Yet, Jesus prayed, and earth received
Her Maker's bended knee,
Gethsemane resounds the cry,
The groan of agony.—

First tell me why a suppliant's breath
Poured from a Spirit Divine;
And I will tell thee why I ask
A bliss I trust is mine.

My humble spirit is content
To know that I am bid;

Nor dares to ask why I should need
To do what Jesus did.

And whilst I rest, in tranquil hope,
To share my Saviour's bliss,
Know that if e'er I cease to pray,
I'll cease to think I'm His.

SOWING THE PRECIOUS SEED.

"In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good."-Eccl. xi. 6.

Sow it on the waters wide,

Where the seamen plough the deep;
Then, with every flowing tide,
You the blessed fruit shall reap,
And the thoughtless sailor prove
Trophy to the cause you love.

Sow it 'mid the crowded street,
Lanes and alleys, dark and foul,
Where the teeming masses meet-
Each with an immortal soul,

Sunk in deepest moral glcom,
Reckless of the coming doom.

Sow it 'mid the haunts of vice-
Scenes of infamy and crime;
Suddenly, may Paradise

Burst, as in the northern clime

Spring, with all its verdant race,
Starts from Winter's cold embrace.

Sow it with unsparing hand,

'Tis the kingdom's precious seed;
'Tis the Master's great command,
And his grace shall crown the deed;
He hath said the precious grain
Never shall be sown in vain!

Long, indeed, beneath the clod,
It may be, forgot, unseen-
Noxious weeds may clothe the sod,
Changing seasons intervene,

Summer's heat and winter's frost-
Yet that seed shall ne'er be lost.

But at length it shall appear,

Rising up o'er all the plain

"First the blade, and then the ear,"
Then the ripe, the golden grain :
Joyous reapers gladly come,
Angels shout the harvest home!

DR. RAFFLES.

TELEGRAPHING UNDER THE RIVER.-The wires of the New York and Philadelphia Telegraph have been extended across the Hudson, from Jersey city, and are now in successful communication with that place. They are encased in a double covering of gutta percha, and laid on the bottom of the river, in the track of the ferry boat.

BEARS are large and savage beasts, found in many countries, and of different species;-as the Brown Bear, in the northern regions of Europe, especially Poland, Sweden, Norway, Russia, and some parts of Germany; the Black Bear, in America; the White Bear, in the icy regions, near the North Pole; and the Grizzly Bear, on the Rocky Mountains of North America.

We can give, at present, but a few notices of these animals, and those but short.

1. The Brown Bear is found from four hundred to even seven hundred pounds in weight, He

M

feeds generally on roots, leaves, berries, corn, honey, and ants; but he is sometimes ravenous for flesh. His strength is very great; and a bear has been seen walking along a small tree that stretched across a river, on his hinder feet, bearing a dead horse in his fore paws! This bear is hunted with dogs, the men being armed with spears and guns. The flesh is much esteemed as food, and the hams and paws are great delicacies.

2. The Black Bear of America is smaller than the European species; but it is valuable, and it has found employment for merchants and seamen. In the year 1783, we learn that ten thousand five hundred bear-skins were imported into England, from the northern parts of America, and the number gradually increased until 1803, when it reached twenty-five thousand; the average value of each skin being estimated at forty shillings. This destruction has thinned the species, which, once common over North America, is on the eastern side now confined to the higher regions of Canada and the Rocky Mountains, but on the western coast is still abundant as far as California.

The bear is often referred to in Scripture, regarding its ferocious disposition. When king Saul discouraged David from a combat with the giant Philistine, the young servant of the LORD, in reply, informed the monarch that he had encountered and slain a bear, which ravaged his father's fold; and, with a feeling of true piety, he ascribes his success, not to his own prowess, but to the delivering hand of God. In this he offers a beautiful example to every Christian.

Our young friends will read 2 Sam. xvii. 8, Prov. xvii. 12, Hos. xiii. 8, to learn the savage

ness of the bear; and against cherishing a surly disposition, we offer the following, from the Rev. J. Kendall's "Sermon on Peevishness."

"If you make yourself a bear," says he, "you will find other bears in the world, and when you and they meet, there will be a collision. I once witnessed a spectacle in the Liverpool Zoological Gardens which I shall never forget. In a large deep pit there were three bears; two very large, the other quite small. I dropped a biscuit for the little one, which he began to eat. The large bears, being full of frolic, took away the broken pieces of the biscuit several times with their paws, and returned it to him. The little one was testy and fierce; snapped and snarled, and bit at his jocose companions. The big bears put up with this for a while without resentment. But the little one could not forget the insult; he went on quarrelling and snapping. In a few moments, to my surprise and horror, the great bears began to growl; and, being angry, set upon the poor little thing, bit him completely through the bowels, and laid him dead on the spot! I looked on and received instruction!"

THE CHILD'S GUIDE TO THE BIBLE. CHAPTER XXIII.

Ruth the Moabitess.-Ruth i.—iv.

RUTH was a woman of Moab, and her name was given to one of the sacred books, because it relates her history, in the time of the Judges-perhaps