Yet dearly she loved to ponder it o'er,
And every day she prized it more;

For it said--and she looked at her smiling mother

It said "Little children, love one another."

She thought it was beautiful in the book,
And the lesson home to her heart she took;
She walked on her way with a trusting grace,
And a dove-like look in her meek young face,
Which said, just as plain as words could say,
"The Holy Bible I must obey;

So, mamma, I'll be kind to my darling brother:
For Little children must love one another.'

"I'm sorry he's naughty, and will not play;
But I'll love him still, for I think the way
To make him gentle and kind to me,
Will be better shown if I let him see
I strive to do what I think is right;
And thus, when we kneel in prayer to-night,
I will clasp my arms about my brother,
And say Little children, love one another.⠀

The little girl did as her Bible taught,
And pleasant, indeed, was the change it
wrought;

For the boy looked up, in glad surprise,
To meet the light of her loving eyes;

His heart was full-and he could not speak-
But he pressed a kiss on his sister's cheek;
And God looked down on the happy mother,
Whose Little children loved one another.'

Try back, for you may find the fault within;
And clearly see that sorrow comes from sin.

"TRY back! master Henry, try back!" said Alan, the gardener, to me on one occasion when

No. 89. MAY 1852.

W

I was a boy but I will give the whole ac

count.

:

I had been a ramble of a mile or two, and when on my return I came to the garden hedge, Alan gave me a nice switch, that only wanted trimming up a little at the end; but when I felt in my pocket for my knife it was gone.

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And something also is gone beside your knife," said Alan, "for you have lost a piece off the tail of your jacket. Which way did you

come ?"

I told him every field that I had crossed, and every lane that I had walked along: he then asked me if I had scrambled over any hedge?

"No," said I, "but I threw a stone at Harrison's savage dog in the lane, and as I thought he was coming after me, I got over the gate with the hooks on the top of it, in a desperate hurry, and ran across the turnip-field."

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"Try back, master Henry," said Alan. Try back, for it strikes me that your knife is not far from the gate with the hooks on it."

We went together to the place and found my knife in the road, and the piece of the tail of my jacket hanging by a hook on the top of the gate. As we came home together Alan talked to me, as near as I can recollect, after this fashion.

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"Never throw at a dog, master Henry," said he, earnestly but kindly; nor ill-use any creature that God has made. If a dog is quiet, it is cruel to fling at him; and if he is savage, you run a great risk of getting worse than you give. Harrison's dog is a vicious animal, and if he had laid hold of you with his teeth, you might have left behind you a piece of the calf

of your leg, instead of a part of the tail of your jacket.

"Let me explain what I meant by 'Try back!' This is a phrase used by a huntsman when the dogs have outrun the scent, and are at fault. Try back,' then means to try again the ground they have run over till they find out their mistake. You, by trying back,' have recovered your lost knife, and found out where you tore your jacket. It is an excellent plan, whenever you get into trouble, to try back' till you have discovered the cause of it. "I once 6 tried back' with a one-legged soldier, and we talked together in this way.How was it that you came to lose your leg ?' 'I lost it in a battle in India.' But what brought you in India ?' I 'listed for a soldier, and was sent there.' 'And why did you list for a soldier ?' 'Because I was persuaded by bad companions.' And where did you pick up your bad companions ?' 'At the wake.'

But how came you to go to the wake?' 'Ay, there it is! My father and mother made me promise not to go; but I broke my promise, and that led me in the long run to ruin.' So you see, master Henry, by trying back I found out that his being a one-legged, broken down soldier all sprang from disobedience to his parents. Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,' Exod. xx. 12.

"And what was it,' said I once to a woman who was at hard labour in prison-for I wanted to try back' with regard to her life- What was it that brought you to this pass ?' At first she did not like to tell me ; but at last she said,

that at one time she had a good place, and a good character, but both these she lost by a habit of telling lies. She then ran into evil ways and got into prison. Lying lips are abomination to the Lord,' Prov. xii. 22.

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We should try back,' not only with respect to others, but also with regard to ourselves, for evil is in every heart. Sin is a mortal disease, and if God had not provided a cure for it in his Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for sinners, there would have been no hope for any of us; but now, blessed be his name, there is hope for us all, for none who feel true sorrow for sin, and apply to the Saviour for deliverance, apply in vain.

“The more we are in the habit of 'trying back,' master Henry, the clearer we shall see that we bring ourselves into trouble by our faults, and that, in nine cases out of ten, our sorrows spring from our sins."

Many a time since my youthful days have I profited by taking Alan's advice in "trying back" in seasons of trouble. "In the day of prosperity," says the wise man, "be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider," Eccles. vii. 14. To examine ourselves, that we may discover and avoid our past errors, is a good and wholesome practice. Sometimes we err through wilfulness, sometimes through weakness, and sometimes through thoughtlessness; and it is well to know which of these has led us astray, for we are not half so likely to stumble with our eyes open as when they are shut. While the hunter "tries back" for his

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game, let us try back," that we may be the better fitted to go forward in our heavenly