ISHERMEN have much hardship, and are exposed to many dangers. We often read of the wreck of fine vessels and fishingboats, but do not always feel all the meaning of the account we read. Most likely it has never been brought home to us in actual experience. But the fisherman's wife is in a different position in this respect. Herself probably a fisherman's daughter, or, at least, having lived in the little seaport town, she knows that a wreck means the loss of life, that means the loss of a husband and father, and so great sorrow, and perhaps poverty and loneliness of life. See how eagerly the woman in the picture is looking for her husband's return. Evidently he is rather late, and she is becoming concerned lest harm may have happened to him.

Fishermen are often godly men. In the west of Cornwall the fishermen miss the Monday's market because they will not go out on the Sabbath-day. The old men say that they are none the poorer-that, taking the year through, they are as well off as those who disregard the command, "Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy."

A gentleman walking on the beach came across a little boy sitting on the road, all by himself, looking out upon the ocean.

"You like the sea, my boy; do you not?" "Yes, sir; and I hope to follow it when I get bigger."

"It is a hard life, besides being full of danger," said the gentleman.

IFE.

"Yes, sir. But Jesus Christ went to sea, and He knows the dangers; and sometimes He preached out of a ship. I am sure He loves sailors," said the boy.

"But that will not hinder you from meeting with storms, and perhaps getting shipwrecked."

"Jesus Christ rules the winds and the waves. He stopped a storm once."

"He does not now," said the gentleman.

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No, sir; but He will help us to trust in Him, and if we hold on to Him nothing can much harm us," said the boy.

"You might be drowned."

"Yes, sir." The boy stopped. "But, you know, my soul would then fly up to God; and it is all fair weather up there."

Why, my little man, you are quite a preacher," said the gentleman.

"Father and I often talk these things over," said the little boy; "and when he is gone out fishing, and leaves me at home all alone, they are company for me."

"The sweet, quiet, happy face of the little fellow pleased me," said the gentleman, "and I felt that he had the best of company."

This boy had evidently had the benefit of a good training, in a pious home, and had profited by it. It is well to "talk these things over," parents and children together, so that help may be asked when it is first felt to be needed, and given when it is most likely to become a lasting good.

W

"Yes," said the poet, “but in this case Pope's line will apply, 'Worth makes the man; the want of it the fellow.""

safety on the further shore; but the chariots, and the horsemen, and the host of Pharaoh had vanished in the waters. It was on this morning, the memory of which is still living amongst us in the institutions. of the Christian Church, that Miriam, at the head of a long train of Israelite women, with the sounding timbrels and religious dances which they had learned in Egypt, comes forth to meet the triumphant host. She who had watched her infant brother by the riverside now hailed him as the deliverer of her people.

The lesson I would have my young friends learn from this chapter in Miriam's history is the power of influence. To some it is given to exert an immense influence over companions and associates. I have known some young people who have possessed this gift to a marvellous degree, making of their companions almost what they chose. They were always foremost in tasks or play, binding others to their will. Born to lead, they could not be anywhere but at the head. Such power brings with it grave responsibilities. Happy they who possessing it use it for the good of others and the honour of God. The youngest of my readers may use this power in a way that will bring happiness to themselves and lasting blessing to others.

Miriam's example and influence would live on for ages after she had disappeared from amongst her people; and the remembrance of her calm trust in Jehovah would give additional pathos and force to that fine Hebrew melody, "Sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea." A gentleman once lecturing in the neighbourhood of London said, "Everybody has influence, even that child," pointing to a little girl in her father's arms. "That's true," cried the man. At the close, he said to the lecturer, "I beg your pardon, sir, but I could not help speaking. I was a drunkard; but as I did not like to go the public-house alone I used to carry this child. As I approached the public-house one night, hearing a great noise inside, she said, 'Don't go, father!' 'Hold your tongue, child.' Please, father, don't go!' Hold your tongue, I say.' Presently I felt a big tear fall on my cheek. I could not go a step further, sir. I turned round and went home, and I have never been in a public-house since, thank God for it. I am now a happy man, sir, and this little girl has done it all; and when you said that even she had influence, I could not help saying, 'That's true, sir.' All have influence."

DOCTOR relates a story of the wonderful instinct of a dog, which came under his observation when he was a medical student. He says:-A man named Cosgrove had his arm broken, and came many time to the office to have the dressing arranged. He was always accompanied by a large, ferocious-looking bulldog, that watched me most attentively, and most unpleasantly to me, while bandaging his master's arm. A few weeks after Cosgrove's case was dis

charged, I heard a noise at the office door as if some animal were pawing it, and on opening it saw there this huge bulldog, accompanied by another dog that held up one of its forelegs, evidently broken. They entered the office; I cut several pieces of wood and fastened them firmly to the leg with adhesive plaster, after straightening the limb. They left immediately. The dog that came with Cosgrove's dog I never saw before nor since.

R. DAWSON was a teetotaller, but whether he made a virtue of necessity or acted from choice I know not. "Drinking is an expensive habit; my income is small, and if I were to spend my money in drink my children must go uneducated, and that will never do," he many times said. And he had known so many gentlemen who had been ruined by its use. One of his set phrases was, "There's a curse in drink." His children were thus brought up surrounded by influences of strict sobriety and temperance, and these good lessons they did not forget, as we saw in the last chapter.

Katie, in her sorrow of envy, had gone to bed quite forgetting the message she had promised to deliver to her father, but in the morning at the breakfast-table she introduced the subject. John's ears tingled with delight, and Mr. Dawson simply said, "I and your mother will think over Mr. Sinclare's kind offer," and thus the subject dropped for the time being. After the duties of the day were over, Mr. and Mrs. Dawson had a private conversation relative to the proposal of Mr. Sinclare.

"I have always entertained the idea of putting John to one of the professions," said Mr. Dawson, "either a doctor, a lawyer, or a minister; commerce is, I think, more precarious than any of the professions. Men in business may think themselves wealthy, and a thousand unlooked for and unseen events may arise to deprive them of the result of years of hard and anxious toil. Not so with the professions; the rise is gradual but sure, and with ordinary care and caution, when a position is made, it

may be kept. John has had a good education, and much that he has learned will be of no practical use to him in trade. John is a good and obedient boy, and I have no fear but that he would succeed in anything that he undertook; but he is only a boy, and though the bent of his mind is to that which is good, still the influences by which he may be surrounded in business may have a tendency to lead him, being inexperienced, into evil. My greatest fear is Mr. Sinclare's son Tom; it is because of his thriftless and indolent habits that Mr. Sinclare needs further help, and John will be constantly in Tom's society. I feel this is a serious step, my dear. We had better ask God's direction."

After a short prayer John was called into the room were his parents were, and the matter was submitted to him.

"John, my darling," said his mother, "you heard from Katie this morning that Mr. Sinclare was desirous that you should enter his warehouse; what do you think about it? Would you like to go?

"I should," replied John; " but I should also like to please father and you. You know what will be best for me."

"But, John," said his father, "which would you prefer, being a minister, a lawyer, a doctor, or a business man ?"

"I should prefer being a business man," said John.

"That being your preference, then, I don't know that a better opening, all things considered, could be desired," remarked Mr. Dawson. "You'll go along with me tomorrow morning, John, to see Mr. Sinclare.