A PAIR OF DUCKS FOR A BIBLE. NE poor woman, living in a lonely cottage in an out-of-the-way village, being called upon for the first time was asked to buy a Bible. I don't want one,' she replied. 'I have no time to read it, nor money to spend on it.' 6 May I come in and read a little of it to you?' the colporteur asked. 'You may please yourself,' was the somewhat ungracious reply. Entering the cottage the colporteur sat down, and read the parable of the prodigal son, in Luke xv., while the woman went on with her washing. Presently she stopped her work and sat down to listen, deeply interested in the wondrous story that came from the lips of the Saviour. When the colporteur had finished he talked to her of the love of God, and when he offered to pray she readily assented. After prayer, she enquired, 'What is the price of that book you have been reading out of?' He told her eighteen-pence; but she shook her head, she hadn't the money. What she had with her she was going to take out to buy meal for the pigs. But, look here!' she said, brightening up, 'I've got a pair of young ducks here; they'll be worth a couple of shillings in a few days. give me the book?' Of course he could not take the ducks in Will you take them and payment, but he let her have the book, and she promised to save up and pay him. He has since visited her twice, and he states that she is diligently reading the Bible; and though she is still in great darkness, the Spirit of God is evidently leading her into the light.-Report of Christian Colportage Association. SEED THOUGHTS FOR PREACHERS AND TEACHERS. I HAVE observed that a word cast in by-the-by hath done more execution in a sermon than all that was spoke besides; sometimes also when I have thought I did no good, then I did the most of all, and at other times when I thought I should catch them I have fished for nothing. John Bunyan. Men look at a man out of the pulpit to see what he is worth in it. -Richard Cecil. Many people fancy they have a fine command of language, when the fact is language has got a fine command of them.-Archbishop Whately. While thou seekest God in all things thou shalt find Him in all.— John Wesley. When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words than thy words without heart.-John Bunyan. When you cannot pray as you wish, pray at all events as you can. -Dean Goulburn. Do not be disturbed because you cannot serve God in your own way; you serve Him while accepting your infirmities in His own way, which is far better.-St. Francis de Sales. The globe has been circumnavigated, but no man ever yet has; you may survey a kingdom, and note the result in maps; but all the savants in the world could not produce a reliable map of the poorest human personality.-Alexander Smith. The poor are God's receivers, and the angels are His auditors.James Howell. GOD'S BEES. Great God Almighty, in Thy pretty bees -George Wither (1623). NOTICES OF BOOKS. Scenes and Adventures in Great Namaqualand. By the REV. BENJAMIN RIDSDALE. London: Ꭲ . Woolmer, 2, Castle-street, City-road, E.C.-A pleasant and modest account of earnest, faithful work amongst heathen tribes. In quiet, chatty fashion, the author tells the story of his mission-life, which was full of adventure, of dangers and deliverances, of toils and triumphs. We hope in an early number to refer more at length to this interesting work. Auriel, and other Stories. By RUTH ELLIOTT. T. Woolmer. Another volume of the late Ruth Elliott's stories is sure of a wide welcome. The principal story in this collection is a beautiful tale-really an allegory-full of pathos and quiet power. The shorter pieces are also well worth preserving, and illustrate the lamented authoress's varied gifts. This book should be in all Sunday-school libraries. Early Training, its Philosophy, its Nature, and its Worth. By the REV. J. TONGUE, B.A. Elliot Stock.--A little book on a great subject. It contains many valuable remarks and suggestions, and the spirit in which it is written is admirable. The Preparatory Greek Course in English. By W. C. WILKINSON, New York: Phillips and Hunt.-This volume is one of the After School Series,' the aim of which is to give to those whose early education has been scanty an opportunity of acquiring some knowledge of the classics; sufficient at least to make Homer, Xenophon, etc., something more to them than mere names. The design is good, and so is the execution. ASTRONOMICAL NOTICES FOR MAY, 1883. RISING AND SETTING OF THE SUN AND PLANETS FOR GREENWICH. 8h. after., Perigee 5h. morn., Apogee Mean distance for the month 6th, New Moon. 9h. 58m. after. 13th, First Quarter 10h. 54m. after. May 5th 22nd, Full Moon 3h. 12m. morn. 29th, Last Quarter 2h. 23m. after. MOON'S DISTANCES FROM THE EARTH. SUN'S DISTANCES FROM THE EARTH. May 1st June 1st Increase of distance for the month A TOTAL eclipse of the Sun may be witnessed in the South Pacific Ocean on May 6th. The obscuration begins on the Earth generally at 7h. 21m., and ends 27 minutes after midnight, Greenwich mean time. The orbit of the Comet which was discovered at Rochester, N.Y., on the 23rd of February, turns out like most of the others to be very nearly parabolic. The observations made at the Cambridge Observatory, March 3rd, 9th, and 15th, are represented with almost perfect accuracy by a barabola whose distance from the Sun at the nearest point is 70 millions of miles. The Comet reached this point on 1883, February 19th, 1h. 8m. 36s. before noon. The plane of the orbit is inclined to that of the ecliptic at an angle of no less than 78 degs., and intersects the ecliptic, where the Comet passes from the south to the north side, at a point 8 degs. in advance of the Tropic of Capricorn; just about where the Sun is on the 30th of December: and the perihelion, reckoning on the orbit, is 111 degs. eastward of this point. The Comet has not been identified with any one which has hitherto appeared. It was interesting object in a good telescope, round and nebulous, and a slight appearance of tail in a direction opposite to the Sun; but could not be seen in March with the naked eye. an 575,410 Mercury is an evening star, and may be easily seen with the naked eye after sunset, about the time of the greatest elongation, which takes place on the 14th, at 2h. in the afternoon, when the angular distance from the Sun is 22 degs., and the planet is more than 6 degs. farther north. It will be in conjunction with Saturn on the morning of the 2nd, and with the Moon on the morning of the 8th. On the 27th the apparent motion changes from direct to retrograde: next day the planet crosses the ecliptic southward. Venus rises about an hour before the Sun; on the 2nd it will be at its greatest actual distance from the Sun, on the 4th in conjunction with the Moon, and on the 10th very near to Mars. On the evening of the 24th it will be at its greatest distance southward from the ecliptic. Mars is in the same region of the heavens as Venus. At conjunction on the 10th the two objects will be visible at the same time in the field of an ordinary telescope. On the 4th it will be in conjunction with the Moon. Jupiter is an evening star. It will be near the Moon on the 9th, and very near to Mu Geminorum on the 23rd. On the evening of the 19th it crosses from the southern to the northern side of the ecliptic. This month is not favourable for observing the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites. HAZELL, WATSON, AND VINEY, PRINTERS, LONDON AND AYLESBURY. A MONGST our Connexional laymen, Mr. JOHN BEAUCHAMP, of Highgate, holds a deservedly high place. He was born at Newtownards, County Down, in the year 1829. His father, the late Rev. Robert Beauchamp, came of an old Norman family, which had for many generations been settled in Limerick and its neighbourhood; his mother, who still lives, is of Scotch descent. Mr. Beauchamp's father, who in early life had been passionately fond of hunting and other field sports, when he came under the power of the Gospel, joined the Methodist Society, and was soon called to the Ministry. His Ministerial career covered nearly half a century, from 1824 to 1873. A considerable part of his life was spent under the direction of the Missionary Society amongst the Roman Catholic population. He did his work faithfully and wisely, gaining the respect of the priests as well as the people. He was an unassuming, hard-working, godly man, JUNE, 1883. Ꭱ he was very attentive to pastoral duties, and much given to prayer; well read, and liked to take his only son with him in his walks or rides to his country appointments, and would talk with him about books and men, but especially about Methodism and Methodist affairs. Those conversations had a lasting influence on the boy's mind, and his visits to the farm-houses where his father preached gave him a knowledge of and a sympathy with country Methodism. Before he was fourteen Mr. Beauchamp entered the business establishment of a good Methodist, the late Mr. W. Paul, of Portadown, whose son and grandson still continue the business, and preserve the Methodist traditions of the family. In 1849 he came to London and entered the counting-house of Mr. Edwin Bliss, of Barbican, general factor. He joined the Society in connection with City Road Chapel, and met in the Class of which the late Rev. W. L. Thornton, M.A., was the Leader. Amongst the members were Mr. (afterwards Sir) Francis Lycett, Mr. H. H. Fowler, now M.P. for Wolverhampton, and other young men who have since become well known in the Church and the world. Mr. Beauchamp soon got to work, first as a teacher in the little Sunday-school held in Turner's Place, and afterwards, when he removed to the neighbourhood of Liverpool Road, as the leader of a Bible-class for young men, and as a Local-preacher. His spare time was devoted to careful prepara |