Chapter M: E. C (3)

The cook soon announced that the orders were executed. "Then I command you to take this fellow," pointing to the inquisitor, "and fry him alive in the copper." This unexpected command thunderstruck the holy father. Alarmed for himself, he rose to be gone. The cook began to bundle him away. "Oh, good captain! good captain! spare me, spare me!" "Have him away," replied the captain. "Oh, no, my good captain!" "Have him away. I'll teach him to attempt to bribe a British commander to sacrifice the life of an Englishman to gratify a herd of bloody men." Down the inquisitor fell upon his knees, offering him all his money, and promising never to return if he would let him begone. When the captain had sufficiently alarmed him, he dismissed him, warning him never to come again on such an errand.

What must have been the reverse of feelings in the young man to find himself thus happily delivered. He fell upon his knees, in a flood of tears, before the captain, and poured a thousand blessings upon his brave and noble deliverer.

"This," said the admiral to the gentleman, "is the circumstance that began our acquaintance. I took him to be my servant; he served me from affection; mutual attachment ensued, and it has inviolably subsisted and increased to this day."--_From Cyclopaedia of Moral and Religious Anecdotes, with Introductory Essay by Dr. Cheever._

CHILD HEROISM.

"Mother, just look what I've come upon! I found the small board at the back loose, and beneath it, this."

Thus spoke Julia White, who was engaged in scrubbing out the single cupboard of their one room, and as she uttered the words she held up a paper with two sovereigns wrapped in it.

"Why are you so prying, child?" said the mother. "You would have been so much better without the knowledge of my secret. Now, if your father should come home tipsy to-night, you will be forced to tell him where the money is, and I shall lose the whole of it. Wherever to hide it away from you, I don't know."

Poor Julia looked frightened enough, for she was only eleven years of age, and her dread of her father, who frequently showed himself a ferocious ruffian, was extreme; but there was no help for the case now. The mother had to leave in little more than an hour to watch a patient to whom she was night nurse, and there was no time to find another hiding-place. To carry the money with her where she was going would scarcely have been safe, so, after seeing little Nancy, with the baby, safely returned, and giving the latter its meal at her breast, the good, hard-working woman departed to fulfil her engagement.

The children left alone, the terror of the elder one could not escape the notice of the younger, although she was only a little over seven; and she at length said--

"What can be the matter with you, Julia?"

"I know where mother's money is, and am afraid father will come home and want it."

"Tell him you know nothing about it. He always believes you."

"Nancy!"

She had been rightly taught by a good mother, and young as she was, realized that this was not the course to take, so, kneeling by the side of her child sister, she offered the following simple, but heartfelt, prayer--

"Dear Jesus, please don't let father come home to-night and want mother's money; but if he should do so, please help me not to tell him where it is."

The strength she had thus gained was soon put to a cruel test, for into the neat, cleanly room there quickly rushed the brute who represented all that she had ever known of father. The scene that ensued was of a character not unfrequent in low London districts, but none the less worthy of record. Poor little Nancy, dreading what might follow, caught up the baby, and fled with it into a corner of the room, as the safest place of refuge, for we ought to have stated that the ruffian had locked the door upon his entrance. Catching his eldest daughter's arm, he said, in not an over loud voice--

"Get me your mother's money."

Meeting with no reply from the white-faced girl, he next said--

"Do you know where it is?"

But still there was no answer. What followed seems dreadful to relate, suiting better with the nature of South Sea or African cannibals than with the natives of Christian England. First twisting the girl's arm round, and causing her dreadful pain, he next bestowed upon her with his brute strength a succession of awful blows; but, though she could not keep back her cries, she did not yield to him in the least.

Wearied at length, he flung her from him on to the wall, and during the ensuing five minutes, with bursts of terrible oaths, threatened that, if she did not acquaint him with her secret, he would kill her; but, mercifully, the neighbours were enabled at the end of this time to break into the room, or there is no telling what mischief might have followed.

But we cannot finish without describing the heroism of poor little Nancy, which almost equalled that of her sister. Dodging from side to side during the struggle, now in this corner and now in that, and shielding the baby with her youthful person, she, with wonderful activity and courage, kept it from harm.

It seems something like divine retribution that this dreadful father this very evening received a terrible beating in the public-house, and his system being unhealthy, as the result of drinking habits, he died in hospital of his injuries.

S. DENNIS.

THERE is a pre-established harmony between the voice of the Shepherd and the heart of the sheep. "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you."

LITTLE KINDNESSES.

For the intercourse of social life, it is by little acts of watchful kindness recurring daily and hourly--and opportunities of doing kindnesses, if sought for, are for ever starting up--it is by words, by tones, by gestures, by looks, that affection is won and preserved. He who neglects these trifles, yet boasts that, whenever a great sacrifice is called for, he shall be ready to make it, will rarely be loved. The likelihood is, he will not make it, and if he does, it will be much rather for his own sake than for his neighbour's. Many persons, indeed, are said to be penny wise and pound foolish; but they who are penny foolish will hardly be pound wise, although selfish vanity may now and then for a moment get the better of selfish indolence, for Wisdom will always have a microscope in her hand.

A DRUNKARD'S WILL.

I leave to society a ruined character, a wretched example, and a memory that will soon rot. I leave to my parents, during the rest of their lives, as much sorrow as humanity in a feeble and declining state can sustain. I leave to my brothers and sisters as much mortification and injury as I could bring on them. I leave my wife a broken heart, a life of wretchedness and shame, to weep over my premature death. I give and bequeath to each of my children, poverty, ignorance, and low character, and the remembrance that their father was a monster.

WE may as well attempt to bring pleasure out of pain as to unite indulgence in sin with the enjoyment of happiness.--_Hodge._

THE LAND OF THE GIANTS.

"_And we took all his cities at that time: there was not a city which we took not from them," &c._--DEUT. iii. 4, 5.

Sixty cities in one small province! Can it be true? Has not the copyist erred in his arithmetic? Should it not be sixteen, or six? Does it not appear improbable? The province mentioned, Argob, is not more than thirty miles by twenty; and that within so limited a space there should be sixty cities, "besides unwalled towns a great many," can scarcely be accepted literally.

Now, it is a great blessing, for the confirmation of our faith in the truth of the Bible, and the silencing of those who delighted in making others to be of a doubtful mind, that the literal truth of the statement is fully established--not by a comparison of parallel passages; not by a new translation of the text; not by the testimony of ancient historians; but by the remains of the cities themselves. There are they in Argob, the oldest specimens of domestic architecture in the whole world.

English travellers have visited the wild land of the giants; they have penetrated into the rocky recesses of Argob; they have slept in the deserted homes of the Rephaim; and have come back to tell us that the stones reared by those ancient idolaters bear witness to the truth of the living God.

The Rev. J. L. Porter spent a considerable time in exploring the cities of Bashan. At Burak he lodged in a city of several hundred houses, all deserted, but all in good repair, though built two or three thousand years ago. The walls of these houses were five feet thick, formed of large blocks of hewn stone, put together without lime or cement of any kind. The roofs were formed of long blocks of the same black basalt, measuring twelve feet in length, eighteen inches in breadth, and six inches in thickness. The doors were stone slabs hung upon pivots formed of projecting parts of the slabs, working in sockets in the lintel and threshold; the windows were guarded with stone shutters--everything was of stone, as if the builders had designed each edifice to last for ever.

The cities have endured, but the inhabitants have fled. You pass the ruined gateway where stern warriors kept watch, and from whose towers the watchmen swept the country and signalled the coming of the foe. All is hushed. Rank weeds and grass, brambles and creeping plants, have overgrown the well-made roads; and in the massive houses, where once on a time happy groups assembled, and children shouted with joy, the fox and the jackal make their dwelling, while owls and daws take possession of the roof. Here is a city that must at one period have contained at least twenty thousand inhabitants. Once its streets were noisy and bustling, and the dealers made their shrewd bargains in the markets, while the grandees dwelt in their stone palaces, haughty of spirit, as if the slaves who waited on them were of another flesh than theirs. Here dwelt the giants, and after them Jews, and Greeks, and Romans, Saracens and Turks, each leaving memorials of their presence; but all gone--the whole abandoned to the wild birds and the beasts of prey. There are palaces with thorns and thistles growing in the chief room; there are temples with branches of trees shooting through the gaping walls; there are tombs festooned with the rich luxuriance of nature; there is everything to tell of desolation and decay.

You remember that we read in Joshua that the kingdom of Og, the giant, included all Bashan unto Salcah; and the Israelites took and occupied the whole land, from Mount Hermon unto Salcah. This is the frontier city of Bashan, and is one of the most remarkable in Palestine. There are about five hundred houses still remaining, a number of square towers, a few mosques, and a great old castle on the top of a hill. But the city, held at first by the giants, and at last by the Turks, has long been deserted, and the tread of horses on the paved street disturbs only a fox in its den or a wild bird in its nest. The castle hill is about three hundred feet in height, the base encircled by a moat. The building itself appears to have been of Jewish foundation, though it is probable that the site was occupied by a still older fortress. There is Roman masonry in the work, and the Saracens have added to the beauty, if not to the strength, of the structure; but though the exterior wall remains, the interior is choked with rubbish. The summit of the castle commands an extensive prospect--a varied, romantic, but wild scene of rugged rocks and luxuriant verdure, comprising no less than thirty deserted cities. On the right stretches Moab, on the left Arabia; behind, in terraced slopes, the hills of Bashan--a sad and solemn scene of utter desolation.

BIBLE ENIGMA.

A son of Gideon.

A king of Moab.

An untruthful woman.

A man slain by God.

The son of a persecuted woman.

What did the Israelites once desire?

A God-fearing man.

An officer of a king.

One of the Apostles.

The initials will form a passage of Scripture.

ALFRED CLAPSON
(Aged 10 years).

_Reigate._

OUR BIBLE CLASS.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD, HIS LAMBS AND SHEEP.

(ISAIAH xl. 11.)

We know that Jesus is the Person of whom our text speaks, because His herald and forerunner is described in the third verse, and John the Baptist applied the prophecy to himself, when the Pharisees wanted to know who he really was--"The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord."

He came to teach the necessity of repentance, to reprove the pride of the Pharisee, bringing low the hills and mountains of their self-esteem; while the despised tax-gatherers and soldiers were taught how to rise, by the grace of God, to the position of honourable and useful members of society, and thus the valleys were exalted (Luke iii. 6-14). God, according to His promise, sent His Prophet to turn the hearts of the people in some measure before Jesus Himself appeared (Mal. iv. 5, 6).

And then, though in a human form, the "Lord God came with strong hand," "mighty to save." His "reward was with Him, and the recompense of His work was before Him," and He did then, and does still, "feed His people like a shepherd." It was the Lord God who came among men; but how did He come? Not with earthly pomp and glory, and His heavenly majesty was but dimly seen.

I thought of this on July 17th last, when the Prince of Wales went with the Princess to open the Great Northern Hospital at Upper Holloway, London. The Royal party were attired in deep mourning, on account of the recent death of the Emperor Frederick of Germany, and so quietly did their carriage pass along that many scarcely recognized them, and nearly all who were looking expectantly for the Prince's coming were greatly disappointed at the absence of a showy retinue. Yet he fulfilled all that he promised, and more, for he, with his wife and daughters, visited all the patients in the hospital, speaking kindly words, and doubtless giving real pleasure to those afflicted ones.

So, when that infinitely greater One, the Prince of Peace, came, He did all that had been predicted of Him; and though even His own disciples expected grandeur which they did not find, and for a while were grieved and perplexed, yet when, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they better understood His mission, they perceived that He had finished His work most gloriously, and had "done all things well."

The Shepherd of Israel, then, is the Lord God, of whom David sang, "The Lord" (Jehovah) "is my Shepherd: I shall not want," which Jesus followed up by saying, "I am the Good Shepherd, and am come that My sheep might have life, and have more abundantly all the blessings My people enjoyed before I came into this world" (see John x.).

"He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd." Jesus here appears as a King as well as a Shepherd, for good kings care for and defend their subjects, but none can do as He does, who is "over all, blessed for evermore." All other shepherds must lead their sheep into green pastures, or procure them food in some other way, but Jesus supplies His people from Himself. All the fulness of love, grace, and blessing are His own, and as the poet sings--

"On a dying Christ I feed;
This is meat and drink indeed."

Christ once crucified for the redemption of His loved ones, but now alive for evermore, is the life and joy of all who believe on His name.

And these sheep are divided into two classes--lambs, and their parents. Those who are young, inexperienced, and weak, like Christ's followers were when He was on earth, how gently He "carried" them, guarding, supporting, and instructing so gradually until they became able to lead others in the ways of God. And still He tends His feeble ones with special care. He is kind and full of compassion, and they who most need His protection are most sure to have it, for He fully knows the need.

But the older sheep need the shepherd's consideration as much as the lambs of the flock. Those who have young ones to nourish and care for must be gently led.

The Apostle Paul said that "the care of all the Churches of Christ pressed daily upon him" (2 Cor. xi. 28), yet he could tell how the Lord comforted both himself and his fellow-workers in all their trials, so that they were enabled to comfort others; and speaking from his own experience, he could encourage his friends to "cast all their care upon Him" who ever cares for all His people.

And it is Jesus only who can really lead and feed His flock. Ministers of the Gospel are called "pastors," "shepherds." As Christ's servants, they may be, and often are, the means of leading their hearers into green pastures, and of restoring the wandering and the weak; yet every true pastor is a sheep after all, and all spiritual, heavenly power and blessing must proceed from Him alone.

I was much interested, some time ago, in a pretty little poem, illustrated by the picture of a splendid ram, standing beside his wounded little one, calling loudly for the help he could not render; and the shepherd, hearing his cries, hastened to the spot, and carried the helpless little thing to the fold. And methought, "Is not this a beautiful parable for us?" If we are longing to help and heal the feeble, the straying, and the sin-sick, and feel how little we can do, let us seek to follow this sheep's example, and call upon our Shepherd--

"Whose ears attend the softest call,
Whose eyes can never sleep."

He is the Good Shepherd, for He gave His life for the sheep; the Chief Shepherd, possessing all the amiable and winning attractions that charm and draw the heart; and the Great Shepherd, almighty and unchanging, "able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him."

Oh, that we all may know His love, which never can be fully known on earth, and enjoy the sweet privilege of commending all our loved ones to His gracious care, assured that He is able to do all that His heart desireth, and that--

"With heaven and earth at His command,
He waits to answer prayer."

Our next subject will be, _The Glory of Christ, as described by Himself in John xvii_.

Yours affectionately,
H. S. L.

THE POWER OF KINDNESS.

Elihu Burritt, speaking of the power of kindness, says, "There is no power of love so hard to get and keep as a kind voice. A kind hand is deaf and dumb. It may be rough in flesh and blood, yet do the work of a soft heart, and do it with a soft touch. But there is no one thing that love so much needs as a sweet voice to tell what it means and feels; and it is hard to get and keep it in the right tone."

BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN OCTOBER.

Oct. 7. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 25. Oct. 14. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 26. Oct. 21. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 27. Oct. 28. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 28.

PRIZE ESSAY.

CHARITY.

Paul says (1 Cor. xiii. 4) that "charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up"; and in the thirteenth verse, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

Now, this shows that charity is a very great and good thing, and that we ought to desire to have charity above all things. "If we have not charity, we are nothing."

Charity means "love," and that is the greatest of all good gifts. Love supplies all other wants, however hard they may be; and so, if we have not it, we are not by any means complete, for "above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness" (Col. iii. 14). This teaches us that charity is perfect above all things, and that we are to "love our enemies, and pray for those that despitefully use us"; also, we are exhorted to "let brotherly love continue."

"Brethren, let us walk together
In the bonds of love and peace;
Can it be a question whether
Brethren should from conflict cease?
'Tis in union,
Hope, and joy, and love increase."

There would be fewer quarrels and less sin if every one had charity. "Charity," or love, "covers a multitude of sins." "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Tim. ii. 22).

In 1 Corinthians xvi. 14, it says, "Let all your things be done with charity," which means that all our actions are to be done in love. "God is love." Jesus had charity or love when He was on earth. His love knew no bounds. When God sent His only Son Jesus Christ down into the world, it was done thoroughly out of love to sinful man.

Jesus Himself was full of love, for He prayed for His persecutors when He was on the cross, and said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

"High beyond imagination
Is the love of God to man;
Far too deep for human reason;
Fathom that it never can:
Love eternal
Richly dwells in Christ the Lamb."

"If God so loved us, ought we not to love one another?"

Charity is being kind and loving to one another, and helping one another when we can. If we are not kind and gentle to them, we have not charity, and do not love each other. When people do ever such great things, if they do it for self-praise, and not for love, it does not profit them anything. If we love our neighbours as ourselves, we shall never do them any ill, but rather "kill them by kindness," even if they are inclined to resent our charity, or love.

JESSIE MARTHA COLLINS
(Aged 11 years).

_19, Platt Street, Pancras Road, London, N. W._

[Very good Essays have been sent by Ada Dudley Mote, E. B. Knocker, A. J. Wells, H. F. Forfeitt, K. E. Thomas, W. E. Cray, C. Bowman, B. E. J. Noakes, A. Judd, C. Lack, Winnie Langman, and F. Lawrence.]

[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of Foxe's "Book of Martyrs."

The subject for December will be, "The Disobedience of our First Parents and its Results"; and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that subject, a copy of "The Loss of All Things for Christ." All competitors must give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, before the twentieth of October, in order that the Volume may be completed for binding.]

ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.

(_Page 213_)

"_Persecution._"--2 TIMOTHY iii. 12.

P otiphar Genesis xxxvii. 36. E noch Genesis iv. 17. R ehoboam 1 Kings xi. 43. S apphire Ezekiel i. 26. E bal Joshua viii. 30. C andace Acts viii. 27. U r Genesis xi. 28. T hyatira Revelation i. 11. I ram Genesis xxxvi. 43. O thniel Judges iii. 9. N oah Numbers xxvii. 1.

MINNIE LEGG
(Aged 12 years).

_Edinburgh._

AN OLD CLOCK'S ADVICE.

A correspondent says that in his great-grandfather's house, as he has heard his mother tell, there was a clock on which was the following inscription--

"Here I stand both day and night,
To tell the time with all my might;
Do thou example take by me,
And serve thy God as I serve thee."

The old clock remained in the family for many years, but the time of which it told so faithfully at last conquered it, as it conquers all things on earth.

Interesting Items.

THE National Sunday League lament a deficit of L110 as a result of the band performances in the three parks.

THE oldest and biggest tree in the world is at Mascoli, near Mount Etna. The trunk is seventy yards round, and a flock of sheep can take refuge in it.

JERUSALEM is rapidly becoming again a veritable city of the Jews. In 1880 there were probably not more than 5,000 Jews there; now there are more than 30,000.

THE "threepenny-bit" may well be regarded as the "church coin." At the collection at Dr. Parker's Sunday evening meeting in Queen Anne Street Church, Dunfermline, there were no fewer than 1,400 threepenny pieces.

PHONOGRAPHY, as a system of shorthand, is the best, simplest, soundest, and most scientific of any in existence. Ninety-nine out of every hundred shorthand writers use it, and none other should be learned.

THE buttercup blooms in unwonted places. A horse belonging to a farmer near Belford was having an old shoe removed, when a buttercup was found to have taken root between the hoof and the shoe, near the toe. It was in full bloom.

THIS is the day of rapid travelling. A through railway service has been organised to run from Charing Cross to Constantinople in seventy-six hours. Thus, in three days and a half, one will pass from the city of the Queen to the city of the Sultan.

IN England and Wales the receipts for first-class railway season tickets last year amounted to L720,862, for second-class season tickets the receipts amounted to L665,203, and for those of the third-class (including workmen's weekly tickets) the amount was L358,142.

AMONG the rarities in Dr. Williams' library in Grafton Street, London, is a tiny shorthand Bible, exquisitely written, which is said to have belonged to an apprentice, who, suspicious of James II.'s intentions regarding Protestantism, wrote the whole for himself, fearing that he might be deprived of his printed copy.

DRS. CHAUVEL and Nimier now announce that, in future warfare with the Lebel rifle, the surgeons will not be perplexed by having to extract balls from wounded soldiers. These projectiles pass through the body, bones, and all, even when fired at a distance of from 1,800 to 2,000 metres (1,980 to 2,200 yards).

A FORTUNATE COBBLER.--It is announced that a Blackburn cobbler has just come in for a windfall in the shape of property valued at L40,000. He saw an advertisement some time ago with regard to some property in America, to which he has proved himself sole heir. He has left for the New World to take possession of his unexpected wealth.

ONE day last August a boy, nine years old, went to a school treat, and ran in several races. On returning home he complained of headache, and next morning was seized with pains and became insensible, dying an hour afterwards. The post-mortem examination showed that death was the result of syncope, brought on by fatigue and excitement.

A STATEMENT was made at the Spanish Armada Convention at Exeter Hall, recently, to the effect that, during 1878, "in the poor country of Ireland there had been bequeathed to the Roman Catholic Church no less than L750,000 for masses for the souls of the departed." Doubtless Mr. Isaacs had proof of this, for he referred to it as "an ascertained fact."

A PAPYRUS of extraordinary beauty and completeness, of the fourteenth century before our era, has been added to the British Museum. It contains certain chapters of the "Book of Death," carefully copied out by a scribe of Thebes. Its remarkable feature are the illustrations. The colouring of these is as vivid as if the work had been done yesterday, instead of more than thirty centuries ago.

AN interesting discovery has just been made by Dr. Tschakort, Professor of Church History in the University of Konigsberg, who has found in the library there numerous manuscript sermons and commentaries by Luther, hitherto absolutely unknown. They were written in the years 1519 to 1521--that is, at the very culminating period of Luther's work as a Church Reformer, after the burning of the Papal bull, and before the Diet of Worms.

STRANGE stories occasionally come from the Black Country, but few are stranger than that which is related of a man living at Bilston. A collier lost his eyesight in December through the explosion of a blasting cartridge, and the other week, as he was being led home from a neighbouring village by a brother, a terrific thunderstorm commenced. Simultaneously with a flash of lightning, he experienced a piercing sensation from the eye to the back of the head and his sight was instantly restored.

MILDEWED linen may be restored by soaping the spots, and while wet covering them with powdered chalk.

THE Dead Sea, at its northern end, is but thirteen feet in depth, but at the southern end it is thirteen hundred.

CHISWICK CEMETERY.--The Home Secretary has ordered that a large tract of ground which has been recently acquired and added to the Chiswick Cemetery should be set aside for the use of the Roman Catholics of the district.

A CATHOLIC total abstinence society has been brought into court in Philadelphia under the laws against gambling. They pleaded that a benevolent enterprise such as theirs, though using lotteries, could not be regarded as a swindling speculation. "If such things are allowed to be carried on by professedly good people," said Judge Biddle, "it is inconsistent to call upon us to convict other people." The relation between the grab-bag and the gaming-table is not inconceivable.

ON June 8th last, a correspondent at Shepherd's Bush despatched a post-card from London, _via_ the Brindisi and Suez Canal route, to Hong Kong, with the request that it might be forwarded to the addressee _via_ San Francisco and New York. The card was duly received by the original sender a short time ago, the time taken in its transit round the world being exactly seventy days, which is about forty days less than the time taken ten years ago. The card was franked for 31/2d.

A THANKSGIVING DAY.--Dr. Franklin says that, in a time of great despondency among the first settlers of New England, it was proposed in one of their public assemblies to proclaim a fast. An old farmer arose, spoke of their provoking Heaven with their complaints, reviewed their mercies, showed that they had much to be thankful for, and moved that, instead of appointing a day of fasting, they should appoint a day of thanksgiving. This was accordingly done, and the custom has continued ever since.

DIPHTHERIA.--An American medical journal gives the following remedy for diphtheria, and says that where it has been applied promptly, it has never been known to fail. It is simply as follows:--"At the first indication of diphtheria in the throat of the child, make the room clean. Then take a tin cup and pour into it a quantity of tar and turpentine, equal parts. Then hold the cup over a fire so as to fill the room with the fumes. The patient, on inhaling the fumes, will fall asleep, and, when it awakes, it will cough up and spit out all the membranous matter, and diphtheria will pass off. The fumes of the tar and turpentine loose the matter in the throat, thus affording the relief that has baffled the skill of physicians." As the remedy is so simple, parents would do well to cut this out and preserve it.

AN extraordinary affray took place at Manchester on Sunday, July 8th. The members of several prominent Orange lodges in the city were proceeding to a church, where special services were to be held, when they encountered in a narrow thoroughfare, inhabited chiefly by Irish Roman Catholics, a band of men and women, who rushed upon them with hatchets, knives, pokers, and bottles. Two men were seriously injured, and, but for the timely arrival of thirty policemen, the affray would probably have had a fatal termination.

HOW THE COLLIE REACHED HIS HOME.--The following is a true story about a collie who took a hansom. He was lost in Oxford Street, London, so, after having spent some time in looking for him, his mistress went home, and what was her surprise, when she arrived, to see him in the hall. The butler told her the story, and it was this. After the dog had been lost, he saw an empty hansom, which he got into; and the cabby could not get him out, for he showed his teeth. He called a policeman, who could not move him either, but with some difficulty they read the name and address on his collar, and settled that it would be best to drive him to his home. They shut the doors, and drove him home. When he arrived, the cabby rang the bell, and asked for his fare (which he of course got), and then the butler opened the doors, and the dog jumped out as if nothing had happened.--From _Little Folks' Magazine_ for August.

WALKING FROM EDINBURGH TO LONDON.--Mr. Ross Fraser, who, accompanied by a collie dog, started from Edinburgh on August 15th to walk to London in eight days, an average of about fifty miles per day, arrived in London on Sunday evening about eight o'clock. The pedestrian was awaited by a large concourse of people at Shoreditch Church, and heartily greeted. The route taken was from Edinburgh via Berwick, Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, Northallerton, Boroughbridge, Wetherby, Doncaster, Retford, Newark, Grantham, Stamford, Huntingdon, Royston, Ware, and Edmonton. Mr. Fraser seemed somewhat footsore on his arrival, but the dog appeared in no way the worse for the journey. The walk has not been accomplished in the time originally laid down, as Mr. Fraser's feet gave way owing to the unsuitability of his boots for the task he had taken upon himself. After a rest on this side of Berwick he resumed his walk, and finished the journey in excellent health.

GREAT EVENTS.

The great events which occurred in August, 1588, and November, 1688, are worthy of our remembrance and grateful acknowledgment before God, therefore we bring before our young readers, in a special way, the subjects of the Spanish Armada and the accession of William of Orange, which are of the greatest importance to all true Englishmen.

The following extracts, taken from an address, by Lord Robert Montagu, at a commemoration meeting at Leicester, will give our young readers an interesting and truthful account of the great historical facts referred to, in a very concise form.

He said there had been many commemoration meetings throughout the country, and why did they hold them? What were those meetings? Well, if he were asked that question, he should say that that meeting was a protest, and it was a commemoration. It was a protest against a conspiracy which had extended throughout the country, and had lasted a great number of years--a conspiracy to introduce one Romanizing practice after another into the worship of the Church of England, and endeavouring to assimilate, by all means possible, the Church of England to the Church of Rome. It was a protest against an attempt to reduce this country again, and bring it under the domination of Rome. It was a protest against the attempts that all Governments in recent years had had in hand, and made--no matter whether Liberal, Whig, or Conservative--to establish diplomatic relations with Rome. It was, lastly, a protest against an attempt, now a few centuries old, to ruin the backbone of Protestantism in Ireland--he meant the Protestant landlords, who were the chief friends of the union between England and Ireland. On all those points they protested.

But then that meeting was also a commemoration. Commemorations, it was true, might be good, or they might be bad. No one would ever think of merely commemorating bloodshed and slaughter, but they often commemorated the deeds of daring and prowess on the part of their ancestors, and they did so in the hope that others would follow their example. He knew not whether that kind of thing was good, because such commemorations tended to increase and foster national pride; but there was one kind of commemoration which was absolutely and naturally good--he meant the commemoration of the signal mercies which God had vouchsafed to the land. In doing so, they were merely taking the advice of King David, who, speaking of his own people, said, "They remembered not the mercy of the Lord, and so they provoked Him at the Red Sea." And so also the Apostle said, "We have received mercies, and therefore we faint not." Therefore, what he (the speaker) proposed to do that evening was to ask them to consider the mercies God had shown to this country--great and signal mercies--in the year 1588, in the year 1688, and in the year 1788; and, in doing so, he hoped he should be able to bring this thought into their minds--that, having received mercies, they should "faint not."

Now, first, with regard to 1588, the commemoration of the Spanish Armada--the invincible Armada, as it used to be called. They would remember, doubtless, from reading history, that King Philip of Spain was one of the most powerful monarchs that ever existed. The historian, Macaulay, had told them that on his empire the sun never set. King Philip counted upwards of one hundred millions of subjects, and he was by far the wealthiest sovereign that had existed since the days of Darius, and he was also a cruel and bloodthirsty sovereign. They knew how many thousands he killed in the Netherlands; how many poor Protestants he had slaughtered there. He had burnt at the stake every one he could in his dominions who dared to study the Bible.

Well, he it was whom the Pope commissioned to make a crusade against this country, to conquer it, and reduce it, so that it might again come under the domination of Rome. He was like Pharaoh of old; he had let the children of Israel go, and he repented himself of having done so, and sent an army to bring them back to the slavery of Egypt; and so the Pope, not having an army of his own, told Philip, who had the most powerful army and navy in the world, to pursue those English who had escaped from the tyranny of Rome and become Protestants, and to bring them back again under the domination of the Pope; and the Pope, in order to encourage the monarch, promised him certain indulgences and two hundred thousand golden crowns as payment at the beginning of the expedition, and the payment of another two hundred thousand golden crowns as soon as he set foot in England. And the Pope also, in order to make the task easier, set the Jesuits in this country to stir up disaffection in England and Scotland, and with the same object sent a special messenger to Ireland in order to cause a rebellion there, and so call off the forces of England.

Philip at once sent to the Duke of Parma, his governor in Belgium, instructions to prepare an army and fleet to co-operate with the Spanish force as soon as the Armada should arrive in the English Channel. The Armada consisted of 136 galleons, and forty smaller vessels, manned by twenty thousand marines; and there was also something else sent. What was that something else? The Chief Inquisitor, and 150 other inquisitors--Dominican monks--to act together, and to use every possible engine of torture, and in that way to convert the people of England to Rome. Besides these, Philip sent the very pick of his army, thirty-one thousand men and four thousand officers, over-land to Dunkerque to assist them in England as soon as he arrived. Here was the invincible Armada, and it was thought that such an Armada could not be withstood by that little puny England, for England was then but a small State, and had no colonies. The whole population of England then was not much larger than the population of London at the present time. Now, as for the Royal Navy, it consisted of twenty-eight ships; and how were they to cope with the 176 ships which composed the Spanish Armada? Why, it was impossible, unless the hand of God should come down to protect the Protestantism of England.

Well, on the 30th of July, the Armada appeared off Plymouth, and Drake and Frobisher, and Seymour and Hawkins, and Lord Howard, High Admiral of England--who was not a Catholic, whatever might be said to the contrary, but a Protestant--determined to oppose the Armada.

It was on Sunday, the 7th of August, that the Armada anchored in the roadstead of Dunkerque, and there waited for Parma's fleet. In the night, a light southerly wind sprung up, and eight ships were selected from the crowd of volunteer vessels that followed the fleet; their masts were smeared with pitch, and their hulls filled with powder and all kinds of explosive and combustible materials. These ships were set fire to, and sent down on to the Armada. What the Spaniards ought to have done, and what could have been very easily done, would have been to cut their cables and allowed the fire-ships to pass them; but the Spaniards seemed to have lost their presence of mind.

However, at length they cut their cables and ran into the North Sea; but the English followed them, and there was a tremendous battle. The Spanish ships were so full of soldiers and sailors that every English shot told ten-fold. Five thousand of the Spanish were killed and not one hundred English wounded. A hasty council of officers was held on the Duke Medina's ship as to whether they should return to their anchorage off Dunkerque, or go back to Spain by way of the Orkneys, and they determined, like craven cowards, to run round by the north of Scotland and Ireland, and so on to the coast of Spain, because they dared not face the English in the Straits of Dover. Admiral Seymour watched them. They could not all pursue the Armada. A small squadron only went, and when they came to the Firth of Forth, Seymour ran short of ammunition. Now what he wanted to show them was, that it was not Seymour that was protecting England, but the Almighty Himself. Seymour had no sooner put into harbour than a hurricane rose up, and subsequently the shores of Ireland were strewn with the bodies of the dead, and the wreckage of the galleons. Only a few reached Spain to give mournful tidings of the disaster, and then it was found that there was not a family in Spain that was not in mourning for the loss of relatives. As the Egyptians were overthrown in the Red Sea, so the Spaniards were overthrown in the North Sea; and it was God that did all. Queen Elizabeth and the English people knew that well, for Queen Elizabeth struck a medal in commemoration of the event, and the motto on the medal was, "God blew upon them with His winds, and scattered them." She took no credit to herself, no credit to her navy, no credit to the English people; for it was God who did it all. From that day the power of Spain had dwindled and waned, until Spain had sunk to a fifth-rate power, and nobody thought of Spain in the councils of Europe. But what was the case with little England, then with hardly any colonies? God said, "Thou hast been faithful in little things; be thou ruler over ten great cities"; and now we had ten great colonies.

And now they would pass away from that subject, and see what happened at the end of the next hundred years--in 1688. He must first remind them what was the state of things in 1687. There was then a Roman Catholic king upon the throne of England. He was not only a Roman Catholic, but was an avowed and sworn Jesuit--James II. There was then, also, a conspiracy all over England--favoured by some of the bishops and many of the clergy--to introduce the ritual of Rome into the English Church. There was then, as there is now, attempts to open up diplomatic relations between the throne and the Vatican. There was then an attempt to ruin the landlords of Ireland, so as to get rid of Protestantism, and separate Ireland from England. To whom did England look at that time for help? There was then no great Protestant Germany; but there was a small State, smaller than England--he meant Holland--but it was not similarly yoked. It was here that the hand of God first began to show itself in the year 1685. On account of the action of Louis XIV., who was the mainstay of Roman Catholicism in Europe, all the best soldiers, generals, and artisans in Paris left France and went to Holland. In England James II. gradually deposed Protestants and substituted Roman Catholics in all positions of importance and influence. The people, becoming alarmed, sought the aid of William, Prince of Orange, who had married a member of the English Royal family; and on the 1st of November, 1688, William sailed on his mission to this country. A strong wind was blowing, which took him gaily on his journey; and that wind not only sent him gaily on his mission, but prevented Lord Dartmouth, who was on the Thames, from getting out. God was determined to show that success had not been arrived at by man; and on November 6th, in a fog, William and his friends arrived at a distance beyond Torbay. When the fog lifted, and the sunshine beamed forth, William gaily sailed into Torbay. Then there were two days of calm weather, during which William landed his army and his stores, and James's forces could not attack, owing to the stillness of the wind. Still James might have struck a blow, as his troops had converged at Salisbury; but God struck fear into his heart. He dressed himself as a fisherman, got into a fishing-boat, and went to France. But our forefathers did not say to William, "Please take the crown and govern." They said, "We have certain rights; will you promise always to observe those rights? If so, you may sit upon the throne." And William promised that he would do so, and, as they knew, they had now the Act of Rights. One of the clauses of that Act was that, if the sovereign became a Roman Catholic, the throne should be instantly vacated. It was settled that no communion should be held with Rome; that was to say, that no diplomacy should exist between England and Rome. That Act was passed, and remained the same to this day. He would read them what Lord Macaulay said of the two events to which he referred:--

"The weather had indeed served the Protestant cause so well that some men (_e.g._, Bishop Burnet), of more piety than judgment, fully believed the ordinary laws of nature to have been suspended for the preservation of the liberty or religion of England. Exactly a hundred years before, they said, the Armada, invincible by man, had been scattered by the wrath of God. Civil freedom and divine truth were again in jeopardy; and again the obedient elements had fought for the good cause. The wind had blown strong from the east while the Prince wished to sail down the channel, had turned to the south when he wished to enter Torbay, had sunk to a calm during the disembarkation, and, as soon as the disembarkation was completed, had risen to a storm, and had met the pursuers in the face. Nor did men omit to remark that, by an extraordinary coincidence, the Prince had reached our shores on a day on which the Church of England commemorated, by prayers and thanksgiving, the wonderful escape of the Royal House, and of the three Estates, from the blackest plot ever designed by Papists."

Now they had seen God's mercy in 1588 and in 1688, and now let them turn to 1788. It was not so striking, he would allow, as the other events, but it was not less real. And why was it not so striking? In former days men knew very well what the Government did, as there was no secrecy about it. In these days nobody knew what were the views and the intentions of the Government. It was all done underhanded, secretly, and no one knew anything about it. They gathered a little from the newspapers and tried to put it together as well as they could; consequently, that system having been in vogue in 1788, they did not know exactly what took place.

In the year 1787, Charles Edward Catesby was a pretender to the throne, and the Pope was again anxious to bring England under him, and he made secret allies of all the Roman Catholics to put this Charles on the throne of England. A body was to land in Scotland, and L20,000 was to be given to the Highlanders to rise in rebellion. The French had an army ready, and they were to land on the south coast of England and march to London, so as to prevent the troops going forth to put down Edward.

In that same year the Prince Regent did that thing which, according to the Act of William, made him vacate the throne for ever. He married a Roman Catholic in 1787. Notwithstanding the fact that he tried to keep it a secret at first, it afterwards leaked out through the indiscretion of a member of the House of Commons. Pitt said at first that the Prince Regent had denied it stoutly; but there were those present in the Roman Catholic Church at the time he was married; and when it was proved, Pitt then said the Act of Parliament prevented any one of the Royal family being married without the consent of Parliament, and argued that the Prince was not married. He married a German princess, and put her away, and came to the throne as George IV.

Then came 1788, when God struck that Charles with death; and then an alliance was made between Protestant England and Russia to support each other against any Roman Catholic emperor. This was not so striking a display of God's mercy as was shown in the case of the Armada; but in them all they saw the hand of God. They saw great mercy in 1588, in 1688, and in 1788, for the protection of Protestantism; and what cared they whether in 1888 ministers should try to bring them under the domination of Rome? They knew that God was a tower of strength, and that they could rely on Him. Let them think and meditate on His mercies, and then they would not fail.

THE FISH THAT SWALLOWED JONAH.

"_Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights._"--JONAH i. 17.

Upon the question as to what was the fish that swallowed Jonah, Dr. Raleigh remarks ("The Story of Jonah," p. 148):--

"The Bible does not say that a whale was the prophet's jailer. The infidel has said that, and then has enjoyed the easy triumph of proving the natural impossibility of it. Jonah says 'a great fish' swallowed him. Our Lord uses a phrase exactly similar. He uses a generic term, which includes the whale, but is never applied to the whale particularly. The dolphin, the seal, the whale, the shark, are all included in the term that is used, and there is strong probability in the supposition that the white shark is the creature designated as the 'great fish.' Sharks abounded in the Mediterranean at that time. They have been found there ever since, and are found there still. In length some of them have attained to thirty feet and upwards, of capacity in other ways sufficient to incarcerate Samson of Zorah, or Goliath of Gath, as well as the probably attenuated prophet of Gath-hepher.

"It is related that a horse was found in the stomach of a shark, and there are many instances of men being swallowed alive--not fabulous and doubtful stories, but instances well authenticated. One, of a soldier in full armour. One, of a sailor who fell overboard, and, was swallowed in the very sight of his comrades. The captain seized a gun, shot the fish in a sensitive part, which then cast out the sailor into the sea, who was taken up, amazed and terrified, but little hurt.