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TIMOTHEUS AND PHILEMON.

you

(Concluded from p. 340.)

ND you, my sons, what shall I say to you? Through you God has done great things. He created you so like each other; He gave you the same beauty, which drew all eyes

and won the hearts of men. When He brought you into the house of the slavedealer He had sent me first, that in that garden I should become your teacher in religion, and tell you still more than you already knew about God and Jesus Christ. And He, too, ordained that Elmine, this great lover of children, should have none of her own; that she, when the slave-dealer was selling you at the market, should just at that moment come to the window, and should be so touched when she saw your tears that she should become to the poor forsaken boys a second mother? All this happened through God's guidance. God, when your dear father was about to be executed, gave you that cheerful courage to petition to die with him. He put the right words into your mouths, which touched the heart of the mighty ruler, preparing him for so great salvation and for our unspeakable joy!

their father's house and brought into a strange land. Not through the plots of that wicked man, but through Thy counsels they came thither; he, against his will and knowledge, must help to fulfil Thy will! Thou didst separate father and children, in order to unite us all here in faith to Thee, and to Him Whom Thou hast sent into the world for our salvation-to Jesus Christ. To Thee be all praise and glory. Oh, grant that we may all remain in faith and love, of one heart and one soul, that we may one day thank Thee for ever in Heaven! To Thee be thanks, adoration, praise, and honour and glory, for ever!'

Full of devotion, and with tears in their eyes, all said 'Amen.' More their hearts were too full for them to say. In silence they separated and retired to rest.

Next morning all were up early. They assembled in the room into which the bright morning sun was shining, announc ing a beautiful spring day. They offered

to God their morning sacrifice of prayer and praise, and then went out into the garden to enjoy the fresh air and the perfume of the flowers.

Abdallah looked with searching eyes round about the country.

At what are you gazing so eagerly? asked Elmine. Does that farm-house there please you so much?"

'Not the house,' said Abdallah, 'but the situation on which it stands.'

He called Lucius and, said, I think of buying that house; I will give the farmer who lives in it enough to buy a newer and much better house. I will pull down that old one, and have a new house built just opposite to yours. We shall then be neighbours, with only the green lawn, and the flower-beds, and the shady orchard, between My house shall be just like yours: indeed, our two houses shall be as like as

us.

your two sons. When we old people close our eyes in death, our houses shall be left to these two young men and their future families. They won't find the choice difficult between two houses so exactly alike, and they will become the best of neighbours.' Abdallah's proposal was carried out at

once.

After breakfast the whole party went to visit the clergyman of the place, who greeted Abdallah and Elmine respectfully. After the others had left Antonius remained behind.

'I have two requests to make of you,' he said. 6 Lucius has so many guests to receive to-day that he has scarcely room for them, and it would be more suitable for me to abide in a clergyman's house. I beg you, therefore, to give me a little chamber where I can be alone. My other request is this,-This noble Turk and his wife, and all the Turks, male and female, who have come with them, are now Christians. To-morrow they will go to church, and it would be well to arrange to have a thanksgiving service in the church.'

'Yes, indeed,' said the pastor; and it shall be as great a one as it is possible to have! To-day, indeed, is Saturday, and tomorrow Sunday; so there it is not much time: but we will do all that is in our power to hold a solemn service.'

In the evening there was fresh rejoicing at Lucius' house, new friendly greetings. Abdallah and Elmine's followers, true Christian friends, arrived. Omar and two other soldiers were on horseback, and still dressed as Turks. Zerine and other female attendants, dressed in Hungarian costume, sat in Abdallah's heavy travelling-carriage, which was followed by two baggage-waggons.

Next morning all went to church. The parishioners had assembled there long before the time, for they had heard what noble strangers were expected. A Pacha,'

The village pastor led Abdallah, Elmine, and Lucius, to a stall prepared for them. During the service Abdallah, Elmine, and all present, were full of fervent devotion and gratitude to God. At last the pastor began that grand hymn of praise-We praise Thee, O God,'-and the whole congregation joined in the ancient song.

When all was over and they were leaving the church, Abdallah said, May our whole future life be such as that song of praise,"We praise Thee, O God!""

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EAST.

IN

BEDS.

N the Holy Land, where our Lord lived, it is much warmer than it is in England. In the middle of the day it is often so hot that people cannot go out, and even at night it is very warm. So the people, who live there, do not use thick bed-clothes to cover them, or bedsteads with curtains; but when they wish to go to sleep, they spread a mat or mattrass on the floor, and lie down upon it. Sometimes they spread their mats on the flat roof of the house, so that the cool wind may blow upon them as they lie asleep.

little garden,' says the Doctor, without informing any one of it, I wrote in the mould, with my finger, the three initial letters of his name; and, sowing gardencresses in the furrows, I covered up the seed, and smoothed the ground. Ten days after this the little boy came running to me, and, with astonishment in his countenance, told me that his name was growing in the garden. I laughed at the story, and seemed inclined to disregard it; but he insisted on my going to see what had happened.

And I went away.

'He followed me, and taking hold of my coat said, "It cannot have happened by chance: somebody must have done it."

""So you think," said I, "that what appears as the letters of your name cannot be by chance?"

""Yes," said he, "I think so."

""Look at yourself," I replied, "and observe your hands and fingers, your legs and feet, and other limbs; are they not regular in their appearance, and useful to you?"

'He said they were.

""Do you think that you came hither by chance?" said I.

""No," he answered, "that cannot be; something must have made me."

"And Who is that something?" I asked.

"He said, "I do not know."

'I had now gained the point I aimed at, and saw that his reason taught him (though he could not express it), that what begins to be must have a cause; and that what is formed with regularity must have an intelligent cause. I therefore told him the name of the GREAT BEING Who made him, and all the world; concerning Whose adorable nature I gave him such information as I thought he could, in some measure, comprehend. He never forgot the lesson nor what led to it.'

IFTY-ONE, fifty-two, fiftythree!' How much longer would she keep up the game? The ball flew steadily towards the nursery wall, and then bounded off and was dexterously caught in little Milly's practised hands. Ninety-one, ninety-two, ninetythree! Milly was in high glee: she had tried many a time without success to reach a hundred; and now she seemed certain to do it. She did not hear the door behind her open and George come slyly in. Ninety-six, ninety-seven, ninetyeight.' At this breathless moment a rude hand sent the ball out of its course, and a mocking voice cried out:

'Not quite a hundred yet, Miss Milly! You must try again. Nothing like patience and perseverance!'

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