A SON'S SELF-SACRIFICE. ABOUT fifty years ago enlistment

I was going on busily for recruits in Suffolk during the hot war-time. The recruiting sergeant, with his cap streaming with red, blue, white, and yellow ribbons, was parading the town with a file of men, a fife, and a drum. The war was a cruel one ; men fell by thousands and tens of thousands, and the best blood of England was swallowed up by the thirsty carth. The cry was for more soldiers at any price; men were scarce, and the bounty was large.

The officer in command of the recruiting party, who had been for some time at Ipswich, in Suffolk, received orders to join his regiment with all his fresh-caught men. On the evening before his departure a pleasant-looking young man made his appearance, and desired to be enlisted into his company. His air was that of one who had a noble heart and a well-cultivated mind, but his manner showed that his mind was ill at ease, and that he was in great trouble. The officer, who felt sorry for him, kindly asked the cause of his trouble.

“I tremble,” said the young man, “ lest you should deny my request.”

Whilst he was speaking a sudden flow of tears stopped him.

“I will accept your offer of enlisting most gladly," said the officer ; “but why should you think that I should refuse you?”

“Because,” said the young man, “you may think that the bounty which I require is too high."

" How much do you demand ?" said the officer.

“Ten guineas,” replied the young man; “ten guineas I must have; and, if you refuse me, I shall be truly wretched.”

“ Ten guineas is a large sum. Our bounty is only seven ; but as you are a fine young fellow, and will no doubt

make an excellent soldier — maybe, an officer-I will enlist you, and you shall have ten guineas. Here is the money; give me your name, place of abode, and your honour as a soldier that you will not desert, and I am satisfied.”

The young man, overwhelmed with joy, accepted the money and the conditions ; but begged to be allowed to return home to perform a sacred duty, and promised to be back within an hour. The officer looked at him keenly as he made this request, but not with distrust ; after a short pause, he said, “Go; keep your word with me; and return within the hour.”

The young man departed. The officer, impressed by the apparent sincerity and the open countenance of the young man, was prompted to follow him at a distance. He saw him at once hasten to the town prison, where he knocked and was admitted. The officer quickened his pace, and when he came to the door of the prison he overheard the young man say to the jailor, “ Here is the money for which my father is imprisoned. I put the money into your hands, and now you can release him."

“I can," said the jailor; and then the young man followed him into the prison. In a very few minutes the young man was seen leading out a venerable-looking, grey-headed gentleman. He was shedding tears of joy, and the young man's face was flushed with pleasure. But when in a few minutes the father learned that his son had enlisted himself for a soldier to save him, his heart sank within him, and his tears of joy were soon turned into tears of sorrow.

The officer heard all that passed at the gateway of the prison. The son tried in vain to console his father by the assurance that the war would soon be over, and that, after a brush with the enemy, he should return with honour to his home. But sorrow is like the deaf adder, that refuses to hear the voice of the charmer, charm he ever so wisely.

The father wished to be taken back to prison again; but this could not be done. The officer, seeing the struggle going on between the affection of the father and of the son, at last stepped forward, and said to the old man, “Sir, I, too, have a father, whom I left for the profession of arms, and against his wishes. Compose yourself, sir, I will not deprive you of so good a son. Permit me to restore him to you; I will repay his bounty out of my own pocket. His conduct is noble, and proves you to be a good father, and to have trained him up properly.”

The father and son could scarcely be prevented from falling on their knees at the officer's feet. The young man at first refused to accept the proffered freedom, but the officer insisted upon his remaining with his father. He accompanied them both from prison, and took his leave, with the pleasing feeling that he had contributed to the happiness of a dutiful son and an unfortunate father.

The Boy's Own Annual.

and opened his packet, he found that the paper was a page of the Bible. He showed it to his father, who was in the room, and asked him if it was not wicked to wrap up sweetstuff in pages of the Bible. · His father said, “Perhaps, my boy, it is not quite wicked ; but I do not think any one would do it who loved the Bible as he ought.”

“But, father, she was a very kindlooking old woman at the shop, and I daresay she did not know what book it was ; shall I go and tell her ?"

“ Well, my boy, I think if you are very civil to her, and speak nicely, it can do no harm if you go.”

The little boy set off, and though he felt rather shy about going into the shop to speak about it, and walked more slowly when he got near, yet he did go in, and said to the woman as she came out of her back parlour,

“Please, ma'am, did you know that you wrapped up my sweetstuff in a page of the Bible ?”

« To be sure I did, and what of it ?” said the old woman, shortly, but not unkindly.

“Well, father says that people who love God would not like to use His book in that way if they knew it."

“ This book is fit for nothing but waste paper,” said the old woman ; “ but if your father can do any good with it, he's welcome to it for a shilling; or if you'll get me as much paper as it weighs, you shall have the book yourself, my little man."

The boy thought that he would like to save the rest of the old Bible from being torn up, but he had not a shilling of his own, so he set off, and called on all the other boys he knew, and on grown-up folk, and he searched all through the house at home, and he asked his father and mother; and at last he had a great pile of old copybooks, and other paper; he ran down to the shop with them, and the woman put the old Bible in one scale,

DON'T MISUSE THE BIBLE.

THE Bible is the Book of God; and I even when a Bible is old and well worn, we ought not to let it be put to common uses. It is quite right not to waste anything ; but those persons carry their thrift too far who think that they are right in tearing out the leaves of old Bibles that they may wrap up their parcels in them. All who love and honour the Bible will be pained to see it so used.

There was a little boy who went into a small shop to buy some sweetstuff, and the woman who kept the shop tore out a leaf of an oldfashioned book, and wrapped up the purchase in it. When he got home,

THE LONDON STREET SHOEBLACK.

LOND9N, with its miles of streets and its millions of people, gives room for plans which are not possible in smaller towns. There are many London streets where the stream of foot-passengers never ceases from morning till evening, so that we can almost believe the story that is told of an old lady from the country, who was found by a policeman standing for a very long time at a corner near St. Paul's, and when he asked what she wished, she said that she was waiting till the crowd had gone past ! In 1851, the year of the First Exhibition, when these crowds were increased by thousands of visitors, some kind gentlemen thought that many of these visitors from the country would like to have their boots polished up, that they might look a little smarter; and these gentlemen also saw that, in doing this, a new trade might be found for many of the boys whom they had helped to gather from the streets into the Ragged Schools. The plan was tried and prospered, and it has continued to prosper during these ten ears, as any one may see by the numer of boys in the uniform of the different brigades who are stationed in the streets. There are eight different regiments of shoeblacks who battle against dirty boots in different parts of London. É. regiment has its own uniform—a red, blue, yellow, or purple Garibaldi shirt, with various facings, and with a badge and number worked in beads on the breast. Each boy has also a box with blacking and brushes. The uniforms and boxes are kept at the school, where the boys meet at seven every morning. After prayers, each boy goes to his station for the day, and stays till four or six, according to the season of the year. The charge for cleaning boots is one penny. Each boy when he comes back to the school in the

evening is bound to give up the day's earnings, and out of them sixpence is paid him at once; the rest is then divided into three parts—one-third is paid to the boy besides his sixpence; another third is kept by the Society, for the uniform, boxes, and blacking; and the remainder is put in the Bank in the boy's own name, to be laid out for his benefit as the managers think best.

Some stations in the streets are much better than others, and the best stations are given as rewards to the best boys. The station that is most prized of all is the front of the Royal Exchange.

There are in London about 400 shoeblacks in uniform, and their earnings in one year amount to nearly 5000l. The success of these regulars has led to swarms of ragged skirmishers, who get a box and brushes, and not content with doing any business they can in unoccupied stations, annoy and abuse the Society's boys. But this is the penalty of success, and a remedy will no doubt be found for it. At any rate, even these irregulars are better at bootbrushing than at pocket-picking, while it is a blessing that the 400 regulars are being kept from the temptations of idleness, and are being fitted for places of usefulness by kindly discipline and Christian teaching.

MAKE A NoTE of IT.-At the Marylebone meeting in aid of the distress in Lancashire, Lord Radstock said he was happy to have it in his power to mention that seventy of the little shoeblacks had contributed 7l. for the relief of the misery, and that one of them had given 15s, or 1s. in the pound on the capital which he had saved.

IF you would keep Spring in your heart, learn to sing. Good songs are like sunshine, they make things round us look bright, and fill the breast with cheerfulness.