ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

SAFETY OF THE BELIEVER.-It needs a great stretch of faith, sometimes, when the enemy comes in like a flood, to believe that God is as much at peace with me through Christ, as with those already above; that Abraham now in glory is not safer than I am. Is that presumption, do you think? What a precious name, a strong tower, into which, if we run, we shall be safe! Were I left to myself, I should run from it. I would not trust myself to His word, but seek to save myself from danger. But Almighty love arrests me, pulls me in, and then rewards me for coming. How much is there in those words " safe"-to think we are safe from everything! No evil shall ever touch us-evil at the end, or evil on the way. I have heard it told through one who was present at the shipwreck of the Kent, as a remarkable circumstance, that every mother in her imminent peril, as if by instinct, turned to her youngest child and clasped it in her arms. So does the Lord to the helpless believer. Will any say that those children who, exulting in strength, were left to themselves, were more safe than the helpless infant whose life depended on the parent's life?

Maternal love alone

Preserves them first and last;

Their parent's arms, and not their own,
Were those that held them fast.

are

Blessed be God, he loves not according to our desert, but according to our necessity. Blessed be God, it is not written, His blood can cleanse from all the evil we see, but what He sees.-Lady Powerscourt.

MAJESTY AND MERCY.-It is the grand pecularity of the Gospel scheme, that while by it God hath come forth in love and tenderness to our world, he hath at the same time made full reservation of His dignity; and, along with the freest overtures of peace to the rebellious, there is the fullest reparation for every outrage which they have inflicted upon His government. On this footing He welcomes you, but on no other. He will not pass over your transgressions of His law, but in such a way as shall compel your recognition of the law's inviolable right to all your obedience. He will not lavish upon you of His attribute of mercy, but in such a way as shall constrain your homage to all the other lofty and unchangeable attributes of His nature. He will not let you off for your violation of His commandments but in such a way as shall stamp indelibly the lesson of the commandments inviolable sanctity. This is that way of exquisite skilfulness, by which the economy of grace is characterized, and whereby at once the deepest stigma is affixed upon sin, and the guilt of the sinner is wiped away.-Chalmers.

DEATH.-This word conveys heart-rending thoughts to the sinner. It makes him weep in moments of reflection; it causes many sleepless nights; it pierces his heart like a dagger. Why endure all this suffering when there is a remedy? It is in Christ; it is in religion. Make, then, the proper application, and the sting of death will be removed, and victory over the grave be achieved.

ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

THE MIND A SCULPTOR.-There is no sculptor like the mind. The man who thinks, reads, studies, meditates, has intelligence cut in his features, stamped on his brow, and gleaming in his eye. There is nothing that so refines, polishes, and ennobles face and mien as the constant presence of great thoughts. The man who lives in the region of ideas, moonbeams though they be, becomes idealized. There are no arts, no gymnastics, no cosmetics, which can contribute a tithe so much to the dignity, the strength, the ennobling a man's looks as a great purpose, a high determination, a noble principle, an unquenchable enthusiasm. But more powerful still than any of these, as a beautifier of the person, is the overmastering purpose and pervading disposition of kindness in the heart. Affection is the organizing force in the human constitution. Woman is fairer than man, because she has more affection than man. Loveliness is the outside of love. Kindness, sweetness, good-will, a prevailing desire and determination to make other people happy, make the body a temple of the Holy Ghost. The soul that is full of pure and generous affections fastens the features into its own angelic likeness, as the rose by inherent impulse grows in grace and blossoms into loveliness which art cannot equal. There is nothing on earth which so quickly and so perfectly beautifies a face, transfigures a personality, refines, exalts, irradiates with heaven's own impress of loveliness, as a pervading kindness of heart. The angels are beautiful because they are good, and God is beauty because He is love.

XANTIPPE AND SOCRATES.-All our preconceived ideas in regard to historical characters are, one by one, being swept away by the new developments of the present age. That much maligned woman, Xantippe, is now crowned with honour. It is now asserted that she was beautiful, thrifty, and a good housewife; that she first won the regard of Socrates by wonderful conversational powers, and the skill with which she refuted some of his arguments; that in spite of the ugliness of Socrates, and his poverty and obscure origin, she married him, discerning the beauty of his mind and soul; that her relatives disapproved the match, and she herself soon found her husband lacking in very essential qualities for comfort in common life. Socrates is found to have given himself little concern about the support of his family; he had no legitimate calling; he was a lounger in public places; he had a habit of inviting persons to dine with him when there was nothing with which to entertain them. Moreover he was repulsive in appearance, slovenly in dress, and very unsocial at home.

A CURIOUS STORY.-Some years ago Lady Morgan published a curious story which attracted great attention at the time, and excited no little controversy. We have forgotten how it was finally settled, but she appealed to the testimony of eye-witnesses for its truth. It is worth telling again :-" She said that when Bonaparte entered Italy, the enthroned chair of St. Peter, contained in the magnificent shrine of bronze which closes the view of the nave in St. Peter's Cathedral,

ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.-THE FIRESIDE.

was brought into a better light and the cobwebs brushed away. Certain curious letters were discovered on the service, which were deciphered, and found to contain the Arabian formula, 'There is but one God, and Mahomet is His Prophet.' Cardinal Wiseman branded this story as "false, foolish, slanderous, and profligate." Lady Morgan gave as her authority for it the eminent savans Denon and Champallion, who saw the inscription, deciphered it, and told its meaning in her presence.

A CONTRAST.-Men toil day and night to lay up earthly treasures, which cannot be of any benefit to them after a few fleeting years. But the sinner feels no inclination to lay up in heaven a treasure, which will be to him a source of uninterrupted happiness for eternal ages.

The Fireside.

HOW TO STEW MEAT.

WHEN money and time are scarce, it is important for the family-provider to understand well those modes of cooking by which a small portion of the more expensive articles can be made to enrich a large portion of the cheaper sorts; those also which do not require long and undivided attention immediately before using, but which may be set going at any convenient time, and be progressing while other business is attended to. In both these respects, stews of various kinds commend themselves to the notice of the thrifty cottage-cook. The following hints may assist her in the choice, and the preparation of the ingredients:

What meats are proper for stewing? Any and every sort. The better the meat, the more richness is imparted by a small quantity; but, by well-stewing, the coarsest parts will become tender and nutritious, though they can scarcely be made eatable in any other way.

All the gristly parts of an animal, such as feet, hocks, shanks, knuckles, &c., should be stewed. They require much time, but yield a great deal of goodness. Even when so much done that every morsel of meat and gristle separates, the bones will again bear boiling down, and give more richness to the liquor than could be supposed by those who have never tried.

Stews are improved by being made of several kinds of meat. Hence it answers very well to buy a pound or two of trimming bits, which are generally sold at about half the price of prime joints, and are nearly or quite free from bone.

Now, as to stewing the meat. It may be done either in an oven, in a jar with a lid, or over the fire in a saucepan. In either case, the lid should be closely shut to confine the steam. The bony and gristly

THE PENNY POST BOX,

parts require much longer doing than the lean meat, and the same parts in beef longer than in veal or pork. The first thing is to remove the lean mcat, and saw the heavy bones (such as of a shin or leg of beef) in pieces of four or five inches long; take out the marrow, which is not wanted in the stew, and will make a good pudding, and set on the bones and gristles with plenty of water.

The liquor in which meat has been boiled-or even rice or suet pudding, is far better than water to begin a stew with. A good house wife will always take care of such liquor, and contrive to turn it to account while sweet and good. Let it be remembered, once for all, that though water may be mentioned, liquor ever so little enriched is preferable, if it can be had.

These should boil several hours before the meat is added. When the bones are white and dry, scrape from them all the bits of gristle, which return to the vessel with the rest of the meat, and let the whole stew on till the meat is quite tender, but not ragged. All this part of the business can be done when the fire is most at liberty-perhaps in the evening, when the family are sitting together after their day's work is done.

The bones, though scraped clean, will yet yield more goodness to fresh liquor, in which they may be boiled down another evening. So it is that a good manager is always fore-casting one day over another. Thus both bustle and waste are avoided, and comfort-according to the means of the family-is secured.

For thickening and flavouring stews, all kinds of dry grain or pulse, rice, barley, peas, sago, oatmeal, also roots, and fresh gathered leaves or heads of growing vegetables may be used. With the exception of potatoes, they may be cooked separately or in the stew, as may be most convenient. The liquor in which potatoes are first boiled is more or less injurious, and, to say the least, discolours and gives an unpleasant flavour. They should, therefore, always be partly done before adding them to a stew, or any other preparation.-Esther Copley's Cottage Cookery.

The Penny Post Box.

IDLENESS.

IDLENESS is the badge of the gentry, the bane of body and mind, the nurse of naughtiness, the step-mother of discipline, the chief author of all mischief, one of the deadly sins, the cushion upon which the devil chiefly reposes, and a great cause not only of melancholy, but of many other diseases; for the mind is naturally active; and if it be not occupied about some honest business, it rushes into mischief or sinks into melancholy.-Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy

FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY.

Facts, Hints, Gems, and Poetry.

Facts.

It has been ascertained that out of 1,500 salmon eggs, in the ordinary course of nature only one produces a mature salmon. If all the eggs laid were to produce salmon, the ocean in half a century would be a moving mass of fish.

The average force of the "Shoeblack Brigade," now in the twentieth year of its existence, and whose red-shirted little members respectfully solicit the privilege of shining your boots on all prominent corners in London, is now 368; and its average earnings last year were 10s. 9d. each per week-a total of £10,331.

There is a machine in operation in East Sumner, Maine, which can make 13,000 toothpicks in a minute.

The total population of the United States, according to the new census, is a trifle over thirty-eight and a half millions.

Money is to a man what a trunk is to an elephant, and what teeth and claws are to the lion.

Friendliness and smiles act on the mind like spirits of nitre on water, making it colder when it is cold, and warmer when it is warm.

Raleigh calls incredulity the wit of fools."

The best thing to give to the poor -employment.

Be praised, not for your ancestors, but for your virtues.

What we are afraid to do before men, we should be afraid to think before God.

Men are often warned against old prejudices; let them also be warned against new conceits.

The first ingredient in conversation is truth; the next, good sense; the third, good humour; and the fourth,

wit.

know. If you do, you will soon believe Never reason from what you do not what is utterly against reason.

wilt have no occasion to blush before Stand in awe of thyself, and thou

others.

Poetic Selections.

FOLLOW THOU ME.

HAVE ye looked for the sheep in the desert,
For those who have missed their way?

Breaking off a bad habit gradually, is generally found to be about as en-Have ye been in the wild, waste places, couraging as picking off one prickle a

Where the lost and the wandering stray?

day, with a view of exterminating a Have ye trodden the lonely highway

thistle.

The foul and darksome street?