THE FIRESIDE. a late return showed that 139,000 were paupers. The total annual expenditure for relief, including poor-rates and workhouses, orphan asylums, roads, waterings, lighting, sewerage, public works and police, is over £4,600,000 for the district of London alone. SIMPLICITY IN PREACHING.-Arthur Helps tells a story of an illiterate soldier at the chapel of Lord Morpeth's castle in Ireland. Whenever Archbishop Whately came to preach, it was observed that this rough private was always in his place, mouth open, as if in sympathy with his ears. Some of the gentlemen playfully took him to task for it, supposing it was due to the usual vulgar admiration of a celebrity. But the man had a better reason, and was able to give it. He said, "That isn't it at all. The Archbishop is easy to understand. There are no fine words in him. A fellow like me, now, can follow along and take every bit of it in." HEARING A WILL READ.-A gentleman once said to Rowland Hill, "It is sixty-five years since I first heard you preach, and the sermon was well worth while remembering. You remarked that some people are very squeamish about the manner of a clergyman in preaching, but you then added, 'Suppose one was hearing a will read, expecting to receive a legacy, would you employ the time in criticising the lawyer's manner while reading it? No. You would give all your interest to ascertain if anything were left to yourself, and how much. Let that, then, be the way in which you listen to the gospel." RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE.-The person whose mind is thoroughly imbued with the religion of Christ, and who is habitually endeavouring to conform his disposition and character to his pure and spiritual requisitions, is worthy of the trust that may be reposed in him, because he regulates his conduct by a rule whose operation is uniform, which adheres as forcibly to conscience in solitude and in darkness, as in the broad and open face of day," and which leaves him not, in a single instance, to follow the decisions of a short-sighted expediency.-Dewar. 66 The Fireside. FAITH IN THE FAMILY. ONE of the most intelligent women I have ever known, the Christian mother of a large family of children, used to say that the education of children was eminently a work of faith. She never heard the tramping of her boys' feet in the house, or listened to their noisy shouting in their play, or watched their unconscious slumbers, without an inward, earnest prayer to God for wisdom to train them, and for the Spirit of the Highest to guide them. She mingled prayer with counsel and restraint, and the counsel was the wiser, and the restraint was the stronger, for this alliance of the human and divine elements in her instruction and discipline. And, at length, when her children had become men and women, accustomed to the hard strife of the world, THE PENNY POST BOX. her name was the dearest one they could speak; and she who "had fed their own bodies from her own spirit's life," who had taught their feet to walk, their tongues to speak and pray, and illuminated their consciences with the great lights of righteousness and duty, held their reverence and love, increased a thousand-fold by the remembrance of an early education that had its inspiration in faith in God. 1. -Dr. W. H. Lord. The Penny Post Box. WHY ARE YOU NOT A CHRISTIAN? Is IT because you esteem temporal things more than eternal things? "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”—Mark viii. 36. 66 2. Is it because you are indulging in some sinful practice which you are not willing to give up? Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death"-James i. 15. 3. Is it because you think there is no danger in living as you are doing? "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?"— Heb. ii. 2. 4. Is it because you fear you are too great a sinner to come to Jesus? "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin"-1 John i. 7. 5. Is it because of the inconsistent conduct of some church members? "But why dost thou judge thy brother? So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God."-Rom. xiv. 12. 6. Is it because you are ashamed to confess Christ before the world? "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when He shall come in His own glory"-Luke ix. 26. 7. Is it because you are afraid of backsliding? "He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ"-Phil. i. 6. 8. Is it because you think there is time enough? "Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth"-Prov. xxvii. 1. "Godli 9. Is it because there is no advantage in a religious life? ness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come"-1 Tim. iv. 8. 10. Is it because you have not received the most pressing invitations? Christ says, "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”—Matt. xi. 28. "The Spirit and the bride say come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely"-Rev. xxii. 17. Why, then, are you not a member of Christ's church? What excuse can you give at that hour of death which is near at hand? FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY. Facts, Hints, Gems, and Poetry. Facts. In Great Britain the annual rainfall is 32 inches; in France, 30 inches; in some parts of Sweden and Russia only 15 inches; in Cambridge, Mass., U. S., 38 inches; in Philadelphia, 45 inches; in St. Louis, 32 inches; in Paris, 19 inches; at Sitka, in Alaska, 90 inches; in Madrid, not more than ten inches. There is also a great difference in regard to the amount of rain coming in a given time. In St. Petersburg the annual rainfall is 17 inches, yet they have 169 rainy days in a year. In Great Britain they have 156 rainy days. In Patagonia it rains almost every day. Babylon was 50 miles within the walls, which were 75 feet thick and 106 feet high, with 100 brazen gates. Spain's war expenses for the past year were 570,000,000 reals. Hints. Man's unhappiness, as I construe, comes of his greatness; it is because there is an infinite in him which, with all his cunning, he cannot bury under the finite.-Carlyle. Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them. Friendship is a cadence of divine melody melting through the heart. What thou lovest, that thou art, and that thou livest.-Fichte. How easy it is to be amiable in the midst of happiness and success!Madame Swetchine. The true secret of living at peace with all the world is to have a humble opinion of ourselves. To rejoice in the happiness of others, is to make it your own; to produce it, is to make it more than your own.James. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. -Cowper. Gems. "Read anything continuously," says Dr. Johnson, "and you will be learned." Nature often cures consumption, man seldom.-Dr. W. W. Hall. Smiles are smiles only when the heart pulls the wires.-Winthrop. Can there be no sympathy without the gabble of words?-Charles Lamb. On the outside of things seek for differences; on the inside for likenesses.-Guesses at Truth. Many a man thinks it's virtue that keeps him from turning rascal when it's only a full stomach. One should be grateful, and not mistake potatoes for principles. We are always clever with those who imagine we think as they do. To be shallow, you must differ with people; to be profound, you must agree with them.-Bulwer. The Italians say that he who offends never forgives. Tacitus gives the reason for it. It is, he says, because the causes of hatred are the more violent the more unjust they are. POETIC SELECTIONS.-THE CHILDRENS' CORNER. "A little while," 'mid shadow and illusion, To strive by faith Love's mysteries to spell; Then read each dark enigma's clear solu⚫tion, Then hail Light's verdict, "He doth all things well." "A little while," the earthen pitcher taking To wayside brooks from far-off fountains fed, Then the parched lip its thirst forever slaking Beside the fullness of the Fountain Head. "A little while" to keep the oil from failing; "A little while," Faith's flickering lamp to trim, And then, the Bridegroom's coming footstep hailing, To haste to meet Him with the bridal And He who is at once both Gift and Giver, Will light the shadows of the "little ADORATION. I WORSHIP thee, sweet will of God, To love thee more and more. He always wins who sides with God; Ill that God blesses is our good, And all is right that seems not wrong, When obstacles and trials seem Like prison walls to be, I do the little I can do, And leave the rest to thee. I have no cares, O blessed Will! LIFT A LITTLE. LIFT a little! lift a little! Who for weakness scarce can stand. Effort gives one added strength; Not thy praise that thou art strong; It is God makes lives to differ, Some from wailing, some from song. Many they who need thine aid; 'Neath misfortune's dreary shade; The Childrens' Corner. A BAKED BIBLE. THERE is a Bible in Lucas county, Ohio, America, which at one time contained some very warm Scriptural texts. It belongs to a Mr. Scheboldt, a native of Bohemia. It was formerly the property of his grandmother, who was a very devout Protestant. During one of those unfortunate periods when religious persecutions were common in Austria, a law was passed at the instance of the Roman Catholics that every Bible in the hands of the people should be surrendered to the priests to be burned. Mrs. Scheboldt determined to save hers; and when the party came to search her house she had just prepared a hugh batch of dough for the oven, and taking her precious Bible, she wrapped the yielding dough around it, and quickly deposited it in the oven. Here it was thoroughly baked, but was saved, uninjured, from the fiery furnace of the priests. It has passed through several generations as a memorial of the days when men were not allowed to worship God in accordance with the dictates of their own consciences. HOW TO PRAY. 66 THIS was one of those things in regard to which the disciples asked of our Lord specific instructions. Teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." Of course, every one who has received the true Spirit of prayer will speedily learn the method, being taught by the Spirit himself; yet there recur to us, out of the recollections of pastoral experience, many inquiries from young Christians as to the best modes of performing this duty in respect to which a few words may be a help to some now beginning a religious life. We remark first, every Christian must pray in secret. It is our Lord's express command (Matt. vi. 6), and from this, as well as its own nature, is absolutely indispensable to the maintenance of a Christian life. As well might we expect a plant to live and grow if severed from its roots, as piety in the heart, if not connected by constant prayer with its divine source. In order to the most effective performance of this duty, every one should have some customary place of prayer. This is what our Saviour calls the "closet." Not that in itself one place is better than another, or that any place is not better than none. But we are creatures of habit; out minds work freer and with less distraction when helped by the influence of association and use. A fixed closet becomes the soul's sanctuary, where God abides, and where is the most direct and the most intimate access to Him. There, ordinarily, you can have your Bible and concordance and and other helps to devotion, perhaps your pen and ink and note book for entering memoranda of thoughts and experiences. There, in a word, you are spiritually at home, and can attain an ease and sweetness of communion with your heavenly Father which you will scarcely find any where else. Ordinarily, we suppose this "closet" can best be had in one's sleeping chamber, by His bed-side. But not always. Necessity compels one often to occupy a room with others, where quiet and privacy are next to impossible. We cannot insist that it is a duty in such cases always to perform one's "private" devotions in their presence, and perhaps subject to their ridicule or interruption. This sweet and solemn act of converse with our heavenly Father is not to be made a martyrdom. Neither is it to be done to be seen of men, either from vanity, or to show them that you are not remiss in duty. If your life is right, they will find this out, even though you do not proclaim it by formally kneeling in their presence. This service of private prayer they have nothing to do |