A Random Shaft.

the wood where Olive was picking up sticks for the fire. He looked back, and noticed that David had paused to rest, for the can of water was heavy to carry up the hill.

A sudden thought struck him. Would it not even yet be possible to prepare the way for the discovery which he felt was inevitable? Without pausing to consider any more, he hastened forwards to join Aunt Miriam, who looked at him with an expression of mild surprise on her gentle countenance.

'Have you no suspicion?' he exclaimed hastily. 'Does not the wonderful likeness of that statue seem strange to you, as the work of one who is supposed never to have seen Mrs. Pryor? What will you say if I tell you that I believe this man to be David himself?'

The poor woman started back; she trembled in every limb and could scarcely gasp out the words, David come back from the dead! Oh, you would not be so cruel as to deceive me . . . to speak lightly on such a subject . . .

No wonder that she looked at him in alarm, for this was, indeed, a startling and overwhelming announcement. But he seemed to be terribly in earnest.

'Yes,' he added more calmly; it was Amos Lever who died. They made a mistake in the names at the hospital, and yonder comes David Pryor . . . . I have seen and spoken to him. There is not a moment to lose; can you prepare his wife to meet him?'

Yes; if this were indeed true and not some bewildering dream, that was the first thing to do, for the shock of joy might be fatal. Miriam Thorpe did not pause to ask any questions, there would be plenty of leisure afterwards to hear everything; but she turned hastily towards the cottage, where she had left Amy resting from her walk.

All this, however, had taken time, and meanwhile the unconscious cause of all this perturbation had reached the top of the hill, quietly put down his burden in a convenient place, and was looking round to see what had become of his companion. Aunt Miriam looked him full in the face, and for one moment seemed rooted to the ground; then, with all the energy of love and despair, she hurried forwards to warn her darling. But it was too late, Mrs. Pryor had already heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and now stood in the doorway. David turned towards her; the was one glance of mutual recognition, one cry of Amy!''David!' and in an instant the long-parted husband and wife were in each other's arms. There had been no need of preparation, no danger from the sudden shock which Aunt Miriam had so much dreaded.

Amy's simple words told the secret of her calmness

Oh, David, I knew you would forgive me! I knew you would come back to me!'

In that hour of supreme happiness the Past was blotted out with all its faults and its sorrows, and the long years of watching and waiting were forgotten. Surely in such all-conquering love as this we may see a bright promise of joy and peace for the future; and as we take leave of those whose fortunes we have followed so long, we may trust that in the years to come they will be amongst the happy company of those who have no history.

LIFE MEASURED BY DEEDS, NOT DAYS.
BIS not the number of the lines in Life's fast-filling page,

Tis not the pulse's added throbs which constitute their age;
Some souls are serfs among the free, while others nobly thrive,
They stand just where their fathers stood-dead even while they live!
Others all spirit, heart, and sense; theirs the mysterious power
To live in thrills of joy or woe-a twelvemonth in an hour.
Seize then the minutes as they pass; the woof of life is thought;
Warm up the colours, let them glow, by fire or fancy fraught.
Live to some purpose: make thy life a gift of use to thee!
A joy, a good, a golden hope, a heavenly argosy!

WILLIAM HONE.

ILLIAM HONE, in the beginning of this century, was a political pamphleteer of considerable notoriety.

He was born at Bath in 1779, and in 1800 set up as a bookseller in London; but he was very unsuccessful, as he gave his attention more to establishing savings' banks and investigating the abuses of lunatic asylums. In 1815 he was publisher of the Traveller newspaper, and soon after he began to issue political pamphlets and satires, which led to his being tried for three days in the Court of King's Bench. He was charged before Lord Ellenborough with issuing a blasphemous parody on the Athanasian Creed, yet he afterwards became a sincere and humble-minded believer in Revelation. The following account is given of his conversion :-He was once travelling on foot in the county of Kent, on a hot summer's day, and being thirsty, and seeing the door of a cottage open, he went in and asked for a cup of water. While the woman of the house was gone to fetch it he looked over the shoulder of a little girl who was attentively reading a book; and finding that it was a Bible, he said, 'I suppose you are learning your task?' She replied, 'No, I am not learning my task.' Then why,' he asked, are you reading the Bible?' She replied, 'I am reading the Bible because I love the Bible.' These latter words were so fastened in his mind that he could not get rid of them. As he walked along he pondered over them again and again. And then, contrasting the child's conduct with his own, he said to himself, I have often read the Bible, to abuse and scoff at the Bible; but I never read the Bible because I loved the Bible.' He determined to read the Bible in a more humble spirit, and he afterwards wrote the subjoined lines on the fly-leaf of the very Bible which he thus studied :—

'The proudest heart that ever beat

Hath been subdued in me;
The wildest will that ever rose
To scorn Thy cause, and aid Thy foes,
Is quelled, my God, by Thee.

Thy will, and not my will be done!
My heart be ever Thine!

Confessing Thee, the mighty Word,
My Saviour Christ, my God, my Lord,
Thy Cross shall be my sign.'

His later years were spent in making compilations which still preserve his name. The chief being Hone's Every-day Book, the Table Book, the Year Book. He died at Tottenham in 1812.

WH

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'TELL JESUS.'

WHEN thou wakest in the morning,
Ere thou tread the untried way
Of the lot that lies before thee

Through the coming busy day;
Whether sunbeams promise brightness,
Whether dim forebodings fall,
Be thy dawning glad or gloomy,
Go to Jesus-tell Him all!
In the calm of sweet communion
Let thy daily work be done;
In the peace of soul outpouring

Care be banished, patience won;
And if earth with its enchantments
Seek thy spirit to enthral,
Ere thou listen-ere thou answer-
Turn to Jesus-tell Him all!

Then, as hour by hour glides by thee,
Thou wilt blessed guidance know,
Thine own burdens being lightened,
Thou canst bear another's woe;
Thou canst help the weak ones onward,
Thou canst raise up those that fall:
But remember, while thou servest,
Still tell Jesus-tell Him all!
And if weariness creep o'er thee
As the day wears to its close,
Or if sudden fierce temptation

Bring thee face to face with foes:
In thy weakness, in thy peril,

Raise to Heaven a trustful call;
Strength and calm for every crisis
Come-in telling Jesus all.

GEORGIANA M. TAYLOR

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BY T. II. TARLTON, M.A., RECTOR OF LUTTERWORTH.

EVERLASTING LIGHT.

Ps. xxxvi. 9. With Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light shall we see light.'

ERE in very simple words we have three great wonders, which no science or search of man has been able to fully embrace-God, Life, and Light. They are profound mysteries, although we may know something of each, if we have the seeing eye and the hearing ear and the understanding heart. Contrasts often impress and teach. The Psalmist had observed the condition and conduct of those who have no fear of God' before their eyes; and he then turned his thought to those who drink of the river of Divine pleasures; and he admiringly sings of the source of their satisfaction and joy: With Thee is the fountain of life.' What a beautiful conception is this! God, the Eternal Fountain of all creaturely life, the One source of being and of bliss! In the ages of the distant past, in the living present, ceaselessly pouring forth out of His own fulness life and light. The sun we see with our eyes quickens, robes with beauty all things within his dominion, and is a powerful mirror of the unseen God. The search of science has made very many discoveries in nature since this song was written, but with all its marvels it cannot say what life is, and it emphatically attests the fact, that there is no life, but that which proceeds from the living. So the beautiful image of the singer is still truth, With Thee is the fountain of life.' What is creation, but God giving out of the fountain of His own Being? What is redemption? God giving. 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,' to lift the lapsed creature into His own life-love. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.' This Word is life-inspiring. A glass of pure water from a spring does not tell of the force or fulness of the spring, but it does tell of the quality of the water. Notwithstanding the mystery and the misery of sin, the purpose of creation and of

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redemption seems to be this-Life from God, Life in God, and ultimately Life with God. The movements of all living creatures appear to be toward higher forms of life. First, the animal; then the intellectual; and last, the spiritual. Jesus declared the purpose of His own advent: 'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.'

It is a question of real interest to us, how we, amid our daily toil and cares, may share in this higher and more abundant life? Is it not by the right use of the Word of God and the Sacraments and services of His Church? It was the sad complaint of Jesus to the Jews, 'Ye will not come to Me that ye might have life.' The Psalmist says, 'In Thy light shall we see light;' that is, in the light of God's own revelation shall we attain the living and saving knowledge of Himself, which is life everlasting. No lamp of human science lights the way to God. Jesus said, I am the Way,' and we should remember that those eyes see most truly which have a true heart behind them.

Light from heaven shone on Saul of Tarsus, and he was changed from the fierce foe to the gentle and devoted Apostle of Christ. His work and his words still live. We may now make these few thoughts practical.

Let us ever revere the true sayings of God; for they tell us of His calm pity for the sinful and the suffering, and they declare a love unspeakable which seeks in order to save and to bless. If we listen to the voice of our own conscience, it will tell us how much we need a strength more than human to turn the currents of feeling from selfishness and sin, to God and goodness. As the sun in his light comes to the earth to raise plant and tree to higher life and beauty, so does God in His own Word come near to man's heart to impart, to sustain, and to perfect its life.

Let us humbly pray, that as life and light are so freely given, we may thankfully receive and diligently use these great gifts. Only a hand Divine could have endowed light, with its wonder-working powers. It awakes the sleeper. It illumines all things on which it falls. It invigorates to larger life. It beautifies and it inspires joy. It lays golden and amber glories even on clouds, and although it may have lain in the grave of the coal-bed age after age, it comes forth in a raised life to warm, to enlighten, and to impel. Let us, therefore, often say,

'Shine in my heart, and bring me joy and light;

Sun of my darkened soul, dispel its night.'

Let us also bear in mind that diffusion is a law of life and light. We receive that we may impart. We are blessed by God that we may become a blessing to others.

If we ourselves love the Word of God, we shall esteem it a privilege to assist its wider circulation amongst those who do not yet possess it. When Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them. If we follow Him, we shall know the meaning of His own words, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

'Thy Word, O God! is living yet

Amid earth's restless strife,

New harmony creating still,
And ever higher life.'