of strength, and holding under water, till it was drowned, the head of the struggling monster, that he saved his life. But deeply as such tales stirred the listener's spirit, they enkindled no desire for such a life in his young heart.

At last King James's "Indulgence" allowed the persecuted Nonconformist to return to his family. There he was cheered by the gentle virtues and studious dispositions of the "Isaac whom he loved," and soon had the unspeakable satisfaction of finding, that the lessons and musings of these carefully instructed and well-guarded years had ripened into earnest piety. All along an affectionate onlooker might have hoped the best for a child so duteous and so blameless; but it was not till his fifteenth year that his apprehension of the Gospel became so distinct, and his love to the Saviour so influential, as to mark to his own mind the commencment of personal religion.

Impressed with his piety and his promise of rare ability, a kind friend offered to send him to the University, if he would consent to study for the Church. But no one will wonder that Isaac Watts had "determined to take his lot among the Dissenters." He was no bigot. But he had his preferences; and, after all that his parents had done and suffered in the cause of Protestant Nonconformity, he would have felt it a filial treason, as well as an apostacy, to go over to the other side. Accordingly, as soon as he had learned all that his father and Mr. Pinhorn could teach him, he went, in his seventeenth year, to study at the Dissenting Academy then kept in Newington, a pleasant village now nearly absorbed in London.

THE PARTHENON AT ATHENS.

ATHENS was a city of ancient Greece, which acquired a worldwide fame by the learning and eloquence of its philosophers, poets, and orators; the skill of its sculptors and painters; and the splendid erections of its architects. It was situated on a high rocky peninsula, between two rivers, about four miles from the sea, and had three spacious and deep harbours. It was encircled by a high broad wall, and with its splendid erections formed a noble and conspicuous object to the traveller who beheld it for the first time. No wonder that its inhabitants were proud of their city, and to be called "a man of Athens" was regarded as a high distinction. But with all their learning, and art, and eloquence, they were stupid idolaters. Paul the Apostle, in his travels to make known the glad tidings of salvation for all men by Jesus Christ, visited Athens, and found "the city wholly given to idolatry." You should turn to the seventeenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and read of what he saw, and said, and did there.

The picture on the opposite page represents the ruins of one of their most splendid temples, called the Parthenon. It stood on a commanding eminence called the Acropolis, and was 217 feet long and 98 feet wide. Within it was an ivory statue of the idol Minerva, thirty-nine feet in height, and entirely covered with pure gold, the work of Phidias, their greatest artist. The temple was of the purest white marble, which, by its transparency, supplied the want of windows. Forty-six pillars were placed all round the temple, which

were forty-two feet high and seventeen feet in circumference. Five steps on every side formed the basis of the building, and the interior, beside the statue, was ornamented along the walls with the most splendid works of art. On the top

of the front also, called the architrave, were historical records of the nation.

In later times this temple has been used as a Turkish Mosque; and for some time it was occupied by Greek Christians as a place of worship. It is now a ruin. So may all the temples of idolatry perish from off the face of the earth!

How true are the words of Paul when describing these learned idolaters :-"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever."

"JESUS DIED FOR ME!"

BY A VILLAGE GIRL.

I LOVE to sing of that Great Power

That made the earth and sea;
But better still I love the song
That "Jesus died for me!"

I love to hear the little birds

Tune their glad notes with glee;
But little birds can never sing
That "Jesus died for me!"

I love to think of angel's songs,
From sin and sorrow free;

But angels cannot tune their notes
To "Jesus died for me!"

REBEKAH.

THAT part of the world which is called Australia, is a very large island-the largest on the face of the globe. It is as far off from England as it well can be. But thousands of English people have gone to live there. For not only has gold been found there in great quantities, but there is plenty of rich land on which thousands of sheep and cattle are fed. at present there are only few roads, and should any onc wander from the road, he may get lost among the wild rocks and bushes. This tale about a child being lost for nine days in the bush we found in a newspaper from Australia. There is no reason to doubt its truth.

But