School, and Sunday Church going?" continued Miss Campbell, "and do you never feel a secret pleasure when the day is over, and you think that in a few hours, you will be able to go on with all you left unfinished on Saturday, just as Jane has been regretting she cannot complete her work, which she is allowed to lay by till Monday ?" There was a total silence amongst the girls at the close of Miss Campbell's speech, till Mary Cariss, seeing that her teacher, waited for a reply, said, "Yes Ma'am, but it is no wonder, we poor children should be inclined to complain sometimes, that there is one day in every week on which we can do nothing to help our parents to gain a livelihood."

"Ah, dear children," replied Miss Campbell," you would never murmur thus, if you but knew, how great a blessing Sunday is to all of us. To the poor, even more than to the rich, for they need it the most. As to its being an idle day, why it may be made the busiest as it ought to be the happiest day of the week. Do you think we are idle, when we are engaged in learning things, which will, if rightly applied, make us wiser, and happier, more holy, and more single-minded day by day? Are we idle, when we are listening to the ministers of God, who are sent to teach us how to live, so as to deserve the name of disciples of Jesus Christ? Are we doing no good to our parents, our brothers and sisters, friends and relations, when we are praying to God for them, and entreating Him to grant them blessings which it is not in our power to bestow? Instead of grieving over your unfinished work, dear Jane, spend your time to-morrow in praying your heavenly Father that He would give your poor sick mother such peace and patience

under her sufferings as will far outweigh any temporal comforts, which you may be able to provide her with. And you dear children, be diligent in laying to heart, what you may hear in Church or at School, that you may know how to set a good example to others, and instruct those who are younger than yourselves, how to walk in those paths, which are indeed paths of pleasantness and peace. But we must not forget that one great distinguishing characteristic of Sunday is, that it is a day of rest from bodily toil, and we ought to be very thankful that God has so ordained it."

"Oh Ma'am," interrupted little Sarah Manners, "father often says, we ought to thank God every day of our lives that Sunday comes every week, for if it was not for the quiet he felt then, he should have broken down long ago, with the hard work he has to do at the factory, and then what I would have become of us all."

"Very true Sarah, and the longer you live, the more reason you will have to bless God, for such a wise and merciful institution as that of the Sabbath day. But I do not want to give you too long a sermon, children, and so I will finish now, by hoping that you will always remember to keep holy God's Day of Rest!

"PRAYER is not only an excellent means to obtain all blessings, but the very act itself is an elevation of the soul to contemplate the beauties of the Divine nature, that by beholding such transcendent perfections, it may learn to love, desire to please, and delight to imitate so great and exact a pattern; and consequently it is a duty of the highest concernment, for it is an honour and a benefit to us, and yet it is accepted by God as our homage, and the testimony of our obedience.-Comber.

"THE END OF ALL THINGS IS AT HAND."

TIME's ever restless stream moves on,

So noiseless in its flow,

"Tis only when our gaze is fixed,

Its swiftness we can know:

'Tis only when our earth-dimm'd sight
Is strengthened from on High,
That we can trace how every wave
That moves so silently,

Still urges with resistless force

Our own frail vessel on its course.

The helm is in our hands, and still

Whichever way we steer,

Beneath the waves that seem so calm
Quicksands and rocks appear:

Nor may we stay our course awhile,
For the stream knows no rest,

And onwards, for our weal or woe
We're carried on its breast;

Eternity our only shore,

There, Heaven or Hell for evermore.

Nor is it on ourselves alone

That Time its impress shows;

All in that world of death and change
Seems hast'ning to a close:

Names, once renowned in history's page,

Predicted signs of some great change

Are gathering fast around,
While every prophecy fulfilled

Gives forth a warning sound.
Wars and distress of nations cause
Men's hearts to fail for fear:
And Antichrist in various forms
Is threatening to appear;
Knowledge instead of love is prized,
Faith and Obedience despised.

The world is waxing old, and soon
Its might and power will end ;
And, in His glories pomp arrayed,
The Lord, as Judge, descend.
Then happy they whom He shall find
For His approach prepared,

For in His Kingdom they shall prove
A lasting, sure reward;

And every present grief and pain,

Issue in their eternal gain.

But how may those who now presume
To slight God's offered grace,
In that dread day of wrath and shame

Dare to lift up their face?

Oh Lord, since all unknown the hour

When thou again shalt come.

Grant that each day we grow more meet

For our eternal home,

And when the final trump shall sound,
Watching for Thee, may we be found!

E. F.

THE TWO CLOUDS.-No. I.

AN ALLEGORY,

Two children, Amy and Dora were playing idly in a field, when a female figure accosted them and said somewhat sternly, "arise, and be going on your journey, here is no season of rest;" the children frightened and amazed looked at the speaker, who, seeing she had arrested their attention, smiled kindly on them, and bid them give heed to her words.

"My name is Habit, I am sent on an errand of love to a purifying fountain;" taking her youthful companions by the hand, she conducted them to the bright sparkling water, directed them to dive down and each take out a diamond heart, which she hung round their necks, adding, "there is a power, a charm, and a strong will in these hearts of which you little dream, enabling you to resist the contagion of evil. Be led by their dictates, and Habit will strengthen the work; smother their warnings by imbibing the infections of evil, and Habit will bind the deadly poison more closely about you. This lower earth is not your home, you most travel on to the celestial mountain.

"The most glorious Being who took on Him a human form, has made the ladder of ascent, and holds it firm! a heart from the mansions on high has been entwined about you. the question now is, will you persevere on the right road? or will you follow after the world, the flesh, and the devil?" Amy and Dora eagerly cried out, "We will walk in the right road." "That you may do so, my children, I will describe to you the rock of safety and the shoal of danger.