XII. ANCIENT TEMPERANCE DECLARATION.

ON the blank leaf of an old English Bible, which has been transmitted from sire to son through many successive generations, and appears as the property of Robert Bolton, of Broughton, Northamptonshire, is inscribed the following ancient Temperance pledge:

"From this daye forwarde to the ende of my life, I will never pledge any healthe or drink a carouse in a glass, cup, bowle, or other drinking instrument, wheresoever it be, from whomsoever it come; not to my own most gracious Kinge, nor any of the greatest monarchs or tyrants upon earth; nor my dearest friend, nor all the goulde in the world, shall ever enforse me. Not Angel from heaven (who I know will not attempt it) shall persuade, nor Satan, with all his oulde subtleties, nor all the powers of hell itself, shall betray me. By this very sinne (for sinne it is, and not a little one) I doe plainly find that I have more offended and dishonoured my glorious Maker, and most merciful Saviour, than by all other sinne that I am subject untoe; and for this very sinne it is my God hath often been strange untoe me: and for that cause and noe other respect have I thus vowed: and I heartily beg my good Father in heaven of His great goodness and infinite mercy in Jesus Christ to assist me in the same, and be so favourable untoe me for what is past. Amen. "R. BOLTON."

"Broughton, April 10, 1637."

XIII. WHERE THE MONEY GOES.

A CERTAIN public-house, not a hundred miles from the Houses of Parliament, was some few

years since in the market. The price asked and received for the lease and goodwill was £20,000, the returns being stated, and admitted correct by the purchaser, as £1,000 a month. Since the increase in the price of wages, the returns of this house have greatly augmented. I should also state that there are within a radius of 150 yards from this public-house no fewer than 19 others, all doing a good business.

manner.

Let us test this expenditure in another At present the Westminster Hospital is much in want of funds. The returns of the one public-house alluded to are 50 per cent. more than the whole expenditure of the hospital, which has always in its wards 220 in-patients, without taking into consideration the many thousand outdoor patients it relieves. Were the returns of the four large public-houses I could name at the west end of the town put together, and applied to the relief of the sick poor, they would maintain the whole of the patients in St. Mary's, St. George's, the Westminster, and Charing Cross Hospitals, leaving some 2,000 other flourishing public-houses in the city of Westminster.

NEMO (in "The Times ").

XIV. SIXPENCE A DAY.

A LONDON paper furnishes the following:

"There is now an old man in an almshouse in Bristol who states that for sixty years he spent sixpence a day in drink, but was never intoxicated. A gentleman who heard this statement was somewhat curious to ascertain how much this sixpence a day, put by every year at five per cent. compound interest, would amount to in sixty years. Putting down the first year's saving (three hundred and sixty-five sixpences), nine pounds two shillings and sixpence sterling, he added the interest, and thus went on year by year, until he found that in the sixtieth year the sixpence a day reached the startling sum of three thousand two hundred and twenty-five pounds nineteen shillings and ninepence sterling."

Judge of the old man's surprise when told

that, had he saved his sixpence a day, and allowed it to accumulate at compound interest, he might now have been worth the above noble sum; so that, instead of taking refuge in an almshouse, he might have com

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forted himself with a house of his own and fifty acres of land, and have left the legacy among his children and grandchildren, or used it for the welfare of his fellow-men. "Take care of the pence" is a good rule.

XI. TEST OF WORTH.

ELL, your day is about over," said a smart, newly painted signpost, to an old moss-covered milestone, half buried in a grassy bank by the roadside; "it's quite time I took your place; why I heard an old gentleman only yesterday, complaining that he couldn't read what was written on you without putting on his glasses; he couldn't say that of me at all events; you can see my letters from the end of the lane."

"True, friend," said the milestone, "I am old and out of date; but let me tell you I've done my work well through many a summer's sun and winter's snow; you may be more useful now, while your paint is fresh, but I question if you will last as long."

XII. LOST OPPORTUNITIES. "WHY do you work so hard ?" said the willow to the mill wheel, as she dipped her branches lazily into the stream that turned

it.

"Because I've a great deal to do, ma'am, and I'm sorry to say I was idle all yesterday," said the mill wheel.

"Well, you needn't go so fast at all events," said the willow; "it quite tires me to look at you."

"Ah! but I must, you see, ma'am; for I heard the miller say this morning that if this dry weather went on much longer he

was afraid the brook would get too shallow to turn me; and then where should I be ?"

"You needn't trouble yourself about that," said the willow; "there's plenty of water to last you all the summer. Why, I can see it sparkling in the sun a mile off."

"True, ma'am," said the mill wheel; "but, unhappily, if there were an ocean there it would be of no use to me. You

forget that it never comes back when it has once gone past me."

XIII. DON'T LISTEN AND YOU WON'T HEAR.

"WHY don't you go, Tatters?" said Nettle, the white terrier, to her friend? didn't you hear your mistress whistle?"

But Tatters was busy polishing a bone, and didn't answer.

"There it is again; you'll catch it if you don't go," said Nettle, hoping he'd leave the bone behind.

"I didn't hear it," said Tatters.

"Didn't hear it!" said Nettle; "you must be deaf; I'm sure it was plain enough."

"Very likely," said Tatters; "but you see I managed to get into a bad habit when I was young, of not attending when she called, and now I very often don't hear her. It's a great pity, for I've missed several nice titbits lately that she's given to Toby because I didn't come at

XII. THE HOLY NAME.
HAT great and good man, the Hon. Robert
Boyle, a nobleman, a statesman, and an
author, during his lifetime, before he ever
said the Name of God, always made a hush,
a pause!

XIII. SUNDAY BLESSINGS.

SIB MATTHEW HALE lived through a long life. He observed
from his own experience and that of others-that the
success of the week depended upon how the Sunday was
kept. "When I wasted my Sundays,")
," he said, "the week
did not go on well; when I kept the Sunday, a blessing
was upon all the week."

XIV. DRIVE THE NAIL.
DRIVE the nail aright, boys,

Hit it on the head;

Strike with all your might, boys,
Ere the time has fled.
Lessons you've to learn, boys,
Study with a will:

They who reach the top, boys,
First must climb the hill.

Standing at the foot, boys,
Gazing at the sky,

How can you get up, boys,
If you never try?

Though you stumble oft, boys,
Never be downcast;

Try and try again, boys,
You'll succeed at last.
Ever persevere, boys,
Though your task is hard;
Toil and happy trust, boys,
Bring their own reward.
Never give it up, boys,
Always say you'll try ;
You will gain the crown, boys,
Surely by-and-by.

XV. ASCENSION HOPE.

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DID you ever read "The Young Cottager," or "The Dairyman's Daughter," by Legh Richmond? If you have not, I advise you to get them and read them. In his account of" Little Jane" he mentions that one day he went to see her, when she was sick of the sickness with which she died. She was lying fast asleep on her bed, the Bible lying open before her, and her finger on the verse, "Lord, remember me, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!" Legh Richmond thought, "What! is this a mere accident that her finger is there, or has she put it there on purрове?"

When the little girl began to rouse, before she was quite awake, she said, "Lord, remember me, a poor little child, Lord, remember me, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!" Don't you think, we might do this now Christ is gone into Heaven? Isn't it now the time to say, "Lord, now Thou art come to Thy kingdom, remember me!" We say it in the Litany: "By thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, Good Lord, deliver us."-The Rev. J. Vaughan.

XVI. A HINT TO MINISTERS.

A LITTLE boy-saying his prayers on Saturday night— said, "O God! let the minister to-morrow say something I can understand." Who will not hope that that prayer was answered ?

XVII. "WHAT IS UNDERNEATH P" WORDS are very little things; but words show what is underneath.

Suppose there was something very dangerous,-deep water, and a little bit of cork floated on the top of the water, and that cork showed where the water was deep. Then that cork would be very important. It would show what was down below.

Words show what is down below. Therefore they are of great importance. Perhaps our words show our hearts more than our actions. We think more about what we do; but words slide out so glibly, and so quickly, that they show most what is underneath.

1.

PETER

was it?

BIBLE QUESTIONS.

and Paul were both brought in the same way to know that Jesus was the Son of God. How

2. In the Christian's dress, what should he carry over all in time of peace, and what in time of war?

3. How was a little child once made the means of instruction in the fundamental teaching of the Gospel? 4. What did Moses say about the limit of natural life? and was it fulfilled or not in his own case?

5. Who in Old Testament times would appear to have had the greatest success with God in intercessory prayer? 6. How does the Bible account for all the battles and warfare which arise in the world?

7. Why do we find no reference to the Temple in the Epistle to the Hebrews, but only to the Tabernacle ?

8. What object had God in view in the conversion of St. Paul, which makes it so peculiarly valuable to others?

9. How many Books are there in the Bible in which the name of God is not mentioned ?

10. In the Book of the Revelation we are told many things which are not in heaven. How may we know the many things that are in heaven?

11. What did our Blessed Lord do, in eating the Feast of the Passover, which was not in accordance with its original institution?

12. What remarkable act was the means of life to those who undertook it in faith, but death to those who attempted it in unbelief?

ANSWERS. (See March No., page 71.)

I. St. Luke ii. 13, 14; xix. 37, 38. II. Job xxii. 15, etc. III. 1 Cor. xiii. 1. IV. Gen. iii. 22. V. Col. iv. 16. VI. St. Matt. ii. 11; St. John xii. 3. VII. Hosea xii. 4 ; Heb. xii. 17. VIII. Isa. i. 18; St. Matt. xi. 28; Rev. xxii. 17. IX. Lev. xvi. 26. X. Gen. iii. 9; compare Isa. lix. 2. XI. Job xxx. 10. XII. 1 Cor. x. 1-4, and 6-10.