MOTIlEIt.
Oh! many lips are saying this
hlid failing tears to-day;
And many hearts are aching sore-»-
Our mother’s passed away.
We -n atched her tadiug year by year,
As they went slowly by,
But cast far from ns e'en the fear
That she could ever die.
She seemed so goorl; so pni-e, so triib
To our admiring eyes;
AVe never dreamed this glorious fruit
Was ripening- for the skies;
And -^vhen at last the death^stroke
came,
So swift; so surCj so true,
The hearts that held her here so fast
Were almost broken, too;
Wo robed her in a pure white dtessj
We smoothed the gray hair down;
Gave one last kiss, then laid her ’mid
The autumn leaves so brown.
Then each took up the broken threswl
Of life and all its dares ;
How sad the heart ’mid daily tasks!
IVe miss our mothers prayers.
We ne’er shall know from what dark
paths
They may have kept onr feet;
Yet holy will onr influence be
While eatsh tlond heart shall beat;
And as we tread the thorny way
Which her dear feet have trod.
Ever shall feel oinr mother’s pia'yers
Lo .ding us up to God.
And when the storms of sorrow come
To eaeh bereaved heart,
Let faith glance upward to the home
Where we .shall never i)art—
Where one await.s with loving eye's
To see her eliildren come,
As one by one Sve cross the flood
And reach onr hea venly home.
—Earnest WorMn
BKIGtJ'i' L,E.SSOMS.
have their own ideas, and they
carry them out in their own dog
ged manner. And they have
their reward.
But wo think that it is lawful
to use every kind of aid in out
work. If we do not know how
to make uninteresting lessons in
teresting we sliould learn. If we
cannot so tell a tale that the chil
dren listen open-mouthed to it,
thrilled by the incidents which
simple in themselves, and
Those who desire to be success
ful friends and helpers to the
young, who are not merely con
tent with seeing the children in
their places, but -wish to make
tiiem in every way tlie better for
coming under their iiifinences,
know that they mast not bo prosy
and uninteresting themselves.
And during tlie long days, theie
are plenty of happy sugge.stions
all around him who has eyes to
see them. It needs but a glance
over green Itills, or golden mead
ows, waving corn-fields, or spark
ling waters, to see something
which sl'iall awaken the mind, and
fill it with new and pleasant
ideas. Even the streets,- dusty as
they are, are made more pictures
que by the slanting sunbeams;
and the worn and weary faces ol
the passers-by are softened into
something like beauty by the in
fluences of the light. But away
from the streets, out into the lanes,
or the forests, where thousands of
flowers lift up their heads, and
the birds are singing their songs
of joy, teachers may get by heart
such lessons as shall very mater
ially help them. * * *
There are many things which
go to make up bright lessons.
The teacher should always have
his note book in his pocket; and
put down in it everything which
strikes him, at the time when it
occurs: and then he will have no
difficulty, for wlieii he needs an
anecdote, lie is sure to have one
that will fit in. He must tell it
in the most effective way when
once he Las it. There are some
people who pride themselves on
never preparing lessons, and who
take no trouble to plan and ar
range as to matter or manner.
They would scorn to try any arts.
If an illustration has to be given,
they give it in a plain, mattor-of-
witliout earinff much
feeling the most intense solicitude
with regard to the ending of it,
then we must practice until we
can do it. By rapid transitions,
by the eager and persuasive man
ner, by the lighting up of the
face, by the change of tone; and
by various other means which the
watchful speaker will soon detect,
we can stimulate inquiry, and
lead the children to become
thoughtful and responsive. And
when this has been accomplished;
we shall gain inspiration from the
very listeners themselves, and
shall be able to see how the truth
reaches them.
And perliaps a word may be
said here respecting the great
desirability of giving the children
right views of the character of
Christianitv. We do an immense
wrong when b}’ our gloomy or
narrow ideas -svo allow them to
imagine that religion also is
gloomy and narrow. The gospel
of joy is the gospel for us to teach,
and it is the onl}- pure one. Did
not the angels announce the birth
of it, sounded with glad tidings
of great joy ? And are not his
disciples deserving of blame when
they cause the little childreu who
would otherwise embrace it al
most naturally, to suppose that
religion makes ns ill-tempered,
peevish, and irritable? It ought
not to bo.
Let us therefore be liappy.—
Let us rest in the Lord and wait
patiently for him. Let us hope
in his mercy, and be casting all
our care upon liim who caretli for
us. And for the rest, let us keep
our faces to the' sun. Let us take
the flowers and songs as they
come info Our very hearts ; and
having done so, be sure that they
will make us joyous through all
the days. And joy that is real
and true cannot be hidden ; but
must show itself in the face, and
be heard in the voice, and find
expression in the words. Let ours
be constantly manifested; and
then the children will be attracted
to us, and will listen gladly to
anything that we may have to
sav. They will see that to be a
Christian is to be happy^ They
will understand that the peace of
Grod dwelling in the heart is
above all else to be desired; and
becoming earnest seekers them
selves, they,- too, tvill find him,
and swell the numbers of those
who out of every land are calling
the Eedeemer blessed.
Happy shall we be who have
contributed to such a result! For
us the blue skies, and painted
flowers, the i-apturous bird-songs,
and peaceful tree-whispers will
have but one meaning; they will-
be tokens of love from the Father
who- cares for us; and we shall
thus receive them from Him,from
whom all- good' has come. Wo
shall understand more and more
more deeply we know Him; the
more cause will there be for our
songs of thankful praise. “ Happy
is that people that is in such a
cause, yea, happy is that penple
whos3 God is the Lord.” “ d he i
shall the earth ydeld her increase ;
and God, even our own God,
sliall bless us. God shall bless
, and all the end.s of the earth
shall fear him.”
School Times.
-London Sunday
BEASTS ANB SWAKES JM
INBEi.
“ Returns have reached us from
India,” says an Englisii contem
porary, “ showing the numbers
killed in the year 18Y5 by -wild
beasts and snake bites. It seems
that between the 31st of Decem
ber, 1874, and the 1st of January,
187G, in our Indian Empire no
fewer than 21,391 persons and
48,234 head of cattle perished
from these causes. Such was the
war of savage natui-e against man.
On the other hand, there were
destroyed 22,3.57 wild animals of
all kinds, and 270,185 snakes, at
a cost to the Government of 120,-
015 rupees, or, without taking
into account the depreciation in
the value of silver, something like
.£12,00. Wo are further told that
the losses have been to a great
extent tabulated, and that, from
the returns that have been sent
in, it has been found that ele-
faot way, without earing ,
Aber it is telling or not They 1 of His great tenderness;.and the
phants have killed G1 human be
ings and six cattle ; tigers respec
tively’ 828 and 12,423 ;. leopards,
187 and 1G,157; bears, 84 and
629; wolves, 1,060 and 9,407;
hyenas, 68 and 2,116 ; while to
‘other animals,’ the buffalo, the
wild goat, the boar, etc., are as
cribed the totals of 1,446 and
.4,401.
“ But the most terrible life-de
stroyer in India, is the snake. It
is a significant fact that the mini
ber of deaths due to snake bite
exceeds that from all other causes.
It amounts to no fewer than 17
070, or in other words, something
like 50 people perish every day
in India from snake bite alone.
The great majority of the victims
are of course natives, who go
about barefooted, ’fhe Hindoo
woman is making her way’ to the
well or to the river with her
pitcher on her head ; the groom
is cutting fresh grass; the gar
dener is plucking flowers with
which to decorate the rooms ; or
the messenger is running by a
short cut across the field with a
note. Any of these may at any
moment tread upon a cobra ; and
although the cobra is not aggres
sive, it will turn when attacked,
or imagines that it is threatened,
with the rapidity of lightning. A
sharp, short sting is felt, and the
sufferer sees the loatlnsome reptile
clinging to his foot or ankle, for
the fangs of the cobra strike so
deeply that it is often unable to
disengage itself. The brute is
shaken off, but the nearest doctor
is probably ten, twelve, or oven
twenty miles' away. No reme
dies are at hand ; there is no knife
for excision, no caustic or hot
iron for cautery; and before a
few hours have elajisod death has
set in.
“The only vr-Ay to prevent this
terrible mortality i.s by killing
tiro cobras wholesale, and this
again can only be done_by offer
ing a small reward per head for
their destruction. Unhappily the
heathen Hindoo, from supersti
tious fear, and even veneration,
will not put even the most veno
mous ‘nag’ to death, and others
who have no such scruples are
clever at devices wlieroby’ to de
fraud the Government. The cus
tomary’ reward has consequently’
been withdrawn, and the result
as we are told, and can easily be
lieve, is that the mortality’ from
snake bites has increased to a
very alarming extent. It is to
be hoped that the reward system,
with necessary’ precautions against
imposition, will be adopted again.
The remedy may bo expensive,
but a local rate would meet it,
and India might soon be clear of
snakes as England once was of
wolves.”—-Frauk Leslie's Sunday
Magazine.
KIMBSIESS TO AMJM.AI-S—THE
OBtATEEIJE SPAKKO'M’h.
The “New-Haven Courier”
relates the following interesting
incident, which occurred a few
y’ears ago iu one of the villages
of Connecticut:
“A young lady’, confined to
the house by protracted indispo
sition, was in the habit of feeding
a sparrow, which had a nest on a
tree near the door, with crumbs
of bread. The little creature had
a warm heart under her homely
dress, and soon learning to love
her patron, became exceedingly’
tame, and would hop about the
table -while the family wore at
meals. I'his w’as repeated when
ever the door was opened, till at
last her mate -was induced to ac
company’ her, and botii would
pick up the crumbs which their
fair entertainer, as she lay upon
the sofa,' scattered near her on the
carpet. In the fall, one of them
flew against the window, and
tried to get in, but the lady -was
too feeble to expose herself in the
air, and so could not admit her
little visitor to a farewell inter
view. Next spring they both
came again, as docile as ever. In
the course of a few weeks, as the
lady lay upon a sofa, on a Sun
day morning, being too unwell to
go to church, the house being
perfectly still, and the door open,
she heard a great twittering and
chirping on the steps. Looking
about for the cause, she espied
lier tame sparrow entering the
apartment, followed by’ several of
her progeny’, and the partner of
her toils bringing up the rear.
They all remained with her half
an hour, perfectly fearless and at
home, till having satisfied their
appetites with the morsels which
were strewn for them, and ex
pressed their obligations with
sweet wild music, they’ retired to
tlie shrubbery’.”
—A little boy one day at table
asked for meat; his father said
that it was not polite to ask for
any, and that he should wait un
til some was given to him. The
poor boy, seeing every one eat,
and that nothing was given to
him, said to his father: “ My
dear fatlier, give me a little salt,
if y’ou please.” “ What will you
do with it ?” asked the fatliei-. ‘‘ I
wish to eat it with the meat wliicb
YOU will give me,” replied the
child.
The coffin was a plain one—a
poor, miserable pine coflin. No
flowers on its top, no lining of
rose-white satin for the pale brow ;
no smooth ribbons about the
coarse shroud. Tiie brown hair
was laid decently back, but there
was no crimped cap; with its neat
tie beneath tlio chin. The suf
ferer from cruel poverty' smiled
in her sleep.
“I want to see my’- mother,”
sobbed a poor child, as the City’
undertaker scfowod down the top.
“ You can’t—get out of thfi
way, boy ! why don’t somebody’
take the brat.”
“ Only let me see her one min
ute,” cried the hapless; homeless
orphan, clutching the .side of the
charity box, and as lie gazed into
that rough face, anguish tears
streamed rapidly down tlie cheek
on which no childish bloom ever
lingered. Oh, it ivas pitiful to
hear him cry, “ Only once; let
me see my mother only once !”
Quickly and brutrally the hard
hearted monster struck the boy
away’, so that he reeled with the
blow. For a moment tlio bov
stood panting with grief and rage;
his blue eves distended, his lips
sprang apart, a fire glittering
through his tears, as he raised bis
puny arm, and with a most un-
cliildisli accent screamed, “ when
I’m a man, I’ll kill you for' that!” ■
There was a coffin and a heap
of earth between the mother and
the poor, forsaken child, and a
monument stronger than granite
built in the boy’s heart to the'
memory’ of a heartless deed.
The Court-House was crowded
to suffocation.
‘‘ Does any one appear as this
man’s counsel I” asked the judge;
There was a silence wlien ho
finished, until with his lips tightly
pressed together, a look of strange
intelligence, blended with haughty’
reserve upon his handsome fea
tures, a young man stepped for-
wafd with a firm tread and kind
ling eye, to plead for the erring
and the friendless. He was a
stranger, but from his first sen
tence there was silence.
The splendor of his genius en
tranced and convinced. Tlie man
who could not find a friend was
acquitted.
“ May God bless you, sir, I
cannot.”
“ I want no thanks,” replied
the stranger, with icy coldness.
“T—‘I believe you are un
known to me.”
“ Man! I will refresh your
memory’. Twenty y’ears ago y’ou
struck a broken-hearted boy away
from his mother’s poor coffin. I
was that poor, miserable boy.”
The man turned livid.
“ Have you- rescued mo, then,
to take my life I”
“ No, I have a sweeter revenge;
I have saved the life of a man
whose brutal deed has rankled in
my breast for twenty yeai’s. Go!
and remember the tears of a
friendless child.”
The man bowed his head in
shame, and went out from the
presence of a magnanimity as
grand to him as incomprehensi
ble, and the noble young lawyer
felt God’s smile in his soul.
—‘'If a ruler hearken to lies, all
his servants arc wicked.”
■