“I have told you the truth; if you do not know what I mean, I will explain it. Ι said I was a mussalchy; well, a mussalchy's business is to show you light in a dark night. Now, you are in darkness, and do not know the way of salvation; so I am come to show you a light." To this one of them said, "You are a blessed man." The missionary then added, "I see you are all come to seek salvation in the Ganges: you must know that this river can only wash your bodies, and not your hearts; so I will tell you of a fountain opened to take away sin if you bathe there, your hearts will be clean." To this they again replied, "You are a blessed man.' "You must know," continued the missionary, "that our holy book says, there is no salvation in idols, water, or any thing else; only in Christ. He is the Son of God, and came into the world to do the work of salvation, by giving his life for us now, believe on him, and you will have life. These books give you a full account of him, and what you are to do." The men now began taking the books, and reading them. By the evening the missionary found he had given away half a chest of books and tracts, which were conveyed by the people to their homes in various parts of the country. Thus was the good seed scattered abroad; the harvest will be ga thered at the end of the world.

IN ATTENTION.

Do my young readers know what is meant by this word? Dr. Johnson explains the meaning to be-" disregard, carelessness." Perhaps you thought it meant, not listening to your teacher, or minding your lessons properly; and so it does, but this is not all I will try to tell you something more about it.

I know a little boy who walks two miles every day to school; if you ask him why he goes, he will tell you it is that he may learn to read and write, and do many things which will be useful to him when he grows up. This sounds well; but let us follow him to school. See, there he is, at the end of the desk, with his slate. He has a longdivision sum to do; but. he is twisting a bit of string in his fingers. Now he has put both his hands into his pocket, and is counting over his marbles. His time has been wasted, the sum will be done wrong, the master will be angry, the little boy will be scolded he is inattentive.

I have been to many Sunday schools, and I have sometimes seen classes where the teacher looked interested, and the children attentive and happy. But I have too often seen others, where the teacher looked tired and out of spirits; and, no wonder, the

children would not attend: one was counting the buttons on his jacket, another reading his hymn book backwards, others were whispering. You would never have thought they came there to be instructed, for they seemed determined to hear as little of what their teacher said as possible. This was inattention.

There are other ways of showing inattention. When you see any one busy, if you are able to help them, and do not offer to do so, you are inattentive. If you wait for your parents' commands, when you know before-hand what their wishes are, you are inattentive. When you think of other things, while you are hearing a chapter read or a sermon preached, you are inattentive.

If we look at inattention closely, we shall find in it :

1st. Selfishness, for we distress others to please ourselves.

2nd. Ingratitude, for all the trouble of our parents and friends is thrown away upon us.

3rdly. Carelessness, for surely if we felt any interest in the things we are taught, we should pay more attention to them.

Remember the words of Scripture, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," Eccl. ix. 10.

LUCY.

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LEARNING TO CONVERSE.

CHAPTER VII.

Now, uncle," said Edmund, after he had done looking over some pictures, along with his cousins, "I want to ask you a question."

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Very well, Edmund; I am always ready to explain to you any thing that I know." 'Yes, you are; and I will now tell you what my question is. You said, that in learning to converse I ought to have good knowledge, and I shall never get that without asking a great many questions.

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Please to tell me, then, why people in different countries speak different languages." You shall have my answer; but first tell me what has led you to ask such a question."

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Why, about an hour ago, I met two oddlooking men with caps on, and they were talking very fast; but what it was all about I know not, for not one word could I understand."

"I dare say not. I met the two men myself, and spoke to them; one was an Italian, and the other a Frenchman."

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Ay; then they were talking French or Italian together; but as I could not make out what they said, it seemed to me a pity that all people did not speak the same language. How is it that there are so many languages in the world? A man is a man, and a house is a house; why then should not the French call them by these names as well as the English?

"A Frenchman, if he were here, might just as well ask you why you do not call them by the same names as he does; and hardly do I know what answer you would give him."

"Nor I, neither; unless I told him that I had been taught to call them the English way."

you

Exactly so; and he would then tell that he had been taught the French way: