thin, with a quick bright eye, and a tongue that was free with all the bad language of thrice his age. The baby struggled on as it might, and lived through dirt, neglect, want of proper food, and convulsion fits, as babies do-indeed, looking at the infants of the lower orders in crowded towns and cities, one wonders how they do live beyond babyhood at all.

As to love, there had never been anything beyond liking between John and Mary, so that, though liking, under favourable circumstances, might have grown into love, as it was, there was little to marvel at that it disappeared entirely, and they cordially disliked each other, very often laying the blame of all the misery they suffered on each other, and wishing they had known when they were well off, and kept single!

Jack's wages were always seized as soon as brought home, his mother giving him a few pence to spend out of them, and laying out the rest, as she said, on his board. He allowed this for some time, but when he was raised, and moreover when he found that there were all sorts of delights to be got for money, he made a stand and insisted on having more of it. Afraid of his keeping all, Mary gave way, but now it was soon apparent that she would early reap the fruits of her own doings.

For some time Jack, who had outgrown the company of the children with whom he used to associate, and taken to that of young men and grownup factory girls who had been brought up in homes like his own, had shown the coolest indifference to whatever his parents said.

His father he seldom

saw or spoke to, for he was generally sleeping on the bed the greater part of Sunday, and in the week he was usually in the public-house while Jack was at home; but his mother, who had, on account of his sharpness, made something of a pet of Jack, and who humoured him for her own purposes when he began to earn money, had frequent battles with him, in which he always came off victorious, for he could fight now, and knew how to give a kick or a blow as well as she did.

It may seem, and it is, horrible to talk of a child lifting his hand against a parent; but when it is remembered that all the bonds of respect, love, and duty were loosened by the mother's own example, can it be wondered at that it should be done? Mary was no more to Jack than any other woman, and every day lessened the fear he had had of her in his infancy-the only fear he had ever had, and the only feeling for her he had ever felt. His father had never beaten him, seldom threatened him. If John had tried to tame his wild spirit by wise kindness, he would have had his reward in his filial love; but instead of being trained like an olive plant, he was left to grow like an ill weed, without care and without restraint.

For many nights it had happened that, although Mary was never at home till very late, Jack was not there till later. John slept so heavily that he did not hear little Annie crawl out of her bed to let him in, and was generally not sober enough to know he was absent when he came home himself.

Mary scolded him, threatened him, and in return was told he didn't choose to be kept in; he knew where he could live cheaper than at home, and he should go if she made more ado about it. This silenced her, for she was afraid of the loss of his wages. John had got no work some time, and could get no credit at any of the public-houses he frequented. When the drunkard loses that which he has made his life, his misery is beyond conception.

It was about five years since he had left the country, rather more, for it was in the winter when Mary at her door invited her friend to "dancing and beer" on the following Wednesday, and now the pleasant spring was over, and summer had come; but what were spring and summer to those who were buried alive in that dirty dark room?

It was one o'clock in the day, the sun glared brightly on the red brick wall, but John shivered, he got no warmth; he was wretched, and looked vacantly at the passers-by, as if he had no hope, no work, no interest in life. While he was thus gazing two or three people from the country passed up the street. The blood mounted to his face, he knew them; they were from his old village; he was afraid to be known, and ashamed to be seen. He pulled his hat over his eyes, and turned away; but he might have been easy, they would hardly have recognised him if he had spoken to them.

As soon as they were passed, he slowly turned off to get to his home and hide himself, for fear he might encounter them again. One woman

feel very uncomfortable. He got up, put the chair for his visitor, and sat down on the bed in silence.

The good woman, who appeared as fresh and bright as the flowers in her hand, gave a sharp look at the chair and gathered her clean print gown round her as she sat upon it. She would willingly have taken the children in her arms, but they were so dirty. She gave them a cake from her basket; and what delighted Annie far more, threw the flowers to them, and then began to talk to John.

IF

THE BIGGEST DROP.

roses and lad's love in it; she had dropped a rose; John stooped and picked it up, and carried it in his hand to his garret. Annie was sitting on the floor with the baby, and with all the spirit that hunger and disease allowed them, they were trying to divert themselves with some fragments of stick left from lighting the last fire.

When John dropped the rose he had carried on the ground, and looking at them with a sad look, drew the crazy chair before the empty grate, and leant his head on his hands that he might not see them, Annie shuffled along the floor, for she could not walk now, and seized it. Her delight was inconceivable. She held it in both hands, showed it to the baby, laughed, hugged it, and made all sorts of expressions of joy. Meanwhile John was weeping bitterly, as drunkards are so apt to do when they are without the stimulant of drink to keep up their false spirits.

The bread and cold potato Mary had left for the children's dinner (she seldom returned to her own, she could get it more comfortably in an eating-house near the factory with her companions) was in the corner of the room, and Annie, supposing by her father's return that dinner-time was come, got it, and with great fairness, parted it equally between them, laying the rose, as if that was the best part of the feast, in the middle, and perpetually pointing to it with a glee she had not felt for many a weary day.

John looked round at them from time to time, and his tears flowed afresh with each look. Were those indeed his children? was that their midday meal? bread broken on a filthy floor!

As his sobs grew louder, Annie was attracted by them. Like Jack, she knew little of either of her parents except to fear them, but nature was strong in her heart, and with very little encouragement she would have been a most loving child.

After some hesitation, she shuffled up to his chair, and touched the hand that lay on his knee, and looking up very hard in his face, offered him what was left of her dinner. This only made him cry more. She looked greatly concerned, and going back, brought him the rose, already fading through the close air and so much handling.

John was quite overcome; he took her on his knee and sobbed.

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"This can't be the place, sure-ly!" said a voice loud and clear as a bell, and as cheerful too. 'What! John and Mary Robins live here? Why, there's hardly room to whip a cat in the place, and -pah! what a smell!" With these words in walked the country woman who had dropped the rose, and who still carried the bunch of flowers.

For a moment she stared about as if to get used to the gloom, then cried out again, "Why, John! it's never you? Well, I'd heard bad enough of you, but never thought to see you like this, man."

John looked quite confounded, and was silent. "What! are these the children? Where's Mary? and where's Jack? Why that's never little Annie! She's smaller than ever she was."

These remarks, with many others, made John

But the biggest drop I know is a drop of beer. True, beer is not half such thick stuff as treacle; yet I stick to what I say-the biggest drop is a drop of beer; for a drop of water, or a drop of treacle, means a drop-a drop, and no more. But a drop of beer, who can tell how much that means?

"What made you gone so long with the cart?" asked Farmer Sharp; "did you go anywhere else but to the mill ?" "No," replied Tom the carter; "I went nowhere else." "Then you must have stopped somewhere on the way." "Oh, I did just stop and go into the King's Head' for a drop of beer -I was so dry." That drop meant no less than three pints; and Tom had spent his own money, and sat and wasted a good hour of his master's time, and yet he thought nothing of it-it was only "a drop of beer."

"Have you heard that Jack Simple has been had up by the police ?" "Jack Simple? What, that quiet chap? I did not know he ever got into mischief." "No; but last evening he took a drop of beer, and got upset; and then I don't know what he didn't do. However, the police have got him, and he's to go up before the magistrates, and his mother is in a terrible bad way about it." Ah, poor Jack! that drop of beer may be your ruin, if it be not your warning. It was the first time you had ever let them persuade you to drink with them, though they had often tried. Take warning!

"No, Williams, I cannot take you on again; you can work well when you please, I know, but you're too fond of a drop of beer. I can never depend upon you, and I must have men I can depend on." And so Williams lost the best work in all the place. There was not a better carpenter in the yard; but the "drop of beer" in his case meant beer, beer, beermorning, noon, and night, and every now and then several days' absence from work on a drinking bout. What master could put up with that?

"A drop of beer." It does not sound amiss. It sounds like moderation and temperanceenough, and no more. Alas! it seldom means that. It is a smooth name for a very bad thing. Too often it means selfish indulgence, idleness, waste of time and money, neglect of wife and children, drunkenness, riot, want, misery, sin. Is not this true? And will you not be warned?

THE

THE mountainous district of Germany, extending from the frontier of Switzerland northward along the Rhine, a distance of about a hundred miles, is called the Black Forest; and in some respects it well deserves the name. Its barren soil and rough climate scarcely allows of the cultivation of even potatoes and oats. With the exception of a few sunny spots on the southern sides of the mountains, on which vines and chesnuts are diligently cultivated, the ground does not afford sufficient produce for the simplest wants of the inhabitants.

There is very little mineral wealth in this part of the country; but there is an abundance of wood, which is exported in large quantities to England and Holland. The peasantry make good use of this natural production, and become quite skilful in the manufacture of all kinds of articles, such as wooden boxes, tools, sticks, earrings, toys, and nearly

everything that it is possible to make from wood. The greatest mechanical skill, however, is shown in those articles in which wood and metal are combined, such as musical instruments and organs, but chiefly in clocks.

As a rule these branches of industry are carried on in the cottages and homes of the people, after the work in the field is done. It is during the long winter evenings especially that the people of the Black Forest, old and young, employ their time in these occupations. The labour is divided amongst the case-makers, who make the wooden cases and stands for the clocks; the founders of the brass wheels and bells; the chain and chain-wheel makers; the painters and varnishers; and lastly, the

"clockmakers," who put the works together, and finish them ready for market.

From an early age the children, without being overworked, acquire a gradually increasing skill and working power. They begin with carving the roughest woodwork, and advance by degrees through the other

SO TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS, THAT WE MAY APPLY OUR HEARTS UNTO WISDOM

stages of the work, until they become "clockmakers" and finishers, and are able to work on their own account.

It will be interesting to take a glance at the history of clock-making in Ger many. After the invention of watches by Peter Hele at Nuremberg in 1500, which were called "Nuremberg animated eggs," from their oval form, there was a large demand for clocks. The tower clocks were too high in price to be generally used, and for many years the makers endeavoured to produce a cheaper kind for the house. In 1660 some intelligent wood-carvers in the Black Forest succeeded in making clocks entirely of wood, which, though rough and simple, for the time supplied the want. These clocks only showed the hours, and would go only for half a day. There was no striking work, and the moving element was a balancing piece of wood, with two movable weights. In 1740, instead of the balancing piece a pendulum was the moving principle, and the improvements in a short time went so far that clocks were made which, going twenty-four hours, struck the hours and quarters. Some also moved figures, indicating date, month, etc. In 1750 the wooden works were replaced by metallic works, wheels, and chains; and with superior tools and a better division of labour many more improvements in the manufacture were produced.

To meet the increasing competition which improved machinery caused in the clock trade, the Grand Duke Leopold, about 1847, founded the Watch and Clock Makers' School at Furtwangen. This institution, sustained by the government of Baden with a yearly contribution of a thousand pounds, was the means of bringing the instruction-seeking population to such a degree of practical knowledge as to raise the clock trade to its present flourishing condition.

The annual exports of clocks from the grand-duchy of Baden alone, not including watches, amounts to one milli pounds sterling. Through the various channels of commerce the productions of the Black Foresters are dispersed all over the civilised world, and have become indispensable articles in the homes of rich and poor.

The peasants of the Black Forest are a remarkably sober class. They are simple in their manners, and persevering in everything they undertake. "To be always true and honest" is their motto. Drunkenness is sel dom if ever to be met with, even when the harvest-time affords opportunity for festive gatherings. Much of their industrial succes must be attributed to this gratifying fact.

From this brief account it will be seen that the inhabitants of one of the most sterile parts of Germany have, by means of self-help and industry, become prosperous; thus showing that, even under unfavourable circumstances, earnest working finds its recompense, whilst

indolence is degrading.

A

The Children's Page.

THE WIDOW'S SON.

N old prophet often passed the house of a rich lady. She saw him, and asked him to stop and rest in her house, which he sometimes did. His name was Elisha. She loved to hear this good man talk about God. She loved to have him stay at her house. "Let us make him a little chamber on the wall," she said to her husband: "and put a bed in it, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, that Elisha may sleep in it when he comes this way;" and so a little chamber was made and furnished. How pleased good Elisha must have been.

This woman had one little son.

God gave her the child because she was so kind to his prophet. One morning, when he was big enough, he went into the field with his father to see the reapers. The sun was very hot, and the little boy cried, "My head, my head!" His father told a servant to carry him home to his mother. She took him on her knees, and held him till noon, when he died in her arms. Oh, what a sudden death!

Again, I see a little child,

His mother's sole delight,
God's living gift of love unto

The kind, good Shunammite;

To mortal pangs I see him yield,

And the lad bear him from the field.

When she saw he was dead, she carried and laid him on the prophet's bed. Then she begged her husband to saddle the asses, and help her get ready to go to Elisha. He wondered why she wanted to go then, for it was not the Sabbath or a day of any public meeting, when Elisha taught the people about God and his word. He, however, had

every

thing ready, and told the servant to go with his wife. They drove very fast to Mount Carmel, where the prophet was. He saw her coming, and thought something was the matter. "Run to meet her," said Elisha

to his servant

Gehazi, "and ask, Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child?" And she answered, "It is well."

child's eyes, and his hands upon the child's hands, and he stretched himself upon him, and the child's flesh began to grow warm. Then he got up, and walked up and down, and then stretched himself over the child again; and the child sneezed seven times, and then opened its eyes. Elisha told Gehazi to call his mother, which he did; and when she came in he said, "Take up thy son." But when she saw her dear boy with life again sparkling in his eyes and reddening his cheeks, she fell at Elisha's feet, and bowed herself to the ground, full of thankfulness and joy. Then she took him up, as you see in the picture. There is Elisha, and behind him is Gehazi, who, you remember, afterwards fell into grievous sin.

You may have been in chambers where children have died, but never in one where a child has been brought back to life again. But if you have never been in one made memorable by such a wonder as God wrought in this, I hope you have one which is daily visited by his presence and his blessing; for God's Son says, "If any man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." What a blessed spot must that be!

WILLIE'S VERSE.

"WELL, Willie," said a lady to a little boy, whom she met on the road one frosty day, "do you remember what your verse was this morning? You know the last time I was at school I told you to learn one every

morning."

"Oh, yes, ma'am," said Willie, his little face purple with the cold, and his teeth chattering. "It was, 'I was hungry,

and ye gave

me meat; I was thirsty,

and ye gave me drink.'"

"You look cold: are you so hungry?" said the lady, rather taken

by surprise.

"Oh, yes, ma'am," said Willie, shivering.

"Are you, then come

with me to

the house for

a basin of warm broth," said she; thanking God in her heart both for the lesson and the power of profiting by it.

If Willie had not known his verse he would not have got his breakfast.

THE BIBLE ILLUSTRATED. "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."-Revelation xix. 9.

THE evening before Ridley suffered martyrdom, when sitting at supper, he bade his hostess and all present to his marriage, as he called his death. Mrs. Irish

was much affected by his words, and wept bitterly. "Oh, Mrs. Irish," he gently said, "you love me not now, I see well enough; for in that you weep it doth appear you will not be at my marriage, neither are content therewith. Indeed you be not so much my friend as I thought you had been. But quiet yourself: though my breakfast shall be somewhat sharp and painful, yet I am sure my supper shall be more pleasant and sweet.'

"Better is the poor that walketh in his upright

ness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though

he be rich."-Proverbs xxviii. 6.

A POOR but very pious woman once called to see two rich young ladies, who also loved the Lord. Without regard to her mean appearance, they received her with great kindness into their drawingroom, and sat down to converse with her upon religious subjects. While thus engaged their brother entered the room. He was gay, proud, thoughtless youth, and looked much astonished at their unusual guest. One of them rose up with dignity, and said, "Brother, don't be surprised; this is a king's daughter, only she has not got her fine clothes on."

a

remained floating for some time near the scene of the disaster. While in this terrible situation, just on the brink of eternity, they held a prayer-meeting there in the sea. From the bosom of that wintry sea praise and prayer ascended to God, till one by one the lips became hushed in death, and the bodies went down to the unknown depths. May we not trust that the unfinished strain was completed amid the chorus of the angels?

"Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel." - Philippians

i. 27.

On one occasion when Nelson was about to give instructions for an engagement with a French fleet that stretched out in imposing array before his own, he begged two of his captains to act together. The reply was, that they were not on speaking terms, and therefore could not act together. Nelson summoned them both to the deck of his flag-ship, and looking sternly and searchingly at them, he said,

66

Sirs, you are mistaken; you are brothers. There are your enemies. Shake hands, and act together as you ought for your country and your king." They shook hands, They shook hands, and unity was crowned with victory. Because they were united they were triumphant. Surely Christians

should learn a lesson from this to

"God loveth a cheerful giver."-2 Corinthians ix. 7.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the

with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." -Psalm xxiii. 4.

IT is said that after the American steamer Melville, which some time since foundered at sea on a Sabbath morning, had sunk, the passengers,

would give me an apple-tree for my own.' 'Why dear,' said her mother, they are all yours as much as mine. If we live to see them bear fruit, you will enjoy it as much as I.' 'But,' says the little girl, 'that is not what I want; I want one to give all the fruit it bears to God." Her mother gave her consent, and the little girl chose one of the most fruitful-looking trees in the orchard. Laying her hands upon it, she said with much solemnity, 'Tree! from henceforth you belong to God. The money enclosed for Foreign Missions was realised from its first crop of fruit."

"Preach the word; be instant in season, cut of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort [with all long-suf fering and doctrine."-2 Timothy iv. 2.

THE REV. William Tennent was, on one occasion, travelling with a brother minister on a missionary tour, when they stopped at an inn, and engaged lodgings for the night. After supper, when the cloth was removed, a pack of cards was brought forward, and Mr. Tennent and his friend were asked if they

would play. "With all my heart. gentlemen, if you can convince s that we are thereby serving o Master's cause, or doing anything in aid of the object of our mission. This gentleman and myself profess ourselves Christ's servants, and we

and

that

are sent out on his business, which act together against their common is to persuade men to become re foes. conciled to God." These remarks made with great sincerity a kindliness of manner, produced sud an effect upon the company, the cards were immediately aside. The two ministers gladly availed themselves of the oppor tunity of doing their Master's wor and spent the evening in explain

ister in Illinois, which stated that "A little girl who is now, we trust, in heaven, was one evening walking with her mother in the orchard that surrounded their country home,

laid

ing the great truths and duties of

THE TWO CONQUERORS.*

THE shops are closed, the streets are crowded, guns are firing, flags are flying; it is a general holiday, a day of public rejoicing. What has happened? A great general has just landed from foreign parts. He has come home a conqueror; for he has taken a strong city which had long stood out against our army. His name is on every tongue. As his carriage goes slowly up the street, thousands of voices cheer him. He is the hero of the day. And more than that. His name will appear in history as a conqueror. The taking of that city has made him great for generations to come.

Let us change time and scene. Two working men stand together at a street corner. One is talking loudly and angrily; you may hear him half-way down the street. He speaks insulting words to the other, storms at him, swears at him, does all he can to provoke him. See, he has thrust his fist in his face, and calls on him to "fight it out." A flush rises in the face of the other

though I have supposed you and me, reader, to see them. No one knew of the unjust anger of the one, or of the meek patience of the other; no one but God in heaven. The angry man went one way, the patient man another. And so the matter ended.

But what have the general and this patient man to do with one another? A great deal. The general was a great conqueror, and so was this humble man whom scarcely any one knew of. They were both conquerors; but the general had only taken a city, while the other had conquered himself. And what does the Bible say? "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city" (Prov. xvi. 32). This is the judgment of truth, the judgment of God. The general was a great conqueror, but the workman was a greater.

Our hardest battles are with ourselves: and our worst enemies are in our own hearts. our own hearts. Some, however, have no warfare of this sort; have no warfare of this sort; but give way to every inclination, and speak and act just as they like. Can this be right? Surely not, if we go by the Bible.

How kind, how gentle, how forgiving, how watchful over himself a Christian ought to be! He is by profession a follower of CHRIST.

in the wrong. No one

* Published as a large-type tract by the Religious Tract Society.

for us, he is our only hope. We

should be lost, but for him. How then can we be unkind, angry, revengeful? The Bible tells us what the Lord Jesus did for us; and then says to us, "Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

Is this hard? Then it is only the more needful to be done. If you do not rule your spirit, that is, your temper, be sure your temper will rule you. Yes, it is hard, and very hard at times. But God will give his Holy Spirit to those who ask him; and the Spirit helpeth our infirmities. Hard as the work is, there is help for us there,-help that will make us greater conquerors than he that taketh a city. Would you be such a conqueror? Watch and pray. Watch against a hasty temper. Pray earnestly for God's grace. Pray at the very time when you are provoked.

When bitter words have been spoken against you, and you feel the rising anger, then pray. Here is a prayer that will suit you: "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips." That was David's prayer. Another man of God said: "When I am weak, then am I strong." How was that? Because he prayed, and God helped him.

EVIL THOUGHTS.

BEWARE of evil thoughts; they

have done great mischief in the world. Bad thoughts come first, bad words follow, and bad deeds finish the progress. Watch against them. Strive against them. Pray against them. They prepare the way for the enemy of souls.

Bad thought's a thief; he acts his part;
Creeps through the windows of the heart;
And if he once his way can win,
He lets a hundred robbers in.