Claughton. His labours here were widely appreciated, and in 1860, when he became incumbent of St. Paul's, Sheffield, he was presented with valuable testimonials in recognition of "his soundness in the faith, his ability as a preacher, his activity as a pastor, his kindness to the poor and young, and his sincerity as a friend."

For nearly seventeen years Mr. Blakeney worked with great zeal in St. Paul's Parish, freeing the church from debt, thoroughly restoring the building, and organizing various meetings and agencies for the purpose of influencing the people. The handsome schools and club-rooms, erected at a cost of about £5000, without a grant from any Society, formed a noble result of his activity.

In 1877, upon the elevation of Dr. Rowley Hill to the see of Sodor and Man, Dr. Blakeney was promoted to the vicarage of Sheffield. The appointment gave great satisfaction to his townsmen, who showed their gratification in a very substantial manner. Dr. Blakeney is an Hon. Canon of York, and also holds the office of Rural Dean. It is worthy of note that during his ministry at St. Paul's he raised upwards of £27,000 for various parochial objects.

The Dean of Ripon, the Very Rev. W. R. Fremantle, D.D., was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he gained a fellowship in 1831. After spending a few years at Swanbourne, Pitchcott, and Godalming, he took charge of West Street Chapel, in the Seven Dials, London, where he worked with intense ardour among the poorest of the poor. In 1841 he was appointed Rector of

The Bible.

HERE are no songs comparable to the songs of Sion; no orations equal to those of the prophets; and no politics like those which the Scrip

tures teach.-Milton.

Trust and Obedience.
HEN we cannot see our way,

Let us trust and still obey;
He Who bids us forward go,
Will not fail the way to show.

ence.

Middle and East Claydon, and some time afterwards became an Honorary Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and Rural Dean, in which capacities he exercised an important influThe Church Missionary Society, the Bible Society, and the Jews' Society, found in Canon Fremantle a warm supporter, and he has frequently visited different parts of the country to advocate their claims. He is an eloquent preacher and speaker.

In 1876 he was promoted to the Deanery of Ripon, where his energetic labours have won the affection of all with whom he has been brought into contact. Dr. Fremantle has published several works, the best known of which are "Memoirs of Spencer Thornton," "Eastern Churches," and "From Athens to Rome."

The Rev. Henry Baker Tristram, LL.D., F.R.S., Canon of Durham, is the author of several deeply interesting volumes on the manners and customs of Bible lands. He is an ardent student of natural history, and has done much to popularise the science. His "Natural History of the Bible," "Bible Places; or, The Topography of the Holy Land," ," "Land of Israel," and "Winter Ride in Palestine," are the fruit of his repeated journeys in the Holy Land. But Canon Tristram is not only a distinguished author. He is also a zealous worker in the diocese of Durham, where he holds the offices of Rural Dean and Secretary of the Church Missionary Society and it should be added that he has materially promoted the interests and prosperity of Durham College, in which he takes the deepest interest.

:

Look for the Sunlight.

OU will excuse me, if I ask you to look out for the sunlight the Lord sends into your days," said a deep thinker; and very needful is the precept. We are so apt to note the dark days, rather than those more common days of sunshine. And it is one of the distinguishing characteristics of a Christian that he abounds in thanksgiv ings.

PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE.

HILE toiling at the "art, craft, and mystery of shoemaking," Thomas Cooper began in earnest that intellectual life which finds solace in books: and his experience shows how

much enjoyment the humblest artisan may command by simply substituting pleasures which are refined and economical for those which are gross and costly. "To the end of my short shoemaker's life, I could never earn more than about ten shillings weekly," he tells us. "But what glorious years were those years of self-denial and earnest mental toil, from the age of nearly nineteen to nearly three-and-twenty, that I sat and worked in that corner of my poor mother's lowly home! How I wish I could begin life anew, just at the end of them, and spend the after years more wisely!"

When he had discovered that knowledge is power, there was some danger of his gaining mental strength on the one hand while he degenerated into a mere worshipper of intellect on the other. He became acquainted with a young man whose tastes were similar to his own, and the two devoted all the time they could secure to literary studies. To his rustic neighbours Mr. Cooper now presented a singular spectacle. They thought, with some reason, that a youth who earned less than two shillings a day at making shoes should talk like other shoemakers; but the speech of their strange neighbour was in accordance with the standard rules of pronunciation. He went straight forward, however, without regarding the criticisms of those who failed to understand him.

His energy and determination in the pursuit of knowledge became truly extraordinary. He had read in Drew's Imperial Magazine an account of the life of Dr. Samuel Lee, Pro

fessor of Hebrew in the University of Cambridge, and a scholar, it was said, in more than a dozen languages. Lee had been apprenticed to a carpenter at eleven years old, had bought Ruddiman's "Latin Rudiments" on an old bookstall for a trifle, and learnt the whole book by heart. He had stepped on, from "Corderius's Colloquies to Cæsar, and from Cæsar to Virgil; and had learnt to read Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac, all from self-tuition, by the time he was five or six-and-twenty. Yet he was ignorant of English grammar and arithmetic!

99

"I said in my heart, 'If one man can teach himself a language, another can.' I thought it possible that by the time I reached the age of twenty-four I might be able to master the elements of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and French; might get well through Euclid, and through a course of algebra; might commit the entire Paradise Lost,' and seven of the best plays of Shakspeare, to memory: and might read a large and solid course of history and of religious evidences; and be well acquainted also with the current literature of the day."

He began to carry out his resolves: Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and French grammars were alike mainly committed to memory. At breakfast and dinner his eyes were always on a book; and during work he was repeating audibly declensions and conjugations, rules of syntax, or propositions of Euclid. He thoroughly mastered Cæsar "De Bello Gallico." "I found myself able to read page after page, with scarcely more than a glance, now and then, at the dictionary. I remember well my first triumphant feeling of this kind. I sat on Pingle Hill; it was about five in the morning; the sun shone brightly; and as I lifted my eyes from the classic page of the great conqueror of the Gauls and Helvetians, and they fell on the mouldering pile called the Old Hall '-part of which had been a stronghold of John of Gaunt, and of one of the barons in the reign of Stephen-I said to

making twelve.

March has been well described as Nature's Old Forester, going through the woods and dotting the trees with green, to mark out the spots where the future leaves are to be hung. The days are lengthening, and the cottagers begin to talk about the healthy look of the up-coming peas, and the promise of a dish of early spinach.

Violets impregnate the March winds with their fragrance; and but for thus betraying themselves, the places where they nestle together would not always be found. The flowers of grace in "the

garden of the Lord" are always retiring; but their sweetness, like the Saviour's presence,"cannot be hid." Daisies are also now in bloom. "The daisy is such a wanderer," says a quaint old writer, "that it must have been one of the first flowers that strayed and grew outside the garden of Eden." Great was Chaucer's love for these little "stars of the earth." He tells us how he rose early in the morning, and went out again in the evening, to see the day's eye" open and shut, and that he often lay down on his side to watch it unfold. To him too it spake of the great Easter festival, and he penned some sweet thoughts suggested by the daisy's "resurrection."

Among our Saxon forefathers, March bore the name of Lenet-monat,-that is, length-month,-in reference to the lengthening of the day at this season, the origin also of the term Lent.

C. A. H. B.

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a

WEEP," said Bustle, a lively terrier, to handsome black retriever who lived next door; "I wish you'd do me a favour. I'll do as much for you

when you want it." "All right," said Sweep; "what is it?" "Well," said Bustle, "I made a little mistake yesterday-quite an accident, you understand—and ate my week's supper all

at once. It wasn't my fault; Cock left it on the sink, and of course I thought it was meant for one meal; but she was a cross as a bear when she found it out, and declared I should go without for the rest of the week."

"That's awkward," said Sweep; "this is only Tuesday."

"Exactly so," said Bustle. "Of course it's out of the question that I can starve for four days; but she's as obstinate as a mule, and when she says a thing, she'll