FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY.

Facts, Hints, Gems, and Poetry.

Fatts.

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED
STATES.

Name.

....

For, to formally refute slander, he must first extend the publication of it; that is, must sustain the expense of carrying the devil's mail, and State. Date. convey to many the information George Washington.. Vir. .. 1789 which they would not otherwise John Adams. Mas... 1797 have had, that he has been subjected Thomas Jefferson.... Vir... 1801 to imputations of wrong. And, as, James Madison Vir... 1809 "a lie will travel from Maine to James Monroe Vir... 1817 Georgia while truth is putting on John Quincy Adams.. Mas... 1825 its boots," there is little encourageAndrew Jackson Ten... 1829 ment to run down a falsehood by an Martin Van Buren N.Y... 1837 earnest refutation, And yet, with William H. Harrison Ohio.. 1841 rare exceptions, it is not needful; a John Tyler Vir... 1841 little faith and patience will serve James Knox Polk.... Ten... 1845 one quite as well as laboured vindiZachary Taylor.. Lou... 1849 cations. Habitual integrity is the Millard Fillmore best defence. Let a foul breath be Franklin Pierce ....N. H... 1853 breathed upon a diamond, and it James Buchanan Pen... 1857 will soon regain its wonted lustre. Abraham Lincoln.... Ken... 1861 Of the first seven Presidents, five were re-elected to office, while not one of the subsequent eight held office beyond the term of four years. In two cases the President died, and the Vice-President succeeded to office for the remainder of the term, according to the provision of the Constitution.

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Hints.

N. Y... 1850

ON SLANDER.

Mr. Haynes once practised on this principle as follows:-An unprincipled man overtook him in the road, and said, "Mr. Haynes, have you heard the scandalous reports that are abroad about you?" He calmly replied, "I have heard nothing." The man proceeded, in profane and abusive language, to give the details, and allege that they were true; and that they would ruin his character. Mr. Haynes walked on in silence till he reached his own house, when he turned to the slanderer and said,

SAMUEL Haynes, a coloured Ameri-"Well, Mr.
can preacher, would never repeat a
slander against any one. He used
to say, "let the devil carry his own
mail, and bear his own expense."
There is much wisdom in this re-
mark, and it is capable of a variety
of applications. When assaults are
made upon any one, in points where
he is sustained by a consciousness
of right, in a vast majority of cases
silence is the most effective defence.

, you see what disgrace my conduct has brought upon me, according to your own account. I want you to take warning from me, to forsake your evil course, and save your character from disgrace." They parted. But the next day, the man came with an humble acknowledgment, asking forgiveness. Thus did assaults give new lustre to this patient man's character.

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FACTS, HINTS, GEMS, AND POETRY.

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

The Children's Corner.

THE WONDER OF WONDERS.

"AND what is the greatest wonder?" says my young reader. "I have heard of many wonders. Wonders in heaven, and wonders on earth; of wonderful buildings, wonderful men, and wonderful exploits done by them; but what is the greatest wonder of all ? " The greatest wonder of all, my young friend, the wonder of wonders, a wonder at which the greatest and best of men have been astonished; and what is more, angels, high in glory, regard with the utmost wonder and astonishment, is, that the divine Son of God should leave heaven and become man for man to die.

On the cross he conquered death, and him that had the power of death, even the devil. He died, but

He conquer'd when he fell,

'Tis finish'd said his dying breath, And shook the gates of hell.

He rose again from the dead-he ascended to glory-he is now exalted as a Prince and a Saviour at the right hand of God; and to him every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Yes, my young reader, his name shall be remembered when the names of Alexander, Cæsar, Buonaparte, and Wellington shall be forgotten. All men shall be blessed in him, all call him blessed; in every land his name shall be known, his praises sung.

For Him shall endless prayer be made,
And princes throng to crown His head;
While infant voices shall proclaim,
Their early blessings on his Name.

The victory he obtained on Calvary over satan, death, and hell, shall never be forgotten. For then he spoiled principalities and powers, and finished the salvation of deathless millions of the human Blessed Jesus!—

race.

Thy victories and thy deathless fame,
Through the wide world shall run!
And endless ages shall proclaim,

The triumphs thou hast won!

Young Reader, learn to form a proper estimate of the glory and honour of the matchless Saviour. Let your bosom glow with the warmest admiration of his character, and above all give him your heart; submit to his authority, and sing

My heart, thy throne

Blest Jesus see,
Bows low to thee,

To thee alone!

A REVIVAL IN A SHIP.

THE American Ship "Forbes" left Boston in June, 1860. On board were some Missionaries to Burmah. From their letters the following pleasing facts are selected. One says:—

"This is our seventy-ninth day from Boston; and as this beautiful little clipper ship always makes rapid passages, I suppose you are thinking of us, as being already far up in the Bay of Bengal, near to our destined port. But we have met with calms and light and baffling winds, so that although we have sailed past every vessel we overtook, we are only three days from the island of St. Paul's. A strong breeze is now speeding us on towards Rangoon, which port we hope to gain in three weeks more.

I write to you these few lines to send direct from that place, as I know that all our dear christian friends at home will be anxious to hear from us. But where shall I begin, or what shall I say, of all the goodness and mercy that have followed us? It is little to say that our voyage thus far has been pleasant, that we have received every kindness and attention from the gentlemanly captain and officers of this ship, and that as passengers we have been a united and happy band. Tell all our dear friends, and especially those who accompanied us to the ship, and there publicly commended us to God, that their prayers have been answered. The holy influence that encircled us, as they sent us off with prayer and the song of praise, has followed us out upon these restless waters. God has visited us in great mercy, and poured salvation upon us. We are sent with a message of mercy to poor idolators; but we have found delightful work on our way to them. Souls on board this ship have wept for sin, and bowed to the sceptre of mercy. Our ship's company, twenty in all, is composed of Americans, English, Scotch, Germans, Norwegians, French and Spanish. All have appeared uniformly respectful and ready for conversation and books, of which, I am happy to say, there is a ship's library. We have usully had preaching on deck every sabbath morning, attended by all. At 7 P.M., we held a short service with the men, forward, and closed up every day with social worship in the cabin, which is attended by the officers not on duty. The interest and solemnity steadily increased from the first, which called forth earnest prayer that God would show Himself among us. A few days ago, we proposed to spend an hour

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A REVIVAL IN A SHIP.

It was only among

;

of the dog watch' daily with the men. boxes and barrels and coils of rope that a place could be found and there we daily met, every one forgetting the place, awed by the presence of God's Spirit, and sensible that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, ready to bless them even there. Yesterday was a day we shall never forget. At the close of the morning service on the deck, the question was asked whether we should assemble for a second service at 3 P. M. Every hand was raised for it. At afternoon worship we could see that some were rejoicing; others were burdened and weeping for sin. We went forward to meet the men as usual at evening, and the Spirit of God came down with mighty power. The men prayed, and sobbed, and wept aloud. One, a Norwegian, arose with that determined air that showed what a struggle it was for him to break from the grasp of the devil, who would close his lips in silence, and said, 'I must speak in my own language,' and then in broken English and Danish, told us that he was sunk deep in the slough of sin; he had long wished to be a christian, but knew not the way. Another and another spoke of their perishing condition; day and night they found no peace. One had been a sabbath school scholar and teacher, had a pious mother in Scotland, who three years ago had written him, asking him to promise her that he would read a portion of scripture every day : but he had not complied; he had gone deep into sin, and so had not written her at all, and yet said he with sobs, 'That dear mother has all the time been praying for me.' One interesting lad came up and said, 'I cannot forget what you said to-day about the Bible; that it was God's letter of love, sent all the way from heaven to counsel and direct us. How happy we are when we receive a letter from home in some distant port. I have lost my father and mother; but I am going to take God for my father, give my heart to Him and obey his word.' Some of our number are in the deepest agony of soul. They evidently know what it is to feel that they are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.' Among these are our dear captain and his first officer. Our prayers and deepest sympathies go out to God for them.

Monday evening.-My heart is full to overflowing. The commander of our ship, both his officers, and several of the men, are hoping in Christ. Angels must have beheld the scenes of this evening with joy. We went forward at the