which reach from side to side, though the passage is so wide and lofty that the fowls do not perceive the net above them. In the meantime the decoy-man, going forward be hind the reeds, throws corn into the water, which the decoy-birds greedily devour, and encourage their visitors, till by degrees they all get under the sweep of the net, which grows imperceptibly narrower till it ends in

a point like a purse, perhaps two or three hundred yards from the entrance. When the decoy-man perceives that they are all within the net, a dog, who is perfectly taught his business, rushes from behind the reeds into the water, swimming directly after the fowl, and barking at them. Immediately they take wing, but, being beat down by the nets, they naturally swim forward, to avoid

the dog, till they are at length hurried into the purse, where they fall a prey to the decoy-man, who there waits to receive them. All this is done with so little disturbance, that the wild ducks left in the great pond take no notice of it; so that a single decoyman, having seized all the fowl in one of these creeks or canals, goes round to the others to execute the same business, always taking care to distinguish the decoy-ducks, and set them at liberty. By these means incredible numbers of wild fowl are taken every week during the season, most of which are sent up to London. Ten decoys, it is said, during one winter furnished the enormous number of 30,000 birds.

HOW TO BE WISE.

A GREAT many years ago there was a little boy whose father was a heathen, but who had a pious mother and grandmother. In those days there were no printed books; and as all the books had to be written with a pen, there were very few to be bad. You may suppose, then, that it must have been no easy thing for this little boy to learn to read. Let us go back eighteen hundred and forty years, and look in upon that family. We do not see the father. He might have been there, but we do not know. But we see there two ladies and a little boy. One is a motherly old lady, casting a kind encouraging look upon the little boy, as

the mother unrolls before him a large parchment, and directs his attention to the characters written upon it. And when he tires, she stops and reads to him the history of Cain and Abel, of Abraham, of Joseph, of David and Goliath, of Ruth, or of Esther; and his eyes brighten as she proceeds, till at length he calls to her, "Stop, mother; teach me the letters again, that I too may read these pretty stories." And thus he proceeds, till he masters his letters and learns to read.

This little boy had none of the simple story-books that are now printed for children. But he had his grandmother's roll, containing Moses and the Prophets; and these he read and re-read, till he had them by heart, and could tell every story they contain, repeat every precept of the law, and rehearse those beautiful Psalms composed by the "sweet singer of Israel," while following his father's flocks in the mountains of Judea.

But what good did all this do him? I will tell you. In consequence of his knowing the Holy Scriptures when he was a child, his name has come down to us this day; and all the Christians that have lived since his day for eighteen hundred years, have known and honoured his name. He became a Christian minister, the companion of the Apostle Paul, a missionary, and the pastor of one of the first churches in Asia. And now he sits among the holy Apostles,

the honourable and the great ones, in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. He chose the true wisdom, a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, which made him wise unto salvation.

And the same knowlege is able to do the same for the little boys who read this. If you learn and obey the Holy Scriptures, they will make you wise unto salvation. They will lay the foundation of a character that will make you useful and happy. You may, like him, become a minister of the Gospel; and the prophet Daniel says, They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

66

A NEW TESTAMENT SPOILING

A DOG.

A POOR African came to Mr. Moffatt, the missionary to South Africa, with the sad story that his dog had torn a New Testament to pieces and eaten some of the leaves. He said that the dog had been very useful to him, guarding his property from wild beasts and hunting them; but he feared he was now useless. Mr. Moffatt asked him how this could be? He could get another Testament, and why could not the dog be as useful as ever? "I am afraid," he replied, "the dog will be of no further use to me. The words of the New Testament are full of

love and gentleness, and after the dog has eaten them, it is not likely that he will hunt or fight for me any more.

Of course he was not long in finding out that the dog was made neither better nor worse by eating the words. How many are there upon whom those words, so "full of love," have no more effect for good than they had on the poor African's dog!

Poetry.

LITTLE CHILD'S MORNING HYMN.

The morning bright,

With rosy light,

Has waked me from my sleep;

Father, I own

Thy love alone

Thy little one doth keep.

All through the day,

I humbly pray,

Be thou my guard and guide:
My sins forgive;

And let me live,
Bless'd Jesus, near Thy side!

O make thy rest
Within my breast,
Great Spirit of all grace!

Make me like Thee;

Then I shall be

Prepared to see Thy face!