Page images
PDF
EPUB

footpad (robber) actually deada monument of the righteous judgment of heaven.

THE PRINCESS AMELIA.

A few days before the death of this princess, she was informed by her physicians of the danger she was in. She had always been a special favourite with her father, King George III., and she now expressed a wish to have a valuable stone in her possession put into a ring for the King, for him to wear in remembrance of her. To gratify her wishes, a person was sent for from London to Windsor, and on his arrival he received the necessary instructions

after the incident referred to, His Majesty was unable to see her again.

DR. EDWARD YOUNG.

This eminent man, the author of " Night Thoughts," was one of the chaplains of King George II. One Sunday, when preaching in his turn at St. James's, he found his audience, including the King, very inattentive. After striving to the utmost to gain their attention, his pity for their folly got the better of him; he sat back in the pulpit and burst into a flood of tears.

from herself for the speedy THE YO-SEMITE WATER

making of the ring. The order was soon executed, and the princess had the wished-for felicity of placing the memorial on His Majesty's finger. The gift was accompanied by the words, "Remember me,” and the King and his daughter parted,to meet no more in this world. During the illness of the princess the affectionate father had frequently conversed with her on the great truths of the Gospel; but soon after this scene of the presentation of the ring, symptoms of a mental disorder were perceived, and although the princess lived a few days

FALL.

N the early morning, or

just at sunset, we have

the best view of this remarkable Fall. In height, two thousand six hundred and thirty-four feet, it surpasses all other known waterfalls in the world with a like volume of water. It is formed by a creek of the same name, which beginsten miles away, in Mount Hoffman, and is fed by melting snows. It has its bed in solid granite; and, where it flows over the rock, is from twenty to forty feet in width, and from two

to three feet in depth, with a current of a mile an hour. Where it begins to fall, the granite is polished so smooth that it is dangerous to step upon it. The fall is divided into three parts; the first a descent of one thousand five hundred feet, where it strikes upon a shelf, which stands back nearly two thousand feet from the front of the lower cliff; and, by a series of cascades, it finds its way down (the descent being, in a perpendicular, six hundred and twenty-six feet) to the edge of the cliff, where it makes a final plunge upon a pile of broken rocks, and is carried away by rivulets. The volume of water is too great to be broken by the fall; and the wind has such an effect upon it that it sways the foaming mass, so that it widens out, before it reaches the shelf, to some three hundred feet in breadth at floodtime. As it tumbles from the cliff it breaks into rocket-like streams, which whirl around in their course. By this motion air is collected, and as the great mass of water and air reaches the flattened shelf of granite, a sound like the report of a cannon is heard through the valley. The view of this fall varies much in different positions; in some

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Son

Upon the suppliant stream'd:
And the angel-hosts with one
accord

Sent forth a shout and song,
For another soul by their mighty
Lord

was promised to their throng.

"Forgiven! forgiven!" The words rose up as the thunders roll;

And on the humbled, trembling soul

The echoes fell from heaven: And the angels touch'd the silver strings

Of their harps, and caught the word;

Veil'd their glad faces with their

wings,

And bow'd before the Lord.

THE SON OF A KING; OR, THE HAPPY SHOE

MAKER.

NE fine summer evening a crowd of workmen were passing along through the streets of the city of Hamburg. As the multitude swept by, an old shoemaker was sitting under a shade before his door, busily engaged in mending a shoe. Sometimes he would stop a little from his work, and sing a verse or two of one of the old German psalms which he loved very much. A welldressed young man, a student in the university, was passing this evening. When he heard the merry voice of the shoemaker, he stopped, and said to him,— "Well, my friend, you seem to be happy and contented." “I am happy, Sir," said the old man, "and why shouldn't I be?"

[blocks in formation]

true, but that is no reason why I shouldn't work and be happy."

"I am very much surprised to see a poor workman like you so content, and I don't understand what can make you so."

"Stranger," said the shoemaker, laying down his work, and taking hold of the young man's arm with a grave and serious look-" stranger, I am not so poor as you think. Let me tell you, I am a son of the King."

The young man turned away, saying to himself, "Poor fellow, he is crazy. He imagines he is well off when he is poor. This is what makes him happy. I was beginning to think that perhaps he might be able to tell me the great secret I am seeking-that of true happiness. But I was mistaken."

A week passed by, and the young student again had occasion to pass the same street. He found the old shoemaker sitting in the same place, still busy with his work, and singing as cheerfully as before. As he drew near, the young man lifted his cap in a mocking sort of way, and making a bow to the shoemaker, said, "Good morning, Mr. Prince."

66

Stop, my friend," said the shoemaker, laying down his

work, "I wish to say a few words to you, if you please. You left me suddenly the other evening, as if you thought that I was crazy."

[ocr errors]

'To tell you the truth," said the young man, "that is just what I did think." “Well, my friend," continued the shoemaker, "I am not crazy. What I then said, I said in earnest. It is true, every word of it. I am a son of the King. Just sit down here and listen while I tell you about Jesus the King, and the glory of His kingdom."

Now this young man was a Jew. He had been taught to read the Old Testament Scriptures when he was a child, and to believe in them. But since he had grown up he had given up his faith in the Bible, and had ceased to read it. He was like a sailor out at sea who has lost his compass. He could not tell whither he was going, or how to steer, and this made him feel very miserable. Just as a drowning man will catch at straws, so this young man was ready to catch at anything that seemed likely to help him in trying to find out how to be happy. He sat down, therefore, and listened to his humble friend.

Then the shoemaker began,

and told him of the promises of the Old Testament about a glorious King who was to be Saviour and Ruler of the world. He showed him that all the things that are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms about this glorious King, had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He declared how He had suffered and died for our sins, how He had risen from the grave, and had gone up to take His seat in glory at the right hand of God. He told how He had sent His messengers into all the world, to tell men what He had done for them; and how all who repented of their sins and believed in Him would be pardoned and made happy now, and at last be saved in heaven for ever; and that Jesus was going to come back again to this world, in His own appointed time, to set up a glorious kingdom, and that all who love and serve Him now will share the glories of His kingdom and reign with Him.

The young student sat listening with great interest to what his poor friend was saying. He had often read the promises of the Old Testament, but he had never thought of them in connection with Jesus Christ.

This was all new to him. He was

astonished at what he heard. "said

"And now, young man,' the shoemaker, "don't you see how truly I could say, 'I am a son of the King?' Don't you see what reason I have to be contented and happy? It is because I belong to Jesus. I believe in Him, and I love Him. The Bible tells me that all things shall work together for good to me, and that all things are mine, because I am Christ's. Isn't this enough to make one happy ?"

[ocr errors]

66 Where can I learn more about these things?" asked the young man. "I see that you believe them, and this gives you peace and contentment. 0, how I long for them!' Then the shoemaker gave the young man a copy of the Bible. He told him to take it home and read it carefully, and to pray over its contents. The young

Jewish student read the Bible diligently, and in so doing found the secret of true peace of mind. He afterwards became a missionary to his own people, and preached to them about the peace and joy he had found in Jesus.

SHORT SENTENCES FOR YOUNG THINKERS.

XIII. A man is valued as he makes himself valuable.

XIV. Be just, but trust not every

one.

XV. Never wade in unknowa waters.

XVI. Ill-will never speaks well, nor does well.

XVII. He who greases his wheels helps his oxen. XVIII. Borrowed garments seldom fit well.

XIX. A willing mind makes a light foot.

xx. Angry men seldom want

woe.

XXI. He that wants health wants everything.

XXII. Keep the feast until the feast-day.

XXIII. Gold goes in at any gate except heaven's.

XXIV. Who dainties love sha beggars prove.

Answers to Scripture Questions in Rhyme.-NO. LVI. GENESIS XXVii. 1, 2, 15, 18. GENESIS XXVii. 27-30. GENESIS XXXvii. 31-35. GENESIS xli. 41--45; xlvi. 30.

« PreviousContinue »