Now, reader, are there not here noble models for imitation? Here is a model of SELF-CONTROL. John Bunyan was eminent for this, and stands out as a great conqueror. By the grace of God, which he secured by prayer, he fought his evil passions, and held them in subjection. A warrior heading an army against a common foe has an easier task than he who has to fight against his passions. sorrow that he was rapidly declining. But he still kept labouring, and hearing that a friend of his, a young gentleman who had formerly offended his father, was likely to be disinherited, Bunyan's last act was to go to Reading, and bring about a reconciliation between the father and the son. After completing this good deed, he rode on horseback to London: the weather was bad, and when he arrived, he was wet completely through. A violent fever was the result, and, in ten days, he triumphantly passed through the river of death, and entered the celestial city. His noble wife, Elizabeth, did not long survive him; and his blind-Slightly altered from" Moral Hedaughter, Mary, died before him. roism." Here is a model of conscientious adherence to the right. And here a model in his wife and family of devoted social affection, burning as brightly in the day of grief and gloom as in that of joy and sunshine. Chapters for Junior Teachers. THE WATERMAN AND HIS PENNY. MOST people, and especially the He who looks on a city picture with an observant eye, may always see something which he may turn to account. Some regard the manners of mankind, others the motives. As you are teachers, you have to do with mind, and should, therefore, have some skill in reading the minds of others as set forth by their actions. I am fond of doing this; and hardly is there a day in which I do not pick up something from the busy world about me. I mark amid those around me "The churlish deed, and action kind; And try to read the heart and mind." Many expect the more influential qualities of the mind, the master springs of the human heart, to be set forth only in particular characters, and on striking occasions; but instead of this they are exhibited, in a greater or less degree, by every person, and in most of the common circumstances of life. They may be indulged or suppressed, ostentatiously displayed or sedulously hidden; but still there they are, beating in every heart, throbbing in every pulse, and careering with the ruddy drops that run through all our veins. One of these master springs is selfishness. Sometimes it may be difficult to distinguish between this quality and that of self-preservation, though in other cases the difference is clear. There are many degrees in selfishness; for, while some people are seemingly slightly affected by it, others are wholly given up to its dominion. Self-preservation is a necessary principle which it has pleased God to implant in the heart to sustain the great family of mankind; while selfishness is self-love pursued without regard to the happiness or unhappiness of others. The former is a useful property, the latter an unlovely and unchristian quality. I have been observing the working of selfishness in the conduct of a waterman, attached to a stand of hackney-coaches. It is his avocation to give water to the horses, to open the door of the coach or cabriolet, to receive orders from him who enters it, and to communicate the same to the driver. For these services, though his expectations are very precarious, he hopes to receive a penny; to secure this penny is the knotty problem he has to solve. There stood the waterman in his blue coat, his hempen apron reaching up to his bosom, his high boots without tops, and a handkerchief tied round the lower part of the crown of his hat, when a gentleman called a cabriolet. Quick-sighted, nimble-footed, and hungry after gain, the waterman, in a moment, laid his hand on the brass handle of the cabriolet door, opened it, bowed in the gentleman, and having delivered an order to the cabman, stood respectfully holding the brim of his hat, awaiting his wished-for reward. Alas! there was some demur, some hesitation, some difficulty to overcome; there was a backwardness in bestowing the remuneration, and the waterman was thrown upon his resources. Again and again he bowed, hoped the waterman would be remembered, took out a handkerchief to wipe away a morsel of dirt from the window ledge, and officiously told the driver not to stir till the gentleman was ready. At last he gained his end. From the moment when the waterman had secured his penny, dropped it into his apron pocket, and nodded his head, the gentleman seemed to be blotted out from his memory; for he coarsely and rudely turned his back to the cabriolet window, and began laughing and talking loudly to the cabmen around. The gentleman, before he gave his penny, was an important figure, and a somebody; but after he had given it, he was a cipher, and a nobody. Some little accident detained the driver, but the waterman troubled not his head about the matter. Already was he occupied in stroking the horse of the next cabriolet; already was he anticipating his next penny. While the waterman was thus gleaning his pence, multitudes in the great metropolis around him were equally busy in securing their pounds. I speak not now of the industrious workman, the upright tradesman, or the honourable merchant; but of those who haste to be rich at any hazard, and at any cost. Cunning, Falsehood, Deceit, and Fraud; Flattery with her fawning tongue; Covetousness with his greedy eyes; and Mammon with his grasping hand, were occupied in getting gold. While in such characters as these selfishness is fully set forth, it is discoverable in others; and very few indeed are there who do not manifest it in some degree in their daily concerns. How does this subject affect us? To what extent do we manifest selfishness? Is it a principle that we foster, or strive to suppress? Is it our heart's desire to exhibit in our every-day concerns a christian spirit of self-denial, love, and liberality? We must not conclude that because we give to others and forward their interests, that we are therefore free from selfishness; for as, according to the apostle, a man may bestow all his goods to feed the poor, yea, give his body to be burned, and yet not have charity; so may he be selfish while he builds hospitals and churches, and lavishly scatters his wealth around him. Unless we know our errors, it is not likely that we shall correct them: it may, therefore, be well to consider whether, as selfishness is one of the most common of human errors, we are not more than we suppose under its influence? They who impart not to others must be selfish; and they who act otherwise, with the covetous intention, too often shown, of getting back more than they bestow, to their reproach be it spoken, are even yet more selfish. Let us pray for christian-hearted liberality, that we may act less selfishly and more considerately one towards another, loving one another, serving one another, and helping one another on the way to heaven. Poetry and Music. THE SEA-WEED. WRITTEN FOR THE FIRST PAGE OF A SMALL PORTFOLIO OF SEA-WEED. I WALKED one night in dreams on the shore, And heard the mighty breakers' roar; In the dark blue sea. "Blithe children of ocean, sure are we, In the sun's bright ray. "Lone children of ocean, lost are we, To breathe of the sea." So I gathered in haste the sea-weed spray, I pictured the beauteous spirit forms, Once nursed below, amid life's rude storms; And I thought of their blooming on Canaan's shore, June, 1849. MY MOTHER'S VOICE. E. L. B. And gazing downward in my face, It comes, when thoughts unhallowed Woven in sweet deceptive song, And whispers round my heart, Though round my heart, all, all The voice of friendship, love, had died That voice would linger there, As when, soft pillowed on her breast, Its tones first lulled my infant rest, Or rose in prayer. |