I am old-1 may be childish-but I love simplicity;

I love to see it shinin' in a Christian's piety;

Jesus told us in His sermons, in Judea's mountains wild,
He that wants to go to heaven must be like a little child.

Our heads are growing gray, dear wife—our hearts are beatin' slow

In a little while the Master will call for us to go;

When we reach the pearly gateways, and look in with joyful

eyes,

We'll see no stylish worship in the temple of the skies.

-John H. Yates.

CCXVII. SHORT SELECTIONS.

CONTENT.

THE bliss of man (could pride that blessing find)

Is not to act or think beyond mankind,

No pow'rs of body or of soul to share,

But what his nature and his state can bear.
Why has not man a microscopic eye?

For this plain reason, man is not a fly.
Say for what use were finer optics given?
T'inspect a mite, not comprehend the heaven.
Or touch, if tremblingly alive all o'er,
To smart and agonize at every pore!

Or quick effluvia darting through the brain,

Die of a rose in aromatic pain!

If nature thund'red in his op'ning ears,

And stunned him with the music of the spheres,
How would he wish that heaven had left him still
The whisp'ring zephyr, and the purling rill?
Who finds not Providence all good and wise,
Alike in what it gives and what denies?

SUSPICION.

LET me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights!
Yond' Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.

горе.

Would he were fatter:-But I fear him not;
Yet if my name were liable to fear,

I do not know the man I should avoid

So soon as that spare Cassius.

CONSCIENCE.

IT is a dang' rous

-Shakespeare.

A man

A man

Thing; it makes a man a coward.
Can not steal but it accuseth him.
Can not swear but it checks him:
'Tis a blushing, shame-fac'd spirit, that
Mutinies in a man's bosom; it fills

One full of obstacles. It made me once
Restore a purse of gold, that by chance I
Found. It beggars any man that keeps it.
It is turned out of towns and cities for
A dang'rous thing; and every man that means
To live well, endeavors to trust to himself,
And live without it.

-Shakespeare.

CCXVIII. -A THRILLING INCIDENT.

THE world of fiction hardly contains a more thrilling chapter than an incident in the life of the Rev. Mr. Lee, Presbyterian minister.

Mr. Lee was sitting in his study about midnight, preparing a discouse to deliver to his congregation, when he heard a noise behind him, and became conscious that some one was in the room. Mr. Lee exclaimed, "What's the matter?" and, turning around his chair, beheld the grim face of a burglar, who was pointing a pistol at his breast. The ruffian had entered the house by a side window, supposing all the occupants were asleep.

"Give me your watch and money," said he, "or I will fire." "You may put down your weapons, for I shall make no resistance, and you are at liberty to take all the valuables that I possess," was Mr. Lee's calm reply.

The burglar withdrew his menacing pistol, and Mr. Lee said:

"I will conduct you to the place where my most precious treasures are placed."

He opened the door and pointed to the cot where his two children lay in the sleep of innocence and peace.

"These," said he, "are my most precious jewels. Will you take them?”

He proceeded to say that as a minister of the Gospel he had few earthly possessions, and that his means were devoted to but one object—the education of his two motherless children. The burglar was deeply and visibly affected by these remarks. Tears filled his eyes, and he expressed the utmost sorrow for the wicked act he had commited.

After a few remarks by Mr. Lee, the would-be criminal consented to kneel and join in prayer; and there, in that lonely house, amid the silence of midnight, the offender poured forth his remorse and penitence, while the representative of religion, of peace and good will, told him to "go and sin no more."

CCXIX. SILENCE.

How eloquent is silence! Acquiescence, contradication, difference, disdain, embarrassment, and awe, may all be expressed by saying nothing. It may be necessary to illustrate this apparent paradox by a few examples. Do you seek an assurance of your lady love's affection? The fair one confirms her lover's fondest hopes by a compliant and assenting silence. Should you hear an assertion, which you may deem false, made by some one of whose veracity politeness may withhold you from openly declaring your doubt, you denote a difference of opinion by remaining silent. Are you receiving a reprimand from a superior? You mark your respect by an attentive silence. Are you compelled to listen to the frivolous conversation of a fop? You signify

your opinion of him by treating his loquacity with contemptuous silence. Are you, in the course of any negotiation, about to enter on a discussion painful to your own feelings and to those who are concerned in it? The subject is almost invariably prefaced by an awkward silence. Silence has also its utility and advantages. And first, what an invaluable portion of domestic strife might have been prevented; how often might the quarrel, which, by mutual aggravation, has perhaps terminated in bloodshed, have been checked at its commencement by a judicious silence! Those persons only who have experienced them are aware of the beneficial effects of that forbearance which, to the exasperating threat, the malicious sneer, or the unjustly imputated culpability, shall never answer a word. Secondly, there are not wanting instances where the reputation, fortune, the happiness, nay, the life of a fellow creature, might be preserved by a charitable silence.

THE REAL GENTLEMAN.

NOT he who displays the latest fashion-dresses in extravagance, with gold rings and chains to display; not he who talks the loudest, and makes constant use of profane language and vulgar words; not he who is proud and overbearing, who oppresses the poor, and looks with contempt on honest industry; nor he who can not control his passions, and humble himself as a child; no, none of these are real gentlemen. It is he who is kind and obligingwho is ready to do you a favor with no hope of reward—who visits the poor, and assists those who are in need-who is more careful of his heart than of the dress of his personwho is humble and sociable-not irascible or revengefulwho always speaks the truth without resorting to profane or indecent words. Such a man is a gentleman, wherever he may be found. Rich or poor, high or low, he is entitled, to the appellation.

CCXX.-SHORT SELECTIONS.

THE TEMPEST.

THE night came down in terror. Through the air
Mountains of clouds, with lurid summits roll'd;
The lightning kindling with its vived glare
Their outlines, as they rose, heaped fold on fold;
The wind, in fitful sighs, swept o'er the sea;

And then a sudden lull, gentle as sleep,
Soft as an infant's breathing, seem'd to be

Lain, like enchantment, on the throbbing deep. But false the calm! for soon the strengthen'd gale Burst in one loud explosion, far and wide, Drowning the thunder's voice!

- Epes Sargent.

TIME.

Time flows from instants; and, of these, each one
Should be esteemed as if it were alone.

The shortest space, which we so highly prize
When it is coming, and before our eyes,
Let it but slide into th' eternal main,
No realms, no worlds, can purchase it again.
Remembrance only makes the footsteps last

When winged time, which fix'd the prints, is gone.
-Sir John Beaumont.

THE PATH OF DUTY.

THE path of duty is the way of glory;

He that walks it, only thirsting

For the right, and learns to deaden

Love of self, before his journey closes

He shall find the stubborn thistle bursting
Into glossy purples which outredden
All voluptuous garden roses.

The path of duty is the way of glory;

He that, ever following her commands

On with toil of heart and knees and hands

Through the long gorge to the fair light, has won