may not produce much effect. She was sorry that she had so few scholars; but she bent all her energies to the instruction of her little boy, and afterwards felt that Providence had ordered it wisely.

But in a few weeks the prejudices of the people began to wear away; and before the summer closed, this school embraced every child whose age would allow it to attend.

It was the second summer after the establishment of this school, and after little James had become well acquainted with his Testament and Catechism, that his health also began to fail. This good young lady beheld his gradual decay with anxiety, visited him frequently, and always wept after having left him. She used often to walk out with him, and to endeavour to cheer him by her conversation.

One pleasant afternoon she led him out by the hand, and at his request visited the spot where lay his mother and his little brother. Their graves were both covered with grass, and on the smaller grave were some beautiful flowerets. It was in the cool of a serene summer's day, as they sat by the graves in silence, and neither of them felt inclined to speak. The lady gazed at the pale countenance of the little boy, upon whose system a lingering disease was preying, while he looked at her with an eye that seemed to say, "I have not long to enjoy your society." Without saying a word, he cut a small stick, and measured the exact length of his little brother's grave, and again seated himself by the lady. She appeared sad while he calmly addressed her.

"You see, Miss S., that this little grave is shorter than mine will be." She pressed his little bony hand within her own, and he continued:

"You know not how much I love you, how much I thank you. Before you taught me, I knew nothing of death, nothing about heaven, or God, or angels: I was a very wicked boy till you met me. I love you much, very much; but I would say something else." "And what would you say, James?" inquired the lady, trying to compose her own feelings. "Do you think I shall ever get well?" "Indeed, I hope you will; but why ask that question?" "Because I feel I shall not live long; I believe I shall soon die: I shall then be laid beside my poor mother, and she will then have her two little boys, one on each side of her. But do not cry, Miss S.: I am not afraid to die. You told me, and the Testament tells me, that Christ will suffer little children to come unto him; and though I know I am a very sinful little boy, yet I think I shall be happy, for I love this Saviour who can save such a wicked boy as I am. And I sometimes think I shall soon meet mother and little brother in happiness. I know you will come too, won't you? When I am dead, I wish you to tell the Sabbathscholars how much I loved them all: tell them they must all die, and may die soon;

and tell them to come and measure the grave of little James; and then prepare to die."

The young lady wept, and could not answer him at that time. But she was enabled to converse with him many times afterwards on the grounds of his hope, and was satisfied that this little lamb was indeed of the fold of Jesus. She was sitting at his bedside, and with her own trembling hand closed his lovely eyes as they shut in the slumbers of death. He fell asleep with a smile, without a struggle. The lady was the only sincere mourner who followed the remains of the child to the grave; and while she shed many tears over that grave which concealed his lovely form, she could not but rejoice in the belief, that God had permitted her to be the feeble instrument of preparing an immortal spirit for a mansion in the skies, where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest.

INFIDELITY MORE IN THE HEART THAN IN THE HEAD.

I HAVE a striking illustration of this fact to mention. I was asked one day to breakfast at the house of an excellent gentleman, who has gone to his everlasting rest, the late Thomas Meux, of Bloomsbury-square; and on going in, I heard him saying, "You deny the Bible, and therefore there is no arguing with you." I instantly guessed there was a sceptic present; and instead of giving an exposition of a chapter, as I had done on one or two occasions, I resolved to give a succinct summary of the evidences of the Christian faith. In the course of my remarks, I made the following statement, which I had received from good authority:-" There was an infidel of great notoriety, and of no ordinary powers of mind. He had a wife who was a Christian, and a daughter who was believed to be so : his wife died, and went to her rest, and after some time consumption laid the daughter also on her dying-bed. Three or four days before her death, she called her father to her bed-side, and put the question to him, ' Father, am I to die in the creed you teach, or in the faith in which my mother died?' The struggle in the father's mind was intense, and his frame was convulsed for a moment. At last, in the agony of his feelings, he gave utterance to the convictions of his heart, 'Die, my child, in your mother's faith.'"

I little suspected, when I rose from the table, and was introduced to the party, that that very father was at the moment in the room. There were tears in his eyes, but no conviction carried to his heart; and though I reasoned with him for two hours, no impression was made apparently upon his hardened heart, or his seared and deadened conscience. But carry this fact with you, that infidelity may do for Sunday newspapers and Socialist halls, but it will not bear the terrible test of the departing hour.-Dr. Cumming.

SUPERIOR AND INFERIOR

SERVANT.

INDEPENDENTLY, however, of the connexion between master and servant, there is one of no small moment between the servants themselves, which must not be forgotten. In a large family, wherever there are more than two servants, instead of their forming, as with many, a separate and separated community, they should form, though in some sense a distinct, yet an intimate, branch of but one family. If they do so, the connexion between the servants themselves will not be neglected. This is the more necessary, from the system of tyranny, among servants in a large family, which proceeds occasionally to great excess, unknown to the master. Let not such a man feel surprised if he is informed, that, without the slightest occasion for it, there dwells under the same roof with himself, one human being, perhaps more, who is degraded into a mere fag, and drags out a miserable existence. The blame is his. Insight is incumbent, and access to him, at certain periods, should be open to all. True, subordination is absolutely necessary to domestic happiness: a general principle of deference from the inferior to the superior, analogous to that among children from the younger to the elder, must exist; but to the superior servant say, "So live with your inferior, as you would wish your superior to live with you." The size of the establishment is here no apology; for the task, far from being insuperable, is, in the end, its own reward, and brings along with it many gratifications. The late King of Great Britain, in his own family, is said to have been most exemplary in this duty, to the great benefit of his domestic servants. There are, indeed, many men, and even men of war, who have

excelled in it. They have compared their army to a family, and, acting accordingly, have shown to us the duties incumbent on its master. Witness the behaviour of the late Emperor of the French, when proceeding on his fatal expedition into Russia. Napoleon's inspections then were frequent and systematic. "He overlooked not even the youngest soldier; it seemed as if everything which concerned them was to him a matter of deep interest. He interrogated them. Did their Captain take care of them? Had they received their pay? Were they in want of any requisite? He wished to see their knapsack; in short, all particularities, which delighted the soldier. They told each one how Napoleon occupied himself with their minutest details, and that they composed his oldest and real family. If he happened to meet with convoys of wounded, he stopped them, informed himself of their condition, of their sufferings, of the actions in which they had been connected, and never quitted them without consoling them by his words, or making them partakers of his bounty. On his guard, he bestowed particular attention: he himself daily reviewing some part of them, lavishing commendation, and sometimes blame; but the latter seldom fell on any but the administrators."

What an example! yet what a melancholy misapplication of talents! And the crowning misery is, "The paths of glory lead but to the grave." But let the master of a family proceed on similar principles: instead of leading those under him to ruin, both children and servants may, by him, as an instrument, not only be prepared for enjoying this life, but be conducted to immortality.-Domestic Constitution.

fiercely, in its decline, upon the brazen helmets and heavy armour of the soldiers.

In front of them rode their leader; a man of majestic presence, whose noble countenance and deep piercing eye would alone, even without the imperial purple, have been sufficient to show that he was born to command. Yet now he looked sad and anxious; for he was on his way to fight against a powerful enemy; and he knew not what should befall him. The fearful alternative was, whether he should gain the victory, and so become the master of the world; or

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whether he should be defeated, and thus either fall in battle, or be led away to a hopeless captivity, terminating but too probably in death by the hand of the executioner.

For many days, thoughts such as these had troubled him: and, beyond the troops which followed him, he knew not whither to go for aid or protection. He remembered, that those who had been Emperors before him, had put their trust in a multitude of gods, and had offered to them abundant sacrifices and precious gifts: but he remembered, also, that, notwithstanding their devotion to these multifarious deities, they had, in numerous instances, come to an unfortunate and miserable end. He remembered, too, that his own father, who had been great and prosperous, had worshipped but one God: and he recollected, how, while the Christians had been cruelly persecuted in other parts of the empire, his sire had shielded and protected them in Britain. Hence, he naturally felt a strong wish, that the God of his father would guard and assist him likewise. But then he was conscious that he knew nothing about this God. Still he would not allow this feeling to discourage him; but, from the unknown one God he earnestly besought a token of aid and protection.

We are told, that it pleased God to hear and answer his prayer. For, as he was thus marching at the head of his army, wrapped in meditation on these things, and silently employed in inward prayer, a radiance, softer and yet more glorious than that of the sun, gleamed suddenly upon him. Astonished at the portent, he lifted up his eyes; and, high in the heavens, above the sun, he beheld a bright and beautiful cross, with these words in shining letters:-BY THIS, CONQUER!

All the soldiers were struck with amazement, and gazed eagerly upon the cross. Brighter and brighter it grew in the clear sky; and Constantine (for he was the leader of the host) felt a new and strange impression of awe upon his heart, as he watched it with fixed and earnest eyes. But he did not watch it long, ere it began to fade and grow dim. Letter after letter of the shining words melted away into the sky. Then the faint outline of the cross was all that could be discerned. That, too, at last was gone; and, where it had appeared, nought could be seen but the rich crimson and gold of the approaching sunset. Long and anxiously did Constantine look on those brilliant hues, as if his glance could pierce the very firmament but the cross, in its clear and marvellous beauty, gleamed out through them

no more.

The Emperor rode on slowly and silently, meditating on the vision, and wondering what it should mean, and whether it were a sign sent in answer to his prayers.

That night, as he was lying asleep in his tent, there appeared to him, in a dream, one,

who commanded him to cause a standard to be made like the cross which he had seen in the sky, and to have it always carried at the head of his army.

When Constantine awoke in the morning, he recollected this dream, and immediately set himself to obey it. With such object in view, he sent for some Christian Bishops, and inquired of them the meaning of the sign which he had seen. They told him that it was the symbol of immortality, and the token of the victory of Jesus Christ over death. They told him, too, the history of the Saviour's coming into the world, of his life of beneficence upon earth, and of his death for the salvation of man.

With the deepest reverence and attention, Constantine listened to their words. They seemed strange; but they came to him with a mysterious power and truth, such as he had never known before; and he felt indeed, that the God of whom he now heard, was the one true God, able to save and defend him from all his enemies. From this time, he made the holy Scriptures his constant study and now, strong in trust and hope in God, he marched onward, bearing the sacred standard in the front of his army.

The Labarum, for so it was called, consisted of a cross, overlaid with gold, and surmounted by a golden crown, glittering with pearls and diamonds, rubies and emeralds, and all manner of precious stones. It was raised on the top of a staff, which should be held by the standard-bearer; and, from the cross, hung a purple flag, so bright with gold and jewels, that it dazzled the eyes of the beholders.

even

Until this time, the standard of the Roman empire had been an eagle, similarly fixed on the top of a staff. This meet emblem of rapacity and conquest was deemed the favourite bird of the chief heathen god; and the eagles of the legions, as we are informed by a great Roman historian, were idolatrously worshipped by the soldiers as their own proper and peculiar divinities. But the ferocious eagle-god was henceforth to give place to the banner of faith and humility, the Christian sign of heavenly hope and very remarkable it is, that, in our own days, when the crucified Redeemer was denied and renounced by the madness of a whole people, then, characteristically, the standard of the cross was contemptuously discarded, and the Pagan eagle was systematically resumed.

Constantine proceeded on his way, until he approached Rome. The imperial city was then in the power of his enemy Maxentius, a fierce and cruel tyrant, who was as much hated and feared by the people, as Constantine was beloved and honoured.

When Maxentius knew of his rival's approach, he caused a bridge of boats to be made over the river Tiber, so contrived, that, when Constantine and the vanguard of his

army should be upon it, (for the troops would be obliged to cross it, before they could reach the city,) it should give way, and plunge them into the water. Thus, Maxentius thought that he should make sure of his adversary's death, which would give him, for the rest of his own life, the uncontrolled sovereignty of the Roman world. But, of the wicked, we read in the Bible, "He made a pit, and digged it; and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head and his violent dealings shall come down upon his own pate." And again: "The Heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made; in the net which they hid, is their foot taken." And so it proved with Maxentius. For, while he himself, with many of his soldiers, was on the bridge, examining whether it had been made according to his direction, it suddenly gave way, and plunged them into the river. It was a fearful scene: the fragments of the broken bridge; the spears, and shields, and swords of the soldiers, cast away in their agony; and they themselves vainly struggling to escape, borne down by the weight of their defensive armour, and hurried on by the force of the current, until they sank like lead in the mighty waters. A moment after, the yellow waves of the proud Tiber rolled over their heads, placid in semblance, and bearing no trace of that stormy scene of despair and death.

Thus were Constantine's enemies utterly broken before his face: and, after he had sung praises to God for this great deliverance, he entered Rome in triumph. Men, women, and children, all crowded round him with joyful faces, and hailed him, with shouts of acclamation, as their saviour and deliverer. After this, he placed a statue of himself in

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the most public part of Rome. The figure leaned upon the cross; and, below it, was this inscription:

"By this salutary sign, which is the cognizance of true valour, I have delivered and freed your city from the slavish yoke of the tyrant; and have set at liberty the Senate and people of Rome; and have restored them to their ancient splendour and dignity."

For many years, Constantine reigned in great prosperity: and he did not forget God, who had so signally blessed him. He ruled his vast empire with mercy and justice; he relieved numberless widows, orphans, and distressed persons; and he built many beautiful churches, in which he was assisted by his mother, the Empress Helena, a British lady, and also a Christian. One of these churches was erected on the place of our Saviour's burial, and was, therefore, called the Church of the holy Sepulchre. It was magnificently adorned with stately pillars of marble, glittering pavements, gold and silver, and precious stones of every kind. Constantine and Helena thought no pains too great, and no treasure too costly, to bestow on the house of God. They built another church on the Mount of Olives, whence, our Lord ascended to heaven; and one at Bethlehem, where he was born.

In thus labouring for the service of God, in rooting out idolatry, in protecting the church of Christ, did Constantine spend his long reign. And now, that hundreds of years have passed by since the fall of the mighty empire which he governed, it may truly be said, that, of all the many proud and powerful Monarchs who went before and who came after him, none so well deserved the name of Great, as he, the first Christian Emperor.

fleetness. Everything now depends on the dexterity of the rider, and the activity of his horse. They must do all in their power to gain upon the game they have started; an endeavour which is the more readily to be effected, as the giraffe never takes a straight course, but, by nature timid, doubles, in the fear of its life, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, and is thus quickly overtaken by the horsemen. Having come up to the young animal pursued, the rider casts a lasso over its head: his throw but seldom fails, and in the worst case must be repeated. He then attaches the end of the rope to his saddle, drags the animal as closely as he can to his horse, and thus the capture is effected. But now a steady and patient horse, well broken to its work, is again necessary for the farther transport; for the horse must resist the ani

T

FRANKINCENSE is supposed to derive its name from franc, "free," because of its liberal or ready distribution of its odours.

It is a dry, resinous substance, in pieces or drops of a pale yellowish white colour, a strong smell, and bitter, acrid taste. The tree which produces it is not well-known in this country: it is cultivated in India. Pure frankincense is that which is first obtained from the tree; that which is strongest, and most free from adventitious mixtures.

This was one of the ingredients in the perfume mentioned in Exod. xxx. 35, which was to be placed in the tabernacle of the congregation, dedicated unto the Lord, and considered "most holy." The Israelites were strictly forbidden, on the most awful penalties, to make any perfume similar to that described in this chapter, even for their own use; for it is said, "Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people." (Ver. 38.)

Where so many sacrifices were offered, it

was essentially necessary to have some pleasing scent to counteract the disagreeable smells that must have arisen from the slaughter of so many animals, the sprinkling of so much blood, and the burning of so much flesh. It was, therefore, necessarily placed in every part of the tabernacle and its environs.-Dr. A. Clarke.

THE ANT-EATER OF MALTA.

G. brought home with him a very pretty little bird, called the "queen" or "ant-eater," the latter name referring to its singular manner of obtaining its livelihood. It lays itself down on the ground, in the neighbourhood of its prey, and remains quite motionless, feigning death, but at the same time hanging its long tongue out. The ants, attracted by a glutinous moisture peculiar to it, are soon brought round; and when there are a sufficient number collected, the bird suddenly draws in its tongue, and swallows the repast.-Major and Mrs. Griffith's Journey.