ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

and does not speak for Christ, vain will be mere oratory, with the force of logic and the fire of rhetoric. What De Quincey calls "the mechanology of style," is no sufficient substitute for a life that teaches, and therefore is a sermon-that moves, and therefore is an exhortation. The best pulpit even of the ablest divine is the way of the feet, day by day-the common secular scenes, where "such a conversation (behaviour) as becometh the gospel," points with one hand to the cross which Christ endured for us, and with the other to the crown which we shall wear with Christ. Oh, for the time when all who publish the glad tidings of peace can appeal rather to their personal example than to their public ministrations, and say, "That is my speech! That is my speech!"

A PRAYERLESS FATHER." There was one little circumstance," said a gentleman in relating his religious feelings, on his admission to a Christian church, "that more deeply impressed me with the importance of being a Christian than any other. It was a question asked by my son Henry, a little boy four years old. My wife and myself had taken great pains to teach little Henry verses of Scripture and hymns, and he never went to bed without saying his little prayer, 'Now I lay me down to sleep.' One night, tired and fretful, he refused to do it; and while I was insisting upon it, telling him how wrong it was not to pray, he looked up into my face, and said in childish simplicity, 'Why do you want me to pray, father? I never see you pray.' No sermon I had ever heard, no book or tract I had ever read, so impressed me as this rebuke from my child. I determined then, by the help of God, to lead a different life, and henceforth teach my children by example as well as precept." That father is now a follower of the Lord Jesus, an active member of the church, and this happy family gather around the domestic altar.

THERE IS LIGHT Beyond." When in Madeira," writes a traveller, "I set off one morning to reach the summit of a mountain, to gaze upon the distant scenes and enjoy the balmy air. I had a guide with me, and we had with difficulty ascended some thousand feet, when a thick mist was seen descending upon us, quite obscuring the whole face of the heavens. I thought I had no hope left but at once to retrace our steps or be lost; but as the cloud came nearer, and darkness overshadowed me, my guide ran on before me, penetrating the mist and calling to me ever and anon, saying, 'Press on, master, press on; there is light beyond!' I did press on. In a few minutes the mist passed away, and I gazed upon a scene of transparent beauty. All was bright and cloudless above, and beneath was the almost level mist, concealing the world below me, and glistening in the rays of the sun like a field of untrodden snow. There was nothing at that moment between me and the heavens." O ye, over whom clouds are gathering, or who have sat beneath the shadow, be not dismayed if they rise before you. There is light beyond.

Press on.

THE FIRESIDE.

EARTHLY GLORIES are like the fading flower, but the child of God is looking for the "glories to be revealed"-for the trees whose leaf shall not wither, and whose fruit shall not fail-for flowers fairer than Eden's, that shall never fade-for crystal waters, that shall be surefor a home where the pure and holy shall dwell in immortal youth. The Christian has not long to wait, for he is swiftly approaching the glories to be revealed, and some who read these thoughts will within one short year be introduced to the splendours of their immortal home, -will know what robes the glorified wear, what songs the angels sing, and will behold the sweet smile with which a Saviour shall welcome His children to the place prepared for them.

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 my food and lodgings." "I will give you just as many and just as good fish," said the owner, who chanced to overhear his words, "if you will do me a trifling favour." "And what is that?" asked the other, eagerly.

"Only to tend this line till I come back; I wish to go on a short errand."

The proposal was gladly accepted. The old fisherman 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 out; 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 fulfill 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 to cast a line for yourself."

The Fireside.

TRUE MARRIAGE.

"WHEREVER," says Gail Hamilton, man pays reverence to a woman -wherever man feels the influence of any woman, purifying, chastening, abashing, strengthening him against temptation, shielding him from evil, ministering to his self-respect, medicining his weariness, peopling his solitude, winning him from sordid prizes, enlivening his monotonous days with mirth, or fancy, or wit, flashing heaven upon his earth, and mellowing it all for spiritual fertility-there is the element of marriage. Wherever woman pays reverence to manwherever any woman rejoices in the strength of any man, feels it to be

THE PENNY POST BOX.

God's agent, upholding her weakness, confirming her purpose, and crowning her power; wherever he reveals himself to her, just, upright, inflexible, yet tolerant, merciful, benignant, not unruffled, perhaps, but not overcome by the world's turbulence, and responding to all her gentleness, his feet on the earth, his head among the stars, helping her to hold her soul steadfast in right, to stand firm against the encroachments of frivolity, vanity, impatience, fatigue, and discouragement, helping to preserve her good nature, to develop her energy, to consolidate her thought, to utilize her benevolence, to exalt and illumine her life-there is the essence of marriage. Its love is founded on respect, and increases self-respect at the very moment of merging self in another. Its love is mutual, equally giving and receiving at every instant of its action. There is neither dependence nor independence, but interdependence. Years cannot weaken its bonds, distance cannot sunder them. It is a love which vanquishes the grave, and transfigures death itself into life."

The Penny Post Box.

CONGREGATIONAL SINGING.

JOHN Wesley gives the following directions for congregational singing: 1. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.

2. Sing lustily, and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor ashamed of its being heard, than when you sang the songs of Satan.

3. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above, or distinct from, the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear, harmonious sound.

4. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before, nor behind it, but attend closely to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care that you do not sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy, and it is high time to drive it out from among us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

5. Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually: so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when He cometh in the clouds of heaven.

FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY.

Facts, Hints, Gems, and Poetry.

The mortality in the world is calculated as one in forty. Above two thousand three hundred die every hour, more than fifty-five thousand every day; and in a single year, as life. many as twenty millions one hundred and twenty-five thousands.

In America there are two men to the square mile; in Africa, fourteen; in Asia, thirty-one; but in Europe, sixty-nine.

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

From his eyes the vision faded,
And the Apostle, thus upbraid,

Passed the gates within;
On his Lord and Saviour thinking,
From the cross no longer shrinking,
The martyr's crown to win.
Saviour, when in sin we're straying,
May we hear thy sad voice saying,

"Crucified anew;"

When from toil and danger fleeing,
Show thyself to us, and, seeing,
May we follow, too.

QUIET DAYS.

THE dying year grows strangely mild;
Now in the hazy autumn weather
My heart is like a happy child,
And life and I, friends reconciled,
Go over the hills together.

The summer wood with music rings,

The singer's is a troubled breast;

I am no more the bird that sings
But that which broods with folded wings
Upon its quiet nest.

Oh, fairest month of all the year!

Oh, sweetest days in life! they meet;
Within, without, is autumn clear,
September there, September here,
So tranquil and so sweet.

Oft have I watched all night with grief,
All night with joy, and which is best?
Ah, both were sharp, and both were brief,
My heart was like a wind-blown leaf,
I give them both for rest.

Fair Quiet, close to Joy allied,

But loving shadier walks to keep,
By day is ever at my side;
And all night long with me abide
Peace, and her sister, Sleep.

The Children's Corner.

THE TWO VOICES.

I KNEW a dear child who, at an early age, loved to hear about the silent voices. His dark eyes would sparkle with intense delight when I asked him what voice he heard in his heart.

I had told him that when disposed to do anything wrong, if he would stop and think, he would always hear something that would say in his heart that he must not do it; and that was his conscience, which was God's voice, and which he must always be sure to obey, wherever he might be. And when he heard another voice tempting him to do wrong, and urging him to disobey, it was the wicked spirit, and he must not listen for a moment. I was truly gratified with the influence which a knowledge of conscience seemed to have over him, and could not but rejoice that such voices were given to us, that we may know the right way;

I was very busy one Saturday afternoon, and had not seen the children for some time, but thought they were still in the yard at their play, as they never left it without permission. Very soon little Willie made his appearance, looking as if he had something of great interest to tell me. I called him, and he instantly began :—

"Mother, I ran away this afternoon, and never stopped to ask my conscience. I did not think of it till I got almost there, and then I heard it say, 'You have done wrong; you must not go from home without asking and getting leave;' and, mother, I turned right about, and minded the voice, and came home fast as I could."