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POETRY.

When the life that "flesh" obscureth

In each radiant form shall shine,

And the joy that

aye endureth

Flashes forth in beams divine;

While we wave the palms of glory
Through the long eternal years,
Shall we e'er forget the story

Of our mortal griefs and fears ?
Shall we e'er forget the sadness,
And the clouds that hung so dim,
When our hearts are filled with gladness,
And our tears are dried by Him?

Shall the memory be banish'd

Of His kindness and His care,
When the wants and woes are vanish'd

Which he loved to sooth and share?
All the way by which He led us,
All the grievings which He bore,
All the patient love He taught us;
Shall we think of them no more?

Yes! we surely shall remember
How he quickened us from death-
How he fanned the dying ember
With His Spirit's glowing breath.
We shall read the tender meaning
Of the sorrows and alarms,
As we trod the desert, leaning
On His everlasting arms.

And His rest will be the dearer

When we think of weary ways,
And His light will seem the clearer
As we muse on cloudy days.

HOW TO GIVE.

O, 'twill be a glorious morrow

To a dark and stormy day!
We shall recollect our sorrow

As the streams that pass away.

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HOW TO GIVE.

We have got to the beginning of another year, and very little, we fear, has been done for the Juvenile Missionary Fund. Some have neither collected anything nor given anything, whereas they might have done both; and many of those who have done a little, have not gone about the matter heartily, either in giving or getting. From all such we claim attention to the following story, which is full of instruction.

At a missionary meeting held among the Negroes in the West Indies, the following resolutions were agreed upon :

1. We will all give something.

2. We will all give as God has enabled us.

3. We will all give willingly.

As soon as the meeting was over, a leading Negro took his seat at a table, with pen and ink to put down what each came to give. Many came forward and gave; some more, some less. Amongst those that came was a rich old Negro, almost as rich as all the others put together, and threw down upon the table a small silver coin. “Take dat back again,” said the Negro that received the money; "dat may be according to de first resolution, but it not according to de second." The rich old man accordingly took it up and hobbled back to his seat again in a great rage. One after another came forward, and

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A CHINESE DISH

ALL ALIVE O!"

as almost all gave more than he, he began to be fairly ashamed of himself, and again threw down a piece of money on the table, saying, "Dare! take dat!" It was a valuable piece of gold; but it was given so ill-temperedly, that the Negro answered again, "No, dat won't do yet! It may be according to de first and second resolutions, but it not according to de last ;" and he was obliged to take up his coin again. Still angry at himself and all the rest, he sat a long time, till nearly all were gone, and then came up to the table, and with a smile on his face, and very willingly, gave a large sum to the treasurer. "Very well," said the negro, "dat will do; dat according to all de resolutions."

This Negro was right! His was the true way of giving. Let us try to imitate him, especially in all matters relating to the Juvenile Missionary Fund. "Freely ye have received, freely give."

A CHINESE DISH-"ALL ALIVE O!"

WHEN our party of six had seated themselves at the centre table, my attention was attracted by a covered dish, something unusual at a Chinese meal. On a certain signal the cover was removed; and presently the face of the table was covered with juvenile crabs, which made their exodus from the dish with all possible rapidity. The crablets had been thrown into a plate of vinegar just as the company sat down-such an immersion making them more brisk and lively than usual. But the sprightly sport of the infant crabs was soon checked, by each guest seizing which he could, dashing it into his mouth, crushing it between his teeth, and swallowing the whole morsel without cere

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mony. Determined to do as the Chinese did, I tried this novelty also with one-with two I succeeded, finding the shell soft and gelatinous, for they were tiny creatures, nor more than a day or two old. But I was compelled to give into the third, which had resolved to take vengeance, and gave my lower lip a nip so sharp and severe as to make me relinquish my hold and likewise desist from any further experiment of this nature.-Life in China.

MOUTH MUD.

A CONVERTED Hindoo, on being assailed with a torrent of profane and obscene words from his idolatrous neighbours, went up to them and asked:

"Which is worse, the abusive terms that you are just using, or the mud and dirt that you see lying on yon dung-hill ?" "The abusive terms," was the reply.

"And would you ever take into your mouth the mud and dirt ?" "Never."

"Then why do you fill your mouths with the abusive terms, which you confess to be the worst of the two ?"

Confounded with this rebuke, they retired, saying that "the argument was but fair."

THE DANGER OF INDECISION.

Dust and ashes,

On your

WHAT is it you are wavering between ? and a crown of glory that fadeth not away." right hand is Christ, heaven, and an immortality of blessedness; on your left hand is disobedience, rebellion, discontent, remorse, despair, and an immortality of misery. Between these you are halting! While you

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THE DANGER OF INDECISION.

halt, the "gulf" is forming that will soon be "fixed;" the character is deepening that will soon be stereotyped for ever. Indecision becomes decision; you decide for hell while you waver about heaven. And how imminent the peril of those that are wavering! It is now, or it is never; it is here, or it is nowhere. The door will soon be shut that can never be opened, and the dark abyss set that can never be crossed. Oh that L could bring home to every halting reader the position that, as a sinner without Christ, he occupies!

Some will remember a touching tale published some years ago. It narrates how a poor man, on one of the rocky coasts of our country, that got his bread by gather ing sea-fowls' eggs, went out one morning on his perilous adventure; and looking down a terrific steep, he saw midway a ledge abutting from the rock, covered with a cluster of the sea-fowls' nests. He fastened his rope to a tree above the cliff, and lowered himself cautiously down till he stood upon the ledge. In his eagerness to grasp the spoil he unwittingly dropped the noose of the rope by which he had descended, and it swung, as it appeared, far beyond his reach; and there he stood on that narrow ledge, above him a fearful height he had no hope to scale, below him a terrific precipice with the sea dashing at its base. It was a moment of unutterable anguish. In intensity of dismay, by a desperate effort, he sprang upward. It pleased God he should grasp the rope. He drew himself up to the summit, trembling with transport and terror. Every one of us can realise the peril of that. fellow-creature. But how akin to this, but intensely more awful, the condition of every waverer! He stands on the narrow ledge of life; above him is the terrific mountain of his guilt, that he has no power in himself to

The

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