136

A YOUNG DISCIPLE.

book and tract he read through while thus engaged. And as he, like almost all his countrymen, read or sang aloud all that they studied or learned, you could hear Sc-Bu's cheerful voice a long way off; and if you had not the misfortune to be deeply engaged yourself, you might learn the lesson with him though two stories up, nd join in his hymn while he sat in the hall and you in the study. As the effect of his diligence and Christian zeal, our young disciple soon became a good scholar, especially in God's Word, which was his constant study. You never found him without a Bible in his hand, or some volume of it, for it is a large book in Chinese. And when a man was wanted to go as an evangelist to Singapore, far from Amoy, in the Straits of Malacca, where Mr. Fraser, a Free Church minister, wanted some one to distribute Bibles and speak to the thousands of Chinese who are settled there, Se-Bu was the man who was found fit for the work and willing to go on such a distant mission. In a ship, in which a number of Chinese were bound for Singapore to seek their fortune, Se-Bu took his passage to seek for souls; and so diligent was he in his search, that before the ship reached the port he had found two, who will yet, we trust, be joined in the Saviour's crown. They were to be baptized by Mr. Fraser the last time we heard, as the first-fruit of that new and interesting mission to which our young church in Pechuia have sent the first evangelist.

Think much of this young disciple, and pray that he may win many souls for Christ, and see that you seek to imitate him in his following Christ so earnestly.

I am, &c., Your Old Friend.

"THE OLD SAILOR'S BIBLE.”

I MET an aged mariner,

Of threescore years and ten,

Who oft in scenes of strife and fear
Had met ungodly men.

Twice he had sail'd the world around,
From Tonga's sunny isles,

To where with rocks and ocean bound
Our British Eden smiles.

Twice wreck'd was he in tropic seas,
And twice as oft had bled
Where Nelson's standard in the breeze,
To death or triumph led.

"But still," said he (and show'd the book), "In combat or in blast,

There is the friend that ne'er forsook
The Sailor at the mast.

138

THE OLD SAILOR'S BIBLE.

"Oft have I read that precious page,
By the couch of dying men;

Of men who only scoff"'d before,
But gladly listen'd then. }

"Once in the battle and stormy night, When decks with blood were dyed,

A bullet from the enemy's ship

Glanced sudden by my side.

"I fell, was raised, my wound was slight,
For torn beside me lay

That book from which, as from a shield,
The ball had glanced away.

"That Bible saved my mortal life,
"Twill save the immortal soul,
When in the last and awful strife,
Death's billows round me roll.

Believing this, no fear can damp
My heart on land or wave;
For to it bears the Conqueror's stamp,
Who triumph'd o'er the grave.

"And now, my son," the veteran said,
"That blessed book is thine;
Long be its promise to thy heart
What it hath been to mine.

"It was our Pastor's parting gift,

When Sabbath schools were few; From this," said he, "I learnt to serve My God and country too."

"O write its precepts on thy heart,
When grief and care abound;

That book will soothe thy woes to rest,
And soften many a wound.

PURE GOLD.

"No good these hands have ever seen
From plunder in the field;
My blessing and this book are all
That I can give my child."

"My father's, Bible," cried the boy,
And press'd it to his heart;
"Come weal or woe, regret or joy,
We two shall never part."

"Heaven bless my child," the father cried,
"I know thy heart is true;
Thou'lt love the Bible for my sake,
And love its Author too."

The mariner died, the book that oft
Had sooth'd him o'er the wave,

Was borne upon his coffin lid,
And read beside his grave.

And this is graved upon his stone-
"His Bible was his friend;
He served his country, loved his God,
And peaceful was his end."

139

PURE GOLD.

PLACE yourself, in imagination, by the side of an Australian gold-digging, and observe the earth that is drawn up from its bottom. It is likely that your unpractised eye will see nothing in that heap but rubbish, and dirt, and stones. And yet that very heap of earth may prove, on washing, to be full of particles of the purest gold. It is just the same with the Bible. We see but little of it now. We shall find hereafter that every verse of it contained gold.

HYMN.

WE gather, we gather, dear Jesus, to bring
The breathings of love 'mid the blossoms of spring.
Our Maker, Redeemer, we gratefully raise

Our hearts and our voices, in singing thy praise.

When stooping to earth from the brightness of heaven,
Thy blood for our ransom so freely was given,
Thou listen'dst with pleasure while children adored,
With joyful hosannas, the blest of the Lord;
Those arms which embraced little children of old,
Still love to encircle the lambs of the fold;
That grace which inviteth the wanderer home,
Hath never forbidden the youngest to come.
Hosanna, hosanna, Great Teacher, we raise
Our hearts and our voices, in singing thy praise;
For precept and promise so graciously given,
For blessings of earth, and the glories of heaven.
(Mendelssohn Collection. American.)

TOO BIG TO OBEY A MOTHER. A BOY too big to mind his mother!" Such a boy must be larger than a giant, and one with strange ideas of the rights of big people. I should not like to live near him, or even see him, for I should suspect he would feel "too big" to mind the laws of his country, or the laws of God, and thus be a dangerous neighbour. I am told that there are such boys, or rather those who think they are "too big to mind their mother."

What does your mother wish you to do? To stay in at nights; to let tobacco alone; to avoid associating with bad boys; to read useful books; to shun novels and silly newspapers; to mind your studies or trade, or whatever