MY CLASS REGISTER. the whole presented the idea of a superb theatre, illuminated by an immense profusion of lights. The floor consisted of solid marble, and in several places magnificent columns, thrones, altars, and other objects, appeared, as if nature had designed to mock the curious productions of art. Our voices, upon speaking or singing, were redoubled to an astonishing loudness, and upon the firing of a gun the noise and reverberations were almost deafening. In the midst of this grand amphitheatre rose a concretion of about fifteen feet high, that in some measure resembled an altar. The beautiful columns that shot up around it appeared like candlesticks, and many other natural objects represented the customary ornaments connected therewith. Below even this spacious grotto there seemed another cavern, down which I ventured with my former mariner, and descended about fifty paces by means of a rope. I at last arrived at a small spot of level ground, where the bottom appeared different from that of the amphitheatre, being composed of some clay, yielding to the pressure, and into which I thrust a stick to the depth of six feet. In this, however, as above, numbers of the most beautiful crystals were formed, one of which particularly resembled a table. Upon our egress from this amazing cavern, we perceived Greek inscription upon a rock at the mouth, but so obliterated that we could not read it distinctly. It seemed to import that one Antipater had come hither; but whether he penetrated into the depths of the cavern he does not think fit to inform us." This account of so striking a scene may serve to give us some idea of the subterranean wonders of nature. J. GOLDSMITH. A MAN'S discontent is his worst evil. HAPPINESS is a perfume which one cannot shed over another without a few drops falling on one's self. MY CLASS REGISTER; 65 OR, WHAT I TOLD MY GIRLS ABOUT THEIR NAMES.-SECOND SERIES. NO. II. ELLEN. Ellen is either derived from the Saxon Eleanor, and means 66 All-fruitful;" or from the Greek Helena, which means "Alluring." I CANNOT certainly declare The truest sense your name will bear, In you, dear Ellen, I would find But let us rise from all on earth May all your life derive its fruit HEPHZIBAH. JOSIAH WEDGEWOOD THE POTTER. JOME time ago, in the town of Stoke-on-Trent, there was erected in a large public square a marble statue. Lords and ladies took a part in it; the people flocked to it from far and near, and there were banners flying and sounds of music. It was a general holiday. Who was the statue in honour of? One of the lords, or a famous general, or a great poet, or an able statesman? No, no. It was the statue of one who had been a common working-man, a potter, JOSIAH WEDGEWOOD. He was born in a small village near Stoke in 1730, the son of a poor potter, who died when Josiah was about eleven years old, leaving his family to shift for themselves as best they could. The boy went to work with a brother, where he earned little more than a crust of bread. Here he caught the small-pox. It settled in his leg, which had to be cut off; and, that rendering him of no further use to his brother, he had to start on his own account. Scraping together a few tools, he set about trying to make a better kind of knifehandle. The potters round laughed at him, and called it fancy stock. They did not see that it was the spirit of improvement which actuated him. Potters' ware at that time was coarse and dark. Common cups and saucers were brought from Holland; while more costly sets, both for tea and dinner, came over the ocean, all the way from China. At that time our great-grandmothers ate from pewter platters, and our great-grandfathers drank from pewter mugs. Josiah did not mind what people said; he worked away, trying to improve his work constantly. One important discovery which the young man made was, that certain earths, on being exposed to a furnace heat, turn white. This was a great step, and led the way to his manufacturing white ware-the first of the kind made in England. His small business prospered, for he was industrious and saving, and never wasted his time nor his pennies at the ale shops; and, as his business prospered, he had the means for still greater improvement. He bought books, studied chemistry, sought the society of wise men, and spared no pains to perfect his work.. I cannot stop to tell you how teacups and saucers and dinner-sets are made. They are baked dough, you know-the dough being made of certain kinds of earths, pounded, kneaded, rolled, and shaped by a machine called the potter's wheel. They are then baked in a kiln for thirty or forty hours. Before Wedgewood's time, the shape of earthenware, and the pictures on them, were very ugly. Of course this style did not suit the young man, and he resolved to call in the aid of the best artists to help him. Hearing of a clever young man in London of the name of Flaxman, he went to see him. “Well, my lad," he said, "I hear you are a clever designer. I want some tasteful and simple designs for teacups, jugs, cups and saucers. I'll pay you well. You do not think the work beneath you, do you?" "By no means, sir," answered Flaxman; "the work is quite to my taste. Give me a few days, and see what I can do. I will do my best, I assure you, sir." Flaxman was as good as his word. He made a great many beautiful patterns for Wedgewood; and, though he afterwards became a famous sculptor, he always looked back on these early efforts with pleasure, because it helped to cultivate good taste among the people. Wedgewood manufactured an elegant dinner-set for Queen Caroline-the first home manufacture ever spread on the royal table; and it so pleased the Queen that she appointed him the "royal potter." This kind was afterwards known as "Queen's ware." He also made a beautiful cream THE UNKNOWN HOUR. coloured ware, called "Wedgewood ware," which was and is greatly admired. Wedgewood's business rapidly increased. Good work is always marketable. Good work always commands good pay. And he, who was once the poor lame boy, made as a man a princely fortune. But, in his splendid house, he never forgot that he had been a poor boy. He remembered the poor; and his kindness fed many a hungry man and helped many a struggling boy. To many great and good objects he gladly and generously lent a helping hand. I went into a large crockery-ware house the other day. 66 Where," I asked the man, "were all these plates, and cups, and dishes made?" "They came from the Staffordshire potteries," he answered, "the famous Wedgewood potteries, which, I dare say, you have heard of." Yes, I had heard of them; and the man showed me Wedgewood's name stamped on many of them. The potteries now give employment to more than sixty thousand people, and manufacture at the present time two millions' worth of ware a year. Josiah Wedgewood, the father of these potteries, has long been dead; but the statue thus raised to his memory shows the high place which the faithful and enterprising mechanic holds in the estimation of his countrymen. THE UNKNOWN HOUR. "Watch ye, therefore, for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh: at even, or at midnight, or at cock-crowing, or in the morn ing."-MARK xiii. 35. NOT always does the Master send A messenger, to say "Thy pleasures and thy toils must end; Prepare for Me to-day!" The Owner of the tenement, Need never knock, or ask consent 67 But, if He chooses, He will come And friendly converse, kind and gay, Perhaps at "midnight," when in ease That Hand, which holds death's chilling keys, Unlocks the mystic tie; The soul soars up to bliss untold, Or "in the morning," when the man, Is broken like a thread; Or "in the busy noon," perchance, Too hurried for a passing glance That One is He who holds our breath In His complete control; And life eternal, second death, Then "watch thou, therefore," "watch and pray," That thou may'st ready be, When, in some unexpected day, CAROLINE MAY. To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first. A DAUGHTER OF ABRAHAM. EAR CHILDREN,-As an instance how mysteriously the Lord sometimes begins and carries on His work of grace in the hearts of the young, I will give you a few particulars of the early days of Mrs. Bristow, who, when I became acquainted with her, was a very old lady. She published an account of her trials; but, as the book has been some years out of print, probably many of you have never seen it. Amelia was the child of a wealthy Jewish merchant residing in London. Her mother was the daughter of a rich Polish Jew, who gave his consent to her marriage only on one condition, which was, if she gave birth to a daughter, the infant should be at once consigned to his care to rear and educate. This singular arrangement was carried out; and Amelia, the fifth child, but eldest daughter, was soon after her birth taken to the residence of her grandfather, who also lived in London; and her parents were allowed to visit her only once a year (on her birthday). The old man grew extremely fond of the child, and purposed to cultivate her infant mind in accordance with his own ideas, looking forward to the time when he could present her to the females of his nation as a prodigy of rearing. Reared from infancy in the presence of her grandparents, and never being allowed to play or mix with other children, Amelia naturally grew thoughtful and serious; and her grandfather, being a most bigoted Jew, abhorring the name of Christianity, kept her so secluded that, until the fifth or sixth year of her age, she was ignorant of the existence of such a people. As soon as she was capable of being taught, she was instructed to repeat Jewish prayers; and when four years old, her grandfather presented her with a Bible, containing, of course, the Old Testament, as the Jews utterly reject the record of the Blessed Redeemer, and call Him an impostor. This Bible was, in accordance with her grandfather's wish, Amelia's constant study; and now it would appear the Holy Spirit began to move in her heart. As she read in the Prophets and Psalms solemn thoughts filled her mind; she felt she was a sinner, and, as no way of salvation was shown her but by obeying the law of Moses, it caused her much distress, and she was constantly asking her aged relatives what she must do to be saved. Her grandfather, alarmed at this, threatened to take away her Bible. To keep this she concealed her anxious thoughts, which, however, she could not get rid of. Several months passed on, when it so happened that while Amelia's grandfather was gone on a journey her grandmother was taken ill, and, not wishing to confine the child to a sick chamber, she allowed her to spend her time about the house alone. Her favourite resort was the library; and one day, while taking a book from the shelves, she noticed lying concealed behind it a small volume which looked very much like her own Bible. This book she at once opened, and, as she read, she found it was one she had never seen or heard of (it was no other than the New Testament). She read and re-read it with delight, and while so doing the Spirit of God was evidently working in her heart, although, from her tender age, she was unable in after years to give a clear account of what she then experienced; but she felt convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was the Saviour she had been taught to expect, and whose coming she was instructed daily to pray for in her printed forms of prayer; and from this time, although she could not define how, her oppressive feeling of guilt was in a great measure removed from her heart. She wondered she had never heard her instructors speak of this Jesus, and she longed to make inquiries about the record she had read in the Gospels; but her aged relative's illness prevented this be THE PATRIOTIC SMUGGLER. fore her grandfather's return. When this took place, and she was summoned to join the family in repeating a prayer which strict Jews read three times a day, in which the advent of the Messiah is especially pleaded for, Amelia during the reading involuntarily said aloud, "He is come." Her grandfather, after the short service was concluded, inquired the meaning of her words, and she at once drew him into the library, and showed him the book she had so enjoyed reading. He was terribly annoyed at this discovery, and told her she must never look at the book again. He said that it was all a fable, and the Man there mentioned was an impostor. This of course much worried the poor child, but it could not take away what the Lord had put in her heart. The old man was so disconcerted at what had taken place, that the same night he summoned a family meeting, including the parents of Amelia and a Rabbi (or what we should call a minister), to consult what was to be done. (To be continued.) THE PATRIOTIC SMUGGLER. MAN of notorious fame in the annals of smuggling, whose name was Johnson, had, by some extraordinary exertions, escaped from a prison in London in 1803. He fled to the Continent, and principally resided at Flushing. On the commencement of hostilities he was arrested by order of the French Government, and conveyed to a prison at Boulogne, being accused of having piloted the British Fleet to the Helder during the late war. In a few days after Johnson was lodged in confinement, a marine officer, who for some time past had been sedulously employed in obtaining British pilots, called upon him, and, after some preliminary observations, entered upon the chief object of his mission. "I am told," said the officer, "that 69 you are well acquainted with the opposite coast." "I know every sounding and creek," replied Johnson; "and what then?" Why, my good friend, if you will engage to pilot a certain division of the French Fleet to the British coast, and conduct yourself on the occasion with fidelity, I am directed to inform you that a general pardon will not only be granted to you, but an ample provision settled upon you during the remainder of your life." Sir," said the poor smuggler, "I have not been kindly used by my country, but yet I cannot be a traitor. I consider your proposal as an insult, and treat it with the disdain it merits." The officer, while admiring his principles and resolution, endeavoured to soothe him into compliance, which Johnson observing, very calmly said to him, "Do not attempt, sir, to render me a villain in my own estimation. Indeed, were I to undertake the treason you propose, I am confident that, in the hour of trial, my heart would guide me to my duty, and I should betray you." This roused the Frenchman, who exclaimed, "Then, villain, you shall die!" "With all my heart," said Johnson; and, in a tone of voice highly expressive of his determination, added, "The sooner the better. I have no favour to ask but this-over my grave let it be written, 'Here lies an English smuggler, who scorned to betray his country.'"-Selected. BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN MARCH. Mar. 6. Commit to memory Luke v. 32. Mar. 13. Commit to memory Gen. xxii. 8. Mar. 20. Commit to memory Luke vi. 20. Mar. 27. Commit to memory Luke vi. 45. |