that we have been so sinful. But now let us look forward. We have entered upon another year. We know not that we shall live to see its close. We cannot know the future; it is wisely hid from us; but let us resolve to ask help of God, that we may live better than we have done in the past year-that we may improve the opportu nities of instruction-so that we may be wiser, more holy, and more happy, if spared, throughout the year upon which we have now entered.

TIME.

PERHAPS there is no word which we more frequently use than the word time. When we rise up-when we lie down to rest-when we work-when we eat, or when we drink. Every orderly boy or girl, man or woman, master or servant, has his mind continually on time. For the want of a proper attention to time many evils arise; servants sometimes lose situations, masters lose business, and even the little school boy or girl loses his instruction.

Now, time is a very precious thing. One thoughtful man said, "Time is the stuff life is made of." You all know that life is valuable; and life and time are so much alike in value, that the word time is often used to describe life, and the word life to describe time. For instance, we sometimes say, such and such things happened in my time, or my parents' time; meaning in our life-time, or in our parents' life-time.

There is another wise and good man, who tells us that time is the measure of motion. What a beautiful description is this of time! Did you ever notice a clock or watch-what a many pretty wheels are in it, all working in harmony, each one moving another, and all uniting to turn round the two hands which are upon the dial? When you look at those two hands, and observe the figures to which they point, you can at once tell the time. But how can you do that? Why, those hands mark the measurement of the motion of the wheels within, and that motion is made to correspond exactly with the motions of the sun, moon, earth, and stars. In the Book of Genesis, in the 1st chapter, and at the 14th verse, we read, "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years."

Such, then, is the beautiful picture of human life. For, from the moment breath is first drawn, there is a continual motion going on in the body, which "is fearfully and wonderfully made;" by these means the body grows, so that by the countenance of the face, as well as the size of the frame, a mere glance is enough to tell how long we have lived. These motions continue as long as life itself; but when these motions cease, then time with us is no more. Hence the poet so beautifully says:—

"time is

"Our wasting lives grow shorter still, As days and months increase; And every beating pulse we tell Leaves but the number less." Dear little reader, the Bible says, short." You may have lived seven, ten, or even twelve years; but when you reflect, how short a time do those years seem to have been to you! Ah! how many during the past year have died younger than you! To them, "time" was "short," very short. But suppose you

should live till you are ten, twenty, or even thirty years older than you are now, how soon will that time have passed away! How thankful, then, should you be, that God has spared you to see another year; and how careful should you be to improve the opportunities of instruction that may be before you! Remember, time is your opportunity to prepare for eternity. Time is, thou hast employ'd the portion small; Time was, is past-thou canst not it recall; Time future, is not, and may never be; Time present is the only time for thee.

OLD TIME TURNED WEAVER.
There is a stern and ancient man,
Who worketh at a loom,
Weaving the mantle for the bride,
And raiment for the tomb.

From summer-time to summer-time,
His shuttle flieth ever,

And if you bid him rest awhile,
He answers, "Never! never!"

Yet watch him, that his mystic work
Be done as it should be,
For he is weaving every day,

A robe for thee and me.

He throws the shuttle to and fro,
The pattern we must give-
Co-workers with the stern old man,
Until we cease to live!

Nor till Eternity begins,

Will rest his shuttle's chime,-
Our actions are the woop and warf,
The weaver, is Old Time.

THE SERPENT.-No. I.

THE serpent, or snake, is a creature that is often spoken of in the Bible. It is said to be very crafty or wise. We read in Gen. iii. 1, "Now the serpent was more subtle," or crafty, as the word means, "than any beast of the field ;" and our Saviour advised his disciples to be "wise as serpents," Matt. x. 16.

In this country, such creatures are rarely to be seen, except in such places as the Regent's Park, or Surrey Zoological Gardens. But in India they are frequently seen. They are very dangerous creatures; they will bite, sting, cause great pain, and even death. Therefore the Indians destroy them when they can.

The

serpent seems to know that they wish to kill him, and he appears to know, too, how they can kill him; so he acts in a very cunning way in order to save his life. It is on this account he is called "wise."

Now, my little reader, I am about to tell you a few things in which the serpent shows that he is wise; and then I shall ask you to consider some of the lessons which the wisdom of the serpent teaches. I shall not be able to tell you all of them now. I will tell you one thing this time-next month I will tell you another.

I have already told you that the serpent seems to know that men wish to kill him, and that he appears, too, to know how they can do it, and that, therefore, he acts in a very cunning way in order to save his life. The first thing the serpent does, by which he proves himself to be wise, is, that he takes care of his head. There is a reason for this. The heart of the serpent is just under his throat, and the quickest way to kill him is to destroy his head. If the serpent were to be cut into an hundred pieces, and the head not crushed, he would not be destroyed. This may seem strange to you; but you know that you may cut an eel into many pieces; but if you do not cut its head, so as to reach its heart, which is just under its throat, like the serpent, you would not kill it.

Should the serpent be attacked by a man with a stick or hatchet, the serpent would turn every way it could, and allow any part of its body to be struck except its head. Now, just