the stage or upon a ball-room floor ; but in daily life there is no substitute for the charm of simplicity. A vulgar taste is not to be disguised with gold or diamonds. The absence of a true taste and refinement of delicacy cannot be compensated for by the possession of the most princely fortune. A modest woman will dress modestly; a really refined and intellectual woman will bear the marks of careful selection and faultless taste. OUR BED-ROOMS. OUR bed-rooms are too often fit only to die in. The best are those of the intelligent and affluent, which are carefully ventilated; next to these come those of the cabins and ruder farm-houses, with an inch or two of vacancy between the chimney and the roof, and the cracks on every side, through which the stars may be seen. The ceiled and plastered bed-rooms, wherein too many of the middle classes are lodged, with no other apertures for the ingress and egress of air but the door and windows, are horrible. Nine-tenths of their occupants rarely open a window, unless compelled by excessive heat, and very few are careful even to leave the door ajar. To sleep in a tight, six-by-ten bedroom, with no other aperture admitting air, is to court the ravages of pestilence, and invoke the speedy advent of death. The Counsel Chamber. HUMAN LIFE. THE average length of human life is under 30 years. One quarter die previous to the age of 7; one half before reaching 17. Only one of every 1,000 persons reaches 100 years. Only six of every 100 reaches the age of 65, and not more than one in 500 lives to 80 years of age. Of the whole population on the globe, it is estimated that 90,000 die every day; about 3,700 every hour, and 60 every minute, or one every second. These losses are more than counterbalanced by the number of births. The married are longer lived than the single. The average duration of life in all civilized countries is greater now than in any anterior period. Macaulay, the historian, states that in the year 1685-not an unhealthy year-the deaths in England were as one to 20, but in 1850, one to 40. Dupin, a well-known French writer, states that the average duration of life in France, from 1776 to 1843, increased 52 days annually. The rate of mortality in 1781 was one in 29, but in 1853, one in 40. The rich men live on an average 42 years, but the poor only 30 years. Longevity as a rule is a matter of habits and character. An eminent physician, whose experience and practice has been very extensive, has said that "the average life of the dissolute does not exceed four years!" Thus the Scripture is verified, "the wicked do not live half their days!" There are thousands in every stage-some in their first year, some in their second, some in their third, and some just taking their last look at the beautiful world, through sunken, glassy eyes, with curses on their lips and hell in their hearts, From such a frightful and early termination of the wonderful and beautiful being which God has given them, we would save all. Not one of the millions in our land would we have a prey of the destroyer. Not one that comes to the end of the dissolute, comes there intentionally; comes there in the least suspicious, in the first or often in the second year of his downward course, of his exposedness to danger. How shall Keep busy. Idleness is the strength of bad habits. Do not give up the struggle when you have broken your resolution once or twice, ten times, a thousand times. That only shows how much more need there is for you to strive. When you have broken your resolution just think the matter over, and endeavour to understand why it was you failed, so that you may be on your guard against a recurrence of the same circumstance. Do not think it a little or an easy thing that you have undertaken. It is folly to expect to break off a habit in a day which may have been gathering strength in you for years. Be sure to seek for divine help. IRREGULAR HABITS REPROVED. THE Rev. Charles Wesley, the poet of Methodism, had two sons, both of whom were eminent musicians. The oldest, who bore his father's name, being often introduced to noblemen and noble ladies, and even to royalty, became somewhat desultory in his habits; a vice which his father attempted to correct by the following epigram :— "Take time by the forelock,' is old Charles's word; 'Time enough,' quoth his son, with the air of a lord; 'Let the vulgar be punctual; my humour and passion Is to make people wait, or I can't be in fashion. If I follow the great only when they do well, To the size of a hero I never can swell; But for me, insignificant wight, it suffices, To copy them close in their follies and vices:"" Richmond. T. J. The Letter Box. TO ALL CHRISTIAN PEOPLE. NINE REASONS FOR CONTRIBUTING ΤΟ THE CAUSE OF CHRIST AND TO CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 1.-Because of the spiritually benighted and deplorable condition of millions of mankind both abroad and at home; "without God, without Christ," they are "without any good hope in the world." 2.-Because nothing but the Gospel of Jesus Christ is adapted to their case, or effectual for their enlightenment and salvation. But this is universally adapted, and as extensively effectual as it is faithfully proclaimed and cordially received. 3.-Because the will and word of God, both in the Old and the New Testament, require the universal propagation of Christ's holy and everlasting Gospel, It is "the joyful sound" from "the great trumpet," that all the ends of the earth may hear and be saved; and it must be preached "in all the world, and to every creature." 4.-Because this Gospel has proved the power of God unto the salvation of multitudes both in primitive times and later days, multitudes of British villagers, Indians, Negroes, Hottentots, and South Sea Islanders, even the most ignorant, heedless, hardened, wicked and wretched, and it may and must be so to multitudes and millions more. To help in this great work, therefore, must be a duty, a privilege, and a blessing. 5.-Because a Christian is laid under the greatest obligations to Jesus Christ for His redemption and salvation. Bought with blood, renewed by the Holy Spirit, adopted as a child of God, and made an heir of eternal glory, gratitude should quicken him to say, "What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits?" and the love of Christ should constrain him to devotion and selfsacrifice in His cause. 6. Because the silver and the gold are the Lord's, and must be employed as He pleases, in His service, and to His glory. He is the proprietor of all, and man is a steward only, and may not squander away his Lord's money in trash, vanity, luxury, and sin. 7. Because a small contribution, where a large one is not possible, if presented with an earnest desire for usefulness, will be accepted as the widow's mite, and may be rendered abundantly useful. A catechism to a child, a tract to a peasant, a Testament to a heathen, may be the salvation of the soul. 8.-Because a strict account of every talent must be given to God in the day of judgment. It will then appear how every farthing has been expended; how much has been laid out on self and sin, and what amount has been given to God, to His cause, and for the world's salvation. The gracious plaudit, "Well done!" will then be pronounced upon the faithful, but the unprofitable servant will be cast into "outer darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." 9.-Because the joy of usefulness, by the blessing of the Lord, now is exquisite, and hereafter will be infinitely great and everlasting. To see children collected and instructed, congregations gathered and attentively listening to the preaching of the Gospel, converts calling upon the name of the Lord and sitting at His table, sin and idolatry banished, and many gathered around the throne of God in glory, to all of which our contributions have usefully and happily conduced, must be a luxury of the sublimest character, and for which a world of wealth might well be freely given. Oh, give then to the cause of God, PRAYER. TO LEADERS IN SOCIAL PRAYER. I HAVE mixed long and largely with Christian people, and had much to do with assemblages for prayer. I have met with gifts of every sort, and been a witness to manifold defects and improprieties. I shall at present specify only one. Men are seldom entirely true to themselves and natural in their prayers. There is a certain round of topics supposed to be necessary to a symmetrical prayer. These they punctiliously introduce, whether their heart craves such utterance or not. If, when a Christian brother is in the full tide of such a prayer, uttering his regular succession of topics, Christ would really appear before him, how extremely impertinent would most of his petitions seem, addressed to a living and visible Saviour! Thus a man's real feeling is not expressed; and matters quite good in themselves, but almost wholly indifferent to him, constitute the bulk of the petition. Reverential tones and well-connected sentences, expressing very proper ideas, do not constitute prayer. The FAMILIARITY WITH WRONG.Rev. Dr. Wayland says, "familiarity with wrong diminishes our abhorrence of it. The contemplation of it in others fosters a spirit of envy and uncharitableness, and leads us, in the end, to exult in, rather than sorrow, over the faults of others." "Every time we indulge a harsh, censorious very essence of praying is that it conveys the real desires or thoughts of the suppliant. When a man really reveres God, how simple is the language of veneration! If a man's heart is breaking with sorrow, or depressed by care, or fretted by ill-adjusted affairs, why should he leave the real strain of feeling, and strike into a false key? It is remarkable how skilfully men will contrive to avoid all real interests, and express almost wholly those which are not real to them. A man prays for the glory of God, for the advancement of His kingdom, for the evangelization of the world; but he does not allude to the specialities in which his very life may stand, nor to the wants which every day are working their impress upon his character. The cares, the petty annoyances, the impatience of temper, pride, self-indulgence, selfishness, consciously and uncon sciously, or on the other hand, the gladness of daily life, the blessings of home, the felicities of friendship, the joys and successes of life-in short, all the things which one would talk of to a venerable parent, in an hour of confidence, are excluded from prayer. Without a doubt, reserve and delicacy must be often exercised in the disclosure of one's secret and private experiences. But this is not to be carried so far as to strip prayer of all its leaves and blossoms, and leave it like a formal bush or tree in winter, with barren branches standing in cold outline against a cold sky. A little solemn reflection on the matter may contribute to a cure. I have known it to do so. A TRUE FRIEND. temper, some gentle affection, some loving thought, we might have had instead, died out within us, and for every evil impulse we act out, we lose a good one." Thus the heart is left destitute of every good and noble feeling which enriches our own souls or blesses another. Poetry. THE CROWDED STREET. Where secret tears have left their trace. They pass to toil, to strife, to restTo halls in which the feast is spread To chambers where the funeral guest In silence sits beside the dead. And some to happy homes repair, Where children, pressing cheek to cheek, With mute caresses shall declare The tenderness they cannot speak. And some, who walk in calmness here, Shall shudder as they reach the door Where one who made their dwelling dear, Its flower, its light, is seen no more. Youth, with pale cheek and slender frame, And dreams of greatness in thine Goest thou to build an early name, THE WASP AND THE BEE. A WASP met a bee that was just buzzing by, And he said, "Little cousin, can you tell me why You are loved so much better by people than I? "My back shines as bright and as yellow as gold, And my shape is most elegant, too, to behold; Yet nobody likes me for that, I am told." "Ah! cousin," the bee said, ""tis all very true; But if I had half as much mischief to do, Indeed they would love me no better than you. "You have a fine shape and a delicate wing; They own you are handsome, but then there's one thing They cannot put up with, and that is your sting. "My coat is quite homely and plain, as you see, Yet nobody ever is angry with me, Because I'm a humble and innocent bee.' From this little story let people beware: Because, like the wasp, if ill-natured they are, They will never be loved, if they're ever so fair.-JANE TAYLOR. THE SLAVE'S PRAYER. BY MRS. FOLLEN. GOD of justice! God of love! Hear us when we pray to thee! Why in bondage should we be? Let us break these fetters then! |