thought to himself, "Soon my last sun will rise; soon

will the sharp blast of death detach me from the tree of life, and lay me low, like these leaves on the earth. Who will give me the assurance of immortality? Who will give me eternal life?" And again I seemed to hear a voice from heaven answering-" Aged men, THE WORDS OF YOUR GOD can give it to you-READ THEM."

It was winter. Everything was dry, frozen, dead. It was the time when men, assembling, incite each other to crime; but it was the time also when God speaks powerfully to the soul. Conscience, that invisible witness which each of us bears within, seemed awakened in many. Men and women, young and old, in the country and in

Who can endure the day shall stand when he apwho will deliver me from And I seemed to hear a

town, mourned over their faults. One voice in a tone of terror exclaimed, "I have sinned! The death which now reigns over all nature dwells also in my soul! I do nothing but what is wrong! of the Lord's coming? Who peareth? My sins! my sins! them? Who will save me?" voice from heaven saying, "JESUS CHRIST! JESUS CHRIST will deliver thee! He has come to seek and save that which was lost. READ THE WORD OF GOD, and thou wilt know thy Saviour, thou wilt possess salvation."

THE VICE OF THE DAY.

THE great vice of the present day is a presumptuous precipitancy of judgment.-Magee.

"A SHARE IN THE CONCERN."

ONE evening, as a little sweep was running along the street, a big sweep met him, and shouted to the little fellow, "Holloa, Jack, where are you going in such a hurry?" Little Jack said, "I am going to the missionary meeting. I have got a share in the concern, and I want to go and see how things go on." This little sweep was in a Sabbath school, and was a subscriber to the missionary society; hence he said he had a share in the concern, and was going to see how things went on. Are there not many boys of respectable families who have no share in this concern? Let such learn from the little sweep their duty, and immediately enjoy the privilege of becoming shareholders in this honourable company.

"EVERY IDLE WORD."

EVERY idle word! O blessed God, what shall become of those who love to prate continually!-Jeremy Taylor.

THE BEST PART OF BEAUTY.

THE best part of beauty is that which a picture cannot express.-Bacon.

THE DEEPEST WISDOM.

UPRIGHT simplicity is the deepest wisdom.-Barrow.

MISSIONARY: NOTES.
"Thy Kingdom Come."

Madagascar.

A DARK cloud has again come over Madagascar. Radama II., before he became king, did and suffered much for the Christians, and it seemed as if he himself were not far from the kingdom of God. But his goodness, like the morning cloud, soon passed away. From the time of his coronation, in September 1862, he seems to have given himself up to drunkenness, superstition, and iniquity. He went on from bad to worse, till more than a hundred of his nobles made a conspiracy to put him to death. On the 12th of May last this dark purpose was put into execution, and on that day he died in his palace by violent hands. Thirty-three of his evil counsellors were put to death at the same time. We quote the following from the Juvenile Magazine of the London Missionary Society:

"Seldom has a young king been more beloved than he, and seldom has a reign begun more bright and promising. But Satan knew all this, and used his best devices and his utmost power to corrupt Radama's mind, overthrow his reason, and close his career. But though the great adversary has gained his object thus far, we have no reason to fear that he can stop, or even hinder, the glorious work which has been begun in Madagascar.

The queen, indeed, who now reigns is a heathen; but whatever she might desire, the friends and the number of the Christians are such, that we have little fear of renewed persecution. Indeed, the new laws to which she has agreed are so wise and so good, and the men in power are such warm friends of the missionaries and their object, that Mr. Ellis believes the prospects of the missions rest upon a better foundation than ever.

"Our hope, therefore, is, that this bitter disappointment may turn out for the furtherance of the gospel; though we should never think of Radama II. without thanking God who raised him up as the protector of his people; nor without hating that sin which wrought such a change in one who did run well, whose memory we can scarcely fail to cherish with affection, and over whose dark and dreadful end we may well shed bitter tears."

Christmas-Day in the South Seas.

HERE (at Raiatea, South Seas) Christmas-day is a grand feast-day for the children. They have only one other such feast in the whole year; this is at their May meeting for the London Missionary Society.

This morning, whilst the parents and friends were preparing the food and setting out the tables, the children, dressed in their best, assembled in the chapel. Most, if not all, of the girls had nice, clean, white dresses on, and hats trimmed with very pretty ribbons. Most of the boys had white trousers and coats, black neck-ties, leather belts, and shoes.

Our good old missionary, Mr. Platt, who left England in 1816, gave them a short address on the fifth commandment. He also told them that he had been a believer and a church member for fifty years, and had never repented having become so. Having urged the young people to give their youth to God, he closed with prayer.

The children then formed in procession, and marched, with the Raiatean flag in front, from the chapel toward the school-house, where the tables had been prepared, some inside and some out. A blessing having been asked, the children did justice to the good things, very much in the same way as children do in England. They

again formed in procession, walked through the settlement, and proceeded to the chapel for the purpose of repeating their tasks. Mr. Platt concluded with prayer, and the children then proceeded to finish any work left undone at the dinner-table, and seemed to be fully satisfied with the day's enjoyment.

What a blessed change the glorious gospel of God has effected!-Juvenile Missionary Magazine.

Missionary Hospital at Pekin.

As soon as I went into my house, and it was known that I would attend to any sick Chinese that applied to me, patients began to come in numbers for relief. At first two or three persons a day came, then a dozen or more, and afterwards twenty or thirty. All classes of the people, and officers of government of every rank, have applied to the hospital. Chinese, Manchoos, Mongols, Thibetians Coreans, and Mohammedans, natives of the capital, and from Kashgar, and other regions to the west, have been attended to. The number of patients attended to during the fourteen months and a half that the hospital and dispensary have been open is 22,144 individual cases.-W. Lockhart, F.R.C.S.

BOOKS.

THE WIDOW's SoN. Birmingham: C. Caswell, 135 Broad Street. 32mo, 16 pages. Price One Halfpenny.

There is much precious and most pleasant teaching in this unpretending little book. It is well fitted, by God's blessing, to benefit every son who reads it, and especially every widow's son.

THE DANGER OF PROCRASTINATION. London: English Monthly Tract Society, Red Lion Square. 24mo, 16 pages. Price One Penny.

A wise, kindly number of this excellent series of tracts for the young. Let young readers think of Mary MSome of them, we fear, are too like her. Duty waits, and they are "just going to do it," but they trifle and put off till it is too late.