JESUS ONCE A CHILD.

AND was my Saviour once a child

A little child like me?

And was He humble, meek, and mild, As little ones should be?

Oh, why did not the Son of God

Come as an angel bright ? And why not leave His fair abode To come with power and might? Because He came not here to reign, As sovereign here below;

He came to save our souls from sin, Whence all our sorrows flow.

And did the Son of God most high
Consent a man to be?
And did that blessèd Saviour die
Upon the cross for me?

And did my Saviour freely give
His life for sinful men?

What did He die that we might live?
Oh, how He loved us then!

Accept, O dear redeeming Lord! A child's most humble praise; Teach me to love Thy Holy Word, And serve Thee all my days.

I AM NEVER ALONE.

An old man sat in his easy chair. He was alone. His eyes were dim that he could not read the printed page: he had long ceased to hear any common sound, and it was only in broken whispers that he could hold communion with those around; and often hours passed by in which the silence of his thought was broken by no outward voice. He had outlived his generation: one by one the companions of his boyhood and youth had been laid in the grave, until none remained of all those he had known and loved.

I have said he was alone. A gentle and thoughtful child stole into his silent room, and twined her arm lovingly around his neck. "I feared you would be lonely, dear grandfather," she said, " and so I came to sit awhile with

near to cheer and instruct me. I sit at His feet, and learn of Him; and though pain and sickness often come to warn me that this earthly house of my tabernacle is soon to be dissolved, I know that there is prepared for me a mansion, the glories of which no tongue can tell, no heart conceive. The love of God is like living water to my soul. Seek in your youth this fountain, my child. Drink deep of living waters; and then, when your hair shall be whitened for the grave, when all sources of earthly enjoyment are taken away, you too can say, 'I am never alone.'"

Let this testimony of an aged and devoted servant of Christ sink deep into the heart of every child who reads these lines. Seek, while in youth, the source of that consolation, which can be your joy in sickness, in trial, and in solitude-your stay when all earthly helps have failed. Then will it be your blessed privilege to say, “I, too, am never alone."

"CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS!"

"OH, sir!" said a poor boy in a ragged-school to his master, "I am not good enough to go to Christ."

"My boy, Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He receives the bad, not the good; it is our badness, and not our goodness, that we are to bring to Him." "Oh!" cried the boy, "that is news, good news; there is hope for me then, for I am a sinner.”

"Just as I am-without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bid'st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come!"

"THANK YOU."

"MOTHER," said a little girl, "I gave a poor beggar child a drink of water, and she said 'Thank you' to me so beautifully; and it made me so glad, I shall never forget it."

Now children can do a great many things worth a "thank you." Kind deeds are everywhere and at all times needed; for there are always sick ones, sorrowful ones, poor ones, besides dear ones, to make happy by kindness; and it goes farther toward making home happy than almost anything else. Kind actions also are within everybody's reach, like air and sunshine; and if anybody feels fretful, or discontented, or repining, or unthankful, and wants, a medicine to cure it, I would say, Do a "thank you's" worth of kind deeds every hour you live, and you will be cured. It is a wonderful sweetener of life. Try it.

Words and Music by H. R. PALMER

SINGING FROM THE HEART.

THE GOLDEN

TEXT.

NOT in church or chapel meeting Is enough to save the soul; Hymns and precious texts repeating Cannot make a sinner whole.

Those who do not own the Saviour Cannot rightly sing His praise; Though by careful, strict behaviour, They may seem to love His ways.

'Tis the heart that GOD beholdeth, 'Tis the sinner's cry He hears, Such His arm of grace upholdeth, Such His word of mercy cheers.

Jesus, for the sinner dying,

Made a new and living way, Where the soul on Him relying May accepted worship pay.

And when with the congregation We in outward worship join, This should be our supplication"Jesus, make me really Thine !"

May we thus in earnest seeking

Find the Lord in early days; Hear His voice our pardon speaking, And thenceforth proclaim His praise.

Oh, 'tis sweet when glad and youthful Children learn the Saviour's love; Then their prayers and praises truthful Reach the ear of God above.

Jesus comforts them in sadness,

Washes all their sins away,

Fills their hearts with peace and gladness, Guides and guards them every day.

Soon His voice of love will call them
Up from earth His face to see;
There no evil shall befall them,
For with Jesus they will be,

Where the heavenly temple glorious

Shines with all the Saviour's rays';

Through His blood o'er death victorious, They shall sing His endless praise!

"If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour."-John xii. 26.

THE LION AND THE LAMB.

A LITTLE boy, reading to his mother about the lion, in a book on "Natural History," said, "Mamma, the lion is a noble animal, but I love the lamb better, and I will tell you why; because Jesus Christ is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world."

THE LOST LAMB. A LITTLE lamb was bleating,

As we passed the meadow side; It had wandered from its mother, And it missed its faithful guide. Other sheep were near it ;

But it only looked for oneFor the nourishment it needed, As it wandered sad and lone. The mother heard its bleating,

And she ran with joyful haste,
To restore the little wanderer
To its own sweet place of rest.
Take a lesson, dearest children,
You know we love you true;
Keep near the gentle Shepherd,
Who is ever kind to you.

Be sorry when you grieve Him,
And pray you never may
Be thoughtless little wanderers
From Christ, the Living Way.

HUBERT LEE; OR, HOW A BOY MAY DO GOOD.

HUBERT LEE was just about ten years of age, when his Sunday-school teacher urged upon the class the importance of each trying to do some good every day. When Hubert got home he told his mother what the teacher had been saying, and added that he did not think that little boys could do good. His judicious mother, however, recommended him to pray to God for His Holy Spirit's teaching. She also pointed out to him that if he was enabled to do one kind action every day, he would have three hundred and sixty-five kind actions to look back upon at the end of the year. "Where there's

Hubert replied, "Then I will try, mother." When he arose the next morning, he supplicated the Lord's blessing upon his good resolution, and after breakfast he found that he had just half an hour to school-time. He went out into the lane where poor old Sally Smith lived. He had often passed her door, and laughed at her clumsy way of sweeping the snow from the door-step, never thinking that he was able to help her. But now, whilst looking around with a desire to do good, old Sally came out with the old stump of a besom. She was cold, and trembled very much. Hubert ran up, and with a smile asked her to let him sweep away the snow from the footpath.

Sally was so pleased and thankful, she scarcely knew what to say. Hubert set to work in good earnest, and very soon made a clean footpath. He then fetched an armful of wood from the barn for her, and said, “I will come and sweep every time it snows, and bring in your wood whenever you wish me."

"God bless you, my dear little man," said the old woman. "Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble." Let our readers endeavour to do at least one kind action every day they live.

Every page His goodness shows,
Every line with kindness glows,
Every law and promise prove-
Glorious knowledge !-God is love.

God is love, all nature cries;
Loud the echo wakes the skies,
Hill and valley, rock and plain,
Raise the gladsome song again.
God is love, the ocean roars,
Tumbling on a thousand shores ;
All around, beneath, above,
Swell the chorus-God is love.

God is love, the warblers sing,
Soaring on exulting wing;
Mortals, lay aside your care,
God will all your burdens bear;
Think no more of want and sorrow-
Who feeds to-day will feed to-morrow;
Learn from us, His kindness prove,
And join the chorus-God is love.
God is love, each flowret cries,
With o'erflowing dewy eyes;
Tends my wants from day to day,
Warms we with the sunny ray,
Feeds me with refreshing rain,
Cheers my failing strength again;
Let such care to praises move,
And join the anthem-God is love.

God is love, my comforts say,
Every hour and every day;

Food and knowledge, friends and home,
All from my Creator come :
Blessings I each hour receive,
On His bounty still I live,

By His care I breathe and move;
My soul, forget not-God is love.

God is love: lo, Calvary's hill
Deeper love develops still;
See th' incarnate Son of God
Sheds for man His precious blood,
Hell to conquer, death to slay,
All our sins to cleanse away :
Here its fullest truth we prove—
Glorious knowledge !-God is love.

S. W. P.

"GOD IS LOVE."

GOD is love, the Bible says, Mercy governs all His ways; Great and awful though He be, Greater is His clemency: