THE FIRESIDE. PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.-The story is told of Professor Agassiz that he was a poor Swiss lad, who, refusing to learn how to turn a penny by his father's trade, began alone and unaided to spell out the alphabet of nature in rocks, and birds, and beasts. The knowledge did not promise to help him one whit among his neighbours; did not put shoes on his feet, or salt in his porridge. A comfortable home and successful business waited for him, but he chose to go wandering through the Alps, hatchet in hand, and often but a sou in his pocket, "a sum so little," he said, "when my hunger was so big!" So, hungry and halfclothed, he followed for years the half-effaced signs of this unknown language-which he fancied God had spoken and not men,-as a child might trace the footsteps of a lost mother. At last he made his way to London, to Sir Roderick Murchison, who, he thought, could help him. "Well, sir, what do you know?" demanded the great naturalist, noting his beardless chin and ruddy cheeks. "I think "-hesitated the lad "a little about fishes." That night, at a meeting of the Royal Society, Sir Roderick held up a covered package. "I have here," he said, a fish which existed in such an era"-some time long before Adam was born-and proceeded to state the exact conditions and position in which it was found. "Can our yourg friend, who knows something about fishes, tell us anything about it?" Whereupon the Swiss boy promptly drew upon the blackboard a skeleton monster, of which the real one, when uncovered, proved to be the exact duplicate; and then the old grey beards present recognized him as one of themselves, and gave him a place very much as the kings in Hades rose to receive Napoleon. 66 The Fireside. KEEPING THE TONGUE. KEEP it from unkindness. Words are sometimes wounds. Not very deep wounds always, and yet they irritate. Speech is unkind sometimes when there is no unkindness in the heart; so much the worse that needless wounds are inflicted; so much the worse that unintentionally pain is caused. Keep it from falsehood. It is so easy to give a false colouring, to so make a statement that it may convey a meaning different from the truth, while yet there is an appearance of truth, that we need to be on our guard. There are very many who would shrink from telling a lie, who yet suffer themselves in such inaccurate or exaggerated or onesided statements that they really come under the condemnation of those whose "lying lips are an abomination to the Lord." Keep it from slander. The good reputation of others should be dear to us. Sin should not be suffered to go unrebuked; but it should be in accordance with the Scripture method. "Go and tell him of his THE PENNY POST BOX. fault twixt thee and him alone." And it should be borne in mind that what is too often considered as merely harmless gossip runs dangerously near, if it does not pass, the confines of slander. A reputation is too sacred to be made a plaything of even if intent be not malicious. KEEP YOUR TROUBLES SACRED. A WORTHY wife of forty years' standing, and whose life was not made up of all sunshine and peace, gives the following sensible and impressive advice to a married pair of her acquaintance. The advice is so good, and so well suited to all married people, as well as those who intend entering that estate, that we here publish it for the benefit of such persons:— Let "Preserve sacredly the privacies of your house, your married state, and your heart. Let not father or mother, sister or brother, or any third person, ever presume to come in between you two, or to share the joys and sorrows that belong to you two alone. With God's help build your own quiet world, not allowing your dearest earthly friend to be the confidant of aught that concerns your domestic peace. moments of alienation, if they occur, be healed at once. Never, no, never, speak of it outside, but to each other confess, and all will come out right. Never let the morrow's sun still find you at variance. Review and renew your vow; it will do you good, and thereby your souls will grow together, cemented in that love which is stronger than death, and you will become truly one." The Penny Post Box. ENJOY THE PRESENT. IT conduces much to our happiness and content if we pass by those things which happen to trouble, and consider what is pleasing and prosperous, that by the representations of the better, the worse may be blotted out. If I be overthrown in my suit at law, yet my house and land are still left me, or I have a virtuous wife, or hopeful children, or kind friends, or hopes. If I have lost one child, it may be that I have two or three still left me. Enjoy the present, whatever it may be, and be not solicitous for the future; for if you take your foot from the present standing, and thrust it forward to to-morrow's event, you are in a restless condition; it is like refusing to quench your present thirst by fearing you will want to drink the next day. If to-morrow you should want, your sorrow would come time enough, though you do not hasten it; let you trouble tarry till its own day comes. Enjoy the blessings of this day, if God sends them, and the evils of it bear patiently and sweetly, for this day is ours. We are dead to yesterday, and not yet born to to-morrow.―Jeremy Taylor. FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY. Facts, Hints, Gems, and Poetry. Facts. that the burden of one is gathering as he proceeds, while that of the other France has 123,000 industrial estab- is becoming lighter and more easy. lishments, giving work to about 1,800,000 men. It is now, at latest advices, estimated that the United Kingdom of Great Britain will require to import during the harvest year from Sept. 1, 1875, to Aug. 31, 1876, 88,000,000 bushels of wheat, or its equivalent in wheat and flour. There are enrolled in the United States about 8,000,000 school children. The average daily attendance is only 4,500,000. Leipzig University, Germany, according to a late catalogue, has about 150 professors, and 3,000 students. Among the latter are forty-five students from the United States. St. Peter's, at Rome, holds 54,000 people; the Milan Cathedral holds 37,000; St. Paul's, at Rome, holds 25,000; St. Sophia, at Constantinople, holds 23,000; Notre Dame, at Paris, holds 21,000; the Cathedral, at Pisa, holds 13,000; and San Marco, at Venice, holds 7,000. In Pekin, a newspaper of extraordinary size is published weekly on silk. It is stated to have been started more than a thousand years ago. In 1827 a public officer caused some false intelligence to be inserted in this paper, for which he was put to death. Several numbers of the paper are preserved in the Royal Library of Paris. They are ten and a quarter yards long. Hints. The accent of a man's native country is as strongly impressed on his mind. as on his tongue. Be constant in what is good, but beware of being obstinate in everything that is evil; constancy is a virtue, but obstinacy is a sin. The grand difference between the Christian and the man of the world is, Persuasion enters like a sunbeam, gently and without violence; and open but the window and draw the curtain, and the Sun of Righteousness will enlighten your darkness. As a ship held by an anchor looks as though it were going out with the tide, yet never goes, so some souls that to Christ never come because they are seem constantly to be getting nearer anchored and held by some secret sin. We must be content to stoop to conquer. They say that an eagle, when contemplating a higher flight than usual, suddenly bends her career downward, and pushes her whole strength into a swoop directly toward the earth; but by the impetus thus gained, she is certain to rise with accelerated velocity, as she passes peerlessly on toward the sun. Thus with all greatness; it begins with self-abasement. The chiefest becomes first a servant. Gems. God has so made the mind of man that a peculiar deliciousness resides in the fruits of personal industry.-Wilberforce. There is much greatness of mind in the owning of a good turn as in the doing of it; and we must no more force a requital out of season than be wanting in it.-Seneca. Try to put well in practice what you already know; in so doing you will, in good time, discover the hidden things which you now inquire about.-Rembrandt. There cannot be a secret Christian. Grace is like ointment hid in the hand; it betrayeth itself. If you truly feel the sweetness of the cross of Christ, you will be constrained to confess Christ before men.- -McCheyne. Sweetest of all songs are the Psalms in the night. David sang with the POETIC SELECTIONS.-THE CHILDRENS' CORNER. most touching tenderness when in the gloom of deepest affliction. The heart may wail a miserere over its dead or its dying, but even that will be sadly sweet, and will have a hope in it. The saddest song is better than none, because it is a song. Poetic Selections. GOD'S ANVIL. PAIN'S furnace within me quivers, And in His hottest fire hold still. He comes and lays my heart all heated With His great hammer blow on blow. And at His heaviest blows hold still. He takes my softened heart and beats it, And in His mighty hand hold still. Why should I murmur, for the sorrow And trusting to the end hold still. He'll cause it all to profit purely, And trust in Him though suffering still. THE LOVE OF GOD. On the little face below- Holds the closest, loves the best, O Great Heart of God! whose loving In our death itself be lost- -Saxe Holm. BE OF GOOD CHEER. BE of good cheer, O soul! God hears thy cry. Shall be thy stay. Day hides the stars from thee, The Childrens' Corner. THAT'S HOW. AFTER a great snow storm, a little fellow began to shovel a path through a large snow-bank before his grandmother's door. He had nothing but a small shovel to work with. "How do you intend to get through that drift?" asked a man passing along. "By keeping at it," said the boy, cheerfully, "that's how!" That is the secret of mastering almost every difficulty under the If a hard task is before you, stick to it. Do not keep thinking how large or hard it is, but go at it; and little by little it will grow smaller and smaller until it is done. sun. BE MERCIFUL. WHEN We go out of ourselves and earnestly scan the lives of those about us, we shall find those who are in misery. To be merciful is to render our pity and forgiveness tangible. Mercy is the fruit of all the compassionate virtues. Among the miserable are those who have brought their own wretchedness upon themselves. Their lives have contained not only a series of mistakes and blunders, but also a series of criminal neglects and positive wickednesses. They are held in condemnation by men. Some of these, we may judge, are not deserving of our charity; but surely we cannot deny them that mercy which we all crave at our common Father's hand. It is not alone those whom the world calls miserable that are at our mercy, but often those who are prosperous and stand high in the esteem of their fellows. The merciless hand of the tyrant is typical, as also the petty tyranny of the landlord. But it is of the tyranny of expression that we now wish to speak. Gossip, the forerunner of slander, is productive of much misery. Human nature is prone to esteem those holding positions of honour and emolument as proud; and with envy wish, perhaps unconsciously, to witness that fall which is declared to follow pride. This renders one more willing to listen to information about the private life of a well-known and respected man or woman. The words of the tale-bearer may be perfectly true, but the suspicious manner and the insinuating look gives birth to a scandal, which, prompted by the devil, will do the work of its father; but finally it shall surely receive its own reward. This is no trifling evil. To start a shameful story about a person, high or low, old or young, is superlatively base; to listen to the same is, perhaps, meaner yet. The trade in scandal is akin to other trades. The market is lively when customers are plenty, and dull when there is but little demand for this species of goods. This leads to a fact we would emphasize. It is those who hear that are mainly responsible for the spread of scandal; and this holds just as true if they never repeat a word which they hear. To carry out the figure above employed, we shall at once see that there would be no scandal-mongers, were there no scandalbuyers. The customers are literally those who buy newspapers which are a shame and disgrace to the country, and figuratively |