"So let us be off for a race and a game,

To miss such a chance would be really a shame,
And mother she never will know.

We'll play hide-and-seek round the old waterspout; Little Flo shall go first and hide somewhere about, And we then to find her will go."

So they played 'mid the snow for an hour or more, Till 'twas time they all thought their game to give o'er, And they all were returning again.

When, horror! a polecat, with wild gleaming eyes, Darted out from a nook, caught poor Flo by surprise, And made her shriek loudly with pain.

The brothers escaped, but they heard the last cry Of their poor little sister preparing to die,

And these were the words that she said: "Dear brothers, be warned-your kind mother obey

She knows best-whatever you think or may say " poor Floey was dead.

One groan,

and

S. R. S.-Cottager and Artisan.

WHY WE REJECT THE APOCRYPHA. Ist. Because it was never written in Hebrew. 2nd. Because it was never quoted by our Lord. 3rd. Because it was rejected from the canon of Scripture by the Jews.

4th. Because it was rejected from the canon of Scripture by Origen, A.D. 200, Epiphanius, A.D. 358, and Jerome, A.D. 322.

Besides these reasons for rejecting the Apocrypha in general, we especially reject the books of Maccabees as uncanonical and uninspired.

Ist. (To speak ironically,) Because Pope Gregory

I., A.D. 590, did so; and, by the late Vatican decree, that must be an infallible judgment.

2nd. Because the author distinctly disavows inspiration, saying, "If I have done well in writing this history, it is what I desired; but if not so perfectly, it must be pardoned me (2 Macc. xv. 39).— The True Catholic.

It is sad that this Apocrypha was for some years circulated with the Romish versions by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and defended and justified upon precisely the same grounds as the spread of these versions themselves are in the present day. Let us hope that, like the Apocrypha, their circulation will one day be abandoned by that great and grand society which in this matter is doing evil that good may come.

BIBLE ENIGMA.

A TREE, that at the Word of GOD did die.
A constellation of the southern sky.

A bird of prey, by law unclean.

A garden, Jesus oft was in.

What Aaron burnt before the Lord,
Cain's character within a word;

His mother's name, you'll quickly guess,
For she incurr'd your wretchedness.
The land to which he did resort.

A maiden in a royal court.

A wilderness, where one a well did spy;
And that 'neath which she cast her son to die.
In these initials you will find

A word to soothe the guilty mind;
Who rightly seek it shall obtain
An endless life thro' Jesus slain.

E. COBB.

ANSWERS TO BIBLE ENIGMA (Page 142). 1. Ramah, a place where David fled-1 Sam.

xix. 16.

2. E utychus, raised to life when dead-Acts xx. 10, 12.

3. Gamaliel, arrayed in Pharisaic robe—Acts v.

34.

4. E liphaz, a friend who reproved Job-Job iv.

1,7.

5. N aphtali, Jacob's son, possessed of South and West-Deut. xxxiii. 2, 3.

6. E leazar, son of Aaron, who also was a priestExodus xxviii. I.

7. R abshakeh, of Hezekiah disdainful did speak -Isaiah xxxvii. 4—2.

8. A masa, by Joab kind, whilst to kill him did

seek-2 Samuel xx. 9, 10.

9. Timnath, where Samson a wife did findJudges xiv. 1.

13. E lymas, by Paul, for a time struck blind-

Acts xiii. II.

These intials now you see
Regenerate make what all must be
Before they enter heaven.

M. L. H.

Ye must be born again, has Jesus said,
Ere you can enter heaven;

His blood must wash away our stains,
And sin must be forgiven.

Oh, teach us, Lord, to come to Thee
While we are young and gay:
Regenerate us by Thy Word,
And teach our hearts to pray.

Thy Spirit, Lord, to us impart

Now in our youthful days,

That we may have Thy saving grace,
And give to Thee the praise.
For none can enter heaven's gate
But those who are REGENERATE.

E. H. EDMONDS, aged 12.

1. R amah-1 Samuel. xix. 18. 2. E utychus-Acts xx. 10. 3. Gamaliel Acts v. 34. 4. E liphaz-Job iv. 5. 5. N aphtali-Gen. xxx. 8. 6. E leazar-Exodus xxviii. 1. 7. R abshakeh—2 Kings xviii. 20. 8. A masa-2 Sam. xx. 9, 10. 9. T imnath-Judges xiv. 1. 10. E lymas-Acts xiii. 11.

REGENERATE.

By nature dead in sin,
And ruined by the fall,
This is the state mankind are in,
Whether they're great or small.

We from the Bible see

That in God's heaven above
No sinful thing shall ever be,
Nor can that word remove.
Then who can hope to dwell
In that delightful place?
Since all are sinners, can you tell--
Will any see His face?

Oh, yes, there are a few

Prepared for that sweet place, Regenerated-born anew

By God's almighty grace.

Though God detesteth sin,

The sinner He can love :
And so new life He plants within,
Which He will ne'er remove.

'Tis then their sin appears
So diff'rent to their view,

Their souls are filled with doubts and fears Which once they never knew.

They long and pant and cry

For Jesus and His grace;

Such wants as these, in days gone by,

Had in their hearts no place.

What once

they loved they hate,

And new things now they love;

Their change in conduct, too, is great,
They're re-born from above.

Though they a change can see,

The cause

they cannot trace;

They do not know that this can be
Regenerating grace.

Yet, though they see it not,

It is the case indeed;

For God Himself the change has wrought,
And planted there life's seed.

Dear reader, where are you
Among this noble band?
In God's deep penetrating view,
How, think do
you,

you

stand?

What God has said is plain,
And oft you've heard it too,

That none who are not born again
Shall e'er His glory view.

ROSA.