Ali Meejut came not. He had reached Ceylon, but the pearl was gone; its owner had left Condatchy, to find a market for it elsewhere. Ali sought in vain to track him from time to time they came upon some rumour of his course, but too late to find him. At length their search was successful. At far distant Japan, the pearl was found. The price that was offered was, the whole wealth of the princely merchant; but the trader, tired of waiting longer for a purchaser and having received no offer equal to that of Ali, sold the pearl. Zulima had been sitting almost lost in the perplexities of her troubled thoughts, pondering within herself how she should procure a further supply of money to buy food for her children and her slaves, and dreading to involve her husband in debt; when Ali Meejut sunk exhausted at the gate. And thus the merchantman, who had long sought for goodly pearls and who had found at last the one pearl of great price, had literally sold all that he had to purchase that pearl; but the sum which he had paid, immense as it appeared, was far below its real worth. He had been the richest man in Alexandria before he purchased it; but no man ever knew the amount of the treasure which he was said to possess before he died, as it will afterwards appear, for he went * * * * * "I cannot go on, dear mother," said Margaret ; "there is a sudden break-an end of the manuscript. How disappointing this is!" "Here are a few words, however, written on the blank page which follows: they are, as you may see, passages from Holy Scripture," and she handed the paper to her mother. Mrs. Seymour read, "Not with gold, or pearls, or costly array." Again "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ," Phil. iii. 7-9. "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." "These passages of the word of God are in the handwriting of my dear grandfather," said Mrs. Seymour. "Whoever wrote the strange tale, we see the lesson he drew from it, and let us endeavour to profit by it. Ah! how true it is, that "the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light!" and yet I know not if we are justified in calling ourselves the children of light; though I hope I love the light; and I try to be glad that God has put out all other lights, that we may turn from a darkened world, and look up to him. Margaret, the Lord has darkened our prospect on every side, in this vain, foolish, wicked world, that we might see that gate and that way which lead unto him; and, though that gate is strait, allowing no space for our sins to pass, and that way is narrow, he has made it to the eye of faith like a tract of sunshine in the midst of gloom; and he can make it like a path of firm, smooth, flowery greensward, amidst rocks and tangled briers of a waste and howling wilderness. It is his gracious, loving way to seek as well as save; and it seems to me, that he has sent us into the wilderness, only that he may meet and comfort us there. Let us strive to resemble Ali Meejut, or rather the merchantman seeking goodly pearls, of whom our Saviour speaks; who, having found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought that pearl. All that we had has been taken from us; and though we cannot be said to have given it up willingly, still, my Margaret, let there be all the spirit of a cheerful renunciation of everything in our hearts, for "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." May he give us faith to say—with an adoring faith in his perfect goodness and love—“ blessed be the name of the Lord." He has taken away the other goodly pearls that we possessed; we will seek them and care for them no longer; for we know that the One Pearl of great price is to be found by those who diligently seek it. It is to be bought without money and without price; and let us, like the merchantman, relinquish all, that we may possess that Pearl. Who that has once found it would ever consent to part with it again?" FROM "MARGARET, OR THE PEARL." BY THE REV. C. B. TAYLer. MELROSE ABBEY. MR. CHAMBERS states, that "the establishment of Melrose originated, in the seventh century, in a Saxon monastery, placed on a peninsula, formed by a bend of the Tweed, about two miles below the present village, and denominated Old Melrose. In 1136, David 1. founded the present abbey. It was burnt, in the reign of Bruce, by the English, but soon after repaired, the King granting two thousand pounds towards that object. In 1385, the army of Richard II. once more destroyed it; and it was again rebuilt at a great expense. The present beautiful building proves by its style, that it chiefly attained its present shape at a period subsequent to its last catastrophe. The abbey and church underwent another repair, in the reign of James Iv., whose arms containing his name and the date 1505, are still to be seen in one of the buttresses. "The abbey church, which now alone remains, is entire, excepting in the nave and central tower. The nave, which lies due east and west, is, in length, two hundred and fifty-eight feet, and in breadth, seventynine; the transepts are, in length, one hundred and thirty feet, and in breadth, forty-four. The attention of strangers is chiefly directed to the east window, the window and doorway of the south transept; the beautiful ornamental work connected with the niches in the |