THE FIRESIDE. not suit us in our passage to the kingdom. Therefore He draws the cloud above us, not once in a lifetime, but many times. But lest the gloom should appal us, He braids that cloud with sunshine, nay, makes it the object which gleams to our eye with the very fairest hues of heaven. Yes. It is not merely light after the darkness has fled away. That we shall one day know. How fully! But it is light in darkness; light beaming out of, nay, produced by, that darkness! Water from the rock; wells from the sand; light from the very cloud that darkens; life in the very midst of death! This is the marvel; this is the joy. Peace in trouble, gladness in sorrow; nay, peace and gladness produced by the very tribulation itself; peace and gladness which nothing but that tribulation could have produced! Such is the deep love of God; and such is the way in which He makes all things work together for good to us.-Bonar. THE MEMORY OF OUR LOST FRIENDS has many solemn and affecting lessons to enjoin upon us. It may whisper to us a kinder treat ment of those who are still left us, and entreat us to avoid even a word or look which might inflict undeserved pain on those who are likewise mortal and of uncertain continuance. It will also bid us to prepare to take our place with them in the grave, and so to cherish and imitate all that was good in them, as to be found worthy of joining them beyond the grave, in the mansions of eternal happiness.- Greenwood. The Fireside. 'BE SOBER." LET me give you some good advice-the best advice I am able. I will if you will let me. I am not a boy or a youth. I am one who has seen more than seventy summers. I have not gone through the world with my eyes shut. I have seen many evil things done under the sun. But one thing I have observed, and that is, that some men are their own greatest enemies. They might be happier than they are if they would. I do not believe that a man must be rich before he can be happy. I believe my Master's words when he said, "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." I will tell you how I think a man who is not rich may be happy notwithstanding. I shall have to tell you of several different things. But I must tell you of only one thing at a time. For I consider that poor men who work hard are often tired when they have done their work, and cannot keep wide awake to read a great deal, or hear a great deal read, and so I shall do with them as I would if I had to pour water into a bottle with a long neck—I shall pour it gently, and a little at a time. THE PENNY POST BOX. Well: I will now give my first piece of advice, and I give it first, because if you do not follow it, it will not be any use my saying any more. BE SOBER, and I give this as my first piece of advice Because one cannot talk to a muddle-headed man; for he puts an enemy into his mouth to steal away his brains, and makes himself silly. Who can talk to such a man? Even children laugh at him. How degrading for a grown-up man to let himself down to be a makesport for children! Be sober, if you would be A MAN. Because what you save by not indulging in intoxicating drink will buy many comfortable things. The price of one pint of ale would whitewash and make sweet and clean the room you sleep in. And so I might say of many other comforts that a man might have in his family, all bought with money saved from ale or gin. Be sober, if you would have COMFORTS. Because if you are not you will be in great danger. I not only mean that you will be in danger of accidents (and how many have lost their lives when what they had drunk had made them silly and helpless), but you will be in danger of being cheated by designing men when you have not your natural wits about you. But these are not all. You will be in danger of falling into other sins. A drunken man on a ship-mast in a storm, or reeling about on the edge of a high cliff, would make one shudder to look at him. But what I now mean is worse far worse than breaking limbs. It is the ruin of the soul! No drunkard can go to heaven. And it is a sad, very sad thing, that such a man puts himself beyond the reach of all instruction. You might as well attempt to teach an idiot or an infant. Be sober, if you would keep out of DANGER. The sober man can be talked to-he makes the best of what little he has-keeps out of harm's way for body and soul-and is ready for the discharge of any duty for his family, his neighbour, or his God-is healthy and happy here-and if a real Christian, is looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. My first advice, then, is, Be sober. PAUL PRUDENT. The Penny Post Box. ABOUT JESTING. JESTING is not unlawful, if it trespasseth not in quantity, quality, and season. So wrote quaint old Thomas Fuller more than two hundred years ago. He also gives eight maxims, equally quaint, on this subject. It will be well for us all to think of them and put them into practice. 1. It is good to make a jest, but not to make a trade of jesting. Some men are always wishing to raise a laugh; and so do nothing without a jest. This is folly: the "crackling of thorns under a pot." You may be merry-hearted without always cracking jokes. FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY. 2. Jest not with the two-edged sword of God's word. Never go to the Scriptures for your puns. It is a poor and profane wit that seeks its fun in things sacred; and that will turn and twist sacred words for the sake of an empty laugh. Never do it yourselves, nor listen to it from others without rebuke. 3. Wanton jests make fools laugh, and wise men froum. The Holy Book says, "Fools make a mock at sin." Be pure in your thoughts. Avoid all impure allusions in your speech. 4. Let not thy jests, like the mummy, be made of dead men's flesh. Abuse not those who are dead. Even pagans had a proverb-" Speak of the dead nothing but good." 5. Scoff not at the natural defects of any, which are not in their power to amend. O it is a cruelty to beat the cripple with his own crutches! Mock not a cobbler for his black thumbs. 6. He that relates another man's wicked jest with delight, adopts it for his Do not repeat such jests if you hear them. No man can touch pitch without being defiled. own. 7. He that will lose his friend for his jest, deserves to die a beggar for his bargain. Check such jesting as would wound any, even though they are not your friends. Wit is not like mustard, useless unless it bite. 8. No time to break jests when the heart-strings are about to be broken. MATTHEW MERRY-AND-WISE. Facts, Hints, Gems, and Poetry. The method by which that purpose is to be carried out is of God's devising. "It is of God that showeth mercy," through Jesus Christ our Lord. The revelations of men's hearts are such as only He could make who knew all hearts. As we see our faces reflected in a glass, so in the glass of God's word we see our characters and our hearts. The descriptions of the future world are not from men, but from God. He sees the end from the beginning. He has foretold us what unspeakable joy they shall have who love Him; and it is the same love which has warned us of the woe and misery of those who "will not retain God in all their thoughts." Love the Bible. It can make you "wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus." FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY. Hints. POETRY, is music in words; music, is poetry in sound. Both are excellent sauce; but they have lived and died poor that have made them their meat. WITHOUT HISTORY a man's soul is purblind, seeing only the things which almost touch his eye. HE WHO WOULD CLEANSE BLURS with blotted fingers makes the blurs bigger. So is one who speaketh well and liveth ill. IT IS AS ILL to turn back favours as to disobey commands. AIR is a dish one feeds on every minute, and therefore it need be good. TO BE ANGRY FOR EVERY TRIFLE, debases the worth of thy anger; for he who will be angry for anything, will be angry for nothing. SAMSON'S HAIR GREW AGAIN, but not his eyes. Time may restore some losses, others are never to be repaired. Therefore do not in an instant what an age cannot recompense. WORLDLY RICHES, like nuts, tear many clothes in getting them, spoil many teeth in cracking them, and fill no stomach with eating them. EVERY MAN IS A SMITH who must beat out his own fortune; but God first doth give him coals, iron, and anvil, before he can set up his trade. IF IT WERE POSSIBLE to put a young man's eye into an old man's head, he would see as plainly and clearly as the other. Gems. GOD sends his servants to bed when they have done their work. HE THAT SINS against his conscience sins with a witness. TомBS are the clothes of the dead. A grave is but a plain suit, and a rich monument is one embroidered. THOSE WHO BOAST most of contentment have often the least of it. Their very boasting shows they are begging for commendation. GOD HATH MADE 66 a time for everything under the sun," save only for that which we do at all times-sin. MODERATION is a silken thread running through the pearl-chain of all the virtues. SORROWS, by being communicated, grow less; and joys, greater. CHRIST is not only a light to see by, but a light to see with. DIVINE WISDOM shows us heights that scorn the reach of our prospects, and depths in which the tallest reason will never touch the bottom. THE BEST SACRIFICE to a crucified Saviour is a crucified lust, a bleeding heart, and a dying corruption. THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, Jesus Christ, is always rising, and never sets. Let that light shine into your heart. Poetic Selections. ONWARD! ONWARD! ONWARD! is the march of mind, Nought in heaven's arched hemisphere, Upward all the loveliest things, All is onward, upward flight, THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. The Children's Corner. A COUNTRYMAN AND HIS WAGGON. "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord." "Great Hercules !" he cries, "befriend, My readers, seek a truth divine, A Bible lesson strive to read. |