"By one angel!" said the brave little fellow musingly; "by one angel!" "Yes: another angel caused 185,000 soldiers of Sennacherib's army to lie cold and stiff on the plain selected for battle.

"The angel of death spread his wings in the blast,

And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed.'

We read in the New Testament of one such flying swiftly to Christ in the garden which was the scene of His agony, when His blood bedewed the soil on which He knelt in prayer, and communicated strength to His distressed heart, and a cooling influence to His exhausted frame, while he whispered words of comfort in His ear. They are 'full of wing,' and can easily and swiftly flit from world to world."

"But, mamma, may I ask if they are all alike? Teacher said that there were classes and ranks among them, just as in the army, some high, and some low; some to serve, some to rule."

I believe they are not

"That question I can with pleasure answer. all of the same mould or position. There may be different grades and classes forming a chain, that runs from man up to the great God and Father of us all. Some are known as archangel and seraphim, which last means burning or lustrous. Some are near the throne, and others are far off, doing duty, it may be, in other worlds. Unquestionably there are chiefs and rulers among them."

"Will there be any old ones among them?" struck in Willie.

"That we cannot determine, my dear. It is not impossible to suppose that some may be younger by many ages than others; but it is impossible for them to grow old, as I before remarked, for they ever renew their youth in that realm of incessant spring and vigour."

"Never become old, mamma?" queried Willie, seeming to doubt the statement.

“Never, dear, never; and they shall live as long as God himself. They had a beginning, but being deathless spirits, they never can have an end. In this they are like God himself, my dear."

“Well, mamma, that is just why I want to be an angel," said Willie gleefully.

"But if God had meant you to be an angel, my dear, He would have made you such. But He chose to make you a human being, having flesh and blood and sensible parts, and sent you into my arms to be nursed for himself and His service in this great world. That service faithfully accomplished, He will make you something better than an angel. Having purchased a glorious inheritance, and prepared a noble mansion, He invites you to take possession of the same. He keeps for

you a garment that never knew spot, and a harp that will never grow weary or become dumb in sounding His praise. Would you not rather be like Christ, my son, than become an angel?”

“Certainly, mamma; but I thought that was quite impossible," rejoined Willie.

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Not impossible, Willie dear, for, setting up Christ as our daily pattern, copying His faultless character as His portrait in the four Gospels reveals it, and imbibing His spirit, we grow like Him. Associating with a noble spirit, we grow like that mind; so, associating with Christ in His Word,. we come into harmony with His mind and aims. As the sun's rays pencil those lovely tints which plants and flowers exhibit in our gardens and fields, so, keeping near Christ, and sunned by His genial influences, and instructed by His Spirit, we are changed into the same image. You must understand that heaven is like a vast portrait gallery,--that every spirit that is glorified and taken home to be with God is a faithful portrait of His dear Son."

"How very strange that is, mamma!" said Willie, quite lost in serious thought.

“Strange and startling as it is, my child, yet it is true, and you ought to believe it."

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Then, mamma, I do so very much want to be like Jesus, as my hymn says, 'Meek, lowly, loving,' &c.; and I shall try hard each day I live to be as like Him as I can."

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Good, my son, that's a noble resolution, and I trust you may be able to keep it. You will require to be obedient and devoted, as He was in the humble home at Nazareth-a treasure to us all at home, and a pattern to all at school. Can you tell me, dear, why so many buds and blossoms of the early spring are nipped in the cold grey mornings and perish ?”"No, mamma." Neither can I tell you, my love, why so many young persons are called away, and suddenly too, to the grave. The Lord acts according to His pleasure, and He may have need of them, and therefore sends the reaper Death to gather them.

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'Seek, my son, to possess 'some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel, that when He comes near and inspects you, you may not be declared barren.' And if it please Him to remove you from me on an early day, (long, long ago I gave you willingly back to the Lord,) I may view the act as a blessing and a deliverance from an evil world. The choicest flowers, you know, are first plucked; fruit that is earliest ripe is first gathered; so God takes those who possess the most good, and are the likeliest to enrich heaven.

"A tiny boy I saw lately, much younger than you, when stricken with. a heavy sickness, was quite pleased to bear he was likely to die. His parents being surprised, inquired the cause of his want of fear at the approach of death; and he replied, that he had asked Jesus to come to him, for he had had such a beautiful dream about heaven and the shining angels.' He said, ‘Jesus is coming to-night to take me home, and I am waiting and wearying until He comes.'

"Jesus is easily pleased; and his faith, feeble as it was, was quite sufficient. He knew the intimation: 'Suffer little children to come unto me,' and he went trustfully; and health, parents, friends, and play, were as nothing to him, for Jesus was coming: he was watching anxiously. “He passed to an early grave; but all the sooner did he reach his mansion of joy.

"Willie dear, could you trust Jesus as he did? His heart had been affected by the sweet story of mercy, and the tragic scene of our Lord's crucifixion. His mind was moved lovingly towards Jesus, because He had opened the gates of heaven, and had invited children such as he to sit at His feet. You are aware that our life hangs by a thread that may be severed at any moment. How awful to have one's life suddenly cut short by the heart ceasing to beat, or by a railway or road accident, without any interest in Christ! But lately the newspapers reported that a young girl was shot while too near a target during rifle practice, and she had hardly time to exclaim, as she fell forward and expired, 'Oh dear! what will become of my poor sister?'

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Give, then, your heart to Christ at once; sleep not until His arms have embraced you, and He has smiled approvingly upon you. Join yourself to Him, and He will never cast you off.

You love gifts, do you not, Willie ?"'—"Oh yes! mamma, very much indeed."

"You would gladly accept a sovereign, nay, you would not despise a shilling, I am sure. But Jesus offers you himself; and with himself, a kingdom and a crown. Surely these are things worth coveting and

thinking about.

"You may desire to get to heaven, my son, to meet the happy people, and to see the happy land where there is no sickness and no death; to see the angels who sang when the earth started on its course, and those who have often been on our earth and fought our country's battles; to hear from your own angel how he encamped around you, and preserved you from drowning, and from fire, and from accidents, and bore you through temptation, by influencing your mind; to converse with the

good and honourable of all ages past; to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom; but, oh! to see Jesus as He is, crowned with many crowns, in all His beauty and glory; to be a privileged guest at the marriage supper of the Lamb; to wear the white robe, to bear the palm-branch of victory, and to share in all the honour and dignity which God can confer upon His children, will be more than a life of sinful pleasures.

"This is surely worth living for-worth dying for, Willie. This is as good, then, as being an angel; nay, better far, for it is to be a son adopted and a son beloved, of the Most High.

"Now, my son, we must end our quiet Sabbath evening's chat about angels. Keep in memory what I have said, and may the Lord give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.'

'Many in this world of cares,'

Truly hath the poet said,

'Sit with angels unawares;'

Round our path and round our bed

Angels ever watch and wait,

Striving still to turn our steps to heaven's gate."

SABBATH AFTERNOON SERVICES IN CHURCHES

FOR BOYS AND GIRLS.

EVERY one interested in the ultimate results of the Sabbath Schools and Forenoon Meetings carried on in the city, must have regretted that so little has hitherto been done to introduce the young people attending them into the Church. The fact that, while our schools and meetings should be feeder-lines to the Church, many of the older boys and girls never reach it, must convince us that some link is still to be added to our golden chain; and we present the following brief outlines, knowing that our readers will hail with pleasure any plan which more effectually converts the Sabbath school and the forenoon meetings into porches to the house of God.

On the first Sabbath afternoon of each month, there now assembles in the Free Barony Church, (Rev. J. Wells's,) a large and most interesting congregation of boys and girls, drawn from the Sabbath schools and forenoon meetings held in connection with that church. The pew-holders in the area of the church, with praiseworthy consideration for the young people, give up their seats on such occasions, and occupy the gallery, or are, rather, crowded into it. And the area is also crowded, a sea of bright young faces, happy in spite of ragged clothes and bare feet. How they do sing the hymns; and then the solemn hush for prayer. How happy

the minister, too, looks with so many before him in the bud and bloom of early years; and his friendly smile soon encourages some young piping treble voice to read out his text. 'Tis from Psalm i.; and the sermon (or shall we not call it a Christian conversation, for every one is eager to answer some question, and listening as if no other were present) was divided into the three natural progressive stages:-1st, the ungodly— 2nd, the sinners--and 3rd, the scorners. Each of these topics occupied about fifteen minutes; they were illustrated with simple references to the every-day life of the boys and girls, with a story or two to fix some important truth; and, at the close of each, the audience stood and sung some appropriate hymn. It was a service eminently calculated to make the church a bright and happy place for the young people. And many of the older heads in the church are not slow in expressing how much they too enjoy such a service; and why not? "young Benjamin's mess was five times as much as any of his older brothers'."

A beginning of such services was also made the other month in Lyon Street Free Church, (Rev. D. R. Kilpatrick's.) The middle portion of the area was set apart for the boys and girls of the schools and meetings; the side seats and gallery being reserved for the congregation. But, on the first Sabbath afternoon, so great was the crowd of young people, that very many of those who had occupied the side seats soon saw cause to give up their pews too, and retire to the gallery. Mr. Kilpatrick takes a very deep interest in the young folk, and his sermon was one boys and girls could not easily forget: Solomon's choice, and Mary's choice and portion. The service was quite similar to the one we have described so very briefly, -the children singing their own hymns, in which the congregation also joined; and while every one present seemed instructed and delighted, the minister looked and spoke as if he, more than any one, was gratified to have so many young hearts cheered in the house of God.

As a means of systematizing these services in the various districts, the Directors of the Glasgow Foundry Boys Religious Society, who have already done so much in the Forenoon Meetings, have prepared the following memorial to church sessions:

"The Memorial of the Directors of the Glasgow Foundry Boys Religious Society,

"To the Session of.............

......Church,

"HUMBLY SHEWETH,-That the great consideration at present given to the claims of the young to share in the public worship of God, and the unanimous desire of those taking part in the last National Sabbath School Convention, (held 7th and 8th October,) that some part of the Church service should be adapted to the comprehension of their scholars,