"The fellows are waiting for me at the saloon," he remonstrated. "Hurry home to mother," conscience whispered. So another soul was reclaimed, and another home made glad by the return of the wandering one.

A young woman who left home to seek employment in a western city, drifted away from good influences and wandered far from the path of righteousness. One day while idly turning over the contents of her trunk she came across a Bible, her mother's parting gift. A flood of shame and grief swept over her, and in a burst of agony she cried, "Is there any hope for me still?" She wrote to a clergyman who was widely known for his good works, "Is there hope for me, the chief of sinners?"

The clergyman wrote a letter full of comfort and assurance, and was about to post it when he remembered he had omitted what appeared to him a most important text. He hastily wrote upon the envelope above the seal, "Isaiah 40: 31."

The postman who carried the letter examined it with surprise, then tak ing out his memorandum book made a hasty copy of the text. "If it is such an important message I will look it up," he said.

The letter reached the sin-stricken girl and performed its mission, but its work did no cease there. The postman sought his home earlier than usual that evening and from an upper shelf took down the old family Bible. "Isaiah 40: 31." No need to look at his reference for the words had been repeating themselves in his mind ever since he saw them. With nervous hands he turned the pages and read the words, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." He told the circumstances to

HOW THE APOSTLES DIED. Our studies of the Sunday-school lessons will keep us for some time in the work of the apostles. It may be interesting to teachers and scholars to learn by what means many of the earlier followers of hrist came to their end. From history and tradition we gather the following:

Andrew was crucified at Patræ, in Achaia, on a cross of peculiar shape (X), hence St. Andrew's Cross.

Barnabas was preaching in a synagogue in Salamis, when a party of enraged Jews dragged him forth, stoned him to death, and burned his mangled body.

Bartholomew is said to have suffered crucifixion at Albanapolis in Armenia.

James was beheaded by order of King Herod Agrippa, and became the first martyr among the apostles. Clement, of Alexander, relates that the accuser of James on the way to the place of execution, stung by remorse, confessed faith and asked to be forgiven. James gave him an affectionate kiss, and said to him; "Peace be with thee." He was beheaded with James.

James the Less was thrown from a high pinnacle of the temple and then assaulted with stones; he was finally killed by a blow from a club.

John, full of days and of honor. died a natural death. One of the

beautiful stories told of him is that when he was too old to preach he was accustomed to say to the congregation the characteristic words: "Little children, love one another," and when asked why he always repeated this sentence only, he replied; "Because it is the commandment of the Lord, and enough is done if this one command be obeyed."

Judas, in a frenzy of despair, hanged himself. The rope breaking, he was dashed to pieces on the rocks. Aceldama, where he committed suicide, is still shown on the southern slope of the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem. The money for which he had betrayed "innocent blood" was used to purchase a burial place for

the poor.

Luke, the author of Acts, was hanged in Greece.

Mark, according to Kitto, died in Alexandria in the reign of Nero.

The story of Matthew's martyrdom in Ethiopa is said to be legendary. Kitto claims that he did not suffer martyrdom.

Paul, according to ancient tradition, died by the sword in Rome at the command of Nero, and the place of his execution is still pointed out a little distance from the city. He himself alludes to his martyrdom in these noble words: "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my depart ure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 2 Tim.

4: 6-8.

Peter, so Origen tells us, suffered martyrdom in Rome under the terrible Neorian persecution. Deeming himself unworthy to meet death as did his Master, he was, at his own re

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HYMN WAS WRITTEN IN
WALES.

The hymn referred to has been sung perhaps more frequently than any other. In any case it is by far the most popular missionary hymn in the English language. We refer to that which opens thus:

From Greenland's icy mountains,
From India's coral strand,
Where Afric's sunny fountains

Roll down their golden sand.

From many an ancient river'
From many a palmy plain,
They call us to deliver

Their land from error's chain.

The author was Bishop Heber, and related. He was staying at Wrexham, the story of its composition is thus with his father-in-law, Dr. Shipley, Dean of St. Asaph, and also vicar of Wrexham. On Whit-Sunday, 1819, the Dean was going to preach on behalf of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. On the Saturday before, while some friends were present, he asked Heber to write some

thing for them to sing in the morning's service. Heber went to a side table; and shortly the Dean asked him what he had done. He read over three verses. "There, that will do very well," said the Dean. "No, no,"

answered Heber, "the sense is not complete." He then added the beautiful fourth verse:

Waft, Waft, ye winds, His story,
And you, ye waters, roll,

Till like a sea of glory,

It spreads from pole to pole

Till o'er our ransomed nature,
The lamb for sinners slain,
Redeemer, King, Creator,
In bliss returns to reign."

POWER OF SONG.

Plato thought that athletics, when pursued to excess, hardened the moral nature, and suggested that athletes should study music, as one of the most powerful of softening influences. A story is told of the Emperor Theodosius, which illustrates the power of music over the emotions.

The citizens of Antioch revolted

against the exactions of Theodisius, and dashed to pieces his statute and that of the empress, together with those of his two sons. Subsequently they repented and sent Flavius, their bishop, to Constantinople to appease the wrath of the Emperor. Theodosius repelled the bishop, declaring that nothing but the infliction of severe punishment would satisfy him.

The emperor was fond of music, and while feasting had a choir of boys sing to him. The bishop took charge of these choresters and taught them to sing a choral, composed by himself, which in mournful strains described the sorrow and despair of the Antichians. The pathos of the music interested the emperor; the words fascinated him. At last, much affected, he called out, "Antioch is forgiven!" The power of sacred song was strikingly exhibited by an incident of the Crimean War, told in a volume of Scotch anecdotes.

Duncan Matheson, a Bible-reader to the soldiers in the Crimea, was returning one night to his lodgings in an old stable. Sickened by the sights he had seen, and depressed with the thought that the siege of Sebastopol was likely to last for months, he trudged along in the mud, knee deep. Happening to look up, he saw the stars shining calmly in the clear sky.

Weariness gave place to the thought that in heaven is rest, and began to sing aloud the old hymn:

How bright these glorious spirits shine!
Whence all their bright array?

The next day was wet and stormy. While going his rounds, Matheson came upon a soldier standing under the veranda of an old house. The man was in soiled clothes and ragged; his shoes were so worn that they did not keep his feet from the mud. The Bible-reader drew him into conversation, cheered him by encouraging words, and gave him money to buy shoes.

"I am not what I was yesterday," answered the man, his heart opening to Matheson's sympathy. "Last night I was tired of life and of this blundering siege. I took my musket and went down yonder, determined to blow out my brains. As I got round that hillock I heard some one singing, 'How bright these glorious spirits shine! It recalled to me the Sabbath school where I used to sing it and the relig ious truths I had heard there.

"I felt ashamed of being such a coward. I said to myself, 'Here is a comrade as badly off as I am, but he is not a coward-he's bearing it! I felt that that man had something which I did not possess to make him accept with cheerfulness our hard lot. I went back to my tent, and to-day I am seeking that thing which made the singer so happy.'

"Do you know who the singer was?" asked Matheson.

"No."

"Well, I was the singer seeking comfort and hope in the song you heard."

The tears came into the soldier's eyes as he thrust the money into Matheson's hands, saying: "After what you've done for me, I can't take it from you."

HOW SOME GREAT COMPOSERS WORKED.

Beethoven would when composing in his own room at home frequently walk about in a reverie, pouring cold water over his hands alternately from jug after jug, till the floor of the room was inundated, and people came running upstairs to know the cause of the deluge. In another mood, and particularly after he was smitten with deafness, while working out a subject in his mind, he would leave the house at night or in the early morning, and walk for many hours through the most remote and solitary places in silence and abstraction. In this fashion he sometimes walked round Vienna twice in the course of the day. While he was meditating his brilliant "Sonata Appassionata" he went for a long walk one day with Ries, his pupil. For some hours they walked in silence, and on returning home Beethoven took his seat at the piano and dashed into what was the finale of his work. Mozart's ideas flowed best and most profusely when traveling in a carriage or walking after dinner. His workings were always by fits and starts. If an idea happened to strike him nothing else could arrest his attention. Even if he withdrew from his instrument, he continued to compose in the presence of his friends, and often passed whole nights without laying his pen aside. At other times he was so reluctant to do anything that he would not complete a piece until it was time for it to be performed. Julian Marshall relates an extraordinary instance of this The overture to "Don Giovanni." he tells us, perhaps the best of Mozart's overtures, was written only the night before it was performed, and subsequent to the general rehearsal of the opera. Towards 11 o'clock Mozart retired to his apartment, and entreated his spouse to make some punch, and pre

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vent him falling asleep. The punch however, proved so soporific that Mozart dosed off and slept two hours. At five o'clock his wife awoke him.. The copyists were coming at seven,. and by the time they made their appearance the overture was ready. There was scarcely time to transcribethe orchestral score before the performance, and the performers wereobliged to dispense with rehearsal. It is said that this overture bears evidence where the composer went to sleep and where he woke up. It is related of Auber that he was devotedly fond of horse exercise, and that while he was being borne rapidly along his ideas came easily and speedily. Halevy placed a kettle on the fire, and as the water simmered and boiled, so his mind became active, and his flow of soul more fecund. The imagination of Meyerbeer was powerfully excited only during a thunderstorm, and whenever one occurred he retired to. his chamber, and composed with ease and power. Haydn, according to the testimony of Carpani, derived inspiration chiefly from putting on his finger a ring which had been presented to. him by Frederick the Great. Having put on the ring, he took his seat at the piano, and in a few moments was soaring among the angelic choirs. Haydn lived only for music, and the result of this devotion to his art was that for years he was unaware that he possessed anything more than a merely local celebrity at Eisenstadt. Gluck never put his pen on paper until the entire composition which he had planned was complete in his mind--"Standard."

THE wicked are the forlorn hope of Humanity, who have fought in the deadly breach unprevailing for themsclves, but over whose mangled remains the coming ranks of mankind step securely into Virtue's Citadel.

HOW LIVINGSTONE BEGAN.

Young men who are making their own way in preparing for any chosen profession or occupation have many examples for their encouragement. The following story of what a man accomplished who had many obstacles to overcome conveys its own lesson :

"Just above the wharves at Glasgow, on the banks of the Clyde, there once lived a factory boy whom I will call Davie. At the age of ten he entered the cotton factory as a 'piecer.' He was employed from six o'clock in the morning till eight at night. His parents were very poor and he well knew that his must be a boyhood of very hard labor. But then and there in that buzzing factory, he resolved. that he would obtain an education and become an intelligent and useful man. With his very first week's wages he purchased Ruddiman's "Ru

diments of Latin."

"He then entered an evening school which met between the hours of eight and ten. He paid the expenses of his instruction out of his own hard earnings. At the age of sixteen he could read Virgil and Horace as readily as the pupils of the English grammar schools. He next began a course of self-instruction. He had been advanced in the factory from a piecer to a spinning-jenny. He brought his books to the factory, and, placing one of them in the 'jenny,' with the lesson before him, he divided his attention between the running of the spindles and the rudiments of knowledge.

"He entered Glasgow university. He knew that he must work his way, but he also knew the power of resolution, and he was willing to make almost any sacrifice to gain the end.

He worked at cotton spinning in the summer, lived frugally, and applied his savings to his college studies in ted course, and at the close was able the winter. He completed the allotto say, with praiseworthy pride, 'I never had a farthing that I did not

earn.

That boy was Dr. David Livingstone.

FIT INTO YOUR PLACE.

Did you ever see a piece of mosaic work? If not, ask someone to describe to you what a beautiful thing it is. All the varied pieces, of different colors, sizes and shapes, fitting with such exactness one to another so as to form one perfect and complete design.

This world, full of people, was meant by God, its great Designer, to be one great infinite piece of beautiful mosaic work, each life a part of the whole.

Every boy and girl is born to fill some special part of that vast design which they, and they only. can fill; if they refuse to fill just their own place, they are destroying God's great plan, and it is a solemn thought that He leaves it to our own choice whether we will do that or not.

When I see a boy or girl shirking their lessons or work, turning a deaf ear to the little voice of conscience, I think to myself how they are spoiling the beauty of the great mosaic work of life by not fitting into their place and doing just what is their work to do.

When I see a boy or girl doing what they ought to do, but doing it grudgingly, grumbling all the time, with an ugly frown on their brow,