that which will be yielded as a matter of right. Oh, let us all pray and labour for that happy time.

SHAPHAN READING THE LAW.
2 Chronicles, xxxiv., 18.

JOSIAH, one of the good kings of Judah. He was only eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one

and-thirty years. In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young (only sixteen), he began to seek after the God of David his father, and to purge Judah and Jerusalem, from the high places and the groves, and the carved images and the molten images. And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence, and the images that were on high above them he cut down, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces and made dust of them, and strewed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.

When religion is revived the Word of God is more precious and more generally read; and so here Josiah caused the Word of God to be read to him, that he might be further instructed in the ways of the Lord. Let us in all our ways consult God's Word; for it teaches kings how to reign, families how to conduct themselves, business men how to carry on their business, and even children how they may behave so as to be loved of God and man.

SCIENCE FOR CHILDREN.

CHAPTER VII.-ASTRONOMY.

T our last conversation about astronomy our attention was given to the earth, but we must say a little about the moon this time, if my young friends would like to know anything concerning it.

HERBERT. "We shall be very glad to know something about the moon, so will you please tell us how large it is ?"

"Its diameter is two thousand one hundred and eighty miles, or a little more than one quarter the diameter of the earth."

BERTHA. "If it is so large as that, how is it that it appears so small ?"

"On account of its great distance. Have you not observed that when anything is a great way off it looks much smaller than when it is near? A chimney-pot looks small when on the top of the chimney, but it is found to be much larger when seen on the ground than it appeared when so high up. If you observe a kite also, you will see that as it rises and gets further away, it appears to become smaller, until it is little more than a speck in the sky. So the moon appears small because it is very distant."

ANNIE. "What is the distance from the earth to the moon ?" “It is two hundred and forty thousand miles."

HERBERT. "Why that is nearly a quarter of a million miles; how long would it take a railway-train to go all that distance if it was an express ? "

"Well, supposing it could travel at the rate of forty miles an hour, night and day, without once stopping for water or coals, it would have to go on and on for two hundred and fifty days before it

could accomplish the distance at which the moon travels round the earth."

ANNIE. "How long does it take the moon to travel round the earth ? "

"Nearly twenty-eight days."

BERTHA. "Does the moon revolve on its own axis like the earth does ?

"Yes; and it requires just as much time to turn round on its own axis as it does to travel round the earth."

HERBERT. "What is the reason why the moon does not give us as much light as the sun? Is it because the sun is larger ?"

"No, that is not the reason, for though the moon is smaller, it is much nearer than the sun; but it does not give us so much light because it has no light except that which it receives from the sun. The sun gives light to the moon, and the moon reflects the light or throws it off to the earth."

ANNIE. "How does it do that ?"

Just in the same way that a mirror or a window reflects light. On a clear evening when the sun is setting, if you just turn your hack to the sun, and look at the windows of houses on which the sun is shining, they appear very bright by reflecting the sun's rays; so the bright appearance of the moon is due to the light it receives from the

sun.

HERBERT. "But how does it happen that we sometimes see only half a moon, and sometimes only a quarter?"

"It happens in this way: that side of the moon on which the sun is shining is sometimes turned half away from us, and when it is so we can see only half the bright side. The dark side is there all the time, but we cannot see it, simply because the sun is not shining on it, and therefore it cannot reflect any light."

BERTHA. "Will you please tell us what is meant by a new moon, and a crescent, and the other names used in speaking of the moon's changes?"

"When the sun is shining on that side of the moon which is turned away from us, so that we cannot see the least bit of the bright side, we call her the new moon; then as soon as we can see a small part of the brightness we call her crescent; when half of the enlightened side can be seen she is called a half-moon; when rather more than half is visible she is called gibbous, and when the whole of the bright surface is turned to us we call her a full moon."

ANNIE. "When looking at the moon sometimes we have seen some dark places on its face as though it had two eyes and a mouth—what makes the dark places? "

"They are caused by deep holes or valleys; the moon's surface is very rugged, there are large hills and mountains, even large volcanoes have been seen sending out what looked like fire and smoke, something like the burning mountains on the earth. There is one bright

and mountainous part of the moon which some astronomers call Mount Etna."

HERBERT. "Is the moon of any use to the earth besides giving us light in the night-time ? "

"Yes, the tides are caused mainly by the moon."

BERTHA. "Please tell us about them, for when we were at the sea-side the water came high up, and then went down until it was low, and we did not know where the water came from, nor where it went to that is what you mean by the tide, isn't it?

66

It is, and these changes are caused by the moon's attraction. On whichever side of the earth the moon is, it draws a large quantity of water to that side, and so makes what is called high-tide; then as another part of the earth gets turned towards the moon the water is drawn away from that side where it was at first, and what is called low-tide is made."

HERBERT. "Then is it always high water at a place just at the time when the moon is nearest to that place?

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No, not exactly at the time when the moon is nearest to the place, but about two or three hours after."

ANNIE. "When it is high-tide at one side of the earth, is it always low-tide at the opposite side?"

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No, for there are always two high-tides; one on that side of the earth which is turned towards the moon, and the other on the opposite side."

ANNIE. "How is the one on the opposite side caused?

By the attraction which the moon exerts over the earth itself; the moon not only draws the water towards that side of the earth which is nearest to it, but it also draws the body of the earth away from the water which is on the opposite side, and so makes high-tide there."

HERBERT. "Does not the sun attract the water a little, or is it only the moon?"

"The sun does attract a little, but not nearly so much as the moon, and the sun's attraction is most seen during the spring-tides.' BERTHA. "What are the spring-tides?"

"They are the high-tides which we have when the attraction of the sun and the attraction of the moon are both in the same direction; they can only occur at new moon and when the moon is at the full. At these times the sun and moon are both drawing the water in the same direction, so that the tides are higher than at any other time." BERTHA. "What is the name given to the tides when it is neither new moon nor full moon?

"They are then called neap-tides, because they rise least." ANNIE. "How long does it take the tide to rise?"

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Nearly six hours, and in about fifteen minutes after it has ceased to rise it begins to fall; it falls for nearly six hours, and then, after remaining stationary for another fifteen minutes it commences to rise again."

HERBERT. "Then does one high-tide follow another in about twelve hours?"

"Yes, in a little more than twelve hours; so that if it is high-tide at six in the morning, it will be high-tide again at twenty minutes past six in the evening, and again at twenty minutes to seven the next morning."

BERTHA. "I think the moon is very useful to the earth in giving us light at nights, and in causing the tides to change; do you know whether the earth is of any use to the moon or not?

"Yes; the earth gives light to the moon during its long nights, which last very much longer than our nights do."

ANNIE. "Does the earth give as much light to the moon as the moon gives to the earth?"

"Yes, and more; for as the surface of the earth is greater than the surface of the moon, the earth can reflect more light, and must be a far more beautiful object if seen from the moon than the moon appears to us. If you can imagine a bright orb appearing about thirteen times larger than the moon looks to be, you will have some idea of the appearance which the earth presents if viewed from the moon."

BERTHA. "Do you know whether there is anyone living on the moon or not?"

"I have never been there to see, but some people believe the moon to be inhabited, and I know of no reason why it should not be so, for God has covered the earth with life everywhere, and He may have placed some of His creatures on the moon's surface. He is abundant in goodness, and it quite accords with what we know of His character to believe that He has formed creatures capable of living and enjoying themselves there, though the conditions of life on the moon must be greatly different from what they are here."

LITTLE CHARLEY'S TEMPTATION.

T was a pleasant afternoon in the spring when Charley asked leave to play in the garden: he had his little waggon, and as the gardener was clearing the borders he filled it with dead stalks and leaves, and wheeled it off.

Soon his little friend Hamilton came in to help him. They worked together with great glee, loading the waggon and drawing it away. You could hear their merry laugh as they sometimes in their hurry upset the load, and then had it all to pick up again. Charley's mother passed through the garden on her way to see a sick neighbour; she was glad to see the boys so happy, and then told them she liked to see them industrious.

After a little while Hamilton grew tired, and said: "Come, Charley, let us go down to the lake-shore, and see the men fishing."