GOD'S "FEAR NOTS."

How precious to the believing soul are the "fear nots" of God recorded in His holy Word! Let us look at them for a moment. To Abraham, the great father of the faithful, God said: "Fear not, Abraham; I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward." To Jacob, at Beer-sheba, when he had arrived on his journey to see his long lost Joseph, saying: "I am God, the God of thy father; fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation."

To the trembling children of Israel, with the Red Sea before them, and the host of Pharaoh pressing on behind, Moses, as the mouthpiece of God, gave the cheering watchword: "Fear ye not; stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show you to-day."

Over the pages of Isaiah there is scattered many a sweet and precious "fear not." "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God." "Fear not; I will help thee." "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine." "Fear not, for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west." "Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.' "Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings." "Fear not, for thou shalt not be put to shame; neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame."

Jeremiah, too, has "fear nots," and Ezekiel one to make his forehead as adamant against apostate Israel: "Fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house."

To Daniel, the "man greatly beloved," God sent a most precious "fear not" by the hands of an angelic messenger: "Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou didst set thine hand to understand, and to chasten thyself before God, thy words where heard, and I come for thy words."

We now come to the New Testament, and here all the "fear nots" are Jesus' own. For the reviled and slandered He has one: "Fear them not, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be made known."

For the persecuted even unto death, He has one: "Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul."

one:

JOSEPHINE AND NAPOLEON.

For the mourner, whose beloved one is even now dead, He has "Fear not; believe only, and she shall be made whole." For "Little-faith," with his unbelieving cry, "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me," He has one: "Fear ye not, ye are of more value than many sparrows."

For the "little flock" which He loved with an everlasting love, and for which He laid down His life-He has one (oh, how precious!): "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

For Paul, in his tempest-shattered bark, and amid the howling of Euroclydon, He had one: "Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cæsar; and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee."

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And last, but not least, for the beloved John in the Isle of Patmos, when, overwhelmed by the effulgence of His glory, he "fell at His feet as dead," had one: "Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am He that liveth and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen."

O beloved, what treasures of Divine love, what stores of blessed consolation, what sources of spiritual strength, what pledges of final victory, do these most precious "fear nots" contain! They are God's "fear nots," and therefore as true and faithful as Himself.

JOSEPHINE AND NAPOLEON.

THERE is scarcely to be found in history a life so rich in dramatic interest as that of the Empress Josephine, for its romance commences with the dawn of her existence in the island of Martinique in 1763, and continues unabated until 1814, when, at the Chateau Malmaison, she breathed her last, clasping in one hand the miniature of Napoleon and in the other the hand of Alexander I. of Russia, her sincere friend and admirer. Especially is she immortal in the hearts of women by the triple appeal of moral excellence, intense suffering, and heroic submission to her fate. It is the romance of her life, more than all other causes, that has thrown a halo around the ugly old pile with its high-pointed pyramidal roofs, its tall chimneys, and its general lack of architectural symmetry. Its very name is a malediction, malamansio,— though the motive of it is lost in the obscurity of the thirteenth century. The chateau is near Rueil, some eight miles from Paris. It was purchased in 1798 for sixty thousand francs, partly with the dower of Josephine and partly with the resources of General Bonaparte, whom she married in 1796, being then thirty-three

JOSEPHINE AND NAPOLEON.

years old and he twenty-seven. The marriage was a fortunate one for him, as his own words testify. "The circumstances of my marriage with Madame de Beauharnais," he says, "placed me on a proper footing with the party necessary to my plan of fusion, one of the first principles of my administration. Without my wife I should never have established any natural relation with that class." Another declaration of his agrees perfectly with this idea; "I win only battles,-Josephine wins me all hearts."

It was a proud boast of Josephine that she never kept any one waiting half a minute where punctuality depended upon herself. This consideration for the pleasure of others, the never-failing mark of refined breeding, was signally wanting in Napoleon. When the established hour for dining at Malmaison was six o'clock, and though etiquette forbade any one to approach the table before the announcement of the head of the house, he often failed to appear before seven, eight, or even ten o'clock. A chicken or some other article was placed on the spit every fifteen minutes by order of the cook, who knew well the habits of the Emperor. The table manners of Napoleon may have been those of the hero; they were certainly anything but those of the gentleman. He completed the process of cramming-it could scarcely be called eating-in six or seven minutes, as a rule. Ignoring the use of knives and forks as regarded his own plate, he did not stop there, but "helped himself with his fingers from the dishes nearest him, and dipped his bread in the gravy." Knowing the time necessary for the Emperor to dine, the shrewder ones took care to dine in advance. Eugene once confessed this at the dinner-table much to the amusement of the emperor. Josephine always quitted the table with Napoleon, but with her never-failing consideration for the comfort of others she commanded the rest, by a gesture as she rose, to remain.

No one can excuse Napoleon for that domineering spirit toward Josephine which made him forbid her to receive, when she became Empress, her old associates who he knew were tried and true friends. A letter from Josephine to the Duchesse d'Aguillon, a former fellow captive and a sincere friend, throws some light upon Napoleon's motive. She writes among other things on the same subject, "The more I think of what my friends did for me, the greater is my sorrow at being unable to do now what my heart dictates. The Empress of France is but the first slave in the empire, and can not pay the debts of Madame de Beauharnais. This constitutes the torture of my life, and will explain why you do not occupy a place near me; why I do not see Madame Tallien; in fine, why several ladies, formerly our confidential friends, would be strangers to me were not my memory faithful. Desirous of strengthen

A HIPPOPOTAMUS HUNT.

ing more and more the Church re-established by myself, Napoleon's intention is to keep at a distance from his court all those who may have profited by the possibility of divorce. This he has promised the pope, and hitherto he has kept his word. Hence the cause of his refusal of the favour I asked of having you with me, which has caused me the unspeakable regret; but he is too absolute for me to have even a hope of seeing him retract. Often do I regret that small, dark, and dismal chamber which we shared together, for there, at least, I could pour out my whole heart, and was sincerely loved in return.”

One of the greatest attractions at Malmaison was the magnificent collection of tropical and other rare plants, gathered from all parts of the earth. Not a ship left a foreign port without bearing some botanical treasure to Josephine, who fairly idolized flowers, and seemed to possess a sort of fraternal sympathy with them-a mysterious affinity not comprehended by the rest of the world. A flower was a surer passport to her favour than the most precious gem. All Europe knew of her passion, and strangers took pride in gratifying it. Even war suspended its rigours in favour of a taste so laudable and beneficent, for the Prince Regent of England gave orders that all plants intended for Josephine which fell into the hands of cruisers should be forwarded to her.

A HIPPOPOTAMUS HUNT.

THE two boys had the good fortune to secure the friendship and protection of Kalulu, a boy about Selim's age, the adopted son and heir of the Watuta king. They were assigned quarters as comfortable as the negro cabins afforded, and where treated by Kalulu as honoured guests, and he entertained them with various amusements. Of these the hunting expeditions were the most exciting. And among the best of them, was the hippopotamus hunt. The three boys set out gaily one morning for the river Liemba, a short distance from the village. They were accompanied by two warriors of the tribe, and also by two negro men, Simba and Moto, who had formerly been slaves to Selim's father, and who, now that the father had been slain in battle, resolved not to forsake the son, but to watch over and care for him. Simba was a giant in size and strength, and Moto was the man of brains. He had a very cunning head on his shoulders, and could always give good advice.

The party were well armed. They soon reached the river, and getting into a canoe, paddled swiftly down the stream to the feeding grounds of the hippopotami. They landed at noon upon an

THE STONE AGE.

island, and had just finished their lunch when they heard a low, deep bellowing very near them. They were on their feet in an instant, and ran noiselessly to the edge of the island, and counted the heads of a herd of hippopotami quietly enjoying the cool, deep waters. "Five of them!" cried Kalulu. "Now for sport!"

They quickly divested themselves of part of their clothing, anticipating the possibility of a swim, and jumped into the canoe, Simba and Moto taking the paddles, and one of the warriors seizing the harpoon, to plunge it into the animal that should first approach. They had not long to wait. A monstrous head and neck soon arose out of the water, close to the bow of the boat. At the same instant the harpoon was shot into the neck. The wounded animal immediately sank and swam up the river, dragging the boat after him with frightful speed, for the rope of the harpoon was fastened to it. But in a few minutes the speed slackened, and the boat began to float down stream. "Pull back!" cried the harpooner. Simbo and Moto dashed the paddles into the water, but it was to late; up came the gigantic head of the hippopotamus, right under the canoe, which was shot into the air, while its occupants tumbled heels over head into the water.

They all swam to the shore in safety except Abdullah, who was wounded by a crocodile, but rescued by Kalulu, Simba and Moto. After landing and taking care of Abdullah, the next proceeding was to hunt for the canoe, which had been dragged off by the wounded hippopotamus. It was found among the reeds of the island, with the body of the dead hippopotamus still fastened to it by the harpoon line. Together they dragged the huge creature into shallow water, and loaded the canoe with part of his flesh, which is esteemed a great delicacy. Then they lifted Abdullah carefully into the boat, and returned to the village, where the young Arab soon recovered from his wound.

THE STONE AGE.

THE Stone Age is that period in the history of mankind during which stone is habitually used as a material for weapons and tools. Antiquaries find it convenient to make the Stone Age cease whenever metal implements come into common use, and the Bronze Age, or the Iron Age supervenes. But the last traces of a Stone Age are hardly known to disappear anywhere, in spite of the general use of metals; and in studying this phase of the world's history for itself, it may be considered as still existing, not only among savages who have not fairly come to the use of iron, but even among