~~jjs ami.Ci, irti + THE MOTHER'S PRAYER. By One of the Authore of "Chtid Two little angels—child-angels, you know— Sit on each side of the boy that must. (lie ; Smile at each other, and nod their heads—so, - - Singing," We'll tly with him up to the sky,"— Singing His life has been merry and fleet; Just for a moment he's suffering pain,"— Singing, "He'll laugh to find heaven so sweet— Never he'll care to see London again." Innocent child-angels flutter their wings; Sweet is the song that a child-angel sings. Wild on the pillow he tosses his head, Small angel-lips meet above bim to kiss; Singing, " He'll kiss us as soon as'he's dead ; Die, pretty boy, we are waiting for this " Singing, " We'll welcome you into our band, Teach you the manners and ways of the skies; I'll blind your eyes, dear, and I'll hold your hand— Heaven shall come in a splendid surprise ;" Singing, " You will not feel shyness or fear; You'll be a little child-angel too, dear !" Silence falls over the room with a start, Touching each other, they glance in dismay; Oh, his poor mother is breaking her heart— How shall they comfort her? what can they say? Though she believed it the worst of her woes, When, for the last time, her darling she kissed, Oh, what is that to the sorrow that grows As the days pass, and he really is missed ! What will she do for,his laughter and plays, Chattering nonsense, and sweet saucy ways? What will she do for his rough curly head ? Eager boy-kisses that come with a will ? How can she look at his 'small empty bed— Live in the house, now the house is so still ? Oh, for the noises she used to forbid ! Oh, for a touch of his lip or his hand; Out of a drawer a tin Bonier has slid; Locked in a box are a blouse and a band Pretty wee dresses and innocent toys, Breaking her heart, for they once were her boy's ! Little child-angels stand mute in dismay, All in a flutter they fly from the bed : - Weep not, 0, mother, Oh, weep not, but pray ; Now is the moment—he is not yet dead ! Angels are helpless : the power is thine own ; Pray, mother, pray, with the force of thy love! Up flies the prayer to the beautiful Thrbne; Down comes the mercy that flows from above; Eyes softly opon—lips say with a sigh, "Mother the angels are gone—here am I I" —Good Words for the Young. WILLIAM HAYERLY. " About thirty years ago," said Judge P., " I stepped into a bookstore in Cincinnati. in search of some books that I wanted. While there, a little Tagged boy, not over twelve years of age, came in and inquired for a geography." " Plenty of them," was the salesman's reply.. " How much do they cost ?" " One dollar, my lad." " I did not know that they were so much." He turned to go out, and even opened the door, but closed it again and came back. " I have only got sixty one cents," said he; " could you not let me have a geography, and wait a little while for the rest of the money ?" Hdw eagerly his little bright eyes looked up for answer; and how he seemed to shrink within his ragged clothes when the man, not very kindly told him he could not! The disappointed little fellow looked up to me, with a very poor attempt at a smile„and left the store. I followed him and overtook him. " And what now ?" I asked. " Try another place, sir." " Shall I go, too, and see how you succeed ?" " 0 yes, if you like," said , he, in sarprise. Four different stores I entered with him, and each time he was refused. " `Vi•ll you try again ?" I asked. " Yes, sir, I shall try them all, or I should not know whether I could get one" 11 , We entered the filth store, and the little fel low walked up manfully, and told the gentleman just what he wanted, and how much money he had. " You want the book very . much ?" said the proprietor. " Yes, sir, very much." " Why do you want it so very, very much ?" "To study, sir. I can't go to school, but I study when can at home. 'All the boys - bive got one, and they will get ahead of me. Be sides, my father was a sailor, and I want to learn of the places where he used to go." " Does he go to 'thege places no*? asked the proprietor. "He is dead," said the boy, softly. Then he added, after a while, ".I am going to be a sailor, too." . , " Are you, though ?" asked the gentleman, raising his eyebrows curiously: " Yes, sir, if I live." " Well, my lad, I will tell you. what I will do; I will let you have a new geography, and you may pay the remainder of the money when you can, or I will let you have one that is not:new for fifty cents." " Are the leaves all in it, and just like the others, only not new ?" . "Yes, just like the new ,ones." "It.will do just as well, then, and I will have eleven cents left toward buying some other book. I am glad that they did not let me have one at any of the other Tines:" The bookseller looked ttp inquiringly, and I told him what I had seen of the little fellow. He was much pleased, and when he brought the book along, I saw a nice new pencil, and some clean white paper in it. ' A present, my lad, for your perseverance. Always have courage - like thatr and you will make your `mark," said the bookseller. "Thank you, sir, you are so very good." " What is your name ?" Haverly, sir." "Do yen, want any moreibooks ?" I now asked him. " More than I can l ever get," he , replied, glancing'at the'Vociks that filled the shelves. , I-gave him a bank note. "It will buy some fnr you, I said." Tears of joy came into Ills eyes. " Can I buy, what I want with it ?" " Yea; my lid, anything." " Then I' will buy a book for mother," said he, " I thank you very much, and some day I hope I can pay you back." He wanted my name and I gave it to him. Then I left her standing by the!counter so :happy. PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1869. that I almost envied him, and many years passed before I saw him again. Last year I went to Europe on one of the finest vessels that ever plowed the waters of the Atlantic. We had very beautiful weather until very near the end of the voyago, then came a most terrific storm that would have sunk all on board bad it not been for the captain. Every spar was laid low, the rudder was almost useless, and a great leak had shown itself, threatening to fill the ship. The crew were all strong,' willing men, and the mates were practi cal seamen of first class; but after pumping for one whole night, and still the water was gaining upon them, they gave up in despair, and prepared to take to the boats, though they might have known that no small boat could ride such a sea. They captain, who had been below with his charts, now came up. He saw how matters stood, and with a voice that I heard distinctly above the roar of the tempest, he ordered every man to his post. It was surprising to see all those men bow before the strong will of their captain and hurry back to the pumps. The captain then started below to examine the leak. As he passed me, I asked him if there was any hope He looked at me,, then, at the other passengers, who had crowded up to hear the reply, and said reliultingly; "Yes, sir, there is hope as long as •ene of this deck remains, abeve water: When I see none of it, then. I shall abandon the,:vessel,, and not before ; nor one of my crew, sir. Every.' thing shall be done to 'save it, and if we fail it will not be from inaction. Bear a hand, every one of you, at the pumps," Thrice during the day did we despair;ut the captain's dauntless courage, peree,vtr i a*,so,, and powerful will mastered every mind`on board` and we went to work: again. "I will land you safely at the dock in Liver poel,", said he, " if you -will be men." And he did hind us safely ; but' the vessel sunk, moored. to t e . duck: The captain, stood' on the deck of the sinking• vessel, receiving tbe thanks e i nd blessings` of the passengers, as the passed down the gang-plank. I was-- the last 'to leave, As I passed:he grasped my hand, andLeaid-: "Judge P., do you not recognize me ?" I told him thatwas not aware tbal. I ever saw him until I stepped aboard his ship: " Do you remember the boy in Cincinnati ?" " Very well, sir;• William Haverly." "I am he," said he. " God bless you !" " And God bless noble Captain Haverly BE KIND TO CHILDREN. Blessed be the hand which prmareip, pleasure:i for a child, for there sno saying where and when it may again bloom forth. Does not almost everybody remember some kind-hearted man who showed him a kind ness in -the quiet -days of his childhood ?. The writer of this recollects himself L attlAs moment, as, a barefooted lad standing at the wooden fence of a poor little garden in his native village °; witiklonging eyes hr,e,g4ied on the flowers which were blooming there quietly in the brightness of a Sunday mtir.lY ing.' The possessor of the garden . cane forth from his little cottage. He was a l wood cutter by trade, and spent the whole week at his work in the woods. was . coming into the garden to gather : a i flolor to stick into his coat when he went to church. He saw the 'boy,'and breaking off the most beautiful of his carnations—it watt streaked with red and white--gaveit to him. Neither the giver nor the receiver spoke one word—and with bounding steps, .ran. home • and now, here, at a vast - distance from that home, after many events 'of so many years, the feeling of gratitude which' agitated .the breast 01 that, boy 'expresses' itself on paper. The carnation `has long since withered, but it now blooms afresh. --Douglas Jerrold. TRAEAT SIGHT. Two elderly ladies, chatting with each other in a low vcirice,,cypi Morning in June, 1869, entered the office of a certain• justice of the •peace, in Washington, D. C. One showed• great emotion- of feeling, as though there was a smoldering fire within her soul, kindling little by little. Her hair was white and carefully adjusted ; her dress neat, but coarSe. She claimed a relationship to the keeper of the office through the Mal Ker of all -things..: He was Ignored by the name of brdther. A chair was offered the lady, but refused by her. "My soul is too full to sit down," she said. "May I, dear sir, may I do as I please iwyour,office ?" she asked. " You may if—" Here se Shouted; " Glory to God in the highest ! 'glory ! glory ! glory I" The Officer, wishing to know the cause of such great joy, addressing her companion, inquired; " Is your friend crazy ?" "No," she replied. " She will tell you when she can. At present her joy over comes her. Wait awhile." ' After shouting praises to God for his goodness for some time longer, she, at length said " Dear brother, twenty-one years ago, twenty of, my children, and near relations were, in my presence, handcuffed in this room, and chained together for market, and then sent down to Georgia. These walls are my witnesses, this door is my witness, that this awful scene was beheld by these same eyes , of mine wllich now behold you— one of my own color—administering justice —God's kind of justice—to all alike." Here she broke out again, ejaculating " Glory l glory 1" Then turning to the other lady, she continued— " Now, I am done. I can die now in :peace, for my eyes have seen the answer to my prayer. My children, sir,"—turning to the officer—" are 'most all dead—worked to death; but God has permitted me to see this great sight."—Rev. D. W. Anderson, in Sun beam. God's help - consists not so much in ridding us of evil as in Supporting us under it. THAT WONDERFUL PRAYER. Which ? Why that one which your mother taught you. Did you ever think, short though it be, how much there is in it? Like a diamond in the crown of a queen, it unites a thousand sparkling gems iu one. It teaches all of us, every one of us, to look to God as our parent—" Our Father." It, prompts us to raise our thoughts and desires above the earth—" . Who art in hea ven." It tells us we must reverence our Heaven ly Father—" Hallowed be Thy name." It breathes a missionary spirit—" Thy kingdom c ome." " And a submissive, obedient spirit— " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And a dependent, trusting spirit—" Give us this day our daily bread." And a forgiving spir4 7 --" Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive:those who trespass against us." And a cautious spirit = " Deliver us from And last of all, ari adOring spirit—" For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, and Oyer.Amen." Now is it not both a' wonderful and a ,heatttikul prayer? Jesus, our dear. Saviour, taught it'; and who could better tell us how to pray to His Father and our Father, to His God and our God •.? TAF% SCIIOOI,S OPPOSED BY ROME. Schools are important ,in,all lands,,bat in. 411 tit country, Where the, maintenance and Perpetuity of our free, institutions 'depend, upon the intelligence and virtue of, the, peo ple, they are doubly so. ~Our Free Schools are - the glory of our country. Here the rich and the poor are -educated together. .Such schools are now established in nearly every State in the Union, and the longer they are tried, the better are they liked. Romanian is opposed to the whole system ,of Free Sehool education, and mill try hard to break up our Free Schools. , Those most opposed to the Free Schools ; are, foreign- They had better take care, how they insult our American feelings. The old ele ment of Americanism is not dead, it ,only ;:tleepeth; and by tampering -- with our• Free -Schools they may arouse that slumbering nal% and, rouse it.to such an extent, that our eorrepted politicians May not be able to arrest it, as they ,did before. The Jesuits are now ostensibly workingto ostra cise , tbe Bible from the Free Schools,"and to haie the funds, collected for school purposes, parcelled out among the different sects. This is not what they really want, for they 'weltknOW, that' in many of the States the share that would fall to,theni would be very small. But they have an ulterior end in , view; they are bent on destroying our whole system of Free Schools,. ; They are jnet'feying the pulse of our, people, And seek to dis Cover whether on,r, forjthe sake of offi.ge,,Will crouch down at their feet 1 Some are not only willing to crouch-doWn,btil prepared to crawl on their very bellies into office! This , is the great evil, against which the friends of the Free ;Schools have contend. The Archbishop, of Ireland, Cardinal Cul len, has ordered all Roman Catholic parents in Ireland to keep their children from the Free Schools under the penalty of being denied the sacraments of, the Church !--an interdict more terrible to them than Famine or Pestilence I - Yet even this wicked order will be obeyed, and thousands of poor Irish children will be kept from the , schools, and grow up as uninstructed, as' their parents. Tilton, of the INDEPENDENT, calls this oppo sition OULLENISM, and, says, we have a good deal of it here, in our own country. We saw an illustration of this American. Cur,- Lariism, not, long sinee, at a Schopl-teachers' Institute in Pennsylvania.. A Roman Cath olic priest came into a meeting, where there were some 300 teachers assembled. 'He asked the County Superintendent "whether it was a literary, or a religious meeting,?" The Superintendent, who was, ; also, Presi dent of the meeting, replied," that ip Was, of course, a meeting, whose object was, the promotion of literature." " Well, then," re plied the priest, in an angry tone, "what business have you to pray and sing• Metho diat hymns in a literary meeting ?" We were, of course, all taken aback by the an dacity of this foreign JeSuit, and, befOre any one had time to reply, he said, 4 I cominand all Catholic teachers to leave this hall " he strutted up through the long aisle, re peating his command, arid when he came to the door, he turned round, repeated the command, and added : " I will take the re sponsibility of your leaving."' There were not far from one hundred Roman Catholic teachers, present, but to their, credit be.it said, only one obeyed the command `of the priest ! How those poor dupeis of priest craft fared in the confessional, we, leave our readers, who know anything about that engine of oppression, to judge. The course of' Cardinal Cullen, our Pennsylvania priest, and thonsands'of other bishops and priests, is nothing more than an echo of the Pope's Syllabus. The Roman Catholic Phirch has :Arrayed herself against the whole system of' Free Schools, both in Europe and America, and the battle is waxing hotter and hotter from day to day.` Speaking Speaking of Cullenism, reminds us of a striking illustration of it which we witness ed, in the year 1854, in Texas. When Texas came into our Union, it is well known, the United:States allowed her a large amount of money, for her unseated lands, to form a school fund. This fund being very lirge, and the State sparsely settled, schools were planted exceeding the scholars in number. San Antonio had at that time about 6,000 inhab itants, 3,000 of whom were native Mexicans, all as ignorant as Romanism could make or keep them. But-as soon as things became somewhat settled, the enterprising Ameri pans organlied free schools, procured ,good teachers, and invited all to send their chil dren. The Mexicans would not send their children to English schools. They said, give us Spanish schools, and we will encour age them. A Spanish teacher was procured, a good, comfortable room was secured, Spanish books sent for, and the children of the Mexican invited to come. They came in droves, and for the first week the room was too small to hold them. But, alas, for the CULLENIBM of Texas! The priests put their veto upon what they called Protestant schools. On the 23d of June, 1854, we went to see that Spanish school, and there were six regular scholars, in a city containing some six hundred Mexican children, between the ages of five and sixteen. Not one oat of twenty ever learned to read ! And this is the state of things all through Mexico. And these men, who have managed the edu cational interests of Italy and Spain, of South America and Meiico so badly, seek the control of our schools ! M. GIIIZOT said in his famous oration on education, " The priests have had the man agement of our schools in their own hands, and they have managed to make the com mon people of France the least educated people in Europe, except Italy and Spain, and there they have had even more unlim ited control over the schools than with us I It is high time for the people of Friance to pause and , consider whether the priests are the proper 'persons to direct and control our educational interests." So we say to the American people,—Be-. ware of the influence of Roman Catholic priests. Callenism, or Romanism, in its op position to Free &hobls, has blasted the prospedts of the fairest portione of our earth, and it shall not lay its polluted hands on our Free School system. The patriotism of our nation must find' nourishment in our Free Schools. .No Republic can exist any length of time, where the masses of the peo ple'are not educated, and in a country like ours, the people never will be generally ed ucated, without the Free School. As an illustration of this, we know Er township in one of the large counties of Pennsylvania, that has persisted, to the =present day, in rejecting the Free School. It has several schools, it is true, supported by private sub scription, but it is the most ignorant, vicious, and superstitions section of country we ever saw in a free State. There are but four poor, sickly schools, to educate some 800 children, and those are attended by less than forty children each—leaving over 500 chil dren in the township without the means of education. If the Free School system were adopted there, there would be from 15 to 20 schools. The ignorant, people in the country will not sustain schools r unless they are provided by law. Pennsylvenia has about 900,000 children in her Public Schools to-day. , If it were not for the Free Schools, she would not have half that number. Oar common schools, taking Pennsylvania as a basis, has in ber Free Schools nearly two millions of children, between the ages of five cf aneighteen. What a mighty moral and political influence hence goes out, from our Free Schools I The WESTERN CATHOLIC says, what we would hardly have dared to say : "There are millions now in the United States Who were hem Catholics, but are now living like heathen, and will die heathen—our jails, penitentiaries and alms-houses are full of them.". This is, indeed, too true. And One reason Why this is so, is because the priests opposed their education; in Ireland, and are now opposing it here2—Lutheran Ob server. THE BURNING OF TILE RICHMOND THEATRE. " I was but a boy, and lived in the city of Richmond, Virginia, 'when the theatre was destroyed by fire in . December, 1811, and seventy-five persons perished. I had a brother older than myself, who resided there at the same time. During the day which preceded the fire he approached me, handing me a dollar, and saying he supposed I wan tedlo attend the theatre in the evening. On my leaving home to reside in the 'city, my mother had charged me not to go to the th , 2atre ; this I told him, adding, I can't dis obey my mother. Upon this he took back the dollar he had given me,, ;expressing much contempt for my course. I was will ing, indeed, and. even anxious,to retain, the .dollar, but not as the means f violating my Mother's command. "Night came, and my brother attended the theatre, accompanied by a young lady of the city, to whom he was shortly to be mar ried. I returned to my bed at an early hour, and knew nothing of the fire until after sun rise. Then I learned that the young lady liaeperiihed in the flames, and that my brother, in his - efforts to save her` , 'had . nar rowly escaped death. This breavement was to bim a source of overihelming,giief, and he kept his room closely for nearly a month afterwards. He never subsequently said aught to me in reference to. the theatre, or as to my course in refusing to attend." The above was related to me by Dr. F—, now an esteemed minister of the gos pel in North Carolina. Notice, I. The theatre was new to him, and he might have made this a plea for going. 2. It would have cost, him nothing, the price of admission being prpffered him, as, a gift. 3. The ex ample of an older brother was before him, and presented a strong inducement to go: 4. His mother was at some distance from the place, and it was very likely that she would never have heard of her son's disobe dience. But the noble boy firmly adhered to his resolution. "I can't disobey my mother." The voice of God seems to have blended with the mother's, charge, thus res training the footsteps.of her son, and, in all probability amino. ,his soul as well _as his body from death.b BUDGET OF ANECDOTES, When Dr. Blank, of a Western city. was but a candidate for the ministry, he p re .,,i ied lii trial sermon before a very orthodox're,hytery. His subject was the Millennium, and when he had announced his text, he shut the Bib le and proceeded with a voluble discourse of an hour's length, quoting the opinions of everybody, from Adam down. His views and his treatment of the subject, elicited a good deal of hostile co m • ment from the members of the Presbytery, w h o were called on in turn, for their judgment of this "specimen of improvement." When the time came of the venerable Dr. 11Z., who presided, he said that he would make no extended remarks on the young brother's piece, but he would tell a story which it had suggested to him. He had two neighbors—one a poor man, the other rich. The poor man owned a very fine nag, t o w hi c h the rich man took such a fancy that he bou g ht the horse for a good price. One day the new owner turned the beast loose in the pasture, it jumped the fence and galloped back to the old stable. The poor man, seeing that the nag had strayed home again, patted him fondly on the head, saying, "Well, Jock, ye have a fine memory, but ye have a pair judgment." —At a Covenanter "fellowship meeting," Paul's voyage was under discussion. One bro ther remarked how the•vessel hugged the shore, because they dare not steer boldly in any but very clear weather, as they had no compass in those days. "Hoot, man 1" said an old standby in all seriousness, " what put that into your head ? Doesn't it say expressly that 'they fetched a compass' 7" —One of the finest retorts on record is that made by an English ambassador to a French king. The king of England had instructed his representative to sue for the release of certain Huguenots, who had been thrown into the Bas tile for their religion . " What would your mas ter, the king of. England say, if I sued for the release of the prisoners in Newgate ?" was the French king'S reply. The ambassador's was per fect in Spartan simplicity, keen wit, courtesy, and high magnanimity. He said—" Your ma jesty may have every one of them, if you will claim them as your brethren." —An old Scotch dame threatened to " ses sion" her husband for the sin of saying that "David was not as good a poet when he metred the Psalms, as when he wrote them in prose." Several U. P. old ladies in this city refused to attend the preaching of one of the clergymen of that body engaged in preparing their revised version, on the ground that he was "trying.to improve on inspiration." —For the sake of religion in Indiana, we hope that the following statement in a Western paper is overdone; but. we have known some cases almost as hard as this :—" A minister in Clay county, Indiana, whose salary was exceed ingly small, having at length, by, means of a loan, ,secured money enough, took his departure. The people then determined to treat their next min ister well. They engaged Rev. Mr. Montgomery to preach for four parishes united in one—the clergyman to go from town to town, preaching once in every place on every other Sunday. For this labor he was to have $3OO salary. In order to help him still more, they offered to quarter the new minister and his wife with a family which needed a servant, but was not able to pay any wages; and allow Mrs. Montgomery to pay for'her board by her work. This manifestation of esteem was too much for ,the clergyman, and he determined.to seek a livelihood elsewhere." W Y. Observer. ' —The elevaticn of Dr. Temple to the See of Exeter, in England, is deeply regretted by the puPils of Rugby school, of which he was head master. One of them writes to his father as follows :—" I shall not care a bit for the school with a new master, no more will any one. We cannot ever possibly have another anything ap proaching to him. I would not mind having only 10s. a term all the time Thit here, if he would come back." —A celebrated divine, who was remarkable, in the first period of his ministry, for eboister ous mode of preaching, suddenly changed his whole manner in the pulpit, and adopted a mild and dispassionate mode of delivery. One of his brethren, obserfing it, inquired of him what had induced him to make the change. He an swered, " When I was young, I thought it was the thunder that killed the people, but when I grew wiser, I discovered that it was the light ning; so I determined in future to thunder less, and lighter more." --An old miser in Ireland left a will bequeath ing "to my sister-in-law, Mary. Dennis, four old worsted stockings which she will find under my bed," to a nephew, two other stockings, to a housekeeper, "for her long and faithful services, my cracked earthen pitcher," and other lega cies of the same character to other persons. The legatees were in a high state of wrath, but one of them having kicked down the pitcher and found it full of guineas, the others examined the stockings, and found them similarly lined. —When an eminent painter was requested to paint Alexander the Great, so as to give a per fect likeness of the Macedonian conqueror, he felt a difficulty. Alexander in his wars had been struck by a sword, and across his forehead was an immense se tr. The painter said: "If I re tain the sear, it will be an offence to the ad mirers of the monarch, and if I omit it, it will fail to be a perfect likeness—what shall I do'?" He hit upon a happy expedient; he represented the emperor leaning on his elbow, with his fore finger upon his brow, accidentally, as it seemed, covering the scar upon his forehead. Might not Christians learn from this heathen a lesson of charity, of human kindness and of love ? —On the other hand, Timanthes, the Greek painter, made the figure of a sleeping Cyclops, on a small canvas, appear very large, by intro ducing a satyr taking the measurement of the Giant's thigh, with his thyrsus. So we ' may make another's defect appear very great by that with which we attempt to take the dimensions. —Said one brother to another : ". ; How do you estimate the real strength of a church ?" He answered: "By counting all lake warm and back sliden members as left-hand ciphers then from the, number of real Christians making a discount for t the lukewarm of twO; for every backslider, 411 e."