have you fed its hunger? You must let your child feel that at every hour and moment of his life you love him, even in your corrections. Your awkward boy requires more tenderness, more prayerful, loving watchfulness, more real sympathy than all your other flock. Yet does he not get the least? A hundred blunders need to be passed by unnoticed, while approval should be kindly given whenever he has done well. Find out his capabilities and tastes, and give him employment suited to them. Encourage and help him about his work, and teach him to feel that he can do something, and that his success gives real joy to you. Love and hope are the two great watchwords in forming the habits and characters of our children. Make them happy, and you have a much fairer prospect of seeing them good children. Every one knows how much easier it is to do right when cheerful and happy than when irritated. We certainly should not expect more of our little children than the discipline of years has taught us. L. L.

TALKS ABOUT HEALTH.

BY DIO LEWIS, M.D.
ANOTHER WORD ABOUT DRESS.

HE who would labour for the physical redemption of woman in America must begin with her dress. The prevailing modes constitute an insuperable obstacle to her physical development. Every humane physiologist has argued, expostulated, and implored. If American women should squeeze their feet until those members were in Chinese fashion, or should place a flat stone on the head until the brains were forced

into the back of the neck, we might keep silent; but while they compress that part of the body which contains the organs of vitality-the heart, lungs, liver, and stomach-we must continue to resist their madness. In this part of the body is the fountain of life. The slightest pressure immediately reduces the size and activity of that fountain. He who has thoughtfully studied the inevitable results of the prevailing style of dress at the waist, will affect no surprise at those cold feet, that constipation, weak spine, short breath, palpitation of the heart, and congestive headache, which are the average characteristics of the health of American women. Given a live woman, a corset, the average tight dress, and the physiologist will deduce the morbid conditions I have named.

Near my institution in Boston are three shops-a rum shop, a candy shop, and a corset shop. I do not know which is the greatest evil.

My practical suggestion is that, without corsets, the dress-waist should full and loose; the skirtbands buttoned about the waist much larger than the body, supported on the shoulders by suspenders, such as gentlemen wear, and attached to the bands at the same points. My own wife adopted, many years ago, the style I advise, and is greatly delighted with the results. The dress is more artistic and beautiful than the plain waist with the hard, ironlike ligature at the band. After twenty years' study of the subject of health, and the causes of disease, if I were permitted to select from our one hundred and one physiological blunders that one which I should most desire to see corrected, I should unhesitatingly name this feature of female dress.

It is not the same light now in this room which was here an hour ago; constant and hourly supplies are needful. If an eclipse took place, the room would be dark. So grace must be supplied hourly, daily, and

It

is always changing and vary ing. Consider what grace in the heart is. It is a disposition given by God. is God making us willing in the day of his power; working in us both to will and to do.

Mr Young Friends,-Since our last conversation an eminent Frenchman, M. Guizot, made a speech at the Paris Bible Society, which may be of service to you. The orator, as President said: "The Bible Society of Paris, and, indeed, the Bible Societies throughout the Christian world, have recently passed through some severe trials. Everywhere, in Germany, in England, and in France, attacks on the Bible were renewed and multiplied. The authenticity of the books which compose it, and their dates and their authors were alike called in question; and, what was far more grave, their Divine inspiration was doubted or denied. But had these attacks produced any effect on the Bible Society of France or elsewhere? Were these Societies grown cold, discouraged, or in the slightest degree embarrassed by them? By no means. On the contrary, they had stimulated them to greater exertion, and inspired them with more ardent zeal. They had only to look at what was passing in Germany, England, France, Switzerland, the United States of America, and Russia. In all these countries Bible Societies were rapidly gaining ground, and their publications and their missions were widely spreading. The more the Bible was denounced the more was the circle of its defenders enlarged; it was fortified by the trials, and every struggle gained it a fresh conquest. This fact was not confined to modern times. For nineteen centuries the Bible had been exposed to many attacks, had passed through many a crisis, but invariably with the same results. In the fifteenth century, when the second birth of antiquity filled the world with suprise and admiration, the Bible was neglected, abandoned, and almost sunk into oblivion. But when

Christian faith and the Christian spirit were once more awakened in the souls of men, what was the book used as the most powerful weapon? The Bible. A second time did the Bible conquer Greece and Rome. It was in the name of the Bible, and to restore to it its complete empire over the soul, that the Reformation of the sixteenth century was brought about; and the spirit of biblical faith had a wider field than the spirit of liberty. Two centuries later, at the close of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth, the Bible was again exposed to rude assaults; and so bitter was the scorn tried to be heaped upon it that it seemed to have for ever lost its influence. What happened? Why Bible Societies were founded; Bible Missions spread over the earth; treasures of devotedness and of money were lavished in the good cause; and the Bible reappeared more powerful than it ever had been before the terrible warfare waged against it. They had no need, however, to go in search of examples at periods so distant from the present day. They might be found in the very Society he was then addressing. A few years after its foundation the question arose whether they should publish with the canonical books those which were apocryphal, annexed to the Bible. There was a difference of opinion. Their friends in England objected to the publication of the Apocrypha. Nevertheless, the French Society continued to publish both, and a new Society, called "The French and Foreign Bible Society," was established to edit the Bible without the Apocrypha. The difficulties which arose had only the effect of producing two means of action, instead of one. Still more recently another question occurred, whether their Society

should publish a new version of the Bible, and especially that of Geneva of 1835, together with those which had long been received and used in their churches. There were many and serious discussions on the point. Several members of the Committee demanded, pursuant to their regulations, that only those versions which were, so to speak, consecrated by time should be circulated. M. Guizot was of that opinion. He thought that when so many of the oldest and the most zealous servants of the Bible had scruples on the matter, those scruples should have their weight, and he supported them. After much and anxious deliberation, the majority of the Committee persisting in their original opinion, it was thought right to publish the new version called for by several churches, but, at the same time, to continue to distribute the Osterwald version when no other was asked for. This Resolution caused the retirement of several members of the Committee, who were his own old and intimate friends. He fully understood their motives, and respected their scruples, but he did not share them. The difference between the versions did not appear to him sufficiently grave to affect the essential character and salutary influence of the Bible itself. But what, after all, would be the result of that incident? Why, that there would be another Bible Society specially devoted to the propagation of versions long received and used in the churches, and these Societies rivalling each other in zeal to ensure to the good work a wider and a

speedier issue. M. Guizot exhorted the Society to continue their work with confidence. A merely human book could never have resisted such attacks, or surmounted so many trials, and come out ever victorious from the struggle. The ideas of Socrates or of Confucius would have succumbed long since in a warfare carried on for so many ages; and, instead of spreading among all nations, as the Bible has done, the productions of the greatest minds would long since have been lost in the collections of the antiquary. When God, as He himself says, gave up the world to the disputes of men, He did not give it up entirely. They should bear in mind what happened in the study of the laws which govern the material world. Those laws were the subject of long and earnest debates. The earth's movement round the sun was contested against Galileo and Copernicus, and a long time passed before that truth was admitted. The moral world had also its laws, far more difficult to unravel, and which are not capable of being calculated or reduced to figures. The sacred books were the Divine evidence of these laws, revealed by the supernatural action of God that they might be the light and the salvation of mankind. The Bible has survived, and will ever triumphantly survive, human criticism, and the Bible Societies were but the instruments and the servants of the Divine action, which it was not in the power of man to baffle or to disturb.

WHAT IS IT THAT KEEPS WE often hear the thoughtlessness and levity of the young condemned, and truly a very large majority of them appear to live for no object but to perform the duties of the passing hour,and to enjoy themselves as best they can to pass the time

THE YOUNG FROM JESUS? away. How few of them seem to think that a day is coming when they must give an account to God of misspent time and neglect of Him. Oh, how few seem to think of the future at all-except as regards earthly good! Vain butterfly lives,

or careless indolent ones, the most of them seem to live. But, my Christian friends, is all seen here? Is there not a something deeper than the surface hidden now from our view, but seen by ONE above who wills that we should raise the veil and discover the true character. In other words, many, aye, very many of the young are not what we fancy them to be, but are groping after higher good, longing for something more real, more satisfying. Timid, sensitive, retiring, they shrink from speaking of their feelings, and even from being thought to have them. They wait for us to lead the way and wish us to speak.

Oh, ye who profess to be followers of Christ, I entreat you to consider whether we do not greatly wrong these dear ones? We say we desire their salvation, but do not we often keep them from Jesus? Nay, do not start and repel the accusation. In the privacy of our closets, when in the more immediate presence of our Saviour, God, let us solemnly ask our hearts, have I never by my backwardness in speaking, hindered a young immortal from coming to Jesus? Have I embraced every opportunity or many opportunities of showing my desire for their spiritual good? Have I invited them to come to Jesus? It is negatively that we chiefly do the harm. We

do not really believe in their present conversion; hence, when we hear from the pulpit an earnest appeal to the young, our hearts rise in prayer for God's blessing to accompany it to the soul; but the next day, it may be, we are in company with some youth who heard that appeal, and do we seek to ascertain what impression was made? Do we affectionately inquire if the appeal has been responded to and the heart given to Jesus? Ah, my sisters, we are verily guilty here. Many a youthful spirit has had occasion to say (as I have heard some say), "They can enjoy religion themselves, but seem to think I can care only for folly. Oh! is it then so, that Christians do not care whether

I am saved or lost; can this be the religion of Jesus?" Oh, do we not by this seeming indifference hinder them from coming to Jesus? Surely it is high time to rouse ourselves to action. If we are idle, Satan is not. Let us then resolve in the strength of God, to allow no opportunity to pass unimproved, but to let all the youth to whom we have access feel taat our profession is real and that we are anxious for their salvation.

Ah!

I know full well that to many minds it is a great trial to speak for Jesus, even to a mere child; the every feeling shrinks from it. Naturally timid ourselves, we are almost at a loss what to say, and are apt to think, when conscience prompts us, "Some one else will speak to them, I need not." My friends, if the whole world did its duty, would that exempt us from doing ours? When asked by our Saviour Judge who we have brought to Him, shall we be able to reply, "Lord we did not like to speak for thee, we hoped some one else would do so ?" we often let things pass which we could not bear to write down. must deliver our own souls, or what will be the consequence? A trialto speak for Jesus! Yes, verily-it is a trial of our LOVE! If we truly love Him, shall we not wish all to love Him too? It is a trial of our GRATITUDE, for shall not we desire to copy Him who has done so great things for us? It is a trial of our faith, for the promise is, "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father, who is in heaven." that taketh not His cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me."

We

"He

Ob, if we are in truth the children of God, possessing the mind of Christ, we shall deny ourselves and take up that cross, even to speak for Jesus, and thus cast off the reproach, that when visited by the young, they find us ready to converse on any subject rather than that which relates to the soul.

Surely, if we reflect on the value of a soul, and consider that we may be the instrument in the hands of

God of saving some for whom Jesus died, we shall awake to our responsibility and make every effort to save all whom our influence can reach. May God's Holy Spirit enable us to win many youthful hearts to Him. O. P. Q.

TOM COD AND MRS. LOBSTER.

BY THE REV. JOHN TODD, D.D. AROUND the rocky island, the deep : tide ebbed and flowed and sobbed, and the waves rolled and dashed. The waters were so deep that the fish could come up to the very rocks. At the foot of one of these rocks, far down near the bottom, was a young Tom Cod, swimming and playing. He was a very beautiful fish, hardly inferior in colour to the speckled trout of the rivers. He was young, and felt that he could do almost anything. He would dart off like a flash of light, and then back again, sometimes whirling round, sometimes rolling over and cutting all manner of capers. Pretty soon he discovered an old Lobster, slowly creeping along among the rocks that lay on the bottom of the

sea.

"Pray, Mrs. Lobster, what are you up to? How slow you move. What, can't you rush and dash and fly through the water as I do ?" "Why, Master Tom, that is not my nature. My food and home are down among the rocks. I feel safer to be here."

"Well, what a homely creature you are!' Those two great claws, what do you do with them?

"With the big coarse one, I crack the shell-fish, thus," and she seized and instantly crushed a large oyster; "and with the other, the sharp teeth, why, if you will just put your tail in that claw, I will show you how beautifully it will seize and hold a fish."

"And what are those long, very long smellers for? They are longer than your whole body."

"These are not smellers, Master Tom."

"What are they, then ?"

"They are feelers. When I want to go to sleep, or when I want to eat, I just lay them over my back, and let them stick out behind me, and then if any fish comes near to bite me behind, I feel him at once."

"And what do you then do?" "I whirl round instantly, and present my claws to his fish-ship, and he makes off."

"Well, Mrs. Lobster, I would like to know how you grow. Does your shell stretch, or grow larger? You don't seem larger than you did a year ago, when I was very small and very young."

"Nor am I any larger. But I do all my growing for the year in a few days. Once a year I throw off my shell, and then swell and grow, and then put on a new shell. It takes some days, but it is nice to come out once a year in a new house."

"And do you naturally go naked till the new shell grows and hardens ?"

"I certainly do."

"Why, don't the fish eat you up, when you are so soft and have no claws to defend yourself ?"

"Ah! there's the advantage of having my home down among the rocks. When I am about to shed my shell, I dig out a hole under some rocks, just big enough to creep into, and there I go, and no fish can get at me. I lie there safely, till all the process of shedding my shell and getting a new one is completed. It is a delightful and safe home, and I am perfectly happy in it."

"I

"Nonsense," said Tom Cod. want room to play, and to pick up my food wherever I find it. There now, don't you see that naked clam. See how quickly I'll have him."

Poor Tom! He grabbed the clam, and the hook in it caught him. He writhed, and struggled and groaned, but the hook was fast, and the line was strong, and the last Mrs. Lobster saw of him he was being drawn straight up to the top of the water, and she heard the poor fellow threshing and floundering in the boat.

"Oh!" said she, "those colours