Israel," while following his father's flocks in the mountains of Judea.

But what good did all this do him? I will tell you. In consequence of his knowing the Holy Scriptures when he was a child, his name has come down to us to this day; and all the Christians that have lived since his day for eighteen hundred years, have known and honoured his name. He became a Christian minister, the companion of the Apostle Paul, a missionary, and the pastor of one of the first churches in Asia. And now he sits among the holy apostles, the honourable and the great ones, in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus.

He chose the true wisdom, a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, which made him wise unto salvation.

And the same knowledge is able to do the same for the little boys who read this. If you learn and obey the Holy Scriptures, they will make you wise unto salvation. They will lay the foundation of a character that will make you useful and happy. You may, like him, become a minister of the Gospel; and the prophet Daniel says, They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."-From the Christian News.

THE Lord Jesus, when he was one day talking with

his disciples, told them of a person who had a vineyard, and he planted a fig-tree in it.

And he took particular notice of this tree; and when it became very large, and spread its boughs in every direction, he was very much pleased to think that it would soon bring forth much fruit.

And he came to visit it in the season when he expected to gather very many fine figs. But to his great surprise, he found nothing but leaves.

And so he stopped till the next year, and then he came again to seek after fruit; but he was still disappointed, for there was not any.

He visited it again, at the proper time, on the
And still he could not find what he

third year.

sought for.

So he called for the dresser of the vineyard; and, as he was much displeased, he said, "Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none; cut it down: why cumbereth it the ground?"

And the dresser of the vineyard said, "Lord! let it alone this year also, and I will do all I can to make it fruitful. If it should then bring forth fruit, you will be pleased; if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down; I will plead for it no more."

But what does all this mean? I think I know; and I will tell you.

Each one is as a tree planted in God's vineyard. And as the owner of a tree expects it to bring forth fruit, because it has the dew, and the sunshine,

and the rain; so God expects that every one of his creatures should bring forth fruit to his glory.

And who are they who do this? Those who think, and speak, and act, as God bids them in his Holy Word.

Though there are many trees in a vineyard, the owner knows each, he visits each, and he expects fruit from each. And so does the great God from each of his creatures.

And has he not been often disappointed? I have promised that I would forsake all that is bad many times, and seek after and practise all that is good; but have I done so?

Perhaps, I have lived eight, or nine, or ten years, or more, in the world; and have I praised God as I ought, who has given me every blessing which I ever enjoyed? Have I begun to try to please him with my whole heart? Alas! I fear that he has indeed come, year after year, and found no pleasant fruit. I have been but as a cumberer of the ground.

Divine Saviour! plead for me, and say, when divine justice would cut me down, Spare him yet another year!

Oh, I will not forget, that every tree which does not bring forth good fruit, will, at last, be hewn down, and cast into the fire.

DRAPER.

Pictures from the Life of Jesus.

PICTURE XI.-CALVARY: CHRIST UPON THE

CROSS.

A GLOOMY picture is that which is now spread out before us. It is mount Calvary-Golgotha, the place of a skull. Crowds have gathered on its steep ascent, and are before us now; an armed band of Roman soldiers are on duty; but we forget both crowds and soldiers in something far greater than either. Three men are dying. Three crosses are upreared, and on those roughly-hewn timbers the bodies of three men are nailed. Living men, men with immortal souls, are nailed up there to die. We are too far off to notice the terrible expression of anguish and suffering which is upon their faces; we are too far off to hear the groans they utter or the broken words they speak; but, looking on the scene-now at the dying men, now at the crowds swaying to and fro and struggling forward, now at the Holy City, lying asleep in the sunshine, now upward at the deep blue sky overhead-we cannot help pitying their wretched condition, and feeling some interest in their fate.

Beautiful is the morning; flowers are opening to the warm bright light, birds in the trees are singing gaily, butterflies sport from leaf to leaf, there is a pleasant murmur of a world astir. Beautiful is Jerusalem, with its domes and turrets, its temple glorious with gold and silver; its handsome streets and wide bazaars, its alcoves, terraces, and fountains upward springing, to fall again in a shower of spray.