"No, sir, I am on the right side of fifty." "Surely," the person replied, "you must be turned of fifty; for you appear to be older than I am, and I am turned of fifty." "Yes, sir," added Mr. Venn, "but I am on the right side of fifty, for I am nearer my crown of glory." JOSEPH HUME, M.P. The history of the celebrated Joseph Hume is curious. His mother, considerably more than half a century ago, sold crockery at a stall. A very rich young peer, in a drunken frolic, upset her stock, and smashed it. Lord Panmure was his name. She claimed and received damages. "And now, my good woman, is there anything else I can do for you?" said he. She replied, she had a son, a sharp little fellow, whom she wished to receive a better education than she could give him. The peer being pleased with the boy, sent him to an excellent school. The boy in parliament will have contributed to upset and smash the crockery of privilege more than any other Englishman. "NOTHING MINE BUT GOD." In recently looking through the memoir of Mrs. Savage, the sister of Matthew Henry, the commentator, we noticed this entry in her diary. "Resolved to call nothing mine but God." This reminded us of the Saviour's requirement, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple;" and also of the apostle's representation of the Christian's possessions, All things are yours." Truly, if this be so, he that loseth his life shall find it." great mountain, in latitude 12 degrees, north. A VOICE WITHIN. This song of songs to me: It might be full of love!" GEMS OF THOUGHT. his beams on earth, so doth our gloAs the sun above us sendeth down rified Lord his Spirit, to quicken, enlighten, and sanctify souls, who were dead and dark, and disaffected to God, to holiness, and heavenly perfection.-Baxter. Some are of such unnatural dispositions, that they love jars and dissensions; as some plants thrive on the top of the Alps, where they are continually exposed to storms. Bates. In order to teach, every man must first stoop to learn, and to learn, a teacher who, on every other subject besides that quesperhaps, from tion, knows much less than himself. Cecil. A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser to-day than he was yesterday.-Pope. God is well pleased with what Christ has done for us; and when we are pleased with it and lay hold upon it with all our hearts, God is well pleased with us for his righteousness' sake.-T. S. He hath run long enough who hath touched the prize; he hath sailed long enough who is come safe into harbour; and he hath lived long enough who is ready to die.Baxter. SOURCES OF THE NILE. The ancients had the thought that the Nile took its rise ten degrees to the south of the Equator, in that amazing range of mountains that runs through Central Africa; but it is now ascertained, that that wondrous river that fertilizes the whole of Egypt, rises in the kingdom of Gojam, Abyssinia, at the foot of al Tormenting himself with his prickles. AN IRRITABLE MAN. He lies like a hedgehog roll'd up the wrong way, Portry. THE following pieces are from a volume entitled "Lays and Lyrics," by C. Rae Brown, published by Hall and Co., London. The first depicts the subject of a malady but too well known in this fitful clime of ours; the second, while it will, perhaps, stir a chord, will communicate solace, in the heart of many a sorrowing widow; the third is a theme which has been seldom sung, but it is fraught with lessons which deserve to be pondered by the blooming bride; and the last is an appeal to the awakening spirit of mankind. CONSUMPTION. FADING away, A rose in June, The hours pass away- 46 Come unto me→ Dust unto dust, He died for thee, And heaven shall be thine- Farewell to meet, In converse sweet, Near the great white throneAt Jesus' feet. Fading away, Fading away— Like a morning star Into bright day. THE WIDOW'S DAUGHTER. WHY gaze on that pale face, Widow'd one, widow'd one- She hath won, she hath won! Her home is far away, She's at rest, she's at rest, With the blest, with the blest. Haste away, haste away: Soulless clay! soulless clay! The lamp hath ceased to burn, Quench'd the flame, quench'd the flame; Let dust to dust return, Whence it came, whence it came. To thy chamber, sister dear; Bend humble and sincere, 'Neath his rod, 'neath his rod. Prayer heals the broken heart, He is kind, he is kind; Each bruised and bleeding part He will bind, he will bind. Weep not for her that 's gone; Time will fly, time will fly; Thou 'lt meet thy cherish'd one'Yond the sky, 'yond the sky! TO A FRIEND ON HER MARRIAGE. THOU 'LT leave thy father's house to-day, And change thy gentle maiden name; A wondrous change comes o'er thee; Be it of Evil, or of Good, To-day begins the story. Much, much is thine to do, to think- He may be fond-I know he is- Where, pilgrim-like, he'll wander, Youth's happy hours renewing With you, this day, shall Love's decay Begin, as with the many' ? No! but 't will change; and, changing, turn To love unknown to any But those who, with one heart-one hope Have blent their souls together, Delusive are the lights that shine There are two bands of travellers here; The other is a little band Some think them full of sorrow; Afflictions sanctified are lightTo them a blessed morrow Dawns in Hope; peace, joy, is smiling On each face; tears swift departThey feed the hungry, tend the sickBinding up the bleeding heart. Seek ye their love-the little band- Forget not them thou leav'st behind,- Thou goest among other friends, And they may love thee too; Yet, oh, forget not those who sang Youth's merry songs with you. All these their kindest wishes breathe, Thy parents add their blessing; Adieu! adieu! may no dear friend, When next we meet, be missing! KNOWLEDGE. UP! up, my fellow men! The weeds grow rank and thick- No! grant no more delay- Sow good seed-reap rich fruits. The soil is not barren Where so many weeds grow; Though the surface be coarse, There is rich earth below. What's Ignorance?-A crime! And WAR?-T is something worse! What's Knowledge?--It is power!- If knowledge, then, be power, Move along! move along! See! the clouds, how they flee! From the South! from the North! From the East! from the West! Freedom's voice hath gone forth. Freedom from dark error, Too long we've worn his chain; But it is growing weak "T will ne'er grow strong again! Up! up, my fellow men! Ignorance is ruin ! The weeds grow rank and thickUp! up and be doing! The Children's Gallery. A LITTLE SERMON, FROM A LITTLE TEXT, TO LITTLE PEOPLE. "Run well."-GAL. v. 7. THE Bible speaks much about running. It tells us what good people do when they are in trouble: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and are safe," Prov. xviii. 6. The Bible tells us another thing about running: "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth," Zec. iv. 10. This truth tells us God's eyes can not only see men and women, and boys and girls, but they can see their thoughts, that they can always see their thoughts, not only by day, but by night too. There is one more thing the Bible tells us about running which I should like all my young friends to remember; it is found in Dan. xii. 4: "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." There was a poor lad living in a workhouse some years ago; his name was John: he was very deaf, but although he was deaf he was a good runner; he ran after knowledge; he ran hard after it; he ran well too, for he kept on running; and after he had been running some years, he became Dr. Kitto, and before he died he wrote valuable books, which will do good for ever. I want many of you to become runners like John Kitto, to begin soon, and to keep on till you die. To run well, as my little text says, two things are necessary; you must have, I. Good breath. II. Good sight. I. To have good breath, there must be a sound heart within. A man told me, the other day, he could not run because he had not good breath, and he had not good breath because his heart was unsound; he could not run a mile if you were to give him a hundred shining sovereigns. Many can run fast who cannot "run well." There was an American hunter, and he could run fast, but I do not think he could run well. He was taken prisoner by some Indians, and tied to a tree as a mark to be shot at; but the chief felt for him, and went to him and asked him if he could run; he said he could, a little; the chief told him, if he could run from his men he should, and so save his life. He untied the man, and led him a little way off, and bid him run. Oh, how swift he ran! and so did the Indians with their bows and arrows after him; he ran for six miles across a plain, and then he swam across a river, and so he escaped with his life. A little deaf and dumb boy lived at Bath; he could do as the text says, "run well." He had good breath, because he had a sound heart; God gave him a sound heart in answer to his prayers. He wanted some more deaf and dumb boys to run well, and to run with him from evil, and run to God in prayer, and run to heaven; and he wrote them out a little prayer, to send up to God. Should you like to know what that prayer was? It was this, "O Lord, I beseech thee, save me from my sins. I have been very sinful; give me a new heart; I want to have it, for I have a sinful heart; I cannot of myself get a new heart. Make me good, and hear my prayer for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. Amen." If you, my dear young friends, would like to run well, you must have good breath, and to have good breath you must have a sound good heart, and to have a sound good heart you must go in prayer to the good God, and ask him sincerely, and he will give you one. II. To run well, you must have good sight. One who cannot see cannot run well. Good sight is wanted for three reasons: 1. To see how to run. 2. To see where to run. 1. To see how to run. The apostle Paul was a good runner, and he was a good runner because he had good sight; he had not always good sight -oh, no! one day God took some scales off his eyes, and ever after that he could see well. He gives runners some good advice about running; he tells them they must "lay aside every weight," Heb. xii. 1; that is, they who would run well, and win the prize, must lay aside bad habits, idle habits, story-telling habits. A little black boy in Africa, who wanted to win a prize, when he stood up to run, saw that he had on a garment made out of a skin of a wild beast; and to keep it on he thought would hinder him, and so he threw it off, and ran, and won the prize. Bad habits are like that little black boy's skin dress,-they hinder in running the race to heaven. 2. Good sight is wanted to see where to run. Some run in dangerous places, because they do not see where to run. A long while ago, there were forty-two children, and neither of them could see well, and they all ran into danger-they ran into the arms of two great bears, and they were torn very much by them. If you read 2 Kings ii., you will see there that those children, if they had had good sight, would not have run as they did. There is a beautiful creature in Africa, and it is a good runner, and it can see well; its eyes are so fixed that it can see its enemies behind as well as before; and when it sees its enemies, it does not run to them to be torn and eaten by them-oh, no! it runs away from them; the name of this beautiful creature is, Giraffe. There is danger in this world for all who want to run well; but God is good, and he can give good sight to show how to run, and where to run to for safety. If you run to Jesus, he will be to you like a strong tower; there is safety in him. 3. Good sight is needed to see what to run for. I read once of a boy, and he worked with his father, helping to make carts (he lived in a country place). One day, while he was at work, he heard a noise in a tree; he looked up, there was a squirrel in it; the boy put down his hammer, and left his work to run after the squirrel; he ran in vain, for he could not catch it. That boy grew up to be a man, and he grew up with the habit often to leave his work to run after trifles; when he was old he was running after trifles, and so he died poor. I do not want you, my young friends, to run after trifles. The Bible tells us of a prize to run fora crown; that is not a trifle. Paul, who was such a good runner, ran for a crown, a crown that fadeth not away." 66 How many of my young friends will run for a shining crown in heaven? I hope many will this year; it will be better to have a crown to wear in heaven than a chain to wear in hell! To win the crown in heaven you must look by faith and prayer to Jesus, the great pattern "Forerunner," who, when he lived on our earth, began to run well, continued to run well, and ended running well. My prayer for you is, that you may have good breath and good sight, and run well; and so, at last, win the good prize, the crown of glory. Your affectionate friend, J. A. P. A STORY FOR CHILDREN. IN Mr. Kilpin's school were two brothers, from eleven to twelve years old. One of the children had, after repeated admonitions, manifested a determined obstinacy and sulky resistance. Mr. Kilpin told him that the result of such conduct would be a chastisement that would not easily be forgotten. He was preparing to inflict it on the still hardened child, when his brother (Paul) came forward, and entreated that he might bear the punishment in the place of |