
+
+
+THE SIXTH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS GATHERING OF EBENEZER SUNDAY SCHOOL,
+HASTINGS.
+
+
+Year succeeds year and marks the flight of time, and, in its flight,
+leaves the impress of many changes, proving to every thoughtful mind
+that "here we have no continuing city." But, amid the changes of life,
+the Lord encourages His people to wait upon Him; and none need to do so
+more than they who are engaged in the work of spreading His truth,
+whether among old or young; and when the spirit of prayer is kept alive
+in their midst, they are not without testimony that "the Lord is with
+them." These thoughts were in the minds of some who witnessed the
+assembling of the scholars of this school on December 27th, and they
+marvelled how any God-fearing man or woman can feel indifferent to the
+welfare of the young, or look on unmoved as they assemble together. To
+some of us these gatherings are as "the solemn assembly." We see an
+eager, expectant throng, seeking for that which shall please them--for
+the most part, seemingly unconscious, for the time at least, that they
+have immortal souls that must live in eternal happiness or eternal
+misery, and, therefore, without a knowledge of their state before God.
+We see our own children, and yearn over them in prayer before God, and,
+like Ezra, we would "afflict ourselves before God" to seek a right way
+for ourselves and our little ones.
+
+The scholars assembled in the chapel, as usual, at half-past two, when
+the proceedings were opened by a short address from our Pastor and
+President, Mr. T. Hull. Many friends encouraged us by their presence,
+though the severe weather considerably influenced their number.
+
+As soon as a hymn had been sung, Mr. Hull read and expounded the first
+Psalm, showing the character of that man whom God had pronounced
+blessed. He then earnestly besought the Lord's blessing, and followed it
+by a few words on the preciousness of truth.
+
+The report was then read by the Secretary, Mr. Ellis, and again proved
+to be of a most interesting and encouraging character. The steady
+increase that marked the earlier years of this school has been
+continuous, the number on the register now being 250, showing an
+increase of sixteen during the year. The average attendance has been 153
+in the morning, and 194 in the afternoon, as compared with 135 and 169
+in 1886. The highest single attendance was 223. Two scholars have been
+lost by death, and one teacher by removal.
+
+We give an extract from the report, as expressing the earnest feeling of
+those engaged in the work--"To record an increase in numbers is
+pleasing, as showing outward success; but the success we desire is, that
+our scholars may be brought to a knowledge of the Lord, that God's truth
+may be established in their hearts, and that many that meet with us now
+may bless the Lord for the instrumentality of Ebenezer Sunday School."
+
+The financial statement showed a balance in hand of L5 16s. 7d. This
+would be to December 1st, the date to which the accounts are made up,
+and, therefore, leaves the expenses of this day, with the prizes, to be
+met by the balance in hand, which, of course, is quite inadequate. But
+the executive feel sure that the same kind thoughtfulness that has put
+them beyond anxiety in the past will not be wanting in the future. The
+expenses of the year have been L34 11s. 4d.; the income L32 10s., which,
+added to the balance brought forward from last year, makes L40 8s.
+
+Several addresses were next given, and listened to with marked
+attention. The Superintendent, Mr. J. Trimming, spoke of his own
+feeling in the work, and how earnestly he looked for the blessing of the
+Lord; the anxiety he felt for the young, and the vast importance of
+putting a right value on the Word of God.
+
+Mr. R. Funnell, who is in his seventy-eighth year, was most
+enthusiastically received. He is a pattern of diligence and earnestness
+in everything connected with the welfare of this school and Church. He
+very nicely used the illustration of Elijah gathering the people on
+Mount Carmel, as showing his thoughts on Sunday School work. Though we
+may build altars, yet, if no living fire comes down from heaven, no
+saving work will be accomplished.
+
+Mr. Poole enforced the importance of taking heed to both what we read
+and what we hear, and to treasure up the Word, that it might be of
+profit.
+
+Mr. Ellis, the Secretary, followed with a few affectionate and earnest
+words, at the close of which, Mr. Hull proceeded to distribute the
+prizes--the most interesting event of the afternoon. Before distributing
+to the scholars, Mr. Hull called on three teachers, namely, Miss P.
+Funnell, Miss M. Funnell, and Mr. Jesse Vine, to receive a present from
+their respective classes--a proceeding most heartily received by the
+whole school. And now, class after class filed past the President to
+receive the book prize awarded to them; and though the list was long,
+and the recipients many, he had a kindly word for all. Mr. Hull does not
+spare himself on these occasions, and by his pithy remarks and
+enforcement of precepts, suggested by the proceedings, contributes in no
+small degree to the success of the gathering.
+
+Tea was now announced, the arrangements for which--both for scholars and
+friends--were excellent, and most heartily did the assembly respond to
+the invitation.
+
+At the close of the tea, the scholars again took their places in the
+chapel, and proceeded to carry out a plan wholly devised and arranged by
+the Superintendent. In introducing the subject, Mr. Trimming spoke of
+the importance of the study of the Word of God--a study which he had
+reason to fear was sadly neglected; and with a view to show the Word of
+God as a harmonious whole, and to bring into prominence the Book of
+Proverbs, he had prepared a subject, or a series of subjects, which he
+called, "The Crown of Glory." He read Proverbs iv. 7-9, as the basis of
+his plan. In a crown there are precious stones, the precious stones in
+this crown being--first, the fear of the Lord; secondly, repentance;
+thirdly, seeking God; fourthly, shunning evil; fifthly, obedience to
+instruction; sixthly, waiting upon God; seventhly, acknowledging God's
+sovereignty; eighthly, truthfulness and honesty; ninthly, guards for the
+temper; tenthly, guards for the tongue; eleventhly, God's power over all
+hearts; twelfthly, true friendship.
+
+To illustrate and bring out into bold relief each of these precious
+stones, each class had prepared portions of Scripture, hymns, or poems
+to recite as each subject was announced. It must have repaid the
+Superintendent for all the trouble he had taken, and given the friends
+much pleasure to hear the manner in which the different classes
+acquitted themselves, the Young Men's Bible Class especially. Throughout
+the entire proceedings, hymns, specially selected for the occasion, were
+nicely sung by the scholars, and contributed much to the heartiness of
+the gathering.
+
+The school-room was decorated in the usual manner, namely, with garments
+destined for distribution among the deserving poor. These garments have
+been made, as in former years, by the scholars and friends--in fact, the
+School Dorcas is now an established institution, and shows what may be
+done by kind hearts and nimble fingers.
+
+The meeting was brought to a close, shortly before nine o'clock, with
+the usual acknowledgments, the singing of "Shall we meet beyond the
+river?" and prayer, every one feeling that another pleasant and
+profitable meeting had been held.
+
+                                                C. E.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+PSALM XXXII.
+
+
+With our Bibles open before us, dear young friends, we will try to make
+a few comments on this portion of Scripture. But let us first turn to
+Psalm li., for there is the sad confession of sin which went before this
+joyful song of "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven." This
+first verse is a shout of joy and gratitude. Oh, the happiness--the
+indescribable happiness--of the forgiven sinner!
+
+Four words are used to describe wrong-doing and guilt: _transgression_,
+or trespass--a venturing on forbidden ground; _sin_--a failing, or
+falling short of goodness; _iniquity_ (second verse), wilfulness,
+rebellion; and _guile_--deceit and falsehood.
+
+And here are four pictures of God's saving love. _Forgive_ means "forth
+give." Pardon flows forth freely and fully from the heart of God to all
+who truly confess their sins and entreat His mercy. Sin is _covered_,
+for Christ is the _Propitiation_ for His people's sins, and these two
+words carry us back to the tabernacle's most holy place, and bring to
+view the covering, or lid, of the ark, the mercy-seat, sprinkled with
+atoning blood and bright with the divine glory. Jesus has died, and His
+blood cleanseth from all sin. To Him David looked, and was saved, and
+faith now looks back to His perfect Sacrifice, and rejoices in Him
+alone.
+
+Then iniquity is not imputed to the pardoned one, for "it is God that
+justifieth." "Impute" or "reckon" reminds us of an account book, with
+its columns of debt and credit entries. God will not charge His children
+with iniquity, for Jesus paid their debts, and Christ's goodness and
+merits are reckoned in their favour, and they shall receive all
+blessings for His sake.
+
+And then these blessed ones are _made_ as well as "reckoned" righteous.
+In their "spirit there is no guile." They, through God's Spirit, become
+honest and sincere. Oh, how blessed are these forgiven ones!
+
+Then David, for the sake of contrast, presents another picture--his own
+attempts at covering his sin. What clumsy, miserable failures! He tried
+to cover one stain by another blot, and then threw the cloak of
+falsehood over all. But the weary months passed on, and brought him no
+relief from the unspeakable wretchedness that filled his heart and wore
+out his body by day and by night, till Nathan, the prophet, was sent by
+God to reprove him, and then, with a full heart, David acknowledged all,
+and received the free pardon of his Heavenly Father.
+
+Now, David would be useful to others, and warn sinners against the evil
+ways they are pursuing (see ver. 10, first clause), and would encourage
+all who are seeking the Lord to hope in His mercy, who had been so
+merciful to him. God had often been his Hiding-place (ver. 7) when he
+fled from Saul into rocks and caves of the earth. His sure defence was
+the Lord Himself. He preserved him from death; and now he had afresh
+experienced His loving-kindness. And as we read this verse, are we not
+reminded of the sweet lines--
+
+  "Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
+  Let me hide myself in Thee"?
+
+The Lord Himself is the great Instructor and Leader of His people, and
+He guides them with His eye always upon them, watching and protecting
+the objects of His care (ver. 8). But David would tenderly exhort all
+who heard, and still hear him, to dread sin, and be afraid of all
+wayward, self-willed feelings. "Be ye not as the horse, or the mule,
+that have no understanding" of their owners' will sometimes, but will,
+if possible, get their own way, and need to be steered and restrained.
+"I have been like them," David seems to say, "and I was allowed to take
+my own course; and oh, how fearfully I went astray! Be warned by my
+fall, and learn, with me, to pray, 'Hold Thou me up, and I shall be
+safe.'"
+
+"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but they that trust in the Lord,"
+though they are weak, and foolish, and imperfect, "shall be compassed
+about with mercy." Therefore, "be glad in the Lord, ye righteous: and
+shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart," for He is good and
+faithful, and will preserve you; He is gracious, and will forgive; He is
+holy and almighty, and He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness, and
+fill and crown you with His glory for ever.
+
+May we be kept by the power and providence of God from falling into sin
+and evil, but since we have sinned and come short of His glory--since we
+need pardon and cleansing--may we be led to pray, with David, "Wash me,
+and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and
+renew a right spirit within me." Like him, may we know the joys of
+divine forgiveness, and then be helped to show forth our Saviour's
+praise, not only by our words, but in our lives, by walking in the way
+of His commandments, and "cleaving to Him with purpose of heart."
+
+Our next subject will be, John xvii. 22.
+
+                                  Your loving friend,
+                                                H. S. L.
+
+
+DO those things that you judge to be good, although, after you have done
+them, you may be disesteemed, being regardless of the praise or blame of
+the vulgar.--_Pythagoras._
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+WHAT KIND OF SERVICE IS MOST ACCEPTABLE TO GOD?
+
+
+God accepts that service which is prompted entirely out of love to Him
+with greater pleasure than any other. If we obey our parents and serve
+God only with a view of being praised by men, He does not accept our
+service, and we may be compared with the scribes and Pharisees washing
+the outside of the platter and of the cup, but leaving the inside
+unclean. Jesus says, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
+for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within
+they are full of extortion and excess" (Matt. xxiii. 25). Jesus means by
+this that the scribes and Pharisees gave heed to all the outward
+ceremonies of religion, and were, to all appearance, good and upright;
+but they did not really love God in their hearts. God looks upon the
+motive which prompts any little kindness to any one. He does not look so
+much at the action. He says, even a cup of cold water, if given for
+Jesus' sake, will be remembered and rewarded (Matt. x. 42; Mark ix. 41).
+Jesus says that even the widow who put her farthing into the treasury,
+gave more than the scribes and Pharisees, who put in large sums of
+money. He means by this that the widow put in all she had. She must have
+had great love to God to give her last farthing for the use of God's
+house, and the Pharisees were really prompted to put in their large sums
+of money because of the praise of man. In obeying our parents, and in
+whatever we do, we should do it as unto the Lord.
+
+Paul says, "Not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but as the servants
+of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing
+service as to the Lord, and not to men" (Eph. vi. 6, 7).
+
+"Only a kindly action,
+  Done to a child of God;
+Not done to cause attraction,
+  But as unto Christ the Lord."
+
+When Mary poured the precious box of ointment on Jesus' head, and
+anointed His feet, and wiped them with her hair, she did it out of love
+to Him, and Jesus accepted her service; and when some were angry at what
+they termed the woman's waste of ointment, Jesus reproved them, and
+said, "She hath done what she could."
+
+Oh, that we may have our sins forgiven through the blood of Jesus, and
+be enabled to serve Him acceptably, so that we may have the joy of
+hearing Him say, at the last day, "Come, thou blessed of My Father,
+inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world"
+(Matt. xxv. 34).
+
+  "Search me, O God, is my desire,
+    Nor let me from Thy ways depart;
+  To love and serve Thee I aspire,
+    Enriched with Mary's better part."
+
+                            MABEL ELLEN DENLY
+                             (Aged 11 years).
+
+ _197, High Street, Hounslow._
+
+[We have received several good Essays this month, especially those from
+E. B. Knocker, Jane Bell, Margaret Creasey, L. Rush, and P. Rackham. We
+hope all of them, as well as the very young friend who wrote the above,
+will feel encouraged to persevere.]
+
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of THE SOWER for 1887.
+
+The subject for April will be, "Who are they that will Stand Perfect in
+the Day of Judgment?" and the prize to be given for the best Essay on
+that subject, a copy of "The Life of John Newton." All competitors must
+give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the
+Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as
+the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information.
+Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
+Hastings, by the first of March.]
+
+
+
+
+"LET NO MAN DESPISE THEE."
+
+
+Does the injunction to Timothy and Titus respectively--"Let no man less
+despise thy youth," and "Let no man despise thee"--give any sanction to
+self-assertiveness? Let it not be thought so. Am I eccentric for the
+sake of eccentricity, or for the sake of attracting notoriety? Am I
+tenacious of my own rights, while sublimely indifferent to the rights of
+others? Do I try to pass myself off for better, wiser, richer, or nobler
+than I am? Then I deserve to be despised. But if, in the vindication of
+unpalatable truth, or in the steadfast and unostentatious discharge of
+duty, I encounter scorn, be scorn my portion. The sum of the matter
+seems to me to be this--While, on the one hand, I must be willing, for
+conscience' sake, to endure reproach, opposition, buffeting, and
+contempt, I must be equally concerned, on the other, to avoid every
+questionable act or thing that, with any show of reason, may cause me to
+be despised, and may thus materially mar my influence for good.
+
+Herein does the poet of the "Night Thoughts" hit the mark--"Revere
+thyself, and yet thyself despise." Let self be "of no reputation," but,
+at the same time, do thou faithfully and prayerfully pursue intrinsic
+worth, and let not "a good name" be of no account in thy regard.
+
+                                        THOMSON SHARP.
+
+
+EGOTISM and self-assertion are unamiable traits.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+A CORRESPONDENT of the _Echo_ calls attention to the fact that, at Dr.
+Lee's church, in the New Cut, on Sunday night, January 1st, the _Te
+Deum_ was sung in thanksgiving for the Papal Jubilee, and wishes to know
+what is to prevent it. "Nothing," replies the editor.
+
+
+ACCORDING to the _Charity Record_, the amount of money bequeathed in
+great sums for charitable purposes during the year just closed was more
+than L700,000; and if bequests under L1,000 be added, the total would at
+least reach L1,000,000. This is exclusive of the money given to several
+religious and book-publishing societies.
+
+
+A THIEVING ELEPHANT.--The contents of a clothes-chest, belonging to one
+of the people recently employed in the carnival in the Waverley Market,
+Edinburgh, disappeared in a rather amusing fashion. The chest had been
+lying near the performing elephants, and in the morning it was observed
+that one of these animals was particularly lively, and apparently in the
+very highest spirits. Later on, the owner of the chest discovered that
+the whole of the contents had been abstracted. Subsequent examination
+satisfied the searchers that one of the animals was responsible for the
+disappearance of the wardrobe, and as none of the articles could be
+discovered hidden away in its vicinity, the only conclusion that could
+be come to was, that the mischievous animal had swallowed the whole
+lot--boots, brushes, trousers, shirts, and several other articles of
+wearing apparel.
+
+
+THE BAKU NAPHTHA SPRINGS.--Although within the last two years
+intelligence has frequently reached Europe of extraordinary outbursts of
+mineral oil on the Apsheron peninsula, near Baku, nothing has yet
+equalled the astonishing outbreak which the Northern Telegraph Agency
+telegraphed a few days ago. Their telegram was to the effect that, near
+the petroleum works of a certain M. Arafeloff, a fountain of oil was
+throwing out over 2,400 tons daily, that this had been continuing
+without intermission for four weeks, and that more than the half of this
+enormous output was going to waste. It is to this loss of the oil that
+attention is now being directed. Not only at Arafeloff's fountain, but
+at almost every large fountain in the Balakhan-Sabuntchin district, the
+waste of this most valuable product has been enormous. Millions of poods
+of oil have been lost owing to the inefficient way in which it is
+reservoired and stored. It is now understood that the Government will
+take immediate steps to prevent this ruinous waste, and to compel the
+owners of oil-springs to adopt more scientific methods of boring,
+collecting, and storing.
+
+
+AN IRISH CABIN PAVED WITH GOLD.--The _Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette_ of
+December 31st contains the following:--"A few weeks ago, the writer was
+in a bank office in a country town in the south of Ireland, when a very
+common-looking, roughly-dressed man passed out after a conference with
+the manager. The latter said, 'Did you see that man? Well, some time
+ago, there was a run on the Bank of Ireland here, and he withdrew
+(receiving it in gold) L700 which he had there on deposit. That sum he
+informs me he still has at home, "under the kitchen flure." He has also
+more than L400 on deposit here with us.' Is it not hard to know 'what is
+truth' in Ireland? Here you have the floor of an Irish cabin literally
+paved with gold at a time when the payment of rent is impossible. It may
+be said that this is an exceptional case, but we believe such cases are
+not at all so rare as some suppose."
+
+
+THE Roman correspondent of _Le Paris_ of January 5th states that, at
+Florence, Mr. Gladstone was heard to express a desire to see Leo XIII.
+This being repeated at the Vatican, the Pope sent word to Mr. Gladstone
+that nothing would delight him more than to have a visit from him. It is
+therefore arranged, says the correspondent of the _Paris_, that he is to
+go to Rome, and when he calls at the Vatican, is to be received
+according to the ceremonial adopted there when non-Catholic visitors are
+admitted to audiences. The correspondent thinks that anxiety about the
+Irish question moved Mr. Gladstone to manifest the desire above
+mentioned, and that the Pope's celerity in reciprocating it sprung from
+the same cause. The Pope has been urged to stand out against the Land
+League; but, feeling what a momentous thing it would be to do this, he
+is, we are told, delighted to talk over the matter with Mr. Gladstone.
+Thus we see Salisbury and Co. and Gladstone and Co. are in perfect
+agreement as to giving their power to the Pope. It is only a keen
+competition between them as to which shall be first, and do it most
+effectually. Since Salisbury and Co. have encouraged the Queen to
+despise her coronation oath, we need no longer wonder that they are so
+quiet about Mr. Bradlaugh. Perhaps Lord R. Churchill's expressions on
+the subject were anticipatory of the whole matter. We find that neither
+party is worthy of being entrusted with our Protestant interests.
+
+
+NINE hundred thousand dog licenses were issued for the past year. The
+duty amounted to L340,000.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AT THE LONDON POST OFFICE.--From statistics it would seem that
+never before have the Post Office officials had their energies so
+severely taxed as on Christmas Eve last, during which day no fewer than
+15,000,000 letters and newspapers were forwarded to their destination.
+In all some 3,000 supernumerary men were engaged, these being in
+addition to the regular staff. At Coldbath Fields, where the Parcel Post
+is now conducted, some 65,000 inland and 5,000 foreign parcels were
+disposed of during the day, for the conveyance of which to the various
+railway termini more than 800 vans were brought into requisition.
+
+
+AN ATLANTIC WAVE.--An immense wave recently fell upon the steamship
+_Umbria_ with a deafening roar when a thousand miles from Queenstown,
+bringing the ship to a standstill, and causing much damage to the decks.
+Stout brass rods, an inch in diameter, that formed the railing about the
+bridge, were twisted and bent like straws. An eye-witness, who has made
+thirteen ocean voyages, thus describes the occurrence:--"The look-out
+saw the wave coming, and the course of the vessel was altered so that
+she met it obliquely, while the speed of the engines was slackened. As I
+saw the huge wave, it looked like a black mass of water with white waves
+on the top, and it rolled higher and higher as it neared the vessel.
+When it struck her she shivered from stem to stern, and the combing of
+the wave fell with the weight of tons on the deck. The wood cover of the
+forward hatch was splintered in pieces, while the water poured in
+torrents into the hold, but the bulkheads were closed. The bridge was
+broken, and the iron stanchions were twisted with enormous force, while
+the turtle-back was flattened by the tremendous weight of the water.
+There was also a panic among the passengers, most of whom were sleeping
+in their berths. When the force of the wave was felt, they thought the
+ship was going to the bottom, and many in their night-clothes rushed
+into the main dining-room. Of course the danger was past, as the wave
+rolled by, and the excitement subsided."
+
+
+ZION SUNDAY SCHOOL, HERDEN BRIDGE, YORKSHIRE.--The friends, teachers,
+and scholars connected with the above place celebrated their annual
+Christmas tea festival on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1887. The
+school-room was very tastefully decorated with evergreens and mottoes in
+touch with the season; also the tables, so richly laden with all sorts
+of nice and dainty things, had not escaped the eye of the decorators,
+for at intervals luxuriant exotics were placed, thereby contributing a
+very pleasing appearance. The children's features were lightened up with
+the thought of their happy treat; also the older people seemed to wear
+pleasant countenances, and apparently enjoyed the time, notwithstanding
+their thoughts were in a much loftier strain. The tea was served by the
+young ladies of the place to about one hundred and forty. After tea, a
+public meeting was held in the chapel, presided over by Mr. John Smith,
+of Halifax. The meeting was opened by singing a Christmas hymn, after
+which Mr. T. Barritt, senior deacon, offered prayer. Mr. E. Hargreaves
+presented the prizes to the scholars for good attendance. Addresses were
+also delivered by Messrs. T. Smith, Jos. Smith, and T. Barritt. Hymns
+were sung. The report was read by the Secretary, which showed an
+increase of eight during the year, the present number on the books being
+eighty-two. Recitations were given by the scholars, and a very good
+meeting was brought to a close a little after nine o'clock.
+
+
+ALBERT STREET CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL, OXFORD.--The prizes were distributed
+to the scholars on Tuesday, December 27th, 1887. The meeting was opened
+by singing, "I thank the goodness and the grace"; this was followed by
+prayer. Owing to the indisposition of Mr. Newton, the friends, teachers,
+and scholars were greatly disappointed in not having the usual address
+they look forward to every year from the Superintendent. There were
+twenty-eight boys and girls who said pieces, and they, one and all,
+deserve great commendation for the capital way in which they recited.
+One girl, aged twelve, rehearsed the story of "Giving Away a Child," in
+prose, from Volume IX. of the LITTLE GLEANER. Another scholar, aged
+twelve, repeated in a very perfect manner a lengthy piece containing
+seventy-nine verses, entitled "The Little Pilgrim." This too was taken
+from an early volume of the LITTLE GLEANER. A boy, aged eleven,
+rehearsed very nicely a difficult piece called "The Two Brothers, and
+what Echo said to them," and he imitated the echo capitally. Then
+followed, perhaps, the greatest attraction of the evening, namely, the
+distribution of the prizes. The first prize in the boys' class was
+awarded to William Tombs, and in the girls' class to Elizabeth Leech. As
+usual, a prize was given for the best essay--the subject, "The History
+of Joseph." This prize was awarded to a boy, who received a nicely-bound
+book, entitled "Pebbles from the Brook." The meeting was closed with
+prayer.
+
+                                             M. S. P.
+
+[Illustration: CARING FOR THE LITTLE ONES]
+
+
+
+
+CARING FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
+
+
+The faithful guardians of our cities have many and varied duties to
+perform, but perhaps in none of them does the kindness of their hearts
+shine forth as it does in their tenderness to little ones who have lost
+themselves in the winding streets of a great city. In wet or wintry
+weather they treat them tenderly, and take them home, or to the warm
+fire at the nearest station, till their parents claim them. This
+incident may well call to mind the kindness of Jesus to the little ones
+when on earth, as we read--"And they brought young children to Him, that
+He should touch them: and His disciples rebuked those that brought them.
+But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them,
+Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of
+such is the kingdom of God. And He took them up in His arms, put His
+hands upon them, and blessed them" (Mark x. 13, 14, 16).
+
+  The mothers came, in days of old,
+  To Jesus, that He might enfold
+  Within His arms their children dear,
+  And then His kindness did appear.
+
+  Disciples thought it waste of time;
+  Rebuked, as though it was a crime;
+  But it was ne'er the Saviour's way
+  To turn poor coming ones away.
+
+  Therefore the Lord was much displeased,
+  And thus the happy moment seized;
+  Them in His arms did take and bear,
+  Showing His love and kindly care.
+
+  His loving voice could never say--
+  "Oh, take these little ones away!"
+  And though the parents' hearts might fear,
+  He loved to see them coming near.
+
+  His blessed words, "Forbid them not,"
+  Are with much heavenly comfort fraught;
+  And "Suffer them to come to Me,"
+  Gives forth a welcome kind and free.
+
+  In Him sweet rays of mercy shine--
+  So tender, harmless, yet divine;
+  Upon them He His hands doth place,
+  And blesses them in truth and grace.
+
+  Displeased with what His servants did,
+  And having their unkindness chid,
+  He makes His pleasure shine so bright,
+  Causing the mothers much delight.
+
+  Oh, tell it out, to heal the smart
+  Of many an anxious parent's heart--
+  He hears the sigh, He sees the tear,
+  And each poor pleader welcomes near.
+
+  Oh, tell it out, that children dear
+  May seek His face, and never fear,
+  That He will hear their feeble prayer,
+  And give them in His love to share.
+
+  He speaks of heaven and glorious things,
+  And is so meek, though King of kings;
+  Of children says, to cheer and please,
+  "The kingdom is of such as these."
+
+  Oh, eyes that saw with kindly look!
+  Oh, arms that thus the children took!
+  Oh, hands, parental-like, thus laid!
+  Oh, words to bless, what grace displayed!
+
+  Lord, fix our youthful eyes on Thee;
+  Grant us Thy love and grace to see;
+  Cause us to love Thy blessed name,
+  And tune our tongues to speak Thy fame.
+
+  The proud, the lofty, all defiled,
+  Must be made as a little child;
+  Must all their sins and vileness own,
+  And seek for mercy at Thy throne.[1]
+
+    [1] Throne of grace.
+
+  Oh, Saviour, may Thy love so free
+  Encourage souls to come to Thee;
+  And may they, finding all they need,
+  Confess that they are blest indeed.
+
+                                             B. B.
+
+
+THE biggest lies are told for the least cause.
+
+
+
+
+A BUDDING OF HOPE.
+
+
+Dear young readers of the LITTLE GLEANER, how very true and solemn are
+the words of the poet--
+
+"The moment when our lives begin
+  We all begin to die."
+
+And at what age death may take us none of us can say. From among the
+large number who read the GLEANER, we every now and again hear of one
+being taken away by death.
+
+Lizzie Winchester, of Cross-in-Hand, was a constant reader of the
+GLEANER, and of other good books, but not to the neglecting of her
+Bible. She was a scholar in the Sunday School at Ebenezer Chapel,
+Heathfield, where she was always very quiet and attentive, and she was
+also very fond of her teacher. When she left school, she regularly
+attended chapel with her sisters, sitting where she could see the school
+children, and would complain when she got home if she saw any that did
+not behave themselves properly. She had a great reverence for the house
+of God and for the servants of God. She had but few companions, but was
+much beloved for her little acts of kindness in sending to one and
+another small presents. Some little time before her death she sent "The
+Sack and its Treasure" to a young friend at Eastbourne, as a birthday
+present; and who can say how much real good may result from such little
+gifts as that? I should not think that any one could point out a flaw in
+her moral character. But this was not grace; and although she needed no
+outward reformation, yet if the heart be not changed, there can be no
+entering into the kingdom of God.
+
+The last time that she walked to chapel, a distance of three
+miles--making six miles both ways--was on August 21st. It was not then
+known that anything was the matter with her. First her throat was sore,
+and she felt poorly, but she still kept about. On Wednesday, September
+14th, she was out, and gathered half a gallon of blackberries. She was
+up on Thursday and Friday, and put her clothes on on Saturday, but could
+not get down stairs. Towards night she was much worse, and it was found
+that her affliction was diabetes.
+
+On Sunday she was very ill, and the doctor said she could not last long.
+Her Sunday School teacher, Miss C----, was sent for, and when she
+arrived, she saw that Lizzie was sinking fast, and found that she could
+say but little.
+
+I am not going to set her up, and positively say she was a partaker of
+grace, for the very few words she uttered are not of themselves
+sufficient evidence for that. About five o'clock, during her mother's
+absence, she said, in a very low tone of voice, "I hope Jesus will heal
+my soul," or, "Perhaps Jesus will heal my soul." Miss C---- could not
+distinguish the words so as to be sure which.
+
+Early on Monday morning, the 19th of September, 1887, she died. Had she
+lived till the 26th, she would have been eighteen years of age. Just as
+she departed there was a beautiful smile came over her countenance; and
+as Miss C---- afterwards went with several friends to see the corpse,
+these words came into her mind as if some one had spoken them to her--
+
+  "Not a wave of trouble rolls
+    Across her peaceful breast."
+
+Mr. Mockford buried her on the following Saturday; and, among other
+things, he spoke from these words--"If the tree fall toward the south,
+or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth there it shall
+be." He spoke of the departed as being toward the south--toward the
+house of God, the people of God, and the ways and Word of God; and as
+she was so far joined to the living, there was hope that she would be
+found among that people at the resurrection morning.
+
+On Sunday morning in the school, one of the teachers read that chapter
+where the same words stand, and, though not at the funeral, some very
+similar remarks were made, and the same hope concerning the departed was
+expressed. I am sure of this--that, if she had that good thing in her
+heart toward the Lord God of Israel, namely, faith toward Jesus and His
+blood, she is now joining
+
+  "The host of virgin saints
+    Made to salvation wise."
+
+The question may arise, "Why say anything about her, since there is no
+more ground for hope than this?"
+
+It is to the living I want to say a few words, hoping the Lord will make
+use of this feeble account to lead the young readers of the LITTLE
+GLEANER to consider how matters stand with them before God and for
+eternity.
+
+  "Reflect, young friend, I humbly crave,
+    Thy sins, how high they mount!
+  What are thy hopes beyond the grave?
+    How stands that dark account?"
+
+Oh, how solemn your case, if you are in an unpardoned state! Death may
+come upon you speedily, and then what will you do? All who die without
+repentance and forgiveness must hear that solemn word from the lips of
+Christ, "Depart from Me!" Are you blessed with a good hope, through
+grace? Then you certainly have something to be thankful to God for. Or
+are you in some doubt as to whether you have a living hope in Christ?
+And do you fear that, if called to die, you could say no more than
+Lizzie Winchester did? Then my prayer for such an one is, that the Lord
+may stir you up to real, earnest, wrestling prayer and importunity
+respecting your salvation.
+
+  "If hellish foes beset thee round,
+    And would thy way withstand,
+  On Jesus call, nor yield thy ground,
+    And He will help command."
+
+It is no small mercy, reader, if your moral character will compare with
+Lizzie Winchester's. She was a model in this respect, and I hope you may
+be found in every way as consistent as she was, and, above all, may you
+be found in Christ Jesus, living and dying.
+
+I had thought of saying more, but, as I wish to be brief, I will
+conclude by telling you that, notwithstanding her reservedness, several
+friends, with myself, had a good hope of Lizzie. We do trust she is now
+
+                "completely blest;
+  Has done with sin, and care, and woe,
+    And entered Jesus' rest."
+
+                                                      W. L.
+
+[We hope our readers will bear in mind the motive our friend has in
+writing, and we in giving, this brief account of Lizzie Winchester; and
+may the Holy Spirit cause the reading of it to make them feel the
+importance of the new birth, and stir them up to seek clear and certain
+evidences of their salvation, so that, when they come to die, they may
+be able to confess, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that
+He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him."--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN MARCH.
+
+
+Mar.  4. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 23.
+Mar. 11. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 24.
+Mar. 18. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 25.
+Mar. 25. Commit to memory Heb. xi. 26.
+
+
+THE first character of right childhood is, that it is modest.
+
+
+
+
+"THERE IS NO REST IN HELL!"
+
+AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE.
+
+
+Dear Reader,--The following account being "an authenticated fact," it is
+put before you with the hope that you may be thereby led to solemnly
+consider the subject of a future state. God's truth does not require
+fiction to make it effectual; therefore, the net of truth should only be
+weighted with words of truth.
+
+The awful, but true, narrative now put before you takes us back for
+something like a century, to the city of Glasgow, where, at that time,
+was a club of gentlemen of the first rank in that city. They met
+professedly for card-playing; but the members were distinguished by such
+a fearless excess of profligacy as to obtain for it the name of "The
+Hell Club."
+
+Besides their nightly or weekly meetings, they held a grand annual
+festival, at which each member endeavoured to "outdo all his former
+outdoings" in drunkenness, blasphemy, and licentiousness. Of all who
+shone on these occasions, none shone half so brilliantly as Archibald
+Boyle. Educated by a fond and foolishly indulgent mother, he was early
+allowed to meet in society with members of "The Hell Club."
+
+One night, on retiring to sleep, after returning from one of the annual
+meetings of the club, Boyle dreamt that he was still riding, as usual,
+upon his famous black horse, towards his own house--then a country seat
+embowered by ancient trees, and situated upon a hill now built over by
+the most fashionable part of Glasgow--and that he was suddenly accosted
+by some one, whose personal appearance he could not, in the gloom of
+night, distinctly discern, but who, seizing the reins, said, in a voice
+apparently accustomed to command, "You must go with me." "And who are
+you?" exclaimed Boyle, with a volley of blasphemous execrations, while
+he struggled to disengage his reins from the intruder's grasp. "That you
+will see by-and-bye," replied the same voice, in a cold, sneering tone,
+that thrilled through his very heart. Boyle plunged his spurs into the
+panting sides of his steed. The noble animal reared, and then darted
+forward with a speed which nearly deprived his rider of breath. But in
+vain--in vain! Fleeter than the wind he flew, the mysterious, half-seen
+guide still in front of him! Agonized by he knew not what of
+indescribable horror and awe, Boyle again furiously spurred the gallant
+horse. It fiercely reared and plunged. He lost his seat, and expected at
+the moment to feel himself dashed to the earth. But not so, for he
+continued to fall--fall--fall--it appeared to himself with an
+ever-increasing velocity. At length this terrific rapidity of motion
+abated, and, to his amazement and horror, he perceived that this
+mysterious attendant was close by his side. "Where," he exclaimed, in
+the frantic energy of despair, "where are you taking me? Where am I?
+Where am I going?" "To hell!" replied the same iron voice, and from the
+depths below the sound so familiar to his lips was suddenly
+re-echoed--"To hell!"
+
+Onward, onward they hurried in darkness, rendered more horrible still by
+the conscious presence of his spectral conductor. At length a glimmering
+light appeared in the distance, and soon increased to a blaze. But, as
+they approached it, in addition to the hideously discordant groans and
+yells of agony and despair, his ears were assailed with what seemed to
+be the echoes of frantic revelry.
+
+Boyle at length perceived that he was surrounded by those whom he had
+known on earth, but were some time dead, each one of them betraying his
+agony at the bitter recollections of the vain pursuits that had
+engrossed his time here.
+
+Suddenly observing that his unearthly conductor had disappeared, he felt
+so relieved by his absence that he ventured to address his former
+friend, Mrs. D----, whom he saw sitting with eyes fixed in intense
+earnestness, as she was wont on earth, apparently absorbed at her
+favourite game of loo. "Ha! Mrs. D----! Delighted to see you! D'ye know
+a fellow told me to-night he was bringing me to hell! Ha! ha! If this be
+hell," said he, scoffingly, "what a ---- pleasant place it must be! Ha!
+ha! Come now, my good Mrs. D----, for auld lang syne, do just stop for a
+moment, rest, and"--"show me through the pleasures of hell," he was
+going, with reckless profanity, to add; but, with a shriek that seemed
+to cleave through his very soul, she exclaimed, "_Rest!_ There is no
+rest in hell!" and from the interminable vaults, voices, as loud as
+thunder, repeated the awful, the heart-withering sound, "_There is no
+rest in hell!_" and he who, in his vision, walked among them in a mortal
+frame of flesh and blood, felt how inexpressibly more horrible such
+sounds could be than ever was the wildest shriek of agony on earth.
+
+He saw Maxwell, the former companion of his own boyish profligacy, and
+said, "Stop, Harry! stop! Speak to me! Oh, rest one moment!" Scarce had
+the words been breathed from his faltering lips, when again his
+terror-stricken ear was stunned with the same wild yell of agony,
+re-echoed by ten thousand thousand voices--"_There is no rest in hell!_"
+
+All at once he perceived that his unearthly conductor was once more by
+his side. "Take me," shrieked Boyle, "take me from this place! By the
+living God, whose name I have so often outraged, I adjure thee! Take me
+from this place!"
+
+"Canst thou still name His name?" said the fiend, with a hideous sneer.
+"Go, then; but, in a year and a day, _we_ meet, to part no more!"
+
+Boyle awoke; and he felt as if the last words of the fiend were traced
+in letters of living fire upon his heart and brain. Unable, from actual
+bodily ailment, to leave his bed for several days, the horrid vision had
+full time to take effect upon his mind; and many were the pangs of tardy
+remorse and ill-defined terror that beset his vice-stained soul, as he
+lay in darkness and seclusion--to him so very unusual. He resolved,
+utterly and for ever, to forsake "The Hell Club." Above all, he
+determined that nothing on earth should tempt him to join the next
+annual festival.
+
+The companions of his licentiousness bound themselves by an oath never
+to desist till they had discovered what was the matter with him, and had
+cured him of _playing the Methodist;_ for their alarm as to losing "the
+life of the Club" had been wrought up to the highest pitch by one of
+their number declaring that, on unexpectedly entering Boyle's room, he
+detected him in the act of hastily hiding a Book, which he actually
+believed was the Bible.
+
+Alas! alas! poor Boyle! Like many a youth, he was ashamed to avow his
+convictions, and his endless ruin followed.
+
+From the annual meeting he shrank with an instinctive horror, and made
+up his mind _utterly to avoid it_. Well aware of this resolve, his
+tempters determined he should have no choice. How potent, how active, is
+the spirit of evil! How feeble is _unassisted_, _Christless_,
+_unprayerful_ man! Boyle found himself, he could not tell how, seated at
+that table on that very day, where he had sworn to himself a thousand
+and a thousand times nothing on earth should make him sit.
+
+His ears tingled, and his eyes swam, as he listened to the opening
+sentence of the president's address--"Gentlemen, this is leap year;
+therefore, it is _a year and a day_ since our last annual meeting."
+
+Every nerve in Boyle's body twanged in agony at the ominous, the
+well-remembered words. His first impulse was to rise and fly; but
+then--the sneers! the sneers!
+
+How many in this world, as well as poor Boyle, have dreaded a sneer, and
+dared the wrath of an almighty and eternal God, rather than encounter
+the sarcastic curl of a fellow-creature's lip!
+
+The night was gloomy, with frequent and fitful gusts of chill and
+howling wind, as Boyle, with fevered nerves and a reeling brain, mounted
+his horse to return home.
+
+The following morning, the well-known black steed was found, with saddle
+and bridle on, quietly grazing on the road-side, about half-way to
+Boyle's country-house, and a few yards from it lay the stiffened corpse
+of its master.
+
+Reader, the dream is horrible--truly horrible--yet not half so horrible
+as the reality. Ah! no. No dream can picture the full, long misery of
+"the worm that dieth not," "the fire that is never quenched," the woe
+that never ends.
+
+Oh, reader, if, under the poison of infidelity, you have been led to
+doubt the existence of hell, I pray God you may believe the awful
+reality ere you are in it!
+
+If God did not punish sin, His indifference to it would encourage it. If
+God did not punish sin, where were His holy abhorrence of it? If God did
+not punish sin, His kingdom would be a moral chaos. But His Word
+declares that "we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ,
+that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to
+that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. v. 10).
+
+Reader, as in the days of Noah, so now. Death threatens all who are out
+of Christ, and, therefore, in their sins. There was then only one place
+of safety; there is only one place of safety now--that is, in the Ark,
+Christ. "YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN." The horror you have felt in reading
+this dream will be no benefit to you if it is not made, in the hands of
+the Spirit, the means of your flying to Christ for refuge.
+
+Oh, that in some hearts, the reading of this sad narrative may prove the
+means of producing the earnest cry, "Deliver me from going down to the
+pit!" and "What must I do to be saved?" To such God's free invitation to
+the heavy-laden sinner to come to Christ for rest is given, and Jesus
+Himself declares, "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out"
+(John vi. 37).
+
+
+
+
+THE SCOTCH THISTLE.
+
+
+Why the Scots chose the thistle for a national insignia is told in this
+legend. It was at the time of an invasion, when the destinies of
+Scotland hung upon the result of a battle soon to come. The invaders
+knew that the Scots were desperate, and availed themselves of a dark,
+stormy night, and planned to fall upon the Scottish army on every side
+at the same moment. Had they been suffered to execute their plan
+undetected, they would certainly have succeeded in destroying the Scots;
+but a simple accident betrayed them. When near the Scottish camp, the
+foremost of the invaders removed the heavy shoes from their feet, so
+that their steps might not be heard, and thus stealthily advancing
+barefooted, a heavy, quick-tempered soldier trod squarely upon a huge
+thistle, the sharp point of which gave such sudden and exquisite pain
+that he cried out with a bitter curse. His cry aroused the outlying
+Scots, and apprized them of their danger, and meeting the foe widely
+divided for the purpose of encompassing the camp, they were enabled
+easily to overcome them with great slaughter. When the Scots discovered
+that it was to a thistle that they owed their victory, they adopted the
+prickly plant as their national emblem.
+
+
+
+
+COUSIN SUSAN'S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF FATHER
+CHINIQUY.
+
+"BELOVED, BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT."
+
+
+We have often wondered why any one should believe that a bit of
+consecrated bread was the true body and soul of the Lord Jesus, and
+that, as such, it should be reverenced and adored. But our surprise
+abates, though our sorrow increases, when we trace the steps by which a
+Roman Catholic reaches that point of folly and superstition, as the
+interesting narrative of Father Chiniquy brings them to our view.
+
+When he was eleven or twelve years old, he met with a class of lads
+about the same age, to be prepared for his first communion; and there he
+was taught that, just as his mother punished him more seldom and less
+severely than his father for his faults, and just as his mother often
+interceded for him and saved him from punishment altogether, so Mary was
+more pitiful, more tender, than Jesus, and when He was righteously
+angry, His mother--the mother of all who pray to her--turned away His
+anger, and averted the strokes He was about to inflict on the sinner.
+
+The thought of _this_ Christ--terrible, angry, unapproachable--was dark
+and chilling in the extreme. He seemed a Being to be feared, but not
+beloved.
+
+And then the false Church presented another Christ to view--a god made
+with hands, not of wood or stone, but of wheaten flour. The priest's
+servant girl or attendant takes the dough, bakes it between two heated
+irons, on which are graven the letters, I. H. S., and the figure of a
+cross. These wafers, about four or five inches large, when well baked,
+are cut with a pair of scissors into smaller ones, about one inch in
+size, and then the priest, taking them to the altar, and pronouncing
+Latin words for "This is My body," is supposed to turn each of these
+into the Christ who lived and loved and suffered here, a gentle, tender,
+loving Saviour; and the poor deluded creatures who tremble before Christ
+in heaven, bow down and adore, when they do not eat, the paltry wafer
+which the priest has blessed.
+
+Chiniquy himself passed whole hours, in biting wintry weather, in a
+church never warmed by a fire, worshipping this wafer god. He was
+yearning for divine sympathy and love, and hoped he had it then.
+
+And yet, though he tried to "believe a lie" so earnestly, his faith was
+often shaken by what he saw and heard.
+
+In a company of priests, a strange story was told of a drunken curate
+and his deacon, who, called to go a long journey in snowy weather, to
+carry the sacred wafer to a sick person, had a dispute with a traveller
+as to which should lead his horses into the deep snow, the cleared path
+being too narrow for the vehicles to pass each other. A terrible fight
+took place. The priest's horses took fright and returned home, breaking
+the sleigh all to pieces, and the little silk bag containing their "god"
+was lost in the snow. It was carefully sought in vain, and not till the
+month of June was it found, and then the wafer inside the little silver
+box had melted away! And the priests laughed boisterously when they
+heard it. Did they believe what they taught the people?
+
+At another time, a blind priest had been adoring the bit of bread he had
+just consecrated, but when he went to eat it, it was gone. In alarm, he
+sent for Chiniquy, who was hearing confessions not far away, and as it
+could nowhere be found, he knew that a rat had taken it, for the rats
+were both numerous and bold in that place. The old priest was
+inconsolable, though he blessed another piece and then concluded his
+devotions. But his lamentations were so deep and long that Chiniquy at
+last lost patience, and said a word or two which greatly shocked the
+superstitious priest, who severely rebuked him, and ordered him for a
+penance to kneel every day before the fourteen images representing "the
+way of the cross," and say a penitential psalm before each for nine
+days, and on no account to tell the story of the rat to any one. He
+complied with these requests, and received a very gracious absolution.
+But on the sixth day he pierced the skin of his knees while kneeling,
+and the blood flowed freely, causing him great pain whenever he knelt or
+walked, and all because he for a moment had doubted the right of Rome to
+call that a god which a priest could professedly create and a rat
+destroy!
+
+Alas! for those who follow such pernicious teachings! Let us pity and
+pray for them, and more than ever cleave to that Gospel which tells us
+that "there is only one name given under heaven by which we must be
+saved"--"one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus," who
+lives in glory, no more to suffer or die, but who is "Jesus of Nazareth"
+(Acts xxii. 8), still tender and loving as when He dwelt below, while He
+is eternally mighty to "save to the uttermost all that come unto God by
+Him."
+
+Oh, that all our hope and confidence may rest on Him--entirely on Him
+alone!
+
+
+
+
+  THE DIRGE OF AN ENGLISHWOMAN.
+
+  And ought the Queen of England's land
+  A gift to send by Norfolk's hand
+    To the old Pope of Rome,
+  His Jubilee to celebrate,
+  With Popish pomp, in grandest state,
+    In his Italian home?
+
+  Chalice and basin, richly made
+  Of shining gold; to him conveyed
+    By one of his trained band.
+  He used them both at his High Mass,
+  And proud of such a gift he was
+    From our dear native land.
+
+  Our own Victoria should be free,
+  True to "the rights" she swore when she
+    Sat in the abbey old;
+  And crown was placed upon her head,
+  And coronation oath she said
+    Over God's Word, we're told.
+
+  Up, English men and women all!
+  To the red beast[2] ne'er bow at all,
+    But leave him to his fate;
+  For Babylon will surely fall,[3]
+  And with her, nations great and small,
+    Who follow in her wake.
+
+  In days of yore she sat a queen,[4]
+  On seven hills,[5] so vile, unclean,
+    And shed the blood of saints.
+  "Come out of her, My people"[6] all,
+  Nor of her plagues receive at all,
+    Or listen to her plaints.
+
+  The Ritualists are helping fast
+  To bring us now, as in times past,
+    Beneath the sway of Rome.
+  You silly men and (silly) women[7] all,
+  Oh, why take heed to them at all
+    Who creep into the home?[7]
+
+  Alas! alas! for England's Queen,
+  And English nation too, I ween,
+    If e'er the Pope gets sway!
+  True Christians ne'er will bend the knee
+  To kiss Pope's toe so impiously,
+    Nor pence to Peter pay.
+
+                                N. P. W.
+
+_Southsea._
+
+
+NOTHING doth more hurt in a State than that cunning men pass for wise.
+
+
+  [2] Revelation xvii. 3.
+
+  [3] Revelation xiv. 8.
+
+  [4] Revelation xviii. 7.
+
+  [5] Revelation xvii. 9.
+
+  [6] Revelation xviii. 4.
+
+  [7] 2 Timothy iii. 6.
+
+
+
+
+
+EXPERIENCES IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN.
+
+
+Captain Adams, of the whaling steamer _Maud_, which lately arrived at
+Dundee from Davis Straits, has related a few interesting incidents of
+his voyage.
+
+When in Exeter Sound, Captain Adams was informed, by a native, of an
+island which was a favourite resort of the walrus, and where the animals
+could be often found asleep. He accordingly determined to try and secure
+an old specimen, and sent out four boats, with twenty-four men, to
+effect a capture. On arriving at the island, a large number of walrus
+were seen basking on the shore, and a landing was attempted, with the
+result that the colony soon showed their tusks, and made a deliberate
+attack on the boats. Ten of the foremost animals had to be shot to
+prevent mischief, and after a severe struggle a female walrus was
+lassoed. A number of small ropes were then fastened about it, and the
+huge animal was, after immense labour, hoisted into an empty boat, to
+which it had to be secured, to prevent it smashing the planks. On being
+towed to the ship, the boat and the walrus were hoisted on board, and
+suitable quarters were then found for it. It is fully eighteen months
+old, and Captain Adams is hopeful that it will survive. A young live
+bear has also been brought home.
+
+One of the noteworthy incidents of the voyage was the landing of Urio
+Etawango (the Esquimaux whom Captain Adams had staying in Dundee over
+last winter) at Durban, the residence of his tribe. For several days
+previous to the arrival of the _Maud_ off Durban, Urio was moody and
+disconsolate, but he did not reveal his mind, so that the crew were
+ignorant of his thoughts. The conjecture was, that he was sorry to
+return to the rude life of an Inuit, after his experience of civilized
+life. When the ship first arrived off Durban, there was a long stretch
+of ice running out from the land, and Urio and one of the officers
+travelled about fifteen miles, and lighted a fire as a signal to the
+tribe of his return. The signal was soon recognized, and ere long the
+whole tribe were seen making their way over the ice. Meantime Urio had
+returned to the ship, and he was taking a nap in his berth when the news
+was communicated to him of the arrival of the tribe, with his wife and
+child amongst them. The Inuits are a very impassive race, and it was
+amusing to see the cool way in which Urio and his wife shook hands, as
+though they had been parted twelve days instead of twelve months. Urio
+showed more affection towards his child, with whom he rubbed cheeks in
+the manner peculiar to the Inuits. But if the young wife was
+undemonstrative at meeting with her husband, she got into transports of
+joy at the sight of the numerous presents which friends of her husband
+in Dundee had sent out to her. One of these was a pretty melodion, and
+the young woman's eyes sparkled when she beheld it. To the astonishment
+of the ship's company, she lifted the instrument and played "There is
+nae luck aboot the hoose," finishing with "The Keel Row." It was
+subsequently ascertained that she had learned to play several tunes on
+the concertina whilst resident at the American settlements on Cumberland
+Gulf. When the other presents were laid out, the delight of Urio and his
+wife and friends was unbounded. Several of the gaudy petticoats were
+seized, and the women put them on above their sealskin dresses, being so
+fond of display that the most showy articles are always worn outermost.
+Owing to the distance of the ship from the shore, only a few of the
+lighter presents were removed at that time, but a month later the ship
+got near the land, when the remainder of the articles were put ashore
+and taken possession of by Urio.
+
+Captain Adams gives the Esquimaux chief the character of an honest,
+hard-working, warm-hearted fellow. He proved a good sailor, was beloved
+by all the crew, and he was a dead shot while seal-hunting. It is
+evident that his experience of civilized life has given him a distaste
+for his former mode of life, for he pleaded with Captain Adams to
+promise to take himself and his wife and child to Scotland next year.
+
+Captain Adams is of opinion that the whaling at Davis Straits and
+Greenland is virtually exhausted. He saw only seventeen whales
+throughout the season.
+
+
+
+
+SINGULAR CAUSE OF DEATH.
+
+
+On Friday, January 13th, Mr. Wynne E. Baxter held an inquiry at the
+London Hospital, Whitechapel, respecting the death of Moses Raphael,
+aged thirty-two years, a commercial traveller, lately residing at
+Bromley-by-Bow, who died on the previous day in the above hospital.
+About six weeks previously he complained of pains in his head and also
+of shivers, and eventually it was decided to remove him to the hospital.
+Until the last few weeks the deceased had been in apparently good
+health. He was a wonderful brain-worker, and had kept a set of books
+most accurately.
+
+Henry Muir Doyle, house-surgeon, stated that the deceased, on his
+admission, appeared drowsy, and complained of a pain in his head. He
+continued in that state till the 10th, but at times appeared quite
+clear-headed and rational. On the 10th, symptoms of apoplexy appeared,
+and deceased expired at twelve o'clock the same night. Witness said
+that, since death, he had made a most searching examination of the head
+and brain. On opening the former, he discovered an abscess in the brain.
+It was about the size of a turkey's egg, and had evidently been there
+some time. On removing the abscess, a penholder and nib were found
+protruding from the top of the right orbital plate. This had produced
+the abscess, and the abscess had caused death. The holder and nib must
+have entered the brain by way of the right eye, or through the right
+part of the nose. It was probable that they had been in there for a
+considerable time, as the bone had grown over them, and it was with
+difficulty they were separated. He had examined the eye, but had failed
+to detect any injury. It was, however, quite possible for such a thing
+to enter beneath the lid of the open eye, and the wound to heal up,
+showing no signs of the entry.
+
+The widow of the deceased man was called in, and said that her husband
+never mentioned to her anything about being hurt by a pen.
+
+The coroner said that the case was the most extraordinary that had ever
+come before him.--_Times._
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 41._)
+
+
+"_The Prince of Peace._"--ISAIAH ix. 6.
+
+T ychicus           Colossians iv. 7.
+H en                Zechariah vi. 14.
+E rastus            Romans xvi. 23.
+
+P arvaim            2 Chronicles iii. 6.
+R immon             Joshua xv. 32.
+I rijah             Jeremiah xxxvii. 14.
+N ahum              Nahum i. 7.
+C arpus             2 Timothy iv. 13.
+E lymas             Acts xiii. 11.
+
+O uches             Exodus xxviii. 11.
+F aith              Hebrews xi. 6.
+
+P erez-uzzah        2 Samuel vi. 8.
+E lisheba           Exodus vi. 23.
+A bba               Romans viii. 15.
+C orinthians        1 Corinthians vi. 19.
+E n-hakkore         Judges xv. 19.
+
+                                JOHN WEST
+                            (Aged 9 years).
+
+_Biggleswade._
+
+
+
+
+SOMETHING ABOUT FOXES.
+
+
+That always entertaining writer about birds and animals, J. G. Wood, has
+a pleasant paper on "Foxes" in the _Child's Pictorial_. The author of
+"Homes without Hands" says:--
+
+Many foxes have been known to climb trees, and hide among the branches,
+where no dog could smell them. Only a few months before these lines were
+written, the East Kent foxhounds met near Dover. The master of the hunt
+had been told that foxes had been seen to run up a tree, which was
+pointed out. A man was sent up the tree, and out came a fox, which was
+hidden among some ivy about twenty feet from the ground. The animal was
+chased, but after a while the scent failed and the fox escaped. The hunt
+then returned to the tree, and again sent a man up it. Presently a
+second fox came tumbling out of the ivy, but mistook his distance, and
+jumped into the middle of the hounds, which tore it to pieces before it
+could recover from the fall. The man continued to search the tree, and a
+third fox leaped out, and was killed close to the South Foreland.
+
+In December, 1885, a fox was found near Oswestry, and after being chased
+for some time, it ran up a tree, to the height of at least forty feet,
+and hid itself among the ivy with which the tree was clothed. It was
+soon turned out of its shelter, and, after running for about half an
+hour, got away from the hounds, probably by some equally clever trick.
+
+There are foxes known which have been hunted for several seasons and
+never taken; and those who have seen them run, say that the animals do
+not seem in the least afraid of the hounds, but trot on quite gently for
+some time, knowing that, in the end, they will give their enemies the
+slip.
+
+Mr. Webster relates an amusing story about a cunning old American fox.
+It had been chased over and over again, and always escaped near the same
+place, namely, a wooden fence outside a plantation, which led into a
+thick forest. Hounds were brought from great distances in order to catch
+this fox, but never succeeded. The fox always made its bed in the middle
+of a large field, and did not try to hide, but gave the hounds a good
+run, and then disappeared at the fence.
+
+Now, in America there are no hedges, the fields being divided by railed
+fences. Westward, where wood is almost valueless, the "snake" fence is
+used, but in the more cultivated parts the fence is made by fixing two
+strong stakes in the ground, so as to cross each other like the letter
+X, and nailing them together where they cross. Long poles are then laid
+on the crossed stakes, so that the fence can be made to any height which
+is most convenient, the poles being seldom nailed, but held in their
+place by their own weight.
+
+Now, foxes often run along a fence, or the top of a wall, as far as the
+end. Then they go back for some distance on their own track, and leap
+off the wall as far as they can, so as to mislead the hounds. Knowing
+this trick, Mr. Webber took the hounds all round the fence and the
+plantation, but could find no signs of the fox. At last he determined to
+hide himself near the place, when the hounds were again set on the fox,
+and try to discover the trick. After a while the fox came quite slowly
+until he reached the fence. Then he jumped on the top rail, and ran
+along it for about two hundred yards, until he came opposite a dead
+tree, nearly sixteen feet from the fence. He paused for a moment, and,
+with a tremendous jump, leaped upon a tree, alighting on a large knot on
+the side of the trunk. Then he ran up the trunk, which was slightly
+sloping, and entered a hollow at the top, nearly thirty feet from the
+ground, where he lay hid, no one even suspecting that he could leap
+from a fence to the tree, much less run up it. This feat was the more
+wonderful, because ivy does not grow out of doors in America, so that
+there seemed to be no foot-hold. Indeed, had it not been for the knot,
+the fox could not have climbed the tree.
+
+[Illustration: THE FOX SEES THE EAR, THE RABBIT SEES THE TAIL.]
+
+Mr. Webber was so pleased with the cleverness of the fox that he would
+not betray the trick, but amused himself on many occasions by watching
+the fox baffle the hounds.
+
+Sometimes the mother fox chooses a hollow tree, instead of a burrow, for
+her nursery.
+
+In April, 1868, a strange discovery was made in Warwickshire, seven dead
+cubs having been found in the top of a pollard oak. It was clear that
+the mother had been killed, and that the poor little cubs had died of
+hunger.
+
+The cubs, when very young, are odd-looking little creatures--not in the
+least like their parents. They are pale brown in colour, have short,
+snub noses, like those of pug dogs, and little, short, pointed tails,
+not at all like the beautiful "brushes" into which they will grow in
+course of time.
+
+The courage of the fox is wonderful. A fox was on one occasion sent to
+Mr. Bartlett for the purpose of being stuffed. It had only three feet,
+and, on opening it, Mr. Bartlett found the missing foot in its stomach!
+The animal had clearly been taken in a trap, and had freed itself by
+biting off the foot by which it was caught. We can understand why it
+should bite off the foot by which it was detained, but why it should eat
+its own foot seems rather puzzling. I am inclined to think that it did
+so by mere instinct, which made it eat any morsel of bleeding flesh that
+came between its jaws.
+
+[If foxes are only fit to be hunted down, why are they preserved for
+that cruelty?--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+ONE POOR STONE.
+
+
+Two masons were working together on the rear wall of a church, when one
+stopped the other just as he was putting a stone in its place.
+
+"Don't put in that stone," he said; "it is flakey, and will soon fall to
+pieces."
+
+"I know it isn't a very good one, but it is so handy, and just fits
+here. Nobody will see it up here, and it is too much trouble to get
+another."
+
+"Don't put it in. Take time to send for another. That stone won't stand
+the weather, and when it falls the whole building will be damaged."
+
+"I guess not. It won't hurt us, so here goes."
+
+Then he lifted the stone into its place, poor, and loose-grained, and
+flakey as it was, covered it over with mortar, and went on with his
+work. Nobody could see the stone, and none knew of its worthlessness but
+the two masons, and the church was finished and accepted.
+
+But time and the weather did their work, and soon it began to flake and
+crumble. Every rain-storm and every hot, sultry day helped its decay,
+and it soon crumbled away. But that was not all, nor the worst. The loss
+of the stone weakened the wall, and soon a great beam which it should
+have supported sunk into the cavity, a crack appeared in the roof, and
+the rain soon made sad havoc with ceiling and fresco; so a new roof and
+ceiling, and expensive repairs, were the result of one poor stone being
+put in the place of a good one.
+
+Each one of us, young or old, is building a structure for himself. The
+structure is our character, and every act of our lives is a stone in the
+building. Don't work in poor stones. Every mean action, every wrong act
+or impure word, will show itself in your after life, though it may pass
+unnoticed at first. Let every act and word of every day be pure and
+right, and your character will stand the test of any time.
+
+
+
+
+A MORNING'S WALK IN A COUNTRY LANE.
+
+
+It is pleasing, during the bright summer time, to rise early and, if our
+lot is so cast, to stroll into the country lanes and breathe the pure
+air of heaven, inhale the sweet scent of the hay, and gaze upon God's
+beautiful creation around us, and, if possible, learn some of the many
+lessons which even a tiny flower or a feeble insect may be able to teach
+us.
+
+One Monday morning during the last summer, when staying in Hampshire, we
+had such a walk, the memory of which, and its profitable lessons, are
+still fresh upon our minds.
+
+Leaving the town where we were staying, we quickly found ourselves
+between the hedgerows, and our first impulse was to turn at once into
+the green fields, but another feeling led us to keep to the lane.
+
+Was that change of plan the result of chance? Nay; the great Ruler of
+all things, who guides the flight of a sparrow, as surely orders the
+footsteps of His children.
+
+John Knox had a usual seat at his table, with his back to the window. A
+sudden impulse led him to take another seat. That night the assassin's
+bullet came through the window, and but for an overruling Providence,
+Knox would have lost his life.
+
+How many such instances might be related, which shows that even more
+surely than the smallest wheel of some vast machinery is as readily
+controlled as the largest, so surely does Infinite Wisdom control all
+the great machinery of life, from its most momentous events down to the
+smallest circumstance, such as the movement of a leaf. "If a pestilence
+stalk through our land, we say, 'The Lord hath done it.' Is it not also
+His doings when an aphis creepeth on a rosebud? If an avalanche fall
+from the Alps, we tremble at the will of Providence. Is not that will
+also concerned when the sere leaf falls from the poplar?"
+
+Pursuing our walk, we soon found that we were in the most delightful of
+country lanes, with high hedgerows and overhanging trees, that formed a
+most delightful shade from the fierce burning sun, which, even at that
+early hour, was almost unbearable. What must be the sufferings of a
+traveller in the desert, with the fierce orb of day beating down upon
+his head, as mile after mile he traverses the burning sand without shade
+or water? How grateful to him must be "the shadow of a great rock in a
+weary land," or some delightful Elim, with its seventy shady palms, and
+its twelve refreshing wells of water!
+
+But there is yet another person to whom a shade is more delightful than
+even this desert traveller, and that is, a poor sinner upon whom is
+beating down the threatened wrath of an offended God.
+
+When Thomas Bilney, as a young man, was feeling this, he endeavoured for
+a long time to find a shelter in some of the foolish and deceptive lies
+of the Romish Church. He gave his money for Masses and performed his
+penances till his purse was empty, and his body reduced to great
+weakness, and yet no shelter could he find in these from the wrath of
+God. At length he purchased a Greek Testament, and there he found the
+blessed shade, for with delight he read therein, "This is a faithful
+saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
+world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Well might he exclaim, as he
+sat down under the shadow of the cross, with great delight, "Oh, blessed
+saying of St. Paul! Oh, blessed saying of St. Paul!"
+
+Dear young reader, have you felt your need of this precious shade?
+
+Presently we noticed in the hedge a rose-bush, a large portion of which
+was hanging down broken--doubtless the work of some thoughtless person,
+who had plucked the flowers in such a reckless manner as to leave a sad
+memento of his thoughtless action. But people who live in glass houses
+must be careful what stones they throw at others. That little boy, for
+instance, was just as thoughtless who played with his ball in so
+careless a manner as to break two windows in one week. That little girl,
+too, was equally thoughtless who, when left at home to take care of
+baby, carelessly left it on the bed while she went up the street to see
+some dancing dogs, and who found, on her return, that the baby had
+fallen on the floor, and had so injured its head as to nearly result in
+its death.
+
+Ah! and how many are now in our workhouses or prisons who would have to
+confess they were brought there because they did _not think_ what
+trouble their thoughtless actions would bring upon them! Yea, we fear
+that there are many among the lost who would have to make the same sad
+confession. May the Lord cause each of our young readers to think of
+what will be the sad consequence of seeking only after earthly pleasure.
+It will be worse than a destroyed rose-bush. It may be destroyed
+health--destroyed reputation--destroyed prospects in life--yea, and, if
+grace prevent not, destroyed happiness for ever.
+
+As we proceeded further up the lane, we noticed that the hedges on both
+sides were blooming with wild roses, which were truly charming to
+behold. Our first thought on seeing them was of the dear ones at home
+(many miles away), and how we should like to transport them to this
+shady bower, to enjoy what we were beholding. But, as this desire was
+impracticable, the next thought was, to gather some of these roses and
+take them home, that they, too, might, in some measure, share in our
+pleasure. Henceforth our endeavours to please others made our walk
+doubly pleasant.
+
+A selfish person, young or old, can never be happy. But find one who
+tries to share his pleasures or comforts with others, and he is surely
+happy--like the little girl who stretched her small cloak round her
+young brother to shelter him from the wintry blast, although, strictly
+speaking, the cloak was scarcely big enough for herself. And how happy
+was that little girl who nursed a sick cat in the garret, and shared her
+meals with it, till pussy was quite well again!
+
+Boys and girls, share your pleasures with others.
+
+The next thought was, to look after the little roses, knowing they would
+last longer than the big ones.
+
+Yes, fellow-teachers, look after the little rosebuds just blooming into
+life. Who can tell but what the Master may use you to gather them from
+the world, that they may, by His grace, be prepared for His mansion
+above?
+
+_But the thorns!_ Not a single little rosebud without a thorn, yet so
+beautiful in other respects. Before Adam's fall, roses grew in Eden
+without thorns. Thorns are a badge of the curse, and even the smallest
+child has the thorn of sin. And how often we see it manifest! The thorn
+of pride, the thorn of self-will, the thorn of temper, the thorn of
+deceit.
+
+But, dear young friends, are these thorns a trouble to you? Would you
+like their power destroyed, and guilt pardoned? Listen, then, to God's
+way of salvation.
+
+As we gathered the roses, the thorns pricked our hands. But never mind
+that. We love them too much to mind a few pricks.
+
+Have you ever thought how the thorns (as long as your finger) were
+plaited into a crown, and pierced the head of Jesus? Yes, He loved His
+children so much that He willingly endured even the "nails," as well as
+the thorns, that they might be for ever saved from the wrath to come.
+
+A child once cried for fear when a wasp was near, but his mother said,
+"Don't fear, my child! It has left its sting in my hand. It won't hurt
+you."
+
+Yes, Jesus has been pricked and stung by sin that His people may for
+ever be delivered from its fatal power.
+
+May you, dear young friends, from a living faith, be enabled to commit
+your soul into His keeping who is able to "save unto the uttermost all
+that come unto God through Him."
+
+But how easily many of the roses scattered! We only touched the branch,
+and they were gone. Such is life! We may be in full bloom one day, but
+in a moment we may be carried into eternity. "We all do fade as a leaf."
+The longest life is but brief. Then well may we pray--
+
+  "Prepare me, gracious God,
+    To stand before Thy face;
+  Thy Spirit must the work perform,
+    For it is all of grace."
+
+                                      EBENEZER.
+
+
+
+
+"KEEP THE STAR IN SIGHT."
+
+
+On a wild spot on the coast of Cornwall I fell in with Will Treherne. He
+was as sound an "old salt" as ever manned a lifeboat or went aloft in a
+gale of wind. He was getting an old man when I used to see him sitting
+on the beach, when his day's work was done, smoking his pipe and gazing
+at the evening star. He told us boys stirring stories of sea life and
+adventure. One evening he narrated the following:--
+
+"Thirty years ago, in just such a night as this, the wind whistling as
+it does now, with the sea rising, and with as crazy a craft as seamen
+ever sailed in, I found myself drifting along a dangerous coast.
+
+"Our captain was an experienced one, and, when he saw what weather we
+were threatened with, he took his place at the wheel, and did his best
+to keep our courage up. He was in terribly poor health, but his spirits
+rose above his bodily weakness, and he gave his orders with a pluck and
+decision that made men of every one of us.
+
+"'Will Treherne,' he cried, 'stand by me if you can be spared. My
+strength is going. Do you see that star right ahead?'
+
+"'Yes, sir.'
+
+"'If my strength should fail, steer right ahead for that, and you are
+safe. And oh, remember, Will, that there is another Star you must always
+keep in view if you are to get safely into port at last.'
+
+"I knew what he meant. He was pointing me to the Lord Jesus Christ, for
+he was as good a Christian as he was a captain, and he never lost a
+chance of saying a word that might steady us youngsters, and make us
+think of our souls. I have heard many a sermon since that night in the
+storm, when he told me to keep the star ahead, but none took more hold
+on me than that one that night, when I lost my truest and best friend."
+
+"Did you lose him that night?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, my lad," the sailor answered, sadly. "His hour was come. When he
+could stand the gale no longer, he shouted as loud as he could, 'Keep
+the star in sight, my lads; keep the star in sight!' Then he was helped
+down to the cabin, and I never saw him alive again. I was lashed to the
+wheel, and though the spray well-nigh blinded me, yet I managed to keep
+the star in sight, as the first officer gave his orders for the working
+of the ship.
+
+"After two hours of steering through a narrow and dangerous channel, we
+found ourselves in a friendly sea. The star had guided us right.
+
+"When the ship was in safety, and my turn of work was over, I went down
+to the captain's cabin. A flag was thrown over his body, but his manly,
+resolute face, which even death had not much altered, was visible. I
+knelt down there and prayed God to guide me through the storms of life;
+and I believe I can say that, from that night, in spite of my faults and
+failings, I have kept the Star in sight. Now you will know why I am such
+a star-gazer; and if I may give you a bit of counsel, my lad, let me
+advise you to seek grace to begin and steer your course by the Star of
+Bethlehem; and, if your eye is fixed on that Star, you will come safely
+through the dangers of life into the port of peace at last."--_Chatterbox._
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER OF GEORGE III. TO LORD GRENVILLE,
+
+WHEN APPLIED TO ON THE ROMAN
+CATHOLIC BILL, MARCH, 1807.
+
+
+MY LORD,--I am one of those that respect an oath. I have firmness
+sufficient to quit my throne and retire to a cottage, or to place my
+neck upon a block on a scaffold, if my people require it; but I have not
+resolution enough to break an oath--an oath I took in the most solemn
+manner at my coronation.
+
+[God grant that the legislators of the present day may feel speedily the
+justice and wisdom of the noble sentiment of this illustrious monarch.]
+
+
+THE LATE PRINCE CONSORT'S OPINION OF POPERY.
+
+"It is an open secret," says the _Christian_, "that the Queen insists on
+exercising her right of private judgment on all ecclesiastical affairs
+in which she has to act. Before giving her assent to the selection of a
+golden Mass bowl as her Jubilee present to the Pope of Rome, the fact
+possibly escaped Her Majesty's memory that the late Prince Consort's
+opinion of Romanism was summed up in Adam Smith's statement, as
+follows--'The greatest conspiracy ever hatched against human liberty,
+civil and religious, is the Roman Catholic Church.' This quotation
+appears on the title-page of the 'Prince Consort's Speeches,' edited by
+His Royal Highness himself."
+
+
+
+
+A BIBLE WITH PINS IN IT.
+
+
+It was an old Bible, a family Bible, a well-worn Bible--the Bible of an
+old lady who had read it, and walked by it, and fed on it, and prayed
+over it for a long lifetime. As she grew older and older, her sight
+began to fail, and she found it hard to find her favourite verses. But
+she could not live without them, so what did she do? She stuck a pin in
+them, one by one; and after her death they counted 168.
+
+When people went to see her, she would open her Bible, and feeling over
+the page after her pin, would say, "Read there," or "Read here"; and she
+knew pretty well what verse was stuck by that pin, and what by this pin.
+She could indeed say of her precious Bible, "I love Thy commandments
+above gold; yea, above fine gold; they are sweeter to me than honey and
+the honey-comb."
+
+
+
+
+  BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+  The father of a blind man.
+  An ancient musical instrument.
+  A measure of time.
+  An immense fish.
+  A non-believer.
+  A foreign language.
+  A relation of Jacob.
+  An animal.
+  One of Joseph's sons.
+  A domestic animal.
+  A very valuable stone.
+  A particular time in the day.
+  Another word for a letter.
+
+                          JOSEPH SMITH
+                       (Aged 12 years).
+
+
+
+
+THRILLING SCENES AT THE FORTH BRIDGE WORKS.
+
+
+Two more fatal accidents were, some time since, reported from the Forth
+Bridge works, making thirty-four since the work began. One of the
+engineers of the bridge, Mr. Benjamin Baker, recently gave a lecture in
+Dundee, descriptive of the work, in the course of which he gave the
+following account of the dangers of the undertaking:--
+
+Much of the work, he said, required men of exceptional hardiness,
+courage, and presence of mind. In August last, six men were standing on
+a few planks hanging by iron hooks, at a height of about 140 feet above
+sea level. One of the hooks gave way without any warning, and in a
+fraction of a second the planks slipped away from under the men's feet.
+Short as the time was, with the lightning quickness of thought, three of
+the six men saved themselves by springing at and clutching hold of
+pieces of the steel work. Another man plunged headlong down twice the
+height of the Tay bridge into the water. His hardiness was such that the
+terrible flight through mid-air and shock on striking the water--a shock
+which he had seen break planks like matches--did not incapacitate him
+from grasping the rope which was cast to him, or from resuming work
+after he had recovered from the immediate effects of the shock.
+
+As regards courage, two of the men were left hanging by the arms with a
+clean drop of 140 feet below them. Although presumably unnerved by
+seeing their comrades take that terrible flight, the first man reached
+by the rescue party said, "I can hold on. Go to the other man; he is
+dazed." Such workmen upheld the best traditions of their
+fellow-craftsmen in the past.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+"_And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be
+one, even as We are One._"--JOHN xvii. 22.
+
+
+"The glory of the Lord endureth for ever"; and in this sublime prayer
+Jesus speaks of the glory that He had with His Father before the world
+began, and asks that He may be glorified in finishing His saving work.
+
+But what is the "glory" spoken of in our text? Two thoughts must guide
+us to its meaning--first, the Father had given it to His Son; secondly,
+Jesus had given it to His disciples.
+
+Christ is God, and, as God, is, and ever must be, glorious. But this
+glory was _not given_ Him; it was _His own_. Christ is the one Mediator
+between God and men--the only Way to heaven and happiness--the
+all-sufficient and only Saviour of sinners, who redeemed them by His
+blood, and saves them by His life. But His glory, as Mediator and
+Saviour, He will not give to another. He received it, and is crowned
+with it, _alone_.
+
+Yet He says, "I have given My disciples"--"the men Thou gavest out of
+the world"--"the glory Thou hast given Me." He is the Truth. His words
+were always divinely full of heavenly meaning. Let us try by other
+Scriptures to understand this one.
+
+In Isaiah xl. 10, we read, "Behold, the Lord God will come with strong
+hand"--or will come as a Mighty One--"behold, His reward is with Him,
+and the recompense of His work [see margin] is before Him." In Hebrews
+xii. 2, we are told that, "for the joy that was set before Him, He
+endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down," now and for
+ever, "at the right hand of God." This recompense, this joy, is Christ's
+glory. And what is it? In one word, it is _salvation_--the
+satisfaction, the honour, and delight, of rescuing, and eternally
+enriching, the people whom He loved from eternity, and will for ever
+love. As Cowper sweetly sings--
+
+  "Of all the crowns Jehovah wears,
+    Salvation is His dearest claim;
+  That gracious sound well-pleased He hears,
+    And owns Emmanuel for His name."
+
+In this--His joy, His glory--He makes His people share here in this
+world, and in this present time--
+
+  "Before they reach the heavenly fields,
+    Or tread the golden streets."
+
+They are interested in His salvation, and on this word we may reflect a
+little, for "interest" has a two-fold meaning. It means, benefit or
+profit; and it also means, friendly, loving concern for a person or an
+object. If I am interested in a paying business, I share in its profits,
+and am benefited by it; but I am interested in many things that bring me
+no money, and I gladly give them all the help I can, because I long for
+their success and prosperity.
+
+And in this double way believers are interested in Christ's salvation.
+They are for ever benefited by it. His death secures their endless life;
+His sorrow yields them joy and peace; and His poverty has made them rich
+for evermore. "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift," is the glad
+cry of all who know that this precious salvation is their own.
+
+Then comes the other form of interest--loving, prayerful desire that
+Christ may be glorified; that "the kingdom of God may come"; that
+sinners may be brought to the Saviour. The burdened heart, longing for
+peace, may be too full of its own sorrows to think much of others; but
+the forgiven child of God, rejoicing in Jesus as his own dear, almighty
+Friend, says, or desires to say--
+
+  "Now will I tell to sinners round
+  What a dear Saviour I have found;
+  I'll point to His redeeming blood,
+  And say, 'Behold the way to God!'"
+
+Thus the apostles laboured to carry the Gospel wherever they could
+travel, though, by so doing, they were exposed to persecution,
+suffering, and death. But they longed to spread the joyful news abroad,
+and to be the means of leading their hearers to Jesus; and when they
+"saw the grace of God," they were glad with an unspeakable joy. And, so
+far as we are animated with Christ's spirit, we, too, shall seek after
+the same blessed results.
+
+And Jesus has given His glory to His people that they may all be united
+together, even as He and His Father are One--one in heart, and mind, and
+aims.
+
+We hear a great deal just now about the "unity of Christendom," or the
+"Christian world," and some would like to blend the Greek and Roman with
+the English Church. Now, what sort of union would that be? Others do not
+go quite so far, and yet they would unite together a variety of creeds
+and people by dropping every important difference, and giving up
+whatever was not generally acceptable. But let us never forget that
+there can be no Christian union without Christ; no holy unity unless
+founded on God's Word. Gas jets affixed in a certain way to our ceilings
+are called "sun-lights." They are only artificial lights, after all; and
+whatever name it may assume, unless Christ is the Centre of unity, the
+union is not Christian, for "if any one have not the Spirit of Christ,
+he is none of His." But union to and in Christ is very real and true
+even now, and those who follow Jesus can hold sweet intercourse together
+in this world. "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ
+in sincerity."
+
+We are, at best, imperfect in the present state. We know but in part.
+Our love is often cold, and sin still dwells in the heart; but in the
+glory that is yet to come, we, if we are His, shall know, even as we
+have been known of Him. Perfect love will cast out all distance and
+coldness, and perfect holiness will possess every saved one.
+
+"Beloved," wrote the same Apostle who recorded the Saviour's prayer,
+"now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
+be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we
+shall see Him as He is." May this glorious prospect be ours, through His
+grace.
+
+Our next subject will be, Matthew vi. 22, 23--_Mental Eyes: Darkened and
+Illuminated_.
+
+                                  Yours affectionately,
+                                             H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+  A WORD TO SELF-SEEKERS.
+
+
+  I would not lead the selfish life
+    That never seeks to throw
+  A pleasant ray of happiness
+    On other people's woe.
+
+  I scorn the folks who will not strive
+    To lessen want and care;
+  Nor lend a helping hand to those
+    Who have so much to bear.
+
+  Is there not misery enough
+    On this terrestrial ball
+  To spring some sympathetic chord
+    Within the hearts of all?
+
+  Oh, ye who only seek your own--
+    Who hold yourselves so dear
+  That ye can never give the sad
+    One simple word of cheer--
+
+  Believe me, if ye wish to spend
+    A life of happy ease,
+  Seek not your own, but how ye may
+    Your weary brothers please.
+
+  And He who marks each gentle deed
+    Of loving sympathy,
+  May whisper His approving word--
+    "Ye did it unto Me."
+
+                       CARRIE LIGHT.
+
+_Brighton._
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+SELF-HELP.
+
+
+There are six important heads which this subject may be placed under,
+viz., Industry, Patience, Perseverance, Cheerfulness, Courage, and
+Prudence.
+
+_Industry._--This is a very important thing in life, and you will never
+be any good to the world without you possess it. There have been men
+who, by their patient industry, have done their country a great deal of
+good by inventing engines and machines to mitigate the labours of men;
+and some of these men have been mobbed and nearly killed by their
+townsmen, who thought their work would be taken away instead of
+enlarged, and very often their inventions have been broken to pieces.
+
+Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes ix. 10, says, "Whatsoever thy hand
+findeth to do, do it with thy might"; and in Proverbs vi. 6--"Go to the
+ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise."
+
+_Patience._--Patience is a very needful thing to self-help, for without
+it you will not be able to do anything that requires time and trouble.
+You have need of patience when you are waiting for a thing which you are
+in great haste to obtain.
+
+David says, in Psalm xxxvii. 7, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently
+for Him."
+
+_Perseverance._--There are some people who, if they start a certain
+thing, have not the necessary perseverance to finish it; while others,
+who persevere, succeed. Great men you read of in history would never
+have been so distinguished had it not been for their perseverance.
+Bernard Palissy, who discovered the white enamel for pottery, had a
+great many trials to bear, and was years before he perfected it; but he
+persevered, and at last succeeded.[8]
+
+  [8] For a fuller account of Palissy, see LITTLE GLEANER for July, 1879.
+
+Oh, that we may be taught to trust in Christ, and pray, with the poet--
+
+"Lord, hast Thou made me know Thy ways?
+  Conduct me in Thy fear;
+And grant me such supplies of grace
+  That I may persevere."
+
+_Cheerfulness._--This is a very essential thing to self-help. If you
+have a task, and you have somebody to cheer you up, your task feels
+lighter, and the time passes better. People who are dull, and not
+cheerful, find the time pass slower, and the work seems heavier. There
+have been men who have been cheerful even when they have been in great
+difficulties.
+
+Christ said to the man sick of the palsy, "Son, be of good cheer; thy
+sins be forgiven thee."
+
+_Courage._--Moral courage is one of the most important features in this
+subject. You will be more likely to succeed if you are bold and
+courageous. It is right to be courageous in a good cause, but not in a
+wrong one. It is real courage, when wicked persons try to entice you to
+drinking, gambling, and other vices, if you boldly answer, "No."
+
+Solomon says, in the Book of Proverbs xxviii. 1--"The wicked flee when
+no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion."
+
+_Prudence, or Foresight._--It is wise to consider what the consequences
+of your actions will be. Some people do not stop to do so, and thus run
+needlessly into danger. You cannot rightly practise self-help without
+you are prudent. It is very imprudent to risk life or anything
+unnecessarily, or to leave things to the last minute or two. If you are
+imprudent, you will regret it in after life.
+
+In Proverbs xvi. 21, it says, "The wise in heart shall be called
+prudent."
+
+Self-help is not a spiritual thing, but a temporal one; but you cannot
+truly succeed in these things without God's help and blessing. May we,
+in the things of daily life, and especially in spiritual things, be led
+to say, like David, in Psalm cxxi., "I will lift up mine eyes unto the
+hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which
+made heaven and earth," remembering that He does not approve selfish
+living, but says, "To do good and to communicate, forget
+not."--(_Abridged._)
+
+                                   F. E. H. ANDREWS
+                           (Aged 13 years 5 months).
+
+1, _Tavistock Terrace,
+Upper Holloway, London, N._
+
+[Lilly Rush, W. E. Cray (age not given), A. M. Cray, E. B. West, A.
+Pease, and Margaret Creasey have sent fair Essays, especially the
+first-named, and we hope they will still persevere.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "From the Loom to a
+Lawyer's Gown; or, Self-Help that was not all for Self," presented by a
+friend who reads the GLEANER.
+
+The subject for May will be, "How to be Useful in the World," and the
+prize to be given for the best Essay on that subject, a copy of "Notable
+Workers in Humble Life." All competitors must give a guarantee that they
+are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their own
+composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot
+undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the
+first of April.]
+
+
+ONE good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters. In the home, she is
+the "loadstone to all hearts, and loadstar to all eyes." Imitation of
+her is constant--imitation which Bacon likens to "a globe of precepts."
+But example is far more than precept. In its instruction is action.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+THE ELEPHANT'S STRENGTH.--The ordinary strength of an elephant is
+calculated as equal to that of 147 men.
+
+
+A FIGHT AMONG LIONS.--A fearful struggle took place recently between
+eight lions in a cage at the menagerie at Liverpool Exhibition. One
+lion, valued at L150, was killed.
+
+
+THE red-wood forests of California, Oregon, and Washington Territory
+are, perhaps, the most wonderful of the world. The average yield per
+acre is 100,000 feet lumber, or 64,000,000 feet to the square mile.
+
+
+SIR JOHN COODE'S scheme for the protection of the foreshore at Hastings,
+by means of two stone groynes and an extended breastwork at the east end
+of the town, was completed last August. The total cost has been L30,000.
+Sir John remarked that the beach was accumulating at the rate of 40,000
+to 50,000 tons per annum.
+
+
+EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF STRANGULATION.--An extraordinary case has occurred
+at Howick, near Preston. A little boy named Fisher, the son of a farmer,
+was climbing an apple tree, when he slipped between two branches. His
+jacket turned up fast round his neck, and as he could not get a button
+undone, he was strangled.
+
+
+A MONSTER DOGFISH.--A gigantic dogfish, weighing ten cwt., has been
+hauled ashore by a fisherman at Mazargues, in the Department of the
+Bouches-du-Rhone. The animal made a desperate struggle on the bank, and
+its head had to be battered in with a club before it could be mastered.
+A monster of a similar kind, some time ago, ate up a boatman and his
+boy, whose boat had been capsized in the river.
+
+
+IT has been calculated that, after Prince von Bismarck's recent great
+speech, 1,218 telegrams, containing 194,296 words, were despatched to
+326 different places on the world's surface. Two hundred and thirty-five
+telegraph clerks were employed at sixty Hughes' apparatus, 155 Morse's,
+and seven Estienne's, to carry out the work; and the number of words in
+the Chancellor's speech is computed at 10,997.
+
+
+A PECULIAR CASE.--Captain Russell has had under treatment a valuable and
+favourite cat, belonging to a resident of Spittlegate, Grantham. The
+poor animal was taken with a choking sensation about three weeks ago,
+and, as it could not eat, soon grew very thin, and appeared to be going
+"the way of all flesh." After vain attempts at restoration, pussy was
+taken to the afore-named veterinary surgeon, who prescribed for her. She
+was fed with a spoon for some days, and at length a substance was
+discovered to be forming by the side of the neck. Supposing it to be a
+boil, he lanced it, and found it to contain a piece of metal, which he
+at once extracted, in the shape of a sewing-needle with a piece of
+cotton attached. The cat is now recovered, and but little the worse for
+the painful operation.--_Grantham Journal._
+
+
+THE Emperor of China, who is about to be married, is doing the thing
+handsomely. His wedding gifts to his young bride include a gold seal
+richly inlaid with jewels, the handle being formed by two gold dragons;
+ten piebald horses with complete trappings; ten gilt helmets and
+cuirasses: 1,000 pieces of satin of the first quality, and 200 pieces of
+cotton material; 200 ounces of gold; 10,000 ounces of silver; one gold
+tea service, and one silver tea service; twenty horses with complete
+trappings, and twenty without. The parents of the lady receive also 100
+ounces of gold; one gold tea set; 5,000 taels of silver; one silver tea
+set; 500 pieces of silk; 1,000 pieces of cotton material; six horses,
+completely harnessed; a helmet and cuirass; a bow and a quiver, with
+arrows; each parent one Court dress for summer, and one for winter, one
+every-day dress, and a sable coat. The brothers and servants of the
+bride also receive rich and costly presents.
+
+
+FROM DOVER TO CALAIS IN TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES.--A novel ship has recently
+been invented by Mr. Thomas Hitt, of Brandon, Suffolk. She is somewhat
+of a semi-twin type, one-third wider than the ordinary sailing ship, but
+not so wide as a paddle-steamer. Between the supposed divided halves,
+which ascend to about eighteen inches above the water-line, is a
+wheel-race, extending from bow to stern. In the centre of this
+wheel-race a pit is formed, into which the lower part of the periphery
+of the wheel descends. The wheel, when rotating, drives the water
+through the race, and out at the stern, with great velocity. The maximum
+result of experiments indicates that a ship of 500 tons, with a wheel of
+50 feet diameter, making 50 revolutions per minute, will attain a speed
+of 56 knots an hour, after allowing one-fourth for slip and other
+contingencies. Although the wheel is described as making 50 revolutions
+per minute, it may reach 100, more or less. This excess of power may be
+utilized for the production and storage of electricity, to be used
+either for illuminating purposes, or for propelling the ship when
+becalmed.
+
+
+A FAITHFUL MASTIFF.--John Templeton is a blacksmith, who owns a fine
+specimen of the English mastiff. Recently Mr. Templeton was working at
+his forge, putting a new steel in the point of a pick. The steel was
+slightly burned in the heating, and, instead of welding, flew into
+half-a-dozen pieces. One piece struck the blacksmith above the right eye
+with such force as to fasten itself in firmly. He staggered and fell
+backwards. How long he was unconscious he does not know, but when he
+revived, the dog lay in the middle of the shop, crying almost like a
+human being, and rubbing his jaws in the dust of the floor. The piece of
+steel which had struck Mr. Templeton lay a short distance from the dog.
+The faithful animal had seized the hot steel with his teeth, and drew it
+from the frontal bone of Mr. Templeton's head. The dog's mouth was badly
+burned.--_Albany Journal._
+
+
+THE DISCOVERIES AT POMPEII.--A Naples correspondent says--"The waxed
+tablets found, together with silver vases, &c., at Pompeii, all belong
+to one woman, Decidia Margaris, and are contracts precisely similar to
+those found twelve years ago belonging to one Lucio Cecilio Giocondo;
+but unlike those, which were enclosed in a strong iron box, and had
+undergone a process of carbonization which preserved their legibility
+for eighteen centuries, the present ones were only folded, together with
+the vases, in a thick cloth, which the rain-water had penetrated,
+reducing the wood to pulp, and wearing away the wax on which the
+characters are impressed, so that only some fragments preserved the
+writing; and a few days after the discovery these too were lost, the wax
+separating from the wooden tablets and breaking up into minute
+particles. There remains now only one tablet, which has been naturally
+preserved by being impregnated with oxide of copper. It is the contract
+for the sale of young slaves to Decidia Margaris."--_Daily News._
+
+
+A GENUINE FAST OF TWENTY DAYS.--An extraordinary case of prolonged
+fasting is reported in connection with the severe weather. On December
+22nd, 1887, a peasant woman from Opergrabern, near Vienna, went to
+receive some money that was owing to her at a small village a few miles
+distant. The amount was not paid, and the woman had only four kreutzers
+in her pocket, with which she bought two rolls of bread. On the way home
+she was caught in a heavy snow-storm, and took shelter in a small hut in
+a vineyard. The storm continuing, she decided to spend the night where
+she was, and divested herself of some of her upper garments to wrap up
+her feet. The next morning, when she awoke, she could not rise, being
+partially paralyzed by the cold. Her cries for help were unheard, and it
+was only on the 11th of January she was found by a woodcutter's wife,
+having been twenty days without food. She was in a precarious condition,
+but there is some hope of her recovery.
+
+
+YOUTHFUL HEROINES.--The Royal Humane Society have awarded their highest
+honour--a silver medal--to a young lady named Fanny Rowe, only fifteen
+years of age, daughter of the Rev. J. G. Rowe, vicar of Topcroft,
+Bungay, for saving the life of a lad named Franchs, at Neuchatel, under
+circumstances of great gallantry. The lad was playing by the jetty with
+his brother, when he fell into deep water. His brother jumped in to save
+him, but, not being able to swim, was soon in difficulties. A number of
+men ran about crying out "Who can swim?" but no one attempted a rescue
+until Miss Rowe came up, kicked off her shoes, but otherwise fully
+dressed, without a moment's hesitation rushed into the water, swam to
+the place, dived, and caught the younger brother, but could not keep
+hold of him, his hair being so short. She dived again and caught him,
+this time by the ear, and brought him to the jetty, where he was lifted
+out, and then she returned and saved the elder brother. The bronze medal
+was also unanimously bestowed upon Miss M. Strachy, aged seventeen,
+daughter of Her Majesty's Consul at Dresden, for saving Miss Taylor at
+Sandy Island, Heligoland.
+
+
+ZION CHAPEL, FOLKESTONE.--The New Year's Meeting of the Sunday School
+took place on January 16th. After doing justice to the tea, the children
+and friends met in the chapel, where Mr. Weeks, of Tenterden, opened the
+meeting with the reading of the fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah and
+prayer. Some of the children repeated the Epistle of James, having
+learned various portions of it. Mr. Brown, of Tadworth, spoke on the
+beginnings of true religion, using the alphabet--A for attention to
+various good things, and not to wickedness; B for the Bible; C for
+conviction, which he described as a sure and certain knowledge of our
+sinful state, not fancies floating in the mind, and he illustrated it by
+a condemned convict's knowledge of his own sad case. Mr. Weeks then
+sought to encourage the children in the ways of obedience to parents and
+storing Scripture in the memory, of which latter no enemy could rob
+them. He also spoke to the teachers and friends, giving a word of
+encouragement. Mr. Smith spoke of the need of Jesus Christ being formed
+in the heart as the only hope for lost sinners, after which the yearly
+prizes were handed to their respective owners, also the gifts of
+clothing by an old friend of the children. A few words of prayer closed
+a happy meeting.
+
+                                                   E. M.
+
+[Illustration: "ARE YOU SURE THAT NOTHING IS LEFT UNDONE?" (_See page
+74._)]
+
+
+
+
+AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF A BARRISTER.
+
+
+I was engaged in my study one morning, when a client of mine, a Mr.
+B----, was introduced. He was in a state of great excitement, having
+heard that the Lord Chancellor was to pronounce judgment on his case
+that day.
+
+"Are you sure," he inquired, "that nothing is left undone? If judgment
+is given against me, I am a ruined man. All my hopes are centred in its
+results. On the issue hang the prospects of my darling wife and
+children. Oh, tell me, can anything further be done to, if possible,
+ensure success?"
+
+I endeavoured to calm him by saying that we were fully prepared, and
+that counsel's opinion was in his favour. This assurance having appeased
+him a little, he left me, appointing to meet again in an hour at the
+court. The Chancellor had just taken his seat as I entered, and was
+proceeding to give judgment in my client's case.
+
+Casting my eyes around, I observed poor Mr. B---- seated on a bench,
+immediately opposite his lordship. He did not recognize me, for his
+entire attention was riveted on the oracle from whence was to proceed
+the eagerly wished for, but dreaded decision. To look upon that man was
+painful indeed; and although many years of professional experience had
+familiarized me to such scenes, yet I could not behold him without
+emotion, and trembled to think of the awful effect an adverse decision
+would have on a mind so sensitive as his, and wrought to the highest
+degree of painful suspense. My fears were but too soon realized. After
+an elaborate and carefully considered review of the case, a final decree
+was awarded against my client. Never shall I forget the agony of despair
+depicted on his countenance at that moment as, rushing from the court,
+he hissed into my ear the fearful words, "Oh, I am undone!"
+
+It was a damp November day on which the circumstance above narrated
+occurred. Wending my way homewards through Chancery Lane, the words of
+my unfortunate client recurred to me. "Will _my_ case be called on
+to-day?" thought I; "and is nothing left undone to ensure me a
+favourable decree at the hands of that eternal Judge before whom I must
+stand, sooner or later?"
+
+Dear reader, you and I have both a case of vital importance, the
+judgment of which will be eternal happiness or eternal misery. If we
+have no Friend at court, no skilful Advocate to plead, anything of our
+own--any pleadings based upon our own works or performances--will most
+assuredly fail. A form without the power will not stand the test of that
+tremendous, awful day. All false coverings will then be stripped off.
+Naked, ruined, and undone for ever must we be unless found clothed with
+the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the God-Man. The lines of one of our
+poets have aptly described the case--
+
+  "A debtor to Jehovah's law,
+    My soul by nature stood,
+  And Justice was about to draw
+    His sword to shed my blood.
+
+  "'Stand forth! Stand forth!' he sternly cried,
+    'And pay me what you owe!'
+  "'Tis done,' said Jesus, 'for I died;
+    Loose him, and let him go!'"
+
+What a solemn consideration it is that I who write and you who read will
+stand in one case or the other--"Loose him, and let him go!" or, "Bind
+him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness!" I ask myself--and
+may I ask you--Does it cause you any searchings of heart, any anxious
+thoughts, any tossings to and fro upon your bed? "How stands the case,
+my soul, with thee?" Are matters right between God and thy soul? Have I
+any reason to hope that I shall be acquitted? Or are you, Gallio-like,
+caring for none of these things, "dancing the hellward road apace"? This
+we are sure of--that the judgment of God will be according to truth, and
+those who die in their sins, destitute of an interest and hope in
+Christ, will have to confess that the Judge of all the earth has done
+right. Your debts are great--too great for you ever to pay. Are you
+trying to wipe off part of the score, endeavouring to do your best, and
+trusting Jesus Christ to make up the rest? Hopeless case, for--
+
+"Could thy zeal no respite know,
+Could thy tears for ever flow,
+All for sin could not atone;
+Christ must save, and Christ alone."
+
+But if, from a sense of your true state and condition, your entirely
+bankrupt state, with no hope or help in yourself, you have fallen down
+at Jesus' feet, crying, "Lord, save, or I perish!" you are on safe
+ground. Thy Surety paid for thee; and thou shalt know it in His own
+time, to the joy of thy heart.
+
+                                          A BARRISTER.
+
+
+
+
+MODES OF TRAVEL IN PERSIA.
+
+
+There are two modes of travel in Persia, caravan and chappah. The former
+is slow, at the pace which loaded mules can follow, say twenty-five
+miles a day. To travel in caravan means not to go with a large company,
+but in this leisurely manner. Hence our word "caravan," because large
+trains in the East must necessarily travel in caravan style.
+
+Chappah travelling, on the other hand, means rapid going, at an average
+of eighty to a hundred and fifty miles per diem. This can only be done
+by riding at a steady gallop--horses rarely trot in the East--and
+changing horses at short intervals. The post carriers invariably travel
+chappah.
+
+The method of measuring distances in Persia is by farsakhs, a farsakh
+representing four miles. Post stations are placed four farsakhs, or
+sixteen miles apart, and more rarely five farsakhs. Fresh relays of
+horses are kept in readiness at these stations. The post carriers,
+accompanied by a single attendant, both heavily armed, and wielding a
+fierce whip of hide, carry the mail in saddle bags. On arriving at a
+station they dismount, take a hasty cup of tea which is in readiness,
+and a few pulls at the kalian, or water-pipe. Then the horses are led
+out, and the postman starts for another sixteen-mile gallop over the
+mountain and plain, through forest and waste. These postmen are, so far
+as I could learn, very faithful and courageous, as they must need be,
+for they are sometimes attacked and killed, especially when it had
+leaked out that they are carrying money. Thus they go through Persia,
+and through life, on horseback. In summer, they have to rest during the
+heat of the day, but, summer and winter, they gallop all night, and
+practically have no rest until the end of the journey. The post rider
+from Teheran to Bushire goes nearly seven hundred miles before he can
+take a solid sleep.--_S. G. W. Benjamin._
+
+
+
+
+THE VALUE OF WORK.
+
+
+Earn your own bread, and see how sweet it will be! Work, and see how
+well you will be! Work, and see how cheerful you will be! Work, and see
+how independent you will be! Work, and see how happy your family will
+be! Work, and, instead of repining at Providence, you may, perhaps, find
+yourself offering up thanks for all the numerous blessings you enjoy.
+
+
+
+
+COUSIN SUSAN'S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF FATHER
+CHINIQUY.
+
+THE COW, THE SUCKING PIG, AND PURGATORY.
+
+"_The tree is known by its fruit._"--MATTHEW xii. 33.
+
+
+Mr. Chiniquy died very suddenly, when his little son Charlie was only
+twelve years old. The boy had been fetched home from the house of a
+relative who lived at a distance, and where he had attended a good
+school, kept by a Protestant gentleman. He had gone through various
+lessons with his father, and delighted him with the progress he had
+made. They had read the fifteenth chapter of Luke, and retired to rest
+full of joy; but before the next day dawned, the boy awoke to his
+mother's heartrending cry, "Oh, my dear child, you have no more a
+father! He is dead!"
+
+Poor child! He felt he could not believe it. He ran to his father's bed,
+kissed him, pressed his hands, and prayed that he might live. But it was
+too true. The breath had fled, and only a lifeless corpse remained.
+
+After such overwhelming sorrow, surely they needed the tenderest
+sympathy; but only a few days elapsed before the parish priest (who had,
+years before, tried to get their Bible away) called on them, and, after
+a few cold words, he said that something was owing for the prayers that
+had been offered for the departed, and he would be glad to receive it!
+Poor Mrs. Chiniquy assured him that, although her husband had received a
+considerable income as a notary, yet their expenses had been so heavy
+that he had left her little besides debts. The house he had had built,
+and the piece of land he purchased not long ago, were only half paid
+for, "and I fear," said she, "I shall lose them both. I hope, sir," she
+added, "that you are not the man to take away from us our last piece of
+bread."
+
+"But, madam," was the cruel answer, "the money for the masses offered
+for the rest of your husband's soul must be paid!"
+
+For some time the widow sat shedding silent tears. At length she raised
+her tearful eyes, and said, "Sir, you see that cow in the meadow? Her
+milk, and the butter made from it, form the principal part of my
+children's food. I hope you will not take her away from us. If, however,
+such a sacrifice must be made to deliver my poor husband's soul from
+purgatory, take her as the payment of the masses to be offered to
+extinguish those devouring flames."
+
+"Very well, madam," said the priest, rising, and walking out.
+
+They anxiously watched to see what he would do; and, to their horror, he
+went straight to the meadow and drove away their useful and cherished
+favourite. Poor Mrs. Chiniquy nearly fainted; and when able to speak,
+she said--
+
+"Dear child, if ever you become a priest, never be so hard-hearted
+towards poor widows as are the priests of to-day."
+
+Those words were never forgotten, as our next story will show.
+
+Many years had passed. The child had become a man and a priest, when he
+was invited to preach a course of three sermons in the church of a rich
+curate. On the second day, walking with him to the parsonage, a very
+poor, ragged, and miserable man took off his hat, and tremblingly
+addressed the curate, saying--
+
+"You know, sir, that my poor wife died, and was buried ten days ago; but
+I was too poor to have a funeral service sung for her, and I fear she is
+in purgatory. Almost every night I see her in my dreams in burning
+flames, and she cries to me to help her. Will you be so kind as to sing
+that high mass for her?"
+
+"Of course," answered the curate. "Your wife is suffering in purgatory.
+Give me five dollars, and I will sing the mass to-morrow morning."
+
+The poor man replied that his wife had long been ill, and he was too
+distressed to pay the money, and begged that five low masses might be
+said for her. The priest told him he must pay five shillings for them,
+but the wretched man declared he had no money, and that he and his
+children were starving.
+
+"Well, well," said the curate, "I saw two beautiful sucking pigs before
+your house this morning. Give me one of them."
+
+"Those pigs, sir," said the man, "were given me by a charitable
+neighbour, that I might raise them for my children's food next winter.
+They will surely starve if I give my pigs away."
+
+Chiniquy could not wait to hear the conclusion of the shameful bargain.
+He hurried away to his room, refused to take tea, and spent a sleepless
+night wondering whether the Church of Rome could be the Church of
+Christ. Next morning, he gave five dollars to the poor man, and went
+breakfastless to church.
+
+After preaching, he was led by the curate to his dining-room. The long
+fast had made him very hungry, and the foremost dish was a delicious
+sucking pig. He had cut a piece, and was just about to eat, when the
+scene of yesterday flashed across his mind, and he inquired, "Was this
+_that_ sucking pig?"
+
+"Yes," replied the curate, with a hearty laugh, "it is just that. If we
+cannot take the poor woman's soul out of purgatory, we will, at all
+events, eat a fine sucking pig."
+
+The priestly guests all joined in the laugh except Chiniquy, who, with a
+burst of righteous indignation, pushed his plate away, and in a few
+thrilling words told them what he thought of the whole proceeding. Of
+course they were very angry; but the sucking pig was untouched by any
+one.
+
+Thus were Chiniquy's eyes gradually opened, and he "saw men as trees
+walking," until the final touch gave him to "see all things clearly."
+
+Lord, open Thou our eyes, and give us clearer and yet clearer light,
+that we not only may forsake every evil way, but may follow Thee with
+full purpose of heart.
+
+
+
+
+QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS.
+
+
+What is earth, sexton? A place to dig graves.
+
+What is earth, rich man? A place to work slaves.
+
+What is earth, grey-beard? A place to grow old.
+
+What is earth, miser? A place to dig gold.
+
+What is earth, schoolboy? A place for my play.
+
+What is earth, maiden? A place to be gay.
+
+What is earth, seamstress? A place where I weep.
+
+What is earth, sluggard? A good place to sleep.
+
+What is earth, soldier? A place for a battle.
+
+What is earth, herdsman? A place to raise cattle.
+
+What is earth, widow? A place of true sorrow.
+
+What is earth, tradesman? I'll tell you to-morrow.
+
+What is earth, sick man? 'Tis nothing to me.
+
+What is earth, sailor? My home is the sea.
+
+What is earth, statesman? A place to win fame.
+
+What is earth, author? I'll write there my name.
+
+What is earth, monarch? For my realm 'tis given.
+
+What is earth, Christian? The gateway of heaven.
+
+
+
+
+        SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LORD'S GRACIOUS DEALINGS WITH
+                             MARY STUBBS,
+      WHO DIED AT GODMANCHESTER, DECEMBER 19TH, 1887, AGED
+                          TWENTY-FOUR YEARS.
+
+
+We cannot say when, or by what means, the Lord first implanted the seed
+of eternal life in our sister's soul; but as in nature, so in
+grace--there is first the dropping of the seed, then the blade and the
+ear, and after that, the full corn in the ear; the full corn in many, as
+in our sister's case, not appearing until they are laid down by a fatal
+disease.
+
+By letters which I received from her the last few years, I had a hope
+the seed was sown from the love which she manifested to the truth and
+people of God. At the same time, many of her words and actions
+manifested much impatience, showing that she was a child of fallen Adam,
+and that she was under another influence than the Holy Spirit of God.
+This was a trial to us, giving us many errands to the throne of grace,
+not knowing what the end might be; and not only was it a grief to us,
+but also to herself.
+
+Some months ago, writing to me, she said, "I feel so very unhappy. I
+wish I had never been born, for I do not feel fit to live, nor yet fit
+to die."
+
+Her sister, with whom she lived, says, "Once or twice before her last
+affliction have we found her weeping, after she returned from the house
+of God--once especially, when Mr. Oldfield spoke from the words, 'Thou
+shalt preserve me from trouble,' at which time she seemed sorely tried;
+and referring to it on her dying bed, said, 'Satan did tempt me so then;
+but what a mercy God preserved me! I felt that, if I had died then, I
+must have been lost.'"
+
+At another time she found her in great distress, and, inquiring the
+cause, she said, "I feel so ill! I do not think I shall live long, and I
+know I am not prepared to die."
+
+About three weeks after this, she went to St. Ives' anniversary, and
+heard Mr. Hull preach from the text, "In this place will I give you
+peace." The words seemed to have an abiding-place in her heart, and
+proved a promise to her in her affliction. They were as "bread cast upon
+the waters, found and enjoyed after many days." When she returned from
+St. Ives, she looked quite ill, and said, "It seems as though I am not
+to go anywhere and enjoy myself."
+
+A few weeks after this, she took to her room, which she never left
+again. But, as her bodily strength decreased, she became more and more
+anxious about eternal things, and said to her sister and one of the
+members, who were sitting with her, "I do not think I shall get better.
+If I was sure I should go to heaven, I should not mind dying; but I keep
+thinking of all my past sins, and all that I have done and said. Do you
+think the Lord will forgive?" and with great earnestness she exclaimed,
+"Oh, do tell me--do you think He will forgive all my sins, and take me
+to heaven?" They told her they felt sure, if the Lord had made her sins
+a burden to her, and enabled her to beg of Him to cleanse her in His
+precious blood, He would, in His own time, answer her petitions, and
+they encouraged her to give Him no rest until He spoke home peace and
+pardon to her soul.
+
+On Saturday, November 12th, Mr. Oldfield called to see her. She asked
+him if he thought the Lord would forgive her. He assured her that, if
+the Lord had made her long for His pardoning love, He would appear for
+her. He had sweet liberty in prayer on her behalf, and, having read at
+her request the twenty-seventh Psalm, he inquired if she had any
+favourite hymns. She replied, "Yes--'There is a fountain filled with
+blood.'" He remarked, "The dying thief felt he needed that fountain, and
+so do you and I, Mary." She answered, "Yes, we do."
+
+In the evening, two of her sisters came to see her, and she exclaimed,
+"What! are you both come so far to see me? I am not worthy," and burst
+into tears.
+
+On Sunday, November 13th, she said but little during the day, but still
+kept begging of the Lord to forgive her all her sins, and take her to
+heaven; and in the evening He answered her prayer, and sweetly spoke
+home peace and pardon to her heart. She exclaimed, "Jesus has pardoned
+all my sins! Yes, yes, He has told me so! I am so happy! Oh, so happy!
+Jesus! Jesus! Thou art precious to my soul! Oh, come and take me! I long
+to be with You, dear Jesus!" and, with solemn sweetness, she added,
+"'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
+fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort
+me.'
+
+  "Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared,
+    Unworthy though I be,
+  For me a rich, a free reward,
+    A golden harp for me.
+
+"Jesus is 'the Chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely.'"
+Thus she laid, blessing and praising His dear name till she was
+completely exhausted.
+
+Early the next morning she said, "I am still on this bed of affliction.
+The Lord has spared me one more day, but I hope He will soon come and
+fetch me. I do so long to go, but
+
+  "I must wait a little longer,
+    Till His appointed time,
+  And glory in the knowledge
+    That such a home is mine.
+
+"Yes, 'that such a home is mine!' I shall wear a white robe there, and
+sing 'Hallelujah! Hallelujah!'
+
+  "Yes, loudest of the crowd I'll sing,
+  Whilst heaven's resounding mansions ring
+    With shouts of sovereign grace."
+
+On Monday, November 14th, I and my brother visited her for the first
+time. She was at first overcome, but soon revived, and said, "I am so
+pleased to see you both. I asked the Lord to spare me to see you all
+before I died. How kind He is to hear me!"
+
+I spent, altogether, the greatest part of four days with her, and those
+will be reckoned amongst the happiest days of my life, though mixed with
+sorrow at the thought of losing one made doubly dear by the sweet
+manifestation of the spirit of Christ in her. We could but look on and
+say, "What hath God wrought!" she herself saying, "I am not the one I
+was once, but am a new creature in Christ Jesus, for the Lord has heard
+my prayers, and forgiven all my sins, and now I know I am going to
+heaven," her countenance at the same time beaming with joy.
+
+On Tuesday, November 15th, she asked her eldest brother to read to her--
+
+  "When languor and disease invade
+    This trembling house of clay,
+  'Tis sweet to look beyond our cage,
+    And long to fly away,"
+
+which she much enjoyed.
+
+On Wednesday, November 16th, she said to me, "Oh, Joseph, I feel Jesus
+is all around me, and I know He is soon coming to take me home. I am so
+happy, and waiting to go to my home of eternal rest."
+
+Turning to those present, she said, "You do not mind parting with me,
+now you know I am going to heaven, do you?" and, seeing us in tears, she
+said, "I cannot think what you have to grieve about. If I were not going
+to heaven, then you might grieve."
+
+At times she seemed completely lost to all around, and was in sweet
+communion with God, and laid blessing and praising His dear name. The
+following are only a few of the sweet words that fell from her
+lips--"Oh, Jesus, I am so happy! Thou art precious to my soul. I long to
+be with Thee, dear Jesus--not that I wish to leave my brothers and
+sisters, only to come to Thee. I can leave everything to come to Thee,
+dear Jesus. Come and fetch me. Fetch me soon, if it is Thy will; but if
+I must wait a little longer, give me patience to wait Thy time."
+
+At other times, she would repeat with sweet feeling her favourite hymns
+and chapters, amongst which were, Psalms xxiii., xxvii., and ciii.; and
+hymns, "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds," "There is a fountain filled
+with blood," and "Father, whate'er of earthly bliss." The last verse of
+the latter seemed particularly precious to her--
+
+  "Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine
+    My life and death attend;
+  Thy presence through my journey shine,
+    And crown my journey's end."
+
+One morning, she wished her books, &c., brought to her, that she might
+give us each a parting gift, saying, "Keep them in remembrance of me,
+when I am gone to heaven to be with Jesus."
+
+On Wednesday, November 16th, in the evening, Mr. Oldfield again saw her.
+She spoke very freely to him, and said, "Won't it be nice to depart and
+be with Jesus?--much better than remaining here. I think He will soon
+come and fetch me. He has pardoned all my sins. Yes, He told me so." He
+read John x. at her wish, and spoke in prayer, which she much enjoyed
+and spoke of afterwards.
+
+When I was about to leave her, she said, "I want you all to sing, 'How
+sweet the name of Jesus sounds,'" which we did, she joining with all the
+strength she had, her face being radiant with joy.
+
+Another morning she awoke, and commenced singing several sweet hymns.
+Truly she experienced the words of Isaiah, "Thou wilt keep him in
+perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee."
+
+One Sunday she said, "How I should love to get to chapel! If I ever went
+again, I should like to be baptized; but I do not think I shall have
+strength to go any more. No; Jesus is going to take me to Himself. How
+kind of Him! Don't you think so? I do."
+
+On November 26th, being her eldest sister's birthday, she wished us to
+get a card for her. One being selected with the words, "The Lord will
+bless His people with peace," she said, "Yes, that is the peace Mr. Hull
+spoke of at St. Ives, and God has given me that peace."
+
+In presenting the card, she said to her sister, "Take it from me. It
+will be the last present I shall give you on your birthday. Before
+another I shall be in heaven.
+
+  "Yes, I shall soon be landed
+    On yonder shores of bliss;
+  There, with my powers expanded,
+    Shall dwell where Jesus is."
+
+During the night she remarked, "How good Jesus is in taking me away so
+gently! I thought, after all I have done and said, I should suffer much
+more. My sufferings are nothing to what Christ suffered on the cross."
+
+The next day Mr. Oldfield came, and she wished him to read Psalm
+ciii.--"Bless the Lord, O my soul"--and the hymn commencing, "My hope is
+built on nothing less." He commented on the last verse, and spoke of the
+robe prepared for her, and the glory that awaited her in heaven.
+
+On Monday, November 28th, with deep feeling, she said--
+
+  "E'er since by faith I saw the stream
+    Thy flowing wounds supply,
+  Redeeming love has been my theme,
+    And shall be till I die."
+
+One day, her doctor said he thought her a little better. When she was
+told, she burst into tears, and said, "Oh, I do not want to get better!
+Dear Jesus, do come and take me!
+
+  "Weary of earth, myself, and sin,
+    Dear Jesus, set me free!
+  And to Thy glory take me in,
+    For there I long to be."
+
+Another time she said, "I think I shall soon reach my journey's end now.
+Won't it be nice when my last day comes? I did not think I should be
+taken first, but I do now. I wonder who will be the next? Jesus knows. I
+should like to have on my tombstone, 'To depart and be with Christ is
+far better,' and I hope Mr. Oldfield will bury me; but it little matters
+about my body. I shall be singing in heaven when they are putting my
+poor body in the grave."
+
+The last time Mr. Oldfield visited her she could say but very little to
+him, her cough being so incessant. He read Psalms cxv. and cxvi., and
+remarked, "The heathen have no God to cry to in their affliction, but
+you have. What a mercy!
+
+  "When your poor, lisping, stammering tongue
+    Lies silent in the grave,
+  Then, in a nobler, sweeter song,
+    You'll sing His power to save.
+
+"You have had a foretaste of heaven here, haven't you?" She answered,
+"Yes, I have."
+
+At times her sufferings seemed more than she knew how to bear, and
+caused her to become impatient; but afterwards she would express much
+sorrow for it, and beg earnestly of the Lord to forgive her, and enable
+her to bear all He should see fit to lay upon her, adding, "My
+sufferings are nothing to what Christ suffered."
+
+On Sunday, December 18th, she said but little during the day, but in the
+evening she wished the hundredth Psalm to be read, and the hymn, "Oh,
+bless the Lord, my soul."
+
+Between eleven and twelve o'clock at night she said to her sisters, "I
+think I shall go to-night. Yes, I feel sure I shall." They asked her if
+she still felt happy, and if Jesus was precious. She answered, "Yes!
+yes!
+
+  "My hope is built on nothing less
+  Than Jesus' blood and righteousness."
+
+Turning to them, she said, "Good-bye, good-bye. Say 'Good-bye' to all
+for me. I am going home! home! home! I am going home!"
+
+She then fell asleep, to awake in a happier world, "where the inhabitant
+shall no more say, I am sick; and where they that dwell therein shall be
+forgiven their iniquity."
+
+She was interred at Godmanchester on December 26th, 1887, many of the
+friends and scholars of the Sunday School being present.
+
+Truly, "the memory of the just is blessed."
+
+                                              J. S.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN APRIL.
+
+
+April 1. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 1.
+
+April 8. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 2.
+
+April 15. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 21.
+
+April 22. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 22.
+
+April 29. Commit to memory Psa. xciv. 23.
+
+
+A CHINAMAN applied for membership in a San Francisco Baptist Church. In
+answer to the question, "How he found Jesus?" he is reported to have
+answered, "I no find Jesus at all; He find me." There is a great deal of
+theology as well as evidence of religion in his answer.
+
+
+
+
+A FAMOUS DOG.
+
+
+In 1779, a young dog, who apparently had no master, came, no one knew
+how, to Caen, France, and met there a regiment of grenadiers starting
+for Italy. Urged on, apparently by destiny, he followed them. He was, to
+all appearance, a common street cur, dirty and ugly, but he had such a
+bright expression and seemed so intelligent that they did not hesitate
+to take him.
+
+His new companions forced him to act as sentinel, to obey orders, to
+keep step, to become accustomed to the sound of fire-arms, to obey roll
+call, and all other duties the soldiers were called upon to perform. He
+received and ate his rations with them, and lived in every respect as
+his regiment was commanded to do.
+
+In going to Italy, Moustache crossed St. Bernard, at the cost of unknown
+hardships, and encamped with the regiment above Alexandria. It was here
+that he was to accomplish his first great feat of arms. A detachment of
+Austrians, hidden in the Valley of Balbo, advanced in the night to
+surprise the grenadiers, and was heard by this vigilant dog as he was
+making his rounds. The soldiers were awakened by his barking. In a
+moment every one was on foot, and the enemy dislodged. To reward
+Moustache, the colonel had his name inscribed on the regimental roll,
+and ordered that he should have every day the ration of a soldier. He
+ordered that there should be put on his neck a collar bearing the name
+of the regiment, and the barber was ordered to wash and comb him every
+week.
+
+Some time afterwards there was a slight engagement, and Moustache
+conducted himself very bravely. He here received his first wound--a
+bayonet thrust in the shoulder. It must be said here that Moustache was
+never wounded except in front.
+
+About this time he quarrelled with the grenadiers and deserted, because
+they had left him tied in the garrison. Taking refuge with a company of
+chasseurs, he saw a disguised Austrian spy enter the French camp.
+Moustache, forgetting the insult he had received, welcomed the stranger
+by springing at his throat with much fierceness. This action astonished
+all at first, but they had time for reflection, and then remembered the
+sagacity of the faithful dog. The stranger was arrested, searched, and
+found to be a spy.
+
+Moustache continued the series of his exploits. At the battle of
+Austerlitz, seeing the colour-bearer surrounded by enemies, he flew to
+his rescue, defended him as well as he could, and when the soldier fell,
+pierced with bullets, enveloped in his colours, Moustache, seizing with
+his teeth that part of the glorious flag which he could get, fairly flew
+past the enemy, and brought back to his company the blood-stained
+remnants. It must be said here that a charge of musketry had taken off
+one of his legs. This saving of the flag brought him merited honour.
+They took off the collar he wore, and Marshal Lannes ordered that they
+should put on him a red ribbon, with a copper medal, bearing this
+inscription on one side--"He lost a leg at the battle of Austerlitz, and
+saved the colours of his regiment." On the other side it
+read--"Moustache should be loved and honoured as a brave French dog."
+
+As it was easy to recognise him by his ribbon and medal, they decided
+that, in whatever regiment he should present himself, he should receive
+the portion of a soldier.
+
+He took part yet in several battles, and among others that of Essling
+(1809). He made with the dragoons two campaigns, and the brave dog
+fought every time he had the opportunity. He always walked in front on
+the alert, barking when he heard any noise, and could not find out the
+cause. In the Sierra Morena mountains, he brought back to camp the horse
+of a dragoon who had been killed. It is said that at several times he
+showed this same act of intelligence.
+
+He made his last campaign with the artillery, and was killed at the
+battle of Badajoz, on March 11th, 1811, at the age of twelve years. They
+buried him on the spot where he fell, with his medal and his ribbon. On
+the stone which served as his monument they wrote--"Here lies
+Moustache." These simple words are more eloquent than the most pompous
+epitaph.
+
+
+
+
+FLESH-EATING PLANTS.
+
+
+It is said that there are about a hundred kinds of flesh-eating plants
+all the world over, and of these, three--the sundew, butterwort, and
+bladderwort--grow in this country.
+
+The member of this species best known to British botanists is the
+sundew. The leaves of this plant resemble in shape a flat spoon, and the
+surface of their blades is covered with stout, erect, hair-like objects,
+each with a roundish head, which is surrounded with a sticky fluid.
+Flies are the usual prey of the sundew. When one of these insects
+touches the blade of a leaf of the plant, the sticky points detain it,
+and the edges of the blade begin bending towards the centre, and
+continue to so fold themselves until the fly is entirely enveloped by
+them. After remaining in this position for many hours, or even days, the
+leaf gradually resumes its original shape, and an examination will show
+that nothing remains of the fly but the hard parts--as the wings, outer
+skin, &c. The rest of the insect has been dissolved in the sticky
+secretions, and absorbed by the plant.
+
+Several of these plants have been placed near one another, and some have
+been covered by fine gauze, so that no flies could be caught by their
+leaves. The superiority of the plants that have been left in their
+natural state has clearly proved that a supply of animal food is not
+only advantageous, but almost necessary to them. (See Psalm civ. 24.)
+
+
+
+
+  "DRAW ME."
+
+  "_No man can come to Me except the Father, which hath sent Me, draw
+  him._"--JOHN vi. 44.
+
+  "_Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out._"--JOHN vi. 37.
+
+  "_I am the Door._"--JOHN x. 9.
+
+  "_Draw me, we will run after Thee._"--SOLOMON'S SONG i. 4.
+
+
+  Oh, draw me, Holy Father,
+    For in Thy Word I read
+  That they who go to Jesus
+    With all their guilt and need,
+  Are certainly attracted
+    By Thy almighty power,
+  To find a happy entrance
+    Through heaven's Living Door.
+
+  The world, which once did furnish
+    The trifles I desired,
+  Now gives no satisfaction;
+    There's something else required:
+  The devil would allure me
+    With charms by him designed
+  To cry, "Peace! peace!" but cannot
+    Relieve my troubled mind.
+
+  I see no place of refuge
+    To which I may retreat;
+  No home, or kindly shelter,
+    To rest my weary feet.
+  Where shall I go? where _can_ I?
+    Dear Saviour, hear my plea--
+  "Draw me, and I'll run gladly;
+    Yes, draw me unto Thee."
+
+                                  A. B.
+
+
+
+
+A BRAVE RESCUE.
+
+
+It is only within the last few weeks that particulars have been
+published in the Swiss papers of a brave rescue effected on Mount St.
+Bernard on the night of the last Sunday in November.
+
+While a violent snow-storm was in progress, Grand, the manager of the
+hospice, noticed that his own special dog that was alone with him in his
+room became very restless, and made signs to him to go out. He took the
+lantern and fog-horn, and went out on the mountain, the dog leading him.
+In a very short time he heard a call and groaning, and, helped by the
+dog, dug out of the snow an Italian, whom he carried on his back into
+the hospice.
+
+The rescued man stated that his father, two brothers, and another
+Italian, all journeying home with him over the pass, lay buried in the
+snow. He had pushed on to obtain help, but had been overpowered by the
+storm. Grand made ready and went out again. This second search was more
+tedious, and led him further away, but at last the barking of the dog
+announced a discovery. It was the Italian stranger who was now saved and
+carried up to the hospice. A third time Grand and his dog sallied out
+into the tempest, and after a quarter of an hour's search found the
+others, near where the second man had been discovered. They were quite
+buried under the snow, and almost insensible. He took the most feeble on
+his shoulders, and with difficulty conducted the others to the hospice.
+It was now past midnight, and his toilsome task had occupied Grand over
+four hours, in a blinding snow-storm.
+
+A recent telegram from Geneva states that two avalanches have fallen on
+the above famous hospice of St. Bernard. The church has been almost
+entirely buried in snow. No loss of life is reported.
+
+
+
+
+THE MUMMY OF SESOSTRIS.
+
+
+A new Egyptian labyrinth was some time ago discovered at a place named
+Deyr-el-Baharee by M. Maspero, an orientalist of French nationality, who
+found in one of the underground galleries, hollowed through a mountain
+of granite, three sarcophagi of the Mosaic period. They resembled
+somewhat our modern coffins, except that they were much larger and
+rather clumsier in shape. But they were beautifully adorned with images
+of Egyptian gods and sacred animals, painted in colours that were still
+of admirable freshness, on a dark-brown ground. They bore numerous
+inscriptions in hieroglyphics and the demotic character, wherefrom the
+clue was obtained as to their identity.
+
+The sarcophagi, with their contents, were transported down the Nile to
+Boulag, at the gates of Cairo, and were opened in the presence of the
+Khedive and several pashas. The coil of thick cloth in which the first
+mummy lay was ripped open; then a narrow linen band of about eight
+inches in breadth, that went round and round the body several hundred
+times from head to foot, was unwound; after that, a second winding sheet
+of the finest linen was with great care cut open with scissors. At last
+a head appeared, totally unlike that of any modern human being. The
+description of it is given by M. Maspero in his report:--
+
+"The head is long and small in proportion to the body. The crown is
+utterly bald; the hair is scanty about the temples, but grows in thick,
+lank tufts on the nape. It was white before death, but has been stained
+light yellow by the sweet essences with which the body was embalmed. The
+ears were almost round, standing out from the head, and are pierced like
+those of a woman. The mouth is small, and bordered with thick, fleshy
+lips, behind which is a row of white teeth that were kept clean with
+evident care. Whiskers and beard are thin. They were shaved during
+lifetime, but grew in the last illness, or may-be after death. The low
+forehead is narrow, and the brow prominent, and covered with white
+hairs. The eyes are small, and set close to one another; the nose long,
+thin, aquiline, and slightly flattened at the tip by the pressure of the
+bandages. The temple is hollow, the cheek-bones are prominent, the jaw
+is strong, and the chin very underhung. The face of the mummy is
+certainly not an intelligent one, and almost appears bestial; but it has
+an unmistakable look of pride, doggedness, and majesty."
+
+[Illustration: RESCUE BY DOGS OF ST. BERNARD.]
+
+As regards the body, it is that of an aged man, who was singularly
+vigorous and robust, and must have lived to nearly a hundred years of
+age.
+
+From the inscriptions on the coffin, it appeared that the body it held
+had reigned over Egypt for sixty-seven years, during which time the
+country had attained the pinnacle of national greatness. The Hebrews
+groaned under his oppression, and hundreds of thousands, while employed
+to build the city of Ramesis, had died under the taskmasters' lash. This
+mummy was the greatest among the Pharaohs--Sesostris. He was found in a
+wonderful state of preservation, after having remained in that coffin
+for thirty-five centuries.
+
+The second mummy proved to be that of Rameses III.
+
+The third mummy became putrid from exposure to air, and was accordingly
+buried by M. Maspero. It turned out to be that of a queen named
+Nofritari, of the eighteenth dynasty.
+
+
+WHEN thy hand hath done a good act, ask thy heart whether it is well
+done.--_Fuller._
+
+
+
+
+  "THIS IS THE WAY; WALK YE IN IT."
+
+          (PSALM cxix. 9.)
+
+
+  Wherewith shall the inquiring youth
+    Attempt to cleanse his way?
+  This question asked the lips of Truth,
+    And many since that day.
+
+  The answer's ready for the meek,
+    And easy to be found;
+  No far-fetched knowledge need you seek
+    On false, on foreign ground.
+
+  Take heed unto your steps, dear friend,
+    The Bible does declare;
+  May you unto God's Word attend
+    With energy and prayer.
+
+  "Take heed unto thyself," wrote Paul,
+    "And to the doctrines, too";
+  Young Timothy obeyed the call,
+    And God's salvation knew.
+
+  Friend, you may study well the law,
+    And try to do your best;
+  Remember, you will have to know
+    This lesson with the rest.
+
+  But if you find yourself at last
+    A guiltier sinner still,
+  The Gospel is revealed for such--
+    "Come, whosoever will."
+
+  Yes, there the secret is made known--
+    The remedy you need--
+  The precious blood of Christ alone
+    Can cleanse thought, word, and deed.
+
+                         M. E. S.
+
+_Corby._
+
+
+
+
+"THOU, GOD, SEEST ME!"
+
+
+"George," said a big boy, winking hard at his curly-headed little
+comrade, "you may pick me some of those apples. Your father has fallen
+asleep over his book in the study." George raised his fearless, honest
+eyes to the older lad's face, and replied, "My Father is father's Father
+too, and He neither slumbers nor sleeps" (Psa. cxxi. 4). George's Father
+was the all-seeing God.
+
+
+
+
+A VISIT TO THE IDRIAN MINES.
+
+
+After passing through several parts of the Alps, and having visited
+Germany, I thought I could not return home without visiting those
+dreadful subterraneous caverns, where thousands are condemned to reside,
+shut out from all hopes of ever seeing the cheerful light of the sun,
+and obliged to toil out a miserable life under the whips of imperious
+task-masters.
+
+Imagine to yourself a hole in the side of a mountain, about five yards
+over. Down this you are lowered in a kind of bucket to a depth of more
+than one hundred fathoms, the prospect growing still more gloomy, yet
+still widening as you descend. At length, after swinging in terrible
+suspense for some time in this precarious situation, you reach the
+bottom, and tread on the ground, which, by its hollow sound under your
+feet, and the reverberations of the echo, seems thundering at every step
+you take. In this gloomy and frightful solitude you are enlightened by
+the feeble gleam of lamps, here and there dispersed, so as that the
+wretched inhabitants of these mansions can go from one place to another
+without a guide; though I could scarcely discern, for some time,
+anything--not even the person who came to show me these scenes of
+horror.
+
+From this description, I suppose you have but a disagreeable idea of the
+place; yet let me assure you that it is a palace, if the habitation be
+compared with the inhabitants. Such wretches my eyes never yet beheld.
+The blackness of their visages only serves to cover a horrid paleness,
+caused by the noxious qualities of the mineral they are employed in
+procuring.
+
+As they, in general, consist of malefactors, condemned for life to this
+task, they are fed at the public expense; but seldom consume much
+provision, as they lose their appetites in a short time, and commonly,
+in about two years, expire, through a total contraction of all the
+joints.
+
+In this horrid mansion I walked after my guide for some time, pondering
+on the strange tyranny and avarice of mankind, when I was accosted by a
+voice behind me, calling me by name, and inquiring after my health with
+the most cordial affection. I turned, and saw a creature all black and
+hideous, who approached me, and, with a piteous accent, said, "Ah!
+Everard, do you not know me?" What was my surprise when, through the
+veil of this wretchedness, I discovered the features of a dear old
+friend. I flew to him with affection, and, after a tear of condolence,
+asked him how he came there. To this he replied that, having fought a
+duel with an officer of the Austrian Infantry, against the Emperor's
+command, and having left him for dead, he was obliged to flee into the
+forests of Istria, where he was first taken, and afterwards sheltered by
+some banditti, who had long infested that quarter. With these he lived
+nine months, till, by a close investiture of the place in which they
+were concealed, and after a very obstinate resistance, in which the
+greater part of them were killed, he was taken, and carried to Vienna,
+in order to be broken alive upon the wheel. However, upon arriving at
+the capital, he was quickly known, and several of the associates of his
+accusation and danger witnessing his innocence, his punishment of the
+rack was changed into that of perpetual banishment and labour in the
+mines of Idria.
+
+As my old friend was giving me this account, a young woman came up to
+him who at once I perceived to be born for a better fortune. The
+dreadful situation of this place was not able to destroy her beauty;
+and, even in this scene of wretchedness, she seemed to have charms
+sufficient to grace the most brilliant assembly. This lady was, in
+fact, daughter to one of the first families in Germany; and having tried
+every means to procure her husband's pardon without effect, was at last
+resolved to share his miseries, as she could not relieve them. She
+accordingly descended with him into these mansions, whence few of the
+living return, despising the splendour of opulence, and contented with
+the consciousness of her own constancy.
+
+I was afterwards spectator of the most affecting scene I ever beheld. In
+the course of some days after my visiting the gloomy mansion I have
+represented to you, a person came post from Vienna to the Idrian bottom,
+who was followed by a second, and he by a third. The first inquiry was
+after my unfortunate friend, and I, happening to overhear the demand,
+gave them the first intelligence. Two of these were the brother and
+cousin of the lady; the third was an intimate acquaintance and
+fellow-soldier of my friend. They came with his pardon, which had been
+procured by the general with whom the duel had been fought, and who was
+perfectly cured of his wounds. I led him, with all the expedition of
+joy, down to this dreary abode, presented to him his friends, and
+informed him of the happy change of his circumstances. It would be
+impossible to describe the joy that brightened upon his grief-worn
+countenance, nor were the young lady's emotions less vivid at seeing her
+friends, and hearing of her husband's liberty.
+
+Some hours were employed in mending the appearance of this faithful
+couple; nor could I, without a tear, behold my friend taking leave of
+the former wretched companions of his toil. To one he left his mattock,
+to another his working clothes, and to a third such utensils as were
+necessary for him in that situation. We soon emerged from the mine,
+where he once again revisited the light of the sun, that he had totally
+despaired of ever seeing again. A post-chaise and four were ready the
+next morning to take them to Vienna, where, I am since informed by a
+letter from himself, they are returned. The Emperor has again taken him
+into favour, his fortune and rank are restored, and he and his fair
+partner have now the pleasing satisfaction of feeling happiness with
+double relish, as they once knew what it was to be miserable.--_Selected._
+
+["What a happy deliverance!" say you. Ah! but it is only a faint emblem
+of that deliverance which Jesus wrought. These people were delivered
+from sufferings which would only have been for a short time, but Jesus
+died to deliver His people from the wrath to come--the fire that shall
+not be quenched.
+
+Reader, have you been brought to Him? Can you say, "He loved me, and
+gave Himself for me"? or are you without hope of eternal life? Oh, that
+you may seek to win Christ, and be found in Him!--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 66._)
+
+
+"_Thy will be done._"--MATTHEW xxvi. 42.
+
+T imaeus      Mark x. 46.
+H arp        Genesis iv. 21.
+Y ear        Leviticus xxv. 4.
+
+W hale       Job vii. 12.
+I nfidel     2 Corinthians vi. 15.
+L atin       Luke xxiii. 38.
+L aban       Genesis xxix. 10.
+
+B ehemoth    Job xl. 15.
+E phraim     Genesis xli. 52.
+
+D og         Exodus xi. 7.
+O nyx        Genesis ii. 12.
+N oon        Solomon's Song i. 7.
+E pistle     2 Corinthians iii. 1.
+
+                     HARRY FREDERICK FORFEITT
+                                (Aged 10 years).
+
+_Thong, near Gravesend._
+
+
+
+AN ENCOURAGING SUNDAY SCHOOL GATHERING.
+
+
+The twelfth annual meeting of the Sunday School, Devonshire Road Chapel,
+Greenwich, was held on February 8th. The singing of a hymn was followed
+by the reading of Psalm xix. by Mr. Boorne, the Pastor, and prayer by
+Mr. Joseph Whittome.
+
+Mr. Boorne, in his remarks, referred to Pharaoh's desire to keep the
+children in Egypt, even if the God of Israel compelled him to let their
+parents go. But they also had to come out from bondage.
+
+He said a phrase was sometimes used to hinder the planting of Sunday
+Schools, namely, "that they are often only a nursery for the Church."
+His opinion was, that a Sunday School might be put to a much worse use.
+He thought it a good and desirable thing when it was so; and scholars
+taught of God, as well as by their teachers, passed from the Sunday
+School into the Church.
+
+The Secretary and Acting-Superintendent, Mr. Samuel Boorne, then read
+the report. He noted four encouraging facts. The increase of
+numbers--twenty new scholars, making 140 in all. That the infant class,
+the _feeder_ of the school, was increasing. The manifest interest taken
+in their school by many of the scholars, for, though it was twelve years
+old, some of the original scholars were still connected with the Bible
+Classes. Her Majesty's Jubilee year was commemorated by the gift to each
+child of an ornamental card, on which was printed the Coronation Oath,
+taken by Her Majesty on her accession, to preserve the Protestant
+liberties of her country. It was put into a gilt frame, and was much
+appreciated by the scholars. The collecting cards for the Aged Pilgrims'
+Friend Society, issued this year _by request_, and always a voluntary
+effort on the part of the children, resulted in L6 10s.
+
+Mr. Marshall, of Clifton, then interested many by his pleasant and
+solemn remarks. The _possibilities_ for the future represented by such a
+gathering of boys and girls formed a fitting theme. He hoped there were
+none present who would be the means of breaking their parents' hearts. A
+page from the life of a youth who really did do it, and who traced the
+beginning of his evil doings to _drink_, was pointed and solemn, Mr.
+Marshall saying it was his conviction that children should never be
+allowed to acquire a taste for so dangerous a luxury. He said he was a
+total abstainer himself, and did not think--and probably the audience
+agreed with him--he looked any the worse for it.
+
+His concluding words will be remembered. After fifty years' experience
+of the love and ways of God, he testified to young and old that there
+was no happiness in anything but the knowledge of God in Christ. It
+surpasses and eclipses all. "He will do everything for those who are
+His."
+
+He then addressed a few words to the teachers, advising them to stick to
+the Word of God. The Holy Spirit was able to teach even children. He
+once baptized a girl of fourteen, of whom he could say he _knew_ she was
+a vessel of mercy; and why should he keep her out of the privileges of
+the Lord's people? He would not hesitate to baptize a child of ten if he
+or she gave sufficient evidence that they knew something of their own
+sinfulness, and something of the Lord Jesus. "Can any man forbid water,
+that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as
+well as we?"
+
+Mr. Wilmshurst then began his address by reminding his young friends of
+the many happy Sundays they had spent together. What pleasant gatherings
+they were! He had not forgotten them, if they had. But now he wished to
+speak of a most _remarkable_ gathering of people. He referred to the
+four hundred men who gathered to David in the cave Adullam (1 Sam.
+xxii. 1, 2). The remarkable points were these:--
+
+First, they were all remarkably _poor_--"in debt"--and bankrupts in
+those days were liable to be taken for bondmen, or slaves (see 2 Kings
+iv. 1). We are all in debt to God, and have "nothing to pay." We add to
+it hourly, and unless the heavy debt is paid by us (which is
+_impossible_), or by Another, we shall be shut up for ever in prison
+with Satan and his angels.
+
+Secondly, these men were remarkably _discontented_--discontented with
+Saul, the reigning king, his service, and his rewards; and they came to
+David, an uncrowned king, with no apparent advantage to offer them. True
+type of those who, like Moses in a similar case, have "_chosen_ rather
+to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures
+of sin for a season."
+
+Thirdly, they were in remarkable _distress_. So are all those who come
+to King Jesus--a distress which others cannot understand, and often
+cannot account for. "What must I do to be saved?" is a strange trouble
+to many.
+
+Fourthly, they had remarkable _desires_. They wished to find David, to
+dwell with him, and have him for their leader and captain. And David
+himself was a fugitive, hunted by Saul--poor, powerless, and hidden away
+in a cave in a mountain, where, probably, it was very difficult to find
+him. So there are some (only a few compared with the number of the
+people of the land, like David's four hundred) whose hearts are set on
+finding Jesus. They wish to be near Him always. He (like David) is
+difficult to find. He must be usually searched for "as for hid
+treasures" (Prov. ii. 4), but when found, He becomes their Captain.
+
+Fifthly, these men had a remarkable _reception_. They had no good
+characters--nothing to recommend them--but they were received. So Jesus
+also "receiveth sinners and eateth with them." As the Pharisees despised
+Jesus for keeping such company, so Saul and his servants despised David.
+Jesus says, "Him that _cometh to Me_ I will in no wise cast out."
+
+The reception of the four hundred was also remarkable because they were
+_uninvited_. But here the type fails. Jesus _has_ invited those who
+"come" to Him (see Matt. xi. 28).
+
+Sixthly, the men made remarkable _soldiers_. Their doings are recorded
+in 2 Samuel xxiii., and the doings and victories of the good soldiers of
+Jesus Christ are to be found in Hebrews xi. David's soldiers did not
+live _idle_ lives in the cave, nor do Christ's soldiers have peace
+always. They have to "fight the good fight of faith" with "the sword of
+the Spirit, which is the Word of God," and the bow of _prayer_. They
+fight, however, with their Captain's eye upon them (see Psa. xxxiv. 15).
+
+Lastly, they were remarkably _rewarded_. When David came to the throne,
+they were put in positions of honour. The visible reward of Christ's
+followers is yet to come (Dan. vii. 22, 27; Matt. xix. 28; Luke xxii.
+29, 30). He has promised also to give them "manifold more in _this
+present time_," as well as "life everlasting" (Luke xviii. 28-30).
+
+The prizes were then distributed by the Pastor, and after a concluding
+word of prayer, this encouraging meeting was brought to a close.
+
+                                                        E. M.
+
+
+
+
+  THE WISE AND FOOLISH BUILDERS.
+
+       (MATTHEW vii. 24-29.)
+
+
+  This is a wilderness of sand,
+  With driving winds on every hand;
+  How many build their houses here,
+  Nor seem the coming storm to fear!
+
+  There is a sure Foundation-Stone;
+  May I be builded thereupon!
+  Then shall I stand the last dread shock,
+  Safe on the Everlasting Rock.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+The name of a river.
+
+A place where all Jews were commanded to depart from.
+
+A king to whom the children of Israel sent a present.
+
+What did Abimelech take with him when he went up Mount Zalmon?
+
+What did the Lord say the strong shall be as?
+
+A mighty man of valour.
+
+One of David's children.
+
+Name one of Jacob's sons.
+
+A brother of Tubal.
+
+One of the cities which the children of Reuben built.
+
+A mountain.
+
+What did Jesus say a disciple should be called?
+
+That which was to be burned always.
+
+A place where David dwelt.
+
+One of the cities which the children of Gad built.
+
+Of what tribe was Hiram?
+
+What did the Lord say should not cease while the earth remaineth?
+
+The name of a thing declared to be a mocker (spell it backwards).
+
+One who slew, in the valley of salt, eighteen thousand.
+
+That which remains to the people of God.
+
+A place where the children of Israel provoked the Lord to wrath.
+
+A wicked king.
+
+The place where the father of Gideon dwelt.
+
+One whom the Lord blessed.
+
+A bird that found no rest save in one place.
+
+
+The initials and finals will form a prayer.
+
+                             ALICE COLE.
+
+_Basingstoke._
+
+
+THE law of love requires us to sacrifice our own comfort to promote the
+happiness of others.--_Albert Barnes._
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+MENTAL EYES: DARKENED AND ILLUMINATED.
+
+        (MATTHEW vi. 22, 23.)
+
+
+Light sometimes means that which _gives_, sometimes that which
+_receives_ or _reflects_, light; as the sun is the light of the world,
+and the windows through which he shines are the lights of the room and
+the house. Our eyes are the lights, or windows, of our body. Through
+them we look out upon the world around us; and light, knowledge, and
+pleasure come in to us from what we see, as well as what we hear.
+
+Jesus here refers to the eyes of the mind--the understanding. How often,
+when a difficult matter has been explained, we say, "Oh, yes; I see it
+all now!" and yet the eyes behold no new object. We mean that we now
+_understand_ what puzzled us so much before.
+
+Thus, in these two verses we are told about _minds_ that are darkened,
+and also about _understandings_ that are enlightened with the light of
+life.
+
+"If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"
+If the windows are bricked up, no ray of light can force an entrance,
+even at noonday, into the darkened rooms; or, if the casements are
+thickly curtained, or closely shuttered, how dark the house must be! So
+sin of some kind--pride, prejudice, or superstition--darkens the
+sinner's understanding, shuts out the light of heavenly truth, and lulls
+him to sleep in the arms of the wicked one--the sleep of death.
+
+People often tell us that we can do something to enlighten our own
+understanding. We can unfasten the shutters, or draw back the curtains,
+and let in the light. Alas! unless the grace of God has reached us in
+its almighty power, we do not _want_ the light. Our deeds are evil, and
+the light that makes them manifest is hateful (see John iii. 18, 19).
+The thief, the murderer, the coiner of bad money, and all who are
+knowingly guilty of wrong-doing, love darkness, secresy, and concealment
+"rather than light"; and this is our "condemnation," as fallen
+creatures--we love the darkness, and we shun God's holy light. "Having
+the understanding darkened, being alienated [or estranged] from the life
+of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of
+their heart" (Eph. iv. 18). Such was _our_ state by nature. What are our
+feelings now?
+
+Saul of Tarsus, as a Pharisee, was learned, intelligent, and moral; but
+how dark, how blind, he was in those days! Jesus, God's beloved Son, was
+the Object of his hatred. The altogether Lovely One had no beauty at all
+for him, and the children of God he viewed as enemies whom he felt bound
+to conquer and destroy. How great his darkness was--the darkness of
+prejudice and pride!
+
+Chiniquy, the Romish priest, of whom some of us have heard so much, was
+blinded by _superstition_ for many a year, and even the light of the
+Bible, as he read and studied it, could not remove that darkness till
+God Himself said, "Let there be light," and made the night of
+superstitious error flee away.
+
+Then minds are blinded as was Balaam's of old, and the Pharisees, to
+whom Christ said, "If ye were blind"--that is, if they had not heard His
+words, and seen His works (see John xv. 22, 24)--"ye had not had
+sin"--you would have been _comparatively_ free from blame--"but now ye
+say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth."
+
+They hated the light they had, and closed their eyes against it. As the
+proverb says, "None are so blind as those who will not see."
+
+But "God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness [at the world's
+creation], hath shined in our hearts," wrote the Apostle Paul (2 Cor.
+iv. 6), "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
+face of Jesus Christ."
+
+The once blinded Pharisee could see now, and how different were all his
+feelings! His own righteousness was cast away. Jesus was precious to his
+heart, and Christians were his "own company," his beloved friends.
+
+No darkness is too dense, no barrier too strong, for almighty grace to
+remove. Has the Sun of Righteousness arisen in our hearts? How may we
+know? Jesus tells us (John iii. 21)--"He that doeth truth cometh to the
+light." God is Light, and His Word is a light that makes all things
+manifest. It shows sin, how black it is. It reveals the hollowness of
+the world, the glory of Christ. It points out our dangers, our disease,
+our wants, and our foes; while it sets forth the remedy of all our ills,
+the great Refuge and Deliverer who can save unto the uttermost all who
+confide in Him.
+
+Do we try ourselves by the Scriptures? Abraham compared himself to "dust
+and ashes"--worthless. Job said, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of
+the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and
+repent in dust and ashes" (Job xlii. 5, 6). David, king of Israel, said,
+"I am poor, and needy." Are we anything like these saints of God? God
+says, He "will give strength to those who have no might," will "fill the
+hungry with good things," and for His own name's sake will bless those
+who feel themselves unworthy of His favour. Do these promises suit us?
+Are we glad that God's mercy is so free? And do we, like the Psalmist,
+"esteem _all_ His precepts concerning all things to be right, and hate
+every false way"? (Psa. cxix. 128.) If so, we are children of the light,
+and, while we examine ourselves, we shall pray God to search and try us,
+and lead us in His everlasting way.
+
+Jesus said, "He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness" (John
+viii. 12), yet they who fear the Lord, and obey His beloved Servant,
+may, for a time, have no bright shinings on their pathway (Isa. l. 10),
+just as sometimes a change of wind, or some other cause, may make a
+sudden darkness overspread the sky. But day-darkness generally passes
+off again before long. So "light is sown for the righteous," and the
+glad harvest shall certainly be reaped, for "the path of the just is as
+the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day"
+(Prov. iv. 18). The morning twilight in nature may be dim and clouded,
+but when once the sun has risen, the light grows clearer and brighter
+till noon is reached; but then it begins to decline, and evening
+gradually comes on. But the spiritual day _ends_ in noontide glory, the
+_everlasting ending_ of all sorrow, sin, and fear; and to His people the
+Saviour says, "Thy sun shall no more go down, for the Lord shall be thy
+everlasting Light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended" (Isa.
+lx. 20).
+
+May He "open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of His
+law." May the "Sun of Righteousness arise upon us, with healing in His
+wings," that "in His light we may see light," and follow Him who has
+"redeemed us from all evil" to the realms of endless day.
+
+Our next subject will be, _God's Independence of All, and His Declared
+Need of Some of His Creatures_. Compare Psalm l. 12, with Matthew xxi.
+3, and other passages.
+
+                                  Yours affectionately,
+                                             H. S. L.
+
+
+  THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.
+
+  The Word of God records a potent test
+    By which a true possessor may be known--
+
+  The _Pharisee_ will smite his fellow's breast;
+    The grace-taught _publican_ will smite his own.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+WHO ARE THEY THAT WILL STAND PERFECT IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT?
+
+
+Those who will stand perfect in the day of judgment are those who, by
+the grace of God, have been enabled to trust in, and wait on, the Lord
+for salvation from sin and its consequences; for, by the Holy Spirit
+working in them, they see their sin, and feel the anger of God.
+
+"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who
+can know it?" (Jer. xvii. 9); and, when we see and feel a little of our
+wickedness, we despair, and Satan begins to torment us, and say, "You
+are too wicked to go to heaven." But Jesus says, "Him that cometh to Me
+I will in no wise cast out" (John vi. 37); "Come unto Me, all ye that
+labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. xi. 28).
+
+Jesus says "heavy laden," showing that, no matter how wicked, how laden,
+His word to all those who are weary of sin, and "heavy laden" with
+sorrow for sin, is, "Come, and I will give you rest"--rest from Satan
+and his temptations, rest from the world and all its busy cares.
+
+His rest is so different from all other, for He says, in John xiv. 27,
+"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you: not as the world
+giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
+be afraid."
+
+Those who will stand perfect are those who have been chosen by God as
+vessels of mercy, for Peter says, "Elect according to the foreknowledge
+of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
+and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ."
+
+Then, when sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ, they are perfectly
+free from sin; as the hymn says--
+
+  "There is a fountain filled with blood,
+    Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
+
+  And sinners plunged beneath that flood
+    Lose all their guilty stains."
+
+  And this is how God's people stand before Him--
+
+  "Dear, dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
+    Shall never lose its power
+  Till all the ransomed Church of God
+    Be saved to sin no more."
+
+And when the final judgment is pronounced, those whose names are not
+recorded in the book of life will hear those awful words, "Depart from
+Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
+angels" (Matt. xxv. 41). But if our names are written in God's book of
+life, how sweet to hear, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the
+kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. xxv.
+34).
+
+Oh, that we may be found at God's right hand, perfect in Christ's
+righteousness, singing and praising God through all eternity! "Unto Him
+that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath
+made us kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be glory and
+dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (Rev. i. 5, 6).
+
+"But can I bear the piercing thought--
+  'What if my name should be left out
+  When Thou for them shalt call?'
+
+"Let me among thy saints be found
+  Whene'er the archangel's trump shall sound,
+    To see Thy smiling face:
+  Then loudest of the crowd I'll sing,
+  While heaven's resounding mansions ring
+    With shouts of sovereign grace."
+
+                           GRACE ANNIE OSMOTHERLY
+                                (Aged 12 years).
+
+_45, Cutmore Street,
+Gravesend, Kent._
+
+[We have received many tolerably good Essays for this month, among which
+the following claim special notice--E. B. Knocker; Lilly Rush; Margaret
+Creasey; J. E. Wright; P. Rackham; Jane Bell; Florrie Rush; Claude Rush
+(aged 10 years); Laura Creasey; E. Wightman; E. B. West; D. Newbury; B.
+M. Dennis; A. M. Cray; W. E. Cray, &c.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Life of John
+Newton."
+
+The subject for June will be, "What Marks do the Lambs of Jesus Christ
+Bear?" and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that subject, a
+copy of "The Dairyman's Daughter." All competitors must give a guarantee
+that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their
+own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot
+undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the
+first of May.]
+
+
+
+
+KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.
+
+
+The following lines are printed on a board over a watering-trough in
+Holloway, Bath:--
+
+A man of kindness to his beast is kind,
+But brutish actions show a brutish mind.
+Remember, He who made thee made the brute;
+Who gave thee speech and reason, made him mute.
+He can't complain, but God's all-seeing eye
+Beholds thy cruelty and hears his cry.
+He was designed thy servant--not thy drudge.
+Remember his Creator is thy Judge.
+
+
+HE acts but a fool's part who aims at heaven, but lives at random.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+THE DEEPEST RUNNING STREAM.--The deepest running stream that is known is
+the Niagara river, just under the suspension bridge, where it is seven
+hundred feet deep by actual measurement.
+
+
+SABBATH-BREAKING.--On Sunday afternoon, March 4th, at Sheffield, a
+little boy, whose name was Thomas Haigh, was drowned in a dam, caused by
+the breaking of the ice. He was sent to the Sunday School by his
+parents. Instead of going there, however, he and another boy went to
+what is known as the Little London dam. The ice was not safe, but they
+ventured on it, and ultimately both fell in. Haigh was drowned, and his
+body has not yet been discovered; the other escaped. Children, beware of
+disobedience and Sabbath-breaking.
+
+
+GREAT SNOWSTORM IN NEW YORK.--Every one declares it to be the worst
+storm they have ever known. Saturday, March 10th, was a balmy, spring
+day. On Sunday evening some cold rain fell, changing at midnight into a
+freezing sleet. On Monday there was a veritable Dakota blizzard. The air
+was filled with snow flying before the wind at the rate of sixty miles
+an hour. It was impossible in the street to keep the eyes open, and
+almost impossible to walk. Those who did venture out of doors were to be
+seen clinging to trees for support against the gale, or turning breezy
+corners upon their hands and knees. Vehicular traffic was totally
+suspended. Huge snow-ploughs, drawn along the tramways by a score of
+horses, had to be abandoned in the streets. The tram-car drivers
+unhitched their teams of three horses, and left the cars wherever they
+happened to be. Unbroken drifts, as high as the hips, or even in some
+cases up to the shoulders, filled nine-tenths of the shop doors along
+Broadway. The storm is believed to be without a parallel. It extended
+all along the Hudson River and around New York.
+
+
+DEATH OF THE EMPEROR WILLIAM OF GERMANY.--Berlin has been a city of
+mourning, and Germany a nation of grief, in consequence of the death of
+the Emperor William, who closed his long, eventful, and successful life
+in his palace there, Unter den Linden, about half-past eight a.m., March
+9th. Just before he died, when Dr. Kogel, the Court chaplain, repeated
+to the Emperor the words of the Psalmist--"Yea, though I walk through
+the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art
+with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me," the Emperor observed,
+"That is beautiful." His last words are said to have been those with
+which he replied to a question from his daughter, the Grand Duchess of
+Baden, as to whether he was tired, and would like to rest. "I have no
+time at present to be tired," responded His Majesty. Sometimes, when his
+thoughts were wandering, the dying monarch would think of his afflicted
+son and successor far away on the Mediterranean shore, and murmur,
+"Fritz, lieber Fritz." The Emperor was a man who acknowledged God, and
+God prospered his work, as in the case of the Franco-Prussian war, for
+instance, although many of his enemies sneered at that acknowledgment. A
+special funeral service was held on Saturday, the 10th ult., in the
+mortuary chamber of the late Emperor, at which the Dowager Empress, the
+Grand Duke and Duchess of Baden, the Crown Prince and Princess of
+Sweden, and other Royal personages were present. The deceased monarch
+lay in the same position as that in which he expired, having a crucifix
+on the breast, and holding an ivory cross in the right hand. [What
+Popery!]
+
+
+THE BERLIN TELEGRAPH OFFICE.--Friday, March 9th, will long be remembered
+as the busiest day on record at the Central Telegraph Office of Berlin.
+The pressure was great on Thursday, when 29,878 telegrams, aggregating
+799,926 words, had to be sent off. But this record, was eclipsed by the
+following day, no fewer than 36,615 telegrams, containing together
+1,115,551 words, being despatched to all parts of the globe, and in
+different languages. All the Government telegraphists fit for duty had
+to be called in to meet the pressure, and all the available instruments
+were worked. It was a fortunate circumstance that the Berlin Bourse was
+closed, as this enabled the authorities to make use of the instruments
+there for the work. During the busiest hours of the day, no less than
+346 telegraphists were at work at the same time in the great instrument
+room of the Central Telegraph Office, and 230 instruments were operated.
+
+
+EPPING BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL.--On Wednesday, February 1st, a lecture was
+delivered by Mr. William Hazelton, of College Park, Lewisham, entitled,
+"Wit and its Uses." The lecture was listened to with great interest.
+Pieces were sung by the teachers and scholars, conducted by Mr. G.
+Nokes. The chair was taken by Mr. C. Cottis. There was a good
+attendance, and collections amounted to over two pounds. On Tuesday,
+February 14th, the children, with their teachers and friends, had their
+annual tea, after which short addresses were given by the teachers, and
+recitations and singing by the children. The prizes, consisting of
+books, were then distributed by the Superintendent, Mr. William Cottis;
+and singing the Doxology and prayer brought a very pleasant meeting to a
+close.
+
+
+SIDDAL, HALIFAX.--On Shrove Tuesday, the annual tea in connection with
+the Strict Baptist Sunday School took place, when about 160 sat down to
+tea. The meeting was presided over by the respected minister, Mr. D.
+Smith, who gave a short address on "Stealing." A few suitable
+recitations by the young children followed. Mr. H. E. Greenwood gave a
+short address on "Prizes," and said how necessary it was for young
+people to have something to aim at, and also on the value of a good
+name. Mr. James Moss, Superintendent of Hebden Bridge Sunday School,
+exhorted the children to obedience to their parents, and related
+instances where disobedience had been punished in a remarkable way. Mr.
+Thos. Smith, Mr. Jos. Smith, and Mr. M. H. Robinson also gave short
+addresses. Mr. John Smith presented the certificates for attendance and
+good conduct, and gave excellent counsel to the recipients. After the
+singing of the Doxology, a very encouraging meeting was brought to a
+close.
+
+
+SOUTHSEA.--SALEM STREET SUNDAY SCHOOL.--The annual distribution of
+prizes took place on Sunday, February 12th, 1888. After the opening
+services, Mr. Lowe spoke to the scholars respecting regularity and
+punctuality, trying to impress on their minds that these things would be
+a good recommendation for their future life. He also gave a hint that
+teachers should set the example. He then spoke of love as being the
+mainspring to win the affections of the scholars, for if love will not,
+the reverse will not do so. He also spoke affectionately to the young
+men present. He felt surprised that they came so regularly to school. He
+was brought up to the Sunday School, but as he grew older, he left and
+sought worldly amusements; but, as he remarked, being a vessel of mercy,
+God sought him out in His own time. He felt there was nothing in the
+school to attract young men, but if they were seeking the one thing
+needful, they would not desire such amusements as those by which many
+congregations seek to draw the minds of youth. Mr. Hitchens, the
+Superintendent, then remarked that it was twenty years since he first
+became connected with the school, and that he had seen many changes
+during that period; but still he could say, "having obtained help of
+God, he had continued until the present day." Then came the distribution
+of prizes. One received a book about the sagacity of animals, and his
+teacher also gave him a Bible for his good attendance and punctuality,
+as he did not remember him being away once through the year. The service
+was ended by singing and prayer.
+
+                                                 E. A. HITCHENS.
+
+
+CIRENCESTER.--PARK STREET CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL.--Dear Mr. Editor,--I am
+one of the readers of the LITTLE GLEANER. We take a lot of them in our
+Sunday School, and the girls and boys like them very much. I have been
+pleased to read about the treats which have been given at other Sunday
+Schools, and thinking other children like reading about such things too,
+I send you an account of our Christmas treat, held on January 26th. If
+you think it worth putting in the LITTLE GLEANER, I shall be very
+pleased to see it there. Ours is not a very large school, there being
+only about fifty; but I think it is very nice to go there. Mr. Barnard
+tells us that some of the ministers who give us an address tell him that
+ours is a very nice school, for they go to some schools where the
+children are not so nicely behaved and attentive as we are; but I expect
+we are not any better than we should be. But I must tell you about our
+winter treat. We have a summer outing as well. About last October, some
+of the lady teachers and friends who attend our chapel, knowing that the
+poorer children of our school would be glad of some warm clothes for the
+winter, got some money together and bought flannel, serge, and
+stockings, and had a sewing meeting every week, and made shirts,
+dresses, flannel petticoats, and skirts; and by Christmas time they had
+a big box full of all these sorts of things, which were brought and
+given away at our treat. The children began tea at four o'clock, after
+singing grace. We had a beautiful tea, and we each had an orange given
+us; and then, after the visitors (and we had a chapel full) had had
+their tea, we sang a hymn, and then our minister, Mr. Barnard, gave a
+nice, interesting address. Several of us recited pieces, and after some
+more singing and one or two other friends had spoken to us, the best
+part of the evening came for us children, for Mr. Barnard gave us our
+prizes--some beautiful books. Mine was a lovely one. Then the big box
+was opened, and the garments were distributed; and after a vote of
+thanks to the ladies, and to Mr. Barnard for presiding, the meeting was
+closed with prayer. I enjoyed myself very much, and I think every one
+else did. I have not had much practice in writing letters, as I am only
+a little girl, ten years old, but I have sent you the best account I
+can of our treat. I remain, your young friend, MERCY RISELY.
+P.S.--Perhaps you don't know me, but I have seen you ever so many times
+at our chapel.
+
+[Illustration: "THE CAPTAIN NEVER SAW ANY ONE LOOK HAPPIER." (_See page
+98._)]
+
+
+
+
+THE JESUIT AND THE BIBLE.
+
+
+There were not many passengers on board the vessel in which I was going
+to Belgium, which rendered our intercourse more intimate. While I was
+conversing with two elderly persons from Holland, I saw a respectable
+looking young man, passing backwards and forwards, who seemed to listen
+to what I said. In the afternoon, as I was seated among some bales of
+goods, the same young man placed himself beside me, and made some remark
+as to the fineness of the weather.
+
+"Yes," I answered, "it is a proof of the goodness of God to us; but to
+be sensible of His goodness is a far greater blessing. Has not a
+Christian double cause for happiness, since all he receives comes from
+the hand of his Father?"
+
+He answered, "The captain and I were just now speaking about you. The
+captain said he never saw any one look happier, and he thought you must
+have some especial cause for it. I wish, sir, I frankly confess, to be
+told what your secret is; for, in truth, I am not free from anxiety."
+
+He then proceeded to relate how he had gone from place to place, in
+order to practise his profession as a painter, and yet all his
+calculations had been disappointed. He was a native of Belgium, and a
+Roman Catholic. "But," he added, with a sort of contempt, "all my
+religion has given me no consolation. What do you think is the use of
+all these rites and ceremonies? They are wearisome, and that is all."
+
+"My secret," I answered, "which is not one in reality, is of a very
+different character. The Bible, sir, by the mercy of God, has rendered
+me happy, not only for this world, but, above all, for eternity. Perhaps
+you never read it?"
+
+"The Bible, sir? Do you not know it is denied, and even forbidden, to us
+Catholics? I have heard, indeed, that some priests allow their
+parishioners to read it, but they are very few; and the truth is that,
+if any of us were to read the Bible, he would be forced to do penance,
+and to give the Book up to our priest. I have never read it, I own."
+
+"Here is a part of it," I said, producing my New Testament. "This is the
+Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."
+
+"The Gospel!" said the young man, with surprise. "Is it all contained in
+that small Book? I should never have supposed it."
+
+"This small Book," I said, "contains, in our language, all that God has
+said to us by Jesus Christ, and costs only one franc" (tenpence).
+
+"Only one franc! Is it possible? I will have one, and read it, you may
+be sure. I promise you, as soon as we arrive at Brussels, the first
+thing I do will be to get that Book."
+
+"But, sir, you say that your priest will not allow you to read it?"
+
+"No, sir; our Church does not permit us to do so. But if you wish to
+know my own views, I must say I feel sure that we are prevented from
+reading the Bible only because it is exactly the reverse of what our
+priests tell us. They say that the Bible is obscure, and not easy to be
+understood, and that, if they comprehend it, it is different with the
+common people. But I do not believe this, especially after something
+that happened to one of my friends, which I will tell you.
+
+"You know, perhaps, that Belgium is full of Jesuits, and the people
+dislike them. A certain abbe, who was only a Jesuit in disguise, was
+confessor to a friend of mine, who, like many others, had been guilty of
+some imprudence, and he confessed it to this same priest, who imposed
+rather a heavy penance on him, particularly requiring him to make a rich
+offering to Our Lady [the Virgin Mary]. Well, on his way home, my
+friend met one of the colporteurs, who sell Bibles and other religious
+books. He bought one, and began to read it, and the result was, that he
+discovered, as he told me, that he must seek the forgiveness of his sins
+from God, through the Saviour, and that to make an offering to the
+Virgin for his faults was at once to lose his pains, his money, and his
+soul.
+
+"Three months had passed, when the priest met my friend, and asked if he
+had done all he was directed, and especially, if he had made the
+offering. My friend answered, 'I have got a Book which has shown me that
+God alone forgives sin, and that to give money for a fault is to mock
+the Holy Spirit.' 'That is the Bible,' exclaimed the Jesuit. 'Wretched
+man, from whom did you get it? Unless you give it up to me this very
+day, woe be unto you!' My friend refused, and there is no sort of
+annoyance or vexation which the priest has not made him suffer. However,
+he was firm. But hitherto, I confess, I cared very little about the
+matter."
+
+"Then," said I, "you remain in ignorance as to whether God loves you or
+not?"
+
+"I am not worse than others," he replied; "and since God is good, I do
+not suppose He hates me."
+
+I explained, with all simplicity and freedom, the glorious doctrine of
+the salvation of God in Christ, and I saw that no thirsty traveller
+hastens to springs in the wilderness more eagerly than this young man
+seemed to turn and hearken to the record of divine love. At length, with
+much earnestness, he cried out, "Sir, how wonderful is the love of God
+to man! We did not deserve that He should give His Son to die for us.
+This was surpassing love. The thought of it overpowers me."
+
+"Will you not, then," I said, "read the Bible, which tells us this
+glorious news?"
+
+"Be assured that I will read it," he answered. "In less than a week I
+will have one like that which belongs to my friend. It is twice as thick
+as that lady's work-box, but this one Book contains all that God has
+said to man; and the print is so clear."
+
+"But if some Jesuit should see your Book, he may take it from you."
+
+"Shall I tell you what I will do, if any one of them meddles with me?"
+he said. "I will read some of its excellent contents to him, and ask him
+what he thinks of them. Then I am sure he will not come again, unless he
+takes a liking to them; and then he will not hurt me."
+
+                                                 C.
+
+
+
+
+A DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
+
+
+The late Mr. Edward Parsons, of Leeds, frequently supplied the pulpit of
+the Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road, London.
+
+Walking out one Monday morning, he was accosted by a stranger, who
+expressed a wish to accompany him. On arriving at a certain house he
+said, "This is my home, sir. Will you walk in and rest yourself?"
+
+Having done so, his host told him he had a design in thus treating him,
+and then related the following remarkable facts:--
+
+Many years before, himself and wife had come from Scotland to London,
+where, as a mechanic, he had for a time full employment; but when his
+work became slack, he was obliged to part with some of his furniture and
+take a smaller house. His circumstances growing worse, his health also
+failing, he was obliged to part with more of his furniture, until he
+found himself, wife, and family driven to reside in a wretched cellar in
+St. Giles'.
+
+One day, being without food, or the means of obtaining any, he resolved
+the next morning to drown himself in the New River, and accordingly
+started to carry out his terrible intention.
+
+It was the Sabbath morning, and as he passed through Tottenham Court
+Road, on his way to the New River, a little before seven o'clock, he
+observed a throng of people entering the Tabernacle. In a sullen mood he
+joined these early worshippers.
+
+Mr. Parsons was in the pulpit, and gave out his text, which was--"When
+the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue
+faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Jacob,
+will not forsake them" (Isa. xli. 17).
+
+It seemed so truly for him that the poor, starving man could not help
+remaining through the sermon.
+
+At its close Mr. Parsons inquired, "Have you put the God of Jacob to the
+test?" The poor man at once said to himself, "I have not put the God of
+Jacob to the test"; and consequently, with a half-resolution to do so,
+he returned to the miserable cellar.
+
+There sat his wretched wife, and there were his starving children,
+crying for the food he could not supply. A short period of pensive
+sadness, and then he said to his wife, "I think we might read a
+chapter."
+
+Poor woman! The remark opened up the well-spring of her heart, and she
+burst into tears. The thought of her early religious training at once
+rushed on her mind. She looked for their Bible, but it had been pawned.
+She, however, found part of an old copy, out of which her husband read a
+chapter.
+
+"We have not put the God of Jacob to the test. Shall we pray?" said he.
+This more surprised the poor wife, but at once they knelt down, and did
+then "put the God of Jacob to the test."
+
+Still the whole day passed without their being supplied with food. The
+next morning, however, the postman, who very seldom entered that
+poverty-stricken street, brought the man a letter from a former
+fellow-workman who had heard of his ill-health and loss of work. The
+letter contained information concerning a large firm in London which had
+an extensive contract, and was requiring a number of hands, and advised
+that he should apply to it for employment. It also contained a one-pound
+note as a loan, which he immediately employed in obtaining food for his
+family and in delivering his best coat from the pawnbroker's.
+
+He then applied to the firm named, and obtained employment, and, being a
+clever workman, his services were secured for a permanency. At length he
+was appointed foreman, and, after a few years, was made a partner in the
+business, and eventually, his former master retiring, he gave up the
+business to him.
+
+With grateful acknowledgments to the Lord, he then told Mr. Parsons that
+he had also been enabled to "put the God of Jacob to the test" with
+reference to the wants of his soul--that he had been led by divine grace
+to seek and find salvation; so that he could set to his seal that God
+was true, and that, "when the poor and needy seek water, and there is
+none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, the Lord will hear them; the
+God of Jacob will not forsake them."
+
+                                                   R. F. R.
+
+
+
+
+TWO WAYS OF DESCENDING.
+
+
+There are two ways of coming down stairs--one is, to fall from the top
+to the bottom; and the other is, to come down step by step; but both
+will take you to the bottom. So also there are two ways of reaching
+hell--one is, to fall into it by the committal of one great and terrible
+sin (comparatively few do this). The other is only too general--to go
+downward by the steps of _little_ sins. Beware of the treachery of
+_little_ sins.
+
+                                                E. BARNE.
+
+
+
+
+COUSIN SUSAN'S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF FATHER
+CHINIQUY.
+
+DOUBLY FREED AND DOUBLY ENRICHED.
+
+"_Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life
+that now is, and of that also which is to come._"--1 TIMOTHY iv. 8.
+
+
+When some notorious Canadian robbers were arrested, Chiniquy was chosen
+by several as their confessor, and he constantly attended the prison,
+instructing them, and trying to teach them how to die.
+
+But, after all his efforts, a terrible fear that they were not converted
+_would_ come over his mind, and doubts of the real efficacy of Popish
+ceremonies to prepare a sinner to meet God troubled him so much, that he
+made a final attempt to rescue the doomed men after sentence of death
+was passed upon some of them. His tears and prayers were successful, and
+the Governor of Canada changed the death-doom to life-long exile in
+Botany Bay. They, with a number of other prisoners, were therefore
+transported to the penal settlement, and good Father Chiniquy gave each
+penitent he visited a New Testament when he took leave of them.
+
+Forty years passed away, and Mr. Chiniquy, the Presbyterian minister,
+was lecturing on "Romanism," in Australia, when he saw an elegant
+carriage driven up to the house at which he was staying, and a venerable
+gentleman, alighting from it, knocked at the door. He went himself to
+open it, to save trouble, and the stranger asked, was Father Chiniquy
+there, and might he see him privately?
+
+"As I am Father Chiniquy," was the reply, "I can at once answer that I
+shall feel much pleasure in granting your request."
+
+He led the way upstairs, and, when alone, the stranger asked--
+
+"Do you remember the thieves who were sentenced to death in Quebec, in
+1837? Well, dear Father Chiniquy, I was one of those criminals.... My
+name was A----. God has blessed me in many ways, but it is to you, under
+Him, that I owe my life, and all the privileges of my present
+existence.... I come to bless and thank you for what you have done for
+me;" and, with tears of joy and gratitude, he threw himself into his
+benefactor's arms.
+
+They knelt together to thank God for His mercy, and then the visitor
+continued his wonderful story.
+
+He said, "After you had given us your last benediction, when on board
+the ship that was to take us to Botany Bay, the first thing I did was,
+to open the New Testament you had given me.... It was the first time I
+had had that Book in my hands. You were the only priest in Canada who
+would put it in the hands of the common people....
+
+"The only good I derived from the first reading was, that I clearly saw
+why the priests of Rome fear and hate that Book. In vain I looked for
+Mass, indulgences, purgatory, confession, the worship of Mary, &c., ...
+and for some weeks I became more of a sceptic than anything else.
+
+"But, if my first reading did me little or no good, I cannot say the
+same of the second. I remembered, when handing us the Book, you told us
+to read it with prayer to God for light to understand it. I was tired of
+my former wicked life. I felt the need of a change.
+
+"You often, when speaking to us, used the words of the Saviour, 'Come
+unto Me, all ye who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you
+rest'; but, like all the other priests, you mixed with them the
+invocation of Mary, confidence in signs of the cross, and confession,
+so that your sublime appeals to the words of Christ were drowned by
+absurd and impious superstitions.
+
+"One morning, after a sleepless night, and feeling so pressed down with
+the weight of my sins, I opened my Gospel Book, after praying for light
+and guidance, and my eyes fell on the words, 'The Lamb of God, that
+takes away the sin of the world.' These words fell on my poor guilty
+soul with a divine power. I spent the day in crying to the Lamb of God
+to take away my sins. Before the day was over I felt and knew that my
+cries had been heard. The Lamb of God had taken away my sins. He had
+changed my heart, and made quite a new man of me.
+
+"From that day the reading of the Gospel was to my soul what bread is to
+the poor, hungry man, and what pure and refreshing waters are to the
+thirsty traveller. My unspeakable joy was, to read the Holy Book, and
+speak to my companions in chains of the dear Saviour's love for poor
+sinners; and, thanks be to God, a good number have found Him altogether
+precious, and have been sincerely converted in the dark holes of that
+convict ship.
+
+"When at work in Sydney with the other culprits, I felt my chains to be
+light when I was sure the heavy chains of sin were gone; and, though
+working hard beneath a burning sun from morning till night, my heart was
+full of joy when I was sure my Saviour had prepared a throne for me in
+His heavenly kingdom.
+
+"About a year afterwards, a minister of the Gospel and another gentleman
+came to me and told me I was pardoned, at the same time handing me a
+document signed by the Governor, and a hundred dollars, adding, 'Go and
+be a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, and God Almighty will bless
+you in all your ways.'
+
+"All this seemed like a dream, but it was a reality, and I spent several
+days and nights weeping for joy, and blessing the God of my salvation.
+
+"Some years after that, we heard of the gold mines, and I started, in
+company with several others; but I separated from the others, for I
+wanted to be alone, and pray to my God as I walked along.
+
+"After a long march, I came to a beautiful spot between three small
+hills, whence a brook was running to the plain below. I sat down to eat
+my dinner, and, while doing so, my eyes fell on a stone by the brook
+about the size of a goose's egg. The rays of the sun shone on it like a
+mirror. I picked it up, and found it was nearly all gold of the purest
+kind....
+
+"With the money I gained from that place I afterwards bought a piece of
+land, and became one of the wealthy men of Australia. I married and
+settled here; ... and it is to you, after God, I owe my life and all the
+privileges I now enjoy."
+
+They wept and praised God together in the beautiful language of the
+103rd Psalm. Both could say, with a full heart, "Bless the Lord, O my
+soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name."
+
+The next day Pastor Chiniquy dined at the house of his unexpected
+visitor, and felt warmly interested in the family and all that he saw
+and heard, and the two separated, not expecting to meet again on earth,
+but confidently hoping to meet around the throne of God, to praise the
+wonders of redeeming love for ever.
+
+May we also be glad, and rejoice in His salvation, and join to sing the
+heavenly song with heart and voice, even now--
+
+"Till sweeter notes our bosoms swell,
+    In yonder world above."
+
+
+WISE work is cheerful as a child's work is.
+
+
+
+
+A BROTHER'S DREAM.
+
+"_God speaketh ... in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep
+falleth upon men, in slumberings on the bed; then He openeth the ears of
+men, and sealeth their instruction._"--JOB xxxiii. 14-16.
+
+
+Superstition attaches much importance to the night wanderings of a
+disturbed mind, and augurs good or ill, according to the nature of the
+dreamy imaginings. Thousands have dreamed themselves to ruin, by
+following the empty speculations of a fervid imagination, and neglecting
+the path of prudent industry.
+
+The text above does not teach that God speaketh in _all_ dreams, but
+that He is pleased _sometimes_ (and the writer believes very
+occasionally) to communicate instruction by such means. He that made the
+soul can approach it by any avenue He pleases, and is shut out from
+none.
+
+Winters and summers, as many as fourteen, have rolled over my head since
+the night made memorable by "a brother's dream." Thirteen years have
+likewise passed since my arms were placed beneath this dying
+brother--since the glad angels conveyed his sweet spirit to the paradise
+of God.
+
+Oh, the heavenly smile--oh, the beaming eye he cast upon me--as he
+gently subsided into endless rest! Never shall I forget that scene.
+Never will be erased from memory's tablet that chamber, and all that
+there I felt, and saw, and heard.
+
+  "Friend after friend departs;
+    Who has not lost a friend?"
+
+Come, then, all sympathizing hearts; come, ye who know what sorrow is;
+come, all who
+
+        "feel an aching void,
+  The world can never fill,"
+
+and listen to "a brother's dream."
+
+Brought up to attend public worship, and under religious instruction,
+the period when spiritual life first animated his soul is not known to
+any survivors; nor, also, what were the peculiar exercises of his mind
+during the first year or two of his Christian life.
+
+Up to the time of his dream, he was associated with many of those whose
+religion consists chiefly in name and show, carnal excitement, and
+flesh-pleasing formality; and, being of a very cheerful disposition, and
+generally beloved by all who knew him, it needed no small
+effort--nothing short of divine power--to sever the confederacy.
+
+As will always be the case where the life of God is, his soul began to
+languish and starve under the "Yea and nay," "Do and live," orations to
+which he from time to time listened. He could not feed on husks.
+Distressed, hungry, and thirsty, his soul at last fainted. Then he cried
+unto God in his trouble. Full of vexation and perplexity, not knowing
+where to go or what to do, he dreamed.
+
+He saw, as he thought, an old woman with a cross-handled basket crying
+her saleables. "Who wants to buy any religion? Who wants to buy any
+religion?" she repeated again and again. Gladly, _eagerly_ he
+vociferated, "I do! I do!"
+
+He bought a large supply. It consisted of a great number of props, which
+supported him all around, and on each prop was written something which
+he was to do--some deed or good work he was to perform.
+
+Almost as soon as he was in possession of his purchased religion, he
+saw, at a great distance, a fire raging, which soon increased, so that
+it seemed to compass the whole sensible horizon. But what was more
+fearful, it burned still nearer and nearer to the spot where he stood,
+consuming everything as it approached. Alarmed, amazed, terrified, his
+horror was increased as he beheld his props already on fire.
+
+Everything had been destroyed as the burning ocean approached, and could
+he escape? Alone and helpless, how could deliverance be effected? Power
+and hope were alike gone, and into the infinite fire he was just
+sinking, when, lo! the mighty Jesus, before unseen, stretched out His
+gracious arm, and with words of promise, instantaneously performed,
+said, "I'll hold you up!"
+
+Forthwith the fire was quenched, and he sang delivering grace.
+
+These solemn scenes, so visibly portrayed in his imagination while
+asleep, became a subject of serious consideration when awake. Who could
+explain the matter to him?
+
+Not long he lacked a teacher. The Gracious Interpreter sent a messenger
+to blow the Gospel trumpet in the neighbourhood. He went; he heard. Oh,
+what a sermon! Never had such statements fallen upon his ears; never had
+such light shone into his mind. And what a text!--"The hail shall sweep
+away your refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
+hiding-place."
+
+One after another, the preacher described the vain hopes on which he had
+rested, and showed their frailty and destruction, in the way he had
+felt. And then his refuge, his hiding-place, his _props_, away, away
+they go, just as he saw, exactly as he felt. In short, the preacher's
+sermon was a map of the path--a verbal unfolding of the secrets of his
+heart.
+
+What was the consequence? The meshes of the devil's fishing-net were
+broken; free-will, creature-dependency, were gone; and hope--Gospel
+hope--"good hope through grace"--filled his anxious bosom. He had been
+down in the horrible pit; he had been sinking in the miry clay. Now he
+is brought to the verge of deliverance. Now he sees, he hopes in, the
+boundless prospects of covenant grace.
+
+Not many miles distant in another direction, lived and preached a
+servant of the Lord, lately taken to his everlasting home. He bent his
+steps to hear the words of truth and grace from his lips. "Wonderful!
+Astonishing! Was it an angel I heard before--one who had assumed a
+bodily shape, to bear those joyful tidings to my soul, and now appears
+again with other features and with another voice? No; he was a man; and
+this is a human voice I hear. But how astonishing! He seems to know all
+the other told me, and to begin where the other left off. Their sermons
+seem like two following pages of a book, in which I read the secrets of
+my life, and behold in legible lines those things I never breathed to
+human friends. 'This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in my
+eyes.'"
+
+It _was_ the Lord's doing; for not only was his whole Christian pathway
+mapped out, but his soul sweetly delivered from legal entanglements,
+from slavish fear and anxious doubt, and brought into that liberty with
+which God makes His people free. He was made "wise unto salvation,
+through faith in Jesus Christ." Moreover, by continuance in that Word,
+he gave unequivocal demonstration that he was a disciple indeed; one who
+was a learner and follower of Jesus; and so, knowing "the truth as it is
+in Jesus," he rejoiced in hope of the glory of God. Nor did he have long
+to wait, for, sinking under the merciless hand of pale consumption, in a
+little more than a year he was suddenly removed to that land of peace
+and love where
+
+  "Jesus sheds the brightest beams
+    Of His o'erflowing grace."
+
+Reader, the dream was instructive to the dear departed; but was it given
+for him alone? It can no longer benefit him, for with him all is
+reality--no shadowy emblem, but everything substantial. May not we
+therefore derive instruction?
+
+Let us look at some of its prominences. Standing out with towering
+majesty and grandeur, like a cloud-capped mountain, appears
+
+_Divine sovereignty_--the sovereign mercy of the Lord, who "hath mercy
+on whom He will have mercy." You will not see this through reason's
+misty glass (which perverts and confuses all things beheld through it),
+no more than the loftiest eminence is discernible in the darkness of
+midnight. But in the light of God's truth it is clearly visible. There
+are many with whom he was associated when he "sought the living among
+the dead"--when he was entangled in the carnal schemes of a false
+religion--who remain where he could not stay, and seem contented, too.
+There have been but comparatively very few brought to seek what he
+sought, and to know what he was taught. "Who hath saved us, and called
+us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
+His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
+world began."
+
+We also discover _the danger of false religion_. Behold that burning
+flame! Thus burns God's wrath against sin. No human efforts can quench
+it or check its progress. All creature performances, like the PROPS,
+will be consumed by it. The best of human works are but as stubble to
+the fire of wrath divine. Indeed, when God tells of that dreadful day
+which shall burn as an oven, the self-righteous, or proud, are put
+before "those that do wickedly," as objects of God's displeasure, and
+doomed to that dreadful burning.
+
+Oh, could I make my words thunder and lightning, to peal and flash this
+solemn truth from hill to hill and from vale to vale!
+
+All false religion begins on the outside, and attempts to alter
+principles by renovating practice; but all true religion commences
+within. The Spirit produces a change in the practice by implanting new
+life and holy principles. "Ye must be born again." Religion is not a new
+patch on an old garment, but a new fabric entirely. "If any man be in
+Christ Jesus, he is a new creature."
+
+We see, likewise, the trouble and anxiety which are felt when one is
+soundly convinced of his sinful life and state. Salvation is then a
+matter of life and death. "Life, life, eternal life!" is the earnest
+cry. Conviction of sin, when it merely penetrates the skin, is soon
+soothed and forgotten; but when the arrows from the bow of God's Word
+pierce the heart, no hand can withdraw them but His who directed them,
+and no balm can heal those painful wounds but that administered by
+Jehovah-Jesus.
+
+It may be seen also that, till He who is "the Way, the Truth, and the
+Life," was proclaimed to his eager soul, he found no solid satisfaction,
+no stable peace.
+
+  "In vain the trembling conscience seeks
+    Some solid ground to rest upon;
+  With long despair the spirit breaks,
+    Till we apply to Christ alone."
+
+He is the only Antidote to our sin, ruin, and disease; and He is freely
+set forth in the Gospel as the gracious, willing, almighty, and
+everlasting Saviour of the lost and undone. Until we are brought
+sensibly to feel our sin and destitution, we are ready and willing to
+try everything but that which God has provided; but when we are brought
+before His infinite holiness, and see the "filthy garments" in which we
+are clad, no arm is long and powerful enough to reach our case but His,
+who is "able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him."
+The blessed Spirit will always glorify Jesus by His teaching, and will
+lead the soul to Him as the All in all of salvation.
+
+Here are exhibited, likewise, the gracious operations of His power and
+wisdom who says, "The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to
+Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." Had his soul's
+salvation rested on his believing, as some would tell us, he had not
+have been where he is. Grace begins, grace carries on, grace performs,
+and finally completes, the grand work of eternal redemption.
+
+In this brief narrative appears, moreover, the peace and joy a knowledge
+of sin forgiven and peace secured produces in the soul. Oh, the blissful
+truth, "Redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
+to the riches of His grace." To taste this, to know this, exceeds ten
+thousand worlds of sordid treasure--transcends the highest delights of
+this terrestrial sphere. How did his happy soul rejoice "with joy
+unspeakable and full of glory"!
+
+But he has long entered his rest. He has forgotten to mourn, and loudly
+sings the praises of the Lamb.
+
+Where is my reader? Is he pursuing the wind, and hunting after the
+shadowy trifles of earth? Is he attempting by creature works to make his
+peace with God?
+
+Doomed to total disappointment and eternal condemnation are all those
+who die in such hostility to the way of peace and Heaven's declared
+will! Oh, delusion! worse than madness! "He that _believeth not_ shall
+be damned!" No salvation but by a living faith in the Lamb of God and
+His all-perfect work.
+
+
+
+
+PROMPT KINDNESS.
+
+
+The fact that we are too apt to suppress our kindest emotions for loved
+ones, and withhold our words of approbation, is but too frequently
+apparent. This is often done with the best intent, fearing that more
+cordial expression and warmer approval may savour of flattery, and very
+frequently it is the outcome of pure carelessness or indifference. In
+this connection it is well to consider the words of Horace Mann. Says
+he:--
+
+"Do not keep the alabaster boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up
+until your friends are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness. Speak
+approving, cheering words while their hearts can be thrilled and made
+happier by them. The kind things you mean to say when they are gone, say
+before they go. The flowers you mean to send for their coffins, send to
+brighten their homes before they leave them. If my friends have
+alabaster boxes laid away, full of fragrant perfumes of sympathy and
+affection, which they mean to break over my dead body, I would rather
+they bring them out in my weary and troubled hours, and open them, that
+I may be refreshed and cheered by them while I need them. I would rather
+have a plain coffin without flowers, a funeral without eulogy, than life
+without the sweetness of love and tenderness and sympathy. Let us learn
+to anoint our friends beforehand for their burial. Post-mortem kindness
+does not cheer the burdened spirit. Flowers on the coffin cast no
+fragrance backward over the weary way."
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+An unknown king.
+
+A place from which the Canaanites were not driven.
+
+One of the dukes of Edom.
+
+A Shuhite.
+
+A place built by the sons of Elpaal.
+
+Where were they once who are now made nigh to God?
+
+The Hebrew name for "pavement."
+
+A name which means "the tower."
+
+Something which God used to give a sign to encourage a king.
+
+
+The initials and finals form two titles of Christ.
+
+                                    CLARA ELLIS
+                                   (Aged 14 years).
+
+
+
+
+A FUGITIVE IN THE HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS.
+
+
+In the summer of 1852 Colonel B----, on an excursion to the snowy range
+of the Himalayas, had proceeded into the mountains some twenty miles
+beyond any known habitation of civilized man, when the natives told him
+that, in a village near by, a white man was living in concealment.
+
+Incredible as it appeared, Colonel B---- followed his guides to a little
+native hut with mud walls and roof of grass. Taking a peep in at the low
+entrance, sure enough, there he spied an elderly person with a white
+face, but in the most shabby dress of the natives, who, on catching a
+glance of the intruder, rushed into a dark corner of his miserable
+hovel, out of which the most earnest entreaties and assurances of good
+intentions scarcely brought him.
+
+He was the son of an English gentleman who, like thousands of the
+high-bred youths of England, had come to India to procure a title to a
+Government pension, and, after remaining here ten or twenty years,
+return home and live in ease. Like not a few who come to this land,
+supposing he could scarcely avoid becoming rich, he had run recklessly
+into debt, until he was threatened with a term of years in close
+confinement unless he should immediately cancel his liabilities, to do
+which he was totally incapable. He fled beyond the limits of the British
+territory to the place where Colonel B---- found him, where he had
+subsisted for some fifteen years, in the manner of the wild natives
+around him, not excepting their revolting vices.
+
+Colonel B---- told him of a debt he owed, which, if not discharged,
+might consign him to chains and darkness, not for a term of years, but
+for eternity; begged him earnestly to seek to escape that everlasting
+imprisonment in the dungeons of the unutterably miserable; prayed with
+him, and gave him a few tracts, which, like many good men, Colonel B----
+is in the habit of taking with him wherever he goes.
+
+Two years after, he again visited him, and found that the seed he had
+been permitted to sow was springing up. On reading the tract, "_It is
+the Last Time_," he could have no peace of mind until he found assurance
+of his greatest debt being cancelled by the blood of Christ.
+
+His brother, who was receiving a large salary in India, was delighted to
+be permitted to meet his earthly liabilities, and requested him to
+return to England and live the remainder of his days in comfortable
+ease. But no; he said he had opposed and reviled the Christian religion
+in India, and here he wished to do what he could to counteract his past
+evil influence.
+
+He is now at S----, daily assisting a missionary in proclaiming to the
+heathen the only way of eternal life. May He whose grace has raised him
+thus far out of the loathsome den, lead him still onward, and make him
+an eminent aid and ornament to the faith which he so long despised and
+reproached.
+
+In what various ways does God enable him to do good whose heart is set
+upon it! The author of that tract probably never thought of its floating
+over the waves fifteen thousand miles, fluttering on the breeze another
+thousand miles into the heart of a heathen country, amidst the bears and
+wolves and wild men of the Himalayas, lighting upon a poor degraded
+immortal, "twice dead and plucked up by the roots," and proving him a
+son and heir of the Lord God Almighty, a being to reign on the throne of
+the universe for ever with the King of kings. "O the depth of the riches
+both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!"
+
+
+
+
+A FEW WORDS FROM THE DUMB.
+
+
+It is the glory of Englishmen to stand up for the defenceless, and to
+scorn the cowardly oppression of the weak. Surely, then, those who own
+and those who use ponies and donkeys will be willing to give a fair
+hearing to a pleader for the helpless, dumb creatures.
+
+If they could speak for themselves, would they not say--"Give us some
+rest one day in the week, and we will do all the more for you the other
+six, and last the longer for it. You yourself work the better, and live
+the longer, for one day's rest.
+
+"Don't beat our sore sides so hard and so often, and we shall be
+stronger and better servants to you. You know how oppression only makes
+_you_ set up your back, but you will do anything for a kind master.
+
+"Don't ride and race us about till we are ready to drop, and our wind is
+almost broken, and we are reeking with heat and rough usage.
+
+"Pray let us have a little more water when we stand weary and thirsty,
+with our poor dry tongues unable to ask for it. _You_ have felt the
+suffering of thirst.
+
+"And for pity's sake," the ponies would say, "loosen this torturing
+bearing-rein. We toss and shake our heads, or we try to keep them still,
+and nothing gives us a moment's ease. You, master, would suffer severely
+if _your_ head were held in such a position, and we could do more work,
+and much better, without it.
+
+"Please remember that we can always hear your voice, and shall
+understand what you want us to do so much more quickly, if you speak to
+us quietly, than if you roar at us, and drag our tender, worn mouths
+about. We get so puzzled and frightened when you're in a rage with us,
+that we only flounder and plunge, and make you more and more angry.
+
+"Our last entreaty is that, when we get old and past our work, you will
+not let our poor, wasted bodies stagger along under some load, when our
+lives have been spent in your service, but that you will reward us by
+having us immediately put out of our pain."
+
+Think how much you owe to mercy yourself, and remember, "The merciful
+man doeth good to his beast."
+
+
+
+
+  ONE LINK GONE.
+
+
+  Take the pillows from the cradle
+    Where the little sufferer lay;
+  Draw the curtain, close the shutters,
+    Shut out every beam of day.
+
+  Spread the pall upon the table;
+    Place the lifeless body there;
+  Back from off the marble features
+    Lay the auburn curls with care.
+
+  With its little blue-veined fingers
+    Crossed upon its painless breast,
+  Free from care, and pain, and anguish,
+    Let the infant beauty rest.
+
+  Smooth its little shroud about it;
+    Pick its toys from off the floor;
+  They, with all their sparkling beauty,
+    Ne'er can charm their owner more.
+
+  Take the little shoes and stockings
+    From the doting mother's sight;
+  Pattering feet no more will need them,
+    In and out with such delight.
+
+  Parents faint and worn with watching
+    Through the long, dark night of grief,
+  Dry your tears, and soothe your sighing;
+    Gain a respite of relief.
+
+  Mother's care no more is needed
+    To allay the rising moan;
+  And though you perchance may leave it,
+    It can never be alone.
+
+  Thus a golden link is broken
+    In a chain of earthly bliss--
+  Thus the distance shorter making
+    'Twixt another world and this.
+
+[Illustration: KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. (_See page 108._)]
+
+
+
+
+A GATHERED ONE.
+
+A SHORT ACCOUNT OF EMMA BEESLEY, OF LEICESTER, WHO DIED ON LORD'S DAY
+MORNING, JANUARY 1ST, 1888, AGED TWENTY-ONE YEARS.
+
+
+Our earliest recollection of Emma was as a child in our Sunday School,
+which she was led, in a very marked way, to attend. Her sister was
+persuaded by a companion to go with her to our school just for one
+afternoon, and she was so interested that she became a regular scholar.
+Emma was at that time attending a school in connection with a General
+Baptist cause, but hearing her sister speak in such high terms of the
+school at Zion Chapel, she was soon persuaded to go with her. Like her
+sister, she felt so at home that she also became a scholar. They each
+became so very much attached to both school and chapel, that they had no
+desire whatever to leave it; and we have good reason to believe the Word
+was made a blessing, and that the seed of divine grace was sown in each
+of their hearts by God the Eternal Spirit.
+
+Emma was of a very quiet turn of mind, and for the last two years was
+the subject of great soul-trouble. All who knew her could testify to the
+deep sense she had of her sinnership before God. Her great fear was,
+that she was too great a sinner for the Lord to look upon; but her whole
+desire was, to be found right with Him.
+
+To a friend she said, "Oh, I should not mind waiting, if only I knew I
+should obtain the blessing; but I am so afraid I shall never have what I
+am seeking after."
+
+Her love for the house of God was so great that no weather would prevent
+her from attending the means. Being of a delicate constitution, her
+mother often reproved her for going so much; but she could say, with the
+poet--
+
+  "I love to meet amongst them now,
+  Before Thy gracious feet to bow,
+    Though vilest of them all."
+
+Truly, she prized the company of the Lord's people, and looked upon them
+as the excellent of the earth; and many times has said, "I want the Lord
+to assure me that I am one of His family, redeemed by precious blood."
+
+For the most part she was very dark in her mind, but had rays of light,
+being often encouraged under the preached Word.
+
+It was about a month before her last illness that the Lord seemed to
+completely wean her from the world. She seemed like one that was indeed
+taking the kingdom of heaven by violence. The things that belonged to
+her soul's happiness were eagerly sought after, while the things of the
+world were only a plague and a burden.
+
+She said to a friend, "Oh, how I long for the Christmas holidays--not
+for the mere holiday, but that I may get away from my work, and be with
+the dear people of God."
+
+About a fortnight before her illness, our dear minister spoke from the
+words, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." It
+seemed to completely cut her up, as she feared she was only a hypocrite,
+and not a true follower, which caused her great sorrow of heart. But
+during the week the Lord was pleased to shine upon her once more with
+these words--"I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with
+loving-kindness have I drawn thee." But the words were so great she
+feared to take them, and yet she could not put them away.
+
+On the following Sunday, our dear pastor took for his text, "Even to Him
+shall men come" (Isa. xlv. 24). That day was indeed a Sabbath to her;
+for, as the character was described, the Lord sweetly made it plain to
+her that she was no longer to cut herself off, and she felt sure that
+she was the character described. She earnestly begged of the Lord that
+day that Mr. Hazlerigg might be led to take the same text in the
+evening. To her great joy the same words were again given out, and the
+sermon was attended with the same sweetness to her. She was indeed full.
+A friend who walked with her from chapel said afterwards, that she
+seemed in a most heavenly frame of mind. She could do nothing but speak
+of the favoured times she had had in hearing.
+
+The next, and indeed the last, time that she was permitted to meet with
+us on earth, was at our prayer-meeting on the Monday evening, and then
+she seemed again to be much favoured.
+
+She was taken ill on the Wednesday evening. On the following Friday, the
+writer, being sent for, went and found her very ill, but her mind seemed
+stayed upon eternal things. I said, "Do you think you shall get better,
+Emma?" to which she replied, "I do not know. If the complaint is not
+stayed, I must sink; but I do not mind." I asked her if she feared
+death. She replied, "No; I only want the Lord to reveal Himself to me
+more, and then I do not mind whether it is life or death." She said, "I
+have only one wish, and that is, that the affliction may be sanctified."
+She said that verse had been so blessed to her--
+
+  "Fenced with Jehovah's 'shalls' and 'wills,'
+  Firm as the everlasting hills."
+
+I said, "Oh, Emma, how good of the Lord to give you those words. He
+knows how full of fears you are, and how Satan would cast his 'buts' and
+'ifs' at you; but the Lord has given you those words to quench Satan's
+darts with." I told her I believed the Lord was either preparing her for
+His Church below, or His Church above. She smiled, and said, "I hope it
+is so."
+
+A friend, to whom she was much attached, called to see her, and said,
+"Emma, should you like me to read to you? I am afraid you are too ill."
+She said, "Oh, do! I should so much like you to do so." The twenty-third
+Psalm was read, and a few words of prayer offered; and to a friend, who
+afterwards went in, she said how very much she enjoyed it.
+
+We did indeed feel it good to be with her; but the affliction was of
+such a painful nature that she could not talk much. The doctor said that
+all that could be done for her was to keep her very quiet, and give her
+support, so that we often refrained from conversing with her, hoping
+very much that it might be the Lord's will to restore her.
+
+On Saturday morning our hopes were raised very high. She was quiet in
+her mind, Satan not being permitted to harass her. Her only fear seemed
+to be that she was ungrateful. She said, "I have so many friends, and
+they are all so kind." But we always found her to be truly grateful for
+every little act of kindness shown to her.
+
+Towards evening a change for the worse took place. Convulsions seized
+her, and, for about twelve hours, it was most painful to witness her
+struggle with the last enemy--so much so that her dear sister, who was
+devoted to her, was led to beg of the Lord to release her.
+
+About six o'clock on Lord's Day morning her spirit took its flight, to
+be "for ever with the Lord." Truly, we could say it was her gain, though
+we felt the loss most keenly. The Lord had been so good in supporting
+her through her painful affliction, that we felt we could justly say,
+with the poet--
+
+  "Her mind was tranquil and serene;
+  No terror in her look was seen;
+  Her Saviour's smile dispelled the gloom,
+  And smoothed her passage to the tomb."
+
+                                      C. WARDLE.
+
+
+
+
+PRAYER ANSWERED.
+
+A TRUE INCIDENT.
+
+
+On the summit of Washington mountain, overlooking the Housatonic Valley,
+stood a hut, the home of John Barry, a poor charcoal-burner, whose
+family consisted of his wife and himself. His occupation brought him in
+but few dollars, and when cold weather came, he had managed to get
+together only a small provision for the winter.
+
+This fall, after a summer of hard work, he fell sick, and was unable to
+keep his fires going, so, when the snow of December, 1874, fell, and the
+drifts had shut off communication with the village at the foot of the
+mountain, John and his wife were in great straits. Their entire stock of
+food consisted of only a few pounds of salt pork and a bushel of
+potatoes. Sugar, flour, coffee, and tea had, early in December, given
+out, and the chances for replenishing the larder were slim indeed.
+
+The snowstorms came again, and the drifts deepened. All the roads, even
+in the valley, were impassable, and no one thought of trying to open the
+mountain highways, which even in summer were only occasionally
+travelled, and none gave the old man and his wife a thought.
+
+December 15th came, and with it the heaviest fall of snow experienced in
+Berkshire County in many years. The food of the old couple on the
+mountain was now reduced to a day's supply, but John did not yet
+despair. He was a Christian and a God-fearing man, and His promises were
+remembered; and so, when evening came, and the north-east gale was
+blowing and the fierce snowstorm was raging, John and his wife were
+praying and asking for help.
+
+In Sheffield village, ten miles away, lived Deacon Brown, a well-to-do
+farmer of fifty years old, who was noted for his consistent and godly
+deportment, both as a man and a Christian. The deacon and his wife had
+gone to bed early, and, in spite of the storm raging without, were
+sleeping soundly, when, with a start, the deacon awoke, and said to his
+wife, "Who spoke? Who's there?"
+
+"Why," said the wife, "no one is here but you and me. What is the matter
+with you?"
+
+"I heard a voice," said the deacon, "saying, 'Send food to John.'"
+
+"Nonsense!" replied Mrs. Brown. "You've been dreaming."
+
+The deacon laid his head on his pillow, and was asleep in a minute. Soon
+he started up again, and, waking his wife, exclaimed--"There, I heard
+that voice again--'Send food to John.'"
+
+"Well, well," said Mrs. Brown. "Deacon, you are not well; your supper
+has not agreed with you. Lie down and try to sleep."
+
+Again the deacon closed his eyes, and again came the voice--"Send food
+to John." This time the deacon was thoroughly awake. "Wife," said he,
+"who do we know named John who needs food?"
+
+"No one I remember," replied Mrs. Brown, "unless it be John Barry, the
+old charcoal-burner on the mountain."
+
+"That's it!" exclaimed the deacon. "Now I remember, when I was at the
+store in Sheffield the other day, Clark, the merchant, speaking of John
+Barry, said, 'I wonder if the old man is alive, for it is six weeks
+since I saw him, and he has not yet laid in his winter stock of
+groceries.' It must be old John is sick, and wanting food." So saying,
+the good deacon arose and proceeded to dress himself.
+
+"Come, wife," said he, "wake our boy Willie, and tell him to feed the
+horses and get ready to go with me; and do you pack up in the two
+largest baskets you have, a good stock of food, and get us an early
+breakfast, for I am going up to the mountain to carry the food I know
+John Barry needs."
+
+Mrs. Brown, accustomed to the sudden impulses of her good husband, and
+believing him to be always in the right, cheerfully complied, and after
+a hot breakfast, Deacon Brown and his son Willie, a boy of nineteen,
+hitched up the horses to the double sleigh, and then, with a month's
+supply of food, and a "Good-bye, mother," started at five o'clock on
+that cold December morning for a journey that almost any other than
+Deacon Brown and his son would not have dared to undertake.
+
+The north-east storm was still raging, and the snow falling and drifting
+fast; but on, on went the stout, well-fed team on its errand of mercy,
+while the occupants of the sleigh, wrapped up in blankets and extra
+buffalo robes, urged the horses through the drifts and in the face of
+the storm. That ten miles' ride, which required in the summer hardly an
+hour or two, was not finished until the deacon's watch showed that five
+hours had passed.
+
+At last they drew up in front of the hut where the poor trusting
+Christian man and woman were on their knees praying for help to Him who
+is always the Hearer and Answerer of prayer; and as the deacon reached
+the door, he heard the voice of supplication, and then he knew that the
+voice which awakened him from sleep was sent from heaven.
+
+He knocked at the door. It was opened; and we can imagine the joy of the
+old couple when the generous supply of food was carried in, and the
+thanksgivings that were uttered by the starving tenants of that mountain
+hut.
+
+"Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will answer
+thee."--_Lantern._
+
+
+NEVER think that you can make yourself great by making another less.
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 91._)
+
+
+"_Create in me a clean heart, O God; renew a right spirit within
+me._"--PSALM li. 10.
+
+C   heba  R    .   Ezekiel i. i.
+R    om   E    .   Acts xviii. 2.
+E   glo   N    .   Judges iii. 15.
+A    x    E    .   Judges ix. 48.
+T    o    W    .   Isaiah i. 31.
+E   liad  A    .   2 Chronicles xvii. 17.
+I   bha   R    .   2 Samuel v. 15.
+N  aphtal I    .   Genesis xxx. 8.
+M   ago   G    .   1 Chronicles i. 5.
+E  leale  H    .   Numbers xxxii. 37.
+A   rara  T    .   Genesis viii. 4.
+C   epha  S    .   John i. 42.
+L    am   P    .   Exodus xxvii. 20.
+E   nged  I    .   1 Samuel xxiii. 29.
+A   roe   R    .   Numbers xxxii. 34.
+N  aphtal I    .   1 Kings vii. 14.
+H  arves  T    .   Genesis viii. 22.
+E    ni   W    .   Proverbs xx. 1.
+A  bisha  I    .   1 Chronicles xviii. 12.
+R    es   T    .   Hebrews iv. 9.
+T  abera  H    .   Deuteronomy ix. 22.
+O    mr   I    .   1 Kings xvi. 25.
+G   ibeo  N[9] .   1 Chronicles viii. 29.
+O bed-edo M    .   2 Samuel vi. 11.
+D    ov   E    .   Genesis viii. 9.
+
+                             THOMAS TYLER
+                           (Aged 14 years).
+
+_Potton_, _Beds_.
+
+  [9] "Gideon" was given by mistake, in the Enigma, instead of "Gibeon."
+
+
+
+
+  WISDOM.
+
+  (PROVERBS iii. 13-15.)
+
+
+  True wisdom doth my soul admire,
+    And would before fine gold prefer;
+  For all the things I could desire
+    Are not to be compared with her.
+
+  While earthly things fill earthly minds,
+    Attracted to their native clod,
+  Happy the man who wisdom finds,
+    And holds her in the fear of God!
+
+
+
+
+THE CLEVER BOY AND THE ELECTRICAL MACHINE.
+
+
+An electrical machine was in the window of a scientific instrument
+maker's shop, and a youth stood looking at it with eager eyes. He was
+observing every part with intense curiosity. At length, after a long,
+absorbing gaze, a neighbouring clock struck. He started like one
+awakened from a sleep, and ran with all speed to his master's workshop.
+
+The boy was the son of a working man--a smith, and was intended also for
+a working man, but not quite so laborious a trade. Perhaps the boy was
+not strong enough for his father's manly trade, so he was apprenticed to
+a bookbinder in Blandford Street, Marylebone. He was a very diligent
+lad, fond of work in hours of business, and fond of a book in hours of
+leisure. His master noticed this, and gave him leave to stay in the
+workshop during the dinner-hour.
+
+Whilst his fellow-workers were drinking and smoking, the orphan boy was
+storing his mind with useful knowledge. In particular he loved books on
+scientific subjects. He liked to read about the wonders of chemistry;
+still more about electricity--that wonderful power that flashes out of
+the thunder-cloud, that dwells unseen in the dew-drop, that, at a touch,
+thrills through the startled nerves, and, like an invisible but mighty
+spirit, pervades all things, from the clouds of heaven to the clods of
+earth.
+
+One day he found out the shop window with the electrical machine, and at
+every spare moment he haunted that window, taking the shape and measure
+of every knob, and wire, and wheel, and plate, with earnest eyes. Then
+he resolved to try and make one for himself; so by the light of the
+early summer mornings, he was up and working away at his machine.
+
+In time he completed it, and found it would act. He touched the knob,
+and the shock that went through him was as nothing compared with the joy
+that throbbed through his heart at seeing his work complete.
+
+He showed it to his master, who, being a kind and sensible man, was
+pleased and surprised at the ingenuity of the lad. The master was fond
+of showing the electrical apparatus of his industrious apprentice to
+every person likely to be interested in a clever youth. Amongst them
+were some Fellows of the Royal Society, who might, perhaps, have an
+admission ticket to give.
+
+Some few years after, the lad, now a young man, was again gazing with
+wide open eyes, and laying up all he saw in his mind. This time it was
+not through a shop window that he looked. It was from a seat in the
+Royal Society's lecture-room that he witnessed Sir Humphrey Davey making
+some beautiful chemical experiments.
+
+The youth did not know which most to admire--the beautiful apparatus,
+the wonderful experiments, or the eloquent lecture. All was so new to
+him--so interesting. But the lecturer himself was, above all the rest,
+the object of his admiration. Our youth, having been a reader, knew that
+Sir Humphrey Davey was not born of rich parents, though his kindred and
+his breeding were virtuous and respectable. In the remote town of
+Penzance, in Cornwall, from the most western extremity in England, the
+great man had come. He had taught himself nearly all he knew; and now
+the youth saw him standing before the mighty and the noble of the land,
+the light of genius in his flashing eyes, the words of wisdom on his
+eloquent lips. "Oh, if I could but follow the steps of such a master!"
+was the involuntary wish of the youthful hearer.
+
+This thought soon produced action. Promptness was a leading part of the
+young man's character, so he resolved to write to the great chemist,
+and state that he wished to follow some other trade than that to which
+he had been apprenticed; that he loved science, and would think himself
+happy to be employed in any way in the laboratory of so great a man. It
+was a bold step, but the request, though urgent, was full of the noble
+humility of real worth. His letter was not neglected. Inquiries were
+made. The good master had no wish to prevent the youth entering on a
+career for which his talents and studious habits fitted him. The
+electrical apparatus was another aid to him, so the wish of his heart
+was granted. He entered the laboratory of the great man, and had ample
+opportunity to study and to improve. There is no need to say he did not
+waste his time or neglect his opportunities.
+
+Sir Humphrey Davey died, leaving a name dear to the philanthropist, as
+well as the man of science; but his place was not long vacant. Who
+filled it? He whose youth we have feebly sketched; he whose lectures at
+the Royal Institution were listened to by the Prince Consort and the
+Prince of Wales--the celebrated and much-beloved Professor Faraday.
+
+"Seest thou the man that is diligent in business? he shall stand before
+kings."
+
+Professor Faraday was not only one of the greatest scientific
+authorities that ever lived, but he was a companion of humble-minded
+Christians. His weekdays he devoted to science, but on the Sunday he
+might be heard telling the story of redeeming love to delighted
+listeners.
+
+
+CHRIST'S time was largely taken up in making people happy. We do well to
+remember that, and to do our best in ministering to the happiness of all
+around us.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+GOD'S INDEPENDENCE OF ALL, AND HIS DECLARED NEED OF SOME OF HIS
+CREATURES.
+
+(PSALM l. 12, AND MATTHEW xxi. 1-3.)
+
+
+That God is independent the Bible everywhere declares. All beings beside
+Himself are His creatures, and He is Lord of all. He needs nothing, for
+He possesses all things.
+
+No _supplies_, for, though He ordained sacrifices and planned His
+temple, heaven is His throne, and earth His footstool, and His own hand
+gives life, power, and sustenance to all (Acts xvii. 25).
+
+No _tribute_. The free-will offerings of David and his people, for the
+building of the temple, were a sweet sacrifice to God; but David truly
+described matters when he said, "Of _Thine own_, O Lord, have we given
+unto Thee" (1 Chron. xxix. 14).
+
+He needs _no information_ or _guidance_ (see Isa. xl. 13-15). "Who hath
+directed the Spirit of the Lord? or being His counsellor, hath taught
+Him?" The question is not asked of angels, but of men; and "all nations
+before Him are as a drop of a bucket"--the little drips that fall from
+it as it is drawn up from the well--while "He taketh up the islands as a
+very little thing"--a light thing, lifted easily with the fingers.
+
+No creatures can give their Creator a single new thought, or any help of
+any kind (Rom. xi. 34-36). "For who hath _known_ the mind of the Lord?"
+Who then could have been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him?
+This can never be, "for _of_ Him, and _through_ Him, and _to_ Him are
+all things, to whom be glory for ever. Amen."
+
+Therefore He needs give no _explanations_ to any of His creatures. "Who
+can say unto Him, What doest Thou?" (Dan. iv. 35.) Thus God is above
+all, and independent of all.
+
+Yet Jesus "needed" the ass and colt (Matt. xxi.). We read of "coming to
+the help of the Lord against the mighty" (Judges v. 23); and Paul spoke
+about "working together with God" in teaching His people.
+
+The Bible is full of these contrasts. God is so high, and yet so
+condescending; full of majesty, yet "plenteous in mercy to all who call
+upon Him."
+
+There is no contradiction in the contrast; but God's needs are never
+necessities. Our needs arise out of our _nature_. We need food,
+clothing, and comforts, friendship and sympathy; but all God's needs
+come from His _will_ and His _love_.
+
+How beautifully this appears in the life of Jesus! He came to earth as a
+little Infant, needing a mother's care. He grew up in humble
+circumstances, and when He went forth, at thirty years of age, to preach
+the Gospel, "the Son of Man had not where to lay His head." He also
+needed the many ministries of love His devoted followers rendered to
+Him. And when He died, others must provide the grave-clothes and the
+tomb, for He had none of His own.
+
+"Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through
+His poverty might be rich."
+
+"For our sakes!" This is the keynote to all the needs of the Almighty.
+
+The Father of the Lord Jesus Christ chose His people in His Son before
+the foundation of the world, and the father of a family needs his
+children because they are his own, and he loves them.
+
+The shepherd needs his sheep to be safe, and will not willingly lose
+them. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who bought His sheep with His own life
+and blood, and must needs gather and keep them every one.
+
+The physician needs patients whose healing shall proclaim his knowledge
+and skill, and the Great Physician of sin-sick hearts will glorify
+Himself by bringing perfect health and cure to all who are led to Him by
+the Holy Spirit.
+
+Do we feel our need of Him? Have we discovered that we are fallen, lost,
+guilty, and diseased? Then _He needs us_, and has shown us our need,
+that He may relieve, supply, and bless us with His great salvation.
+
+In the same way He needs His people's services for _their own_ sakes.
+
+By fighting the Lord's battles of old, His servants were interested in
+His cause. By working with Him now, in preaching, teaching, warning, and
+comforting others, Christ's followers still are honoured and blessed.
+
+When Saul of Tarsus, breathing out slaughter and bitterness against the
+sheep of Christ, was hastening like a wolf to Damascus, Jesus stopped
+Him, made him a new creature, and caused him to utter that cry of
+anguish, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" Like the jailer's
+question, "What must I do to be saved?" it came from a convinced and
+burdened heart.
+
+Saul suddenly discovered that his life had been one terrible
+mistake--that Jesus of Nazareth was the Lord of heaven--and tremblingly
+he wondered, "Could there be pardon for such a rebel as he now felt
+himself to be?"
+
+Could not the same almighty voice have spoken peace to that troubled
+conscience? Certainly; but Jesus required Ananias to be His messenger to
+the humbled Pharisee; and, after three days of suspense and blindness,
+while his tears had been his only food, Ananias arrived with the message
+of peace.
+
+How tenderly it was given! He put his hands on him, and said, "Brother
+Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared to thee by the way as thou
+camest, hath sent me unto thee," and comfort, sight, and joy followed,
+while the believing penitent was baptized in the name of his Lord.
+
+How gracious and wise was all this! How closely it drew Ananias and Saul
+together as brethren--children of the same heavenly family. Paul always
+lovingly remembered his first Christian friend (Acts xxii. 12, 13), and
+we are sure that Ananias never forgot that memorable day.
+
+And in the same way Christ still needs the loving services of His people
+to one another; and those who are taught and helped, love their
+Christian helpers, while the helpers feel a double love towards those to
+whom they have been made useful.
+
+Thus the great and glorious independent and almighty King condescends to
+make use of feeble worms. And which should we most admire, His majesty,
+or His tenderness? We cannot tell. He is all-wise and all-powerful,
+and--
+
+"With heaven and earth at His command,
+  He waits to answer prayer."
+
+Therefore, "blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness,"
+for the time is coming when "they shall hunger no more, neither thirst,
+for the Lamb in the midst of the throne" shall fill them with all good,
+and there will be no more "need" on either side. Jesus shall see His
+people fully saved, and "shall be satisfied"; and they, "beholding His
+face in righteousness, shall be gratefully satisfied, when they awake,
+with His likeness" (Psa. xvii. 15).
+
+May this joy unspeakable be ours.
+
+Our next subject will be, _The Good Shepherd Gathering His Sheep_ (John
+x. 16).
+
+                                    Yours affectionately,
+                                                 H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN MAY.
+
+
+May 6. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 31.
+
+May 13. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 32.
+
+May 20. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 33.
+
+May 27. Commit to memory Rom. viii. 34.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+HOW TO BE USEFUL IN THE WORLD.
+
+
+There are five heads under which this subject may be placed--Love,
+Truthfulness, Obedience, Cheerfulness, Peacemakers.
+
+_Love._ If true love is inspired in our hearts, our chief aim will
+consist in trying to be a help to others, which is very useful and
+needful, even in our own homes. The power of love is of such value, that
+those who know it esteem it as a precious gem set in gold, for without
+it, our life would be a path of misery and woe--two of the most terrible
+burdens in the world. Love is the true spring of usefulness.
+
+_Truthfulness_ is always needful. He who is tempted to tell a lie should
+consider that he may be struck dead while doing so; and then, where will
+his soul awake? Truth _will_ out, if it be a long while hidden. It will
+stand like the mountain against the roaring sea--nothing can move it;
+for with it, is a clear conscience in the sight of God. If truth were
+spoken more freely and carefully, we should be far happier. Its
+preciousness cannot be sufficiently prized.
+
+_Obedience_ is often the root of cheerfulness. An obedient child has
+this motto in view--"Thou, God, seest me." Obedience is useful in
+preserving us from many dangers, which our elders can often foresee, and
+which might prove the ruin of our immortal souls if we were to be
+disobedient. Thus it brings happiness into the homes and hearts of
+children and parents, and so produces cheerfulness.
+
+_Cheerfulness_ is sure to arise, in due course, from godliness. If we
+have trials, we should not give way to despair, and make those about us
+unhappy; but we should try to attend to our work, and look at the
+brighter side of our troubles, and encourage those whom we often find
+in greater difficulties than ourselves; at the same time, not forgetting
+to take our crosses to God. We may cheer many a saddened heart by
+cheerful words, and sometimes entice the young revenger to forget and
+forgive.
+
+_Peacemakers_ are thus spoken of--"Blessed are the peacemakers; for they
+shall be called the children of God" (Matt. v. 9). Christ teaches us
+this in His sermon on the mount; and He also set us the example. A
+little child may be a peacemaker, if it is only to say a word of love,
+and so stem the rising tempest. In time, it may develop itself more
+fully, and we may thus honour our holy Master by treading in His
+footsteps, and proving a help to all who know it, in speaking His truth
+boldly and sincerely.
+
+For an example of usefulness, we must consider the precious Jesus, and
+pray for grace to imitate Him in all His ways; then we shall not
+willingly do wrong, for He is superlatively good.
+
+                                          MARGARET CREASEY
+                                             (Aged 14 years).
+
+_Sydney House, Sleaford._
+
+
+[Our young friend tells us her age will not admit of her writing the
+Essays in future, but we hope she will not forget us, and we pray that
+the Lord may give her grace to live a useful and honourable life as a
+disciple of Jesus.
+
+We have received several creditable Essays this month, those from E. B.
+Knocker, Jane Bell, Lilly Rush, Florrie Rush, and W. E. Cray deserving
+special mention as giving signs of approaching success.]
+
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "Notable Workers in
+Humble Life."
+
+The subject for July will be, "The Difference between 'Uncertain Riches'
+and 'The True Riches'" (see Tim. vi. 17; Prov. xxiii. 5; Luke xvi. 11;
+Prov. viii. 18, &c.); and the prize to be given for the best Essay on
+that subject, a copy of "The Story of the Spanish Armada." All
+competitors must give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of
+age, and that the Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be
+passed over, as the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary
+information. Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117,
+High Street, Hastings, by the first of June.]
+
+
+We insert the following to show what even very young children can
+accomplish by trying, and with a desire to encourage our young friend
+and others to _try again_:--
+
+
+HOW TO BE USEFUL IN THE WORLD.
+
+Little children can be useful in many ways. First, learn to be useful at
+home. Lay the meals, and do the dusting; go on errands, and be kind to
+brothers and sisters. Always speak the truth, and obey your parents; and
+if you are sent out on an errand, or with a message, and any other
+little children try to persuade you to go with them, mind and obey your
+parents. Be gentle in your manner and duties, and be careful with little
+children, if you have to see to them, and with your brothers and
+sisters, and in all your duties. We should be very careful to do what we
+are told to do, and also very careful not to do what we are told not to
+do. Be kind, not selfish; dutiful to parents; and do little things
+willingly; try and persevere at school; be strictly honest, whatever
+occupation you may be in; always be just, and if you do this, people
+will feel they can trust you; but if you do not, people will say they
+cannot trust you. Set an example not to be cruel to anything or any
+body, but to be kind to all, and love and obey your parents.
+
+                                         MERCY PHILLIPS
+                               (Aged 7 years, 10 months).
+
+_Lindfield, Hayward's Heath._
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+OVER 10,000,000 eggs now arrive in New York city weekly. One recent
+Canada train had thirty-one cars, with 200,000 eggs in each. The chief
+supply to the New York market comes from Canada and Michigan.
+
+
+UNITED STATES' FLOUR EXPORTS.--The United States now manufacture yearly
+70,000,000 barrels of flour, and of this one-seventh part is exported.
+The great bulk of this flour is sent from eight Atlantic ports to
+Europe.
+
+
+AMONG the "fowls of the air" are three, the eagle, swan, and raven,
+which live to the age of one hundred years or more. The paroquet and
+heron attain the goodly age of sixty years. The sparrow-hawk, duck, and
+pelican may live to be forty, while the peacock and linnet reach the
+quarter century, and the canary twenty-four years.
+
+
+A SAGACIOUS DOG.--Just recently a dog, of the black and tan terrier
+species, entered the Bolton Infirmary unobserved, and forced itself upon
+the attention of the house-surgeon, who found one of the animal's legs
+broken. With the aid of nurses he set the limb, the dog meanwhile
+licking the surgeon's hand. It refused to leave the institution, and was
+installed as an in-patient. How the dog got into the infirmary is
+unknown.
+
+
+WE understand that the hall which, for the last nearly sixty years, has
+been appropriated in Glasgow to caricaturing religion, and where mockery
+of the Sabbath, recitations, comic songs, dancing, and all sorts of
+diabolical devices to entrap weak souls, were revelled in, where many
+Sabbaths Mrs. Besant and Mr. Bradlaugh gave vent to their mockery and
+blasphemy of God, is henceforth to be used for the worship of the
+Almighty.
+
+
+ORIGIN OF THE WORD "NEWS."--The word "news" is not, as many may imagine,
+derived from the adjective "new." In former years (between 1595 and
+1730) it was a prevalent practice to put over the periodical
+publications of the day the initial letters of the cardinal points of
+the compass, thus--N E W S, implying that those papers contained
+intelligence from the four quarters of the globe, and from this practice
+is derived the term of "newspaper."
+
+
+A TELEGRAM states that the body of Alexander the Great has been found
+among the sarcophagi lately unearthed at Saida, in Syria. It is stated
+that the body can be positively identified by its inscription, and other
+particulars. Alexander is known to have died at Babylon, and on his
+death-bed he is stated to have told his sons to convey his body to
+Alexandria, the city he had founded at the mouth of the Nile. Although
+the monarch did not live thirty-three years, or reign thirteen, he did
+more than all before or since his time.
+
+
+AMONGST the most curious of recorded wills is that of a Mr. Thomas Tuke,
+of Wath, near Rotherham, who, dying in 1810, bequeathed a penny to every
+child that should be present at his funeral. Another provision of the
+will ordered a shilling to be given to every poor woman in Wath, whilst
+to his own daughter he only bequeathed the pittance of four guineas per
+annum. An old woman had for eleven years attended him. To her he
+bequeathed the munificent sum of one guinea only, for, as he expressed
+it, "tucking him up in bed." A further whimsy of the selfish humourist
+was a bequest of forty dozen penny buns to be thrown from the church
+tower at noon on Christmas Day for ever.
+
+
+ONE day, a gentleman's attention was attracted by an unusual commotion
+in his stable, where two carriage horses were kept. Looking in, he saw
+that one of the animals had got out of its loose box, and was helping
+itself to a bucket of mash which the coachman had left at the door. The
+other horse was neighing loudly, evidently demanding a share in the
+feast. What was the gentleman's surprise to see the first horse fill its
+mouth with the mash, and then push its nose through the bars of the
+loose box, for its imprisoned companion to take the relish from its
+mouth. This was repeated several times. The horse which was thus fed had
+often been seen to push over some of his hay into his companion's rack,
+when that was emptied first.
+
+
+A SUBMERGED FOREST.--During the late violent storms in the Channel, the
+sea washed through a high and hard sand-bank near St. Malo, nearly four
+metres thick, laying bare a portion of an ancient forest which was
+already passing into the condition of coal. This forest at the beginning
+of our era covered an extensive tract of the coast; but with the sinking
+of the land it became submerged and covered up by the drifting sand.
+Mont Saint Michel once stood in the middle of it. The forest had quite
+disappeared by the middle of the tenth century. Occasionally, at very
+low tides after storms, remains of it are disclosed, just as at present.
+It is believed that, some centuries ago, the highest tides rose about
+twelve metres above the level of the lowest ebb. Now the high-water
+level is 15.5 metres above the lowest.
+
+
+PREACHING at Kensington the other week, Cardinal Manning said that there
+are labouring in London no less than 350 Roman Catholic priests and
+1,000 nuns.
+
+
+A SNAKE THAT UNDERSTOOD ENGLISH.--It is related that some Americans
+recently going through the Jardin des Plantes of Paris, stopped to look
+at a big rattlesnake in a cage. It lay motionless, apparently asleep,
+but when two of the party who lingered behind began to speak in English,
+it moved, lifted its head, and gave every sign of interest. They told
+their companions that the snake understood English. The whole party then
+returned to the cage. The snake was apparently asleep again. They
+conversed in French, but the snake made no movement. Then the ladies
+began to speak in English. The snake started, lifted its head, and
+showed the same alertness as before at the sounds. The rattlesnake
+proved, on inquiry, to have come from Virginia.
+
+
+THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD FIELDS.--The _Natal Mercury_ says:--"The gold
+exports for January, 1888, from Natal were L31,447, and from the Cape
+L26,115, making a total of L57,562. This is a capital opening for the
+first month of the year, and if continued in the same ratio, will mean
+the handsome total for the year of L690,744. Glowing reports continue to
+come in from the Waterfall, at the Kantoor. A number of buildings are
+going up. Last week a seven-ounce nugget was brought into Barberton. Two
+Portuguese are said to be making, on an average, four ounces per day,
+say L100 per week, and their ground is described as a regular 'bank.' Of
+course they and a few others are exceptionally lucky ones; but all are
+said to be making a good living."
+
+
+ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN NEW YORK.--The following "open letter" has been
+addressed to the Mayor of New York:--"69, Wall Street, New York, March
+19th, 1888.--My dear Sir,--While coming from Washington yesterday on the
+limited express, my eye caught the telegram printed in a Washington
+paper announcing your order forbidding the display of the Irish flag
+from the City Hall on St. Patrick's Day. I could not repress an audible
+and emphatic 'Amen,' quite to the surprise of the ladies and gentlemen
+in the car. For many years I, in company with thousands of Americans and
+adopted citizens from England, France, and Germany, have been outraged
+and scandalized by this annual insult to our intelligence, our pride of
+country, our religious belief. In the minds of many others besides the
+writer, that banner represents in a large degree the worst elements in
+our body politic--ignorance, vice, bigotry, and crime. It is displayed
+on the 17th of March in nearly every rum shop, gambling hell, and
+thieves' den in New York. It was borne in the ranks of the murderous mob
+that held possession of the city in the July riots of '63. But, aside
+from this, no legal or other right exists for the display of that flag
+or any other, except the ones you indicate, from the City Hall of the
+great metropolis of a land whose people are by a large majority
+consistent Protestants, on a day set apart to honour the memory of a
+fabulous Roman Catholic saint. Furthermore, this is literally a
+rum-sellers' and a rum-drinkers' procession. The wholesale rum-seller
+rides on horseback, the retail rum-seller rides in a carriage, the
+drinkers walk, until many of them, overcome by rum, fall in the gutter,
+are gathered up by the police, cared for in the station houses and the
+penitentiary, cleaned, and clothed, and fed at the expense of the
+long-suffering taxpayer. I respect the honest, right-living Irishman or
+woman, Catholic or Protestant, and would not deny them a single right to
+which I, a native-born American citizen, am entitled; but I enter my
+indignant protest against the steadily increasing attacks upon our most
+valued institutions by this largely foreign-born and most turbulent
+portion of our population. It is high time to call a halt and compel
+obedience to decency and law. You will certainly receive the heartfelt
+thanks and unanimous support of every lover of our city, our country,
+our institutions, our laws.--I am, my dear sir, very respectfully yours,
+GEORGE SHEPARD PAGE. To his Honour A. S. Hewitt, Mayor of the City of
+New York." [We say, All due honour to the noble Mayor of New York, for
+such a common-sense decision.--ED.]
+
+
+KEEPING WARM.--It may not be generally known that, when exposed to
+severe cold, a feeling of warmth is readily created by repeatedly
+filling the lungs to their utmost extent in the following manner. Throw
+the shoulders well back, and hold the head well up. Inflate the lungs
+slowly, the air entering entirely through the nose. When the lungs are
+completely filled, hold the breath for ten seconds or longer, and then
+expire it quickly through the mouth. After repeating this exercise while
+one is chilly, a feeling of warmth will be felt over the entire body,
+and even in the feet and hands. It is important to practise this
+exercise many times each day, and especially when in the open air. If
+the habit ever becomes universal, then consumption and many other
+diseases will rarely, if ever, be heard of. Not only while practising
+the breathing exercise must the clothing be loose over the chest, but
+beginners will do well to remember, in having their clothing fitted, to
+allow for the permanent expansion of one, two, and even three inches,
+which will eventually follow.
+
+[Illustration: "SHE NOW FELT THAT SHE HAD LOST HER WAY." (_See page
+122._)]
+
+
+
+
+LOST AND FOUND.
+
+A TRUE STORY FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
+
+
+Little Janet Bruce lived in a pretty village in Scotland. Near to her
+home was a large wood. If you were to go into it without a guide, you
+might go on for miles before you could find your way out of it. In some
+places no path is to be seen, and tall trees and creeping plants cast a
+deep shadow over the ground.
+
+Janet was the only child of a poor widow. Her father had come to the
+village from a distant part of the country in search of work; but he had
+not been there long before he fell ill and died. It was a sad loss to
+Janet and her mother, but God, who looks in pity on the widow and
+fatherless, raised up for them many kind friends.
+
+It was one evening, late in the autumn, that Janet sat at the door of
+her mother's cottage. She had been told never to go far away from the
+house, lest she should be lost. But on this evening, as she looked over
+the fields, she saw some bright blue flowers near a bush; and as she was
+very fond of making little nosegays of wild blossoms, she thought she
+should like to pluck them. When these were gathered, there was still
+further away a hedge with shining buds. "Oh," said she, "I should like
+to have them to put with my blue flowers." In a moment she sprang
+towards them, when a little bird was startled from its nest in the
+hedge. "What a pretty creature!" she cried. "How I should like to see
+where it will fly to!" And so she ran towards it, but the bird could fly
+much faster than she could run. Soon it flew into the wood, and Janet
+followed after it.
+
+Thus we see how one wrong step leads to another. Dear children, beware
+of the first temptation to acts of disobedience.
+
+It was a cool evening, and the wind blew among the trees. A little rain
+had begun to fall, and there were signs of a stormy night. Where had
+little Janet wandered to? and where could she find a shelter should
+there be a storm?
+
+The sun now sank behind the hills, and night came on. Then it was
+dark--quite dark; and her young heart beat quickly as the wind moaned
+among the trees. She now felt that she had lost her way, and then sat
+down to weep. She thought what a naughty child she had been in not
+obeying her mother.
+
+At last she cried herself to sleep. As soon as the daylight came again,
+she awoke, and felt very hungry. But there was no nice breakfast ready
+for her, and no loving mother to kiss her. She was alone in that great
+wood.
+
+Janet thought that it was no use for her to sit still, so she rose up,
+and walked on, but not so fast as before, for her feet were cold, her
+legs were stiff from lying on the damp ground, and she was weak from
+want of food. Yet the more she went forward, the further she was from
+home, for she was going quite another way from that path which led to
+her mother's cottage.
+
+After a time she came to a place where she saw some dark-looking people
+seated on the outside of a little tent or camp. These were gipsies. At
+first she was afraid; but what was a little girl to do in that wide
+wood? So, thinking that they might be kind to her, she went to them, and
+told how she was lost.
+
+They told Janet to sit down by their fire, and then they gave her some
+food out of a large iron kettle that hung from three upright sticks. The
+poor girl stopped with them all that day, and at night she cried, and
+asked them to take her home to her dear mother. But the gipsies looked
+at one another, and then spoke in a whisper, so that she might not hear
+what they said.
+
+At last, the men and women took off Janet's nice frock, and put on her
+an old ragged dress. They also rubbed her face, neck, and hands with a
+dark juice, and then they told her that she must go with them, and she
+should be in the place of one of their own little girls who had died.
+
+The tent was now packed up, and put into a little cart, and all went
+forward into a part of the country Janet had never seen before.
+
+Now, poor child, all days were alike to her. She did not know Sunday
+from any other day. She had no Sabbath School to go to, nor any good
+books to read. Instead of the sweet hymns she used to hear sung, she now
+only heard the vain and foolish songs of the gipsies. The Bible, which
+her mother used to read to her every night and morning, was a Book
+unknown to these wild people.
+
+In what state of mind was Janet's mother all this time? The people of
+the village, when they first heard of her loss, went in search of the
+child. They took with them lanterns, and torches, and tin horns, to
+sound as a signal, should they find the lost one. Onward they went; some
+along the fields, and others into the wood; but hour after hour passed
+away, and the little girl was not found.
+
+Oh, what grief filled the widow's heart! "My child has fallen into the
+river, and is drowned," she cried; "or has strayed into the woods, and
+will be starved to death."
+
+When all the people had come back with the sad tidings that no trace of
+Janet could be found, she wept aloud.
+
+Nearly twelve months passed away, but Janet was not happy with the
+gipsies. "Take me to my mother," she often said with tears. "Oh, do let
+me go home again!" They tried to please her with their wandering ways of
+life, but she could find no pleasure in them. She used to sit on the
+side of the road wherever they went, and look on every passer-by, to see
+if she could find any one she knew. But no, all faces were strange. She
+did not know that she was many miles away from her mother's cottage.
+
+As time went on, the gipsies saw that Janet became very pale and ill.
+She was so weak that they thought she would die. They then told her
+that, in a few weeks, they would go back to the woods where they first
+met with her, and that she should again see her mother. How did Janet
+count the days and hours till the time came; and when they once more
+reached the woods, she clapped her hands for joy.
+
+It was again the autumn of the year, and the reapers were at work in the
+fields. They were very busy, for they were afraid that a storm was
+coming on. It was just such a cloudy evening as that when Janet was
+lost. They had cut down all the corn at the lower part of one of the
+fields, and had just reached a corner which lay against the entrance to
+the wood, when who should they see but a little gipsy girl. She ran as
+well as she could, for she was very feeble, towards them, crying, "I am
+Janet! My name is Janet Bruce. Oh, carry me home to my mother!"
+
+The reapers stopped in their work, and one of them caught the girl up in
+his arms, and looking for a moment in her face, shouted out, "Yes, it is
+she! It is Janet herself!" There could be no mistake, for though she had
+grown taller, and her dress was ragged, and her face was brown, they
+knew her again in a moment.
+
+The work of the day was soon over, and a seat of boughs of trees was
+quickly made, into which they put Janet; then two of the strongest men
+raised her upon their shoulders, and carried her towards her own dear
+home. Some went before--men, boys, and women--and some followed after;
+and as they went they sang aloud for joy.
+
+The glad tidings soon reached Janet's cottage, and the mother rushed
+forward to meet her child. But we cannot tell you what were the feelings
+of the poor widow as she clasped Janet once more in her arms. The gipsy
+dress was taken off, and better clothes put on, and like the father in
+the parable, the widow said, "This my child was dead, and is alive
+again; and was lost, and is found."
+
+And so it is when a sinner is brought by the Holy Spirit to return to
+God. With shame and sorrow he says, "Father, I have sinned." But God,
+who is rich in mercy, is ready to forgive. He will, for Christ's sake,
+hear prayer. Through His precious blood He will pardon sin. He will take
+off the ragged garments of sin, and put on the white robe of Jesus'
+righteousness, and receive coming sinners as His children. Then what
+sounds of joy are heard in heaven, when those who were lost are brought
+home to dwell for ever in their Father's house!
+
+Dear child, through the fall you are _lost_. Have you been truly brought
+as a penitent to Christ? If so, you are _found_.
+
+Do not forget this--all the while any one knows not what it is to come
+to Christ for mercy and pardon, he is lost. But the moment a sinner is
+truly brought to the cross of Christ for salvation, he is found. Are you
+among the lost or among the found?
+
+
+
+
+THE DEAR OLD TIMES.
+
+
+It is interesting to look over household and personal accounts of, say,
+a hundred and fifty years ago. Some of these, which deal with the
+expenses of Mr. Gervase Scrope, and of his son Thomas, both of
+Cockerington, Lincolnshire, lie before me; and from them I find that "my
+dark-coloured cloth suit, trimmed with silver buttons and loops, was
+made November 21st, 1730, and cost in all L17 17s. 6d."
+
+This included two pairs of breeches. The cloth for the suit cost 18s. a
+yard; but Mr. Scrope had a cloak in 1732, the cloth of which cost L1 2s.
+a yard. In 1729, however, he procured a cheap knockabout suit of clothes
+for L9 0s. 6d.
+
+Economy seems to have been necessary, for in 1731, "Tommy had a pair of
+breeches made out of an old scarlet riding-coat of mine."
+
+Boots and wigs were both dear; so also were hats. The squire's
+window-tax in 1748 amounted to L2 17s.
+
+Only in the matter of certain articles of food were the old days cheaper
+than the new. In 1754, eight lbs. of veal cost 2s. 4d., or 31/2d. per
+lb.; a tongue cost 1s. 10d.; 31 lbs. of round and rump of beef cost
+12s., or about 41/2d. per lb.; a leg and saddle of mutton cost 4s. 7d.;
+a quarter of lamb cost 1s. 6d.; 22 lbs. of pork were bought for 5s. 6d.;
+and rabbits ranged from 6d. to 1s. a couple, according to size. But
+coffee was 6s. a lb., and lump sugar was 10d. Soap at this time cost 7s.
+6d. a stone.
+
+Bread was sometimes cheap, but whenever war broke out, the price always
+went up to a terrible height, and much misery and distress must have
+resulted.
+
+In 1886, the average price of wheat in England was 39s. 4d. per imperial
+quarter; in 1810 it was 106s. 5d.; and in 1801 it was 119s. 6d.; or more
+than three times as much as it was two years ago. Those were indeed dear
+old times.--_Cassell's Saturday Journal._
+
+
+
+
+  POINTS TO BE AIMED AT.
+
+
+  P unctual be throughout the day;
+  O bedient to superiors;
+  I ndustrious in every way;
+  N ot haughty to inferiors:
+  T ruthful in word, and trim in dress;
+  S hun folly, and for wisdom press.
+
+                                    J. B.
+
+
+ALL who now colour for show will hereafter be shown in their true
+colours.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT A PRIEST THOUGHT OF ROMAN CATHOLIC MIRACLES.
+
+"_After the working of Satan with all power, and signs, and lying
+wonders._"--2 THESSALONIANS ii. 9.
+
+
+In the autumn of 1836, the Marine hospital of Quebec, in Canada, was
+filled with patients suffering from ship typhoid fever, and so deadly
+was the disease that, by the following spring, a number of the officials
+and servants of the institution had also been smitten, and died.
+Chiniquy had hitherto been spared, although in constant attendance on
+the patients, but in May, 1837, he was attacked with the fearful
+disease. His life was despaired of, and the last Sacraments were
+administered to him. He could not speak. His tongue became like a piece
+of wood, and all that could be given him was a little cold water,
+dropped with much difficulty through his teeth.
+
+On the thirteenth night of his illness, he heard the doctors whisper,
+"He is dead, or nearly so," and they left the room. A deep horror seized
+him. An icy wave seemed to creep over his whole frame, and a terrible
+vision rose before his mind. A pair of scales stood before him. His sins
+were in one scale; his good works and penances in the other; and all his
+righteousness seemed but a grain of sand compared with a mountain load
+of guilt, and to God he dared not cry for mercy. But he thought of two
+saints--St. Anne, who was believed to have cured hundreds of cripples,
+and St. Philomene, who was just then the favourite saint of Rome. To
+these he cried, with all the earnestness of his failing soul, and soon a
+bright vision came before him of an aged, grave lady, and a young and
+beautiful one, the latter distinctly saying to him, "You will be cured."
+The vision then disappeared, but the fever had gone also. The crisis was
+over. He was hungry, and asked for food, which was at once given him,
+and he ravenously ate the dainties prepared, while the friendly priests
+gathered round him joyfully, and sang a hymn of praise.
+
+Of course they believed that the saints had cured him, and the Roman
+Catholic doctors shared their idea; but a Protestant physician denied it
+altogether, and in a kind manner he tried to prove that no miracle had
+been wrought, but that returning health came from natural causes, by the
+will and blessing of God.
+
+Chiniquy was unwilling, however, to change his mind on the subject, and,
+true to the vow he made in the hour of fear, he got a splendid picture
+painted, at a cost of L50, representing his vision as he lay seemingly
+on the bed of death.
+
+Three months later, he was in the house of the curate of St. Anne, a
+cousin of his, and he showed him the picture he intended to exhibit in
+the church next day. But, to his surprise and grief, his older relative,
+instead of sharing his belief, laughed heartily at his folly, asking him
+how he, as a man of sense, could possibly believe in such a miracle.
+Chiniquy reminded him of all the crutches hanging in St. Anne's Church,
+belonging to the cripples she had cured, which remark gave rise to
+another burst of laughter on the curate's part. But, sobering down, he
+seriously declared that, having carefully watched these so-called cures,
+he had found that ninety-nine out of every hundred were impostures, the
+hundredth one being an honest belief, but a superstitious and fancied
+one.
+
+These pretended cripples were nearly always lazy beggars, who knew that
+their seeming lameness would get them pity and money, and, when tired of
+that game, they would make a begging tour, telling all their helpers
+that they were going to the church of St. Anne, to pray for the use of
+their legs.
+
+They at last arrive there, pay from one to five dollars to have a mass
+said for them, and then, in the midst of the ceremony, just as they
+receive the wafer, there is a cry of joy. They are cured, and they leave
+their crutches behind as witnesses of their cure. They then return, and
+tell all who will listen as they go along, receiving fresh gifts from
+them until they get home again, to take a farm and settle down with
+their dishonest gains.
+
+"Such," said the curate, "is the true history of the ninety-nine
+miracles. In the hundredth case the man is really cured, because he was
+really afflicted; but his nerves were wrought upon just as I was once
+cured of a dreadful toothache by seeing the dentist put his instrument
+on the table. I took my hat and left, and the dentist laughed heartily
+every time he met me afterwards.
+
+"One of the weakest points of our religion is the ridiculous miracles
+said to be wrought by the relics and bones of saints. For the most part,
+they are the bones of chickens or sheep; and were I a Pope, I would
+throw all these Pagan mummeries to the bottom of the sea, and would
+present to the eyes of sinners nothing but 'Christ and Him crucified' as
+the Object of their faith, just as the Apostles of Jesus do in their
+Epistles!"
+
+They talked together in this strain till two o'clock in the morning, and
+then Chiniquy was too puzzled and sad to sleep.
+
+Next morning, multitudes came to see his picture, and hear about his
+cure, which he long afterwards believed to be a miracle. Soon after he
+had finally left his priesthood, however, he again caught the fever,
+while visiting a dying man, and again on the thirteenth day the malady
+took a favourable turn; but this time he had felt happy in the prospect
+of dying, and the vision he saw at the crisis of the disease was not St.
+Anne, or St. Philomene, but a dozen bishops, dagger in hand, rushing on
+him to take his life. He thought he turned on them and slew them, and
+with this the fever left him. He asked for food, and speedily recovered,
+and then he knew that it was the Lord who had forgiven all his
+iniquities, who had also healed his diseases, without the aid of any of
+the saints of Rome, and the snare which had long held him captive was
+broken. He no longer sought the aid of departed saints in heaven, any
+more than he thought of again praying for souls in purgatorial fires.
+The Word of God was henceforth his only guide. May the religion of the
+Bible only, be our religion also.--_Jottings on "The Life and Work of
+Father Chiniquy," by Cousin Susan._
+
+
+
+
+COUNTING THE COST.
+
+
+There are some curious stories respecting Fra Rocco, the celebrated
+preacher of Naples. On one occasion, it is related, he preached a
+penitential sermon, and introduced so many illustrations of terror that
+he soon brought his hearers to their knees. While they were thus showing
+every sign of contrition, he cried out--
+
+"Now, all of you who sincerely repent of your sins, hold up your hands."
+
+Every man in the vast multitude immediately stretched out both his
+hands.
+
+"Holy Archangel Michael," exclaimed Rocco, "thou who with thine
+adamantine sword standest at the right of the judgment-seat of God, hew
+me off every hand which has been raised hypocritically."
+
+In an instant every hand dropped, and Rocco, of course, poured forth a
+fresh torrent of eloquent invective against their sins and their deceit.
+
+[True repentance is given by Jesus Christ, the exalted Prince and
+Saviour. All other is but mere show, and unavailing before God.--ED.]
+
+
+A HEART without a gift is better than a gift without a heart.
+
+
+
+
+JUVENILE GEMS.
+
+
+The subjects of these memoirs--Ann Jane Woolford, George Woolford, and
+Hephzibah Woolford--were born in the beautiful town of Cheltenham,
+August 20th, 1840, January 28th, 1842, and February 14th, 1846.
+
+The names of their parents were George and Ann Woolford, both members of
+the Church assembling for worship in Bethel Chapel, Cheltenham.
+
+In all, four children shared their affection, interested their
+solicitudes, listened to their counsels, and knelt at their domestic
+altar.
+
+Upon three out of the four the grave closed in comparative infancy; and,
+believing the "kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man" appeared
+to them, the bereaved mother, partly to indulge in a subject of mournful
+interest, and partly to record the gracious dealings of God, drew up,
+with her own hand, the subjoined narrative:--
+
+                              GEORGE.
+
+"My eldest child, George Woolford, was attacked by scarlatina on October
+16th, 1851, from which he partially recovered, but died the following
+month.
+
+"Perceiving his soul 'drawing nigh unto the grave, and his life to the
+destroyers,' I remarked, 'It will do you no harm to think of death,
+seeing we must all die.' With tears in his eyes he exclaimed, 'Oh,
+mother, I am afraid I shall not go to heaven.' I asked _why_ he thus
+feared. His answer was, 'I am afraid the Lord will not forgive me.' I
+said, 'My dear, the Lord is ready to forgive _all_ who from their hearts
+are sorry for their sins; and I hope the Holy Ghost will enable you to
+pray for divine forgiveness.' He seemed much affected by these remarks,
+but said he was too ill to talk or listen to me.
+
+"In great earnestness (and I believe under divine influence) I entreated
+God to grant me the great favour of informing me whether my dear boy was
+interested in the everlasting covenant, which is 'ordered in all things,
+and sure.'
+
+"About two or three days after, he commenced a conversation by saying,
+'Mother, I am afraid I shall not go to heaven. I have been such a
+sinner. I am afraid I am so great a sinner that the Lord will not save
+me. I have done so many things that are sinful, and they come into my
+mind and make me grieve.' I repeated several portions of the Holy
+Scripture, to which he listened in great earnestness, and then inquired,
+'But, as I have not long to live, will the Lord forgive me after putting
+it off so long?' I answered in the affirmative, and mentioned the dying
+thief, assuring him the Lord was as willing to pardon him as He had been
+to pardon that malefactor. This relieved his mind, and he asked for his
+Testament to read.
+
+"A few days after, while I was gazing intently on him, he meekly
+exclaimed, 'Do not look at me so, my dear mother. It almost breaks my
+heart.' I said, 'My dear boy, do you ever _pray_?' He answered, 'I _try_
+to do so; but do not know that I pray _aright_.' I remarked, 'If it is
+from your heart, the Lord will answer it in His own time, for the prayer
+of necessity is that in which He delights.'
+
+"On the Lord's Day before his death he appeared much better, ate a
+hearty dinner, and remained up till between four and five in the
+afternoon, when he exclaimed, 'Oh, mother, I am afraid my breath is
+getting bad again.' After several hours of great suffering, he cried
+out, 'Dear Lord, take me--do take me!' Hearing him thus call upon the
+name of the Lord, I approached him softly, and in soothing terms
+expressed my gladness at finding he was not afraid to die. 'No, dear
+mother,' he said, 'I am not afraid to die. I am happy now.' I inquired,
+'Do you love the Lord?' 'Oh, yes,' was his ready answer, and immediately
+ejaculated, 'Dearest Lord, take me--take me--take me!' a great many
+times.
+
+"His pains becoming stronger, he said, 'Dear mother, do pray the dear
+Lord to take me!' I did so; and when risen from my knees, he said,
+'Thank you, my dear mother. I hope the Lord will answer your prayer,'
+and then added, 'Oh, my dear, dear Lord, do take me! Take me from this
+world now. I do not want to live here. Take me with my next breath. This
+moment, dear Lord, take me.'
+
+"Observing the state of his mind, I put this question to him--'My dear
+boy, do you think the Lord has washed you in His blood, and clothed you
+in His precious righteousness?' 'Oh, yes, I do, mother,' was his prompt
+reply.
+
+"His pains abating, he remarked, 'How kind the Lord is to me! I shall
+never be able to praise Him enough.' I said, 'My dear, you will have the
+countless ages of eternity to praise Him in.' He said, 'I want to go.' I
+answered, 'Pray for patience, that you may wait the Lord's time.' 'I am
+not impatient, but my pains are great,' was his meek reply, and he began
+entreating the Lord to remove him from this sinful world.
+
+"A short time after this, he exclaimed, 'Oh, that precious Book, the
+Bible!' I answered, 'It is indeed a precious Book. It tells us of a
+Saviour, who washed you and me in His precious blood!' He said, 'Yes';
+and added, 'Pray for Him to take me soon. Do, dear mother,' &c.
+
+"Expressing a desire to kiss my hand, I gave him one. He held it very
+tightly, and kissed it several times. I asked him if he thought he had
+been a little sinner or a great one. Surprised by this question, and
+apparently hurt, he replied, 'Oh, mother, a _great_ one--a _great_ one.'
+
+"Overhearing a part of my conversation with his aunt, he said, 'Oh,
+mother, do not ask the Lord to let me live. I want to die. I would not
+live half a second.'
+
+"Shortly after, he repeated a similar prayer, wished to see his father,
+kiss him, and take his leave of him, which he did in an affectionate
+manner. He then inquired what o'clock it was, and being disappointed,
+cried out in a tone of thrilling solemnity, 'O Lord of Hosts, come and
+take me!' Shortly afterwards he exclaimed, lifting up his eyes and hands
+to heaven, 'I think I am dying. Pray again, dear mother, that the Lord
+may take me.' Persuaded of his interest in Christ, I was enabled to
+resign him, and much as I loved him, actually entreated the Lord to
+fetch him away. When this was over, he said, 'Thank you, my dearest
+mother. I hope the Lord will answer all your prayers before long.'
+
+"At another time, he remarked, 'How good the Lord is to me, is He not?'
+And again, 'My sufferings are great, but they will soon be over, for I
+shall soon be with the Lord'; and in a manner I cannot describe,
+exclaimed, 'Oh, dear Lord Jesus Christ, and Holy Ghost, come and take
+me.'
+
+"Not long after, he remarked, 'I shall soon go now. Something has broke
+in my head. You may send for some one to lay me out.'
+
+"After a short interval he complained of shortness of breath, and
+proceeded to call upon the Lord in a sweet manner, but in a short time
+suddenly exclaimed, 'Now I know I shall soon be gone, for two things
+have broke within me. Does not my voice get weaker?'
+
+"After giving directions about his books, he again complained of his
+distresses, and I remarked, 'The way to the kingdom was through much
+tribulation.' He requested that I would pray for patience; and upon
+being reminded that the Lord loved him too well to detain him one moment
+beyond the appointed time, he said, 'Oh, why is He so long in coming?
+Dear Lord, come _now_!'
+
+"Referring him to some of the Lord's children who had suffered fire and
+sword, but were now in glory, I added, 'You will soon be with them, and
+have ten thousand smiles from your Redeemer, with love in every smile.'
+This seemed to refresh his spirit, and I continued, 'One moment with
+Christ will more than recompense for all your pain.' He said, 'Oh, yes.
+Come, dear Lord, and take me!'
+
+"Heart and flesh failing, his father was called into his room. The
+patient sufferer looked calmly at him, gently moved to the other side of
+the chair, said 'Mother!' and resting his head on his arm, and with a
+pleasant countenance, and without a groan, quietly fell asleep in
+Christ, November 17th, 1851, at five o'clock a.m."
+
+Thus died George Woolford, aged nine years and nine months.
+
+"Those that sleep in Christ will God bring with Him."
+
+  "'I take these little lambs,' said He,
+    'And lay them in My breast;
+  Protection they shall find in Me;
+    In Me be ever blest.
+
+  "'Death may the bands of life unloose,
+    But can't dissolve My love;
+  Millions of infant souls compose
+    The family above.'
+
+  "His words the happy parents hear,
+    And shout with joys divine--
+  'Dear Saviour, all we have and are
+    Shall be for ever Thine.'"
+
+
+
+
+                              HEPHZIBAH.
+
+"My dear Hephzibah was taken ill on the fifth of November, and though I
+have not many sayings of hers to record, I nevertheless believe that
+there was 'some good thing in her toward the Lord God of Israel,' and
+therefore, in solemn pleasure, rehearse the memorials of His grace.
+
+"On the fourth day of her illness she said, 'Mother, I am very ill, but
+I am not afraid to die, mother. No; I should like to die, and be with
+the Lord, for I do love Him, mother, that I do, better than every one
+besides.' 'But do you not love your father and mother best?' I inquired.
+Her answer was, 'I do love _you_ both very dearly, but I love the Lord
+_most_. Ought I not to love Him most, mother?' I said, 'Yes, my dear.'
+She replied, 'And so I _do_. I want to go to heaven, to be with Him. And
+I should like my dear father, and mother, and Ann Jane, and George, and
+Rhoda to go with me. Would not that be happy, to meet and never part
+again? There we should have all we want.' I replied, 'Yes, my dear, "for
+the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall
+lead them unto living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all
+tears from their eyes." "And there shall be no night there."' 'Oh, will
+not that be happy, mother?' she exclaimed. 'I want to die, that I may
+see the Lord. He is so good and kind to me.' I asked, 'Would you not
+like to get well again?' and her reply was, 'I would rather die and go
+to Jesus.'
+
+"The frequency of her expressed desires to 'depart and be with Christ'
+excited a trembling apprehension in my mind of her speedy dissolution,
+an apprehension fully verified by the event.
+
+"She now sunk into a state of unconsciousness, in which she continued
+for more than a week, suffering very much, indicating the speedy
+disrupture of all earthly ties, and inducing a perpetual vigil.
+
+"To my surprise she suddenly rallied, seemed to get better, and 'hope
+told a flattering tale'; but it disappointed us, and rendered the
+separation more trying.
+
+"The sensitive vigilance of my child's conscience was very remarkable.
+For instance, when any little delicacy had been declined, she remained
+inflexible, remarking that to alter her decision would be to 'tell a
+story,' which, she said, 'would be very wicked.'
+
+"On the day she died, she said, 'Mother, I am very ill. I think I shall
+die. My throat is so bad.' Shortly after, she said, 'Mother,' and was
+silent. A few minutes after that, she lifted up her dear eyes and hands
+to heaven three times, clasping her hands and letting them down again.
+
+"None but a mother knows a mother's heart. I saw the stroke, clasped my
+loved Hephzibah, and impressed the farewell kiss on her dying cheek. She
+looked at me, gave up the ghost, and was 'carried by the angels into
+Abraham's bosom' on November 28th, 1851, in the sixth year of her age."
+
+  "One gentle sigh their fetters breaks,
+    We scarce can say, 'They're gone!'
+  Before the willing spirit takes
+    Her mansion near the throne.
+
+  "Faith strives, but all its efforts fail
+    To trace her in her flight;
+  No eye can pierce within the veil
+    Which hides that world of light.
+
+  "Thus much (and this is all) we know--
+    They are completely blest;
+  Have done with sin, and care, and woe,
+    And with their Saviour rest."
+
+[The memoir of the third child, Ann Jane, will appear next month.]
+
+
+
+
+THE BLIND TORTOISE IN THE WELL.
+
+
+A blind tortoise lived in a well. Another tortoise, a native of the
+ocean, in his inland travels happened to tumble into this well. The
+blind one asked of his new comrade whence he came.
+
+"From the sea."
+
+Hearing of the sea, he of the well swam round a little circle and
+asked--
+
+"Is the water of the ocean as large as this?"
+
+"Larger," replied he of the sea.
+
+The well tortoise then swam two-thirds of the well, and asked if the sea
+was as big as that.
+
+"Much larger than that," said the sea tortoise.
+
+"Well, then," asked the blind tortoise, "is the sea as large as this
+whole well?"
+
+"Larger," said the sea tortoise.
+
+"If that is so," said the well tortoise, "how big, then, is the sea?"
+
+The sea tortoise replied, "You having never seen any other water than
+that of your well, your capability of understanding is small. As to the
+ocean, though you spent many years in it, you would never be able to
+explore the half of it, nor to reach the limit, and it is utterly
+impossible to compare it with this well of yours."
+
+The well tortoise replied, "It is impossible that there can be a larger
+water than this well. You are simply praising up your native place with
+vain words."
+
+How many people there are like the tortoise in the well!
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+  Though 'tis not seen, yet it is known,
+  For oft it makes e'en strong men groan.
+  The proud and bold have shook with fear
+  When they have felt this strong one near.
+  Yea, monarchs have before it fell,
+  And feared that they should sink to hell.
+  But oft the sad have felt this power,
+  And found, in trouble's darkest hour,
+  Such friendly help that they have said
+  They never more should be afraid.
+  And such as felt condemned to die
+  Have been released and filled with joy.
+  Now, reader, search your Bible through,
+  And tell us where these things you view.
+
+
+THE greatest happiness of the creature is not to have the creature for
+his happiness.
+
+
+
+
+"THE SENSE AND SENSES OF ANIMALS."
+
+
+Sir John Lubbock, M.P., some time since, delivered an address in Queen
+Street Hall, Edinburgh, to the members of the Edinburgh Philosophical
+Institution, on "The Sense and Senses of Animals." In the course of his
+remarks the lecturer said that one would gratefully admit that the dog
+was a loyal, and true, and affectionate friend, but when we came to
+consider the nature of the animal, our knowledge was very limited. That
+arose a good deal from the fact that people had tried rather to teach
+animals than to learn from them. It had occurred to him that some such
+method as that which was followed in the case of deaf mutes might prove
+instructive if adapted to the case of dogs. He had tried with a black
+poodle belonging to himself. He then went on to relate several
+experiments he had made with pieces of cardboards, with different words
+marked upon them. He had taken two pieces of card, one blank, and the
+other with the word "food" upon it. He had put the latter on a saucer
+containing some bread and milk, and the blank card he put on an empty
+saucer. The dog was not allowed to eat until it brought the proper card
+to him. This experiment was repeated over and over again, and in about
+ten days the dog began to distinguish the card with the letters on it
+from the plain card. It took a longer time to make the dog realize the
+difference between different words.
+
+In order to try and discover whether the dog could distinguish colours,
+he prepared six cards, marking two of them blue, two yellow, and two
+orange. He put one of each on the floor, and tried to get the dog to
+bring to him a card with the same colour as one which he showed the dog
+in his hand. After trying this for three months, he found that his
+experiment in this direction was a failure.
+
+He had always felt a great longing to know how the world appeared to the
+lower animals. It was still a doubtful point whether ants were able to
+hear. From experiments which he had made, he had come to the conclusion
+they had not the power of addressing each other. His impression on the
+whole was, that bees and ants were not deaf, but that they heard sounds
+so shrill as to be beyond our hearing. There was no doubt about insects
+seeing. He then went on to relate several experiments he had made with
+the view of discovering whether different insects could distinguish
+different colours, and had any preference for particular colours. The
+colours of objects must present a very different impression upon insects
+to that on human beings. The world to them might be full of music which
+we could not hear, colours which we could not see, and sensations which
+we could not feel.
+
+
+
+
+  BEWARE OF THORNS.
+
+
+  A hand encased in leathern glove,
+    One pensive autumn day,
+  Gathered some pretty wayside flowers,
+    To make a bright bouquet.
+
+  With kind intent the flowers were culled,
+    To please a loved one's taste;
+  But ah! unconsciously, some thorns
+    Were with the blossoms placed.
+
+  The hand that grasped the welcome gift
+    Soon felt the piercing smart,
+  And pain dispelled the grateful smile
+    That rayed out from the heart.
+
+  Would we to spirits bowed and sad
+    Convey a transient joy?
+  Let not the lack of tender skill
+    Our kindly deed alloy.
+
+                                        E. D.
+
+
+IF you pursue sin for profit you will never profit by your sin.
+
+
+
+
+THE COST OF A BROKEN SABBATH.
+
+
+A bright Sabbath morning in August, a young minister was on his road to
+a distant parish, where he had engaged to take the services. He overtook
+a group of lads, evidently bent on an excursion of amusement. A boy,
+coming from the opposite direction, was being alternately persuaded and
+chaffed to give up _for once_ going to Sunday School, and join the
+pleasure-party instead. Just then an old man, of venerable appearance,
+who had watched the group from his garden, came forward and addressed
+the boys in the following words--
+
+"Lads, you may think lightly _now_ of what you are doing, but
+Sabbath-breaking leads to ruin--has led to the gallows. Ben"--turning to
+the boy on his way to Sunday School--"don't be ashamed of doing right.
+The Lord saith, 'Them that honour Me I will honour, and they that
+despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.' Ah! boys, be warned in time. You
+cannot reckon _the cost of a broken Sabbath_."
+
+Ben, strengthened thus, went on his way, regardless of the jeers of the
+other lads, who, turning over a stile, were quickly out of sight and
+hearing.
+
+The minister also went on his way, but the earnest tones and sad
+expression of the aged man had made a deep impression on him, and he
+pondered if some personal experience lay behind that solemn warning,
+"You cannot reckon _the cost of a broken Sabbath_."
+
+The evening of that day found him coming through the fields by a path
+which led hard by the door of the cottage of the old man. It had been
+pointed out as shorter and pleasanter than the dusty high road which he
+had travelled in the morning. The day had been hot, and an offer to go
+back to the rectory for refreshment had been declined, as it would
+lengthen the walk considerably; but now, tired and thirsty, he resolved
+to test the hospitality of the owner of the cottage.
+
+The old man sat outside his doorway, with his big Bible on a round
+table. The wayfarer asked for a little water to drink. He was
+courteously requested to enter in and rest, and a draught of milk
+proposed instead, unless he could wait for a cup of tea. The kettle was
+boiling in the back kitchen, and the little table, covered with a snowy
+cloth, was already set for a solitary meal, which the visitor was
+invited to share. He accepted the kindly offer, not sorry to have an
+opportunity of converse with one whose words had lingered with him
+through the day.
+
+Having explained how he had been occupied since passing in the early
+morn, he remarked--
+
+"You live alone?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I am alone in the world, but yet not alone, for the Saviour
+is often with me in my humble dwelling, and I hope in a little while
+He'll come and take me to His home above."
+
+"That is a blessed hope to cheer and make you patient to wait His time,
+my friend," was the rejoinder. "Have you been left long alone?"
+
+"The last went home twenty years ago, come Michaelmas," said the aged
+host. "It has been whiles a weary waiting-time, but it's sinful to
+repine. His time must be the right time."
+
+Whilst the old man went to fetch the tea, the guest looked round and
+observed some articles of carved wood--boxes, flat rulers, and
+leaf-cutters--and was struck with the frequent recurrence of short words
+of Holy Writ on the Sabbath. Some little books lay on the window-sill,
+many of which were on the same subject.
+
+After impressively asking God's blessing, and whilst partaking of the
+simple meal, the visitor remarked--
+
+"I see the sanctity of the Lord's Day is a strong point with you. I
+was struck this morning with the expression you used to those
+lads--'_the cost of a broken Sabbath_.'"
+
+[Illustration: "THE OLD MAN SAT WITH HIS BIG BIBLE." (_See page 132._)]
+
+No response came for some minutes, as if the host was debating some
+question with himself; and so it proved, for at last he raised his head
+and said, with a vast depth of pathos in his tones--
+
+"None have had greater reason to know the bitter cost, sir, than myself.
+It is not often that I speak of the past, but it may be the Lord has
+brought you here for a purpose to-day, and you may be able to use it as
+a warning to some within your influence."
+
+"If your story will not be too painful to you, my friend, I should
+indeed feel grateful to you for it," was the response.
+
+"I do not belong to these parts, sir," he began, "but I've been here
+over a quarter of a century. I lived in a large village in a midland
+county, where some extensive mill-works were carried on, and rose from a
+lad's tasks there to fill the place of foreman. I married happily, and
+had a home of comfort and peace with a loving, godly wife. Four children
+out of six born to us grew up--two sons and two daughters--and after the
+toil and din of the week, Sunday was a day of quiet enjoyment, in the
+midst of my family, spent in God's house and our home, with the aid of
+books and singing, for we all had fair voices. It had never been counted
+a dull day by the young folks. The lovely flowers and birds, and the
+wonders of the book of creation and the Book of grace, made the day of
+holy rest seem all too short. But our circle did not remain unbroken.
+First, our eldest girl, poor Maggie, left home to take a situation in a
+neighbouring town, and soon after, our first-born, David, who had never
+taken kindly to mill-work, obtained employment in an office in the same
+town, within five minutes' walk of his sister. This seemed well for
+both, being much attached to each other. Ned and Mary still clung to the
+old home, and the other two frequently spent the Sabbath in our midst.
+David almost always walked over in the early morn, or late on Saturday
+night, returning, if alone, on Monday morning, or, if Maggie accompanied
+him, the same evening, as she was not allowed out at night. She could
+only, of course, take turns with her fellow-servants; but, unless
+weather prevented, we could surely reckon on the flown birds coming,
+when able, back to their nest on the Sabbath.
+
+"But at last came just such a lovely summer day as this has been. We
+lingered before starting for church till long after the bells had been
+chiming, but neither of them came. We looked to find them on our return,
+and dinner waited long; but the night came, and we had not heard or seen
+aught of either. I overheard Ned in the garden speaking to Mary--
+
+"'I shan't feel easy till I've run over to the town to-morrow, after
+work-hours. I hear there was to be a river excursion from the town
+to-day--a steamer calling for a lot of folks.'
+
+"'But, Ned, you don't believe Davie or Maggie would go?' said Mary, half
+reproachfully.
+
+"'I don't feel comfortable about it,' replied her brother. 'Maggie could
+be persuaded to go anywhere with David, and he and I had a talk not long
+ago on Sunday trips. He said folks could thus get out into pure country
+air, for a few pence, who were cooped up all the week in the smoke of
+the town, and those who desired it could go to a place of worship even
+twice, and get tea, before they had to start on the return voyage.'
+
+"The fear expressed was, alas! too well grounded. David's master's son
+was one of these habitual pleasure-seekers, and had long tried to
+persuade him to join him. He had also become acquainted with Maggie,
+through meeting her out with the children to whom she was nursemaid, and
+often fell in with her on the Sundays she spent in the town. In vain had
+he tried to induce her to join the steamer trip, till one day he said--
+
+"'If David went, you could not scruple about going under his care.'
+
+"'Oh, I'm safe enough not to go at that rate,' was her reply.
+
+"But she was mistaken. David had been persuaded to put his conscience to
+sleep by the resolution that it should only be _for once_, just to see
+for himself how it worked really, for good or evil. He was more than
+half inclined to retract his consent, when he learnt that his sister was
+to be of the party, but the tempter having got his victims into the net,
+did not let them off.
+
+"David and Maggie found a church near the river, and went to morning
+service. Their evil adviser accompanied them on condition that the
+afternoon should be spent in the woods.
+
+"It was not difficult to get separated in the many paths, and when the
+steamer's warning bell was heard, amid the hurried rush onboard, David
+did not discover till too late that, amongst several missing, were
+Maggie, and also his master's son. No entreaty could induce the captain
+to put back.
+
+"Some fresh passengers had come on board, showing views and engravings,
+and David, glad to divert his attention from self-reproach, amused his
+mind with looking through their collection, for he now repented bitterly
+that he had ever come--still more that he had brought his sister, and
+then allowed her to slip out of his charge. One of the new comers was
+especially friendly, explaining the views to 'cheer up his spirits.'
+
+"When within ten minutes of landing, a boat came alongside with two or
+three police in plain clothes, and soon arrested, as well-known
+pickpockets, two of the fresh passengers, whilst all were advised to see
+what they had lost. Much of the booty was found on the prisoners, but
+not all, which led to a general search of the passengers. On my poor
+son, in his coat-pocket, was discovered the rest of the missing plunder,
+which had doubtless been slipped in by his friendly entertainer when he
+saw the police on board. David's protestations of innocence were all
+unavailing. The contents of his pockets were then and afterwards deemed
+conclusive proof of his guilt. All efforts to save him were in vain. He
+never breathed free air again in this life. His sentence placed him
+among convicts at Portland, where his health broke down under grief and
+disgrace. The tidings of his death reached me after I had moved here, in
+a kind letter from the chaplain, sending this precious relic [taking a
+well-worn Testament from his breast], with its marked verses of comfort
+and a few lines from my poor boy--all I have left of him."
+
+A folded sheet of paper, yellow from age and tender from frequent
+handling, lay between the leaves of the little Book. The old man handed
+both to his guest. In the touching farewell to his father were the
+words, "You and mother know I've suffered innocently, and it's now
+nearly over, and I shall soon be free and with Jesus, whose precious
+blood has cleansed me from all sin. But, dear father, never cease to
+_warn_ the young of the fearful _cost of a broken Sabbath_."
+
+The aged man wiped away some falling tears.
+
+"I shall see my boy soon," he continued. "I've tried to keep his
+injunction, and, by tract given or word spoken, not to let a Sabbath go
+by without some warning. His mother scarcely held up her head after his
+trial, and did not survive her first-born many weeks, and I was left
+alone with our youngest--my Mary. That broken Sabbath had lost Maggie
+her place and character. The doors were locked against her that night,
+and no explanation would be accepted next day. She wrote us word she'd
+got another situation at a distance through a friend. We never saw her
+more in the old house, and lost all traces of her. Our other boy, Ned,
+came to us soon after his brother's trial, and, asking our consent and
+forgiveness for going away, said he could not hold up his head in the
+village, and must go to sea. We let him go, hoping time and change of
+scene would heal the wound, and he'd come back to us to a fresh home,
+for I felt like himself, that I could not stay on in the factory, and
+resigned my post and came here, hoping our Davie might soon be free to
+join us also; but the Lord set him free to go to a better mansion in the
+skies.
+
+"Four years after we came here, I had a letter from a neighbour who
+lived hard by in the old place. What Mary had often secretly feared,
+came to pass. Maggie had come back, to find no home left; but the widow
+over the way had seen in the dusk a woman go and return, repulsed from
+the old door, and sit down to weep by the road-side. She brought the
+wanderer to her own fireside. I fetched her away, and we nursed the
+poor, worn, wasted one tenderly, but she had only come home with the
+prodigal's cry, to die--'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and
+before thee.'
+
+"That broken Sabbath was her first step to ruin, but the blessed Lord,
+in His rich mercy, and by the Holy Spirit's gracious leadings, led her
+to the fountain which makes crimson sins white as snow, and she is gone
+before me too.
+
+"The doctor--a good, kind man--shook his head, and bade me keep my Mary
+in the fresh air, and give her plenty of new milk. He feared she had
+taken the seeds of disease in that long nursing, and so it proved; but,
+with the hopefulness of consumption, she did not believe she was going
+to leave me desolate, and I deceived myself, and hoped against hope, as
+I looked on the sweet face and lovely bloom as she lay on this bench,
+enjoying the sight and breath of the flowers.
+
+"By my carving, which went to a London house, we were kept from want,
+and Ned sent us home, with sailor generosity, supplies of money.
+
+"'If he'd only come himself,' said my Mary, 'it would be better than all
+the gold.'
+
+"'Write and tell him so,' I said; and so we both did, and I told him of
+the fading away of his favourite sister, hoping it would draw him back
+over the sea, if anything would; but the brother and sister were not to
+meet here again. My Mary left me one early morn, as the sun's first
+streaks were gilding the sky. No answer came from my sailor son, but the
+good pastor who had ministered to us in our hours of sore need, came one
+day, and gently told me, as I sat alone, that his ship had gone down in
+one of the wild Atlantic storms. My boy is now safe in heaven, where
+there is no more sea."
+
+The aged man ceased. His eye was on the sunset cloud, but his heart was
+in the spirit land. His guest, rising up to depart, took tenderly the
+wrinkled hand, and said, "The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come
+to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall
+obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
+
+Then he hastened homewards, his own heart full with this touching record
+of _the cost of a broken Sabbath_.--_From a Tract, published by S. W.
+Partridge and Co._
+
+
+
+
+A SOFT PILLOW.
+
+
+If the pillow be too hard, it is very unlikely that the sleep should be
+sound. Yet this mainly depends upon circumstances. If the conscience is
+easy, the pillow will be comfortable, even though a block of stone.
+Jacob slept sweetly at Bethel, when the Lord appeared to him and told
+him that He was his God. If, on the other hand, there is guilt on the
+conscience, though the head is laid on the softest down, the pillow will
+not be altogether easy.
+
+
+
+
+RECEIVING THE TRUTH.
+
+
+Mrs. Le Pla was a French lady, who came over to England in the younger
+part of her life, with much of the vivacity for which the French nation
+has been remarkable. She was particularly under the eye of a grave,
+Pharisaic lady, by whom she was persuaded to go to church, but the dull
+manner in which the clergyman performed his office disgusted her so
+much, that she withheld her attention, and fell asleep. At this, her
+English friend was exceedingly angry, and reproved her sharply.
+
+On another Lord's Day her friend took her to hear Dr. F----, but his
+excessive action provoked her to such a degree that she burst into a
+loud laugh, and she was desired to walk out of the place of worship,
+where she had certainly shown too little regard for the Divine Being and
+His worshippers.
+
+On returning home, she was very properly and severely remonstrated with,
+at which she was much hurt. She replied, in broken English, "What can I
+do, madam? I go to church to please you, and there I fall asleep. I go
+to meeting, and there I laugh; and to tell you the truth, I begin to
+think my own religion is not the right religion, for that teaches me to
+worship images, and God says, 'Thou shalt _not_ make any graven image.'
+If, therefore, madam, I go to any place of worship, it shall be to hear
+a Mr. Whitefield, for I have heard great things of him."
+
+"Well," said her English friend, "we will inquire where he preaches."
+
+The good man was then dead. The ladies therefore went to the Tabernacle,
+Moorfields. Mr. T. Knight was the preacher, and the native of France,
+enraptured, cried out--
+
+"This is the good and right doctrine! Here I will attend."
+
+"Yes," said the prudent, self-righteous lady, "it is my opinion that
+they believe in predestination here, and you cannot think it right that
+God made any of His creatures to be damned?"
+
+"Oh, no," said Mrs. Le Pla; "but I will certainly inquire for myself."
+
+The next opportunity was eagerly embraced, and the zealous inquirer,
+seating herself by a good old woman of the congregation, whispered--
+
+"Pray, madam, do they believe in predestination here?"
+
+"Why, predestination," said she, "how can they avoid believing it? The
+Bible is full of it."
+
+The querist was thunderstruck. She hastened home.
+
+"Do they believe in predestination there?"
+
+"An old lady told me they did," was the reply. "But," said the French
+lady, "I am determined to ask the minister myself."
+
+Not long after, she had an interview with Mr. Knight.
+
+"Pray, sir," said she, "will you allow me to ask you a few questions?"
+
+"By all means," said the good man.
+
+"Then you must know," said Mrs. Le Pla, "I was brought up a Roman
+Catholic, and I think that is not the right religion, because they
+worship images, and I come to hear you with pleasure, sir. But my
+friends tell me you believe in predestination, and a good old lady, one
+of your congregation, confirms it. I have therefore taken the liberty to
+ask yourself about it."
+
+Mr. Knight said to her, "Do not believe what every old woman says to
+you. Do you believe you are a sinner?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir!"
+
+"Do you feel the want of Jesus Christ?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir."
+
+"Then," said Mr. Knight, "continue to hear the Word of God, and search
+the Scriptures to see whether I preach the truth or not."
+
+She took his advice, and some little time after, he preached on the
+subject of predestination, and desired his hearers to compare what he
+had to say with their Bibles. The French lady did so, and was quite
+overcome with conviction of the truth. The question now was not with
+her, whether predestination was a truth of God or not, but whether she
+was one of the happy number appointed to salvation.
+
+She afterwards became established in the truth, was joined to Mr.
+Brewer's Church, died in the Lord some years since, and was interred in
+the adjoining burying-ground.
+
+
+
+
+AN EVENING AT THE WEST END.
+
+
+On Monday evening, April 23rd, 1888, we were present at the
+twenty-second Annual Meeting of Gower Street Chapel Sunday School, and,
+although the weather was most unfavourable, the attendance was good,
+which must have been very encouraging to Mr. Cooper, the Superintendent,
+and the teachers. The meeting was presided over by the senior deacon,
+Mr. Link.
+
+The proceedings were opened by singing, and the Chairman read the fourth
+chapter of Malachi, after which Mr. Gray engaged in prayer.
+
+Mr. Link, in the course of a few weighty remarks, said that they were
+gathered to thank the Lord for His goodness. He felt that the children
+were surrounded with many temptations to ensnare them. He spoke of the
+shortness of time, and the solemnity of the day of judgment, and said
+that he often meditated upon these things, and thought about the Lord's
+servants and people, whom he had loved because they were the Lord's, and
+whom he hoped to meet again when he had done with time things.
+
+The report for the past year was then read by Mr. Hale, the Secretary,
+from which it appears that there are 222 scholars on the books, which is
+a slight decrease during the year. The library numbers about 1,030
+books. The report of the Sick and Benevolent Society was also read.
+
+Mr. Boorne, of Greenwich, in addressing the teachers, referred to the
+works, Word, and worship of God. He said that the grass, moss, plants,
+trees, flowers, and fruits showed the sovereignty of God. Then there
+were the various animals for the use and food of mankind, and the
+internal treasures--metals, oxides, salts, &c. God's wise provision of
+the sea for cleansing and purifying the earth--all declared the
+sovereignty, wisdom, power, and goodness of God.
+
+  "Great God, with wonder and with praise,
+    On all Thy works I look;
+  But still Thy wisdom, power, and grace
+    Shine brightest in Thy Book."
+
+He then spoke of the Book of _revelation_, the Bible, and the need that
+the scholars should be taught the value of it, and what it has cost to
+procure it to us--what a privilege it is to be able to read it, and of
+the mercy of understanding it.
+
+He mentioned an instance of a Bible, consisting of nine volumes, being
+sold for L33 6s. 8d., in the thirteenth century, which would represent
+about fifteen times that sum now. To-day a Bible might be bought for a
+few pence.
+
+He referred to the rigid laws of the time of Henry V., to prevent any
+from reading the Bible in the mother tongue; yet still the Book lives.
+
+He referred to the vulgar idea of the "three R's" in education, and said
+that there were three R's which he wished them to oppose in their
+teaching, namely, _Romanism_, _Rationalism_, and _Ritualism_. How many
+worshipped something short of God in the setting up of candles,
+crucifixes, music, and other things. We must "worship in spirit and in
+truth."
+
+He concluded by exhorting them not to grow weary in well-doing, for
+their labour would not be in vain in the Lord.
+
+Mr. Hazlerigg, of Leicester, said he had the difficult task of speaking
+to the children, and he wished to put before them four prizes. But they
+were not tangible--nothing to eat, nor yet anything to see--yet all, he
+thought, might have them, and he recommended them all to aim at getting
+them.
+
+The first thing he wished them to prize was, their Sunday School. He
+said it should be the endeavour of all to keep up the honour of the
+school, and, when any were tempted to do wrong, their first thought
+should be, "What would they say at the Sunday School?" When he was
+formerly in the army, they had what was termed "_esprit de corps_,"
+_i.e._, a pride in keeping up the character of the regiment. He hoped
+none of his audience would ever buy sweets on Sunday, or it might be
+said, that "It is one of the Gower Street Sunday School children."
+
+The second prize was, their Bibles. If they prized and were led by their
+Bibles, they would be good children. It would make them submit to all
+lawful authority. How different it would be if the command, "Thou shalt
+love thy neighbour as thyself," was better learnt and practised than it
+is!
+
+In the third place, he wished them to prize their chapel. He spoke of
+the blessing attending the hearing of the Word of God. He said that some
+children go to school, and then slip off without going to chapel. He
+hoped none of those before him ever did that.
+
+Fourthly, he hoped they would prize their Superintendent and their
+teachers. What a labour of love and self-denial was theirs! They liked
+the work, and their desire was, the glory of God in the children's
+good--in the salvation of their souls, and their prosperity--and they
+sought for this reward--the good of their scholars.
+
+The "touchable" prizes for the past year were then distributed by Mr.
+Hazlerigg, and after Mr. Link had concluded with prayer, the children
+each received a bun and orange, the gift of Mr. Prior, one of their
+teachers.
+
+For the sake of brevity, a vote of thanks was proposed to the latter,
+associated with the names of the visiting ministers and the President,
+which was heartily responded to. Mr. Hazlerigg replied for all in a few
+witty words, which brought the evening to a genial and timely close.
+
+
+
+
+RAGGED TOM.
+
+
+Tom was a poor, ragged boy. His home was an old house in a narrow court.
+A stool, a deal table, an old bed in one corner, and a bag of shavings
+in another, were all the goods contained in the room where Tom, with his
+father and mother, lived.
+
+Tom's hands and face were generally very dirty; his hair matted; his
+clothes were in rags, and his feet were without shoes. He often had
+nothing to eat, and no fire to warm him, however cold the day. Many were
+the blows and kicks the poor boy received from the rude men and lads who
+lived in the court.
+
+It was well for him that a Ragged School was established in the
+neighbourhood, and he was invited to go. He then learned that he had
+three enemies of which he had not hitherto thought much. These were
+dirt, ignorance, and sin.
+
+He speedily vanquished the first at a pump. The second he overcame by
+patient effort at the school. Then Tom became a respectable, happy, and
+useful young man. Best of all, he sought mercy and help from God, and
+lived to prove that he had God's smile and blessing.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+THE GOOD SHEPHERD GATHERING HIS SHEEP.
+
+(JOHN x. 16.)
+
+
+In the city of Jerusalem, at the Feast of Tabernacles, a few months
+before His death, Jesus set forth this beautiful parable of the Good
+Shepherd. He had given sight to a man who from his birth had been blind.
+The Pharisees, as usual, had shown their hatred of Him, and He then
+described Himself as the true Leader, beloved and honoured of all
+believing, obedient souls, declaring that His enemies did not believe
+Him, because they were not His sheep.
+
+"My sheep hear My voice; I know them, they follow Me, and I lay down My
+life for them." "And other sheep I have that are not of _this_
+[Israelite or Jewish] fold; them also I must bring; and they shall hear
+My voice, and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd" (John x. 16).
+
+The Jews who listened to those gracious words were much divided in their
+opinions about them, some declaring that Jesus was mad; others,
+appealing to the great miracle He had wrought in opening the eyes of the
+blind; and three months later, at another feast (see ver. 22), their
+controversy was renewed, and Jesus concluded His striking allegory by
+saying, "I and My Father are One, and no power shall ever be able to
+snatch My people from My hand or from His" (ver. 29, 30).
+
+Returning to our text, we find Jesus declaring that all His people are
+His before they know or love Him.
+
+Up to that time the Jewish Church had been the only earthly fold of
+believers in the living God, and all the Gentiles who were taught by the
+Holy Spirit were led to unite with the house of Israel or the people of
+Judah.
+
+God was Israel's Shepherd (Psa. lxxx. 1). He led His people "like a
+flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron" (Psa. lxxvii. 20). They were
+regarded as "the sheep of His pasture" (Psa. c.), and the world around
+them were strangers and foreigners, "aliens from the commonwealth of
+Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise."
+
+But among these outcasts Jesus had many sheep. He gathered some in olden
+times. He came to lay down His life for a great multitude, to be drawn
+to Himself from every kindred, and tribe, and nation, and tongue. He
+spoke of them as being already His own--"Other sheep I have, and them
+also I must bring," or lead. "The Son of Man came to seek and to save
+that which was lost." "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
+turned every one to his own way"; and He who paid the ransom price of
+His wandering flock, goes after every one for whom He shed His blood.
+
+"He finds them wandering far from God,
+  And brings them to His chosen fold."
+
+"As many as are led by His Spirit"--the Spirit of God--"they are the
+children of God," the sheep of the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+He brings them to feel that they are lost--that they are far off by
+wicked works--that they are guilty, and weak, and helpless--and thus
+they are drawn to the Good Shepherd, who can and will deliver them from
+all evil, and fill them with all good.
+
+And having brought near, He leads in green pastures, beside still
+waters; and even when the way is less pleasant, He always "leads in the
+way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment" (Prov.
+viii. 20).
+
+"They shall hear My voice," He said, and it is by His voice--His Word
+spoken to the heart--that He ever leads His people. Three thousand heard
+it on the day of Pentecost, and were pricked in their heart. Wounded,
+and imploring forgiving, healing grace, they heard again with gladness,
+and followed their Lord in baptism (Acts ii. 37-41).
+
+Lydia's heart was opened to receive the glad tidings, and she followed
+the Good Shepherd; and Jesus leads His disciples all the way home. "In
+all thy ways," the wise man says, "acknowledge Him, and He shall direct
+thy paths" (Prov. iii. 6). "These are they that follow the Lamb
+whithersoever He goeth" (Rev. xiv.).
+
+Happy are they who know the sound of that heavenly voice! Have _we_
+heard it? It may not be _recognized_ at first, as Samuel heard, but did
+not know _who_ called him, until his name had been again and again
+repeated, and Eli had "perceived that the Lord had called the child."
+But as surely as He speaks, we shall, sooner or later, _know_ His voice,
+and long and love to hear it.
+
+Then Jesus promises that all His people, of all nations and all ages of
+time, shall become one flock--one in Jesus; one in heart, and mind, and
+judgment--and the whole redeemed and gathered flock shall at last dwell
+in one fold--the fold of heavenly, eternal life and glory.
+
+  "From sorrow, care, and pain,
+    And sin they shall be free,
+  And perfect love and friendship reign
+    Through all eternity."
+
+"And there shall be one Shepherd." "Jesus only" shall be seen,
+acknowledged, and followed. Now He is loved and honoured as the great
+Chief Shepherd of the sheep, and the ministers of the Gospel are
+pastors, or shepherds, serving under Him. Christ brings them forth,
+gives them their work, and blesses their careful labours. But He removes
+them one by one. He alone abides for evermore. And in the fold above,
+the pastors appear no more as shepherds, but as sheep, the redeemed and
+saved people of the Lord.
+
+Yet, wonderful to relate, the one divine Shepherd is called "the Lamb"
+(Rev. vii. 9-17)--"the Lamb of God," all-seeing and almighty, yet the
+Lamb that once was slain.
+
+"His life and blood the Shepherd paid,
+  A ransom for the flock."
+
+And this wonderful work is to be remembered while the years of eternity
+roll, therefore it is "the Lamb in the midst of the throne that shall
+feed them, and lead them to fountains of living waters; and God shall
+wipe away tears from all eyes."
+
+Shall we be among them? Let us rather ask, Are we asking Him to be our
+Leader now? Are we "hungering and thirsting after righteousness" now?
+And are we mourning over sin, and after Him? If so, our Leader in this
+world will be our Leader still.
+
+  "He that hath fed will feed;
+    He that hath blessed will bless;
+  He that hath led will lead;
+    Can He do less?"
+
+And we shall hunger and thirst no more in that blessed fold, where "in
+His presence there is fulness of joy, and at His right hand are
+pleasures for evermore." This is the life He gives His ransomed ones.
+May it be ours.
+
+Our next subject will be, _Elisha and the Shunammite_ (2 Kings iv. 8-37;
+viii. 1-6).
+
+                                      Yours affectionately,
+                                                 H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN JUNE.
+
+
+June  3. Commit to memory Prov. x. 27,
+June 10. Commit to memory Prov. x. 28.
+June 17. Commit to memory Prov. x. 29.
+June 24. Commit to memory Prov. x. 30.
+
+
+A SANCTIFIED heart is better than a silvered tongue.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+WHAT MARKS DO THE LAMBS OF JESUS CHRIST BEAR?
+
+
+True Christians may be known by their walk and conversation. They are
+anointed ones, and they walk in the narrow way, following in Christ's
+footsteps. They look unto Jesus, who is "the Author and Finisher of
+their faith." They are a despised or persecuted people, as true
+Christians have been in all ages.
+
+The lambs of Christ have always a great deal of trouble, and are tried
+and tempted in many ways, but it is for a token of their eternal
+salvation, if God sanctifies the trouble. If their affliction drives
+them to God, it is a sanctified affliction, and is for their souls'
+good.
+
+An infallible mark of a regenerated character is, when he begins to hate
+evil, and where there is the Spirit's work, there is the panting after
+God.
+
+A child of God looks within, and feels that there is no putting away sin
+but by the blood of Jesus Christ, and no pardon for poor sinners but by
+His sacrifice.
+
+We cannot make ourselves clean, or walk in the right way in our own
+strength, but God will help us if we ask Him in the right way.
+
+The lambs of Jesus Christ are "poor in spirit" and "pure in heart." They
+"hunger and thirst after righteousness." Although they are often
+"persecuted for righteousness' sake," yet Christ's righteousness is
+imputed to them, because He has atoned for their sins. In speaking of
+truly good men, Mr. Gadsby said--
+
+  "Life, light, and holiness divine
+    From Jesus they by faith receive;
+  The Spirit makes His graces shine,
+    And gives them power in Christ to live."
+
+                               JANE BELL
+                           (Aged 14 years).
+
+_Sydney House, Sleaford,
+Lincolnshire._
+
+[Very creditable Essays have been received from Eleanor Saunders, Lilly
+Rush, A. Pease, W. E. Cray, and Laura Creasey. We hope our young friends
+will follow up the various subjects, as the study of them may do them
+good.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Dairyman's
+Daughter."
+
+The subject for August will be, "Contrast the Lesson Taught by the
+Conduct of Solomon and of Rehoboam, at the Commencement of their Reign";
+and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that subject, a copy of
+"The Life of George Whitfield." All competitors must give a guarantee
+that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their
+own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot
+undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the
+first of July.]
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 106._)
+
+
+"_Lamb of God._"--JOHN i. 29. "_Lord of all._"--ACTS x. 36.
+
+L  emue  L  .  Proverbs xxxi. 1.
+A  cch   O  .  Judges i. 31.
+M  ibza  R  .  1 Chronicles i. 53.
+B  ilda  D  .  Job ii. 11.
+
+O    n   O  .  1 Chronicles viii. 12.
+F ar  of F  .  Ephesians ii. 13.
+
+G abbath A  .  John xix. 13.
+O   phe  L  .  2 Chronicles xxvii. 3.
+D   ia   L  .  2 Kings xx. 11.
+
+                                    CLARA ELLIS
+                                 (Aged 14 years).
+
+
+MANY wish to be like Christ in _bliss_ who seek not to be like Him by
+_grace_.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+DAIRYING BY A DUCHESS.--The Duchess of Hamilton has opened a shop in
+Ipswich for the sale of butter, and is crowded with orders, at 1s. 7d.
+per pound.
+
+
+TELEGRAPHING from a moving train has now become a practical success in
+America, and the messages have been successfully transmitted by
+induction through twenty feet of air.
+
+
+A POWERFUL PNEUMATIC GUN.--A pneumatic gun, which is to throw a shell
+containing six hundred pounds of dynamite four miles, is being
+constructed for Italy in Philadelphia.
+
+
+THE QUEEN has presented to St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, a very
+handsome silver gilt altar cross, in commemoration of her Jubilee. The
+royal gift, which has, it is said, cost about L300, was displayed upon
+the table next the reredos for the first time on April 1st.
+
+
+THE Brighton Hotel, on Coney Island, has been successfully moved one
+hundred and twenty feet further inland, in order to escape the
+encroachments of the sea. The building was raised in one mass and rested
+on trucks made to run on rails. Six locomotives were then attached to
+the cars, and dragged the hotel for the distance named. It is intended
+to move it still further.
+
+
+A SPANISH Protestant clergyman, Senor Vila, has been condemned to
+imprisonment for two years four months and one day, and to a fine of two
+hundred and fifty francs and the costs, by the Criminal Court at Malaga,
+for having discussed and condemned the dogmas of the Roman Catholic
+Church in a pamphlet which he published in answer to the attacks of a
+Catholic priest from Paris, who came to Malaga, and published a pamphlet
+against the Protestant religion.
+
+
+THE OLDEST AND YOUNGEST.--The oldest Cabinet Minister is Viscount
+Cranbrook, Lord President of the Council, aged seventy-three; the
+youngest is Mr. Balfour, Chief Secretary for Ireland, aged thirty-nine.
+The oldest member of the Privy Council is Viscount Eversley, aged
+ninety-three, who is also the oldest peer of the realm; the youngest
+member is the Duke of Portland, aged thirty. The youngest duke is H.R.H.
+the Duke of Albany, aged three. The Right Hon. C. P. Villiers (South
+Wolverhampton), aged eighty-six, is the oldest member of the House of
+Commons; and the youngest is Lord H. Cavendish-Bentinck, aged
+twenty-four. Mr. Justice Manisty, aged seventy-eight, is the oldest
+English judge; and Mr. Justice Charles, aged forty-nine, is the
+youngest. The oldest bishop is Dr. Durnford, of Chichester, aged
+eighty-five; and the youngest is Dr. John Wordsworth, of Salisbury, aged
+forty-four.
+
+
+A MILITARY HEROINE.--A handsome marble memorial has been erected in the
+cemetery at Southsea in honour of the late Mrs. Fox, whose death was, by
+special order of the Duke of Cambridge, signalized by a military
+funeral. The inscription on the memorial is as follows:--"Sacred to the
+memory of Mrs. George Fox, wife of Quartermaster George Fox, 2nd
+Connaught Rangers (94th Regiment), who died at Cambridge Barracks,
+Portsmouth, on January 22nd, 1888, from the effects of wounds received
+in the action of Bronker's Sprint, Transvaal. For her heroic and
+unselfish conduct on that occasion in nursing the wounded--desperately
+wounded though she was herself--she was decorated by Her Majesty with
+the Order of the Royal Cross. This monument is erected to her memory as
+a token of affection and esteem by the officers (past and present),
+non-commissioned officers, and men of the 2nd Connaught Rangers. 'Well
+done, thou good and faithful servant' (Matt. xxv. 21)." The inscription
+is surmounted by the regimental crest--a crown, an elephant, the word
+"Seringapatam"--and "2nd Battalion the Connaught Rangers."
+
+
+A RETURN, just prepared at the War Office, of the religious profession
+of non-commissioned officers and men of the British European troops and
+Colonial Corps (exclusive of Indian troops), shows that, at the
+beginning of the present year, there were 158,414 Protestants of various
+denominations on the roll books, of whom 132,537 belonged to the Church
+of England, 15,072 were Presbyterians, 9,437 Wesleyans, and 1,369
+belonged to one or other of the smaller Protestant bodies. The total
+number of Roman Catholics was 40,775; and there were 274 who were either
+Mahometans, Hindoos, or Jews; while the religion of 1,044 was not
+reported. The proportion of Church of England soldiers per thousand (not
+reckoning the Colonial corps) was 668; of Roman Catholics, 205; of
+Presbyterians, 76; of Wesleyans, 46; of men of the smaller Protestant
+denominations, 5; there being thus in all 795 Protestants per 1,000, to
+205 Roman Catholics. The inquiry has not been so complete in the line
+cavalry as in other branches of the service, there being 675 men out of
+17,354 whose religious profession has not been reported; whilst amongst
+the 129,599 men of the line infantry, only 272 were not reported.
+
+
+WATCH GLASSES.--Of watch glasses, 50,000 gross, or 7,200,000, are sold
+annually in the United States. Most of these are imported from England.
+
+
+A MEMORIAL window is to be placed in the Bristol Royal Infirmary to
+commemorate the heroic deed of a young surgeon, William Conner, medical
+officer, who lost his life in a noble and daring effort to save a poor
+patient who had undergone the operation of tracheotomy while suffering
+from diphtheria. A false membrane having formed in the throat, and the
+patient being in imminent danger of his life, young Conner applied his
+lips to the throat tube, and succeeded in removing the obstruction. The
+window is in three panels, representing incidents from the parable of
+the Good Samaritan, and healing the sick, and it will be inscribed, "To
+the glory of God, and in affectionate remembrance of William Conner, who
+was born May 7th, 1851, and died July 4th, 1887."
+
+
+A GREAT LOG RAFT.--Not satisfied with the former experiment and
+catastrophe, the Nova Scotians are putting together another huge log
+raft, to be floated to New York in July or August of this year. This
+raft will be 650 feet long, and will have six masts, and a great spread
+of sail. Confidence seems to be placed in the usual fine weather of July
+and August; but storms are by no means unknown over the course that the
+raft will traverse; and should this huge area of floating timber
+encounter a storm, the chains which will hold the logs together will
+snap like packing-cord, and leave the crew to shift for their lives in
+their boats, or by endeavouring to cling to their logs. These
+experiments, like attempts to swim the rapids of Niagara, should be
+prevented by some law or regulations, since the common sense of those
+concerned is conspicuous by its absence. It is quite possible that the
+raft may be favoured by fine weather, and reach its destination
+successfully; but it is true, nevertheless, that the enterprise is
+hare-brained, and undertaken at great risk of life and property.
+
+
+GREAT STORM AT MADAGASCAR.--Particulars have been received, _via_ the
+Cape of Good Hope, of a terrific hurricane which raged at Tamatave on
+February 22nd, which will long be remembered by the inhabitants as one
+of the most disastrous storms that have visited the island during this
+century. Eleven vessels at anchor in the harbour were totally wrecked.
+Some of them foundered at their anchors, others parted their cables, and
+were driven on the reefs. The damage done to the town was very great.
+Not a house escaped more or less destruction, numbers of them being
+utterly swept away. The British Consulate, a large new building, only
+erected some months ago by the British Government, was almost totally
+destroyed. Large fragments of this building were carried by the wind for
+hundreds of yards, and for acres around the ground presented an
+extraordinary and melancholy spectacle, being strewn with doors,
+windows, beams, and other pieces of twisted wood and iron, besides
+clothes and furniture. The Consul's wife, Mrs. Haggard (the Consul
+himself was at Mauritius), and those in the Consulate had a narrow
+escape with their lives. Most of the trees were blown down, and all were
+smashed to pieces. Several lives were lost on shore in addition to those
+drowned, but their numbers were few in comparison to the almost
+incredible damage done in so short a time, the hurricane only lasting
+seven hours. A remarkable circumstance in connection with the hurricane
+is, that it was not felt forty miles to the northward of Tamatave, nor
+its full strength sixty miles south.
+
+
+THE CHINESE ALMANACK.--The great value which the Chinese attach to their
+almanack is shown in many ways. Recently the Chinese residents at
+Lhassa, in Thibet, implored the Emperor to cause arrangements to be made
+which would enable them to receive their copies of the almanack at the
+earliest possible date in each year. A writer in a recent issue of the
+_Chinese Recorder_ says that the most important book to the Chinese is
+the almanack. Its space is far too important to be occupied with the
+matter which fills Western almanacks. It contains astronomical
+information, which is useful; but its great mission is to give full and
+accurate information for selecting lucky places for performing all the
+acts, great and small, of every-day life. "And as every act of life,
+however trivial, depends for its success on the time in which, and the
+direction (_i.e._, the point of the compass) towards which it is done,
+it is of the utmost importance that every one should have correct
+information available at all times, to enable him to so order his life
+as to avoid bad luck and calamity, and secure good luck and prosperity.
+Consequently, the almanack is perhaps the most universally circulated
+book in China." The writer speaks of it as a terrible yoke of bondage.
+It is issued by the Government, and the sale of all almanacks but the
+authorized one is prohibited. Quite recently the new Chinese Minister to
+Germany refused to sail for his post on a day which the almanack
+declared to be unlucky, and the departure of the German mail steamer was
+consequently deferred at the request of the German minister to
+Pekin.--[What a pity but these poor deluded creatures were blessed with
+Bible truth and Jesus' grace!--ED.]
+
+[Illustration: "A TROOP OF DRAGOONS CAME UP AT FULL GALLOP." (_See page
+146._)]
+
+
+
+
+THE COVENANTER'S ESCAPE AND DEATH.
+
+
+On the 16th of April, 1685, Peden made a narrow escape. Being then at
+the house of John Nisbet, of Hardhill, a little before nine o'clock in
+the morning, a troop of dragoons were observed by the servants, who were
+working in the fields, coming up to the house at full gallop, upon which
+the servants ran to conceal themselves. Peden, and those who were with
+him in the house, had fled for shelter to a moss nearly two miles
+distant from the place where the servants were working.
+
+The way to this moss was by a very steep ground, and at the edge of the
+moss there was a morass about seven or eight yards broad, and altogether
+the place was well adapted for concealment, as well as for protection
+from military on horseback. Here, however, Peden and his companions were
+discovered. James, the son of John Nisbet, a young man about sixteen
+years of age, had been with the servants in the field when the troop of
+dragoons came up, and in his flight, being chased by some of the party,
+made his way accidentally to where Peden and about twenty more were
+lurking, which occasioned their being discovered. The whole party of
+dragoons were quickly informed of the prize within their reach, and
+about three hours after, they were joined by another party who aided
+them in the pursuit. Peden and his friends, observing the enemy
+dismounting their horses to take the moss on their feet, for the purpose
+of securing them, after some firing on both sides without effect, drew
+off, and kept in the midst of the moss. When the dragoons, on seeing
+this, mounted their horses again, and pursued by the side of the moss,
+the Covenanters always kept themselves on such ground as the horses
+could not approach.
+
+They were pursued during the whole of that day, and ran about thirty
+miles without receiving any refreshment but moss-water till night, when
+they got a little milk. Peden then left his friends, and went away by
+himself.
+
+During this year, and especially the first part of it, great numbers of
+the persecuted witnesses were murdered in the fields. Peden, therefore,
+to escape the hands of the military, after this wandered from one
+lurking-place to another; and from his minute acquaintance with all the
+tracts and haunts of the desert, of which he may be said for years to
+have been an inhabitant, he succeeded in eluding the enemy.
+
+In such circumstances, we need not wonder that he was sometimes weary of
+life, and envied his fellow-sufferers who had gone to death before him,
+and were eternally at rest. At length, Peden's bodily infirmities
+increasing so much as to render him unable to travel, being almost worn
+out with fatigue, and suffering from the many hardships he had
+undergone, he arrived at his native parish of Sorn. He came to his
+brother's house, in the neighbourhood of which he caused a cave to be
+dug, with a willow bush covering its mouth. His persecutors getting
+information where he was, searched every part of the house on many
+occasions.
+
+At last, one day, early in the morning, leaving the cave, he came to the
+door of the house. His brother's wife warned him of his danger, advising
+him to return to his place of concealment. He told her it was needless
+to do that, since it was discovered.
+
+"But," said he, "there is no matter, for within forty-eight hours I will
+be beyond the reach of all the devil's temptations, and his instruments
+in hell and on earth, and they shall trouble me no more."
+
+He had not been in the house above three hours when a party of soldiers
+visited the cave, and not finding him there, they searched first the
+barn, and next the house, stabbing the beds, but they did not enter the
+place where he lay.
+
+Peden died on the 28th of January, 1686, being upwards of sixty years of
+age, and was privately buried in the church of Auchinleck, in the aisle
+of David Boswell, Esq., of Auchinleck. But his ashes were not allowed to
+repose in peace. Though he had never been condemned by any jury, yet the
+enemy, being informed of his death and burial, sent a troop of dragoons,
+who pulled his corpse out of the grave after it had lain about six
+weeks, and having first broken the chest, exposed his remains to
+contempt, and then carried them to the gallows foot at Cumnock, two
+miles distant, and there buried them. The design of the soldiers in
+lifting the body was to hang it in chains upon the gallows at Cumnock,
+but this they were prevented from doing. The Countess of Dumfries and
+the Lady Affleck, shocked at this barbarity, earnestly interceded that
+the body might be again buried; and when the savage commander of the
+dragoons, determined to have it hung in chains, proved unrelenting, they
+applied to the Earl of Dumfries, a Privy Councillor, then at home, who,
+yielding to their request, went to the gibbet and told Murray that it
+was erected for malefactors and murderers, and not for such men as Mr.
+Peden. The corpse was accordingly reinterred at the foot of the gibbet,
+now within the wall of the common burial-ground of Cumnock parish, and a
+suitable memorial erected over the remains, on which was inscribed an
+appropriate epitaph.
+
+
+
+
+A DAY'S WORK.
+
+
+The amount of work some people get through is simply enormous. Few
+people are harder worked than a London physician in active practice. We
+know a doctor who seldom gets more than four hours' sleep out of the
+twenty-four. He says that it is not that he couldn't do with more, but
+it is as much as he can get. Many busy men are constantly at work of
+some kind or the other from eight in the morning till past twelve at
+night. Some, of course, break down, but others can do this year after
+year, apparently without any detriment to their health. Instances are
+known of professional men who have not slept for five days together, and
+who have not been in bed for three weeks at a time. These sound almost
+like travellers' tales, but they are true, although, of course, they are
+exceptional cases. It is astonishing what interest and energy will do in
+enabling a man to dispense with rest. It has been said that the
+twenty-four hours might be advantageously divided into three equal
+parts--eight hours for sleep, eight for meals, exercise, recreation,
+&c., and eight for mental work. Few men really require more than eight
+hours' sleep, but the majority of us have to do considerably more than
+eight hours' work in the day. It is not so much that a man wishes for
+the work, as that it is forced upon him. He, perhaps, is the only person
+who can perform a certain duty, and when, as is often the case, it is a
+question of life and death, it is almost impossible to refuse. Many
+people can never force themselves to do more than a certain amount of
+mental work; they get nervous and headachy, and then it is all over with
+them. Forced work, as a rule, tells on a man much more rapidly than
+purely voluntary work, for in the former case it is usually associated
+with anxiety. Real overwork gives rise to loss of memory, a general
+sense of fatigue, and particularly of discomfort about the head,
+poorness of appetite, lowness of spirits, and other similar symptoms. It
+is worry that injures more than real work. Some people are so happily
+constituted that they never worry much about anything, whilst others are
+in a fever of anxiety on every trivial occasion.--_The Family
+Physician._
+
+
+
+
+JUVENILE GEMS.
+
+(_Concluded from page 130._)
+
+
+                        ANN JANE.
+
+My dear Ann Jane was an affectionate child, but naturally timid, and
+frequently expressed a hope that she should not be taken ill. Yet she
+too was destined to be borne far, far away.
+
+On November 12th, 1851, it pleased God to indicate His intentions by
+placing upon her His afflicting hand. But He who "mingles mercy with His
+might," set His bow in the cloud, answered in the secret place of
+thunder, and revealed His love in the bosom of the storm.
+
+Ann Jane gave pleasing proofs of a work of grace in her soul, the
+progress of which was visible to by-standers and friends.
+
+A short time after the attack, she expressed a wish to die; and upon
+being asked why, she answered, "Because I believe I shall go to heaven.
+I believe the dear Lord has pardoned my sins." She would often say,
+"Pray for me, my dear mother, and I will pray for you, and myself too";
+and would then address herself to God in a sweet, devout manner.
+
+Observing me to be in great trouble, she thus spoke to me--"Do pray the
+dear Lord to take me to Himself." I answered, "How can I do so, seeing I
+cannot give you up?" She replied, "Oh, mother, put your trust in the
+Lord. He will provide. Do ask Him to take me out of this world. Oh,
+mother, there is nothing here worth living for"; and engaging sweetly in
+prayer, uttered, with many other sentences, the following--"Pardon all
+our sins, dear and precious Lord--past sins, present sins, and sins to
+come. Wash us in Thy precious blood, for Thou knowest how sinful we are,
+and Thou rememberest we are but dust. Oh, make us love Thee more! Thy
+love is an everlasting love. Take us, dear Lord, take us to Thyself, and
+then we shall love and serve Thee better."
+
+The second Lord's Day of her affliction, she inquired what day it was. I
+informed her, and asked, "Would you not like to spend a Sabbath in
+heaven?" "Oh, yes, mother!" was the rejoinder. "That would be a Sabbath
+of Sabbaths."
+
+With pleasure I remember some particular times when my precious child
+seemed almost overpowered by the sweetness and glories of Immanuel, who
+is "God with us," not only in our nature, but in our condition. At these
+times, with uplifted hands, she would exclaim, "Oh, my precious Jesus!
+Oh, my precious Christ!"
+
+One day she said, "Mother, my pains are very great. Can you do anything
+to give me relief?" What an appeal to maternal tenderness! What a moment
+of agonizing weakness! I reminded her of the divine sufficiency, and she
+poured out a copious argumentative prayer, not like the prayer of a
+child, pleading the Lord's own Word, and the merits of Christ, as the
+only ground of her expectation. "I know," she would say, "I am not
+worthy. I am a guilty sinner. Oh, wash me in Thy precious blood! Give me
+patience to endure my pains, and to wait all Thy will; and take me to be
+where Thou art, for ever and ever. Amen."
+
+Seeing me weep very much, on one occasion, she exclaimed, "My precious
+mother, I do love you! Why do you grieve about me? I am not afraid to
+die. I want to go to my precious Lord, and be with Him for ever." I
+said, "My dear child, why do you believe you shall go to heaven? Do you
+think you have _merited_ it?" "Oh, no, mother," was her immediate reply.
+"I am a guilty sinner. It is through the Lord Jesus, and for His sake,
+that I hope to be saved. Do you not think, dear mother, He will pardon
+me?" I said, "Yes, if you feel your need of Him." She answered, "I
+believe He has pardoned me."
+
+After the prayer previously mentioned, and partly recorded, she said,
+"How good the Lord is to me! Oh, my precious Jesus," &c. "Oh, mother,"
+she said, in reply to a question, "I know I love the Lord. Yes, I do;
+better than everything else in the world."
+
+At another time she cried out, in a loud impressive tone, "Oh, mother,
+what is there in this world worth living for? It is all stuff and
+vanity--it is, mother. Oh, I do not want to live here! Pray the dear
+Lord to take me to Himself. Oh, how blessed to be with my precious Jesus
+for ever!"
+
+When informed of the death and burial of her brother, she appeared
+excited, but at last said, "Dear boy! I hope I shall soon be with him,
+and then we shall meet to part no more." She then asked me to pray again
+that God would take her. How could I? "Nature has soft but powerful
+bands," and the ligaments were not yet severed. She seemed my earthly
+all. Could I surrender her to the arms of the destroyer? Could I look up
+and say, "Thy will be done"? What grace we need to glorify God in the
+fires!
+
+Nine days after her illness she raised herself up in her bed, and,
+looking at her departing sister, said, "There is my dying sister. Where
+is she going? Where? Why, to the realms of bliss? And who of us next?
+Why, myself, I believe, mother. But I am not afraid of death," &c.
+
+At another time she said, "Do read to me, dear mother"; and upon my
+asking her _where_, she replied, "Read about the sufferings of Christ" I
+did so, and she afterwards engaged in prayer.
+
+At another time the nurse heard her, during the night, earnestly praying
+for both her parents and herself.
+
+Once she requested me to read the seventeenth chapter of John, remarking
+at the time, "That is sweet reading." After listening for a time she
+fell into a short sleep, and I laid the Book down. When she awoke she
+exclaimed, "Won't you read to me, my dear mother?" I said, "You dropped
+off into a sleep, my dear." She then tried to read herself, but failing,
+returned the Book, immediately adding, "Give it me again and let me kiss
+it, for I love it very much."
+
+At different times she expressed earnest desires to go to her brother
+and sister, and for her father and mother and sister to go also; and
+would try to sing a part of that Sabbath School hymn, chorusing--"Oh,
+that will be joyful," &c.
+
+Two days before she died she exclaimed, with sweet simplicity, "Suffer
+the little children to come unto Me"; and shortly after, "Precious
+Bible! what a treasure," &c.
+
+The night on which she died, a friend coming in, she seemed pleased,
+remarking that I could then take some rest. Shortly after this her voice
+began to fail. She called for "Hephzibah," looked at me wishfully,
+exclaimed, "Mother," and talked earnestly for some time; but her voice
+was "thick in death," and language failed as an interpreter of "the
+thoughts and intents of the heart." In vain she laboured to make me
+comprehend her ideas. The bridge had been broken down; the fortress was
+dismantled. Only a word or two was distinct enough to be understood, but
+from these I found her discourse was of a spiritual nature. Overcome by
+the scene, I burst into tears, and said, "My dear child, how I wish I
+could understand you! It almost breaks my heart." At this she looked at
+me so very affectionately, and exclaimed, "Heaven! heaven! heaven!"
+
+She spoke not again, but for twelve long hours "her spirit struggled
+with her clay," when the conflict mercifully ceased, and all was peace,
+and righteousness, and quietness, and assurance for ever. She exchanged
+worlds on December 14th, 1851, aged eleven years and three months.
+
+  "May death conclude my toils and tears;
+  May death conclude my sins and fears;
+  May death, through Jesus, be my Friend;
+  May death be life when life shall end!"
+
+Thus ends the interesting memoirs of three happy children; and as
+reflection should follow reading, we proceed from narrative to
+reflections.
+
+                        REFLECTIONS.
+
+1. From these memoirs we learn how greatly the Lord sometimes tries the
+righteous. In little more than a fortnight, three out of four children
+were borne to their long home. The father had been previously afflicted
+with paralysis, and was at that time unable to follow his employment,
+having lamed himself.
+
+2. We learn that human affliction may consist with divine affection.
+Lazarus sickened and died, though Jesus loved him. "And what son is
+there whom the Father chasteneth not?"
+
+3. We have another lesson upon the inscrutable providence of God. "I
+beheld," says Solomon, "all the works of God, that a man cannot find out
+the work that is done under the sun; because, though a man labour to
+seek it out, yet shall he not find it; yea, further, though a wise man
+think to know it, yet shall he not find it." No man knoweth divine love
+or hatred by the distributions of providential good and evil.
+
+4. But if the events of life are so complicated, and if no application,
+however skilfully conducted, nor any human capacity, whatever its range,
+can fathom the "mysteries of God," then, how unseemly is immoderate
+grief or unmeasured joy! How premature our decisions, and how utterly
+senseless all those infidel cavils against a system which the most
+enlightened, philosophical, and Spirit-taught mind can neither
+understand nor deal with!
+
+5. Nevertheless, we read that "the righteous, and the wise, and their
+works, are in the hand of God" (Eccles. ix. 1), from which we conclude
+that the people of God, wherever located, and however circumstanced, are
+protected by His power, sustained by His agency, supplied by His mercy,
+are under His special care, and safe in His approbation. Let this
+suffice. We walk by faith.
+
+6. We see here the sovereignty of God, both in His providence and grace.
+We read of one being taken and another left; but here three are taken,
+and only one left.
+
+7. Does not God, sometimes, put peculiar honour upon His professing
+people, however He sees fit to try them? If He takes one of a Gentile
+city, He takes two of a Christian family, and brings them to Zion.
+
+8. We observe, too, the earliness and efficacy of His work on the minds
+of some, so that "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings He perfects
+His own praise."
+
+9. Attention, however, may be called to the value of early and maternal
+instruction. These children were instructed for the most part by their
+mother, who watched over them with incessant care, keeping them separate
+from the masses, and attending to their education as an important duty.
+
+  "There is not a grand inspiring thought,
+  There is not a truth by wisdom taught,
+  There is not a feeling pure or high,
+  That may not be read in a mother's eye.
+
+  "There are teachings on earth, and sky, and air;
+  The heavens the glory of God declare;
+  But more loud than the voice beneath, above,
+  Is the voice that speaks through a mother's love."
+
+                                            W. P.
+
+
+
+
+BROUGHT TO THE FOLD.
+
+
+Louisa Ann Jeeves, of Pewsey, Wilts, died on March 24th, 1888, aged
+twenty-four years. She sat under the truth until she was about twenty,
+when she left the place for a short time. But, when taken seriously ill,
+it appears that the Lord laid the weight of her sins upon her, and she
+felt that she had slighted the means of truth, which was a trouble to
+her. The clergyman called, and wished to administer the Sacrament to
+her, but she refused, and told him she dare not, for she had not felt
+the pardon of her sins. From this time she sank very low, and felt her
+sins to be a heavy burden. She now eagerly read her Bible, in which she
+marked many portions. Her bodily sufferings were very great, but she
+bore them without a murmur. Her sins, and the state of her soul before
+God, seemed always uppermost.
+
+I had known her from a child, and hoped there was some good thing in
+her; but when she left the place of truth, I was afraid my hope was
+vain.
+
+I visited her often after my return to Pewsey, and found her in great
+concern about her soul. She said she knew that nothing but an
+application of the blood of Christ could suffice for her great sins, and
+this she longed to feel. She asked me to read and pray with her, which I
+was enabled to do, believing the Lord had given her true conviction of
+sin. Each time I called she was greatly distressed, and seemed without
+hope; and this went on until the last week of her life, when she begged
+me to stay with her altogether, and whenever we were alone she wished me
+to read and pray. She would cry out in agony, "Oh, what shall I do if I
+don't get to heaven?"
+
+On the Tuesday, when she had been greatly tried, this word was brought
+with comfort to her mind, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." I
+said, "If the Lord has given you those words, He will, in His own time,
+bless you with pardon and peace"; and, as she was drawing near her end,
+I said, "When He comes, if you are unable to speak, raise your hand."
+But the next day the Lord was pleased to bless her soul with joy and
+peace. She called for her mother, and when she came, she said, her face
+at the time beaming with joy, "Oh, mother, I am so happy! I am going
+home to be with Jesus! He has put away all my sins by His own precious
+blood, and you will come, too." She would have us sing some hymns,
+herself joining in while able--among others, "How sweet the name of
+Jesus sounds," and "Rock of Ages." When we had finished one she named
+another, and said, "Beautiful! beautiful!"
+
+She gradually sank, but the fear of death was taken away. She was quite
+conscious to the last, and turned her head to look at the clock several
+times. The enemy of souls was not permitted to harass her in her last
+hours, and just before she breathed her last, she raised her arms and
+clapped her hands three times, evidently remembering what I had said to
+her. It may be truly said, she died in peace. She was a constant reader
+of the LITTLE GLEANER.
+
+                                                   C. G.
+
+
+TO lay the salve of our services upon the wound of our sins is as if a
+man who is stung by a wasp should wipe his face with a nettle.
+
+
+
+
+ROME PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES.
+
+"_For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,
+saith the Lord._"--ISAIAH lv. 8.
+
+
+Father Chiniquy had been for some years lecturing on teetotalism, in
+addition to his usual priestly labours, and his success had been so
+great that he had received the title of "Apostle of Temperance" in
+Canada, and the gift of a splendid medal and crucifix from the Pope of
+Rome; and his reputation as a popular influential priest was therefore
+well established, when he was requested to become the leader of a great
+movement.
+
+Emigrants were constantly leaving Europe and Canada for the United
+States, and many of them became connected, on their arrival there, with
+Protestant associations. Some far-seeing bishops consequently felt that,
+if they could divert that tide to places of their own choosing, under
+the direction of their own loyal priests, a splendid triumph would be
+gained for Popery, and in the course of time they would secretly, yet
+surely, rule the United States of America.
+
+Some small colonies had been already formed, and the whole of the
+Mississippi valley and the adjoining country was so fertile and rich,
+even in its wild state, that Chiniquy's warmest hopes were kindled, as
+he saw that beautiful land; and, sitting down, he wrote a glowing
+description of it, and invited intending emigrants to come and see for
+themselves. The result exceeded all anticipations. In a very short time
+fifty families arrived at the chosen spot, and pitched their tents
+around his own. They soon set to work to build small, strong wooden
+houses under their priest's directions, then a larger one for a
+parsonage and school; and, as fresh emigrants were continually arriving,
+they soon became a flourishing, happy community, and objects of the
+bitter jealousy of surrounding priests. Many difficulties arose. When
+his wooden church was just finished, it was maliciously set on fire the
+very night after the first services were conducted in it. A new bishop
+came into power, whose tyranny and greediness were unbearable, and
+Father Chiniquy appealed against him to Napoleon, the French Emperor,
+and the Pope, getting him at length removed from the position he had so
+greatly abused.
+
+But the crowning difficulty, which was designed by God to be the
+crowning blessing of His servant's life, was yet to come, and thus it
+came to pass that the Bible-loving priest forsook his false position,
+and "came out of Babylon."
+
+When Rome's new doctrine, the perfect holiness of the Virgin Mary, was
+first published in 1854, a farmer called on Chiniquy to ask him whether
+the Scriptures taught such a thing, and he honestly confessed that they
+did not, but rather said the opposite, and that the holy fathers had not
+believed or taught it either, but it was with the greatest pain that he,
+as a priest, said this.
+
+On another occasion, the immoral conduct of a priest caused many to ask
+our friend whether the Word of God really forbade the ministers of
+Christ to marry, and he replied, "I will put the Gospel in your hands,
+that you may see for yourselves what the Holy Book says about these
+matters." He accordingly ordered a large number of New Testaments, which
+had been printed by the sanction of one of their own archbishops, and
+soon they were being eagerly read and studied by his large congregation.
+
+And now the decisive hour drew near. Another bishop, who had taken the
+oppressor's place, kindly asked and accepted Chiniquy's submission to
+his authority. But, as that document contained the words, "According to
+the Word and commandments of God, as we find them expressed in the
+Gospel of Christ," the Jesuits found fault. The bishop demanded the
+withdrawal of the words, and upon his refusal to alter them, angrily
+said, "If it be so, sir, you are no longer a Roman Catholic priest."
+"May God Almighty be for ever blessed," was the brave reply, given in a
+loud, determined voice.
+
+But the wrench was a terrible one, and when alone in his hotel, the full
+consequences of his words came forcibly before him, and he felt alone
+and desolate. But God, who had thus mysteriously led him into liberty,
+did not forsake him now. He spoke to his heart, and confirmed him in the
+determination he had made; and when all his sins seemed like a mountain
+to rise before him, Jesus appeared as his perfect, all-sufficient
+Saviour, and the troubled heart was filled with joy unspeakable, so that
+he could and did exclaim, "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt
+His name together!" as he hastened home to tell his dear people all that
+he had experienced of the wrath of man and the love of God.
+
+May we, with him, be favoured to "taste and see that the Lord is good,"
+and we also shall say, "O Lord God of Hosts, blessed is the man that
+trusteth in Thee!"--_Jottings on "The Life and Work of Father Chiniquy,"
+by Cousin Susan._
+
+
+
+
+HOW TO SELECT A BOY.
+
+
+A gentleman advertised for a boy, and nearly fifty applicants presented
+themselves to him. Out of the whole number he selected one, and
+dismissed the rest.
+
+"I should like to know," said a friend, "on what ground you selected
+that boy, who had not a single recommendation."
+
+"You are mistaken," said the gentleman; "he has a great many. He wiped
+his feet when he came in, and closed the door after him, showing that he
+was careful. He gave his seat instantly to that lame old man, showing
+that he was thoughtful. He took off his cap when he came in, and
+answered my questions promptly, showing that he was gentlemanly. He
+picked up the book which I had purposely laid on the floor, and replaced
+it upon the table; and he waited quietly for his turn, instead of
+pushing and crowding, showing that he was honourable and orderly. When I
+talked to him, I noticed that his clothes were brushed, his hair in
+order. When he wrote his name, I noticed that his finger-nails were
+clean. Don't you call those things letters of recommendation? I do; and
+I would give more for what I can tell about a boy by using my eyes ten
+minutes than all the letters he can bring me."
+
+Little things show character, and frequently determine a boy's whole
+career. It is the boy who does the kind, polite, and thoughtful acts
+unconsciously that wins his way to employment and success. And success
+does not mean wealth and fame. A man is valued according to his
+faithfulness and reliability, and these chiefly determine the measure of
+his true usefulness.
+
+It is not always those who are most conspicuous in the eyes of the world
+who are really the most useful. A man who takes money at a ferry gate is
+seen by thousands, but he only does what any one of a thousand could do
+equally well; while a thoughtful and conscientious writer, who may be
+personally known to very few, may have great influence for good. True
+success means the development of a character that is worthy of
+example--a character that is honest to every duty, faithful to every
+trust, and that is unselfish enough to find time for kindly acts that
+are not forced, but the simple expression of a warm and generous
+principle. True success is fidelity to every relation in life.
+
+
+
+
+"NOTHING TO THANK GOD FOR."
+
+
+"Have you nothing to thank God for?" asked the mother of a little girl
+named Helen.
+
+"No," said Helen; "you and papa give me everything."
+
+"Not for your pleasant home?" asked mother.
+
+"It is my papa's house; he lets me live in it."
+
+"Where did the wood come from to build it?" asked mother.
+
+"From trees," answered Helen, "and they growed in big forests."
+
+"Who planted the big forests? Who gave rain to water them? Who gave the
+sun to warm them? Who did not allow the winter to blast them? Who kept
+them growing from little trees to trees big enough to build houses with?
+Not papa, not man; it was God."
+
+Helen looked her mother in the eye, and then said, "Papa bought nails to
+make it with."
+
+"What are nails made of?" asked mamma.
+
+"Iron," answered Helen; "and men dig iron out of the ground."
+
+"Who put iron in the ground, and kept it there safe till the men wanted
+it?" asked mother. "It was God."
+
+"We got this carpet from men," said Helen, drawing her small foot across
+it.
+
+"Where did the carpet-men get the wool to make it from?" asked mother.
+
+"From farmers," answered Helen.
+
+"And where did the farmers get it?"
+
+"From sheep and lambs' backs," said the little girl.
+
+"And who clothed the lambs in dresses good enough for us? for your
+dress, I see, is made of nothing but lambs' wool. Where did the lambs
+get such good stuff?"
+
+"God gave it to them, I suppose," said the little girl. "It is you that
+gives me bread, mother," said she quickly.
+
+"But," said her mother, "the flour we got from the shop, and the
+shopkeeper bought it from the miller, and the miller took the wheat from
+the farmer, and the farmer had it from the ground, and the ground grew
+it all itself."
+
+"No," cried Helen suddenly, "God grew it. The sun and the rain, the wind
+and the air, are His, and He sent them to the corn-field. The earth is
+His too. And so God is at the bottom of everything, isn't He, mother?"
+
+"Yes," said mother; "God is the Origin of every good and perfect gift
+which we enjoy."
+
+The little girl looked serious. She looked thinking. "Then, mamma," she
+said at last, "I can't make a prayer long enough to thank God for
+everything."
+
+"Oh, that men," even as the creatures of God, "would praise the Lord for
+His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"
+
+
+
+
+A CINGALESE ROCK FORTRESS.
+
+
+For the first time for a number of years the Sigiri Rock in Ceylon has
+been scaled by a European, the feat on this occasion being performed by
+General Lennox, who commands the troops in the island. It is said,
+indeed, that only one European, Mr. Creasy, ever succeeded in reaching
+the summit. The rock is cylindrical in shape, and the bulging sides
+render the ascent very difficult and dangerous. There are galleries all
+round, a groove about four inches deep being cut in the solid rock. This
+rises spirally, and in it are fixed the foundation bricks, which support
+a platform about six feet broad, with a chunam-coated wall about nine
+feet high. The whole structure follows the curves and contours of the
+solid rock, and is cunningly constructed so as to make the most of any
+natural support the formation can afford. In some places the gallery
+has fallen completely away, but it still exhibits flights of fine marble
+steps. High up on the rock are several figures of Buddha; but it is a
+mystery how the artist got there, or how, being there, he was able to
+carry on his work. The fortifications consist of platforms, one above
+the other, supported by massive retaining walls, each commanding the
+other.
+
+Owing to the falling away of the gallery, the ascent in parts had to be
+made up a perpendicular face of the cliff, and General Lennox and four
+natives were left to do the latter part of the ascent alone. The top
+they found to be a plateau about an acre in extent, in which were two
+square tanks, with sides thirty yards and fifteen feet respectively in
+length, cut out of the solid rock. A palace is believed to have existed
+on the summit at one time, although time, weather, and the jungle have
+obliterated all traces of it. During the descent the first comer had to
+guide the foot of the next into a safe fissure, but all reached the
+bottom safely after two and a half hours.
+
+It is said that the amount of work expended on the galleries is
+incredible, and the writer of the account of the feat doubts if all the
+machinery of modern times could accomplish the stupendous work that was
+achieved here in old days by manual labour alone.
+
+
+
+
+A QUEER FISHERMAN.
+
+
+Monkeys and apes are (remarks a writer in _Harper's Young People_)
+always amusing creatures, and it is great fun to watch their tricks. But
+there is one ape, a native of the island of Java, who outdoes most of
+his relatives in the way of being ridiculous, especially when he amuses
+himself as a fisherman. This ape is very fond of shellfish, and there is
+a certain kind of sand-crab that suits his palate exactly. These crabs
+dig little homes for themselves deep in the sand, and thither they
+retire when they want a quiet rest, or when any danger threatens. When
+all is well, they spend their time sunning themselves at the entrance of
+their holes, or hopping along the water's edge in search of food. The
+apes know their ways, and while the crabs are looking for a dinner they
+also are bent on obtaining one for themselves. Apes, you know, can move
+very quickly. They wait until they see a party of crabs apparently
+unconscious of danger, and busily engaged in discussing a bit of
+seaweed, or devouring the insects they are so fond of. Moving stealthily
+forward, as close as they dare, the ape gives a sudden leap, and seizes
+as many as possible of the poor, unsuspecting crabs, which are speedily
+crunched into a shapeless mass by his strong jaws, and devoured. But the
+crabs are very active too, and it often happens that they will take
+alarm in time to scamper quickly to their holes, and so cheat the ape
+out of his anticipated meal. When this occurs, the ape has recourse to a
+stratagem which proves how intelligent he really is, and which makes him
+appear, as I have said, one of the most amusing and ridiculous of
+creatures. The ape of Java, unlike others of his species, possesses a
+very long tail. He moves quietly up to the hole into which he has seen
+the crab disappear, thrusts his tail into it, and awaits events. The
+crab, indignant at such an intrusion, makes a spirited attack, and
+fastens upon it. This is precisely what the ape wants. He gives a sudden
+spring forward. The crab, having no time to collect his ideas, is drawn
+to the surface, and in a moment the ape has him in his claws. Poor crab!
+victim of his anxiety to punish the invasion of his home.
+
+One traveller tells us that "there is a comical look of suspense on the
+ape's face as he thrusts his tail into the hole, and waits for the crab
+to seize it."
+
+
+
+
+SAVED BY GRACE.
+
+
+Agreeably to your wishes, I send you the following account of W. B----,
+who had lived a dissolute life for nearly forty years.
+
+He was notorious for drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and his general
+deportment was so abandoned that he was wicked even to a proverb.
+
+On Saturday evening, March 4th, he attended a funeral, and from the
+place of interment he immediately betook himself to a public house,
+where he became so intoxicated that it was with some difficulty he
+reached his own habitation. No sooner was he laid down upon the bed, and
+composed to sleep, than the words of Eliphaz were verified in his
+experience--"In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep
+falleth upon man, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my
+bones to shake," for he dreamed a frightful dream. He thought he saw a
+serpent of the hydra kind, with nine heads, ready to seize him. Whatever
+way he turned, a head presented itself, nor could he, by all the methods
+he devised, extricate himself from the baneful monster. He awoke in
+great distress. Though it was but a dream, it made a strong impression
+upon his mind, and he was afraid it portended some future evil.
+
+The next morning, one of the members of our meeting, as he was going to
+the house of God, observed him in a pensive posture, and asked him if he
+would go with him and hear a sermon upon the old serpent. The sound of
+the word _serpent_ arrested his attention, and excited his curiosity to
+hear what I had to say upon such a subject. But for this expression,
+probably the poor man had remained unmoved. Why the person used it he
+could not tell, nor why he invited him to accompany him that morning--a
+thing which he had never done before. But He could tell who, in the days
+of His flesh, "must needs go through Samaria," and whose providences are
+always in coincidence with the purposes of His grace.
+
+As soon as prayer was ended, I preached from Genesis iii. 13-15, "And
+the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And
+the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God
+said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
+above all cattle," &c.
+
+As I was explaining who that serpent was, and the methods he took to
+beguile sinners, the Lord opened the poor man's eyes, and the Word had
+free course and was glorified. From that moment he gave every
+demonstration of a real change of heart. About four or five months he
+continued in the pangs of the new birth. The anguish of his soul was
+great indeed. He perceived the number of his sins, and felt the weight
+of his guilt. For some time he was tempted to despair--I may say, to put
+an end to his existence--but while he was musing on his wretched
+condition, these words were applied as a sovereign remedy to his
+afflicted soul--"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
+saved." This administered all the joy and comfort he stood in need of.
+Now he was enabled to believe that Christ was as willing to forgive as
+He was mighty to redeem. The burden of his guilt dropped from his mind,
+as Pilgrim's did at the sight of the cross, and immediately he "rejoiced
+with joy unspeakable and full of glory."
+
+I was with him a little while after, and with a heart overflowing with
+gratitude to God, he showed me the place of his Bethel visit, where the
+Lord had opened to him His bleeding heart, and manifested His forgiving
+love. He seems to be, as the Apostle expresses it, "a living epistle of
+Christ, seen and read of all men."
+
+[Illustration: "ONE OF THE MEMBERS OBSERVED HIM IN A PENSIVE POSTURE."
+(_See page 156._)]
+
+
+
+
+TWO BRAVE CHILDREN.
+
+
+The sky at night in the vicinity of Apple Creek, in Dakota, a few weeks
+ago, was red all around the horizon, and the people knew that the
+prairie fires were burning. Every evening, as darkness fell, the farmers
+saw the glare becoming more and more distinct, and during the day the
+smoke increased until it was nearly suffocating.
+
+Not far from Apple Creek is the little village of Sterling, and near
+Sterling lived the Stevens family. Mr. Stevens was away from home on the
+day that the fire approached the house, and it so happened that his wife
+was sick in bed. Their children were a girl of eight years and a boy of
+eleven. The boy had heard that it was a good thing to plough a furrow
+across the path of the advancing flames, and about noon of the day in
+question he tried to protect the property in that manner. With the
+two-horse team and plough he cut a trench around the house and sheds,
+and then another trench around the stacks of unthreshed wheat. He was
+not strong enough to plough the trench to a great depth, but the wide
+line of damp earth thrown up would be hard for the flames to leap
+across, especially since his little sister followed him around, carrying
+away all trash that would add to the fury of the flames.
+
+That night the fire was so near that the poor woman thought of getting
+out of bed, with the purpose of attempting to escape, but she was too
+ill to try such a thing. Moreover, she knew that if her husband could
+reach the house he would come, and she watched and prayed as the light
+came to her room from the crimson skies without.
+
+When the flames, running before the wind, came down upon the Stevens'
+place, they licked up the fences in an instant, swept away the shocks of
+grain in the fields, and then rolled suddenly up to the furrows ploughed
+by the boy. The wheat stacks fell a prey, and numberless sparks were
+scattered around the house; but the brave boy and his sister ran all
+about, trampling out the fire wherever it caught.
+
+The little workers were desperate, for they knew that, should the house
+burn, their poor mother would surely perish in her bed. They fought with
+brooms, shovels, and water. Wherever they could they dug up fresh earth,
+and for a quarter of an hour they did not pause for a single moment.
+Once the house caught, and the wood began to add its crackling to the
+rush and roar of the vast prairie fire; but the children dashed bucket
+after bucket of water upon the burning spot, and so put it out. They
+carried the day. The great fire swept past, and in its wake came the
+father, half frantic with joy to find that his little hero and heroine
+had saved their mother's life.--_Examiner._
+
+
+
+
+A HINT TO BOYS.
+
+
+If I were a boy again, and knew what I know now, I would not be quite so
+positive in my own opinions as I used to be. Boys generally think that
+they are very certain about many things. A boy of fifteen is a great
+deal more sure of what he thinks he knows than is a man of fifty. You
+ask the boy a question, and he will answer you right off, up and down.
+He knows all about it. Ask a man of large experience and ripe wisdom the
+same question, and he will say, "Well, there is much to be said about
+it. I am inclined, on the whole, to think so-and-so, but other
+intelligent men think otherwise."
+
+When I was about eight years old, I travelled from Central Massachusetts
+to Western New York, crossing the river at Albany, and going by canal to
+Syracuse. On the canal-boat a kindly gentleman was talking to me one
+day, and I mentioned the fact that I had crossed the Connecticut River
+at Albany. How I got it into my head that it was the Connecticut River I
+do not know, for I knew my geography very well then; but in some
+unmistakable way I fixed it in my mind that the river at Albany was the
+Connecticut, and I called it so. "Why," said the gentleman, "that is the
+Hudson River." "Oh, no, sir," I replied, politely but firmly. "You're
+mistaken. That is the Connecticut River." The gentleman smiled and said
+no more. In this matter I was perfectly sure that I was right, and so I
+thought it my duty to correct the gentleman's geography. I felt rather
+sorry for him that he should be so ignorant.
+
+One day, a short time after I reached home, I happened to be looking
+over my route on the map, and lo! there was Albany standing on the
+Hudson River, a hundred miles from the Connecticut. Then I did not feel
+half so sorry for the gentleman's ignorance as I did for my own. I never
+told anybody that story until I wrote it down on these pages the other
+day, but I have thought of it a thousand times, and always with a blush
+for my boldness. Nor was it the only time that I was perfectly sure of
+things that were not really so. It is hard for a boy to learn that he
+may be mistaken; but, unless he is a dunce, he learns it after a while.
+The sooner he finds it out the better for him.
+
+                                                         W. G.
+
+
+
+
+DIVINE GUIDANCE.
+
+
+In the life of Mary Pryor, well known among the Quakers a hundred years
+ago, the following incident occurred on the occasion of her visit to the
+Quakers in America.
+
+She visited several of the best ships of the period, but did not feel
+easy to take her passage in any of them. At length, on sitting down in
+an inferior vessel, called the _Fame_, she said she felt "so
+comfortable" that she must go in that ship. Her friends endeavoured to
+dissuade her, one of them saying he would not trust his dog in it. But
+having sought the Lord's direction, she saw no light on any change of
+plan, and she set sail in the _Fame_. She was now sixty years of age.
+
+The voyage occupied three months, and was miserable in the extreme. The
+old vessel sprang a leak, and for weeks crew and passengers had to work
+at the pumps to keep her afloat. At length, when all prospect of rescue
+seemed hopeless, and the men were on the point of giving up in despair,
+Mrs. Pryor, who had maintained her calmness and encouraged the sailors
+all along, came out of her cabin one morning, saying she had good news,
+for she had seen in a dream a vessel coming to their help that very day.
+She had forgotten the name of the ship, but if the female passengers
+would mention their maiden names, it would be recalled to her memory.
+One of them said her name had been "Archibald." "That," said Mrs. Pryor,
+"is the name of the ship that will save us." The men were cheered, and
+turned with new energy to the pumps; and that evening, just before the
+vessel foundered, they were rescued by a small Halifax schooner, named
+the _Archibald_.
+
+The crew and passengers attributed their deliverance, under God, to the
+influence of Mrs. Pryor; and here was the explanation of the guidance
+she believed herself to have received to sail in the _Fame_, contrary to
+the wishes of her friends.
+
+"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord."--_Lantern._
+
+
+IF Christ be not a refiner's fire _in_ you, He will be a consuming fire
+_to_ you.
+
+
+GOD can give a pardon to the greatest sin, but He cannot give a
+patronage to the least sin.
+
+
+
+
+"JESUS LOVES ME!"
+
+
+A few years ago, a poor girl in London, to whose soul the Spirit had
+spoken peace through the blood of Jesus, was very anxious to impart the
+knowledge, and tell some other soul of the dear Saviour she had found.
+She was too poor and ragged to take a class in a Sunday School. She
+especially longed to tell children of Jesus. She thought, if she could
+only be instrumental in the winning of one little child, how blessed it
+would be, so she used to speak to any little child she saw standing
+about in the street.
+
+One little boy, about seven years old, often went to her to hear her
+joyful Gospel tidings. One day she missed him, and searched until she
+found him. Poor little fellow! He was lying in great agony upon a
+miserable bed of straw in a wretched dwelling, and was quite alone.
+
+The kind girl, full of pity for him, and anxious to relieve him, called
+the attention of neighbours to him, but they declined to take any step
+in the matter. At last she called a policeman. He made the case known to
+the authorities, and the little sufferer was taken to the workhouse
+hospital. Here he remained in great suffering, the doctors being unable
+to do anything to relieve him.
+
+In training him for an acrobat, his parents had treated him so severely,
+in order to make his tender little limbs supple, that there was not a
+bone in his body seemingly in its proper place, and his agony was most
+intense. Six doctors, including Queen's physicians, had his case under
+consideration, but their skill could not avail. He was unable to lie on
+his back or side. A frame was made to support his head as he leaned
+forward. His poor little hands were wrapped in cotton-wool steeped in
+morphia, to allay the pain.
+
+When he had been in the hospital about four months, a lady went to see
+him, from whom I heard this most touching and true account. She said she
+should never forget his face when he raised his head to speak to her.
+Such a beautiful face, with sweet blue eyes and placid expression, met
+her gaze. He so frequently said, "Thank you." It was, "Thank you, I am
+not suffering quite so much to-day"; or, "Thank you. You are so kind."
+
+One day, she asked him if he loved Jesus. He looked at her so
+reproachfully that her heart smote her for having asked such a question;
+then he said, "Jesus loves me." She saw then the meaning of his
+reproachful look. How could she ask him whether _he_ loved Jesus when
+Jesus loved _him_? The dear little sufferer had grasped the secret of
+power. It was not _his_ love for Jesus, but the love of Jesus _to him_,
+that was the solid rock on which he stood.
+
+Another time he said, "Oh, I don't mind bearing a little pain for Jesus.
+He died for me."
+
+The language of some in the hospital was very dreadful. Such
+blasphemy--such cursing and swearing--even when dying. But the clear
+voice of the young sufferer often rose high above all others. It
+distressed him beyond all measure, and he called out, "Oh, don't, don't!
+Jesus hears you." Rough men, touched by the sight of his pain, would
+stand by him, listening to his words, silenced by his entreaties. Truly
+he was "out of weakness made strong."
+
+Not long after the visit of the lady to whom I have referred, God
+released the loving little soul from its tenement of suffering, and
+revealed to him, in the "eternal weight of glory," how fully He loved
+him. His brief tale of life on earth, with its pain so bravely borne,
+and its knowledge of love so faithfully testified, is now changed for
+the song and the crown, and the exceeding bliss of being for ever with
+Him who loves him, "whom to know is life eternal," and "in whose
+presence is fulness of joy."
+
+                                              NETTIE.
+
+
+
+
+A RED SEA ROCK.
+
+
+A fourth, and happily a successful, search by Her Majesty's ships has
+just been made for a reported rock towards the southern end of the Red
+Sea, on which two steamships, the _Avocet_ and _Teddington_, are
+supposed to have struck during the year 1887, both ships afterwards
+foundering.
+
+Owing to a considerable error in the position given by the former
+vessel, the first search was mainly over ground too far to the westward,
+and operations were suspended until more accurate information could be
+obtained. The loss of the second ship, in a position given five miles
+north-east of the first, caused a second and careful search to be made
+on a more extended area, still with no indication. A surveying vessel
+was then sent two thousand miles in order to institute a rigorous
+examination; but six weeks' close search--though under great
+difficulties of strong wind and heavy sea--bore no fruit, and various
+theories were started to account for the loss of the two steamships.
+
+The fourth ship, Her Majesty's surveying ship _Stork_, has been more
+successful. Guided by some slight indication afforded by an
+insignificant rise in the sea bottom, the rock has been at last found.
+It is a small coral patch, only fifteen feet under the surface of the
+sea, and stands in twenty-eight fathoms of water, in latitude 14 deg. 22
+min. 8 sec. N., longitude 42 deg. 41 min. 32 sec. E. It lies midway
+between the two best positions that critical cross-examination had
+finally settled as most probable for the respective vessels that were
+lost. Though it is between five and six miles from the direct straight
+line of track, the existence at times of strong currents transverse to
+the axis of the Red Sea, causes the danger presented by it to be by no
+means insignificant, though it is a matter for marvel that it has never
+been struck before.
+
+The difficulty of finding such a small rock may be appreciated from the
+fact that one of the searching ships was at anchor within four hundred
+yards of it, with her boats sounding round her, without its being
+perceived, though she was driven from her anchorage by a gale before the
+spot was passed over by the boats.
+
+Seeing the enormous British trade, valuable both in lives and property,
+that passes down the Red Sea, it is a matter of general congratulation
+that the Admiralty refused to discontinue the search until the last hope
+of finding a rock was dispelled, and that the efforts to discover it
+have at length been crowned by success.
+
+
+
+
+KENILWORTH CASTLE.
+
+
+Willis, the American traveller, in his "Famous Persons and Famous
+Places," observes that, when visiting Kenilworth, he noticed with
+surprise that in one place the swelling root of a creeper had lifted one
+arch from its base, and the protruding branch of a chance spring tree
+(sown, perhaps, by a field-sparrow) had unseated the keystone of the
+next. And so perish castles and reputations--the masonry of the human
+hand, and the fabrics of human thought--not by the strength which they
+feared, but by the weakness of trifling things which they despised.
+
+Little did John O'Gaunt think, when these rudely-hewn blocks were heaved
+into their seats by his herculean workmen, that, after resisting fire
+and foe, they would be sapped and overthrown at last by a vine-tendril
+and a sparrow!
+
+
+
+
+THE PRIEST AND THE LADY; OR, TRANSUBSTANTIATION EXPOSED.
+
+
+A lady once, a Protestant, in ignorance was led
+To think she might with comfort live, though to a Papist wed:
+But Rome decrees no peace they'll have who marry heretics,
+Until their households have been made submissive to her tricks.
+
+It sorely grieved this husband that his wife would not comply
+To join the "mother Church" of Rome, and heresy deny:
+Day after day he flattered her, but still she held it good
+That man should never bow his knee to idols made of wood.
+
+The Mass, the priest, and miracles, were made but to deceive;
+And transubstantiation, too, she never could believe.
+He went unto his clergy, and told him his sad tale--
+"My wife's an unbeliever, sir; try if you can prevail.
+
+"You say you can work miracles--she says it is absurd--
+Convince her and convert her, and great is your reward."
+The priest went with the gentleman--he thought to gain a prize--
+He says, "I will convert your wife, and open quite her eyes."
+
+So when they came unto the house, "My dear," the husband cried,
+"The priest is come to dine with us." "He's welcome," she replied.
+The dinner being ended, the priest to teach began,
+Explaining to the lady the sinful state of man.
+
+The kindness of the Saviour (which no one can deny),
+Who gave Himself a Sacrifice, and once for sin did die.
+"He by His priest still offers up Himself a Sacrifice."
+The lady only answered this by expressing great surprise.
+
+"I will return to-morrow--prepare some bread and wine--
+And then dispense the Sacrament to satisfy your mind."
+"I'll bake the cake," the lady said. "You may," replied he,
+"And when you see this miracle, convinced I'm sure you'll be."
+
+The priest returned accordingly--the bread and wine did bless--
+The lady said, "Sir, is it changed?" His reverence answered, "Yes,
+It's changed now from bread and wine to real flesh and blood;
+You may depend upon my word, that it is very God."
+
+Thus, having blessed the bread and wine, to eat he did prepare.
+The lady said unto the priest, "I would have you take care;
+For one half ounce of arsenic I have mixed in that cake,
+But as you have its nature changed, it can no difference make."
+
+The priest stood all confused, and looked as pale as death;
+The bread and wine fell from his hands, and he did gasp for breath.
+"Bring me my horse!" his reverence cried; "this is a cursed place!"
+"Begone! begone!" the dame replied; "you are a cursed race!"
+
+Her husband sat confounded, and not one word could say.
+At last he spoke--"My dear," said he, "the priest has run away;
+Such mummery and nonsense can never bear the light;
+Apostate Rome I must denounce, and quit it I will quite."
+
+
+HERESIES are views discordant to the truths of God.
+
+
+
+
+STAND BACK.
+
+
+A gentleman spending his holidays in Scotland was fishing for trout. He
+had fishing-tackle and appliances of the best description. He threw out
+his bait all the morning, but caught nothing. Towards afternoon he
+espied a little ragged urchin, with tackle of the most primitive order,
+nipping the fish out of the water with marvellous rapidity. Amazed, he
+watched the lad for a while, and then went and asked him if he could
+explain the reason why he was so successful, in spite of his meagre
+outfit, while the expensive apparatus could catch nothing. The boy
+promptly replied, "The fish will no bite, sir, as lang as ye dinna _keep
+yersel' oot of sight_."
+
+Well has it been said that "fishers of men need not wonder at their want
+of success, if they do not keep themselves out of sight,' and uplift the
+brazen serpent on the Gospel pole, while studiously keeping themselves
+hidden behind the pole."
+
+
+
+
+HIS TITLE DEEDS.
+
+
+The deacon of a Church lay dying. He had been a successful merchant, and
+he was about leaving this world to give an account of his stewardship.
+When he was near his end, he asked his wife to bring him his
+title-deeds. The lady went to his private drawer, and drew out some
+musty papers relating to his property, which she took to him. As soon as
+he saw them, he said--
+
+"No, no; that is not what I mean. Bring me the New Testament."
+
+It was brought, and he had it opened at Romans viii. 33--"Who shall lay
+anything to the charge of God's elect?"
+
+He shortly after closed his eyes in death, his finger continuing to rest
+on the verse.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+ELISHA AND THE SHUNAMMITE.
+
+(2 KINGS iv. 8-37; viii. 1-6.)
+
+
+As the Prophet Elisha carried God's messages, and did His appointed work
+among the Israelites, he passed through Shunem.
+
+"A great woman," or, as we should say, a rich, influential lady, lived
+there with her husband and servants, and in her heart "some good thing
+toward the God of Israel was found," so when the Prophet passed her
+door, she invited him and his attendant to rest and refreshment; and
+since he often came that way, she induced her husband to have a room
+built upon the wall of the house, which she got furnished in a simple
+way, and this was set apart for Elisha's special use. His heart was
+deeply touched by the kind sympathy so freely shown him, and he offered
+to do anything she might ask to show his gratitude. But the good woman
+was not ambitious. "I dwell," said she, "among mine own people. I am
+well content with the blessings I enjoy, and ask no more."
+
+This Shunammite was doing good not for the sake of reward. She honoured
+the Prophet because she perceived that he was "a holy man of God"--a
+beautiful proof that she also loved and served the Lord, for "we know
+that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren."
+In honouring His Prophet she honoured God, and He has said (and He is
+true), "Them that honour Me I will honour."
+
+The Shunammite's honour belongs to all who love God's people for His
+sake, for Jesus also declared that "whosoever shall give one of His
+little ones a cup of cold water to quench his thirst, in the name of a
+disciple, shall in no wise lose his reward" (Matt. x. 41, 42).
+
+The loving services rendered to the Saviour's friends--even to those who
+are most closely connected with us, or who often come in our way--are
+accepted by Jesus as done unto Himself. We may not be able to
+accomplish great and notable things, but, like this woman of old, may we
+do good as we have opportunity, and receive His word of acceptance, like
+Mary, "She hath done what she could."
+
+But the Shunammite was to be rewarded in a very unexpected way. She had
+no children, and Gehazi mentioned this fact to his master, who, in the
+spirit of prophecy, assured her that, in due time, a son should be given
+her. Her joy is described in her reply to Elisha. The news seemed too
+good to be true. But "God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
+that we ask or think." The promised blessing came, and doubtless the
+mother felt that her cup overflowed with happiness.
+
+But earthly hopes are always insecure. The child had grown; and at
+harvest-time he went to the field with his father and the reapers, when
+suddenly what we should call a sunstroke fell upon him. "My head! my
+head!" was all he could say, and the father had him carried to his
+mother. She tended him with loving care, but at noon he died. She took
+the lifeless form upstairs, and laid it on the Prophet's bed, and then
+announced her intention to go and find the man of God, saying, "It shall
+be well," or "peace."
+
+Did she think her child would be restored to life at the Prophet's word?
+Perhaps so. She had received him at first in a miraculous way, and by a
+miracle he might be restored to her. At all events, her words and
+conduct illustrate the divine encouragement, "Trust Him at all times, ye
+people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a Refuge for us."
+
+They saw her in the distance, and Gehazi ran to meet her, with the
+question, "Is it well with thee, thy husband, and the child?" And she
+answered, "Well." She would not tell the servant her sorrow. She
+hastened on to his master, and in her grief she caught hold of his feet,
+as if to hold him fast. Elisha, though a prophet, did not know what had
+befallen her. Perfect knowledge belongs to God alone, and He had not
+revealed this matter to him yet. He heard her story, and sent Gehazi
+with all haste to lay his staff upon the face of the child. But the
+mother refused to leave Elisha, and they together followed Gehazi, who,
+first reaching the chamber of death, laid the Prophet's rod upon the
+dead, but in vain. "There was neither voice nor hearing." A solemn
+picture of spiritual death--no voice to cry to God; no ears to listen to
+His Word. Are we alive or dead?
+
+Elisha next entered the chamber alone, and, shutting the door, he prayed
+to the Lord; and in the end, the child was perfectly restored to life
+and health.
+
+And this wondrous miracle was no doubt intended to foreshadow the
+general resurrection of the last great day, and to show that "with God
+all things are possible."
+
+Here, too, we see a figure of "Him that was to come." The Shunammite
+prayed to God through Elisha, from whose lips she had at first received
+the promise; and in the name of Jesus we are to seek all blessings from
+heaven.
+
+  "He ever lives to intercede
+    Before His Father's face;
+  Give Him, my soul, thy cause to plead,
+    Nor doubt the Father's grace."
+
+Time rolled on, and other sorrows came upon the highly-favoured mother.
+A terrible famine raged in Samaria, and at Elisha's bidding she and her
+household left the land of Israel for seven years (see 2 Kings viii.);
+and then, peace and plenty having been restored, she returned and went
+to the king to ask for her house and land in Shunem. Behold here the
+wonder-working providence of the Lord. At the very time of her visit,
+Gehazi was telling the king of Elisha's miracles, especially that of
+raising one to life; and as the woman presented her appeal, Gehazi,
+recognizing her, exclaimed, "My lord, this is the mother, and this her
+son, whom Elisha restored to life." Deeply interested at once in her
+case, the king granted all her request with the utmost readiness.
+
+So "all things work together for good to them that love God," and Jesus
+always sympathizes with His people's sorrows, and helps and comforts
+them, so that "they who wait for Him shall not be ashamed." May we, in
+every time of trial and difficulty--
+
+  "Wait for His seasonable aid,
+    And though it tarry, wait;
+  The promise may be long delayed,
+    But cannot come too late."
+
+Our next subject will be, _The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard_
+(Matt. xx. 1-16).
+
+                              Your affectionate friend,
+                                          H. S. LAWRENCE.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+  FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
+
+
+  One is in Adam, but not in Moses.
+  One is in Jesus, but not in Daniel.
+  One is in Peter, but not in Aaron.
+  One is in Eden, but not in Spirit.
+  One is in Pharaoh, but not in Matthew.
+  One is in Israel, but not in Abdon.
+
+
+My whole, when arranged, will be found in the Book of Psalms.
+
+                                      ETHEL MARSH
+                                  (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Laxfield._
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN JULY.
+
+
+July  1. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 19.
+July  8. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 20.
+July 15. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 21.
+July 22. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 22.
+July 29. Commit to memory Daniel ii. 23.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "UNCERTAIN RICHES" AND "THE TRUE RICHES."
+
+
+In Proverbs xxiii. 5, the wise man says, "Riches certainly make
+themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven"; and in
+chapter viii. 18, he says, "Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable
+riches and righteousness."
+
+In these two verses may be seen one difference between the "uncertain
+riches" and the "true" ones. The first passage of Scripture refers to
+the uncertain or earthly riches, which "make themselves wings" and "fly
+away." The second riches spoken of are the true ones, which Christ gives
+to His people, and which are durable, inasmuch as they last for ever and
+ever. This verse is spoken by Christ under the name of Wisdom.
+
+In Christ's parable about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke xvi. 19-31),
+both kinds of riches are spoken of. The rich man had the uncertain
+riches in abundance, and was selfish, and kept them to himself, but the
+beggar, though destitute of this world's goods, was one of God's
+children, and had the true riches.
+
+A man may be very rich, and be looking forward to a long life in which
+to enjoy his riches, like the rich man in the parable (see Luke xii.
+16), when he may suddenly die, and then what good can his wealth do him?
+What Paul says in his first Epistle to Timothy is quite true. He says,
+"We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
+nothing out" (1 Tim. vi. 7); and the Psalmist says, in Psalm xlix.
+16-18, "Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his
+house is increased; for when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his
+glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his
+soul."
+
+But it is not so with those who have the true riches. They can never be
+disappointed in having to part with them, for, as before mentioned, they
+are everlasting. Christ said, in His sermon on the mount, "Lay not up
+for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
+and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves
+treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
+thieves do not break through nor steal" (Matt. vi. 19, 20). Our riches
+are, as we know from experience, never really safe from harm and damage,
+as articles of apparel, however costly they may be, are, if very careful
+measures are not used, subject to being eaten by moths. Other things are
+spoiled by rust gathering on them, whilst money is never secure, because
+thieves may steal it; and even in banks the managers or clerks may be
+tempted to steal the money entrusted to them, or the bank may fail.
+Daniel Herbert says, in one of his hymns--
+
+  "Should all the banks in Britain break,
+    The Bank of England smash,
+  Bring in your notes to Zion's bank;
+    You're sure to get your cash."
+
+One of Christ's gifts to His people is spoken of in 1 Peter i. 4. It is
+"an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,"
+reserved in heaven for those who are "kept by the power of God, through
+faith, unto salvation."
+
+Christ also gives His people "a crown of glory, that fadeth not away"
+(see 1 Peter v. 4). This crown is called, in Timothy, "a crown of
+righteousness"; and, in 1 Corinthians ix. 25, Paul calls it an
+"incorruptible" one; and James says, "Blessed is the man that endureth
+temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,
+which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him" (James i. 12).
+
+In conclusion, we might compare the two kinds of riches to the Lord's
+parable about the wise man who built his house upon a rock, and it stood
+firm, "for it was founded upon a rock," and the foolish one, who built
+his upon the sand, and his house "fell, and great was the fall of it."
+The first instance resembles those who do not set their hopes on the
+uncertain, but on the true riches; and the second like those who think
+only of earth, its uncertain pleasures and riches (Matt. vii. 24-27).
+
+                                        E. B. KNOCKER
+                                     (Aged 14 years).
+
+_South Hill House,
+Tunbridge Wells._
+
+[Very good Essays have been received from Nellie Nunn, Laura Creasey,
+Eleanor Saunders, Jane Bell, W. E. Cray, J. Rowbottom, Alice Creasey,
+Rose Holloway, Annetta Hargreaves, E. R. Harris, &c. Their efforts are
+very encouraging.]
+
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Story of the
+Spanish Armada."
+
+The subject for September will be, "The Blessings Conferred on England
+by the Accession to the Throne of William of Orange, and by the
+Protestant Succession thereby Secured to Us"; and the prize to be given
+for the best Essay on that subject, a copy of "The Reformation and its
+Heroes." All competitors must give a guarantee that they are under
+fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their own composition, or
+the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot undertake to write
+for this necessary information. Papers must be sent direct to the
+Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the first of
+August.]
+
+
+ERRATUM.--Through an oversight, the name of the sender of the Enigma was
+given last month instead of the sender of the answer. It should have
+been--Nellie Nunn, aged twelve years.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+THE number of Bibles printed during last year in England alone amounted
+to nearly four millions.
+
+
+A BIRDS' NEST IN A RAILWAY TRUCK.--A water wagtail's nest, containing
+four eggs, was found at Norbiton Station amongst some coal in a truck
+which arrived from Derbyshire, a few weeks ago. The old birds had
+evidently come too, for they were seen flying about the station.
+
+
+THE death is announced of Mr. Norman Macdonald, of Big Bras Dor, Cape
+Breton, at the reputed age of 110 years. It is stated that he was a
+survivor from Waterloo. He was a man of great activity and endurance,
+and up to about two years ago was able to work on his farm at Cape
+Breton.
+
+
+A QUIET REBUKE.--An old minister one Sunday, at the close of the sermon,
+gave notice to the congregation that in the course of the week he
+expected to go on a mission to the heathen. One of the deacons, in great
+agitation, exclaimed, "Why, my dear sir, you have never told us one word
+of this before! What shall we do?" "Oh, brother," said the parson, "I
+don't expect to go out of town."
+
+
+THERE are more beggars in London this year than I ever remember
+before--female beggars, crossing sweeper beggars, and singing beggars.
+And no wonder, if many of them earn as much as one of the fraternity who
+was before a suburban magistrate recently. This man confessed to earning
+5s., 10s., and 15s., and on one occasion as much as L1 1s. 6d. He has
+earned his living by begging for thirty years, and made a very good
+living too. He was sent to prison for fourteen days, and when out will
+doubtless resume his lucrative profession.
+
+
+A CLERICAL MISER.--The Rev. John Trueman, of Daventry, possessed an
+income of about four hundred pounds per annum clear; and, by his
+self-denying management of it, he contrived to amass fifty thousand
+pounds. There were few things too mean for him to do in order to save
+money. He would steal turnips out of the fields as he passed along, on
+the pretence of visiting the farmhouses, and then beg bits of bacon to
+boil with them from the good wives in the parish. Sometimes he would
+quarter himself, without any invitation, in a farmhouse, and in the room
+in which he slept, he has been known to pull the worsted out of the
+corners of the blankets, and take it away with him, in order to darn his
+stockings.
+
+
+IN India we have a few peculiarities because of the great heat. Our
+houses are, generally speaking, on the open ground, no upstair rooms,
+and the doors are left wide open. There was an English mother who had
+the habit, when probably half asleep, of handing out her baby before
+daybreak to the ayah, to administer to its wants and cares. One morning,
+this poor mother, all but asleep, felt, as she thought, the cold touch
+of the ayah (the native nurse), and handed out the baby; but it was a
+wolf that was there. We are asleep, my friends. That mother lost her
+reason when the dear little infant was thus destroyed; but in our sleep
+and in our slumber we lose one child after another by handing them over
+to Rome--to the wolf that destroys them. Oh, let us awake!--_W. Ayerst,
+M.A._
+
+
+STEEL LACE.--A new branch of industry is going to revolutionize the lace
+trade. A New York dealer in laces is exhibiting a specimen of lace of an
+extremely delicate pattern, and so light that it can almost be blown
+away by a breath of air. This lace is made of steel rolled as fine as
+the point of a cambric needle. It is not woven, but stamped out of a
+sheet of low grade steel, so that it should not be too brittle. It was
+turned out of a small Pittsburgh mill, and sent to the dealer to show
+what could be done in that line. In the course of time other patterns
+will be made--heavier, perhaps, but certainly more tenacious than this
+piece. There is said to be no question as to its durability, and its
+cheapness would make it the most saleable of all laces in the market. It
+may create a revolution in the lace market, if rust can be guarded
+against.--_Iron._
+
+
+SULPHUR FOR SORE THROATS.--The value of sulphur in throat difficulties
+is but little known among families, though most physicians prescribe it
+in some form. An ordinary sore throat will be relieved by a gargle of
+sulphur and water--one tablespoonful to a glass of water, and use
+frequently. In every family the flour of sulphur should be always kept
+ready for use, and at the appearance of irritation or cankered spots, a
+gargle should be given, or the powder blown through a paper tube
+directly into the throat. At different times we have seen the throat
+trouble relieved in a few hours by the simple use of this valuable
+remedy. A sore throat is no trivial thing, and no time should be lost in
+the matter. If, after discovering it in a child, it does not improve in
+a few hours' time after the use of sulphur, a reliable physician should
+be called in without further delay.
+
+
+THE Queen Regent of Spain opened the International Exhibition at
+Barcelona on Sunday, May 20th, in the presence of a distinguished
+assemblage, including the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and Prince
+George of Wales. Perhaps this was done as a set-off against our
+Protestant commemorations.
+
+  Oh, England! England! blush with shame!
+  Thy princes stoop to foul thy name.
+
+
+THE present spring has been remarkable for the number of rare birds that
+have appeared in this country and on the Continent. These include the
+golden oriole, pied flycatcher, sand-grouse, dotterel, hoopoe,
+short-toed lark, moustached grass-warbler, and rose-coloured pastor. In
+spite of the Wild Birds' Protection Act, many of these visitants are
+shot immediately upon their arrival. It is only in rare cases that the
+police interfere, even when the killing of the birds is a matter of
+notoriety.
+
+
+HAY FEVER.--Sir Morell Mackenzie has opportunely published a lecture he
+delivered some time ago at the London Hospital Medical College on hay
+fever, which he defines to be a peculiar affection of the mucous
+membrane of the nose, eyes, and air passages, giving rise to catarrh and
+asthma, almost invariably caused by the action of the pollen of grasses
+and flowers, and therefore prevalent only where they are in blossom.
+With regard to the treatment of this disease, Sir Morell Mackenzie
+believes the first thing to do is, to remove the patient from a district
+in which there is much flowering grass, a sea voyage being probably the
+most perfect satisfactory step that can be taken. Patients unable to go
+to sea should reside near the coast, while dwellers in towns should
+avoid the country, and those who reside in the country should make a
+temporary stay in the centre of a large town.
+
+
+EXTRAORDINARY RAFFLE FOR BIBLES.--A curious custom was observed in the
+Parish Church of St. Ives, Hunts, on May 23rd. Dr. Robert Wilde, who
+died in August, 1678, bequeathed L50, the yearly interest of which was
+to be expended in the purchase of six Bibles, not exceeding the price of
+7s. 6d. each, which should be "cast for dice" on the Communion table
+every year by six boys and six girls of the town. A piece of ground was
+bought with the L50, and is now known as "Bible Orchard." The legacy
+also provided for the payment of ten shillings yearly to the vicar for
+preaching a sermon on the occasion "commending the excellency, the
+perfection, and divine authority of the Holy Scriptures." This singular
+custom has been regularly observed in the church since the death of the
+testator, but representations having been made to the Bishop of the
+diocese, the practice of throwing the dice on the Communion table was
+discontinued some years ago, and the raffling now takes place on a table
+erected at the chancel steps. The highest throw this year (three times,
+with three dice) was thirty-seven, by a little girl. The vicar (the Rev.
+E. Tottenham) preached a sermon from the words, "From a child thou hast
+known the Holy Scriptures."
+
+
+ANTIQUARIAN DISCOVERY.--During some excavations on the premises of
+Messrs. Walker and Sons, Otley, Yorkshire, a mass of human and other
+bones, bears' claws, flint, charcoal, and burnt slates or tiles, was
+turned up with the subsoil, and among the _debris_, at a depth of nearly
+eight feet from the modern soil level, six copper and bronze coins and a
+lead seal were found, several of the coins being in a good state of
+preservation. Some of the letters on the coins are worn, but it appears
+certain that some of the coins are of great antiquity. The seal is of
+more recent date. Seals like the one found were attached to the Papal
+bulls, and as this specimen has the usual aperture through its diameter
+to allow of the connection of the bull with the seal being made, there
+is no doubt that this was so attached to a document of this character.
+In years past the archbishops had a palace at Otley, and it is
+conjectured that this is one of the many seals used in the manner
+indicated. The seal in question bears authority from Pope Innocent IV.,
+who occupied the Papal chair from 1243 to 1254. On the obverse are the
+Roman capitals "SPA., SPE.," standing respectively for St. Paul and St.
+Peter. Immediately below are the heads of those saints in relief, a
+cross in the middle dividing them. On the reverse are the letters
+"INNOCENTIVS PP IIII."
+
+
+COLCHESTER.--ST. JOHN'S GREEN CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL.--The anniversary
+services in connection with this school were held on Sunday and Monday,
+May 27th and 28th. The sermons on the Sunday were preached by the
+Minister, Mr. W. Brown. On the Monday, the usual gathering of teachers,
+friends, and scholars was well attended, when suited addresses were
+given, and prizes awarded to many of the scholars for regular and
+punctual attendance. Sixteen gained prizes for good essays on "The Life
+of Joseph." The balance sheet for the last year showed the receipts to
+be L18 14s. 1d., and the expenditure to be L23 10s. 3d., leaving L4 16s.
+2d. due to the treasurer. The amount received on Sunday and Monday was
+L11 6s. 91/2d. There are now 187 scholars and 15 teachers in the
+school, 23 scholars and three teachers being added during the past
+year.
+
+[Illustration: THE WOUNDED DRUMMER-BOY.]
+
+
+
+
+CHARLIE COULSON, THE DRUMMER-BOY.
+
+
+During the American War, Dr. Rossvally was surgeon in the army, and
+after the battle of Gettisburg, among hundreds of wounded soldiers, a
+drummer-boy was found entirely helpless on the field. The case seemed
+almost too bad for treatment, but as the lad opened his large blue eyes,
+the doctor felt he could not let him die there, so he ordered him to be
+taken to the hospital, and found that an arm and a leg required
+amputation. The assistant-surgeon wished to administer chloroform to the
+young sufferer, but he refused, and when Dr. Rossvally himself
+remonstrated with him, he replied--
+
+"Doctor, one Sunday afternoon, in the Sabbath School, when I was nine
+and a half years old, I was brought to believe in Christ. I learned to
+trust Him then. I have been trusting Him ever since, and I feel I can
+trust Him now. He will support me while you amputate my arm and leg."
+
+The Jewish doctor's heart was touched in spite of himself, and he
+thereupon asked Charlie a question he had never asked a soldier
+before--would he like to see the chaplain? "Oh, yes, sir!" was the quick
+response; and after seeing the minister, by whom he sent a loving
+message to his mother and the superintendent of his Sunday School, he
+told the doctor he was ready for the operation, promising that he would
+not even groan if no chloroform were offered him. He kept his promise,
+only putting the corner of his pillow in his mouth during the most
+painful part of the process, saying, "Oh, Jesus, blessed Jesus, stand by
+me now!"
+
+That night the doctor could not sleep. Those soft blue eyes and that
+gentle voice seemed to meet him continually, and he could not help
+returning to the hospital in the middle of the night to inquire about
+the lad. He found him sweetly sleeping, and one of the nurses told him
+how two friends had visited him, and had sung "Jesus, Lover of my soul"
+by his bed-side, and Charlie had joined in the sacred song.
+
+Five days afterwards, he felt he was dying, and sending for the doctor,
+he thanked him for all his kindness, and begged him to remain and see
+him die, trusting Jesus to the last moment of his life. He tried to
+stay, but it was too much for his Jewish feelings to see that dying
+youth rejoicing in the love of the Jesus whose very name he had been
+taught to hate, and he hurriedly left the room.
+
+Twenty minutes after, he was again summoned to that bed, and, asking him
+to take his hand, Charlie said, "Doctor, I love you because you are a
+Jew. The best Friend I have found in this world was a Jew, Jesus Christ,
+to whom I want to introduce you before I die; and will you promise me,
+doctor, that what I am about to say to you you will never forget?" The
+doctor promised, and the lad went on--"Five days ago, while you
+amputated my arm and leg, I prayed the Lord Jesus Christ to convert your
+soul."
+
+These words sank into the doctor's heart. How could that sufferer, in
+the midst of such intense pain, be thinking only of his Saviour and an
+unconverted soul? and he could only answer, "Well, my dear boy, you will
+soon be all right." With these words he left him, and a few minutes
+later the youth fell asleep in Jesus, at seventeen years of age.
+
+Dr. Rossvally followed him to the grave, and for some months the
+impression his patience and faith had made upon him still remained.
+Gradually it wore off, however; and for ten years longer he remained a
+despiser of the Saviour, when God, in mercy, sent another message to His
+wandering child.
+
+At the close of the American War, Dr. Rossvally had been made
+inspecting surgeon, with charge of the military hospital in Texas.
+Returning one day from an inspecting tour, he stopped at an hotel in New
+York, and going to be shaved, he found the barber's shop hung around
+with beautifully framed Scripture texts; and what was more, the barber
+began to speak to him of Jesus in such an attractive way, that Charlie
+Coulson's happy death came vividly before his mind. The doctor's mind
+was deeply moved, and when he reached Washington, where he resided, for
+the first time in his life he went to hear an address in a Christian
+place of worship, and he could not restrain the tears that would flow
+while he listened; and when the service was ended, an elderly lady spoke
+to him before he could escape. He told her he would pray to his God--the
+God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--but not to Jesus. "Bless your soul,"
+was the earnest answer, "your God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is my
+Christ, and your Messiah!"
+
+He went home full of conflicting feelings, and then for hours he wept
+and prayed, while many prophecies concerning the Messiah came to his
+mind, and at length the conviction came that Jesus was the Christ, that
+He was his Saviour, and that God had forgiven him for the sake of His
+beloved Son.
+
+He hastened to tell his wife of his newly-found joy, but it only enraged
+her, and leaving home, she went to her parents' house, who forbade her
+to have any further intercourse with her husband, and took the two
+children under their care. So true is it still that a Jew must be
+prepared to forsake all when he follows Jesus.
+
+He went away with a sad heart on his next commission, but regularly
+wrote to his wife, praying that she might read at least one of his
+letters. For fifty-three days each one was destroyed unopened, but one
+night their daughter dreamed that she saw her father die, and next
+morning she determined to take his letter in and read it. She did so,
+and after a while showed it to her mother, who, having secretly read it
+again and again, was overcome with strange new feelings, and she also
+was led to trust in that long-despised but now precious name--Jesus, the
+Son of God.
+
+Husband and wife were now united in the Lord, and their daughter also
+became a new creature. Their son, however, long refused even to
+acknowledge either of his parents, and his mother died without seeing or
+hearing from him, but it is hoped that her prayers for him may be
+answered. Mrs. Rossvally's end was peaceful and happy. Some friends
+sang, "Jesus, Lover of my soul," and when they reached the line, "Thou,
+O Christ, art all I want," she said, "Yes, this is all I want! Come,
+blessed Jesus, and take me home!" and so she "fell asleep."
+
+Dr. Rossvally still lives, and like a well-known ancient trophy of
+divine grace, preaches the faith he once laboured to destroy, and
+"Christ and Him crucified" is his hope and joy.
+
+Dear reader, whoever you may be, may you reflect upon the fact that
+there is salvation in none other than the Lamb of God, who died to put
+sin away, and ever lives to save all who come unto God by Him. And may
+His Holy Spirit impress the truth upon your heart, "He that believeth on
+the Son of God hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the Son
+shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John iii.
+36).--_From a Tract, published at Leeds by Dr. M. L. Rossvally, a
+converted Jew._
+
+
+A WORTHY Quaker thus wrote:--"I expect to pass through this world but
+once; if, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing
+I can do to any fellow human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer
+or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."
+
+
+
+
+MR. EDISON'S PHONOGRAPH.
+
+_To the Editor of The Times._
+
+
+Sir,--At two o'clock this afternoon, at the address below, I had the
+honour to receive from Mr. Edison his "perfected phonograph," which, on
+the authority of Mr. Edison's own statement, in his own familiar voice,
+communicated to me by the phonograph itself, "is the first instrument of
+his latest model that has been seen outside of his laboratory, or has
+left his hands," and is consequently the first to reach this country.
+
+At five minutes past two o'clock precisely, I and my family were
+enjoying the at once unprecedented and astounding experience of
+listening to Mr. Edison's own familiar and unmistakable tones here in
+England--more than three thousand miles from the place where he had
+spoken, and exactly ten days after, the voice having meanwhile voyaged
+across the Atlantic Ocean.
+
+"His first phonogram," as Mr. Edison calls it, tells me, among other
+things, that this instrument contains many modifications of those which,
+a few weeks ago, were exhibited at the Electrical Club in New York, and
+so widely reported by the Press.
+
+In the several long phonogramic communications to me (no single word of
+which had to be repeated in order to be clearly and easily understood by
+every person present, including a child of seven years old), Mr. Edison
+mentions that he will send me phonograms by every mail leaving New York,
+and requests me to correspond with him exclusively through the medium of
+the phonograph, humorously remarking in this connection upon the
+advantages he will himself derive from the substitution of phonograms
+for a style of writing not always too legible.
+
+Next to the phonogram from Mr. Edison himself, and before all the
+remainder of the deeply interesting contents of the "phonogramic
+cabinet" sent me, is an exquisite poem entitled, "The Phonograph's
+Salutation," composed by the well-known and gifted American poet and
+preacher, Horatio Nelson Powers, D.D., of Piermont, on the Hudson. This
+poem makes the phonograph tell its own story of what it is and what it
+does, in a style and with a power that must add not a little to the
+already high reputation of its author. It was spoken by him into the
+phonograph, so that we cannot fail to read it as he would have it
+read--a privilege of no small importance to both the poet and those who
+hear him.
+
+Perhaps the highest justification of the phonograph's description of its
+own power in its "Salutation" is found in the fact that to several
+members of my family who are familiar with the Doctor's style of
+oratory, from having sat under his preaching in former years, the voice
+of the author is perfectly recognizable, even by my youngest child of
+seven years, who had not heard the voice since he was five years old.
+
+Besides the above, Mr. Edison has sent for our amusement numerous
+musical records of great interest and beauty--pianoforte, cornet, and
+other instruments, solos, duets, &c., many of which, he tells me, have
+been very frequently repeated--some, several hundred times.
+
+Altogether, our experiences of the day have been so delightful and
+unusual, not to say supernatural, that it makes it difficult to realize
+that we have not been dreaming--so interesting withal as to make it seem
+a duty, as it is a pleasure, to communicate the above to your
+widely-read paper, which I have so frequently observed to chronicle the
+works of the author of this unparalleled triumph of mind over matter.
+All honour to Edison!
+
+I have the honour to be, sir,
+
+                                       Your obedient servant,
+                                            G. E. GOURAUD.
+
+_Little Menlo, Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, Surrey, June 26th, 1888_.
+
+P.S.--It may be interesting to add that the above communication was
+spoken by me into the phonograph, and written from the phonograph's
+dictation by a member of my family, who had, of course, no previous
+experience of the instrument.
+
+
+
+
+THE HOUSE UPON THE SAND.
+
+
+"Whilst we were conversing with a man named Joachim," says a missionary
+to Syria, "in the city of Nazareth, a sudden but violent storm arose,
+and terrific peals of thunder rolled over our heads. The brow of the
+hill whereon the city was built was every moment gleaming as the
+lightning flashed. The rain fell in torrents, and in the course of an
+hour a river flowed past the convent door, along what lately was a dry
+and quiet street. In the darkness of the night, we heard loud shrieks
+for help. The floods carried away baskets, logs of wood, tables, and
+fruit-stands. At length a general alarm was given. Two houses built on
+the sand were undermined by the water, and both fell together, while the
+people in them escaped with difficulty. It was impossible not to pity
+these poor, houseless creatures, and, at the same time, to thank God we
+were in a secure building."
+
+The power and meaning of these words spoken by our Lord was thus made
+plain--"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth
+them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
+rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
+and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
+rock."
+
+
+
+
+UNSEEN PROTECTION.
+
+
+A lady was wakened up one morning by a strange noise of pecking at the
+window, and when she got up, she saw a butterfly flying backwards and
+forwards inside the window in a great fright, because outside there was
+a sparrow pecking at the glass, wanting to reach the butterfly. The
+butterfly did not see the glass, but it saw the sparrow, and evidently
+expected every moment to be caught. Neither did the sparrow see the
+glass, though it saw the butterfly, and made sure of catching it. Yet,
+all the while, the butterfly, because of that thin, invisible sheet of
+glass, was actually as safe as if it had been miles away from the
+sparrow.
+
+Poor, fearful child of God, it is when our Protector is out of sight
+that our hearts fail us. Elisha's servant was in great fear when he
+awoke in the morning, and saw the city of Dothan encompassed with
+horses, and chariots, and a great host; but when his eyes were opened,
+at the prayer of the prophet, his fears vanished, for he beheld the
+mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. "Thou wilt keep him in
+perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in
+Thee." "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from
+this time forth and even for evermore."
+
+  "Though now unseen by outward sense,
+    Faith sees Him always near;
+  A Guide, a glory, a defence:
+    Then what have you to fear?"
+
+                --_Waymarks for Pilgrims._
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 130._)
+
+
+The omnipotence of God is, in some measure, made known to the heart of
+every individual on the face of the earth. We cannot cast our eyes
+around us without seeing, in some way or other, the wonderful power of
+God in the creating and ordering of all things. Only what God has
+purposed to do will take place; and, on the other hand, whatever God has
+ordered He has power to bring to pass, although to us such things may
+seem utterly impossible, "but with God all things are possible" (Matt.
+xix. 26). If we look through the Bible, the power of God prevails in
+every book, chapter, and verse. Was it not with a mighty hand that He
+brought the Israelites up out of Egypt? and their enemies, who were much
+stronger than they, when they knew the Lord was on Israel's side, feared
+greatly, and were all overthrown and destroyed (Exod. xii. 33; Joshua x.
+2). David, too, realized that wonderful power. He says, "But I will sing
+of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for
+Thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble" (Psa.
+lix. 16). David was often brought very low (Psa. xviii. 4, 5; cxvi. 3),
+but the Lord did not suffer him to despair, for he was one of His most
+precious jewels. Job, too, felt, in a remarkable way, during his
+affliction, the power of the Lord, and he endeavoured to show and
+explain it to his friends, but he had to finish up by saying, "Lo, these
+are parts of His ways, but how little a portion is heard of Him!"
+
+The omnipotence of God is so vast that it is quite impossible for us to
+fathom it. Look at the history of Jehoshaphat. He heard that a great
+army was coming to fight against them, and the army of Jehoshaphat,
+being so small, he knew they must be defeated and slain. But, in his
+extremity, he cried unto the Lord, saying, "O Lord God of our fathers,
+art not Thou God in heaven? and rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of
+the heathen? and in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that
+none is able to withstand Thee?" (2 Chron. xx. 6.) Was any able to
+withstand the Lord? No! Read the twenty-seventh verse--"Then they
+returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the
+forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had
+made them to rejoice over their enemies." Before, they felt condemned to
+die, but now they were released, and filled with joy.
+
+Such are the numerous instances in which the Lord, in His power, has
+raised up the cast down, relieved the oppressed, and comforted mourners,
+and such as are of a sad heart.
+
+                                         AGNES WILLERTON.
+
+_Corby, Grantham._
+
+[This is the best answer we have received, therefore we give it as
+embodying the secret of the Enigma.--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+A giant.
+
+One of David's wives.
+
+A disease.
+
+A piece of money.
+
+A prophetess.
+
+A garment worn by the priests.
+
+A judge.
+
+A brother of David.
+
+A king of Judah.
+
+A brook.
+
+A colour.
+
+The name by which the penitent Israelites were to address God.
+
+A son of Jacob.
+
+The mother of a friend of Paul's.
+
+
+The initials form something which the Saviour said.
+
+                                    HARRY F. FORFEITT
+                                    (Aged 10 years).
+
+
+
+
+ONE "WHOSE HEART THE LORD OPENED."
+
+
+Carrie Foord, the subject of this memoir, was born at Tunbridge, in
+Kent, on 27th September, 1867. At the age of six years she lost her
+mother, and at eight her father, leaving her sister Kate and herself to
+the care of their stepmother, who was in every way most kind to them,
+which kindness they returned with much affection. It was Mrs. Foord's
+wish to keep a home for them to grow up together. Man proposes and God
+disposes. The home had to be given up, Kate going to her grandfather's,
+and Carrie, in the providence of God, brought to live with us at
+Hailsham, much against her inclination, as she neither liked us nor our
+religion. This continued for some time, but
+
+  "God moves in a mysterious way
+    His wonders to perform."
+
+She was brought, through divine grace, to see her state as a sinner in
+the sight of God by hearing the third verse of the 666th hymn of
+Gadsby's Selection given out one evening, as she took her seat in the
+chapel. The arrow of conviction went home to her heart. Well do I
+remember, on her return, finding her alone, and crying. Putting her arms
+round my neck, she said, "What shall I do? I am such a sinner! I'm so
+wicked!" although at the time I did not know what had caused her
+distress.
+
+At another time she was much impressed by a sermon our dear Pastor, Mr.
+Nunn, preached from Hebrews xiii. 14--"For here we have no continuing
+city, but we seek one to come." From this time she became an earnest
+seeker, very regular in her attendance at the house of God, nothing but
+duty keeping her away. Ultimately she was baptized, and became a very
+useful teacher in the Sabbath School, where she was much loved.
+
+Early in 1886 she caught a severe cold, which settled on her lungs,
+causing the rupture of a blood-vessel. Some scattered sayings, spoken at
+different times during her illness, were recorded, of which the
+following are a few:--
+
+"Oh, I do wish he did not think so well of me, and call me good!"
+alluding to a remark of a very dear friend. "He does not know how wicked
+I am, or he would never say I was good. What a mercy I was ever brought
+here, under the sound of the Gospel! But then, God is not confined to
+places, is He, auntie? If I am His child, He would be sure to reveal
+Himself to me, in His own good time; but I do thank Him for bringing me
+here. My dear uncle, how kind he is! How earnestly he has prayed for me,
+and our dear Pastor too! I believe their prayers have been answered.
+What a mercy!"
+
+After a bad fit of bleeding, I said, "Did you think, dear, you should
+die, when bringing up the blood?" She said, "No, auntie; I never once
+thought I should." Our hopes were raised as she got better so quickly,
+and we thought it might have been only a lodgment. She frequently said,
+"I don't mind if it is not my lungs." But when she grew rapidly worse,
+and we called in another doctor, he only confirmed what our own doctor
+had said--that her case was hopeless. After they were gone, she said,
+"What did they say, auntie?" I told her it was the lung. She very
+quietly remarked, "People often live a long time with their right lung
+gone, don't they?" I said, "Yes," not having the heart to tell her, in
+her case, it would not be long.
+
+One day, turning over the leaves of a hymn-book, I came to the one on
+the safety of believers, which I read. The first verse is--
+
+  "There is a safe and secret place,
+    Beneath the wings divine,
+  Reserved for all the heirs of grace;
+    Oh, be that refuge mine!"
+
+She said, "I do like that hymn so much, auntie. I have had such sweet
+times in my little room. Often when you have sent me up to study for my
+class, I have had such sweet enjoyment that I could not study."
+
+On awaking one night, she said, "Oh, auntie, I have had some beautiful
+words come with such power, and I keep saying them--'Thou art Mine, as
+the apple of Mine eye.'" I said, "You could not have a more precious
+portion. That will do to go to sleep on, won't it?" She said, "Oh, yes!"
+and soon fell into a peaceful slumber.
+
+One night she said, "Auntie, do you ever feel your prayers to be very
+formal, as if it was merely a habit, and no heart in it?" I said, "Yes,
+dear; too often." She said, "Do you?" "Oh, yes," I said; "I wish I did
+not."
+
+One morning, going into her room, she said to me, "I have had a nice
+time. The sun shone brightly in at the window, and those words came, 'So
+shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings.'"
+
+One day she said, "I used to cry so when I was at Gravesend. Do you know
+what for?" I said, "No; why did you?" She said, "Because I was coming
+here. I did dislike coming so, and for a long time after I was here I
+would go and pray, as I thought, very earnestly that mother would send a
+letter to fetch me away; but that letter never came. No, it never came;
+and what a mercy it did not! God knew what was best for me. How we can
+look back and say, 'All was for the best.'"
+
+We felt that we should like her to know the state of health she was in,
+but felt quite unfit to tell her. During a visit, a friend asked her if
+she wished to get better? On referring to me, after they were gone, she
+said, "Is it wrong, auntie? Don't you think it is natural for me to wish
+so, who am young?" I said, "Yes, dear, quite natural." She said, "But I
+know the Lord will do what He thinks best."
+
+Previous to her nineteenth birthday (September 27th) she had a return of
+the bleeding, which again confined her to her bed for a time. We all
+felt her end might be very near, and would perhaps come suddenly by the
+rupture of another blood-vessel; therefore we were very anxious she
+should know what a precarious state she was in. It was, therefore, quite
+a relief when she said one day, "Auntie, I did not think at one time I
+should be alive now. I did not think I should live to see my birthday."
+I said, "I am very glad to hear you say this. I quite thought you were
+under the impression you would get better. What were your feelings when
+you thought this?" "Oh," she said, "I felt I could leave it all in the
+Lord's hands. He would do what was best." There was a sweet resignation
+to His will at this time; but, after a little while, her bodily strength
+increasing, she was gradually buoyed up with a hope that she might get
+better. Knowing from the faithfulness of our doctor that her case was
+hopeless, we could not participate in that hope. She was most honest in
+her principles, and could not bear to deceive any one.
+
+One day, as we were sitting alone, she said, "Oh, auntie, you never
+thought I could deceive you or uncle, did you? But I did." I said, "I am
+glad you have spoken of this, dear, although I think in your case it was
+different from many" (knowing that what she alluded to was a private
+matter). "At any rate, you have our pardon." She said, "What stings of
+conscience I have had through it! It has quite taken away any feeling of
+pleasure I may have had; and yet my will was so strong to have my own
+way, I could not give it up.[10] I have not deceived you in anything
+else, auntie. You believe me, don't you?" I said, "Indeed I do."
+
+  [10] We hope all our young readers will mark this honest confession,
+  which was produced by the fear of God, and ever remember that deception
+  is mean and sinful.--ED.
+
+A very dear friend calling to see her one afternoon, who had not seen
+her since she was called by divine grace, said in the course of
+conversation, "Well, my dear, there are times and seasons, I have no
+doubt, when you can say you would not have it otherwise, but that it was
+good for you to be afflicted?" She turned very red, paused, then said
+with her usual candour, "I cannot say that, Miss G----." After her
+departure, she said, "Auntie, I wish to be submissive to the will of the
+Lord, but I felt I could not say that I have ever had a time when I
+would not have it otherwise."
+
+A friend calling one evening, spoke in a very solemn manner of those who
+had a false enjoyment, and put some close questions to her. She said
+little, but after he was gone seemed much put out, and said, "I know I
+cannot talk like those he visits. I expect he thinks there is nothing in
+me. What do you say, auntie?" I said, "He was certainly very searching,
+my dear, but I don't think you understood him. He is so afraid of any
+one resting on a wrong foundation, and knowing what a very delicate
+state of health you were in, he was anxious to know if you were resting
+on Christ, and Christ alone, for salvation." "Well," she said, "I felt
+dumb. I expect he thinks very badly of me."
+
+Her strength seemed to go daily. As Christmas drew near, she said,
+"Auntie, let everything go on the same as it has done other years. Make
+no difference for me. Invite your friends for the day as usual." But we
+felt it a very solemn time, and hard work to put on the appearance of
+cheerfulness, feeling sure, ere another Christmas came, her place would
+be vacant, and she in eternity.
+
+Her dear little cousin was a great sufferer at times all through her
+illness, and it became apparent that she, too, was fast hastening home.
+I said to Carrie one day, "I used to feel, dear, that I should have you
+to leave to see after our dear Flo, if we were taken, but it seems the
+Lord's will to take you, and I sometimes think she won't be long." She
+answered, "No, I don't think she will; but she will be safe whenever she
+goes."
+
+We could have but few quiet times together after this, through the
+serious illness and death of her dear cousin, but she was wonderfully
+buoyed up at this time with the assurance that nothing was too hard for
+the Lord, and apparently rested upon it, for when I was alluding to her
+sad state of health, she said, "I know I am beyond the power of earthly
+physicians to cure, auntie; but, you know, nothing is too hard for the
+Lord."
+
+After the death of her cousin, she was most anxious to have her mourning
+made, which we felt sorry for, as it seemed such a clinging to life; but
+we found it was only a natural desire to show her love for her dear
+little cousin. At any rate, the wish gradually left her, and all things
+of an earthly nature lost their charm.
+
+One day she said, "I have no wish to join in anything now. I don't feel
+to want to go and witness anything. That is a blessing the Lord only can
+give, isn't it?" I said, "Yes," knowing what great delight she used to
+take in many things, and how active she had been, especially in anything
+connected with the chapel or Sabbath School.
+
+After this darkness set in. The Word of God was as a sealed Book, and
+she had no spiritual enjoyment, which she much deplored; also, the
+visits of our dear Pastor and her uncle failed to give any comfort.
+
+One day, after a doze in the easy chair, she said, "Was it not strange?
+It seemed as if, when I was sleeping, a little boy came to me, and said,
+'The Lord hath not forgotten thee, so live in peace.' It did seem so
+strange to see the little boy come up and say this. What do you think
+of it?" I said, "I cannot tell."
+
+She grew rapidly worse, and our dear nurse thought it advisable to ask
+the doctor to call, as he had not been for a few days. He came, and said
+she might be gone in twenty-four hours, or might linger a few days, but
+the beginning of the end had taken place. Our dear Pastor went and spoke
+a few words to her ere he left, and said, "Ah! dear, it is well with
+you," and other words of comfort. But after he was gone she was much
+cast down, and said, "Oh, why did he say that? I don't feel it will be
+well." Then, after a little while, she said, "Do you think I am much
+worse?" "Yes, dear," I replied. "Do you think I shall die?" I said, "I
+fear you will." Then she said, "Oh, auntie, what trouble I am in! I fear
+I have deceived you and myself, and that I shall go to hell." I replied,
+"But, my dear, you have had some sweet promises applied with power,
+haven't you?" "Oh, I've thought so, but if I have been deceiving
+myself?" I said, "You have had a desire after these things, have you
+not?" "Oh, yes!" she replied. "Then," I said, "I feel assured, my dear,
+you would not have had a real desire if you were a deceiver." She said,
+"Auntie, what shall I do? I feel I can't die like this; but I can't do
+anything, can I?" Wringing her hands in agony of mind, she cried, "Do,
+please, Lord, come! Do come! Oh, dear Lord Jesus, do please come!" She
+continued in much distress, until I felt quite unequal to talk to her,
+and said, "My dear, shall I send for some one?" She replied, "Oh, no,
+auntie; don't send for any one. The Lord must do it all" (laying great
+stress on the _all_); "but do pray for me, that He will appear." Her
+distress of mind was very great. No words or texts of Scripture named
+gave her any comfort. I left the room for a short time, leaving her in
+the care of our dear nurse (of whom she was very fond), and on my
+return, found she had had a nice sleep. Going up to her, she said, "How
+can I thank you enough?" I said, "Don't say a word about that, dear. My
+earnest desire is, that you may get a word from the Lord." Her
+countenance looked so placid, and she said, "I have, auntie." I said,
+"Is Jesus precious to you as your Saviour? Can you trust Him?" She
+replied, "Yes. These words came--'Fear not; I will be with you,' and I
+think He will. Yes, His promises stand good. 'He'll never, no, never,
+no, never forsake.'" She then dozed again. I saw her lips moving, and
+caught the words, "With Christ in the vessel I smile at the storm,"
+having evidently been repeating that beautiful hymn of Newton's, "Begone
+unbelief, my Saviour is near."
+
+After this she had a little time of peace. The next morning, on being
+asked if the Lord had again given her comfort, "Yes," she said; "He has
+promised that, when through fiery trials He'll cause me to go, He will
+be with me."
+
+Darkness again took possession of her mind, and she was often saying,
+"Oh, to be a castaway!" She said she would like her uncle to come, which
+he did. On his approaching the bed, she said, "Oh, uncle, what will
+become of me if I am a deceiver? I shall be lost!" He took her hand, and
+said, "Jesus came to save the lost, so you see, dear, you are one. 'The
+whole need not a physician, but those who are sick.'" After a few words,
+he engaged in prayer. She then dozed, and was never again so harassed by
+the enemy of souls.
+
+On Friday morning she was much favoured with the Lord's presence, and
+longed to "depart and be with Christ," saying repeatedly, "Do, dear Lord
+Jesus, take me to-day! I do so want to go!" I said, "We must wait His
+time." "Yes," she replied--
+
+  "Till He bids, I cannot die;
+  Not a single shaft can hit
+  Till the God of love sees fit."
+
+Her throat and breathing at this time were very bad, and she asked the
+doctor when he came if he could relieve her at all. He said he was
+afraid he could not, but it would not be long. After he was gone she
+again said, "I do so hope the Lord will take me to-day. Do come, Lord
+Jesus; do come! Oh, how I long to go! What a glorious meeting it will be
+for me, if I am right!" Then clasping her dear hands together, she said,
+with such a sweet smile as nurse and I shall never forget, "Oh, blissful
+home! What a glorious meeting! I shall see Christ in all His beauty!"
+
+In the afternoon her breathing altered, and she seemed gently passing
+away. Looking up so sweetly, she said, "Am I dying, auntie?" I answered,
+"Yes, dear; it won't be long now. You want to go, don't you?" "Oh, yes,"
+she replied. Her difficulty of breathing returned, and she suffered much
+through the night. In the morning she said, "You thought me dying
+yesterday, and the doctor too; but the dear Lord did not, did He? It was
+not His time." She continued very ill through the day--scarcely able to
+speak. Towards night she slightly rallied, and looking up at the clock,
+said, "Oh, the night!" She had often during her illness dreaded the
+nights. I said, "You know that beautiful hymn, dear--'Sun of my soul'?"
+She took it up, and said--
+
+                  "Thou Saviour dear,
+  It is not night if Thou be near;
+  Oh, may no earth-born cloud arise,
+  To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes,"
+
+after which she did not say any more about the night.
+
+Her dear Pastor and others bade her "good-bye," but her breathing was
+too bad for her to speak, until about two o'clock, when she startled the
+dear friend who was sitting up and myself by turning round, calmly
+putting her hand in mine, and, with a kiss, said, "Good-bye." Then
+turning to Mrs. T----, she did the same to her, and then very quietly
+remarked, "You don't hear it now, auntie?"--alluding to the rattles. I
+said, "No; the conflict will soon be over, darling." Still, it was not
+yet ended--not until a quarter to four on the 8th of May, 1887, was her
+soul permitted to "depart and be with Christ," whom she had longed to
+see in all His beauty.
+
+
+
+
+  LITTLE BY LITTLE.
+
+
+  One step and then another,
+    And the longest walk is ended;
+  One stitch and then another,
+    And the largest rent is mended;
+  One brick upon another,
+    And the highest wall is made;
+  One flake upon another,
+    And the deepest snow is laid.
+
+  So the little coral-workers,
+    By their slow but constant motion,
+  Have built those pretty islands
+    In the distant, dark blue ocean;
+  And the noblest undertakings
+    Man's wisdom hath conceived,
+  By oft-repeated efforts
+    Have been patiently achieved.
+
+  Then do not look disheartened
+    O'er the work you have to do,
+  And say that such a mighty task
+    You never can get through;
+  But just endeavour, day by day,
+    Another point to gain,
+  And soon the mountain which you feared
+    Will prove to be a plain.
+
+  "Rome was not builded in a day,"
+    The ancient proverb teaches;
+  And Nature, by her trees and flowers,
+    The same sweet sermon preaches.
+  Think not of far-off duties,
+    But of duties which are near;
+  And having once begun to work,
+    Resolve to persevere.
+
+                               C. SWAIN.
+
+
+
+
+FLYING FOXES.
+
+
+Among the many anomalies presented by Nature, that of a flying mammal
+has seemed strikingly incongruous, and has always left an impression on
+the popular mind generally the reverse of the truth. The fox-bats are an
+example in point. Superstition has gathered about these strange
+creatures the wildest fears; and their uncouth and weird looks have
+strengthened a foolish credence in the stories of the vampire. They, it
+was declared, settled at night upon the wearied sleeper, and sucked his
+life-blood, or with a malicious bite involved the souls of the virtuous
+in the terrors of their own lost estate.
+
+The examinations of the naturalist long ago put to flight these romantic
+tales; but in their haunts, among the woods of Southern Asia, in Africa,
+Australia, Java, and Sumatra, their black swarms and flying movements
+yet cause dread and disgust.
+
+The flying foxes are ranged under the order of the _Cheiroptera_, or
+hand-winged mammals, and are grouped together in the sub-section of the
+fruit-eating bats, as distinguished from those feeding mostly upon
+insects.
+
+Their depredations upon orchards and vineyards are notorious. Sailing
+through the air at sundown, and guided by an acute sense of smell, they
+will enter the plantations containing some plant upon which the fruit
+has reached maturity, and, covering it in crowds, will revel in the
+delicious repast, leaving the tree or vine at dawn stripped of all its
+precious wealth. They fly rapidly, but never at any great height, and
+sometimes will traverse considerable spaces, migrating from island to
+island over intervening arms of the ocean. On the ground they are agile
+and curiously active. They climb trees with ease, and during the day
+hang by their hind limbs, their wing membrane wrapped around them, from
+the loftier boughs. So densely are they sometimes congregated that the
+tree seems a solid mass of black, motionless bags.
+
+The species is distributed over East India, and finds also a favourable
+habitation in Madagascar. It lives in immense colonies, and its swarms
+have been compared with those of gnats, while the branches they infest
+sometimes break down with their great weight. They feed on dates,
+bananas, the guava fruit, and also eat insects, the young and eggs of
+birds, and apparently at times snakes. Their flesh is edible, and
+esteemed immensely by natives, who catch them in nets in the trees, and
+kill them on the ground.
+
+In flight, they can be brought down by a blow delivered on the expanded
+arms, covered with the flying membrane (patagium), as these are very
+weak.
+
+This species is seen more often in captivity than any other; and Brehm,
+from whose admirable Thierleben these notes are taken, speaks with
+characteristic enthusiasm of his observations made upon one. The "fox"
+slept nearly all day, though regularly he devoted some time to the
+cleansing and preparation of his "flying machine," and occasionally
+bestirred himself for the enjoyment of a cherry or a sip of milk. At the
+approach of night he became restless and excited, stretched his wings,
+and vainly attempted to escape. He displayed temper, and would bite
+sharply any one whose familiarities he resented. The combats of these
+animals with one another are very relentless, and generally terminate
+with the death of one or both contestants.
+
+The head in these bats is long and pointed, the ears moderately large,
+the nose without the appendages seen in the insectivorous bats, and the
+jaws armed with incisors, canines, and molar teeth. They form in their
+habitat interesting spectacles; and their whirring progress through the
+air at night, or the pendent throngs they present by day, alike
+astonish the visitor to Ceylon and India. The bats are naturally
+regarded as one of the most distinctly marked groups of animals; and
+among them the flying-foxes (_Pteropidae_) are easily identified. They
+have long been known in literature, and the ancient Herodotus spoke of
+them in Arabia, and said that the inhabitants protected themselves
+against them in dresses of leather. Later classic authors referred to
+them, and many naturalists have in the East carefully observed their
+habits.
+
+[Illustration: FLYING FOXES.]
+
+
+
+
+KILLED BY LIGHTNING.
+
+
+DEAR MR. EDITOR,--As a warning to any of our young friends who, when
+they leave home to take part in the battle of life, may be thrown
+amongst revilers and blasphemers, I will relate a sad occurrence which
+took place in the next village to this on Monday, June 25th, 1888.
+
+A club is held in the village of Birdham, where this took place, and on
+the evening previous, being the Sabbath evening, the stall-keepers,
+swinging boat proprietors, &c., were drinking at the village inn, and
+one of the company, a young man of twenty, was swearing and flourishing
+his hands over his head, saying he did not care for any one. God might
+strike him blind if He liked.
+
+The next day, about noon, a heavy thunderstorm burst over the village.
+This young man had gone into the field with the horse, a little boy
+being beside him, when a flash of lightning darted down, cut his hat to
+pieces, and left him a corpse. One ear was split, and one hand and the
+face were black.
+
+Thus it was not long before God dealt with this young mocker in a manner
+more awful than he probably expected. This was so sad that it impressed
+many with solemn thoughts, and led to the following similar sad story
+being again related.
+
+Some years since, in the next village, Earnley, a man being accused of
+taking some money, declared that, if he had it, he hoped his legs and
+arms might be burned off. A storm arose, the lightning darted athwart
+the heavens, fell on the barn wherein he was, burned the barn, and his
+body was afterwards found with legs and arms burned off.
+
+This was related to me by a woman named Shepherd, now living within a
+short distance of where the barn stood, and who saw it on fire.
+
+Still another sad tale. On Sunday last, four young men left Bognor for
+Selsey--a few miles' trip by boat on the sea. At Selsey they took too
+much drink, and, on their return, the boat capsized, and they were in
+the water for an hour crying for help; but although many heard them one
+and two miles away--it being a still night--no one seems to have known
+whence the sounds came. Thus all four Sabbath-breakers perished. One of
+the poor fellows wore the knees of his trousers quite away in his
+attempts to climb on the overturned boat.
+
+                                            A. E. P.
+
+_Sidlesham._
+
+P.S.--Selsey also joins this village. I saw the boat rowing towards it
+about half-past four.
+
+["The wages of sin is death." Reader, how are you living? How shall you
+die, and where shall you go? Remember that all who are out of Christ are
+exposed to the wrath of God, while all who, by faith, flee to Him for
+mercy, are saved from the wrath to come. Beware of mocking God, of
+despising His Word, and of desecrating His day. "The way of
+transgressors is hard," but "whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sin
+shall find mercy."--ED.]
+
+
+THE highest visible form of Christian life is self-denial for the good
+of others.
+
+
+
+
+AN AGED PILGRIM'S HISTORY.
+
+
+An aged pilgrim of seventy-two years, recently made a pensioner of our
+Society, has lately come under our notice, and as an example of
+courageous faith, it may interest our readers and others to know
+something of this poor old man.
+
+Having faithfully served our country for fourteen years as a soldier in
+the 14th Light Dragoons, and having been severely wounded during the
+Crimean War, in which he served in all the special engagements, he was
+paid off as unfit for further service, receiving a pension for only ten
+years, as he was unable to complete the full term of service (twenty-one
+years) which would have entitled him to a pension for life.
+
+After leaving the army he worked as a labourer, whenever he could find
+employment, and was brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus
+Christ about twenty years ago, after which he was soon engaged in
+carrying heavy loads at Cotton's Wharf, in Tooley Street, London.
+
+After seventeen years of this work, he one day, unhappily, stumbled
+whilst carrying a load, and fell backwards some distance, the back of
+his head being split open. This brought about paralysis on the left
+side, and some two years afterwards it resulted in the loss of his
+sight. For three years he has been stone blind, and has suffered at
+times most acutely from pain in the head; but his indomitable energy,
+and strong faith in his "dear Heavenly Father," have kept him from
+falling to the level of a pauper; and rather than gravitate to the
+condition of an inmate of one of our Unions, he has bravely endeavoured
+to make a living by playing a musical instrument in the streets.
+
+To add to his affliction, his wife, in 1883, was run over in the streets
+of London, and died in an hospital under amputation of both legs. Thus,
+left without relation or friend, this poor blind man had to face this
+cold and unheeding world alone; and yet he is never alone, for his faith
+is so bright that he goes out, walking long distances, trusting to God
+to preserve him in his way.
+
+On one occasion, he was taken by a constable before the Lord Mayor of
+London, charged with playing an instrument in the streets, and having
+been questioned as to what he did, answered that he played a small
+instrument by which to keep himself. The Lord Mayor asked him to play a
+tune, which he accordingly did, and he at once took the part of this
+aged pilgrim, gave him five shillings, and reprimanded the constable for
+arresting the poor old man, and told him to look after those who were
+doing really wrong things in the streets, and not to bring poor,
+helpless men to him like that. This poor man, hearing the severe words
+addressed to the constable by his lordship, immediately began to beg
+that no punishment might be meted out, quietly remarking, "My lord, very
+likely he is a young constable, and has not quite learnt his duties.
+Don't punish him; don't punish him." Thus did he show the true Christian
+spirit of love for his enemies.
+
+To illustrate the marvellous energy of will and courage of heart in this
+old veteran, on one occasion he was badly bitten by a ferocious dog,
+which left a terrible wound on his leg. No sooner had it got well enough
+for him to crawl, than he walked four miles in awful agony to see one of
+his friends, taking four and a half hours over the journey. Such men are
+worthy of our support.
+
+Our readers may ask, "How is it that Government does not look after this
+old soldier?" But it is explained when we learn that he married "off the
+strength," _i.e._, without leave, and so is now left to do the best he
+can, unaided by his country.
+
+From town to town this poor man, literally a pilgrim, wanders, seeking
+the "wherewithal" to keep body and soul together. Often would he have
+been starved, but for friends whom the good Lord has raised up for him
+in the most unexpected ways.
+
+Wherever he goes he carries the savour of Christ with him, and boldly
+witnesses for his Saviour, abominating the awful language and behaviour
+which he has to put up with in the houses where he lodges for the night;
+and has even been pushed and struck because he has spoken out against
+the evil by which he was surrounded. Thus actually from day to day
+dependent upon his "Father in heaven" for his "daily bread," he lives by
+faith; and thank God we know that, not having "his portion in this
+life," there awaits him in due time the sweet rest of heaven, where he
+shall be for ever "comforted" and owned in his Father's kingdom.--H. J.
+K., in _Quarterly Record of the Aged Pilgrims' Friend Society_.
+
+
+
+
+A MODEL PRAYER-MEETING.
+
+
+It was a cheerful chapel above ground, filled with seats, wide enough
+apart to kneel down between them, if one wanted to do so, well warmed
+and well ventilated.
+
+At the time fixed for the meeting, first of all came Brother
+_Punctuality_. His watch and actions are always regulated to the minute
+by the town clock. Once he and the minister came together. They waited
+one minute for others who came not, and then each prayed, talked, and
+sang. They spent fifteen minutes thus, and then left.
+
+On their way home they met the rest coming, who said, "Why, are we not
+to have a meeting?" "Oh, _we_ have had one," was the reply. That cured
+all, except the most incorrigible, of their delay. Some people are
+chronically tardy. You can never change them. They are always too late
+for work, too late for dinner, too late for church. What a mercy if they
+are not at last among those who come when the door is shut! They disturb
+the devotions of others. Not so Brother Punctuality; only he has one
+troublesome fault. When the hour is done he opens that inevitable
+hunting-watch of his, and snaps it to with such a nervous jerk that it
+says very plainly to all, "Now, shut up and go home." This is bad enough
+in ordinary and dull times, but when hearts are warm, and prayers are
+strong, and the current of love flows fully, let there then at least be
+a little more latitude.
+
+Congenial with this brother is Brother _Promptitude_. When the leader
+opens the meeting, he is always ready to rise. He shudders at these
+pauses. They are to him as ice-cakes clogging the current of love,
+hindering the wheels of prayer. Yet he would not rush things. I have
+known him to count _seven_, the mystic number of the Scripture, and
+then, if no one rose to speak or pray, he did. He is thus a minute man,
+ready for action in a minute, and hating to lose the minutes. Slower
+natures than his complain that he does not give them time to think. No
+matter; they may learn at last not to be so slow.
+
+In the other seat sits Brother _Brevity_. He has something to say, and
+having said it he sits down. When some overstocked divine or some
+thin-laid layman drags wearily along with a chain of dull platitudes, he
+is very twitchy, wondering why people will waste so much good breath and
+use so many poor words in saying nothing.
+
+Brother _Pointedness_ deeply sympathises with him. He wants to see
+people take good aim at the mark, and hit it--not try to see how near
+they can come and not do it.
+
+Brother _Round-the-Circle_ greatly distresses him, who, if he has a
+fact, an incident, or an illustration, has so many minor details to
+dwell upon that he smothers the infant-truth under his mass of old
+clothes.--_Selected._
+
+[Perhaps this curious sketch may yield useful hints to some who read
+it.--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+GENEROSITY AND LOVE.
+
+
+The late Duke of Portland was a nobleman who contrived to pass through
+life without much noise, but reaped happiness and respect in abundance,
+and, while gratifying his taste for rural occupation, conferred the most
+lasting benefits on the country. The following, among many stories, is
+told of him:--
+
+The duke discovered that one of his tenants, a small farmer, was
+falling, year after year, into arrears of rent. The steward wished to
+know what was to be done. The duke rode to the farm, saw that it was
+rapidly deteriorating, and the man, who was really an experienced and
+industrious farmer, totally unable to manage it, from poverty. In fact,
+all that was on the farm was not enough to pay the arrears.
+
+"John," said the duke, as the farmer came to meet him, as he rode up to
+the house, "I want to look over the farm a little."
+
+As they went along, "Really," said he, "everything is in very bad case.
+This won't do. I see you are quite under it. All your stock and crops
+won't pay the rent in arrear. I will tell you what I must do. I must
+take the farm into my own hands. You shall look after it for me, and I
+will pay you your wages."
+
+Of course, there was no saying nay. The poor man bowed assent.
+
+Presently there came a reinforcement of stock, then loads of manure, at
+the proper time seed, and wood from the plantations for repairing gates
+and buildings. The duke rode over frequently. The man exerted himself,
+and seemed really quite relieved from a load of care by the change.
+Things speedily assumed a new aspect. The crops and stock flourished;
+fences and out-buildings were put into good order. In two or three
+rent-days it was seen by the steward's books that the farm was making
+its way. The duke on his next visit said--
+
+"Well, John, I think the farm does very well now. We will change again.
+You shall once more be tenant, and, as you now have your head fairly
+above water, I hope you will be able to keep it there."
+
+The duke rode off at his usual rapid rate. The man stood in
+astonishment; but a happy fellow he was when, on applying to the
+steward, he found that he was actually re-entered as tenant to the farm,
+just as it stood in its restored condition. We will venture to say,
+however, that the duke himself was the happier man of the two.
+
+He that doeth good enriches his own heart with unspeakable blessings.
+
+"Better a fountain in the heart
+  Than a fountain by the way."
+
+                                              W. H.
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 165._)
+
+
+  "_Praise._"--PSALM cl. 1.
+
+  P is in Peter, but not in Aaron.
+  R is in Pharaoh, but not in Matthew.
+  A is in Adam, but not in Moses.
+  I is in Israel, but not in Abdon.
+  S is in Jesus, but not in Daniel.
+  E is in Eden, but not in Spirit.
+
+                          JOSEPH HUGH WILLERTON
+                                (Aged 6 years).
+
+_Corby, Grantham._
+
+[A correct answer has also been received from Maggie Nunn, aged nine
+years.--ED.]
+
+
+
+
+ZOAR CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL, HAND CROSS.
+
+
+The Sunday School children of the above place of worship met together
+for their annual meeting on Sunday afternoon, May 20th, when our kind
+friend, Mr. Daw, of Hailsham, presided.
+
+The service commenced by our old friend, Mr. Izard, giving out Hymn 59,
+Clifton Hymnal, after which Mr. Daw commenced by saying, as there were a
+goodly number of friends present, as well as children, he would try to
+make it as much like an ordinary service as possible. He then read 1
+Samuel iii., then engaged in prayer, after which Hymn 212 was sung, the
+last line of the chorus being, "What can we give in exchange for the
+soul?"
+
+He said that, when he was about one year old in divine things, he
+thought, if that text was written up on his house in big letters, so as
+people could see it as they passed by, it would convert them, and he
+actually went out one day to see if there was a place where it might be
+put up. That was when he had been quickened into life about one year. He
+said he did not feel very old now. He remembered asking some little
+girls if they could tell him how old he was, and one little girl said
+thirteen; and he thought she was very near right, for he felt sure he
+was not more than fourteen now.
+
+He then said he should preach a short sermon from 1 Samuel iii., and the
+last clause of the eighth verse--"And Eli perceived that the Lord had
+called the child." He said he had tried to preach to children before,
+but this was to be a special trial, so we should see how he got on.
+
+He said, in referring to the Lord calling Samuel, that his mother Hannah
+was of a sorrowful spirit, and prayed and made vows to the Lord that, if
+He would give her a man-child, she would give him to the Lord all the
+days of his life; and the Lord granted her request, and she called his
+name Samuel, because she had asked him of the Lord. So when Samuel was
+very young, she took him up to the temple; and one night, when he lay
+asleep, the Lord called him, and Samuel thought it was Eli that called
+him. But Eli said, "I called thee not; go and lie down again." But the
+Lord called him the second and third time, then "Eli perceived that the
+Lord had called the child."
+
+The Lord called David to be king--the most unlikely one of the lot, for
+all his brothers passed before Samuel first. Great, strong men they
+were, to all appearance--far before David. But no; David, the shepherd
+boy, was chosen to be king, for God often "chooses the foolish things to
+confound the wise."
+
+He said he used to be a teacher in the Sunday School, and he often
+wished he was one now, for he thought he liked talking to children best;
+and when the Lord called him out to preach, one of his greatest trials
+was, to give up the Sunday School, for he thought out of his class the
+Lord had called four boys and four girls.
+
+Some boys and girls, after they have been to a Sunday School a few
+times, will return home and tell a fine tale to their mother, and say,
+"I shall not go to that school any more." "Oh, why not?" "Because they
+don't give such good treats and prizes as they do at other schools." But
+their mothers never ought to encourage that.
+
+He once saw a girl at Polegate Station, and he thought, "That girl is
+going off to service." He was sure of it; and whenever he saw a girl at
+the station, with a box or two and a parcel, going off to service for
+the first time, he generally said to himself, "That girl will have a
+good cry to-night, when she gets into bed." So when he saw this girl, he
+thought he would write her a letter; and he did so--that being five
+years ago--and he saw her only last week, when she said she had cause to
+thank him for that letter, and he quite hoped that letter was the means
+used by the Lord in calling her.
+
+Then he said he wanted to say a word to parents and teachers. He did not
+know who he had before him, because he did not live in the
+neighbourhood. If he did, he should know more about them, and if the
+children did not come to school pretty regularly, he should often call
+on them to know the reason. He said he did not wish to offend them, but
+he often thought that parents sent their children to school, and never
+went to the house of God themselves.
+
+And as to teachers--what a self-denying work theirs was! If there were
+any that needed sympathy, it was the teachers; and if they could not get
+it from the parents, they would draw it from some other source, for we
+read, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many
+days" (Eccles. xi. 1).
+
+The children then repeated several hymns and passages of Scripture,
+which they had learned for the occasion, after which Mr. Daw proceeded
+to distribute the prizes--which consisted of Bibles, hymn-books, and
+other good books--those receiving the best who had the most marks for
+attendance and good behaviour. In presenting a nice Bible to a little
+girl, he made the remark, "I have a Bible in my pocket which is not
+quite so good-looking as yours, but I prize it beyond any Bibles here,
+because it was given to me by a girl that is now in heaven; and there
+are marks in it, against various portions of Scripture, which had been
+blessed to her through my ministry." As they came forward to receive
+their prizes, he addressed each one in a very affectionate manner. He,
+indeed, had a kind word for all. He also wished each one to learn a
+hymn, which he named. After singing another hymn, Mr. Daw concluded with
+prayer.
+
+  "Am I called, and can it be?
+  Has my Saviour chosen me?
+  Vilest of the vile am I;
+  Can I lift my thoughts so high?"
+
+                             A READER.
+
+
+
+
+ZION CHAPEL, TROWBRIDGE.
+
+
+The sixtieth anniversary of the Sabbath School in connection with this
+place was held on Sunday, June 24th. Special sermons were preached by
+Mr. B. C. Turner, of Southport, and the scholars sang specially-selected
+hymns in the evening, at which service the chapel was crowded.
+
+The text in the morning was Ruth iii. 1, and in the evening Mr. Turner
+spoke from Ecclesiastes xi. 6, "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the
+evening withhold not thine hand." In discoursing from these words, he
+spoke many encouraging words to the teachers and parents, and gave good
+advice to the children.
+
+After the sermon, three girls and four boys were promoted to the Senior
+Bible Classes, each of whom was presented with a handsomely-bound Bible,
+and Mr. Turner spoke a few appropriate words to them.
+
+The collections at the two services amounted to L15 1s. 3d. The school
+now numbers 240 scholars, forty teachers, and two superintendents.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN AUGUST.
+
+
+Aug.  5. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 1.
+Aug. 12. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 14.
+Aug. 19. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 25.
+Aug. 26. Commit to memory Prov. iv. 18.
+
+
+WHAT could Jesus do more than die for us? and what can we do less than
+live to Him?
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+THE PARABLE OF THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD.
+
+(MATTHEW xx. 1-16.)
+
+
+Jesus had left Galilee for the last time, and He and His disciples were
+on their way to Jerusalem, where He would be condemned to die. They had
+rested in a house on the road, and He had embraced and blessed the
+little children that were brought to receive His gracious touch. He had
+been met by a rich young man as He resumed His journey--one who wanted
+eternal life, but sorrowfully left the only Giver of that blessing
+because he could not bear to give up his wealth to follow the meek and
+lowly Saviour; and as the youth turned away, Jesus had said to the
+disciples, "Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to
+enter into the kingdom of God" (Mark x. 24). A conversation followed
+(Matt. xix.), in the course of which Peter asked, "What reward shall we
+have, who have forsaken all, and followed Thee?" to which question the
+Saviour replied by a promise and a parable--the promise that all His
+followers should gain a hundred-fold by their losses for His sake, and
+inherit everlasting life; but He added, "Many that are first shall be
+last; and the last shall be first," to illustrate which fact, He told
+them a parable. "For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a householder,
+who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard."
+With those whom he first engaged, a penny a day was the wages agreed
+upon, and they went at once to work. A penny a day, young friends, was
+not such a little as it seems to us. It meant about eightpence halfpenny
+in our money, and would buy a great deal more than we can get for
+eightpence halfpenny now. You could live, in a careful way, at "an inn"
+for a great deal less than a penny a day; and when the good Samaritan
+took the wounded Jew to one of these humble places of rest and
+refreshment, he gave the innkeeper "two pence" to take care of his
+guest, and provide for him, and promised to pay any more expense should
+it be incurred.
+
+The terms were very fair and liberal for a full day's work; but more
+hands were needed, and the master went out again at nine o'clock in the
+morning, then at noon, at three in the afternoon, and yet again at the
+eleventh hour, five p.m.; and finding still some unemployed, he asked,
+"Why stand ye here all the day idle?" "Because," said they, "no man hath
+hired us." "Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that
+shall ye receive." Such were the terms on which all except the earliest
+labourers were hired.
+
+The working day of twelve hours is ended; the men are called to receive
+payment; but, strange to say, the latest comers are first called, and
+each one receives the full amount--one penny. The whole-day workers are
+now dissatisfied. They have got all they were promised, but why should
+those latecomers have as much as themselves, who had been working all
+the time? "Friend," said the good man of the house to one of the
+complainers, "I do thee no wrong. Didst thou not agree with me for a
+penny? Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine
+eye evil, or envious, because I am good?" "So," said the Lord Jesus, "in
+My kingdom the last shall be first, and the first last." And has not He,
+who is your Lord and Master, a right to do what He will with His own?
+
+The disciples were thinking that Jesus would reign on earth, and make
+the Jews a free, prosperous nation, and they, as His first followers,
+wanted to be great men in His kingdom (see verses 20, 21 of this
+chapter). Christ, on the other hand, was thinking of a spiritual,
+heavenly kingdom, where He would reign for ever, ruling His people's
+hearts by love. In this kingdom God has always blessed His servants
+according to His own good pleasure.
+
+Abraham, Isaac, David, and a host of others who served the Lord for many
+years, looked forward to dwelling with Him in blessedness for ever. The
+dying thief, whose day of life was spent in worse than idleness, in the
+service of sin and Satan, received, in answer to his earnest prayer, the
+wonderful assurance, "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with
+Me in paradise."
+
+Prophets laboured, and Apostles reaped the fruit of those labours (John
+iv. 37, 38). John the Baptist was great and honoured as the herald of
+Jesus, yet the least one in Christ's kingdom is equal with, and in some
+respects even greater, than he (Matt. xi. 11).
+
+The Gentiles, in time past, were not a saved people; but now multitudes
+of them have been gathered to Jesus, and become the people of God, while
+the Jews (God's ancient people) have to a great extent despised the
+Gospel, and been shut out from its blessings; so the last have been
+first, and the first have become last.
+
+Among the twelve Apostles, Andrew first found Jesus, and brought Peter,
+his brother, to Him; but Peter afterwards became far more noted than
+Andrew, especially on the Day of Pentecost, and in his Epistles; while
+Paul, the very last of all, the persecutor of Christians, became the
+first and greatest of the apostolic witnesses of Jesus. And Paul took no
+credit to himself for this. "Not I, but the grace of God which was with
+me," he delighted to say was the cause of all the good works done; and
+when he joyfully looked forward to the crown of righteousness laid up
+for him, he gladly adds, "and not for me only, but also for all them
+that love His appearing."
+
+This parable is quite different from the one in Matthew xxi., where
+faithful and unfaithful servants are contrasted. All the labourers in
+this vineyard worked. None are accused of laziness or unfaithfulness.
+None are blamed for the way in which their work was done. Those who
+laboured longest were still well paid, while the late comers were
+rewarded by sheer generosity. So, in the kingdom of God's grace, each
+favoured servant of the Lord "knows in all his heart and soul that not
+one thing has failed of all the good things the Lord his God promised
+him." He never gives less than He said He would. He often gives more
+than we either ask or think.
+
+Does the end of the day in this parable mean the evening of life, or the
+end of the world? And did Jesus represent the feelings of some of His
+people when dying, or at the last day? Oh, no! I do not for one moment
+think so. But you know we sometimes show a pouting, cross little child a
+picture of one like itself, to let it see how ugly it looks; and in the
+same way Jesus, by this parable, taught His disciples and us that when
+we are jealous and envious of others, we are finding fault with God's
+kindness and bounty.
+
+And let us remember that, whether we are rich or poor--whether our
+labours in Christ's cause seem very successful or not--yet, if we have
+been called to serve Him at all, the highest honour has been put upon
+us. Far better to be employed in His vineyard than to be loitering
+outside; infinitely preferable to be "a doorkeeper in His house, than to
+dwell in the tents of wickedness." His "ways are ways of pleasantness,"
+and "in keeping His commandments there is great reward."
+
+May we be His servants, loving and faithful, and receive at last that
+great reward which none but Jesus can deserve, "the free gift of God,
+eternal life," through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour; and our song
+of humble gratitude will be, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto
+Thy name be glory, for Thy mercy and truth's sake. Amen."
+
+Our next subject will be, _Ananias and Sapphira_ (Acts v.).
+
+                             Your affectionate friend,
+                                              H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+CONTRAST THE LESSON TAUGHT BY THE CONDUCT OF SOLOMON AND OF REHOBOAM, AT
+THE COMMENCEMENT OF THEIR REIGN.
+
+
+The chief lesson taught by the conduct of Solomon at the commencement of
+his reign is, humility. We know this by his choice when God asked him,
+in a dream, "What shall I give thee?" He made answer that the people he
+had to rule were as the dust of the earth for multitude, and that he had
+no more power to act as a king than a child. He therefore wished for
+wisdom to help him to do right, and for God to be with him, as He had
+been with his father David.
+
+This incident shows the gracious nature of Solomon's character; and the
+reward that God gave him ought to make us remember that "he that
+humbleth himself shall be exalted."
+
+With Rehoboam it was different. The lesson taught is, that his conduct
+should be shunned by all. Shortly after he was made king, those who had
+lived the greater part of Solomon's reign came and asked him if he would
+be kind to them, and ease the servitude that his father had put upon
+them. He sought to man instead of to God, and chose the counsel of
+foolish young men. After the people had been kept waiting three days, he
+told them that he would add to the yoke that they formerly had borne,
+and as his father had "chastised them with whips," so would he "with
+scorpions." At the time that Rehoboam made that rough and haughty
+answer, he probably had forgotten that the majority of the people had
+most power, but so it was here, for ten of the twelve tribes revolted.
+
+The first lesson taught by Solomon, and the second taught by Rehoboam,
+contrast deeply with each other. The first, if imitated by every one,
+would work a wonderful change in the world. There would be fewer
+quarrels, fewer wars, and, in a word, less sin. The second is the cause
+of many evils with which the earth abounds. The former the Lord is
+delighted with; the latter is an abomination. If Jesus Christ was once
+"made lower than the angels" for our sakes, surely we ought to put away
+all haughtiness, and remember that we are on a level with our
+fellow-creatures by creation, and that all who are saved are saved by
+free grace, through faith in Christ.
+
+                                          WILLIAM ERNEST CRAY
+                                              (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Pearl Cottage, Carlyle Road,
+        Forton, Gosport, Hants._
+
+[Good Essays have been received from Jane Bell, Laura Creasey, E. B.
+Knocker, Alice Creasey, B. Stroud, Annie Judd, Alice Pease, G. A.
+Osmotherly, E. Saunders, M. E. Denly.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Life of George
+Whitfield."
+
+The subject for October will be, "Charity," as commended in the
+Scriptures; and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that
+subject, a copy of Foxe's "Book of Martyrs." All competitors must give a
+guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay
+is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the
+Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers
+must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
+Hastings, by the first of September.]
+
+
+THE cross is the distinct announcement to us of that wonderful law, that
+"through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of heaven."
+Perfection through suffering--that is the doctrine of the cross. There
+is love in that law.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+ON July 15th, after two sermons by Mr. Hull, at Rochdale Road,
+Manchester, L44 9s. 51/2d. was collected for the Sunday School there.
+
+
+SALE OF PICTURES.--The _Chester Chronicle_ states authoritatively that
+Lord Tollemache has sold two of his pictures by Sir Joshua Reynolds for
+L15,000 each, and one by Gainsborough for L14,000.
+
+
+IN addition to the present from a London banker of 10,000 books, a lady
+in the City has sent a van load, about one and a half tons, to the
+Mariners' Mission, Burdett Road, London, E., for free distribution among
+sailors and others.
+
+
+LOW RENTAL FOR LAND.--Eight hundred acres of arable land in the Isle of
+Sheppey, well known for its productive nature, have just been let to a
+new tenant at the unprecedentedly low price of 1s. 2d. an acre. The
+tithe on the land is 12s. an acre.
+
+
+ON June 1st, 1883, a toad was placed in a cavity hollowed in a large
+stone, and the opening was sealed up with cement. On the 1st of June,
+this year, the stone was broken open, and the toad was found alive, and
+strangely enough, it had grown considerably.
+
+
+MR. JOHN WHITE, of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, erected a highly horrible
+scarecrow in a field. Three weeks afterwards he went to inquire after
+its health, and found that a robin had built her nest in one of the
+pockets, and a tomtit had utilized a sleeve for the same purpose.
+
+
+A MAIDEN SESSION.--There were no prisoners for trial at Cambridgeshire
+Quarter Sessions, July 13th, 1888. Mr. Sperling, the chairman, who was
+presented with a pair of white gloves, said that, during an experience
+of over thirty years, he did not remember a previous maiden session.
+
+
+THE Dundee sealing steamer _Esquimaux_ arrived the other week at St.
+John's, Newfoundland, from seal fishing, with a catch of 23,000 seals.
+The _Aurora_, another Dundee vessel, followed, with a cargo of 25,000
+seals. The seal fishing off the Newfoundland coast has this season been
+a great success.
+
+
+ARTIFICIAL IVORY.--A substance resembling ivory of creamy whiteness and
+great hardness is made from good potatoes washed in diluted sulphuric
+acid, then boiled in the same solution until they become solid and
+dense. They are then washed free from the acid and slowly dried. This
+ivory can be dyed, and turned, and made useful in many ways.
+
+
+DR. GORDON STABLES, the well-known author, spends the summer in going
+about the country in a caravan. His handsome home on wheels is called
+"The Wanderer." It is drawn by two capital carriage horses, and is
+fitted in most luxurious fashion. He takes a man-servant with him, and
+has a tricycle attached to the vehicle. He stops at night by the
+roadside.
+
+
+NEW GOLD FIELD.--A rich gold field has been discovered between the two
+rivers, Lava and Papanahoni, in Surinam. It is an open question whether
+this district of 20,000 to 25,000 square kilometres belongs to France or
+Holland. M. Condreau, the French traveller, who has been closely
+investigating the district, considers that it will be as productive as
+the gold-fields of Australia and California.
+
+
+MR. GEORGE LE FEVRE, of the Huguenot Church at Canterbury Cathedral,
+writes thus--"A large and valuable oil painting of a scene in the
+history of the Huguenots has been presented to the French Church. The
+subject is exceedingly appropriate this year, being the tercentenary
+celebration of the defeat of the Spanish invasion of England. The
+picture has been hung up in that part of the Crypt known as the Chantry
+of the Black Prince, and has been much admired by tourists, who are now
+visiting in considerable numbers."
+
+
+BY the steamship _Oonah_, which is the latest addition to the fleet of
+the Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company, there arrived at Melbourne on
+Saturday, April 28th, from Tasmania, the largest shipment of fruit for
+the London market which has left the Australian colonies--about 13,000
+bushels of choice apples. The fruit will be transhipped into the cool
+chamber of the P. and O. mail boat _Oceana_, leaving on the 4th of May,
+and will be followed by another shipment by the _Britannia_, leaving on
+the 18th of May. This, we understand, closes the operations of the
+shippers for this season. Should the outcome of these shipments be as
+encouraging as the telegraphic news already received seems to indicate,
+there is every prospect of a very large export trade in this industry
+being established. We are informed that the parcel now arrived could
+have been very much increased had there been more room in the cool
+chamber of the _Oceana_. No doubt next season all the boats of the P.
+and O. and Orient Companies will make arrangements to take fruit, so
+that shipments can be forwarded every week.--_Launceston (Tasmania)
+Examiner, May 2nd._
+
+
+FURTHER particulars of the floods in Mexico show them to have been of a
+most serious character. It is stated that, in the town of Silao, where
+the river overflowed its banks on the 18th of June, 1,500 persons
+perished. At Leon, over 2,200 houses were destroyed. In some districts
+it is declared that bodies were floating about on the waters as thickly
+as driftwood.
+
+
+DREAD OF COMETS.--A story is related showing the dread with which comets
+were regarded in the early part of the last century. A renowned
+astronomer predicted that a comet would appear on Wednesday, October
+14th, 1712, and that the world would be destroyed by fire on the Friday
+following. The astronomer was correct, so far as the comet was
+concerned. A number of persons got into the boats and barges on the
+Thames, thinking the water the safest place. A captain of a Dutch ship
+threw all his powder into the river, that his ship might not be
+endangered. A number of clergymen, it is said, were ferried over to
+Lambeth, to request that proper prayers might be prepared, there being
+none suitable in the Church service. Sir Gilbert Heathcote, at that time
+head director of the Bank, issued orders to all the fire offices in
+London, requiring them to keep a good look-out, and to have a particular
+eye on the Bank of England.
+
+
+A MILLIONAIRE INVENTOR.--We have more than once pointed out how simple
+inventions (observes a writer in _Invention_) often realize large sums
+for the fortunate inventor. Here is another illustration. The discovery
+of the perforated substance used for bottoming chairs and for other
+purposes has made its inventor a millionaire. George Yeaton, the
+inventor in question, was a poor Yankee cane-seater in Vermont. He first
+distinguished himself by inventing a machine for weaving cane, but he
+made no money out of it, as some one stole his idea, and had the process
+patented. After a number of years experimenting, Yeaton at last hit upon
+this invention, which consists of a number of thin layers of boards of
+different degrees of hardness glued together to give pliability. Yeaton
+went through a number of bitterly contested law-suits before he got his
+invention patented. He was wise in not paying others to manufacture his
+device. He formed a company, and to-day he has a plant valued at half a
+million dollars, and is in the receipt of a princely annual revenue
+derived from this invention.
+
+
+THE FASTEST TRAIN IN THE WORLD.--The fastest train in the world is
+without doubt the "Flying Dutchman," which for many years has succeeded
+in knocking off the seventy-eight miles between London and Swindon in an
+hour and twenty-seven minutes. This is at the rate of fifty-three miles
+an hour. Exeter is 194 miles from Paddington, and is reached in four and
+a quarter hours, or an average pace throughout, including stoppages, of
+forty-five miles and a half per hour. The Prince of Wales has made some
+remarkably quick journeys on the Great Western. Not very long ago the
+North Western took him from Manchester to London in three hours and
+fifty-five minutes, but the Great Western had previously beaten this by
+conveying him from London to Swansea (216 miles) in three hours and
+fifty-three minutes, the average speed throughout that remarkable
+journey being almost fifty-six miles an hour. English trains are much
+quicker than those of the Continent. The speed of the American expresses
+is from thirty-five to forty miles an hour. The Chemin de fer du Nord
+runs its expresses at an average of thirty-seven, and the Paris and
+Mediterranean at thirty-four miles an hour. Some of the German expresses
+cover thirty-six miles an hour.
+
+
+A TERRIBLE SITUATION.--Mr. Ballou, in his recent wanderings under the
+Southern Cross, has found one more unpleasant item for reptile
+literature. In Sydney he heard the following snake story, the facts of
+which occurred not long before, near the town of Parramatta. In the
+family of a settler, who resided some half a league from the town, there
+was an invalid daughter, she being of an extremely nervous temperament.
+She was sleeping, one summer afternoon, in a hammock swung between two
+supporting standards in the shade of the piazza, when she was suddenly
+awakened by feeling something cold and moist clinging about her throat.
+She put her hand to the spot, and clasped the body of a snake just at
+the back of its head, and, with a horrified cry, wrenched with all her
+strength to pull it away. This was the first instinctive action of the
+moment, but so great was her terror that she speedily lost all
+consciousness of the situation. Her hand, however, still grasped the
+snake where she had first seized upon it, and with such a convulsive
+force that the creature was rendered powerless. The cry of the terrified
+girl brought the father from within the house, who instantly came to her
+relief; but in the fit which her fright had induced, her hand slowly
+contracted about the creature's throat with a force which she could not
+possibly have exerted when awake, and before her fingers were unclasped,
+by the aid of a bit of hammock cord, the reptile was completely
+strangled. Fortunately, the creature had not bitten the girl before she
+seized it, and after that it was unable to do so. It is said to have
+been four feet long, and of a poisonous species.
+
+[Illustration: "I GAVE MYSELF UP TO READING THE BIBLE." (_See page
+194._)]
+
+
+
+
+LETTER BY A DYING SOLDIER.
+
+
+My dear wife,--Before these lines reach you, grim death will have swept
+me off the stage of time. No more shalt thou repose in these arms; no
+more shall these eyes behold thy lovely person, or gaze with delight on
+thee or my dear infants.
+
+Yesterday we had a bloody and obstinate fight, in which we had great
+numbers killed and wounded. I received one ball in my leg, another in my
+breast. I am now so weak with the loss of blood that I can hardly write
+these few lines as the last tribute of my unchanging love to thee. The
+surgeons inform me that three hours will be the utmost I can survive.
+Alas! too true was the dire presage in my mind that we should never meet
+again on this side eternity.
+
+On our passage here, I gave myself up to reading the Bible, it being the
+only Book I was possessed of. The Almighty was pleased to draw my heart
+to Him by the sweet attractions of His grace, and at the same time to
+enlighten my mind.
+
+There is in the regiment a corporal who is a Christian. I had no
+knowledge of him till one night when I had been earnest in prayer to God
+to guide me in the way of peace. During my sleep I dreamed of this same
+man, and was directed to him by name, Samuel Pierce. The dream made so
+strong an impression on my mind that the next morning I inquired if
+there was such a person in the regiment, and was greatly astonished to
+find him. I told him my dream, with which he was much pleased. We soon
+contracted a strong friendship, and he was pleased to explain to me the
+amazing love of God in giving His Son Jesus Christ to bleed and die for
+sinners. He unfolded to me the mysteries of salvation, the nature of the
+new birth, and the great necessity of holiness of heart and life. In
+short, he became my spiritual father, and to him, under God, I owe much
+that I am now acquainted with.
+
+Soon after we landed, God was pleased to speak peace to my soul. Oh, the
+bliss, the unutterable joy, that I then felt, through the blood of the
+Lamb! How I longed to tell the whole world what Jesus had done for me!
+But how did I long for thee, my love, to taste and know the love of God
+in Christ Jesus! I would have given the world to have been with thee, to
+have told thee of "the pearl of great price." And as we shall never meet
+more in this vale of tears, this is my dying wish and advice--read the
+Bible and good books, frequent the preaching of the Gospel, and the Lord
+will guide thee in His way. And oh, endeavour to bring up the dear
+little ones in the fear of God. Oh, never fix thine heart upon the vain
+and unsubstantial things of this world! Heaven and the love of God are
+the only things that demand our hearts, or are worthy of engrossing
+them. I have been a worthless husband to thee, and a vile rebel against
+my God. "God be merciful to me a sinner!" I die in peace. I die in a
+full assurance of eternal glory. A few moments and my soul shall be
+ranged in the "general assembly of the Church of the First-born who are
+written in heaven."
+
+And now, my dear infants, the God who blessed Jacob and Joseph will
+bless you. Seek Him, and He will be found of you. Call upon Him, and He
+will hear and bless you. Learn, then, my dear children, when you grow
+up, to seek for permanent happiness in God through a crucified Redeemer.
+
+  "The world recedes, it disappears;
+  Heaven opens on my eyes, my ears
+    With sounds seraphic ring.
+  Lend, lend your wings; I mount, I fly!
+  'O grave, where is thy victory?
+    O death, where is thy sting?'"
+
+Dear wife, more would I say, but life ebbs out apace. Bright angels
+stand around the gory turf on which I lie, ready to escort me to the
+arms of Jesus. Bending saints reveal my shining crown, and beckon me
+away. Yea, methinks my Jesus bids me come. Adieu, adieu!
+
+                                                  JOHN RANDON.
+
+
+
+
+A HOPEFUL CASE.
+
+
+Being called to preach the Word in a parish where there is no resident
+minister, it frequently falls to my lot to visit those who are
+afflicted.
+
+A singular instance, both of ignorance and mercy, appeared in the
+character of a person almost unknown to me till the following
+circumstance took place.
+
+A poor woman, about the middle of August last, was taken very ill with
+pleurisy, and was much alarmed. This being the Sabbath evening, she sent
+for one of the people who usually attend my preaching to come and read
+with her. He accordingly went, and she was much pleased with what he
+read. Before he left her, she solicited him to ask me to come and see
+her. Being out preaching, upon my return home I met this person, who
+told me the request of the poor woman. I immediately went, and found her
+in a helpless, miserable state, both as to body and soul. Her husband
+being gone to harvest, she was left without money to procure any of the
+comforts of life. The marks of poverty appeared in every part of the
+habitation, and the poor creature laid stretched out upon a bed of
+sorrow, being in a languishing state through the violence of the fever.
+
+After condoling with her for a few minutes upon her external situation,
+I began to converse with her pretty freely upon the more important
+affairs belonging to her never-dying soul. The first topic of
+conversation was upon man as a sinful creature, and the enmity of the
+heart in the unconverted. I endeavoured to show that, although some
+might be a little more refined as to gross acts of immorality, yet by
+nature we "are all the children of wrath even as others." I next spoke
+of salvation by Jesus Christ, that it was all of grace.
+
+The woman listened to every word I uttered. The tears began to trickle
+down her cheeks, and at last she said, "I know nothing of the Man of
+whom you have been speaking," immediately adding, "I was never brought
+up in the way of religion--never taught to know a letter of a book, nor
+yet attend any place of worship." After I had engaged in prayer with
+her, I left her.
+
+The next day I made her another visit, and found the fever increased,
+the cough very troublesome, and the pain in her side very acute. I began
+to discourse upon the suitableness, the ability, and willingness of
+Jesus to save perishing sinners, and then she put this question--"And do
+you think, sir, He will save such a wretch as I am?" I observed, "The
+promise runs thus, 'Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast
+out,'" &c.
+
+Her knowledge of divine things rapidly increased, and her earnest
+devotions seemed now to be the perpetual breathings of her soul.
+
+The third visit I made her, she lamented her former state of ignorance
+and sin, and expressed great fears lest her sins should be too enormous
+to be forgiven.
+
+The poor woman continued in this state about six weeks, soliciting the
+company of all Christian friends to converse and pray with her.
+
+The last visit I made to her produced a very affecting scene, both to
+her and me. I talked to her as one actually dying, and prayed for her as
+one who must soon appear before the Judge of all the earth. While I was
+engaged in prayer, she repeated the words after me in the most affecting
+manner, and after I had finished supplicating the Father of mercies, she
+added, "Oh, Lord, hear! Oh, Lord, forgive such a wretch as I am!" A few
+hours after this, she breathed her last, without either sigh or groan.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851.
+
+
+Of late years we have had in Britain almost a surfeit of exhibitions, of
+one sort or another, chief among which have been the splendid series
+which so many witnessed at South Kensington, and which have given to
+many of the inhabitants of these isles a far better ideal of the
+empire's resources than otherwise they would have had, besides having
+contributed not a little to the stimulation of commerce, while
+furnishing agreeable entertainment to the sightseer. That the day of the
+exhibition, as we understand the word, as an educational and
+profit-raising medium, is not yet gone, is proved by the holding of the
+Irish, Italian, and Anglo-Danish Exhibitions in London this year, and
+the popularity of the more general display at Glasgow, not to speak of
+minor shows which have found favour elsewhere.
+
+The forerunner of all these magnificent spectacles was the Great
+Exhibition of 1851, held in Hyde Park, on the initiative of the late
+Prince Consort, who borrowed the idea from the State-supported
+Expositions at Paris. The Prince proposed that an exhibition of colossal
+proportions should be held in London, in a building specially designed
+for the purpose, and that it should be open to competitors from all
+nations, so as to form a veritable "world's fair." The scheme was
+entered into with alacrity by the public. All sorts of representative
+men cordially supported the Prince. A big banquet was given by the Lord
+Mayor of London in the Mansion House, on March 21st, 1850, to the
+municipal magnates of the kingdom, at which the success of the
+undertaking was practically assured; and later on a similar feast was
+given in the ancient city of York, at which the Prince again eloquently
+and effectively pleaded for the accomplishment of the task to which he
+had set his hand. A Royal Commission was appointed to manage the
+undertaking. Hyde Park was fixed upon as the most appropriate site for
+the building, and Sir Joseph Paxton, though not an architect, was
+honoured with instructions to design the fabric--that magnificent
+Crystal Palace, which was subsequently removed to a permanent and
+commanding position at Sydenham, and which is familiar to every London
+resident and visitor. It was formed chiefly of iron and glass, being
+1,848 feet long, 408 feet broad, and 66 feet high; crossed by a transept
+108 feet high, and also 408 feet in length, for the purpose of enclosing
+and encasing a group of noble elms. Within, the nave presented a clear,
+unobstructive avenue, from one end of the building to the other, 72 feet
+in span, and 64 feet in height. The wings, exterior to the centre or
+nave on each side, had also galleries the same height, the wings
+themselves being broken up into a series of courts each 48 feet wide.
+The number of columns used in the entire edifice was 3,230. There were
+34 miles of gutter for carrying off the rain-water to the columns, which
+were hollow, and served as water-pipes; 202 miles of sash-bars, and
+900,000 superficial feet of glass, weighing upwards of 400 tons. The
+building covered about 18 acres of ground, and, with the galleries, gave
+an exhibition surface of 21 acres, with eight miles of tables for laying
+out goods. The building cost L176,000; and though the plan was not
+accepted until the 26th of July, and the first column not fixed until
+two months later, the edifice was virtually completed by the 1st of the
+following January, on which date it was delivered over to the Exhibition
+Commissioners to be fitted up for its destined purpose. The Crystal
+Palace excited universal admiration for its wonderful combination of
+vastness and beauty, and when it was fully furnished, and opened to the
+public, on the 1st of May, 1851, the visitor felt as if he had entered a
+fairy-like scene of enchantment, a gathering-ground of grace,
+brightness, and delight.
+
+It was a splendid sunny morning, and the assembled multitude was
+brilliant in the extreme. The Queen, accompanied by the Prince Consort,
+walked in procession through the immense aggregation of treasures,
+followed by an imposing array of eminent British and foreign
+notabilities. It has been truly said that within the giant palace of
+glass were then massed representatives of all the people and productions
+of the earth--a grand presentment of wealth, intelligence, and
+enterprise. There were over 17,000 exhibitors, some 3,000 of whom
+received medals of merit. The Exhibition remained open until the 15th of
+October, altogether 144 days, during which it was visited by 6,170,000
+persons. The greatest number present in any one day was 109,760, on
+October 8th. On one occasion 93,000 were within the palace at the same
+moment, which surpassed, it is said, in magnitude, any number ever
+assembled together under one roof in the world's history. The charges of
+admission to the Great Exhibition were practically the same as those
+obtained at the recent South Kensington "shows," and the whole affair
+was so well managed and successful in every point that at its close a
+surplus of L150,000 remained, after paying all expenses.
+
+
+
+
+FACTS ABOUT OCEAN STEAMSHIPS.
+
+
+Mr. John Burns contributed to a recent number of _Good Words_ a paper
+entitled "Something about the Cunard Line," which contains some
+interesting facts with regard to the equipment and working of ocean
+steamships. Taking the _Etruria_ as a sample of the present vessels of
+the Cunard fleet, he states that her consumption of coal is 300 tons per
+day, or twelve tons per hour, or 466 lbs. per minute. For a single
+passage across the Atlantic (which takes seven days) she requires the
+following provisions--12,550 lbs. fresh beef, 760 lbs. corned beef, 5
+320 lbs. mutton, 850 lbs. lamb, 350 lbs. veal, 350 lbs. pork, 2,000 lbs.
+fresh fish, 600 fowls, 300 chickens, 100 ducks, 50 geese, 80 turkeys,
+200 brace grouse, 15 tons potatoes, 30 hampers vegetables, 220 quarts
+ice-cream, 1,000 quarts milk, and 11,500 eggs. The groceries for the
+double voyage include 650 lbs. tea, 1,200 lbs. coffee, 1,000 lbs. white
+sugar, 2,880 lbs. moist sugar, 750 lbs. pulverized sugar, 1,500 lbs.
+cheese, 2,000 lbs. butter, 3,500 lbs. ham, and 1,000 lbs. bacon. The
+quantities of wines, spirits, beer, &c., put on board for consumption on
+the double voyage comprise--1,100 bottles of champagne, 850 bottles of
+claret, 6,000 bottles of ale, 2,500 bottles of porter, 4,500 bottles of
+mineral water, 650 bottles of various spirits. Crockery is broken very
+extensively, being at the rate of 900 plates, 280 cups, 438 saucers,
+1,213 tumblers, 200 wine glasses, 27 decanters, and 63 water bottles in
+a single voyage.
+
+The Cunard ships, it is further stated, traverse yearly a distance equal
+to five times that between the earth and the moon.
+
+In the course of a year the fleet consumes 4,656 sheep, 1,800 lambs, and
+2,474 oxen, besides 831,603 eggs; and among other articles of
+consumption are 11/2 tons of mustard, 13/4 tons of pepper, 7,216
+bottles pickles, 8,000 tins sardines, 15 tons marmalade, 22 tons
+raisins, currants, and figs, and so on through a long list, finishing
+with 930 tons potatoes, 24,075 fowls, 4,230 ducks, 2,200 turkeys, 2,200
+geese, 31,312 tablets Pears' soap, 3,484 lbs. Windsor soap, 10 tons
+yellow soap. The coal burned during the year amounts to 356,764 tons,
+which, if built as a wall four feet high and one foot thick, would reach
+from Land's End to John o' Groats.
+
+
+
+
+ORPHAN BESS.
+
+
+I am sure that most of our young friends know the meaning of the word
+"orphan"; and perhaps among the numerous readers of the LITTLE GLEANER
+are some that are orphans themselves. But if some of the younger ones do
+not understand what is meant by the word, we must tell them that, when
+children have lost both parents by death, we call them orphans. Very sad
+indeed it is to lose both father and mother while young, for no earthly
+friend can really fill their place. It is of such a child that I am
+writing a few words, and I trust that our little readers will indeed
+feel thankful to God if He has spared them both parents, and granted
+them happy and comfortable homes.
+
+It is more than ten years ago since I first saw her whom I now call
+Orphan Bess, and her baby sister. The first great shadow had then fallen
+upon her home, and I had to attend the funeral. This was in March, 1878.
+A very pale, fragile child our little maid was then, and her baby sister
+was more delicate still. She then sat on the floor, wondering at the
+tears of her mother, frightened at the strange faces and people that
+came to bear her father away, and trying to still the baby, which was
+wailing in the saddest tones. Oh, how unfit to be thrown on the
+world--the cold, rough world--without the strong arm of the father, and
+only the mother to shield! But a Greater Arm than the earthly father
+supported and maintained, and they were not left alone.
+
+A few months later the baby died, and Bess and the mother were left
+again.
+
+Years rolled on, and the mother and child struggled on together, and the
+promise of Him who cares for the widow and fatherless was proved
+faithful and true in their needs.
+
+But a darker cloud than ever now came, when the mother laid down and
+died. Ten years had rolled away, and in March, 1888, this great blow
+came upon Bess. These years had made a great change in our little maid,
+and when we saw her on the day of the funeral she seemed much
+altered--still pale and thin, small and fragile, and very deaf. I have
+seen many affecting sights and many sorrowful cases in my journey
+through life, but as we stood around the grave of the departed mother
+and father of Bess, in St. Thomas's churchyard, at Woolwich, on the 17th
+of March, 1888, I saw the saddest sight of all. The open grave,
+containing the remains of the father; the coffin ready to be lowered
+into it, containing the dead mother; and the pale, thin, deaf orphan,
+standing alone in the world. The blinding snow fell around, and the wind
+blew piercingly through the graveyard. A large crowd of strange faces,
+and the chief object of interest the orphan child. What wonder, then,
+that the child, frightened and trembling, should turn her face away from
+the coffin and crowd, and hide her sobs in the dress of a kind woman
+near? Alone in the world now, yet not alone.
+
+The hymn commencing, "For ever with the Lord," is sung softly, and as
+the strains are heard, we remember that "the Lord liveth." Though father
+and mother are dead, yet "the Lord liveth," who has promised to look to
+the orphan, and whose eyes are ever upon the needy. What a position to
+occupy! No father, no mother, no home, unable to hear, a helpless orphan
+girl cast upon the world! The words of the poet came into my mind at the
+moment--
+
+  "What is home without a mother?
+    What are all the joys we meet,
+  When her gentle smile no longer
+    Greets the coming of our feet?"
+
+I have omitted one matter, and that is, Bessie's mother was my sister;
+and the thought came with power into my mind, while I stood at the
+grave, that while the Lord blessed me with ability and strength, we
+could share our bread with Bess sooner than see her want.
+
+Father and mother may die, and they must die, but there is One that
+cannot alter and that cannot fail.
+
+I trust our young friends who read these few lines are interested in our
+little maid; and if any are living in St. Leonards or Hastings, they may
+sometimes see a thin, pale girl of twelve years, small for her age, with
+dark hair, cut short, sharp nose, and keen grey eyes. This is Orphan
+Bess. Not without friends now, for the Lord has already raised up kind
+friends and strong arms to help her, and made room for her in many
+hearts. May the Lord show her further favour by granting her His grace
+is our sincere prayer, comfort her on earth "as a mother comforteth her
+children," and be her everlasting Portion in heaven.
+
+Gleaners, you that have fathers and mothers, remember they are your best
+earthly friends, and think of desolate Bess. Gleaners that are orphans,
+remember "the Lord liveth," and that He careth for you.
+
+                                                   J. D.
+
+
+
+
+"MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB."
+
+
+The well-known verses beginning, "Mary had a little lamb," were founded
+on actual circumstances, and the heroine, Mary, is still living. About
+seventy years ago she was a little girl, the daughter of a farmer in
+Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States.
+
+One spring, the farmer brought a feeble lamb into the house, and Mary
+adopted it as her especial pet. It became so fond of her that it would
+follow her everywhere.
+
+One day, it followed her to the village school, and, not knowing what
+else to do with it, she put it under her desk and covered it with her
+shawl. There it stayed until Mary was called up to the teacher's desk to
+say her lesson, and then the lamb walked quietly after her, and the
+other children burst out laughing, so the teacher had to shut up the
+little girl's pet in the wood-shed until school was over.
+
+Soon after this, a young student, named John Rollstone, wrote a little
+rhyme about Mary and her lamb, and presented it to her. The lamb grew to
+be a sheep, and lived for many years, and when at last it died, Mary
+grieved so much for it that her mother took some of its wool, which was
+"as white as snow," and knitted a pair of stockings for her to wear in
+remembrance of her darling.
+
+Some years after the lamb's death, Mrs. Sarah Hall, a celebrated woman,
+who wrote many books, composed some verses about Mary's lamb, and added
+them to those written by John Rollstone, making the complete rhyme as we
+know it.
+
+Mary took such good care of the stockings made from her lamb's fleece
+that, when she was a grown-up woman, she was able to give one of them to
+a bazaar in Boston. As soon as the fact became known that the stocking
+was made from the fleece of "Mary's little lamb," every one wanted a
+piece of it; so the stocking was ravelled out, and the yarn cut into
+short pieces. Each piece was tied to a card on which "Mary" wrote her
+full name, and these cards sold so well that they brought the large sum
+of L28 towards the bazaar fund.
+
+
+LORD, I have tried how this thing and that thing will fit my spirit. I
+can find nothing to rest on, for nothing here hath any rest itself. O
+Centre and Source of light and strength--O Fulness of all things--I come
+to Thee!--_Arthur H. Hallam._
+
+
+
+
+UNDER THE LONDON STREETS.
+
+
+It is true that there are tubes beneath the London streets, but with one
+exception, they are not used for the transmission of letters, but for
+telegrams only. This exception is a tube between Euston Station and the
+General Post Office, through which a few day mail-bags to and from towns
+on the London and North-Western are sent. The Post Office authorities
+find that these tubes are quicker than carts, but their speed is not so
+great as is usually supposed. From seventeen to thirty-five miles an
+hour is the average, but with more powerful engines it is believed that
+eighty miles an hour could be attained. The longest tube in London is
+two miles three hundred and thirty-nine yards in length. Originally
+there were only seventeen pneumatic tubes in operation, the longest
+being that which went to Fenchurch Street, namely, nine hundred and
+eighty yards. The second in length was that to Leadenhall Street--six
+hundred and fifty-nine yards. The diameter of the tubes varies from one
+and a half inches to two and a quarter inches. The telegrams are placed
+in little leather cases, called "carriers." The time taken in
+transmission to Fenchurch Street is, by atmospheric pressure, one minute
+five seconds; by suction the speed is somewhat slower--one minute twenty
+seconds.
+
+The steam engine used at the General Post Office is forty horse power.
+For sending one of the carriers from forty to fifty yards not more than
+four or five seconds is necessary. The most complete tubes in London are
+those under the streets between Temple Bar and the General Post Office,
+a distance of 1,333 yards. The tubes form what may be called a pneumatic
+railway, with an up and down line. In these tubes telegrams are sent
+which sometimes are not sent by electricity at all. Thus, if any one
+wishes to wire from Cheapside to the Temple, his message is placed in a
+carrier and sent under the streets.
+
+
+
+
+  SYMPATHY.
+
+  "_Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep._"
+
+
+  When childhood's joyous voice resounds
+    With innocent delight,
+  Check not the infant mirth, nor put
+    Those happy smiles to flight.
+
+  Add to the joy while it remains,
+    For on in riper years
+  Those eyes, now beaming with delight,
+    May be suffused with tears.
+
+  When on the ocean's stormy deep
+    The voyagers are tossed,
+  And seem, in that one stormy hour,
+    To think all hope is lost--
+
+  If they secure the haven reach,
+    And lose their fears and cares,
+  While they rejoice their homes to gain,
+    Mingle thy joy with theirs.
+
+  And is thy neighbour mourning now
+    The loss of kindred dear?
+  Then give thy sympathy, and drop
+    Upon the grave a tear.
+
+  Or knowest thou an orphan, left
+    To tread this world alone?
+  Speak words of comfort, lend thine aid,
+    Or take the wanderer home.
+
+  Tell of the loveliness and bloom
+    Of Nature to the blind;
+  Tell of the joys of heaven, and thus
+    Shed light upon the mind.
+
+  Then sympathize with every one,
+    And the commandment keep--
+  "Rejoice with them that do rejoice,
+    And weep with them that weep."
+
+                                  M. E. C.
+
+
+
+
+FORWARD INTO LIGHT AND LIBERTY.
+
+"JESUS ONLY."
+
+
+When Father Chiniquy reached his much-loved people, after he had left
+the Church of Rome, it was on a Sabbath morning, and they were assembled
+for worship. The bishop had telegraphed to them to turn away their
+priest, but when they saw him, they received him joyfully, and crowded
+round him to know what the bishop had really said. Entering the chapel,
+he told his large congregation how and why he was a priest no longer,
+assuring them that he would leave them, but not until they bade him
+depart. All were deeply affected, but no one spoke, and when he again
+appealed to them to bravely rise and tell him to go away, he saw their
+countenances beam with love and joy more eloquent than words; and when
+he offered to remain with them--the free Christian minister of a
+Christian people, united by the love of God and His Word--they all arose
+in token of their approval, and a thousand people left the Church of
+Rome on that eventful day. And still the movement spread, till nearly
+all who had loved and followed him as he had gradually taught them the
+truths of the Gospel, followed him seeking the full light and liberty of
+God's Word, leading him, and all who heard of it, to exclaim, "This is
+the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."
+
+As might have been expected, they did not see everything at once. There
+was a splendid group of statues, representing the Virgin Mary learning
+to read at the feet of her mother, and before these statues both priest
+and people had often prayed. Chiniquy longed to remove them, with the
+pictures and crosses which hung on the walls of the chapel, but was
+afraid to do it too quickly. One Sunday, however, after preaching from
+the text, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image," he remained
+behind to pray, and, looking up at the images, he said, "My good ladies,
+you must come down from that high position. God Almighty alone is
+worshipped here now. Your reign has come to an end." A thin, strong,
+silken cord secured them on their pedestals. He cut the cord, and, as he
+expected, the very next Sunday, when the people knelt to pray, the
+images gave a couple of jerks, and then fell down, and were smashed to
+fragments on the floor, the people laughing, and saying to one another,
+"How foolish to pray to these idols to protect us, when they cannot take
+care of themselves!" The other images, crosses, and pictures were soon
+cleared away.
+
+The most of the people soon learned to reject purgatory, but some still
+clung to their old belief, and Chiniquy would not too suddenly disturb
+it. When "All Souls' Day" came round, and collections were usually made
+for those in purgatory, two boxes were provided--a white one to receive
+contributions for the widows and the fatherless children, and a black
+one for offerings for the dead. But those who put money into the black
+one were asked kindly to say how their gifts could be conveyed to their
+dead friends, as in every case he had yet heard of, the priests had kept
+them for their own bread and butter. A general smile followed that
+announcement, and thirty-five dollars were put into the white box for
+the living, and nothing at all into the black one for the dead.
+
+So, one by one, all the false doctrines of Rome were renounced, and a
+few months after, six thousand were banded together under the name of
+"Christian Catholics."
+
+Rome, however, would not thus easily lose so many of its children, and
+another bishop thought he would try to win them back again. He appointed
+a day to visit them, with a number of priests, and found a strong,
+large platform prepared for his reception, and a great number of people
+assembled together to see and hear. As he approached, the American flag
+was hoisted over the chapel, and the people shouted, "Hurrah for the
+flag of the free and the brave!" This alarmed the priestly visitors, but
+Chiniquy hastened to assure them that they would not be injured, but
+they, on the contrary, would be received in the most courteous way.
+
+The bishop then alighted from his carriage, the priests gathered round
+him, and his grand vicar told the people to kneel down and receive their
+bishop's benediction. No one moved. He repeated his request still more
+loudly, when some one answered, "Do you not know, sir, that we no longer
+bend the knee to any man? It is only before God we kneel"; and all the
+people said, "Amen."
+
+Forbidding their own beloved Pastor Chiniquy to speak, the bishop then
+tremblingly addressed the crowd. He was evidently staggered by the
+people's courage. Having abused the "wicked, rebellious priest" who had
+led them away from Rome, he concluded by begging them to return to their
+holy Mother Church, and asked who would guide them in the ways of God if
+they forsook the Church of their fathers? After a solemn silence, an old
+farmer, raising his Bible over his head, exclaimed, "This Bible is all
+we want to guide us in the ways of God. We do not want anything but the
+pure Word of God to teach us what we must do to be saved. As for you,
+sir, you had better go away, and never come here any more."
+
+The bishop having failed to gain the people, tried to forcibly prevent
+Chiniquy from speaking. This was too much for the congregation, and it
+was only for his sake, and at his urgent request, that they allowed the
+unwelcome visitors to depart unmolested. They retired, defeated and
+annoyed, and the bishop soon afterwards became a lunatic.
+
+Thus God preserved His servant and His people in the hour of trial, and
+though many other difficulties arose, His Word continued to accomplish
+His purposes of love and grace; and like another Luther, Pastor
+Chiniquy, though often in peril and doomed to death, has lived on to a
+ripe old age, covered and shielded by the shadow of the Almighty. There
+may we also live and rest.--_Jottings on_ "_The Life and Work of Father
+Chiniquy_," _by Cousin Susan_.
+
+
+
+
+RARE AND COSTLY BIBLES.
+
+
+The special feature at the recent sale of the Earl of Crawford's library
+was the disposal of old and rare editions of the Bible in various
+languages. The most important lots were as follows:--
+
+The "Bishops'" Bible, a revision of the "Great Bible" undertaken by
+Archbishop Parker and eight other bishops, black letter, folio, 1568. It
+is sometimes called the "Treacle" Bible, from the words, "Is there no
+_tryacle_ [instead of 'balm'] in Gilead?" L70 [sold to] (Quaritch).
+Second edition of the German Bible, _circa_ 1466, L86 (Quaritch); first
+edition of Luther's Bible, L51 (Quaritch); the Mazarin Bible, or the
+Gutenberg Bible--the first edition of the Bible, and the earliest book
+printed with movable metal types; a rare and much-sought book, two
+volumes, printed by Gutenberg and Fuest about 1450, L2,650. This book was
+put up at L695, for which price this particular copy was sold thirty
+years ago. The book will remain in this country. Sir John Thorold's
+copy, a few years ago, fetched L3,900. Another Latin Bible, two volumes,
+first edition, with a date beautifully printed upon vellum, folio, 1462,
+L1,025 (Quaritch); Biblia Slavonica, the Ostrog edition, 1581, L73
+(Quaritch); the Virginian Bible, by John Eliot, with Psalms in metre,
+two volumes in one, quarto, 1685 and 1680, L40 (Quaritch); first
+edition of the Welsh Bible, from the Wepre Hall Library, 1588, L60
+(Quaritch); Block Book, Apocalypsis Sancti Johannis, forty-eight leaves
+printed from wooden blocks, in colours, and the xylographic text in
+brown ink, bound up with other matter in the old oak boards, folio,
+_circa_ 1430. This rare and curious volume is generally considered as
+being the second attempt in xylographic printing, the priority being
+given to the Ars Memorandi. Block books are supposed to have preceded by
+nearly twenty-five years the discovery of printing with metal types, and
+the workmanship is attributed to the press of Laurence Coster at Harlem.
+This specimen was put up at L100, and after a keen competition between
+Mr. Ellis and Mr. Quaritch, it was secured by the latter for L500. The
+day's sale realized upwards of L7,000.
+
+
+
+
+A NEW TELEPHONE.
+
+
+The _Times_ Paris correspondent describes some telephone experiments
+between Paris and Brussels with a new apparatus known as the
+"microtelephone push-button," which he believes to be the most perfect
+yet produced. As its name indicates, it has the form of an ordinary
+electric push-button. When the button has been pushed in, and has made a
+sound at the other extremity, it is taken out, and is found to be
+attached to a long electric wire. There is thus exposed the telephonic
+plate, which is extremely sensitive, so that when it is necessary to
+speak at short distances, it is not necessary to come close to the
+instrument. For communications in the same street, or the same house,
+the operator places the upper part near himself, and without changing
+his position he can speak with the correspondent at the opposite
+extremity. He is not obliged to put his ear to the part which contains
+the button and brings back the reply. Thus, for short distances, those
+who make use of this apparatus speak in their ordinary tone, without
+changing their customary attitudes. They may sit or walk about, and
+speak just as if those they are addressing were present. When great
+distances intervene, in which the speakers and hearers are separated by
+two hundred miles, it is necessary to come nearer to the apparatus, but
+without being obliged to speak quite close to it. What makes this
+apparatus the most successful of telephonic instruments is, that it can
+be made for half-a-crown, that is to say, for not more than the price of
+the ordinary push-button. As it can be fitted to the electric wire of
+the ordinary ringing apparatus, it follows that it introduces a complete
+change in our ordinary modes of intercourse. The railway companies are
+making experiments with this apparatus as a means of communication
+between compartments of carriages, and it is being fitted up on trial in
+hotels. The inventor is Dr. Cornelius Herz.
+
+
+
+
+  "ASK ON."
+
+  (1 KINGS ii. 20; JOHN xiv. 13.)
+
+
+  I hear "a voice from heaven"--
+    I hear my Sovereign say--
+  "Ask on" (He speaks to me);
+    "I will not say thee nay."
+
+  I would not doubt His word,
+    For truth in Him abides;
+  I would not doubt His power;
+    In Him the Godhead hides.
+
+  And since I know He gave
+    Himself, Himself, to move
+  Jehovah's curse from me,
+    I would not doubt His love.
+
+  And so I'll breathe my wish
+    To Christ, my King, to-day;
+  And rest me on His word--
+    "I will not say thee nay."
+
+                                ISA.
+
+
+
+
+"IS NOT A MAN BETTER THAN AN EGG?"
+
+
+"Bacon! bacon! bacon! always bacon! Why don't we have eggs sometimes,
+like we used to?" was the discontented question of a little boy, one
+morning, as he surveyed a rasher of bacon on his plate.
+
+"May you never get anything worse to eat, my boy, than this nice streaky
+bacon," remarked his father, looking up from his newspaper.
+
+"Little boys should eat what is put before them, and be thankful that
+they have food to eat," observed a severe-looking maiden aunt.
+
+"Ralph is not very well to-day," said his sister Nellie, in a low tone.
+"His appetite has not been so good lately as it used to be. He never
+seems to get on with bacon; and there have been very few eggs brought in
+for some time. Do you think the fowls have left off laying, papa?"
+
+"Hardly, my dear; this is just the time of year they lay most freely. I
+suspect they are hiding them, and making nests for themselves in some
+secret place."
+
+"_I_ suspect, John, that the stable-boy takes them. It is not at all
+likely that fourteen or fifteen fowls would hide their eggs, whatever
+one might do," said the severe aunt.
+
+"Hens choose curious places to lay their eggs in sometimes," said Mr.
+Thorn,[11] laughing. "I remember one fine Spanish bird that invariably
+laid hers on the top of a wall."
+
+  [11] The real names are, of course, suppressed throughout.
+
+"What a queer place, papa! Did not the eggs get broken?"
+
+"They did, my dear, to the great distress of the poor fowl, who no doubt
+wished to make a nest in that strange, out-of-the-way place. I used to
+listen for her cackling, in order, if possible, to save the egg; but it
+always tumbled off the wall before I could get to it. Another, a
+Cochin-china fowl, laid hers on a heap of stones, and----"
+
+"Those must have been very badly managed fowls, John," interrupted Miss
+Thorn. "Now, yours, on the contrary, are well cared for, and properly
+housed."
+
+This was quite true, for Mr. Thorn's fowl-house was large and airy, and
+well supplied with every necessary convenience. Indeed, so true a
+fancier was he, that his extensive fowl-house was partitioned off, so
+that his Brahmas, Cochin-chinas, Houdans, and other breeds should be in
+no danger of mixing.
+
+It was Mr. Thorn's custom always to collect his eggs himself, the first
+thing after breakfast; and he never allowed any one to go into the
+fowl-house on any pretence whatever, unless in his company. Owing to
+this precaution the fowls were all very tame, while some would testify
+their pleased sense of his presence by stretching out their necks and
+uttering a little note of welcome. He was the more surprised, therefore,
+on the morning on which our story begins, to notice that all the fowls
+were in a state of intense excitement. To his astonishment, he found
+some of the doors communicating with the various sections of the house
+wide open, and the cocks, that he had supposed were safely guarded from
+each other, fighting together fiercely. Evidently his sister was right.
+Some other hand had collected the eggs.
+
+[Illustration: "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MR. THORN'S EGGS?"]
+
+As he was coming out, after having with some difficulty restored order,
+his little boy came running up to him, with his bag of books on his
+back, on his way to school, saying eagerly--
+
+"I don't want to be dainty, papa, only it is tiresome to have nothing
+but bacon, when there are such lots of eggs."
+
+"How do you know there are lots of eggs, my boy?"
+
+"Because I hear the hens cackling every day, papa. This morning there
+was such a noise before I got up."
+
+"Where did the noise come from, Ralph?"
+
+"From the hen-house, papa."
+
+"Are you quite sure, Ralph?"
+
+"Quite, papa! Oh, I know they don't lay anywhere else, for I have looked
+so often to see if any of them laid their eggs in the garden. I looked
+this morning before breakfast."
+
+"Very well, my boy; run off to school now. Perhaps we may find out soon
+where the hens do lay their eggs; but you had better not say anything
+about it to your schoolfellows."
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I tell you what it is, Bob--I don't believe you come honestly by that
+money. You never do any work to speak of, and yet every now and then you
+bring in a lot of money," said a pale-looking young woman to her
+husband, one morning, as he slouched in to breakfast, and threw a
+handful of silver on the table.
+
+"A deal you know about it, Jane! If I get odd jobs that bring me in an
+odd shilling or two, what business is it of yours, I should like to
+know? If you and the little 'un have enough to eat, that's all you need
+trouble about."
+
+"'Taint no concern of mine, Bob, and yet I can't help feeling a bit
+uncomfortable when I hear folks say that Mr. Thorn gets no eggs now."
+
+"What do you know about Mr. Thorn's eggs?" asked her husband, roughly.
+
+"Well, that gossiping Mrs. Smith told me that Mr. Thorn said as how his
+hens had taken to hiding their eggs of late. She said he thought they
+had nests somewhere, but he couldn't find them, and then she looked at
+them eggs I was frying for dinner so suspicious-like that I got quite
+red, for fear you had taken 'em."
+
+Bob made no reply, but ate his breakfast in sullen silence. As he went
+out, his wife called after him--
+
+"You try to get a reg'lar job, Bob, and don't go loafing about."
+
+That evening Bob came in earlier than usual, and going up to his wife,
+who was rocking the cradle, said in a husky voice--
+
+"Jane, my gal, I'm goin' to turn over a new leaf."
+
+"Bless the man!" exclaimed Jane in alarm, as she saw unwonted tears in
+her husband's eyes. "Are you took bad, Bob?"
+
+"No, Jane," he replied gently; "but I've been bad. Listen, old gal, and
+I'll tell you all about it. You were right when you said the money I
+brought you lately weren't all honestly come by."
+
+"Oh, Bob!"
+
+"Hush, my gal; don't interrupt me. It's hard on a fellow to have such a
+tale to tell. You know, Jennie, how long I've been out of reg'lar work,
+and how hard I tried to get some of the farmers round to take me on; but
+they all said they had nothing for me to do. Well, when you was took
+bad, I got desperate like; and one mornin', when I was doin' an odd job
+o' digging in Mr. Thorn's garden, I heard his hens a-cackling; and as I
+knowed when he collected the eggs, I got up early next day, and managed
+to slip in afore he was about; and as I wasn't found out, I did it again
+and again; and as I had nothing to do after the diggin', I walked to
+Market Littleton and sold 'em; and so I did many a time. Well, this
+morning I met Mr. Thorn in the village. I tried to skulk out of his way,
+but he walked up quite friendly-like, and says he, 'I wish I had known
+you were so fond of eggs. I'd have given you some,' says he, 'and
+welcome.' Well, I tried to brave it out, and swore I knew nought of his
+eggs, but he went on quite friendly in his funny way. 'Bob,' says he,
+'you shall have as many as you like, only let me have the pleasure of
+getting them for you. It's a pity for you to get up so early, and have
+all the trouble of getting over the fence, and opening the door with a
+bit of wire, when I could send them to you without any fuss.' Well,
+Jane, I went down on my knees then, and I said, 'If you'll forgive me
+this time, sir, I'll never do it again; only don't send me to jail.
+'Twould break my gal's heart, it would'; and then he puts half-a-crown
+into my hand, and he goes with me to a friend of his, and gets me taken
+on with the horses."
+
+"Oh, Bob, how could you?" said Jane, crying; "and Mr. Thorn such a nice,
+kind-spoken gentleman! And oh, if anybody else knows, you'll get the
+name of a thief!"
+
+"No one else does know, my gal, and I am sure that Mr. Thorn will keep
+it close. He said he 'spected me the day afore yesterday, when he seed
+me at Market Littleton sellin' some eggs, and says he, 'I didn't like to
+'spect you, Bob; but after my 'spicions was roused, I watched yesterday
+mornin' and this mornin';' and as I was a-coming out of the hen-house
+this mornin', he seed me, and says he, ''Tis an ill deed that has to be
+done in the dark, Bob.'"
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+A night or two afterwards, as Bob was passing a building where services
+were being held, he fancied that he heard Mr. Thorn's voice, and he went
+into the porch to listen. Yes, it was John Thorn's voice. He was
+praying, and it seemed to Bob that he was praying for him. He prayed for
+those who were sorely tempted, and who had no strength to resist--who
+had never savingly heard the voice of the Lord, and who never used His
+name but in oaths. "That's me," said poor Bob, with a groan. After the
+prayer, the hymn, "Just as I am," was sung, and then a short address was
+given by the preacher.
+
+"Needy sinners, come just as you are," said the preacher. "Jesus died
+for sinners. Come with all your sins upon you. Don't try to wash off
+some of the biggest ones; you will only make the dirty stains worse.
+Come just as you are. You perhaps think of others--your old companions
+who will laugh at you, and so you are ashamed. Were you ashamed of that
+mean act you did in the dark the other morning?"
+
+"He knows all about it," thought Bob, and he covered his face with his
+hands. At that moment of supreme misery, some one touched him on the
+shoulder, and looking up in terror, Bob saw the man whom he had robbed
+gazing down upon him, with his kind eyes full of pity and compassion for
+the poor sorrow-stricken man.
+
+"You've bin and told him," hissed Bob.
+
+"My poor fellow, I have told him nothing. God forbid that I should tell
+any one of the sin which you have confessed to me. Come in, Bob."
+
+"I am so bad and so dirty."
+
+"Your clothes are dirty, Bob," replied Mr. Thorn, glancing at Bob's
+soiled and shabby garments. "I wonder that you go on wearing them. They
+are too dirty to be washed."
+
+"Too dirty to be washed, sir!" exclaimed Bob in amazement. "I have no
+others to change with, or my gal would very soon have them in the
+wash-tub."
+
+"Very true, Bob. You have no clothes to change with, but if I gave you a
+clean coat, you would soon put it on, aye?"
+
+"Yes, indeed, Mr. Thorn."
+
+"Then, if you by faith come to Christ, in your filthy rags, just as you
+are, He will wash you in the fountain of His blood, and will cover you
+with the robe of His righteousness."
+
+And Bob came. He felt his guilt and misery, and like a little child he
+asked for mercy. Need we say he found it? We do not pretend to fix the
+exact day and hour of his conversion, but this we know--the once
+dishonest man is now, and has been for years, a man of the strictest
+probity; the blasphemer now worships the Saviour whom once he despised;
+and among that little band of Christians in L----, there is none more
+devoted to his Master's service, none more loving and gentle to wife and
+children, and to all within the sphere of his influence, than Bob.
+
+"And under God, I owe it all to Mr. Thorn," he would say. "Had he, a
+professing Christian, sent me to prison then, could I have believed what
+he said of God's mercy? Mr. Thorn was to me the living witness of God's
+mercy in Christ."
+
+"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also
+forgive you."
+
+  "Just as I am, without one plea,
+  But that Thy blood was shed for me,
+  And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
+            O Lamb of God, I come!
+
+  "Just as I am, and waiting not
+  To rid my soul of one dark blot,
+  To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
+            O Lamb of God, I come!
+
+  "Just as I am Thou wilt receive;
+  Wilt strengthen, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
+  Because Thy promise I believe;
+            O Lamb of God, I come!
+
+  "Just as I am--Thy love unknown
+  Has broken every barrier down;
+  Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
+            O Lamb of God, I come!"
+
+                            --_From a Tract._
+
+
+
+
+SUCCESS.--There is a glare about success which is apt to dazzle men's
+eyes. When we see a man rising in the world, a foolish high opinion is
+formed of his merits. It is said, "What a wonderful man this must be to
+rise so rapidly!" forgetting that straw, dust, and feathers--things
+without value or weight--rise the soonest and easiest. It is not always
+the good and great man who rises rapidly into wealth and notice.
+
+
+
+
+A GOOD EXAMPLE.
+
+
+The following notice, headed, "To the Workmen of Stoke Works," was
+recently issued by Mr. J. Corbett, M.P.:--
+
+"It has been to me a matter of great pain and regret to receive from
+time to time complaints from grocers, bakers, and other tradesmen, that
+the men employed at the works ask for credit, and then refuse to pay
+their lawful debts, thereby bringing a bad name upon the works, and no
+good repute upon me as an employer. Now, considering that the men
+employed here obtain higher wages than at any other salt works in
+England, and receive their wages weekly, I consider such conduct simply
+disgraceful, particularly when evidence is brought before me that the
+money which should go to pay tradesmen for provisions for the wife and
+family is expended in drink, too often leading to drunkenness. I contend
+that workmen who receive their wages weekly should never get into debt,
+and tradesmen ought to know that if men who regularly have their wages
+every Saturday cannot pay one week, they are in no better position to
+pay the week after. I am determined to try to remove this stigma from
+Stoke Works, and hereby give notice that any man or men who expend their
+wages in drinking or otherwise, instead of paying their lawful debts,
+are no men for these works; and I do hope that any such men will take
+advice intended with the best feelings for their good and the comfort of
+their families. A copy of this notice will be sent to the tradesmen of
+Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, and other places. This is, of
+course, only intended to apply to those men who are guilty of the
+conduct herein complained of.--(Signed) JOHN CORBETT, Stoke Prior Salt
+Works."
+
+
+IT is better to be nobly remembered than nobly born.--_Ruskin._
+
+
+
+
+THE DUTCH AND THEIR COUNTRY.
+
+
+The enemies with which they had to contend were three--the sea, the
+lakes, the rivers. They dried up the lakes, imprisoned the rivers, drove
+back the sea.
+
+In order to drain the lakes they made use of the air. The lakes and
+ponds were surrounded by dams, the dams by canals. An army of windmills
+put pumps in motion, which turned the water into the canals, which
+conducted it to the rivers and to the sea. Thus vast spaces of land
+buried under water were transformed as if by enchantment into fertile,
+smiling plains, populated by villages. From 1500 to 1858 the amount of
+land reclaimed was 355 miles.
+
+By the substitution of steam instead of windmills, the great lake of
+Haarlem was dried, the furious tempests of which threatened the cities
+of Haarlem, Amsterdam, and Leyden with destruction; and the Dutch, in
+1883, seriously contemplated the prodigious undertaking of reclaiming
+the land buried under the Zuyder Zee.
+
+The rivers did not cost much less labour than the lakes, but the most
+tremendous struggle was with the ocean. A great part of Holland is below
+sea-level, and the land has to be defended by dykes. If these wonderful
+bulwarks of earth and of wood and granite were not there as monuments to
+attest the courage and perseverance of the Dutch, no one would believe
+that the hand of man, even in the course of centuries, could accomplish
+so great a work.
+
+Holland is an impregnable fortress. The mills are the towers of its
+immense bastions, the cataracts the gates, the islands the advanced
+forts; and she shows to her enemy, the sea, only the belfries and roofs
+of the edifices.
+
+Holland is a fortress, and the Dutch, like people in a fortress, stand
+on a perpetual war-footing with the sea. An army of engineers, dependent
+on the Minister of the Interior, spy upon the enemy continually, watch
+over the state of the internal waters, provide for ruptures in the
+embankments, advise and direct new works of defence to strengthen and
+support the old.
+
+The danger is constant, the sentinels ever at their posts. At the first
+assault of the sea they give the cry of alarm, and Holland sends arms,
+materials, and money. Even when there is not a great battle raging,
+there is always a slow, silent struggle. The innumerable mills are never
+quiet, always pumping the rain-water into the canals. Every day the
+cataracts of the canals and rivers shut their huge gates against the
+rising tide, which struggles to precipitate itself into the heart of the
+country.
+
+But Holland has done more than defend herself from the sea, and master
+it. The waters were her scourge, but she has made them her defence. When
+a foreign army invaded her territory, she opened her sluice-gates,
+unchained the sea and the waves, and let them loose on the enemy,
+defending internal cities with a fleet. The water was her poverty; she
+made it her wealth.
+
+"Nature," says a Dutch poet, "refused all her gifts to Holland. Men had
+to do everything in spite of Nature."
+
+It is enough to look at the monuments of the great struggle with the sea
+to understand that the distinctive characteristics of this people must
+be firmness and patience, accompanied by a calm and never-failing
+courage.
+
+
+YOU can outlive a slander in half the time you can out-argue it.
+
+
+THE soul that cannot entirely trust God, whether man be pleased or
+displeased, can never long be true to Him; for, while you are eyeing
+man, you are losing sight of God and stabbing religion at the very
+heart.--_Manton._
+
+
+
+
+SUNDAY SCHOOL INTELLIGENCE.
+
+
+CLIFTON SUNDAY SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY.
+
+Special services in the above place, on behalf of the Sunday School,
+were held on Sunday, July 22nd.
+
+Two sermons were preached, in the morning and evening, by the Pastor,
+Mr. Frederick Marshall; also an address was given by him in the
+afternoon. Text in the morning, Deuteronomy vi. 6, 7. He spoke of the
+good of Sunday Schools in the cases of many that have left them and gone
+out into the world to earn their living. It was his prayer that the Lord
+would bless the labours of the brethren and sisters in the good work,
+and that they might not be weary in well-doing, for they have the
+promise, "they shall reap if they faint not." He could rest assured that
+what was taught in the school was according to the Scriptures. He warned
+the young people to flee from temptations and from the appearance of
+evil, and directed them to diligently search the Scriptures, and take
+them for a guide.
+
+In the afternoon, in the presence of a goodly number of parents,
+teachers, and scholars, he spoke from the little word "One." He said
+that there must be a oneness between teachers and scholars, or the
+school could not succeed. He also said that each boy and girl, as well
+as the teacher, had his or her individual duty to do, and he said that
+they all ought to try to do that duty well, out of school as well as in.
+
+In the evening, the text was Romans xvi. 26. The sermon was listened to
+very attentively by a good congregation. Suitable pieces for the
+occasion were sung by the children.
+
+On the following Thursday the children had their annual treat. On
+account of the previous wet weather, it was feared that not a very
+enjoyable day was in store; but He who is still the Answerer of prayer
+was pleased to stay the rain, so that a very pleasant day was spent by
+all present.
+
+                                     A SCHOLAR.
+
+
+PROVIDENCE CHAPEL SUNDAY SCHOOL, BURWASH.
+
+The first public meeting took place on Wednesday, August 8th. The
+meeting was opened at two p.m. by singing, and then the Superintendent
+read Proverbs iv. 1-13, and spoke in prayer. The children then amused
+themselves for a time in the adjoining field. They were called in again
+at four o'clock, and after reading and prayer, eight of the senior
+scholars recited from fifteen to thirty verses each of Scripture, and
+some hymns, for which they were presented, six with the Clifton Hymnal,
+one with "The Sack and its Treasure," and the other with "The Morte
+Stone," kindly presented by Mr. J. Wilmshurst, of Cranbrook. Three of
+the junior scholars also said a few verses, for which they were
+presented, two with a New Testament, and one with the Psalms.
+
+At five o'clock about thirty persons sat down to tea, most of whom were
+children.
+
+In the evening Mr. J. Jarvis, of Mayfield, preached a very impressive
+and encouraging sermon from Hebrews xii. 24.
+
+The Sunday School was opened on the last Lord's Day in April with three
+scholars. It now has eighteen, and we trust that the Lord will still
+prosper the good work.
+
+                                            S. H. JARVIS.
+
+
+CARMEL CHAPEL, FLECKNEY.
+
+The anniversary of the Sabbath School in connection with the above place
+of worship was held on Sunday, July 29th, when two sermons were preached
+by Mr. Read, who has now preached on these occasions for thirteen years.
+Both school-rooms and chapel were crowded. Special hymns were sung by
+the scholars, and at the close of the sermon in the evening, twelve
+handsomely-bound Bibles were presented to six girls and six boys, it
+being a custom to give one to each scholar at the age of sixteen. Mr.
+Read spoke very appropriate words as he presented the Bible to each
+scholar.
+
+Collections were made at the close of each service, amounting in the
+whole to L16.
+
+The school, which now numbers 190 scholars, was commenced about thirty
+years since, when our esteemed Superintendent, Mr. J. Garner, was the
+only teacher, with five scholars.
+
+The preaching of the truth of God in our village was begun by our
+beloved minister, Mr. Deacon, thirty-four years ago, in a cottage, which
+has given rise to the building of two chapels, and it is thought that
+the present one, which has only been built ten years, will have to be
+enlarged. We are constrained to say, with one of old, "What hath God
+wrought?"
+
+                                               A READER.
+
+
+
+
+"A SOFT ANSWER."
+
+
+A person went to the late Mr. Longden, of Sheffield, one day, and said,
+"I have something against you, and I am come to tell you of it." "Do
+walk in, sir," he replied. "You are my best friend. If I could but
+engage my friends to be faithful with me, I should be sure to prosper.
+But, if you please, we will both kneel down, in the first place, and ask
+the blessing of God upon our interview." After they rose from their
+knees, Mr. Longden said, "Now, my brother, I will thank you to tell me
+what it is that you had against me." "Oh," said the man, "I really don't
+know what it is. It is all gone; and I believe I was in the wrong."
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.
+
+(ACTS v. 1-16.)
+
+
+In the second chapter of Acts we learn how the Holy Spirit was, on the
+Day of Pentecost, just after Christ's ascension, poured out upon the
+apostles, how they preached the Gospel in languages they had never
+learned before, and how three thousand of their hearers were led to
+confess their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. These were
+baptized according to His commandment, and added to the company of
+disciples at Jerusalem, partaking of the Lord's Supper as He had bidden
+them, and continuing in fellowship and prayer. But besides all this,
+they made a rule for themselves which Jesus had not actually laid down
+for them. The richer members gave up their money and goods, and all
+shared alike. Thus beautifully did they obey the spirit of His new
+commandment, "Love one another, even as I have loved you" (John xv. 12).
+
+But this happy state of things did not long continue. Satan and sin soon
+interrupted its trustful, unselfish course, and we never find again that
+they that believed had all things common, after the events recorded in
+Acts v.
+
+A man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira joined the Church, and seeing
+that others parted with their possessions, they also sold a piece of
+land, and laid a portion of the price at the apostles' feet, pretending
+that they had given up the whole of the money received. Peter, being
+divinely inspired, detected the falsehood, and Ananias fell down dead at
+his feet, was carried from the place of meeting, and buried immediately.
+Sapphira, ignorant of the dreadful fact, came to a later service, and
+repeating the lie to Peter, she also was struck with death in a moment,
+and was borne to her husband's grave.
+
+His seems to have been an _acted_, hers a _spoken_ lie. In each case
+the falsehood was partly true, but the intention was to deceive, and
+this is the very essence of a lie. It was hypocrisy. They "played a
+part," like actors on the stage. They pretended to be different people
+from what they really were, and they wanted to be thought of as loving,
+sincere, and generous Christians, while they were false-hearted and
+hollow all the time.
+
+May we never try to deceive others, to make a false impression--to seem
+better than we are. God sees and knows us altogether. May it be our
+chief desire to have our hearts and lives right with Him.
+
+But why did such a terrible doom fall upon these two false ones at the
+very beginning of the Christian era? In the olden time God's judgments
+fell upon transgressors in a sudden and fearful way, but under the
+gracious reign of Jesus we might scarcely have looked for such a display
+of wrath. Yet, though "God is love," He is also "a consuming fire," and
+there is not all that difference between the old dispensation and the
+present one which might at first appear. David was forgiven ages before,
+and these sinners were destroyed in Gospel times. Then, "God was greatly
+to be feared in the assembly of His saints," and still He must "be had
+in reverence of all them that are about Him."
+
+But what were the effects of this awful occurrence? "Great fear came
+upon the Church, and upon all who heard these things." This is just what
+we should have expected. "And of the rest" (of those who were not true
+and whole-hearted) "no one dared to join that company." So much the
+better, just as the disciples were better off without Judas Iscariot. A
+decaying corpse in the house injures the health of the living inmates,
+and false professors have never done good, but rather harm, to the true
+Church of God.
+
+Yet another result followed which we might not have hoped for--a large
+increase of believing converts. "Multitudes of men and women, believing
+on the Lord, were the more added to the Church." "The more." Yes, for
+this very reason--they saw and felt that "the Lord was there," and
+loving Him, they wished to dwell in His presence, and enjoy His
+protection and care.
+
+Oh, how important motives are! A thief in the company of innocent people
+may, like them, offer to be searched, in order to avoid suspicion, as
+Judas asked, "Lord, is it I?" when all the disciples had first put the
+question to Jesus, but he could not thus escape the searching eyes that
+read his heart, or the words of condemnation that fell upon his ears.
+Are we willing to be searched and tried by God?
+
+But, if we do desire to belong to Jesus, and follow Him, need we, should
+we, hesitate to unite with, or remain among, His people? Oh, no! Though
+He is angry with the wicked every day, and terrible to the hypocrites,
+He is gracious and full of compassion to all who seek His grace. "Will
+He plead against me with His great strength? No, but He will put
+strength in me," said Job (chap. xxiii. 6). And while He burns up all
+who rebel against Him, as the fire consumes briars and thorns, they who
+would be at peace with Him shall find peace by His own strength (Isa.
+xxvii. 4, 5) and love.
+
+Yes, and not only so--it is a blessing for us that He does know us
+altogether. We are sometimes afraid to confess some secret fault to an
+earthly friend, lest we should be loved less when the wrong thing is
+known; and if we could hide ourselves from God, how we might shrink from
+telling Him some of our thoughts and feelings, and this secrecy might
+ruin and destroy us. But He does know all, and knowing, loves His
+children still, so that we may pour out all our heart before Him; and
+while it will be an unspeakable relief to us, it will be no news to Him.
+A sense of our own unworthiness will only precede the joyous assurance
+of pardon and blessing. Peter once said, "Depart from me, for I am a
+sinful man, O Lord!" and Isaiah cried, "Woe is me, for I am undone"
+(Isa. vi. 5); but Peter's fear gave place to the clinging words of
+love--"Lord, to whom shall we go [but unto Thee], for Thou hast the
+words of eternal life?" (John vi. 68); while Isaiah's cry of sorrow
+changed to the gladsome song, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will
+trust, and not be afraid" (Isa. xii. 2).
+
+Oh, that we may be helped to cast ourselves by faith and prayer entirely
+upon Him, and, like Peter, say, "Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou
+knowest that I love Thee." Amen.
+
+Our next subject will be, _The Good Shepherd, His Lambs and Sheep_ (Isa.
+xl. 11).
+
+                                        Yours affectionately,
+                                                    H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+An officer of Pharaoh.
+A city built by Cain.
+A son of Solomon.
+A precious stone.
+The mount where Joshua built an altar.
+A queen of the Ethiopians.
+The land of Haran's nativity.
+One of the seven Churches of Asia.
+A duke of Edom.
+One whom the Lord raised up to
+deliver Israel.
+A daughter of Zelophehad.
+
+The initials of the words do show
+What Christ on earth had to pass through;
+And all His people may prepare,
+While in this world, to have their share.
+
+                                     THOMAS TYLER
+                                  (Aged 13 years).
+
+_Potton, Beds._
+
+
+ADVERSITY borrows its sharpest sting from our impatience.--_Bishop
+Horne._
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+     THE BLESSINGS CONFERRED ON ENGLAND BY THE ACCESSION TO THE THRONE
+     OF WILLIAM OF ORANGE, AND BY THE PROTESTANT SUCCESSION THEREBY
+     SECURED TO US.
+
+
+The blessings conferred on England by the accession of William of Orange
+ought long to be remembered by all those who love to worship God in the
+way their conscience tells them is right.
+
+He came to England at a time in its history when it was especially in
+need of help. He restored liberty, both civil and religious, and backed
+up Protestantism. The Protestant people were greatly burdened by the
+cruelties of James II., who, it is said, had a mind more devoted to the
+infliction of pain than had been since the Romans conquered England.
+Here he persecuted those who held fast to the "common prayer," and in
+Scotland put to death as many as would not adopt it. He had two women
+tied to stakes and drowned in the Solway Firth, because they would not
+repeat the Apostles' Creed.
+
+By these incidents of his cruelty, we plainly see the great blessing of
+liberty which God, through William III., bestowed on England, and the
+great blessing which Protestantism is to the land.
+
+James having thus shown himself to the people, and his cruelties being
+so great, it is naturally to be expected that they would readily accept
+this new sovereign, who was a good man, and who had supported the
+Protestants of Holland all his life. He had a right to the crown by his
+marriage to Mary, the daughter of James II.
+
+England received a great blessing in the year 1701, the Act of
+Settlement being passed by the consent of William and his Parliament,
+which shut out from the English throne all persons who were Roman
+Catholics, or persons married to Roman Catholics.
+
+The successor to him was Queen Anne of Denmark, and when she died,
+leaving no child, another agreement was formed, placing the crown on
+Sophia, Dowager-Electress of Hanover, and her posterity, if they were
+Protestants. Since this Act was passed there has been no Roman Catholic
+on the throne. If it had not been passed, several Romanist sovereigns
+might have reigned.
+
+The Protestant religion is a great blessing, and the main cause of the
+prosperity of our nation. Romanism greatly impoverishes all countries
+which are its victims, such as Ireland, where Popery predominates. Never
+has the accession to the throne of a Protestant king been more needful
+than it was then.
+
+It is since then that England has won a name as a great nation and a
+brave people. If Protestantism is such a standing religion, which "has
+been through the water, and not been overflowed," and "through the fire
+without being burned," surely we ought to labour hard for the overthrow
+of that false religion which is the main curse of many nations in the
+world. By the important incidents we plainly see God's overruling
+providence guarding us and our religion, and, as Wickliffe said, after
+one of his trials, so say we again with still greater force, "The truth
+shall prevail."
+
+                                          WILLIAM ERNEST CRAY
+                                             (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Pearl Cottage_, _Carlyle Road_,
+_Forton_, _Gosport_, _Hants._
+
+[We are sorry that no more of our young friends have sent Essays for
+this month, but our young friend has thereby the advantage of taking a
+second prize.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Reformation and
+its Heroes."
+
+The subject for November will be, "Lessons to be Derived from the
+History of Daniel," and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that
+subject, a copy of "Cowper's Poems." All competitors must give a
+guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay
+is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the
+Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers
+must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
+Hastings, by the first of October.]
+
+
+
+
+"THE NAILS ARE GONE, BUT THE MARKS ARE LEFT."
+
+
+A little boy, whose father desired to see him a good child, was told one
+day that a nail should be driven into a post whenever he should do an
+act that was wrong; and when he should do a good deed, he might pull one
+out.
+
+The little fellow tried to be good, and, though there were a number of
+nails driven into the post, after a while not one remained.
+
+How happy must Benny have been when he saw the last nail disappear from
+the post!
+
+His father was greatly pleased, and was congratulating his son, when he
+was surprised to see that he was weeping; and very touching was the
+remark he made--"Ah! the nails are all gone, but the marks are left!"
+Was not this contrition?
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN SEPTEMBER.
+
+
+Sept.  2. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 12.
+Sept.  9. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 20.
+Sept. 16. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 13.
+Sept. 23. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 14.
+Sept. 30. Commit to memory Isa. viii. 17.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+"GOD save the Queen" is now sung in eighteen languages.
+
+
+THE cost of making a bank-note for any amount is less than one
+halfpenny.
+
+
+EIGHT million baskets of peaches are expected from Delaware and Maryland
+this season.
+
+
+THE Pool of Bethesda has, according to the quarterly statement of the
+Palestine Exploration Fund, been authoritatively discovered.
+
+
+IN the whole sky an eye of average power will see about 6,000 stars.
+With a telescope this number is greatly increased, and the most powerful
+telescopes show more than 60,000,000. Of this number, not one out of
+each hundred has ever been catalogued.
+
+
+THE oldest newspaper in the whole wide world is the _King Pau_, or
+_Capital Sheet_, published in Pekin. It first appeared A.D. 911, but
+came out only at irregular intervals. Since the year 1351, however, it
+has been published weekly and of uniform size. Now it appears in three
+editions daily.
+
+
+ON an average each Englishman writes forty letters a year, each
+Scotchman thirty, and each Irishman sixteen. The average Italian only
+posts six, and the American twenty-one. It must be remembered that in
+the country letter-writing is a rare pursuit, and that the bulk of
+letters are written by business men.
+
+
+THE tomato is, perhaps, used more as a relish than for its nutritive
+value. Uncooked, it forms the prince of salads, and it is one of the
+most appetising, palatable, and popular vegetables we have. Violent heat
+destroys the delicious flavour of this half fruit, half vegetable, so
+when you cook them, be most careful to use only moderate heat.
+
+
+SAVING THE BUFFALO.--The buffaloes on the American prairies were thought
+to be nearly extinct, thanks to the reckless destruction of big game in
+recent years; but a happy find has been made of a herd nearly one
+hundred strong in a remote and uninhabited part of Texas. To prevent any
+danger of their annihilation, an expedition of trained huntsmen is being
+sent to Texas to drive the buffaloes into a given enclosure, where the
+breed will be carefully preserved.
+
+
+THIRTEEN thousand boxes gone astray, thirteen thousand umbrellas left in
+railway carriages, sixty-seven thousand different items of property lost
+on the railways of the United Kingdom during the single month of August,
+1887! The railway companies are not responsible for this property, but
+to their credit be it said, they afford every facility for its recovery.
+
+
+POPERY IN PORTUGAL.--A correspondent in Oporto describes the Romish
+ceremony of washing an image of Christ in Lisbon, and adds--"If those
+who are drifting Romewards could only see the depths of greed,
+hypocrisy, and deceit to which the Church descends in these countries
+where she holds sway, and how immorality, infidelity, and spiritual
+darkness rule among the people, from high to low, they would surely
+hesitate to introduce Popish mummeries into free England."
+
+
+TO CURE FEATHERS.--The following recipe gained a premium from the
+Society of Arts. Mix a quantity of lime-water in the proportion of one
+pound of quicklime to a gallon of water, mixing well, and pouring off
+the clean lime-water for use as soon as the undissolved lime is
+precipitated. Put the feathers in a tub, adding enough of the clean
+lime-water to cover them to a depth of three inches. Stir them about
+until well moistened, when they will sink. Leave for three or four days,
+and then pour the whole through a sieve to get rid of the foul water.
+Wash well in clean water, and dry upon nets in a room where the air can
+be admitted. Cabbage nets will do well, the feathers falling through the
+meshes as they dry. About three weeks will finish the feathers, which
+will only need beating afterwards to get rid of the dust.
+
+
+CURIOUS CUSTOM AT A CITY CHURCH.--The following extract from the last
+will and testament of Peter Symondes, mercer, dated April 24th, 1586,
+refers to a curious custom still observed on Good Friday at All Hallows
+Church, Lombard Street:--"The parson and churchwardens shall every year,
+upon the same Good Fryday, divide the same raisons into threescore parts
+in papers, and when the children of Christ's Hospital shall come upon
+Good Fryday as aforesaid, then the said parson and churchwardens shall
+give unto every child a part of that so appointed; and although this
+gift may be thought very frivolous, yet, my mind and meaning being
+hidden, may, notwithstanding, be performed, praying God to make all
+those children happy members of this Commonwealth. Amen." Under
+directions in the same will, each of the sixty boys also receives a new
+penny. An Easter card is also given by the churchwardens from the parish
+funds.
+
+
+THE EARWIG.--The old-fashioned idea of the much-dreaded earwig is little
+more than a fallacy. The original English word "ear" signified an
+undeveloped flower-bud, especially among corn, and "wic" commonly stood
+for a hiding-place; so that familiar insect (formerly written
+"ear-wig"), through seeking its favourite dwelling beneath the
+closely-shielded bud "ears," has been universally accredited with
+propensities so deadly injurious to mankind of which it naturally stands
+wholly innocent. In this manner popular superstition has often thrown a
+mantle of evil and dread upon surrounding objects, harmless in
+themselves; and so long as the vulgar lend credence to ill-founded
+traditions without instituting intelligent inquiry, so long must such
+discrepancies continue to hold sway over the public mind.
+
+
+SHEEP-SHEARING BY MACHINERY.--A public trial of Mr. P. W. Wolseley's
+"Patent Sheep-Shearing Machine" was recently made in the presence of a
+number of gentlemen interested in sheep-breeding and wool-growing. The
+result--says _The Australasian_--was a complete success. The first test
+was upon a crossbred sheep with an average fleece. The animal was
+closely shorn in four and a half minutes. The second animal was shorn in
+the ordinary way, and then operated upon by the machine, with the result
+that, in addition to the cut of the old-fashioned shears, nine and a
+half ounces of wool were obtained. It is claimed for the invention that
+it works faster than hand labour, leaves no second cut, does not injure
+the skin in the slightest degree, and can be so regulated that the
+fleece can be removed of any length desired.
+
+
+A MONSTER TROUT.--A monster trout was captured the last week in July in
+the river Itchen, at Winchester, weighing 16 lbs. 2 ozs., and measuring
+32 inches in length and 21 inches in circumference. The bait was a live
+minnow, and he was not landed till two hours after he was hooked. He had
+haunted the stream for years, was almost as well known in the city as
+Queen Anne's statue in the High Street, and had acquired quite a
+reputation for the number of rods he had broken, and the quantity of
+fishing tackle he had carried away. His captor was a labourer named
+Turpin, who disposed of him for L1 to a fishmonger, on whose slab it
+attracted almost as many visitors as a monarch lying in state. He was in
+splendid condition, and has now gone into the hands of a taxidermist for
+preservation.
+
+
+A RATHER curious episode in natural history occurred the other day on
+board the French steamboat _Abd-el-Kader_, during the passage from
+Marseilles to Algiers. Just as the vessel was about two hours out, the
+skies became quite black with swallows. It was then about six o'clock in
+the evening. The birds alighted in thousands on the sails, ropes, and
+yards of the _Abd-el-Kader_. After a perky survey of the deck from their
+eminences aloft, they descended coolly on deck, hopped about among the
+sailors and passengers, and eventually found their way into the cabins,
+both fore and aft. The birds were evidently fatigued, after a long
+flight, and allowed themselves to be caught by the people of the ship,
+who gave them a welcome reception, and provided them with food, which
+they enjoyed heartily. The little winged strangers remained all night on
+the vessel, and in the morning, at seven o'clock, the head look-out bird
+had, no doubt, sighted the Balearic Isles, for the whole flock made for
+land, after having spent a comfortable and refreshing night on board
+ship.
+
+
+FACTS ABOUT LONDON.--London is the greatest city the world ever saw. It
+has an influence with all parts of the world, represented by the yearly
+delivery in its postal districts of 295 millions of letters; it covers
+within the fifteen miles' radius of Charing Cross nearly 700 square
+miles; it numbers within these boundaries four million two hundred
+thousand of inhabitants; it contains more country-born persons than the
+counties of Devon and Gloucester combined, or 37 per cent. of its
+population; has, on an average, four fires every day amongst its 500,000
+houses; has a birth in it every four minutes; has a death in it every
+six minutes; has 230 persons every day and 84,000 annually added to its
+population; has nine accidents every day in its 7,000 miles of streets;
+has 55 miles of new streets opened, and 17,000 new houses built in it
+every year; has a vast network of 2,184 miles of sewers and pipes for
+its drainage, and 2,000 miles for its gas supply of 55,000 lamps; has
+1,000 ships and 9,000 sailors in its port every day; has upwards of
+89,000 persons annually taken into custody by the police; has more than
+one-third of all the crime in the country committed in it; has 25,000
+persons living in its common lodging houses; has 43,286 persons annually
+arrested as drunk and disorderly. It is further estimated that it
+comprises 100,000 foreigners from every quarter of the globe. It
+contains more Roman Catholics than Rome itself; it contains more Jews
+than the whole of Palestine; it contains more Irish than Belfast; it
+contains more Scotchmen than Aberdeen; it contains more Welshmen than
+Cardiff; it has as many beershops and gin-palaces, the frontages of
+which would, if placed side by side, stretch from Charing Cross to
+Chichester, a distance of 62 miles. It has nearly as many paupers as
+would occupy every house in Brighton.
+
+[Illustration: "WHO SHALL HAVE IT?" (_See page 218._)]
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE SCOTCH GRANITE.
+
+
+Burt and Johnnie Lee were delighted when their Scotch cousin came to
+live with them. He was little, but very bright and full of fun. He could
+tell curious things about his home in Scotland, and his voyage across
+the ocean. He was as far advanced in his studies as they were, and the
+first day he went to school they thought him remarkably good. He wasted
+no time in play when he should have been studying, and he advanced
+finely.
+
+At night, before the close of the school, the teacher called the roll,
+and the boys began to answer, "Ten." When Willie understood that he was
+to say ten if he had not whispered during the day, he replied, "I have
+whispered."
+
+"More than once?" asked the teacher.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered Willie.
+
+"As many as ten times?"
+
+"Maybe I have," faltered Willie.
+
+"Then I shall mark you zero," said the teacher, sternly; "and that is a
+great disgrace."
+
+"Why, I did not see you whisper once," said Johnnie, that night after
+school.
+
+"Well, I did," said Willie, "I saw others doing it, and so I asked to
+borrow a book; then I lent a slate pencil, and asked a boy for a knife,
+and did several such things. I supposed it was allowed."
+
+"Oh, but we all do it," said Burt, reddening. "There isn't any sense in
+the old rule; and nobody could keep it; nobody does."
+
+"I will, or else I will say I haven't," said Willie. "Do you suppose I
+would tell ten lies in one heap?"
+
+"Oh, we don't call them lies," muttered Johnnie. "There wouldn't be a
+credit among us at night, if we were so strict."
+
+"What of that if you told the truth?" laughed Willie, bravely.
+
+In a short time the boys all saw how it was with him. He studied hard,
+played with all his might in play time; but, according to his account,
+he lost more credits than any of the rest. After some weeks, the boys
+answered "Nine" and "Eight" oftener than they used to. Yet the
+school-room seemed to have grown quieter. Sometimes, when Willie Grant's
+mark was even lower than usual, the teacher would smile peculiarly, but
+said no more of disgrace. Willie never preached at them or told tales;
+but somehow it made the boys ashamed of themselves, just the seeing that
+this sturdy blue-eyed boy must tell the truth. It was putting the clean
+cloth by the half-soiled one, you see; and they felt like cheats and
+story-tellers. They talked him all over, and loved him, if they did
+nickname him "Scotch Granite," he was so firm about a promise.
+
+Well, at the end of the term, Willie's name was very low down on the
+credit list. When it was read, he had hard work not to cry; for he was
+very sensitive, and he had tried hard to be perfect. But the very last
+thing that day was a speech by the teacher, who told of once seeing a
+man muffled up in a cloak. He was passing him without a look, when he
+was told the man was General ----, the great hero.
+
+"The signs of his rank were hidden, but the hero was there just the
+same," said the teacher. "And now, boys, you will see what I mean when I
+give a little gold medal to the most faithful boy--the one really the
+most conscientiously perfect in his deportment among you. Who shall have
+it?"
+
+"Little Scotch Granite!" shouted forty boys at once; for the child whose
+name was so "low" on the credit list had made truth noble in their eyes.
+"A poor man is better than a liar."--_The Lantern._
+
+
+
+
+THE HYACINTH.
+
+
+The sweet-scented pink hyacinth which had been brought me was beautiful
+indeed. It had not yet reached maturity, nor as yet shown all its
+resources of vigour and of beauty, but we took great pleasure in
+watching its gradual unfolding. Some of its beautiful double bells did,
+in fact, come out, and gave forth their delicious perfume. But one day
+there came a stop to its development, which made us anxious. Some of the
+blossoms faded before they had fully displayed their lovely hues, and
+the buds remained stationary in their leaves. Water, sunshine, soft
+spring air, were not lacking to them. The earth in the flower-pot was
+good, and there was sufficient space for the roots to expand, but it was
+speedily evident that the plant was dying. "At all events," I said,
+"I'll save the bulb." So saying, I raised the plant out of the base,
+using great precaution, that I might not break the beautiful white-red
+threads, which I shook, in order to loosen them from the earth. They had
+become wound together, and formed a sort of nest, in which crawled,
+twisting themselves as they went along, as many as eight worms.
+
+It was certainly not to be wondered at that, with eight worms at the
+root, the poor flower should not have been able to thrive. I removed the
+enemy at once, and planted the hyacinth again under more favourable
+conditions; but it is to be feared that the sap had been too much
+impoverished for it ever to thrive again.
+
+I seemed to see a parable in the history of my plant, and I could not
+avoid sighing. Why did I sigh? Because I have known so many young men
+and women who have disappointed the hopes felt about them in their
+childhood. The careful culture these young people have had from tender
+and anxious parents has not succeeded. These promising plants have been
+blighted because some gnawing worm, which their friends had not
+remarked, was at the root. It was vanity--the desire to shine--it was
+deceit--untruthfulness--it was pride--rebellion of the will against all
+authority--it was covetousness--it was selfishness--it was----But why
+should I continue the melancholy enumeration? It is God who alone knows
+the secret enemies of our happiness. "The heart is deceitful above all
+things, and desperately wicked," says the voice of Scripture; "who can
+know it?" "Out of the heart come evil thoughts," says Christ; therefore
+how needful for all of us is the prayer, "Create in me a clean heart, O
+God!" and how cheering the promise, "I will give you a new heart, and I
+will put a new spirit within you."
+
+                                                 J. Y.
+
+
+
+
+WORDS AND DEEDS.
+
+
+One of our party greatly needed some elder-flower water for her face,
+upon which the sun was working great mischief. It was in the Italian
+town of Varallo, and not a word of Italian did I know. I entered a
+chemist's shop, and surveyed his drawers and bottles, but the result was
+nil. Bright thought--I would go down by the river, and walk until I
+could gather a bunch of elder-flowers, for the tree was then in bloom.
+Happily the search was successful. The flowers were exhibited to the
+druggist; the extract was procured.
+
+When you cannot tell in so many words what true religion is, exhibit it
+by your actions. Show by your life what grace can do. There is no
+language in the world so eloquent as a godly life. Men may doubt what
+you say, but they will believe what you do.--_C. H. Spurgeon._
+
+
+IT is a great shame to a man to have a poor heart and a rich
+purse.--_Chaucer._
+
+
+
+
+DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH.
+
+"_He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants
+of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground._"--GENESIS xix. 25.
+
+
+The following extract from "Word Pictures from the Bible," by G. H.
+Taylor, furnishes a good specimen of pictorial teaching, and will serve
+to illustrate the lesson on the above subject:--
+
+In the southern part of Palestine, and about thirty miles south-east
+from Jerusalem, stands the Dead Sea. It is a lake of about forty miles
+in length, with an average breadth of ten miles. On the east and the
+west, steep, rugged, and barren mountains of limestone rise up to the
+height of two thousand feet, and enclose the waters as in a huge
+cauldron. A death-like stillness prevails all around, unbroken save by
+the scream of the wild fowl on the bosom of the lake, or the footstep of
+some daring and solitary traveller. Its shores are deserted. No human
+habitation exists within miles. Even the wandering Arab approaches it
+with superstitious dread. Nothing can exceed the gloomy grandeur of its
+scenery. Rocks piled upon rocks, like ruin upon ruin, look down from the
+east and the west, and are reflected in its sluggish waters. In its
+immediate vicinity all vegetation languishes and dies, and the shores
+are covered as with a coat of salt. In the waters themselves no living
+thing exists. Everything contributes to the ideas of solitude, silence,
+sterility, mystery, ruin, and death.
+
+Now there was a time when the Sea did not exist--when the ground which
+it now covers formed part of a lovely, extensive, and fertile plain. So
+lovely was this plain that it was likened to the garden of paradise, on
+account of its fertility. Everything which was pleasant to the eye and
+good for food grew there. There was one valley in this plain which was
+beautiful beyond all others; it was the vale of Siddim. In this vale
+were built the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, and some
+others. Now, the fertility of the ground caused the inhabitants of these
+places to be very rich and very idle. They forgot the goodness of God in
+placing them in such a lovely spot; and instead of thanking Him for His
+kindness towards them, they gave way to such a beastliness and
+licentiousness of conduct as one cannot think of without shuddering.
+Their very name lives to our times to designate all that is filthy and
+abominable in the conduct of men. They were not only licentious, they
+were proud; not only proud, they were greedy and uncharitable. Although
+they possessed in such abundance all that was necessary for the
+happiness and sustenance of man, yet would they not give anything to
+assist the poor and the needy. The Prophet Ezekiel says, "Behold this
+was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom; pride, fulness of bread, and
+abundance of idleness, was in her and in her daughters; neither did she
+strengthen the hand of the poor and needy, but was haughty, and
+committed abomination before Me." All the worst of sins in the greatest
+excess were to be found among these inhabitants of the cities of the
+plain.
+
+At this time there was living among them a man of the name of Lot, the
+nephew of Abraham. One evening, as Lot sat in the gate of Sodom, two
+angels, in the form of men, appeared unto him. "And Lot, seeing them,
+rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the
+ground; and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into
+your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye
+shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we
+will abide in the street all night." They did not wish to enter; but
+Lot pressed them, and they went in, and he gave them some refreshment.
+That very night the angels communicate to Lot the intelligence that the
+Lord had sent them to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the cities of
+the plain, for the sins of the people had become so great that they were
+an abomination in the land. And the angels said unto Lot, "Hast thou
+here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and
+whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place." This
+awful news must have made Lot very anxious for the safety of his family,
+and accordingly he goes out and tells his relations, and bids them get
+up and leave the place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. "But
+he seemed as one that mocked, unto his sons-in-law." Lot entreats them
+like a kind father who desires the safety of his children; but they only
+mock him in return--"Why should to-morrow differ from other days? Who
+ever saw it rain fire, or whence should the brimstone come? Or, if such
+showers must fall, how shall nothing burn but this valley?" "And when
+the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy
+wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in
+the iniquity of the city." How destruction hunts the wicked! As soon as
+it is morning, Lot is told to hurry out of the guilty city, lest he
+should be consumed in its iniquity. Lot looks upon it, and thinks,
+perhaps, of his property which he must leave to perish. He looks, and
+lingers; but the angels "laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of
+his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being
+merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the
+city." No sooner are they beyond the walls of the city than the angels
+say unto him, "Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay
+thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed."
+The command terrifies Lot. "Escape to the mountain--to a wild, barren,
+desert spot, where I cannot find food to eat, and where the wild beasts
+may destroy me? I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me,
+and I die. Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a
+little one. Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my
+soul shall live." The prayer of Lot is graciously accepted. "See, I have
+accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this
+city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I
+cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the
+city was called Zoar." As Lot enters the little city of Zoar the sun is
+shining. Everything was as usual. The sun is shining upon the cities and
+the beautiful vale of Siddim. The inhabitants, heedless and careless as
+before, are wantoning and revelling. Suddenly the windows of heaven are
+opened, and floods of fiery rain pour down upon the guilty cities and
+all within them. The ground takes fire; the wicked inhabitants fly,
+shrieking, from place to place, but all too late. The swift devouring
+flames follow them, and in a short time the cities, the people, all that
+was fair to look upon in the vale of Siddim, even the solid earth
+itself, are in a blaze! Presently a noise like that of thunder is heard.
+The earth, like some huge animal, opens wide its mouth; the cities sink
+into its jaws and are swallowed up; floods of water, filled with
+sulphur, rush over the place where they stood, and nothing is seen but a
+thick cloud of smoke rising from the water. That water is the Dead Sea.
+
+These were not all the horrors of that dreadful day. Lot escaped into
+Zoar, but his wife, who was behind him, looked back, and she became a
+pillar of salt. The angel had told them not to look back. God was at
+that time showing her the greatest mercy, yet, contrary to His commands,
+she looked back, and became a pillar of salt. It may be that the swift
+flames overtook her as she loitered, or that God, offended at such
+ungrateful disobedience, punished her on the spot by immediately turning
+her into a pillar of salt. It matters not to us which way it was. In
+either case it was the result of disobedience.
+
+
+
+
+THE BIBLE AND ITS CLAIMS.
+
+
+I do not know whether you have seen Mr. Smiles' life of our late friend
+George Moore, but in it we read that, at a certain dinner-party, a
+learned man remarked that it would not be easy to find a person of
+intelligence who believed in the inspiration of the Bible. In an instant
+George Moore's voice was heard across the table saying boldly, "I do,
+for one." Nothing more was said. My dear friend had a strong way of
+speaking, as I well remember, for we have upon occasions vied with each
+other in shouting when we were together at his Cumberland home. I think
+I can hear his emphatic "I do, for one." Let us not be backward to take
+the old-fashioned and unpopular side, and say outright, "I do, for one."
+Where are we, if our Bibles are gone? Where are we if taught to distrust
+them? If we are left in doubt as to what part is inspired and what is
+not, we are as badly off as if we had no Bible at all. I hold no theory
+of inspiration. I accept the inspiration of the Scriptures as a fact.
+Those who thus view the Scriptures need not be ashamed of their company,
+for some of the best and most learned of men have been of the same mind.
+Locke, the great philosopher, spent the last fourteen years of his life
+in the study of the Bible, and when asked what was the shortest way for
+a young gentleman to understand the Christian religion, he bade him read
+the Bible, remarking, "Therein are contained the words of eternal life.
+It has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any
+admixture of error, for its matter." There are those on the side of
+God's Word whom you need not be ashamed of in the matter of intelligence
+and learning; and if it were not so, it should not discourage you, when
+you remember that the Lord has "hid these things from the wise and
+prudent, and revealed them unto babes." We believe, with the Apostle,
+that "the foolishness of God is wiser than men." It is better to believe
+what comes out of God's mouth, and be called a fool, than to believe
+what comes out of the mouths of philosophers, and be therefore esteemed
+a wise man.--_C. H. Spurgeon._
+
+
+
+
+MANKIND'S MISTAKES.
+
+
+It is a mistake to labour when you are not in a fit condition to do so.
+
+To think that the more a person eats the healthier and stronger he will
+become.
+
+To go to bed at midnight and rise at daybreak, and imagine that every
+hour taken from sleep is an hour gained.
+
+To imagine that if a little work or exercise is good, violent or
+prolonged exercise is better.
+
+To conclude that the smallest room in the house is large enough to sleep
+in.
+
+To eat as if you had only a minute to finish the meal in, or to eat
+without an appetite, or continue after it has been satisfied, merely to
+gratify the taste.
+
+To believe that children can do as much work as grown people, and that
+the more hours they study the more they learn.
+
+To imagine that whatever remedy causes one to feel immediately better
+(as alcoholic stimulants) is good for the system, without regard to its
+after effects.
+
+To take off proper clothing out of season, simply because you have
+become heated.
+
+To think that any nostrum or patent medicine is a specific for all the
+diseases flesh is heir to.
+
+
+
+
+POSTAL SERVICE STATISTICS
+
+
+The Right Hon. H. C. Raikes, her Majesty's Postmaster-General, has
+issued the thirty-fourth annual report on the working of the postal
+services in the United Kingdom for the year ended March 31st last. The
+record starts with a table, the figures of which convey some notion of
+the magnitude of the task undertaken. It is estimated that during the
+year the number of letters entrusted to the department for delivery was
+1,512,200,000, in addition to 188,800,000 post-cards, 389,500,000 book
+packets and circulars, 152,300,000 newspapers, and 36,732,000 parcels,
+making a gross total of 2,279,532,000. Compared with the previous year
+these figures show an increase of 3.6 per cent. in letters, 4.8 in
+post-cards, 5.6 in book packets and circulars, 0.8 in newspapers, and
+11.8 in parcels, the increase in the total being 3.9. It is calculated
+that the average number of letters addressed to each person was 41, of
+postcards 5, of book packets and circulars 10, of newspapers 4, of
+parcels 1; or a grand average of 61. The distribution of these figures
+over given areas was marked by the usual disproportion. Of the total
+delivery about 85 per cent. was in England and Wales (28 per cent. being
+in the London postal district), 9.0 per cent. was in Scotland, and 6.0
+per cent. in Ireland. The total number of letters registered was
+10,814,722, being an increase of 0.3 per cent.
+
+The constantly growing work of the department necessitates an increase
+in the numerical strength of the staff. The Postmaster-General shows
+that the permanent establishment consists of about 56,460 persons, being
+an increase of 1,609 over last year. Of the 3,872 females employed, 751
+are engaged as clerks in the central offices in London, Dublin, and
+Edinburgh, and 3,121 as telegraphists, counter-women, sorters, &c.,
+throughout the kingdom. In addition to this staff about 48,900
+supernumeraries are employed in the country to assist in the general
+work of the Post Office. Of these 16,000 are females.
+
+The Parcel Post continues to be much used for the transmission of
+flowers, game, &c. It is calculated that over 12,000 parcels, containing
+upwards of 45,000 grouse, were received in London last autumn, and in
+the month of March vegetables in considerable quantities arrived in
+parcels from Algiers, while it was also noticed that in one week 3,787
+parcels containing hats were posted in London alone. As an illustration
+of the use made of this service by certain firms, it may be mentioned
+that two firms in London each posted 70,000 parcels at one time, while a
+third posted 5,000 parcels. The total postage paid on these parcels
+amounted to L1,875.
+
+The "Dead Letter" department, as it is popularly known, has been called
+upon to deal with 13,436,600 letters, newspapers, postcards, packets,
+and parcels. These figures mark a decrease of 785,387, which is
+attributed firstly to the absence of a general election, and secondly to
+the progress of education, "which causes letter writers to exercise more
+care and accuracy in addressing letters." The report continues:--
+
+"Of the total number received 412,122 were unreturnable; 175,408 were
+registered or contained enclosures of value, and 25,726 were wholly
+unaddressed. Of these unaddressed letters 1,553 contained money and
+cheques, &c., amounting to L7,111. The careless and insecure manner in
+which the public send articles through the post is shown by the facts
+that no less than 24,727 articles of all sorts, including 289 coins,
+were received, having escaped from their covers or wrappers, and that
+the addresses had become detached, through insufficient fastening, from
+4,578 parcels, many of which contained matter of a perishable nature,
+which was thus lost to the owners.
+
+"During the year ended December 31st, 1887, the deposits in the Post
+Office Savings Bank numbered 6,916,327; the amount being L16,535,932, as
+compared with 6,562,395 deposits, amounting to L15,696,852 the year
+before, being an increase of 353,932 in number and L839,080 in amount.
+The sum credited to depositors for interest was L1,244,074, an increase
+of L74,484 over the previous year. The total amount standing to the
+credit of depositors at the end of the year was L53,974,065, being an
+increase of L3,099,727 over last year. This total is exclusive of the
+sum of L3,345,106 Government Stock held by depositors. The number of new
+accounts opened during the year was 794,592 as compared with 758,270 in
+1886; and the accounts closed were 574,252 as compared with 562,499."
+
+Dealing with the Telegraph business, it is shown that the number of
+messages forwarded during the year was 53,403,425, being an increase of
+3,159,786. A reminiscence of the Queen's Jubilee is fittingly recorded.
+The events connected with the celebration caused an immense increase in
+telegraph work in London, amounting to nearly 60 per cent. over the
+ordinary average, and on the day preceding the Jubilee ceremony no less
+than 30,597 local messages were transmitted through the central station,
+the total number of messages dealt with on that day in the Central
+Office being 124,291.
+
+
+THE most valuable, pure, useful, and durable of all metals, is tried
+gold; so is tried faith, among all the Christian virtues.--_Jackson._
+
+
+IT is not enough in this world to "mean well." We ought to do well.
+Thoughtfulness, therefore, becomes a duty, and gratitude one of the
+graces.
+
+
+
+
+NATURE HER OWN SURGEON.
+
+
+Equally worthy of admiration, and all but equally complex, is the
+process by which Nature repairs a fractured limb, especially when the
+injury is such that the broken ends of bone cannot be brought exactly
+into their proper positions. It is remarkable, too, how she adapts her
+process to the different habits of her patients. In the case of a simple
+fracture, if the parts that have been disjoined are set close together
+in their normal line--if it be the leg of a dog, for example--there is
+first a hard sheath, called a "callus," formed round the fracture, and
+this "callus" permits a restricted use of the injured limb, even before
+the two parts have grown together. It is, however, only a temporary
+provision, necessitated by the natural restlessness of the lower
+animals. After the fracture has completely healed the "callus" gradually
+disappears. A human case is treated differently. Here, unless it be a
+broken rib (which requires the provision in consequence of its incessant
+motion in respiration), the healing takes place ordinarily without the
+formation of any _outer_ "callus." Sometimes the broken ends cannot
+be--or at all events are not--brought into their proper relative
+positions. Is it possible, it may be asked, that Nature can provide the
+means for meeting such an emergency, when, that is to say, the two
+portions of bone to be joined are all awry, and something quite new--in
+fact, a kind of bridge, and a bridge not merely serving the purpose of a
+solid connection between opposite banks, but like the bridges which
+carry the appliances of modern civilization, connecting the nerves,
+which answer to the telegraph wires, and the veins and arteries
+corresponding to our water and other conduits, has to be constructed?
+Nature's engineering is equal even to this task.--_Quiver._
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT SWEARING.
+
+A CHAT WITH MY BOYS.
+
+
+Some boys seem to think that it is manly to swear. Passing along the
+street, one is shocked to hear oaths from well-dressed, intelligent
+boys, who evidently belong to cultivated Christian families. I am going
+to tell the boys a true story about swearing, which I trust will
+influence them to break themselves of this ungentlemanly and wicked
+habit.
+
+"When I was a young lad," said a gentleman, "I learned to swear. I had a
+good Christian mother, and she had taught me what a heinous sin it is to
+use the name of God in vain. But I heard other boys swearing, and I
+thought it was very manly to swear as they did, and I tried it too. At
+first the words of an oath came stumbling along, and I felt all the time
+I was using them that God would strike me dead. But after a while I
+could swear as easily and fearlessly as some of my companions. But I
+never swore before my mother. I used the Lord's name in vain so often
+that it seemed as if He had forsaken me, and left me to my sins. I
+became wicked and reckless.
+
+"When I was fifteen years old I went to sea. My mother reluctantly gave
+her consent, only because she knew that I would go without it if she did
+not. My father was dead, and I was her only son. I had no idea then what
+my mother's feelings must have been; now I realize what she must have
+suffered in parting with me.
+
+"When I went to sea I swore in the worst manner. In fact, I scarcely
+spoke a word that was not accompanied by an oath. After a three years'
+voyage I came home. My mother met me with great kindness and affection.
+She had prepared a most tempting supper for me. My trunk was being
+brought into the door, when a misunderstanding between myself and the
+man who had brought it, about the pay, aroused my anger, and, forgetting
+where I was, I swore as only a rough seaman can swear. When oath after
+oath had passed my lips, I chanced to look at my mother, who stood near
+me in the hall. Her face was as white as the face of the dead, and an
+indescribable expression upon it that I can never, never forget. I saw
+that she was falling, and I put my arm around her to support her. She
+shrank away from my touch, and fell senseless to the floor. I paid the
+man the price he demanded, closed the door, lifted my mother up, and
+laid her on the lounge. I thought I had killed her. Oh, the feelings of
+remorse that filled my heart at that moment! But she opened her eyes,
+and seeing me standing before her, said, 'Oh, my son, you have broken my
+heart!' I assured her with tears and kisses that I would never swear
+again, but the habit had taken such strong hold on me that I found
+myself swearing unconsciously many times a day. My mother did not enjoy
+the long-anticipated visit of her only son. Her spirit seemed crushed,
+and I know she felt that she had lost her boy, and a reckless, wicked
+man had come home in his stead. With many tears and kind words of
+pleading she bade me 'good-bye' when, in a few weeks after, I started on
+my second sea voyage. At the first port at which we stopped after
+leaving home, I received a letter from my aunt, containing the sad news
+of my dear mother's death. Instantly that mother's face, as it appeared
+to me on the evening I returned home, was before me. I threw myself on
+my knees in my cabin, and pleaded for forgiveness. I resolved with God's
+help to lead a different life. But habits of sin, that begin in cobwebs,
+end in iron chains. It was not easy to break away from them. But every
+time I began to use an oath, my mother's face, as it looked that night,
+came before me. I shall never forget it to my dying day. With God's
+help, I have overcome that terrible sin. I would give everything I
+possess could I only speak to her once more, and tell her my sorrow and
+remorse. But she is silent in the grave."
+
+When the gentleman had finished his sad story, he said, "When you are
+writing something for the children, tell the boys this story I have told
+you, and tell them always to remember that a sinful habit may begin as a
+cobweb, but it will end as an iron chain about their souls."--_Baptist._
+
+
+
+
+THE WORD WITH POWER.
+
+
+  "Jesus, who lived above the sky,
+  Came down to be a man and die.
+  And those kind hands that did such good,
+  They nailed them to a cross of wood.
+  And, out of pity, Jesus said,
+  He'd bear the punishment instead."
+
+An aged woman sat alone by the fireside, when Mr. ---- came in, and
+simply exclaimed, as he looked out at the window, "The Lord said, 'I
+came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance' (Mark ii.
+17). 'Not the righteous.' What a mercy that is." No more was said, and
+Mr. ---- left the room, but at night, when in bed, the aged one said to
+her sister, who occupied the same room with her, "Mr. ---- came into the
+room below, and, as if speaking to himself, uttered these words, 'I came
+not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Not the righteous.
+What a mercy that is!' and he went out, and said no more, but they made
+the tears roll down my face. There is hope for me."
+
+"A word in season" the Lord alone can give to be effectual. Then, "how
+good it is." Bless His holy name, He shall have all the praise, for ever
+and ever.
+
+                                         D. F.
+
+_August, 1888._
+
+
+
+
+  THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST.
+
+
+  A fountain fulness still remains
+  Of pardoning blood from Jesus' veins,
+  Though millions have its virtues tried,
+  And from its riches been supplied.
+
+  And yet it ever is the same
+  To all that come in Jesus' name;
+  Not one that to it shall repair
+  Will ever perish in despair.
+
+  It makes the filthy sinner clean,
+  Though vile as I or Magdalene;
+  Here David lost his crimson sin,
+  And thousands more as well as him.
+
+  Manasseh here lost all his crimes,
+  And now in glory brightly shines;
+  Also dear Paul, of sinners chief,
+  From this dear fountain got relief,
+
+  And writes so sweetly of its power
+  To save e'en to a dying hour;
+  Yea, all the while he travelled here,
+  This fountain was to him most dear.
+
+  No saved sinner ever knew
+  Better than Paul what blood can do,
+  For he himself its power had tested,
+  And on its efficacy rested.
+
+  And all the hosts around the throne
+  Bear witness to what blood has done;
+  Their holy joy and heavenly bliss
+  Is concentrated all in this.
+
+  Oh, may this joy and peace be mine
+  When called to leave the things of time!
+  To sing of Jesus' love and blood,
+  And dwell for ever with my God.
+
+                                        B. W.
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE HELPS BY LARGE HEARTS.
+
+
+A friend had been sitting a little while by the bed-side of a poor
+woman--rendered utterly helpless from paralysis--reading the Scriptures
+to her, when the door was gently opened, and three neatly-dressed little
+girls entered the room, each carrying a small basket. One of them
+approached the bed, and after a few simple and kind inquiries, held up
+the little basket she had in her hand, saying, "My mother sent you this,
+and hopes soon to come and see you." The poor woman thanked the child
+gratefully, and said, "Put it away, my dear, for me."
+
+The little girl seemed quite used to the employment. She went over to a
+cupboard, emptied carefully the contents of her basket, and with a
+modest "Good-bye," the three children withdrew.
+
+The poor woman then gave an explanation to the friend who was present.
+"These little girls," she said, "are the children of a very respectable
+butcher, and every Saturday afternoon their mother employs them to carry
+about to poor people scraps of meat and bones. They are nice children,
+and take quite a pleasure in doing it, and they have given me, and many
+others, many a good dinner."
+
+Now, who can calculate the amount of good resulting from the thoughtful
+charity of this mother? We read thus of God's redeemed people--"their
+works do follow them"--not to heaven for recompense, as some vainly
+imagine, but on the earth. Continually we see the truth of this in the
+effects produced, after the lapse of years, from works done by those
+whose bones have long been turned to dust. Who can tell the influence
+this weekly act may have upon these three children, if spared to grow up
+to womanhood? And thus, when their mother's place knows her no more, her
+"works will follow her."
+
+
+
+
+THE PENNY PIECE.
+
+
+I give the following from the lips of one who was well acquainted with
+the facts:--
+
+A frost had been raging for thirteen weeks. The consequence was that
+out-door labourers, for the most part, were stopped in their employment.
+Among these was a poor gardener who had a wife and five or six children.
+He was at length reduced to great straits. He had spent all but his last
+penny, and had not the slightest prospect of more.
+
+Passing down a certain street one day, he happened to see a poor man
+standing in the lobby of a church or chapel. His heart yearned over him,
+and he thought, "How I should like to help him; but I have only a penny
+left for myself and family." Still, he felt that he could not resist the
+inclination. He instantly turned round, stepped back, and gave the man
+his last penny. Immediately there came a peculiar light and gladness
+into his soul. Instead of being burdened by his destitution, he was
+relieved by it. He was rich in his poverty.
+
+That very night the long frost broke, and in the morning he resumed his
+work. He had not been long in the garden before his employer appeared.
+Addressing him, he said, "I am sure you must have felt the effects of
+this long frost very much. Here is a sovereign for you." The poor
+gardener felt amazed, and, to use his own words, it was as though the
+Lord said to him, "Here's a sovereign for the penny you lent Me last
+night."
+
+Reader, it is written, "He that giveth to the poor lendeth unto the
+Lord"; and again, "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and
+there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty."
+
+                                                   O. J.
+
+
+BAD men excuse their faults; good men will leave them.
+
+
+
+
+A BRAND PLUCKED OUT OF THE FIRE.
+
+
+While occasionally serving a destitute Church, between three and four
+months ago, I was requested to visit a dying woman. I found her in the
+most distracting agony of bodily pain, but rejoicing at the same time in
+the consolations of the Gospel. My visits afforded me much pleasure and
+edification. Being informed that she had been once a most abandoned
+character, I solicited a friend to collect from her own mouth the
+history of her life, and since her death have been favoured with a very
+interesting and circumstantial account of this monument of mercy.
+
+When young she was deprived of both father and mother, but by friends
+was introduced into a genteel family, where after some time she fell
+into shameful sin. Her friends abandoned her in her disgrace, but after
+she had endured much suffering, privation, and want, they were persuaded
+to receive her once more, and at length provided another eligible
+situation for her. Thus restored, she might have lived in respect, but a
+particular circumstance which should operate as a warning, especially to
+servants, led her into a more dreadful course of iniquity than ever she
+had been guilty of before.[12] On the Lord's Day, instead of going to
+any place of worship, she contracted the habit of spending those sacred
+hours at the house of an acquaintance. Here she formed her most fatal
+connections, and to this sin of Sabbath-breaking she especially
+attributed her ruin. A bad man persuaded her to accompany him to London.
+Here for some years she lived a most profligate life, the circumstances
+of which cannot be detailed here, further than that sin which brings its
+own reward found her deserted, and in the Lock Hospital. After a
+dreadful operation she somewhat recovered, and went out, but only to
+follow her old sinful course. She was scarcely known to be sober for six
+years together. Her wretched course of life was a continual burden to
+her. She often prayed, if such an one could be said to pray, that God
+would deliver her from it, and accompanied her prayers with resolves to
+forsake it; but all her resolutions were ineffectual till God's time of
+deliverance was come. At length she determined to return into the
+country again. She met with many distressing circumstances by the way,
+and upon her arrival, her friends would not receive her. She was
+therefore obliged to apply to the parish, being incapable of getting her
+living through her disordered state of body. The overseers provided her
+a room in a house with another woman, where, soon after she arrived, her
+complaint assumed an alarming nature, and threatened speedy dissolution.
+In the awful prospect of death she was seized with the most distracting
+horrors. Calling to the woman with whom she lived, she cried, "I shall
+soon be gone, and hell will be my doom!" The woman told her she was mad,
+but she replied, with earnestness, "I am not. I know it will, for I am
+not prepared to die"; and immediately asked her if she knew where any
+minister lived? She had heard some whom they called "Methodists" while
+in the hospital at London. Even then she could not laugh at them as many
+of her unfortunate companions did, but was often much affected by their
+prayers and sermons, and looked upon them as men living in the fear of
+God. The recollection of this suggested the eager inquiry after them
+now. But the woman said, "They cannot save your soul."
+
+  [12] Young readers, mark this dreadful example of sin, and may the Lord
+  bless you with wisdom and strength to resist such temptations to evil.
+  If you would be spared suffering and shame, and spare your best friends
+  much sorrow, be careful what company you keep, and remember that God's
+  eye is upon you.
+
+[Illustration: "SHE PROCURED A LODGING WITH A SERIOUS FEMALE." (_See
+page 230._)]
+
+"I know they cannot," she replied, "but they can pray with me and for
+me to One who can. Go instantly and fetch one, for I am going to hell."
+
+The woman still continued to laugh at her, and told the neighbours she
+was deranged. One of them, however, more compassionate than the rest,
+coming in, said she knew a good man who lived near. He was not a
+minister, but she would go and fetch him.
+
+"Make him promise to come," said the poor creature, "before you leave
+him, and then, if he be a good man, he will come." While the person was
+gone, she cried to the Lord to send him.
+
+He came and found her in the greatest agonies of mind. She told him that
+she was the vilest sinner that ever lived, described the course of life
+she had led, and concluded by saying she saw hell before her eyes, and
+that she should be lost for ever. He pointed out the way of salvation by
+Christ, told her it was free for the vilest, spoke of the encouragement
+there was for the chief of sinners who came to Him, prayed with her, and
+left her a little more composed. She made him promise to come the next
+day, which he did twice. In a short time after, her sorrow was turned
+into gladness, and she was enabled to rejoice in Christ as her Saviour,
+whilst the young man who visited her was reading the verse--
+
+  "Look as when Thy grace beheld
+    The harlot in distress;
+  Dried her tears, her pardon sealed,
+    And bade her go in peace.
+  Foul like her, and self-abhorred,
+    I at Thy feet for mercy groan;
+  Turn and look upon me, Lord,
+    And break my heart of stone."
+
+Soon after this, God removed the violence of her complaint, and thereby
+gave her an opportunity of proving the reality of her conversion. As
+soon as possible she went to the meeting, but oh, the persecution she
+now met with from her former companions! She was obliged to remove from
+place to place to escape their violence. They pelted her with stones,
+broke her windows, &c., because, as they said, she was a hypocrite. But
+she was enabled to endure it with patience, and after a time procured a
+lodging with a serious female. Now she seemed almost in heaven. She
+could now go in and out, none daring to make her afraid, and could
+meditate in peace on the gracious dealings of God with her soul. She
+became a member of the Church in which she continued as long as she
+lived. She seemed to grow daily in an affecting discovery of the evil of
+sin and of her own vileness, and was often quite overwhelmed with a
+sense of the goodness of God, both with respect to her temporal and
+spiritual concerns. She was frequently enabled to rejoice in the Lord
+with exceeding joy, though labouring under the most dreadful pain, being
+literally full of wounds, the sad fruit of her former life. She
+occasionally experienced great conflicts with Satan, but the Lord
+graciously interposed, and brought her off more than conqueror. Several
+months before her death she was grievously afflicted, but in general
+very comfortable. On the Saturday preceding her dissolution, a friend
+called to see her, and inquired after the state of her mind. She said
+she was happy in God, longed to depart, and could scarcely contain
+herself. She was so filled with love to her blessed Lord, for His
+unbounded goodness to her. On the Monday, the person with whom she
+lodged said she was very comfortable in her mind. Her spirit soared
+beyond the fear of death; but through extreme weakness she could not
+speak much, and on Tuesday she departed, we trust, to sing the praises
+of that miraculous grace which snatched her as a brand from the burning.
+
+
+CONDUCT is the great profession. What a man does tells us what he is.
+
+
+
+
+ADMIRAL PYE AND THE INQUISITORS.
+
+
+Admiral Pye having been on a visit to Southampton, and the gentleman
+under whose roof he resided observing an unusual intimacy between him
+and his secretary, inquired into the degree of their relationship. The
+admiral informed him that they were not related, but their intimacy
+arose from a singular circumstance, which, by his permission, he would
+relate.
+
+The admiral said, when he was a captain he was cruising in the
+Mediterranean. While on that station he received a letter from shore,
+stating that the unhappy author of the letter was by birth an
+Englishman; that, having been on a voyage to Spain, he was enticed while
+there to become a Papist, and, in process of time, was made a member of
+the Inquisition; that there he beheld the abominable wickedness and
+barbarities of the inquisitors.
+
+His heart recoiled at having embraced a religion so horribly cruel and
+so repugnant to the nature of God, that he was stung with remorse to
+think that, if his parents knew _what_ and _where_ he was, their hearts
+would break with grief; that he was resolved to escape, if he (the
+captain) would send a boat on shore at such a time and place, but begged
+secrecy, since, if his intentions were discovered, he should be
+immediately assassinated.
+
+The captain returned for answer that he could not with propriety send a
+boat, but if he could devise any means to come on board, he would
+receive him as a British subject, and protect him. He did so; but being
+missed, there was soon raised a hue and cry, and he was followed to the
+ship.
+
+A holy inquisitor demanded him, but he was refused; another, in the name
+of his Holiness the Pope, claimed him, but the captain did not know him,
+or any other master, but his own sovereign, King George. At length a
+third holy brother approached. The young man recognized him at a
+distance, and, in terror, ran to the captain, entreating him not to be
+deceived by him, for he was the most false, wicked, and cruel monster in
+all the Inquisition. He was introduced, the young man being present,
+and, to obtain his object, began with the bitterest accusations against
+him; then he turned to the most fulsome flatteries of the captain; and,
+lastly, offered him a sum of money to resign him. The captain treated
+him with apparent attention, said his offer was very handsome, and, if
+what he affirmed were true, the person in question was unworthy of the
+English name or of his protection.
+
+The holy brother was elated; he thought his errand was accomplished.
+While drawing his purse-strings, the captain inquired what punishment
+would be inflicted upon him. He replied that it was uncertain; but as
+his offences were atrocious, it was likely that his punishment would be
+exemplary. The captain asked if he thought he would be burned in a dry
+pan. He replied, that must be determined by the Holy Inquisition, but it
+was not improbable.
+
+The captain then ordered the great copper to be heated, but no water to
+be put in. All this while the young man stood trembling, his cheeks
+resembling death; he expected to become an unhappy victim to avarice and
+superstition.
+
+The cook soon announced that the orders were executed. "Then I command
+you to take this fellow," pointing to the inquisitor, "and fry him alive
+in the copper." This unexpected command thunderstruck the holy father.
+Alarmed for himself, he rose to be gone. The cook began to bundle him
+away. "Oh, good captain! good captain! spare me, spare me!" "Have him
+away," replied the captain. "Oh, no, my good captain!" "Have him away.
+I'll teach him to attempt to bribe a British commander to sacrifice the
+life of an Englishman to gratify a herd of bloody men." Down the
+inquisitor fell upon his knees, offering him all his money, and
+promising never to return if he would let him begone. When the captain
+had sufficiently alarmed him, he dismissed him, warning him never to
+come again on such an errand.
+
+What must have been the reverse of feelings in the young man to find
+himself thus happily delivered. He fell upon his knees, in a flood of
+tears, before the captain, and poured a thousand blessings upon his
+brave and noble deliverer.
+
+"This," said the admiral to the gentleman, "is the circumstance that
+began our acquaintance. I took him to be my servant; he served me from
+affection; mutual attachment ensued, and it has inviolably subsisted and
+increased to this day."--_From Cyclopaedia of Moral and Religious
+Anecdotes, with Introductory Essay by Dr. Cheever._
+
+
+
+
+CHILD HEROISM.
+
+
+"Mother, just look what I've come upon! I found the small board at the
+back loose, and beneath it, this."
+
+Thus spoke Julia White, who was engaged in scrubbing out the single
+cupboard of their one room, and as she uttered the words she held up a
+paper with two sovereigns wrapped in it.
+
+"Why are you so prying, child?" said the mother. "You would have been so
+much better without the knowledge of my secret. Now, if your father
+should come home tipsy to-night, you will be forced to tell him where
+the money is, and I shall lose the whole of it. Wherever to hide it away
+from you, I don't know."
+
+Poor Julia looked frightened enough, for she was only eleven years of
+age, and her dread of her father, who frequently showed himself a
+ferocious ruffian, was extreme; but there was no help for the case now.
+The mother had to leave in little more than an hour to watch a patient
+to whom she was night nurse, and there was no time to find another
+hiding-place. To carry the money with her where she was going would
+scarcely have been safe, so, after seeing little Nancy, with the baby,
+safely returned, and giving the latter its meal at her breast, the good,
+hard-working woman departed to fulfil her engagement.
+
+The children left alone, the terror of the elder one could not escape
+the notice of the younger, although she was only a little over seven;
+and she at length said--
+
+"What can be the matter with you, Julia?"
+
+"I know where mother's money is, and am afraid father will come home and
+want it."
+
+"Tell him you know nothing about it. He always believes you."
+
+"Nancy!"
+
+She had been rightly taught by a good mother, and young as she was,
+realized that this was not the course to take, so, kneeling by the side
+of her child sister, she offered the following simple, but heartfelt,
+prayer--
+
+"Dear Jesus, please don't let father come home to-night and want
+mother's money; but if he should do so, please help me not to tell him
+where it is."
+
+The strength she had thus gained was soon put to a cruel test, for into
+the neat, cleanly room there quickly rushed the brute who represented
+all that she had ever known of father. The scene that ensued was of a
+character not unfrequent in low London districts, but none the less
+worthy of record. Poor little Nancy, dreading what might follow, caught
+up the baby, and fled with it into a corner of the room, as the safest
+place of refuge, for we ought to have stated that the ruffian had
+locked the door upon his entrance. Catching his eldest daughter's arm,
+he said, in not an over loud voice--
+
+"Get me your mother's money."
+
+Meeting with no reply from the white-faced girl, he next said--
+
+"Do you know where it is?"
+
+But still there was no answer. What followed seems dreadful to relate,
+suiting better with the nature of South Sea or African cannibals than
+with the natives of Christian England. First twisting the girl's arm
+round, and causing her dreadful pain, he next bestowed upon her with his
+brute strength a succession of awful blows; but, though she could not
+keep back her cries, she did not yield to him in the least.
+
+Wearied at length, he flung her from him on to the wall, and during the
+ensuing five minutes, with bursts of terrible oaths, threatened that, if
+she did not acquaint him with her secret, he would kill her; but,
+mercifully, the neighbours were enabled at the end of this time to break
+into the room, or there is no telling what mischief might have followed.
+
+But we cannot finish without describing the heroism of poor little
+Nancy, which almost equalled that of her sister. Dodging from side to
+side during the struggle, now in this corner and now in that, and
+shielding the baby with her youthful person, she, with wonderful
+activity and courage, kept it from harm.
+
+It seems something like divine retribution that this dreadful father
+this very evening received a terrible beating in the public-house, and
+his system being unhealthy, as the result of drinking habits, he died in
+hospital of his injuries.
+
+                                                   S. DENNIS.
+
+
+THERE is a pre-established harmony between the voice of the Shepherd and
+the heart of the sheep. "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
+ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you."
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE KINDNESSES.
+
+
+For the intercourse of social life, it is by little acts of watchful
+kindness recurring daily and hourly--and opportunities of doing
+kindnesses, if sought for, are for ever starting up--it is by words, by
+tones, by gestures, by looks, that affection is won and preserved. He
+who neglects these trifles, yet boasts that, whenever a great sacrifice
+is called for, he shall be ready to make it, will rarely be loved. The
+likelihood is, he will not make it, and if he does, it will be much
+rather for his own sake than for his neighbour's. Many persons, indeed,
+are said to be penny wise and pound foolish; but they who are penny
+foolish will hardly be pound wise, although selfish vanity may now and
+then for a moment get the better of selfish indolence, for Wisdom will
+always have a microscope in her hand.
+
+
+
+
+A DRUNKARD'S WILL.
+
+
+I leave to society a ruined character, a wretched example, and a memory
+that will soon rot. I leave to my parents, during the rest of their
+lives, as much sorrow as humanity in a feeble and declining state can
+sustain. I leave to my brothers and sisters as much mortification and
+injury as I could bring on them. I leave my wife a broken heart, a life
+of wretchedness and shame, to weep over my premature death. I give and
+bequeath to each of my children, poverty, ignorance, and low character,
+and the remembrance that their father was a monster.
+
+
+WE may as well attempt to bring pleasure out of pain as to unite
+indulgence in sin with the enjoyment of happiness.--_Hodge._
+
+
+
+
+THE LAND OF THE GIANTS.
+
+"_And we took all his cities at that time: there was not a city which we
+took not from them," &c._--DEUT. iii. 4, 5.
+
+
+Sixty cities in one small province! Can it be true? Has not the copyist
+erred in his arithmetic? Should it not be sixteen, or six? Does it not
+appear improbable? The province mentioned, Argob, is not more than
+thirty miles by twenty; and that within so limited a space there should
+be sixty cities, "besides unwalled towns a great many," can scarcely be
+accepted literally.
+
+Now, it is a great blessing, for the confirmation of our faith in the
+truth of the Bible, and the silencing of those who delighted in making
+others to be of a doubtful mind, that the literal truth of the statement
+is fully established--not by a comparison of parallel passages; not by a
+new translation of the text; not by the testimony of ancient historians;
+but by the remains of the cities themselves. There are they in Argob,
+the oldest specimens of domestic architecture in the whole world.
+
+English travellers have visited the wild land of the giants; they have
+penetrated into the rocky recesses of Argob; they have slept in the
+deserted homes of the Rephaim; and have come back to tell us that the
+stones reared by those ancient idolaters bear witness to the truth of
+the living God.
+
+The Rev. J. L. Porter spent a considerable time in exploring the cities
+of Bashan. At Burak he lodged in a city of several hundred houses, all
+deserted, but all in good repair, though built two or three thousand
+years ago. The walls of these houses were five feet thick, formed of
+large blocks of hewn stone, put together without lime or cement of any
+kind. The roofs were formed of long blocks of the same black basalt,
+measuring twelve feet in length, eighteen inches in breadth, and six
+inches in thickness. The doors were stone slabs hung upon pivots formed
+of projecting parts of the slabs, working in sockets in the lintel and
+threshold; the windows were guarded with stone shutters--everything was
+of stone, as if the builders had designed each edifice to last for ever.
+
+The cities have endured, but the inhabitants have fled. You pass the
+ruined gateway where stern warriors kept watch, and from whose towers
+the watchmen swept the country and signalled the coming of the foe. All
+is hushed. Rank weeds and grass, brambles and creeping plants, have
+overgrown the well-made roads; and in the massive houses, where once on
+a time happy groups assembled, and children shouted with joy, the fox
+and the jackal make their dwelling, while owls and daws take possession
+of the roof. Here is a city that must at one period have contained at
+least twenty thousand inhabitants. Once its streets were noisy and
+bustling, and the dealers made their shrewd bargains in the markets,
+while the grandees dwelt in their stone palaces, haughty of spirit, as
+if the slaves who waited on them were of another flesh than theirs. Here
+dwelt the giants, and after them Jews, and Greeks, and Romans, Saracens
+and Turks, each leaving memorials of their presence; but all gone--the
+whole abandoned to the wild birds and the beasts of prey. There are
+palaces with thorns and thistles growing in the chief room; there are
+temples with branches of trees shooting through the gaping walls; there
+are tombs festooned with the rich luxuriance of nature; there is
+everything to tell of desolation and decay.
+
+You remember that we read in Joshua that the kingdom of Og, the giant,
+included all Bashan unto Salcah; and the Israelites took and occupied
+the whole land, from Mount Hermon unto Salcah. This is the frontier
+city of Bashan, and is one of the most remarkable in Palestine. There
+are about five hundred houses still remaining, a number of square
+towers, a few mosques, and a great old castle on the top of a hill. But
+the city, held at first by the giants, and at last by the Turks, has
+long been deserted, and the tread of horses on the paved street disturbs
+only a fox in its den or a wild bird in its nest. The castle hill is
+about three hundred feet in height, the base encircled by a moat. The
+building itself appears to have been of Jewish foundation, though it is
+probable that the site was occupied by a still older fortress. There is
+Roman masonry in the work, and the Saracens have added to the beauty, if
+not to the strength, of the structure; but though the exterior wall
+remains, the interior is choked with rubbish. The summit of the castle
+commands an extensive prospect--a varied, romantic, but wild scene of
+rugged rocks and luxuriant verdure, comprising no less than thirty
+deserted cities. On the right stretches Moab, on the left Arabia;
+behind, in terraced slopes, the hills of Bashan--a sad and solemn scene
+of utter desolation.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+A son of Gideon.
+
+A king of Moab.
+
+An untruthful woman.
+
+A man slain by God.
+
+The son of a persecuted woman.
+
+What did the Israelites once desire?
+
+A God-fearing man.
+
+An officer of a king.
+
+One of the Apostles.
+
+
+The initials will form a passage of Scripture.
+
+                                   ALFRED CLAPSON
+                                  (Aged 10 years).
+
+_Reigate._
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+THE GOOD SHEPHERD, HIS LAMBS AND SHEEP.
+
+(ISAIAH xl. 11.)
+
+
+We know that Jesus is the Person of whom our text speaks, because His
+herald and forerunner is described in the third verse, and John the
+Baptist applied the prophecy to himself, when the Pharisees wanted to
+know who he really was--"The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
+Prepare ye the way of the Lord."
+
+He came to teach the necessity of repentance, to reprove the pride of
+the Pharisee, bringing low the hills and mountains of their self-esteem;
+while the despised tax-gatherers and soldiers were taught how to rise,
+by the grace of God, to the position of honourable and useful members of
+society, and thus the valleys were exalted (Luke iii. 6-14). God,
+according to His promise, sent His Prophet to turn the hearts of the
+people in some measure before Jesus Himself appeared (Mal. iv. 5, 6).
+
+And then, though in a human form, the "Lord God came with strong hand,"
+"mighty to save." His "reward was with Him, and the recompense of His
+work was before Him," and He did then, and does still, "feed His people
+like a shepherd." It was the Lord God who came among men; but how did He
+come? Not with earthly pomp and glory, and His heavenly majesty was but
+dimly seen.
+
+I thought of this on July 17th last, when the Prince of Wales went with
+the Princess to open the Great Northern Hospital at Upper Holloway,
+London. The Royal party were attired in deep mourning, on account of the
+recent death of the Emperor Frederick of Germany, and so quietly did
+their carriage pass along that many scarcely recognized them, and nearly
+all who were looking expectantly for the Prince's coming were greatly
+disappointed at the absence of a showy retinue. Yet he fulfilled all
+that he promised, and more, for he, with his wife and daughters, visited
+all the patients in the hospital, speaking kindly words, and doubtless
+giving real pleasure to those afflicted ones.
+
+So, when that infinitely greater One, the Prince of Peace, came, He did
+all that had been predicted of Him; and though even His own disciples
+expected grandeur which they did not find, and for a while were grieved
+and perplexed, yet when, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they
+better understood His mission, they perceived that He had finished His
+work most gloriously, and had "done all things well."
+
+The Shepherd of Israel, then, is the Lord God, of whom David sang, "The
+Lord" (Jehovah) "is my Shepherd: I shall not want," which Jesus followed
+up by saying, "I am the Good Shepherd, and am come that My sheep might
+have life, and have more abundantly all the blessings My people enjoyed
+before I came into this world" (see John x.).
+
+"He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd." Jesus here appears as a King
+as well as a Shepherd, for good kings care for and defend their
+subjects, but none can do as He does, who is "over all, blessed for
+evermore." All other shepherds must lead their sheep into green
+pastures, or procure them food in some other way, but Jesus supplies His
+people from Himself. All the fulness of love, grace, and blessing are
+His own, and as the poet sings--
+
+  "On a dying Christ I feed;
+  This is meat and drink indeed."
+
+Christ once crucified for the redemption of His loved ones, but now
+alive for evermore, is the life and joy of all who believe on His name.
+
+And these sheep are divided into two classes--lambs, and their parents.
+Those who are young, inexperienced, and weak, like Christ's followers
+were when He was on earth, how gently He "carried" them, guarding,
+supporting, and instructing so gradually until they became able to lead
+others in the ways of God. And still He tends His feeble ones with
+special care. He is kind and full of compassion, and they who most need
+His protection are most sure to have it, for He fully knows the need.
+
+But the older sheep need the shepherd's consideration as much as the
+lambs of the flock. Those who have young ones to nourish and care for
+must be gently led.
+
+The Apostle Paul said that "the care of all the Churches of Christ
+pressed daily upon him" (2 Cor. xi. 28), yet he could tell how the Lord
+comforted both himself and his fellow-workers in all their trials, so
+that they were enabled to comfort others; and speaking from his own
+experience, he could encourage his friends to "cast all their care upon
+Him" who ever cares for all His people.
+
+And it is Jesus only who can really lead and feed His flock. Ministers
+of the Gospel are called "pastors," "shepherds." As Christ's servants,
+they may be, and often are, the means of leading their hearers into
+green pastures, and of restoring the wandering and the weak; yet every
+true pastor is a sheep after all, and all spiritual, heavenly power and
+blessing must proceed from Him alone.
+
+I was much interested, some time ago, in a pretty little poem,
+illustrated by the picture of a splendid ram, standing beside his
+wounded little one, calling loudly for the help he could not render; and
+the shepherd, hearing his cries, hastened to the spot, and carried the
+helpless little thing to the fold. And methought, "Is not this a
+beautiful parable for us?" If we are longing to help and heal the
+feeble, the straying, and the sin-sick, and feel how little we can do,
+let us seek to follow this sheep's example, and call upon our Shepherd--
+
+  "Whose ears attend the softest call,
+    Whose eyes can never sleep."
+
+He is the Good Shepherd, for He gave His life for the sheep; the Chief
+Shepherd, possessing all the amiable and winning attractions that charm
+and draw the heart; and the Great Shepherd, almighty and unchanging,
+"able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him."
+
+Oh, that we all may know His love, which never can be fully known on
+earth, and enjoy the sweet privilege of commending all our loved ones to
+His gracious care, assured that He is able to do all that His heart
+desireth, and that--
+
+  "With heaven and earth at His command,
+    He waits to answer prayer."
+
+Our next subject will be, _The Glory of Christ, as described by Himself
+in John xvii_.
+
+                                      Yours affectionately,
+                                                   H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+THE POWER OF KINDNESS.
+
+
+Elihu Burritt, speaking of the power of kindness, says, "There is no
+power of love so hard to get and keep as a kind voice. A kind hand is
+deaf and dumb. It may be rough in flesh and blood, yet do the work of a
+soft heart, and do it with a soft touch. But there is no one thing that
+love so much needs as a sweet voice to tell what it means and feels; and
+it is hard to get and keep it in the right tone."
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN OCTOBER.
+
+
+Oct.  7. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 25.
+Oct. 14. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 26.
+Oct. 21. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 27.
+Oct. 28. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 28.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+CHARITY.
+
+
+Paul says (1 Cor. xiii. 4) that "charity suffereth long, and is kind;
+charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up"; and
+in the thirteenth verse, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these
+three; but the greatest of these is charity."
+
+Now, this shows that charity is a very great and good thing, and that we
+ought to desire to have charity above all things. "If we have not
+charity, we are nothing."
+
+Charity means "love," and that is the greatest of all good gifts. Love
+supplies all other wants, however hard they may be; and so, if we have
+not it, we are not by any means complete, for "above all these things
+put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness" (Col. iii. 14). This
+teaches us that charity is perfect above all things, and that we are to
+"love our enemies, and pray for those that despitefully use us"; also,
+we are exhorted to "let brotherly love continue."
+
+  "Brethren, let us walk together
+    In the bonds of love and peace;
+  Can it be a question whether
+    Brethren should from conflict cease?
+        'Tis in union,
+    Hope, and joy, and love increase."
+
+There would be fewer quarrels and less sin if every one had charity.
+"Charity," or love, "covers a multitude of sins." "Flee also youthful
+lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that
+call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Tim. ii. 22).
+
+In 1 Corinthians xvi. 14, it says, "Let all your things be done with
+charity," which means that all our actions are to be done in love. "God
+is love." Jesus had charity or love when He was on earth. His love knew
+no bounds. When God sent His only Son Jesus Christ down into the world,
+it was done thoroughly out of love to sinful man.
+
+Jesus Himself was full of love, for He prayed for His persecutors when
+He was on the cross, and said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not
+what they do."
+
+  "High beyond imagination
+    Is the love of God to man;
+  Far too deep for human reason;
+    Fathom that it never can:
+        Love eternal
+    Richly dwells in Christ the Lamb."
+
+"If God so loved us, ought we not to love one another?"
+
+Charity is being kind and loving to one another, and helping one another
+when we can. If we are not kind and gentle to them, we have not charity,
+and do not love each other. When people do ever such great things, if
+they do it for self-praise, and not for love, it does not profit them
+anything. If we love our neighbours as ourselves, we shall never do them
+any ill, but rather "kill them by kindness," even if they are inclined
+to resent our charity, or love.
+
+                             JESSIE MARTHA COLLINS
+                                (Aged 11 years).
+
+_19, Platt Street, Pancras Road,
+London, N. W._
+
+[Very good Essays have been sent by Ada Dudley Mote, E. B. Knocker, A.
+J. Wells, H. F. Forfeitt, K. E. Thomas, W. E. Cray, C. Bowman, B. E. J.
+Noakes, A. Judd, C. Lack, Winnie Langman, and F. Lawrence.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of Foxe's "Book of
+Martyrs."
+
+The subject for December will be, "The Disobedience of our First Parents
+and its Results"; and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that
+subject, a copy of "The Loss of All Things for Christ." All competitors
+must give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that
+the Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over,
+as the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information.
+Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
+Hastings, before the twentieth of October, in order that the Volume may
+be completed for binding.]
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 213_)
+
+
+"_Persecution._"--2 TIMOTHY iii. 12.
+
+P otiphar      Genesis xxxvii. 36.
+E noch         Genesis iv. 17.
+R ehoboam      1 Kings xi. 43.
+S apphire      Ezekiel i. 26.
+E bal          Joshua viii. 30.
+C andace       Acts viii. 27.
+U r            Genesis xi. 28.
+T hyatira      Revelation i. 11.
+I ram          Genesis xxxvi. 43.
+O thniel       Judges iii. 9.
+N oah          Numbers xxvii. 1.
+
+                           MINNIE LEGG
+                      (Aged 12 years).
+
+_Edinburgh._
+
+
+
+
+AN OLD CLOCK'S ADVICE.
+
+
+A correspondent says that in his great-grandfather's house, as he has
+heard his mother tell, there was a clock on which was the following
+inscription--
+
+  "Here I stand both day and night,
+  To tell the time with all my might;
+  Do thou example take by me,
+  And serve thy God as I serve thee."
+
+The old clock remained in the family for many years, but the time of
+which it told so faithfully at last conquered it, as it conquers all
+things on earth.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+THE National Sunday League lament a deficit of L110 as a result of the
+band performances in the three parks.
+
+
+THE oldest and biggest tree in the world is at Mascoli, near Mount Etna.
+The trunk is seventy yards round, and a flock of sheep can take refuge
+in it.
+
+
+JERUSALEM is rapidly becoming again a veritable city of the Jews. In
+1880 there were probably not more than 5,000 Jews there; now there are
+more than 30,000.
+
+
+THE "threepenny-bit" may well be regarded as the "church coin." At the
+collection at Dr. Parker's Sunday evening meeting in Queen Anne Street
+Church, Dunfermline, there were no fewer than 1,400 threepenny pieces.
+
+
+PHONOGRAPHY, as a system of shorthand, is the best, simplest, soundest,
+and most scientific of any in existence. Ninety-nine out of every
+hundred shorthand writers use it, and none other should be learned.
+
+
+THE buttercup blooms in unwonted places. A horse belonging to a farmer
+near Belford was having an old shoe removed, when a buttercup was found
+to have taken root between the hoof and the shoe, near the toe. It was
+in full bloom.
+
+
+THIS is the day of rapid travelling. A through railway service has been
+organised to run from Charing Cross to Constantinople in seventy-six
+hours. Thus, in three days and a half, one will pass from the city of
+the Queen to the city of the Sultan.
+
+
+IN England and Wales the receipts for first-class railway season tickets
+last year amounted to L720,862, for second-class season tickets the
+receipts amounted to L665,203, and for those of the third-class
+(including workmen's weekly tickets) the amount was L358,142.
+
+
+AMONG the rarities in Dr. Williams' library in Grafton Street, London,
+is a tiny shorthand Bible, exquisitely written, which is said to have
+belonged to an apprentice, who, suspicious of James II.'s intentions
+regarding Protestantism, wrote the whole for himself, fearing that he
+might be deprived of his printed copy.
+
+
+DRS. CHAUVEL and Nimier now announce that, in future warfare with the
+Lebel rifle, the surgeons will not be perplexed by having to extract
+balls from wounded soldiers. These projectiles pass through the body,
+bones, and all, even when fired at a distance of from 1,800 to 2,000
+metres (1,980 to 2,200 yards).
+
+
+A FORTUNATE COBBLER.--It is announced that a Blackburn cobbler has just
+come in for a windfall in the shape of property valued at L40,000. He
+saw an advertisement some time ago with regard to some property in
+America, to which he has proved himself sole heir. He has left for the
+New World to take possession of his unexpected wealth.
+
+
+ONE day last August a boy, nine years old, went to a school treat, and
+ran in several races. On returning home he complained of headache, and
+next morning was seized with pains and became insensible, dying an hour
+afterwards. The post-mortem examination showed that death was the result
+of syncope, brought on by fatigue and excitement.
+
+
+A STATEMENT was made at the Spanish Armada Convention at Exeter Hall,
+recently, to the effect that, during 1878, "in the poor country of
+Ireland there had been bequeathed to the Roman Catholic Church no less
+than L750,000 for masses for the souls of the departed." Doubtless Mr.
+Isaacs had proof of this, for he referred to it as "an ascertained
+fact."
+
+
+A PAPYRUS of extraordinary beauty and completeness, of the fourteenth
+century before our era, has been added to the British Museum. It
+contains certain chapters of the "Book of Death," carefully copied out
+by a scribe of Thebes. Its remarkable feature are the illustrations. The
+colouring of these is as vivid as if the work had been done yesterday,
+instead of more than thirty centuries ago.
+
+
+AN interesting discovery has just been made by Dr. Tschakort, Professor
+of Church History in the University of Konigsberg, who has found in the
+library there numerous manuscript sermons and commentaries by Luther,
+hitherto absolutely unknown. They were written in the years 1519 to
+1521--that is, at the very culminating period of Luther's work as a
+Church Reformer, after the burning of the Papal bull, and before the
+Diet of Worms.
+
+
+STRANGE stories occasionally come from the Black Country, but few are
+stranger than that which is related of a man living at Bilston. A
+collier lost his eyesight in December through the explosion of a
+blasting cartridge, and the other week, as he was being led home from a
+neighbouring village by a brother, a terrific thunderstorm commenced.
+Simultaneously with a flash of lightning, he experienced a piercing
+sensation from the eye to the back of the head and his sight was
+instantly restored.
+
+
+MILDEWED linen may be restored by soaping the spots, and while wet
+covering them with powdered chalk.
+
+
+THE Dead Sea, at its northern end, is but thirteen feet in depth, but at
+the southern end it is thirteen hundred.
+
+
+CHISWICK CEMETERY.--The Home Secretary has ordered that a large tract of
+ground which has been recently acquired and added to the Chiswick
+Cemetery should be set aside for the use of the Roman Catholics of the
+district.
+
+
+A CATHOLIC total abstinence society has been brought into court in
+Philadelphia under the laws against gambling. They pleaded that a
+benevolent enterprise such as theirs, though using lotteries, could not
+be regarded as a swindling speculation. "If such things are allowed to
+be carried on by professedly good people," said Judge Biddle, "it is
+inconsistent to call upon us to convict other people." The relation
+between the grab-bag and the gaming-table is not inconceivable.
+
+
+ON June 8th last, a correspondent at Shepherd's Bush despatched a
+post-card from London, _via_ the Brindisi and Suez Canal route, to Hong
+Kong, with the request that it might be forwarded to the addressee _via_
+San Francisco and New York. The card was duly received by the original
+sender a short time ago, the time taken in its transit round the world
+being exactly seventy days, which is about forty days less than the time
+taken ten years ago. The card was franked for 31/2d.
+
+
+A THANKSGIVING DAY.--Dr. Franklin says that, in a time of great
+despondency among the first settlers of New England, it was proposed in
+one of their public assemblies to proclaim a fast. An old farmer arose,
+spoke of their provoking Heaven with their complaints, reviewed their
+mercies, showed that they had much to be thankful for, and moved that,
+instead of appointing a day of fasting, they should appoint a day of
+thanksgiving. This was accordingly done, and the custom has continued
+ever since.
+
+
+DIPHTHERIA.--An American medical journal gives the following remedy for
+diphtheria, and says that where it has been applied promptly, it has
+never been known to fail. It is simply as follows:--"At the first
+indication of diphtheria in the throat of the child, make the room
+clean. Then take a tin cup and pour into it a quantity of tar and
+turpentine, equal parts. Then hold the cup over a fire so as to fill the
+room with the fumes. The patient, on inhaling the fumes, will fall
+asleep, and, when it awakes, it will cough up and spit out all the
+membranous matter, and diphtheria will pass off. The fumes of the tar
+and turpentine loose the matter in the throat, thus affording the relief
+that has baffled the skill of physicians." As the remedy is so simple,
+parents would do well to cut this out and preserve it.
+
+
+AN extraordinary affray took place at Manchester on Sunday, July 8th.
+The members of several prominent Orange lodges in the city were
+proceeding to a church, where special services were to be held, when
+they encountered in a narrow thoroughfare, inhabited chiefly by Irish
+Roman Catholics, a band of men and women, who rushed upon them with
+hatchets, knives, pokers, and bottles. Two men were seriously injured,
+and, but for the timely arrival of thirty policemen, the affray would
+probably have had a fatal termination.
+
+
+HOW THE COLLIE REACHED HIS HOME.--The following is a true story about a
+collie who took a hansom. He was lost in Oxford Street, London, so,
+after having spent some time in looking for him, his mistress went home,
+and what was her surprise, when she arrived, to see him in the hall. The
+butler told her the story, and it was this. After the dog had been lost,
+he saw an empty hansom, which he got into; and the cabby could not get
+him out, for he showed his teeth. He called a policeman, who could not
+move him either, but with some difficulty they read the name and address
+on his collar, and settled that it would be best to drive him to his
+home. They shut the doors, and drove him home. When he arrived, the
+cabby rang the bell, and asked for his fare (which he of course got),
+and then the butler opened the doors, and the dog jumped out as if
+nothing had happened.--From _Little Folks' Magazine_ for August.
+
+
+WALKING FROM EDINBURGH TO LONDON.--Mr. Ross Fraser, who, accompanied by
+a collie dog, started from Edinburgh on August 15th to walk to London in
+eight days, an average of about fifty miles per day, arrived in London
+on Sunday evening about eight o'clock. The pedestrian was awaited by a
+large concourse of people at Shoreditch Church, and heartily greeted.
+The route taken was from Edinburgh via Berwick, Newcastle, Durham,
+Darlington, Northallerton, Boroughbridge, Wetherby, Doncaster, Retford,
+Newark, Grantham, Stamford, Huntingdon, Royston, Ware, and Edmonton. Mr.
+Fraser seemed somewhat footsore on his arrival, but the dog appeared in
+no way the worse for the journey. The walk has not been accomplished in
+the time originally laid down, as Mr. Fraser's feet gave way owing to
+the unsuitability of his boots for the task he had taken upon himself.
+After a rest on this side of Berwick he resumed his walk, and finished
+the journey in excellent health.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE.]
+
+
+
+
+GREAT EVENTS.
+
+
+The great events which occurred in August, 1588, and November, 1688, are
+worthy of our remembrance and grateful acknowledgment before God,
+therefore we bring before our young readers, in a special way, the
+subjects of the Spanish Armada and the accession of William of Orange,
+which are of the greatest importance to all true Englishmen.
+
+The following extracts, taken from an address, by Lord Robert Montagu,
+at a commemoration meeting at Leicester, will give our young readers an
+interesting and truthful account of the great historical facts referred
+to, in a very concise form.
+
+He said there had been many commemoration meetings throughout the
+country, and why did they hold them? What were those meetings? Well, if
+he were asked that question, he should say that that meeting was a
+protest, and it was a commemoration. It was a protest against a
+conspiracy which had extended throughout the country, and had lasted a
+great number of years--a conspiracy to introduce one Romanizing practice
+after another into the worship of the Church of England, and
+endeavouring to assimilate, by all means possible, the Church of England
+to the Church of Rome. It was a protest against an attempt to reduce
+this country again, and bring it under the domination of Rome. It was a
+protest against the attempts that all Governments in recent years had
+had in hand, and made--no matter whether Liberal, Whig, or
+Conservative--to establish diplomatic relations with Rome. It was,
+lastly, a protest against an attempt, now a few centuries old, to ruin
+the backbone of Protestantism in Ireland--he meant the Protestant
+landlords, who were the chief friends of the union between England and
+Ireland. On all those points they protested.
+
+But then that meeting was also a commemoration. Commemorations, it was
+true, might be good, or they might be bad. No one would ever think of
+merely commemorating bloodshed and slaughter, but they often
+commemorated the deeds of daring and prowess on the part of their
+ancestors, and they did so in the hope that others would follow their
+example. He knew not whether that kind of thing was good, because such
+commemorations tended to increase and foster national pride; but there
+was one kind of commemoration which was absolutely and naturally
+good--he meant the commemoration of the signal mercies which God had
+vouchsafed to the land. In doing so, they were merely taking the advice
+of King David, who, speaking of his own people, said, "They remembered
+not the mercy of the Lord, and so they provoked Him at the Red Sea." And
+so also the Apostle said, "We have received mercies, and therefore we
+faint not." Therefore, what he (the speaker) proposed to do that evening
+was to ask them to consider the mercies God had shown to this
+country--great and signal mercies--in the year 1588, in the year 1688,
+and in the year 1788; and, in doing so, he hoped he should be able to
+bring this thought into their minds--that, having received mercies, they
+should "faint not."
+
+Now, first, with regard to 1588, the commemoration of the Spanish
+Armada--the invincible Armada, as it used to be called. They would
+remember, doubtless, from reading history, that King Philip of Spain was
+one of the most powerful monarchs that ever existed. The historian,
+Macaulay, had told them that on his empire the sun never set. King
+Philip counted upwards of one hundred millions of subjects, and he was
+by far the wealthiest sovereign that had existed since the days of
+Darius, and he was also a cruel and bloodthirsty sovereign. They knew
+how many thousands he killed in the Netherlands; how many poor
+Protestants he had slaughtered there. He had burnt at the stake every
+one he could in his dominions who dared to study the Bible.
+
+Well, he it was whom the Pope commissioned to make a crusade against
+this country, to conquer it, and reduce it, so that it might again come
+under the domination of Rome. He was like Pharaoh of old; he had let the
+children of Israel go, and he repented himself of having done so, and
+sent an army to bring them back to the slavery of Egypt; and so the
+Pope, not having an army of his own, told Philip, who had the most
+powerful army and navy in the world, to pursue those English who had
+escaped from the tyranny of Rome and become Protestants, and to bring
+them back again under the domination of the Pope; and the Pope, in order
+to encourage the monarch, promised him certain indulgences and two
+hundred thousand golden crowns as payment at the beginning of the
+expedition, and the payment of another two hundred thousand golden
+crowns as soon as he set foot in England. And the Pope also, in order to
+make the task easier, set the Jesuits in this country to stir up
+disaffection in England and Scotland, and with the same object sent a
+special messenger to Ireland in order to cause a rebellion there, and so
+call off the forces of England.
+
+Philip at once sent to the Duke of Parma, his governor in Belgium,
+instructions to prepare an army and fleet to co-operate with the Spanish
+force as soon as the Armada should arrive in the English Channel. The
+Armada consisted of 136 galleons, and forty smaller vessels, manned by
+twenty thousand marines; and there was also something else sent. What
+was that something else? The Chief Inquisitor, and 150 other
+inquisitors--Dominican monks--to act together, and to use every possible
+engine of torture, and in that way to convert the people of England to
+Rome. Besides these, Philip sent the very pick of his army, thirty-one
+thousand men and four thousand officers, over-land to Dunkerque to
+assist them in England as soon as he arrived. Here was the invincible
+Armada, and it was thought that such an Armada could not be withstood by
+that little puny England, for England was then but a small State, and
+had no colonies. The whole population of England then was not much
+larger than the population of London at the present time. Now, as for
+the Royal Navy, it consisted of twenty-eight ships; and how were they to
+cope with the 176 ships which composed the Spanish Armada? Why, it was
+impossible, unless the hand of God should come down to protect the
+Protestantism of England.
+
+Well, on the 30th of July, the Armada appeared off Plymouth, and Drake
+and Frobisher, and Seymour and Hawkins, and Lord Howard, High Admiral of
+England--who was not a Catholic, whatever might be said to the contrary,
+but a Protestant--determined to oppose the Armada.
+
+It was on Sunday, the 7th of August, that the Armada anchored in the
+roadstead of Dunkerque, and there waited for Parma's fleet. In the
+night, a light southerly wind sprung up, and eight ships were selected
+from the crowd of volunteer vessels that followed the fleet; their masts
+were smeared with pitch, and their hulls filled with powder and all
+kinds of explosive and combustible materials. These ships were set fire
+to, and sent down on to the Armada. What the Spaniards ought to have
+done, and what could have been very easily done, would have been to cut
+their cables and allowed the fire-ships to pass them; but the Spaniards
+seemed to have lost their presence of mind.
+
+However, at length they cut their cables and ran into the North Sea; but
+the English followed them, and there was a tremendous battle. The
+Spanish ships were so full of soldiers and sailors that every English
+shot told ten-fold. Five thousand of the Spanish were killed and not
+one hundred English wounded. A hasty council of officers was held on the
+Duke Medina's ship as to whether they should return to their anchorage
+off Dunkerque, or go back to Spain by way of the Orkneys, and they
+determined, like craven cowards, to run round by the north of Scotland
+and Ireland, and so on to the coast of Spain, because they dared not
+face the English in the Straits of Dover. Admiral Seymour watched them.
+They could not all pursue the Armada. A small squadron only went, and
+when they came to the Firth of Forth, Seymour ran short of ammunition.
+Now what he wanted to show them was, that it was not Seymour that was
+protecting England, but the Almighty Himself. Seymour had no sooner put
+into harbour than a hurricane rose up, and subsequently the shores of
+Ireland were strewn with the bodies of the dead, and the wreckage of the
+galleons. Only a few reached Spain to give mournful tidings of the
+disaster, and then it was found that there was not a family in Spain
+that was not in mourning for the loss of relatives. As the Egyptians
+were overthrown in the Red Sea, so the Spaniards were overthrown in the
+North Sea; and it was God that did all. Queen Elizabeth and the English
+people knew that well, for Queen Elizabeth struck a medal in
+commemoration of the event, and the motto on the medal was, "God blew
+upon them with His winds, and scattered them." She took no credit to
+herself, no credit to her navy, no credit to the English people; for it
+was God who did it all. From that day the power of Spain had dwindled
+and waned, until Spain had sunk to a fifth-rate power, and nobody
+thought of Spain in the councils of Europe. But what was the case with
+little England, then with hardly any colonies? God said, "Thou hast been
+faithful in little things; be thou ruler over ten great cities"; and now
+we had ten great colonies.
+
+And now they would pass away from that subject, and see what happened at
+the end of the next hundred years--in 1688. He must first remind them
+what was the state of things in 1687. There was then a Roman Catholic
+king upon the throne of England. He was not only a Roman Catholic, but
+was an avowed and sworn Jesuit--James II. There was then, also, a
+conspiracy all over England--favoured by some of the bishops and many of
+the clergy--to introduce the ritual of Rome into the English Church.
+There was then, as there is now, attempts to open up diplomatic
+relations between the throne and the Vatican. There was then an attempt
+to ruin the landlords of Ireland, so as to get rid of Protestantism, and
+separate Ireland from England. To whom did England look at that time for
+help? There was then no great Protestant Germany; but there was a small
+State, smaller than England--he meant Holland--but it was not similarly
+yoked. It was here that the hand of God first began to show itself in
+the year 1685. On account of the action of Louis XIV., who was the
+mainstay of Roman Catholicism in Europe, all the best soldiers,
+generals, and artisans in Paris left France and went to Holland. In
+England James II. gradually deposed Protestants and substituted Roman
+Catholics in all positions of importance and influence. The people,
+becoming alarmed, sought the aid of William, Prince of Orange, who had
+married a member of the English Royal family; and on the 1st of
+November, 1688, William sailed on his mission to this country. A strong
+wind was blowing, which took him gaily on his journey; and that wind not
+only sent him gaily on his mission, but prevented Lord Dartmouth, who
+was on the Thames, from getting out. God was determined to show that
+success had not been arrived at by man; and on November 6th, in a fog,
+William and his friends arrived at a distance beyond Torbay. When the
+fog lifted, and the sunshine beamed forth, William gaily sailed into
+Torbay. Then there were two days of calm weather, during which William
+landed his army and his stores, and James's forces could not attack,
+owing to the stillness of the wind. Still James might have struck a
+blow, as his troops had converged at Salisbury; but God struck fear into
+his heart. He dressed himself as a fisherman, got into a fishing-boat,
+and went to France. But our forefathers did not say to William, "Please
+take the crown and govern." They said, "We have certain rights; will you
+promise always to observe those rights? If so, you may sit upon the
+throne." And William promised that he would do so, and, as they knew,
+they had now the Act of Rights. One of the clauses of that Act was that,
+if the sovereign became a Roman Catholic, the throne should be instantly
+vacated. It was settled that no communion should be held with Rome; that
+was to say, that no diplomacy should exist between England and Rome.
+That Act was passed, and remained the same to this day. He would read
+them what Lord Macaulay said of the two events to which he referred:--
+
+"The weather had indeed served the Protestant cause so well that some
+men (_e.g._, Bishop Burnet), of more piety than judgment, fully believed
+the ordinary laws of nature to have been suspended for the preservation
+of the liberty or religion of England. Exactly a hundred years before,
+they said, the Armada, invincible by man, had been scattered by the
+wrath of God. Civil freedom and divine truth were again in jeopardy; and
+again the obedient elements had fought for the good cause. The wind had
+blown strong from the east while the Prince wished to sail down the
+channel, had turned to the south when he wished to enter Torbay, had
+sunk to a calm during the disembarkation, and, as soon as the
+disembarkation was completed, had risen to a storm, and had met the
+pursuers in the face. Nor did men omit to remark that, by an
+extraordinary coincidence, the Prince had reached our shores on a day on
+which the Church of England commemorated, by prayers and thanksgiving,
+the wonderful escape of the Royal House, and of the three Estates, from
+the blackest plot ever designed by Papists."
+
+Now they had seen God's mercy in 1588 and in 1688, and now let them turn
+to 1788. It was not so striking, he would allow, as the other events,
+but it was not less real. And why was it not so striking? In former days
+men knew very well what the Government did, as there was no secrecy
+about it. In these days nobody knew what were the views and the
+intentions of the Government. It was all done underhanded, secretly, and
+no one knew anything about it. They gathered a little from the
+newspapers and tried to put it together as well as they could;
+consequently, that system having been in vogue in 1788, they did not
+know exactly what took place.
+
+In the year 1787, Charles Edward Catesby was a pretender to the throne,
+and the Pope was again anxious to bring England under him, and he made
+secret allies of all the Roman Catholics to put this Charles on the
+throne of England. A body was to land in Scotland, and L20,000 was to be
+given to the Highlanders to rise in rebellion. The French had an army
+ready, and they were to land on the south coast of England and march to
+London, so as to prevent the troops going forth to put down Edward.
+
+In that same year the Prince Regent did that thing which, according to
+the Act of William, made him vacate the throne for ever. He married a
+Roman Catholic in 1787. Notwithstanding the fact that he tried to keep
+it a secret at first, it afterwards leaked out through the indiscretion
+of a member of the House of Commons. Pitt said at first that the Prince
+Regent had denied it stoutly; but there were those present in the Roman
+Catholic Church at the time he was married; and when it was proved,
+Pitt then said the Act of Parliament prevented any one of the Royal
+family being married without the consent of Parliament, and argued that
+the Prince was not married. He married a German princess, and put her
+away, and came to the throne as George IV.
+
+Then came 1788, when God struck that Charles with death; and then an
+alliance was made between Protestant England and Russia to support each
+other against any Roman Catholic emperor. This was not so striking a
+display of God's mercy as was shown in the case of the Armada; but in
+them all they saw the hand of God. They saw great mercy in 1588, in
+1688, and in 1788, for the protection of Protestantism; and what cared
+they whether in 1888 ministers should try to bring them under the
+domination of Rome? They knew that God was a tower of strength, and that
+they could rely on Him. Let them think and meditate on His mercies, and
+then they would not fail.
+
+
+
+
+THE FISH THAT SWALLOWED JONAH.
+
+"_Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah
+was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights._"--JONAH i.
+17.
+
+
+Upon the question as to what was the fish that swallowed Jonah, Dr.
+Raleigh remarks ("The Story of Jonah," p. 148):--
+
+"The Bible does not say that a whale was the prophet's jailer. The
+infidel has said that, and then has enjoyed the easy triumph of proving
+the natural impossibility of it. Jonah says 'a great fish' swallowed
+him. Our Lord uses a phrase exactly similar. He uses a generic term,
+which includes the whale, but is never applied to the whale
+particularly. The dolphin, the seal, the whale, the shark, are all
+included in the term that is used, and there is strong probability in
+the supposition that the white shark is the creature designated as the
+'great fish.' Sharks abounded in the Mediterranean at that time. They
+have been found there ever since, and are found there still. In length
+some of them have attained to thirty feet and upwards, of capacity in
+other ways sufficient to incarcerate Samson of Zorah, or Goliath of
+Gath, as well as the probably attenuated prophet of Gath-hepher.
+
+"It is related that a horse was found in the stomach of a shark, and
+there are many instances of men being swallowed alive--not fabulous and
+doubtful stories, but instances well authenticated. One, of a soldier in
+full armour. One, of a sailor who fell overboard, and, was swallowed in
+the very sight of his comrades. The captain seized a gun, shot the fish
+in a sensitive part, which then cast out the sailor into the sea, who
+was taken up, amazed and terrified, but little hurt.
+
+"Every one knows that the shark is a most voracious creature. Its teeth
+are only incisive. It has no power of holding. It can snap and sever
+limbs, or trunk, or head, sheer and certainly as though its jaws were a
+guillotine. But in that case it secures only what is within the jaws.
+The rest is apt to be lost. Its habit, therefore, is to swallow the prey
+alive, that it may lose nothing. Thus God made the voracity of the fish
+the means of protection and safety to His servant."
+
+
+HEART-WORK must be God's work. Only the great Heart-maker can be the
+great Heart-breaker. If I love Him, my heart will be filled with His
+spirit, and obedient to His commands.--_Baxter._
+
+
+THE great design, both in judgments and mercies, is to convince us that
+_there is none like the Lord our God_; none so wise, so mighty, so good;
+no enemy so formidable, no friend so desirable, so valuable.--_Matthew
+Henry._
+
+
+
+
+TALKING WITH A MAN SEVEN THOUSAND MILES OFF!
+
+
+The longest wire in the world extends from 18, Old Broad Street, London,
+E.C., to 29, Cable Street, Calcutta, over seven thousand miles. A
+telegraphic expert, who visited the London end of the wire, says:--
+
+We have often heard of the wonderful line between this country and
+Teheran, the capital of Persia, a distance of three thousand eight
+hundred miles, but we scarcely realized the fact that good signals were
+obtainable through so great a length of wire until recently, when we
+availed ourselves of an invitation from Mr. W. Andrews, the managing
+director of the Indo-European Telegraph Company, to make a visit of
+inspection.
+
+It was between seven and eight o'clock when we reached the office. In
+the basement of an unpretentious building in Old Broad Street we were
+shown the Morse printer in connection with the main line from London to
+Teheran.
+
+The courteous clerk in charge of the wire, Mr. Blagrove, informed us
+that we were through to Emden, and with the same ease with which one
+"wires" from the City to the West End, we asked a few questions of the
+telegraphist in the German town.
+
+When we had finished with Emden, we spoke with the same facility to the
+gentleman on duty at Odessa. This did not satisfy us, and in a few
+seconds we were through to the Persian capital, Teheran.
+
+There were no messages about, the time was favourable, and the
+_employes_ of the various countries seemed anxious to give us an
+opportunity of testing the capacity of this wonderful wire. T.H.N.
+(Teheran) said, "Call Kurrachee," and in less time than it takes to
+write these words we gained the attention of the Indian town. The
+signals were good, and our speed must have equalled fifteen words a
+minute.
+
+The operator at Kurrachee, when he learnt that London was speaking to
+him, thought it would be a good opportunity to put us through to Agra,
+and to our astonishment the signals did not fail, and we chatted
+pleasantly for a few minutes with Mr. Malcolm Khan, the clerk on duty.
+
+To make this trial of telegraphy complete, Agra switched us on to
+another line, and we were soon talking to a native telegraphist at the
+Indian Government Cable Station, Calcutta.
+
+At first the gentleman at the other end of the wire could not believe
+that he was really in direct communication with the English capital, and
+he exclaimed, in Morse language, "Are you really London?"
+
+Truly this was a great achievement. Metallic communication, without a
+break, from 18, Old Broad Street, London, to the telegraph office in
+Calcutta! Seven thousand miles of wire! The signals were excellent, and
+the speed attained was no fewer than twelve, perhaps fourteen, words per
+minute.
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 235._)
+
+
+"_Jesus wept._"--JOHN xi. 35.
+
+J otham      Judges ix. 5.
+E glon       Judges iii. 14.
+S apphira    Acts v. 1, 2.
+U zzah       2 Samuel vi. 7.
+S amuel      1 Samuel i. 14.
+
+W ater       Exodus xvii. 3.
+E noch       Hebrews xi. 5.
+P otiphar    Genesis xxxix. 1.
+T homas      Acts i. 13.
+
+                         RUTH CROWHURST
+                         (Aged 9 years).
+
+_Hastings._
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF ELLEN AND HENRY HOAD.
+
+  "Around the throne of God in heaven
+    Thousands of children stand;
+  Children whose sins are all forgiven--
+    A holy, happy band."
+
+
+Of the truth of these lines there can be no doubt in the minds of God's
+people, and a very blessed truth it is. There is a heaven of joy and
+love, and in this heaven there is the throne of God, and many dear
+children are standing around this throne, singing praises unto God and
+the Lamb. Their sins forgiven, their sorrows gone, their sufferings
+ended, death past, joy, and peace, and glory eternal now begun, who is
+there that could not desire to be with them, and to be as they are?
+Among this happy band we hope the two young ones--brother and
+sister--Ellen and Henry, whose names are at the top of this page, are
+now standing; and to give some reason of this hope is now our object in
+writing these few lines.
+
+Many, alas! have hopes of salvation and heaven for which their life and
+testimony can afford no solid ground for them to rest upon, and whose
+hope will one day make them ashamed, and, like the flickering lamps of
+the foolish virgins, will go out when the Bridegroom comes.
+
+Ellen and Henry were the children of praying parents, and, both of them
+being members of the Church at Bodle Street, their children attended the
+Sabbath School connected with that cause. The mother died in 1882, of
+consumption, and some of the children soon manifested symptoms of the
+same disease. An elder sister kept house, and as the younger ones grew
+up, they had to go out to earn their bread.
+
+Ellen was sent to service soon after she was twelve years old, and not
+living far from the school, she was permitted still to attend; and
+certainly she was a girl that needed no constraint in this matter, for
+if her duties kept her on Sundays until too late for the lessons, she
+would even then take her seat with the class while she listened to the
+sermon.
+
+How often children manifest a dislike to the house of God, and how soon
+there is an enmity appearing against good things! To many, attendance
+both at school and the house of God is a burden, and when they grow
+older they cast off all restraint and run wildly into sin. To such,
+parental control is hateful; the wise counsels of father and mother are
+scorned; the family altar, if possible, avoided; and their inward idea
+is that, when they leave home, they shall then go on as they like, and
+have their fill of pleasure. If any such children are reading these
+lines, let them pause and tremble, for there is an Eye watching their
+every thought, and an Almighty Arm that can reach them; and, sooner or
+later, there will be a bringing into judgment, and who can say how soon?
+
+But certainly, with Ellen, it was her delight to go to the house of God.
+The writer has met her many times on Sunday mornings on her way, her
+face bright and happy, a stronger bond than duty binding her close to
+God's people.
+
+In the autumn of 1887, the fatal languor that often accompanies
+consumption appeared in Ellen, and, though she bore up bravely for a
+little time, she had at length to leave her place and go home. Going
+home to die seems hard for young ones like Ellen to think of, yet there
+is no staying the Hand that strikes. The summons must be obeyed. In such
+a case the great question arises, "Are we ready, or are we not?" Ellen's
+earthly home had no mother to welcome the child, or to soothe her in her
+dying hours; and no one can truly fill the mother's place at such a
+time. But it was not to be long. Soon she was beyond the reach of mortal
+aid, and want, pain, and care had passed away for ever.
+
+The father gives the following particulars of what he witnessed in
+Ellen, and it is well indeed when parents can give such testimonies of
+their children:--
+
+"She was a very dutiful girl, and very quiet--so much so, that I seldom
+had to rebuke her; always very attentive at school, and, when out at
+service, she would attend the house of God if possible. All this was
+very good; but I wanted something further, and when she first came home
+ill, I wanted it made manifest that the Lord had begun a work of grace
+in her soul, and that she had been truly 'born again.'
+
+"One morning, as I went home from chapel, Ellen said to me, 'Father, Mr.
+D---- has been to see me.' I then asked her, 'Did he talk to you? and
+did you like what he said?' She answered, 'Yes, very much, and I should
+like for him to come again.' Then, bursting into tears, she said, 'I
+should so like to be able to answer him better, but I cannot. I should
+so much like to go to chapel again.' And when her sister asked her if
+she thought she should get better, she said she did not know, but should
+so like to go to school once more.
+
+"The night before she died, I saw a great change in her, and I asked her
+if she ever prayed to the Lord for mercy. 'Yes,' she said, 'sometimes I
+wake up in the night and pray to Him. I should not mind death if I knew
+my sins were pardoned. There is nothing to stop here for if I knew
+this.'"
+
+The writer has seen her weep much, when speaking to her of the certainty
+of death and the judgment, the sufferings of Jesus, and the abundance of
+pardon through His blood. Can there be a more touching sight than to see
+a child fourteen years old weeping and praying in sincerity for mercy,
+as a guilty sinner before God?
+
+Ellen died so suddenly that nothing further was gathered from her lips,
+but we believe her end was peace. She quietly passed away on February
+10th, 1888, aged fourteen years.
+
+In connection with her and her prayers and tears, these lines seem very
+sweet to me--
+
+  "Did ever mourner plead with Thee,
+  And Thou reject that mourner's plea?
+  Does not Thy Word of truth remain,
+  That none shall seek Thy face in vain?"
+
+Henry was two years older than his sister Ellen, and, like her, had to
+commence work early, and bear the yoke in his youth. He had been a
+regular attendant at the Sabbath School, and was truly a promising boy.
+Quiet and serious he went on his way, and read his Bible, which, through
+faith in Christ Jesus, is able to make wise unto salvation. He was, in
+the leadings of Providence, called to labour at a place where he had
+some work to do on Sunday mornings, and it was noticed that he seemed
+put out in his mind if he was ever prevented from attending school.
+
+In the spring of 1888 the same disease that cut down his mother and
+sister appeared in Henry, and he had to leave his place and go home. The
+teachers of the school and the friends around could see his days on
+earth must now be very few, and that he too, like Ellen, had come home
+to die. Yet he went to school a few times after this, and in May went to
+Hailsham to spend a few days with some friends. Here we had an
+opportunity of observing him closely, but he was scarcely able to say a
+word about himself. He was failing fast at this time, and truly it was
+sorrowful to see how feebly he moved about. When visiting the field on
+Whit Monday, where the Sunday School children were having their treat,
+what a contrast we beheld between the bright, healthy, happy children,
+and the poor, pale, languid, dying boy looking on!
+
+Soon after this he went back home, and went out but little afterwards.
+He gradually wasted in body and strength, and could no longer attend the
+school, though living but a few yards from it.
+
+And now came the time of testing the matter, whether there was anything
+of the work of the Holy Spirit in him, or whether it consisted in merely
+coming and going to and from the house of God.
+
+Let our readers reflect, this time of testing is coming to every one of
+us, and we shall soon be brought where our young friend was--to lie down
+and die, and thus appear before God.
+
+We will now give some particulars of his last words and exercises, and
+thus let our readers think for themselves what ground we have for our
+hope that this dear young lad is now in heaven.
+
+His father writes thus of his concern--"I had watched him for some time,
+thinking I could see some signs of concern, and that he was different
+from what he had been. I was almost sure he had been at times trying to
+pray, but he would not let me see him if he could help it. According as
+his illness came on he took more to his Bible and hymn-book, and they
+were his daily and hourly companions. The friends in the school were
+much concerned about him, and talked to him about his soul, but could
+not get anything from him. Yet he seemed to like to hear them, so I
+asked him if he did not enjoy what they said. He said 'Yes,' but did not
+wish to say anything wrong, though he hoped that some of the things
+spoken were the workings of his mind. I was very much concerned about
+him myself, and my desire was, that the Lord would make it manifest that
+He had a favour toward him. Once, when about my work, I could not help
+asking the Lord for this, when these words came with some sweetness, 'At
+evening time it shall be light'; then I had a hope that the Lord would
+appear for him. Soon after this he had these words come with some power,
+'When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through
+the rivers, they shall not overflow thee'; and then he expressed the
+hope that the Lord would be with him in the river of death.
+
+"When he was confined to his bed he seemed very restless, and being in
+great exercise of mind, he folded his hands, and we could see his lips
+move, but could not hear the words.
+
+"Once, when I came home late from my work, and went into his bed-room,
+he called me to him and said, 'I have had a blessed afternoon, for the
+Lord has been with me, and I can leave you all now, and everything of
+earth; and I believe that I shall go to heaven. I have prayed for you
+all.' I told him I was very glad--more so than if any one had given me
+gold, and asked him how it came to pass--whether it was by any word
+coming with power or otherwise? He said, 'No, but it was a sweet,
+humbling influence which so softened my heart, and drew my affections to
+the Lord Jesus. It enables me to bear my sufferings better, and I lie
+more comfortable.'
+
+"A great change was seen in him after this. His mind seemed much
+brighter, and he laid more calm and quiet. I told him that he perhaps
+might feel after this comfort some distress of mind again, and he said,
+'I have been in distress of mind, father, and the Lord has blessed me.'
+This was about a week before he died. We thought he would have been
+taken away sooner, and he felt so himself, for soon after his
+deliverance he called us all around him, and shook hands with us all,
+and gave each one something to keep in remembrance of him. I asked him
+then if he felt the Lord was with him. He said, 'Yes, I fancy I can see
+Him coming.' But he recovered from this, and I then said to him, 'The
+Lord did not come as soon as you expected?' and he answered, 'No; but I
+must wait the Lord's time.'
+
+"He asked once that I would pray to the Lord to come and take him, and
+then asked his sisters to sing the hymn commencing, 'How sweet the name
+of Jesus sounds.' He then said, 'Oh, now I could sing!' I asked him if
+he could sing that hymn. He said, 'Yes, if I had breath.' Mr. Reed asked
+him if he could say that Jesus had done all things well. He answered,
+'Yes, I have said so, and I can say it again.' He was then asked what
+his hopes for eternity were. He soon replied, 'Nothing but the blood and
+righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.'
+
+"Speaking to one of his sisters, he said, 'I hope that you pray to the
+Lord to be your Saviour, and that you read your Bible. Once I did not
+like reading it, and when father made me come in to read, it almost made
+me cry, but now it is the best treasure I have on earth.'
+
+"I asked him if he had anything to tell Mr. Daw, 'Yes,' he replied, 'the
+first Sunday after uncle was buried, June 24th, 1888, when he was
+preaching from this, "I know that my Redeemer liveth," I felt blessed
+then, and the tears ran down my face, but the feeling was soon gone.'
+
+"The hymn commencing--
+
+  "Awake, ye saints, and sweetly sing
+    The ascended Saviour's love,
+
+was very much blessed to him, and he asked for it to be sung when he was
+once suffering much for want of breath; then he said, 'I feel as though
+I could jump into the arms of Jesus.'
+
+"About half-an-hour before he died he cried out, 'Oh, what a mighty
+Saviour! I shall soon be before the throne, and sing the praises of the
+Lamb. Don't sorrow.' I said, 'Not for you,' and he replied, 'No.'
+
+"One remarking how ill he seemed, he said, 'I hope I shall soon be
+better.' 'When you get to heaven,' I whispered, and he said, 'Yes.'
+
+"At another time a remark was made about his pillow being hard. He said,
+'It will be soft in heaven.'
+
+"The last audible words from his lips were, 'Rest, father!' and so he
+died on the 22nd day of August, 1888, aged sixteen years."
+
+Here the father's narrative ends, and truly we can hope that he went
+right to heaven, and that for him to die was gain. Brother and sister
+now lie side by side in the pleasant burial-ground at Bodle Street,
+awaiting the resurrection morning. Can we not, to close these few lines,
+also say the last verse of the hymn of which we have given the first--
+
+  "On earth they sought the Saviour's grace,
+    On earth they loved His name,
+  So now they see His blessed face,
+    And stand before the Lamb"?
+
+                                         J. D.
+
+
+
+
+DENIED, YET ANSWERED.
+
+
+When Augustine, in his home at Carthage, resolved to visit Rome, his
+mother wished either to prevent him from going, or to go with him. He
+would listen to neither proposal, and resorted to a trick to carry out
+his plan. One evening he went to the sea-shore, and his mother followed.
+There were two chapels dedicated to the memory of the martyr Cyprian,
+and he pressed her to spend one evening in the church of the martyr,
+while he would accompany a friend on board a ship, there to say
+farewell. While she was there in tears, praying and wrestling with God
+to prevent the voyage, Augustine sailed for Italy, and his deceived
+mother next morning found herself alone. In quiet resignation she
+returned to the city, and continued to pray for the salvation of her
+son. Though meaning well, yet she erred in her prayers, for the journey
+of Augustine was the means of his salvation. The denial of the prayer
+was, in fact, the answering of it. Instead of the husk, God granted
+rather the substance of her petition in the conversion of her son.
+"Therefore," said he, "O God, Thou hadst regard to the aim and essence
+of her desires, and didst not do what she then prayed for, that Thou
+mightest do for me what she continually implored."
+
+
+
+
+HONOURING THE LORD'S DAY.
+
+
+The following interesting incident was related to the writer by a
+gentleman, who had the narrative from the merchant himself to whom it
+occurred.
+
+When a youth, the latter obtained a situation in a provision store in
+one of the great mercantile cities of the United States. On the first
+Saturday evening, he was told by his employer that he would be expected
+to be at his business post the next day, the same as usual. On the lad
+respectfully replying that he could not do so, as he had always been
+taught by his friends to honour the Lord's Day, he was bluntly told
+that, if he would not do what he was asked, he might come on Monday
+morning and get his wages, as there would be no further occasion for his
+services.
+
+We may imagine how such a notice was calculated to discourage the youth;
+nevertheless he kept to his resolution, and, after a Sabbath spent in a
+right manner, proceeded on the Monday to get his discharge.
+
+It was his duty to open the store, and as he was on his way to it, he
+noticed a man, as the morning was dark, trying to make out the
+inscriptions over the warehouse doors.
+
+Asking him what he wanted, the man replied that he was a ship-captain,
+and was looking for a provision store in order to get supplies for his
+vessel, which was coming down the river with the tide. The youth
+willingly, forgetting his employer's unkind threat of dismissal, at once
+told the stranger that if he would go with him to his master's premises,
+he would be sure to find there the articles he was in search of.
+
+On getting to the stores, the captain selected a large supply of
+provisions, for which he paid well. In short, it was an excellent
+commercial transaction. When he came to pay the money, the chief clerk,
+who had now made his appearance, made out the account, and saw that the
+notes given in payment were those of good banks--a point of no small
+importance in those days of unsound American currency. By this time,
+too, the stranger's ship had arrived at the wharf attached to the store,
+and the goods were placed on board of it, when it proceeded on its
+voyage.
+
+At a later hour the youth's employer came to business, and the clerk
+told him that the new lad had been doing an excellent stroke of business
+before others were astir that morning.
+
+"A very good price, too, he has got for the goods," said the master, as
+he looked at the invoice. "But," he continued, "depend upon it, he has
+been taken in, and got bad notes."
+
+"No," replied the clerk; "that's all right. I attended to that myself."
+
+Presently the youth came up to his employer's desk.
+
+"Well," said he, good-humouredly, "what do you want?"
+
+"Oh, sir, you told me I was to come to you to-day, and get my wages and
+my dismissal."
+
+"Nonsense!" rejoined the master; "go to your work, and let me hear no
+more of that."
+
+So to work he went, and kept his situation, and a good conscience. When
+our informant heard the anecdote from him, he had become a successful
+trader, God having blessed his youthful conscientiousness.
+
+This incident reminds us of another of somewhat the same character,
+which was told us by a gentleman, now dead, who at the time held a very
+important position on the staff of one of our great religious societies.
+
+"When I was a youth," so his narrative ran, "I was sent by my friends to
+one of the principal towns in an island in the West Indies, to be
+apprenticed as an articled clerk to a firm of solicitors there. My
+connections at home, although not Evangelical Christians, respected
+religion, and when I left, they counselled me to be always particular in
+observing the Lord's Day and reverencing it.
+
+[Illustration: "WELL, WHAT DO YOU WANT?" (_See page 252._)]
+
+"On getting to my new situation, the managing clerk, at the close of the
+first week, told me that I should be expected to put in my appearance at
+the office on Sunday. I told him that I had been always taught not to do
+any work on that day, and that I meant to go to church. To church I
+accordingly went. On the Monday, when I returned to the office, one of
+the partners, a lively little man, looked hard at me, but said nothing.
+The next Sunday and the next I pursued the same course, without any
+objection being made to it. There were other articled clerks in the
+office, and they, seeing what I did, gradually did the same, without any
+opposition from the principals. In course of time, some of the partners
+ceased to come, until at last the little man I have named was the only
+one who came, and that for an hour or two. Even this in time ceased, and
+the office was shut up on the Sunday. Then, more curious still, the
+other solicitors in the town followed the example that our office had
+set, till, ere long, no business at all was done on the Lord's Day by
+any solicitor in the place."
+
+A third anecdote connected with the Lord's Day may here also
+appropriately be given. The incident occurred to the grandfather of the
+gentleman who narrated it to us.
+
+The late Lord L---- was well known as a brave warrior during the
+Peninsular War. His lordship, on his return to Scotland, was anxious to
+have some timber on his estate cut down, that he might discharge certain
+pressing debts. Without giving any notice of his intention, he called
+one Sunday morning upon my friend's grandfather, just as he was
+preparing to go with his family to church, and asked him to walk with
+him over the estate, that they might together see what timber was fit
+for cutting.
+
+The grandfather respectfully replied that that day he had another Master
+whom he must serve, but that he would be ready at any hour on a working
+day to be promptly at his lordship's service. His lordship merely said,
+"Very well," and named another day, when the agent attended him, and did
+the work that was wanted of him, apparently to his lordship's
+satisfaction.
+
+The matter seemed to have blown over, when shortly afterwards the agent,
+who had been many years in his lordship's service, received a notice
+that he was wanted to meet Lord L---- at the office of his man of
+business on a particular day, and in a neighbouring town. The request
+was an unusual one, and much surmising took place among his friends as
+to what could be the meaning of it.
+
+"Depend upon it," said some, who pretended to see farther than others,
+"his lordship, though he said nothing at the time, has taken offence at
+your refusal to work for him on Sunday, and, now that the business is
+finished, intends to give you notice of dismissal."
+
+The day came, and the agent kept the appointment, when, to his joyful
+surprise, instead of giving a notice of dismissal, his lordship told
+him, with expressions of esteem, that he desired to show his sense of
+the conscientious manner in which he had so long discharged his duties,
+and that he had asked him to attend in order that he might settle a
+pension upon him.
+
+The reader may imagine his happiness when he found all his fears at an
+end, and had this proof of the approbation of his conduct by a divine
+and an earthly master. The worthy man lived long to enjoy Lord L----'s
+bounty, having died at the age of 102. On the anniversary of his
+hundredth birthday, some of his neighbours, by whom he was much
+respected, entertained him at a public dinner, and gave him a Bible,
+accompanied with the hope that he might have to the end of his
+pilgrimage the guidance of Him who had guided him "a hundred years."--H.
+M., in _Friendly Greetings_.
+
+
+
+
+  LITTLE JOHNNIE.
+
+
+  Shall I vex your patience, Johnnie,
+    If I write again?
+  Would you rather I should leave you
+    Brooding o'er your pain?
+
+  Does your little heart grow tired
+    Of the outside noise?
+  Will you never tell your sorrows?
+    Must you hide your joys?
+
+  Then I'll go to Jesus, Johnnie--
+    Go to Him, and say--
+  "There's a weary child, Lord Jesus,
+    Needs Thy love to-day.
+
+  "Listen to his father's praying;
+    See his mother's tears;
+  Speak, oh, speak to little Johnnie!
+    Speak, and hush our fears.
+
+  "He was born a wretched sinner;
+    Does he know it, Lord?
+  Thou hast promises for sinners,
+    In Thy precious Word.
+
+  "Speak, oh, speak to little Johnnie,
+    That our aching hearts
+  May be comforted about him
+    When his soul departs.
+
+  "We have told him of Thy mercy,
+    Told him of Thy wrath;
+  Told him of the untold terrors
+    Of the second death.
+
+  "But the voice that wakes an echo
+    In the silent one,
+  And the hand that opens heaven,
+    Jesus, are Thine own.
+
+  "Lord, we cannot help repeating,
+    Speak to him to-day;
+  Hope, nor prayer, nor mercy cometh
+    To the mouldering clay.
+
+  "Now the heart and flesh are failing,
+    Now the need is true,
+  Hell beneath, and heaven above him,
+    Stoop, Lord, lift him through."
+
+  I have said all this to Jesus,
+    Johnnie dear, for you;
+  Tell your mother if He answers;
+    She is praying too.
+
+  Oh, if you but hear Him whisper,
+    "Guilty sinner, come!"
+  Break away to Jesus, Johnnie;
+    He will take you home.
+
+                           M. A. CHAPLIN.
+
+_Galleywood, Chelmsford._
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+A king of Israel.
+
+A king of Moab.
+
+Absalom's general.
+
+The son of Ham.
+
+A river.
+
+A son of Jacob.
+
+A king of Israel.
+
+A priest.
+
+Abram's brother.
+
+A precious stone.
+
+A king of Bashan.
+
+Something sent to various kings by God.
+
+A servant of Ahab.
+
+An animal mentioned in the Bible.
+
+                   WINNIE LANGMAN
+                (Aged 10 years).
+
+_Battersea._
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER.
+
+
+Nov.  4. Commit to memory Ps. cxxvii. i.
+Nov. 11. Commit to memory Ps. cxxvii. 2.
+Nov. 18. Commit to memory Ps. cxxv. 2.
+Nov. 25. Commit to memory Ps. cxxv. 3.
+
+
+
+
+BRIMSTONE OR SULPHUR.
+
+"_The Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and
+fire._"--GENESIS xix. 24.
+
+
+Sulphur is one of the most inflammable substances known, and will melt
+in fire but not in water. The meaning of the word "sulphur" is, the
+burning or fiery stone. This substance is obtained in most parts of the
+world, but is very abundant in volcanic regions. It doubtless helps to
+feed those terrific fires of the earth which occasionally burst forth in
+all their fury, pouring liquid lava upon the valleys beneath, and
+overwhelming cities in destruction. The smoke which issues from the
+craters of volcanoes is impregnated with sulphur; indeed, this substance
+is often found encrusted round the mouths of these burning mountains.
+
+Italy and Sicily produce the best sulphur in a native state, and in very
+large quantity. This is imported into England, is refined, and in its
+respective processes produces the roll brimstone, rock brimstone, and
+flowers of sulphur, all so well known in commerce. Sulphur also exists
+in some of our mineral springs, as that of Harrogate, in Yorkshire. It
+is found in the combination of several metallic ores, such as pyrites or
+sulphuret of iron, and sulphurets of zinc, copper, and lead. In some of
+its forms it exists in some plants. This may be proved by leaving a
+silver spoon in mustard; the colour of the spoon will soon be changed to
+a blackish tinge. It is the presence of this principle in assafoetida
+which causes it to smell so disagreeably. Silver put into the same
+pocket with sulphur soon loses its brightness.
+
+Sulphur is applied to a variety of purposes. It is largely used in the
+manufacture of sulphuric acid, and forms about a tenth component part in
+the manufacture of English gunpowder. As a medicine it is very useful.
+
+There appears to be an allusion to its appropriation for gunpowder in
+Revelation ix. 17, 18. Many eminent expositors of the Revelation agree
+in supposing that the flashes of fire, attended by smoke and brimstone,
+"whereby men were killed," which seemed to proceed from the mouths of
+the horses, were really the flashes of artillery. The heads of the
+horses alone would be seen through the sulphureous smoke, while in
+reality the flashes and smoke proceeded from the cannon. The whole
+appears imagery of a battle scene, and is thought to refer to the Turks,
+who first turned to account the invention of gunpowder in carrying on
+their wars.
+
+"The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire" (or burning
+brimstone). As these cities were situated in the vale of Siddim, which,
+as the sacred writer informs us, was full of bitumen pits, many learned
+men are of opinion that it does not detract from the supernatural
+character of this awful visitation to suppose that the wonder-working
+God saw fit to employ natural agencies in effecting the purposes of His
+will; and it is thought that, as sulphur exists in the neighbouring
+hills, it might have been ignited by lightning, and poured down like
+rain upon the vale below. The quantity of pitch already existing in the
+vale would be set on fire, and thus the cities would be destroyed, and
+the character of the valleys thereby changed.
+
+Be this as it may, the statement of the sacred writer is clear, and we
+may safely interpret it as implying a shower of inflamed sulphur or
+nitre. At the same time, it is evident that the whole plain underwent a
+simultaneous convulsion, which seems referable to the consequences of
+bituminous explosion. In accordance with this view, we find the
+materials, as it were, of this awful visitation near at hand, for, at
+the present day, sulphur is found on the shores of the Dead Sea, which
+occupies the site of the cities of the plain; and the Arabs obtain
+enough from the cliffs to make their own gunpowder. Irby and Mangles
+collected on the southern coasts lumps of fine sulphur, from the size of
+a nutmeg up to that of a small hen's egg, which it was evident from
+their situation had been brought down from the neighbouring hills by the
+rain.
+
+                                                 H. H.
+
+
+
+
+  A BIRTHDAY WISH.
+
+
+  Life is before you, friend of mine;
+  What it may bring we cannot divine;
+  The path outspread is all untrod;
+  Unknown are its windings to all but God.
+
+  The sun will shine with its gladsome ray,
+  And sometimes clouds overshadow the day;
+  Your heart may be lifted with joy untold;
+  But remember the same is not yours to hold.
+
+  At your bidding it comes not, nor does it stay;
+  But when One speaks it flies away;
+  And why is this? That One is Love,
+  And seeks to lead your heart above.
+
+  Were earthly happiness all your own,
+  You never would wish a heavenly throne;
+  So joys are given, they come, and end,
+  As seemeth best to our Lord and Friend.
+
+  Then let us entrust them to His care,
+  And of thinking them ours to keep, beware;
+  Let us seek in the gift the Giver to see,
+  And trust to His love and wise decree.
+
+  Should sorrow and sadness our path attend,
+  And dark seem the way to our journey's end,
+  Let us look above to the Hand that guides,
+  And trust His love whatever betides.
+
+  No sorrow is sent with purposeless aim,
+  But each has its destined end to gain;
+  He loves us so dearly, and shed His blood
+  To lead us up to the throne of God.
+
+  And think you that He would afflict His child
+  With needless pains in this desert wild?
+  No; though all that's sent we can't understand,
+  Let us never distrust the guiding Hand.
+
+  His wisdom is perfect, His love divine,
+  And changeth not with the flight of time;
+  To the trustful heart that resteth in Him
+  He has promised joys that never shall dim.
+
+  A quiet peace surrounds its path,
+  Surpassing all that the worldling hath;
+  May this be yours in that winding way;
+  May it lead you up to the "perfect day."
+
+                                LEWARN CLAYTON.
+
+
+
+
+INSECURITY OF PALESTINE.
+
+"_They that sow in tears shall reap in joy._"--PSALM cxxvi. 5.
+
+
+The farmer in Palestine had frequently to sow with an armed man
+attending him, to prevent his being robbed of his seed. A similar state
+of danger appears still to prevail. Tristram, in his "Land of Israel,"
+says:--
+
+"In descending the hill from Bethany we saw an illustration of the
+wretched insecurity of the country, in a drove of donkeys laden with
+firewood for Jerusalem. Each ass was attended by a man armed to the
+teeth with pistols, sword, and a long gun; and in one little valley--the
+only one beyond Bethany where there was any cultivation--each ploughman
+was holding his firelock in one hand while he guided the plough with the
+other."
+
+
+
+
+A HEROIC SCOTCH STUDENT.
+
+
+"A ship ashore! A ship ashore!" was the cry which rang through the
+streets of St. Andrew's, Scotland, one fearful winter's day some years
+ago. This thrilling cry roused every inhabitant. Citizens, University
+students, and sailors, rushed with pale faces and rapid steps along the
+street towards a bay to the eastward of the town. Standing on the shore,
+the crowd was terror-stricken and paralyzed through beholding a vessel
+stranded on a sand-bank but a few rods from the beach. She was shrouded
+in surfy mist; the waves dashed furiously against her, and broke over
+her decks with irresistible fury. Yet, through the thick air and the
+driving sleet, the people on the shore could now and then catch glimpses
+of the doomed crew clinging, with the clutch of despair, to the rigging
+of the wreck. There were many bold, brave men in that sympathizing crowd
+of spectators, but none who dared to venture through the mighty surges
+to save those ill-fated sailors. It seemed, indeed, to the stoutest
+heart, too mighty a task for mortal man to attempt. All could sympathize
+with the wretched ones; none but God, they thought, could save them.
+
+But there was one heroic soul in that eager, wistful crowd who thought
+that man, with God's help, might snatch those perishing men from the
+door of doom. He was a young man--a University student--strong in body,
+but still stronger in spirit. "Bring me a rope," he cried; "I will try
+to save them." A strong rope was brought, and fastened about his waist.
+Followed by the prayers of many and the good wishes of all, this
+chivalric youth struggled, with desperate courage, through the terrific
+surf into the deep water beyond. Then, with the strength of a young
+giant, guided by the skill of the experienced swimmer, he slowly worked
+his way towards the vessel's side. He had nearly reached it when his
+friends, alarmed by the length of time and slowness of his progress,
+began pulling him back. Then his courage rose to the sublimest height of
+self-sacrifice. He forgot himself. He would save the men clinging in
+desperation to yon vessel's shrouds, or perish in the attempt. Grasping
+the knife that he carried between his teeth, he cut the rope by which
+his kind-hearted friends were drawing him to shore and safety. He
+buffeted the rough waves successfully. He reached the breaker-swept deck
+of the stranded sloop. After a word of cheer to the crew, he took a
+fresh rope, plunged anew into the surging waters, and swam back to the
+beach. But four days of starvation, unrest, and exposure had robbed
+those poor creatures on board the wreck of both courage and strength.
+Not one of them dared attempt to escape by means of the rope. What! then
+must they perish? Nay, not yet. The brave student will risk his life
+again in their behalf. Many speak harshly of their lack of pluck. He
+pities their weakness; he rushes into the surf once more, struggles
+through the crested waves, boards the sloop, and brings off a man to the
+shore. Six times he makes the perilous trip, and saves a human life each
+time. The seventh time his charge is a boy, so weak and helpless that he
+loses his hold upon him twice, and twice he dives for him into the
+seething depths and brings him up. Finally, he reaches the beach with a
+limp, corpselike lad--the last of the rescued crew.
+
+The crowd, which had hitherto watched the gallant young hero's movements
+with breathless stillness, now break forth into a loud, triumphal cheer,
+which neither the roar of the wind nor the thunder of the waves can
+drown--they recognize the presence of a genuine hero.
+
+The name of this noble young scion of true chivalry was John Honey, one
+of the college friends of the celebrated Dr. Chalmers. His efforts on
+that memorable day cost him his life--not directly, however, for he
+lived a few years, but the seeds of a mortal malady were sown by his
+humane exertions on that grandest day of his life.--_Great Thoughts._
+
+
+
+
+DUTIES OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
+
+
+It is the duty of brothers and sisters to take a delight in each others'
+society, and readily to share their comforts with each other. The
+kindness of the heart beams in a sister's smile, and speaks in a
+brother's praise. The heart must be sadly corrupted, if the remembrance
+of the scenes that passed under a father's roof ceases to interest. It
+is the duty of brothers and sisters to admonish one another for their
+faults. There are failings in the temper and defects in the manners
+which are concealed with care from the eyes of the world, but which are
+apparent amidst the freedom of domestic life. If follies are not checked
+at home, or by strangers, they will grow into habits. The indolence from
+which the young were never roused has kept them all their after days in
+poverty, and the pride which was never repressed has rendered them
+odious. Never let affection make you blind to the deformity of sin.
+
+It is the duty of brothers and sisters to sympathize tenderly with each
+other. The heart is so framed that it requires the aid and comfort of
+sympathy. How soothing to a sufferer's heart are the attentions of a
+sister, and the word spoken by a brother in season! Let sisters consider
+how much the persuasive language of mildness and affection is adapted to
+transform the roughest and most impetuous temper into meekness and
+wisdom, and that their remarks may direct a brother's attention to
+sentiments full of beauty and feeling, which he has overlooked.
+
+Brothers and sisters should vie with each other in promoting the comfort
+of their parents. Every one should cultivate respect for their parents'
+authority, compassion for their infirmities, attention to their wishes,
+and be solicitous to give them all necessary aid, and reverence, and
+love, undiminished as they witness the decline of their faculties. How
+delightful it is to hear parents say of their children, "I cannot tell
+which is the kindest to me." What peace such children are preparing for
+themselves when their parents shall have passed away!--_Portia._
+
+
+
+
+THE CHILD AND THE EMPEROR.
+
+
+It is related of the late Emperor of Germany that, when passing through
+a pretty country village once, he stopped to visit the village school.
+Taking up an orange, he said to the children--
+
+"To what kingdom does this belong?"
+
+"To the vegetable kingdom," answered a little girl.
+
+"And this?" continued the Emperor, holding out a gold coin, which he had
+taken from his pocket.
+
+"To the mineral kingdom," was the answer.
+
+"And to what kingdom do I belong?" he said, expecting the little girl
+would answer with her former promptitude, "To the animal kingdom." But
+after a pause and many blushes, she replied--
+
+"To God's kingdom, sire."
+
+Thereupon the Emperor, greatly moved, and with a tear in his eye and
+much solemnity in his tone, replied--
+
+"God grant, my child, that I may be counted worthy of that kingdom."
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
+
+(JOHN xvii)
+
+
+In the large, upper room of that house at Jerusalem, where Jesus had
+eaten the Passover with His disciples, and instituted His own new feast,
+"The Lord's Supper," He had been speaking, and they hearing, most
+wonderful truths. "Arise, let us go hence," He had said (John xiv. 31).
+Yet He arose not, and they lingered still, held fast in solemn wonder
+while He spoke the parable of the vine, and warned and encouraged them
+concerning their future course when He had left them. And then, having
+assured them that He had overcome the world, and bidden them rejoice in
+Him, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and prayed for Himself, for them,
+and for all His people to the end of time.
+
+A wondrous prayer! He was just about to enter into His deepest
+sufferings; yet He says not a word of pain or sorrow. "The glory that
+should follow," "the joy that was set before Him," fill His heart and
+tongue, and all His prayer breathes of that reward--that crown of all
+His labours--the everlasting life of all His beloved ones.
+
+He thought of His ancient glory, "the glory which I had with Thee before
+the world was" (ver. 5); and that glory was connected with His dear
+people, as we read in Proverbs viii. 23, where Christ, speaking as
+Wisdom, says, "I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or
+ever the earth was"; and "Then I was beside Jehovah, as One brought up
+with Him: I was daily _His_ delight, and _My_ delights were with the
+sons of men" (ver. 30, 31).
+
+"The sons of men," as yet unborn; but "His gracious eye surveyed them"
+as they should in future days appear, and He was then their "Elder
+Brother," "the First-born among many brethren," and in His image Adam
+was formed as a man, "a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory
+and honour," and the lord of God's earthly creation (Psa. viii.). And
+Jesus looked on to the glorious time when all His people, though they
+have fallen, and become sinners, shall be purified and fully saved, and
+be "presented to God without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." It
+_was_ His glory, before time, to think of this; it _shall_ be His glory,
+when time is ended, to see all His desires fulfilled, and all His wishes
+accomplished.
+
+Next, Jesus thought and spoke of "the glory His Father had given Him"
+(ver. 24)--given Him in the world, in the sight of His people. In
+Revelation xiii. 8, He is called "the Lamb that hath been slain from the
+foundation of the world"--slain in pictures and shadows; "the firstling
+of the flock" that Abel offered; the paschal lamb, and all the
+numberless sacrifices slain of old by God's command, pointed always to
+the Lamb of God; and He was glorified when His people, in by-gone times,
+like Abraham, "saw His day," His coming, and His work, and were glad in
+His salvation.
+
+And Jesus prayed that all whom His Father had given Him might behold His
+glory. When? Not only in heaven, but here. As we read in Paul's wondrous
+description of this sight, "we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in
+a mirror the glory of the Lord" (2 Cor. iii.), do not simply gaze upon
+it as on a lovely picture, but are transformed as we gaze--are changed,
+until we become like our Lord, and bear His image, and reflect His
+glory, as the face of Moses shone when he came down from God on Mount
+Sinai, and he did not know it until he found the Israelites could not
+look at him unless he veiled his face, for true holiness makes us humble
+and lowly, and
+
+  "The more His glories strike our eyes,
+    The humbler we shall lie;
+  Thus while we sink, our joys shall rise
+    Immeasurably high."
+  And if now we see Him thus by faith, we shall see Him as He is, and be
+  like Him for ever.
+
+  "Oh, that with yonder sacred throng
+    We at His feet may fall;
+  Join in the everlasting song,
+    And crown Him Lord of all."
+
+But the prayer of Jesus began with the earnest request for another kind
+of glory--"Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also
+may glorify Thee." "The hour" for which I came into the world--"the
+hour" of deepest woe, yet most glorious victory. Glorify Thy Son by
+strengthening and sustaining Him, that He may glorify Thee by
+accomplishing Thy will, and destroying the works of the devil.
+
+Was not the prayer answered? Hear the dying Saviour cry, with a loud
+voice, on Calvary, "It is finished!" and we behold Him gloriously
+conquering in the very moment of His death, and departing to receive the
+Victor's crown, and the grateful worship of all the redeemed, as they
+sing, "Worthy the Lamb that was slain!"
+
+Lastly, Jesus says of all His glory, "I have given it to My people, My
+followers, My friends" (ver. 22). "My glory, My joy, I share with them."
+He is "anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows" (Psa. xlv.
+7); but to every "good and faithful servant" He will say, "Enter thou
+into the joy of thy Lord."
+
+Is His joy, His glory, ours? Do we delight in His salvation? Do we
+desire to follow Him, and, like Him, do good to others? Do we long to
+see God's kingdom come, and His will done on earth as it is done in
+heaven? If so, He has given us a share in His glory, and we shall meet
+with all His saints around His throne on high--
+
+"And with one heart, and voice, and soul
+  Sing His redeeming grace."
+
+Then will His glory be complete. Oh, that we may behold and enjoy it,
+too! Amen.
+
+Our next subject will be, _Gleanings from the Book of Ruth_.
+
+                            Yours affectionately,
+                                         H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+THE PITCAIRN ISLANDERS AND THE QUEEN.
+
+
+Captain John Lewthwaite, of Maryport, has just returned to England,
+bringing with him a present for the Queen from the inhabitants of
+Pitcairn Island. Captain Lewthwaite is master of the _Cairmont_, of
+Glasgow, and on his homeward voyage from Vancouver Island he called at
+Pitcairn. He found that the descendants of the mutineers of the _Bounty_
+had received papers containing particulars of the Queen's Jubilee. They
+said they were anxious to make Her Majesty a Jubilee present, and in the
+absence of anything more valuable they decided to send some straw hats
+of their manufacture. They also sent other goods made of straw, which
+they manipulate with a great deal of skill. The presents were handed to
+Captain Lewthwaite by M'Avoy, the Governor of the island, and grandson
+of one of the mutineers. The box containing the presents has been lodged
+with the Vicar of Peckham Rye, who acts as agent for the islanders, to
+forward to the Queen.
+
+There are now one hundred and twelve persons on the island, two-thirds
+being women. They use no strong drink, tobacco, or money. Some time ago
+a harmonium was taken out to them, and Captain Lewthwaite says one woman
+plays it remarkably well.
+
+
+A MAN that cannot mind his own business is not to be trusted with the
+king's.--_Saville._
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+LESSONS TO BE DERIVED FROM THE HISTORY OF DANIEL.
+
+
+The principal lessons to be derived from the history of Daniel
+are--faith, moral courage, patience, perseverance, and the value of
+prayer. Daniel's faith was steadfast in God, for, in spite of all
+opposition, he stood firm to his purpose. This also shows his moral
+courage, in standing alone before his God when all others were against
+him. He truly manifested the feeling, "Though He slay me, yet will I
+trust in Him." Envied and persecuted by many, he knew that God was for
+him if men were against him. It is a dreadful sin to conspire against a
+child of God, for Christ will say to such in the day of judgment,
+"Depart from Me, ye cursed." And again (Mark ix. 42) He said, "Whosoever
+shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Me, it is better
+for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast
+into the sea." Daniel knew, too, the efficacy of prayer, for he was
+taught by God Himself; and where God gives faith and a true spirit, He
+is sure to call it into exercise. Daniel possessed an excellent spirit,
+and was preferred by King Darius, who did not worship the true God, and
+was prevailed upon to establish an idolatrous decree. But Daniel openly
+prayed to God. This showed his confidence in Jehovah's omnipotence and
+faithfulness, and he was enabled to leave all in His hands, feeling sure
+that all things would work together for his good. It has been wisely
+said that "not one spark of real saving faith can be kindled in our
+hearts but by God Himself," and if He does this, He will give us the
+supply we so much need. As a weak limb often grows strong by exercise,
+so will our faith, if it be of God, be strengthened by the very effort
+we make in stretching it out towards things unseen. Daniel's chastening
+afterwards yielded "the peaceable fruit of righteousness" when the angel
+Gabriel was sent to tell him he was greatly beloved, and that he should
+"stand in his lot at the end of his days." Oh, what comfort this message
+must have brought to poor Daniel! Happy shall we be if the Lord speaks
+thus to our hearts.
+
+                                LAURA CREASEY
+                              (Aged 14 years).
+
+_Sydney House, Sleaford,
+Lincolnshire._
+
+[Good Essays have been received from Charles Southon, Kate M. Bond,
+Alice J. Wells, E. W. Cray, Martha Ramsay, Sarah Hicks, E. B. Knocker,
+and E. R. Harris.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "Cowper's Poems."
+
+The subject for January will be, "What is the Most Desirable Thing to
+Possess in the Spring-time of Life?" and the prize to be given for the
+best Essay on that subject, a copy of "The Life of Whitfield." All
+competitors must give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of
+age, and that the Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be
+passed over, as the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary
+information. Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117,
+High Street, Hastings, by the first of December.]
+
+
+DEEPER than the love of home, deeper than the love of kindred, deeper
+than rest and recreation, deeper than the love of life, is the love of
+Jesus.--_Hamilton._
+
+
+NOTHING is easier than fault-finding. No talent, no self-denial, no
+brains, no character is required to set up in the grumbling business.
+But those who are moved by a genuine desire to do good and benefit their
+fellows have little time for murmuring or complaint.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+THE length of the Thames from source to mouth is 220 miles.
+
+
+THE greatest height yet reached in a balloon is seven miles and a
+quarter.
+
+
+IN 1707 it took two days and a half to get to Oxford, a distance of
+fifty-five miles.
+
+
+THE number of Bibles sold by the British Bible Society up to 1881 was
+100,035,933.
+
+
+TWO millions and a half is the number of persons who are said to be
+slaves to Sabbath toil in America, and they generally receive no more
+than six days' wages for seven days' work.
+
+
+ANNA SWAN, the Nova Scotia giantess, who, with her husband, Captain Bates,
+the Kentucky giant, was an earnest member of the Baptist Church, is dead.
+She was seven feet nine inches in height.
+
+
+A GREAT improvement in Sunday observance in the army and navy has, it is
+said, taken place. But there are old officers, like the gallant admiral,
+who deplore the fact that "the service is going to the dogs," because
+there is not so much pipeclay used on a Sunday as there was when they
+joined the service.
+
+
+LORD SUDELEY, of Toddington, near Cheltenham, has the following fruit
+trees planted in his grounds--Gooseberry trees, 93,000; plum trees,
+20,083; black currant trees, 167,000; apple trees, 2,919; pear trees,
+852; damson trees, 8,845; cherry trees, 532; red currant trees, 10,000;
+raspberry trees, 25,000; cob nut, 100; strawberries (acres), 52. In
+addition, 100 Scotch firs and 10,000 poplar trees.
+
+
+THE HAMPTON COURT VINE.--This noble vine is more than a hundred and
+fifty years old, and nearly as many feet in length; its stem is
+thirty-two inches in circumference. In a good season it will yield more
+than two thousand bunches of fine grapes, weighing on an average
+seventeen ounces each bunch, or, in the whole, nearly one ton. They are
+of the finest black Hamburg kind, and are said to be reserved chiefly
+for the Queen's table.
+
+
+RUNNING AWAY WITH A RITUALISTIC CRUCIFIX.--It is stated that a crucifix
+adorns the eastern end of Bourn church. Many of the parishioners are
+opposed to certain Ritualistic practices, and have shown their
+disapproval by leaving during divine service. During the week the church
+is left open, and on Monday, September 17th, a young lady entered and
+took away the crucifix. The lady, having secured the crucifix, proceeded
+to Bytham Station, and thence to Essendine. Arrived there, she went into
+a friend's house and had a cup of tea. In the meantime, the Vicar and
+the young lady's brother started in pursuit, discovered the missing
+ornament, and brought it safely back and replaced it in the church. The
+event has created great excitement in the village, and we understand
+that legal proceedings will be taken.
+
+
+WOLVES AND TELEGRAPH LINES.--It is believed in Norway that wolves are
+frightened away by telegraph lines. While a vote was pending on a grant
+to a new line, a member of the Storthing remarked that, while his
+constituents had no direct interest in it, they would support the grant
+because the wires would drive away the wolves. It is stated as a
+remarkable fact that since the first telegraph line was established,
+twenty years ago, wolves have never appeared in its neighbourhood.
+Wolves, it is known, will not enter a roped enclosure.
+
+
+IN connection with the Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, a hospital ship
+was launched from the yard of Messrs. Fellows and Son, of Great
+Yarmouth, on September 29th. She is 100 feet in length, and of 152 tons
+register. She is to be fitted up as a hospital ship, for the treatment
+of accident and illness among the fishermen of the North Sea. She is
+named the _Queen Victoria_, and Her Majesty, who takes much interest in
+the Mission, subscribed L50 towards the cost of the vessel. The launch
+was witnessed by a large number of people. The _Queen Victoria_ is the
+same type of vessel as those already in the Mission service.
+
+
+A NEW ALPINE RAILWAY.--A railway from Visp to Zermatt is about to be
+built, an undertaking that has for a long time been considered
+impracticable. From the year 1891 travellers will be able to reach the
+El Dorado of Alpine tourists in about two hours and a half from the main
+line in the Rhone Valley, and step out of the railway carriage almost at
+the foot of the mighty Matterhorn. The line is already marked out, and
+follows pretty closely the present bridle path. It is to be narrow
+gauge, without cogwheels, and will cross the Visp torrent five times.
+The curves will be rather sharp, and there are to be six small tunnels.
+The capital for building the line is said to amount to six million
+francs, and work is to be commenced this autumn. The length will be
+twenty-eight miles, and as Zermatt is 3,160 feet higher than the
+starting point, the incline will be over two per cent.
+
+
+AN ANCIENT DOCUMENT.--According to a telegram received from Lloyds'
+Signal Station at St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight, a letter,
+supposed to have been written 103 years ago, was picked up on the beach,
+at Rock End, on October 3rd. The following is a copy of the
+document:--"Office of Ordnance, 11th July, 1785. Gentlemen,--His
+Majesty's ship the _Trusty_, being ordered to be paid off at Portsmouth,
+you are, by the Board's directions, to cause her powder to be taken on
+shore, and lodged in His Majesty's magazine, under your charge.--I am,
+gentlemen, your humble servant, AUG. ROGERS, Secretary. Respective
+Officers, Prondy's Hard, W. A." There is a memo, on the back of the
+letter--"11th July, 1785. Aug. Rogers, Esq. _Trusty_ paid off."
+
+
+THE number of preserves in Austria alone, not counting those in Hungary,
+is stated at 15,764. and on these there were shot, in 1887, 32 bears,
+113 wolves, 24 lynxes, 9,490 stags, 60,252 roebucks, 7,709 chamois,
+2,998 wild boars, 26,411 foxes, 9,729 polecats, 1,055 otters, 2,672
+badgers, 333 marmots, and no fewer than 1,439,134 hares. Wild rabbits
+are scarce in this country, and are not counted in the general record,
+but 27,797 were shot in Bohemia, where there are most warrens. The
+totals for feathered game are--4,498 grouse, 1,300 wild geese, 102,748
+pheasants, 1,336,934 partridges, 34,448 quails, 12,652 woodcock, 7,614
+snipe, and 28,914 wild ducks. The birds of prey shot were 561 eagles,
+38,610 owls, 1,365 horned owls, and 106,353 hawks, kestrels, kites, and
+vultures.
+
+
+THE RABBIT PEST IN NEW ZEALAND.--The United States Consul at Auckland,
+in a recent report, describes the extent to which New Zealand has been
+economically injured by rabbits, and the cost incurred in endeavouring
+to exterminate them. Nothing, he says, could so overrun a country since
+the locusts in Egypt. The rabbits have so eaten out the ranges that the
+capacity for maintaining sheep has greatly lessened, and the flocks have
+fallen off in numbers. At the Stock Conference of 1886, it was stated
+that rabbits reduced by a third the feeding capacity of land, and the
+weight of fleeces had decreased by 1 lb. to 11/2 lb. each. The number
+of lambs decreased from thirty to forty per cent., while the death-rate
+increased from three to thirteen per cent. Since 1882, when the Rabbit
+Act became law, Government has expended L7,000 on Crown lands alone, and
+it is estimated that during the last eight years private persons have
+spent L2,400,000 in extirpating rabbits. The methods generally in favour
+were fencing, poisoned grain (generally phosphorized oats), and ferrets,
+weasels, and stoats. Large numbers of men have been hired from time to
+time to make war upon the rabbits, and it is said that these "rabbiters"
+encourage the vermin in every way, and have been caught killing the
+stoats and ferrets. The bonus system has been found objectionable and
+expensive. Notwithstanding all that has been done, in some localities
+the rabbits have continually increased, and the damage has continued. It
+is hoped, however, that as the country becomes more populous, and the
+large tracts of land are occupied and cultivated, the numerous herds of
+rabbits which now roam over the land will disappear.
+
+
+ONE THOUSAND MEN DROWNED.--It is reported from China that the whole of
+the new embankment of the Yellow River, which was commenced last autumn
+at the spot where the old embankment gave way, has been completely swept
+away by the summer floods. It is said to have cost about L2,000,000
+sterling (9,000,000 taels). As the floods rose, it was seen that the
+strain was becoming dangerous, and Li Hang-tsao, the high official in
+charge of the work, was sent for in hot haste, but before he could
+arrive the whole bank went down before the flood, and of the eight
+thousand feet of river wall lately completed, not an inch remains, and
+the waters are pouring unchecked through the immense gap into the Honan
+province. From eight hundred to one thousand labourers, who were on the
+bank, were also swept away and drowned. It is reported from Peking that
+all the officials concerned are being severely punished.
+
+
+A SHARK STORY.--Sir,--The following story may be of some interest to
+many readers of your valuable paper. The sailing-ship _Grassendale_
+(registered 1,800 tons, and classed A1 at Lloyds'), with a crew of about
+thirty-five hands, on its voyage from Sydney to San Francisco, met with
+great numbers of sharks, about twenty of which the crew killed. One
+shark, in particular, had a quantity of young ones with her. By some
+means the little ones were frightened, and swam into its mouth.
+Naturally the crew were curious, and tried to hook it, which they
+eventually did. When they cut it open on deck, imagine their surprise to
+find no less than forty-two little sharks, measuring from twelve to
+fifteen inches in length, all alive, and capable of swimming as well as
+ever--a most remarkable incident, not heard of before, even in America,
+being, to all appearances, a shark's wonderful way to shelter their
+young. This information the writer has received this week direct from
+his brother, who is chief officer of the said ship, and he can,
+therefore, vouch for its truth.--Yours truly, H. H. WHITE. Rye, October
+10th, 1888.--_South Eastern Advertiser._
+
+[Illustration: "IT WAS AGREED THAT SOME ONE SHOULD READ THE BIBLE TO
+HER." (_See page 266._)]
+
+
+
+
+THE BLIND WIDOW.
+
+"_Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many
+days._"--ECCLESIASTES xi. 1.
+
+
+Recollecting the feelings of discouragement and sadness which often
+oppressed my mind during the first months of our employment as district
+visitors and Sunday School teachers in a retired village, and the many
+instances affording cause for joy and thankfulness which occurred during
+the latter years of our residence there, I am led to record one of them,
+with the hope of encouraging my fellow-labourers in this interesting
+occupation.
+
+One of the first cases which came under my own observation was that of a
+blind, aged widow, who lived a few steps from the church. Her husband,
+who had been dead at this time about seven years, had led an ungodly
+life, and had fallen a victim to the habit of intemperance. She was left
+with one son, who was a lad at the time of his father's death, and was
+soon after bound as a parish apprentice to a good neighbour, a
+blacksmith, with whom he afterwards lived as servant. I think he was a
+good boy. He had remembered and taken pleasure in what he had learned at
+the Sunday and National School. He was constant in his attendance at
+public worship, and showed much dutiful affection and attention to his
+widowed mother. In his spare hours he took care of her little garden,
+drew water, and tended the nursery of beautiful geraniums which adorned
+her windows; and when he could, he would come and read aloud to her on
+Sundays out of the Bible or some good book. All the poor widow's
+happiness centred in Henry. It was her delight to do all she could for
+him; and many a time have I seen her, blind as she was, bestowing her
+cheerful labour in making his shirts as white as snow. She had one other
+son, older than Henry, who had accompanied an uncle to the West Indies,
+and as she had never heard of them since, she thought they had very
+likely both of them died in that climate, so unhealthy to English
+constitutions.
+
+Mrs. Worthington was, I think, naturally an amiable woman. Many sorrows
+had subdued and broken her spirits, for she had once lived near London
+in very good circumstances. Though in some degree acquainted with the
+leading doctrines of Scripture, and believing them to be true, she was,
+it seemed, quite destitute of any hope towards God, or true faith in our
+Lord Jesus Christ, as her Saviour and her Friend. To use her own words,
+"she had long ago given up herself for lost." When I asked what led her
+to do so, she replied that she knew she had not led a good life, and
+that some neighbours had told her it was no use for such a person as she
+was to think of going to heaven. In this sad state she was lingering on
+in a painful earthly existence, without one hope of anything better
+beyond it.
+
+There was a kind woman who lived in the next house who, when able, would
+lead her to church and back again. There she paid attention, and thus
+had many interesting Scripture histories stored in her memory, for she
+had never learned to read.
+
+At length, with her own consent, it was agreed that some one should read
+the Bible to her every forenoon. She listened with earnest attention and
+much interest, and at length found, to her great joy, that she was not
+excluded from hope in the mercy of that gracious God and Saviour whose
+loving-kindness and tender mercy towards a lost and fallen race it
+reveals and declares. She discovered with delight that she was one of
+those very characters that had moved His heart to pity, and for whose
+redemption and happiness He had sent His only-begotten Son into the
+world, and spared Him not, "but delivered Him up for us all," that He
+might make satisfaction for fallen sinners, and lead such back as
+reconciled children to their Father and God. She received the gracious
+message with a sense of her own extreme need of its blessings, and
+welcomed it with her whole heart, as sent to her by the God of love.
+
+I think the first word of promise which was fixed in her mind was the
+engagement which God makes, in Luke xi., to give the Holy Spirit to them
+that ask Him. She felt that her mind was dark, and her heart cold and
+dead towards God. She wished it were otherwise, and prayed for the Holy
+Spirit. It was delightful to observe the heavenly light dawn in her once
+benighted soul, and to behold the altered state of all within. Humility,
+thankfulness, hope, and love all appeared in their loveliness, and in
+various ways did she give incontestable evidence that old things had
+passed away, and that all things had become new.
+
+I remember calling one morning, and finding her much out of spirits. On
+inquiring the cause, I found that, it being the wake season, some of her
+former friends and acquaintances had visited her. It was their
+conversation which had grieved her, consisting very much of scandal and
+detraction, and she was greatly distressed at being obliged to hear it,
+and felt that she had done wrong by listening to it, so truly had her
+mind become conformed to the principles of the Gospel of peace.
+
+Before her change of heart she was much disposed to murmur, but when
+enabled to apprehend the love of God to her, her spirit was filled with
+gratitude to Him for all His undeserved mercies; and however depressed
+her circumstances on earth might be, she had the comfortable hope of
+eternal bliss in that world where all tears will be for ever wiped away,
+and there will be no more want and pain, for "the Lamb which is in the
+midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living
+fountains of waters" (Rev. vii. 17).
+
+One morning, to my great sorrow, I found her very ill. She was suffering
+from an attack of paralysis, which took away the use of her left side,
+and very much affected her speech. She was suddenly rendered almost
+helpless. At first she was greatly distressed, knowing that her own
+means were insufficient to pay any one to help her, and that the only
+alternative was a removal to the workhouse, a prospect which to her mind
+was full of terror and disgrace. It became, however, quite needful, for
+there was no prospect of amendment; and in about a fortnight she was
+obliged to quit a home endeared to her by a long residence, and the
+honourable independence with which she had occupied it, for though often
+obliged to take only bread for her breakfast and supper, she invariably
+paid her quarter's rent. Her faith in Christ, however, soon gained the
+ascendancy over her natural regret and sorrow, and she received this
+painful dispensation as her Heavenly Father's will, and submitted to it
+with quietness.
+
+The workhouse was about nine miles from our village. It was a
+well-conducted one, and favoured with the visits of some Christian
+friends and a good clergyman. The matron was a kind person, and treated
+our blind friend with much consideration. Her son visited her as often
+as he could, and paid her every dutiful attention, so that her home
+there was, I think, more comfortable than the one she had left. I never
+saw her afterwards, but I occasionally heard of her. She was almost
+entirely confined to her bed, but quite able to enjoy and profit by the
+kind visits and Christian conversation of some persons who visited the
+workhouse. She found her God was present with her there, and He
+fulfilled to her that beautiful promise made to His people of old--"Even
+to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I
+have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you"
+(Isa. xlvi. 4).
+
+                                          A. E. H.
+
+
+
+
+TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE OF A SHIPWRECKED CREW.
+
+
+Two seamen, named John G. Crone and James R. Wilson, late of the Scotch
+barque _Henry James_, arrived a short time ago at the Liverpool Sailors'
+Home, and gave information of the loss of that vessel, through which
+they underwent an extraordinary experience.
+
+The _Henry James_ struck a coral reef near the island of Palmyra, in the
+Pacific Ocean, and became a wreck. In an hour the crew had to abandon
+her, experiencing the greatest difficulty in getting away. The
+shipwrecked people only saved what they stood in, even the ship's papers
+and the captain's instruments being lost. They were in a sad plight. One
+boat containing provisions was swamped and the food lost. The captain
+nearly lost his life by being thrown into the sea. Fortunately a box of
+matches was got ashore dry, and with these a fire was lighted.
+
+The island of Palmyra was found to be uninhabited, but a search next day
+revealed a number of small huts made of boards and leaves. The island is
+about nine hundred miles from Samoa. The mate, who had saved his
+sextant, volunteered to go in a small boat to Samoa to seek for aid, and
+a boat was accordingly manned, the mate having for his companions the
+boatswain and three seamen. These poor fellows were three weeks in the
+open boat, in a tropical climate, and their sufferings were very severe.
+They traversed about thirteen hundred miles, and some days before
+arrival their food and water gave out. Their sufferings were then
+terrible, and when they reached Apia, their condition plainly showed
+what they had passed through. Had their voyage been lengthened but a
+couple of days, it is likely all would have either gone mad or perished
+from starvation. The shipwrecked people on the island were in the
+meantime living on wild birds, birds' eggs, and on cocoa-nuts. They had
+no arms with them, and the only means of catching the birds was by
+sticks, the men having to get within reach of the birds before they
+could be caught. In the first days the only water the people had was
+what they caught by spreading out the leaves of trees. The matches at
+last got wet, and the poor people could not make their accustomed fire.
+A powerful telescope glass then furnished a burning glass, and enabled
+them to get fires once more. Altogether they were on the island six
+weeks. At the end of this time the mail steamer _Mariposa_ called at the
+island, and rescued the people from their island imprisonment. The party
+included two ladies (passengers) and six children.
+
+The Board of Trade have awarded a piece of plate to Captain Hayward, of
+the _Mariposa_; a gold medal to Mr. Hart, first officer; and a silver
+medal and a sum of L2 each to seamen Barpark, Erving, Allan, and
+Driscoll, in connection with the rescue of the castaways. Captain
+Hayward, who was bound to San Francisco with mails and passengers,
+voluntarily incurred the risk of a heavy fine for breach of contract,
+and set off with the above-named crew in an open boat, and rescued the
+unfortunate people.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN DECEMBER.
+
+
+Dec.  2. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 2.
+Dec.  9. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 4.
+Dec. 16. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 10.
+Dec. 23. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 12.
+Dec. 30. Commit to memory Ps. xc. 14.
+
+
+
+
+HE WENT WRONG, BUT HE FOUND MERCY.
+
+
+On Sunday afternoon, August 26th, 1888, Mr. Carr, of Leicester, gave an
+interesting address to the scholars attending the Zion Sunday School,
+Trowbridge. After singing and prayer, Mr. Carr took "The Prodigal Son"
+as his subject, which he explained in a most interesting manner. He
+said:--
+
+"Once upon a time there were two brothers. One of them ran away, but he
+got into no end of trouble. But while he was so wretched, something
+occurred with him, and by-and-bye he was brought back in peace to his
+father's house, and was happy for ever afterward.
+
+"Most of you know that this is the outline of the parable of 'The
+Prodigal Son,' and I am going to try and tell you the details of it. I
+shall divide it into four parts. The first one is _Ruin_; the second,
+_Repentance_; the third, _Return_; the fourth, _Reception_. He was
+ruined. By grace he repented, returned to his father, and was joyfully
+received by him.
+
+"First, then, _Ruin_. Now, there are steps leading to ruin. You find the
+prodigal was happy at home at first. Like Adam, in the garden of Eden,
+God gave him a great many good gifts, as He has given you. He has given
+us life, hearing, eyesight, and intellect. The prodigal had a large
+portion of good gifts, but what did he do? He wandered away from his
+father, and went into a far country. Do you like to be away from home?
+Remember this--if you do, it is the first step to your ruin, as it was
+with the prodigal. He took his journey into a far country, where he was
+far away from his father; and so we, in our natural state, are far away
+from God. Do you ever think what a dreadful thing it is to be far away
+from God? The prodigal wanted to be far from Him. But when there, at a
+distance from his father, he had no God to go to in his troubles. He
+doubtless did not like the text, 'Thou God seest me.' If you are like
+this, remember that every sin you commit is written in His remembrance
+book. But the prodigal made up his mind not to trouble about that. Have
+you thus done so? If so, you will have to trouble about it some day.
+There is a day coming when we shall all have to stand before God, and it
+is a dreadful subject for those to think of who, like the prodigal, are
+now at a distance from God. Therefore, we see that _Distance_ is the
+first step.
+
+"The next one is _Dissipation_. He wasted his substance--put his gifts
+to a wrong use. Have we wasted the good things which God has given us?
+If so, it is the road to ruin.
+
+"After he had thus wasted his substance by riotous living and falling
+into bad company, there came another step, namely, _Destitution_, which
+we all have come to spiritually, and ere long we who have life, health,
+bright eyes, rosy cheeks, and busy hands, shall be going to the grave.
+By-and-bye we shall have spent it all, and we shall be nothing but a
+heap of dust and ashes.
+
+"But you find that, when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine,
+and he began to be in want. He then fell into disgrace, and went to a
+citizen of that country to see if he could help him. He went into the
+fields to feed swine, and he had not a friend to speak to--none to help
+him. The hand of God had gone out against him, and all his friends
+forsook him.
+
+"That is just the state of the ungodly. But when he was in the very heat
+of this ruin, something happened to him. He was brought to _Repentance_.
+What was his first step to repentance? He was brought to himself--that
+is, a right understanding was given to him. What had the prodigal a
+right understanding about? About himself. Sin had made a madman of him,
+but now he began to consider the extent of his misery. How many of you
+have considered what you are in the sight of God? You may be dead before
+next Sunday. Where would you be? In heaven or in hell? The prodigal
+began to consider what his sin had done for him. He said, 'How many
+hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare, and I perish
+with hunger!' He knew he was perishing; and we are, if Christ has not
+saved us.
+
+"The first step was, a right understanding. Now comes the second step,
+knowledge of the extent of his misery, thirdly, a felt sense that he was
+perishing; then, fourthly, a wise resolution--'I will arise, and go to
+my father.' He had been trying to make himself more respectable, but
+found he could not, but that he must go to his father just as he was.
+Thus he was brought to himself. Grace did this, and if grace works in us
+there will be a willingness to go to God. Either you want to be near to
+God, or, like the prodigal, you want to shun the very thoughts of God.
+We are either on the road to ruin or salvation. What did the prodigal
+say to his father? 'Father, I have sinned.' He knew he was a sinner, and
+that he had sinned, and he confessed his unworthiness. He said, 'I am no
+more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.'
+He was brought to repentance, and he made up his mind to return to his
+father. But his father was a long way off--too far for him to see him.
+But his father saw him while he was yet a great way off, and had
+compassion on him. He did not say, 'I see that naughty boy that wandered
+from me, and got into so much trouble and sin, and now I will punish
+him.' But he had compassion on him, and did not say a word about his
+wicked ways. 'He ran.' Now, look, here was the prodigal creeping to his
+father, but the father 'ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.' No
+doubt he had a dirty face, but the father did not wait till his face was
+clean. Just as we are as sinners, so the prodigal here was in all his
+rags. He said to his father, 'But, father, I am a vile sinner. I have
+sinned against heaven and in thy sight.' Thus he told his father just
+what he was.
+
+"Now then comes the fourth part--_his reception by his father_. When his
+father met him he took no notice of his sins, did not answer him a word,
+but he said to his servants, 'Bring forth the best robe.' That was the
+robe of righteousness. Here were manifested the riches of divine grace.
+The prodigal had nothing but sin and grief, but now his father gave him
+a better robe than he ever had before. His first robe was not the best.
+It was one of creature-righteousness, but now he had lost it; and when
+he was brought back by grace he had a better robe given him. A robe of
+righteousness is better than one of creature-righteousness. The best
+robe was brought forth, and a ring was put on his finger. A ring is
+something which has no beginning nor end, and the ring is a most blessed
+emblem of eternity. It has neither beginning nor end. And a ring denotes
+love--love of the giver to the receiver. This ring denotes a Father's
+eternal love. His father loved him, all the time the prodigal was
+sinning against him, with an eternal love. And they put shoes on his
+feet--shoes of the preparation of the Gospel. They were shoes that would
+wear well. The saints have a rough road to travel, and therefore they
+need shoes of iron and brass. Then the fatted calf was brought and
+killed, and they had a great feast and were merry, and we do not read
+that they ever left off. There is no end to the rejoicings over
+repenting, returning sinners. Oh, that we all may know what it is to be
+redeemed by grace! This parable teaches us man's ruin, Christ's
+redemption, and a Father's eternal love."
+
+                                           M. G.
+
+
+
+
+JOHNNIE'S CHRISTMAS.
+
+[This, and three other pieces of poetry, including the one given last
+month, were written for a boy who recently died. After long and severe
+suffering he was seized with a fit. He held up both arms, and, as the
+struggles ceased, he looked up and said, "Come! Come!" His mother asked
+him if he thought he should go to heaven. He replied, "I'm sure of it.
+Jesus told me He would take me, and He wouldn't have said it if He
+didn't mean it."--ED.]
+
+
+  Hang out the toys for the little ones;
+  Pile up the raisins, and take out the stones;
+  But nut, and pudding, and Christmas tree,
+  Says little Johnnie, are not for me.
+
+  If the children frolic I have to start,
+  With a bitter pain at my silent heart;
+  And my throbbing head is afraid to move
+  At sound of the voices which most I love.
+
+  It is nice to feel, though sitting here,
+  That mother is with me, and baby dear,
+  For some of my little friends have lain
+  On a hospital bed, in lonely pain.
+
+  Oh, God, my Friend, Thou art surely kind,
+  And we, poor sinners, are weak and blind;
+  Little we think, and little know,
+  Of the love that suffered for human woe.
+
+  We hail Thy birth with a gladsome song,
+  But Thou hadst sorrow life's journey long;
+  And Thou hadst power Thyself to free,
+  Yet chose to suffer for things like me.
+
+  Oh, come to my heart this Christmas Day!
+  I am weak and weary, and far away;
+  Since help and mercy are Thy delight,
+  Oh, come to my father's house to-night!
+
+  Bring rest for my mother, and joy for me;
+  My head will not throb as I listen to Thee;
+  And my heart, though too weak for a footfall below,
+  Will bound, without aching, Thy coming to know.
+
+  Thou callest the children, and I am a child;
+  Thou callest the guilty, and I am defiled;
+  They gather about Thee in joyful array;
+  Oh, put me among them, Lord Jesus, to-day!
+
+  Put one of my hands in that right hand of Thine,
+  And hold out Thy wounds to Thy Father divine;
+  He would not, He could not, say nay unto Thee,
+  And I should for ever Thy diadem be.
+
+                             M. A. CHAPLIN.
+
+_Galleywood, Chelmsford._
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+(_Page 255._)
+
+
+"_Peace be unto you._"--JOHN xx. 19.
+
+P ekah        2 Kings xv. 25.
+E glon        Judges iii. 14.
+A masa        2 Samuel xvii. 25.
+C ush         1 Chronicles i. 8.
+E uphrates    Deuteronomy i. 7.
+
+B enjamin     Genesis xxxv. 24.
+E lah         1 Kings xvi. 8.
+
+U rijah       2 Kings xvi. 10.
+N ahor        Genesis xi. 26.
+T opaz        Exodus xxxix. 10.
+O g           Psalm cxxxvi. 20.
+
+Y oke         Jeremiah xxvii. 8.
+O badiah      1 Kings xviii. 3.
+U nicorn      Numbers xxiii. 22.
+
+                           ANN PICKWORTH
+                         (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Sydney House, Sleaford._
+
+
+BUNYAN'S DEATH.
+
+
+It was on the 31st of August, 1688, that John Bunyan left the Valley of
+the Shadow of Death, Doubting Castle, Vanity Fair, and all those other
+stages of the progress of a soul in its efforts to find rest and peace,
+to cross the dark river that, in his immortal dream, flowed under the
+walls of the Celestial City. This is how Mr. Froude describes the
+closing scene of his great life:--
+
+"His end was characteristic. It was brought on by exposure when he was
+engaged in an act of charity. A quarrel had broken out in a family at
+Reading with which Bunyan had some acquaintance. A father had taken
+offence at his son, and threatened to disinherit him. Bunyan undertook a
+journey on horseback from Bedford to Reading, in the hope of reconciling
+them. He succeeded, but at the cost of his life. Returning by London, he
+was overtaken on the road by a storm of rain, and was wetted through
+before he could find shelter. The chill, falling on a constitution
+already weakened by illness, brought on fever. He was able to reach the
+house of Mr. Strudwick, one of his London friends, but he never left his
+bed afterwards. In ten days he was dead."
+
+Mr. Froude thinks that the exact date is uncertain; but Southey and
+other biographers generally fix it upon the 31st of August. He was
+buried in a vault belonging to the Strudwick family, in the famous old
+Nonconformist burial ground of Bunhill Fields, where his
+monument--restored of late years by admiring and appreciative
+friends--may be seen any day by the passer-by, on which runs this
+inscription--"Mr. John Bunyan, Author of 'The Pilgrim's Progress,' ob.
+31st August, 1688, aet. 60."
+
+John Bunyan wrote sixty books, and lived sixty years. His chief work,
+"The Pilgrim's Progress," has been translated into seventy-two distinct
+languages and dialects, and thus has had a wider circulation and been
+more read than any book next to the Scriptures. More than fifty years
+ago Macaulay spoke of it as "the only book of its kind that possesses a
+strong human interest--that, while other allegories only amuse the
+fancy, this has been read by thousands with tears." What was true then
+is no less true now.
+
+
+
+
+EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE SEA.
+
+
+A Queenstown correspondent telegraphs that the National Line steamer
+_Spain_, from New York, which arrived at Queenstown recently, brings
+intelligence that an aged gentleman, named Murtagh, residing in
+Brooklyn, received a letter on October 11th, from one of the uninhabited
+islands of the South Sea group, Ojee, written by a friend of his, named
+Captain Green, who was supposed to have been lost at sea in 1858, in a
+vessel commanded by him, called the _Confederation_. She sailed from New
+York, in February of that year, for Australia, and not having been heard
+of afterwards, it was presumed that she had foundered with all on board,
+numbering sixteen, including two women. The letter, written on a soiled
+leaf of a ship's log, was dated July, 1887, and had been put aboard a
+whaling barque which passed near the island about that time. The writer
+observes that no doubt all hands aboard the _Confederation_ had been
+given up as lost. He then relates how the vessel foundered in a gale
+after being nine weeks at sea, and how her crew, including himself and
+two women, having taken to the boats, after forty days, landed on the
+coral reefs of the Island of Ojee, there being no signs of habitation,
+but an abundance of game, fish, fruits, and water. No vessel came near
+the place until one evening in December, 1862, when eight of the crew
+put off in a boat to intercept her. The weather being very stormy, they
+never returned to the island, and Captain Green thinks they were lost.
+He further states that the women became the wives of two of the
+remaining castaways, and that although there had been several deaths on
+the island, the population at the time he wrote consisted of twelve
+persons, who felt quite contented. They were, however, badly in need of
+clothing. During thirty years, they had communicated from the island
+with only three vessels, and this letter had been four years written and
+ready to be sent by some ship. Captain Green adds that he is sixty-eight
+years of age, and in good health.
+
+
+
+
+  PLEADING.
+
+  (RUTH i. 16.)
+
+
+  "Intreat me not to leave Thee," Lord;
+    What is this world to me?
+  No happiness can it afford,
+    O God, apart from Thee.
+
+  Thou art the joy of my delights;
+    The Life of life to me;
+  The comfort of my darkest nights;
+    Yea, All in all to me.
+
+  Dark were this world without Thee, Lord,
+    But, lighted with Thy love,
+  Thy watchfulness, Thy tender care,
+    More fully here I prove.
+
+  More subject for my song above
+    I gather day by day;
+  Deeper experience of that love
+    Which guides my pilgrim way.
+
+  Oh, give me grace to serve Thee, Lord,
+    Each swiftly-passing day,
+  That I the approving word, "Well done,"
+    At last may hear Thee say.
+
+                                          A SOWER.
+
+
+
+
+THE ANTI-ROMISH BOOK.
+
+
+During the reign of that Popish King, James II., the law in Scotland
+was, that no clergyman might preach, and that no bookseller might sell,
+any book that reflected on the Romish Church.
+
+One of the Royal messengers entered a bookseller's shop in Edinburgh.
+
+"Had he any books in stock written against the Roman Catholic Church?"
+
+"Yes, he had a Book that reflected very severely indeed against that
+Church. Might he sell it?"
+
+"Let me see it," said the messenger.
+
+The old bookseller went to his shelves and took down a volume--a Book
+which does certainly speak very emphatically against Romanism--the
+Bible!
+
+
+
+
+BIBLE ENIGMA.
+
+
+My 1, 11, 7, 6, 9, 5, a governor of the Jews.
+My 2, 10, 5, 14, 6, the father of Joanna.
+My 3, 13, a king of Bashan.
+My 4, 6, 14, 10, 9, 11, a disobedient queen.
+My 5, 8, 11, a priest.
+My 6, 4, 11, 9, 10, the city of Hadad.
+My 7, 3, 9, 6, 12, the brother of Timna.
+My 8, 5, 4, 11, one of the twelve tribes.
+My 9, 3, 7, 6, a son of Issachar.
+My 10, 5, 12, the son of Zephaniah.
+My 11, 14, 2, 6, 5, 8, the surname of Jacob.
+My 12, 3, 1, 10, a city threatened with a plague.
+My 13, 11, 10, 3, 12, a river of Eden.
+My 14, 11, 4, 6, 12, a Jewish month.
+
+My whole is a precept given by an Apostle to a Christian Church.
+
+                                      THOMAS TYLER
+                                 (Aged 13 years).
+
+_Potton, Beds._
+
+
+
+
+HOP PICKING.--THE LAST POLE.
+
+(_Frontispiece to Volume._)
+
+
+The LITTLE GLEANER no doubt is read and welcomed as well by the aged and
+middle-aged as the young, for whom it is especially intended. In the
+southern counties, the readers of the LITTLE GLEANER, of all ages, are
+more or less familiar with "the last pole." In the counties more north,
+where we hope the LITTLE GLEANER is read with equal interest, many dear
+children have never seen that lovely and charming sight of Nature in
+cultivation, the hop garden. To us who, by the hand of Providence, are
+located in these hop-growing districts, the hop gardens in the months of
+August and September are always interesting, and share largely in our
+love and admiration for the products of Nature and industry combined.
+
+For the information of those not so familiar as ourselves with the hop
+plant under cultivation, we would say that many hundreds of poor people
+find employment for a few weeks in the autumn at hop picking, by which
+they are able to earn a little money, which is useful in helping them to
+pay their rent and provide the necessaries of life. This time is looked
+forward to, year by year, with deep interest by such.
+
+Among the customs and ceremonies of the hop gardens, at the time of
+picking, or gathering, there is generally a little ceremony in pulling
+and picking the last pole. In September, 1886, the writer of these lines
+was one of the pickers in a very lovely hop garden in Kent, and
+witnessed the pulling down of many thousands of these heavily-laden hop
+poles, in all their fresh and lively beauty. But lo and behold! it came
+not only to the last day, and the last hill (or stool of three poles),
+but to the last pole, which was selected beforehand, and remained
+standing until all the others were picked. Then comes the master
+himself, and takes down this last pole, amid the waving of hats, and
+shouts of "Hurrah! Hurrah!" But was this all? No, no! There were sad
+hearts that sighed as they remembered the days of adversity endured by
+them, and as they wondered what was to be their next employment, and how
+their table was to be supplied during the coming winter, should it not
+be their turn to be gathered in like the poles that had passed under
+their hands. But one poor, trembling heart among the rest could not help
+thinking of that last great day, when the last stone of that great
+temple not made with hands should be carried up with shouts of "Grace,
+grace unto it!" and the following lines came softly into the mind--
+
+  "The moon and stars shall lose their light;
+  The sun shall sink in endless night;
+  Both heaven and earth shall pass away;
+  The works of Nature all decay.
+
+  "But they who in the Lord confide,
+  And shelter in His wounded side,
+  Shall see the danger overpast,
+  Stand every storm, and live at last."
+
+What! those poor bruised reeds who fear that they shall never hold up
+their heads again--shall they outlive the moon? Shall they outshine the
+sun?
+
+However, let us return to our subject--the last pole--and reflect.
+
+  "We, like the crowded poles, all stand,
+    And all are sure to fall;
+  The dog and hook[13] are in God's hand,
+    And soon will reach us all."
+
+    [13] In hop gardens these are instruments used by those who lift
+    the poles.--ED.
+
+Yes, my dear young readers, whatever may be those delightsome games of
+which you are so fond, the last game will soon come. Yea, how soon will
+be the end of all our earthly pleasures none of us can tell. If we look
+forward to any day or time of some kind of pleasure, it may seem to
+approach us very slowly, but how soon do we look behind us, and say,
+"Alas! that too has gone, never, never more to return."
+
+In like manner also we miss a dear brother or dear sister, a friend,
+schoolmate, or teacher; perhaps a dear, loving mother or father. "Ah!"
+we say, "they will never return again." Sometimes we reflect with sorrow
+upon some unkind words or actions towards them--some pain and grief that
+we caused them. Perhaps we were too proud or too stubborn to ask their
+forgiveness while they were with us, so we let the sun go down upon our
+wrath, and now we can never forgive ourselves. Though they are gone, we
+see them still--
+
+  "We see their smiles, we see their tears;
+    The grave can never hide them;
+  A few more days, or months, or years,
+  A few more sighs, a few more tears,
+    And we shall lie beside them."
+
+Seeing that it is quite uncertain which of us will be the next to have
+our earthly ties cut, and all our bloom and beauty stripped off, may I
+ask my dear young friends what are their thoughts on the subject?
+Whether it is passed over with indifference, presuming you shall be as
+well off in the end as other people, or are there moments when thoughts
+arise like these--"Oh, if death should overtake me as I am--so careless,
+so unconcerned, so thoughtless, and yet unpardoned! Oh, if my name
+should be left out--and how can I expect anything else--so prayerless as
+I am, for the most part, and my performance so unlike prayer when I do
+make the attempt? Oh, if I could but know that the dear Lord had a
+favour towards me! Why, if all the world were mine, I would lay it all
+down this minute to be sure that Jesus died for me"? And is there
+sometimes a little thought stealing from thine heart, and a tear like a
+drop of the morning dew trickling from thine eye, which says, "Oh, if
+ever I should be able to say, 'Bless the Lord, O my soul,' how I should
+leap for joy to be thus quite sure of being the Lord's"? Then, if this
+is your feeling after Christ Jesus, I will tell you how it will be with
+you some day. The Lord, who has said, "Seek, and ye shall find," will
+give you the desire of your heart, even pardon and peace through faith
+in His blood, and at last--
+
+  "When shivering in the arms of death,
+  When friends shall watch thy parting breath,
+  Though then thy lips can no more speak,
+  Though deathly paleness clads thy cheek,
+    Glory shall fill thy soul."
+
+                                        T. G.
+
+
+
+
+OUR BIBLE CLASS.
+
+GLEANINGS FROM THE BOOK OF RUTH.
+
+
+The Book of Ruth is supposed to have been written in the reign of her
+great-grandson, perhaps by his own pen. It is a beautifully interesting
+story. As a fragment of history, it is connected with the birth of David
+and of David's Lord. As a record of God's providence, it shows how "all
+things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
+called according to His purpose."
+
+The two chief personages in this Book, the hero and heroine of the
+narrative, are Boaz, the near kinsman of Naomi, "the mighty man of
+wealth" in Bethlehem, and Ruth, the Moabitess, the stranger and
+foreigner, who left her own people and her father's false gods, and came
+to put her trust beneath the shadow of Jehovah's wings.
+
+We will look at the hero first, because, though the Book is called by
+Ruth's name, all her honour was derived from her connection with Israel,
+the chosen nation, to which Boaz naturally belonged, and because, as we
+think of his riches, his faithfulness, and his kindness, we cannot help
+exclaiming, "Surely a Greater than Boaz is here!" He was the near
+kinsman of Naomi's husband, and the same Hebrew word is called
+"redeemer" (Job xix. 25). And how often we speak of Jesus as "the
+Redeemer," who "gave Himself a Ransom for many." The ancient "goel," or
+"near kinsman," had many important rights and responsibilities. Abraham
+was nearly related to Lot, and when the latter was taken prisoner, his
+uncle took all his servants with him and went to the rescue, because he
+was his near kinsman, and he redeemed him by conquest, through the help
+of God, in whom he trusted (Gen. xiv.).
+
+If a man of Israel died, leaving no children to take his property, his
+"near kinsman," if unmarried, was expected to marry the widow, and the
+children that they might have afterwards were to be called by the name
+and take the lands of the first husband.
+
+If a Hebrew became poor, and sold his land--or, still worse, sold
+himself for a slave--his kinsman was expected to redeem him and his
+possessions if he could (Lev. xxv. 25, 47-49).
+
+Thus Boaz, as Naomi's kinsman, redeemed her inheritance, and married the
+childless widow of her son Chilion, the woman who was no longer to be
+called a stranger and a foreigner, but a fellow-subject of Israel's God
+and King.
+
+So Jesus--who redeemed His Church, His bride, His people, and secured to
+them the rich inheritance they had lost by sin--was, and is, the Near
+Kinsman of His beloved ones. They were, and always will be, "a people
+near unto Him" (Psa. cxlviii. 14). His own kindred He called them when
+He came to redeem them (Matt. xii. 50). His Father loved them, and He
+loved them also, and the kindness of God the Saviour was shown when He
+came down from heaven for their sakes. "Kindness!" Sweet word! It means
+the act of a kinsman, and God's kindness is "loving-kindness," the
+sweetest description we can possibly have of the tender pity and grace
+of the Lord.
+
+But the kindness shown by Boaz was only a dim shadow of the love of the
+"Great Redeemer from above." He did not make much sacrifice apparently
+when he purchased Naomi's inheritance and made Ruth his wife, but "ye
+know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet
+for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be
+rich."
+
+And more, far more, than this--He suffered scorn, and shame, and death
+itself--the bitterest of deaths. He gave Himself--He laid down the life
+that was so dear to Himself, so precious to His Father--that He might
+redeem, buy them back to God by His blood. He endured their punishment,
+He paid their debts, and then, since Satan had made them his slaves,
+like Abraham, Jesus fought for His kindred, only He fought alone. He
+conquered the strong one, and set the captives free, and Satan still
+must yield up his prey at Christ's command. The Redeemer ever proves
+Himself "mighty to save" those for whom He died.
+
+Then Ruth furnishes us with a striking picture of one who is seeking
+Jesus.
+
+She was not a native of the promised land--not born of Israelitish
+parents. She reminds us of what Paul says--we all are, as sinners,
+"children of disobedience," "children of wrath," "far from God by wicked
+works." But a change came over her mind and spirit. "The Lord opened her
+heart to attend unto the things spoken" by Naomi. A new, a heavenly
+light dawned upon her, and she saw the evil of idolatry and sin--the
+beauty of holiness and God--so that, like Moses, she "chose rather to
+suffer affliction with His people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
+for a season." She would sooner "lodge" with Naomi in poverty, than
+dwell in comfort among her former companions; and before she thought of
+being enriched and made happy by Boaz, she had "chosen that good part"
+which shall never be taken away from those who seek and find it.
+
+The diligent shall be made prosperous, and Ruth gleaned in the fields of
+Boaz before she knew anything of the relationship he bore to her late
+husband's family. She was not ashamed to labour as a poor and needy
+woman, and she gained a good supply of corn from her work by the special
+favour of Boaz.
+
+There is a remarkable little word connected with her choice of that
+field. It was her "hap" to light upon it--a word not very often found in
+the Bible, which always traces everything, great or small, to the will
+and permission of God. Yet this syllable of three letters came "of
+purpose" into the record, and teaches us that all the "accidents" of our
+lives, pleasant as well as painful, are directed and overruled by the
+Lord. Things "come to pass," and we are filled with wonder, but it is
+because "He doeth all things well."
+
+About thirty years ago, one Sabbath morning, a group of youths were
+starting from Clerkenwell, intending to spend the day gathering
+blackberries in Highgate Woods. It so happened that a dispute arose just
+outside the chapel where my late dear Pastor preached, and one lad
+refused to go any further with his companions. To while away the time he
+peeped into the chapel just as the hymn, "When Thou, my righteous Judge,
+shalt come," was being given out, and he ventured to slip into a seat in
+the gallery. He was so much impressed by what he heard that he came
+again, was savingly converted to God, was baptized, and remained for
+many years an honourable member of the Church. His "hap was to light
+upon" a field of Gospel corn, and he received a rich blessing, but his
+steps, like Ruth's, were directed by the Lord.[14]
+
+  [14] From the "Memoir of the late Mr. John Hazelton."
+
+And we learn the benefit of wise, Christian counsel. Ruth needed Naomi
+very much, poor and lonely though she was. From her she learned the good
+news of the rich man's kinship; from her she received instructions how
+to act so as to ensure his protection and care. Her conduct, strange as
+it would be to-day, was in those early times quite in harmony with the
+behaviour of a virtuous, modest woman, but it has its chief charm when
+we see in it a picture of one who is seeking Jesus.
+
+Some dear Christian friend, like Naomi, encourages and instructs the
+youthful seeker by telling of the love and grace of the Saviour, and
+saying, as a beloved minister once said to a young person, "I cannot
+give you the blessing; _He_ can." Naomi wanted the help of Boaz as well
+as Ruth, and all God's people, old or young, strong or weak, need and
+crave the loving care of Jesus, but it is a privilege and joy to commend
+one another to Him, and tell of His goodness and grace "who is rich unto
+all that call upon Him."
+
+In seeking Ruth's happiness Naomi found her own great joy (see chap. iv.
+14). In dutiful consideration for Naomi, Ruth obtained a hundred-fold
+more than she could ever have hoped to find, as an honoured wife and
+mother favoured with both earthly and heavenly prosperity. Those who
+honour God He will honour. Those who water others shall be watered
+themselves. May we receive from the Lord that spirit of love which seeks
+the welfare of others, and the glory of God, as well as our own
+happiness.
+
+Our next subject will be, Isaiah xxxv. 8--_The King's Highway, and its
+Travellers._
+
+                           Your affectionate friend,
+                                            H. S. L.
+
+
+
+
+THE EDITOR'S CLOSING ADDRESS TO HIS YOUNG FRIENDS.
+
+
+Dear young friends,--We are nearing the close of another year, and we
+may be nearer the close of our mortal career than we think. What a mercy
+if we belong to Christ! If so, we are blessed indeed, for those who are
+His are forgiven their iniquity, are justified from all unrighteousness,
+are reconciled to God, and made "accepted in the Beloved." Oh, that you,
+dear reader, may enjoy that blessed portion! Then, come poverty or
+wealth, sickness or health, life or death, all will be well with you.
+All such are the children of God, and none besides. To those who love
+Him, He will say, "Come, ye blessed of My Father"; but to those who are
+"without Christ" He will say, "Depart, ye cursed!" Which will be your
+lot? God grant that you may be taught to flee as sinners to Him who
+"died for the ungodly," and who has said, "Him that cometh unto Me I
+will in no wise cast out." We trust you will never find rest and peace
+only in coming to Christ. If our feeble labours in sending forth the
+GLEANER are but blessed to this end, we shall be amply rewarded, and we
+wish the Lord to have all the glory.
+
+Dear young friends, we do not ask you to join the "Salvation Army," so
+called, but we hope you may be an army yourselves, seeking to spread
+abroad good reading among both young and old; and we believe that the
+GLEANER and SOWER will be found most acceptable and adapted for such a
+purpose, therefore we ask you to join the "Try Army," and shall be glad
+to receive the names of any who are willing to enlist, to whom we will
+send sixteen Magazines, post free, monthly, for one shilling and
+twopence. The postage rate, however, will not allow us to send a less
+number at a reduction, but a larger number can be sent in proportion,
+for schools. The Almanacks are nicely got up, and will be found useful
+to put on walls in bed-rooms, &c. We hope that you will get orders for
+as many as possible. We will send fifteen for one shilling, post free;
+no less number can be sent at a reduction. This we do to encourage our
+readers to obtain subscribers, and to spread abroad the Magazines. The
+Yearly Volumes are very nice books for presents. GLEANER, picture
+boards, very attractive, three volumes, four shillings; GLEANER, cloth,
+also SOWER, cloth, three volumes, five shillings, post free.
+
+Now, dear young friends, we hope you will become a "Try Army," and that
+we shall see pleasing results arise from your efforts. We hope, too, if
+spared, shortly to greet you again with "A Happy New Year," and may the
+Lord bless you each and all with the best of all blessings, that we and
+you may rejoice together in His mercy, and live to show forth His
+praise.
+
+Trusting you will not forget us, and that we may still be helped to pray
+and labour for your good, we remain,
+
+                                Your affectionate friend,
+                                              THE EDITOR.
+
+P.S.--Scatter abroad our _Friendly Words_, 1s. 6d. per hundred, post
+free. All are pleased to receive them.
+
+
+AN EXPLANATION.
+
+In inserting the article, "The Fish that Swallowed Jonah," in last
+month's GLEANER, we had no idea of controverting the testimony of
+Scripture, but merely to show that the quibbles raised by sceptics, as
+to the truth of a whale being able to do so, are at least very silly.
+God could very easily prepare a whale for such a purpose. But, as sharks
+are included in the term used in the original by Christ, the word
+"fish," as in Jonah, would be quite as correct.
+
+                                               THE EDITOR.
+
+
+
+
+PRIZE ESSAY.
+
+THE DISOBEDIENCE OF OUR FIRST PARENTS, AND ITS RESULTS.
+
+
+In the Bible it is said that Adam was formed before Eve, and that they
+were both placed in Eden, where there was one tree of which God said
+they might not eat. It is also said that Adam was not deceived, but the
+woman, being deceived, was first in the transgression (1 Tim. ii. 13,
+14).
+
+Probably the woman was by herself when the tempter came to her in the
+likeness of a serpent, and told her that she would not die if she
+partook of the fruit which God had commanded her not to eat; but if they
+took of it they would be as gods, knowing good and evil. With this
+saying the tempter succeeded in getting the woman to take the fruit of
+the tree of which God told her not to eat, for she looked upon it as "a
+tree good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to
+make one wise" (Gen. iii. 6), and she wanted to be as God. All this was
+instilled into the heart of the woman by the tempter, and God being left
+out of her thoughts, she now takes of the fruit of the tree, eats of it,
+and gives to her husband, and he also eats of it.
+
+Such was the fact of disobedience, which was most heinous in the sight
+of God. Thus they both fell from that happy state by this one act of
+disobedience, and were no longer allowed to remain in paradise. Their
+life was forfeited. Man became dead in sin, and was placed at a great
+distance from God, no more in paradise, but under the power of the
+prince and ruler of this world. The result of this act of disobedience
+has filled the earth with pride, self-will, and violence; for all the
+vice and misery that have ever been known in this world, have been the
+result of disobedience. All that descend from Adam are born in his
+fallen image, are sinners against God, and judgment has come upon all
+men to condemnation. But "where sin abounded, grace has much more
+abounded," since Christ, the Seed of the woman, has come, as God said,
+and has bruised the serpent's head, that as "sin has reigned unto death,
+even so might grace reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by
+Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. v. 20, 21), who hath abolished death, and
+"brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel" (2 Tim. i. 10);
+and by His act of obedience unto death, even the death of the cross,
+believers are made righteous in Him--"For if by one man's offence death
+reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of
+the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ"
+(Rom. v. 17).
+
+                                        JAMES HERBERT COLLINS
+                                              (Aged 11 years).
+
+_Commissariat Office, Cork._
+
+[Very good Essays have also been received from Ada Cannings, Leonard
+Lucock, Bessie Hills, E. B. Knocker, W. E. Cray, W. A. Tooke, and R. A.
+Stevens.]
+
+[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of "The Loss of All
+Things for Christ."
+
+The subject for February will be, "Why was Saul Rejected of God?" and
+the prize to be given for the best Essay on that subject, a copy of "The
+Life of John Newton." All competitors must give a guarantee that they
+are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their own
+composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot
+undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent
+direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the
+first of January.]
+
+
+  IF aught good thou canst not say
+    Of thy brother, foe, or friend,
+  Take thou, then, the silent way,
+    Lest in word thou shouldst offend.
+
+
+
+
+Interesting Items.
+
+
+M. DE LESSEPS declares that the Panama Canal will be opened in July,
+1890.
+
+
+SINCE the beginning of her reign, Queen Victoria has been paid
+approximately L30,000,000 by her subjects.
+
+
+THE daily consumption of needles in America is said to be 4,200,000,
+most of which come from Redditch, England.
+
+
+THERE are 3,100 Smiths enrolled in the city directory of Philadelphia.
+There are 250 John Smiths and 310 William Smiths.
+
+
+CAPTURE OF A SWORD FISH.--A specimen of the sword fish was captured, a
+week or two ago, in Long Reach, Milton Creek, Sittingbourne, by a
+bargeman. The fish measured 5 ft. 2 in. from end of tail to tip of
+sword.
+
+
+CAROLINE HERSCHEL, the accomplished partner of her brother's
+astronomical labours, never could remember the multiplication table, and
+always had to carry a copy of it about with her.
+
+
+THERE are now in the United Kingdom 1,350 workmen's retail stores,
+with nearly one million members, and a capital of L9,000,000,
+besides some millions on deposit. The sales last year to members were
+over L25,000,000, with L3,000,000 profits.
+
+
+VALUABLE REMEDY FOR ERYSIPELAS.--One handful of sage, two handfuls of
+elder leaves, one ounce of alum. The whole of the foregoing to be boiled
+in a quart of iron water from the blacksmith's forge, until reduced to a
+pint. To be used as a wash.
+
+
+THOMAS EMMITT, a man employed on the permanent way of the Lancashire and
+Yorkshire Railway, has received intimation that a gold medal will be
+presented to him for his bravery in jumping on to a runaway engine at
+Blackburn, and stopping it.
+
+
+IT is said that, in 1887, no fewer than 22,131 human beings died from
+snake-bite in India, and the number of cattle killed by snakes was
+2,514; 417,596 snakes were destroyed, and 25,360 rupees were paid by the
+Government as rewards for their destruction.
+
+
+THE question of the Sunday opening of libraries is being excitedly
+agitated in Bolton. A week or two ago Lord Hobhouse addressed a meeting,
+presided over by the Vicar, in favour of opening, and quoted a letter in
+support from the Bishop of Manchester. The clergy of the diocese have
+organized an opposition, the Vicar standing alone in support of the
+opening, and recently, at a large gathering, a resolution against
+opening was carried with the wildest enthusiasm, an amendment by a
+leading Socialist being defeated.
+
+
+THE probabilities of there being large coal deposits under London are
+discussed at considerable length by a correspondent of the _Times_. The
+speculations of geologists on the subject have recently been much
+assisted by several deep borings, the principal of which have been those
+of Kentish Town.
+
+
+A BOAT drifted from its moorings off Camia; a fishing village nine miles
+from Boulogne, on Tuesday evening, October 16th. An old fisherman, named
+Charles Coffier, was the only person on board, and he had nothing to eat
+for four nights and three and a half days, when the boat was driven by a
+breeze into Hastings.
+
+
+THE Queen reads, or rather, has read to her, the _Times_ and the
+_Morning Post_ every morning. Copies are sent direct to her, printed on
+specially thick paper. Her secretary goes through them, marks with a
+blue pencil all the important items, and these are then read to her by
+the two ladies who officiate as readers.
+
+
+SUNDAY SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY, MILTON STREET, HOLLINWOOD, LANCASHIRE.--This
+was held on October 14th, when two sermons were preached, morning and
+evening, by Mr. D. Smith, of Halifax, and an address was delivered by
+Mr. J. Holgate, of Burnley, special hymns being sung by the scholars.
+The congregations were good, and the services were much appreciated. The
+collections amounted to L13 14s. 11d.
+
+                                                C. H. W.
+
+
+ROMAN CATHOLIC PILGRIMS IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.--On Saturday, October
+13th, the "Feast of St. Edward, King and Confessor," was celebrated in
+all the Roman Catholic churches in London, and with more than ordinary
+pomp at that of SS. Peter and Edward (which is dedicated to his memory)
+in Palace Street, Westminster, where a Pontifical High Mass _coram
+episcopo_ was sung by Dr. J. L. Patterson, "Bishop of Emmaus." At the
+conclusion of the Mass, the congregation, which included several persons
+who had come from Preston and other parts of Lancashire and different
+counties of England for the occasion, formed a procession and wended
+their way to the Abbey, where they offered up prayers at the shrine of
+St. Edward, King and Confessor. No opposition was offered to the
+pilgrims and devotees by the authorities of the Abbey. Where is our
+Protestantism gone to?
+
+
+CHINESE is spoken by 400,000,000, Hindostani by something more than
+100,000,000, English by more than 100,000,000, Russian by more than
+70,000,000, German by more than 58,000,000, and French by about
+40,000,000.
+
+
+WILL Spain ever be tolerant? The Supreme Court of Madrid has confirmed
+the decision of a provincial tribunal condemning a Spanish Protestant to
+five days' imprisonment, with a fine of one pound and costs, for having
+persisted in remaining with his hat on when he met a Catholic
+procession.
+
+
+AN ARMY OF SPIDERS.--A dangerous spider that is found on the pampas of
+Central America, and belonging to the Lycoss species, is thus described
+in a letter:--"When a person passes near, say within three or four feet
+of its lurking place, it starts up and gives chase, and will often
+follow for a distance of thirty or forty yards. I came once very nearly
+getting bitten by one of these savage creatures. Riding at an easy trot
+over the dry grass, I suddenly observed a spider pursuing me, leaping
+swiftly along and keeping up with my beast. I aimed a blow with my whip,
+and the point of the lash struck the ground close to it, when it leaped
+upon and ran up the lash, and was within three or four inches of my
+hand, when I flung the whip from me. The gauchos have a very quaint
+ballad which tells that the city of Cordova was once invaded by an army
+of monstrous spiders, and that the townspeople went out with beating
+drums and flags flying to repel the invasion, and, after firing several
+volleys, they were forced to return and fly for their lives."
+
+
+THE WHALE HUNT AT SPITHEAD.--The little coast villages of Bembridge and
+Sea View, in the Isle of Wight, were thrown into quite a commotion on
+Friday, September 21st, by the appearance of a huge whale, between
+thirty and forty feet long, off the mouth of Brading Harbour. It was
+observed to be swimming about early in the morning, and the little
+steamer _Island Queen_, which runs between Southsea and Bembridge, had
+an unpleasant meeting with the creature. Much to the alarm of the
+passengers, the whale would "keep company," and for some time it was
+dangerously close to the little vessel. It furiously lashed the sea with
+its tail, and commenced to "blow," the result being that the captain,
+who was on the bridge, and many of the passengers were deluged with
+water. No harm, however, was done, and the steamer eventually got clear,
+the whale swimming out to sea. Later on it again put in an appearance,
+but by this time the islanders were ready for it, and a large number of
+fishing-boats, watermen, and others put out. The creature was
+surrounded, and was at length shot. It was then towed on to Sea View
+beach, where it has been visited by some hundreds of people. At high
+tide the whale was partially covered. Its dimensions are as
+follow--length of fish, 35 ft.; girth, 20 ft.; length of mouth from
+point to top of jaw, 7 ft.; length of fins, 4 ft. each; width of tail, 8
+ft.; supposed weight, 10 tons. Estimated value of a sperm whale, L100.
+The whale has been purchased by Mr. G. Drover, of Cowes.
+
+
+CHIMNEYS.--In the year 1200 chimneys were scarcely known in England. One
+only was allowed in a religious house, one in a manor house, and one in
+the great hall of a castle or lord's house; but in other houses the
+smoke found its way out as it could. The writers of the fourteenth
+century seem to have considered them as the newest invention of luxury.
+In Henry VIII.'s reign the University of Oxford had no fire allowed, for
+it is mentioned that after the students had supped, having no fire in
+the winter, they were obliged to take a good run for half an hour to get
+heat in their feet before they retired for the night. Holinshed, in the
+reign of Elizabeth, describes the rudeness of the preceding generation
+in the arts of life. "There were," says he, "very few chimneys; even in
+the capital towns the fire was laid to the wall, and the smoke issued
+out at the door, roof, or window. The houses were wattled and plastered
+over with clay, and all the furniture and utensils were of wood." In
+1639 a tax of two shillings was laid on chimneys.
+
+
+BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE POST OFFICE.--"How can one get admitted to the
+General Post Office, and what departments are best worth seeing there?"
+asks "A Country Cleric." Admission to that remarkably interesting
+building, the General Post Office, can be had on application to the
+Secretary. A banker's reference is necessary. The sight is one well
+worth seeing, and should on no account be missed by country visitors to
+London. Visitors are admitted at six in the evening, and are shown over
+the telegraph department. Here may be seen the pneumatic tubes, through
+which messages are received from many parts of London. Into this office
+run wires from Belfast, Edinburgh, and all parts of the United Kingdom,
+and the whole system is explained by an expert. Crossing the road one
+then enters the Post Office itself. Here one sees the "blind men," as
+they are called, at work deciphering illegible addresses; and men and
+machines stamping postmarks at the rate of from one hundred to three
+hundred a minute. But in order to see the Post Office properly, two or
+three visits should be made. Not one person in a hundred has any notion
+of the peculiar experiences of a letter between the times of its postage
+and receipt.
+
+
+
+
+Published on the first of every Month. Price One Penny.
+
+                       THE LITTLE GLEANER.
+
+An Illustrated Monthly Magazine of Religious and General Instruction for
+Children.
+
+The Editor seeks as much as possible to make this Magazine both
+interesting and useful to its readers, and hopes that all true friends
+of the young will try to secure for it a still wider circulation.
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+            Published on the first of every Month. Price One Penny.
+
+                              THE SOWER
+
+Is well adapted for general circulation, since it aims to spread abroad
+the pure truth of the Gospel of Christ.
+
+Seeing how very industriously the abettors of error sow their tares,
+lovers of truth, with equal or greater industry, should sow that truth
+which is "able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in
+Christ Jesus."
+
+The Editor earnestly solicits all who desire the spread of Bible truth
+to help him in this work by increasing the circulation of THE LITTLE
+GLEANER and THE SOWER.
+
+  Two, four, six, or more copies of the above Magazines post free of
+                            the EDITOR,
+                  117, High Street, Hastings.
+          London: HOULSTON AND SONS, Paternoster Buildings.
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+                           FRIENDLY WORDS.
+
+This is a little work of four pages, GLEANER size, which we publish
+monthly, for the purpose of supplying friends with a sheet of short
+readings, which will suit many who do not care to read page after page
+of a magazine or lengthy tract. It has a front-page illustration, which
+renders it very attractive in general distribution. We hope our friends
+will spread them freely everywhere. "Wherever I distribute FRIENDLY
+WORDS, I find they are most heartily welcomed and eagerly read. I hope
+they will be widely circulated, and that the Lord will make them very
+useful among the masses.--L. T." "I am pleased to see how eagerly
+FRIENDLY WORDS are received and read where I distribute them. I only
+wish that all who desire the good of souls, would spread them abroad
+wherever they can do so.--S." Will other friends kindly try this plan?
+They can have a good assortment at a small cost.
+
+Price 1s. 6d. per 100; 3d. per dozen (assorted packets at the same
+price). Post free from the EDITOR, 117, High Street, Hastings.
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+       THE ANNUAL VOLUMES of "GLEANER" and "SOWER."
+
+  These Volumes are acknowledged to be most admirably adapted for
+    Presents, where sound and interesting books are desired.
+
+The LITTLE GLEANER, Boards, Illustrated      1s. 6d., or six vols, for 8s.
+The LITTLE GLEANER, Cloth,     do.           2s.          do.         10s.
+The SOWER, Cloth,              do.           2s.          do.         10s.
+
+Sent, at above prices, post free, if ordered of the Editor, Mr. HULL,
+117, High Street, Hastings.
+
+               *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+                Fact Superior to Fiction.
+
+        OUR YOUNG PEOPLE'S TREASURY.--Vols. I. and II.
+
+These little Volumes contain a collection of interesting narratives,
+setting forth the good old truths of the Gospel, and will, we believe,
+help to meet a want greatly felt in our families and schools, as they
+supply sound Scriptural reading in an interesting form, without
+resorting to fictitious tales. We earnestly commend them to all who seek
+the good of the rising race, as books which may, with the Lord's
+blessing, be of great spiritual use among the young.
+
+Price One Shilling each, or eight volumes for 6s. 6d., post free, if
+  ordered of the Editor, Mr. T. HULL, 117, High Street, Hastings.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+                PAGE
+
+  About Swearing,  225
+
+  Admiral Pye and the Inquisitors,  231
+
+  Aged Pilgrim's History, An,  183
+
+  Answer of George III. to Lord Grenville,  66
+
+  Answers to Bible Enigmas,  19, 28, 59, 88, 113, 142, 174,
+        185, 238, 247, 271
+
+  Anti-Romish Book, The,  273
+
+  "Ask On",  203
+
+
+  Be Gentle,  28
+
+  Beware of Thorns,  131
+
+  Bible and its Claims,  The 222
+
+  Bible Class, Our,  20, 44, 67, 91, 115, 140, 163, 188, 211, 235,
+        260, 275
+
+  Bible Enigmas,  41, 66, 91, 106, 130, 165, 174, 213, 235, 255, 273
+
+  Bible Subjects,  11, 35, 52, 81, 117, 141, 165, 187, 214, 237,
+        255, 268
+
+  Bible with Pins in it, A,  66
+
+  Biblical Discovery,  29
+
+  Birthday Wish,  257
+
+  Blind Tortoise in the Well,  130
+
+  Blind Widow, The,  266
+
+  Brand Plucked out of the Fire, A,  228
+
+  Brave Rescue, A,  84
+
+  Brimstone or Sulphur,  256
+
+  Brother's Dream, A,  103
+
+  Brought to the Fold,  151
+
+  Budding of Hope, A,  51
+
+  Bunyan's Death,  272
+
+
+  Caring for the Little Ones,  50
+
+  Charcoal Burner's Star, The,  7,  30
+
+  Charlie Coulson, the Drummer-Boy,  170
+
+  Child and the Emperor, The,  259
+
+  Child Heroism,  232
+
+  Child's Prayer, A,  22
+
+  Cingalese Rock Fortress, A,  154
+
+  Clever Boy and Electrical Machine,  114
+
+  Cost of a Broken Sabbath,  132
+
+  Counting the Cost,  126
+
+  Cousin Susan's Note-Book on Father Chiniquy,  56, 76, 101, 152, 201
+
+  Covenanter's Escape and Death, The,  146
+
+
+  Day's Work, A,  147
+
+  Dear Old Times, The,  124
+
+  Denied, yet Answered,  251
+
+  Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,  220
+
+  Dirge of an Englishwoman, The,  57
+
+  Divine Guidance,  159
+
+  Divine Providence, A,  99
+
+  "Draw Me",  83
+
+  Drunkard's Will, A,  233
+
+  Dutch and their Country, The,  209
+
+  Duties of Brothers and Sisters,  259
+
+
+  Edison's Phonograph,  172
+
+  Editor's Closing Address to his Young Friends, The,  278
+
+  Editor's New Year's Address,  2
+
+  Enemies of God and His People Scattered,  40
+
+  Experiences in the Arctic Ocean,  58
+
+  Explanation, An,  278
+
+  Extraordinary Story of the Sea,  272
+
+
+  Facts about Ocean Steamships,  197
+
+  Famous Dog, A,  82
+
+  Few Words from the Dumb,  108
+
+  Fish that Swallowed Jonah, The,  246
+
+  Flesh-Eating Plants,  83
+
+  Flying Foxes,  180
+
+  From Darkness to Light,  34
+
+  Fugitive in the Himalaya Mountains, A,  107
+
+
+  Generosity and Love,  185
+
+  Good Example, A,  208
+
+  Great Events,  242
+
+  Great Exhibition of 1851,  196
+
+
+  Heroic Scotch Student, A,  258
+
+  He Went Wrong, but He Found Mercy,  269
+
+  Hint to Boys, A,  158
+
+  Hint to Parents, A,  41
+
+  His Title-Deeds,  163
+
+  Honouring the Lord's Day,  252
+
+  Hopeful Case, A,  195
+
+  Hop-Picking.--The Last Pole,  274
+
+  House on the Sand, The,  173
+
+  How a Great Mistake was Discovered,  39
+
+  How to Select a Boy,  153
+
+  Hyacinth, The,  219
+
+
+  Incident in the Life of a Barrister,  74
+
+  Insecurity of Palestine,  257
+
+  Interesting Items,  23, 47, 71, 95, 119, 143, 167, 191, 215,
+        239, 263, 280
+
+  "Is not a Man Better than an Egg?",  204
+
+
+  Jesuit and the Bible, The,  98
+
+  "Jesus Loves Me!",  160
+
+  Johnnie's Christmas,  271
+
+  Juvenile Gems,  127, 148
+
+
+  "Keep the Star in Sight",  65
+
+  Kenilworth Castle,  161
+
+  Killed by Lightning,  182
+
+  Kindness to Animals,  94
+
+
+  Land of Giants, The,  234
+
+  "Let No Man Despise Thee",  46
+
+  Letter by a Dying Soldier,  194
+
+  Lines on the New Year,  5
+
+  Little by Little,  179
+
+  Little Helps by Large Hearts,  227
+
+  Little Johnnie,  255
+
+  Little Kindnesses,  233
+
+  Little Scotch Granite,  218
+
+  Lost and Found,  122
+
+
+  Mankind's Mistakes,  222
+
+  "Mary had a Little Lamb",  199
+
+  Memoir of Carrie Foord,  175
+
+  Memoir of Ellen and Henry Hoad,  248
+
+  Memoir of Emma Beesley,  110
+
+  Memoir of Mary Stubbs,  78
+
+  Model Prayer-Meeting, A,  184
+
+  Modes of Travel in Persia,  75
+
+  Morning's Walk in a Country Lane, A,  63
+
+  Mummy of Sesostris, The,  84
+
+
+  Nails Gone, but Marks Left,  214
+
+  Nature her own Surgeon,  224
+
+  New Telephone, A,  203
+
+  "Nothing to Thank God For",  154
+
+
+  Old Clock's Advice, An,  238
+
+  Old Quilt and its Story, An,  12
+
+  One Link Gone,  108
+
+  One Poor Stone,  62
+
+  "Only Once",  4
+
+  Orphan Bess,  198
+
+
+  Penny Piece, The,  227
+
+  Pharisee and the Publican,  93
+
+  Pitcairn Islanders and the Queen, The,  261
+
+  Pleading,  273
+
+  Points to be Aimed At,  124
+
+  Postal Service Statistics,  223
+
+  Power of Kindness,  237
+
+  Prayer Answered,  112
+
+  Precious Blood of Christ, The,  226
+
+  Priest and the Lady, The,  162
+
+  Priest's Thoughts of Roman Catholic Miracles,  125
+
+  Prince Consort's Opinion of Popery,  66
+
+  Prize Essays,  21, 45, 69, 93, 117, 142, 165, 190, 213, 237,
+        262, 279
+
+  Prompt Kindness,  106
+
+
+  Queer Fisherman, A,  155
+
+  Questions with Answers,  77
+
+
+  Ragged Tom,  139
+
+  Rare and Costly Bibles,  202
+
+  Receiving the Truth,  137
+
+  Red Sea Rock, A,  161
+
+
+  Saved by Grace,  156
+
+  Scotch Thistle, The,  55
+
+  Scripture Enigma,  10
+
+  Sense and Senses of Animals,  131
+
+  Singular Cause of Death,  59
+
+  Soft Answer, A,  211
+
+  Soft Pillow, A,  136
+
+  Something about Foxes,  60
+
+  Stage-Coach Companion, My,  16
+
+  Stand Back,  163
+
+  Sunday School Meetings:--
+    Burwash, Providence,  210
+    Clifton,  210
+    Fleckney, Carmel,  210
+    Gower Street,  138
+    Greenwich, Devonshire Road,  89
+    Hand Cross, Zoar Chapel,  186
+    Hastings, Ebenezer,  42
+    Trowbridge, Zion,  187
+
+  Sympathy,  200
+
+
+  Talking With a Man Seven Thousand Miles Off,  247
+
+  Terrible Experience of a Shipwrecked Crew,  268
+
+  "The Day of Small Things",  36
+
+  "There is No Rest in Hell",  53
+
+  "This is the Way; Walk Ye in It",  86
+
+  "Thou God Seest Me",  86
+
+  Thrilling Scenes at the Forth Bridge Works,  67
+
+  Touching Incident,  3
+
+  Two Brave Children,  158
+
+  Two Ways of Descending,  100
+
+
+  Under the London Streets,  200
+
+  Unseen Protection,  173
+
+
+  Value of Work, The,  75
+
+  Visit to the Idrian Mines,  87
+
+
+  What a Tract may Do,  26
+
+  Wisdom,  113
+
+  Wise and Foolish Builders,  90
+
+  Wonderful Grace,  15
+
+  Words and Deeds,  219
+
+  Word to Self-Seekers, A,  69
+
+  Word with Power, The,  226
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+1. Punctuation has been normalized. Inconsistent
+   hyphenation and spellings have been left as printed.
+
+2. The illustration caption on page 204 is missing text following (see--
+
+   "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MR. THORN'S EGGS?" (see
+
+3. Page 231 "having been on a voyage to Spain"--missing word "on"
+   was added.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Gleaner, Vol. X., by Various
+
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