THE

MOTHERS' TREASURY.

SHE HAS GOT THE MUMPS.

HE has got the mumps," said Mrs. Arkwright, in answer to my inquiry, "What is the matter with your daughter?" "She has got the mumps, and an unpleasant complaint it is, and I fear it is catching, and may go through the house." As I could not do any good, and I certainly did not want to catch the disorder, I said a few kind words to the child, who was sitting bound up like a mummy all about the head, and took my departure. "Got the mumps," I repeated to myself, as I left the house. "There is something worse than that. The mumps put me in the mind of it,—I mean a sullen temper, and that is, indeed, much worse than the mumps." You can nurse a person with the mumps, and the kindness shown does yourself good, and calls forth grateful feelings from the sufferer. The complaint does not last very long, and leaves behind no bad consequences. But as to a sullen temper, one would almost like to wrap it up like a mummy, and give it to Mr. Belzoni to put into the catacombs, those places of the dead from which he has taken so many mummies. I prefer, however, to unwrap it, and expose it, that all its ugly features may be seen and avoided. A sullen temper keeps brooding over its real or fancied ills, saying nothing, but looking glum, till you almost wish for the sparks instead. I remember some years ago being made quite anxious and unhappy just as I was going to bed. My sister said to me, "Frank, there is a smell of fire!" I sniffed and sniffed, and sure enough, I did smell something like smoke or fire. For some time we could not find out what it was. At last I went down into the cellar, and there I saw a beam smouldering away, which would soon have set the house on fire if it had not, by God's good hand upon us, been discovered. The hot ashes from a fire-place had fallen through a hole by the hearth-stove, and the beam had caught fire. The anxiety was great till we found the cause; then a few buckets of water put it out. But what could we have done if we had not known the cause of the smell? We might have sniffed till we had no noses left, and have been as miserable as before. Just so with a sullen temper: it smoulders and smoulders; you know all is not right. "What can be the matter with Mary?" you say to yourself; "she was all smiles this morning, but there are

plenty of clouds now." You speak to her. A short and grumpy answer is all you get. "What is the matter, Mary ?" "Nothing (spoken in a tone that declares that a great deal is the matter). You cannot pour the water, and put out the fire; for you do not know where to pour it. Meanwhile you smell the smoke, but you cannot find the cause. A sullen temper spoils the choicest blessings. If a passionate temper and a sullen temper are twins, the sullen temper is the more deformed of the two. Both are ugly enough. If we could look into the glass of truth, and see their features, we should cry, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me! Let me not make others wretched, and be myself wretched, by the indulgence of this temper! Oh, save me from my evil temper! Save me from myself, O Lord, for Christ's sake!"

A MEEK AND QUIET SPIRIT.

AVE you ever seen a necklace, or other ornament, of pearls, or rubies, or diamonds? How it sparkles! how beautiful it is! Many are too fond of such jewels, and take too great pains to adorn themselves with them. You cannot be too fond of "the ornament of a

meek and quiet spirit." Jewels of gold and silver cannot be taken with us when we leave this world. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is not left behind when we part from this earth. It belongs to Heaven, and shines brightly there. This ornament is God's own gift. "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits;" and again, "The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." Sown in peace, what a harvest there will be in the day of God! Yes, some walk this earth almost as though they were angels. Their words breathe their efforts are for peace. peace; As with Daniel in the den, God shuts the mouths of lions, where these peacemakers are. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness The cottage becomes a palace where these graces dwell. A sanded floor does not grate under the feet where this blessed influence prevails. Where did they gain this happy mind of love? said unto them, "Learn of Me," and they became His disciples. He had much trouble in teaching them. It was "line upon line," before they could spell, with the lisping of babes, that word" Love." But their Teacher did not weary; He was so patient with their impatience, so encouraging when they really tried, that they could not but make some progress. Sometimes they forgot the letters of the word. They put other letters quite different,

meekness.'

h-a-t-e. Then they looked at the copy again, saw their error, and burst into tears. Then their Teacher would take the handkerchief called "Promise," and wipe away the tears and cheer them on, saying, "Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it." Then they would try again, and smile, and get on better. They cannot here learn perfectly the meaning of the word. Its root goes so deep, and its branches spread so wide, that it takes a lifetime to spell Love, and to practise it aright. But He who teaches them tells them (and He "cannot lie") that one day when there shall be "no night," they shall know it perfectly, and never forget it any more. Do you ask who this Teacher is? His name is JESUS. Go and sit at His feet and learn of Him. He receives all who come; His lessons are without money and without price," and He prepares, by forgiveness of the past through His precious blood, and the sanctifying influences of His blessed Spirit, for that happy world where the very air is Love, where the assembly and church of the firstborn are, where He the Prince of Peace Himself for ever dwells. He prepares others, I say, and is willing to prepare you for Heaven.-Rev. F. Storr, M.A.

66

THE AGED SAINT ENTERING HEAVEN.

T length the door is opened, and, free from pain and sin,
With joy and gladness on his head, the pilgrim enters in
The Master bids him welcome, and on the Father's breast,
By loving arms enfolded, the weary is at rest.

The pilgrim staff is left behind, behind the sword, the shield,
The armour dimmed and dinted on many a hard-fought field:
His now the shining palace, the garden of delight,

The palm, the robe, the diadem, the glory ever bright.

The blessed angels round him, 'mid heaven's hallowed calm,

With harp and voice are lifting up the triumph of their psalm :

"All glory to the Holy One, the infinite I AM,

Whose grace redeems the fallen! Salvation to the Lamb!

"Another son of Adam's race, through Jesu's loving might,

Hath crossed the waste, hath reached the goal, hath vanquished in the fight

Hail, brother, hail! we welcome thee! join in our swee accord,

Lift up the burthen of our song! Salvation to the Lord!"

And now from out the glory, the living cloud of light,
The old familiar faces come beaming on his sight;
The early-lost, the ever-loved, the friends of long-ago,
Companions of his conflicts and pilgrimage below.

They parted here in weakness, and suffering, and gloom :
They meet amid the freshness of heaven's immortal bloom,
Henceforth in ever-during bliss to wander, hand in hand,
Beside the living waters of the still and sinless land.

Oh! who can tell the rapture of those to whom 'tis given
Thus to renew the bonds of earth amid the bliss of heaven?
Thrice blessèd be His Holy Name, who for our fallen race,
Hath purchased by His bitter pains such plenitude of grace!

W. L. ALEXander.

GOD'S CLAIM ON PARENTS.

"Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?"-Jer. xiii. 20. HE religious influence of parents is great in the extreme. I doubt whether any preachers of the gospel have an influence so great. The seed sown by parents oftener returns a hundred-fold than that sown by preachers returns thirty-fold. Doubtless some persons are converted in spite of their family training, many apart from it; but, as a rule, the work of the successful minister is to carry on the work of the devout parent. He waters where they have sown. The Apostle Paul could expect but little advantage from the early instructions his hearers had received; yet out of the two converts, whom alone he could look to for the carrying on of his work, one was indebted to the unfeigned faith which dwelt first in his grandmother Lois, and in his mother Eunice (2 Tim. i. 5).

The great responsibility of parents is seen in this, that they have to impart religious ideas. Unless the child has acquired certain ideas, more or less clear, it is impossible for him to understand what a religious teacher says. And those ideas are such as he cannot, humanly speaking, acquire except at home. For instance, the notions of right and wrong must be put into a child's mind before the Sunday-school teacher or the preacher can have any hold on him. For the preacher talks of sin and forgiveness, of righteousness and salvation from sin; and unless the hearer be accustomed to the voice within, which tells us of right and wrong, he cannot feel what he hears. Where can he gain these ideas but from the father and mother who are leading him on his entrance into life? Then, again, the idea of love must be inspired in the