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flourish and be happy, and become what an ideal city should strive to be to her people—a home—a home in which the young will be shielded from evil, the middle-aged remain young in spirit, and all be strong for the Lord and valiant for the right -a home in which the old, the poor, the sad, the forsaken, the desolate and oppressed, the maimed, the dying, will find themselves cared for a home which, I am glad to think, you are now building up by the aid of your legal, your educational, your industrial, and charitable institutions, by your sanitary measures, and by every effort you are now making after the moral and social welfare of this city, which we pray Almighty God to continue to bless and prosper, The Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us: He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. The Lord shall increase you more and more-you, and your children." Amen and Amen.

EARLY CHURCHES.

Ir is quite impossible, I believe, to give, in a few
lines, any description of the peculiarities of Byzantine
architecture, dependent as that style was upon a
combination of the Grecian, Roman, and Arabian
methods of building. We know that one element in
the style was the combination of the round dome
with the ancient temple, and that the shape and size
of the building was in, the first place, determined by
the necessities of its worship. As is pointed out by
Professor Brown, "the Christian mode of worship
required a style of building considerably different
from the heathen temple. Instead of a mere sacristy,
for the priest, the term at which the pomp of pro-
cessions ended, and in front of which, under the vault
of the sky, sacrifices were performed, shelter was now
required for the multitude offering their prayers,
according to ritual, and receiving instruction from
their pastors.
New places for sacred edifices were
therefore required, and those of great dimensions,
with ample space and superior accommodation within
the interior." The result of this demand led to the
selection and adaption of the most suitable buildings,
which were then available, and these happened to be
the ancient basilicas or halls of justice, of which as they
are the origin of all Christian churches, the following
description may be interesting to some of my readers.
"A basilica was a public edifice of the ancient
Romans, consisting of an oblong interior divided in
its width into three divisions by two rows of columns.
At the upper end it had a large niche or tribune,
where courts of justice were held. The basilica was
a place of general resort, like an exchange of modern
times. These places also became to be used
by the Christians for their place of meeting, and
afterwards churches were built on the model of the
basilicæ, and the name of basilicæ is still fixed to
the principal churches in Rome. To a building of
this kind there was added a transept, to give a cruci-
form shape; and so the general plan of our churches
came to be adopted.

("Giotto," by Harry Quilter, M.A., Great Artist Series.
London: Sampson Low & Co.)

The Children's Column.

Sermons for Children.

MOSES.

LONG, long ago, about sixteen hundred years be

fore Jesus Christ was born, there lived a great and good man called Moses.

He was a Hebrew, of the tribe of Levi, his father's name being Amram, and his mother's Jochebed, and he was born in Heliopolis, in Egypt. You know the Hebrews did not belong to Egypt, but had come there quite lately, and they became such a large tribe, and so strong that the Egyptians got frightened that they would rise up in arms against them, or join their enemies in war and overcome them.

So they consulted together and agreed to keep down the Hebrews, and make slaves of them, and not allow them to have any independence, or weapons, or laws of their own.

The poor Hebrews were worked nearly to death by their hard taskmasters, who were only too glad to have some one to work for them; and they made them build palaces and houses, and make bricks and mortar, and work in the fields, and do all sorts of things.

But this did not prevent the Hebrews from marrying each other, and taking great care of their children, and the tribe was growing larger than ever. You know what a tribe is—it is a large family all living together, sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, and cousins, and they intermarry among themselves and so increase in number.

The King of Egypt, whose name was Pharaoh, was getting very alarmed at seeing such a large band of strong men in his country, so he gave orders that when a son was born among them he was to be killed immediately, though the daughters might be spared. This was a very cruel command-was it not-and shortly after that Moses was born.

You may imagine how frightened Moses' mother was when she found her child was a boy and not a girl. The only thing she could do was to tell no one, and try and hide the baby, and not let the neighbours know there was one in the house. This she did, but when Moses was three months old Jochebed found she could conceal the child no longer, and rather than see it killed before her eyes she thought she would let it float down the river Nile, and some one might find it and be kind to it. Moses had an elder sister called

Miriam, who was very fond of her little brother, and

very anxious that he should escape death, so she helped her mother to make the baby a stout little cradle that would float like a boat, and they made it of a plant of rushes that grow in Egypt, called papyrus. Papyrus grows by the water-side, and is about ten feet high. It has long soft green stems, with tufts of drooping leaves at the top, and inside is a white fibrous pitch that the Egyptians used to make paper with, cut in thin slices, crossed over each other, and dried flat in the sun; and that was the first writing paper ever made. Moses' mother and sister gathered a lot of these soft rushes and wove them together in and out until they had made a tight basket, and the holes between the rushes were filled up with slimy mud from the river. And so the pretty baby was put in this and covered up, and started on its strange voyage. But the little boat seems to have stuck among the rushes by the river-brink, for there it was found by King Pharaoh's daughter, who had come down to bathe in the river with her maids. Was it not strange that the daughter of the very king who had ordered the children to be killed should be the first to find him and save the little boy's life? Seeing the ark afloat she sent her maid into the water for it, and peeping in saw a baby-boy. This princess must have had a very kind heart, for though she knew that her father had made a law, and that this was one of the Hebrew children that ought to have been killed; still she took compassion on it, and thought that her father loved her so much that he would allow her to save this one's life.

And Moses' sister Miriam, who had been slyly watching to see what would happen, ran up at this moment and, on seeing that the princess did not know what to do to quiet the baby that was crying, offered to find a woman to nurse it. The princess was very glad of this offer, and ordered her to find some one, and Miriam ran home and brought her mother, who was received by the princess with these words (not knowing she was speaking to the child's mother):-"Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee wages." So Moses was returned to the arms of his own mother who knew how to nurse him better than any one else. And the princess was so delighted at finding a child that she adopted him, and brought him up as a prince in the palace under her own eye, and gave him a splendid education. Casting about in her own mind. for a name to call him she settled on the word " Moses," which means "Drawn from the water." And so the boy who was so nearly drowned was saved to be a great and good man, and a leader of his people afterwards, and a lawgiver-in fact, a man whom all ages reverence and respect. ALICE BUNTEN.

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DREAMT last night-I saw my children sitting
Around a table, each at separate task;

My boys with books, my little girl her knitting-
A spell was on my lips, I could not ask
'Why this poor room? 'tis not the one I know!
Where is the bright confusion of their toys?
Why that black dress? why look their faces so ?"

One sobs-"I cannot learn to-night "-"My boys! My boys! is mother dead ?"—I weeping woke,

And wildly clasped one darling in my arms; My boys asleep were smiling-ah ! the stroke

Had not yet fallen! Father! keep from harm Both me and mine-that we may live before Thee, And love for love, and life for life restore Thee ! Thine and each other's we. Lord! I adore Thee!

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Books for Reading.

BOOKS.

Published by Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co. "THE NEW TESTAMENT OF Our Lord aND SAVIOUR, Jesus CHRIST," with Engravings on Wood, from Designs of Fra Angelico, Pietro Perugino, Francesco Francia, Lorenzo di Credi, Fra Bartolommeo, Titian, Raphael, Gaudenzio Ferrari, Daniel di Volterra, and others. 4to. Price 21s. "COMMON BRITISH INSECTS." Selected from the Typical Beetles, Moths, and Butterflies of Great Britain. By the Rev. J. G. Wood, M. A., Author of "Homes without Hands," &c. With One Hundred and Thirty Figures, by E. A. Smith. Engraved by G. Pearson. 3s. 6d. "FLOWERS AND THEIR PEDIGREES." By Grant Allen, Author

of "Colin Clout's Calendar." Vignettes from Nature," 7s. 6d. "THE STORY OF MY HEART." An Autobiography, by Richard Jefferies, Author of "The Gamekeeper at Home,' Cr. 8vo, 5s

"SELECTIONS FROM COWPER'S POEMS," with Introduction by Mrs. Oliphant. London: Macmillan & Co. 4s. 6d. "NATURAL LAW IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD." By N. Drummond, F.R.S.E. London: Hodder & Stoughton. Price 7s. 6d.

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A BOOK OF SIBYLS: " Mrs. Barbauld, Miss Edgeworth, Mrs. Opie, Miss_Austin. By Miss Thackeray (Mrs. Richmond Ritchie). Essays reprinted from the Cornhill Magazine. Large Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.

"GUDRUN BEOWULF AND ROLAND," with other Medieval Tales. By John Gibb, with Twenty Illustrations. Second Edition. T. Fisher Unwin, 26 Paternoster Square. Price 3s. 6d.

"THE HOME BY THE WORKS." By Edward Garett. Same publishers. Price 5s. 6d.

"AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ANTHONY TROLLOPE."

2 vols.

crown 8vo, with portrait. Price 21s. W. Blackwood & Sons.

is

The Messrs. Clark desire us to state that the publishing price of Dr. Matheson's "THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIANITY still 21s. Books for the Luther Commemoration. "LUTHER AND OTHER LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION." BY the Very Rev. Principal Tulloch, D.D. A New Edition. Enlarged. W. Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London. Crown 8vo. Price 7s. 6d.

"HOMES AND HAUNTS OF LUTHER." By John Stoughton, D.D. New and Revised Edition, with numerous Illustrations. The Religious Tract Society, 56 Paternoster Row, London. Quarto. Price 8s. "LUTHER AND THE CARDINAL." A Historic Biographical Tale, given in English by Julie Sutter. Same publishers. Crown 8vo. Price 58. "LUTHER ANECDOTES.

Memorable Sayings and Doings of Martin Luther. By Dr. Macaulay. Same publishers. Crown 8vo. Price is. 6d.

"MARTIN LUTHER." By the Rev. Professor Salmond, D.D. Macniven & Wallace, Edinburgh. Price 4d.

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Calendar for the Montb.

1st.-Born, Benvenuto Cellini, celebrated Silversmith and Sculptor in Metal, 1500 Bishop George Horne, Biblical Expositor, 1730; Lydia Huntley Sigourney, American Poet, 1791. Died, Dean Humphrey Prideaux, Author of the Connection of the History of the Old and New Testament, 1724. Alexander Cruden, Author of the Concordance, 1770.

2nd.-Born, Marie Antoinette, Queen of Louis XVI., 1755.

Died, Dr. Richard Hooke, Author of the "Ecclesiastical Polity;" Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1610; Dr. Richard Mant, Theological and Miscellaneous Writer 1848.

3rd. Died. Bishop Robert Lowth, Biblical Writer, 1787; Theophilus Lindsay, Dr. Unitarian Divine, 1808; Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Musical Composer, 1847. 4th.-Born, James Montgomery, 1771. Died. Josiah Tucker, D.D., Dean of Gloucester, Political Economist, 1799; Paul Delaroche, celebrated Painter, 1856.

5th.-The Gunpowder Plot. Born, Dr. John Brown, Miscellaneous Writer, 1715. Died, Maria Angelica Kaufmann, Portrait Painter, 1807. 6th.-Killed, Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. Died, Princess Charlotte of England, daughter of George IV., 1817.

7th.-Died, John Kyrle, "The Man of Ross," 1724; Karl Gottlieb Reissiger, Composer (Weber's Last Waltz), 1859.

8th-Died, Duns Scotus, Theologian and Scholar, 1308; Cardinal Ximenes, Governor of Spain. during Ministry of Charles V., 1517; John Milton, great English Poet and Prose Writer, 1674; Thomas Bewick, Wood Engraver, 1828.

9th.-Born, Mark Akenside, Poet (Author of Pleasures of Imagination). Died, Archbishop Gilbert Sheldon, Founder of the Sheldon Theatre, Oxford, 1677; Paul Sandby, Founder of English School of Water-Colour Painting, 1809.

10th.-Born, Martin Luther, German Reformer; Oliver Goldsmith, Poet and Dramatist, 1728; Granville Sharp, Slavery Abolitionist and Miscellaneous Writer, 1734; Frederick Schiller. Poet and Dramatist, 1759. 11th.-Martinmass-Born, Earl of Bridgewater, Founder of the Bridgewater Treatise Bequest, 1758; Dr. John Abercrombie, Physician and Author. 1781.

12th.-Born, Richard Baxter, eminent Nonconformist Divine, 1615; Amelia Opie, Novelist, 1769. Died, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, 1555; Peter Martyr, distinguished Reformier, 1562; Charles Kemble, eminent Actor, 1854.

13th.-Born, St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo and Father of the Church, 354; Pelagius, celebrated Antagonist of St. Augustine, 354. 14th.-Died, Gottfried Wilhelm Liebnitz, Mathematician and Moral Philosopher, 1716; George William Frederick Heel, German Philosopher, 1831; Dr. John Abercrombie, Physician and Moral Writer, 1844.

15th.-Born, William Pitt, great Earl of Chatham, 1708; William Cowper, 1731, Sir William Herschel, Astronomer, 1738; John Caspar Lavater, 1741. Died, John Kepler, great Astronomer, 1630: Christopher Gluck, Composer, 1787.

16th. -Died, Margaret, Queen of Malcolm Canmore of Scotland, 1093; James Ferguson, Astronomer, 1776.

17th.-Died, Sir John de Mandeville, Eastern Traveller, 1872.

18th.-Born, Sir David Wilkie, 1785.

19th.-Born, Albert Thorwaldsen, great Danish Sculptor, 1770. 20th.-Born, Thomas Chatterton, Poet, 1752.

Died, Abraham Tucker,

Author of the Light of Nature-poisoned, 1774. 21st.-Died, Henry Purcell, Musician, Composer, 1695; James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, 1835. 22nd.-Born Professor Dugald Stewart, celebrated Metaphysician, 1758. Died, Robert, Lord Clive, Founder of the British Empire in India, 1774; Sir Henry Havelock, Indian General, 1857; Father Lacordaire, great French Preacher, 1861.

23rd.-Died, Thomas Tallis. Composer of Church Music, 1585. 24th.-Died, John Knox, 1572.

25th.-Died, John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury; Dr. Isaac Watts, 1748; John Kitto, Illustrator of the Bible and Sacred History, 1854, 26th.-Died, John Spottiswoode, Archbishop of St. Andrews, Scottish Ecclesiastical Historian, 1639.

27th.-Born Robert Lowth, Bishop of London, Biblical Critic, 1710. 28th.-Born, Captain George William Manby, Inventor of Life-Saving Apparatus for Shipwrecks, 1765. Died. Washington Irving. 1859 Baron Bunsen, Prussian Statesman, 1860,

29th.-Died, Brian Walton, Bishop of Chester. Editor of the Polyglot Bible, 1661. 30th. St. Andrew's Day.-Born, Jonathan Swift, 1667. Died, John Selden, Author of Table Talk, 1654.

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