THE CRYSTAL SPRING. From "Hastings' Juvenile Songs." Give me a draught from the crystal spring, When the burning sun is Give me a draught from the crystal spring, When the burning sun is high; When the rocks and the woods their shadows fling, Where the high: When the rocks and the woods their shadows fling, Where the pearls and the pebbles lie, Where the pearls and the pebbles lie. pearls and the pebbles lie, Where the pearls and the pebbles lie. Give me a draught from the crystal spring, When the leaves of the trees are withering From the frost or the fleecy snow. Give me a draught from the crystal spring, When the flow'rs are in bloom and the echoes ring Give me a draught from the crystal spring, When the reapers the song of harvest sing, ON AN INFANT'S HAND. WHAT is an infant but a germ, Prophetic of a distant term? Whose present claim of love consists In that great power that Nature twists With the fine thread of imbecility, Ah! how intense the infant grasp! That wondrous instrument, the hand, How fair, how small, how white and pure Its own most perfect miniature. But oh! may it be happiness! HARTLEY COLERIDGE. Chapter of Varieties. CATCHING LIONS BY THE TAIL. Mr. Lemue, who formerly resided at Motito, and is familiar with the Kalliharri country, assured me that the remarkable accounts sometimes circulated as to the people of that part of Africa catching lions by the tail, and of which, I confess, I was very incredulous, were perfectly true. He well knows that the method prevailed, and was certainly not uncommon among the people. Lions would sometimes become extremely dangerous. Having become accustomed to human flesh, they would not willingly eat anything else. When a neighbourhood became infested, the men would determine on the measures to be adopted to rid themselves of the nuisance; then forming themselves into a band, they would proceed in search of their royal foe, and beard the lion in his lair. Standing close by one another, the lion would make his spring on some one of the party-every man, of course, hoping he might escape the attack-when instantly others would dash forward and seize his tail, lifting it up, close to the body, with all their might; thus not only astonishing the animal, and absolutely taking him off his guard, but rendering his efforts powerless for the moment; while others closed in with their spears and at once stabbed the monster through and through. All this was done, not for the exciting pleasure of a lion-hunt, or as an exhibition of prowess, but to rid the vicinity of their villages of a dreadful enemy, and to save themselves from becoming in turn the breakfast or supper of this monarch of the desert. A lion anecdote was related to me, that may be worth recording. A native was rather fearful that ere long he should become the victim of a lion himself, which was known to be in his neighbourhood, unless he got the beast shot. The lion had already been to his house, and de stroyed more than one victim. The man then laid a snare. He placed a kid near the door of his house to attract the lion, intending to shoot him while he was attacking the kid; the lion, however, leaped over the kid, as if of no value, or not sufficiently dainty to satisfy his wishes, and then walked deliberately into the house. The man had, however, taken higher views; he had climbed up outside, and was waiting with his loaded gun on the roof, and on the lion's walking out of the house, he aimed his gun well and shot him dead on the spot; thankful, no doubt, to have saved himself and his kid.— Freeman's Tour in South Africa. WHO WORKS FOR ME? "It is very hard," said a poor woman, "that I should be toiling at the wash-tub all day, working for other people, and yet nobody will do anything for me; it is not fair any how." "Indeed, Maggie," said a bystander," do you mean to say that nobody works for you? Why, in the first place, you get most of your errands done for you, don't you?" "Errands done, indeed," said Maggie, "folk don't do errands for the like of me. I can't get an ounce of tea but what I fetch for myself; and a long walk it is too." "A very long walk indeed, Maggie," said the other, "for tea comes from China, and you must have gone thither for it, had not somebody fetched it for you, and left it in the shop down in the village, where you get it safe and right for fourpence, carriage included. Think of the smart captain and his crew, and the noble ship that took strikes me that your neglect of this duty explains your want of interest in his ministry. Let me urge you to remember him daily in your closet supplications, and I rather think the more you are exercised in praying for him, the more you will be blessed in hearing from him." The faultfinder took the advice, and some months afterwards he met with his friend and stated the result. He had given his minister a large place in his petitions, and meanwhile his so many people a whole year to build, going to China, 10,000 miles off, to bring home your tea." Why, you don't mean," said she, "that they went for my tea?" "Yes, Maggie, they went as much for your tea as anybody else's tea; if people do your errands, is it any harm to you that they do errands for other folks at the same time? It makes it come cheaper for all; for you would have been puzzled to pay the expense of that journey if nobody else had gone shares in it." Maggie said nothing,minister had taken a large place in so the other went on. Somebody his affections; and if the minister has been doing an errand for you in derived no benefit from his prayers, the West Indies, for I saw sugar on he derived great benefit from his your table, and there is none to be preaching. had nearer. Then a ship must have gone out to Greenland for the oil which your soap contains. These are good long errands, I think; but people do many things for you besides going on errands. A rare hot job it was to make your tongs and poker, as you would know if you had seen it done." HEARING, PRAYING. Two young men, members of the same church, were one day engaged in conversation respecting their minister, when one asked the other, 66 Are you interested in our pastor's preaching?" "Yes," replied the other, "I am indeed; I derive instruction and profit from his discourses." 66 Well," said his friend, "I am sure I can't feel so; I am very far from being interested in his labours, or getting any benefit from them." "Perhaps," rejoined the other, "you don't pray for our minister, do you?" "No, I confess I do not." "Well, it WILLIAM TYNDALE. William Tyndale, born on ye borders of Wales, before A.D. 1500, was for heresy sent to ye castle of Vilford, about eighteen miles from Antwerp. Tyndale was first strangled by ye hangman, and then burned near Vilford Castle, in 1536. While Tyndale was tying to ye stake, he cried with a fervent and loud voice, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes," i. e., Henry VIII.-Encyclopædia Perthensis. THE PUNCTUAL HEARER. A woman who always used to attend public worship with great punctuality, and took care to be always in time, was asked how it was she could always come so early? She answered, very wisely, "That it was part of her religion not to disturb the religion of others." Miscellaneous Papers. MY OWN BIBLE. CRANMER'S, AND THE EXILES' BIBLES. The Book complete of GOD's dishonoured Law; And pondered deeply with a Christian's pride." GREAT was the joy, indeed, that hailed the appearance of the Book of God, complete without comment and without note. "It was wonderful to see," says Strype, "with what joy this book was received, not only among the learneder sort, and those that were noted for lovers of the Reformation, but generally all England over, by the vulgar and common people, and with what greediness God's word was read, and what resort to places where the reading of it was. Everybody that could, bought the book and busily read it, or got others to read it to them if they could not themselves, and divers more elderly people learned to read on purpose; and even little boys flocked among the rest to hear portions of the holy scriptures read.” 66 Along with the issue of the book went forth a royal injunction to all the clergy to provide against the next coming Christmas (December, 1538), One boke of the whole Bible, of the largest volume in English, and have the same set up in some convenient place within the said church, that ye have care of, where your parishioners may most commodiously resort to the same and read it." The same injunctions required, “ And that ye shall discourage no man privily or openly from the reading or hearing of the said Bible, but shall expressly provoke, stir, and exhort every person to read the same." It was a glorious time for Old England when the great Bible and these injunctions came forth, and, as we have seen, the people were not slow to avail themselves of the advantages BIBLE CLASS MAGAZINE.] [NOVEMBER, 1851. M |