SHALL THE DEAD ARISE ?-Mr. Moffat, missionary in Africa, was once preaching upon the resurrection, when a chief, Macaba, notorious for being the terror of his enemies, was present.

"What!" said he, starting with surprise, "what are those words about the dead? The dead arise?"

"Yes," said the missionary, "all the dead shall arise."

"Will my father arise?"

"Yes," answered the missionary. "Will all the slain arise?" "Yes," answered the missionary. "Will all that have been killed and eaten by lions, tigers, and crocodiles arise?"

"Yes; and come to judgment."

"Hark!" shouted the chief, turning to the warriors; "ye wise men, did your ears ever hear such strange and unheardof news? Did you ever hear such news as this?" turning to an old man, the wise man of his tribe.

"Never!" answered the old man. The chief then turned to the missionary, and said:

"Father, I love you much; but the words of a resurrection are too great for me. I do not wish to hear about the dead rising again. The dead cannot rise; the dead shall not rise!"

"Tell me, my friend, why not?" said the missionary.

"I have slain my thousands; shall they arise?"

The thought completely overwhelmed him.

A GOOD PRAYER.-O Thou who art the way, the truth, and the life; in whom there is no darkness, error, vanity, nor death; the light, without which there is darkness; the way, without which

there is wandering; the truth, without which there is error; the life, without which there is death: say, Lord, Let there be light, and I shall see light and eschew darkness, I shall see the way and avoid wandering, I shall see the truth and shun error, I shall see life and escape death. Oh illuminate my blind soul, which sitteth in darkness and the shadow of death, and direct my feet in the way of peace.

HARMLESS AS DOVES.-As doves are innocent, simple, harmless, even so Christians ought to be simple and plain in their callings and behaviour one towards another, especially such as be professors of the Gospel.

FALSE TEACHING. "I have heard with both surprise and sorrow, from some Sunday-school teachers, addresses which seemed to me to be this: 'Dear children, be good boys and girls, remember the Sabbath-day, obey your parents, and so on, and you will get to heaven.' Now, I venture to say that if such teaching was to be pronounced in the pulpit, it would be regarded as atrociously legal and utterly unscriptural; and why should such talk be given to children? The same Gospel that will save the adults will save the children; but to dilute the Gospel, and keep down its doctrines, seems to render the Sundayschool a mere name and farce, and indeed to educate children in a false system of faith. If a child be saved, it is not by obedience to parents-excellent and necessary as this is-but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why not give the child, though in a different language, the same truth you give to the parent? I noticed on a door as I came along, 'Mangling done here.' I am afraid it is often done in the Sunday-school classes. That is to say, the whole truth is not brought forth. It really should You would not like your children to be fed on the refuse of what had been given to another; why, then, should the refuse of doctrine be left to the children?"

not be so.

A GEM FROM HERBERT. (To be read just before church time.)

WHEN once thy foot enters the church, beware,

God is more there than thou, for thou art there

Only by His permission. Then beware, And make thyself all reverence and fear.

Let vain and busy thoughts have there no part;

Bring not thy plow, thy plots, thy pleasures thither.

Christ purged His temple-so must thou thy heart.

All worldly thoughts are but thieves met together

To cozen thee. Look at thy actions well,

For churches either are our heaven or hell.

LITTLE LIGHTS.

JESUS bids us shine
With a pure, clear light,
Like a little candle
Burning in the night.
In the world is darkness,
So we must shine-
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine,

First of all, for Him ;-
Well He sees and knows it,
If our light is dim!

He looks down from heaven
To see us shine-
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine

Then for all around;
For many kinds of darkness
In the world are found;

There's sin, there's want and sorrow;
So we must shine-
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

HOW DO YOU KNOW THERE IS A GOD? -A Frenchman who had won a high rank among men of science, who denied the God who is the Author of all science, was crossing the great Sahara in company with an Arab guide. He noticed with a sneer that at certain times the guide, whatever obstacles might arise, put them all aside, and kneeling on the burning sands, called to his God.

Day after day passed, and still the Arab never failed; till at last one evening the philosopher, when he rose from his knees, asked him, with a contemptuous smile,

"How do you know there is a God?" The guide fixed his burning eye on the scoffer for a moment in wonder, and then said solemnly:

"How do I know that a man, and

not a camel, passed my hut last night in the darkness? Was it not by the print of his feet in the sand? Even so," and he pointed to the sun, whose last rays were flashing over the lonely desert, "that footprint is not of man.'

"TAKE CARE OF THE SLIDES."-One winter's night I was passing with others along a dark road, where some mischievous boys had been sliding over the frost-bound path.

"Take care of the slides," cried one, whom I will call Master Cautious.

"Oh, come on, you nervous little creature," replied Master Presumptuous. "I dare run where you dare not walk;' and to give proof to his proud assertion he at once sprang forward. He had

THE BOY'S RESOLVE.-I would like to have ruddy cheeks, and bright eyes, and strong limbs. But they say that strong drink dims the eye, and whitens the cheek, and enfeebles the frame; therefore I will not drink at all.

I would like to have a clear mind, so that I may be able to think on great things, and serve God, and do good to others, and prepare to die. But they say that strong drink clouds the mind and often destroys it; therefore I will not drink at all.

I would like to have a peaceful heart and a quiet conscience, so that I may

be happy while I am here. But they say that strong drink fills many a heart with misery, and implants in many a conscience a sting; therefore I will not drink at all.

I would like to have a quiet home and happy fireside, where I could rejoice with loving brothers and sisters and parents. But they say that strong drink makes ten thousand homes wretched and miserable; therefore I will not drink at all.

I would like to go to heaven when I die, that I may dwell with Jesus in glory for ever. But they say that strong drink keeps many from entering into heaven, and casts them down to hell; therefore I will not drink at all.

"" It was the attention of one little girl, who kept her eyes fixed on me, and seemed trying to understand every word I said," answered the gentleman. "She was a great help to me."

What! can a little child be a great help to a minister? Yes, oh yes. How? By paying attention. Think of that, my little ones, and when you go to church, fix your eye on the minister, and try to understand what he says, for he is speaking to you as well as to grown-up people. He is telling about the Lord Jesus, who loves the little ones, and said, "Suffer them to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

RICKETTY BUILDINGS.-As buildings cannot stand except as they be borne up by their foundation, so likewise Christians are in an unstable state except they stay themselves upon Christ.

THE hour at which we assembled was half-past five, and the place where we met the recently erected mission premises in a populous but neglected suburb of Glasgow. Although in the immediate vicinity of such a vast field of Christian effort, perhaps the prevailing or rather the passive idea regarding the reclamation of the place was, that it could not fail to receive droppings from the heavy shower of missionary exertion which of late had penetrated through the densest parts of the neighbouring forest of humanity. But this was not true in the main. Church accommodation might be within reach of the inhabitants of M- -; but it requires a separate agency to induce the class I write of to enter a place of worship, or attend to the things which are spoken. Of this numerous class the males, and for that matter the females too, obtained the lowest paid employment at the surrounding public works, which included coal pits, iron works, brick fields, rope factories, gas works, and other like grimy scenes of industry. Their houses were squalid and dirty, the earthen

floor and damp press-bed prevailing to an extent which too frequently furnished a nursery and a home for sickness and disease.

It is difficult for us, who are in the enjoyment of general comforts, fully to realize the force with which temptation to sin storms the hearts of our brothers and sisters who are placed in the circumstances I have mentioned. What wonder if, with none to guide in this labyrinth of cheerless toil and hopeless ignorance, the public-houses, with their lighted windows and their clean sanded floors, and their boisterous company, and their offered poison, became the most attractive spots in the place, and that in the train of this baneful influence followed heartless and illdoing wives, ragged and neglected children, who seldom knew a father's authority or a father's love?

Poor things, how many of them subsisted was a mystery. From their cheerless homes they early found their way to the gutters and open space around, and, after playing for a few years with companions as ill attended as themselves, were too often

FEBRUARY, 1868.

E

hurried off to work for trifling wages at the time when they should have been attending school.

The district became a favourite one; building went on briskly, better houses for all classes were to be had, and good shops followed as a matter of course. In time a selfdenying and faithful missionary missionary commenced operations in the mission house I have named, visited the people frequently, and in a most kindly spirit looked more especially after those who went to no church at all. sabbath and week-day meetings were organized, at which he presided, with evident pleasure to all. Numbers attended these meetings, and appeared to value the privilege.

A Sabbath-school had been opened in an ill-aired room, where at first the teachers met with little to encourage them; and it was often more than they could do to preserve even a degree of quiet among their uncultivated assemblage while prayer and praise were being offered. But in time the young scholars began to conduct themselves in a less noisy and demonstrative way; and the thick crust of ignorance gradually began to give way beneath the zealous instructions of a few devoted instructors. Ere long the school was removed to the mission hall; and it was there, and after the school had been established for many months, that I became a teacher.

The hall was arranged for eight classes: three for girls, and five for boys. I think there were about a hundred upon the roll; and many of them were nice looking and respectably dressed children, although most wild and unruly in their behaviour, requiring the utmost firmness and watchfulness upon the part of their teachers, who, in answer to my expressions of astonishment at the way they behaved, assured me that, had

I only seen them when the school was first opened, I would rather be struck with their improvement now. Upon entering the hall, my class was the second to the left hand; and in winter the number attending averaged twenty-four. The ages of the children ranged from five years to fourteen, and, with but two or three exceptions, none of them could read. In a different place I had been accustomed to teach a class of well trained girls; and the ragged aspect of my new charge did not much impress or encourage me at first.

Like all Sabbath-schools, ours was opened with prayer and praise, the superintendent taking his turn with the other male teachers in leading the devotions. Before the hymn commenced, the active superintendent came round with a supply of hymn-books for those who could read; and then most of the young voices joined in some well-known song of praise to their heavenly Father. What music so touching as those clear young voices, celebrating the glories of the Lamb who was slain? But it was easy to see that all this was new to most of the little people present. Nor was it uncommon for some of them to try and start a different air, to put the leader out and so create some amusement. Others would whistle, pressing their hand upon their mouth to try and hide the offender; while caps were occasionally let fly from class to class. To subdue these demonstrations was no easy task. Of all the unruly classes it were possible to conceive, to my eyes at all events, mine seemed to be the least capable of receiving good impressions; and, as I have said, I certainly was not taken with their appearance at first.

For three sabbaths I strove to instil a few simple lessons into their