THE WRECK OF THE "SCHILLER."

to pieces for this purpose, as a watch-maker does a watch, and afterwards restoring it.

7. For Lord (in small capitals) understand that " Jehovah" occurs in the original writing.

8. Read in order-finishing one book before beginning another no fixed number of verses, but one or more paragraphs at a sitting.

9. Make what use you can of the marginal references. These are often merely verbal similarities, and throw no light on the passage; but sometimes they are good. With a concordance you may construct your own references-a slow and laborious work, but one well worth doing.

10. Weigh what you read, drawing a distinction in the historical portions between the inspiration of the speaker and that of the writer, if they be two persons. This is especially necessary in the book of Job.

Poetry.

THE WRECK OF THE "SCHILLER.”

[Some months since, more than three hundred souls were lost by the wreck of the "Schiller" in the English Channel. Judge Nathan Crosby, of Lowell, who lost a daughter and grand-daughter by this disaster, in a letter to the Globe writes thus:-"The judgment of the Court is, 'that the entire neglect of the precautions laid down for navigators when approaching Scilly, was the sole cause of this terrible calamity.' The disgraceful truth is, there had been a social spree upon that ill-fated ship that afternoon and evening, which is sufficient to account for all the neglect, confusion, the suffering and loss of life of that dreadful hour. Mr. Stern, of New York, a saved passenger, said to the Herald correspondent:- Many of the crew and passengers were intoxicated, one of the officers having celebrated his birthday that evening. One of the 'Schiller' officers informed the correspondent of the London Standard that many persons on board of the steamer were drunk when she struck, and that several firemen and many steerage passengers lay helpless until they were swept away by the waves. A gentleman lately in Paris says, 'The birthday celebration is spoken of there freely as accounting for the accident.””—Boston Cong., August 19th, 1875.]

ACROSS where the wide Atlantic rolls,

Safely the ship has passed,

With her precious freight of three hundred souls
She is nearing the land at last.

Joyful the weary landsmen say,—

"The voyage is almost o'er,

And, ere the close of another day,

We shall reach Old England's shore."

THE WRECK OF THE "SCHILLER."

Vainly the signal guns resound,

And the rockets rise o'er the wave,-
Ere the life-boat over the tide can bound
There will be none to save.

The boldest swimmer, who danger mocks,
Could hardly live in that sea,

Where the billows over the sunken rocks
Are dashing ceaselessly.

Now, well for those who have hope in heaven,
For all earthly hope is past!

Each frantic hold on life must be riven-
The ship is sinking fast!

One mighty wave, that sweeps the deck-
One shriek of wild despair-

And the rushing waters close o'er the wreck,
And the hundreds drowning there.

Now who has done this deed of death?

Was it thou, O pitiless sea?

And the sea replies, with measured sighs,

"It was not wrought by me.

By many a wreck, in many a storm,

I have won a dread renown;

But the waves on my breast were sinking to rest
When that gallant ship went down."

Was it thou, thou rugged, sea-washed Rock,
Hid as in ambush there?

"Not mine the blame, I am still the same,
And the chart would tell them where.
While all the day, with clouds of spray,
The breakers show where I lie;

And all the night the beacon light
Points out the danger nigh."

Was it thou, O Wind, in thy stormy play,
Lashing the waves to foam?

With a sudden gust did'st thou bear away
The joy from so many a home?
"Not mine, not mine, this deed of woe;
No tempests were there to frown;
I was half asleep an the rolling deep
When the gallant ship went down."

Was it you, ye sea-Mists, hanging low,
Hiding the rocks from view,

Till all too late, when the stroke of fate
Fell on that hapless crew?

"Thick was our curtain over the tide,

Veiling the beacon light;

But the sounding line should have been their guide Through the darkness of that night."

THE WRECK OF THE "SCHILLER."

Not by the rock, or the winds, or the sea,
Was this awful ruin wrought;

O, Fiery Spirit! it was by thee,

Who bringest man's skill to nought!

It was thou, with thy cup of malignant power,
More dire than Circe's spell,

Changing God's image, in one short hour,
Into a fiend of hell.

Thou did'st it,-enslaver of man's free will!
Thou-kindler of deadly strife!
Thou-his betrayer to every ill!

Thou-foe of his better life!

Many the wrecks thou hast made on the sea-
More hast thou made on the land!
With a sorrowful sigh we see them lie
Around us on every hand.

The wrecks of age and of youth are there,
And of manhood by thee beguiled;

The wreck of woman, once pure and fair,
And the wreck of the little child.

The wreck of home-comfort, the wreck of wealth,
The wreck of learning and fame,

The wreck of reason, the wreck of health,
And the wreck of an honoured name.

Wrecks on the surface, drifting by,

As over life's sea we go;

But who shall number the wrecks that lie
In the awful depths below?

Who can count those wrecks of the souls,
Gathering by thousands there,

Year by year, in that realm of fear
Where dwell remorse and despair?

How long, O man, wilt thou mourn the ill,
Yet fail its course to trace ?

And give to thy brother's murderer still
In thy home a cherished place?

Alas! for the heart that will not know-
For the eyes that will not see-

That the power that worketh another's woe

Can be no true friend to thee!

-A. L. WESTCOMBE.

VALUE OF LABOUR.-God is constantly teaching us that nothing valuable is ever obtained without labour; and that no labour can be honestly expended without our getting its value in return. He is not careful to make every thing easy to man. The Bible itself is no light book; human duty no holiday engagement. The grammar of deep personal religion, and the grammar of real practical virtue, are not to be learned by any "Reading made easy."

ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

Anecdotes and Selections.

66

AN AFRICAN KING'S RECEPTION.-Col. C. C. Long, of the Egyptian army, gives the following account of his reception at the court of King M'tesa, to which he had penetrated with two attendants only :—“ My reception by this strange and mysterious King was unique. Covering the hill-tops that characterize the mountainous districts of the lake regions were thousands of the people of Uganda assembled to welcome 'the Great White Prince,' as they called me. King M’tesa, surrounded by his courtiers and harem, as I arrived, sent a messenger to ask me to appear before him and show him the strange animal upon which I was mounted. I was riding the first horse that had ever been seen in Uganda. At a quickened pace advancing toward the King and courtiers they fled precipitately before me, while I, turning my horse, regained the hill from which I had descended, and, throwing my foot from the stirrup, in the act of dismounting, I was surprised to see the people scatter in every direction in dismay. I learned fron the interpreter that they had supposed, up to that moment, that I and the horse were one animal,-that I was a kind of centaur. I was presented the next day to the King,—a tall, graceful man, dressed in a flowing Arabic robe, bound at the waist by a girdle to which a scimetar was suspended, and with sandaled feet, who eyed my horse with affrighted glance and retreated toward his throne. Prostrate bodies covered the entrance and floor of the hut. It was here that the King held audience with his different Sheiks and chiefs, and the head of the different branches of his Government. The ceremony ended in a slight inclination of the head of the King to his messengers, who unrolling from their heads neatly-bound cords, threw them around the necks of the assembled throng at the door, and dragged them, holloaing and struggling. away to an executioner, who, as the fancy struck him, had them poinarded or choked to death, or had their brains dashed out. This is a sacrifice which is made to all African Kings."

TRUST IN GOD.-Several German princes were once extolling the glory of their realms. One boasted of his excellent vineyards; another of his hunting grounds; another of his mines. At last Abelard, Duke of Wurtemburg, took up the subject and said: "I own that I am a poor prince, and can vie with none of these things; nevertheless I, too, possess a noble jewel in my dominion; for were I to be without attendants, either in the open country or the wild forests, I could ask the first of my subjects whom I met to stretch himself upon the ground, and confidently place myself upon His bosom, and fall asleep without the slightest apprehension of injury." Was not this a precious jewel for a prince? I, however, have something better, for I can rest my head and my heart in the lap of God's providence, and upon the bosom of Jesus Christ with a perfect assurance that neither man nor devil can touch me there.-Gotthold