"BE YE READY."

E virgin souls, arise!

With all the dead, awake!

Unto salvation wise,

Oil in your vessels take:
Upstarting at the midnight cry,
Behold the heavenly Bridegroom nigh!
He comes! he comes to call

The nations to his bar,

And raise to glory all

Who meet for glory are:

Made ready for your full reward;
Go forth with joy to meet your Lord.

Then let us wait to hear

The trumpet's welcome sound:
To see our Lord appear,
Watching, let us be found,

With lamps well trimmed; then joyful rise,
And meet our Saviour in the skies.

"DON'T

GRANDFATHER'S ADVICE. ON'T look so cross, Edward, when I call you back to shut the door. You have got to spend your life shutting doors, you know, and might as well begin to learn now."

"Do forgive me, grandfather, I ought to remember it. But what do you mean? I am going to school, and then I am to be a lawyer." "Well, admitting all that. I imagine Squire Edward Carter will have a good many doors to shut, if ever he makes much of a man."

"What kind of doors? Do tell me, grandfather," said Edward, his curiosity roused.

HEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

"Sit down a minute, and I'll give you a list. In the first place, the door of your ears must be closed against the bad language and evil

counsel of the boys and young men you will meet at school, or you will be undone. Let them once get possession of that door, and I would not give much for Edward Carter's further prospects. The doors of your eyes, too, must be shut against bad books, idle novels, and low, wicked newspapers, or your studies will be neglected, and you will grow up a useless man. You will have to close them sometimes against the fine things exposed for sale in the shop windows, or you will never learn to lay by money, or have any left to give away. The doors of your lips will need constant care, for they guard an unruly member. That door is very apt to blow open; and if not vigilantly watched, will let out angry, trifling words. I would advise you to keep it shut much of the time till you have laid up a store of knowledge, or at least till you have something valuable to say. The inner door of your heart must be well shut against temptation, for conscience, the doorkeeper, grows very indifferent if you disregard his call, and sometimes drops asleep at his post; and when you may think you are doing very well, you are fast going down to ruin. If you carefully guard the outside doors of the eyes, and ears, and lips, you will keep out many cold blasts of sin which get in before you think. This shutting doors,' you see, Eddy, is a serious business; one on which your well-doing in this life and the next depends."

PATIENT CONTINUANCE.

is one thing to begin, and it is another thing to continue. Every one can start in the race, but it is not every one who can persevere till he reaches the goal. The real difficulty lies not in taking the first step, but in going steadily forward. The Galatians, St. Paul tells us, "did run well,” but something hindered them, and they became backsliders. Many who had enrolled themselves among the Lord's disciples "went back, and walked no more with him."

It is not to those who make a good beginning, but a good endwho are "faithful unto death," that the "crown of life" is promised. It is not he who can perform an act of sacrifice or self-denial now and then, but he who takes up his

66

Cross daily," who is to be called a follower of Christ. It is by our daily, uninterrupted "continuance in well-doing" that we glorify our Lord and Master.

And no man has gone far on the journey of life without knowing how difficult this is--how often the hands fall down, and the knees become feeble-how the strength and the spirit are apt to fail and droop, and how many hindrances arise which make the onward course one of struggle and of conflict.

The man who has resolved to give up his drunkenness, finds it easy to deny himself just at first, when he is in the strength of his new resolution; but after awhile he is tempted to fall away again into his old habits, and too often he sinks back altogether unable to continue in the good path upon which he had so confidently entered.

Whatever the evil habit may be from which we are anxious to be

delivered, we shall find that we have "great need of patience," if we really and truly wish to get the better of it. The temptation will come over us again and again; and if we are not constantly upon our guard, we shall be again "entangled therein, and overcome.'

We must not think the battle is to be gained, nor the race to be won, in a day. It must be the work of a life-time. "Patient continuance" must be our motto from day to day, till we reach our journey's end.

"I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou. hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted."

strivings!

A SCENE IN A POLICE COURT.

66

I

AS he ever been here before?" asked the magistrate.

"Yes, sir,” replied the policeman; แ "he has been convicted three times already, and only lately came out."

"Then," said the magistrate, "I must pass a severe sentence. I was going to take a lenient view of what has now been proved against you, prisoner, hoping it was your first offence; I must now give you a severe punishment." The magistrate passed sentence accordingly.

Doubtless he was right. Laws must be obeyed, and when they are broken the offender must be punished; and, if he be an old offender, the punishment must be all the more severe. The magistrate was not unjust or cruel. The poor man deserved his sentence.

But oh! what would become of us if we received what we deserve?

What an encouragement these words ought to be to us! That our heavenly Master knows our "patience," and our long-continued strivings! That it is not only the great and glorious deeds that are done upon the earth, but the faith-Who could hope for mercy if mercy ful, patient, unwearied perseverance in the way of well-doing that he sees and takes notice of, and records in his great book of remembrance.

Many a lowly and obscure life is rendered lovely in the sight of the Lord by its steadfast, unflagging diligence. The very weakest and youngest may offer up this sacrifice of a life spent in the constant endeavour to keep in the right way. In our own strength it is impossible, but the weakest and the youngest can go to Him who "giveth power to the faint," and who "increaseth strength" to "them that have no might." If they do this, they will find that they "shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah xl. 29, 31).

were only for the first offence? First offence! Alas, how many have our offences been? How often have we broken the law, the law of God? The policeman named three times; and it seemed much, for the prisoner was but young. But what are three times compared with the number of our sins? Would three hundred times, three thousand times, cover them?

Yet God will forgive all, if we seek mercy through Christ. The oldest offenders are invited to wash and be clean; quite clean; every stain of guilt made clean by the blood of Jesus. This is God's offer in the Gospel to all, to you; God's offer to you to-day.

Ah! close with it, accept it, embrace it now. Do not wait to stand before the judgment-seat, and find it TOO LATE.

COTTAGE, TOWN,
TOWN, AND
WINDOW GARDENING.

URING this and
the following
month, the
increasing
warmth of the
weather will al-

low of the planting of nearly all
kinds of flowers; though frosts will
still occasionally occur in May, and
must be provided against for the
most tender kinds. Sow annuals:
if seeds were sown in little patches

in March or April, fresh patches should be sown between them, which will follow them in flowering, and so keep up a succession of bloom. Even at the end of this, and during the next month, the seeds of some of the quicker-flowering annuals, such as Virginia stock, Venus' looking-glass, the pretty Clarkia pulchella, Collinsia bicolor, and others, may be sown.

As the power of the sun increases, watering will be necessary for all newly-planted flowers; the ground should be loosened with a hoe occasionally after watering, to prevent the ground hardening and cracking. The seeds of perennials and biennials may be sown any time in May. Take cuttings of pansies, and strike them under handglasses in the open ground. Give your carnations plenty of water, and watch for earwigs and other vermin. Place neat sticks to them, to which to tie their flowerstems as they advance in growth, when they should be tied loosely, or they will be broken. Top chrysanthemums, and use the cuttings for fresh plants. Strike them, with the aid of a handglass, in the open border. They should be grown for about a couple of months, and then in their turn be topped for a third series of plants. The roots of hyacinths and early tulips which have done flowering, should be taken up early in May, and laid in a dry shady place, to dry for a fortnight or so; then let them be cleaned and trimmed, and put aside for autumn planting. Propagate, by cuttings, scarlet lychnis, doublo rocket, wallflowers, etc. The cuttings of the lychnis should

have three or four joints, two of which are to be placed in the earth, and the remainder above the surface. The wallflower cuttings should be slips of the young shoots of

the head.

The young plants should form nice bushy plants by September, and bloom next spring. Scarlet pelargoniums and fuchsias, which were kept in the cellar in winter, As may now be planted in the open air. your dahlias advance in growth, keep them neatly tied up, and water them occasionally. Strike cuttings of calceolarias, fuchsias, verbenas, etc. The biennials and perennials raised from seed may be pricked out, when they have attained some size, for final transplantation. Pipe pinks: the best time to do this is when the plants are in full bloom. The shoots should be about two inches long. Carnations may also be layered. Clean the beds diligently from weeds. Cut them off directly they appear, and they will be effectually kept under. Grass should be kept in good order by frequent cutting, and gravel walks occasionally rolled. Turf plots may still be laid, using plenty of water if the weather be dry. Clip and trim box and other edging; and see that all

NATIVE AGRICULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

OUR

climbing plants are properly supported.

Fruit.-Trim gooseberry and currant bushes by removing all unnecessary growth from the middle of them, and stop the young shoots if you want large fruit. Rub off the weak or ill-placed shoots on vines, as soon as the fruit-bearing branches can be distinguished. Cut off those runners of strawberries not required for propagation, as they weaken the plants, and water your strawberries frequently. Thin out tho suckers of raspberries to four of six of the finest. Watch for insects, and carefully destroy them.

Vegetables.-Earth up potatoes. Look to the onions, carrots, and parsnips, and see that they are properly weeded. Sow turnips. Let the rows be about a foot apart, and thin them as soon as they show a rough leaf. Water them occasionally with weak liquid manure. Three or four rows of Swedes will be useful; some people like them better than the white, Prick out the and they certainly keep better. cabbages sown in March. Put them in rows six inches apart, and six inches from each other. Sow peas as advised for April; steep them four-and-twenty hours before sowing. Plant out the cauliflower and lettuce raised in spring. Sow beans any time in May; use the productive Mazagan, which are perhaps the best for family use. Sow vegetable marrow. This is a plant too little known. It is very easy to grow, but requires a hotbed. Sow radishes: use the red and white turnip radishes, as

they do not grow 80 woody as the other sorts. Leave a root of lettuce for seed. One root will give you as much seed as you want.

The Window. By the middle of this month, and during the whole of June, air may be given freely to your plants. Water your fuchsias freely, give them plenty of air, and turn them frequently round, so as to make them of a uniform shape. Geraniums