What sadness had he felt at being lame, and now what joy at saving life. When the boys saw James sitting helplessly in the snow, they thought of his crutches, and some of them ran to find them. They brought the one which had saved Guy; the other had floated under the broken ice, and was lost. What was to be done? James could not walk a step unless he had both. It was but a moment, and two noble boys had grasped him firmly about the waist, and with his arms wound around their necks, were bearing him on his way. Cold and wet as Guy was, he walked beside them, declaring that though he had often said he meant to have a pair of crutches, he did not dream that he should have such extreme need of them, and so soon.

Poor "Crutchy" was now the hero of the school. The teacher came to his desk to take him by the hand, and ask God's blessing on him, while the tears ran down his face. The boys could not do enough for him. They loaded him with their choicest dainties, apples and nuts and candies, and crowded around to hear him talk, delighted with his company. Guy's father sent him a pair of the nicest crutches by the hand of Guy; and I am glad to tell you that when he gave them to him, he had to choke from his emotion before he could say, "I've long wanted to tell you, James, how mean I've thought it was in me to stick those pins in your crutches, and to ask forgiveness. Shake hands with me now, James, and help me to forget it, and I'll be a man hereafter."

Guy was learning from James how excellent is the great Master's command, "Render unto none evil for evil, but follow that which is good."

LITTLE JIM.

The cottage was a thatch'd one,
The outside old and mean,
Yet ev'rything within that cot
Was wondrous neat and clean.

The night was dark and stormy,
The wind was howling wild;
A patient mother knelt beside
The death-bed of her child.

A little worn-out creature

His once bright eyes grown dim;
It was a collier's only child-
They call'd him little Jim.

And oh! to see the briny tears

Fast hurrying down her cheek,

As she offer'd up a prayer in thought—
She was afraid to speak,

Lest she might waken one she lov'd
Far better than her life,

For there was all a mother's love,
In that poor collier's wife,

With hands uplifted, see, she kneels
Beside the sufferer's bed;

And prays that He will spare her boy,
And take herself instead!

She gets her answer from the child;
Soft fell these words from him-
"Mother, the angels do so smile,
And beckon little Jim!

"I have no pain, dear mother, now,
But oh! I am so dry;

Just moisten poor Jim's lips again,
And, mother, don't you cry."

With gentle trembling haste she held.

The tea-cup to his lips;

He smiled, to thank her, as he took
Three little tiny sips.

"Tell father when he comes from work, I said good-night to him;

And mother, now I'll go to sleep:”— Alas! poor little Jim.

She saw that he was dying

The child she lov'd so dear,
Had utter'd the last words that she
Might ever hope to hear.

The cottage door was open'd,
The collier's step was heard ;
The mother and the father met,
Yet neither spake a word!

He knew that all was over-
He knew his child was dead;
He took the candle in his hand,
And walk'd towards the bed.

His quiv'ring lips gave token
Of grief he'd fain conceal;
And see! his wife has join'd him,
The stricken couple kneel!

With hearts bow'd down with sadness,

They humbly ask of Him,

In heaven, once more, to meet again,
Their own poor Little Jim.

SUNDAY LABOUR.

Estimated Number of Persons employed on the Lord's Day.

Railway Servants

Post-Office Officials

60,000

20,000

100,000

Boatmen on Rivers and Canals, with their families
Cabmen and Persons connected with Omnibuses in

Tobacconists, 209,000, Publicans and Beer Shop

London alone..

keepers, 260,000

469,000

Bakers, Butchers, Greengrocers, Poulterers, General Shops, Fishmongers, and Newsvendors, are generally open on some portion of the Lord's Day.

GLEANINGS.

FATHER MATHEW AND HIS CONVERTS.-Mr. Maguire, M.P., in his biography of Father Mathew, says that after the good priest had been speaking one day in Golden Lane, Barbican, to crowds of Irish, several hundreds knelt to receive the pledge, and among them the Duke of Norfolk, then Lord Arundel and Surrey. Father Mathew asked the Earl if he had given the subject sufficient reflection. "Ah! Father Mathew!" replied the noble convert, "do you not know that I had the happiness to receive Holy Communion from you this morning at the altar of Chelsea Chapel? I have reflected on the promise I am about to make, and I thank God for the resolution, trusting to the Divine goodness for grace to persevere." Tears rolled down his cheeks as he uttered these words, with every evidence of genuine emotion. He then repeated the formula of the pledge. Father Mathew embraced him with delight, pronounced a solemn bendiction " on him and his," and invested him with the medal. Mr. Maguire says that the earl continued faithful to the pledge, and "it was not until many years after that, at the command of his medical advisers, he substituted moderation for total absti

nence." One nobleman upon whom his influence was less successful was Lord Brougham. “I drink very little wine," said his lordship, "only half a glass at luncheon and two half glasses at dinner; and though my medical advisers told me I should increase the quantity, I refused to do so." They are wrong, my lord, for advising you to increase the quantity, and you are wrong in taking the small quantity you do, but I have hopes of you." And so his lordship was invested with the silver medal and ribbon. "I will keep it," said his lordship, "and take it to the House, where I shall be sure to meet old Lord the worse for liquor, and I will put it on him." He was as good as his word, and meeting the venerable peer, who was so celebrated for his potations, he said, "Lord I have a present from Father Mathew for you," and passed the ribbon rapidly over his neck. "Then I tell you what it is, Brougham, I will keep sober for this night," and his lordship kept his vow, to the great amazement of his friends.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND BANDS OF HOPE. Recently, in a letter, the Rev. W. Caine, M.A., said, in reply to a published letter from a Sundayschool teacher, appealing for more life and energy to be thrown into the Church of England Sunday-school system:-"I wish to point out to your correspondent one cause of the great number of children in Dissenting schools. Most of the Sunday-schools conducted by Dissenters have Bands of Hope connected with them; whereas very few of the Church Sunday-schools in Manchester and its neighbourhood have these valuable auxiliaries. Parents, especially amongst the poor, even if they are fond of intoxicating drinks themselves, wish to see their children grow up with habits of sobriety, and they prefer to send them to Sunday-schools where the teachers take such an interest in the temporal and spiritual welfare of the 'youug immortals' committed to their charge as to deny themselves the use of intoxicating drinks for their sake, and where the teachers form total abstinence societies for their scholars, which may be the means of rescuing some of them at least from the destruction to which they are exposed through the innumerable temptations placed in their way in the shape of gin-palaces, and public-houses, and beershops. The Church of England in this district is sadly behind the Dissenters as far as Bands of Hope are concerned. In a list now before me of bands of hope connected with the Manchester and Salford Band of Hope Union, out of 33 Bands of Hope only five or six belong to Church Sunday-schools. This ought not so to be. The national Church ought to be superior to every other religious body in every respect, and especially in care for the young, most of whom have been baptised by the Church clergy, but, alas ! are afterwards in many instances neglected and unthought of by them. Let me most respectfully urge the clergy to form these useful societies called Bands of Hope in their schools. They would see a marvellous change for the better amongst their scholars. Their number would increase, and their manners would be improved, and they would give infinitely less trouble to their teachers than Sunday-school scholars do at present. A spirit of earnestness prevails in a school in which there is a flourishing Band of Hope."

ONE OF THE "MEN WHO HAVE RISEN."-At a social temperance gathering, George Lomax told the following story:-" Henry Hetherington published The Poor Man's Guardian, which struck the first practical blow at the obnoxious stamp-duties. The vendors used to sell a straw and give the paper. One day there came to their rendezvous, at New Cross-street, a youth, one of a class known in those days as a 'big piecer.' He told them that two of the news-vendors had just been taken to the New Bailey, and added to this effect:-'If I had something to start with, I would go out and sell them; for if they put me in prison they would have to keep me.' Lomax took round his hat, half-a-crown was raised; the lad was furnished with a supply of papers, went out, sold them, took care of the profits; and so on from little to more, till, by dint of industry, steadiness, and an aptitude for business, he achieved a position in society. The lad's name was Abel Heywood; and he is at the present moment the mayor of Manchester."

THE FUTURE OF DULL BOYS.-Parents should never despair because their children give little promise of eminence in early life. Douglas Jerrold was considered a dull boy; at nine years old he could scarcely read. Goldsmith was a very unpromising boy. Dryden, Swift, and Gibbon, in their earliest pieces, did not show any talent. The mother of Sheridan, herself a literary woman, pronounced him to be the dullest and most hopeless of her sons. The father of Barrow is said to have exclaimed: "If it please God to take away any of my children, I hope it will be Isaac.' The injudicious parent regarded the lad as a miracle of stupidity, but he afterwards proved the glory of his family.

SHORT AND SWEET.-A baby.

A fine coat often covers an intolerable fool, but never conceals one.

A lady, describing an ill-natured man, says, "He never smiles but be feels ashamed of it."

An indirect way of getting a glass of water at a boarding house is to call for a third cup of tea.

He who gives up is soon given up; and to consider ourselves of no use is the almost certain way to become useless.

TRUE. There is no doubt whatever, that the consumption of wine and beer among the young people of "respectable" families is greatly on the increase, and unless something in the way of limitation be done to arrest the growing evil, these will be a necessity for taking refuge in a much more sweeping reformation. The Universities are setting an example of freedom in the constant use of stimulants, which is infecting the whole country. Christinn Spectator.

HER MAJESTY AND THE USE OF THE "WEED."—It may be interesting to the public in general, and 'more especially to the smoking section, to learn that the use of tobacco for smoking purposes within the precincts of Windsor Castle has been prohibited by the express command of Her Majesty the Queen.