"COULD NOT SAY IT."

N act of prayer is of itself a searching test of one's thoughts and feelings, especially so when the very language of the petition, as suggested by the Divine Spirit, holds up a mirror to the heart. The following story well illustrates some of the difficulties experienced by an intentional sinner in repeating the Lord's Prayer.

In the middle ages, when the great lords and knights were always at war with each other, one of them resolved to avenge himself upon a neighbour who had offended him. It chanced that on the very evening when he had made this resolution he heard that his enemy was to pass near his castle with only a few men with him. It was a good opportunity to take his revenge, and he determined not to let it pass. He spoke of this plan in the presence of his chaplain, who tried in vain to persuade him to give it up.

The good man said a great deal to the duke about the sin of what he was going to do, but in vain. At length, seeing that all his words had no effect, he said,-" My Lord, since I cannot persuade you to give up this plan of yours, will you at least consent to come with me to the chapel, that we may pray together before you go?" The duke consented and the chaplain and he knelt together in prayer. Then the mercy-loving Christian said to the revengeful warrior, "Will you repeat after me, sentence by sentence, the prayer which our Lord Jesus Christ taught to His disciples ? '

"I will do it," replied the duke.

He did it accordingly. The chaplain said a sentence, and the duke repeated it, till he came to the petition, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us." There the duke was silent.

"My lord duke, you are silent," said the chaplain. "Will you be so good as to continue to repeat the words after me,

if you dare say so ?-"forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us."

"I cannot," replied the duke.

"Well, God cannot forgive you; for He has said so. He himself has given this prayer. Therefore, you must either give up your revenge, or give up saying this prayer; for, to ask God to pardon you as you pardon others, is to ask Him to take vengeance on you for all your sins. Go, now, my lord, and meet your victim. God will meet you at the great day of Judgment."

The iron will of the duke was broken.

"No," said he, "I will finish my prayer. My God, my Father, pardon me. Forgive me, as I desire to forgive him who has offended me. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil!"

"Amen!" repeated the duke, who now understood the Lord's prayer better than he had ever done before, since he had learned to apply it to himself.-Biblical Treasury.

NEGRO WISDOM AND WIT.

NOW thyself better than he does, who speaks of thee."

"2. Not to know is bad; not to wishto know is much worse."

3. Illustrates the idea that circumstances make all the difference. "A frog enjoys itself in water, but not in hot water."

4. "A man who cares not for his friend's reputation and honour, and is deceitful, and treacherous, his drink shall be a dirty fountain, his bread husk." 5. "The child hates him who gives it all it wants."

6.

"One should talk little, and listen much."

7. "The first who speaks of going to law, is not always right."

8. "Nothing can suffice a covetous man, except that which he has not."

9. It is better to walk than to grow angry with the road." 10. Weakness laughing at strength. "When the mouse

laughs at the cat, there is a hole."

11. A reproof for the proud." The marsh stands aloof, as if it were not akin to the stream."

12. "The slanderer brings disgrace upon one,like a leprosy which attacks a man on the point of his nose.' (i. e.) He brings to light or makes public, that which disgraces another.

13. A word for thing to turn up. year."

those who are always waiting for some"He who waits for chance may wait a

We are mainly indebted for the foregoing to "Wit and Wisdom, from West Africa," by Burton; he has procured them, and some thousands more, from the publications of Bishop Crowther and other missionaries. Burton's well known advocacy of the essential inferiority of the Negro race, invests the work with considerable interest, and, if we mistake not, it proves the fallacy of his own theory. For it appears to us, that those who originate, treasure up (without writing), and use such proverbs, evince the possession of all the attributes of mind.

CHARLES WORBOYS.

HATRED STIRRETH UP STRIFES:
BUT LOVE COVERETH ALL SINS.

Prov. x 12.

THE WATER LILY LESSONS.

N the edge of a blue lake, a dear little water-lily lived, and its waxen petals and green leaves were ever bathing themselves in the bright waters. You would think that it had enough of water; but no sooner did the cloud come up, and the gentle raindrops come pattering down, than it opened its white cup, and drank in the shower as eagerly as if it had

been perishing with thirst. It enjoyed the summer rain far more than the bristling thistle and dusty mullein by the dry roadside.

Now, those who have learnt the most in Jesus' school will love it most; just as this sweet lily loves the refreshing water-drops. Those who have never been there, will care nothing for it; just as the prickly thistle, which seems to receive grudgingly the very shower designed to do it good. Do you desire to be one of Jesus' loving little lambs? Then, go very often to your Good Shepherd's side, and tell Him So. Tell him of all the naughty paths you have wandered in, and beg Him to keep you nearer every day to Him. The more you pray to Him, with earnest, child-like faith, the dearer He will grow to you.

Would you like to do good for your Saviour when you are grown up? Then begin now, while you are a child, and it will be very easy and pleasant then.

A little girl twelve years old became a Christian; and, in the two years that followed, she was able, with God's help, to bring some fourteen others with her into the heavenly way. Then God kindly took her up to His glorious green pastures. What if she had waited until she was grown up, before she had begun to work for Jesus? What would have become of those fourteen precious souls?

GOD MADE EVERYTHING.

ΑΝ

you think of anything that God didn't make?" I asked a little fellow in my Sunday-school.

66

"Yes'm" said Robbie, promptly;

oyster."

"And what makes you think he didn't make oysters, Robbie ?

should think most anybody could make an

oyster."

May be some of the rest of you little folks think just, as Robbie did that an oyster is nothing but a soft, helpless, pulpy thing, without head or feet, or any particular shape, shut up in a rough ugly shell, the most helpless, ungainly thing in the world. But you are very much mistaken. God showed just as much love and wisdom in making the oyster as He did in making the beautiful bird that sings in the tree-top. His home was down under the salt water, and his food was brought by the constant motion of the waves, not into his mouth, but into his Stomach. He had no need of eyes to watch, or of hands to take, or of lungs to breathe; the great salt bath did it all for him. He was to live only near shore and in shallow water; so he had no need of feet or fins to help him on his travels. But his delicate tissues needed the most careful protection, and so he was provided with a shell-ugly, rough, and hard without; smooth, glistening, and pearly within a wonderful house, that no tempest can sweep from the rock where it grows; but this limp, little inhabitation can open the doors wide when he pleases, and shut them so fast that no man's fingers can open them. You must put in a wedge and break the lock first, and then they fly open. Every creature which God has made is exactly fitted for the place where He meant it to live; and the more we examine His works, the more we shall be filled with the wonder at His wisdom and skill.-Little Corporal.