PLEASANT VISITS TO KEW GARDENS. 3

welcome to enjoy its sights as freely as if they were among the princes of the land. This Exhibition is

THE ROYAL GARDENS AT KEW.

As we intend from month to month to give an account of the remarkable trees, shrubs, fruits, and flowers which are there brought together, we have the hope that we shall not only interest our young friends and instruct their minds, but teach them some useful lessons drawn from the power, wisdom, and love of God. Those who have visited this spot will have pleasant thoughts brought to their minds; those who have not been there will wish to go, if they live not far away; while those who reside at too great a distance to be able to expect to see these wonderful objects of the vege table world, may learn something that they never knew before.

It may be hardly wise to tell our readers beforehand all that they are to hear about; but we would awaken their attention by letting them a little into the secret. We intend to take them to see the old red-brick Palace of Kew on the banks of the Thames, and then to conduct them to the Temple of Victory, the Temple of the Winds, the Temple of the Sun, the Pantheon, the Orangery, the Conservatory, the Great Pagoda, the Museum, the Botanic Gar den, the Kitchen Garden, the Pleasure Grounds, the lawns and shady lanes, and, above all, to the New Conservatory, or Palm House, built chiefly of glass-a coloured picture of which be seen as our frontispiece to the year. As we pass along, if we have but eyes to see,

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and keep them well awake, we may notice famous cedars from Lebanon, which are often mentioned in the Bible; the lofty palm tree of Egypt; and the still more lofty yew from California, which, in its own country, grows to the height of three hundred feet, or nearly as high as St. Paul's Cathedral in London. There are the gutta-percha tree from Singapore, which has of late years been turned to so much use in a hundred different ways; the india-rubber tree from Brazil, and the cork tree from Spain. Among other trees there may be seen the teak from Africa; the upas or poison tree from Java; the cocoa-nut from Barbadoes; the bread-fruit from the South Seas; the camphor from Japan; the fan-palm from Jamaica; the date-palm from Arabia; the oil-palm from Sierra Leone; the wax-palm from New Grenada; and the ivory-palm, whose seeds are like pieces of ivory, and are made into trinkets by the people of South America. Then, too, we must not forget the chocolate tree, whose seeds we call cocoa, and from which chocolate is made; the orange from the Azore islands; the fig from Palestine; and the tamarind from the West Indies. Nor must we fail to notice a singular kind of pine from New South Wales, the seeds of which are as big as a child's head; nor the banyan, the branches of one of which in its native country covers a space of ground so great that seven thousand men might stand beneath its shade.

If we turn from the great and the lofty to the more lowly in form, we must stop and gaze at the papyrus plant, from which paper was first made; the sugar cane which yields us

its sweet juice; the indigo, whose leaves supply us with that rich colour so called; the cotton, to which we are indebted for some of our articles of clothing; the coffee, nutmeg, clove, and tea, all of which add to the comforts of our table. Then the pitcher plant, the butterfly plant, the flytrap, the cactus, and the aloe, grasses, heaths, and ferns, the rose of Sharon, and the Victoria water-lily, will supply us alike with amusement and instruction.

Let us, then, seek to be pleased and profited; and as we pass from one part of the year to another, if our lives are spared, we may learn even from trees and flowers some lessons worth remembering.

For in each flower and simple bell,
That in our path untrodden lie,
Are sweet remembrances, that tell
How fast the winged moments fly.

WHAT IS SELF-APPLICATION?

THE best way to explain hard words to little children is by telling them a story which shows the meaning. I dare say you think, dear children, that the word at the beginning of this piece is a very hard one, and so it is; yet I think I can explain it.

You hear the minister sometimes use that word when he is preaching, telling you that you must apply what you hear to your own hearts. Now listen to my story, and then you will understand what self-application means.

Last Sunday morning I went to my Sunday school. I went to a class, and began to put some

questions to the boys. After several questions and answers about Jesus Christ, I said:

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'Now tell me why he was born? What for?" "To save sinners," was the reply of several. Very good. And where are the sinners whom he was born to save ?"

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"In the world," said one.

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Yes, that's true; but in what part of the world are they ?"

No answer at first. After a time, one boy shouted out, "Everywhere, sir."

"Do you know any of them ?" I asked. No answer; all seemed puzzled.

"Does any boy here," I asked, "know any of the sinners for whom Christ was born ?"

Silence still. At length a boy, about nine years old, looked into my face as if he thought he could tell, but was half afraid.

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Well, my boy," I said, "tell me; do you know any of the sinners to save whom Jesus Christ was born into the world ?"

"Yes, sir," said the boy, modestly.

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Very well; tell me who they are.'

The boy then, laying his hand on his breast and looking at me earnestly, said, "I am one.” His reply almost brought tears into my eyes, and I said to myself, "This is self-application.' "Yes, my boy," I said, "that's the way to look at it; that's what every one ought to think: I am one." And then I tried to make all the other boys understand the same.

Now I will add to this another story very much like it, told me by a clergyman a few days after this happened.

He said, "I was catechizing the children of my schools and congregation publicly in the

church, one Sunday afternoon; and there were many present, both children and parents. In answer to one of my questions, they told me that Christ died to save sinners. I then asked them where the sinners were to be found. Nobody replied. I put the question again. 'Can none of you tell me where the sinners are found for whom Jesus died ?' Still all were

silent. At last, a little girl in the front of the gallery stood up, and fixing her eyes on me, said, with a sweet and simple voice, 'Please, sir, me.' For some time," said the minister, "I could not go on, and there was scarcely a dry eye in the church. This little girl, you see, by applying it to herself, taught others to do the same; and, confessing herself to be a sinner, she made everybody else for the time feel themselves to be sinners also."

Now, my dear children, you see what selfapplication means: it is in such a case, thinking of yourself, "I am one;""Please, sir, me.' When you hear a sermon preached, or listen to an address in the school, you should apply it all to yourself. If you hear about wicked people, who do not fear and love God, and go on from day to day just as they like, without repentance, and without praying to God to make them better, perhaps you say, "Ah, that's Thomas so-and-so, or Mary so-and-so."

But that's not the way you should think; you should say to yourself, as the little boy did, " 1 am one;" or, at least, you should ask yourself, "Am I one of them ?" "If you hear the minister asking who among the people or the children are sorry for their sins, and wishing for a clean heart, could you say, like the little girl, "Please,