And o'er that sea a fragile bark was borne,

Tossed high in air, then plunged to depths below,
Her masts all broken, and her sails all torn,

While o'er her deck the maddened waters flow;
Louder, and louder still, the thunders crashed,
Wilder, and wilder still, the lightnings flashed,
Till sea and sky were in one fitful glow;
On sped the vessel, onward through the storm,
The billows opening wide to engulf its shattered form.

And trembling men were in that sinking bark,

Strong sailor hearts were bowed with mortal fears;
With anxious eyes they gazed upon the dark,

Dark threatening sky -
-no ray of hope appears;
Then came sweet thoughts of their far distant home,
Of friends beloved, beyond the blue sea's foam,

And eyes unused to weep were filled with tears.
And must they perish is there none to save
That little vessel's crew from the devouring wave?

Yes. One there was, who, while the thunders muttered,
And vivid lightnings flashed from pole to pole,
While warring winds their fearful voices uttered,
And raging waters mocked at man's control,
One who slept calmly on his lowly pillow,
Unmindful of the wind, or of the billow,

The lightning's gleam, or the loud thunder's roll.
While all around Him fear and grief were seen,
A smile played on His lips, His brow was all serene.

They wake Him. "Save us, Lord, or we must perish ! He rose in pity for their wild alarm.

His little chosen band He still will cherish,

And keep them safe from danger and from harm.

The light of love was glowing in His eye,

As He gazed upwards to the frowning sky,

And o'er the waters bent with outstretched arm.

"Peace, peace be still!" The raging billows heard,
And the loud thunders ceased, rebuked at Jesus' word!

BE GENTLEMEN AT HOME.

THERE are few families, we imagine, anywhere, in which love is not abused as furnishing a license for impoliteness. A husband, father, or brother, will speak harsh words to those whom he loves the best, and to those who love him the best, simply because the security of love and family pride keeps him from getting his head broken. It is a shame that a man will speak more impolitely at times to his wife or sister, than he would dare to any other female, except a low and vicious one. It is thus that the holiest affections of man's nature prove to be a weaker protection to woman in the family circle than the restraints of society, and that a woman usually is indebted for the kindest politeness of life to those not belonging to her own household. Things ought not so to be. The man, who, because it will not be resented, inflicts his spleen and bad temper upon those of his hearth-stone, is a small coward and a very mean Kind words are the circulating medium between true gentle men and true ladies at home, and no polish exhibited in society can atone for the harsh language and disrespectful treatment too often indulged in between those bound together by God's own ties of blood, and the still more sacred bonds of conjugal love.

man.

THE STORKS AN EMBLEM OF FILIAL AFFECTION.

THE storks are very much venerated in the East on account of their love for their parents. They hover over them when exposed to cooling damps, drive off their enemies, bring food for them, and when, on the wing, their aged mother tires, they bear her on their own back.

"The stork 's an emblem of true piety;

Because, when age has seized and made his dam

Unfit for flight, the grateful young one takes

His mother on his back, provides her food,

Repaying thus her care of him,

Ere he was fit to fly."

SILVER TROUTS.

BY LOUISA PAYSON HOPKINS.

THIS engraving suggests a beautiful story which we have read in "The Pastor's Daughter."

"There were once three little silver trouts, who lived in a stream of clear water, which ran between two high green banks. It was protected from the wind and the storms, and the sun shone there, so that it was a very delightful place. Beside, these fishes had a plenty to eat and nothing to trouble them; so that you would have expected them to be perfectly happy. But, alas! it was not so; they were so foolish as to be discontented and unhappy, and God heard them complaining. So he told the little fishes that each of them might wish for whatever he pleased, and it should be granted. Then the first little trout said, 'I am tired of moping here in the water. I should like to have wings and fly in the air as birds do.'

"The next said, 'I am a poor ignorant little fish, and do not know how to protect myself from danger. I should like to know all about hooks and nets, so that I might always keep out of harm.'

"The other trout said, 'I, too, am a poor ignorant little fish, and for that reason I do not know what is best for me. My wish is that God would take care of me, and give me just what he thinks best; I do not want anything that he does not choose to give me.'

"So God gave wings to the first, and he was quite happy, and, soaring away into the air, felt very proud, and despised his companions whom he had left in the river. He liked so well to fly, that he flew away off, till he came to a great desert, where there was nothing but sand as far as he could see. By this time he was tired of flying, and was faint and thirsty, but could see no water. He tried to fly further, but could not; his wings failed, and he fell down panting on the hot sand, where he died miserably.

"God gave the other little fish knowledge, as he desired to understand all kinds of danger; but instead of being happier, he was all

the time in terror. He was afraid to go into deep water, lest the great fishes there should swallow him up; and he was afraid to go into the shallow water, lest it should dry up and leave him. If he saw a fly, or anything he would like to eat, he did not venture to touch it, lest there should be a hook concealed under it. So he pined away and died.

"But God loved the other little trout, and took care of him, and kept him from all danger, so that he was the happiest little fish that ever lived."

And now, reader, which of the little fishes was the wisest? O, the the last, you will say. The others were to blame for not being satisfied with what God had given them, and believing that He knew best.

MOTHER'S VOICE.

My mother's voice! how oft doth creep
Its cadence on my lonely hours,
Like healing sent on wings of sleep,
Or dew on the unconscious flowers.
I might forget her melting prayer,
While pleasure's pulses madly fly;
But in the still, unbroken air,

Her gentle tones come stealing by

And years of sin and manhood flee,

And leave me at my mother's knee. — Willis.

INFANT DAUGHTERS.

Он ye, my beauteous nest of snow-white doves,
What wealth could price your guileless loves?
My earthly cherubim, my precious pearls,

My pretty flock of loving little girls,
My stores of happiness with least alloy,

My treasures of hope and trembling joy !

Yon toothless darling, nestled soft and warm,
On a young, yearning mother's cradling arm;
The soft angelic smiles of natural grace,
Twisting with love that other little face;
And the sweet budding of this sinless mind
In winning ways, that round my heart-strings wind,
Dear winning ways, dear nameless winning ways,
That lead me joyous to my God in praise. -Tupper.

GRANDMOTHER'S PORTRAITS

THE FRETFUL HUSBAND.

BY MRS. MARY H. MAXWELL.

COUSIN THOMAS felt as every young man should feel, when about to enter that state which seldom finds a middle ground between happiness and misery. Absolute conjugal felicity, or unmitigated discontent, is the usual lot of him who takes woman for "better or for worse," and promises to love and to cherish her until death. Still more may be said of woman; for that dove, which, upon the waste of waters, found no rest for the sole of her foot, is but a feeble emblem of the woman who is shut out from the heart's home the sanctuary of home affection.

-

Thomas saw these things only as shadows upon life's dial plate, for their substance was still in the distance; but even these shadows crossed his spirit like a summons to deeper thoughts, and he wisely obeyed the mandate. Many an evening was spent in close conversation with grandmother, and he listened with fixed attention to the interpretation of mysteries which he now had both eyes to see and ears to hear.

"Where has my son been gleaning to-day?" asked the old lady, as she laid her spectacles upon the book, which, for a long life's day, had been to her like Israel's manna upon the morning grass.

Thomas hesitated, and then, smiling, said, "I am almost ashamed to come to you with complaints against our lady neighbors, especially as you are so adroit in transferring the blame to other shoulders."

"Ah, my dear boy," replied the old lady, "you hardly do me justice there. In bearing blame, I think you must acknowledge that I have made woman a 'help' meet for man. I know that from woman much is expected; man expects much, and God expects much; therefore, she should require much of herself; but on that day, when, by word and deed, all shall be justified or condemned, then the barriers opposing themselves to woman's progress, the burdens too grievous to be borne under which she fainted by the way, the injustice which drank up her spirits, the oppression which broke the bruised reed and quenched the smoking flax, all shall be taken into the account, and God will do us no wrong. But where