NOTES AND QUERIES-FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY. Notes and Queries. J. W.-Yes: it is a picture of a perfect childhood. If you wish to see the difference between fact and fiction, see what Josephus says about the childhood of Moses, and what those "abject productions," the apocryphal gospels, say of the doings of Jesus. C. S.-Not in the least. What is plainly meant is, that the Ethiopian Chamberlain went on his way rejoicing, rejoicing in a new spirit, a new view of life, a new purpose, and a new goal. M. C.-Your question is very difficult to answer. S. T. W.-We do not think so. The writer has made a mistake, and finds it out when he gets toward the end. The picture he gives of Christ is marred by leaving out all reference to the Gospel of John. B. T. W.-No. It is Christ's own title, selected by Himself, and never used by apostle or people until he had ascended. See what Godet says about it. F. S. T.-It is not found in the Gospels. L. M.-Perhaps. But look again. Facts, Hints, Gems, and Poetry. Facts. There are 35,000 Quakers in the United States. In Japan there are now 1,800,000 scholars attending 22,000 schools. Queen Victoria has reigned fortyone years, only three less than Queen Elizabeth. Mr. Spurgeon's church has now 5,045 members, being the largest society under the care of one man in the world. Chicago has 29 Lutheran churches; one English, one Danish, seventeen German, and the rest Norwegian and Swedish. Berlin has a population of 304,000 Protestants, for whom there are but thirty-four churches and ninety-five ministers that is one shepherd to a flock of 8,463 sheep. The Greek Church embraces eighty million worshippers in Russia, Greece, Austria, and Turkey, most of whom are furious fanatics, hating all other forms of Christianity and all other religions than their own. The Church of England shows great strength in Australia. In 1871, out of a total population of 1,920,000, the Anglican Church had in those colonies, 769,147; the Roman Catholic 443,926, and the Presbyterian, 264,066. The population in 1876 was 2,322,503, of which 919,000, belong to the English Church. Hints. RULES FOR A HOLY LIFE. 1. Too much desire to please men, mightly prejudiceth the pleasing of God. 2. Too great earnestness and vehemency, and too greedy delight in bodily work and external doings, scattereth and loseth the tranquility and calmness of the mind. 3. Cast all thy care on God, and commit all to His good pleasure; laud, and praise, and applaud Him in all things, small and great; forsake thine own will, and deliver up thyself freely and cheerfully to the will of God, without reserve or exception, in prosperity and adversity, sweet or sour, to have or to want, to live or to die. 4. Untie thy heart from all things, and unite it only to God. under it.-Calvin. There is more knowledge to be acquired from one page of the volume of mankind, if the scholar only knows how to read, than in volumes of antiquity.-Oliver Goldsmith. An iron put into the fire loseth its rust, and becometh clearly red-hot; so he that wholly turneth himself unto God puts off all slothfulness, and is transformed into a new man.- -Thomas a Kempis. He who climbs above the cares of the world, and turns his face to his God, has found the sunny side of life. The world's side of the hill is chill and freezing to a spiritual mind, but the Lord's presence gives a warmth of joy which turns winter into summer. -Spurgeon. Poetic Selections. A SUMMER EVENING. THE summer sun is setting, And a feeling of peace and rest. The sultry day is over, The light begins to fade, The farmer's weary horses Are standing in the shade. The golden light of sunset Shines on the corn-fields round, I gazed till my eyes were dazzled ONLY TRUST. O CHRIST! I come to Thee in this dark hour, While fortune frowns-and friendships weakened prove; Thou, only Thou, art true. Come in Thy power, Assure my heart again—that Thou art love. Whisper those precious promises of old,So oft the balm to wounded hearts below; Bring-as thou cans't-into my inmost soul, Those founts of love which riven hearts o'erflow. Oh, be my staff-and I will lean on Thee, My comforter, my father, brother, friend; My trust, my guide-my all in Thee I see: Be near, and help me trust Thee to the end. I trust in Thee-why need I seek for more? Earth's joys must be with cups of sorrow mixed; Be still, my heart! Amid the tempests' roar Behold the gleaming bow of promise fixed. WAITING. WE are waiting, blessed Lord, We are waiting for the time, And the thought is grand, sublime,— THE OIL WHICH GIVETH LIGHT. ONE of the Christian Heroes is Moffat, the missionary of South Africa. One day, while journeying through an African wilderness, he came within sight of a native village. He, with his companions, had travelled a long distance. They were tired, hungry, and thirsty. But on the borders of the village, which promised them! rest and refreshment, they were met by savages, who fiercely bade them "Halt!" The missionary asked for water. Not a drop would the heathen give. Cutting off the three or four brass buttons remaining on his jacket, which usually tempted the covetousness of savages, he offered them for a little milk. The savages sternly shook their heads. Moffat was perplexed. They were in sight of a river, to which the savages would not let them go. It looked as if he and his party would have to remain all night hungry and thirsty. The savages departed. As the night came on, Moffat saw a woman approaching. She bore on her head a bundle of wood, and held in her hand a jar of milk. Without a word, she handed the missionary the jar, and laying down the bundle, went her way. In the course of half an hour she returned, with a cooking-pot on her head, a leg of mutton in one hand, and a jar of water in the other. Laying them on the ground, she began kindling a fire. Not a word did she speak, though again and again spoken to by the missionary. When the fire blazed she put on the cooking pot, containing the leg of mutton, and silently prepared a savoury stew. Moffat, with earnestness, begged her to tell why she alone, of all the villagers, showed kindness to the white stranger. I With a smile, she said, "I love Him whose servant you are. It is my duty to give you a cup of cold water in His name. speak not, for my heart is full with joy at seeing you in this wilderness. The missionary was astonished. He had received hospitality from a woman of the savages: this did not surprise him. But she was a Christian, and one, too, who obeyed literally the command of her Master. She was living in a heathen village, hundreds of miles from the nearest white settlement. CENTRAL IDEA OF LUKE'S GOSPEL. "When and where did you become a disciple of Christ?" he asked. "When I was in Mr. Helm's school, years ago," she replied, mentioning the name of a devoted missionary. "Are there other Christians in the village?" “No, I am alone.” "But how is it that you have remained faithful to your religion, living so many years with not a person to aid you?" The woman drew from the bosom of her dress a copy of the Dutch New Testament. "I can read," she said, holding up the book. "Mr. Helm gave me this years ago. It is the oil which makes my lamp burn." When they had partaken of the meal prepared by the black disciple they knelt together in the wilderness, while the missionary returned thanks. CENTRAL IDEA OF LUKE'S GOSPEL. THE central idea of the third Gospel, in its internal aspect, appears throughout. It is this: Jesus is the perfect, divine man, the Saviour of the world. Luke takes the point of view of the Greek, and maintains it to the end. The perfect manhood of Jesus, with the consequent mercy and universality of His covenant, rather than the temporal relation or the eternal basis of Christianity, furnishes his central subject. In other gospels we find our King, our Lord, our God; but in St. Luke we see the image of our great High Priest, made perfect through suffering, tempted in all points as we are, but without sin-so that each trait of human feeling and natural love helps us to complete the outline, and confirm its truthfulness. The Gospel seizes upon the humanity of Jesus as the idea most attractive to the mind of the Greek. Jesus is pre-eminently man -the man. He is neither Roman, Greek, nor Jew. He rises above the conditions of time and place. What the Greek blindly strove to reach, what Paul in some measure approximated, that Jesus illustrated in His perfection-the universal man, the pattern and brother of all the race. This man Luke exhibits in the various stages of His human development; in His intellectual grasp of things earthly and heavenly; in His marvellous sympathy with all of human kind; in His matchless work as the One who was to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; in FUN WITH A SPIDER. His consummate genius; His lofty enthusiasm; His divine inspiration. Especially does the third Gospel present the universal grace of God. A very large portion of it is taken up with what is now generally acknowledged to be Christ's ministry in Perea, or across Jordan, and on His last journey to Jerusalem (chapters ix. 51; xviii. 30) a ministry to a Gentile race, and therefore peculiarly suited to the Greek, and to all the world represented by him. The grace of God for all men, foreshadowed in the song of the angels of the annunciation (chapter ii. 10—14), is made luminous in the teachings, especially in the parables of this heart of the third Gospel. At the same time, as will subsequently appear more fully, the evangelist intelligently aims to correct the false Greek notions. He shows him man as he really is. He reveals his true position and destiny. By contrast with the truth, he exhibits the shallowness and absurdity of the Greek theogony and theology. He unveils the invisible and future worlds to him. He shows him God as He really is, not in relentless Fate, but in the person of Jesus, the God-man, as the infinitely compassionate and gracious One. The external form and historical aim of the Gospel, so far from being out of harmony with this its internal idea, furnish rather the perfect vehicle for its presentation. The evangelist prepares for the Greek-as he announces his purpose to do-an accurate and systematic exhibition of the facts of the career of Jesus; but this is only the more perfect framework for the exquisite portraiture of the perfect Man, who is Himself the pledge of the blessedness of faith, and the exaltation of the lowly, and who appears in the world to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. FUN WITH A SPIDER. SPIDERS, in many respects, are just like other animals, and can be tamed and petted and taught a great many lessons, which they will learn as readily as a dog or cat. But you must take the trouble to study their ways and get on the good side of them. One day I had been reading in a book how spiders managed to get their webs across streams and roads, and from the top of one tall tree to another. I went out and caught a large garden spider, one of those blue-gray sprawling fellows, and fixed him up for my experiment. |