any child may grow. The penny you put into the mission-box may buy a tract, which the missionary may drop on the road, which a strange man may pick up and take with him to his own far-off land, and it may be the means of the conversion and salvation of that man and some of his neighbours, and they may talk to others, and they again to others, till all the nation learn the way to heaven. Thus a whole nation may be saved, under God's blessing, by your giving a penny!

THE CHILD.

How beautiful the child, with his sweet smile,
His eager voice, his trust unfearing guile,
His tears, dried as they fall;

His looks, where wonder and delight are rife,
Still offering his nascent soul to life,

His kissing lips to all!

Spare, mighty Lord! spare me, and all I love-
Friends, brethren, kindred, even foes, who move
'Gainst me in triumph wild-

From e'er beholding summer reft of flowers,
Beeless the hive, birdless the leafy bowers,

The house without a child!-Victor Hugo.

THE DYING CHILD TO ITS MOTHER.
АH! mother, dost thou weep to see
This weakly frame decay,

And dost thou sigh while Jesus waits
To bear my soul away;

Let not thy breast by grief be riven,
We part on earth to meet in heaven!

THE SWAN is a large water-fowl that has a long neck, and is very white, except when it is young. Its legs and feet are black, as is its bill, which is like that of a goose, but something rounder, and a little hooked at the end. The two sides, below its eyes, are black and shining as ebony. Swans use their wings as sails, and catch the wind; so that they are driven along in the water. They feed upon herbs and some sorts of grain, like a goose, and some are said to have lived for a hundred years. There is a species of swans with the feathers of their heads,

towards the breast, marked at the ends with a gold colour, inclining to red. It was said to sing melodiously when near expiring; a tradition, like many others, entirely fabulous.

The wild swan flies rapidly; it is said, at the rate of a hundred miles an hour, before the i wind. The female builds her nest of water plants, reeds, long grass, and sticks, in some retired bank of a river or lake. She lays six or eight eggs, which are much larger than those of the goose.

Tame Swans are bred principally for show; and are, therefore, chiefly found upon ornamental pieces of water, of which they are still a distinguished ornament. Swans and their eggs were formerly protected by very severe penalties, so that it was felony to steal their eggs; and, in the reign of Edward the Fourth, a person who did not possess a freehold of the yearly value of five marks, was prohibited from keeping a swan. The flesh of the cygnet was once highly esteemed, and is still used by the corporation of Norwich, at their public dinners, as they are bound by ancient tenure to present the Duke of Norfolk, annually, with an immense cygnet pie. Swans, in the time of Henry the Eighth, appear to have borne the marks of their respective owners; those of the king having what were called two nicks or notches; from which is derived, "the swan with two necks," frequently exhibited as the sign of public houses.

The muscular power of the wings is so great, and so great the force with which they can strike their pinion, that a leg or an arm might be broken by the blow. They have been known to contend successfully with eagles. A few years ago a fine swan was drowned in Trentham Park, the seat of the Marquis of Stafford, by a large pike seizing its bill. They were of equal strength, and both swan and pike perished together. Swans are said to be very attached to their parents, and will fiercely attack any one who ventures too near their brood; and, when the stream is strong, the old swan will sink herself so as to bring her back on a level with the water, when the cygnets get upon the back of their parent, and are conveyed into stiller water. Each family of swans has its own district, from which all intruding swans and other birds are soon and fiercely driven. They are said to have an instinctive knowledge of the height to which the water they inhabit will rise during the season of their incubation, and make their nest high or low accordingly, to prepare for the circumstance of the flood or tide.

Within the last few years very large flocks of black swans have been found in Van Dieman's land, and the western coast of New Holland; whence the name of the lately celebrated Swan River and settlement is derived. Specimens are to be seen in this country at the Zoological Gardens, and at the Duke of Devonshire's villa at Chiswick.

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BREAD CAST UPON THE WATERS.

THE Bible says, "Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days." Let us see what this text means. Rice is the food most used in eastern countries, especially in Egypt, even to this day. Every year, when the snow melt on the mountains, the River Nile rises and overflows its banks, and covers all the country with water. The people set down stakes, every man in his own land, before the waters come; and when the Nile has risen, and all the ground is overflowed, the people go out in their little boats and sow, or cast, their rice upon the waters; the rice sinks down, and sticks in the mud beneath; and when the flood is past, they find it has taken root and sprouted; it grows up and supplies them with a harvest. This is casting bread upon the waters, and finding it after many days.

Ministers, by preaching, and teachers, by instruction, cast the seed of the kingdom abroad. Sometimes it seems to be wasted or lost. But often it appears again, and springing up, bears fruit. Many a pastor's prayer, a teacher's desire, and a mother's wish, have been rewarded in seeing the once disobedient youth return to the paths of piety and peace. Let us never despair. but labour on in faith and hope.

"Though seed lie buried long in dust,
It sha'nt deceive our hope."