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these very things. It may be a long time before you will find the right use of them. The Bible and the catechism will always be wanted, and always be useful. Try to learn as many things as you can, but be sure you have God's Word stored in your memory and heart.

A HYMN TO CHRIST.

OR the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our
birth

Over and around us lies:
CHRIST, Our GOD, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour

Of the day and of the night, Hill and vale, and tree and flower, Sun and moon and stars of

light: CHRIST, OUR GOD, to Thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise. For the joy of ear and eye,

For the heart and mind's

delight,

For the mystic harmony

Linking sense to sound and sight:

CHRIST, our GOD, to Thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise. For the joy of human love,

Brother, sister, parent, child, Friends on earth, and friends above,

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are doing that which they know work. His kind mistress, in

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is wrong, conceal themselves somewhere or other, thinking that no one is looking at them. They forget that it is written in the Bible, "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord." Endeavour to recollect that you are continually in the presence of Almighty God, and bear in mind that short but important text which every little reader has heard, "Thou God seest me." Wherever you go, it will, I doubt not, keep you from doing that which wrong when you are placed in temptation.

is

R. J. K.

A WONDERFUL OLD HORSE.

A

YBOUT three years ago, a newspaper called the "Fifeshire Herald" contained a story of an old horse, named "Jack," the property of a lady residing within a few miles of the town of Cupar. Once "Jack" could trot nine miles, with a dog-cart behind him, in forty minutes, with ease; but a cruel stableboy having struck him a severe blow on one of his legs, he became totally unfit for hard

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stead of selling him to some one who might perhaps treat him harshly, allows him to wander about her grounds at his own will.

In this state of happy freedom "Jack" rambles up and down, doing all sorts of odd things. There is no portion of the estate to which he does not claim the right of entrance. Wickets and gates are nothing to him, are no bar to his roaming. Indeed, so far as he is concerned, there are no such things. He has managed to unfasten every lock, check, and bolt about the grounds, except the one on the door of the garden, which is barred on the inside. It is his custom to take a walk daily, and for that he purpose opens large gate leading to the main road, and from thence into the fields, where he wanders about wherever he chooses, for no one thinks of interfering with "Jack." He does this for the love of the stroll, and nothing more, as is shown by the fact that, in his wanderings in summer and autumn through the corn-fields, he never thinks of touching a blade or an ear. Though he can open gates, wickets, and doors, he is somewhat unmannerly; for, like some

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thoughtless people, he does not close them behind him. So whenever his mistress or any of her servants find a gate or wicket open, they know very well that the old horse has passed that way.

When rain begins to fall, "Jack "leaves the park or fields and takes refuge in the courtyard, and to this he obtains entrance by a door which he opens with the same ease that he does all the other doors. When the shower is over, forth he goes to wander once more about the estate, or to crop the rich green herbage in front of the mansion. Once or twice a day, and sometimes oftener, he calls at the house, ringing the bell at the front door to announce his arrival. If, before opening the door, the servant should call out "Who is there ? "Jack replies to the question with a joyous neigh. When asked if he is quite well, he answers in the same manner. The object of his visits to the house is to obtain a portion of the tit-bits from the breakfast or dinnertable of his indulgent mistress, who generally feeds him on such occasions with her own hands. "Jack," however, regards the treat as altogether spoilt if the pet greyhound, who is always

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on the watch for his visits, as he seems to suppose, gets more than he thinks is a fair share of the good things on the dish, and he is not slow to mark his dissatisfaction by sundry movements of head and foot. He is altogether a spoiled pet; and, like all such, is apt to be selfish. In walking and visiting does harmless, sagacious, and docile "Jack" spend his time, and great is his delight when his indulgent mistress pats his neck and speaks a few kindly words to him.

AN ANECDOTE OF TWO ARABS.

AMARTINE, the French poet, relates the following anecdote:-"There was a horse the name of which was spread far and near in the tribe of Nagdeh; and a Bedouin of another, by name Daher, desired extremely to possess it. In vain having offered for it his camels and his whole wealth, he hit at length upon the following device, by which he hoped to gain the object of his desire. He resolved to stain his face with the juice of an herb, to clothe himself in rags, and to tie his legs and neck together, so as to appear like a

lame beggar. So equipped, he went to wait for Naber, the owner of the horse, who he knew was to pass that way.

"When he saw Naber approaching on his beautiful steed, he cried out in a weak voice, 'I am a poor stranger: for three days I have been unable to move from this spot to seek for food. I am dying; help me, and Heaven will reward you!" The Bedouin kindly offered to take him upon his horse and carry him home; but the rogue replied, 'I cannot rise: I have no strength left.' Naber, touched with his distress, dismounted, led his horse to the spot, and with great difficulty set the seeming beggar on its back. No sooner did Daher feel himself in the saddle, than he set spurs to the horse and galloped off, calling out as he did so, 'It is I, Daher! I have got the horse, and am off with him!'

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OW can I, Lord, abide with
Thee,

Unless with Thee I speak?
How can I love Thee verily,
And not Thy converse seek?
How can I glow beneath Thy smile,
Nor tell Thee I am glad?
How can I lose Thy face awhile,

Nor tell Thee I am sad? How can I mourn my darken'd

way,

Nor light from Thee implore? How can I feel my strength decay, Nor ask my Lord for more? How can I weep, by sin o'erthrown,

Nor seek Thy help to rise? How long to be again Thine own, Nor send to Thee my sighs?

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THE HIDDEN WISDOM OF shall not pass." (Ps. cxlviii. 6.)

GOD.

HE mind of a pious workman named Thierny was much occupied with the ways of God, which appeared to him full of deep mysteries. The two questions, "How?" and "Why?" were constantly in his thoughts, whether he considered his own life, or the dispensations of Providence in the government of the world. One day, in visiting a ribbon manufactory, his attention was attracted by an extraordinary piece of machinery. Countless wheels and thousands of threads were twirling in all directions; he could make nothing of the movements around him. He was informed, however, that all this motion was connected with a central chest which was kept shut.

Anxious to understand the principle of the machinery,

SEALS HUNTING SALMON.

EALS, says an eminent naturalist, hunt salmon much in the same way that hounds hunt hares. They swim faster than salmon, which try to escape by doubling, and evading their pursuers. In clear water, and when there is little wind and no surf, salmon swim deep, or keep very near the shore, sheltering themselves under seaweed, as hares do in grass and leaves. The marks or scratches on salmon, especially one side of them, are those which have made a -hair-breadth escape by doubling while the seal has rushed past them. In very calm weather, the seal takes up a position in a bay, or in the track in which salmon run,

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