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From 'Sabbath School Union Hymnal' (price 6d, Words id)-J. & R. Parlane, Paisley.

Paisley; J. AND R. PARLANE.]

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THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN.

ON Jordan's smiling plains, arrayed

In harvest's golden prime,

The hosts of Israel stood dismayed,
Far back in olden time.

Behind them lay the desert drear

Their wandering feet had trod,

While straight before them, spreading near,
The promised land of God.

With trembling joy each eager breast
Surveyed the prospect fair,

So lovely seemed the land of rest,
They longed to enter there.

But right before, with mighty roar,
The swift Descender swept;

And high o'er all his spreading banks
His waters widely crept,

Till, fearful all, that faithless band
Had well-nigh turned to flee;
For who would reach the promised land,
Must brave yon swelling sea,-
Till God's High Priest appears in view,
With sacred Ark that day;
And Israel well may venture through,
Since he has found the way.

Now tribes and families, they come,"

A vast unbroken band,
While waters wild in wonder dumb,
Around them waiting stand.
Not one of all that mighty host
Was left behind to mourn,
No little one was sadly lost,

That to the brink was borne ;

Whilst from the midst, the elders each
A new memorial bring,
That generations old might teach

Their children thus to sing

His praise who for their fathers wrought,
With strong and mighty hand,
His wondrous works, till safely brought
To dwell in Canaan's Land.
Though ages since have passed away,
And hid those stones from view,
A new memorial this day,

My children, speaks to you.

On Jordan's banks we waiting stand,
Its waters wildly roar;

Behind us lies the desert land;
The Canaan bright before.

Now who will stem the swollen tide
Or reach the realms of day,
Behold an High Priest at our side,
For Jesus is the way.

See how the wild waves caught His breath
In fierce and deadly strife,

Till triumphing He conquered death,
And rose to give us life.

Confide in Him who cannot lie;
Wash'd in His sacred blood,

You need not fear though storms are nigh,
But brave death's raging flood.

Behold what hosts have gone before,
Who beckon us to come;

They wait upon the shining shore,
To shout our welcome home.

No longer, then, love's message spurn,
Or roam in desert wild;

A Father's voice still calls, Return,
Return, oh, erring child!

The Saviour waits, the Spirit strives,
And Christians urge the plea,
Behold in Christ your sacrifice,
And your salvation see.

J. K. MUIR.

LESSONS FROM AN OLD SCHOOL-BOOK.

FILIAL PIETY.

WHAT did you learn at school when you were a little boy, grandpapa?'

'My first teacher was a good man, who believed that the work God had given him to do in the world, was to transform a set of raw troublesome unruly boys, into a noble band of brave, upright men; and he put his whole heart and soul into this good work. His first class book was the book of Proverbs, and many a lesson of wisdom his scholars were taught from its pages. I will show you the first verses my teacher gave me to commit to memory. You shall read them, Willie. Here they are. Prov. i. 8, 9.' And Willie read: ""My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains to thy neck."

FILIAL PIETY.

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'Did you learn to repeat the verses the teacher gave you at home, grandpapa? '

'Yes. I used to read my lessons to my mother every afternoon, and I recollect how she taught me these verses. She told me that these were the words of our Father in heaven; that, in them, the great God who made heaven and earth, spoke to a little boy and called him, My son. She said that, when I read these words, God was speaking to me as plainly as when He called Samuel by his name, and that I should attend to what He said, as Samuel did when he said, Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. Then she showed me the words father and mother, which I had never read before. It pleased me to see these names in my book, and I soon learned them. Then my mother told me the words, instruction and forsake, and with a little care and pains I could read the verse.'

'But could you repeat it, grandpapa?' 'That was an easy matter, for I had read it over so many times while learning to read it correctly, that I could repeat it by reading it only a few times more, and I never forgot it.

'Next day mother taught me the 9th verse in the same way, and made me understand the meaning of the words. She told me that God had commanded parents to teach their children the good and the right way; and she read to me God's own command to parents: "Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."(Deut. 6.7.) Then she made me repeat God's command to every child: "MY SON, HEAR THE INSTRUCTION OF THY

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FATHER, AND FORSAKE NOT THE LAW OF THY MOTHER." And she told me the beautiful story of Joseph, how his regard for his father's commandment had kept him in the straight path all the time he was in Egypt, and how his kind treatment of his father in his old age was a far more graceful ornament to Joseph's character, than the gold chain Pharaoh put round his neck.

When we had repeated our verses at school, our teacher told us a story of a mother's love for her child. A widow was crossing a mountain pass in the Highlands, carrying her infant, a boy of two years old. On her way she was overtaken by a storm of snow and sleet, and to protect her child she took off her shawl and wrapped him in it. She made great efforts to reach the cottage where she intended to lodge, but was unable to carry the child so far amid the blinding drift. Reaching a projecting rock which gave some shelter, she took off part of her clothing, put it round the child, laid him in a crevice of the rock, and pursued her journey. She hoped to reach a place of safety and bring help to her child. Next morning she was found lying by the roadside, cold and dead, and her little boy safe and well wrapped in his mother's clothing in the cleft of the rock. The mother had died of cold, for want of the clothing in which she had wrapped her child. Such is a mother's love, our teacher added. Surely every child should keep her commandments.

'God fills the hearts of parents with love to their children, such love as makes them willing to toil and suffer for their little ones, as no one else would or could; do and the first duty God requires of a child, is to honour his father and mother. I wonder how many times this duty is enjoined in the book of Proverbs. Come, Willie, and read a few of the passages. Pro. vi. 20-24.'

"My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother. Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee."

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"This passage shews us how very careful we should be not to forget our parents' instructions. They should be written on our hearts, and, as it were, tied round our necks. We should keep them as something very precious. Now read the very first proverb, chap. x. 1.'

"A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother."

'What better reward could a dutiful child have, than to gladden the heart of his parents; and what would grieve him more, than the thought of vexing his mother.'

now;

'We shall only read one other passage but there are many others in this book which you might find for yourself and get by heart, not merely committing them to memory, but really getting them by heart. Read chap. xxiii. 22-25.'

666 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice; and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.'

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When Lord Macaulay was a boy at school, his mother wrote some very beautiful letters to him. Here is a little bit of one of them, which will help you to understand the meaning of the command, FORSAKE NOT THE LAW OF THY MOTHER.'

"My dear Tom,-The first time I saw your face, I repeated those beautiful lines of Watt's cradle hymn,—

"May'st thou live to know and fear Him,

Trust and love Him all thy days;
Then, go dwell for ever near Him,

See His face and sing His praise!"

And this is the substance of all my prayers for you. I am ever, my dear Tom, your affectionate mother, Selina Macaulay."'

"This letter expresses the wish of every Christian mother for her child; and the child who forsakes not the law of his godly parents, will receive an abundant reward.'

TRA

THE CAMEL'S THORN. RAVELLERS in the East tell us of a plant-the Camel's Thorn-which is full of interest. In the most arid regions, where almost nothing else will grow, it flourishes luxuriantly; and while its lasting verdure delights the eye of the traveller, its prickly leaves form a dainty food for the Camel. On these this patient and useful animal delights to browse, in preference to any other herb; and there are vast deserts in such countries as Arabia, Africa, and Tartary, where it finds no other food. We cannot but admire the wise providence of the great Creator, who has placed in these desert wilds so abundant a supply of food for the Camel, the best friend and only means of transit of the wandering Bedouin. This plant is enabled to flourish in such arid wastes, by being provided with deep-searching tough fibrous roots. By means of these it collects from a wide area the needed moisture. Bedouins, taught by experience, have learned to use this property for their own benefit, and convert the plant, although itself unsuitable for human food, into the means of a grateful and healthy nourishment for man. In early spring they divide the stem of the plant near the root, and inserting in it a single seed of the Water Melon, replace the earth about the thorn. The melon becomes a parasite, and draws through the long roots of the thorn an abundant supply of moisture, which its own brittle roots could never have collected from the soil. In this way a plentiful crop of good water melons is periodically raised from saline soils incapable of other culture.

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On the natural capabilities of the plant, there is thus ingrafted a higher vegetation, which, calling into more vigorous exercise these natural powers, produces the higher glory of useful fruit. And so it often happens in the kingdom of grace. To the natural powers of man there comes the seed of divine truth, which, implanted in the heart, draws out to more vigorous exercise all the faculties of the man, and these being consecrated to the service of God, yield to Him the fruits of grace.

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