ARE THE CHILDREN AT HOME? EACH day when the glow of sunset I steal away from my husband, And watch, from the open doorway, Alone in the dear old homestead We two are waiting together; "It is night! are the children home?" "Yes, love!" I answer him gently, They're all home long ago;" And I sing, in my quivering treble, Till the old man drops to slumber, Home, where never a sorrow Shall dim their eyes with tears! And the mother heart within me Sometimes, in the dusk of evening, And the children are all about me, And again we two are together, They tell me his mind is failing, He is only back with the children, And still as the summer sunset And the wee ones, tired of playing, My husband calls from his corner, Say, love! have the children come ?" And I answer, with eyes uplifted, "Yes, dear, they are all at home!" THE LOVE OF DRESS. DR. JUDSON, in a letter addressed to female members of Christian Churches on the love of dress, after earnestly entreating their prayerful consideration of the apostle's injunction on this subject in 1 Timothy ii. 9, "I will also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety," tells of a visit to the Karens, a wild people living in the forests and mountain fastnesses of Burmah. He says, "I little expected in those 'wilds, horrid and dark with overshadowing trees,' to find this taste for dress prevailing, which is the ruling passion of one sex, as love of riches, power, or fame, is of the other; but on one Karen woman I counted between twelve and fifteen necklaces, of all colours, sizes, and materials. Three was the average number worn by all. Dress belts above the ankles, neat braids of hair tied below the knees, rings of all sorts on the fingers, bracelets on the wrists and arms, long instruments of some metal perforating the lower part of the ear, and reaching nearly to the shoulders. Such ornaments constituted the fashion of the Karen women. After some time spent among this people, a Karen woman offered herself for baptism; and, after the usual examinations, I inquired whether she would give up the ornaments for Christ. I explained the spirit of the gospel. I appealed to her own consciousness of vanity. I read to her the apostle's prohibition. It was an unexpected blow! She looked again and again at her handsome necklace; and then, with an air of modest decision that would adorn, beyond all outward ornaments, any of my Christian sisters, she quietly took it off, saying, 'I love Christ more than this.' وو THE FIRST TEACHER. To view woman in the true light of her high destiny, to see what constitutes her true glory and distinction, and invests her with an almost sacred character, when raised to her proper elevation as the first teacher, and therefore the real trainer of the future race-has been hitherto the rare and extraordinary attainment of a few enlightened and highly-gifted minds. Could effectual measures be adopted to elevate the general standard of female education, and to render its character solid and substantial, rather than merely external and ornamental, a most important service would be rendered both to society and to the Church of Christ.-J. Wilson. VAST the charge to us committed, We would all from Thee obtain. HINTS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD. CHLORIDE OF LIME FOR DESTROY ING INSECTS. By scattering chloride of lime on a plank in a stable, all kinds of flies, but more especially biting flies, are quickly got rid of. Sprinkling beds of vegetables with even a weak solution of this salt, effectually preserves them from the attacks of caterpillars, butterflies, mordella, slugs, etc. It has the same effect when sprinkled on the foliage of fruit-trees. A paste of one part of powdered chloride of lime, one part of some fatty matter, placed in a narrow band round the trunk of the tree, prevents insects from creeping up it. It has even been noticed that rats and mice quit places in which a certain quantity of chloride of lime has been spread. FOR DIARRHEA. Take a cork, either new or from a spirit bottle, put it on a fork, toast it between the bars of a grate till it is quite black all round, then scrape into a saucer: keep returning it to the fire till a good teaspoonful is scraped off; place the scrapings in a cup, and as it is too light easily to mix with liquid, add two or three drops of milk to it and stir, then three or four more and stir, thus gradually adding about a third of a wine-glass of milk. This is the dose; if necessary, it may be repeated in two, three, or four hours. WATERING PLANTS. To insure healthy growth in plants it is necessary that the roots should be supplied with enough moisture to compensate for that evaporated through their leaves. All plants recently moved should be freely watered, because during the process of transplantation some of their rootlets will have been destroyed or injured; consequently the remainder will be taxed beyond their powers unless they have free access to moisture. It is a good plan to shade the leaves of such plants in order to check evaporation until the roots are thoroughly established. Rainwater is the best for watering, pond-water next, then river-water, and lastly springwater. In temperature the water should be above rather than below that of the air. Water in the morning or evening, and always copiously or not at all. A mere sprinkling is injurious. If the surface only of the ground is moistened, the plants will be tempted to form their new rootlets where they find nourishment, instead of sending them downwards in quest of moisture. If water be scarce or time precious, let the plants have a good soaking twice a week rather than a daily sprinkling. Their roots will thus multiply some inches below the surface, where the ground remains damp the longest time. Bulbs, after flowering, require no water; plants also may be allowed to get very dry while ripening their fruit or seeds. Geraniums and other window plants which make little growth during winter should be sparingly supplied with water until they begin to shoot; they should then be supplied freely, but do not allow water to remain in the saucers. A CHEERFUL FIRESIDE. Nothing makes the fireside so cheerful as a blessed hope beyond it. WHY not polite? How much does it cost to say, "I thank you"? Why not practise it at home? to your husband, your children, your domestics? If a stranger does you some little act of courtesy, how sweet the smiling acknowledgment! If your husband-ah! it's a matter of course; no need of thanks. Should an acquaintance tread on your dress-your very, very best-and by accident tear it, how profuse you are with your "never mind's, don't think of it, I don't care at all!" If a husband does it, he gets a frown; if a child, he is chastised. Ah, these are little things! say you. They tell mightily upon the heart, let us assure you, little as they are. A gentleman stops at a friend's house, and finds it in confusion. "He don't see anything to apologize for-never thinks of such matters." Everything is all right-cold supper, cold room, crying children; perfectly comfortable. Goes home, where the wife has been taking care of the sick ones, and working her life almost out. Don't see why things can't be kept in better order; there never were such cross children before. No apologies accepted at home. Why not be polite at home? Why not use freely that golden coin of courtesy? How sweet they sound, those little words, "I thank you," or, "You are very kind." Doubly, yes, thrice sweet VOL. V. No. 7.] [JULY, 1868. from the lips of those we love, when heart-smiles make the eye sparkle with the clear light of affection. Be polite to your children. Do you expect them to be mindful of your welfare? to grow glad at your approach? to bound away to do your pleasure before the request is half spoken? Then with all your dignity and authority mingle politeness; give it a niche in your household temple. Only then will you have learned the true secret of sending out into the world really "finished" gentlemen and ladies. What I say, I say unto all, "Be polite." He The other day I chanced to enter a friend's house. He did not know I was in the parlour, and I overheard his conversation. was very harsh in his dealing with his child. He was "out of sorts" that morning. "The wind was east," and the east wind blew into his lungs, and into his soul, and soured his mind, and soured his heart; and So, like a base miscreant as he was, he vented his bad temper on his wife and children. It is a habit some men have. This man was talking in a hard, unchristian tone, talking as no father should talk. He had lost his temper. He was saying what he would be sorry for in a few moments. And then the servant announced my presence. Mind you, the man would have said he could not help it: "The boy teased me. He did what I cannot endure, and, on the impulse of the moment, I spoke my anger; I could not control myself." There was a frown on his face; but when I was announced-being more or less of a stranger, demanding of him certain courtesies,—he at at once smoothed his face, as though nothing had happened as though the sun were shining brightly in the heavens, and the wind were south and not east. He came into the room where I was, and, in the most cordial and courteous way possible, gave me his hand, and smilingly bade me welcome. He could not control himself, simply because he did not think enough of his boy; because he did not sufficiently appreciate his family; and because he thought that his home was a den, in which he could roar with impunity, and not the great temple of God, where he should walk as priest and king. And yet I, almost a stranger, was sufficiently strong, in my presence, to cause him at once to cool down into courtesy, into affability, into politeness ! I tell you, that many and many a man, and many and many a woman, in this strange world of ours, in which many things seem to go wrong, will be gentle, and kind, and charitable, and full of smiles, outside of their houses, with strangers, for whose opinion they do not care one jot or one tittle; and in the house, where all the happiness of years depends upon their sweetness of soul, and where they are constantly shedding influences that will ripen into the good or bad life of boy or girl, will yield to a pettishness and peevishness unworthy of them as men and women, and wholly unworthy of them as Christians. "Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, BE COURTEOUS (1 Pet. iii. 8). |