As if they wept in heaven the approaching doom, And the word" Fire!" sweeps roaring through the sky; Dear woman, wailing, throws her ivory arms; For help, but oh! what heart in danger feels? She comes, and hope cheers up those hearts again, A demon's watchword, and the mark of shame; Now o'er the ice-cold sea the victims swim, The moon hath set-a darkness shrouds the lee, From down-beds warm, and from their joyous sleep, THE DYING CHRISTIAN.-ALEXANDER POPE. РРРР Vital spark of heavenly flame, Hark! they whisper: angels say, The world recedes; it disappears! Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly! SPIKE THAT GUN. The great struggle for victory on the heights of Inkerman was decided by a young officer bravely carrying out an order to spike a gun that was sweeping down the troops with its shot and shell. The battery had to be approached with great care, or the attacking party would be swept away before ever the gun could be reached. The officer in command led his men under the cover of some rising ground, and then waited his opportunity to face the battery. At first, a brother officer who accompanied the party said that it was perfect madness to attempt an attack, and the men began to feel that it was charging into the arms of death; but the officer who had received the order to spike the gun was determined to carry it out or die in the attempt, and addressing his small party, said: “If no man will stand by me, I shall go alone. Who'll volunteer?" and immediately he went out from the shelter of the rising ground where he had halted his men, and faced the battery. No sooner did the men see his brave determination to carry out his instructions than they rushed to the front, and with a victorious shout took the battery and spiked the gun. That brave deed turned the battle scales to victory in favor of the British. The Russians lost all heart when the battery, which had done such deadly mischief to the troops all that fearful day, was silenced and the gun spiked. The great conflict between good and evil is still.raging. Year after year rolls on, and the deadly strife continues. The ranks have been thinned, gaps made, homes desolated, families broken up, and thousands have passed away. One of the great (if not the greatest) difficulties in the progress of every good work is drink. It is one of the most prolific sources of evil that the civilized world has seen. It baffles our legislators. It startles the Church. It blights the progress of Christianity. It hinders the advance of missions. It degrades our army, and is found to be the chief agent in supplying pauperdom with starving beggars; mad-houses with the insane, and orphanages with the fatherless. Crime is fed by it; jails, reformatories, and penitentiaries are crowded with its victims. Men have lost their honesty, and women their virtue, through the effects of drink. Good has been weakened, evil has been strengthened, by the baneful influence of drink. Whether we speak of high or low, the educated or ignorant, the wealthy or poor, from each drink has claimed its victims, and scattered seeds of misery in all ranks, which have produced a sad harvest of wretchedness, woe, and death, sufficient for us to point out the danger in which every good work is placed, so long as that infernal weapon of evil is belching forth its deadly missiles against those enterprises which are making war upon sin, and the enormous disadvantage at which they war, so long as drink is allowed to decimate their ranks and destroy their hopes of success. For the sake of all that's good and true on earth, we raise the cry: Spike that gun! JOHN AND TIBBIE DAVISON'S DISPUTE. John Davison and Tibbie, his wife, "Guidwife," quoth John, " did ye see that moose? Whar sorra was the cat?" "A moose?" "Aye, a moose.” "Na, na, guidman, It was'na a moose, 'twas a rat." "Ow, ow, guidwife, to think ye've been Sae lang aboot the hoose, An' no to ken a moose frae a rat! Yon was'na a rat! 'twas a moose." "I've seen mair mice than you, guidman- Sae haud your tongue an say nae mair "Me haud my tongue for you, guidwife ! I saw't as plain as een could seet," "If you're the mester o' the hoose An' Iken best what's in the hoose, Sae I tell ye, it was a rat." "Weel, weel, guidwife, gae mak' the brose, So up she rose, and made the brose, They supit, and supit, and supit the brose, "Sic fules we were to fa' oot, guidwife, "Wad ye ca' me a leear to my very face? I tell ye, Tib, I never will bear't "Twas a moose!"""Twas a rat!" ""Twas a moose!" Wi' her spoon she strack him ower the pow→ แ "Ye dour auld doit, tak' that; Gae to your bed, ye canker'd sumph 'Twas a rat!" "Twas a moose!"""Twas a rat!" She sent the brose caup at his heels, Yet he shoved oot his head as he steekit the door, But when the carle was fast asleep She paid him back for that, And roared into his sleepin' lug, ""Twas a rat! 'twas a rat! 'twas a rat!" The de'il be wi me if I think It was a beast ava! Neist mornin', as she sweepit the fluir, She faund wee Johnnie's ba'! WHISTLING IN HEAVEN. You're surprised that I ever should say so? |