remark or two, which, perhaps, you will afterwards remember."

66

Now, Fanny," said William, we shall see what sort of a guesser you are.”

"There has been supposed by some," said Mr. Walters, "to be a close resemblance between a walnut, when in the rind, and a human head. Some see likenesses where others cannot discern them. Do either of you see the resemblance that I speak of?"

Fanny thought there was a likeness in the form, but in nothing else; and William said, that if his father would let him make eyes, nose, and mouth on the rind with a pen and ink, it would be a great deal more like a head than it was then. As this proposal did not seem to promise much advantage, William was not required to set forth his skill in drawing, and Mr. Walters went on to point out the resemblance of which he had spoken.

"The human head," said he, "has a brain, white in colour, and divided into two lobes, or parts; the walnut has a white kernel of much the same form

as the brain, and divided in much the same manner.” Well, that is odd," said William, "and very odd too."

"The brain in the human head," continued Mr. Walters, "is covered with a skin, and the walnut kernel is covered with a skin also, as you well know. The one, in this respect, is very much like the other."

Both Fanny and William looked at each other with much surprise, as Mr. Walter went on thus:

"The lobes, or parts of the brain, occupy irregular

shaped cavities, or holes; and the parts of the walnut kernel occupy, as you see in the nuts that I have cracked, odd-shaped holes just in the same way. There is in the human head a lining between the brain and the skull, and you may observe here is a lining also, inside the shell of the walnut."

The further Mr. Walters proceeded in his remarks the greater was the wonder seen in the faces of his children; of this he was quite aware; but, making no remark upon it, he continued his description in the following manner :

"The skull of the human head is hard, and seamed, or joined together, as though one part had been applied to the other; the shell of the walnut, also, is hard, and it is seamed together in the same way. Look at the walnuts that have not been cracked, there is a seam, or joining, round every one of them." There, look at it well.

Here William and Fanny seemed almost ready to burst out in cries of wonder, and it was quite as much as they could do to refrain from it while their father thus went on with his remarks.

"The skull of the human head is covered all over with a softer substance than itself; it is exactly the same with the shell of the walnut."

Here William and his sister being unable any longer to remain silent, burst out together, expressing their wonder at what had been told them by their father. Fanny admitted that she was altogether wrong in the guess she made about what her father would say; and William was equally ready to own that had he put eyes, nose, and mouth to the walnut,

he should not have made it so much like a human head as his father had done.

"But now, my dear children," said Mr. Walters, "if I have pointed out a few things in which the human head and the walnut appear to agree, let me point out one in which they altogether differ. The walnut contains only what in a little time will perish; but the human head is the seat of thought and the dwelling-place of a soul that shall live for ever. When compared with the value of the soul, the whole world is as nothing. Its silver and its gold, its precious pearls and glittering gems, are as dust. If, then, there be one thing more than another that should engage our attention; one thing more than another that should be the object of our desires; one thing more than another that we should seek after with all our hearts, it is the welfare of the soul. The word of God says, 'What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?' Matt. xvi. 26.

"One of the most sorrowful things concerning the soul is, that 'all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,' and that the soul that sinneth it shall die;' and one of the most joyful things concerning the soul is, that God has found a ransom for sin, and that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' This being the case, avoid the evil

and secure the good.

'Seek ye the Lord while he

may be found, call ye upon him while he is near;' for he (Christ) is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for them.' Heb. vii. 25.

William and Fanny listened very attentively to all

that fell from the lips of their father, and from it they obtained both pleasure and profit; for though it must be acknowledged that they remembered the former part of it more than the latter, yet they could not think of the one without being reminded of the other.

LORD'S DAY MORNING.

JESUS, our holy Lord,

Thy name we join to sing,

Who didst on this glad day

Complete salvation bring:

We bless the Lord, who from the grave
Arose again, lost man to save.

Through mercy we are called,
Though young in years, to praise

The conquests of thy love,

The riches of thy grace:

Oh may our hearts in thee rejoice,
And take thee as our early choice!

Through thy redeeming blood,
Dear Saviour, set us free;
Assisted by thy grace,

Oh may we live to thee!

And take us,

Lord, when we shall die,

To dwell with thee above the sky.