Good News for Young and Old: Volume 18 (1876)

“By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight” (Rom. 3:20). “A man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 2:16; Rom. 4:1).

Some Pages for the Little Ones.

“Suffer Little children to come unto me and forbid them not, gar of such is the Kingdom of God.” Luke 18:6

"The Honey Guide."

I AM sure that little boys and girls are fond of birds; and, knowing this, I have from time to time told them about the Bird of Day and the Bird of Night, and other birds whose habits or pleasant songs teach us something worth knowing. But perhaps the most curious bird you ever heard of is that called “The Honey Guide.” It does not live in this country, but far away over the sea, in the south of Africa. In that country, which, you know, is very hot, and in many parts very wild, flowers and fruits are most abundant; and, because wild flowers are so plentiful, there is also a great number of wild bees, who build their homes in hollow trees or in holes in the rocks. There they make their hives, and store their honey, and thus people can get “honey out of the rock,” when they know where to look for it, just as they used to do in the Holy Land in old times, when “the early and the latter rain” made that wonderful country so fruitful and beautiful. That land, the land of Israel, is not, indeed, so fruitful now, because; as you know from the Bible, “Israel hath sinned,” and the rains no longer come regularly as they used to do. They are withheld, as God foretold they should be long ago. But in Southern Africa, as I have said, there are many wildly luxuriant places where wild flowers and bees abound, and honey and wax are so plentiful that people make it quite a business to collect and sell it,, whole shiploads of bees-wax being sent at times to other parts of Africa, such as those on the western coast, where it is scarcer.

But how are people to find out where the wild honey is hidden in hollow trees, and caves and holes in the rocks? In a vast African forest they might wander about for days and days to no purpose, and it would only be by a mere chance that they could hope to discover a wild hive. Honey is one of those things which God has created for our good, and He has taken care also to create a means of finding it out, that it may not be wasted in the wilderness, as it sometimes is when, the combs being overstocked by the busy bees, it actually melts in the sun, and flows down the sides of the rocks, reminding us of those words in which Palestine is described as “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Well, when a man goes out to search for honey, instead of peering into holes in rocks and old forest trees, what do you think he does Why, he looks about for a little bird called the “honey guide.” This little creature, so useful to man (as most birds are), is about as big as a chaffinch, or, as some people call it, a pink; but it has not the beautiful colors of our English pink (so much like a goldfinch): it is of a light gray color, a very sober-looking little bird, and yet a very useful one; for no sooner does the honey guide catch sight of the traveler than he comes near, perches on a bough, and begins to chirrup, as much as to say, “Here I am; now follow me.” Then he hops and flutters a little farther and then twitters again; and so he goes on till he comes to some old hollow tree, or rock, or deserted ant-hill, where he knows the wild bees dwell, making and storing honey all day long. The traveler knows the honey guide well, and knows what all his twittering means, and so he follows his little guide, whistling to encourage him, until he ceases to dart from tree to tree, and hovers over the spot where the honey lies concealed, pointing with his little beak to the hidden treasure. The man then gathers some dried grass, and, setting light to it close to the wild hive, he makes a great smoke to stupefy the bees and prevent them from stinging him, and, as soon as he has succeeded in that, he digs out the honey and the wax just as it is, lays down a little for the honey guide to eat, and goes quietly away.

All the time that he is busy in getting the honeycomb out, this wonderful little bird sits watching on a neighboring twig, and waiting for his share of the spoil. I suppose he knows that he cannot get the honey himself, for a swarm of bees would sting him to death if he entered their hive; so, as he likes honey very much, he leads the traveler to it, and then waits for his reward.

Now, I am sure you will greatly admire this little bird, and perhaps will wish that you could be as useful. Well, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you may be a little “honey guide” as well, and better than he. As he points out the place where the sweet honey lies hidden, so you, if you will, may, by word and walk, show many a little traveler through this wilderness, many a little playmate, where something better and sweeter than honey may be found. “The bread of God which came down from heaven to give life unto the world “is better and sweeter than anything this poor world can bestow,” and he who eats shall live forever.” That is, he who goes, to Jesus, believes in. Jesus, looks to Jesus, God’s dear Son, shall live forever. All his sins shall be put away by His precious blood, and he shall have everlasting life. Do you ever try to lead any one to Christ? If you love Him, you will surely like to do so, and will as surely have your reward. As the gray honey guide flits from tree to tree, leading in the right direction, and chirruping so cheerfully meanwhile, you, by walking as a little believer, should, and, telling gently of the love of Christ, may be used of Him in blessing to others. Thus every little believer in the Lord Jesus Christ may imitate the little bird I have told you of, and so become a humble happy little HONEY GUIDE.

Thou God Seest Me."

— Genesis 16:13.

GOD is in heaven; can He hear

A little child like me?

Yes, little child, thou need’st not fear;

He’ll listen e’en to thee.

God is in heaven; can He see

If I am doing wrong?

Oh, yes, he can; He looks at thee

All day and all night long.

God is in heaven; would He know

If I should tell a lie?

Yes, if thou saidst it soft and low,

He’d hear it in the sky.

God is in heaven; would. He save

A little child like me?

Yes, little child, His Son. He gave

For little ones like thee.

Iwan, the Stove Heater of the Winter Palace of St. Petersburg.

IT is a pleasant thing to see a son honoring a widowed mother; and, therefore, I am sure that the young readers of GOOD NEWS will like to hear about one who did so, and who, according to God’s promise, reaped a reward, even in this world.

One day when Alexander, the Christian Emperor of Russia, was traveling, it was found that his carriage needed some mending, and so, just for a change, he, having sent it on to the next town, made up his mind to walk instead of riding in one of the carriages of his attendants. As he was strolling along, all alone, he met an old woman on the road, who, coming up to him, asked very humbly whether he was one of the emperor’s suite. The emperor, with a smile, replied that he certainly had something to do with it; upon which the old woman said, “Well, then, I suppose you have brought me the letter and the money from my son in St. Petersburg” “Who is your son?” asked the emperor. “What! not know my son Iwan!” exclaimed the old woman; “I thought everybody would know my son. Why, he is Iwan, the stove-heater in the Winter Palace; and, because I am growing old, he sends me every year all that he can save of his wages. Now, as I have been told that our kind emperor has come into our part of the country, I have no doubt my Iwan has sent the money by one of the gentlemen of the company; or, maybe, you are the bearer of it?” The emperor laughed, and told her to go into the next village and apply to the officer there, giving her such an exact description of General D— that she could not fail to find him out, and telling her she was to ask him for the money. With many thanks, the poor old creature trudged away to find the general, while the emperor followed at his leisure. Having found the officer, the aged woman civilly asked him to oblige her by giving her the money Iwan, the stove-heater of the Winter Palace, had sent; but the general, who knew nothing at all about Iwan or the money either, at first only stared at her in astonishment, and then, as she persisted in her request, thought she must be out of her senses, and was just about to order her to be turned rudely away, when the emperor arrived. Making a sign to the general, he said aloud, “Pay this woman a hundred roubles from her Iwan, the stove-heater.” On hearing these words the poor old mother clasped her hands in astonishment, for she could not believe that her Iwan had sent her so large a sum. Like the poor anxious sinner who is told that eternal forgiveness, everlasting life and blessing, are a free gift, the gift of God, and may be had at once by simply believing in Jesus, God’s dear Son, this poor woman thought the news TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, or that, if indeed her son had sent her such an amount, he could hardly have come by it honestly; and when the general had counted out the money — about £16 — she refused to take it, saying, “My Iwan could not have got all that money rightly, and I won’t have it.” The general, however, seeing that it was the emperor’s wish that she should receive it, told her that before setting forth on his journey the emperor had, as is the custom in that country, made many presents to his officers and servants, and that, perhaps, her Iwan had had his share and sent it to her. The poor mother thought this likely enough; for she knew her son’s love for her, and felt persuaded that if, indeed, Iwan had received anything extra, he would be sure to think of his aged and helpless mother. Bursting into tears, and calling down many blessings on the emperor’s head, she declared she would willingly die if she could but once have the happiness of seeing him to thank him for all his kindness to her Iwan and herself. The general, who was greatly touched by the whole scene, found he could not keep the secret any longer. Pointing to the kind emperor, he exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, “My good mother, God has granted your wish; here you may thank the emperor in person,” and the poor old mother, overcome with astonishment and gratitude, fell down at Alexander’s feet, only able to express her thanks in sobs and broken sentences. The kind sovereign, taking her by the hand, gently raised her up, and told her he was so pleased with her Iwan’s filial piety, and the honesty she had shown in refusing to take the money until she knew it was justly hers, that he would settle a pension on her for life, and on his return to St. Petersburg would take good care to advance her Iwan’s interests. You may depend upon it he did not long remain a poor stove-heater in the Winter Palace, but was raised to higher offices, and became, under his emperor’s patronage, a great and rich man. Whether he knew the Lord I cannot tell you, but that his mother did I have no doubt. Poor and needy, aged and helpless, it was not in mere nature to refuse a hundred roubles; grace alone could have given her such strength in her poverty as to reject the gift until she knew that she might take it justly; and, having such a mother, we may hope that, through her prayers and teaching, her son’s noble conduct arose from some better motive than mere nature can afford, and that he honored his aged mother in obedience to God. Everything short of this is of little value; and, although it is at all times sweet to see a son loving and serving a mother, it is sweeter still when it is done for the love of God through faith in Christ Jesus. May you have grace given you first to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ unto everlasting life, and then to walk in love and obedience to God, doing His will from the heart, and Honoring your parents as did Iwan, the stove-heater of the Winter Palace of St. Petersburg.

The Brave Fisher Boy.

I AM going to tell you a little tale, which I am sure you will like, because it is about a brave boy who did what I have no doubt every boy would gladly do — he risked his own life to save his father’s. This boy’s name was Carl, and he lived with his father and mother in a little cottage by the seaside on a rough and rocky coast. His father was a fisherman, and Carl, who was a stout, hardy boy, was in the habit of going out day after day in the boat to help his father to catch the fish, and a great help he was, for he worked with a will, as every boy should do, to help his parents. Well, one day, as there were nets to mend and quantities of fish to salt and cure, the father left him at home to assist his mother, while he set out alone in his boat to catch more fish. The wind was fair, his sails were set, and away he went over the sunny sea. During the day he was not so successful as usual, and in the afternoon he made for a ledge of rocks which stretched far out into the ocean, and, having moored his boat, he cast his lines from a point that hung far over the waters. He knew that these rocks would be covered by the sea at high tide, but, as his boat was close at hand to jump into when the water should rise, he felt no fear, but went quietly to work at his fishing. In the meantime, his wife and son were as busy as he, cutting open the fish and salting and hanging it up to dry on the rafters of the cottage. While all were hard at work, clouds suddenly gathered overhead, and the wind began to rise. Sea-birds went wheeling and screaming aloft in the air, or hurrying inland, the rolling waves grew dark, and the white specks of foam flew hither and thither, all telling to the anxious wife that a tempest was coming.

Carl seized his cap and hurried away to the cliffs to see if his father’s boat was near. Long and anxiously he looked, while the rising wind roared around him, dashing the spray high up where he stood, and sometimes almost lifting him off his feet. At last he saw the well-known boat approaching, and joyfully ran to tell his mother. Hurrying together to the beach, you may guess what they felt when, as the little vessel came driving in before the wind, they perceived that there was no one in it! As a great wave lifted it high and dry upon the sands, they ran to examine it, but a few fish, a line, and a net were all that it contained. Carl’s father was not there! The mother clasped her hands in speechless anguish, the boy looked round the darkening sea, and then as his eyes fell once more on the boat a sudden thought occurred to him. He perceived that the rope, or painter, was not coiled as usual in its place, but dragging loosely in the sand, and he guessed at once that his father had landed somewhere, and that the boat had been broken away by the force of the waves, and left him behind. In another moment the boy was in the boat, and seizing the heavy oars, almost too much for his young arms to wield, he boldly struggled out to sea. “Father’s left upon the rocks,” he cried, as his terror-stricken mother called to know where he was going, and then, with all the force he could exert, he headed the boat into the wind and waves, and manfully toiled on. He knew the rocks where his father sometimes fished, and he knew also that at high tide they would be covered (if they were not so already), and his poor father would be drowned. The wild wind roared around him, the waves beat high, tossing the little vessel like a cockle shell and threatening to swamp it every moment, but still the brave boy struggled on. No doubt God aided him in his noble effort to save his father’s life, or he never could have pulled the boat against the tempest. But God has said, “Honor thy father and mother,” and Carl was doing so; therefore the Lord helped him.

Well, after a terrible struggle with the storm, Carl neared the well-known rocks, and there, as he had hoped, he saw his father standing. A few moments more help would have come too late, for the water had already reached his waist, and he had given himself up for lost. Intent upon his fishing, he had not noticed the approach of the storm, and when, aroused to a sense of his danger at last, he ran to seek his boat, he found to his horror that it was gone! He could only cry.to God (for it seems he knew the God of all grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ), and He heard him. It was He who put it into the boy’s mind to perceive at a glance that the boat had broken loose, it was He who guided him to the right spot, and it was by Him that the poor boy was borne in safety through stormy wind and waves and roaring tempest to his father’s rescue. The father sprang into the boat exclaiming, “My brave, brave boy! Thank God, O thank God, for this!” Then seizing the oars, he pulled himself and his exhausted boy towards the shore, his heart too full of thankfulness for words. Driving rapidly before the wind, the boat rose on the crested waves or fell into the trough of the sea; the rain poured down in torrents, but the brave boy and his father were too happy to heed either wind or water, and were soon safe on land in their cottage home, and mingling their tears and thanksgivings to God with the joyful wife and mother.

Carl had willingly risked his young life to save his dear father; but there is One who gave His life a ransom for many, and gave it, too, on the terrible cross, that by His precious blood shed there for sinners He might save all who believe. You know who that is, but do you know Him Himself by faith? Have you come to Him as one who needs to be saved, as one who is lost without Him, as one who can call Him “my own Saviour”? If so, you will love Him, serve Him, obey Him, and among other things you will “Honor your father and mother” like The Brave Fisher-boy.

Joseph, "Lord of All Egypt," and Jesus, the Saviour in Glory.

(Read Genesis 14)

THERE is at this moment in heaven a real Man of flesh and bones! He is the blessed Son of God, whom angels love to worship, and who has been raised up by God Himself to sit at His right hand. There He sits, upon the very throne of God (Rev. 3:21), “crowned with glory and honor.” That face, once “more marred than any man’s,” worn with sorrow and pain, is now bright with “the glory of God.” The same brow that once was, pierced and bleeding with the plaited thorns the soldiers put upon it, now shines with light “above the brightness of the sun.” Do you think anyone would dare to “spit in His face” now? Yet He is the very same Jesus; and He was God when they spat upon Him in this world, just as really as He is Man now in that other world, which is all light and joy because He is there; and there is no veil upon His glory and. His beauty!

This blessed Son of God, the Lord and Saviour at the right hand of God, is now doing two things for men and women and children in this world. He is teaching them to know who He is, and He is leading them by His love and His power to be forever where He is. And we see a little picture of these two things in the chapter we have read. As Jesus is God and man, while Joseph was only a man, and not a perfect man either, of course Joseph was no more equal to Jesus than the picture of a little girl could be the same as my little friend herself. I might like very much to look at a picture of you if I had it, but I should never expect it to talk to me, or to love me, and so I should never talk to it or love it. Still I should enjoy looking at a portrait of a, person I did love, and the more I loved the person, the more pleased I should be to have the picture before me. I hope, my dear little friend, that you have love enough to the blessed Saviour to find pleasure in looking at the story of Joseph as a sort of picture of the grace and glory of Jesus.

The glory of the “lord of all Egypt” was of course nothing to compare with that of the “Lord of glory;” still he spoke of it as “all my glory,” and when his brothers had beheld his glory they were to go and tell of it. Besides that, he had been sent there by God to “save the lives “of the rest of the family; so that we shall not be far wrong if we say that he was at that time the saviour and lord in glory, only we must not forget that it was the glory of Egypt, and not the glory where the Lord. Jesus is now: the glory of Pharaoh, and not “the glory of the Father.”

Well, this glorified man first told his brothers who he was: “I am Joseph,” and then he invited them to be where he was: “Come near unto me.” They came near, and he talked with them, and wept upon them, till his kindness so won their hearts that they were in, peace before him, and “talked with him.” Even that did not satisfy Joseph, for he wanted their father and their children and all they had to come, too; so he sends them back home to fetch them., It was only a few days before that they had left their father, yet Joseph now tells them to make haste back again! But it was not that they should go and stop there, as he had said in the chapter before. “Get you up in peace unto your father.” Jesus told the thirsty woman of Sychar to “go, but it was only to fetch someone else, and so He said, “and come hither.” And so with Joseph here: he tells his brothers, in verse 9, to make haste and go, but in verse 13 he says they must make haste back, too, and be sure and bring their father with them. They were to tell Jacob of all Joseph’s glory which they had seen, and bring him down from the land where the famine was, that he might see it all, too: that he might see Joseph his dear son, and that Joseph might see his dear father and have him near to him for all the rest of his life. They had only wanted to “traffic in the land,” to buy and sell, and such like; but Joseph says, “I must have you all here to dwell and be near me — you and your father and your children, babies and all. And I will nourish you (not ‘punish you’), and will find plenty of food even for your sheep and cows and all you have.” What a good brother he was to them! the very same brothers who had put him into the pit, and then sold him to be a slave! The best they had expected was to “buy a little food”— to get just enough to keep them from being starved to death, and to pay the full price for it, besides taking “the man” a little honey and a few other little things into the bargain. Instead of that, they are to “eat the fat of the land.” Even the great king himself says he will give them “the good of the land of Egypt,” and they are to tell their father that “the good of all the land of Egypt’’ is to be for him and them!

What else I was going to say I must now leave till next month, if we are spared; but don’t you think all this is a very bright little picture of the goodness of God, who does for us “exceeding abundantly above ill that we ask or think”? It seems to me that it is. It reminds me of that lovely picture drawn by the Lord Himself in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. The runaway son there thought, If I could only get back among those farm laborers, who have enough bread and to spare, I would not mind how hard I worked for it. But, when he “arose and came to his father,” what did he get? What did he not get that his father’s love could give him? W. TY.

Willie Left Alone.

WILLE, at the time of which I am writing, was between five and six years old. His mother had two little boys, and Willie was the elder. She loved them both very much, but as Willie could talk to her, and tell her his little thoughts, and they passed much time together, he was quite a companion to her. One day she had some business to attend to which made it necessary that she should leave home for an hour or so in the afternoon; and having no one to take charge of Willie, and not being able to take him with her, she was obliged to leave him at home alone for the time she was absent. Before she went, however, she charged him to keep out of mischief, and gave him his books and playthings to occupy him till her return, telling him, as an encouragement, that she would bring home something nice for tea.

Willie felt it rather strange to be left by himself, but he tried to amuse himself, and succeeded for a while, when he became weary. He then wondered what he should do to fill up the time till his mother returned. At length he said to himself, “Oh! I will set the tea-things; and mother will be so surprised when she sees them.” He therefore went to the cupboard, and took the things out and placed them in the tea-tray upon the table. He was then delighted with what he had done, and fancied to himself how pleased mother would look when she came home.

Well, as you may suppose, mother was not gone a minute longer than she could help, and presently he heard her well-known knock at the door. He did not go to meet her, as he usually would have done, but waited till she came into the room. And, as he expected, she did look surprised. Indeed, she was almost alarmed, for she knew that, in order to get to the cupboard, he had to clamber upon a chair; and she feared lest he had fallen and hurt himself, or had broken some of the tea-things. However, finding upon inquiry that no mishap had occurred, and seeing that he looked so pleased with his performance, she only said to him that it would have been better if he had not done as he had; but she did not scold him, as she did not wish to spoil his happiness.

I could almost wish that my tale were now finished, but, as it is the truth that I am telling, I will go on to the end. After Willie’s mother had taken off her bonnet and shawl, and had set about making the tea, she became aware of something which she had not observed before; so, calling her son to her, she said to him, “Willie, it was all very well for you to try to please me by setting the tea-things, but why did you eat the sugar?” You should have seen Willie’s countenance. Mother’s question had quite confused him, and he could not give her an answer. He wondered whatever could have made her ask such a question. He felt sure that she had not seen him take the sugar, and he could not think how she knew anything about it. He had an idea that his mother knew a great deal, but he could not understand how she had found out this.

To do Willie justice, I believe that when he first thought of setting the tea-things he did not mean to take any of the sugar; but, as he went several times to the cupboard and saw the nice-looking sugar, I am sorry to say that he was tempted to take and eat sonic of it. Being so young, it was not surprising that while eating it he let some of it fall upon his pinafore; and, of course, there was to the observant eye of his mother the evidence of her son’s offense. She wisely withheld this fact from him, but talked to him like a good mother, as she was, of the naughtiness of such ways, and taught him a lesson which he did not soon forget.

We have seen that Willie could not imagine how his mother had discovered what he had done; but, even supposing that she had never found it out, there was ONE, the all-seeing God, who saw him when he took the sugar, and knew, too, the stain which his wrong act made upon his childish conscience. We cannot hide anything from God, and we cannot hide ourselves from Him. Have you not sometimes seen a little child, when playing at hide-and-seek, go into the corner of a room, and turning its face to the wall, so that he could not see you, vainly imagine that you could not see him? This is something like all our efforts to hide ourselves from God. But how blessed it is to have God Himself for our hiding-place And it is written of those who truly believe in Jesus, that “our life is hid with Christ in. God,” and that “THOU art my hiding-place.”

Dictionary of the Bible.

The Feasts of the Lord.

(Leviticus 23.)

The feasts of the Lord express the eternal counsels of God towards his people. There were, consequently, seven, the number of perfection: the SABBATH, the PASSOVER, the feast of UNLEAVENED BREAD, the first-fruits of harvest, or PENTECOST, the feast of TRUMPETS, the day of ATONEMENT, and the feast of TABERNACLES.

The Sabbath.

AND the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.

Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings (Ex. 31:12-18).

These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

The Passover.

In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s Passover (see Ex. 12).

The Feast of Unleavened Bread.

And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord-seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

The Firstfruits of Harvest, or Pentecost.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest;

And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

And ye shall offer that day, when ye wave the sheaf, a the lamb without blemish of the first year, for a burnt offering unto the Lord.

And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.

And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwellings.

And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths Shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord....

The Feast of Trumpets.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.

Ye shall do no servile work therein; but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

The Day of Atonement.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

And ye shall do no work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God.

For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.

Ye shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.

The Feast of Tabernacles.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.

On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything upon his day:

Beside the Sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the Lord.

Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath.

And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.

And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year; it shall be a statute forever in ‘Tour generations; ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

Ye shall dwell in booths seven days: all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths; That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.

Bible Questions for January.

1. Give seven Scriptures which speak of angels, and heavenly messengers, in connection with the birth, agony, death, resurrection, ascension, heavenly worship, and second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. What are they called whom God justifieth? Romans 4.

3. What does Scripture say is life eternal?

4. What do the Psalms say they know and prove who put their trust in the, Lord?

5. It is recorded in Matthew, a sower went out to sow, and the seed fell on four different kinds of ground: give two things spoken of in connection with the good ground that are a contrast to the three others.

6. What reason does David give in the twenty-third Psalm that he would not want?

7. Give the chapter and verse from Proverbs which tell us what to do if we are enticed by sinners.

8.What do the Psalms say is with those who fear the Lord, and what will He show them?

Bible Enigma for January.

WHAT was the name that Herod’s steward bore?

Of whom did David buy a threshing-floor?

What priest was he who brought forth bread and wine?

Who was profane, despising things divine?

What creature famed for horns did David name?

Who went out full, but homewards empty came?

Where was the Apostle of the Gentiles born?

What place gave gold, which might a king adorn?

What woman thrice at Jesus’ feet was found?

What nation’s people in a sea were drowned?

The initials of these names will truly show

What Jesus said to all who rest would know.

Alexandria.

I DARE say you have heard of that once famous city in Egypt built by Alexander the Great, about 300 years before Christ came, and called after him Alexandria. It was formerly “the granary of the world,” and the depot of all the treasures brought from the East Indies, and will probably be so again, now that the overland route to India and the Suez Canal have been opened up. It has greatly declined from its ancient splendor, although many antiquities may still be seen there. It was once nominally a Christian city and an important bishopric, but is now inhabited by persons of all religions. “Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics” of all kinds are to be found there, and true believers are scarce indeed. It is about one of them that I want to tell you. He was the son of an American, and had been brought up a Roman Catholic, a religion which you know (if you have read GOOD NEWS) is a mixture of Judaism, Christianity, and paganism, but chiefly the latter. This strange mixture, which began in the days of Constantine the Great, and was meant to accommodate everybody, is well suited to such a city as Alexandria (a place of much traffic, where traders come and go continually), because the followers of false religions, however gross, will be able to find something to suit them in such a Church, and so can attend its ceremonies when there doesn’t happen to be enough of their own party in the city to form a sect by themselves. Hence it is rightly named the “Catholic” or “universal” Church. Well, the person. I speak of, whom we will call C —, belonged to this Church, but was not happy in it, for God was dealing with his soul in grace, and he was always yearning for peace with Him. One day his wife was taken dangerously ill of cholera, which is often very fatal in Egypt, and, while he was sitting by her dying bed, he fell into a doze, and dreamed that an old man came to him, and, pointing to a Bible that had long lain unopened on a shelf, said, “If you want peace, you must read that Book.” Perhaps his waking thoughts had by grace already wrought this conviction in his soul, and so shaped themselves into this strange dream; yet it is not too much to believe that God, who “spared not His own San, but delivered Him up for us all,” will, in His wondrous grace, stoop to use extraordinary means when ordinary ones are not at hand (Job 33:14-16; Acts 16:9), and that He did so in this case. C — awoke from his dream, greatly wondering, and, after his wife was buried, he took up the Bible, and read it with earnest and solemn attention day and night. Whether it was owing to his constant reading, or to some other cause, I know not, but after a time his sight failed him, and he became blind, and was unable to read any longer. Bat this sad affliction, although it deprived him of the power of reading God’s precious Word, only cast him more fully than ever upon God Himself; and “alone with God,” in darkness and solitude, I doubt not he found the blessed truths he had read engraved more deeply on his heart, as “with an eternal pen.”

The priests of his Church, hearing of his condition, came to him, and tried as usual to compel him to give up his Bible, telling him that his blindness was a judgment from God for reading it, and that, if he ever hoped to have his eyesight restored, he must confess his sin, and bow to the authority of the Church. Bat he replied that he did not believe that he had committed any sin in reading God’s Word, and although he earnestly desired his sight, that he might read. it again, he was ready to submit to the Lord’s will, and rain as he was, rather than give up the Bible. They told him it was a temptation from the devil, and that they were sure he would get worse instead of better, unless he confessed to them and forsook the reading of the Book. Thus these sinful men tried to terrify him into submission, but he by grace continued firm, and declared his belief that God would yet restore him, because he was very anxious, more so than ever, now to read His Word. After trying again and again to turn him from his purpose, all in vain, they gave him up. For about a month he remained blind, and the doctors pronounced him incurable; but he continued to hope in God, and day after day he would hold the Book to his sightless eyes, saying, “O Lord, wilt Thou open mine eyes, that I may continue reading Thy Word?”

Now, you know that when Jesus was on earth He gave sight even to those who had been born blind, nor did He ever cast out any that came to Him. His power is as great now as it was then, and He is just as kind and gracious, for He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever,” and, although He may not always see fit to do all that we ask, it is well to remember that He is unchanged in power and in grace. Poor C — believed this, and so, as he wanted his sight more for the sake of reading God’s Word than anything else, the Lord was pleased to grant his request; perhaps, also, to encourage the hearts of His people to trust Him fully even in the greatest difficulties.

At first all was dark, but by degrees, as C — daily opened the Book, the darkness seemed to grow less and less, and at last he could just distinguish the black lines on the white paper. This condition continued for about a week. You may judge how great his joy was, and how earnestly he persevered in prayer, hoping in God; and, as none ever trusted. Him in vain, his faith and supplications were at last fully answered, and his sight restored.

Thus C — became a monument of the power, grace, and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, and from that time the Lord has been working in him, for him, and through him toward other; as His servant, caring for His interests and His people. We might hope to find that one who had been so remarkably dealt with in answer to prayer would be used of the Lord, as a man of faith, to encourage others, and such would seem to be the case with C—, as the following anecdote will show: —

A man belonging to the Greek Church (which is very similar in its idolatries to the Romish religion) had been brought to Christ, but his wife remained unconverted, and used to mock her husband because he refused any longer to pray to pictures and images, saying she supposed he preferred to pray to the wall and the ceiling. This constant opposition made her husband very unhappy for a long time, but at last (perhaps in answer to his secret prayers) the Lord interposed and laid His hand on the mocker. She became ill, and daily wasted away, growing more and more feeble, until she was reduced to utter helplessness. The doctors pronounced her incurable, and, believing she was about to die, her husband entreated her to allow someone who loved the Lord and. His Word to visit her; but for a long time she would not hear of it, until, having become completely broken down, she consented.

C — was then brought to her bedside, and, having set Christ earnestly before her, he perceived that her soul was reached. Then he and her husband knelt down and prayed for her, and, remembering how wondrously the Lord had restored him when all human means had failed (for how could he ever forget it?), C —asked that, if it were the Lord’s will, she might be healed. On rising to his feet, he inquired of her whether she believed that the Lord could heal her? She answered, “Yes.” “Do you believe,” said he, “that the Lord has heard our prayer?” And again she replied, “Yes.” “Then,” said he, “you had better get up,” and to the joyful astonishment of her husband she did so at once! The husband, laughing for very joy, exclaimed, “Then, as with Peter’s wife’s mother, you had better serve us, and go and make us some coffee,” which she who for so long a time had been utterly prostrate and helpless did, without hesitation or difficulty, being restored to perfect soundness before all, by the Lord’s power and goodness, in simple answer to prayer, nor has she ever since relapsed into helplessness again.

These little narratives, dear young reader, are quite true, and, although they may seem extraordinary, it is, after all, only like Him, “who loved us and gave Himself for us,” to put forth His power on behalf of His people, and for His own glory’s sake, especially now when iniquity abounds, and the satanic marvels of “spiritualism” and the idolatries of Rome and her imitators are increasing daily around us. Surely we may well say, “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work,” and you may depend upon it “He will work, and none shall hinder.” Better still, He will soon come, and then all who love Him shall be with Him forever. Are YOU one of them by faith win His blood which cleanseth from all sin?

"My Head! My Head!"

For the Little Ones.

EARLY in the morning of the first day of the first week in this year, 1876, my little girl came to me and said, “Please tell me a story.” “Yes, my dear,” I replied, “I will, and it shall be a true one out of the Bible.” She was perfectly satisfied with this, and, sitting down, looked up into my face, ready to catch every word and to watch every turn in my countenance as I related the following beautiful history.

There was once a lady, a nice, kind lady, who had only one little boy, and had no little girls. I do not know exactly how old her little boy was, but I should think that he was about six or seven years old, and, as this lady had no other children, she was very, very fond of him. Well, one day — it was a very hot day, in the summer time — he went out to his father, who was in a field of corn not far from the house where they lived. The wheat was quite ripe, and was of a beautiful golden color, and the time was come that it should be cut down, and that the wheat should be carried into the barn, so that afterward it might be ground into flour, and then made into bread for the people in the house to eat. (Here my little girl nodded her head, and looked pleased, as much as to say, “Yes, I understand.”) Well, after the little boy had been some time in the field, looking at the men cutting down the corn with a sort of large knife, called a sickle, he began to feel sick and poorly, and he went to his father, and said to him, “My head! my head” So his father, seeing that the boy was not well, and that the heat of the sun was very great, thought that it would be better for him to be with his mother in the house. Then he said to a boy that was with him in the field, “Carry him to his mother,” and the boy took him up in his arms and carried him as his master had told him.

Now, when the little boy had been brought home to his mother, she plainly saw that he was very ill, and so, like a good, kind mother, as she was, she took her dear boy into her arms, and sat down and comforted him, feeling very sorry that he was so ill. Poor little boy! he did not suffer long, but, having laid in his mother’s arms till near dinnertime, he got worse and worse, and then died. This dear mother felt it very much, as she did not like to lose her little son; just as your ma would cry for you, you know, if you should die. (Here, again, my little girl gave me a nod, as though she understood what I said.)

Well, what do you think the mother then did? She had upstairs in the house a little room where a good man used sometimes to live and sleep. His name was Elisha, and God used to talk to him, and he used to talk to God. This good man was not living and sleeping in the room just then, but was at home in his own house, which was a long way off. The mother then carried the body of her dead child into the little room, and laid it on the bed of Elisha, the man of God. She then left the body there, shut the door of the room, and went out of the house.

Now, the father of the little boy was a rich man, and had several servants and a great number of donkeys; so the mother told him that she wanted to go to the man of God, and to come back again. She then took one of the donkeys, put a saddle on him, and she took a servant with her, and I think that he rode upon another. She told him to drive as fast as he could, and that she would not mind how fast he went. So, after a time, they came in sight of the house of the man of God, and he saw her riding up to his house. He had a man who was his servant, named. Gehazi, and when he saw her riding he said to his servant, “Look, there is that woman coming; I wonder what she wants! Go and ask her what is the matter. Ask her if her husband is well, and if her child is well “And what do you think the mother said? She said, “It is well.” Was not that a strange thing for her to say, when her little boy was dead? But wait a little, and you will see what she meant.

Then, when she reached the house of the man of God, she fell down at his feet, and at first she could not speak to him, because she felt so sorry that her dear child was dead. But she soon felt better, and begged of Elisha to go home with her; and after a little while he went with her. She then took him up into the ram where the child was dead upon the bed. Then he shut the deer, and there was no one in the room but himself and the dead child. Now, as I have said before, Elisha used to speak to God, and so, when he was left alone with the dead child, he asked God to make the life that had gone out of the child to come back again into him. He told God, too, that the mother was very unhappy to be without her little boy, and he asked God to let her have him again, that she might kiss him and love him and still be his comforter. Now, God is very good and kind, and so He cared for the poor mother, and He said to Elisha that she should have her son back again. Then Elisha walked up and down the room a little while, and presently he heard the little boy sneeze. He sneezed one, two, three, four, five, six, seven times. Elisha knew that a dead child could not sneeze; and so, when the child sneezed, he was sure that God was bringing him to life again. Then the child opened his eyes, and Elisha knew that he was alive.

It was not Elisha that made the child sneeze, nor open his, eyes, nor brought him to life again. No, all that he did was to ask God to do it. It was God who did it all, and no one else could do it.

Elisha was very pleased, and thanked God for what He had done. He then opened the door, and told his servant to call the mother, and she soon came, and when she was come into the room he said to her, “Take up thy son,” and he did not have to tell her twice. No, she was now so happy that she kneeled down and gave thanks to God, and then got up and went out of the room with her dear boy. And don’t you think that she kissed him, and cuddled him, and gave him something nice to eat, and loved him even more than she had done before?

While I was telling this beautiful true story to my little girl, much in the same way as I have told it to you, my dear young friends, she was very attentive, and afterward showed that she understood some of it, at least; and she so liked it that on another occasion she asked me to relate it to her again. I will just tell you one of her little remarks upon it. “Did that little boy,” she inquired, “go into the field without his hat?” “I don’t know,” I replied, “but perhaps he did.” “I think he aid,” she said, “because last summer, when it was very hot, you told me not to go into the garden without my hat, for, if I did, my head would be bad. So,” continued she, decisively, “I think that he did go out without his hat.”

Perhaps some of you who are getting up into your teens may think, when you have read this, that I have taken a very childish way of telling it. Well, I have tried to speak to “the little ones” in a simple way, that they may understand; and I would advise you who are older, and who desire to know more of this delightful narrative, to read it carefully for yourselves, as told by the Spirit of God in the second book of Kings, chapter 4, from the eighth to the thirty-seventh verse.

When children now die, it is not the way of God to bring them back to this life. No, but He does something which is much more blessed. If they are believers in Jesus, then, when they fall asleep, as the dying of those who are believers is called, they “depart to be with Christ,” which is “far better” than living in this world, which is one of sin and suffering even to the little ones.

The Bee and the Golden Butterfly.

A Fable for Children.

IN a large and beautiful country garden, where many, many flowers of every color grew and filled the summer air with their sweet scent; where a gold-fish pond smiled in the sunshine and a shell grotto beside it glistened in the noontide heat; where the drowsy murmur of the bees and the tinkling of a fountain told of rural peace and quietude, a golden butterfly flitted from plant to plant, all radiant in the sunlight, like some bright flower on the wing. Hither and thither she sported over the beds, hardly seeming to touch the blossoms as she passed, save where one more sweet than another detained her for a moment on the margin of its scented chalice. But, weary at last of her ceaseless flitting to and fro, she settled down to rest awhile in the shadow of the grotto where the lilies grew. Hardly had she alighted when a musical hum deep within the flower-cup attracted her attention, and, looking down, she spied a wild bee hard at work, and singing to himself meanwhile, as if he greatly enjoyed his pleasant talk.

“What are you doing down there?” asked the butterfly, peeping over the edge of the lily.

“Gathering juice for our hive,” replied the busy bee.

“Why do you carry it to the hive instead of eating it?” inquired the other.

“We turn it into honey,” said the bee, still working while he talked, “and, when our builders have made the cells from the wax we carry in our pockets, we store the honey in them for future use.”

“Store it up!” exclaimed the butterfly, sipping the juice from the lip of the petal she was poised on. “Store it up!” she cried again, turning here and there to look on the world of blossoms all around her. “What can you be thinking of! Look at this garden; did you ever see a richer store than these countless flowers contain? I need no stores — who does? Wax, too! Not for me, thank you! Why, I should never fly again if once I got the sticky stuff about me. Why do you dive so deep and toil so hard to store up that which may be had on every side for the taking I do but touch the blossoms as I pass, and gather all I need, but your task seems never done.”

“And yet it is a pleasant one,” murmured the bee in a musical hum as he busied himself in the scented lily-cup, blithely gathering his tiny load of juice to carry to his hive.

“Pleasant, you call it, do you? How can you say so? For my part, I can see no pleasure in endless toil. What a bustle you are in, buzzing and fussing down there! I declare it makes me quite warm to see you,” she added, fanning herself gently with her beautiful wings. “Why not enjoy your life as I do? All the long summer’s day I roam where I will, basking in the sunshine or resting in the shade. At night I seek a safe retreat in some leafy bower, till the sun shall rise again and dry the dews from leaf and flower, that I may fly unharmed among them. I need no gloomy hive, no cells, no stores, and pity those that do,” she added.

Thus the gay little creature chattered on, idly swinging on the margin of the lily-cup, while the bee labored cheerfully below, hardly heeding what she said.

Fully laden at last with the fruits of his industry, the wild bee rose with a louder hum from the flower to carry his spoils to his home in the woods, where he and his busy mates-had made their hive. But as he passed the golden butterfly he lingered a moment to ask, “What will you do when the flowers fade and winter settles down on all the scene you so delight in?”

“Winter!” exclaimed the other; “what do you mean? What is winter”

“A time of rough winds and stormy skies, an iron-bound earth, and death to all who, like your-self, are unprepared to meet it!” replied the bee, in a sonorous hum, as he darted by on his homeward way.

Dear young reader, God has told us in His Word that judgment is coming on a Christ-rejecting world. That time is near at hand, and all who are out of Christ are unprepared to meet it! All who have believed on Jesus will be taken away before the day of wrath shall come, but the rest will be left (Matt. 25; 2 Thess. 1:6-10).

Reader, have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ?

(To be continued.)

"Near Unto" Joseph. "With the Lord."

(Gen. 45)

LAST month I was telling you of two things Joseph did for his brothers: he told them who he was, and would have them to be where he was. There were also two things they were to do: they were to tell in their own land about his glory, and they were to bring those who belonged to them to be with Joseph in it, as it says in verse 13, “Ye shall tell my father... and bring down my father hither.” They were to make haste about it, too, both in going back home alone, and in coming again with their father and all the rest. It was something like the servants, in the parable of the great supper, sent out to bring people in who should feast upon the good things laid out upon the tables. The master told them to “go out quickly... and bring in hither,” as Joseph here hurries his brethren to go and fetch their father.

Now, it is very nice to see that Joseph, when exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh, still loved his brothers, and would do them good, and have them with him; but how much more wonderful that the Lord Jesus (“He is Lord of all,” and not of Egypt only! should desire and intend to have poor sinners like you and me, to enjoy with Him the happiness of His home forever! And it is so. Three times over in one of the gospels He says, “with me where I am,” and speaks of our being there too! The first time it is the reward He gives to those who serve Him and follow Him. The next time it is the way He comforts those who He knew loved. Him enough to feel lonely and sad when He should have left them. But the last time He speaks of our being with Him it is not for the sake of giving comfort to those who loved Him, but it is the desire of His own heart because of His love to us. He would not be satisfied Himself to be in glory without us, and so He says, “Father, I will (or desire) that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am.” Is not that wonderful? He deserved to be treated far better than Joseph, yet He was treated far worse than ever he was. He is raised up now to far greater “glory” than was ever put upon Joseph or any one else in this world. And yet He does not only say, as Joseph did, “Ye shall be near unto Me,” but He says, “that where I am ye may be also.” And He will not send for us as Joseph did for his father, but He says, “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself.” What precious words, if we have learned at all to love and long for that blessed One who spoke them! He wants us with Himself! He died for us, that we might live together with Him! (1 Thess. 5:10.) And He is coming again to catch up all those who are looking and waiting for Him!

We shall never be “with the Lord” in the way He meant until He has come down from heaven to fetch us (see 1 Thess. 4:16,17). But even while we are in this world there is such a thing as knowing Him, and being near to Him, as to the love of our hearts, while we wait for His coming, that our bodies, too, may be taken up and made like His body of glory (Phil. 3:21). Then we shall behold His glory with our very eyes, but now we look up by faith and say, “We see Jesus crowned with glory and Honor.” We own Him as our Lord, while as yet the world wants to have as little of Him as ever they can. And one reason why we are left in this world is that others, too, may learn through us to believe on Him. He calls sinners to Him still, and He does it by means of those who preach His Gospel, and those who love Him, so as to be glad to speak about Him to others. You see as to Joseph, that he said, “Come near to me, I pray you,” before ever he said a word about their coming to live near him. What a great difference there is between trembling Judah, in chapter 44:18, saying, “I pray thee,” and Joseph, in our chapter, saying, “I pray you!” Well, in the Gospel of the grace of God, it is as if God was doing like Joseph in chapter 45:4. If you read the fifth chapter of the second of Corinthians, you will see, as to those who are sent by God with the message of His grace and love to men, that they “pray “men to be reconciled to God. Paul says it is even as if God Himself was beseeching people by himself and by others not to hold out any longer against God, not to hate Him, and dread Him, and keep at a distance from Him, but that their hearts should turn to Him, and believe the “great love” He has towards them.

The two things, then, which Joseph did are a little picture of what the Saviour in heaven is doing now; and what Joseph’s brothers were told to do may well remind us of what the Lord would have us to be doing, until we are caught up to be “near unto” Him forever. They were to tell of all Joseph’s glory, of all that they had seem. In Acts 26 we read that Paul was to go and tell everybody of those things which he had seen. This is what he did, and the telling out the truth about the glory of Christ was the very thing he called “our Gospel,” “the Gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4). And God used the preaching of the Apostle so that many learned to know Christ for themselves and were brought to enjoy Christ Himself, and His love, and the good things He gives, as Joseph’s brethren told about him, his kindness, and his greatness, so that every one of the whole large family was brought right away from the land of famine into the land of plenty, where Joseph, their best friend, had it all his own way, and did them nothing but good. We cannot be apostles, dear little children, like Paul was, but we can all tell something about Jesus to someone, and, if God blesses it, they may be brought to Jesus themselves. Let us ask the Lord to help us in doing this, so that we may be for Him like the brothers were about Joseph in this chapter in Genesis.

W. TY.

Going to School.

AT morn, as I walk to the toil of the day,

As all through the year is my rule,

With pleasure I meet, as I haste on my way,

Some children who’re going to school.

We nod to each other, and smile as we pass —

A language by each understood —

And one is my darling, a sweet little lass,

Who smiles ‘neath a bright scarlet hood.

Her brother protects her — a fine noble boy,

Whose bearing is brave as can be;

The sight of them both gives my bosom a joy,

And causes its shadows to flee.

And oft I in heart all the children commend

To God, who is gracious and good,

And specially think of my dear little friend,

The lass with the bright scarlet hood.

The young I can love, but there’s ONE above all,

Whose love never fails nor is cool,

Who laid down His life both for great and for small,

For children at home and at school,

He welcomes you all; let Him call not in vain,

But heed Him, as surely ye should;

Though rich or though poor, dressed in clothes fine or plain,

Or wearing a bright scarlet hood.

Dictionary of the Bible.

Ezri (help of the Lord). — Son of Chelub, whom David placed over them that did the work of the field (1 Chron. 1:26).

Fair Havens. — The name of a Harbor in Crete, on the south shore, into which the vessel that carried Paul on his way to Rome put in, but which was again abandoned as too exposed for wintering in (Acts 27:8-12). The name still remains in modern Greek, Kalos Limenas, so that there is no doubt of the particular place meant by it.

Father. —This term is variously applied in Scripture, and occurs in modes of expression which are not quite usual in European languages: ―1, of the immediate male parent; 2, of the more remote parents or ancestors; 3, of one occupying somewhat of the position, and exercising to some extent the authority, of a father, as Joseph to Pharaoh (Gen. 14:8), or Naaman to his servant (2 Kings 5:13). It is also extended to all who in any respect might be said to originate or have power over any object or persons. For example, the inventor of an art was called its father, or the father of those who practiced it. Jubal, “the father of such as dwell in tents” (Gen. 4:20, 21). Abba is the Chaldaic form of the Hebrew word for father. In New Testament Scripture it occurs in addresses to God; once by the Lord Jesus (Mark 14:36), and twice by the Apostle Paul (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6), which seems as if nothing but the familiar and endeared expression could adequately express the feelings of the heart. In the two passages referred to from St. Paul’s writings the use of the expression is regarded as a mark of the filial confidence and liberty belonging to Christians. It is remarkable that while in Old Testament times the Lord revealed Himself as a Father to Israel, even called Israel His firstborn, and led them to address Him by the corresponding title, as in Jeremiah 3:4, “Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, Thou art the Guide of my youth?” yet in reality the Old Testament saints never appear to have done so. Not even in the Psalms, with all the fullness and fervency of their devotional breathings, does the suppliant rise to the true filial cry of “Abba, Father.” The spirit of bondage, to some extent, rested upon the soul, and repressed the freedom of its intercourse with God. By the “Our Father,” also, at the commencement of the Lord’s Prayer, He puts this endearing appellation into the mouth of all His disciples, as by the freedom of access to the holiest, which He provided for them by His blood, He rendered the use of it suitable to their condition. Most fitly, therefore, is the “ABBA, FATHER,” given by the Apostle Paul as the distinctive symbol or index of the true Christian relation: “And because ye are sons, God path sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant but a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

The word “father” occurs but a very few times in the Old Testament as applied to God, and these chiefly as Creator, where it is otherwise to His people Israel. “Thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn” (Ex. 4:22, 23; Deut. 32:6; Isa. 63:16; 64:8; Jer. 31:9). Paul, in speaking to the idolatrous Athenians, tells them that, as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto silver or stone, graven by art and man’s device (Acts 17:29). The common notion of the universal Fatherhood of God is an erroneous one, and has no foundation in Scripture, for no one now can truly call God Father but those who are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26; John 1:11-13; John 8:42).

Answers to Bible Questions for January.

1. “Birth.” “And the angel said unto them, Fear not for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10, 11). “Agony.” “And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him.. And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly” (Luke 22:43, 44). “Death.” “And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias: who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:30, 31). “Resurrection.” “And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here for He is risen, as He said” (Matt. 28:5, 6). “Ascension.” “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel” (Acts 1:10). “Worship.” Let all the angels of God worship Him” (Heb. 1:6; Rev. 5:11). “Second coming.” “The Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He shall reward every man according to his works” (Matt. 16:27). “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26).

2. Ungodly (Rom. 4:5).

3. To know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3; 6:47-55; 1 John 5:11-13).

4. “And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee; for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee” (Psa. 9:10).

5. He understandeth the Word and beareth fruit (Matt. 13:23).

6. Because the Lord was his Shepherd (Psalm 23:1).

7. (Proverbs 1:10).

8. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant” (Psalm 25:14).

L. L. and B. E. L.

Answer to Bible Enigma for January.

“Come unto Me.” — Matthew 11:28.

“Come unto Me,” ye weary ones,

With sin and guilt oppressed,

“Come unto Me,” the Saviour says,

And I will give you rest.

L. L.

Bible Questions for February.

1. Give six Scriptures that speak of the sluggard, and eight with the word slothful.

2. What are they called who mock at sin?

3. Show what may be the result of accusing a servant to his master.

4. Give one Scripture which exhorts servants to be obedient and not to answer again.

5. The Proverbs inform us how a foolish man may be known. Give chapters and verses where he is described.

6. What is said of liars in Revelation?

7. Give the Scripture which says that the cross set aside the handwriting of ordinances.

8. Give one text from Ephesians and one from Colossians which say believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are NOW risen and made to sit in heavenly places in Him,

Bible Enigma for February.

Whoso son was raised by Christ’s almighty power?

What “friend of God” proved faithless in a trying hour?

Now tell his name whose parent from the land of Egypt came,

Who cast a luster on a mother’s name?

On whose behalf did Paul the Apostle plead?

Who wept and prayed and for God’s city supplication made?

Whose life was saved that many might rejoice?

Who for the ruined temple raised his voice?

Who did with Baal’s prophets long contend?

To whom did Abram prove the firmest friend?

Who feared to tell the king the prophet’s word?

Where dwelt the judge so faithful to the Lord?

And who, though oft by Satan’s wiles deceived,

A man of God’s own heart the name received?

The initial letters form a Scripture exhortation

To all who have eternal life, yet work out their salvation.

The Saviour's Voice.

FROM heaven the Lard and Saviour speaks.

Oh, listen? He your blessing seeks;

He calls you to Himself above,

And says, in accents breathing love:

“Oh, flee to Me from all alarms:

Come, children, to My heart and arms.

“On Calv’ry’s cross I how’d My head,

‘Twas there My precious blood was shed;

Myself I gave for old and young,

For such as ye, from Adam sprung;

I save from sin and all its harms:

Come, children, to My heart and arms.

“The world, with its ensnaring smiles,

The simple heart of youth beguiles;

It promises a path of joy,

But flatters only to destroy.

Oh, leave its false, delusive charms,

And come ye to My heart and arms.

“Though young in years, ye’ve felt the smart

Of sorrow and an evil heart;

And something know ye of the fruit

Of sin, that deep and bitter root.

Oh, fear ye Judgment’s loud alarms,

And hasten to My heart and arms.”

"I so Happy!"

ONE day a little boy was playing with his toys, when at last he said, in a quiet tone, as if giving utterance to that which was passing in His own mind, “I so happy! I so happy!” On his mother inquiring what it was that made him so happy, he said, “I been thinking Jesus up in heaven love me. I love Jesus so much. Jesus love Harry.”

About Pharaoh and Joseph's Brothers.

(Gen. 45)

JOSEPH was ruler over all Egypt, but Pharaoh was king of Egypt, and it was he who had given Joseph all the power and glory he enjoyed. So it might have been that Pharaoh would not care to have such a lot of people belonging to Joseph to come and live in his country. He might have said, “You know I made a great man of you, Joseph, because you told me my dreams, and I could see you were a clever man, and God was with you; but what have all your brothers done for me that we should be burdened with them and all their families now that no corn is growing in the fields, or likely to for the next five years?” But, instead of talking so, we find that, when he heard what had taken place, “it pleased Pharaoh well,” and he was not only willing that all Joseph’s friends should come and live there, but he even told Joseph to send “wagons out of the land of Egypt “to fetch them! It turned out that, in the goodness of God, Joseph had been sent into Egypt, not only to “save their lives,” but, as it were, to prepare a place for them, that where he was they might be also. And now they were not to be at the expense of going either. They had not to hire vans or carriages to take them and their wives and their little ones, but just to ride in comfort in Pharaoh’s wagons, and eat corn, and wheat, and bread from Egypt all the way. And the great king, whose corn and whose land it all was, seemed as hearty as Joseph himself in getting the poor folks away from the land of famine, and to the land of plenty.

Now, you know, dear children, it was the Lord Jesus who spoke of not only saving “that which was lost,” but preparing a place for those who are saved; and it might be thought, if the precious Scriptures did not tell us different, that God the Father took no particular interest in our being saved and blessed. He took His dear Son to heaven, it is true, when we (or people like us) had put Him to death and buried Him, but that does not say that He would like to have us in heaven too. If it pleased Jesus for us to be there, His Father might be willing; but does He — the very God against whom we have sinned — does He Himself desire that we should be forever near Him, where there is “fullness of joy”?

There is a way of thinking about God as if it was not so — as if God loved us in some way less than the Lord Jesus does. Some people think that all the love for sinners is in the heart of Jesus, and that it is by His death that God is brought to love us and to be willing for us to come to heaven. But it is a very great mistake to think so, and those who have such thoughts never know what it is to be really happy with God. They are afraid of Him, and look upon the Lord Jesus as a sort of screen between them and God, so that they may be hidden from His angry face. But, if we read and simply believe what God says in His Word, we shall be saved from all such notions. And I want just to remind you of a few passages which will show you what I mean. I cannot say very much to you about them now, but I would have you read them for yourselves, and think over them, asking the Lord to help you to understand and enjoy them. The first three are:

“God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9).

“God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:12).

“The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory” (1 Peter 5:10).

From all these we learn that, as Pharaoh called for Joseph’s brothers and their families to dwell in his land and to be near Joseph, so the blessed God Himself has “called” those who believe in His dear Son to be in the same family with Him even now, and in the same glory with Him forever. And so, if it is the Lord Jesus who speaks to us about “many mansions” in His Father’s house, it is God who marked us out, before the world was, to be made like Christ in glory, that He might be the Firstborn among “many brethren.” Again, it is God who is bringing “many sons” unto glory, as we read in the second chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews and from the first few verses of that to the Ephesians we learn why He has done all this. We see as to Joseph’s brothers in our chapter that it was not they who asked Pharaoh to let them come and live in Egypt, and it was not Joseph who asked him either, but it was Pharaoh’s own thought. “It pleased Pharaoh well,” and he said what was to be done. But is it not wonderful that, when we read in Ephesians 1:5 about God’s purpose to make us His children, we see it was because it gave Him pleasure to do so? He would have us to know Himself as Jesus does, and to be as near to Him as Jesus is, and He tells us He does it “according to the good pleasure of His will” (see also verses 9,10, and 11). It is a great blessing for us, but it is not because we have asked Him that He shows such grace; and it is only through the death of Christ that He can do it without giving up His holiness; yet it is not said to be because even the Lord Jesus asks for it that we are to be forever before Him and around Him. The gracious God finds pleasure in it Himself, and that is why He does it. Think of it, dear young reader, and may God make this wonderful grace of His to be more precious than ever both to you and to me.

W. TY.

Too Late!

ONLY a few days ago a young man was engaged with others in threshing corn by machine. He was, I am sorry to say, an unconverted person, if common report is to be believed, and not only so, but some say that he was one of those who even doubt that the Bible is God’s Word. I do not vouch for this, and hope it is not true, but there are too many in these days who laugh at solemn subjects, not only in large towns, but even in quiet rural places, where there are fewer temptations to evil, and where one somehow expects to find at least more reverence for the Word of God, although, of course, the heart is the same everywhere. These are “scoffers walking after their own lusts” (2 Peter 3), and, even though that prophecy in Peter refers to Jewish, scoffers, it is true, also, as a “sign of the times” of the Gentiles. Just when judgment, tong foretold, is at hand to come, these scoffers, who, as if in self-mockery of their unreasoning madness and folly, call themselves “rationalists,” abound, and are on the increase everywhere.

Well, whether it be true or not that the young man I speak of actually disbelieved the Bible, and feared not the judgment to come, makes little difference; there are too many who do, and his terrible fate is a solemn warning to all such, and, indeed, to every sinner out of Christ. He was on the top of the machine, handling the sheaves, when a poor mouse that had been hiding in the corn sprang out. Full of fun and frolic, he stepped backwards, with a shout of merriment, to catch it, when in an instant his laughter was turned to a cry of terrible agony! Forgetting at the moment that the hole into the interior of the machine was just behind him, he plunged his foot right into it, and in an instant more his leg was caught, drawn in, and torn right out of its socket at the hip! His fearful cry startled all around him, the machine was stopped, and he was lifted down, but it was too late. Such agony could not be borne, and the poor young man, who but a few moments before was in health and full of merriment, was in eternity! His spirit passed beside that engine from earth, and all its sins and follies, into the unseen world. “At an instant, suddenly,” he was gone, and “God, the Judge of all,” alone doth know what his condition now is. Whether he had a moment given him to cry to Jesus, none can know; but you, reader, have, and to you this poor young man “being dead yet speaketh.” He warns you from his early grave, and by his death of agony, to “repent towards God,” to judge yourself as in God’s presence, into which You may as suddenly plunge, of all your wickedness, and “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” whose “blood cleanseth from all sin,” and can alone save you from judgment. Be not deceived; whether you believe in a hell and a judgment to come or not will not alter the fact one whit. Your belief or disbelief makes no manner of difference to any but yourself. If you chose to believe that there were no prisons, no magistrates, no police, would that do away with them? Far from it; it would rather be the most likely way to get yourself into trouble, for your disbelief would lead you to do things that would speedily end in punishment. And so it is with those who scoff at God’s Word and the judgment to come. He has said, “AFTER DEATH THE JUDGMENT;” whether you like to believe it or not, He has not asked you; but, if you disbelieve it, you are as sure to come into judgment as God is true. If, on the other hand, you will believe it, then, in His mercy to your sin-stained soul, He has offered you salvation from it by the blood of Christ. Listen, then, to the cry of agony that rang out from that terrible death-bed on the threshing machine, and “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

“Now is the accepted time; behold, Now is the day of salvation.” The very next hour that strikes on the old church clock may be TOO LATE!

Danger and Deliverance; the Blessing of Obedience.

SEE that train of carriages speeding its rapid course along the railway, borne along by the fearful force of the steam-engine. A boy is standing, unconscious of danger, in the direct line by which the train, traveling at this tremendous rate, must shortly pass. And oh! mark the father of that dear boy — a pointsman on the railway — who sees too late the peril in which his son is placed. It is useless now for him to signal to the engine driver to stop or check the speed of the train. And then his child is at too great a distance from him to give him time to run and snatch him off the line. And, if he should call to him to run away quickly, he fears that with the heedlessness of childhood he will fall on the rail, and thus get under the wheels of the carriages. Poor unhappy father! what can he do Is there no way of saving the life of his dear boy? Must he see his son perish before his eyes? With the quickness of perception which his experience gives him, and with the energy with which love for his child animates him, he sees one possible way of escape. But will the child take that way? That is the question. There is, however, no time to deliberate. If the father acts, he must act immediately. He therefore calls to his boy in a loud and authoritative tone of voice, desiring him to lie down at full length in the middle of the railway, just where he is. And oh! — beautiful to relate — the boy unhesitatingly obeys his father’s direction, and in a moment the train dashes on its way over the prostrate child. He quietly keeps his position until the train has passed, when the father has the great joy of receiving his dear boy, not only alive, but entirely free from injury.

You may perhaps think, my dear young friends, that this is a piece of imagination, but I assure you that it is not. It is only a representation of an occurrence which was related some time ago as having actually taken place. It is a beautiful instance — is it not? — of what an earnest and loving father will do for his child in a time of dreadful danger. But oh! mark especially that the boy, under the mercy of God, owed his life to his unwavering obedience to his father. If he had for a moment hesitated in submitting to his direction, his life would have paid the forfeit. In this instance, at least, he acted as a wise child. He heard his father’s voice — he obeyed — and his life was preserved. One can only hope that he continues to honor and obey his father, to whose love and ready judgment he is so much indebted.

Might not each young reader say to himself or herself, “Well, here’s a lesson for me”? God has at all times set a great value upon the obedience of children to their parents, and upon their honoring their father and mother. The fifth commandment, which He gave by Moses to His people Israel, is a plain declaration of this. It is called in the New Testament “the first commandment with promise,” the promise being that the days of those who honored father and mother should “be log upon the land,” that is, in Canaan. This cannot, of course, be your case, dear children, but it shows us that God has from the first attached a special blessing to the honoring of parents. And He plainly teaches and exhorts children who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and who are, therefore, “children of God,” as well as children of their parents, to “obey parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.” I have selected a few of the passages from the Word of God on this important subject, to which, as I have given references, I hope each young reader will turn, and may God grant them His rich blessing in the perusal: — Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 21:18-21; Proverbs 1:7-9; 4:1-4; 6:20-23; Matthew 15:4; Luke 2:51, 52; Ephesians 6:1-3; Colossians 3:20.

Will you also kindly read the whole of the fifteenth chapter of the first book of Samuel, taking special notice of the twenty-second verse? How blessedly the Lord Jesus, “in the days of His flesh,” spoke of and manifested His obedience to His Father These are a few of His precious words: “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in ‘Thy sight.” “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be done.” “I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father, which hath sent Me.” “I do always those things that please Him.” “I have glorified Thee on the earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.”

Did you notice, dear child, that there was but one way by which the life of the boy on the railway could be preserved? If he had not taken, and taken instantly, that one and only way, he must have perished. And did you observe another thing — that his life was saved simply by his acting in obedience to his father’s command? If he had only listened to his words, and had not acted on them, he must have been dashed to pieces. Now, you have been truly taught that God has only one way of saving sinners, and, young though you be, you know that you are a sinner. You have often heard the precious words, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And concerning “the name of Jesus Christ” it is written, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” Have you, then believed in Him who bears that name? Have you trusted in Him and His precious blood? If you have, then you have everlasting life, and will never perish. But, if you have not believed in Him, I would, with all the earnestness with which the father urged his dear boy to escape from certain destruction, entreat you to delay no longer, but to come to Jesus NOW, that you may not perish, but have everlasting life.

The incident above related occurred in Prussia, and it is recorded that the king, on being made acquainted with it, was so pleased with the promptitude shown by the father in such trying circumstances that he sent for him and presented him with a medal of honor in testimony of his approbation.

"Where Hast Thou Gleaned Today?"

(Ruth 2)

My soul, where hast thou gleaned today?

In Truth’s ripe harvest field?

The Lord thy search doth well repay,

And makes it blessing yield.

My soul,

He makes it blessing yield.

Hast thou, with meek and lowly mind,

Like earnest, cleaving Ruth,

Thyself prepar’d to seed: and find

Some ears of precious Truth?

My soul,

Some ears of precious Truth?

In weakness hast thou firmly clung

To Him, thy Strength and Lord?

What utt’rance gave His gracious tongue?

What word canst thou record?

My soul,

What word canst thou record?

Thou didst but look for scatter’d ears,

The droppings of the sheavas,

But he that firm to Christ adheres

Abundame e’er receives.

My soul,

Abundance e’er receives.

Hast thou close by the reapers kept,

With those who’re pure and chaste?

From tempting paths with prudence stepped?

His holy footsteps traced?

My soul,

His holy footsteps traced?

Hast thou thy morsel eaten up

In company divine?

And did He bless thy sober cup

With taste of heavenly wine?

My soul,

With taste of heavenly wine?

If with Himself thou art suffic’d,

And fill’d with grace and truth,

Hast thou no word to say of Christ

To weary age and youth?

My soul,

To weary age and youth?

The Bee and the Golden Butterfly.

A Fable for Children.

THE golden butterfly, born of a chrysalis, which was once a caterpillar, had never seen a winter. From the moment that she sprang on her untried wings into the light she had known only summer’s gladness, or if, perchance, a shower drove her to retreat beneath some broad leaf, it was but to find, when the sun shone out again, the flowers glistening with rain drops, and all the sweeter afterward when his rays had dried their tears.

“Winter! what is winter?” (Matt. 13:19) she asked as she hovered aimlessly over the sunlit fish-pond, where rays of light from the grotto gleamed like diamonds set in shells; where the martagon lilies stooped over their own shadows in the water, and turned the limpid waves to scarlet, while the gold-fish basked beneath them, and the birds, too warm to sing or fly, sat leisurely pluming themselves in the ferns that sprang from the mimic rock where the fountain played.

“Who in their senses would believe in winter and flowers fading?” (Acts 13:40, 41) she added as she flitted again on her radiant wings amid the fragrant blossoms. “Where were all the wild bee’s wits, I wonder? Waxed up, I suppose, as they may well be when half his time is spent in storing honey in the gloomy cells he spoke of. Poor plodding thing! how I pity the folly that is ever thinking of a winter that will never come, instead of enjoying the present as I do,” she continued, tasting a honeysuckle and kissing a rose (Eccl. 11:9). As she touched the latter, its petals fell awl strewed the garden bed. “Ah, well,” said she, “if that is all he meant by flowers fading, who cares? Where one falls many take its place; for these rosebuds are opening even now, and there are more buds than blossoms on this one rose tree. What matters it if here or there a full-blown flower falls, so that my enjoyments grow no less?” (Isa. 56:12.)

Yet still that sonorous hum with which the wild bee sped on his homeward way would ring in her ears, and, in spite of her efforts to disbelieve in the coming time foretold (2 Thess. 1:7-10), those solemn words, “death to all who like yourself are unprepared to meet it,” clung to her memory and made her tremble (Acts 24:25). “What an unfeeling speech, to be sure!” she whimpered, “but it is like a bee, he always bears a sting! Perhaps, after all, he only said it to annoy me. I will ask my cousin the caterpillar what she thinks of it,” and fluttering over the garden fence she went careering down the shady lane, now high above the hedges, now down below; now on this side, now on that; until at last, in her rambling flight, she spied a caterpillar feeding on a leaf, and, settling down beside her, asked abruptly,

“When will winter come?”

“Winter!” exclaimed the caterpillar, looking up in some surprise, “what makes you think of winter?”

“The wild bee says it is coming,” replied the golden butterfly, “and that it will be a time of rough winds and stormy skies, an iron-bound earth, and death to all who are unprepared to meet it” (Rom. 2:8, 9), she added, quoting his words exactly.

“Pooh, pooh, my dear, don’t heed his nonsense!” cried the other. “In all my experience (she was some weeks older than her neighbor, having been hatched by the sun in early spring from a butterfly’s egg on a leaf) — in all my experience I never heard of such a terrible time, and don’t believe a word of it” (Prov. 28:5).

“Just as I supposed,” exclaimed the heedless creature, gleefully; “just as I supposed he only said it to annoy me.”

“Envy, my dear, envy!” suggested the caterpillar, soothingly. “Your glorious wings, the happy life you lead (ah, met I would that mine were like it!), might well contrast painfully with his own poor suit of sober brown and life of ceaseless toil. Depend upon it, the spiteful bee was envious of your happiness, and wanted to destroy it” (Prov. 29:5); and, satisfied with her own conclusions, the caterpillar set to work to saw round holes in quick succession in the leaf she stood upon.

Delighted with her flattery, and glad to be built up in unbelief, the butterfly thanked her cousin warmly, and, mounting again on her golden wings, took her way back to the garden (Heb. 3:13).

The sun was setting as she entered it again, and the grotto, the fish-pond, and the flower-beds were all aglow with golden light. It trembled in the rain drops that hung on leaf and blossom, it sparkled from the shells, and turned the quiet waters into flame. The birds were warbling their evening chorus; loud and long it chimed with the refrain of the tinkling fountain; and the mingled scent of a thousand blossoms went up like incense to the summer’s sky.

“Winter, indeed!” cried the jubilant butterfly bounding over the lofty hedge, and plunging at once into this sea of beauty, light, and fragrance. “Winter, indeed! Who will now believe the gloomy dreamer’s words? ‘A time of rough winds and stormy skies, an iron-bound earth,’ and so forth. Ha! ha! it looks like it truly! Upon the word of a golden butterfly, that bee deserves — well, he deserves the misery his gloom and envy, prompt him to foretell so readily for others” (Gal. 4:16); and so saying she sought a snug retreat in a jessamine bower, where, safe from the piercing eye of the night-hawk, she settled her wings till she looked like a flower growing from the middle of a leaf, and slept through the short summer night. The midges kept high revelry as they danced up and down beneath the twilit boughs to the grasshopper’s song and the evening beetle’s drone, the pale moth flitted among the shadows, and the, fire-fly, sitting in the grass, lent her light to the numberless tiny creatures that sported in the gloom or fed on the herbage around her (Matt. 24:38, 39; 1 Thess. 5:3).

(Concluded (D. V.) next month.)

The Poor Debtor.

I WANT to tell you a true story about a poor man who lives in a country town not many miles from London, who, having been ill and out of work, was unable to pay his rates. The money bad been demanded in vain, and at last an execution summons was issued and placed in the hands of the superintendent of police whose duty it was to put it in force. Law knows no pity, and the law in this case was that, unless the money were paid, the man’s goods were to be seized, and, if there were not sufficient goods to clear all the expenses, the poor man would have to go to prison.

The superintendent was a kind-hearted man, and at the entreaties of the debtor had repeatedly put off executing the warrant; but at last the time came when it could be put off no longer, and the only answer he could make to the poor man’s prayer for time was, “Well, J —, I will wait till to-morrow, and then I must have money or goods, or you must go to prison.” The poor debtor, who had hoped day after day for returning health and work in vain, went away broken-hearted, for he felt it would be utterly impossible for him to meet the demand. I am sure you will pity him, for he was willing and even anxious to pay, but had no power to do so, nor any hope of having it. How much this poor debtor’s case reminds one of the poor anxious sinner who knows he has “come short of the glory of God,” yet can do nothing to pay the terrible debt he owes to God. Grace has shown him from God’s Word that he is a debtor — a sinner; he hopes to become better, but the longer he waits the worse his case becomes. Judgment awaits him, and he knows it, and every day brings him nearer to it; there is no escape if his deliverance is to depend on himself, for he can no more do anything to help himself than this poor debtor. Well, while the superintendent was speaking to the poor man, a rich person was standing by and overheard all that was said, and, as the officer walked away, he followed him, remarking, “It seems a very sad case.”

“It is,” replied the superintendent, “the man would pay if he could, but I know he cannot.’’

On hearing this, the gentleman took out his purse, paid all demands, and set the debtor free.

You may guess the joy of the poor man when, instead of having his home made desolate and himself a prisoner, as he fully expected on the much-dreaded “to-morrow,” he heard, “THE DEBT IS PAID!” Don’t you think he believed it? No doubt of it, for he was only too glad to do so; yet how often it happens that even when a person is anxious about his sins he still refuses to believe God, who tells him, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin” (1 John 1); he still hesitates to take Jesus at His word, although He says, “It is finished!” (John 19); he goes on doubting the testimony of the Holy Ghost, who declares of all who look to Jesus, “Their sins and iniquities WILL I REMEMBER NO MORE” (Heb. 10.).

The poor man would hardly so insult the kind superintendent as to doubt his word when he told him that the debt was all paid, yet how many thus insult the God of all grace day after day although He tells them in so many ways in His Word that His blessed Son has “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26), and that, therefore, they have nothing whatever to do but only to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and they shall be saved!” The poor man, you know, did nothing whatever towards paying the debt; it was all done for him by another. Now, “this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” and He has DONE ALL for them; so that “whosoever will” may “take the water of life freely,” and thus believe and be happy like THE POOR DEBTOR.

Dictionary of the Bible.

“Feasts of Charity,” or Love Feasts. — The early, Christians congregated together to partake of a common meal, which were called love feasts (Jude 12).

Felix Antonius. — A freeman of the Emperor Claudius Felix, was governor of Judea at the time of St Paul’s seizure and imprisonment at Jerusalem.

The precise period of his appointment to that prince is involved in obscurity.

Ferret. — One of the animals forbidden to be eaten by the Israelites. It is impossible to say what animal is intended by this word, as an appellation. It occurs only in Leviticus 11:30; but the same word and its root occur repeatedly elsewhere, and always with the signification of crying, sighing, or groaning. Some animal of minute size, reckoned among the “creeping things” which has the habit of crying out, must be looked for.

Festus Portius. — The successor of Felix in the government of Judea. He received his appointment from Nero, and held it till his death, which was not long after. He is mentioned in connection with the case of the Apostle Paul, which was brought under his notice shortly after his arrival at Caesarea. He was a man of superior character to Felix, and would, in all probability, have set Paul at liberty if he had understood precisely what the question at issue was, and what were the aims and tactics of Paul’s opponents. But being ignorant of these, and having proposed, after a brief and partial hearing of the case; to have the matter transferred for a fuller hearing to Jerusalem, Paul, well foreseeing what advantage would be taken of such a course, appealed to Cæsar.

This he had a right to do as a Roman citizen, and Festus had no alternative but to sustain the appeal (Acts 24; 27:25). The only further notice we have of him is in respect to the visit paid him shortly after by Agrippa and Bernice, during which he took occasion to mention the case of Paul, and, finding it would be agreeable to his distinguished guests, he gave the Apostle an opportunity of declaring his case in the audience of the whole court. He was himself astonished at what he heard; but conceiving all to proceed from the fervors of a heated imagination, aided by the dreamy speculations of Eastern lore, he said to Paul, “Thou art beside thyself: much learning doth make thee mad,” which drew forth the spirited and striking reply, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.”

Fig Tree. — The Hebrew word “Teenah and the Greek word “Syce” or “Syce,” are translated fig and fig tree in Scripture. The tree is characterized by its fruit, which is formed by an enlarged succulent hollow receptacle, containing the flowers in its interior. The flowers of the fig tree are never apparent to the eye, but are contained in those fruit-like bodies produced on the axils of the leaves, and it is not till one of these is opened that the flowers are visible. What is, therefore, termed the fruit is merely the receptacle become fleshy, and assuming the form of a hollow body, bearing on the interior the flowers or fruit of the fig. The fig is the first tree mentioned by name in Scripture (Gen. 3:7). The fig-tree is employed to indicate the peace and prosperity of a nation (1 Kings 4:25; Mic. 4:4).

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, wished the inhabitants of Jerusalem to surrender, and said, “Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree” (2 Kings 18:31; Isa. 36:16). Figs constitute an important article of food in Eastern countries, and are eaten both in a fresh and dried condition. In the latter state they are spoken of as being made into cakes, called “debelim.”

Abigail brought two hundred cakes of figs to David and his men (1 Sam. 25:18), and the armies that came to David in Hebron brought cakes of figs (1 Chron. 12:40). A piece of a cake of figs was given to the Egyptian who was found in a famishing state in the field (1 Sam. 30:12). Good and, bad figs are used by Jeremiah as emblems of good and evil (Jer. 24). The failure, destruction, and falling of the figs are mentioned as indications of the judgments of the Lard (Psa. 105:33; Isa. 34:1; Jer. 5:17; 8:13; Hos. 2:12; Joel 1:7,12; Rev. 6:13). Figs were used (and are still) as a laxative, and are most conducive to health.

Thus Isaiah ordered a lump of figs to be laid on the boil with which Hezekiah was afflicted, and he recovered (2 Kings 20:7; Isa. 38:21). It appears from this Scripture they were used as a poultice.

Different crops of figs are produced during the year. Early figs appeared in spring (Jer. 24:2).

Isaiah, Hosea, and Nahum refer to the early or first ripe figs, or the hasty fruits before the summer (Isa. 28:4; Hosea 9:10; Nah. 3:12). The early green fruit is alluded to in the Song of Solomon 2:13. Besides the forward figs of spring, there were also summer and autumn figs. When Jesus was proceeding from Bethany, He hungered, and when He saw a fig tree, in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon but leaves only (Matt. 21:18, 19).

The period was early, and, according to Mark, “the time of figs was not yet” (Mark 11:13); still, as the tree was in full leaf, it might have been expected that some early figs would have been found. Finding no appearance whatever of fruit, however, the Lord said to the tree, “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever; and presently the fig tree withered away.”

Answer to Bible Questions for February.

1. “Sluggard.” “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise” (Prov. 6:6). “How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep” (vs. 9.) “As vinegar to the teeth, and as stroke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him” (10: 26). “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat” (13:4). “The sluggard will not plow by season of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing” (20:4). “The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason” (26:16). “Slothful.” “The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious” (12:27). “The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain” (15:19). “He that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster” (18:9). “A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again” (19:24). “The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labor” (21:25). “The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets” (22:13). “I went by the field of the slothful,” &c. (24:30). “As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed” (26:14).

2. “Fools make a mock at sin” (Prov. 14:9).

3. “Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty” (Prov. 30:10).

4. “Exhort servants to be obedient to their own masters, and to please them well in all things, not answering again” (Titus 2:9).

5. Proverbs 10:18, 23; 13:16; 14:3, 8, 16; 15:5,14, 20; 17:12,16; 18:2, 6, 7; 23:9; 24:7; 27:3; 29:11. We read in Ecclesiastes, “A fool’s voice is known by the multitude of words” (vs. 3). Read also 10:12-14.

6. That they “shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8). That they shall in no wise enter into the New Jerusalem (21:27; 22:15).

7. “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross” (Col. 2:14; Eph. 2:15,16).

8. “And hath, raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). “Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead” (Col. 2:12).

M. A.

Answer to Bible Enigma for February.

“Wait on the Lord.” — Psa. 27:14.

W idow indeed was the one at Nain, (Luke 7:12)

Whose son Christ raised to life again.

A braham said of his wife, through fear, (Gen. 12:12; 12:9)

That she was his sister, which cost him dear.

I shmael was Hagar the Egyptian’s son, (Gen. 16:15 ; 21:9)

Who from her mistress’s house did run.

T imothy learned at his mother’s knee (2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15)

The Scriptures, which ever oar guide should be.

O nesimus was pleaded for by one (Philem.,10)

Who loved and cared for him as his son.

N ehemiah wept, and was sorely moved (Neh. 1:5; 2:3)

For the city of God, which he greatly loved.

T abitha sat up when she heard Peter’s voice, (Acts 9:40, 41)

Which made the widows and saints rejoice.

H aggai raised his voice, and prayed (Hag. 2:3, 4)

For the temple, which in ruins laid.

E lijah proved that Bail was stone, (1 Kings 18:25)

And Israel’s God was God alone.

L of found in Abraham a friend indeed, (Gen. 14:13, 16)

Who helped him in his greatest need.

O badiah feared to tell. Elijah’s word, (1 Kings 9:12)

Lest Ahab should slay him by the sword.

R araah, where Samuel, the prophet of God, (1 Sam. 7:17)

Judged Israel, and made his abode. (Acts 13:22)

D avid escaped, when Saul at him aimed, (1 Sam. 13:14;

“Man after God’s own heart” was he named.

“Wait on the Lord,” ye fearful saints,

Sufficient is His word;

For strength He gives to those who faint,

Oh, “wait, then, on the Lord.”

L. L.

Bible Questions for March.

1. Give one Scripture where men were blamed by God for clapping their hands and stamping their feet.

2. Give three Scriptures which speak of the Christian’s head, two of which inform us how it is to be adorned.

3. What does Scripture say sinners would not do, though one rose from the dead and went to them?

4. Give Scripture which speaks of Joseph being hurt with fetters and laid in iron.

5. Give chapter and verse which speak of the Lord “hearing the heavens,” and they hearing the earth, and the earth hearing the corn and the wine and the oil, and the three last hearing Jezreel.

6. Give the Scripture which says, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me”

7. Give two texts where Jesus spoke of Himself as being in heaven when he was here on earth.

8. Give Scripture which tells us that the disciples did not pray to God in the name of Jesus while He was upon earth.

Bible Enigma for March.

What words are said to be sweet like a honeycomb?

What is it that pursues sinners?

What is the sacrifice of the wicked to the Lord?

What is said to be grievous to those who go astray?

What is it that is called rottenness of the bones?

Answer these questions from the book of Proverbs; then take the initial letters of the principal words, and you will find a special bequest of the Saviour.

The Bee and the Golden Butterfly.

AND so the summer fleeted by, and the fruitful autumn came and began to color the leafy woods and hedges with tints that rivalled in their richness the wings of the golden butterfly. The martagon, lilies one by one drooped and died beside the fish-pond, and their scarlet shadows faded from its margin; the fragrant blossoms of the jasmine bower fell away, and

“Their odorous beauty, like a wreath

Of sunshine on life’s hours,”

was sorely missed from the old garden; a few late roses still hung on the spray, the rest had scattered their petals on the garden beds. Many a flower beside was gone, and, although others blossomed in their stead, some even more gaudy in their hues, there were none so rich in fragrance nor in the juices the butterfly had once found so plentiful that as she had said “I do but touch the blossoms as I pass, and gather all I need” (Job 20:4, 5). Dear young reader, “the Word of the Lord” is now so abundant on every hand that the heedless worldling, in only passing by, may gather all that is needed to salvation; yet, content to touch and go, he stores not up that precious Word, but is more than satisfied to “taste the heavenly gift and good. Word of God” (Heb. 6), and go on his way despising Him to whom it points, and the riches of His goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth him to repentance (Rom. 2). But this abundance of the Word of Life will not continue (Amos 8:11, 12), for the long, long summer of Gospel grace is closing fast, like the butterfly’s brief season of enjoyment (Rev. 22:20).

The brown uplands told that the freshness of summer was passing, and that the time to gather in the fruits of the earth was at hand (Matt. 13:30), the berries were reddening in the wild-rose bush and hawthorn hedge, and the rich ripe corn in many a field far and wide sent up its own peculiar fragrance day and night in the warm autumnal sunshine or beneath the harvest moon (Heb. 13:15). All plainly spoke of a time of ingathering, and then — of desolation (Isa. 13:9,11; Matt. 13:41, 12). Yet the golden butterfly took no heed, for she understood not the sighs around her (Matt. 16:2, 3). To her the autumnal heat, the ruddy tints of leaf and berry fast increasing in every hedgerow, copse, and thicket, the glowing hues of numberless dahlias and chrysanthemums, and all the host of composites that so richly clothed the garden beds with colors of every shade, from the deepest purple to the purest white, told of decided “progress” (Prov. 1:32). The deep old lanes were all alight with star-like flowers, the purple heather clothed the rugged hill-tops, and the glories of the golden blossom of the furze outvied the beauty of the garden’s wealth of flowers. Her range grew wider now, and she was often seen along the lanes and on the hill fluttering here and there on her unweary wings, or clinging for the moment to some new-found joy, aimless of purpose, save to discover some untried gratification or fresh delight (Acts 17:21; Prov. 21:17); and when at times she saw the wild bee still busily gathering juices to turn to honey for himself and others, she mocked at his pleasant toil and counted him a fool (1 Cor. 2:14; 4:10).

“Still moiling and toiling!” she cried, derisively, when pleasure-hunting on the hill one day she saw the bee at his old work. “Still moiling and toiling!” (Pray. 11:12.)

“Still storing honey,” he responded, circling over a bed of wild thyme in full bloom and humming to himself meanwhile (1 Peter 2:2; Col. 3:16).

“One would think you had enough of such useless stores already,” said the butterfly, making her toilette, as she sat in the sun perched on a shining blossom of the golden furze (Prov. 13:13).

“We need it all,” replied the bee, “and find the reward of our labor at last” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; Psa. 19:7-11).

“And how long will it be before that ‘last’ comes?” asked the other, sarcastically.

“When both the occasion for storing and the opportunity end together,” he replied, busy among the blossoms of the fragrant thyme (John 14:3; 1 Cor 13:12).

“Occasion, indeed! she exclaimed with an audible titter, jerking hither and thither to look on the glowing autumnal scene. “To talk of occasion for storing seems to me more absurd than ever (Isa. 28:22; Jude 18). As to the opportunity, you are heartily welcome to make the most of it. For myself I grow tired of the juices you prize so highly, and prefer more solid enjoyments;” and so saying she began to nibble the petal she was rocking on, like the caterpillar race to which she belonged, for as the season advanced her habits of feeding changed (2 Peter 2:22).

“I have seen your withering mark on many a flower,” said the bee, indignantly, “and wondered whence it came (Prov. 21:4; Rom. 5:12). But the stores you mock at will last when your ‘solid enjoyments’ are gone” (Prey. 10:28; 1 Peter 1:24, 25).

“Gone!” echoed the butterfly, contemptuously, as, launching away on her splendid wings, she flutters along through the sunlit scene all glowing in autumnal ripeness. “When will they be gone?” she asks in derision as she hovers again over the old fish-pond, where the white water-lilies, now in full bloom,

“Stilly and lightly their vases rest

On the quivering sleep of the water’s breast,”

and their broad leaves, so refreshingly green, afford her a cool resting-place in the blazing heat of an autumnal noon.

“In my opinion (for truth with her-was all matter of opinion), things remain pretty much as they were, or, if there be any difference, it is decidedly for the better” (2 Peter 3:4.)

Time stole on, and the butterfly’s joys knew no stint, but rather increased than otherwise. The berries grew more ruddy, the woods more golden, the heather on the hill more purple, many a flower that had blossomed and died, early in the year had risen again, and, although the ripened grain was reaped at last and carried home (1 Thess. 4:16, 17), it mattered not to her, for the cornflower and the poppy that had grown up with it were left behind, and they were more to her taste (Matt. 25:10,11; Prov. 13:20). From morning’s dawn to evening time she was ever on the wing, more jubilant, if possible, than before, and more confident than ever in her own opinions (2 Tim. 3:13 Thess. 2:11).

The flowery lanes, the heath-clad hill, the stubble-field (Isa. 29:17), in turns were visited, and in each and all she found some new delight. From the lowliest wild flower to the majestic dahlia she gathered sustenance, and her “withering mark,” as the wild bee had called the brown spot left by her bite, showed where she had been. (Jer. 6:28).

And yet there were moments when the golden butterfly felt an occasional qualm steal over her, for as autumn waned the nights were often chilly, and even when the wished-for morning came at last, the heavy dews would lie so long upon the blossoms that she was at times half famished before she could break her fast, and would wander up and down the garden, not daring to touch the drenched plants, lest she should utterly ruin her brilliant wings (Job 15:23). Storms, too, began to be more frequent, and the pouring rains alarmed her sorely as she crouched for shelter beneath some wide leaf or branch, for exposure to its force was certain death to the delicate butterfly. But when the clouds were past, and the sun poured down his rays on garden, pond, and grotto, turned the fountain’s falling spray to mimic rainbows, the tinted leaves to shining gold, and made the rich array of flowers glow again in all the glory of their many colors, till they seemed as though

“They laughed into beauty at that bright spell,”

she hovered high over the scene, shook off her fears, and mocked the wild bee’s warning words to scorn — “a time of rough winds and stormy skies,.... and death to all who like yourself are unprepared to meet it” (Joel 1:15; Isa. 5:18,19).

“The harvest was past, the summer was ended” (Jer. 8:20), and the year was growing old. The time”

“Of wailing winds and naked woods

And meadows brown and sere”

began to be too evidently at hand; yet, by shutting out conviction, the poor foolish butterfly thought (like many who would consider themselves wiser than she) to put off the evil day forever (Amos 6:3, 7; Isa. 74:7). Tempted by a sunny afternoon to wander farther than usual from the old garden in pursuit of those pleasures which had of late become less abundant than they once were, the sky suddenly became overcast, the wind arose, and distant thunder told that the storm was coming. She was on the hill-side far from all shelter, for the half-dried fume afforded none; the heather was brown, the ferns were withered, and not a tree grew there. And now as the blast came down in all its fury, and the vivid lightning flashed, followed instantly by a peal of thunder that shook the solid hills (Isa. 13:13), and then with a rush the torrent pouring from the black ominous-looking clouds seemed to make the brown earth smoke, the words of the wild bee recurred to her memory in all their force: “A time of rough winds and stormy skies,... and death to all who like yourself are unprepared to meet it.” Unprepared she surely was, for her there was no refuge (Isa. 32:2; Help. 6:18); and, driven headlong before the gale, until beaten down by the mingled rain and hail (Job 21:17, 18), she sank struggling, torn, and dying to the ground. Then the storm passed by as suddenly as it had come, the sun shined out again with his wonted power, the birds began to sing, and all nature seemed to be rejoicing.

“Ah!” said she, making a last vain effort to rise, as she lay dying there,” I shall never fly again. The bee, whom I despised, is safely housed with his endless stores, but for me it is TOO LATE!” (Luke 13:25-28.)

Dear reader, this little fable is meant to show you the ANTI-PILGRIM’S PROGRESS from doubt and indifference down to absolute contempt for God’s precious Word, and positive infidelity at last. Then the end, everlasting ruin! But, unless you refer to every passage of Scripture given, the allegory will not be understood, and you will gain nothing from it. I hope you will do so, as the main object has been to bring before you as much as possible of the Word of God on this solemn subject. You have many opportunities of hearing and reading God’s Word: beware of indifference, doubt, and unbelief (Prov. 1:24-31).

More About Pharaoh and Joseph's Brothers.

(Gen. 45:20.)

“ALSO regard not your stuff: for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.” That was what Pharaoh told Joseph to say to his friends who were coming to live near him. They were not to trouble a bit about bringing anything with them, but just come as empty as they pleased, for Pharaoh to fill them with his good things. Whatever they had labored for, and counted to be gain to them, they might now reckon to be loss, and leave it all behind; what Pharaoh gave them was so much better. He might have said, “We shall be glad to have you here for Joseph’s sake; but you know we are very short of food, or likely to be so, for no corn grows in the fields now, and Joseph says there won’t be any more for the next five years! So if you, have a little more honey and such like, and a few more nuts and almonds in your country, you had better bring them with you, and then, when they are all gone, we will find you something to eat.” But he did not speak like that at all. He did not even make a bargain with them by saying, “If you will make up your mind to be resigned to my will, and consent to leave it all behind, then I will see that you do not lose anything by it, but that you shall be well provided for here.” No, he told them right out at once that the good of all his land was theirs, so they had only to believe it, and come to enjoy it, leaving all there might be in their houses or gardens for their poor starving neighbors, who had no wagons sent for them by the King of Egypt to take them to the land of plenty. Now, what a fine chance these men had of showing to all the people about them whether they really believed Pharaoh or not! Suppose you had seen them carefully packing up, and hiding away under the seats of the wagons, every grain of food and every bit of old stuff they could find, you would have said to them, “Why, Judah, you don’t believe what Pharaoh told your brother Joseph to tell you, that where he is there is enough and to spare, and you are welcome to it, or you would never be so particular to stow away in the wagons what will only be a burden, and hinder your getting across the desert so fast as you might do.” But I think they did believe what was told them, and if any one came to Jacob and said, “My good old friend, you are surely not going to leave behind what you have worked for so hard and so long,” he might have answered, “I believe Pharaoh, and am persuaded that he who has so exalted my son will do nothing but good to us who belong to him. All the poor things of my store are not worthy to be compared with the glory where Joseph is lord of all, and where I am called to dwell by the word of the king himself, who has given my son his glory, and who waits to bless us with him.”

Now, I trust my dear little friend who is reading this knows what it is to look up by faith into a place of far brighter glory, and “see Jesus” there. He has been down here, and by the grace of God has tasted death for guilty sinners; now He is crowned and seated in the glory of God, and is the Saviour of all who look to Him confessing their sins. He saves them from their sins (Matt. 1:21), and He delivers “from this present evil world” (Gal. 1:4). He makes His people to be not of the world, even as He is not of the world (John 17:14,16), but then He makes us to belong to His Father and His home as He does Himself. The God of all grace takes us into His family, making us His children, and then, in His wonderful goodness, He makes all that belongs to His dear Son belong to us too. So that, if Jesus is “appointed Heir of all things,” it is said to us also, “All things are yours” (1 Cor. 3:21). “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32.) And then God, wishing us to enjoy His goodness towards us, gives us the Holy Spirit, “that we may know the things that are freely given us by God” (1 Cor.2:12).

So we look back to the Lord Jesus on the cross and say —

“Behold the Lambs ‘tis He who bore

My burden on the tree.”

We look up and say —

“By faith we see Thee, Lord, enthroned

At God’s right hand in glory bright.”

And we look forward, and know that very soon He will sit, not on His. Father’s throne as now (Rev. 3:21), but on His own throne, and then we shall reign with Him! But there is something in store for those who love Him even better than reigning with Him, it is to fully know His love to us. The world will see His glory and see us in it, but the love that has brought us into such glory can never be seen. It will be known and enjoyed, though, by those who are so loved, and will be the sweetest thing in heaven itself for those who will find their joy forever in the company of the Lord Jesus. As we think of it, and the Holy Spirit brings before us the things of Christ (John 16:15), we can but say —

“Saviour, come; we long to see Thee,

Long to dwell with Thee above,

And to know in full communion

All the sweetness of Thy love.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Take Thy waiting people home.”

But I was not meaning to say so much to you about this as about what others ought to see in us, if we are really the Lord’s “waiting people,” expecting and longing for Jesus to come and take us to Himself. If Jacob was going from the place where was the mighty famine to another land where he should have plenty of everything, and his neighbor had no such place to go to, but had to do the best he could for himself to keep from starving, there would surely be a great difference between Jacob and his neighbor, don’t you think? Pharaoh sent word to him, “The good of all the land of Egypt is yours.” God, in His Word, sends a message to His children: “All things are yours, and ye are Christ’s.” “What manner of persons ought we to be? “How strange that we should ever see Christians spending their whole time and strength in scraping together and saving a lot of “stuff,” which they may have to leave at any minute; when, if they would only give themselves time, they might sit down and quietly enjoy the prospect of good “things to come” which they will never lose or leave; tasting the sweetness of “things above,” where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God, and where they will very soon be with Him, to enjoy them with Him forever.

May we, dear young believer, never have to be wept over because we set our affection on “earthly things” (Phil. 3:18, 19). How much better to be like those happy other Christians, who got into great trouble, as the world reckons trouble, but who were quite glad in the midst of it, because they had their mind set on things above. They did not regard their “stuff,” for the good of the land they were going to was theirs. They took joyfully the plunder of their goods, knowing that they had for themselves, in heaven, “a better and an enduring substance” (Heb. 10:31).

W. TY.

Snow.

How brilliant and bright is the Snow!

Its flakes, oh, how fleecy and light!

It spreads o’er the surface below,

And robes it in raiment of white.

Its beauty, how tasteful and chaste!

The trees with its gems adorns,

The shrubs with its crystals are graced,

And barbed are briers and thorns.

The finest of cambric or lace,

The cleanest of linen or lawn,

For whiteness to Snow must give place;

Their claims they, Indeed, have withdrawn.

What is there that traces its birth

To aught in the ocean or air,

In the bosom or bowels of earth,

For pureness with Snow can compare?

Yet some who are walking below,

Whose portion and home are above,

Are wash’d and made whiter than Snow,

In blood sized by Christ in His love.

How precious and cleansing that blood

Which stream’d from His spear-pierced side!

Oh, have ye been bathed in its flood?

Or with scarlet deep sins are ye dyed?

The Dolphin and the Limpet.

A Fable for Little Ones.

ONE fine warm summer’s day, when the sun was brightly shining on the deep blue waves of the restless sea, and turning their crests into glowing silver as they rose and fell on the shingle or washed the green sea-weed up and down on the soft sands, a beautiful dolphin, who looked in the sunlight all green and gold, was sporting far out in mid-ocean, making the waves foam behind him as he darted hither and thither, to catch the flying-fish, who, as soon as he approached them, sprang out of the water and took their flight in the air to escape from his terrible teeth but too often in vain, for he taught them as they came down again.

You see the dolphin was hungry and wanted his dinner, and didn’t much care who suffered so that he had it. Now, although he was so beautiful to look upon, I don’t think you will like him much after knowing that. However, it was his nature, and you know he could not alter his nature any more than we can. Neither you nor I can alter that, and it is so very bad that I am quite sure it is worse than the dolphin’s (Jer. 17:9). Well, after chasing the flying-fish here and there and everywhere, until he had nearly had enough to eat, he found himself close by a great rock that rose high out of the midst of the sea, and there he had endless trouble to catch his prey, for as soon as he got near them they went flying over the rock, and so escaped him.

“What a foolish thing that rock is, to be sure!” he exclaimed, as for the fourth or fifth time he had been disappointed of the hoped-for mouthful. “How utterly useless!”

“You think so, do you?” asked a tiny voice overhead, and looking up the dolphin spied a limpet clinging to the great rock.

“Indeed I do! replied the dolphin, sharply, and his great teeth clashed together as he spoke. “I hate that rock I — who wouldn’t when it comes in the way of his pleasures? Many a fish has escaped me here before today, and it seems to stand there on purpose to annoy me.”

The sun went down in a bank of purple clouds, the wind arose, and presently a storm began. Louder and louder roared the gale, the lightning flashed, the thunder rolled, the wild waves, lashed into fury by the wind, rose higher and higher, until they looked like tumbling mountains crested with foam. The dolphin was, as you may suppose, a good swimmer, but the violence of the storm was too much for him. Tossed here and there, now on the top of a great billow, till he seemed to be lifted to heaven, and then hurled into the deep gulf of waters, he was beaten about till he died; but the little limpet, clinging to the great rock, outlived the storm in, perfect safety. In vain did the winds roar and the wild waves beat, they could neither shake the rock nor move the limpet. She was far from being so fine a swimmer as the dolphin, and yet amid all the fury of the storm she took no harm. When the morning dawned and the tempest was past, she saw the dead dolphin floating on the calm sunlit sea. “Ah,” said she, “he called this rock a foolish thing, and worse than useless. But I have found it my salvation.”

Dear little reader, Christ is the Rock (1 Cor. 10:4). “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to, us who are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). Which is it to you?

Seeing.

WHAT a blessing it is to have sight! Only think what it would be to be blind, and not to see the many persons and objects that surround us. It is true that there are many things the sight of which gives pain to the rightly-constituted mind, but what pleasure there is in beholding the faces and features of those we love, and in viewing the many interesting objects which are above and around us!

I dare say you have met, in some of your school books, with a piece called “The Blind Boy,” in which the following lines occur: —

“You talk of wondrous things you see;

You say the sun shines bright;

I feel his warmth, but how can he

Make either day or night?”

One who is born blind cannot, of course, feel the loss of that which he never possessed, though, from what he hears others say, he can be made aware that they have the gift of sight to which he is a stranger; but what it is, he cannot really know. But you, who have had the blessing of sight from your birth, would feel the loss of it keenly, because you once had known the enjoyment which it gives to its possessor.

One of the many blessings which the presence of the Lord Jesus in this world brought to suffering sinful creatures was, that the blind received their sight.

“He went about — He was so kind―

To cure poor people who were blind.”

Not only did He give sight to many such, but God has caused some special instances to be recorded in the gospels for our instruction and profit. The account in Luke 18:35-43 is very interesting. “A certain blind man sat by the wayside begging.”

Not only was he blind, but, being unable to earn his living, he begged his daily bread, as some blind people do nowadays. “And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” He was sure that Jesus could give him sight, and, as He was passing by, he knew that now was the time to obtain the blessing that he wanted. He was, therefore, resolved not to let the opportunity slip. I wonder, dear reader, whether you have been as wise as regards your soul, as this man was with respect to obtaining his sight? Though you are well able to see all about you with your natural eyes, yet unless you have been turned “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,” you are still blind to the beauty, perfection, and preciousness of the Saviour. Those who have believed in Him can, with deep thankfulness of heart, address Him and say —

“We once were blind, but now we see,

We dwelt in. Nature’s night,

No beauty, Lord, could fail in Thee,

Till we were blest with sight.

But God, in wondrous love and graces

Did on our darkness shine,

His glory showed us in Thy face,

And gave us light divine.”

As regards the blind beggar whose case we are considering, the people endeavored to make him “hold his peace” when he cried to Jesus, but he was not to be quieted in that way. No, “but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” He was in earnest and he rose above the opposition of those who would silence him. “And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto Him.” What grace, that the Lord of life and glory should stay at the cry of a poor blind man! “And when he was come near, He asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight; thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God: and all the people when they saw it gave praise unto God.”

See, how graciously the Lord inquired of the poor man what he wanted of Him, and how completely He responded to his desire, saying unto him, “Receive thy sight.” But mark what follows: “Thy faith hath saved thee.” Yes, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Faith is believing God. The poor blind man believed that Jesus, who was “God manifest in the flesh,” could give him his sight, and he therefore obtained the blessing which he wanted. And if you come to Jesus as a poor blind, needy sinner, trusting in Him and in the precious blood which He has shed for the remission of sins, you also will be saved, and saved eternally. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

The next step in this man’s history is beautiful. He did not obtain the blessing of seeing Jesus, and then turn away from Him. No, he “followed Him, glorifying God.” Here is an example for you, dear young believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you following Him by keeping close to Him, looking on Him, and seeking to know His holy will in order that you may do it There is a special blessing in the doing of the will of God. “Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgeteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man, shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1).

In Hebrews 2:9, it is written of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, that “we see Jesus.” That is, we see Him by faith at the right hand of God, “crowned with glory and. honor.” I remember that some years ago, when a clever, worldly-wise person was teasing a simple Christian in my presence, counting him as a simpleton, and telling him that he could see nothing, I felt bound to reply for my dear brother in Christ, and I said to his tormentor, “Well, he can see farther than you can; for he can look into heaven and see Jesus there, and that is more than you can do.” This answer silenced him for the time. Oh, it is a great blessing to be able to say “we see Jesus,” for it is only those whose eyes God has opened and anointed by His Spirit who can truly say that.

There is another passage, in 1 Peter 1, which says, speaking of Jesus Christ, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” How is this? one might say. One passage tells us that “we see Jesus,” and the other says “ye see Him not! “Well, we have not yet seen Him” as He is,” for when we do, and look upon Him no longer by faith as now, but “face to face,” then “we shall be like Him.” Is not that a blessing to wait for, dear young believer? Do you not desire to be like Him, and to behold Him in His beauty and glory for evermore?

Perhaps some youthful reader of this paper has not yet seen beauty in Jesus. Then, if you have not, it is Satan who is blinding you and endeavoring to keep you from looking to Him; for if you only look upon Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Saviour of the world, and trust in Him and His precious blood, you will never perish, but have everlasting life. May God open your eyes to look upon Him as your own blessed Saviour, and then all Will be well with you both for time and for eternity.

Dictionary of the Bible.

Fire. — Of fire as a natural element, or as employed in domestic operations and the processes of art, there is no need for discoursing here; in these respects the student of Scripture has no difficulty to encounter, or any peculiarity to meet. The thing respecting fire which calls for explanation is its symbolical use. In this we may distinguish a lower and a higher sense; a lower, when the reference is simply to the burning heat of the element, in which respect any vehement affection, such as anger, indignation, shame, love, is wont to be spoken of as a fire in the bosom of the individual affected, and a higher, which is also by much the more common one in Scripture, when it is regarded as imaging the more distinctive properties of the divine nature. In this symbolical use of fire the reference is to its powerful penetrating agency, and the terrible melting, seemingly resistless effects it is capable of producing. So viewed, fire is the chosen symbol of the holiness of God, which manifests itself in a consuming hatred of sin, and can endure nothing in its presence but what is in accordance with the pure and good. The following texts are given that the reader may understand the many and varied ways fire is spoken of in Scripture.

A burning lamp passed between Abram’s sacrifice (Gen. 15:17).

The Lord rained from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire (Gen. 19:24).

The Lord was with His people by night in a pillar of fire to give them light (Ex. 13:21, 22).

God appeared to Moses in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush, and the bush was not consumed (Ex. 12:2).

In Leviticus 6:9, in connection with the burnt-offering, the fire upon the altar was burning all night unto the morning, and in the thirteenth verse, “The fire shall ever be burning on the altar: it shall never go out.”

In Leviticus 9 we read, “There came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt-offering and the fat, which, when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.”

Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, put strange fire in their censers, which the Lord commanded them not; and there went out a fire from the Lord, and devoured them (Lev. 10:1, 2).

When the law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven. The voice of the Lord so terrified the people that they said to Moses, “Now therefore why should we die for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord, then we shall die.” (Ex. 19, 20; Deut. 4:11; 5:25).

John the Baptist told those whom he baptized with water that there was One coming after him who would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He would thoroughly purge His floor, and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17).

In the ninth of Mark we read of the quenchless fire six times, and it is shown that those who prefer this world to the kingdom of God will be cast into hell fire (vss. 43-48).

God is said to make His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire (Heb. 1:7).

When the Lord Jesus appeared to John, as walking in the midst of the seven churches, His eyes were as a flame of fire (Rev. 1:14).

He is also represented as coming in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them who hear but obey not the Gospel (2 Thess. 1:8).

The last passage in which fire occurs reads as follows: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire kid brimstone which is the second death.”

Answer to Bible Enigma for March.

P leasant Prov. 16:24.

E vil Prov. 13:21.

A bomination Prov. 15:8.

C orrection Prov. 15:10.

E nvy Prov. 14:30.

Answer to Bible Questions for March.

1. God told the Amorites that, because they had clapped their hands and stamped their feet against the land of Israel, He would deliver them for a spoil, and cause them to perish (Ezek. 25). Jesus Christ told His disciples, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Where the presence of the Lord is known and felt, clapping of hands and stamping of feet will not be resorted to: it would show a want of reverence (Matt. 18:20; Heb. 12:28, 29).

2. If a man have long hair, it is a shame to him (1 Cor. 11:14). If a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. She is told to be with shamefacedness; so to use anything to give the opposite to shamefacedness is to be unlike a saint. God has condescended to tell those who have life in His Son bow they are to adorn themselves. It is often pleaded there is much pride under a plain dress; but this is no excuse for adorning ourselves like the world. The Lord says He will look to him that is of a contrite spirit and trembleth at His word (Isa. 66:2). If believers knowingly act contrary to 1 Timothy 2:9, and 1 Peter 3:3,4, they show they do not tremble at the word of the Lord.

3. “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:31).

4. “He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant; whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron” (Psa. 105:17,18).

5. When the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, all Israel shall be saved, and God will give them the early and latter rain and make their land fruitful. He will give to the heavens, or clouds, water to make the earth fruitful, to bring forth corn, and wine, and oil, for Jezreel; that is, His people (Rom. 11:25, 26; Joel 2:18-32; Deuteronomy 11:13, 21).

6. It is never said in Scripture, My Father, my Father, why hast Thou forsaken me? but “My God, my God” (Psa. 22:1).

7. “Even the Son of Man, which is in heaven” (John 3:13). In. John 17, the Lord Jesus lets His disciples hear how He would speak to their heavenly Father concerning them; in doing so, He said, “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee;” and again, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name” (John 17:11, 12).

8. “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name.” “At that day ye shall ask in my name.” He referred to the coming of the Holy Ghost, who would give them to know that Christ was in the Father, and they in Christ, and He in them (John 16:21-26; 14:20).

Bible Questions for April.

1. What reason is given why God should not enter into judgment with His saints?

2. Give a text which states that God knows all the words in our tongue.

3. Where is it said God sees all that is done in the dark as well as in the light?

4. David says that the Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him; he also tells us in what manner they call upon Him: in what way is this?

5. What Proverb says that the one who walks righteously feareth the Lord, but those who walk in a sinful way despiseth the Lord?

6. Where does it say in Scripture that he who is soon angry acts like a fool?

7. We are told in the Old and New Testaments that “God is a consuming fire”: give both Scripture.

8. What is the prayer called of him who does not attend to the Word of God?

Thoughts of a Child.

Father. — Would you not like to go and live with one of your uncles and aunts?

Child. — No; I would rather live here.

F. — But your uncles and aunts are very kind.

C. — Yes, I know they are very kind, and I like to go and see them, but I don’t want to live with them always.

F. — You wish, then, to live with us at home? How long would you like to live at home?

C. — I should like to live with you and ma till I go to Jesus.

"Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear."

“ME’S not afraid of going into the dark, ‘cause me can feel you, aunty,” said a little girl on entering a railway tunnel. What a sweet expression of the confidence of a child! And may it not remind some of us who are older, and who know “the grace of God in truth,” of such words of our God as the following? “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me” (Psa. 23). “The Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” (Isa. 41).

A Home in a Rock.

For Little Ones.

I WONDER if you have ever heard of a little creature called in the Bible a coney? (Lev. 11:5.) It is not a rabbit, although something like one in size and shape; but it cannot dig or make burrows for itself as rabbits do, neither does it live in this country: so that it is not likely that you have ever seen one. But you have, perhaps, seen a guinea-pig, for I know that some little boys are very fond of keeping them, and that will give you a very good idea of a coney. Well, as these little creatures cannot dig, they are obliged to seek a home ready made for them, and as they are “a feeble folk,” and cannot defend themselves against their enemies, they need a very safe home; and so, as their home must be both ready made and safe, they dwell in clefts and holes in the hard, strong rocks where nothing can touch them (Prov. 30:26). They have many enemies, but chiefly “the birds of the air,” such as hawks and eagles, who, you know, soar about, “seeking whom they may devour.” When a hawk catches sight of a little coney sitting at his door chewing the cud (for they chew the cud like a cow does), or perhaps basking in the sun, he darts swiftly along until he gets just over him, and then comes down with a sudden swoop to catch him in his strong talons and carry him away. But you will wonder when I tell you that the sun in the heavens warns the little coney of his danger; so that unless he is very heedless, or has strayed away from the rock, he can always escape. “Why,” you will say, “how does the sun warn him of his danger?” Well, before a hawk or an eagle swoops down upon his prey, He always hovers for a few moments just overhead, that he may make sure of his aim, and the bright sunlight throws his dark shadow on the ground. This warns the coney, and, unless he has his eyes shut, he sees the shadow, of course, and, knowing what it means, he runs into his home in the rock and is safe. The hawk may sweep down then, you know, but he can’t catch the coney, and it is of no use for him to strike at the rock, for that won’t give way. I dare say the coney peeps out of his hole at his enemy, but he well knows he cannot get at him. How snug and safe he must feel, and how glad that he was warned by the sunlight overhead to escape from him before it was too late! But for that he would have been caught, for a hawk makes no noise when he sees his prey, but comes swiftly and silently up till near enough to make a swoop, and it is only the shadow cast by the sun that gives notice of his approach. These little creatures are so used to this that the shadow of any passing bird will make them scamper into their holes in the rocks. Thus you see the light gives warning, and the rock gives safety to the coney.

Now, can you tell me what all this reminds us of? What is it that warns all men to flee from the wrath to come? Why, the Word of God, to be sure, which is like a “light that shineth in a dark place.” Does not God’s Word tell us that judgment is coming on all who refuse to come to Jesus? To be sure it does; and thus, so to speak, it throws the dark shadow of coming destruction on the path of the sinner (2 Thess. 1:9), so that, unless he shuts his eyes, he cannot help seeing it. So, then, the Word of God is like the sunlight that throws the shadow of coming danger before the eyes of the little coney, and warns him to escape. You see coming judgment makes no noise, any more than the hawk does when he is going to seize the coney; so that, if the Word of God had not told us, we should never have known it — till it was too late. But some people shut their eyes and won’t see it. “How foolish they must be!” you will say. Yes, indeed, as foolish as the coney would be if he were to shut his eyes and refuse to see the shadow of the hawk cast by the sunlight before his face.

Then, again, when the little coney does see his danger, where does he run to? Why, into the rock, and there he is safe. If he were to stop to make a hole for himself in the sand, what would become of him? “Oh,” you will say, “that wouldn’t do at all; for, while he was trying to dig a hole, the hawk would have him” To be sure he would, and so he does not stop to do anything for himself, but just darts at once into the rock without waiting a moment. You see the rock is ready to receive him — he has not got to make a way for himself; for, if he had, he would perish.

Now, there are some who, when they do see that judgment is coming on the sinner, try to make a way of escape for themselves, and, while they are trying, death may overtake them in a moment, and then they are lost forever! What should they do then? Why there is safety ALL READY FOR THEM, and all that they have to do is to take it. Can you tell me where they may always find it? “Yes,” you will say, “they may always find safety in Jesus.” Well, then, all they have to do is to flee to Him. He is the Rock (Matt. 16:16-18; 1 Cor. 10:4), a refuge from judgment, because His precious blood cleanseth from all sin. Thus they are saved forever, and shall never come into condemnation (John 5:24).

Then there is another thing I must tell you. The coney never goes far from the rock where he dwells. He feeds on the herbage that grows in the crevices, he basks in the sun, and he chews the cud. In all this he teaches us a lesson worth knowing. It is this: those who by believing in Jesus have found refuge in Him must not go astray, you know, but should always “abide in Him” (1 John H. 28), feed on Him by faith (John 6:57), dwell in the light of His presence, (1 John 1:7), and meditate on His Word (Psa. 119:15, 16, 17). Then the wicked one, who is compared to the fowls of the air (Matt. 13:419), will not be able to touch him (1 John 5:18), because, like the coney, he has his home in THE ROCK (Deut. 32:4; Psa. 18:1-3). This HOME is offered to all, especially all the little ones. By a home in the Rock I mean, you know, a home in the heart of Jesus the Lord. Did He not say, “Suffer the little ones to come unto Me”? Well, then, this home is offered to you. Have you found your home there In other words, have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? If you have not, then you are like the poor coney would be if far away from the rock when the hawk was coming. But, if you have come to Jesus, then you are saved forever, and shall never perish, for you have A HOME IN A ROCK.

Jacob Hears That Joseph is Alive.

(Gen. 14)

JOSEPH had told his brothers to go up quickly to Canaan to their father, and to make haste back to Egypt with him, and “the children of Israel did so” (vs. 21). It is nice to see them at last willing to do what they are told to do. Of course it was the best for them, for Joseph would do them only good and not harm; but sometimes we see the strange sight of people not willing to be guided even by those who are their best friends. When Jesus was here among men He called to Zaccheus to “make haste and come down,” and he did so. The man who had run on before the crowd and climbed up to see Jesus “made haste and came down” to receive Jesus. It was well for him that he did, as you may read in the nineteenth chapter of Luke. Here in this chapter they made haste and came down, not to receive Joseph, but that he might receive them. They were to “tarry not,” and they did not tarry. No doubt as you read this the thoughts of some of you will turn to another verse, which says, “Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Yes, dear child, the Lord says, “I will come again” — “I come quickly” — “Surely I come quickly” (Heb. 10:37; John 14:3; Rev. 22). And He will come. The same voice that once called to the seeking sinner to come down will soon call to the saved sinner to come up — not that He may be a Guest for a day in our house, but that we may dwell forever in His! But mind, my dear young reader, none but those who have received Him as He came the first time (John 1:12) will be received by Him when He comes the second time (Heb. 9:28). So that if I want to go up to meet the Lord in the air when He comes, instead of being left behind with His enemies, the question for me to ask and answer is, Have I received the Lord Jesus by faith as my Saviour, or am I still turning away from Him, as if everything was of more value and importance than His love to me and my being saved by Him?

Coming back to our chapter, we see that as Joseph’s brothers did what he told them, so Joseph himself gladly did the will of Pharaoh. He gave them wagons, “according to the commandment of Pharaoh,” and not only so, “he gave them provision for the way.” They were not to wait until they reached Egypt to know and to enjoy the good things which were freely given to them by Pharaoh. Even on the way to Joseph they were to taste the fruit of the land they were going to, and prove the goodness of its king. He had said that “the good of all the land was theirs;” so Joseph sends, not “a little present,” but “ten asses laden, with the good things of Egypt,” besides ten more, with as much as each could carry of “corn, and bread, and meat for his father by the way.” He fairly loaded them with benefits: the very men who had stripped him out of the only coat he had on him he now presents with “changes of raiment.” He certainly was not one of the sort who say, “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled,” without giving what is needful, was he?

And now, as he had shown only kindness to them, they were to be sure and not quarrel among themselves. No doubt he had often known them fall out with one another, and not very long before he had heard one of them trying to put all the blame on the rest about what had been done to Joseph; so he entreats them to be at peace among themselves (see 1 Thess. 5:13), and then sends them away.

But when they come to their aged father, and tell him that “Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt,” he cannot believe it. His heart faints at the thought of it! He has been long expecting to “go down into the grave unto his son, mourning” (ch. 37:35), but as for going down into Egypt unto his son, to find him exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh, it is something too good to be true, and so at first “he believed them not.” He could only think of Joseph as the one who was dead (ch. 37:33; 42:36, 38; 44:28), and yet they affirm that “he is alive!” We cannot blame the poor dear old man, for his gray hairs had been getting whiter more than ten long years since he had learned that “without doubt” Joseph had been “torn in pieces;” and through all that long time he had heard nothing to lead him to suppose that he had been mistaken.

I think, however, that I can remind you of some persons who thought Jesus was dead when in truth He was alive; persons whom we cannot excuse quite so easily for not knowing as we can excuse Jacob. Of course the Lord Jesus had really died, only He had told His disciples before He died that on the third day He should rise again; and yet when He was missed from the grave in the garden they were as much taken by surprise as Jacob was when he heard that Joseph was anywhere. There they went, women and men, a few at a time, to the cave cut out of the rock, to seek “the living One among the dead,” not knowing that, though He had become dead, He was now alive for evermore. Angels tell them He is not there, but risen, “as He said,” and they come and tell “these things unto the apostles,” who surely ought to have known; but the words of the women seem “like idle tales to them,” and they believe them not (Luke 24:11; Gen. 45:26). Two of the disciples, going the same day a walk into the country, tell Jesus Himself (without knowing Him) how “astonished” they were because they had heard that “He was alive;” and at night when He was in their midst, showing them the marks in His hands and feet; still it says they “believed not for joy, and wondered.” Should they not have wondered far more if He had stayed in the grave after the third day was come Well, there was one of the disciples not at the meeting that evening; it maybe he came late, and, finding the doors shut for fear of the Jews, had to go back home, and so missed the joy of that meeting with Jesus in the midst. The rest were glad when they had seen the Lord, and they told Thomas about it, but he would not believe it at all. He must have known enough of his brethren to feel sure that they would not mean to tell him what was not true, but it did not satisfy Thomas. He could not think it was really Jesus unless he saw the marks of the nails, and put his finger into the marks, and thrust his hand where the cruel soldier had thrust the spear! Was he not bard to be convinced? How strange it seems to us, who know that it was not possible for the grave to hold Jesus, to read of those who could hardly believe it possible that he should come out of its And yet there is something else quite as strange that we may meet with every day, and I will try and tell you in a very few words what it is. Jacob thought Joseph was dead, and he would never see him again in this world; and he was mistaken. The disciples thought Jesus was dead, and they were not expecting to see Him alive again in this world, and they were mistaken. People now think Jesus is gone to heaven for good, and they must needs die and go to Him before they see Him again, and they, too, are mistaken. The proper hope of every Christian is not to die, and go to heaven that way, leaving his body in the grave but for the Lord Jesus to come “from heaven” (1 Thess. 1:10; 4:16; Phil. 3:20) to call up from their graves all His people who are there, and to catch us up in a moment, without going there at all! (See 1 Corinthians 15:51, &c.)

I must leave you now to think of all the mistakes the dear disciples made through not remembering “His words,” and to ask the Lord to help both you and me to be keeping His words as those who love Himself and wait for Him (Luke 12:36, 37; John 14:23).

W. TY.

Are You?

I TOLD you some two months ago about a young man who met with a shocking death on a threshing machine, who, but five minutes before, was in health, and doubtless expecting to live many years. The awful suddenness of his death is a warning to all who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. But perhaps some of the younger readers of GOOD NEWS may think they are hardly old enough yet to give serious attention to these things; therefore I now mean to tell them, not about a young man, but a boy, who is only some twelve years of age. About the time that the young man already spoken of was so suddenly called into eternity, a public tea-meeting was given in the same locality; and, as the object of the meeting was to get the unconverted to listen to the Gospel, several Christians took the opportunity of setting Christ before all present. Among them was a boy who has to work in a brick-field among a number of men, some of whom are very unlikely to help him in anything that is good, either in their words or ways. Even at home this poor boy had no one to lead him to Christ; he had no GOOD NEWS to read; and, in all likelihood, had hardly heard the name of Christ, except when used in wicked language. Yet there is nothing too hard for the Lord; and, as this boy listened to the words of the Gospel, his “heart was opened to attend unto the things that were spoken.” At the close of the meeting he was spoken to by a Christian friend who is much interested in Gospel work, and then went outside, where he stood for a time, while the people were departing, thinking over what he had heard. He had come out from the meeting convicted of sin, and as he stood there the word of the Lord came in power to his soul: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that beleveth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). In a moment his eyes were opened to see that, by simply casting himself on the Son of God — once crucified for sin, but now risen and glorified — he was saved; and the joy of it was so great that he told it out at once to those around him, and expressed a wish to see the brother who had spoken to him personally in the meeting. On coming to him the latter asked what he wanted to tell him. “Why,” said the boy, “I want to tell you that I am SAVED.” “Saved!” exclaimed the other, in a tone of surprise, just to test him. “But how can you know that?” “Because,” said the boy, “I believe on the Son of God; and the Bible says, He that believeth on the Son HATH EVERLASTING LIFE; “and then went on to tell him how, as he stood there in the road, that word had come in power to his soul, and he knew that he was saved (1 John 5:13). Further conversion left no doubt on the mind of his friend that he had really got both life and peace through faith in the Son of God.; and they rejoiced together.

As soon as the boy got home that night he told his parents “what the Lord had done for his soul,” as he expressed it, and the next day, when he went to work in the clay pit, he told the men. Nor have his zeal and love for the Lord Jesus Christ slackened since. Very shortly afterward he made his appearance at a Sunday-school held in the room where he had got blessing, and on the following Lord’s-day brought four boys with him, all bigger and older than himself. It was not to be expected that so bright an instance of the grace of God would pass unnoticed, or without opposition, and one day some of his ungodly fellow-laborers reviled him for his faith in Christ. “Ah!” said the boy, “it’s all very well to laugh, BUT THERE IS A ROAD into HELL, and. NO ROAD OUT OF IT.” This silenced them all. He had seen in the house of his Christian friend, where he often goes, a chart hanging on the wall, representing “The two roads that will never meet,” and this was his remarkable application of its solemn warning to the scoffers, for the boy had observed that “the broad road that leadeth to destruction” (Matt. 7:13) ended in HELL, and that “there was NO road out of it!”

He reads the New Testament continually, and goes to his Christian friend to consult him on every subject he wants to understand more clearly.

One day he came to tell him that he wanted to be baptized. “Why do you wish that, J —?” said his friend. “Is it because you think it a nice thing to be baptized?” for he wanted to know whether it was mere religiousness or sentiment. “No,” said the boy, “but I have been reading the Testament, and I see how they used to be baptized in those days, and I see that the Lord Jesus Christ was baptized, and so I want to be.” I mention this to show you that the boy, though only twelve years old, not only reads and thinks over God’s Word, but that he earnestly seeks to obey it according to his light. He came again lately on the same subject, and put it almost in the words of the eunuch, “What doth hinder me to be baptized?” (Acts 8:36.) He is now looking more fully into the matter with the help of his friend, and reading those portions of the Scriptures that bear upon it.

Thus this dear boy, surrounded by everything that is against the spiritual life, is growing in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, “in nothing terrified by his adversaries,” but boldly avowing his faith in Christ, and seeking to walk in obedience; and, as all this is taking place in the neighborhood of that terrible scene of sudden and awful death already mentioned one may hope that it will touch some hearts through grace, and that they will be led to see that, if any one dies in his sins, it is his own fault, and because he has despised Christ; for, if this boy is old enough to believe and be saved, so are they. And, if he was not too young, ARE YOU?

The Primrose.

PRETTY Primrose, meek and frail,

Thee, my humble friend, I hail;

Thou such hopeful thoughts dust bring

Of the fresh and budding Spring

Surly Winter’s pleasant child,

Thou, unlike thy sire, art mild;

Teaching us that grace may grow

In a soil of grief and woe.

Picture, too, of guileless youth,

Opening to the beams of truth,

Beauties see we in thy face,

Charming by their simple grace.

Joy it is when we behold

Christian graces thus unfold

In a plant of heavenly birth,

Left awhile to grow on earth.

Nothing more of Christ doth speak

Than a spirit pure and meek;

Shown in gentle, loving ways,

Wrought in us unto His praise.

Waterbirds.

WHAT a pretty sight is a little lake, or an ornamental piece of water, with a number of ducks and other water-fowl swimming about or diving beneath its surface I Such a sight would, I am sure, interest my young friends, and I would recommend them to avail themselves of any suitable opportunity which they may have of witnessing it. And do not forget to take with you some pieces of bread or biscuit to give to the birds, as it is so pleasant to see how quickly they swim and fly to obtain them. I scarcely need warn you not to throw stones at them, as it would be very cruel to find pleasure in causing pain to such pretty and entertaining creatures.

Those of you who have been brought up in London or its suburbs have most likely taken a walk in St. James’s Park, and, if you have, you know what a pleasant place it is, and, what a beautiful piece of water runs through it. And you have observed how majestically the swans, both white and black, sail along; and what a number of ducks, of almost every variety and color, dabble about, while some of them plunge so amusingly into the water, and are lost sight of until they come up again, often at a considerable distance from the spot where they dived. So much care is taken of these birds that there is a little island specially set apart for them, called “Duck Island,” in which there are places of shelter to which they can resort when they please, and where they are protected from the inclemency of the weather. Having been acquainted with this spot since I was a child, I have passed many a pleasant time there with my brothers and playmates; and, though I now reside at some distance from it, I sometimes take a look at the play-place of my boyhood, and still feel a passing pleasure in observing the little fleet of water-fowl as it floats upon the lake.

A singular circumstance connected with this place occurred when I was a youth. I was once walking by the water-side, on my way home on a fine summer’s afternoon, when the weather was very hot, and the sky beautifully blue and clear, when all of a sudden the whole flock of water-birds appeared to be seized with a fright or panic. They fluttered their wings and continued to utter sharp cries as though they were in distress. They then swam or flew as fast as they could to the island, and hastily retreated to their little houses. I stood looking on, wondering what could be the cause of their alarm. I could see no dog nor other enemy of the feathery tribe, nor anything which seemed to account for their disturbance. In a little time, however, the reason for it all was made plain to me. Though the day had till then been bright and lovely, the sky rapidly became overcast, and some dark and heavy clouds passed over our heads, discharging a torrent of rain upon the earth, amid the flash of lightning and the roar of thunder. A thunder-storm had in fact arisen, such as we sometimes experience in sultry weather, and the, birds, by means of the instinct with which their Creator had endowed them, were made aware of the coming storm, and this accounted for their concern and hasty retreat to their place of refuge.

Now, I want you to notice, dear children, that it was not only the parent birds who made this hasty retreat from the approaching tempest. They, indeed, may have raised the alarm, but the young swans, the goslings, and the ducklings repeated the cry, being as much concerned as the old ones, and hurried to the shelter as fast as the rest. But, as soon as the whole flock had reached their place of safety, there was no more distressful fluttering of wings nor any further utterance of piercing and painful cries, either from the old or the young. They all kept perfectly quiet while the storm was passing over their heads. The flashing of the lightning, the rolling of the thunder, and the heavy downfall of the rain seemed not to trouble them, they were so comfortably and securely sheltered in their little houses.

May we not learn an important lesson from this narrative God has told us in His Word that there is a day of judgment coming — “the wrath to come” — which shall fall upon all who have not fled to Christ, His dear Son, for refuge. But now there is a hiding-place in Him for every one who flees to Him, be he young or old. The old birds, you see, could raise the alarm and fly for themselves, but their wings would not serve to save their young. No, the young ones were obliged to fly on their own account to the hiding-place. And so, though your parents and friends may be able to tell you what a dreadful thing it is to bear the judgment of God, and urge you to flee to Jesus for refuge, they cannot flee to Him for you. You must do that for yourselves, or else you must perish. And would not that be dreadful?

You have, no doubt, read about the flood in the early chapters of the book of Genesis, and you know that all who were not in the ark with Noah perished in the swilling of the waters. And you may be sure that many young persons and children must have been drowned, as well as fathers and mothers and very-aged people. And now I entreat every one of you who has not fled to Jesus for salvation to do so at once, so that not only you may never perish, but that you may “have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” and be at rest, as the birds were in their welcome house of safety from the summer storm.

Wouldst thou from the tempest hide

When its clouds shall darken?

To the Lord thy soul confide,

Now to Jesus hearken.

Unto Hite for refuge flee,

Make Him thy salvation;

Then wilt, thou forever be

Free from condemnation.

(Rom. 8:1.)

"A Goodly Price!"

(Zech. 11:12, 13; Matt. 26:14, 15.)

Oh, what a sum was given

For Thee, Jehovah’s Christ!

The peerless gem of heaven,

At thirty pieces priced!

Dictionary of the Bible.

Fir. — The fir-tree is noticed in the Bible under the Hebrew names of Berosh and Beroth. These coniferous trees are resinous in their nature, their leaves are very narrow and sharp-pointed (hence called needle-trees by the Germans). The wood of the tree is marked with remarkable dotted discs, which are easily seen under the microscope. Allusion is frequently nude in the Bible to the vigorous growth of the fir-tree. Thus, Ezekiel, when describing the power of the Assyrian, selects the fir-tree on account of its noble growth, and says “the fir-trees were not like his boughs” (31:8). For the same reason it is associated with the cedar of Lebanon. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, is represented as saying, “With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the heights of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar-trees thereof, and the choice of fir-trees thereof” (2 Kings 19:23; Isa. 37:21). The wood was used for various purposes, such as in house-building, ship-building, the formation of musical instruments, &c. It was one of the kinds of timber sent by Hiram to Solomon for the construction of the temple (1 Kings 5:8-10; 9:11; 2 Chron. 2:8). The floor of the house was covered with planks of fir, and the two doors at the entrance of the temple and the ceiling were made of the same kind of wood (1 Kings 11-1. 15:34; 2 Chron. 3:5). Rafters of berosh are also referred to in the Song of Solomon 1:17. David and all the house of Israel played on musical instruments made of berosh-wood. Fir-trees are mentioned in connection with the future renovated earth. Isaiah says, “I will set in the desert the fir-tree” (Isa. 41:19) “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree” (Isa. 55:13). “The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box-tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious... and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders: but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time”

(Isa. 60:13-22).

"Lost! Lost! Lost!"

COAL, as you know, is dug out of the earth, often at an immense depth, and, when a coal mine has been worked until it is exhausted, the machinery is removed and the place abandoned. When this has been done, the shaft gradually becomes filled with water, which is, of course, very deep.

Now, in the north of England there are many coal-fields which have been thus worked out, and the open shafts, turned by the water into lakes of unfathomable depth, are very dangerous to strangers, especially at night. A poor man was returning one evening from his work, and, being late, he thought he would save time by crossing a barren moor in which some of these open pits lay. But he had made a mistake as to time, and it grew dark before he had got over. For a time he walked hurriedly on, but at last, as the shadows of night closed around him, he mistook his way, and very soon afterward became conscious that he was lost!

To go on was death, for pits lay all about him, and no path was to be seen in the darkness; even the ground beneath his feet was hardly visible; and at last, as the danger of his position came fully on his mind, he was seized with trembling, and dared not move another step. All he could now do was to stand still and cry aloud, “Lost! Lost! Lost!” The wild desolate moor lay all around him, darkness shut him in on every sick, and he well knew that no human being was likely to be within call, yet, in very despair, he continued to cry, “Lost! lost! lost”

Happily for him a watchman was engaged by the owners of the moor for the very purpose of warning travelers of the dangers of the way, and spent his time at night in a little hut in the midst of this desolate region. The melancholy cry of “Lost! lost! lost!” reached his ears, and, lighting his lantern, he shouted back to the terrified traveler, “Stand still for your life;” then hurrying forward, he came up to him with the light, and, holding it but one pace in advance of him, showed him a fearful chasm half filled with black water, into which, had he but taken one step more, he would certainly have fallen and perished; then, with the aid of his light, he led him safely along on his homeward way.

Now, this little tale contains a picture of much that is true of the world, which is “the valley of the shadow of death,” where “sin reigns in death,” and “snares abound.” on every side, as on the desolate moor the traveler was benighted in. We are all passing through it, and sooner or later some of us will reach our home in the Father’s house, where a gracious welcome awaits us from Hint that loved us, and gave Himself for us, and who has said, “Where I am, there ye shall be also.”

But there is one great difference, which is this, that some have the light of life, and some have not. Only those that have will ever reach the home I speak of, and all the rest, whether they know it, like the traveler in the tale, or not, are lost. “He that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes,” and another step may take him into the eternal pit. But God has graciously given His Word, which is “a light to the feet, and a lamp to the path” of him that will receive it; and not only so, but He has also bidden all believers to “hold forth the Word of Life” to all perishing sinners. This blessed light, like the watchman’s lantern; shows the dangers that surround the path of every son and daughter of Adam, and that all are lost, and hurrying blindly on to judgment. It tells how that “sin came into the world and death by sin,” and so “death passed upon all men, for that ALL HAVE SINNED,” and that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 5:12; 6:23). Death temporal, death eternal (Rev. 20). But it does far more than this, for it declares Him who is Himself the Life and the Light of men (John 1.), and who has said, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” Some seek a way of their own, but you know that, had the lost traveler in this little tale done so, he would have perished. Instead of this, when he heard the watchman’s word, he believed it, then be looked to the light, and was saved from the pit that yawned at his feet. All our own ways, like the path of the benighted traveler, lead directly to destruction, but the Lord Jesus has said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the LIGHT OF LIFE” (John 10:5). Follow Him by faith where He now is at the Father’s right hand, and you, shall have the light of life. He was once “crucified for sin, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”

You see in this little tale that the watchman’s light not only saved the, traveler from the pit, but guided him safely on his homeward way. Jesus does more than guide, He “brings to God” all who trust in Him. Had the traveler neglected, simply neglected to hear the watchman’s word, he would have plunged at once into an unfathomable gulf. “If ye believe not that I am He,” said Jesus, “ye shall die in your sins,” and that is to perish everlastingly. But, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish, but have everlasting life.”

All who do so are brought to God NOW, their sins are ALL forgiven, and in a little while they shall have everlasting joy in the Father’s house. All who refuse will have occasion to cry throughout all eternity, “LOST! LOST! LOST!”

Answers to Bible Questions for April.

1. “Enter not into judgment with Thy servant: for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified” (Psa. 143:2).

2. “For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether” (Psa. 139:4).

3. “Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee, but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee” (Psa. 139:12).

4. “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon him in truth” (Psa. 145:18).

5. “He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth Him” (Prov. 14:2).

6. “He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated” (Prov. 14:17).

7. “For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). “ For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God” (Deut. 4:24).

8. “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Jaw, even his prayer shall be abomination.” (Prov. 28:9).

W. H. S.

Bible Questions for May.

1. What is the throne called where the unpardoned stand to be judged for their sins?

2. What name is given to the seat where every believer in Christ is to stand and give account of himself to God?

3. When are believers to give an account to God, before or after they are glorified?

4. At what time and in what valley will the Lord judge the living nations that will fight at Jerusalem?

5. How long does the Scripture state that the Lord will reign with His saints before He judges the wicked?

6. Say on what mountain will the Lord descend with His saint.

7. Give the Scripture which informs us where believers will meet their Lord.

8. Give one text where men are commanded by their Lord to beat their plowshares into swords for war, and two where we are told they will beat their swords into plowshares, and learn war no more.

Bible Enigma.

Who wrote a letter for the Apostle Paul?

On whom did death by worms in judgment fall?

Of Jesse’s sons, which oldest was of all?

Which was the tribe whence Jewish priesthood came?

Who sought out Paul, defying scorn and shame?

Who a long journey rode her lord to meet?

Who, as a Psalmist, is declared “the sweet “?

Tell Jacob’s name when he with God prevail’d?

What king had ships which oft for treasures sail’d?

Who Boaz’ wife became, a Moabite?

Who mock’d his brother, showing hate and spite?

Who more than all men was for wisdom fam’d?

Who to a prophet was successor nam’d?

And who was he whose folly made his wife ashamed?

These names search out, then their initial place,

And learn the ground of mercy, love, and grace.

Jacob Departs to be with Joseph.

(Gen. 45 and 46)

AT last Jacob believes that what his sons tell him is really true, and he repeats it after them, so glad he is to believe it. He had many times spoken about “the man” who was the lord of the land, but now he knows who it is he calls him “Joseph my son.” He does not even speak of his being “governor over all the land of Egypt,” but says, “It’s my son, and he is yet alive, and I’ll go and see him.” And then the thought of seeing Joseph is so joyful to him that he says, “It is enough.” He wants no more in this world than to see again his dear Joseph, whom he has so long mourned for as dead. It is true that when he gets there he will have plenty of everything, instead of the famine being “sore in the land,” but that is not what makes him so eager to go. He says not a word about it. It is Joseph he is thinking of, and he says, “I will go and see him.” And then he would be satisfied, as another clear old man was satisfied when he had seen with his eyes, and held in his arms, the holy Child Jesus. Jacob, when he had seen Joseph, said, “Now let me die, since I have seen thy face,” and Simeon said, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” They were both satisfied. Now, some day or other, it may be sooner than you think, your eyes too will see “this same Jesus,” not brought as a Babe in. His mother’s arms, but coming with power and great glory; and what are your thoughts about it as you look on to it What will you do when

“That face, once so ‘marred,’ you gaze on at length”?

In the first chapter of Revelation you read of those who will see Him, and “wail because of Him.” Shall you wail because of Him, filled with the bitter memories that you used to hear about Him, and read about Him in the Bible and the GOOD NEWS, but never cared to take Him for your own Saviour until it was quite too late? In the twentieth chapter of the same book we read of the heavens and the earth fleeing away from before that same “face.” I need not ask you if you will flee away. No one, small or great, will do that, though they would all be glad to do so. No, they “stand before the throne,” before the face of Him who sits upon it, and He is none other than the Lord. Jesus, the Son of man (see John 5:22). But in the last chapter God has given us there are others who “see His face” — that same face — and who are neither wailing, nor fleeing, nor wanting to flee; but are before Him in peace, seeing His face, and His name written in their face. They are like Him, for they “see Him as He is.” And they are satisfied. “As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.”

Dearest child, what are you looking out for, and thinking it will satisfy every longing of your heart? People all around us, who do not know the fullness there is in the Lord Jesus, are trying to satisfy themselves with pleasure, and money, and one thing and another, but they find it like Solomon said about the sea, “All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full.” So he found it in the world; when he had tried all a man could try to get satisfaction, it was all “vanity and vexation of spirit.” He had “labored for that which satisfieth not,” and had not tasted the sweetness of being able to look up and say —

“Jesus, Thou art enough

The mind and heart to fill.”

But have you tasted it, dear young reader? If not, why not let your heart turn to Jesus before you eat your next meal, and say, “Here I am, Lord, a sinner all my life, but Thou didst come into the world to save sinners; and I believe in Thee, and bless Thee for saving even me; and now, Lord, teach me to know more and more of Thee, that I may learn to please Thee in all I do, and find my little heart quite full and satisfied as I think of Thy love to me”?

“In sorrow, be Thy love my peace;

In weakness, be Thy love my strength;

And when the storms of life shall cease,

And Thou to meet me com’st at length,

Lord Jesus, then this heart shall be

Forever satisfied with Thee.”

It is one thing to be willing to go to heaven when we die, and another thing to be waiting for and looking for God’s Son from heaven (1 Thess. 1:10; Phil. 3:20) before we die. Jacob thought at one time that he would die and go to Joseph (Gen. 37:35); but he says in this chapter, “I will go and see him before I die.” So Simeon bad a promise from God that he should not die till he had seen the One he was waiting for. And so with believers in Jesus now: it is revealed to them by the Holy Ghost, in 1 Corinthians 15, that they will not all fall asleep before the Lord Jesus comes to raise those of His people who are in their graves, and to change us and catch us up with them. And He would have us to be “waiting for that blessed hope;” not the glory or the beauty of heaven, but the Lord Himself, who is coming to fetch us there. If Jacob thought more of seeing Joseph than of “the good of all the land of Egypt,” surely we may well think more of seeing the face of our Lord Jesus than of everything else even in heaven; and sing as we wait for Him —

Oh, Thou art fair! Lord Jesus, fairer than all beside;

Fairer than earth’s fair sunshine, than ocean’s glittering tide.

Fair in Thy shadeless glory, fair in Thy changeless love,

Fair in redemption’s story, and on the throne above.

But oh! to my soul Thou art fairest, as I muse on the bridal morn,

When the home which Thou preparest Thy blood-bought shall adorn.

Then, then shall she rise to meet Thee, Thine own, Thy

chosen bride,

Then, then shall my eyes behold Thee, and I shall be satisfied.

W. TY.

The Old Green Baize.

THE little boys and girls who live in London will find it hard to believe that the place called Mile End, beyond the turnpike gate, ever could have been a sort of country village, with little old-fashioned shops and wooden houses, some of them standing so far below the level of the road that a person of common height could look into the bedroom windows! Yet so it was some fifty years ago; and, after getting a little way along the road, there were milk fields and farms, and cottage dairies, where, on a hot summer’s day, you could get a draft of fresh milk to quench your thirst, or, if you wanted something to eat, as much curds and whey for a few pence as would satisfy even a hungry little boy. Then there were roadside inns, standing far back from the footpath, with great spaces in front, where the horse-trough was always ready to refresh the traveler’s steed, and the tall sign-post with its swinging sign-board stood beside it, and roomy yards, stables, and haylofts behind, where the pigeons flew about and fed around the doors.

I knew a little boy whose very first lesson in English history was gathered from one of these same sign-boards as it creaked in the summer wind, rocking to and fro what was meant to be a portrait of Henry the Eighth, in a flaming red coat with yellow decorations and a “beefeater’s” hat. I dare say a buffetier from the Tower had sat for it; but, however that may be, the little boy, being curious to know whom it represented, asked someone who happened to be with him, and thus got his first lesson in history. But who, to see Mile End in these days, would suppose that milk fields and cottage dairies, roadside inns, and straggling barns and stables could ever have found room where now countless houses stand But you will want to know what all this has to do with the Old Green Baize? Well, I must tell you. When Mile End was just a straggling village street, there stood on the left-hand side, about half way on the old Bow Road, an ancient wood-built house, and there a very little, boy lived with his grandmother and his aunt. He was only there on a visit, and how long he stayed I cannot tell you. But, whether his visit was long or short, one thing is very certain, and that is that he was very happy there, so that the remembrance always remained with him like the memory of some pleasant dream, and in after life any trifle that brought back for a moment the recollection of those old days, such as an old picture (for there were old pictures in the chamber where he slept) or any other thing connected with that happy time, was always pleasing to him. And this brings us to the Old Green Baize. On the first morning of his visit, when this little boy came down to breakfast, he saw a green baize doth folded up and lying in front of the bright wood fire. Of course he was curious to know what it contained (for little boys are always curious), but be had not long to wait, for as soon as he was comfortably seated on a little stool beside his dear old grandmother and aunt its contents were made plain enough. No doubt you, have guessed what was in it. A batch of hot rolls, of course, fresh from the baker’s oven, and hot enough to melt all the country butter that could be put into them; and I need hardly tell you that the little boy enjoyed them, for the fresh air of old Mile End and the smell of the milk fields and the cows had given him an excellent appetite. Every morning after this as long as he stayed he found the old green baize on the hearth when he came down to breakfast; and thus it became so mixed up with his remembrances of all the thoughtful care and love of his aunt and grandmother that he ever afterward liked to see a green baize wrapper. All that love could do to make this little boy happy while he stayed was done by his aunt and grandmother. The toys they gave him, the walks he took with them, the books they read to him, the old garden where he played, even the sweet smell of the milk fields, made the sweeter to memory by the unchanging kindness he knew there in the old house in Mile End, were all connected with the old green baize. It was but a trifle, of no value in itself, worn with long use, powdered with flour from the rolls, and faded by the heat of the hearth, and yet, you see, it had power to bring back to mind long years afterwards some of the happiest days that little boy had ever known.

The old house is swept away; the place where it stood and the whole scene around are so changed that, if he who was once this little boy could see it, he would not know it now. The milk fields and the trees, the dairies and the cows, are all gone, and even the middle-aged men and women who tended them are all gone, too; yet the whole scene lives in memory at the sight of an old green baize.

Now, I am sure you will agree with me that it is right and pleasant, too, to remember those who have loved us, and it is well when anything recalls such recollections to our minds. You have parents and friends who love you. I hope you are not forgetful of all the kindness and thoughtful care they show you.

If you should live to grow up and grow old, it may be that in after years some trifle will often recall it to memory. Requite it while you can.

But there is ANOTHER who loves you, whose love far exceeds that of any earthly friend, however loving. Who is that? It is He who died for you and rose again, and who, in putting away sin on His cross, has made a way for you — yes, even for you — to God. And every time you take GOOD NEWS into your hand its very name should remind you of His love, for the name or title of this little book is founded on the work of Christ. What is GOOD NEWS but the same thing as GOSPEL? And what is the Gospel but the tale of God’s love ‘“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

Thus “the old, old story” is brought to mind every time you look on this little book, even as the happy days and scenes of childhood and the love of kind friends were all recalled to the memory of the little boy, and mixed up with THE OLD GREEN BAIZE.

“Unchangeable Thy gracious love

My earthly path has ceaseless viewed;

Ere yet this beating heart could move,

Thy tender mercies me pursued.

Ever with me may they abide,

And close me in on every side.”

Onward and Upward.

For Young and Old.

PASSING along a country road one night with a dark lantern to guide him on his way, a traveler was overtaken by a respectable young farmer, who said to him, “Do you find that light necessary?”

“Yes,” replied the other, “I could not see my way well without it on such a dark night as this.”

“I never carry one,” said the farmer, “and can always see my way, even in the darkest night, by keeping in the middle of the road and looking ONWARD AND UPWARD.”

The traveler at once shut off his light and tried the experiment. He found it quite true. By keeping the eye “onward and upward” at one and the same time, the line of the hedges on either side standing out against the faint glimmer in the horizon was plainly visible, and, as the eye became accustomed to it, the difficulty of traveling thus grew less and less, until it became quite easy, and all artificial light unnecessary.

“Onward and upward,” thought he with the Ian-tern, after parting from the young farmer; “what a remarkable expression and how strikingly it tells the true secret of safety for all our fallen race!”

Looking “ONWARD,” a man sees that judgment is coming on a Christ-rejecting world, himself included. Whether he lives or dies, judgment is inevitable, and escape in his present condition impossible (Heb. 9:27; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 20:12-15). If he merely looks around earthward, there is no sign of this — he is hedged in on every side, and all is darkness as to what lies beyond: more than darkness, there is positive delusion. Who that walked thus along a country lane on a dark night might not mistake a pile of stones by the roadside for the right path, and presently find himself in the hedge or the dyke?

And who that only looks around him here would not make the mistake so many do, of supposing that both he and the world together were advancing in the right direction?

Is there not manifest “progress” in population, civilization, art, science, education, luxury, wealth? Are not continents being opened up, nations brought nearer together, savages becoming civilized, and the whole earth’s surface rapidly peopled? But how is it all to end? “I will overturn, overturn, overturn... till He come whose right it is, and I will give it Him” (Ezek. 21:27). These words, though primarily addressed to Jerusalem, sum up in one short sentence what all prophecy teaches as to the end of this world’s boasted “progress.”

It is “progress” indeed, but into the gulf of judgment!

But “he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth (nor the world either), because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” Only by looking ONWARD can he know it, and that he can alone do by the aid of God’s Word. If, then he is willing to look onward, what does he see? That he is a part of that which is about to be judged, and that so long as he remains a part of it he is lost! This brings home to his heart the conviction of his own utter helplessness and ruin! — conviction of SIN and of JUDGMENT TO COME! and, if this were all, it would be sad indeed. But the young farmer’s wise counsel was this: “Onward AND upward!” A solitary traveler on an unknown road, in a dark night, looking only onward, would soon become afraid to advance; the more he looked onward alone the more hopeless his case would appear, until, growing increasingly irresolute and afraid, he would presently stand still altogether! Nor could he do better, unless he had learned that his eye must be upward while onward, that the vision must bring in the light from above to bear on the road right ahead. Only so could he proceed in peace and safety. And only thus does conviction of sin and of judgment to come prove a blessing. Felix, compelled, in spite of himself, to look “onward,” “trembled” (Acts 24:25); but he never looked. “upward,” and his history would lead us to say that he died in his sins. The jailer looked “onward,” also, but he looked “upward,” too, and. “rejoiced, believing in God with all his house” (Acts 16:29-34).

Looking “UPWARD” the convicted sinner sees “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ;” he sees that blessed Son of God who glorified His Father on the earth and finished the work He gave Him to do, who was once crucified for sin, but raised again by the power of God, now seated at God’s right hand, and saying to him, the lost one, “Look unto Me, and ye be saved” (Isa. 45:22). “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). He looks “upward” on Christ as his all-sufficient Saviour, as the One who has put away all his sins by His precious blood (1 John 1:7), and who is there in the glory, because He glorified the Father in it all (John 17). Thus looking “UPWARD,” he rejoices in the Lord.

“ONWARD AND UPWARD” is his motto still, as he walks through the world―in, it, but not of it; “pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, he keeps the middle path of consistency, and thus avoids the entangling hedges and ditches on either side. He heeds not the shadows by the way (James 4:14; 1 Peter 1:24, 25), nor lingers on the road, for his HOME is before him, and his eye is filled with the light that comes from afar, yet to faith is ever near and around him — the light of the glory of “the rest that remaineth for the people of God.” Thus to the sinner who would be saved, and to the believer who would glorify God here, and pass safely on to the “Father’s house,” the farmer’s motto applies — “ONWARD AND UPWARD.

The Vase.

A VASE I had of classic shape,

Of beauty rich and rare,

Eroboss’d with vine and hanging grape —

A gem beyond compare.

On marble mantel it was plac’d,

And was by all admir’d,

As there it showed its owner’s taste,

And pleasant praise inspir’d.

But all that’s formed of brittle earth,

However chaste and choice,

Has frailty stamp’d upon its worth,

And speaks a boding voice;

And so this vase of Attic shape,

Of elegance and fame,

The common lot did not escape —

A ruin it became.

It told a lesson in its fall,

Instructive, though ‘twas stern —

That I on nothing, great or small,

Should set my heart’s concern;

But look above alone for bliss,

And fix my treasure there,

That I true joy might never miss,

But lasting blessings share.

A Brief Account of a Shipwrecked Young Sailor

And How His Mother’s Prayers Were Answered.

ON the 16th of June, 1868, the subject of our narrative, whom... we will designate Frederick J. T—, when fifteen years old, sailed from London to India in the ship Hesperia, arriving home again on the 16th of. April, 1869. The following June the Hesperia, when lying at anchor two miles below Gravesend, laden with a general cargo for Singapore, was run into by the new steamship Northumbria, on her first voyage to Newcastle. When the collision took place, young Fred was asleep in his berth. The shock awoke him, but, having been on watch and thoroughly tired, he rolled over in his berth and fell fast asleep again. A few minutes after one of the sailors, anxious about his clothes or other things, ran down the companion ladder, and seeing Fred in imminent danger caught him by his hair, and awoke him with the astounding news that the ship was settling down! To rush upon deck was the work of a minute. A sailor lifted him bodily over the gunwale, and threw him into a boat in his night-shirt. Two minutes after the ship went down; and thus, through God’s mercy, the subject of our sketch narrowly escaped a watery grave. The boat having picked up the mate, who had jumped from the vessel a moment before she sank, the rescued sailors sought to effect a landing, but the enormous breakers threatening to swamp them, they remained beating about off land — F. J. T—, without his clothes, shivering with cold — until the Mary and George, of Salcomb, took them in, and having shown the utmost kindness and consideration for the saved crew, landed them after a few hours.

Our readers may imagine the gratitude and joy with which the Christian mother received her sailor boy thus saved from death; for Fred’s mother was a Christian, and often had prayed that her son might be brought to the feet of Jesus, to hear Him say, “Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee.” But the fond heart had hitherto been grieved at the unbelief which rejected all the overtures of grace, and even questioned the authenticity of God’s Word. We shall see, however, that in the sequel a mother’s entreaties and prayers were answered.

About a month after the event narrated our sailor left the Millwall docks in the Rescue for North Shields. When lying there, taking in cargo for Copenhagen, he fell overboard between two ships, and was again saved from drowning as if by a special providence. On the voyage they encountered fearful gales, at one time fearing the loss of the ship; and on the arrival at Copenhagen, the decks swept of all rigging, &c., and the vessel so much damaged in other ways, they had to put into dock for repairs. The Rescue then returned to London. F. J. T — ‘s next voyage was to New Zealand; then home in sixteen months, and away to Malta and back; after that to Australia and home again. Leaving London again in the ship Glorianna for Florida, South America, upon arrival not liking the captain he ran away from the ship, remaining fourteen months in America. Whilst there, he was laid aside by yellow fever, and though many died around him in the hospital, God had mercy on him, and he was restored to health; and after having made his way to New York, he returned to London. The ship from which F. J T― ran away, the Glorianna, left Florida with a cargo of timber for London. She had not been at sea, more than four days when, dismasted and waterlogged, she was put into Cuba for repairs. Having left there for London, she was burnt to the water’s edge off Newfoundland, and her crew perished with her!

On December 17th 1873, F. J. T —, now promoted to be quartermaster, left West India Docks in the fine new steamer Mongol, on her first voyage to New Zealand, with a crew of fifty-two men and 340 passengers. They arrived at their destination in forty-nine days, the shortest time on record up to that date.

Occupied in carrying the mails between Auckland and Otago, the Mongol encountered fearful weather. On one occasion, her rudder being carried away, she was in imminent danger of being dashed upon the rocks, but her steering apparatus being replaced, the vessel arrived safely at Auckland. Again, on her voyage to Sydney a terrible storm arose, unequaled for its fury during the last twenty-two years, F. J. T— steering the vessel, lashed to the helm, and sometimes in water to his waist, remained through a long watch of twelve hours, one of his mates having been wounded on the head by a block and sent to hospital, and the second of the three, whose duty it was to steer, having turned in after his eight hours’ watch. Whilst thus occupied, the captain came up to him and said, “Fred, I have no hope of the ship!” “She will not go down,” Fred said to himself, “for my mother’s prayers are not yet answered!” seeing that he was still unsaved. After having raged twenty-four hours the storm abated, and they sighted Sydney. In a short time the Mongol left Sydney for Hong Kong to ship 3,000 tons of tea for London, which port they reached after a rapid passage, taking the tea prize as the first to arrive with new season’s tea. Fred had now been nine months on board the Mongol. Being ashore for a few days, F. J. T — paid a visit to some relives in Yorkshire, and on the succeeding Lord’s-day, after hearing his uncle proclaiming the Gospel, Fred evidenced extreme anxiety about his soul. After conversation with his uncle, and much exercise of soul during the week, the Lord graciously blessed John 5:24 to the young man’s conversion on September 20th, 1874. Little was said about the happy change from darkness to light until after a few days some Christian friends were singing together —

“I am now a child of God,

For I’m washed in Jesus’ blood!” &c.,

when his uncle said to him, “Fred, you cannot sing that?” To which he replied, “Yes, I can!” “But you could not last Lord’s-day?” “But I can now!” This was blessed news, and called forth from his uncle the admonition, “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him” (Col. 2:6).

Soon after this F. J. T — left London in the ship Brisbane for Cardiff, to take in cargo for Singapore. In due time, arrived again in London, he heard with much sorrow of the loss of the Mongol, in which he had spent many months and escaped so many dangers. After remaining in London three weeks, F. J. T — again visited his much-loved relatives at D —, in Yorkshire, and on Lord’s-day following greatly surprised them by walking into the room in which some Christians were assembled to break bread in remembrance of the Lord Jesus, with a letter of commendation from the saints gathered in His name in London. Fred willingly walked each Lord’s-day seven miles, from T — to D—, in order to remember the Lord’s death with His saints; for Fred knew this, that not only had he received “eternal life” (John 10:27,30), but the affections of his heart were won to Him who had loved Him, and given Himself for him. He therefore greatly desired to remember Him in the breaking of bread, according to His dying request (1 Cor. 11:23-26).

And now, dear reader, let me ask, “Are YOU saved?” I do not say, can you speak of “our Saviour”? but do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as YOUR Saviour, and can you say from your heart He bare my sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24.) The Word of God tells us (Rom. 3:19) that “the whole world is become guilty before Him,” that men are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:5); no improvement will avail, it must be a new life. “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7), or anew. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12; see also Rom. 10:6-10). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Dictionary of the Bible.

Firmament. — “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them path He set a tabernacle for the sun; which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof” (Psa. 19). Firmament is a word that comes to us through the Latin, and importing by its derivation something of compact and solid structure. In common use, however, it has lost this import, and merely denotes the sky over our heads — the pure and transparent expanse of ether which envelopes the globe, and stretches from the earth’s surface towards the upper regions of space. This is precisely what is meant by the Hebrew term rakiah, from the root to stretch, spread out, or forth, beat out; hence simply the expanse, what is spread out around and over the earth. This has to the natural eye somewhat of the appearance of a crystal arch resting on the boundaries of the earth and bearing aloft the watery treasures on which the life and fruitfulness of nature so materially depend. On the second creative day it is said God made this liquid expanse, for the purpose of dividing the waters on the surface of the earth from the waters above, or the sea from the clouds that rise out of it. In so far as material elements enter into its composition, it consists simply of the atmosphere, a vast body of ether compounded with infinite skill for the numberless functions it has to discharge in the formation and dispersion of vapors, the transmission of light and heat, the support of animal and vegetable life, and similar operations, but in its structure and appearance, related rather to the fluctuating and mutable than to the more solid parts of the material universe. But as used in the record of creation, the rakiah, or firmament, includes not merely the lower heavens, or atmospheric sky, with its clouds and vapors, but the whole visible expanse up to the region of the fixed stars. For on the fourth creative day it is said that God made in the rakiah, sun, moon, and stars, to divide the day from the, night, and to be for signs and seasons. This, of course, does not imply anything as to the structure and composition of the immense area, as if by being comprised in one name it were all of the same formation. The language is adapted to the apparent aspect of things, and describes the visible expanse above, with its orbs of light, simply in the relation they hold to the earth, and the appearance they present to a spectator on its surface. In this respect we have to distinguish a lower and a higher firmament, just as we do in respect to a lower and a higher heaven.

Fitches. — This word occurs only in Isaiah 28:25, 27. It is no doubt from the difficulty of proving the precise meaning of the original term hetzach that different plants have been assigned as its representative. But, if we refer to the context, we learn some particulars which at least restrict it to a certain group, namely, to such as are cultivated. Thus, verse 25, “When he (the ploughman) hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches?” And again, verse 27, “For the fitches are not thrashed with a thrashing instrument, neither is a cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.” From which we learn that this grain was easily separated from its capsule, and therefore beaten out with a stick.

Interpreters have had great difficulty in determining the particular kind of seed intended, some translating it peas, others, as Luther and the English version, ‘vetches, but without any proof. Meibomius considers it to be the white poppy, and others a black seed. This last interpretation has the most numerous as well as the oldest authorities in its support. Of these a few are in favor of the black poppy-seed, but the majority of a very black colored and aromatic seed, still cultivated and in daily employment as a condiment in the East. The plant is called nigella by botanists, and continues in the present day, as in the most ancient times, to be used both as a condiment and as a medicine.

Flag. — This word (in the original achu) occurs in Job 8:11, where it is said, “Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?” Achu occurs also twice in Genesis 41:2, 18, “And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well-favored kine, and fat-fleshed; and they fed in a meadow.” Here it is rendered “meadow,” and must, therefore, have been considered by our translators as a general and not a specific term.

From the context of the few passages in which ache occurs, it is evident that it indicates a plant or plants which grew in or in the neighborhood of water, and also that it or they were suitable as pasturage for cattle. Now, it is generally well known that most of the plants which grow in water, as well as many of those which grow in its vicinity, are not well suited as food for cattle, some being very watery, others very coarse in texture, and some possessed of acrid and even poisonous properties. Some species of scirpus, or club-rush, however, serve as food for cattle; such, for instance, is the principal food of cattle and sheep in the highlands of Scotland from the beginning of March till the end of May.

The Coming of the Lord.

SOME time since a Christian mother was deeply exercised on the truth of the coming of the Lord, in its application to her own children; and she expressed in their presence her anxiety as to those among them who, when the Lord should come, might be found not believing on His name, and who would therefore have no part in the blessing of His coming. This solemn aspect of the truth greatly impressed one of the family, a youth, who, though not unconcerned about his soul, had not found “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;” and so much was he disturbed by it that he awoke in the night with the thought that the Lord had come and had not taken him. At this he was greatly distressed, thinking that, if such were the case, all hope of salvation for him was forever gone. He found, however, that his alarm was occasioned by the action of the Word of God upon his soul, and he felt that he had no time to lose. He, therefore, anxiously attended the preaching of the Gospel of the grace of God, and soon found peace through believing in Jesus. He now no longer fears the coming of the Lord, but finds comfort and joy in the prospect of soon being forever with Him (1 Cor. 15:5; 1 Thess. 4:16-18).

“For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37).

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:17).

Answers to Bible Questions for May.

1. The great white throne (Rev. 20:11-13).

2. The judgment-seat of Christ (Rom. 14:10 — 12; 2 Cor. 5:10).

3. After they are glorified (1 Cor. 15:51, 52; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17).

4. “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and. Jerusalem. I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. Let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about” (Joel 3:1, 12).

5. A thousand years (Rev. 20:6, 7).

6. The Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4).

7. “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord IN THE AIR, and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong” (Joel 10). “And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2:4). “And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Mic. 4:3).

L. L.

Answer to Bible Enigma for May.

“The Lord is risen.” — Luke 24:34.

	T ertius Romans 16:22.
	H erod the king Acts 12:23.
	E liab 1 Samuel 17:13.

	L evi Hebrews 7:5.
	O nesiphorus 2 Timothy 1:16.
	R ebecca Genesis 24:61, &c.
	D avid 2 Samuel 23:1.

	I srael Genesis 32:24, &e.
	S olomon 1 Kings 10:22.

	R uth Ruth 4:13.
	I sbmael Genesis 21:9; Galatians 4:29.
	S olomon 1 Kings 4:31.
	E lisha 2 Kings 2
	N abal 1 Samuel 25:26.

What kind of person is told to go to an insect to learn his duty?

What is said to be a well-spring of life to him that has it?

What are we told delivereth from death?

What is said to pursue sinners?

What is it that is found in the house of the righteous?

What are we told the wicked shall have shortened?

Answer these questions by verses from the book of Proverbs: take the characteristic words relating to the quality or thing spoken of, and the initials will give one of the names of Christ, by which He is represented as taking our place.

Bible Questions for June.

1. In the first chapter of Isaiah persons are called to draw near to God; what time is fixed when they were to do so, and for what two things were they to come?

2. Describe the character of those who are called to draw near to God in the first of Isaiah.

3. What does it say in one of the prophets shall be established on the tops of the mountains in the last days, and how many nations shall flow to it?

4. In the Revelation we read of some who will suffer death for the witness of Jesus; what is there in the same verse that marks the time of their death?

5. What three events does Revelation 20 teach us will take place after the thousand years’ reign of Christ?

6. What two new things are mentioned in Revelation 21. before the writer speaks of seeing the New Jerusalem coming down from God?

7. Give one passage from the Hebrews where the believer is said to be perfected; and another from the same epistle where the writer desires the believer may be practically perfect.

8. Sinners are exhorted to become acquainted with God and get peace, and look for good; give chapter and verse.

The Fountain.

As I was passing recently, on a fine afternoon, through a pleasant park in the south of London, I observed in the center of one of the gravel paths a superior looking drinking fountain. It stands by itself, and has steps all round it, by which even the young can reach the cool refreshing water which flows from an outlet on each of the four sides. There are also clean and bright metallic cups, to enable the thirsty to take a draft of the water which is thus supplied for them.

But that which particularly attracted my notice was the sight of twenty or thirty children, who were either drinking or pressing for a draft from the fountain. These children were from four or five up to thirteen or fourteen years of age, and what was certainly remarkable, there was not one grown-up person among them. The sight of so many dear children, who by themselves were slaking their thirst, was in itself gratifying to one’s spirit, while it suggested some thoughts concerning drinking at the Fountain of eternal life.

You remember the sweet invitation of the Lord, addressed to all who have not yet drank of that well of water which springeth up into everlasting life: “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22). The fountain which I saw in the park was supplied for the use of any who wished to quench their thirst. Now, JESUS is the Fountain which God has given, that poor thirsty sinners may come to Him and drink. No charge was made for a drink of water in the park. Any one might go and take a draft without being called on to make even the smallest payment. And, oh, how free is the love and mercy of God to you, dear children, as well as to those of us who are of a riper age I But, in order to make the gift of God thus free to you, a great price had to be paid, and it has been paid by the shedding of the precious blood of God’s dear Son, by which atonement has been made for sin. Have you come to God through believing on the name of His only-begotten Son, and found pardon for your sins, peace with God, and eternal life? The gift of God is free to every one that comes to Him as a needy sinner, trusting in Jesus only.

Take notice, that the children whom I saw well knew where to go to quench their thirst, and also observe that everything was there ready provided for them. First, there was the fountain erected, then there was the water freely flowing east, west, north, and south, then there were the bright clean cups from which any one might take a large or small draft, as he felt disposed. And there was no one to prevent or hinder the least child from taking a drink. In fact, everything seemed to say, “Come and drink, without money and without price.”

Oh, what a blessed sight it would be if we could see numbers of children, of all ages and stations, eager and anxious to come to Jesus, the Fountain of Eternal Life, that they might drink of that water which He so freely gives! He makes everyone who comes quite welcome, and gives them such a satisfying portion in Himself, that He says, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.”

Now, dear child, young as you may be, you have some troubles which, though perhaps little in themselves, prevent your being altogether happy; and you are not quite satisfied with your amusements, your books, and your lot in this life. Come, then, to Jesus, the well-spring of real and heavenly happiness, and He will give you salvation, eternal life, and a never-ending source of pure pleasure and real joy.

A Royal Visit

MOST persons are aware that the Queen visited the East of London a short time since for the purpose of opening a new wing to a hospital. It was a gracious act on the part of her Majesty to visit the poorer classes of her subjects, and it is stated that she was happy in their expressions of loyalty and of hearty welcome on her appearance among them, and that she also took a lively interest in the affairs of the hospital, as well as in its suffering patients. The Queen, before leaving, expressed a wish to see the children, and was of course conducted to their wards. She asked several questions concerning the little sufferers, and showed that she was possessed of kindly feelings towards them. Probably you have heard that one little girl, about five years old, cried out that “she should get well if she could only see the Queen.” Of course this was only a childish thought, as it was beyond the power even of her Majesty to give health to the sick child. She, however, in the kindest manner, approached the child’s cot, shook hands with her, and patted her pale cheek tenderly, and thus cheered the heart of the little one.

It is pleasant to find one in so exalted a station sympathizing with poor children in their sufferings. But kings and queens of very different character have sometimes been the occupants of thrones. For instance, Herod the king, of whom we read in Matthew 2 was very wicked and unfeeling. His desire to kill the young Child Jesus was so great that, in order to effect his object, he “sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under.” No wonder that then there was “a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel (signifying the bereaved mothers of Israel) weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” But, though Herod thus cruelly killed all those young children, he could not find out Jesus; for God hid His dear Son from him. In Exodus 2, too, we read that Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, charged all his people that they should cast into the river every son which was born unto the Hebrews. But then, too, God took care that the child Moses should not be drowned, because in clue time he, as the servant of God, was to deliver His people from the bondage of Egypt. So that, in these two instances of wicked and cruel kings, we see that they could not, with all their craft, frustrate the purpose of God, for none can thwart His fixed decree.

The blessed Lord Jesus made a long journey from heaven to earth that through His death on the cross He might open the way for sinners, old or young, to come to God. Oh, how He humbled Himself in perfect obedience to Him who sent Him, and in purest love to such as you and me, my dear young friends! The little girl thought that if she could only see the Queen she should be well; but if, through believing the Word of God about His dear Son, you with the eye of faith see JESUS, it will, indeed, be well with you both now and for evermore.

On the same occasion it appears that her Majesty also spoke to a boy about eight years of age who was suffering from a broken leg. When the boy left the hospital, he had such a pleasing remembrance of the visit of the Queen, that he resolved to write to her Majesty, which he did of his own accord, stamping and posting it, with the address, it is said, “Lady Queen Victoria.” This letter, it seems, reached the Queen, who, looking upon it as a simple and genuine expression of childlike gratitude, was graciously pleased to send him a gift in reply. And I think that you will be pleased to hear that a portion of the sum thus given was expended in the purchase of a Bible for the boy. I hope that he will prize it― (don’t you?) not only as the gift of her Majesty, but as that which shall, by the blessing of God, lead him to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Would you not almost wonder that such a simple letter from a poor boy should have found its way to the Queen in all the greatness and glory of her royal home? But it is affirmed that it did, and that it produced a worthy answer. Now, my dear young friends, let me ask you, in all love and tenderness, do you so know the love of God to you in the gift of His Son, and the grace of the Lord Jesus in laying down His life for sinners, that you have confidence in your heart to send a message to God in the precious name of Jesus? In other words, do you find it in your heart to pray to God? And, if you do, does not the weakest, simplest, and most childlike petition which you can utter, if it be but from the heart, reach the ear of God in all the glorious majesty of His heavenly throne? Assuredly it does; and is a pleasant sound there too. And, if the Queen could give a gracious answer to one of the least of her subjects, will not the God of all grace give every real blessing to them who ask Him? Only trust Him, leaving it to Himself, who knows what is best for us, to answer you in whatever way seems right to Him.

"You'll Burn! You'll Burn!"

A Few Words from a Little One.

In one of the villages of this country there lived a farmer and his wife who seem to have been always well-conducted people, but never went to any place for worship, and knew nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ. At that time the Gospel was not preached in the village. Most of the people round about were little better than heathens under the name of Christians. I am sorry to say that this is the state of too many in the villages and hamlets of England, so that the farmer was only like most of his neighbors, only that he was a moral man, that is, you know, a man who didn’t do any very bad things.

Well, one Sunday morning this farmer was going out to look about his fields, as many do, in order to see what work will have to be done on the Monday, or how the crops are getting on, when his little girl said to him, “Farver, are ‘oo goin’ to church?”

“No, my dear,” replied her father, surprised at the question, for he hated anything like religion; “no, I am not,” he added very decidedly.

Now, what do you think the little child said when he told her that?

Why, looking up with a solemn little face, she, to his great astonishment, instantly answered, “‘OO’LL BURN, FARVER! ‘OO’LL BURN!”

For a moment he felt so startled and angry at this strange speech that he was going to speak very sharply to her, but then it struck him that the little creature had not been told this by any one, for there was no one in his own house that would ever have thought of such a thing, and the child neither went to Sunday-school nor anywhere else where the judgment to come on the ungodly was ever spoken of. She had never been spoken to by any that loved the Lord Jesus Christ since she was born, so far as he knew. As he looked at the little thing gazing up at him in her simplicity the strange words, “You’ll burn, father! you’ll burn!” came to his soul as a message from God. He felt it must be the Lord Himself who in mercy to him had caused the child to speak thus, and the thought quite broke him down. That God should take the trouble to speak to him at all was wonderful; that He should do so by the mouth of his little one, with whom he could not feel offended, as he would have been with anybody else, was most gracious.

“You’ll burn you’ll burn!” was indeed a terrible message, and yet it was a message sent in mercy, as all such messages are. God never wounds but to heal, you know, and this strange little sermon from a mere babe could not be forgotten by the farmer, and led him at last to his knees. He felt that he deserved to perish everlastingly for all his many sins, but most of all for having so long hated Jesus. His wife, to whom he told the strange and solemn message, felt it too, and they cried to the Lord together; they read His Word, they sought out some in the neighborhood who loved God, with whom they kept company, that they might instruct them, and so at last they were brought to believe in Jesus, God’s dear Son, “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Since then they have both been a blessing to the village they live in, and their children are thought to be believers too, especially the little one who was God’s messenger to her own father.

Now, if you are a little believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, what do you think of this? If the Lord could use this little child, could He not use you also if He pleased? Of course He could; but then how do you behave yourself? Like a little believer or not? What do you think most about? What do you talk of? Do you ever speak of Jesus the Lord? I hope you do. See what wonders God wrought by this little one, who, as far as we can tell, did not even know Him herself then, but whom He was pleased to make a blessing to her father and mother to show us that He can make use of the youngest, and therefore can make use of you.

And to those who are older than you, and are still “without God in the world,” this little child’s short sermon is a true and solemn one. “Everlasting burnings” are awaiting those who despise the grace of God (Rev. 20:15). It was not because the farmer didn’t go to church, you know, but because he hated all that named the name of Christ, and was the enemy of God (Rom. 8:7), that he was in danger, for God has said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; he that believed not the Son shall not see life, BUT THE WRATH OF GOD ABIDETH ON HIM” (John 3:36).

The farmer only cared for the things of this world, and in his heart despised grace. He had been brought up to know, as a matter of history, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for sinners. He couldn’t help knowing it, you see, because in this country, even in those places where the Gospel is not preached, this, at all events, is known; so that all are without excuse. Thus “the wrath of God abided on him,” as it does on all who “believe not the Son,” of whom they have all heard enough, at least, to know that He is the SAVIOUR OF SINNERS.

So, then, the little one was right enough, for had he gone on in the state he was then in he would have come into everlasting judgment.

And to all who are going on in their sins, caring nothing for Jesus the Lord, and despising the mercy of God, this tiny preacher’s quaint sermon applies, “YOU’LL BURN! YOU’LL BURN!”

“The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe” (2 Thess. 1:7-10).

"Whosoever;" or, the two Sailors.

How often it happens, when a person is anxious about his soul, because he knows he is a sinner and under condemnation (John 1:36), that, when he would fain take comfort from God’s Word, he cannot do so, because he cannot be sure that the word “WHOSOEVER” applies to him! (John 3:14-16; 11:26; 12:16; Acts 2:21; 10:43; Rom. 9:33; 10:11, 13; 1 John 5:1.) Now, in each of the passages of Scripture here given, the word literally means “ALL” — “EVERY ONE” — and, therefore, “whosoever.” Can anything be plainer? “WHOSOEVER” — ALL — EVERY ONE — that “believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

“Well,” but perhaps you reply, “I am not sure that I do believe in Him!” Well, then, take another “whosoever.” ALL — EVERY ONE — “WHOSOEVER shall call on the name of the Lord SHALL be saved.” Does this apply to you? If you are not sure you believe, you are sure you can call, and the very act of calling on the name of the Lord shows faith in Him; for how shall any call on one in whom they do not believe? (Rom. 10:14.) The fact is you are looking within yourself for faith, instead of looking up at a risen Christ; for if He is there in the glory the Saviour of “every one” — of “all” — of “whosoever” that shall call on His name, of “all” that labor and are heavy-laden (Matt. 11:28; the same word as “whosoever”), He is there for YOU. Though your very name were written in the book itself, the fact that you are meant would not be more certain — nay, not so certain — for might you not object that there were others in the world of the same name?

A few years back one of her Majesty’s ships was wrecked, and, although the officers and men were saved, they lost everything they possessed. Among the young officers there were two named Henry M —, one of whom had a rich aunt in this country, who, seeing an account of the disaster in the newspapers, sent a letter to her nephew containing an order to enable him to replace his lost outfit. The letter reached Henry M—, who received and opened it. It was addressed to him, it bore his name, it was directed to the very place he was in; could there be any doubt about the matter? Ah! yes! He soon discovered, on reading it, that, however acceptable the enclosure and the sympathizing words it contained might be, it was not for him. The other Henry M ―was meant, and to him, of course, he passed it. But suppose this lady had sent an enclosure addressed “WHOSOEVER — ALL —EVERY ONE — among the junior officers of her Majesty’s navy that has lost his outfit,” would either Henry M — have had any scruple about taking to himself at least a share of the contents? If “the greater includes the lesser,” would not ALL the junior officers have had an equal claim together with the two Henry M―s?

Because a name was on the letter there was uncertainty at least for a time, and disappointment to one at the best; but, had the address been “WHOSOEVER,” there would have been neither uncertainty nor disappointment to any. All—every one — could have taken his share of the deliverance offered without question, well knowing that it was meant for him, just as surely as if there were not another than himself in existence. And, if there was more than enough for his need, would it have been any cause for regret that others — that all — were included? I trow not. So then, were your own name in the blessed Book of God, you would not have such ground for perfect assurance as in that one all-sufficient word “WHOSOEVER” (Rev. 22:17).

JESUS SAID —

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy

laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

A Voice from the Cornfield.

As I wander’d alone on a bright summer’s morn,

My spirit dispos’d for serene contemplation,

I enter’d a Field of rich ripening corn; —

A sight e’er suggestive of sweet meditation.

O’er the landscape there blew a soft, whispering wind,

All things that it breath’d on refreshing and cheering;

When a keen conversation appear’d, to my mind,

To be taking place near me, and just within hearing.

Said a lively young Poppy, all flaunting and gay, —

A full Ear of Corn, in her lightness addressing; —

“Sir Thoughtful! why, what is the matter today;

What trouble, pray tell me, upon you is pressing?”

“Though grave, I’m not dull,” he in meekness replied,

“And if bent is my head it is bow’d in thanksgiving;

So much do I witness on every side,

Of goodness and mercy to all creatures living.”

“There! there! you are preaching — you always thus speak;

But see! how the sun on our pathway is beaming.

What more can we wish for, — what else need we seek?

Why always be pensive and pining and dreaming?”

“Nay, nay, you’re mistaken. I pine not nor dream;

My heart knows contentment, and Truth’s my foundation;

I feel the delight of the sun’s cheering beam: —

A type of the joy of the higher creation.

“But soon will the Lord of the harvest be here;

The time is approaching, — the season of reaping:

And for some whom I love, I confess that I fear,

For then there will follow much wailing and weeping.

“What a harvest ‘twill be, when the wheat is all hous’d!

What a time of delight to my fruit-bearing brothers!

But would that the thoughtless and foolish were rous’d!

I am happy myself, but am anxious for others.”

“How gloomy your thoughts!” said the frivolous lass;

“Your talk ever banishes pleasure and gladness.

There! look at the landscape. What that can surpass?

I mean to be merry. Adieu, then, to sadness.”

If you would be happy in deed and in truth,

Then drink at the Fountain of heavenly pleasure.

Oh, taste of this joy whiles you’re yet in your youth;

For the mirth of the world ends in woe without measure.”

Their words thus concluded, I could not but say,

As I mus’d o’er his preaching, and thought on her prating;

“How wretched the worldling, though seemingly gay

How bless’d the believer for Christ who is waiting!”

Street Lamps and Shop Lights.

ONE Sunday morning, a few years back, while spending some time at a seaside place on the west coast of Scotland, news was brought to the narrator that a steamer had gone ashore on the rocks the night previous. On going to the spot, there, sure enough, was a fine steamer lying a helpless wreck. On inquiring as to how it had occurred, he found that the captain had mistaken the lights of the lamps on the shore for the Harbor light, and consequently, instead of getting safely into port, had steered his vessel right on to the rocks. How he made such a mistake no one could tell. The harbor light was a very clear and brilliant one, raised aloft in a tower, and could be seen for many miles at sea, while the lamps which had misguided him were, at their best, low and poor and dim. Most persons who read of this captain’s unaccountable folly will say he could not have been in his right mind when he thus mistook the twinkling street lamps for the Harbor light. But how many of those who judge him thus are doing the very same thing themselves! Not once in a way, but day after day; not in a matter which involves the wreck and ruin of a ship, but of their own never-dying souls! Yes, strange as it may seem, there are thousands and tens of thousands who, it is to be feared, are willfully shutting their eyes to the bright Harbor Light of an everlasting rest, in order to follow the twinkling rays of men’s opinions or the will-o’-the-wisp of their own earth-born fancies.

Some there are who follow the self-invented guide of “doing the best they can;” but the best that the captain could do without the harbor light was to run his vessel on to the rocks. His best was but his ruin. Better had it been for him to have done nothing, and “lain to” till morning dawned on his benighted vision. Others wait upon religious forms and ceremonies, while some take “the light of conscience” as the best and safest guide to the haven of safety they sincerely desire but do not really seek.

But both street lamps and shop lights only led the dazzled captain directly among the shoals. Had there been none as all, he would, perhaps, have looked around for the only true guide, and therefore, although he was without excuse, is it not clear that these lights had to do with his wreck and ruin? Beware, then, of the street lamps of opinion and shop lights of religious ceremonial. Some may be brighter than others, and the Roman Candle the brightest of all, but the brighter they seem to the eye, the greater the danger to those who are attracted by them. There is but ONE HARBOR LIGHT — He who said, “I am the Light of the world; he that followeth ME shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). “In HIM was life, and the life was the light of men. And the LIGHT shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:4, 5).

The Last Tears of Joseph.

(Genesis 50)

JACOB was a hundred and forty years old when he went down to Joseph in Egypt, and he did not expect to live much longer when once he had seen his son. He saw Joseph once again, and kissed him, though he had long thought he was dead; and then he said, “Now let me die.” We find, however, a comfortable life in Egypt, instead of being pinched with hunger in Canaan, suited him so well that he lived there seventeen years.

So the first seventeen years of Joseph’s life were spent in Canaan with his father, and the last seventeen of Jacob’s were spent in Egypt with his son. But at last the clear old man died, and when Joseph saw the face of his father in the stillness of death he fell upon him, and kissed him, and wept over him. His father could no more kiss him or his boys, Ephraim and. Manasseh, as he had done (ch. 48:10), and Joseph was sad to think he was really gone.

But this is not the last time we read of his weeping, as you will have seen if you have read the chapter. His brothers gave him cause to shed a few more tears yet! It was not that they put him into some pit, and he begged them with tears not to do it. They could not do that now, though I trust they would not if they could. But they did something else which hurt his feelings as sadly as what they had clone years before, if not more so. If they did not show that they hated him, they would not believe but that he might hate them, and thought he would be sure to serve them out for what they had done to him so many years before. They could not forget it themselves, and it was not fit they should; but they ought to have believed that he had freely forgiven them long ago. He had surely given them proof enough of it. From the day when he cast out their fear by falling on their necks and kissing them he had been doing them good and not evil. He had said he would “nourish” them, and we find he had “nourished” them (ch. 47:12). He had welcomed then to come and be near him., and when they came he had “given them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land,” so that they dwelt there, “and had possessions therein, and grew and multiplied exceedingly,” and it was all the fruit of the kindness of Joseph to them; and yet now their father is dead they choose to think he will “hate” them, and that he has been waiting all this time to punish them for what they had done. So they make up a story about Jacob, and get a man to go and tell it to Joseph, how that their father had said he must please to forgive them, and not do them any harm I have no doubt Joseph knew enough of his father not to believe a word they said about him: he would know that, if Jacob had wanted anything of the sort said to him, he would have said it himself. But how it grieved Joseph that his brothers should be so slow to believe his love to them! There they are, fallen down on their faces before him, and saying, “Behold, we be thy servants;” what could he do but weep over them? And yet even here he shows them that he has not changed in his heart towards them. Twice he tells them to fear not, and he comforts them, and speaks “kindly unto them.” Just as he said at first, that he would nourish them, and just as he has been doing it ever since, so again he says, “Now therefore fear ye not; I will nourish you and your little ones.”

How this reminds us of the blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever!” We often find we carry with us “a heart that is slow in His love to repose;” but what happiness for those who know Him as their own Saviour to know that His love never changes! He loved us when He had to seek us as His wandering sheep, He rejoiced when He found us, has loved us and cared for us ever since, and when presently He comes again, as He promised, to receive us unto Himself, we shall find. Him to be “this same Jesus.” Nothing had changed Joseph’s love to his brothers, and so the Lord Jesus having loved His own which are in the world, He loves them unto the end. He loves them through all. It was the “evil heart of unbelief” in the brothers that so grieved the tender heart of Joseph, as it was the “evil heart of unbelief” in the children of Israel that God was “grieved” with so many years. And have not we, who do love “in some small degree” the Lord Jesus, felt how often and how sadly we grieve Him, by not trusting Him as He deserves to be trusted? If we love a person truly, and always act kindly towards them, it is very painful to us if they will not put confidence in our love to them. The Lord, who loves us, and gave Himself for us, loads us daily with His benefits, and deserves surely that we should trust ourselves entirely to Him, while we daily try to please Him; that He should not have to weep over us, “being grieved for the hardness of our hearts,” but should have the pleasure of seeing that we both value His, love to us and desire more and more to love Him in return

Yet, gracious Lord, when we reflect

How oft we’ve turned the eye from Thee,

And yet to find Thee still “the same,”

Tis this that humbles us with shame.

Astonished at Thy feet we fall,

Thy love exceeds our highest thought.

May we henceforth more faithful prove,

And ne’er forget Thy ceaseless love.

W. TY.

Dictionary of the Bible.

Firstborn. — This word is used in Scripture not only in reference to time or date, as of a person born first or before others, but also as a relative term. In the first sense it is simple and easily understood. The first or eldest-born son took the chief place in the family next to the father. In the parable of the Prodigal Son the father says to the eldest son, “All that I have is thine” (Luke 15). In his father’s absence he was his representative, and at his death inherited a double portion (Deut. 21:15-17), and his father’s position as head of the house, or of the tribe, as the case might be (1 Chron. 5:6, 24). If his father was a king, he succeeded him, unless some very special circumstance interfered (2 Chron. 21:3). On account of the privileges and place occupied by the first-born son, the term became synonymous with pre-eminent or chief (Psa. 78:51); hence “he firstborn of the poor” (Isa. 14:30) signifies the pre-eminently poor, the most abject in poverty; and “the firstborn of death” (Job 18:13) the most fatal or terrible form of death. Again, it is said of Solomon, son of David, as foreshadowing “the King of kings and Lord of lords,” “I will make Him my Firstborn, HIGHER than the kings of the earth” (Psa. 89:27). Here the latter part of the sentence explains the sense in which the term “firstborn” is used, namely, pre-eminent one, and it is in this sense that the term is applied to our Lord Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:15, where He is called “the Firstborn of every creature,” or of “all creation;” meaning not merely that He came into existence before all creation (He was from all eternity), but that when He as a man takes a place in creation it is the pre-eminent one, which belongs to Him for the reason given in the next verse, namely, that He is Creator of all things, however high or exalted, and hence of right “Head over all things” (Eph. 1:22), which were not only “created by Him,” but also “for Him.” Thus He, as man, has all creation by right, and will hereafter so take possession. This is the meaning of “Firstborn” as applied to Christ in relation to every created thing as a man and at the same time Son of God. It is His personal glory in creation (Col. 2:10). He created all things as Son of God; and, although He afterwards humbled Himself and took upon Him the nature of a man, He did not thereby abdicate His supremacy over all created things, but has it now in that very nature in which He humbled Himself. He is by right and title “Firstborn of all creation.” In Colossians 1:18 this term is again applied to Him as “Firstborn from (or from among) the dead.” Here, again, it does not mean merely that He was the first to rise from among the dead, although that is true (see First-fruits), but that He is the pre-eminent, not only over all creation (as in vs. 15), but also in that new order of things into which He brings us by redemption. If we by grace are predestined to a share in the glory of God and all the blessings of the new creation (where all things are of God, and of which Jesus is the manifested beginning (Rev. 3:14), He surely has the preeminence there also as supreme and alone Victor over death and all the power of the enemy in it. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Death reigned over every son of Adam without exception. (Rom. 5:14). But such is the power of life in Christ that, although He undergoes death for us, the place He thus humbles Himself into (Phil. 2:8) only declares in result His glory. One may say that even the terrible region of death itself was made to feel the power of His absolute perfection and spotlessness as a MAN; and thus He has earned, at infinite cost to Himself, the right and title to be “FIRSTBORN from among the dead.”

The Little Chatterer.

WILL you hear the prattle

Of a little girl?

Truth is in the tattle,

Bright and pure as pearl.

My dear ‘Ma is poorly,

She is quite laid by,

Suffers very sorely;

Doctor thinks she’ll die

Sometimes, now, I kiss her,

See her ev’ry day:

‘Pa says, I shall miss her

If she goes away.

When Mamma was able,

She would talk to me;

Tell me tale and fable,

Pretty as could be;

Read me Bible stories,

Teach me hymn and song,

All about the glories

Which to Christ belong.

Though the things I’m saying,

All are really true,

I can’t keep from playing.

Tell me now, could you?

But my play is quiet,

Else ‘twould worry ‘Ma;

Not a noisy riot,

Her poor head to jar.

‘Ma, too, likes me near her,

From me will not part;

Says, my voice can cheer her,

And doth soothe her heart.

When she goes to Jesus,

As she will some day;

God, she says, Who sees us,

Will not let me stray.

She has often told me,

If in Christ I rest,

He will keep and fold me

On His loving breast.

Having done my ditty,

‘Pa says, if you’re wise,

You will count it pretty,

And no child despise.

Bible Questions for July.

1. Give the name of the man who destroyed those who had familiar spirits, yet afterward inquired of one.

2. What prophet blames a king for asking counsel of him, when the Lord had become his enemy?

3. Give a text from the Old Testament which says God will shake the heavens and the earth.

4. Give a text which states Paul was not running as men in a race — uncertainly.

5. How long did Jesus Christ say the Holy Ghost would remain with the Church?

6. How many prophets were allowed to speak when the whole Church was gathered together?

7. What three things does Scripture say Christians receive by prophecy?

8. Give three Scriptures which tell us what will take place with those who are left after the Church is taken.

Bible Enigma for July.

For whom did a proud mother vainly wait?

Who freed his nation from a stranger king?

What churlish man was doomed to dismal fate?

What mighty man was slain by stone and sling?

In the initials you may find

That which the Saviour’s name should be

To all who taste His mercy and

The light of His salvation see.

Answer to Bible Enigma for June.

“Surety.” — Heb. 7:22.

	S laggard Proverbs 6:6.
	U nderstanding Proverbs 16:22.
	R ighteousness Proverbs 10:2.
	E vil. Proverbs 13:21.
	T reasure Proverbs 15:6.
	Y ears Proverbs 10:27

Answers to Bible Questions for June.

1. Now. To reason together, and to be made white.

2. Sinful nation; a people laden with iniquity; a seed of evil-doers (Isa. 1:4, 6).

3. The Lord’s house. All nations (Isa. 2:2).

4. The beast and his image (Rev. 20:4).

5. “Satan shall be loosed out of his prison” (vs. 7), the devil cast into the lake of fire (vs. 10), a great white throne (vs. 11).

6. “A new heaven,” “a new earth.”

7. Hebrews 10:14; Heb. 13:20, 21.

8. Job 22:21.

B. E. L.

The Martyrdom of Julius Palmer.

JULIUS PALMER was a native of Coventry, and son of a man who had followed the trade of an upholsterer, and was chief magistrate of the town. Julius became a pupil in the free school of Magdalen College, Oxford, and soon distinguished himself by his learning. He spoke Latin fluently, and was so well versed in Greek that when the Greek reader of his college was absent he supplied his place. The early hour of four found the young scholar at his books, and so close was his application that at the age of eighteen he was admitted a reader in logic. One distinctive feature in his character was his abhorrence of anything like deceit, but his open, unsuspicious nature made him often deceived by others.

Such was young Palmer in the reign of Edward the Sixth, and the fearless truthfulness of his character led him openly to display his dislike of the Protestant doctrines. He would not join in the college prayers unless compelled by the rules, and not only stayed away from the sermons, but persuaded his pupils to do the same. Openly disdaining and despising the King’s preachers, he was so often reproved and punished by fines and severe impositions that it seemed as if he courted suffering in the cause that he thought holy. At last he was accused of writing some slanderous railing verses against Dr. Haddon, president of the college, and of posting them up on the doors and walls. This he stoutly denied, and cleared himself from the charge, but spoke so boldly and reproachfully against the officers who examined him, and showed such a hatred of the truth, that he was expelled the house. Amongst the students once at college with him, and quite of his mind, was a man named Bullingham. At the end of Edward’s reign this young man resolved to fly into France, and Julius accompanied him as far as London. Bullingham relates the conversation they had together leaning on the great gate of St. James’s Palace. Palmer said, “Bullingham, you know in what misery and calamity we are fallen for the Pope and his religion; we are young men abhorred of all now, and like to be abhorred more and more; let us consider what hangs over our heads. You are departing into a strange country, both friendless and moneyless, where I fear you will taste of sourer sauce than you have hitherto done; and as for me, I am at my wits’ end. The face of hell itself is as amiable unto me as the sight of Magdalen College, for there I was hated as a venomous toad. Would God I were raked under the earth! And, as touching our religion, even our conscience beareth witness that we taste not such an inward sweetness in the possession thereof as we understand the Gospellers (Protestants) do in their religion; yea, to say the truth, we maintain we know not what, rather of will than of knowledge. But what then rather than yield unto them, I will beg my bread.”

Bullingham after this fled into Normandy, and Julius became tutor in the family of Sir F. Knolles, where he remained until Mary ascended the throne. Romanist visitors were sent to Oxford soon after Mary’s accession, to displace the Protestant officers there, and Julius then came forward to assert his right to be installed again in his former post there, stating how he had formerly defended and maintained the Romanist doctrine. His plea was allowed, and now, when everything around him seemed likely to build him up in the doctrines in which he had been educated, doubts and fears regarding his faith began to disturb his mind.

While living in the house of Sir F. Knolles, he had heard enough of the truth to make him see some beauty in it, and, as his nature shrank from all disguise and deceit, his open inquiries and remarks soon made him an object of suspicion. When God first began to work in him, the death of the martyrs made a great impression on him. He would know every particular of their sufferings, and even sent out one of his scholars with another young man to Gloucestershire to witness the death of Hooper, and so bring him a faithful report of his behavior in the fire. In the time of Edward he had always asserted that the Protestants would never die for their opinions, and this, perhaps, led him to watch their conduct so narrowly. At last he went himself to witness the cruel sufferings of Ridley and Latimer at Oxford.

The doubting inquirer after truth stood to see Ridley endure tortures which sicken the heart to think of, and who can tell but perhaps the martyr was suffered to go through those awful agonies that the seeking soul of Julius might feel the sustaining power of God?

The sight of that sufferer moved hundreds to tears, and Julius returned home so agitated that he broke out openly into the strongest expressions of pity and sorrow: “O raging cruelty! O tyranny tragical and more than barbarous “he exclaimed, and from that day he gave himself up to an earnest study of the Protestant doctrines, by borrowing Peter Martyn’s Commentaries and other good Protestant books.

At the beginning of Mary’s reign Bullingham returned to England and accidentally met Palmer one day near St. Paul’s, where a Rood was set up. Bullingham relates that Julius said to him, “Bullingham, is this our God for whom we have smarted?” “No,” quoth I, “it is an image of Him.” “An image,” he answered, “I tell thee plainly, Bullingham, John. Calvin, whose ‘Institutes’ I have read since our departure, tells me plainly by God’s Word that it is an idol, and that the Pope is Antichrist, and his clergy the filthy sink-hole of hell; and now I believe it, for I feel it sensibly. Oh, that God had revealed these matters unto me in times past! I would have bequeathed this Romish religion, or rather irreligion, to the devil of hell, whence it came. Believe them not, Bullingham. I will rather have these knees cut off than I will kneel to yonder jackanapes (meaning the Rood), God help me. I am born to trouble and adversity in this world.” “Well, Palmer,” said I, “is the wind in that corner with you? I warrant you it will blow you little good in the end, and I will never have to do with you again.” Fox relates that Bullingham afterward became an earnest teacher of God’s Word, but we have no account of his conversion.

At this time it is evident Palmer was convinced of the truth of the Protestant doctrine, but he had no peace nor joy in believing, nothing to bear him up in prospect of the trials before him. His old religion was again the established one, and he knew well to what persecution he would be exposed if he forsook it; but though without comfort he persevered in his researches, meanwhile still joining in the services of the Romish Church.

At length his study of God’s Word so opened his eyes that he saw plainly the inconsistency of his conduct, and he so often avoided going to the mass that suspicion was excited. His conscience still suffered great torment, for he had not yet courage to avow the truth, but finally he resolved to fly. One of his friends besought him to stay, asking him how he would live, and where he would go. “The earth is the Lord’s,” he answered, “and the fullness thereof let the Lord work. I will commit myself to God and the wide world.” He returned once or twice after this to the college, and once Barwich, a fellow of Trinity College, met him, and began to reason with him. Finding that Julius was very zealous in defending the truth, he said to him, “Well, Palmer, well, thou art stout and hardy in thine opinion now, but if thou wert once brought to the stake I believe thou wouldst tell me another tale. I advise thee beware of the fire; it is a shrewd matter to burn.”

“Truly,” said Palmer, “I have been once or twice in danger of burning, and hitherto, I thank God, I have escaped it; but I judge verily it will be my end at the last: welcome be it by the grace of God. Indeed, it is a hard matter for them to burn that have the mind and soul linked to the body, as a thief’s foot is tied in a pair of fetters; but, if a man be once able by the help of God’s Spirit to separate and divide the soul from the body, for him it is no more mastery to burn than for me to eat this piece of bread.” This godly courage and sincerity was made the means ere long of bringing on the death of which he spoke.

After resigning Oxford he was made master of the Grammar School at Reading, where he was greatly loved and honored by those who knew the truth. Meanwhile his enemies invented a means of destroying him. They sent a few traitors to him who professed great love of the Gospel, and the open-hearted young man received them with joy and confidence. Having thus got access to his secret thoughts and his home, one day in his absence they rifled his study of books and writings, and then threatened him to lay these papers before the Council unless he would depart and resign the school to a friend of theirs.

The innocent victim took patiently the spoiling of his goods, left all that belonged to him and his quarter’s salary in their hands, and went to Ensham, where his mother lived, hoping to get some legacies from her due to him by his father’s will. His mother no sooner saw him on his knees before her, as usual asking her blessing, than she exclaimed, “Thou shalt have Christ’s curse and mine wheresoever thou goest.”

Poor Julius paused awhile, and then said, “Oh, mother, your own curse you may give me, which God. knoweth I never deserved, but God’s curse you cannot give me, for He lath already blessed me.”

“Nay,” replied she, “thou wentest from God’s blessing into the warm sun when thou wast banished for a heretic out of that worshipful house in Oxford; and now for the like knavery are driven out of Reading, too.”

“Alas! mother,” said he, “you have been misinformed; I was not expelled or driven away, but resigned of my own accord, and heretic I am none, for I stand not steadily against any true doctrine, but defend it to my power, and you may be sure they use not to expel or banish, but to burn heretics, as they term them.”

“Well,” answered she, “I am sure thou dost not believe as thy father and I and all our forefathers have done, but as we were taught by the new law in King Edward’s days, which is damnable heresy.”

“Indeed, I confess,” replied Julius, “that I believe that doctrine which was taught in King Edward’s time, which is not heresy, but truth; neither is it new, but as old as Christ and His apostles.”

“If thou be at that point,” said his unnatural mother, “I require thee to depart from my house and out of my sight, and never more take me for thy mother hereafter: as for money and goods, I have none of thine; thy father bequeathed naught for heretics. Fagots I have to burn thee; more thou gettest not at my hands.”

“Mother,” replied the poor youth, “whereas you have cursed me, I again pray God to bless you and prosper you all your life long.”

As he spoke other soft and gentle words the tears burst forth abundantly, and so he turned and parted from her.

The sight so far touched her hard heart that she flung a piece of gold after him, saying, “Take that to keep thee a true man.”

Thus, destitute and afflicted, stripped of all earthly possessions, and cast off by her on whom the common feelings of nature might have taught him most to rely, the lonely sufferer resolved to return secretly to Magdalen College, and through some private friends there he was recommended to a school in Gloucestershire. Before starting for this place he thought he would return privately to Reading first, and endeavor to get back some of his goods and property, and obtain his quarter’s salary.

He went to an inn and took a private room, but in spite of all precautions his enemies found him out, and immediately conferred together to complete his destruction. One of these, a Mr. Hampton, under color of friendly zeal in his service, went to see him, and asked the cause of his visit to Reading. Openly and confidingly the unsuspecting victim laid bare his designs to this traitor, who in vain urged him to give up his plans, and, finding him determined to persevere, he left him in a rage. Palmer went quietly to bed, fearing no evil, but soon after his bedroom was broken open, and several officers rushed in and took him prisoner. Without uttering a word the young man submitted to be led away, and was soon thrust into a damp unhealthy dungeon prepared for thieves and murderers, and here left with his hands and feet made fast in such high stocks that his body could scarcely touch the ground as he hung. And so he remained about ten days. The accusations brought against him were not for heresy, but for treason and supposed murder. His horror was extreme, and with a burst of righteous indignation he exclaimed, “Oh, ye cruel bloodsuckers! ye follow the old practices of your wolfish generation of Pharisees and Papists, but be ye well assured that God already sees your subtle devices and crafty packing, and will not suffer the outrageous fury of your venomous tongues and fiery hearts to remain unpunished.” He said, also, that if such horrible crimes could be proved against him he would patiently submit to any torments that might be devised. His enemies took care to spread the report of his crimes throughout the town, but later in the day, when brought to examination, Palmer so easily proved the accusations to be false, and the letters brought against him to be forgeries, that the mayor became ashamed of his credulity, and measures were taken to get him privately out of the country to save the character of his accusers. His adversaries seeing their first plan entirely defeated, and fearing he would now escape, brought forward a charge of heresy, and no longer ashamed of the disgraceful act of robbing his study, they produced the writings they had stolen, and devised a bill of instructions against him, to be delivered to the visiting justice, Dr. Jefferys, who was to arrive the Tuesday following. Palmer was then thrown into prison at Newbury, and so cruelly dealt with that he lacked the commonest necessaries of life. During his long examination before the High Sheriff and others afterward Jefferys asked him whether he thought himself inspired by the Holy Ghost?

“Sir,” answered Julius, “no man can believe but by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, if I were not a spiritual man, and inspired with God’s Spirit, I were not a true Christian. ‘He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of His.’”

Jefferys called him a beardless boy, and asked him how he dared to dispute with a doctor.

Palmer answered, “Remember, master doctor, ‘the wind bloweth where it listeth,’ and in another place, ‘Out of the mouths of babes and suckling’s Thou hast perfected praise. Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.’ God is not tied to time, wit, learning, place, or person, and although your wit and learning be greater than mine, yet your belief in the truth and zeal to defend the same is no greater.”

Jefferys then declined to dispute with him, but began questioning him on the different points about which he was accused, and received such wise and spirited answers that even the Sheriff, Sir Richard Abridges, was moved to admiration and pity for the undaunted prisoner. Next day after dinner he invited Palmer to his house, where several guests were assembled; then before all present he besought him in the most friendly-way to revoke his opinions, and to spare his youth, wit, and learning. He even promised him solemnly before his guests that if he would recant he would give him food, books, and ten pounds yearly as long as he liked to live with him, adding, “If thou wilt set thy mind to marriage, I will procure thee a wife and a farm, and help to stuff and fit thy farm for thee. How sayest thou?”

Surely never could temptation come in fairer guise or stronger power. The scorn of the wise and noble, the contempt and hatred of relatives, prison walls, and an agonizing death, all too surely before him, and here life, ease, and earthly joy brought to his grasp in the hour of his greatest suffering.

We have no further account of Sir Richard Abridges, but right well can we imagine that drawing-room party and all the surroundings which make up an attractive and refined home, all the bright cheerfulness which at such a time must have touched powerfully the human heart of the martyr, the listening and interested guests, and the kind genial face of the host as he finishes with that winning and compassionate “How sayest thou?” But the young man is only moved to the most courteous thanks, and with engaging modesty and reverence he states his reasons for his faith, declaring also that as he had already in two places renounced his living for Christ’s sake, so he would with God’s grace be ready to surrender and yield up his life also for the same if God should require it. Sir Richard heard him out, and seeing the steady firmness of his convictions and resolves, he broke out into the words, “Well, Palmer, then. I perceive one of us two will be damned, for we be of two faiths, and certain I am that there is but one faith that leadeth to life and salvation.”

“Oh, sir,” said Julius, “I hope that we shall both be saved.”

“How may that be?” asked Sir Richard.

“Right well, sir,” replied Julius sweetly, “for as it has pleased our merciful Saviour according to the. Gospel parable to call me at the third hour of the day, even in the flower of youth, at the age of twenty-four, so I trust He hath called, and will call, you at the eleventh hour of your old age, and give you everlasting life for your portion.”

“Sayest thou so?” returned the kind old man. “Well, Palmer, well, I would I might have thee but one month in my house. I doubt not but I would convert thee, or thou shouldest convert me.”

One of the guests, a Mr. Winchecomb, then turned to him and said, “Take pity on thy golden years and pleasant flowers of youth before it be too late.”

But Julius answered, “Sir, I long for those springing flowers that shall never fade away.”

The spirit of the worldling recoiled at his wish, and he answers, “If thou be at that point, I have done with thee.”

So the young man was led back to his dark cell, and next morning condemned to be burned that same afternoon at five o’clock. Two other simple believers, Askin and Gwin, were to share his fate, and one hour before they were led to execution Palmer, in the presence of many people, thus addressed his fellow-martyrs: —

“Brethren, be of good cheer in the Lord, and faint not. Remember the words of our Saviour Christ, where He saith: Happy are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you for righteousness sake. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven. Fear not them that kill the body, and be not able to touch the soul. God is faithful, and will not suffer us to be tempted further than we shall be able to bear. We shall not end our lives in the fire, but make a change for a better life; yea, for coals we shall receive pearls. For God’s Holy Spirit testifieth to our spirit that He hath even now prepared for us a sweet supper in heaven for His sake who suffered for us.” With these and many like words he not only comforted the hearts of his poor brethren, bat moved the standers by to plentiful tears. Then they sang a psalm, and Sir Richard Abridges with a great company came to lead them to the fire. On reaching the place where they were to suffer they fell all three to the ground, and while Askin and Gwin prayed secretly to God Palmer repeated aloud the thirty-first Psalm. Two priests now advanced exhorting him yet to recant and save his soul. Palmer answered, “Away, away! tempt me no longer. Away! I say, for the Lord hath heard the voice of my tears.” Then they put off their raiment, walked up to the stake and kissed it, and when they were bound to the post Palmer said, “Good people, pray for us that we may persevere to the end, and for Christ’s sake beware of popish teachers, for they deceive you.” For saying this a servant of one of the bailiffs threw a faggot at his face, causing the blood to gush out in several places. The kind heart of the Sheriff, Sir Richard, was so incensed at this brutality that he not only reviled the wretch as a cruel tormentor, but with his staff dealt him such a blow as broke his head and made the blood run down his ears. When the fire was kindled and began to take hold on their bodies they lifted their heads to heaven as quietly and cheerfully as though they felt no pain, and cried, “Lord Jesus, assist us! Lord Jesus, receive our souls!” They bore up without a struggle, still holding up their hands or beating on their hearts and calling on the name of Jesus. The flames surged on and did their deadly work, till the three heads of those Christian heroes fell together in the fire as if in one lump of cinder.

Answer to Enigma for July.

Song. — Exod. 15:2.

S isera Judges 5:28.

O thniel Judges 3:9, 10.

N abal... t... 1 Samuel 25:37, 38.

G oliath....... 1 Samuel 17:49, 50.

“The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation” (Ex. 15:2).

The Saviour at the Well.

(John 4)

Come, ye worn and weary,

Press’d by sin and care,

Feeling all is dreary,

Cloudy ev’rywhere;

Would ye know contentment?

All your grief dispel?

Meet ye, then, the Saviour

At the springing well.

Earth-born sons and daughters,

Quaffing at the spring

Of empoison’d waters,

Which no blessing bring,

Bliss, all thought excelling,

Joy, which none can tell,

Dwell in Christ, the Saviour:

Drink, then, at His well.

Blessing He is giving,

Healing sorrow’s smart,

While He doth with living

Water cheer the heart.

He thy soul is greeting,

E’er with Him to dwell;

Hast thou bad a meeting

With Him at the well?

Wouldst thou perish, never?

Trust thou, then, in Him;

Wouldst thou have forever

Joy run o’er the brim?

Drink, then, of His pleasures,

Which all joys excel;

He o’erflowing measures

Giveth from His well.

The Best Friend.

THE little girl in the picture is evidently frightened. The scene being in the country, it is not unlikely that she sees a cow, or a horse, or a dog, and runs for protection to the arms of her sister. And what a nice sister she looks! She seems to be smiling at the needless alarm of the little one, and she looks so encouragingly, and is speaking so kindly to her, that we may be sure that the groundless fear of her young sister will soon be over, and that presently the child will be chattering and jumping about as lively as ever.

How pleasant it is for a little girl to have a sister older than herself, to whom she can run and tell her childish thoughts and troubles! But, good as it is to have such a sister, there is one who is a much better comforter even than she. And who is that? Why, of course, you will say it is mother. There is, indeed, no such friend upon earth as a loving mother. Do we not all know that her kiss will dry her darling’s tears, and make the wounded place well, besides giving comfort to the heart? There is no one who loves and cares for us like mother, is there?

But, my dear young friend, has not mother many things to do? And have you not to go away from her sometimes? And sister cannot always be with you, can she? What are you to do then if you become frightened, or fall and hurt yourself, or get into any kind of trouble Sister may not be near. Brother is probably at school. Mother, perhaps, has gone out. And father is most likely at his business. What are you to do? You want a friend who can always be with you, and to whom you can run at all times. And where can you find such a friend as this? It is quite clear that neither father, nor mother, nor sister, nor brother, nor any beloved companion of yours, can always be with you. Besides, even the best of friends do not unfailingly help us just at the right time, or in the way which we most need. God tells us in the Bible that even a mother may forget her child. Only think of that I Well, now, although I dare say you have some really kind friends, I am quite sure that

“The best of friends is ONE above.”

You know whom I mean. It is God, as made known to us in Christ, His dear Son. Each of you who have believed in Jesus, and have come to God by Him, may truly say, “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.” That is a nice hymn which says,

“ONE there is above all others;

Oh, how He loves!

His is love beyond a mother’s;

Oh, how He loves!

Earthly friends may fail or leave us,

One day soothe, the next day grieve us,

But this Friend will ne’er deceive us:

Oh, how He loves!”

Then, one of your own “Pleasant Songs” also says,

“The love of a mother

And father is great;

The love of a brother

And sister is sweet;

Yet who but the Saviour

For us could have died,

To bring us forever

With God to abide?”

Is this precious Saviour your Friend? Do you know His love? Can you, as it were, lay your head in His bosom, and there find peace for your conscience, rest for your heart, and a refuge from all your childish griefs and sorrows?

If you have a friend about your own age, do you not like to tell that friend all your little affairs, and that he should tell you about his Of course you do. That is just what Jesus likes us to do with Him. And He is always ready and willing to listen to whatever we have to say. And, then, what a number of blessed things He tells us in the Bible about His God and Father, and Himself, and all His love and grace to us, and about the blessed time when they who love Him shall see Him as He is, be like Him, and be with Him, beholding and dwelling in the light of His glory for evermore!

Well, then, I do hope that you will make this best of friends your own friend, by trusting in Him now as your Saviour.

The Sunday Scholar's Letter.

A RELATIVE of mine, who is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, called lately upon me and showed me a letter which she had just received from one of the scholars in her class at the Sunday-school in which she is a teacher. She was much gratified at receiving such a letter, and I was also so much pleased with it that I requested and obtained permission to send it for insertion in GOOD NEWS, so that others might participate in our pleasure. The writer of the letter is about thirteen years of age, and has been a steady and seriously-disposed girl at school for some time. The mission which she mentions refers to a series of Gospel discourses which have lately been delivered in the South of London.

June 20th 1876.

Dear Teacher, — I write these few lines hoping they will find you quite well. I was so disappointed that I could not come to school on Sunday, but I had to go to — last week to stay till this, as my aunt was very poorly, and could not be left alone, and it was my duty to go and stay with her. And Jesus says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Dear teacher, I found Jesus one month ago, and I have been so happy ever since; and I do so long for my schoolfellows to know this happiness. I do pray for them, and I know that God will answer me; for Jesus has said, “Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name He will give it you.” I think that is such a blessed promise. Two of my dear sisters have found Jesus, and I do trust that He will open the eyes of the other two, that they may see their danger, and give themselves up to Jesus, and He will show them the way to heaven. Dear teacher, God has wrought such a great blessing on this mission. There have been many souls saved, and He will still bless many more, if we pray for them and help in the work. Jesus was such a long time seeking me, but I was so blind that I could not see that the road which I was taking was leading me to destruction, till God’s Holy Spirit made me see my danger. Oh, how thankful we ought to be to Him, who has given us our Sunday-school and kind teachers and ministers to teach us! And how we ought to pray, and to give money, too, to buy Bibles for those who have never heard of the loving Saviour!

I hope, dear teacher, if all is well, to be at school next Sunday. Mr.― has a mission service every Wednesday evening at eight o’clock. Do try and go to one of them. You would like him, I know; for all who love the Lord. Jesus love those who work for Him. I do so often think of that little hymn in our school book —

“And those who find Thee find a bliss

No tongue nor pen can show;

The love of Jesus, what it is

None but His lov’d ones know.”

Dear teacher, I never felt this great love till Jesus made me one of His own, and now I feel it and know it. And it makes me happier every time I think of His great love in suffering upon the cross, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And He has planned out such a free and full salvation for all, and is asking them to come and take it as their own.

Dear teacher, I must now draw to a close, hoping, please God, to meet on Sunday.

From your affectionate scholar.

M. V.

Dictionary of the Bible.

Firstborn, (concluded). — In Romans 8:29, Christ is called “the firstborn among many brethren;” still, in the sense of having altogether the preeminence among those who will be conformed to His image in glory who once in grace stooped to take His place down here “in the likeness of man,” the same title is given in the plural to the Church in Hebrews 12:23, as showing the pre-eminent place which it takes in the counsels of God, and necessarily as being so intimately joined to Him, who is “the Head of the body, the Church” (Col. 1:18).

Firstfruits are frequently mentioned in Scripture, and signify fruits first in order of time, and also in quality and character, that is, best (Num. 18:12). In the law the Israelites were commanded to offer the first-fruits of the corn, the wine, and the oil, and the first of the fleece of the sheep to the Lord, after which they became the portion of the priests (Deut. 18:5). In these offerings the people gave testimony that all came from Him and belonged to Him, and that to His grace they were debtors for all the blessings they enjoyed in the land (Deut. 26). In type this is true worship. The first-fruits of the heavenly land are first offered up to Him who is their alone source and power, for He it is “who hath blest us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1.).

After being offered to God, the priest and everyone that was clean in his house partook of these first-fruits (Num. 18:13). The children of God have a family portion in fellowship with God Himself in the antitypes of these first-fruits. They joy and rejoice with Him, and find nourishment and strength to their souls in all that He does and has done by His only-begotten One, and in all that His Spirit works to His own glory in and by the members of Christ. “All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat,” the fruits, where all is best, of the Spirit, the joys of the new creation, and the first-fruits of the harvest of God (James 1:18), “the produce of His seed on the soil of His election,” are as food to their souls. But they must be “clean” to enjoy them (1 John 1:5, 6, 7). In Leviticus 23:9-14, we have the first-fruits of the harvest offered unto Jehovah “on the morrow after the Sabbath,” i.e., on the first day of the week. Until these first-fruits had been offered up to God nothing of the harvest could be touched (vs. 14). This type of Christ, “the first-fruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:23), is most important. He is the “beginning, the firstborn from among the dead.” Till He arose the power of death was unbroken, “life and incorruptibility” were not brought to light (2 Tim. 1:10). Others had been raised from the dead before, but only to die again. They had not been raised “out from among” the dead; although, so to speak, a new lease of life had been given them, they were still within the domain where death reigned, and the subjects of its power. The son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17), and of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4), the dead man that was cast into Elisha’s tomb (2 Kings 13), the daughter of Jairus, Lazarus, Dorcas, and others, are still “among the dead.” But when Christ, the first-fruits of them that slept, arose, a new order of things outside and beyond the natural life of the world began, a new creation of which He is THE BEGINNING in person, and the power of which He breathed into His disciples on the day of His own resurrection (John 20), as erst long before He, Jehovah-God, had as Creator breathed into man the breath of his natural life (Gen. 2:7).

He is the first-fruits, therefore, not alone in order of time, but assuredly also in character and quality (if one may so speak), the BEST of the harvest of God gathered by power divine, the beginning likewise, as source and origin, of all the glorious results that follow “to the praise of the glory of God,” as the fountain is the source of the stream.

Another kind of first-fruits is mentioned Lev. 23:15-21. These represent the ingathering of the saints, which commenced on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Christ, viz., “the day of Pentecost” (Acts 2:1; compare James 1:18). They are looked at as being on earth, and having leaven in them, but baked, and hence not supposed to be active (Rom. 6:12), and on account of the presence of the leaven needing a sin-offering (vs. 19) which in the first-fruits of verse 10 is omitted as wholly unnecessary, for He “knew no sin.” Because of the leaven, also, these two loaves are not burned on the altar as a sweet savor (Lev. 2:12), but are waved before the Lord, that is, placed fully before Him in all the acceptability of Christ Himself, whose divinely perfect sacrifice is shadowed forth in the seven lambs, and all the other offerings accompanying the waving of the bread of the first-fruits.

Bible Enigma for August.

These initials and finals two cousins declare

Who wandered with Israel many a year;

The latter was chosen the priesthood to share,

The former the sanctuary’s vessels to bear.

An eastern province often named.

A rocky mount for curses famed.

A city with an empire wide.

A city, on a mountain side.

A nephew of a patriarch.

A spy sent Canaan’s land to mark.

A homeless prince’s generous host, true to his king whose throne was lost.

Bible Questions for August

1. Give the name of one who is said to have kept God’s laws before the law was given.

2. What Scriptures speak of the Jews as having received the law, and the Gentiles as being without the law?

3. How long was the law a schoolmaster, and whose?

4. Of what is the person guilty who offends in one point of the law?

5. From what curse is a believer redeemed?

6. What deeds is a believer justified without?

7. Give two Scriptures showing the believer dead to the law.

8. What do they walk after in whom the righteousness of the law is fulfilled?

9. In what one word is all the law fulfilled?

Answers to Bible Questions for July.

1. Saul (1 Sam. 28:3-9).

2. Samuel (1 Sam. 28:16).

3. “For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land.” (Hag. 2:6).

4. 1 Corinthians 9:24,26.

5. “Forever” (John 14:16).

6. “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge” (1 Cor. 14:29).

7. Edification, exhortation, comfort (1 Cor. 14:3).

8. The Antichrist will be manifested (when the hindrance is taken away), 2 Thess. 2:8. Those who have not believed the truth will believe a lie (2 Theca. 2:11, 12). The Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven in flaming fire, and destroy all who “obey not the Gospel” (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

The Chariot of Fire.

2 Kings 2.

As far as we know, there have never been more than two persons who have gone to heaven without dying — Enoch and Elijah. The last of these two went up by a whirlwind; the other went up we know not how, but one thing is said about them both, and that is, that both were taken up.

Of Enoch we read, “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him;” and then, in the chapter named above, “when the Lord would take Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind,” he went with Elisha from Gilgal.

One of these days a great many more persons will be going to heaven without dying; and about them also we read, not that they will spring up from earth, or fly away to heaven, but that they will be “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air. You see Elijah went right into heaven in the chariot God sent for him, but at the time we are speaking of, “the Lord Himself” will come down into the air to MEET those who are waiting for Him. If they have fallen asleep, and are in their graves, they will hear His “shout” and rise in a moment, “in the twinkling of an eye,” and you know how very quick that is. Those of us who will be alive on the earth at that moment will hear that same shout, and be caught up along with them to meet the Lord we love. As He said to His beloved disciples when He was going away, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am ye may be also.”

So presently the Lord will again “come down,” not to scatter people abroad upon the earth, as He did when men in their folly built a tower to make themselves a name, but to gather some to Himself in heaven. But who are the people who are to be thus gathered to Him? Will every one go up to meet Him when He descends from heaven with a shout? Oh, no! it is those whose sins have been “put away by the sacrifice” He made at His first coming, and who now “look for Him,” to whom He will appear the second time to receive them unto Himself. The apostle Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, speaks about “our gathering together unto Him,” that is, unto Jesus but we see in the same verse who they are that he means when he says He “our.” He calls them “brethren,” and persons cannot be brethren unless they are of the same family and have the same father. So in both of these epistles to the Thessalonians he writes of “God our Father.” All those who are true believers in the Lord Jesus are children of God, but no one else is, and only those who are children of God will go up to meet the Son of God at His coming.

The Holy Spirit says, in writing to believers; “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:26.) But when those who were not believers in Jesus wanted to say that God was their Father, the Lord would not have it at all, and said to them, “If God were your Father, ye would love me” (John 8:42), and they certainly did not do that, for they were among His most bitter enemies. It will be a very terrible thing presently to be found among the enemies of God. The same book which says, “Gather My friends together unto Me,” says also, “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him” (Psa. 1 and 68).

You may read more about these friends and these enemies in the first chapter of that second epistle to the Thessalonians; and both in that chapter and the next, you will see that what gave the apostle to know that those he wrote to would be in glory with Christ, instead of having to be punished by Christ, was that they had heard in the Gospel about Christ, and had believed in Him, so that they were now waiting for Him. In the first chapter he says, “Our testimony among you was believed,” and in the second, that God “called you by our Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is God who calls in the Gospel. He calls to sinners, and those who hear and believe, He brings into the same place and glory as His dear Son. Dear young reader, you have heard the Gospel: have you learned to take the place of a sinner before God, and to look to that blessed Saviour who is proclaimed in the Gospel as the Saviour of sinners? If so, a “going up,” better than by a whirlwind and in a chariot of fire, is before you. If not, I will ask you one question, and pray that the Lord will sound it in your ear till you have answered it to Him; it is this, “What shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17; 2 Thess. 1:8.)

W. TY.

The Bear of the Amstel.

(A Midnight Encounter.)

On the Amstel, about half-way between the old commercial city of Amsterdam and the pretty village of Onderkerk, there stood some twenty years ago a once handsome and imposing-looking farmhouse, but so neglected that it seemed to be going fast to ruin. The trees of the avenue leading to it had long been untrimmed, the paths were overgrown with weeds, the flower beds had run wild, and the house itself, whose gray walls were half hidden by the branches of the aged oaks and tangled shrubs, was hastening to decay, the windows in front were all blocked up, and here and there a rent in the old walls or a fallen stone gave the place the appearance of an uninhabited ruin. But the back of the house was in a different state, and the flourishing condition of the well-kept orchard and kitchen gardens showed that the dwelling was still occupied, although even here a human form was seldom seen. Beside the farmhouse, and separated from its grounds by a quick-set hedge, stood a cottage in a similar state of neglect, and evidently empty; its garden, too, was overgrown with weeds, its walls were weather-stained, its shutters closed, and its iron gate so overrun with nettles and bind-weeds that nature herself seemed to bar the entrance against all intruders. A notice on a board announced that the cottage was to let, and being pleasantly situated it had been let again and again, yet all who came to it were sure to leave at the end of the first quarter, and at last it seemed to have gained such an evil repute that the notice-board had become a fixture, and like the gate was overrun with weeds and wild flowers. What could be the reason It was neither damp nor dreary in itself, and so conveniently near the bustling town, yet so rural, that many a worn city man would have been glad to escape the turmoil of the town in a place so peaceful.

You will be curious to know then why it was so deserted, and will wonder still more when I tell you that it was owing to the extraordinary behavior of the owner of the estate, who, although willing to let the house, drove away everybody who took it! “Why,” you will say, “he must have been crazy!” And so indeed he was, poor man; so crazy that he had gained for himself the nickname of “The Bear of the Amstel”— partly from his rude and even violent behavior towards everyone who came near him; and partly from strange fits of growling like a wilds animal with which he was seized every now and then, so that-he could be heard even by persons passing by outside the house. Of course these occasional attacks of insanity, together with his habitual surliness and strange reserve, drove everybody away from him. No one entered his house, nobody could even live near him; and thus he was completely deserted by all except one old faithful servant, whose boast it was that she had lived nearly fifty years with this strange master without having ever left him, even to visit the neighboring city of Amsterdam.

Now and then this strange man might be seen in his orchard walking up and down the path by the quick-set hedge, waving his arms or pressing his hands to his frenzied head, like one in desperate sorrow or anguish of mind. Then, after a while, he would stop, look fixedly at an old apple tree, whose lichen-grown and tangled boughs told that it had been untouched for years; and then, with a cry of pain, he would rush wildly into the house, growling loudly like a wild and furious beast.

It was plain that some terrible remembrance haunted him, and that anguish of heart deprived him at times of his reason. No wonder that people refused to live near him. Moreover, some who had done so complained that he had pelted their children with stones if they happened to go near the quick-set hedge when he was about the orchard, and if a chicken or any other living thing entered the place he would destroy it. Thus the poor Bear of the Amstel was deserted by everybody, and the cottage allowed to stand unoccupied for years. But one morning the notice-board was again taken down, masons and carpenters and gardeners were seen about the place putting it in order, and a boat laden with furniture came up the stream from Amsterdam. Then at last one evening a family carriage stopped at the cottage gate, and a gentleman, with his wife and four children, entered the house and took possession of their new home. Lights were soon gleaming through the crevices of the long-closed shutters, and the deserted cottage, after many a long day, had at last found inhabitants. How was that you will ask. Was the new-corner ignorant of the character of the owner? No; he knew all about the Bear of the Amstel, but he greatly needed a country house on account of his wife’s delicate health, and had been long seeking one not too far from Amsterdam. He was a merchant of that old city, and of course must needs be in his office every morning. The deserted cottage was therefore just in the right place for him, and, although he had been warned by his friends of the character of the owner, he hoped to overcome his surliness by showing him every possible kindness, for Mr. Mollenberg was a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and had great faith in the power of grace and the help of his blessed Master.

“At all events,” said he to his wife, “we will make the attempt with the Lord’s help, and see what comes of it.” And thus he and his wife took up their dwelling in the long-forsaken house.

Every morning after this he was seen on his way to Amsterdam with his two elder children, who attended school there; and every evening they all returned together with cheerful hearts and happy-faces to talk over the busy scene they had left, and rest in their rural home. Morning and evening prayer and praise were heard in that once deserted house, and it may be that the sounds were sometimes wafted across the solitary path of the strange owner, as he wandered up and down his orchard; but, if so, he took no heed, and seemed utterly unconscious of their presence.

As the taking of the house had been all arranged by correspondence, Mr. Mollenberg and his strange landlord had not yet met each other, and, therefore, for the present, there was nothing to disturb the peace of the merchant and his happy family.

How the Bible Is Circulated in France.

ABOUT six weeks ago a Bible Meeting was held in Paris. The object of it was to interest English people residing in that great city in the spread of the best of all books among the French nation. The Roman Catholics who are in power there, do their utmost to keep the people in ignorance of God’s Word, knowing well that if they read it for themselves they would soon lose faith in priests, and masses, and indulgences, and the worship of the Virgin Mary. It is the Bible that finds its way into the homes of the people, and works mightily and quietly in leading sinners to repentance, and faith in the blood of Christ.

At this meeting an interesting account of Bible colportage was given by M. G. M.

It is not every man who will do for a colporteur. He must be one who lives a godly life. He must be bold, and ready to face all kinds of opposition and persecution. He must be prudent, so as not needlessly to stir up enmity. He must be strong, for he has to go on foot long distances, and carry a heavy pack of books. Above all, he must have love and zeal, for that will make the work a joy, whereas if it were carried on only to get money by it, it would be very dull and dreary.

Of course, it is not always easy to find men with all these good points. But sometimes M. M., has been encouraged by offers of service of a most promising kind. Here is a case.

A short time ago an application came which very much surprised M. M. It was from the mayor of a country town. Thinking that there must be some mistake, M. M., sent him some questions, never expecting to see any answers. But in a few days came the following reply: —

“I desire to be employed in colportage, because I feel it to be a duty for all Christians, according to their power and ability, to spread the truths revealed in the Scriptures. The Bible alone is able to bring man to a knowledge of Him who died, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God. By myself I am nothing but a poor sinner; but Jesus, my Saviour, has washed away my sins. My knowledge is very limited, but He in whom I trust is able and willing to be all-in-all, and I know that He will not leave me alone.

“When I offer my services for Bible colportage I know that I offer you the help of a feeble arm, for I am not unaware of my great weakness, and of my utter ignorance; but does not a large building consist also of small stones? even grains of sand have helped to its erection. You will be able to tell me what I, a child can do for the Lord of heaven and earth.”

Much struck by these answers, M. M. wrote to a person in the district, asking him to explain the nature of the work, and that if he embraced it he would have to give up all his earthly rank and office. This was the reply: —

“N. N. — is really the Mayor of—; he is also owner of some property. I have urged him to reflect well before taking any further step. The result of his reflection is, that he will give up his office of mayor if necessary, He says he must give expression to the sentiments that fill his heart, changed by the power of the Gospel. It is not the hope of a better situation that brings him to colportage, but the hope of doing good. He is rich, and he could not all at once abandon his family and his business, but he would like to make a first trial in his neighborhood.”

This noble-hearted man is now getting from the magistrates his permission to carry about and sell the Scriptures; as soon as this is obtained he will set to work.

Difficulties at Starting.

But this permission is sometimes very hard to obtain. The prefects or chief magistrates of the various districts are in most cases stern Roman Catholics, and under the influence of the priests; and the result is that they put every obstacle in the way of Bible circulation. Some have forbidden it altogether; often they pretend that they do not know whether the books are fit to be sold, while sometimes they will say, “Go to the Roman Catholic Bishop; if he approves of the sale, I will give you leave.”

How Does a Colporteur Work.

First of all he receives from M. M., a small supply of Bibles and Testaments; then he calls upon some who have kindly promised to help and advise him. His work then consists in offering God’s Word to every person he meets, in every house, in every farm, every hut on his way. At the end of every month he sends to Paris the details of his sales.

But we have often been told that we can serve God by patience as truly as we can by activity. Here is an example. One of the colporteurs was taken one night far from home by a violent attack of fever, soon accompanied with delirium. He was quite unconscious when the doctor came, and was brought in that state to the hospital, where he remained delirious until the next morning. When the doctor with some other persons approached his bed, he heard, but could not see him. “Do you see me?” asked the doctor, “No, sir.” “I think, however, that you are better.” “I think so, too.” “You will not make the great journey this time, but wait for a better occasion, when the weather gets finer.” “I am not afraid of that journey, but am ready for it at any time; my debt is paid.” The doctor believing he was still delirious said, “Then you have a regular discharge, I suppose?” “Of course I have.” “Will you allow me to see it?” “Please take the little book in my jacket pocket, and open it at the first chapter of the first Epistle of John, and read what is written in the seventh verse. ‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’ You think I am delirious; but, no I neither am I mad; but I am better, as you very rightly supposed; and it is a true saying that our gracious Saviour, who died on the cross, uttered, at the very moment He expired, ‘It is finished; it is finished; for me, and for all those who believe.’” And thus that happy blind man, lying in a hospital bed, went on speaking boldly of his Saviour’s love in a place where such a testimony was probably heard for the first time.

Who can say or know what good may be produced by such a word spoken in due season, be not weary in well-doing ye shall soon reap.

Carlo.

How attentive and obedient to little miss is the handsome dog represented above! It is not that he likes to sit on, his haunches in this way, and to place himself in the attitude of begging; but being good-tempered he is willing to please his young mistress. And how decisively she is instructing him what to do, both with her voice and by the action of her forefinger! Her father and sister, too, are looking on, and plainly show that they take an interest in what is passing. They are all evidently out for a walk in the country, as may be seen by the surrounding trees and the stile upon which missy is sitting for a short time.

When they resume their walk, I think that the father might very seasonably give his daughters an instructive lesson upon that which they have just been witnessing. Such a conversation as the following might, for instance, take place: —

Father. — Well, Amy, don’t you think that Carlo is a very obliging dog to do just as you wish him?

Amy. — Yes, pa, I do.

Edith. — And so do I, pa. He did not seem to mind it at all; and he did not attempt to stand down till Amy gave him leave. And then he wagged his tail, and seemed quite pleased with his performance.

F. — I know some little girls who, I think, might take a lesson from him.

A. — Oh! papa, you mean Edith and me. Whaver can Carlo teach us?

F. — Well, I think that he has been giving us a good lesson on obedience. He likes best to run abouton his four legs, wherever he wishes to go; but in order to gratify you, Amy, he stood up for some time in a way that is not quite suitable to his nature. I wonder, now, whether some little girls are as willing as Carlo to do things to oblige their parents, which if left to themselves they would not exactly wish to do?

A. and E.— Oh! pa.

F. — Suppose, now, that I were to call one of you from playing in the garden and tell you to sit down for an hour and study a hard lesson, I wonder if, to please me, you would come in and cheerfully attend to your task; or, if your mother wished to give you a sewing lesson instead of your taking a walk, whether you would try and do your best to please her. If you did not, it would show that you were not so obedient to us as the dog is to you.

E — Oh! I would try to please you and ma; and so would Amy, I’m sure.

A. — Yes, indeed I would, pa.

F. — Well, I am glad that you are both disposed to be obedient. And remember that it is not only that you have to please your parents; but that God, as He tells us in His Word, requires that you should be obedient to them in all things. So that when you obey them, for His dear Son’s sake, you may know that you are doing that which is pleasing to God. Remember, too, that the blessed Lord Himself, though He was the Son of God, was, when he was a child, subject to His earthly parents, as Luke 2. so sweetly shows us. As we are conversing upon this subject, we may as well take the last part of that chapter for our reading this evening; and so have the lesson imprinted on our minds.

A. and E. —Yes, pa, we should like it.

F. — There is another view of obedience, too; which I want you to see. You know what a clear kind mother God has given you. How she is always doing you good, and is constantly working for you, seeking your health and comfort in every way, often denying herself for your sakes. Now, when you remember her love to you, and have the sense of it in your heart, you don’t find it hard to try to please her, do you?

A. and E. — Oh no, pa; not at all.

F. — Well, my darlings, if being conscious of the love of your mother makes it easy for you to endeavor to please her, will not dwelling in the love of God, who gave His dear and only Son to die upon the cross that we might be saved and become God’s dear children, make it the desire of our heart to please Him for Christ’s sake Oh, yes, it will. The Apostle Paul, whose heart was filled with this love, says “the love of Christ constraineth us.” And if we dwell in His love, it will be the first desire of our hearts to do those things that please Him.

Now, dears, we will reach home as soon as we can. We have had a pleasant walk, and a little profitable conversation by the way. There’s Carlo, I do believe, asking you to have a game with him. Give him a little run, and when he gets home, I think he will be entitled to a good meal, because he has been so good-tempered and obliging, besides suggesting such a useful lesson to us all on the blessing of obedience.

None but Jesus.

NONE but Jesus, none but Jesus,

Can redeem from sin and shame;

But His blood forever frees us

Who adore His precious name.