66 my friend has been taking much pains to instruct you, and now I will ask you a few questions. Do you know who Jesus Christ was?" "Well, no," said he, after a pause; "I should say that's werry hard to tell." "Do you know whether he was St. John's brother?"-"No, that I don't." "Can you tell me who the Trinity are?" "No, Sir." "Are you a sinner?" "Oh, certainly, Sir; we are all sinners." A pause. "Have you ever done wrong?" "Why no, I don't consider as ever I have."

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Did

you

never commit sin ?" Why no, don't know as ever I did." "But do you think you're a sinner?" "Oh, certainly, Sir; we are all sinners." "What is a sinner?" "Well, I'm blest if I know rightly; I never had no head-piece."

BEARING THE CROSS.

MR. SIMEON, of Cambridge, was at one time an object of much contempt for Christ's sake and the Gospel's. Though usually he bore up bravely, it was very trying to know that no one liked to be seen in his company; and one day, as he walked along with his little Testament in his hand, he prayed that God would send him some cordial in His word. Opening the book, his eye alighted on the text:

"They found a man of Cyrene, Simon (or Simeon) by name; him they compelled to bear Jesus' cross.'

"And when I read that," he tells us, "I exclaimed, 'Lord, lay it on me; lay it on me; I will gladly bear the cross for thy sake.' And I henceforth bound persecution as a wreath of glory round my brow."

A LITTLE while ago, a minister said to a young man who never thought of his soul, "My dear young friend, I think you are going to lose your soul! You are putting off the day of salvation-neglecting all these solemn matters; going on heedlessly,

fear, to the day of your death!" The young man looked up with surprise, then said

"I don't think so. And you must really pardon me, but I have my doubts whether you think so, or your church thinks so."

The minister was astonished.
"How so?" he asked.

"Why, my mother belongs to your church. Don't they all think just as you do?"

"Yes, they do."

"Well, then, don't my mother love me? and do you think she never would have told me if she thought I was going straight to perdition? And there's my sister; don't she believe as you do ?"

"Yes."

"Now, then, I know my sister loves me. I know she would come and throw her arms around my neck and tell me, 'Don't! don't! don't!' if she thought I was going to perdition."

Young people, if all on earth be silent, God speaks! Hear Him.

THE LITTLE BOY THAT DIED.

DR. CHALMERS is said to be the author of the following beautiful poem, written on the occasion of the death of a young son whom he greatly loved.

I am all alone in my chamber now, And the midnight hour is near; And the faggot's crack and the clock's dull tick

Are the only sounds I hear. And over my soul in its solitude Sweet feelings of sadness glide, For my heart and my eyes are full when I think

Of the little boy that died.

I went one night to my father's house-
Went home to the dear ones all-
And softly I opened the garden gate,
And softly the door of the hall.
My mother came out to meet her son-
She kissed me, and then she sighed,
And her head fell on my neck, and she
wept

For the little boy that died.

I shall miss him when the flowers come,

In the garden where he played; I shall miss him more by the fire-side, When the flowers are all decayed. I shall see his toys and his empty chair, And the horse he used to ride, And they will speak with a silent speech

Of the little boy that died.

We shall go home to our Father's house

To our Father's house in the skies, Where the hope of our souls shall have no blight,

Our love no broken ties.

We shall roam on the bank of the river

KNOCKING AWAY PROPS. "SEE, father," said a lad who was walking with his father, "they are knocking away the props from under the bridge: what are they doing that for? Won't the bridge fall?"

"They are knocking them away," said the father, "that the timbers may rest more firmly upon the stone piers which are now finished."

God often takes away our earthly props that we may rest more firmly upon Him. God sometimes takes away a man's health, that he may rest upon Him for his daily bread. Before his health failed, though he perhaps repeated daily the words, "Give us this day our daily bread," he looked to his own industry for that which he asked of God. That prop being taken away, he rests wholly upon God's bounty. When he receives his bread, he receives it as the gift of God.

God takes away our friends that we may look to Him for sympathy. When our affections were exercised upon objects around us, when we

rejoiced in their abundant sympathy, we did not feel the need of a divine sympathy. But when they were taken away, we felt our need of God's sympathy and support. We were brought to realise that He alone can give support, and form an adequate portion for the soul. Thus are our earthly props removed that we may rest firmly and wholly upon God.

CONVERSE.

"Con

SIR MATTHEW HALE says, verse not with a liar, or a swearer, or a man of obscene or wanton language; for either it will corrupt you, or at least it will hazard your reputation to be of the like making; and if it doth neither, yet it will fill your memory with such discourses that it will be troublesome to you in after time; and the returns of the remembrance of the passages which you have long since heard of this nature, will haunt you when your thoughts should be better employed."

EVIL THOUGHTS.

YOUNG people should have a particular care of evil thoughts. O, the mischief they have done in the world! Bad thoughts come first, bad words follow after, and bad deeds bring up the rear. Strive against them; watch against them; pray against them. They prepare the way for the Enemy.

"Bad thought is a thief! he acts his part,

Creeps through the window of the heart;

And if he once his way can win,
He lets a hundred others in."

ANECDOTE OF AN OYSTER. SOME years ago the family of a fishmonger were alarmed by a great noise in the shop, and, suspecting that some persons had broken in, one of them went to the place, when, to his surprise, he found the disturber of his repose, not a twofooted, but a four-footed thief,

namely a rat, who, on trying to help himself to an oyster lying on the shop-board, had his intruding paw so firmly grasped in the shell of the oyster as to render his escape impossible.

Young man, beware of the formation of bad habits, and bad companions. Once in their grasp you are a slave.

FORM OF PRAYER FOR MEM

BERS OF A CHOIR.

THE following form of prayer is said to be used by the choir of a parish church. If the spirit it expresses could possess all persons who take part in songs of praise to Almighty God in churches, Sunday schools and other religious assemblies, the change in the character of these services would be marvellous and delightful.

"Give us grace, O Lord, to behave ourselves in Thy courts with great reverence and humility, both of body and mind; that coming to Thy sanctuary with clean hands and pure hearts, we may offer unto Thee the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to Thy Name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

COMMITTING THE BIBLE TO MEMORY.

A GENTLEMAN in Massachusetts offered several prizes of Bibles to those, old or young, who should commit to memory and repeat the largest portion of the Bible. The following reports of passages have been received, certified by the superintendent or pastor. Mrs. Betsy Conant, who has been residing in Melrose, a lady sixty-eight years of age, has committed to memory the entire Bible, Old and New Testament, reciting each day in the week. This is certified by her daughter, and also by the superintendent of the Sabbath school; and the lady is entitled to the first Bible. An irish servant-girl repeated nearly 10,000 verses; three other females repeated above that number; and a list is appended of some twenty more who were able to repeat from 3,000 to 9,000 verses.

OUR OWN FAULTS. LET us not be over-curious about the failings of others, but take account of our own; let us bear in mind the excellences of other men, while we reckon up our own faults, for then shall we be well-pleasing to God. For he who looks at the faults of others, and at his own excellences, is injured in two ways; by the latter he carried up to arrogance, through the former he falls into listlessness. For when he perceives that such an one hath sinned, very easily he will sin himself; when he perceives he hath in aught excelled, very easily he becometh arrogant. He who consigns to oblivion his own excellences, and looks at his failings only, whilst he is a curious engineer of the excellences, not the sins of others, is profitable in many ways. And how? I will tell you. When he sees that such an one hath done excellently, he is raised to emulate the same; when he sees that he himself hath sinned, he is rendered humble and modest. If we act thus, if we thus regulate ourselves, we shall be able to obtain the good things which we are promised through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ.-St. Chrysostom.

"I SHALL BE A KING." THE late Duke of Hamilton had two sons. The youngest fell into a consumption, when yet a boy, which ended in his death. Two ministers went to see him at the family seat, near Glasgow, where he lay. After prayer, the youth took his Bible from under his pillow, and turned to 2 Tim. iv. 7: "I have fought a good fight, have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness;" and added, "this, Sirs, is my comfort!" When his death approached, he called his younger brother to his bed, and spoke to him with great affection. He ended with these remarkable words: "And now, Douglass, in a little time you will be a Duke, but I shall be a Řing!”