A CHILD'S FAITH. "How sweet it is, my child, "Does faith mean to believe "Yes, you may trust in God, Just as you trust in me; Believe, dear child, he loves you well, To pray in faith, my child, Is humbly to believe That what you ask in Jesus' name You surely shall receive. "Go with your simple wants, QUESTIONS ON THE PARABLES OF OUR LORD. A ROYAL FEAST AND THE WEDDING GARMENT. Matt. xxii. 1—14. 1. WHY were parables so often used by our Lord Jesus Christ? chapter xiii. 13—15. 2. What is here meant by the kingdom of heaven? -Who is represented by the king ?-What, by the marriage feast ? 3. Who are denoted by the servants ? Jer. xxv. 4. Who were the persons bidden ?-Why would they not come ?-To whom are the gospel offers now made?— What is the reason that sinners are not saved? John v. 40. 4. Who were these other servants ?-Why did God provide salvation for sinners? John iii. 16. 5. What is meant by making light of it ?-How do worldly cares affect the mind? Luke viii. 14. What is said in the first Epistle of John, ii. 15 ? 6. What transactions are here described ? Acts vii. 59. Why were the servants slain ? 7. To what event does this verse relate ?-What armies were sent against Jerusalem ?-Who are here called murderers? Luke xi. 48-51. 8. What made these guests unworthy ? 9. What were the highways here spoken of ?-Who frequented them? 10. What is meant by bad and good ?—What period may this be? 11. What was the usual wedding garment P-What examination is here denoted ? 12. Wherein was this man faulty ?-Why was he speechless? 13. What punishment is here described ?* 14. Who are the called, in the parable P-What is it to be chosen ? THE WALNUT. As William Walters and his sister Fanny sat together at table, where their parents had for a short season left them after dinner, they began talking about the plate of walnuts which lay before them. The walnuts had been gathered from the walnut-tree which grew in the corner of the meadow next the garden, and one of the nuts was still inclosed in the green husk in which it grew. "Let us ask father to say something about a walnut," said William," for he says a good lesson of some kind or other may be gathered from everything. I wonder what sort of a good lesson he can get from a walnut ?" "Yes, let us ask him," replied Fanny, "for I feel sure he will say something worth listening to. Perhaps he will say that there is some trouble in cracking the shell, but that the kernel rewards us for our pains." Hardly had Fanny done speaking before Mr. Walters returned to the table, and taking up the nut-crackers, began to crack some of the walnuts for his children. "We want you to tell us something about the 66 *Weddings among the Jews were celebrated in the night. The apartments for the guests were brilliantly illuminated, which increased the darkness without, walnut, dear father," said Fanny; "and I have been guessing what you will say. See, here is one with the green husk upon it, so you can speak about that, or about the others, just which you like." "If you had asked me to tell you about the walnuttree," said Mr. Walters, "I might have explained to you its growth, and the several uses to which its timber is applied by the joiner, the cabinet-maker, the turner, the millwright, the coachmaker, and the gunstock maker, for to all these the timber of the walnut-tree is very useful. When walnut-trees have been very scarce, a fine tree has been sold for a very great price; but as you wish me to say something about the nut, and not about the tree, I will begin at once." 66 "Yes, it must be about the nut," said William, and then we shall see whether Fanny has guessed right or wrong; but I wish you would first please to tell me how it is that so hard a shell is formed inside so soft a rind ?" "In asking me to tell you that," replied Mr. Walters, 'you ask me to tell you what I do not know myself; it is one of the many wonders which are to be observed in the works of our heavenly Father. It is not of the walnut only, but of almost all other kinds of nuts, that something like the same question might be put. The common hedgenut grows in a husk; the chestnut, the horse chestnut, the beechnut, and the cocoanut, are all surrounded by a hull or husk of some sort or other. The fruits of the trees naturally call forth our wonder, for we can neither fully understand how they are formed, nor how they are ripened. But see here; I will take up the walnut with the husk on, and make a |