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ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

rises upon the life. Every trial is lighted with the light of God's love; every labour sparkles under the beams of His command and His providence; all success is sweet because it is His gift; all friendship in Him is doubly dear because clad in the vesture of immortality. Yes, who will not say, indeed, that he who chooses religion has chosen the thing most needed, and the best, because he has chosen that which gives strength, beauty, and true glory to all the rest? is not labour dignified by the thought-To this God calls me? is not sorrow sanctified by it, for it says, "In this God is with me?" is not success elevated by it, for we say, "He has prospered our handiwork?" is not friendship intensified by it, for we say, "Them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him?"-Quiver

A SPEAKING ORACLE. The celebrated bronze Hercules of the Vatican is a colossal statue, which was found concealed in a vault on the site of the ancient theatre of Pompey, twenty or thirty feet below the present level. It was first believed to be a work of Greek origin, but a more careful examination of its modelings and proportions rendered this supposition untenable. It may probably be referred to a much later period of Roman workmanship, and that not the best. The remains of a thick gilding partially cover its surface. It is curious and interesting from the circumstance that it was evidently one of the oracular or speaking statues which gave vocal answers to the prayers of the worshipper. At the back of the head there is an aperture which would admit a youth of fifteen years: and the neck, in order to increase the size of the passage, has been beaten so as to enlarge this part of the statue beyond all degrees of proportion, even to bursting the metal by too much attenuation. It was, however, most likely by this means that the statue had the reputation of supernatural powers of speech. It is doubtless another instance of the tricks and superstitions of ancient Rome, which the modern Roman church has so minutely copied and practised.

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CAST A LINE FOR YOURSELF. A young man stood listlessly watching some anglers on a bridge. He was poor and dejected. At last, approaching a basket filled with wholesome looking fish, he sighed, "If, now, I had these, I would be happy. I could sell them at a fair price, and buy me food and lodgings." "I will give you just as many, and just as good fish," said the owner, who had chanced to overhear his words, "if you will do me a trifling favour." "And what is that?" asked the other. "Only tend this line till I come back. I wish to go on a short errand." The proposal was gladly accepted. The old man was gone so long that the young man began to be impatient. Meanwhile the hungry fish snapped greedily at the baited hook, and the young man lost all his depression in the excitement of pulling them in; and when the owner of the line returned, he had caught a large number. Counting out from them as many as were in the basket, and presenting them to the young man, the old fisherman said, "I fulfil my promise from the fish you have caught, to teach you, whenever you see others earning what you need, to waste no time in fruitless wishing, but cast a line for yourself."

ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

LIFE IN THE OCEAN DEPTHS.-The unscientific man is generally startled a little, when Agassiz tells him that "the ocean is the true home of animal life." He is so accustomed to think of the sea as barren and desert, that he "makes great eyes," as the Germans, say, when the naturalist assures him that it is the land which is comparatively bare of animal life. The land, to be sure, is the habitation of the most perfect animals, and as it is, besides, the home of our own species, we naturally connect the idea of life with it rather than with the ocean. The land, moreover, affords more favourable conditions for the development of a greater variety of functions, among which is the faculty of uttering sounds, while almost all marine animals are dumb. The latter have such a quiet way, that we are apt to overlook themthe fate of quiet people generally. Sure it is, that, in the number of both species and individuals, the ocean far exceeds the land. We begin to realise this when we look down into a shallow, waveless sea, and observe the variety of creatures of all sorts-crabs, snails, worms, star fish, polyps - which have their home among the sea-weed; and yet those animals which we are able to see in their submarine abode, are nothing in comparison to the hosts of smaller creatures, imperceptible to our eyes-the infusoria, myriads of which the microscope brings to our view, and which are all, without exception, aquatic.

THE PLEDGE OF SAFETY.-A ship had been wrecked off an island in the South Seas. To the horror of the sailors, they found it the same island where a ship's crew had been killed and eaten by the natives. Weary with the struggle in the storm, their clothes drenched, they hid themselves as best they could, with their scanty stores, in caves along the shore. When they could endure no longer, they crept stealthily up the hill between them and the town. Every crackling limb and rustling leaf was a fearful tell-tale to their minds, and when they reached the summit, the terrors of death came over them, and they dared not go on. But one of their number, more hardy than the rest, kept on, and at the very point where they expected his courage to fail, and that returning he would bring upon them the man-eaters, just then he rose from his knees, and swung his hat and shouted, “Safe, safe, all safe!" He had not seen a band of soldiers from a Christian land, nor a troop of his own countrymen, nor even a single living soul; but he had seen a little church spire which rose from the village, and among their rude homes was pointing towards heaven. The Christian missionary had been there, and God's work among the people was the pledge of safety to all the world; and so the words came true-" The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him."

THE WORLD OF LONDON.-Here are some curious statistics about London, extracted from one of the papers issued by the London City Mission. It covers, within the fifteen miles' radius of Charing Cross, nearly 700 square miles. It numbers within these boundaries 4,000,000 inhabitants. It comprises 100,000 foreigners, from every quarter of the globe. It contains more Roman Catholics than Rome itself, more Jews than the whole of Polestine, more Irish than Dublin, more Scotchmen than Edinburgh, more Welshmen than Cardiff, and more country-born

THE FIRESIDE.

persons than the counties of Devon, Warwick, and Durham combined. It has a birth in it every five minutes, a death in it every eight minutes, and seven accidents every day in its 7,000 miles of streets. It has, on an average, twenty-eight miles of new streets opened, and 9,000 new houses built in it every year. It has 1,000 ships and 9,000 sailors in its ports every day. It has 117,000 habitual criminals on its police register, and increasing at an average rate of 30,000 per annum. It has as many beer-shops and gin-palaces as would, if placed side by side, stretch from Charing Cross to Portsmouth, a distance of seventythree miles. It has as many paupers as would more than occupy every house in Brighton. It has an influence with all parts of the world, represented by the yearly delivery in its postal districts of 238,000,000 letters.

The Fireside.

powdered borax, and rub the places well, using plenty of rinsing water; by washing the woodwork in this way you will not remove the paint, and the borax will soften and make the hands white, a fact well worth knowing. The uses of borax in domestic economy are numerous; and one of the most valuable is its employment to aid the detergent properties of soap.

COOKING POTATOES.-Potatoes and the cloth; then sprinkle it with dry all végetables, in place of boiling, should be cooked by steam, else they must be more or less water soaked. The simplest and cheapest steamer is easily had by having a steamer made to fit the large iron kettle that every kitchen has. The steamer, of tin, made to fit the kettle, the sides fitting down, say one inch, a snug perfect fit; one inch from the rim is a bottom with holes cut in it, half an inch in diameter, and one inch apart. The steamer, like a basin with straight or perpendicular sides, nine inches deep, a tin cover to fit perfectly tight, the cover made to run up higher in the middle two or three inches. When stewing

fruit, put it in an earthen dish; set dish and all in the steamer. The fruit then does not waste its flavour as when stewed with water. Steam puddings instead of boiling if you would retain the flavour.

TO CLEANSE WOODWORK AROUND DOORS.-Take a pail of hot water; throw in two tablespoonsful of pulverized borax; use a coarse house cloth-an old coarse towel does splendidly-and wash the painting; do not use a brush; when washing places that are extra yellow stained, soap

TO FRESHEN PAINT.-Tea leaves may be saved from the table for a few days, and when sufficient are collected, steep, and not boil them for half an hour in a tin pan; strain the water off through a sieve, and use this tea to wash all varnished paint. It removes spots, and gives a fresher, newer appearance than when soap and water small quantity of whiting on a damp is used. For white paint take up a piece of old white flannel, and rub over the surface lightly, and it will leave the paint remarkably bright and new.

H. H. F. asks: Is the use of alum in bread and cakes, at the rate of a teaspoonful to a loaf of moderate size, injurious?-A. Yes. The presence of alum in bread, in any proportion, is very objectionable.

NOTES AND QUERIES-FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY.

Notes and Queries.

H. Y.-Yes. Trench's is the most learned book on the subject, but Arnot's book will be of more service.

M. P.-Not quite. You have hardly caught the idea. Only three names of angels are mentioned in the Bible: namely, Gabriel, Michael, and Apollyon. A. C.-Beware! If you once get within the meshes of the notion you mention, you will find it hard to disentangle yourself. Read what is said about "priests" in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and cull all the passages referring to priests in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul.

A. M.-Thank you: but pray use

your own common sense.

B. F.-Do not be too impetuous. H. C.-No. The passage can hardly mean that. "Vessels" do not purge

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FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY.

The wine belongs to the master, but the waiter receives the thanks.

Thy friend has a friend, and thy friend's friend has a friend: be discreet. Men should be careful lest they cause women to weep, for God counts their tears.

If a word spoken in its time is worth one piece of money, silence in its time is worth two.

Blessed is the son who has studied with his father; and blessed the father who has instructed his son.

Gems.

The greatest luxury of riches is that they enable you to escape so much good advice. The rich are always advising the poor; but the poor seldom venture to return the compliment.Helps.

By friendship you mean the greatest love, the greatest usefulness, and the most open communication, and the noblest sufferings, and the severest truth, and the heartiest counsel, and the greatest union of minds of which brave men and women are capable.Jeremy Taylor.

No man chooses good unless he likes to choose it. Every choice implies free ratherness. That act of the will which we call elective preference is always agreeable. Forced preference is a phrase involving self-contradiction.Joseph Cook.

The identification of things secular with things sacred, the refusal to acknowledge anything as supremely sacred except what is good, or profane except what is sinful,-this is the widereaching principle of the gospel which strikes at the root of a thousand superstitions, and is the fruitful source of a thousand truths. It carries with it the hope of the final triumph of good over evil. It carries with it the the germ of all modern philosophy, modern art and statesmanship. This is the element which liberates, redeems, and purifies both the church and the world.-Dean Stanley.

Poetic Selections.

FAITH.

I AM walking into the untried days,
Trusting alone in Thee;
Sure that Thy marvellous heavenly grace
Will always be given to me.

I know not whether my feet shalt tread
By Marah's bitter stream;
Or whether my soul shall be comforted
Where Salem's towers gleam.

Sometime I may find Gethsemane-
Not dreadful, like Thine own;
And yet so dreadful I shall need
To lean on Thee alone.

I may come to Tabor's height some day,
And see Thy transfigured face;
Should the vision melt into twilight grey,
I may keep the transmitted grace.
If I'm called to stand on Carmel's crest,
Beleaguered by hosts of wrong,

I shall see Thee a wonderful victory wrest,
And join the triumphal song.

If ever my weakness shall lose this faith, And fly to its juniper tree,

I

shall hear, in the desert, Thy chiding

word,

"Why lose thy faith in me ?"

One thing I know in my foolishness,
One thing, in my blindness, I see,
That whether through vale or by mountain
top,
The end draws near to me.

Why should I tremble with doubt or fear,
If it come by night or by day?
Why ask if the end be far or near

Since Thou hast gone that way? I will trust Thee for all; whether dark or bright

The day and the night may be, I know that they lead to the land of light, And to endless rest with Thee!

GREEN GRASS UNDER THE SNOW.

THE work of the sun is slow,
But as sure as heaven, we know,
So we'll not forget,

When the skies are wet,
There's green grass under the snow.
When the winds of winter blow,
Wailing like voices of woe,

There are April showers,
And buds and flowers,
And green grass under the snow.
We find that it is ever so
In this life's uneven flow,
We've only to wait,

In the face of fate,

For the green grass under the snow.

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