pastoral, gives them the title of "Books which contain the poison of heresy," and the cry is, "Out with the Protestants-out with the Protestants." And now we entreat you, united with other Christians, to pray to our Father God and Jesus Christ for us all, for we feel ourselves almost beaten down.""

(GATHERED MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.) DIVINE love is a never-failing treasure. He that hath it is rich; he that wanteth it is poor.

Stay not away from Jesus though thou be wounded, for he came to heal; though thou be lost, for he came to seek. Let not thy diseases affright thee from the Physician, for he cures those that are sick and maimed. If thou die uncured it is thy own fault.

THE WAY TO RISE,

That which other folks can do,

Why, with patience, may not you?

LONG ago a little boy was entered at Harrow School. He was put into a class beyond his years, and where all the scholars had the advantage of previous instruction denied to him. His master chid him for his dulness, and all his efforts then could not raise him from the lowest place on the form. But, nothing daunted, he procured the grammars and other elementary books which his class-fellows had gone through in previous terms. He devoted the hours of play, and not a few of the hours of sleep, to the mastering of these; till, in a

few weeks, he gradually began to rise, and it was not long till he shot far ahead of all his companions, and became not only leader of the division, but the pride of Harrow. You may see the statue of that boy, whose career began with this fit of energetic application, in St. Paul's Cathedral; for he lived to be the greatest Oriental scholar of modern Europe-it was Sir WILLIAM JONES.

When young scholars see the lofty pinnacle of attainment on which that name is now reposing, they feel as if it had been created there, rather than had travelled thither. No such thing. The most illustrious in the annals of philosophy once knew no more than the most illiterate now do.. And how did he arrive at his peerless dignity? By dint of diligence; by downright painstaking.-Life in Earnest.

WHEN Trajan visited Antioch (A.D. 116) flushed with ctory, and bent on the subjection of the Christians as

H

well as his other enemies, and having threatened a persecution unless these Christians would acknowledge, like other subject nations, the laws of Rome, he compelled all who lived in the practice of the Christian religion either to sacrifice or die. Ignatius, then distinguished by the name Theophorus (“God-bearer,” one who has God in his heart, answering to the Greek word “Christopher”), presented himself to be led before the Emperor, that by his own self-sacrifice he might screen his beloved flock. Being introduced to Trajan, that monarch said, "Who art thou, wicked demon, who art so precipitate and hasty in transgressing our orders, and persuadest others also to perish miserably?"

Ignatius: "None can call Theophorus a wicked demon, for demons have widely departed from the service of God. But if you so call me because I am an enemy to demons, I confess the charge; for holding Christ to be the heavenly King, I dissolve their enchantments."

Trajan: "And who is Theophorus ?"

Ignatius: "He who has Christ in his heart."

Trajan: "Dost thou not think, then, that we have the gods in our minds when we use them as our allies against our enemies?"

Ignatius: "Thou errest in calling the heathen demons gods; for there is one God, who made heaven and earth, and the sea and all things that are in them, and one Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, whose kingdom may I obtain!

Trajan: "Dost thou speak of Him who was crucified before Pontius Pilate?'

Ignatius: "I speak of Him who bore my sin on the cross, with its author, and, condemning all the error of demons and all wickedness, put them under the feet of those who carry him in their heart."

Trajan: thyself?"

"Dost thou then bear the Crucified within

Ignatius: "I do; for it is written, 'I will dwell in them and walk in them.'"

The Emperor then maliciously gave this sentence: "Since Ignatius has declared that he bears the Crucified in himself, we order that he shall be carried bound by soldiers to great Rome, to be food for beasts, and a spectacle for the people."

Ignatius: "I thank Thee, Lord, that thou countest me worthy to honour thee in perfect love to thee, and hast thrown me in iron chains like thine apostle Paul!"

The narrative continues: "And having said these things, with great joy he received the bonds upon him; and prayed, first for the Church, and commended it with many tears to God; imitating his Lord in this, that, like a notable ram of a good flock, he went at the head of it." Having been sent bound to Rome, the Roman prefect caused it to be announced that on a given day Ignatius would fight with wild beasts in the Colosscum. Into this building, which would accommodate 87,000 spectators, we are told "the whole city" gathered to witness the bloody spectacle. When he was in the ample theatre, turning to the people, as one who gloried in the ignominy which was before him, Ignatius cried out, "Romans, spectators of this present scene, I am here not because of any crime, nor to absolve myself from any charge of wickedness, but to follow God, by the love of Whom I am impelled, and Whom I long for irrepressibly. For I am his wheat, and must be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may become his pure bread." When he had uttered these words, the lions, being let loose, instantly flew upon him and devoured him altogether, with the exception of his larger bones; thus fulfilling his