vant or a managing wife; and gre
taken with it in Marston school
this time that an old lady paid a
to observe upon it generally, an
at the sewing: "For," said she,
girl's education-be she high or
who has not been taught to be a g
A lady is not a lady to my mind.
like one; and what is a poor wom
make and mend her father's or h
No, children," she continued, "g
man's words; and depend upon
ing your Prayer-book, and how
there is no learning that will
a thorough knowledge of need]
make you happier or more usef
or help you better in times of po
be a greater comfort to you in
age; for I may say so, who hav
many a time have I been too l
to be able to turn my mind
either of a diverting or serio
did not seem my own, I could
let me only sit down to my w
pass rapidly along, at once, v
have seemed to feel my trou
myself better able to bear
good thoughts, that would
with my hands idly folded
then flock into my mind, t
sorrow was turned into a bl
and looked back upon wi
life long. And now," she
member my advice, I ha
you. The ladies that att
agreed to it; and they ha
workers and those who
the school shall be chosen
make a shirt all by herse
best shall each receive a

And so this point was settled. When the names were given out in the school, Susan Forbes' confident good-humoured face seemed to think it only her due that she should be named first; while a blush of delighted surprise shewed how little Naomi had thought of such a distinction for herself as to be mentioned at all, even though the last. This feeling of elation did not last long. As the school was dismissed, some of the children stood round the door for a minute or two before they dispersed, discussing the important news. Susan Forbes took the lead, as seemed natural to her.

"What a nice kind old lady," said she, "to think of such a plan for us! Don't you all long to begin? I am sure I, for my part, shall always think of her when I have my prize. Of course,' " she added, checking herself, "I am likely to get one of the prizes."

Oh, you are sure to get the best," said all the children.

"Do you think so?" said Susan, trying to look modest; and then continued, "what a deal of money a sovereign is what a load of things it will buy! I dare say now, we none of us ever saw one in our lives-I am sure I never did; but you shall all see mine when I mean, if—I get it. And I'll tell you who I think will get the next prize-why, you, Phoebe Weston, I seem sure you will get it; and the third-let me see, will it be Anne Sharman or Lydia Brown? Well, one cannot guess every thing beforehand, though I think it will be-" "But either she really could not guess to her satisfaction, or her delicacy of feeling made her not wish to offend either party; so this matter was left in doubt. "Any how," she concluded, "it is but five shillings; and though five shillings are five very nice things, and what we should all be very glad of, what are they to a sovereign, or even half a sovereign of real bright gold?"

Here the party separated; and as Naomi pursued her solitary way, she thought-"Susan Forbes makes

light of five shillings; but if I had them to give to my mother, who finds me nothing but a trouble and an expense, how happy it would make me! But I must not give it a thought, for nobody seems to think I have any chance, or to remember me at all. Well, mother will be pleased to find that I am chosen one of the six, though I shall tell her I have no chance." (To be continued.)

THE EPIPHANY.

"That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel."- Eph. iii. 6.

THE feast of the Epiphany may be considered the birthday of the Gentile Church; and well does it become us to celebrate it with joy and thanksgiving; we who are one of the Isles of the Gentiles, which once lay in darkness and the shadow of death.

Very little is told us in Scripture of the Wise Men of the East, the first-fruits of the Gentile Church, whose coming to our Lord is kept in mind to-day; St. Matthew alone of all the Evangelists mentions them, and they are brought into the sacred narrative and disappear from it as suddenly as the star, their heavenly guide to Christ. This is often the way of the Bible. Melchisedec, the queen of Sheba, the Ethiopian eunuch, and others, are just mentioned for an especial purpose, and we hear no more of them. And so it is with these pious men, descendants of Abraham's faith, though not of his seed, who came from the uttermost parts of the earth to see and worship One greater than Solomon.

From the 2d chapter of St. Matthew we gather that the Wise Men had been watching for the appearance of the King of the Jews; whether informed by tradition from the scattered tribes of Israel, or enlightened by a special revelation from God, we are not expressly told. It would rather seem, that some direct divine intimation must have taught them to look upon the star as His star, whom they sought; and also their being favoured afterwards by a warning from God in a dream, would denote that they were all along under His immediate guidance.

When they reached Jerusalem, their errand was pub

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licly proclaimed. They demanded on all hands, " Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" Strange and shameful that He, the promised Seed of Abraham, the Son and Lord of David, should appear in the heart of the nation, in the city of David,—that a heavenly host should sing His birth, and adoring shepherds spread the good tidings in all that neighbourhood,—and yet the nation remain ignorant of it; (so gross was their heart, so closed and heavy their eyes and ears;) and that strangers from a far country, immersed in heathen gloom, should be the heralds of the Sun of righteousness! But the question, once started, did not again die away without notice; the worldly interests of Herod, the king, disposed him to pursue the inquiry. In a council of the chief priests and scribes of the people which he called together, he ascertained the place Bethlehem, as pointed out by the prophet Micah (v. 2), and from the accounts of the Wise Men, the time and the probable age of the child. Then he sent them to Bethlehem to make the requisite inquiries, with a strict injunction, unnecessary on his part, for their hearts were in the search, to seek diligently for the young child, and to bring him word again, as he deceitfully pretended he wished to worship Him also. Here let us leave the wicked king, the tale of whose impious and bloodthirsty hatred and revenge is too well known and follow the course of these fathers of our faith, the Wise Men of the East. What must have been their feelings when they found the object of their search, again directed by the appearance of the divine star, which pointed out the place where was the Holy Child, Jesus? What were the days and nights spent in their weary pilgrimage, to the rapture with which they prostrated themselves before Him, presenting the most costly treasures they had it in their power to offer Him?

Would we reap their reward, a vision of the Son of God, the Desire of all nations, the Light to lighten the Gentiles; let us follow their faith, and untiring zeal, and perseverance. We may exercise the same graces, though under different circumstances, and, in some respects, under superior advantages. For we have privileges they had not, thanks be to God for enrolling us all, sinners of the Gentiles, as on this day into the Church of Christ. We have baptismal grace to help us to fight our way manfully through a host of enemies that may assault us in our course through