"Yes,' said I calmly; and what of that? "Why, don't you know? Postage-stamps are negotiable.' "What do you mean?' I asked. "What do I mean? Just this. If you'll trust me to take these stamps round the corner, I'll sell them for you in a jiffy, and only ask to keep a miserable sixpence for my trouble.' "You see the man's fierce craving had for the moment almost sobered him, and he spoke coherently, so I tried to reason with him. 666 'Suppose,' said I, 'these stamps were for a faithful creature who had saved your life, would you sell them? ' "He approached me, and whispered in a tone of drunken confidence, 'Tell the old hag they miscarried in the post;' and then fell back into a chair with a leer of demoniac cunning, which almost terrified me. Suddenly he rose. 'Sell them!' he cried; sell postage-stamps! I tell you that for drink this moment I'd sell the flowers from off my mother's grave! Fred Blackburn!' he continued vehemently, 'you pretend to a high moral tone, and so on. Bah! nonsense! I tell you that you-you, are a drunkard, 'and more I tell you, that you will one day be lower than I am now. Fred Blackburn! brother-drunkard! I salute you, good-bye!' and with a mocking laugh he staggered out of the room as he had entered it, leaving me in a state of semi-stupor. "But I rapidly recovered my self-possession. Is it not strange that sometimes, when men are moved by the most powerful and lasting emotion, they retain, or rather they acquire, a strange calmness both of thought and action. Such was my condition at that moment. The miserable mocking drunkard had unwittingly touched the right chord, and I stood up for the first time—a man. For the first time I saw things clearly as they really were. I saw that Mr. Baird was in the right, that the only plank between me and destruction was the pledge. And I took it that very night; and, as you know I have kept it. Do you believe, now, that I jest when I say that, under Providence, I have been truly saved by postage-stamps ?" Talks on Character. By W. L. ROBERTS. Chap. VI.-On Being Clean. PELL, I can't keep my hands and face clean, do what I will." Such is the exclamation that will perhaps spring to a hundred lips on reading the title of this chapter. "What with playing at marbles, flying kites, falling in the cricket-field, and sweating till it runs down one's face; how can we keep clean? Then, look how the dust blows into one's eyes, and hair, and ears; then you know we have to go to the garden sometimes and do odd things for our parents, and we can't keep clean." All right, my friends, I don't want you to keep clean always. I believe now and then in a bit of healthy, wholesome dirt. I don't admire those little angels of boys and girls whose shoes are always bright and clean, whose faces never get dirty, and whose clothes never want a good brushing. What I want you to do is to be clean at certain times. And in the first place, I want you to be clean in the morning. When you go to school, don't go with dirty hands and face; when you begin your day, whether it be school, or work, or play, begin it well, make a good start. By a liberal use of cold water and soap make your faces shine in their healthy cleanness, and don't be afraid of a good scrubbing with a rough towel; its beneficial effects will be felt for half-a-day and be sure you go right through that hair of yours with the comb, and, if possible, give it a plentiful use of the brush. I sometimes look upon children in Sunday Schools. I saw one. or two a few days since, whose hair was pointing in all directions, and whose faces looked so dull and dry that I should think it was many a day since the hair had been combed through, or the face thoroughly washed. Now, this is bad; bad for the looks, bad for the character, bad for the health. I know that in many cases parents are to blame for their dirty children; but there are many boys and girls able to look after themselves in this matter, who appear to be more like the sow that loves wallowing in the mire, than pussy that will sit long enough washing herself. A story was told some time ago in the newspapers about two Sheffield boys-I hope my Sheffield friends won't be offended, for I like Sheffield people very much -but then you know Sheffield is very dirty in some parts of it; and, perhaps, the story was not exactly true; perhaps somebody invented it out of spite to Sheffield. Well, it is said these two boys went to Burlington one summer, and at once started for the sea to have a bathe. When they got into the water, one said to the other, "Eh, Bill! tha' 'art dirty," when the other replied, "Ah, lad! I were na' here last year." I hope the readers of these papers like water. Don't be sparing of its use, especially in the morning. Secondly, be clean at night. You may have to work during the day at work which will dirty your hands and face; if you are a chimney sweep there is nothing to be ashamed of; honest dirt is no disgrace, but do not let it get set in. You may have got very dirty at play, but be sure before you go to bed you remove all trace of it, and you will sleep all the better for it. Make a clean finish for the day. A good Edinburgh doctor says, let children be clean at least twice a day,-morning and night—and let them dirty themselves as much as they like during the day. They had better be dirty than poorly. Of course you need not besmear your hands and face on purpose to make them look hideous; it is honest dirt we are talking about. Thirdly, be clean on Sundays. Whatever may be your work during the week, however dirty your hands or face may be then, I can see no excuse for dirt on this day. To me it is a pleasant sight when lads who have been hard at work in mills or foundries during the week, come out on the Saturday evening clean washed, and in clean clothes; and, still more pleasing, when everything on a Sunday morning wears the same aspect of cleanliness. It is a miserable sight when big boys and girls turn to the door in the middle of Sunday forenoon with unwashed faces, uncombed hair, dirty or ragged clothes, and muddy shoes; let this glorious day which God has set apart for noble purposes, find us in our neatest, cheeriest, cleanest garb. We believe that good schools have of late done much to make clean children. Some years ago a day school was opened in a town I know. Amongst the scholars that early began to attend, was one boy who had never had much pains taken with him in regard to personal cleanliness; he went to school the first day with matted hair and dirty face; but the next morning found him at the pump giving himself a good wash, after which he called out lustily for a comb, and when he had finished, his own mother hardly knew him. "Cleanliness is next to godliness," said Mrs. Adam Clarke one day to a professedly religious but dirty mother, surrounded by dirty children. "Yes," said the woman, "but that is not in the Bible." Well, if it is not in the Bible, it is in nature, and nature is God's book as well as the Bible. Nearly all the wild animals are noted for their cleanliness, except little boys and girls; and they ought to be. Truth. Boy, at all times tell the truth; If thou'rt wrong, be thine the shame ; Truth is honest, truth is sure; Boy, at all times tell the truth; A Leaf from my Diary. N one occasion, when on a commercial journey, I stayed at the Railway Hotel in in the town of L-; dinner was just over and I was left with but one other commercial gentleman in the room. We had not been long in conversation before a youth was ushered in who had to transact some business with my companion; after the boy had stated his message, and was upon the point of retiring, he was asked the question, “What would you like to take?" The lad stood in amazement, wondering what he should reply, when certain intoxicating beverages were suggested to him from which to select, rum, brandy, port, sherry, &c. The boy was even now more bewildered, and mechanically said, "Brandy, please sir," which was immediately ordered. I sat thinking what I ought to do under the circumstances. Etiquette suggested, "Mind your own business!” Duty seemed to say, “Speak to the lad, a word of warning may save him from ruin." I waited until the brandy appeared, and just as the lad was about to lift the glass I made bold to speak. “My boy, before you drink that brandy, I should like you to hear what I have to say. You are not accustomed to have brandy offered to you, are you?" "No, sir," was his reply. "Well then, before you put that glass to your lips think for one moment, that that which this gentleman has been kind enough to offer you, is the cause of more mischief and misery in the world than anything else; that, and drinks of a similar nature, fill our prisons, workhouses and asylums with their inmates, and more persons find a premature grave from drinking these intoxicating drinks, than from any other cause." And, turning to the gentleman, I said, "Is not what I state correct?" He replied, "I'm not in a position to deny it!" Then speaking again to the lad, I said, "Now, my boy, if drink causes all this misery in the world, and you hear this gentleman cannot deny what I say, don't you think it is the wisest policy to have nothing to do with it?" He simply replied "Yes, sir," and then left the room. Three months after I had business in the same town. Walking along one of the streets I saw a boy smiling all over his face, and his eyes intently fixed upon me. When we met he accosted me with, "Good morning, sir." "Good morning," I replied, "you seem to know me, but for the moment I don't remember you; have you seen me before?" He heartily, and with boyish honesty, said, “Yes, sir, don't you remember me coming to the Railway Hotel one day, two or three months ago?" "Well, yes, I do remember a boy coming there, and I think something I said prevented him drinking a glass of brandy, was it you?” “Yes, sir, it was, I was so glad you spoke to me, for I didn't want the brandy, but I didn't know how to get away. I have thought a good deal about what you told me, and your words led me to join a Band of Hope at our Sunday School; I signed the pledge and I intend to keep it!" “A word in season how good is it." The Emperor of Germany. IN N our last number there was a 'portrait of Prince Bismarck. The engraving on page 88 represents Prince Bismarck's Sovereign -the Emperor of Germany. He was born in the year 1797, and is therefore now 78 years old. Like most German Princes he was educated a soldier, and as such, he took part in the campaigns of 1813 and 1816 against France. In June, 1849, he was made Commander-in-Chief of the Prussian army. In 1861 he succeeded his brother on the throne under the title of William I. The arbitrary course he pursued for some time after he became King greatly disappointed many of his subjects. He asserted very strongly what |