Woman, in fine, the mate should be, LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?" or the O words are strong enough to paint the proneness there is in the very heirs of salvation to set up restingplaces here upon earth. And though they are delivered from the base and sordid love of money, poor gratifications which can be gleaned from the honours and pleasures of the world, still they are apt to make Christian friends and relations idols; and so the strength of their affections, which should centre and settle all in God, is by this means very much weakened and divided. Though we discern not this ourselves, nor suspect it, our Divine Physician fully sees the growth of the distemper, and, in love, we are separated from our idols. Disappointments meet us at every turn: where we expected we should be particularly favoured with helps and advantages for godly living, we behold ourselves left destitute; so that we have no more a place of refuge upon earth, no more a dear counsellor or friend who is as our own soul. By this means we are compelled, as Noah's dove was by the wide watery waste, which did not afford a single resting-place, to fly to the ark and to take shelter there. Our gracious Father, with a loving jealousy over us, thus secures our whole love to Himself, and appears altogether glorious in our eyes; as the fountain of living waters, when the cisterns are broken which we were hewing out for ourselves. It pleases God to afflict very heavily those who are His dear children by faith in Christ, that they may more value the choice they have made. When they see the most innocent, nay, the most laudable, satisfaction they could possibly propose to themselves from any creature comfort all shivered in pieces, as it were in a moment, and water of gall spring up from that very person or thing from which they promised themselves abundance of joy; in such a situation how infinitely desirable a connection with Jehovah, never to have an end-an union with Him who is far above all the changes of this mortal life as heaven is higher than the earth! This must be apprehended as the chief of all blessings -a portion of itself sufficient. Then the souls of the faithful are taught experimentally to say, "Vanity of vanities! all is vanity," but Christ and His love! "Lord, to whom shall we go?" from whence expect refreshment and consolation but from Thyself alone? "All my fresh springs shall be in Thee."-Venn. THE GOSPEL. HERE is nothing wherein God hath so much put Himself, wherein He may be so fully known, communicated with, depended upon, and praised, as in His gospel. This is a glass in which the blessed angels do see and admire that unsearchable riches of His mercy to the Church, which they had not by their own observation found out from the immediate view of His glorious presence. In the creatures we have Him a God of power and wisdom, working all things in number, weight, and measure, by the secret vigour of His providence upholding that being which He gave them, and ordering them to those glorious ends for which He gave it. In the law we have Him a God of vengeance and of recompense, in the publication thereof threatening, and in the execution thereof inflicting, wrath upon those that transgress it. But, in the Gospel, we have Him a God of bounty and endless compassion, humbling Himself that he might be merciful to His enemies, that He might Himself bear the punishment of those injuries which had been done unto Himself, that He might not offer only, but beseech His own prisoners to be pardoned and reconciled again. In the creature He is a God above us, in the law He is a God against us; only in the Gospel He is Immanuel, a God with us, a God like us, a God for us. Bishop Reynolds. W THE HEROIC MOTHER. E see a household brought up well. A mother who took alone the burden of life when her husband laid it down, without much property, out of her penury, by her planning and industry, night and day, by her wilfulness of love, by her fidelity, brings up her children; and now we see six men, all of whom are like pillars in the temple of God. And oh, do not read to me of the campaigns of Cæsar, tell me nothing about Napoleon's wonderful exploits; I tell you that, as God and the angels look down upon the silent history of that woman's administration, and upon those men-building processes which went on in her heart and mind through a score of years, nothing exterior, no outward development of kingdoms, no empire-building, can compare with what she has done. Nothing can compare in beauty, and wonder, and admirableness, and divinity itself, to the silent work in obscure dwellings of faithful women bringing their children to honour and virtue and piety. I tell you, the inside is larger than the outside. The loom is more than the fabric. The thinker is more than the thought. The builder is more than the building.-H. W. Beecher. One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters." GEORGE HERBERT. HINTS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD. SLEEP OF CHILDREN. A notion is prevalent that much sleeping by day lessens the power of sleeping by night; but this is an error. As a general rule, the more a child sleeps the more it wants to sleep. Wakefulness is mostly caused by over-fatigue and excitement, and is a positively painful state to the sensitive organism of a young child. This description of suffering admits of no alleviation but from sleep; reprimands and additional food do but increase the torment. A single bolster is generally sufficient for raising a child's head. This should be rolled over and over in the under sheet, and the ends of the sheet should be firmly tucked between the mattresses to prevent the bolster slipping out of its place. One blanket should always be placed with the salvage ends across the bed, in order to allow plenty to turn in under the mattress. Children generally sleep more comfortably, and suffer less from cold feet, if their bedding is slightly raised at the foot. -Household Guide. ALCOHOL AS MEDICINE. During the last twenty years I have seen numerous cases of dipsomania, more particularly among women, which could be traced to the injudicious use of stimulants, given in the first instance medicinally. In some cases, no doubt, the stimulant was rightly administered; but by an unwise and prolonged continuance in its use (after the physician had retired from the treatment of the case) it has become a necessary of life, inducing the habit of tippling, often terminating in confirmed drunkenness, and eventually developing, if not some form of severe frightful disorders of the nervous disease of the brain and mind, system. It cannot be too generally known that the habit of tippling (and this may be established by occasionally sipping spirits of wine, Eau de Cologne, spirits of chloroform, spirits of ammonia, or any of the medicinal tinctures containing, as many do, a large percentage of alcohol, as well as by drinking brandy, whisky, or wine) is much more destructive to the health of both body and mind than an occasional bout of actual drunkenness. The worst cases of general paralysis and diseases of the brain and mind which came under my notice in a certain class of society, arise from this most pernicious practice.-Dr. Forbes Winslow. RESTORATIVE MILK. Boil a quarter of an ounce of isinglass in a pint of new milk till reduced to half, and sweeten. TESTS FOR WATER. Good water should be free from colour, unpleasant odour and taste, and should quickly afford a good lather, with a small proportion of soap. If half a pint of the water be placed in a perfectly clean, colourless, glass-stoppered bottle, a few grains of the best white lumpsugar added, and the bottle freely exposed to the daylight in the window of a warm room, the liquid should not become turbid, even after exposure for a week or ten days. If the water become turbid, it is open to grave suspicion of sewage contamination; but if it remain clear, it is almost certainly safe. THE MOTHERS' TREASURY. W THE LOST WATCH. HEN I was first married we were living in Liverpool. I was on board one of her Majesty's ships as "able seaman." I am sorry to confess it-I was then addicted to drink; in fact, would be called an habitual drunkard. At the end of each voyage I spent two-thirds of my hard-earned money, neglecting my wife and children. On my return from the last voyage I ever took, I gave up myself more than ever to my evil passion. I had been drinking with my companions at the "Ship," a favourite rendezvous for the sailors and their associates. I cannot say at what time I returned home, not being in a condition to observe the time. When I awoke the next morning with a splitting headache and a burning thirst, I found that I had lost my watch and all my money. My conscience smote me for my unmanly and sinful conduct; but the demon had too firm a hold on me to give the struggle up so easy. So, without a word or look at my wife, I left the house, knowing at the time they had no means to find food, and that I had cruelly and foolishly squandered that which would have obtained them plenty. The loss of my watch, which my poor mother bequeathed to me in her last moments, begging me to keep it for her sake, and, above all, to abstain from intoxicating drinks, troubled me greatly. Her words seemed again to be ringing in my ears. I wandered about the streets for some time in the vain hope of finding the watch. After inquiring at the public-house in which I had passed the previous evening, I resumed my wanderings, with no tidings of it. At last, wretched and tired, I gave up the search, and leaned against a post at the corner of a street, with my arms folded and my eyes bent upon the ground. I was mentally reviewing my past conduct, and forming resolutious to alter my course for the future-resolutions which I had, alas! often formed and often broken-when a kind and genial voice interrupted my reverie with the following greeting: "Well, how do you do, Mr. J? This is this first opportunity I have had of seeing you since your return home." I raised my eyes, and recognised the benevolent face of a minister who had been accustomed to visit my poor wife and the children, and whom I had sometimes talked with. I could not but confide to him the loss of my watch and money. He had often endeavoured to gain my consent to join the temperance |