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LOVE LIGHTENS LABOUR.

GOOD-WIFE rose from her bed one morn,

And thought, with a nervous dread,

Of the piles of clothes to be washed, and more
Than a dozen mouths to be fed.

There are meals to be got for the men in the field
And the children to send away

To school, and the milk to be skimmed and churned,-
And all to be done to-day.

It had rained in the night, and all the wood
Was wet as it could be;

And there were puddings and pies to bake,
And a loaf of cake for tea.

The day was hot, and the aching head
Throbbed wearily as she said-

"If maidens but knew what good-wives know,
They would be in no hurry to wed."

"Jennie, what do you think I told Ben Brown?"
Called the farmer from the well;

And a flush crept up to his bronzed brow,

And his eye half bashfully fell ;

"It was this," and coming near,

He smiled, and, stooping down,

Kissed her cheek; "'twas this-that you were the best
And dearest wife in town!"

The farmer went back to the field, and the wife,

In a smiling and absent way,

Sang snatches of tender little songs

She'd not sung for many a day.

And the pain in her head was gone, and the clothes
Were white as foam of the sea;

Her bread was light, and her butter was sweet
And golden as it could be.

"Just think," the children all called in a breath,

"Tom Wood has run off to sea!

He wouldn't, I know, if he only had

As happy a home as we,'

The night came down, and the good-wife smiled
To herself as she softly said,-

""Tis sweet to labour for those we love.

'Tis not strange that maids will wed!"

SECRET OF SUCCESS.-A Christian merchant who, from being a very poor boy, had risen to wealth and renown, was once asked by an intimate friend, to what, under God, he attributed his success in life. "To prompt and steady obedience to my parents," was his reply. "In the midst of many bad examples of youths of my own age, I was always able to yield a ready submission to the will of my father and mother, and I firmly believe that a blessing has, in consequence, rested upon me and upon all my efforts."

HASTY CONCLUSIONS.-Hasty conclusions are the mark of a fool; a wise man doubteth; a fool rageth, and is confident ; the novice saith, I am sure that it is not so; the better learned answers, Peradventure it may be so, but I prithee inquire. Some men are drunk with fancy and mad with opinion. It is a little learning, and but a little, which makes men conclude hastily.-Jeremy Taylor.

THE LITTLE DEBTOR.

(THE CHILDREN'S PAGE.)

ITTLE Charles was at school, and though just twelve years old, he was head of the class for arithmetic. His father had come home from his work; his mother was out that evening visiting a neighbour, whose boy was very ill of inflammation in the lungs. Charles, sitting with his slate on a stool near his father, said,"Now, do please give me an account, and you will see how soon I will do it."

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'Well, I will," his father replied. "Are you ready? A rich lady once found lying at her door, one summer morning, a little baby wrapped in an old shawl. She could not find who laid it there; but she resolved to rear it, and gave it out to nurse, keeping an account of all it cost her. When the little baby had grown up a fine boy twelve years of age, she wrote out the account thus:

A nurse for keeping the infant for 3 years, at £20 a year
Clothes for 12 years, at £4 a year
Food for 12 years, at £10 a year
Lodgings for 12 years, at £5 a year

...

...

...

Teaching, books, etc., for 6 years, at £2 a year

...

Doctor and medicine when the boy was ill, three times, £2, £1, and £2

Now tell me the sum of it."

£60 0 0

48 0 0

120 0 0

60 0 0

12 0 0 5 0

£305 0 0

Charles, after a little explanation, set to, and by multiplying found out the figures marked opposite each article, and adding, found that the little baby had cost the lady £305.

"How much money!" the boy exclaimed.

"Yes, it is indeed, Charles," said the father. "Do you think you could pay as much?"

"Oh no! I have just one half-crown grandpapa gave me."

"Well but, my boy, do you know you have to pay all that, and much more, to a kind lady?" Charles stared.

"Yes! Are you not just twelve years old; and what kind lady nursed you, fed and lodged you, clothed and taught you? I thought Charles forgot who did all this for him, when he put on a sulky face this morning, and went so slowly on mamma's errand to the baker!" The little face was bent downwards, and covered with blushes. "Let me see your account, Charles; there is something more to put down. For twelve years mamma has loved you, watched over you, prayed for you! No money can tell how much that love and these prayers were worth! When you grow up you might pay the £305; but how will you pay mamma for her love?" Charles' eyes filled with tears. "I will not behave so again! I can never pay what I have cost her!"

When mamma came home, Charles showed her the account. She kissed him, and said, "Oh! if my Charlie grows up to be a good man, I shall be well paid for all !"

HINTS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD.

ROASTING.

To roast well, a cook must have a good fire; she must make it up so that it shall last all the time the joint is doing; or if the fire chances to require replenishing, she must slip in the coals with the tongs, but not remove and chill the roast, or diminish the heat in the midst of the cooking. The cook should ask her mistress how she likes the meat dressed, whether with the gravy in it, or well done.

If it is preferred not very well dressed, she must place it near the fire on putting down, and brown the outside quickly, which will shut in the juices; then she must draw it back a little, so that it should not burn; but from the very first she must baste it, as basting makes good roasting. If her employers (or her husband) like their meat well their meat well dressed, she must place the joint farther from the fire at first (about fourteen inches off), and move it nearer by degrees, but always basting it well. This is a more expensive way of dressing the joint, as it takes a large fire longer kept up. She should keep the meat-screen always round the roast to protect it from a chill.

If she does not possess a meatscreen, she can make one by putting the high clothes-horse round the fire and covering it with a cloth. But the heat must be shut in, or it is wasted.

Joints of veal or lamb have a piece of paper tied over the fat with twine, or secured with very small skewers before they are put to roast. Just before they are done, the paper is taken off and the joints are dredged with flour and basted; a very little salt is also sprinkled on joints just as they are done, to draw out the gravy. Even for beef and mutton, a sprinkle of flour, basted over, is an improvement-it froths them up, and makes them savoury.

The time for roasting is a quarter of an hour for every pound of meat; for example, if a leg of mutton weighs 8 lbs., allow eight quarters of an hour for it, that is, two hours, and so on. But in frosty weather meat takes longer; it should then be set before the fire for a little while to thaw before it is put down, or it will never be well done. Lamb and veal require twenty minutes to the pound, at twelve inches from the fire.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Cookery Book for the Million (Warne & Co.).-Domestic Portraiture (Seeley & Co.).-Leaflets for Mothers, in assorted packets (Book Society).-Self-respect: addressed to Young Women (Oliphant & Co.).Echoes from the Chamber of Sickness (Partridge & Co.).-Workers (Edmonston & Douglas).-A Mother's Troubles (Wesleyan Conference Office). The Cottager (Religious Tract Society).-Home Words (Nisbet & Co.).-British Messenger (Peter Drummond).-Sunday School Times (Clarke & Co.).-Pleasant Readings (Mackintosh).

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OFTEN, very often, do men and women ascribe their conversion to the prayers of holy mothers. "Never," says a Christian minister, "shall I forget a man in middle life, who once came to me in a state of great excitement, almost in despair, with the question, 'Is there hope for me? I once professed faith in Christ,' he said, 'I thought I knew and loved Him. I was for years a communicant at church-but-' and then followed the story of his departure from God's ways. He had been unsuccessful in business, and had left the neighbourhood in which he had been an avowed servant of Christ. For years he absented himself from the house of God, and lived the life of a worldling. But now he was awakened to a sense of his sinfulness, and- Was it possible that such a backslider as he should be restored?' In a second interview I found him full of hope that there was 'mercy still reserved for him.' And now he said: 'I owe this to my mother's prayers. She still lives, upwards of eighty years of age. She lives in prayer; and her prayers for me, I feel, are answered.''

Let mothers be stimulated and encouraged to "pray without ceasing" for their children. Even in the darkest hour, let them persevere in the spirit of the mother of Augustine, and her reward may be theirs. "Go and take heart," said the good bishop Ambrose to her; "it is impossible that the son of these tears

VOL. VIII. No. 10.

[OCTOBER, 1871.

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