knowledge, and yet rejoicing that at such times, and in such places, the good news is preached, and souls gathered in.

To the readers of the Children's Hour I would say, ‘Be thankful, be very thankful to God who has provided you your Christian homes and Christian instruction. Remember, too, that you must give an account of all this in the Great Day. How awful it will be if some of those theatre children, who have heard of Jesus and His love in this passing way, should rise up in the judgment and condemn those who have 'from a child known the Holy Scriptures,' but who have refused the Saviour's invitations, and resisted the Spirit's work! D. M.

THE CHILDREN'S SONG OF PRAISE.
(From the German.)

COME, children, hearken to my word,

Come raise with me a song—
A song of praise to Christ our Lord:
He comes, He comes, ere long.
'Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!'

Our Master's foes would silence us;

'But He says'-let us reply

'That when we cease to praise Him thus,

The very stones would cry

Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!'

And so we will proclaim His praise

Aloud with heart and tonguë;

Thus make our joy be known always,

Till far and wide is sung

'Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!'

X. X.

T

THE Chinese city of Canton (surrounded by its famed wall) lies before us. A high mountain overlooks it; and on three or four little hills stand forts, which command the town. These forts are occupied by Tartar soldiers; but it is now a time of war, and English troops have received the command to assault the city, and take the forts. Yonder they come, a brave little handful of men, not only soldiers, but also a party of sailors, the company of a vessel moored near the city.

The first to scale the height, and, pistol in hand,

mount the breach, is a young sailor, the middy of our first picture, William Thornton Bate. A ball strikes him below the chin, he is covered with blood, but he fights bravely on, the Tartars flee, and the British forces have gained possession of the fort, which now goes by the name of the 'Blue Jacket's Height.' Bate's wound proved a slight one, and his bravery was rewarded by his being promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

Young as he was, he was earning himself a name for quiet decision and readiness to face any danger. In after years, one writing of him said, 'Bate is always ready for a desperate service, for he is prepared to die;' and even when he stood in the breach at the Fort of Canton, he could look death calmly in the face, knowing that for time or eternity he was safe in Jesus. Ever since the day he stood at his father's grave, in the ocean-girded island, he had been pressing on towards the kingdom.

When he was made mate of the 'Blenheim,' a line-ofbattle ship, one of the officers made in his diary the entry:'1841, March 19,-W. Thornton Bate exchanged into our ship from the " Melville." We were rejoiced to find he was 66 on the Lord's side," and he soon made one in our midst.' In the 'Blenheim,' Bate found a little band who served the Lord. Night after night for months they met (in a narrow close cabin) for Bible-reading and prayer, and there they spent many pleasant moments. True, some mocked and sneered at them, calling them in derision by the name of ' Blue Lights;' and no doubt it cost them many an effort to bear it all patiently; but their eyes were on Jesus, and they remembered how He had said, 'If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more they of His household ?' and surely the servants would not be greater than their Master. But, notwithstanding all trial, Bate and his friends were happy

inen.

One of the band, writing long afterwards, says of the meetings held in the little cabin: 'We all felt those seasons were amongst the most happy of our lives.'

Soor after the assault at Canton, Lieutenant Bate

was made assistant to Captain Collinson in a surveying expedition, and proved so skilful in the work, that ere long he was chosen to survey the coasts of the islands to the east of China, and was made commander of the 'Royalist.' The duty was a very arduous one, requiring constant watchfulness and able seamanship; and whilst discovering the many hidden reefs and shoals of that dangerous coast, and making a chart of them for the safety of other vessels, he was often exposed to great dangers, and had to spend many lonely nights on those distant shores; but he cheered them up by communion with his God, and made them bright with the lamp of His word.

For years Bate continued the work of surveying, now in one vessel, now in another. Of one ship, the 'Bittern,' he writes: 'It may be said that darkness covers the ship, and gross darkness her company.' But, with God's help, he set to work to reform it-began daily worship, and himself conducted divine service on the Sundays. Ere long, a great change was observed in the whole of the crew. Attracted to their captain by his constant kindness, and beaming happy face, they were led to think of Him whom he so loved and served, and whose service, he could tell them by experience, was one of joy; and in writing home, ere long, Captain Bate could say of all the crew, 'The fellows are happy, and so am I.'

Of whatever vessel he was commander, he soon became loved by all; and the sailors came to regard themselves as fortunate fellows when they got him as captain. When commander of the 'Royalist,' one Christmas day he received a letter, signed by all the ship's company, thanking him for the kind fatherly treatment they had received from him, and saying, in their own way, that it had been their lot to sail with many captains, not one of whom were fit to be a patch upon his back, and begging him to accept a small trifle from them as a token of their regard and esteem. I dare say my young readers would like to know that the present was a beautiful filigree

silver card-case, of Chinese workmanship; and don't you think that Captain Bate would be very pleased both with it and the letter?

Faithful in the service of the King of kings, he was unwearied in performing all the duties of his profession. His clear head, firm hand, and eagle eye, were ever ready for service; and one well fitted to judge (the admiral under whom he served) said o him: 'Wherever duty is to be done, or difficulty or danger to be met, there Captain Bate is to be found.' He possessed also, in a remarkable degree, the power of making friends; the bright and holy expression of his countenance drawing all hearts to him, and, like a sunbeam, shedding light and joy around him. Like the Master he served, he dearly loved and was loved by children, from the baby in arms, to the schoolboy, or young middy, loving to share their sports, and make them happy. To a young triend in England, he writes thus: 'Let me entreat you to remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, and not to put it off, as many do, till a more convenient season. God is better pleased when young people dedicate themselves to Him, than He is when they only give the iragments of old age to Him.'

And these words are as applicable to the readers of the Children's Hour as they were to the little boy to whom they were addressed by the noble-hearted 'Christian Seaman.' M. H.

THE SHEPHERD AND HIS FLOCK.

THERE is a fold, a happy fold,

Where pastures green are found;

Beside it quiet waters flow,

And shady trees abound.