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an African one. For in this country in these days there is a trap for catching unwary men, called the Drink trap, which may not inaptly be likened to the Hopo. The British Hopo, like the African one, is shaped like the letter V-wide and free at the opening, but getting gradually narrower as it reaches the end, where it opens into a pit out of which few indeed escape.

The African Hopo is a very large enclosure. Dr. Livingstone says it is often a mile wide at the mouth, while the hedges are as long, so that when the hunters have made a circuit in the desert, they frequently drive vast herds before them into this Hopo. But the British Hopo is far larger than the African one; for it stretches over the whole land, and it has been calculated that 120,000 people perish annually in the pitfall, besides the countless thousands more who are injured by it.

The African Hopo is very carefully concealed with short green rushes, and the pit has overlapping rows of trees laid along the sides of it, so as to make it next to impossible for an animal to climb out of it. It is the same with our British WhiskyHopo, which is concealed with genial looks and pleasant speech and song, until once the victims are in the trap, and then it is so difficult to escape.

When a herd of animals has entered the opening of the Hopo, it is rarely that any of them retrace their steps, for the one urges the other forward till the pit is reached. It is the same with our British Hopo. Each one urges the other on. We must go with the company. It is considered unsocial not to do what the thers do. And so the vast herd of Drinkers are led on to the pitfall awaiting them.

Dr. Livingstone says that a few animals escape sometimes by leaping upon the backs of other animals, just as a collie may be sometimes seen running over the backs of sheep when they are penned in an enclosure. It is the same with the Drink-Hopo, where those who escape do so at the expense of the many whose fate it is to perish in the pit.

It is a pitiable scene, as the good Doctor says, to witness this huge trap filled with a living mass of poor struggling animals, while their captors are hurling their spears at them. But it is a far more pitiable scene to look at our Drink pitfall, filled, not with animals, but with human beings, dying a miserable death here, and going forward to a more miserable death hereafter. Children, keep clear of the DrinkHopo; and when you grow to be men and women, exert what strength you have to abolish this Hopo, by which so many perish miserably, body and soul.

LETTERS TO YOUNG GIRLS. INDUSTRY.

R. L.

HERE is no labour more becoming to young maidens than the quiet labour of the hands; and in those days of hurry and excitement, any motive which may induce girls to bestow a little more time on this old fashioned accomplishment should gladly be welcomed by those who have a care for their happiness and usefulness. This is the object of this letter, to try to persuade some of its readers to group themselves together into little cheerful sewing parties, meeting together in each others' homes every week or fortnight-devoting head and hands thoughtfully and diligently to making garments for the poor. If only there is the necessary leisure, this is a work no father or mother could object to. It is quietly carried on in the safe shelter of home, and a little money laid out wisely in the purchase of material can go far in producing many a comfortable article of clothing. The willing fingers of half-a-dozen girls would soon produce no trifling results.

We all know that in union there is strength-that in united work there is stimulus and pleasure that can never be found in working alone. So, after gaining the consent of father and mother, the first step is to seek the co-operation of a few of your most sympathetic friends and arrange to meet together regularly.

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and the pearls, and the costly array, too often beautify the body, while the ornaments of a meek and quiet spirit are forgotten. And how much easier to cultivate these graces if there is no longing after the glittering baubles of wealth. Get a true estimate, girls, of the real value of earthly and spiritual treasures. Don't be content with knowing their respective worth-continually strive to feel it, and realise in your outward life those views, convictions, and aspirations which are yours at your best and purest moments. Make them the settled principles of your conduct, adhere to them with unfaltering steadfastness, and amidst the winds and waves of adverse influences through which you will often have to pass, keep your eyes ever on Christ Jesus. He will both be your guide and your strength. Every time you deny yourself, that one of His oor ones may be clothed or fed, Ilis words of approval are for you: 'Ye have done it unto me.' Is it self-denial to give to Him?

If you still want more money than you can make up in this way amongst yourselves, you might work for your friends useful articles or tasteful articles, and then lay out the money you would receive for them in purchasing the material you need.

It is good to have some definite result in view, and if there are no cases of need known to yourselves, although they are seldom far to seek, allow not the free and happy-hearted hours of girlhood to glide away bearing with them no works of fruitful love to gladden others and bring a blessing on yourselves.

If we could only all be brought to feel that the one reason of our being, the one end for which our Creator has placed us here, is to carry on Christ's work in the world. In so far as we fail in this we fail in our mission here and pass away into the unknown future with our work undone; our unvalued talents and opportunities frittered away, our time spent like that of Bunyan's man with the rake-in gathering straws and this, instead of gathering jewels to adorn the crown of our King!

His crown will not want its radiant setting, but we will not be then what we might have been. What sad words these are, 'might have been.' O! let us not have cause to bewail them over ourselves. While there is still a future before us, let us seek to make it in harmony with the life of Christ. This can only be by seeking a daily baptism of his Spirit.

Christ is the life and the light of the world; each in our little humble sphere must strive to be the same. Keeping ever near Him, drawing our daily life from Him, walking in His light, we would ever be blest and blessing; 'broken lights' of Christ-feeble but true.

M

A. C. W.

THE JOY OF SALVATION. ANY people look upon religion as a morose and gloomy thing, which should be avoided by all who wish to be happy. In their opinion it is fit only for those whose hearts are filled with grief, or for the aged, who can no longer enter into the gaities of the world. They think that to become pious is to become sour and sadto wear a long face, and forswear for ever the joys and pleasures which make life agreeable. Because the Bible sternly forbids as sinful the pleasures in which they indulge, they therefore conclude that it forbids all pleasures.

This is a very wrong idea of religion. Instead of chasing the smile from your face or gladness from your heart, it will bring to you a delight which no words can express. However happy your lot may be, you have not yet tasted true joy, if you have not felt the joy of salvation. This is the best and highest joy that human heart can feel, because of:-I. Its source. Its nature. III. Its extent.

I. Its source.

II.

your delight, and so we must trace back the joy of salvation to God. This joy must be best, because it is directly received from Him, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift.' Other joys have their root in bitterness. They come with a hidden sting in their bosom.

Salvation and joy are closely wedded together. The former is the cause, the latter the effect. Where the one is, the other ought also to be present.

Salvation just means deliverance; and deliverance, whether it be of the body, the mind or the soul, is sure to inspire joy.

On the great emancipation day, when the slave trade got its death-blow, the poor creatures who received their liberty were frantic with delight. In some cases the new-born joy found vent in the most violent displays of feeling, in other cases it was so overpowering as to strike dumb the amazed slave so long accustomed to bondage.

The children of Israel, you will remember, joined with gladness in the song of Mariam, when they were delivered from slavery in Egypt and saw their oppressors overwhelmed in the waters of the Red Sea.

So, too, when a nation is crushed under the heel of a despot or invader. How the land rings from end to end with songs of joy, as soon as the tyrant is overthrown or the invader repelled! Such was the song of Deborah and Barak after their country had been set free by the overthrow and death of Sisera.

But great as is the rejoicing on such occasions, it is not for a moment to be compared to that which springs from the salvation of the soul. By nature we are lost-we lie under the dreadful bondage of sin, and are exposed to the peril of eternal death. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and his message is one of gladness, because it was one of deliverance. The angels who announced the birth of Christ to the shepherd, said they brought glad tidings of great joy, because a Saviour was born for mankind. Wherever the gospel

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is preached, men take up the angel's words and recho them.

This is the only true joy because of
II. Its nature.

It is a real joy. It arises from something that is really possessed, and is therefore not a mere phantom to be scattered by the first blast of trial or misfortune. Such are the joys of the world. They appear bright and real, but their appearance is the best of them. They are mere delusions, and leave the heart more discontented than they found it. So felt Byron, who

'Drank_every cup of joy; heard every trump of Fame;

Drank early; deeply drank; drank draughts That common millions might have quenched, Then died of thirst, because there was no more to drink.'

Further, the joy of salvation is permanent. Nothing can pall or exhaust it. It springs from a perenniel fountain which never runs dry. Other joys are fleeting and transitory,

'Like the snowflake on the river,

A moment white then melts for ever.'

In

But this joy can never be taken from you. You may, however, lose it if you desert God and fall into sin. Hear how earnestly David cries, in the 51st Psalm, 'Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.' losing it, he only learned more than ever its true value, and could find no peace till it was restored. Contrast with him the pleasure seeker, who, like the ancient Athenians, is constantly in search of some new thing. One pleasure is no sooner tasted than it becomes nauseous, and he flits to another. He does not cry, 'Restore to me the old,' for it has lost its charm. He longs for something new that will drive away the sadness and excite his languid feelings. It is one of the best tests of our enjoyments to ask ourselves if we can look back upon them without regret. The joy of salvation can bear reflection. When you look back on the time when your soul first

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saw the Lord and accepted His pardon, you will be ready to sing,

'O happy day that fixed my choice
On Thee my Saviour and my God;
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its raptures all abroad.'

The joy of salvation is best because of
III. Its extent.

This joy is wide and comprehensive. It is not selfish like many of the world's joys The drunkard enjoys his carouse, and never thinks that his selfish pleasure is the keenest pain to his wife and little ones at home.

The Christian's joy brings sorrow to no one. It rather spreads itself all around. It is a joy that others share in. Jesus shares in it. The salvation of a soul fills His breast with delight, like that of the shepherd, when with great toil and trouble he has brought back his wandering sheep. The angels in heaven share in it, for there is joy in their presence over one sinner that repents. And God shares in it. He receives the returning sinner with such joy as that with which the loving father welcomes his prodigal son.

Is there any joy on earth so grand or so great as this? Do you possess it? If you are saved you ought to have it. In the 40th Psalm David describes his experience. After telling how God had taken him from the horrible pit and miry clay, he adds, ‘And he put a new song in my mouth.' How naturally the one thing follows the other. It is in the nature of things that salvation brings joy, and joy expresses itself in songs, but such salvation as this is so precious, and the joy it begets so rare, that none of the old melodies in which we are wont to express our ordinary joys are sufficient; and 80 the believer's joy requires the new song' in which to find a fitting outlet.

If you have not this joy, take no rest till you find it. If you have it, prize it above all price. Let nothing come between you and it. Without it, nothing on earth can make you truly happy. With it, nothing can make you wretched.

J. D.

1. Anything wrong is a sin, whether it is small or great. This is the way the Bible looks on the matter. The first sin which was the means of driving Adam and Eve out of Paradise was only taking a little fruit.

2. Little sins usually lead to great ones. The boy who steals a turnip may end in stealing a purse; for the principle is the same, and every habit grows by use.

3. Stealing turnips and other things from the fields must be vexing to the farmers who own the fields. It is not only the loss that is to be thought of, but the vexation. If the farmers were asked, probably they might give a turnip readily enough; but to be robbed without leave asked, cannot be pleasant to any one.

4. While one turnip or one handful of grain is not much, many turnips and many handfuls of grain are a different matter. Besides, plunderers are proverbially wasteful. They destroy more than they take away. And it is very sad to see crops wasted, as they often are near towns, by unthinking boys and men.

5. Taking a turnip out of a field without leave may get a soft name applied to it. But its proper name is stealing, and the person who does it is a thief. Would any one who reads this dislike to have the name thief applied to him? Then let him keep his hands off aught that is not his own, whether it is a turnip or anything else, for such acts, in plain language, are thefts, and may legally consign the doers of them to a jail.