"WE KNEW YOU WOULD SAY YES." 37 ublic-house of a somewhat low class, in Gravel-lane, Southwark lately been vacated by its tenant, the Ecclesiastical Commis, to whom the premises belong, in their desire to lessen their t in public-house property, have let the place for half the rent by a firm of brewers, to Mr. Fegan, of the Southwark Boys' The new tenant proposes to open the premises as a place of on for working boys in this densely crowded district. This is a ecided step in the right direction. progress made with the Canadian Pacific Railway affords further e that manual labour can be performed more rapidly and satisy without the aid of intoxicants. The Directors made a firm prohibition, and to this they attribute the rapidity of construcnounting sometimes to as much as three and four miles per day. WE KNEW YOU WOULD SAY YES!" BY A. M. VA and her mother were paying a long visit to Aunt Grace. One bright afternoon Eva came dancing in with the request : "Auntie Grace, will you lend mother your muff to-day ?" The answer came readily: "Yes, my pet, tell mother find it in my press." but mother has it! We are just going out." ed over Aunt Grace's face as she enquired: mother expected I would lend her my muff?” A half amused yes!" Eva called back, as she tripped off to join her mother. w you would say yes!" made the little one's tone of voice so assured? "Aunt Grace" ed and trusted one. She had often answered similar requests same readiness, and so Eva felt sure of success with her little ned to me such an illustration of the way we ought to come Is my Friend," a "loved" and "trusted" One. loves to answer prayer." inded me, too, of the story of a poor negro woman, who, on ed, "Was not a certain answer to prayer wonderful?" answered, wonderful, 'cause its just like Him !” , therefore, come boldly to the Throne of grace." CHRISTMAS HELPERS. CHRISTMAS HELPERS. 39 39 BY CATHARINE ELLIS. T is again my pleasure to thank many readers of LIVING WATERS, for the nice, good, and pretty presents they sent to cheer sick and suffering ones at Christmas. In this short space it is very difficult to mention the many things of interest. Presents came from all parts of England. The names of places would more than fill a page of this magazine. Nova Scotia, Paris, Scotland and Ireland, all shared with England in giving this pleasure. The Parcels Post did good service to the cause. One delivery brought 36 parcels, and at last the parcels came rushing in, that one pile of parcels could not be unpacked before another delivery arrived. We received from 700 to 1,000 parcels altogether. Some, I fear, expected replies, but I could not send after the date mentioned. All post cards were answered. All the woollen things were most welcome, and the list and cloth cuttings more than filled one sack! We received lavender bags, which were so sweet, lovely cards and seaweed, and toys too for the dear children. Seven hundred boxes and bags of sweets made by little fingers were given away in one place; a pair of scissors in a work-case gave such pleasure to an old woman, who said, "How could you have known what I wanted! I have longed for a pair of scissors all the year." A little deaf and dumb child was so charmed with a dolly she kissed it over and over again, danced about the ward with it, and then put it in her bed. The nurses much appreciated all the kind thoughts on their behalf. Such happy letters have come telling of the joy all the gifts gave. Many thanks to all who paid the carriage of the parcels, and sent money to defray the many expenses. It was cheering again to see names of old friends who had previously helped us, as well as new ones. It did all hearts good to know so much sympathy was found to help those who so often think "No one cares for me." A very hearty "thank you" to all, and may God accept the work done for Him, and give you all His blessing through the year. OUR BIBLE CLASS. BY A. ST. G. C. NUGENT. S we shall be reading in our Scripture Reading Union tions through February and March, a great deal of prov about "The Holy Land," and a great deal about enter into possession of it, it may be helpful to have "Our Bi Class" for these two months on Palestine itself. I hope every read possesses maps of Palestine, for they are such a help in Bible study. This country, with its different limits, has been called by vario names at different times. It was called "Canaan " after Noah's gran son and his descendants (Gen. xvii. 8). From the descendants of Jaco it became "The land of Israel" (2 Ki. v. 2). And from the Philistin who inhabited the southern coasts, came its name Palestine" (Is xiv. 29). It is also spoken of as "the world, the earth, or the land (Luke ii. 1; Acts xi. 28; Luke iv. 25). "The holy land" is als a Scripture expression. "The land of promise," is another beautif name given to it in remembrance of GOD'S promise to Abraham. W would suggest to our readers to search for all the titles of this "hol land." Palestine may be divided into several regions, "distinguished by climate, vegetation, and general aspect." There is "the great Jordar Valley and Region of depression," extending from the sources of the Jordan on the sides of Mount Lebanon ; including the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, and on to the gulf of Akaba. The remarkable descent of this valley from 500 ft. above the level of the sea, to 1,300 ft. below it is like no other valley. "It is this deep furrow which has caused the marvellous variety of climate, products and scenery, which are the characteristics of the land." There are trees and plants in parts of it which require a cold climate, and round the sea of Galilee, "there are palm trees which require hot air; fig trees and olives grow near them which yet require an air that is more temperate. This place supplies grapes and figs continually during ten months of the year, and the rest of the fruits as they become ripe together, through the whole year.” Lower down the Jordan valley there are many special parts "where the climate is truly tropical. Even in the depth of winter the thermometer ranges from 60 to 80 degrees. The corn is ripe in March, and melons ripen in winter, and indigo is largely cultivated, and many other products of the torrid zone abound." How fully these accounts THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 41 correspond with God's descriptions of "the land of promise," which we have in Deuteronomy and other places (Deut. viii. 7-9; Ex. iii. 8). Another special "Region" is that of "The Plains," which extends along the sea coast from Lebanon southwards, and is divided into (1) "the sea-side" (Deut. i. 7) from Lebanon to Carmel, (2) Sharon (1 Chr. xxvii. 29; Cant. ii. 1) from Carmel to Joppa, (3) Philistia (Psa. lx. 8) from Joppa on to the desert. There are but few sea ports. Joppa, now Jaffa, is the chief one (Jon. i. 3; Acts x. 5, 6). It is the port for Jerusalem. "Some parts of these maritime plains are of surpassing richness, yielding in profusion the crops of Southern Europe, corn, millet, and abundance of fruits, with rich gardens and orchards round the cities. In these plains frost is unknown, and the harvests rarely suffer from drought, so abundant is the drainage from the hills (this 'hill country region' we shall hope to study next time), and so copious are the rains of autumn and winter." There is also "the plain of Jezreel" or "the valley of Megiddo" (Jud. vi. 33; 2 Chron. xxxv. 22), "the battlefield of nations," which connects the Jordan valley with the plain of the coast. It is here the river Kishon runs. We would learn a great deal if we searched out the various incidents connected with these and other places of which we shall be reading. THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. HOW DO YOU PRAY? BY EVA EVERED POOLE. Do not ask you if you pray, but how you pray? I wonder if you understand me? I should not dream of asking you if you talk to your earthly ather, but it is a natural question to ask you how you talk to hito. "Oh," you say, "I talk to father —well, just all that I want to say, and I tell him all I have done, and all I want to do, I ask him what he thinks about it." Quite right! I daresay you often climb on your father's knee and say, "darling father," and stroke his hair and kiss his face. I want you, when you pray to your heavenly Father, dear children, not to be content with only saying the prayers to God that have been taught you, and that you never vary day after day, or night by night, but before you pray to stop and think: 66 And God is ray Father, and I am His little child for Jesus' sake. I |