Let me take one illustration. I shall suppose the Question to be No. 28, Senior division. The answers given in the December number of the 'Dayspring,' are Isaiah vi. and Luke v. 8. Instead of these, a young friend sends Zech. xii. 10 and Rev. i. 7, both (especially that in the New Testament) remarkably good, and the full value is allowed for the same. Take again Question No. 6, Senior division, the correct answer to which is the word 'moth.' A number have given, instead, the word 'arrayed,' which would have been a very excellent answer, but for the fact that it was distinctly stated that the word occurred in a warning' uttered by Jesus.

I may be permitted, after a year's correspondence with more than two hundred friends, to wish them all a Happy New Year, and to assure them that, if trouble or temptation should arise, they will find in the volume which they have so diligently searched, the most certain support for the one, and the best safeguard against the other. I can never hope to see all the two hundred competitors for the 'Dayspring' Prizes, but I entertain for them all the sincerest regard; and I sometimes please myself by thinking what a treasure an album, filled with their portraits, would be.

The following is the Prize list for the best answers to the Bible Questions for 1876, and subjoined thereto are the names of competitors in both divisions, who have answered correctly twenty, or more, out of the thirty-three questions:

SENIOR DIVISION-FIRST PRIZE-30 Marks.
Gertrude Thomson, Beechwood, Moffat.
SECOND PRIZE-29 Marks.

Ada C. Balfour, 12 Teviot Row, Edinburgh.
THIRD PRIZE-27 Marks.

Mary Moodie, Maggie E. Moodie, Benvue, Bothwell. Robert Gilmour, 26. G. B. Sherwood, 26. Cecilia Allan, 26. Robert Galloway, 25. Janet Sturgeon, 243. Laura Panting, 24. Marion Tudhope, 24. Emily Ada Guy, 24. Robert A. Houston, 24. Agnes Agnew, 23. Jessie Donaldson, 23. John W. Tait, 23. Jessie Buchanan, 23. James Guy, 223. Mary Balfour, 22. H. J. Balfour, 22. Agnes L. Forsyth, 22. Sophia J. Fairtlongh, 214. Cecilia Wylie, 21. Maggie Galloway, 21. Malcolm M'Callum, 21. Maggie Thomson, 20. Allan Weir, 20. William Sneddon, 20.

JUNIOR DIVISION-FIRST PRIZE-31 Marks. Marion Love, Vicarage, Great Crosby, by Liverpool. Maria M. Scobie, Glen Canisp, Lochiinver, Lairg. SECOND PRIZE-30 Marks.

Helena M. Anderson, U.P. Manse, Milnathort. Agnes W. Sherwood, F.C. Manse, Sheuchan, Stranraer. THIRD PRIZE-29 Marks.

Louisa Thomson, Beechwood, Moffat.

Esther Panting, 28. Marion Sturgeon, 27. Agnes S. M'Cormick, 27. George M. Johnstone, 27. Edith Balfour, 26. Thomas M'Callum, 25. Anabella Morris, 24. Margaret Laird, 23. Barbara Sutherland, 22. Susy Milne, 20

PRIZE ESSAYS.

11

THOUGH the labour of reading and comparing the merits of eighty-four Essays is not inconsiderable, still the sterling merit of almost every one of the eighty-four has rendered the labour a sincere pleasure. The difficulty of deciding as to which of the Essays should stand first, was not great; but when the question presented itself of which should stand second, the difficulty of deciding was far from small. The excellence of the Essays sent in for adjudication, is such as to encourage the Publishers of the 'Dayspring' to invite their young friends to another competition during 1877, the subjects of which will be announced in the number for May.

Essay on 'The Life and Times of Hezekiah, King of Judah.'

2.

1. John S. Paterson, Glasgow.

James G. Davidson, 143 Elderslie Street, Glasgow.
Robert Taylor, 85 Pollock Street, Glasgow.

Essay on The Life and Labours of the Apostle Peter.'
1. Ada C. Balfour, 12 Teviot Row, Edinburgh.
2. Thomas F. Reid, Stanley Place, Paisley.

PRIZE BIBLE QUESTIONS. are offer for the largest number of correct HREE Prizes, in each of the two divisions,

answers. The Prizes to be announced in January, 1878.

In the Senior division, competitors not to be above eighteen years of age.

In the Junior division, Competitors not to be above thirteen years of age; and in both divisions the answers must be honestly the work of the individuals competing.

All answers to be sent, with the name and address of the competitor, not later than the 18th of each month, to the Rev. JOHN KAY, Coatbridge.

SENIOR DIVISION.

1 The names of the persons on whom Jesus performed miracles of healing are given in only a very few cases. State in how many, and give the names.

2 In which of Christ's parables is reference made to a period of time corresponding to the duration of His public ministry?

3 Which of the Evangelists refers most frequently to the private prayers of Jesus?

JUNIOR DIVISION.

1 What answer, given by Paul to his persecutors, contrasts strikingly with Jesus' answer in similar circumstances?

2 What question and answer in a verse of a psalm tells us that the Bible is the book for young men?

3 What Old Testament believer's meek answer, when undeservedly blamed, showed that she had the Spirit of Christ?

Ay, 'twas true; to such as they were Never gives the earth her best; Not for them the treasures hidden

In her bounteous mother breast. To the call of sloth and pride,

To the spoiler's blood-red hand, 'Aca Nada,'-Nothing there,

Still responds the outragèd land.

Years passed by; and English settlers Trod that bleak and wintry shore; Claiming God's unfailing promise

To the reaper and the sower. And the harvests wave, outspreading Gleaming fields of glorious gold; Range the herds in grassy pastures, Feed the lambs within the fold.

Now the waifs and strays of England,
From the city's dens impure,
From the lanes and from the alleys
Where the fever stalks secure-
Come to ask for health and succour,
Come to breathe a fresher air,
To the plains of 'Aca Nada,'

And they say not 'Nothing there.'

There are words of kindly welcome; There are deeds of Christian love; Blessed links of loving-kindness,

Binding earth to heaven above. There is food, and peace and plenty; Nothing though she had for Spain, Thus to England 'Aca Nada,'

Gives a hundred-fold again.

Are there hearts that seem so hardened,
Bound in chains of wintry frost,
That in careless mood we passed them,
Thinking labour there were lost!
Let us pause-although no treasures,
Gold or silver, meet our view,
Ere we say the 'Aca Nada,'

Love and faith might prove untrue.

Sow the seed in trust and patience, God will send his blessed rain; We shall reap a glorious harvest From the fields of golden grain. Ay, full oft the 'Aca Nada,'

Of the faithless heart's despair, Proves God's acre, rich in blessing, Overpaying all our care.

THIS

PEEPS AT ROME.

THE PANTHEON.

D. A.

HIS is one of the oldest buildings in Rome. It was built in the year twenty-seven before Christ, so that it is now nearly two thousand years old. There are many very ancient buildings in Rome, but then most of them are ruins. It is different with the Pantheon. It is perfect in all its parts, having defied the storms and battles of nineteen centuries. It is very venerable; and though its marble is not so white as it once was, and its granite pavements have been dinted and worn by countless heels, still it looks to-day as if it might last for as many centuries yet. It is massive and strong. Guns have been mounted on its walls, and cannon have blazed away from its roof; still it stands, the same tower of strength it ever was. But I must tell you why it was called the Pantheon. Although now used as a Chris

tian church, it was built in the days of pagan idolatry. It was not erected as a temple for the worship of any one god, it was rather to be the home for the worship of all the gods. So it was called the allgod Temple, or as it is in one word in Greek, The Pantheon. If you look at the engraving, you will see that the Pantheon is a rotunda with a Greek portico. The portico is supported by sixteen beautiful columns of oriental granite, in two rows of eight. As the one row is behind the other, it is only the first row that appears in the

15

This honour Augustus declined, accepting, however, a niche on one side of the portico for his statue, the corresponding one on the other side being set apart for Agrippa himself. The inscription at full length is as follows:

M. AGRIPPA. L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT.

We leave it to the boys who may be learning Latin to make out the translation. With the help given above, it should not puzzle them much. And now we take leave of the portico; but in order to give

engraving. Observe the beautiful capitals at the top of the columns. These are Corinthian capitals, and so the columns are called Corinthian columns. Above the column is the architrave. The space above that again is called the frieze. Whilst the frieze is plain, the architrave is not quite vacant. There is an inscription upon it. Try if you can make it out. Two words at least are legible, 'Agrippa fecit'-that is, Agrippa erected it. This Agrippa was a great friend of Augustus Cæsar, and desired to dedicate the Pantheon to him.

some idea of its size, we may mention that it is 110 feet long, and 44 deep. Passing inside and looking around, the first thing that strikes you is the circular style of the building. As you may see from the engraving, it is a rotunda covered by a dome. This rotunda is a circle 143 feet in diameter. In the walls are seven great niches, in which the statues of seven different gods and goddesses used to stand, the central niche being occupied by Jupiter, the father of gods and men, as he was called. There is a gloomy grandeur about these walls.