And cannot our little children learn A similar lesson in their turn?

If a poor young couple some money lay
Aside in the bank, for a rainy day,

The Breton peasant will nod his head-
'It is Robin's bit of grain,' 'tis said.
If a sinner in his mad career
pause
And drop a prayer, or a penitent tear;
If amid the toil, and din, and strife,
He stop to think of his evil life;

Then will the Christian Breton say,
Robin has brought some seed to-day.'
So the redbreast's gift is by them wrought
Into homely precept and daily thought.
And not alone may we weave in rhymes
The quaint old legend of other times;
Like them we must to the Father say,
Send us a little seed to-day.

And if we plant of that goodly store,
Himself will bless it for evermore,
Till o'er our life's unfruitful plain
May roll the billows of golden grain.

Τ

M. R. H.

THE EAGLE.

HE eagle is often mentioned in the Holy Bible. It stands for strength and swiftness. 'The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth.' (Deut. xxviii. 49.) I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.' (Exod. xix. 4.) 'He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have trespassed against my law.' (Hos. viii. 1.) She maketh her nest on high; she dwelleth and abideth on the

rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.' (Job, xxxix. 27, 28.)

The eagle has been used to represent the saints of God, and especially St. John the Evangelist. It well befits him, from what we know both of his personal story and from the character of his gospel.

The eagle's food is of the earth, yet its ways are on high. It soars on high, above where the eye of man fails to follow it; and it is supposed to be able to look undazzled on the sun itself. So St. John the Evangelist founded his teaching upon the everlasting Rock. Abiding in that strong place, his faith and love soared far above the world.

We may well suppose that the disciple who

lay on our Lord's bosom, and realised His Godhead, could not do otherwise than show it forth in his Gospel. They who wait on the Lord' must ever mount up on eagles' wings.' (Isa. xl. 31.)

6

Job, speaking of the eagle, says, 'Where the slain are, there is she' (Job, xxxix. 30); and a passage in the Gospel seems to refer to this: Where the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together.' (S. Matt. xxiv. 28.) Some have thought that this might mean, that where our Lord's Body is there will His saints be gathered. In the story of St. John's life we find him alone, of all the disciples, at the foot of the cross: Where the slain is, there is he.' (Job, xxxix. 30.)

You will sometimes see in churches the Holy Bible resting on the wings of an eagle, of carved wood or brass; and this should remind you that by His Holy Word our Lord bears you nearer to Himself, disclosing Himself in that Word as the Son of God, in Whom alone we have access to the Father; bearing us aloft as the eagle does her young, till by His divine power we are able to mount up with wings as eagles; to run and not be weary; to walk and not faint.' (Isa. xl. 31.) F. E. H.

RHODA GRANT. (Continued from p. 83.) 30M described to them the whole affair from first to last, and it was evident how deeply he felt the mercy of God in sparing his life.

'I had heard a sermon the Sunday before,' he said, from the text, "Prepare to meet thy God!" The clergyman had told us that it was a good text for miners to keep in memory, as their lives were so uncertain. He spoke about our being always ready for the Master's coming; and what he said seemed to sink deep into my heart, and I thought of it again and again. There were a good many of the miners there that Sunday evening, and I'm sure many of them felt what he said; for they walked home so quiet, and there was little laughing and joking. Poor Johnny who was killed, and who was one of the boys I lived with, felt it, I am sure. On Tuesday, the day it happened, we all went as usual down into the mine together, not feeling as if anything was going to happen; indeed I think most of the fellows were in good spirits. Some of the men were religious, I know, and read their Bibles; and there were two or three who used to sing hymns while they were at work, and tried to turn the talk of their fellow-miners to better things; and there were other poor fellows who drank and swore and I remember that a few had been drinking on that Tuesday morning, and were quarrelling and using bad language. And then I recollect Turner, one of the good men, begging them not to quarrel and swear, and telling them they were sinning against God. And then I heard him singing the hymn,

"There is a fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Emmanuel's reins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains."

And then I remember, as we sat eating our
dinner by lamp-light, that one of the boys
who had just learnt to write traced in the coal
dust the words "Prepare to meet thy God!"
and some poor fellows laughed and jeered
at him. And Turner took the boy's part,
and said quietly to them some solemn words
about watching, as death might come at
any moment; and he tried to point their
thoughts to a Saviour Who was willing and
able to save them from eternal death.
And then, in the afternoon, a sudden crash
came, like the loudest thunder, and the
mine seemed to rock as if there were
an earthquake, and the men ran together
like sheep.
And then I heard groans,
and cries and prayers to God for mercy,
and a hot suffocating air seemed to blow
in, and I heard no more then.'

Tom went on to describe how he had fallen on his hands and knees, and found himself crawling through a hole in the mine. He worked himself on, scarce knowing what he did, till he came to a larger hole, where he was able to breathe a little better, and then he heard another crash, as if the passage behind him had fallen in. This falling in had been the saving of his life, as it had cut off the poisonous gas, which would have soon suffocated him. In this close, confined hole, he lay half-unconscious for two days, without sustenance and with very little air to breathe. On the fourth day he heard a noise close to his head, and gathering up! his little remaining strength, he cried out as loud as he could for help. He was heard, and the colliers, following the sound, soon came to the hollow place where he was lying. The effort exhausted what little power was left, and he swooned, and for

some time after he was brought to the light of day he was thought to be dead.

LITTLE WILLIE AND THE APPLE.

death. He had been carried to the cottage where he had been living, and the poor woman, whose son Johnny had been killed in the explosion, nursed him with the most motherly care. Mr. Randall was with him constantly, and had him conveyed to, his own house when he was well enough to be moved.

He

Tom's constitution had been severely shaken, and it was nearly a month before he was able to be about again. Even now he was far from strong, and the doctor advised him not to go back to the colliery work again, but to go home to his native air, and get employment above-ground when he was strong enough for it. had grown taller, and was thin and holloweyed, and had lost his colour, but his face wore a much happier expression than of That colliery accident had taught yore. him a solemn lesson, which he would never forget, and by the Holy Spirit's help he intended giving up to God's service the life which He had so mercifully spared. The news soon spread of the return of the missing boy, and no one was more glad to hear it and repeat it to her neighbours than good-natured Mrs. Brown, who had so carelessly told Rhoda of the colliery explosion.

tree old;

[gold, The fruit was all shining with crimson and. Hanging temptingly low;-how he longed for a bite!

Though he knew if he took one it wouldn't be right.

Said he, I don't see why my father should say, [to-day;" "Don't touch the old apple-tree, Willie, I shouldn't have thought, now they're hanging so low,

When I asked just for one, he should answer me "No."

one

'He would never find out if I took but just [the sun; And they do look so good shining out in There are hundreds and hundreds, and he wouldn't miss

So paltry a little red apple as this.'

He stretched forth his hand, but a low, mournful strain,

Came wandering dreamily over his brain; In his bosom a beautiful harp had long laid, Which the angel of conscience quite frequently played.

And he sung, Little Willie, beware! oh, beware! [there!

Your father has gone, but your Maker is How sad you would feel if you heard the Lord say,

"This dear little boy stole an apple to-day!"

Then Willie turned round, and as still as a

and going.

(Concluded in our next.)

mouse,

Crept slowly and carefully into the house; In his own little chamber he knelt down to pray