shoes, and have clothes all in tatters. Their hair is never combed, and is matted with dirt; and their bodies are unwashed and filthy. These "Street Arabs," as they have been called, have no homes to go to, and have to sleep under railway arches, or in any hole or corner where they can get shelter from the wind and the rain. Lord Shaftesbury, and other good people, have established for these miserable little outcasts, "Ragged Schools," and "Night Refuges." Into these large numbers of such poor outcasts as described have been gathered, clothed, fed, and educated in useful knowledge, and especially in the Holy Scriptures. They have not been left to idleness, but have been taught to work. Several of the boys have been united into a body called "The Shoeblack Brigade." By leave of the magistrates and police they are stationed up and down at different street corners and other open parts, where, by cleaning the shoes of any passer-by who may engage them to do so, they can earn honest money. They are all dressed alike, and in their red jackets, turned up with blue, look neat and comfortable. What a merciful thing it is to rescue these poor children from the vice and misery in which they were found, to make them useful members of society, and to lead them to the Saviour of sinners!

There is another good work in which Lord Shaftesbury is engaged, of which our young readers should be reminded. His Lordship is the President of the "British and Foreign Bible Society," which is one of the most blessed and useful institutions of our day. This noble society is the means of printing, publishing, and circulating the Word of God in more than one hundred and fifty different languages. It has made the English Bible so cheap that the poorest in the land may possess a copy. And, for little children, Bibles and Testaments may be had at less expense than many a trifling toy. When we read the Book of books, which may be known from childhood, and which is able to make us "wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus," let us thank God for so precious a gift as that of His Holy Word; let us think of and pray for the prosperity of the "British and Foreign Bible Society;" and let us remember that its President at present is LORD SHAFTESBURY, the long-tried friend of little children. His engraved portrait is the accompanying illustration. His Lordship is a Knight of the Garter, a distinction which has been coveted by kings and princes; but when it is forgotten that he received this honour, it will be remembered that he was the children's friend.

The Care of God for Little Children.

How gratefully encouraging it is to think of the providence of God over little children! That He should govern the world, and be the King of hosts of angels, is not surprising; but that He should care for a feeble infant, and for a young boy or girl, is wonderful. And yet, it is so evident that it is a common saying, "There is a special providence over little children." This ought not to make the young of families careless or presumptuous, but thankful and loving towards their Heavenly Father. It is not His will, says the Saviour, "that one of these little ones should perish." Jesus Christ expressly prohibits all hindrances of the youngest or smallest persons coming to Him authoritatively enjoining,-"Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." When on earth He took them up in His arms and blessed them. Little children have souls as precious and immortal as persons of middle life and old age; and they, also, are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. Therefore, they may seek salvation, and expect to find it.

The following true story of the special protection of God over a little child, as described in charming words by a minister familiar with the case and the scene, and as illustrated in the accompanying engraving, is also for our youthful readers. The facts were these. On the 30th of May, 1867, the younger children of Mr. B.- of BishopAuckland, were taken by their nurse into the Bishop's park. While at play on the high ground above the river, the nurse ran after one of the children, who had left the group. When her back was turned, Florine, a little girl about three years of age, got into the perambulator, which, moved by her weight, descended the sloping ground, passed over the top of a precipice thirty feet high, and fell with the child into the river beneath.

Two ladies and a man on the ground below witnessed the fall. The brave man plunged into the water and rescued the child, who was not in the least hurt. Had she fallen a few feet on either hand she must have been dashed to pieces on the rocks. The water at the place is six feet deep, and is much shallower, both above and below, this particular spot. Her parents and friends often visit the park, and talk wonderingly and thankfully of Florry's frightful ride.

FLORRY'S FRIGHTFUL RIDE.

The year could yield no sweeter May
Than that of which I sing;
The summer sun no brighter day

To mother earth could bring;

And Auckland Park, renown'd of yore,
Where pleasant waters glide,
Look'd lovelier than it look'd before,
In all its sylvan pride.

Right royal tower'd the giant trees,

In brightest verdure clad;

The wild-flowers' scent perfumed the breeze,
And ev'ry thing seem'd glad.

The notes of song-birds, thrush and lark,
Fell sweetly on the ear;

The Gaunless, murm'ring through the park,
Stole onward to the Wear.

But brighter than the birds that flew,

And merrier than they,

And fairer than the flowers that grew,
Were children at their play;

And fairest on the grassy slope,-
Three summers she had seen,

Her parents' pet and pride and hope,-
Was innocent Florine.

The nurse, a truant boy to find,

Ran off from Florry's side;

The little maiden, left behind,

Thought, "Now I'll have a ride."

Into her little coach she get,
Which there was standing still;
With Florry's weight, it left the spot,
And trundled down the hill;

Straight towards a precipice it flew,
High o'er the river's bed;

As if wild viewless horses drew,
On, self-impell'd, it sped.

O! who can stay the coming shock?

O! who can Florry save

From being dash'd from rock to rock?

Or drown'd beneath the wave?

Alas! no human hand is nigh

To stay the fatal flight;

And those below who look on high

Are petrified with fright!

The chaise flies faster than before,

The wind behind it lags;

The brink is reach'd!-it rushes o'er

The summit of the crags!

She fell not where the rocks are piled,

But where the stream is deep

A valiant man, to save the child,

Reach'd Florry with a leap.

She's saved! she's saved!-well done! well done

Well done, the strong and brave!

I bless the man who risk'd his own

Sweet Florry's life to save.

But most that Father-God I bless,
Who marks the sparrow's fall,
Whose hand I trace in great and less,
In Florry's ride and all.

No dryad of the poet's dream

Could guide the chaise so well; No fabled naiad of the stream

Caught Florry as she fell.

And now the life, which He has spared, To Him for aye be given;

Be His the child for whom He cared; Be His in earth and heaven!

13

T. M'C.

It is a common temptation from Satan, the great adversary, to think how much better we could serve and glorify God in another situation than the one which we occupy. But it should be remembered that it is not "chance," but the Lord of earth and heaven who assigns us our places, respectively, and appoints us our work. And if, in the lower room of a rich man's mansion, or in the kitchen of a farmer's or tradesman's dwelling, we can exemplify and commend the religion of Jesus Christ, we do the will of our Father who is in heaven as acceptably as if we occupied a more prominent and public position. How much revered servants may be for their faithfulness and devotion to the interests of a family, we may learn from the Scripture records of Eleazar and Deborah. How important may be the words of a youthful maiden, and what glory to God may result from them, we may learn from the inspired narrative of the Syrian captive maid. A child will bear with it, through all after-life, remembrance of its nurse; and fellow-servants will be influenced in time and in eternity by what they see and hear in the kitchen. To servants, as to masters and mistresses, the Divine declaration concerning the decisions of the Last Judgment, is applicable" By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

A domestic servant connected with Surrey Chapel when the Rev. J. Sherman was pastor, having her heart filled with love and zeal for Christ, was desirous of being sent out as a female missionary to the heathen, but Divine Providence not opening her way for such public and prominent service, Mrs. Sherman, the wife of the minister, wrote to her as follows:

"I rejoice to hear, my dear child, that you have obtained a situation; and as I find the class will not meet to-morrow, on account of the teachers' meeting, I cannot help writing to you to urge upon you the necessity and duty of not allowing your burning desire to work for God to interfere with your diligent performance of the duties of your present situation. You glorify God most by diligently, and, as in

His sight, performing the duties devolving on you in the sphere in which it has pleased Him to place you. If your heart is so set upon a certain way of serving Him, that you fail to serve Him in any other, you prove yourself unfit to serve Him at all. I long for you thoroughly to understand this; you show your love by bearing as well as doing His will, and by doing whatever He gives you to perform. It may be that by thus calling you to a work so different from that which you desire, He is proving and exercising you, in order to prepare you for work of another kind. If diligent in His service you will be diligent in serving those whom He appoints you to serve. If your one desire is to please Him, it will make you as diligent in scouring, dusting, and sweeping, as in distributing tracts-as anxious to be as a Christian a pattern of neatness, punctuality, and order in your situation here, as if you were a missionary to the heathen you will labour to work well with your hands that you may be able to work for Him in whatever way He chooses. This is your school where you are fitting for future life; if inefficient and inferior in your services, you are not yet qualified for superior work. Get perfect in your present occupation whatever it may be, and this will tend to qualify you in body and mind for any service to which you may be called. Till you perform household duties well, you are unfit to be a valuable missionary. But do not press so much any particular path; God knows your desire, my dear child, and says, "it was well that it was in thine heart;" and if He sees fit, can yet give you your wish. There leave it, simply seeking to do His will. Do strive to be in every way a treasure to your employer. Cultivate great neatness and cleanliness, in your work and in your appearance. All these things are pleasing to God, especially when done to please Him. God abundantly bless and teach you, and give you your heart's desire to work, to live, to die for Him.—Memoir of Mrs. Sherman.

"Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord."-Romans xii. 11.

15

THESE are strange times for the Papacy. One day the Pope is declared to be infallible by a council of bishops of his own making. Another day he is deposed from his throne by a Roman Catholic power, and his deposition is formally approved by the almost unanimous vote of his former subjects, the people of Rome. Let men read these facts in whatever light they may, a believer in Divine Providence cannot help being struck with the juxta-position in which one event stands towards the other. People have remarked very freely upon the sudden and humiliating collapse of the French Empire, after the vain-glory and arrogance in which the war originated; and, surely, not less striking are the paralleled and contemporaneous events at Rome, as seen in the blasphemous usurpation by the Pope of the Divine attribute of infallibility, followed by the downfall of his temporal power! These sudden disasters to Popory, which may foreshadow its final overthrow, have been brought upon it by its own acts, and by the conduct of its own promoters. The convening of the Ecumenical Council, so called, was its own act; or, if instigated to it, it was not by Protestants, but by Jesuits, in their deep craftiness and swollen ambition. The temporal power of the Pope has been overthrown, but not by noisy Orangemen from Ulster, nor by violent Protestant assailants, roused to fierce action by the exciting eloquence of anti-Papal orators, but by the army of a Roman Catholic king, commanded by Roman Catholic officers, and composed almost wholly of Roman Catholic soldiers. And now, what have Protestants to do? They have to watch and wait for opportunities of service in the kingdom of the Saviour, leaving Divine Providence to use its own instruments in doing its own work. Meanwhile, let it be the earnest prayer of all true Protestants for the final overthrow of the "Man of Sin," and for grace, on behalf of all true followers of Christ, to be faithful in the great emergency.

It must be remembered, however, that Popery, if deprived of temporal dominion, is not dead. It is too tenacious of life to die at a stroke. The Jesuits are likely to be expelled by legislative mandate from Rome, but it is

hard as the clearing of noxious weeds from the soil in which they have long grown, to have Jesuits expelled from any city or country where they have been allowed admission. It is difficult to say where Jesuits are not. They not only linger in Rome-they are also in England. Doubtless they are in the Protestant Church, corrupting and misleading it. They fill offices of editors and journalists for professedly Protestant publications. They are in universities and seats of learning; and they are filling hospitals and workhouses with Roman Catholic nurses, matrons, and attendants. They will soon be plotting mischief for emancipated Rome, and seeking to undermine its liberty and its loyalty. It has been openly avowed by them that Great Britain is their chief mission ground, believing that if they gain it for Popery, they will secure the world. The calls to Protestants for vigilance and service are loud and imperative, and must not be neglected. All profesions of alteration and advancement with the increased liberalism of the times must be disregarded; for Popery is essentially illiberal; and by her own vaunted infallibility is obviously unchangeable. What she has been she is now; and what she is now she will be. Popery is Anti-christ, not to be gradually corrected and improved, but totally destroyed. Her destruction, however, will be, not by secular and temporal weapons, but by the Spirit's sword, which is the Word of God. Evangelical Christians must make less of their sectarian differences, and more of essential truth. They must unite, not for amalgamation of all distinctive names and orders among themselves, but as the several distinguishable regiments in one army for Christ; and by the promulgation of Scripture truths they must make manifest the works of darkness, and overpower them with the light of the gospel.

Romish Saints." The Church of Rome in her calendars hath placed such a rabble of saints in heaven, that if a Lucian or a Julian should arise anew to write satires against the inhabitants of heaven, and criticise upon the vulgar conceptions of them, they would find greater matter of laughter among the 'Christian saints' than the heathen gods.-Henry Wharton.

The War.

The war between Prussia and France is frightful to contemplate, and almost absorbs, for the time, the attention of the world. Gigantic, indeed, is the scale on which the collossal struggle is being carried on. Where in history can be found events so numerous and stupendous comprised within the space of a few months? The fall of a proud and powerful empire; the captivity of the foremost of European monarchs; the flight of the Empress-Regent and the Prince Imperial; the surrender of immense armies, including in one of them the Imperial Guard, commanded by Marshals renowned for bravery and military skill; the complete investment of the largest, gayest, and most sumptuous metropolitan city on the continent of Europe; these are events so unlooked-for, and momentous, that one is appalled in the mere contemplation of them. But in connection with these great occurrences is a countless multitude of cases of individual suffering, which, in detail, and in the aggregate, are known only

to Divine Omniscience. The numbers slain in battle; dying of their wounds; perishing through hunger, cold, and nakedness; the families ruined in business; the homes desolated; the multitudes of wives made widows, of children left fatherless, and of parents left sonless; these are satistics which can never be collected, and which, if gathered, would astound the world. Where is the Christian heart that will not turn in prayer to Him who "maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth;" who "breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; and burneth the chariot in the fire!" "Man's extremity is God's opportunity." Let, then, ceaseless prayer ascend from all devoted Christians that this terrible war on the Continent may speedily cease.

The East.

Evil tidings also come from China of hatred fomenting towards foreigners, and of murderous depredations committed, which call for prayer from the Churches at home, for Divine protection over missionaries in that part of the world. From other regions, however, come glad tidings of the extension of Christ's kingdom. In Ceylon, the first eastern field of Methodist missions, the work of conversion

At

continues to spread among the natives. Colombo, as well as at Morotto and Kandy, penitent seekers of salvation crowd the Methodist sanctuaries, and find deliverance from guilt and condemnation through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And in Northern Ceylon, also, the good work of salvation is extending. Native preachers in those parts, as well as European missionaries, go forth to old and young, and under palm-trees, and in cinnamon-groves, proclaim the words of eternal life, with power from on high.

England.

In our own land, amidst the working of Satan "with all deceivableness of unrighteousness," there are increased yearnings among Evangelical Christians for closer intercourse, and more visible union. And though some of the schemes proposed for absorbing Churches into one formal system of order and government are palpably visionary and impracticable, yet let us not fail to pray that the Saviour's own valedictory petition concerning true believers may be fulfilled, "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me."

Education is at present calling forth increased efforts by lovers of God's word, and the best friends of the country, who seek to have all its youth scriptually instructed in duties relating to God and to man. It may be hoped that the failing effort to nationally exclude Bible-teaching from common schools will be overruled for good by Him who brings light out of darkness; and that the time is approaching when every child in England may have a sound, secular, and scriptural education.

The crying evil of intemperance in England demands the attention and efforts of all British Christians; and especially in relation to the young, who are more than ever in danger of forming habits that will prove injurious and ruinous to them. Through the working of Satan, who is transformed into an angel of light, sacred music is performed in certain public-houses to attract young people from the Sunday-schools.