THE LITTLE BOY THAT DIED.

167.

little to carry about, and easy to remember. Oh, how hard to carry about, either in your head or your hand, thirty volumes of the Encyclopedia!"

"And cheap enough for the poorest person," added his mother. "Tenpence will buy a Testament, which contains more knowledge valuable to us than all other knowledge put together."

'Only think, mother, neither I nor any of us children ever looked into Uncle Henry's En-cy-clo-pe-dia, but we read the Bible every day, and I can carry my pocket Testament in the smallest pocket I've got. Yes, mother, I can carry all God's written law in my own pocket, when the laws of our country would cover shelves upon shelves."

"God's laws are all comprised in two," said his mother. "Do you know what they are, Henry ?"

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; and thy neighbour as thyself."

THE LITTLE BOY THAT DIED.

I AM all alone in my chamber now,

And the midnight hour is near;

And the faggot's crack, and the clock's dull tick,

Are the only sounds I hear.

And over my soul in its solitude,

Sweet feelings of sadness glide;

For my heart and eyes are full when I think

Of the little boy that died.

168

THE LITTLE BOY THAT DIED.

I went one night to my father's house,
Went home to the dear ones all,
And softly I opened the garden gate,
And softly the door of the hall.
My mother came out to meet her son,

She kissed me and then she sighed ;
And her head fell on my neck and she wept
For the little boy that died.

I shall miss him when the flowers come,
In the garden where we played;

I shall miss him more in the winter time,
When the flowers have all decayed;
I shall see his toys and his empty chair,
And the horse he used to ride,
And they will speak with a silent speech
Of the little boy that died.

I shall see his little sister again,
With her playmates about the door,
And I'll watch the children in their sports
As I never did before;

And if in the group I see a child,

That's dimpled and laughing eyed,

I'll look to see if it may not be

The little boy that died.

We shall yet go home to our Father's house-
To our Father's house in the skies,

Where the hope of our souls shall have no blight,
Our love no broken ties,

We shall roam on the banks of the river of peace,
And bathe in its blissful tide,

And one of the joys of heaven shall be

The little boy that died.

YOUTH.

THE flower of youth never looks so lovely as when it bends to the Sun of Righteousness. How pleasing are the displays of piety in such characters as Joseph, and Samuel, and Obadiah, who devoted their early prime, the flower of their youth, to the Lord, instead of spending in his service the last few years of their life, worn out by age, and sickness, and labour; they devoted the whole to him, and found his " ways to be pleasantness, and his paths to be peace." By serving the Lord they were kept from evil, guarded against temptations, and preserved from the paths of the destroyer.

UNDERSTANDING THE COMMAND

MENTS.

AN old schoolmaster said one day to a clergyman who came to examine his school, "I believe the children know the Catechism word for word." "But do they understand it ?" said the clergyman, "that's the question.” The schoolmaster only bowed respectfully, and the examination began. A little boy had repeated the fifth commandment, "Honour thy father and thy mother," etc., and he was desired to explain it. Instead of trying to do so, the little boy, with his face covered with blushes, said, almost in a whisper, "Yesterday I showed some strange gentlemen over the mountain. The sharp stones cut my feet, and the gentlemen saw them bleeding, and they gave me some money to buy shoes. I gave it to my mother, for she had no shoes either, and I thought I could go barefoot better than she could." The clergyman then looked very much pleased, and the old schoolmaster only gently remarked, "God gives us his grace and blessing."

PRAYING FOR FRIENDS.

Do you ever pray for your friends? It is one of the kindest things you can do for them. They all need your prayers, the good as well as the godless. Four young men in Ireland agreed last year to pray for the conversion of two of their companions; and that they might not forget the resolution, they each wrote upon a slip of paper the following memorandum :—

"Two immortal souls, Jan. 28th, 1858."

This slip they placed in their Bibles, so that, morning and evening, they should be reminded of their Christless friends. One month after the above-mentioned date one of the young men was brought to a knowledge of the truth; and in two months more the other was brought to the Saviour too. One of the young men established a prayer-meeting the following June; and in that district, principally by his instrumentality, more than one hundred souls have been added to the church. Here are the fruits of believing, earnest prayer.

Again I ask, do you ever pray for your friends? If you can pray, you ought to think of them; if you cannot pray, your soul must be in a bad state. It is very pleasant to be able to remember distant friends at a throne of grace, and to know that we are remembered by them. Very pleasant to feel that, though separated far by seas and mountains, we can daily meet, perhaps at the same hour, to pour out the desires and gratitude of our hearts for each other before God.

"Dare I crave a return, I would ask for a nook
In that page of your memory, where,

As oft as you kneel, you turn o'er to and look
For the friends you remember in prayer.

Then, though fate may us sever, and keep us apart,

Each day twice our souls shall be one;

When each is borne up on the other's full heart
In prayer at the foot of the throne."

THE VOICE OF JESUS.

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."-Matt. xi, 28.

I HEARD the voice of Jesus say,

"Come unto me and rest,

Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast."

I came to Jesus as I was,

Weary, and worn, and sad,
I found in Him a resting-place.
And He has made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,

Behold, I freely give

The living water-thirsty one,
Stoop down and drink and live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank

Of that life-giving stream ;

My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"I am this dark world's light,
Look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright."

I looked to Jesus, and I found

In him my star, my sun,

And in that light of life I'll walk

Till travelling days are done.

TOO LATE.

DR. BONAR.

AMONG the many invalids at the Red Sulphur Springs, during the summer of 185-, was one in whom I felt a