The art of paying as you go,
And dreading any debt to owe,

Preferring corduroy and cotton
To costly silks obtained on trust,
And satins trailing in the dust,

Is almost lost and quite forgotten.

CCXXIII.-THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE.

SUCH is the intrinsic excellence of Christianity that it is adapted to the wants of all, and it provides for all, not only by its precepts and by its doctrines, but also by its evidence.

The poor man may know nothing of history, or science, or philosophy; he may have read scarcely any book but the Bible; he may be totally unable to vanquish the skeptic in the arena of public debate; but he is nevertheless surrounded by a panoply which the shafts of infidelity can never pierce.

You may go to the home of the poor cottager, whose heart is deeply imbued with the spirit of vital Christianity; you may see him gather his little family around him; he expounds to them the wholesome doctrines and principles of the Bible; and, if they want to know the evidence upon which he rests his faith, of the divine origin of his religion, he can tell them, upon reading the book which teaches Christianity, he finds not only a perfectly true description of his own natural character, but in the provisions of this religion a perfect adaptation to all his needs.

It is a religion by which to live-a religion by which to die; a religion which cheers in darkness, relieves in perplexity, supports in adversity, keeps steadfast in prosperity, and guides the inquirer to that blessed land where "the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.”

We entreat you, therefore, to give the Bible a welcome

a cordial reception; obey its precepts, trust its promises, and rely implicitly upon that Divine Redeemer, whose religion brings glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and good will to men.

Thus will you fulfill the noble end of your existence, and the great God of the universe will be your father and your friend; and, when the last mighty convulsion shall shake the earth, and the sea, and the sky; and the fragments of a thousand barks, richly freighted with intellect and learning, are scattered on the shores of error and delusion, your vessel shall in safety outride the storm, and enter in triumph the haven of eternal rest.

-Edw. Winthrop.

CCXXIV. PRAYER AND POTATOES.

AN old lady sat in her old arm-chair,
With wrinkled visage and disheveled hair,
And pale, hunger-worn features;

For days and for weeks her only fare,
As she sat there in her old arm-chair,
Had been potatoes.

But, now they were gone; of bad or good,
Not one was left for the old lady's food

Of those potatoes;

And she sighed and said, "What shall I do?
Where shall I send and to whom shall I go
For more potatoes?"

And she thought of the deacon over the way,
The deacon so ready to worship and pray,

Whose cellar was full of potatoes;

And she said, "I will send for the deacon to come;

He'll not mind much to give me some

Of such a store of potatoes."

And the deacon came over as fast as he could,

Thinking to do the old lady some good,

But never once of potatoes;

He asked her at once what was her chief want,
And she, simple soul, expecting a grant,
Immediately answered, "Potatoes."

But the deacon's religion did n't lie that way;
He was more accustomed to preach and to pray
Than to give of his hoarded potatoes;

So, not hearing, of course, what the old lady said,
He rose to pray with uncovered head,

But she only thought of potatoes.

He prayed for patience and wisdom and grace;
But, when he prayed, "Lord, give her peace,"
She audibly sighed, "give potatoes;"

And, at the end of each prayer which he said,
He heard, or thought that he heard, in its stead,
That same request for potatoes.

The deacon was troubled; knew not what to do;
'Twas very embarrassing to have her act so

About those carnal potatoes."

So, ending his prayers, he started for home,

But, as the door closed behind him, he heard a deep groan,

46

Oh, give to the hungry, potatoes!"

And that groan followed him all the way home;
In the midst of the night it haunted his room,
"Oh, give to the hungry, potatoes!"

He could bear it no longer; arose and dressed;
From his well-filled cellar taking in haste
A bag of his best potatoes.

Again he went to the widow's lone hut;
Her sleepless eyes she had not shut;
But there she sat in that old arm-chair,

With the same wan features, the same sad air,
And, entering in, he poured on the floor
A bushel or more from his goodly store
Of choicest potatoes.

The widow's heart leaped up for joy,
Her face was haggard and wan no more,

"Now," said the deacon, "shall we pray?"
"Yes," said the widow, "now you may."

And he kneeled him down on the sanded floor,
Where he had poured his goodly store,

And such a prayer the deacon prayed,
As never before his lips essayed;
No longer embarrassed, but free and full,
He poured out the voice of a liberal soul,
And the widow responded aloud, "Amen!"
But said no more of potatoes.

And would you, who hear this simple tale,
Pray for the poor, and praying prevail?

Then preface your prayers with alms and good deeds;
Search out the poor, their wants and their needs;
Pray for peace and grace and spiritual food,

For wisdom and guidance, for all these are good,
But don't forget the potatoes.

-Rev. J. T. Peltree.

CCXXV.-COURTING.

COURTING iz a luxury, it iz sallad, it iz ise water, it iz a beveridge, it iz the pla spell ov the soul. The man who haz never courted haz lived in vain; he haz bin a blind man amung landskapes and waterskapes; he haz bin a deff man in the land ov hand orgins, and by the side ov murmuring canals. Courting iz like 2 little springs ov soft water that steal out from under a rock at the fut ov a mountain, and run down the hill side by side, singing and dansing, and spatering each uther, eddying and frothing and kaskading, now hiding under bank, now full ov sun, and now full ov shadder, till bimeby tha jine, and then tha go slow. I am in faver ov long courting; it gives the parties a chance to find out each uther's trump kards; it iz good exercise, and iz jist az innersent az 2 merino lambs. Courting iz like strawberries and cream, wants tew be did slow, then yu git the

flaver. I hav saw folks git ackquainted, fall in luv, git marrid, settel down, and git tew wurk in 3 weeks from date. This iz jist the wa sum folks larn a trade, and akounts for the grate number ov almitey mean mechanicks we hav, and the poor jobs tha turn out.

Perhaps it iz best i shud state sum good advise tew yung men, who are about tew court with a final view to matrimony, az it waz. In the fust plase, yung man, yu want tew git yure system awl rite, and then find a yung woman who iz willing tew be courted on the square. The nex thing iz tew find out how old she is, which yu kan dew bi asking her, and she will sa that she is 19 years old, and this yu will find won't be far from out ov the wa. The nex best thing iz tew begin moderate; say onse every nite in the week for the fust six months, increasing the dose az the pasheint seems to require it. It iz a fust rate wa tew court the girl's mother a leettle on the start, for there iz one thing a woman never despizes, and that iz a leettle good courting, if it iz dun strikly on the square. After the fust year yu will begin to be well ackquainted and will begin tew like the bizzness. Thare iz one thing I alwus advise, and that iz not to swop fotograffs oftener than onse in 10 daze, unless yu forgit how the gal looks.

Okasionally yu want tew look sorry and draw in yure wind az tho yu had pain; this will set the gal tew teazing yu tew find out what ails yu. Evening meetings are a good thing tu tend, it will keep yure religgion in tune; and then if the gal happens to be thare, bi acksident, she kan ask yu tew go hum with her. Az a ginral thing i would n't brag on uther gals mutch when i waz courting, it mite look az tho yu knu tew mutch. If you will court 3 years in this wa, awl the time on the square, if yu don't sa it iz a leettle the slikest time in your life, yu kan git measured for a hat at my expense, and ра for it. Don't court for munny, nor buty, nor relashuns; theze things are jist about az onsartin az the kerosense ile refining