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BOTH IN CHRIST'S FOLD, AND BOTH IN ONE GRAVE.

UGUSTUS HOCKLEY, aged

A eleven years, who died at Shrub

End, near Colchester, on October 22nd, 1880, after eight days' illness, was a wise son who made his father glad, and he was wise because he was obedient. His father loved him very much, and he also loved his father, and spent his time, when he was able to do so, with him. His father, together with his books, were his chief companions. He had one sister and one brother; these he also loved. His mother, who was most dear to him, died only fourteen weeks before him; thus the mother and the son were, within a few weeks, laid both in one grave-one coffin upon the other.

Augustus was a very quiet and diligent boy, and was quite a favourite both with his week-day schoolmaster and his Sunday-school superintendent. After his unexpected death, the schoolmaster wrote to his father as follows:

DEAR SIR,-We were all very much astonished to hear this morning of the death of your son Augustus. I was not aware that his sickness had assumed such a serious phase as it had. It only seems yesterday since he was amongst us in the best of health. I made inquiries about him last week, but never imagined that he would so soon be called from us. He had attracted my notice in school more than boys at his age usually do. It was very rare indeed that ever any complaint had to be made respecting him. His punctuality, and attention to school work were most praiseworthy. He was not only liked by the teachers, but scholars also. I had often spoken of him as a really good boy, and, now that he is gone, I feel that I have lost a dear little friend. You will, I am sure, feel the bereavement keenly-especially so, since it is so soon after the death of his mother. The same Saviour who wept at the grave of Lazarus knows and sympathises with you in your trouble. It is a comfort to think

"That, 'midst sorrow and care,
There is One that is near

Who ever delights to relieve us.” Your loss is our loss, and your sorrow is our sorrow; and you have from all of us our deepest sympathy.

With kindest regards, believe me,
Yours sincerely,

H. C. S.

The Sunday-school superintendent

wrote:

DEAR MR. HOCKLEY,-I was exceedingly grieved to hear of the death of your son. I had not heard a word of his being unwell. The news produced quite an impression in the school yesterday. We all liked him very much, as he was always a good boy. We trust your loss will be his gain, and that he is now with Jesus. With kindest regards and sympathy, Yours truly,

W. C.

Augustus was not only a good boy at school, but at home also. He used to walk nearly two miles to chapel with his father, and would sit most attentively during the service. The last time he came to chapel with his father (St. John's Green Chapel, Colchester) was on Wednesday, October 13th, when Mr. Hull preached. While returning home after the service, he said, "Father, you liked that gentleman's preaching, I think.” On the following day he was taken ill at school, and, after suffering much pain for eight days, died. During these eight days his father often read to him, and spoke with him about his soul, and was very pleased with the answers his boy gave him. After the boy's death his father wrote to a friend of his, in answer to a note of sympathy:

DEAR FRIEND,-How sweet is sympathy to my poor wounded heart! The death of my child, whom I loved as myself, is a sore trial to me. My prayer is, that the

A GENTLE rebuke.

Lord will use it as a means of weaning myself and the two remaining children who are left to mourn the loss of the dear boy from the world more and more. I bless God that He has so satisfied my grieved heart that He has taken my dear child to Himself for ever. A little while before he breathed his last his face beamed with brightness and joy in a very special way, when he lifted his hands and waved them, saying, "Victory, through the blood of the Lamb!" and "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world;" also

"Did Jesus once upon me shine?

Then Jesus is for ever mine.'"

I said, "Jesus is shining in your heart." He quickly answered, "Yes." After a little while he said, "I shall walk with my mother, and take hold of her hand." The last word spoken by him was, “Read." It was just fourteen weeks to the day after his dear mother was taken away that he was taken to her. I find it too much for me; I must close. Pray for me.

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A SCOTCH minister, of a most gentle nature, and very reluctant to reprove, was travelling in the stage-coach between Stirling and Glasgow. A blustering fellow passenger had, in the form of oaths, often mentioned the devil's name. By-and-bye he began to take the name of God in vain. "Stop, sir," said the minister, "else one or other of us must go out. So long as you used the name of your own master I was silent, but I shall not hear you speak irreverently of mine."-Kind Words.

II

A SINGLE LEAF. THERE was once a caravan crossing to the north of India, and numbering in its company a devoted missionary. As it passed along, a poor man was overcome by the heat and labours of the journey, and, sinking down, was left to perish on the road. The missionary saw him, and, kneeling down at his side when the rest had passed along, whispered into his ear, "Brother, what is your hope?" The dying man raised himself a little to reply, and, with great effort, succeeded in answering, "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin," and immediately expired with the effort. The missionary was greatly astonished at the answer. "How or why," he thought, "could this man, seemingly a heathen, have got this hope?" and as he thought of it, he observed a piece of paper grasped tightly in the hand of the corpse, which he succeeded in getting out. What do you suppose was his delight when he found it was a single leaf of the Bible, containing the first chapter of the first Epistle of John, in which these words occur? On that page the man had found his Gospel. -Selected.

BIBLE ENIGMA.

WHO gleaned in the field of Boaz?
Who was the son of Barachel?
Who was the son of Pethuel ?

Who hid a hundred prophets in a cave?
Who of Bethlehem judged Israel ?
Who was a devout man?
One of the sons of Aaron.
What prophet came to Damascus ?
A queen who made a feast for women.
Who was the father of Methuselah?
Who was the father of Hobab?
Who was the son of Imlah?
One of the sons of Simeon.
Who was the eldest son of Israel?
Who was the father of Hoshea?
Now search your Bible, that will tell
What words all these initials spell.

MARY STUBBS.

can.

THE BEAVER.

EXPECT that nearly all the children who read this Magazine know where Holland is, but those who do not had better take a map of Europe and find it as quickly as they There it is, lying at the north, with scarcely any hills or valleys-nothing but level land. Once on a time the sea flowed over, making it at low tide a marshy swamp, fit for no one but the wild geese that flew over in great companies, and the frogs that croaked dismally beneath. But it came into the minds of some clever men that it might be possible to keep the sea back, and to drain the land, so that corn-fields might be planted, roads made, and houses built; so, after consulting a great many learned books, and calling in the aid of many skilled engineers, the stupendous work was commenced. The scene was quickly changed. Instead of a lonely waste, there were hundreds of men to be seen as busy as bees, and nothing to be heard all day but the sound of pickaxe and shovel. I have no doubt Mr. and Mrs. Frog were very much disgusted at being disturbed in their homes, but they had to bear it, or travel further down the country. As for the geese, they all flew off in one day, screaming with anger at the progress of civilization.

But it is not of the geese or the frogs I am intending to write, nor yet about the men, but concerning some little animals that these busy workers make me think of. The Dutch dykes were considered a wonderful achievement, and people still point to them to show what men can do ; but I think these little animals achieve quite as much in their way, and that without the aid of science and of learned men ; but they have a heavenly Teacher, who guides and instructs them in all they should do. When all living creatures were formed in the Garden of Eden, God put a power within each. He taught the bird how to build its nest, the bee to

gather honey, the spider to weave its web, and that power we call instinct. God's scholars learn their lessons well. They work with an object in view, and with patience to achieve that object.

I wonder if the children who read this little paper know that animals, birds, and insects have various trades? Some are weavers, such as spiders; some are spinners, like caterpillars; others are masons, carpenters, builders, &c., and they each do their work better than any human worker at the same calling.

I am going to tell a little about the beavers. They are animals about two feet in length, their fur being of a dark brownish greyish colour, rather resembling the seal in texture. They have very sharp teeth, and a broad flat tail, covered with scales, which is used as a rudder when swimming. Their home now is principally in Canada. Once they lived in Europe, but from there they have gradually disappeared, disliking as much as the geese did that man should invade their territories. They are God's scholars, and they prefer His own land of nature to all the embellishments of art. It has been aptly said that "God made the country and man made the town."

They burrow in the summer-make holes under the ground and live therebut, when the winter's cold approaches, great numbers gather together and begin their wonderful labours. They choose some piece of water, generally preferring a running stream, and set to work in the same manner as the Dutch dyke-man, by making a kind of wall, called a dam, to keep the water back. They cut down branches, and even trees, with their sharp little teeth, above the scene of their operations, and float them down the stream; then interlace them together, and fill up all cavities with stones and mud, making as good and stout a wall with the materials at their command as any human being could do. The dam is sometimes as much as three

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hundred yards across. At that they work together, but, when completed, divide into families, and commence building their huts. They are of an oval shape, six or seven feet in diameter (which means the length round inside), made in the same way as the dam, of branches and mud, each containing two rooms, one above the other, the lower constituting a store room for bark, which forms their winter food, and the upper a living room. They generally come back to the same haunts every winter, and repair everything that is found out of place.

I should much like to see the beaver at work, and I expect many of you would; but then, to those who live in this country, it would demand a voyage across the ocean; but I think, if we use our eyes, we may see almost as many wonders in our own land-especially those who live in the country.

Close to where I spent some time in the summer there was a large wood, and thousands of busy little ants had taken up their abode there. They loved the smell of the aromatic pines and the graceful ferns, and were happy all day, working

with more than human efforts to erect their immense habitations, for they are immense compared to the size of the little builder. There they were to be seen, rising almost three feet in height, of a conical shape, and black with the moving mass of inhabitants-all busy, not one standing still, but working as if there was a great deal to be accomplished before nightfall. Inside I have read they are more wonderful still, divided into little cells, in which the young ones are nurtured. When an ant hill is disturbed, one of the first sights you see are the ant-nurses with the larva in their mouths, escaping out of the ruined home to place their little charges in a place of safety. One thing I have noticed too, is that, though always busy, they are ever ready to help one another, I have seen four at a time carrying one small twig, each contributing its little help, and accomplishing what one could not do alone.

There is a great deal of interesting information to be read about the ant and the beaver, and now, as I have told you a little, you must try and find out much more, and use your own eyes, too, upon the many insects and animals seen around.

As I watched the tiny little ants at my feet, and then gazed upon the towering pines waving high above my head, a verse of a hymn which many of you may know came into my mind

"How wondrous are the works of God, Displayed through all the world abroad!

Immensely great, ima.ensely small, Yet one strange work exceeds them all."

And that strange work, which is none other than God's love in saving poor sinners, is the greatest wonder of all.

We may admire the wonders of creation, and speak of the beauties of nature, but we must feel God's salvation within us before we can understand its wonders and beauties. Without this experience we can only admire God's redemption as one might do who is shut up in prison, gazing through glazed windows at a beautiful landscape.

Now I must conclude, hoping that, while your mind and head may be engaged in admiring God's wonderful power and care in instructing animals and insects, He Himself may take possession of your heart, and cause you, from a true feeling of it, to admire His wonderful work of redemption.

M.

THE chief properties of wisdom areto be mindful of things past, careful of things present, and provident of things to

come.

TROUBLES are like babies. They grow bigger by nursing. Let us never meet trouble half-way. Imaginary troubles soon become real ones, and they are sometimes worse to bear.

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