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THE LOLLARDS' PRISON.

anger, intemperance, and impurity; for these offences I implore Thy mercy." Then standing up, his face still wet with tears, he said, "I ask not your absolution: it is God's only that I need."

Other means were tried, but all in vain: Cobham was firm. Then all the priests and people rose, and uncovered their heads, and Arundel, the Archbishop of Canterbury, holding the sentence of death in his hand, read it with a loud voice. "It is well," said the brave good man, "though you condemn my body, you can do no harm to my soul by the grace of my eternal God." He was again led back to the Tower, whence he escaped one night, and took refuge in Wales. Four years after he was retaken, carried to London, dragged on a hurdle to St. Giles Fields, and there suspended by chains over a slow fire, and cruelly burnt to death.

At that time the London prisons were filled with Lollards, and it was decreed that they should be hung on the King's account, and burnt, so the wicked priests said, for God's. The Lollards were timid, held their meetings in secret, and, if they belonged to the wealthy classes, disguised themselves as poor men. Through this baptism of suffering God made the nation ready for the Reformation.

THE LOST DAY.

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THE LOST DAY.

LOST! lost! lost!

A gem of countless price,
Cut from the living rock,

And graved in Paradise ;
Set round with three times eight
Large diamonds clear and bright,
And each with sixty smaller ones,
All changeful as the light.

Lost-where the thoughtless throng
In Fashion's mazes wind,
Where trilleth folly's song,
Leaving a sting behind.
Yet to my hand 'twas given,
A golden harp to buy,

Such as the white-robed choir attune
To deathless minstrelsy.

Lost! lost! lost!

I feel all search is vain ;
That gem of countless cost
Can ne'er be mine again;

I offer no reward,

For till these heart-strings sever, I know that Heaven's entrusted gift Is reft away forever.

But when the sea and land,

Like burning scroll have fled,

SWIMMING AGAINST THE CURRENT.

I'll see it in his hand,

Who judgeth quick and dead;
And when of scathe and loss

That man can ne'er repair,
The dread inquiry meets my soul,
What shall it answer there?

-L. H. Sigourney.

SWIMMING AGAINST THE CURRENT.

Boys, you have been told a great many times that if you form any bad sinful habits, it will be very hard for you to break them. In other words, that if you get started in some wrong course, the longer you go that way, the harder it will be to turn about and give it up. It will be like swimming against the current in a river which drifts you along faster and faster, until finally it takes away your strength, leaving you too weak to resist it. Here is a true story to illustrate this truth.

Several years ago a boy named Henry G. went bathing in the Passaic river. Do you know where that river is, and do you know how splendid it is to be able to swim-to plunge boldly into a clear, beautiful stream; or, better yet, to plunge into salt water,

SWIMMING AGAINST THE CURRENT.

and dash out through the waves with strong, steady stroke, floating or swimming, and splashing the water like a great fish? It is fine fun for most boys, yet it has some dangers.

Well, Henry, or Harry, or Hal, for he was known by all these names, was a good swimmer, and he enjoyed his bath that day very much. He swam along for some distance, without paying much attention to where he was, when all at once he found that he was between two large rafts that were floating down the stream. You know what rafts are-large numbers of logs fastened together. He soon found, too, that these rafts were gradually coming together, nearer and nearer to each other, and he in between them. He was not frightened, for he thought he could easily climb up on to one of the rafts; but when he tried, he found the peeled logs were so slippery that he could not hold on to them, and whenever he tried to get his arms over them, his feet would float under them, in such a way that he could not keep himself at all. He tried this several times, and when he saw it was of no use, started to swim up the stream; for this, he thought, was the nearest and best way for him to get out. He began to feel rather anxious by this time, but he started off with a bold stroke, work

SWIMMING AGAINST THE CURRENT.

ing hard for a few moments, when, to his horror, he found that he made no progress at all, that he did not seem to gain anything, and then he knew that the current was so strong that he could not swim against it! Oh, what a feeling of terror he had for a moment! There he was, so helpless, so alone; for there was no one near who could hear him shout, and the water seemed so cruel, so mocking to him in his agony.

He was a boy of considerable courage, and he resolved to make one more attempt to save himself. The feeling of fear had for a moment taken away his strength, but with a kind of desperation he looked about, and saw at some distance an opening, a place where he thought he could escape. So, summoning all his resolution, he swam toward it, and soon found himself not a great way from the shore.

He reached the land safely, a great way below the place where he had gone into the river, and, trembling and exhausted, was cared for by some men whom he found. He drifted into that strong swift current before he knew it; he found it was stronger than he was; he could not swim against it, and thus came very near losing his life.

Boys, don't get into the current of sin!

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