Her husband's secrets she will not divulge especially she is careful to conceal his infirmities. In her husband's absence she is wife and deputy husband, which makes her double the files of her diligence. At his return he finds all things so well, that he wonders to see himself at home when he was abroad. Her children, though many in number, are none in noise, steering them with a look whither she listeth. The heaviest work of her servants she maketh light by orderly and seasonably enjoining it. In her husband's sickness she feels more grief than she shows.-Fuller. THE MIGHTY HELPER, THE CROSS."God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," Gal. vi. 14. Yes, cross of our Lord, cross of our salvation! thou, thou only art our refuge. Sinking under the burden of our unworthiness, covered with the shame of sin, our heart rent by remorse, we cast ourselves at the foot of the cross; we embrace it with tears of penitence; we look up to it as the Israelites looked up in the wilderness to the brazen serpent, and are healed by the blood which flowed upon it. Saviour, wash our souls from their defilements; be thou our advocate for pardon, and grant us the graces of thy enlightening Spirit. O save us, and translate us to those heavenly places where thy glory dwelleth. THE CAMEL AND THE NEEDLE'S EYE.-Lord Nugent, in his recent and "Lands, very interesting publication, Classical and Sacred," has given an application of the words which at once proves the fitness of the expression for the object our Saviour had in view. Lord Nugent describes himself as about to walk out of Hebron through the large gate, when his companions, seeing a train of camels approaching, desired him to go through "the eye of the needle;" in other words, the small sidegate. This his lordship conceives to be a common expression, and explanatory "for," he of our Saviour's words; adds, "the sumpter camel cannot pass through, unless with great difficulty, and stripped of his load, his trappings, and his merchandise." THE CHASTENINGS OF THE LORD. We see in a jeweller's shop, that, as there are pearls and diamonds and other precious stones, so there are files, cutting instruments, and many sharp tools for their polishing; and while they are in the workhouse they are continual neighbours to them, and often come under them. The church is God's jewellery, his workhouse where his jewŎels are polishing for his palace and house; and those which he especially esteems and means to make resplendent he hath oftenest his tools upon.Leighton. HAPPY HOMES! The ordination of Providence, says a distinguished writer, is that home should form our character. The first object of parents MAN'S DEVICES.-The devices of man for the salvation of the soul originate in his fancy and expire with his breath. Destitute of power, they play around depravity like shadows round the mountain top, and vanish without leaving an impression.-Dr. J. M. Mason. should be to make home interesting. THE BIBLE.-If I were not peneIt is a bad sign whenever children have to wander from the parental roof for trated with a conviction of the truth of amusement. Provide pleasure for them the Bible and the reality of my own exaround their own fireside and among perience, I should be confounded on all themselves. The excellent Legh Rich-sides-from within and from without, mond pursued this plan-had a museum in his house, and exerted every nerve to interest his little flock. A love of home is one of the greatest safeguards in the world of man. Do you ever see men who delight in their own firesides lolling about taverns and oyster-stalls? Implant this sentiment early in a child: It is a mighty preservative against vice. in the world and in the church.-Cecil. WASHED, BUT NOT CHANGED.-If for a time there seems to be a great change in any particular person, but that change afterwards disappears, it is evident that there has been no change of nature or disposition. A swine may be washed, but its swinish nature will still remain.-Edwards. Poetry. THE MARTYRDOM OF CRAN MER. Lo! gathering round a dungeon door Appear the soldier's plume and lance; And restless erowds around it pour And now the dungeon's portals ope; But who comes forth? His step is slow, No longer stoops that captive's brow, Of one who sees deliverance nighThe entrance to the promised restThe welcome 'mong the Saviour's blest. The pile is lit-the flames ascend- That chief of England's priestly race: Mightier in peril's darkest hour UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE. BENEATH our feet and o'er our head Above us is the heaven. Death rides on every passing breeze, Its peril every hour. Our eyes have seen the rosy light Our eyes have seen the steps of age And dream of days to come? Turn, mortal, turn! thy danger know,- The earth rings hollow from below, Turn, Christian, turn! thy soul apply HEBER. RESPECT FOR AGE. WHEN bending o'er the staff, Amid the crowded street, Than when enthroned in rank and With feeble steps and wrinkled face, power. Stedfast he stood in that fierce flame, Thy foul and cruel deed, O Rome! BONAR. Some aged form I meet; However poor and weak, Or ignorant and low, I must respect his hoary hairs, For God has told me so. The Children's Gallery. NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF loves the Saviour and believes on him, RELIGION. EY MISS JEWSBURY. MY DEAR CHILDREN,-As well as I can, I wish to explain what it is your duty to believe, desire, and practise, concerning true religion. The soul, that hidden, but precious part of man, whereby he lives, and moves, and thinks, and feels, is not what it was when God pronounced Adam “ very good." Then, pure thoughts, right feelings, and holy actions, proceeded from it as flowers grow from a plant, or fruit from a tree. But you know the history of Adam's fall; and even if you did not, I think your own hearts would convince you that something is wrong; that by natural inclination they do not bring forth the fruits of the Spirit-"love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." The Bible gives us a sad history even of the chosen people of God; neither judgment nor mercy could long restrain them from worshipping false gods, and forsaking the true One. All this proves, that though man had power to get wrong, he was, of himself, absolutely unable to get right again; just as a blind person must have his sight restored before he can discern the path wherein he should walk. To this end, God, who was not willing that the world he had made so fair and good should be wholly destroyed by sin, or that his creatures should for ever be subject to Satan, his enemy and theirs, in due time sent his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ, that "whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." To believe in Christ, is not merely to credit his words, but to trust his power, desire his favour, obey his wishes; and surely the "Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world," He, "who being in the likeness of God, took upon him the form of a servant," who laid down his life, not for his friends, but his enemies, is fully worthy of such love and reverThe proof that a person really ence. is this: he thinks much about him; he feels the sin that is in his heart, he laments it, and not only so, he strives against it. He also endeavours to act as if the eye of God were ever upon him, like the sun looking down from the heavens. The word of God is his delight, because it teaches him the will of God; and he prays, not from fear, or from compulsion, but from the same motive that leads an affectionate child to converse with a wise parent-that he may thereby acquire wisdom, strength, and comfort. There are many verses in the Bible which explain true religion in so short and simple a manner, that though the greatest men can do no more than experience them, even a little child can comprehend them. Here is one, by which, as some liquids discover whether gold be pure or impure, a person may discover whether or no he is a Christian. "We are they," says Paul, "who worship God in the spirit," that is, who remember his presence in the way I have just described; "and rejoice in Christ Jesus," that is, who own him among men as a king, whose laws they delight to honour, and who trust him as a Saviour all gracious and all glorious; and lastly, "have no confidence in the flesh," that is, are convinced that "there is none good but one, that is God," and, therefore, do not seek to exalt themselves, either in his sight, or in the eyes of their fellow-creatures. Of those who are now in heaven, multitudes were only children on earth, but even then they were children, who, according to their age and opportunity, thus "worshipped God in the spirit, rejoiced in Jesus Christ, and had no confidence in the flesh." There is but one way of salvation, one law of faith, one rule of conduct, alike for young and old, for rich and poor, for wise and simple. The same degree of attainment may not be expected from all, but from all will be expected the same sincerity of desire and earnestness of effort. My dear children, think of the two eternities! that of heaven, which God offers; and that which belongs to Satan and all whom he has ensnared. Both are never-ending; but O the difference between them! No human eye could bear to see the gulf which divides the one from the other, that great gulf which once passed, can never again be repassed. Death is a terrible thought, and the grave a desolate place, to all who live without God in the world; but death is only a messenger of peace, and the grave but a bed of hope to those who, having loved Christ on earth, go to live with him in heaven. But let me warn you of one mistake peculiarly common to children. Do not cheat yourselves with vain fancies, that when you are older you shall be better; that when you are men you shall find it easier to think of these things: that it is time enough yetthat yet has ruined the souls of thousands! TO-MORROW is the sluggard's motto, it is taught him by Satan. ToDAY is the Christian's watchword, it is taught him by God; even God, who is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance here, and to glory hereafter. No You have stood by the sea-side and seen the waves one after another roll forward, and one after another dash upon the shore; others followed in their stead, none of them were the same waves, each was a different one :-such are the days of man's life, only with this difference-they are soon ended, while the waves still continue to roll on. The billows leave no mark behind them, but each of our days leaves a record, good or bad, wise or foolish. one counts the waves, no one cares how they speed; but of our days God takes account, and keeps a remembrance, both how many they are, and how they are spent. You have stood too in a garden in spring, and seen the green leaves budding on the trees; and soon after, the bright blossoms open amongst them; and again, in autumn, you have seen the fruit hanging thickly upon the boughs, ripe for gathering:-such should be the soul of man in youth and age. It is now your spring time; you are full of hopes, and joys, and fancies -and it is well; but where are the blossoms amongst these the green leaves of your soul? Are you acquiring that knowledge, are you gaining those habits and dispositions, which shall ripen hereafter into a useful and honourable life? The blossom, if good for anything, must turn to fruit;-boys must become men, not merely men in stature, but men in thought and action, men as valuable members of society. You are of no use now, but for what you may hereafter be. Then, when the great day of account comes, when all, from the king to the beggar, from Adam, who lived eight hundred years, to the infant who died as soon as it was born, must stand before the judgment seat of God; then will religion be seen in its true worth. Then will it be manifest, that it does indeed profit nothing to gain the world and lose the soul. Then, as in winter, you have seen the tree naked, without leaves or fruit, every bough, even every little twig exposed to view;-so, in that terrible day, will your souls appear in the searching sight of God; every action, every motive, every thought made manifest, nothing concealed. There will then be no hiding-place, no offers of mercy, no space for repentance; the Saviour will save no longer; the Holy Spirit help no longer; for time will be no more, and this fair world will be itself destroyed. There will then remain but two places of existenceheaven and hell; but two divisions, in which the whole human race will be included-the saved and the lost. O let me solemnly entreat you to think of these things before it be too late. THE WOLVES OF CAFFRELAND. THERE are a great number of wolves in Caffreland. These wolves are very bold, and fond of human flesh. They will often creep at night into a Caffre hut, and slily steal the babe from beneath its mother's ox-skin cloak. Sometimes they are bolder still, and attack larger children even in the day-time. One evening, before the Caffres had lain down to sleep in their huts, a little girl about eight years old was lying near the door of her father's dwelling, when four wolves suddenly came upon her; one seized her by the head, another by the shoulder, and two others by her legs, and carried her off in a moment. The neighbours heard her screams, and ran after these cruel robbers. As soon as they overtook them, they forced the wolves to let go their hold and to scamper away; but they found the poor child dreadfully injured by the teeth of the hungry beasts. The parents nursed the little sufferer in their hut, but could not heal her wounds. The heat and the flies soon made the child very offensive and loathsome to all around. As her parents thought the child must die, they were anxious to get her out of the hut before she expired, for the Caffres cannot bear to touch a dead body. So they said to her, "Which shall we do to you; shall we call the young men to kill you with their spears, or shall we take you to the woods to die?" How hard are the hearts of the heathen! If you had been in the place of the Caffre child, which would you have chosen? If she was taken to the woods, she might linger several days before hunger put an end to her life, or the wolves might come again and devour her. The spears would not give her so much pain as the jaws of the wolves, and they would kill her more quickly than hunger. But then, who could tell but that some kind person might find her in the woods, and take pity upon her! The child replied, "Take me to the woods." Her parents carried her to a great distance from her home, and laid her down among some thick trees, where no eye could see her, no ear could hear her dying groans. They did not even stay to watch beside her; they left her all alone. When the little girl was by herself, a thought came into her mind; it was God who put it there. She remembered the missionary; she knew where he lived; she said, "I will try to creep to his house; he is kind; he will not cast me out." She found it very hard to drag her wounded limbs over the rough places, and to climb the steep sides of the green hills. After creeping along for several miles, she reached the missionary's dwelling. The good man was touched with compassion when he beheld the bleeding child. He counted the number of wounds made by the teeth of the cruel wolves; there were fourteen. The most dreadful was the wound in the head. The wolf had tried to cram it all in his jaws, and had torn open one cheek, and had rent away the flesh of the skull. The missionary laid the child upon a soft bed, washed her wounds, and dressed them with ointment, and bound them up with linen cloths, then watched over her day by day, till at length the sore places began to heal. While he nursed her, he told her of that Saviour who had done more for her than he could; who delivered his lambs from the jaws of Satan, and who laid down his own life that they might not perish. The missionary did not know whether the little girl loved her Saviour, though he soon saw she loved him; for when she was quite well and the marks were almost gone, he asked her whether she wished to go back to her parents: "Oh no," said she, "they cast me out, but you took me in: I will stay with you." A little while afterwards, as the good man was walking a short distance from his house, he heard a voice; it was the voice of a child; it was the voice of prayer: he looked, and saw the poor nursling among the tall weeds, praying most earnestly to her Father in heaven. Now he hoped that she was one of the lambs of Jesus. How much had she to thank God for! even for falling into the jaws of the wolves! for had she not been torn by beasts, she might never have listened to the missionary's words—she might have perished for ever. THE BUNCH OF GRAPES-THE BOUNTIFUL FRIEND. EDWARD, on returning home after taking a walk on a fine day in the beginning of autumn, saw a basket filled with beautiful |