611$ gamily eirth. OATOHING THE SUNBEAM- Tired of playing, tired of toy, Little Johnnie, our two-year boy, With his bright blue eyes and golden hair Sat on the floor by his mother's chair. 'Twas just as the day was beginning to die; And the sun, ere descending the western sky, Threw a parting glance through the:open door, In a golden beard uPcin the Boor. Quickly he seized his little white hat; And scrambling away as fast as a cat, He held it firmly upon the floor, So that the beam should &&ipe no More: Clapping his hands with joyous glee, White his, laugh rippled out so merrilyi- He looked With heiunirig fine into-raine, Saying, "Auntie, l ha vceought the thine r JESSIE AND HER KITTEN. "You're a silly girl, Jessie, to choose a present. for your kitten, insteas of . one for Son eelf, " said Ned ' Travis, as; he ,and' his sister stood together on porch of the old farm-house in which they lived. "If it was,my birthday nosy, .I'd make abetter choico"," " I'd rather had a collar for pussy's neck," said Jessie, "she is so white, and keeps herself so clean. I think she de-. serves one—if you don't Mind getting it?' "Mind; not a bit! I said I would get any thing you wanted, if it didn't cost too much, and 801 will." • " Be sure it's 'red," were Jessie's parting words,'as I. he came out into the farrn,yard to see her brother set off. "I'll not forget," answered Ned, "but I mast not keep father waiting; see, the wag on is on ever so far: Vake up your kitten, Jessie„or. if big Carlo comes this way he'll snap herap and swallow her at a mouthful;" and with a merry laugh at Jessie's horrified look, Ned ran after the wagon Which his father was ,driving to the.neighboring.mar ket-t0wn...`,1 : Jessie stood and watched her brother out of, sight., Than she remembered a hedgerow where blackberries were plentiful, and as she had a holiday to-day, she thought she could not do- better than go and see if she could find some ripe ones. " If you can bring me home enough," said her mother, as she gave her a little basket, "I will make you and Ned a pie of them for your supper; but you're not going to take- the kitten with you surely ?", "It's my birthday you know, Mother, so I want her to enjoy it too.; and she's..isuch darling!" added Jessie, giving the favorite a squeeze that nearly took away its breath. "As you please, then, only don't go too far; and don't overtire yourself;" and with a promise to remember her mother's wishes, Jessie set out for her ramble in the fields: Mrs. Travis gazed after the little figure till it was out of sight, and. then. returned with an anxious look on her face to her-work in the dairy. It was but - a year sihce two of her children had died, and since the death of her sisters, Jessie had been so grave andthoughtful, and so fragile in health, that Mrs. Travis feared to lose her too. The kitten was a new treasure, and the many smiles its possession haebroaght to Jessie's face gave joy to the hearts of her parents and brother, who were thankful to hear her cheerful, laugh and light step more like what they had been a year ago. Jessie soon came to the blackberry hedge, and having nearly filled her basket and eaten as many as she cared for, she sat down in the shade to rest. The day was sultry, and as Jessie was not strong, no wonder that she soon fell asleep. By-and-bye she woke up suddenly; some one was pulling the basket from beneath her hand. Opening her eyes, she saW. rein Speneer, a lad three or four yearti older than herself; of whom she was greatly afraid. She jumped up, holding her. basket tight, while. pussy spring ing,off her lap, retreated under the hedge. " - A fine lot of berries you've.picked, said: '? Tom, trying .to take the liasket; "I, was - wanting something Co eat—l'd no breakfast, so I mean to have them; you* can pick more.'? • . "So can you, Tom," cried. Jessie, "and you shan't -have these—they're far Ned's supper." Then ' ensued a struggle, in - which the basket was broken and the blackberries crushed upon the ground. Meanwhile pus sy's mewing ttirned Jessie's thoughts from the basket and fruit. " Oh, my kitten-where is she-?" But Tom caught sight of her first, and thrusting his arm into the hedge regardless of the fresh rents which his ragged sleeire received, he pulled her out by the tail, and held her aloft in triumph. "Now I'll serve you out for this, see if I don't Miss. I'll pitch her into the pond down yonder, and if she can't swim she'll beArowned, that's all." " You shan't do it ! you shan't—give me my kitten, you wicked boy.:" cried Jessie,, clinging to him, but Tom= hurled her from. him with such force that she fell to the ground. He waited a moment, expecting her to cry, or.attempt to rise, bat when he saw that she did not move he became alarmed. Presently he went to , her snit tried to lift her up, letting the kitten free; beat the sight of her white face,aud SQMO drops of blood upon her forehead, he put her down again. Had he killed her? What should he do ? Some laborers were coming up the field; one of - them he thought was Samuel Dawley who often worked at Mr. Travis's farm. Without waiting another minute he made his way througbhe hedge, and ran across the fields. The men soon case to where Jessie was lying; they lifted her up, and, while one carried her and the kitten home, another pursued Tom, whom he guessed to have been the cause of the accident. Jessie was not badly hurt; she had been stunned for the moment,, and a slight cut on one side of" her head seemed all that was really the mat THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1867. ter. By the ti me she reached the farm she was much better, and soon, lying on her mother's bed, with pussy comfortably curled up be side her, she fell fi)to a sound sleep, from which she woke much refreshed. "Will father and Ned soon be home?" she asked, as her mother came in to see how she was. "I hope they will sopn be here." " There's some one else don't hope it, I reckon," observed Hrs. Travis; 4- "Who, mother ? " "Tom Spenoer, to be sure. Samuel Daw ley caught him, and his aunt says she hopes your father will flog him soundly, so he's locked:up ill tha,barn till they come . in from market." "How. did Samuel know he hurt me?" asked J'esgte: "He frightened - him into confessing, I be lieve; and' I. hope, your father will punish him-well. Since his- mother'•ran away and left him, he has been thopest of the place." "Poor Tom 1"-said-JeSsie softly, and then she was very quiet for some time. By-and-bye her 'father and brother came in. Jessie was dowp stairs, and except for a bandage on her head, and a much paler face than usual, she looked the worse for her adv en ture, which Travis, quitk ly related. "I'll give him a lesson I" said the farmer, going to the door. - father, pl.eas, 0)311'; exclaimed Jes sie, «I knoWyou will hurt him badly. ".I,think sohe d'estzu.vesi.t." "But please don't—it's my birthday, you know, and I. couldn't bear any cope ,:to be hurt to-day—dnn't go - to him till - after tea, please. "Yon,thinlF,may be,italenme less hard on hint - When - I've'gbt - over'it; a little one?" said the farmer, fondly stroking his daughter's hair, S"and Ilaney yqu're about right—so, as it's `your biithday, we'll have tea first and settle with Tom afterwards." Meanwhile Ned produced the red collar, which. fitted ,pussy and'.exceedingly delighted its young mistress,-who could do little else than admire it all tea time. • Torn was crouching in a corner of the barn. The day had seemed very long to him—he was faint with hunger, and would have slept, but every footstep - in the yard, every voice near made him fancy the farm er had returned, and that thought kept him awake. As the hours passed, he began to wish Mr. Travis would, come, then it would soon be over, and he could creep to his aunt's cottage,, and perhaps get a crust to eat be fore he went to bed. And yet when the key turned in the lock and the door was opened, his heart sank within him, for he knew that the farmer's arm was a heavy one. But it was a very light step that came towards him, and, looking up, he saw it was Jessie, "I've brought you something to ea,t," Said she, softly; " arn't you very hungry ?" . "Yes, very." "It's part of our blackberw-pie,:andit's very nice. Some one brought mother some berries, so it didn't matter our spoiling these." The contents of the plate didtid'eett~ look nice to hungry Tom, and he stretched out his hand eagerly to take it, then some other feeling came, and he turned away. "I don't want your pie !" " Oh, I'm so sorry; ' and the tone was so sincere that Tom looked up surprised. " Why did you bring it ?" "Because I felt so sorry for you." "I've been thrashed before," answered Torn, bitterly, "my skin ought to be tough by now.". , "It'snot that sorry, for," said Jessie sadly. " What then?" " Because you're such a bad boy." And Jessie hesitated between her wish to speak the truth and a desire not to seem un kind. "And I'm sure you must be miserable— allwieked people are' "I'm used to it," said Tom, trying hard to speak, as if he didn't care, "and floggings won't make me - any better." "But you are not going to be flogged, father's promised me; and Jesus - Christ can make you better, and , I _think He will, for I. asked Him this afternoon. It would please Him so if you'd only try tote good." "He wouldn't care," and Tom turned away. " But He would—He would., Shouldn't I be glad, and father _and mother, and your aunt ? and Christ is better than the very best of us—ever so far better, teacher says. He really cares whether we love Him or not, and He does love us so much.., Won't think ing that 'make you - want to be good ? " and in her .eagerness Jessie knelt down by his aide' and peered anxiously into this face.- - Tom kept it turned away as much as lie could, and tried hard not‘to show what he felt, but when she laid her little hand on hiS,_ and tearfully asked, " Oh, Tom, won't you try to please the Saviour?" He could hold out no longex'. " I'm sorry I hurkyou—but I, didn't real ly mean to drown your•kitten, and I'll nev er tease you again," said he. "And you'll come to Sunday-school and hear our teacher, will you?" " I'll come once, anyway, to please you." "And now eat your supper and go home —good-night, Tom," and she ran away into the _house. . Tom, kept his, word - and came to the. Sun day-school, and -Farmer Travis, and his daughter's persuasions, found odd bits of work for to do.. have not time to tell you how he improved step by step, and learnt to believe that the Sayiour loved and died for him, and strove in his daily life arid work to please One who' had done so mach for him. In a few years he had gained quite„ a good character, and Farmer Travis always spoke of him as one of the best laborers he-had upon the farrn.--Juvenile Missionary Herald. A . heart loosed from the world is: a foot out of the snare. "SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD." Here comes Whitefield, the man who stood before twenty thousand at a time, to preach the gospel; who, in England, Scot land, Ireland, and America, has testified the truth of God, and who could count his con verts by thousands. Here he conies, the man that endured persecution and scorn, and yet who Was . not moved; the man of whom the world was not worthy; who lived for his fellow-men, and died at last for their cause. Stand by, angels, and admire while the Master takes him by the hand and 'says "Well • done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." See how free-grace honors the.man whom it enabled to do valiantly. Hark! Who is thisi. that comes there? A poor, thin looking, creature,_ that on earth was a . consumptive. There she lay three long years upon het bed of sickness. Was she a prince's daughter? For it seems Hea ven. is making much stir -about her. NO ;- she . Was'a• poor girl thatearned her living by needle, and she 'worked herself to death.; stitch, stitch, stitch,. from. morning to night; ,and here she comes. She went prematurely to her grave, but she is com ing, like a shock of Corn ftilly`ripe, into' heaven; and her lasters_api. ; "Well done, good and faithful .:servant; 'thoU haat been faithful in a few things, I will make thee ruler over many. things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." ..She takes her place by the side of Whitefield.• Ask What she ever did, and yen findpiitthat she . used to live, down some dark alley in London; and there used to be another poor girl come to wor'. with her, and that poor girl, when she came to workwith her, was a . gay and volatile creature, and this Con sumptive girl ..told' her about Christ;:and they. used ; .'.-when she was well enough, to creep . out of an evening to, go to chapel or to church together. .It•was bard at first to get the other one.:to.go, but. She used to press her lovingly; and when the girl went wild a little, she • never gave her up.. -She used to say: " 0 Jane, I, wish you. loved the Saviour;" and when Jane was not there she uSed to pray for her, and when she Was there she prayed ;with her; and now and: then, when she was stitching away, read a page oat of the Bible to her, for poor Jane could not read; and with many tears she tried to tell her about the Saviour who loved her and gave himself for her. At last, after many a day of hard persua sion' and many an hour of sad disappoint ment, and many a night of sleepless, tear ful prayer, at last she lived to see the girl profess .her love to- Christ; and the poor, consumptive needle-woman. has had said to her, "Well done"—and what more could an' archangel have had said to him? "She bath done"what she could."--Spurgeon's Ser mon on the "Ten Talents." NELLY'S PRAYER Dear children, have yoa learned how gra &oudly 4s 4 ua 'allover& _the . prayer of even the little imps? If hehas taught you tiffs himself, there is no need that I should give you proofs of it ; but some of our larger children go , on and on, making endless mis- takes, and suffering bitter losses, from not having learned the easy remedy. The other day, a Christiawmother, whose heart rejoices at every sign that her flock of little ones is led by the- Good Shepherd, told me that one of her little girls had learn ed a lesson in a prayer that she would ne ver forget. She came in from school great ly irritated, saying that she never wanted teachers to disappoint and tease her. After .her first excited feeling had spent itself, her father said to her quietly, " Nelly did you ever7try praying for your teacher, to see if God would,not make her more gentle ?" " Why, no, father," said the little girl. " Well," Said he, " try that, and see how things get on to-morrow." He said no more, but watched the end ; and the next day Nelly came bounding into the houde, as she had not done for many a day, saying, " Oh father, you were right; you don't know how good Miss K— was to me to day ! 1 have had such a happy day !" `f Well,: my 14tle girl," said the father, "God has many ways of answering our prayers; and I suspect that one way he took to answer you, was to make you more obe dient and studious." She had not thought of this before; but now began looking back over the day, and then, in sweet simplicity, said, f Yes, father, I think that was so. I loved to study, to day, my heart was, so happy." Many days after, she said to him, as he camein at nightfall, " Dear father, I never shall forget again to ask God for everything I want; for . since , that day pay teacher has been 1210 chinged " Yes," said the glad father,'" and my lit tlegirl is changed _too." Christ knew, when he was teaching that lesson,. that it would bear its fruits; that every day some want would come up that he could satisfy , ; and in his generous love, he longed to have that young heart come to him and be comforted.—The Wit ness. TM-SUNDAY STONE In one of our English coal mines there is a constant formation of limestone, caused by the trickling of water through the rocks. This water contains a great many,particles of lime, which are deposited in the - mine, add, as the water passes off, these become hard, and form limestone. This stone would always be white, like marble, were it not that men are working in the mine, and as the black dust rises from the coal, it mixes with; the soft lime, and in that way a black stone is formed. Now, in the night, when there is no coal dast rising, the stone is white; then again, the next day, when the miners are at work," another black layer is formed, and so on al ternately, black and white, through the week, until Sunday comes. Then, if the miners keep holy the Sabbath, a much lar ger layer of white stone will be formed than before. There will be the white stone of Saturday night, and the whole of Sunday, so that every seventh day the white layer will be about three times as thick as any of the others. Rut if they work on the Sab bath, they see it marked against them in the stone. Renee the miners call it "The Sun day Stone." Perhaps, many who now break the Sab bath, would try to spend it better if there were a " Sunday Stone" where .they could see their unkept Sabbaths with their black marks. But God needs no such record on earth to know how all our Sabbaths are spent. His record is kept above. All our Sabbath deeds are written there, and we shall see them at the last. Be very careful to keep your Sabbath pure and white, < and not allow the dust of worldliness and= sin' to tarnish the - purity of the blessed day. - " .parnember the Sabbath day to ,keep it holy."—Christian treasury. • A REMARKABLE WELSH PATRIABOK. The Edinburg - Daily Review has an inter esting notice of a Welsh Independent Minis ter, the . 10y„.. David-Williams, Of the county of Brecon. "He had been, come next sum mer, 64: years minister of the same congre gation. His predecessor was their pastor for 50 iyea,rs, and hia•predeeessor was.their minister for 60 years, so that the churches still under hiS' care have had Only three ministers during the- long space of 174 years; and what is still as remarkable, the peace of these congregations has nevei been ,once disturbed by a single jar or discord during all these long years !. - Peace has always prevailed among, its various members. It was only r nt the beginning of last January (1867) that -he lost his wife, after -a happy union of 51 years, and that was the first thiit a cotriii'crossed,his - ibresbold du ring his unusually long married life, all his children, seven in number, being still alive. He preaches now generally three times eve ry Sabbath, and several times, during the week, •and although in his 89th year, he is up early on Monday morning, and does not know,except by report, what some parsons mean by the Word Mondayish' For up wards of 55 years he has been one of the most popular preachers in Wales, and the great' - attraction on 'field days,' in North and. South Wales, when many thousands are present to attend open-air services; and so great a traveller has be been on,horseback, that he must at least have spent - ten years of his life in the saddle. Talk of the youth ful buoyancy of the late Lord Palmerston I why our patriarch parson of eighty-eight would have walked and run him off his legs; and wearied him or any other rider. He is completely weather-proof. Rain, snow tempest, and storm he makes no account of, and even now he would think nothing of riding forty miles over a rough country and - eon - duet - CR pant Service; 4rt - the - evening:- He has been for many years a staunch tee totaler. He has an iron constitution. He is a perfect specimen of the Welsh build— short legs, broad shoulders, and a deep chest. He has enjoyed extraordinary good health, for during the lengthened period of his min istry he has never once been disabled from preaching on a Sabbath. Nature has en dowed him with all the natural elements of an orator. His temperament is highly mer curial, and his affections intensely ardent. He speaks even now with unfaltering fluen cy and remarkable force. He is distinguish ed for his catholicity of spirit, and is equal ly beloved by good men of every religions persuasion. His character is spotless, his theology orthodox, and his preaching high ly evangelical." THE ARCTIC NIGHT, But if the Arctic night can be endured with little strain upon the physical, it is ne vertheless, a severe trial both to the moral and the intellectual faculties. The darkness which so long clothes nature unfolds to the senses a new world and the senses accommo date themselves to that world but poorly. The cheering influences of the rising sun which invite to labor; the soothing influen ces of the evening twilight which invite to repose; the change from day to night, and from night to day,which lightens the burden of the;weary mind and aching body, strength ening the hope and sustaining the courage in the great life-battle - of the dear home-land are withdrawn, and in the constant longing for light, the mind and body weary with the changeless progress• of time, fail to find re /pose where all is rest. The grandeur of na ture ceases to give delight to the dull sympa thies. The heart longs continually for new associations, new objects, and new compan ionships. The dark and drear solitude op presses the understanding, the desolation which every where reigns haunts the imagi nation; the silence, dark, and drear and profound, becomes a terror. And yet there is in the Arctic night much that is attractive to toe lover of nature.— !There is in the flashing Aurora, in the play of , the moonlight upon the hills and icebergs, in the wonderful clearness of the starlight, in the broad expanse of the ice -fields, in the lofty grandeur of the mountains and glaciers in the naked fierceness of the storms, much that is both sublime and beautiful. But they speak a language of their own—a language, rough, rugged and severe. Nature is here exposed on a gigantic scale. Out of the glassy sea the cliffs rear their dark fronts and frown grimly over the desolate waste of ice-clad waters. The mountain peaks glittering in the clear cold atmosphere pierce the very heavens, their ,heads hoary with unnumbered ages. The •glaeiem . pour their orvataltarronta into the sea in floods of immeasurable magnitude. The very air, disdaining the gentle softness of other climes, bodies forth a loftier majesty, and seems t o fill the universe with a boundless transparen cy; and the stars pierce it sharply. And the moon fills it with a cold refulgence. There isneither warmth nor coloring underneath this ethereal robe of night. No broad windows open in the east; no gold and crimson cur tains fall 'n the west, upon a world clothed in blue and green and purple, melting into one harmonious whole, a tinted cloak of graceful loveliness. Under the shadow of the eternal night, nature needs no drapery, and requ!res no adornment. The glassy sea, the tall cliff, the lofty mountain, the majestic glacier, do not blend one with the other._ Each stands forth alone, clothed only with Solitude. Sable priestess of the arctic win ter, Ole has wrapped the world in a winding sheet, and thrown her web and woof over the very. face of nature. I have wandered away to some distant val ley where all sounds were hushed and the very air was still and solemn as the tomb. And it is here that the Arctic night is most impressiVe, where its true spirit is revealed, where its wonders are unloosed to sport and play witlethe mind's vague imaginings. The heavens above and the earth beneath reveal only an endless fathomless quiet. There is nowhere.around,me eiidenee of life or mo tion. I stand alone in the midst .of mighty hills. Their tall. crests -climb upward, and are lost in the gray vault of the skies. The dark cliffs standing against their slopes of white are steps of a vast amphitheatre. The mind finding no rest on their bold summits, wanders into space. The moon, weary with her long vigil sinks to her repose. The Pleiades no longer breathe their sweet influ ences. CassioPea and. Andromeda and Orion, and all the infinite host of unnumbered con stellations, fail to infuse one spark of joy in to this dead atmosphere. They have lost all their tenderness, and „are cold and pulseless. The eye leaves them and returns to earth, and the trembling ear awaits something that will break the oppressive stillness. But no foot-fall of living thing reaches it ; there is no cry oebirO, no tree among whose branches the wind can sigh and moan. The pulsa tions of my own heart are alone heard in the great void ; and as the blood courses through the sensitive , organization of the ear, I sin oppressed, as with discordant sounds. Si lence has ceased to be' a negative. It has be come endowed with positive attributes. I seem to hear and see and feel it. It stands forth as a frightful spectre, filling the mind with the overpowering consciousness of uni versal death proclaiming the end of all things, and heralding the everlaiting future. Its presence is unendurable. I spring from the rock on which .I have been seated, I plant my feet heavily in the snow to banish itsaw ful presence, and sound rolls through the night and drives away the Phairldm. I have seen no expression on the face of Nature so filled with terror as THE SILENCE OF THE ARCTIC NIGHT.-1h . .. Haye's "Open Polar Sea." PRAYING AND DOING. "Bless the poor little children who haven't any beds to-night," prayed a little boy, just before he lay down in his nice warm cot,on a cord windy night. As he rose from his knees, his mother said to him-- " You have just asked God to bless the poor children: what will you do to bless them ? " The boy thought a moment. " Why if I had a hundred cakes, enough for ourselves, I'd give them some." " But you have no cakes." " Well, when I get money enough to buy all the things that I want, and have some over, I'll give them some." " But you haven't half enough money to buy all you want, and perhaps never will have. I want to know what you will do to to bleas the poor now ? '' "I'll give them some bread." - "You have no bread; the bread is mine." Then I could earn money, and buy a loaf myself." " Take things as they now are. You know what you have that is your own. What are, you willing to give to help the poor ?" "I'll give them half my money. I have eight cents, and I'll give them four—would not that be right ?" " Four cents would not go very far in ma king a child so poor that it had no bed, as comfortable and well provided for as you are. Four cents toward food and clothes, and books and a bed, for such a one, and four cents just for pencils or candy for yourself, don't seem - fair." Then mother, I'll give all my money; and I wish I had more to give," said the little fellow, as he took his good night kiss. Now don't you think his bed was made softer that night by his pity for the poor and shelterless ? Don't you think he slept the more sweetly, and that ministering spr its watched his couch more lovingly because he was growing to be somewhat like his Sa viour, who "spared not himself; but freely gave himself up for us all." A great many children. pity the poor a little, and wish God would be kind to then' and take care of them. Perhaps they even pray to him to do it, like the little boy in my story. But lam afraid that too ma*" of them would have God do all the work. They don't want to help much; they don't want to give away much that is their own; they don't want to trouble themselves much aboot it-. They do not really love their poor neighbors as . they do themselves.