full of armed, reckless men. Theirs was an elegantly-furnished mansion, but it is so no more. The fine carpets have been transformed into horse blankets. The fine chairs into convenient fuel. The parlor into a bivouac ground and the sleeping rooms into tents for soldiers, who have ransacked and torn out the bureau drawers, helped themselves to everything, eaten the chickens, robbed the meathouse and driven off the live stock.

After two days of pillage, they depart, leaving all behind them a desolation. The poor lady only escaped personal insult by placing herself and little ones in the care of the two officers, who in turn watched by the door of a small loom-house, where she had taken refuge on the arrival of the party; by entreaties she prevailed on them to spare her a shelter. They did not burn the main building at that time at least. Such are some of the sacrifices now being made by the loyal citizens of East Tennessee. Will we not sympathize with them, and come to their help; how often have I heard these poor sufferers exclaim, "Oh, if our friends at the North could only know all we have to endure, they would not be indifferent to our call for assistance; but they do not know." The object, therefore, of these papers is to furnish this knowledge and to incite the Christian patriot to renewed efforts, in the direction of aid societies, on behalf of these noble martyrs of liberty, who are willing to suffer the loss of all things, rather than that the national interests should suffer: would that, through this instrumentality, we could incite to a more effective support, both by ministers and people, of those who, already in the field, are there crippled in their exertions by a limited supply of munitions and men. The work, the war, is God's, and it will accomplish that for which it has been permitted, whether we lend a helping hand or not. Let us, however, beware lest we fall under the condemnation of those who "Came not to the help of the Lord against the mighty." God has seen the affliction of the slave and is come down to deliver him, until this is effected the war will not terminate, and no friend of humanity should desire that it would. True it is a fearful engine, but it is under the control of a beneficient Providence who is educing through its instrumentality a more exalted civilization, not only for this country but for all nations on the face of the earth.

BIBLE READER'S REPORT.

It has been our privilege to comfort and relieve some who suffered by the fearful riot. Three families," despoiled of their goods," were provided with bed-coverings, by piecing cradle-quilts together; our Dorcas-room at that time supplying no larger ones. By careful arrangement we made three out of ten, thus, instead of the kind work of little hands, covering ten cradles, it helps, in this instance, to keep warm three families, consisting of nine

persons. One family, consisting of two sisters, one of whom, a suffering invalid, whose husband is in the army, was performing the last duty of earth to her only child, on the first day of the riot. A kind gentleman met her when returning from the grave, and took her to a place of safety. It was a week before she could return to her desolate home. The next family are two widows, a mother, with a little boy, and an aged aunt. The other family consists of a mother, with three little ones; so the ten quilts, dear childreu, have all gone to households at present fatherless.

Mrs. P, the mother of one of our Industrial School children, applied to us for some infant's garments, she is a widow in the worst sense of the term; her husband being she knows not where. She has a sickly child of nearly two years, who cannot sit alone. On looking over our limited Dorcas-room supply, in a pair of clouded stockings, we found this note, "My dear little Willy's, he is gone. Sally A. Jacobs." We will say to little Willy's mother, those stockings are keeping warm little feet that we think will never walk till they walk where Willy does, in the streets of the New Jerusalem,

To Mrs. K. we gave a bandage for an ulcerated limb; when we handed it to her, she said, "O, thank you! thank you, if you had not given this to me, I must have gone without it,

for I have nowhere else to look."

Mrs. W., a widow of fourscore years, whom death has made childless, supports herself by sewing and crocheting. We were enabled to supply that, which upon inquiry, we found to be her greatest present need.

To Mrs. G., another widow, not as aged, but nearly blind, gave a quilted skirt; she, too, by death's doings, is written childless.

Mrs. B., a crippled widow, from whom an estimable daughter has been lately removed by death, and whose only son has returned from the army an invalid, received a dress and comforter.

Mr. P., the German invalid soldier, previously referred to, has received some assistance from our missionary fund.

16th. Called repeatedly at the City Hall in behalf of Mr. F. who has been ill since the 5th of May. Mr. F. said, "If I could go to Germany, I think I might get well, but I have no means." By perseverance we obtained a promise that his passage should be paid if he decided to go. After consulting with his physician, and finding that he considered that the voyage would be deleterious instead of beneficial, Mr. F. decided not to leave his family, to whom he seems tenderly attached, and it was impossible for them to go with him. We pray that he may not be without a berth in the great ship of salvation when death shall call.

20th. Mrs. E. G., a relic of the last century, listened with tearful attention as we read part of the sermon on the mount, and said, "It seems but yesterday since I stood by my mo

ther's side and repeated those same verses." Have also read to-day to Mrs. K., aged seventy, Mrs. K., ninety-two, also Mrs. G., all widows. The three first lean on children, the last mentioned on a grandchild for support.

26th. Three dollars were handed us to-day for Mr. and Mrs. K., and fifty cents for Mrs. K.'s little Ellen. E. is a member of Home Industrial School No. 1, and the committee will add from the missionary fund enough to buy her a pair of shoes. If our dear little friend who earned the fifty cents by picking the fragrant hops, could have seen the bright smile on Ellen's face when we told her that a dear child in the country had worked hard to earn shoes for her, because she was so kind to her sick mother and dear baby sister, I am sure she would have felt very happy, for it was the Lord Jesus who said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." We would like to send for a present to-day to all of our dear Home contributors, Psalm 41st., 1, 2 and 3d

verses.

To Mr. K. I read the part of the letter that referred to him, and will transcribe for the "friend of the needy," his own words, "I never forget to pray for those who are so kind to us and I will remember that lady's children daily, and pray that the Holy Spirit may make His dwelling-place in their hearts and make them pillars in the temple of our Lord." As we rose to leave, Mr. K. said, "I should feel sorry to think that our kind friend had given away this money, but I know she has not; she has only lent it to One who will surely pay her again." "Yes," we replied, "with good meaMr. K. took up the words, "Pressed down, shaken together and running over, shall be given into her bosom in this world and in the world to come life everlasting, and that this may be hers and her children's I will ever pray."

sure.

The donors to the Home are just as much remembered in the incense from the poor that is offered before the Throne, when their donations come directly to the Society, as when they come to individual cases. We would say to dear friends, that from our present stand-point we think donations to the Society best, still we do not wish to interfere with any donor's preferences.

During the last month we have made about three hundred calls, and have found but three houses where no one would accept a tract or hear the Bible read. It is encouraging to think that the good seed can be thus widely diffused, for it is not for us to say where is or where is not the good ground.

We have had a neighborhood prayer-meeting for five weeks. Nine has been the largest

number that have assembled, two of these expressed a desire to flee from the wrath to May this desire be quickened, till they shall cry, "What shall we do to be saved?"

come

H. R. 8.

OBITUARIES.

DIED, at Brimfield, Mass., on the 8th of August last, Mrs. Lucy Bishop, relic of Dea. Jacob Bishop, aged 83.

The estimable lady, who is the subject of this notice, too long delayed, was for many years, with her respected husband, a much loved parishioner of the writer, and he would offer these few lines, for the columns of the Guardian, as a small tribute to her memory. She was received to the church in Brimfield in the year 1814, and for nearly fifty years adorned her Christian profession, not so much by any one brilliant act, as by her steady, consistent, and exemplary piety, Christian simplicity, and godly sincerity, eminently marking her character. Her soul was bound up in the cause of her blessed Master, and the spirit of the inquiry was always on her lips, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do." The various operations of Christian benevolence found a warm place in her heart, and according to her means, she freely cast of her substance into the "treasury of the Lord." The Home, socalled, was dear to her heart. She made herself a life-member of the Americau Female Guardian Society, was a uniform subscriber for the Guardian, and has left in her last will twenty-five dollars, in aid of the benevolent objects, for which this valuable paper is the "Advocate."

Mrs. Bishop came to the grave in a good old age, as a shock of corn fully ripe. She died in faith. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." "The memory of the just is blessed."

Palmer, Dec., 1863.

J. N.

DIED, in Burlington, April 8, 1863, Mrs. Calista P. Smith, aged 64 years and 10 months. Through a long illness she bore her intense sufferings with great patience, and looked eagerly forward to the time when she should be called hence, to be here no more. In her the poor ever found a kind and generous friend, for with ready hands and willing heart, she ever ministered to their necessitios. For many years the "Home for the Friendless " was her especial object of benevolence, and many an aching heart has been comforted by the temporal blessings bestowed through her means. In no place is her loss so deeply felt as in her own home, but may this family circle, thus broken for the first time, look forward to a perfect re-union in a purer realm.

DIED, in Livonia, of congestion of the lungs, very suddenly, Mrs. Susan Fowler, in the 76th year of her age.

The deceased took a deep interest in all objects of benevolence. She loved to do good. Her religion, as is all true religion, was expansive and aggressive. She lived for others more than for herself, and above all for Christ.

The Guardian Society, from the first received her cordial and liberal support. The town Auxiliary Society, of which she was president,

has been kept alive these many years, mainly through her exertions. The object of the society, as well as the success which attended its efforts, seemed to her to call for much larger contributions, and a more general sympathy than it received. No one, I am sure, has been more regular in its support, or more liberal in A friend to the proportion to her means. friendless, a mother of the motherless, and kind and generous to all. She has gone to receive her reward, which we cannot doubt will be a

crown of life."

May many be raised up to imitate her Christian example and to honor her Lord. Сом. Livonia, Nov. 28th, 1863.

DIED, in Pavilion, July 5th, Mrs. Freelove M. Fay, aged 63. Mrs. Fay died as the Christian dieth-happy in the Lord. She had been but a few months a member of the church, but in the mean time had been an active Christian; she gave the best evidence of her faith in Christ, and when suddenly brought to a dying bed, the question was asked her how she felt in regard to living or dying, she replied, "Not my will but Thine be done." The family, the church, and the community deeply mourn and feel her loss. But what was our loss is her gain. May the Lord sanctify her death to the good of all who witnessed her calmness and happy state of mind, in the prospect of death. She died as none but the Christian dieth. Bless God for religion.

For the Advocate and Guardian. SELF-SACRIFICE.

COUSIN Emma and I had been out making calls; upon leaving the stately mansion where Mrs. Carter dwells, we turned our steps homeward. As lights began to twinkle in the windows, we quickened our pace, thinking of the dear ones at home awaiting our coming.

"Mrs. Carter is a model housekeeper," was the remark made by Cousin Emma Waldo. I replied, "With wealth and the best of servants at her command, the work she does on earth, is to keep house well."

"I know, Alice," resumed Mrs. Waldo, "you will say Mrs. Carter should live for something higher. I understand all this, and yet I never go to that house without contrasting the magnificence and order there found, with the plainness of my own home, where I toil so wearily, with but little apparent success. My tastes are refined; luxurious surroundings seem to be a necessity of my nature. I care not for frivolous display, yet it is hard to forego intellectual culture, and many other refined joys, which tend to elevate both the social and the moral nature. I love my husband and children because they are dear to me, I toil to bring them home comforts, and yet I do it all in the spirit of martyrdom, ever feeling that I was created for something higher than drudgery."

"Yes, my cousin," I replied, “ many of us have not only to carry the cross, but have also to wear the crown of thorn, and because

different persons are differently constituted, what is torture to one, would be unfelt by another. I always loved you the more, because you so cheerfully gave up music and painting, that you might devote yourself to your children. Remember your refined taste exerts an untold influence over the character which each of those children is forming, and when you reflect how talented an amiable they all are, you should take courage, and realize that, in this life, you are doing something higher than drudgery. If the choice was granted you, you would not renounce your refined nature, and take in exchange the wealth and temperament of Mrs. Carter.

"Soul refinement is a gift from the hand of God, far more precious than the boon of wealth. For you,

"There is a story in every breeze,

And a picture on every wave.'

"You must form the acquaintance of Mrs. Barton, whose husband is Mr. Carter's partner. When they first came to the place, both Mrs. Barton and Mrs. Carter were very gay, giving entertainments, and mingling much in society. Before one year had passed away, Mrs. Barton was greatly afflicted, in the loss of a beloved sister, who on her dying bed, bequeathed her infant daughter to the care of Mrs. Barton.

"During the following winter Mrs. Barton experienced a hope in Christ. Mr. Barton, not being a Christian himself, could not comprehend the inner life, from which his wife drew after she found peace in believing. The next spring, as usual, he went East for goods; upon his return home, he brought with him a little orphan girl, from one of the benevolent institutions of the city, saying, "Mary, I have brought you a nurse-girl, now you must go out in the open air, and see if you can find the roses that have faded away from your cheeks.”

"For a few weeks Mrs. Barton seemed to renounce care. She was lovely and so changed, no longer vain, but spiritual. When the public school opened she went back to the nursery, and every morning we would see Katy, satchel in hand on her way to school.

"I am one to whom Mrs. Barton grants the liberty of her rooms. As I entered her nursery this morning, she said, in her sweet way, 'I seldom indulge in apologies, however, I think it will be permissible this morning. I sat down in this confusion while baby is sleeping, that I might finish this coarse garment which I have been making for the purpose of assisting a poor woman, who is overtaxing herself, in order that she may buy a cheap sewing-machine.'

"She then spoke of the many mercies and blessings which God had conferred upon her, and among the highest of these she reckons the privilege of cultivating a self-sacrificing spirit. She spoke of her hopes for the future of her sister's child, and continued, 'It is a source of heartfelt joy to know, that by daily devoting myself to the care of this little one, I place within Katy's reach the education which will fit her to do good in years to come.'"

"Dear Alice," said cousin Emma, "your companionship has done my soul good. I will now go home, rejoicing in my treasures.

May I ever be mindful of God's mercies. I must know the dear friend of whom you have drawn so lively a picture."

Bidding each other good-night, I lingered a moment on the steps as my cousin turned away, repeating the lines,

"It is not all of life to live, Nor all of death to die."

A. B.

Children's Department.

WHAT THE CHILDREN ARE DOING.
A lady writes:

I have a small class of young girls in the Sunday-school. Since I took it, it has been my practice to have them come to see me every Saturday for an hour's instruction. I have often told them about the Home for the Friendless, and read them little pieces from your paper, about what young children had done for it, and very soon I found they were deeply interested, and wanted to do something themselves. This delighted me very much, and I told the dear children, I would call my little class "Charity Band," and they should come an hour earlier every Saturday, and I would teach them to sew and make little fancy and useful articles for the benefit of the Home. They were all so happy, and each one gave their mite, with which I bought a little gingham, etc., and they commenced to sew with a right good will. They have enjoyed very much making up the little box of things I send with this letter, and they all hope they will do the dear Home children as much good as it has done them to make them.

I must not forget to mention I have one dear little boy in my class, who was all alive in his anxiety to do something, too. He said he could not sew, but he could make something, and the little box in the large one contains his contribution. I also enclose in this twenty-five cents he wished me to send to the Home.

From a teacher in Ohio:

Mrs. Stone:-Will you accept this small offering from teacher and pupils of a district school, for your dear children. Out of the poverty of our purses, but from the richness of our sympathy for your noble work, have we contributed our mite. ($1.14.)

Well done.-Dear Mrs. Stone,When I saw a notice in the Advocate, requesting each subscriber to furnish an article for the Bazaar, I wished to do something also; but mother thought it would be helping the Society more to get subscribers for the Advocate. I have succeeded in obtaining thirteen new subscribers for one year, for which I enclose six dollars and a half. Your little friend, L. S.

TWO SONS.

I HAVE two sons, wife,
Two, and yet the same:
Both are only one, wife;
Bearing but one name;

The one is bearded, sunburnt, grim, and dwells across the sea;

The other is a little child who sits upon your knee.

The other is be;

Only one is here, wife,

Free from scath and harm;

I can hear his voice, wife,.
All about the farm.

a great, strong man, wherever he may

But this one, shadowy and dim, is sitting on your knee.

One is fierce and cold, wife,
With a wayward will;

He has passed through fire, wife,
Knowing good and ill;

He has tried our hearts for many a year-not broken them-for he

Is still the stainless little one that sits upon your knee.

One did wilful wrong, wife,
Bringing us to shame ;
Darkened all the farm, wife,
Blotted our good name;

And when our hearts were big with grief, he sailed across the sea

But still we keep the little son that sits upon your knee.

One was rash and dark, wife, Would have say for say; Furious when child, wife,

He went his wilful way;

His voice in sinful rage was loud within the farm; but he

Remained the crowing little one who sat upon your knee.

One may fall in fight, wife,

Is he not our son?

Pray with all your heart, wife,
For the wayward one;

Pray for the dark, rough soldier, who fights across

the sea, Because you love the little one who smiles upon your knee.

One in sinful fight, wife,
As I speak, may fall;
But this one at home, wife,
Cannot die at all.

They both are only one: and how thankful we should be,

That we cannot lose the darling son who sits upon your knee! Temple Bar.

Sir Fowell Burton.

REPORT OF DANBURY FEM, GUAR. SOC.

October 30th, 1863.

THIS is the fifth Annual Report of the doings of the Danbury Female Guardian Society. For five years this Society has had an existence. Those who compose its membership aim to do good in a quiet and unostentatious manner. We cannot embody in our Report surprising facts, or make remarkable statements, such as would be likely to bring us into great notoriety. We only seek so far to enlist the sympathies of the benevolent, as that they may be interested in our systematic plans for relieving the poor, assisting the friendless, and improving the morals of those who may come under our influence. Many times we have had occasion to search out the cause which we knew not; woes and wants have been brought to light, and perhaps, at the same time, the means of help and comfort. We like to have our members act in the capacity of visitors, we know it will be profitable for them sometimes to leave their pleasant homes, and learn how others, in different circumstances, must resort to strange expedients, and practice trying self-denial, to make a bare living. Then by calling from time to time upon some poor family in their district, they become acquainted with and specially interested in the individuals who compose it, and can with better judgment, contrive for their advancement. Many ladies have long done this work, and have become faithful almoners of the bounty which the public has from time to time placed in our hands for distribution. A goodly number of workers consented at the beginning of the year to enlist in our service and report at our meetings; their efforts were commendable and their reports interesting. During the summer our labors have been more abridged, and our meetings very thinly attended; we have even talked of giving up our organization. This we should be sorry to do, and we find that those whom we have consulted are unwilling that it should be done. Let our friends join with us heart and hand in promoting the objects of the Society. Let them volunteer as visitors, act as helpers, and encourage us by attending our monthly meetings.

Two little girls are at present under the care of the Society, they are in part supported by ns, in part by their parents. Miss Bull has charge of them and is doing her best for their advancement.

Applications are often made to us by those wishing to take children to bring up or to do domestic service for a longer or shorter period. At almost every meeting the case of some child is presented, who may be employed in this way, and we have many times responded to such applications.

Some months since, our Treasurer, Mrs. Huntington, left town, and our President, Mrs. Botsford has since kindly attended to the business of that department. We deplore the severe illness of our President, and pray that she

this entreaty indicated the weight resting upon the spirit, the sense of urgent needs that could only be met by divine aid. How many parting moments have been made memorable by these last words, while their echo has still been heard deep in the heart, when loved ones were off upon the trackless deep, or on some heathen shore.

"Pray for us." How impressive has been this appeal, coming from voices made tremulous by a crushing sense of sin and danger, or joyful with the hope of salvation. How deep must have been the feeling of awe resting upon that nightly gathering, when, in direct answer to prayer, prison bonds were loosed, and Peter stood before the gate.

Could we enumerate the many manifest answers to prayer from that day to the present, let the mind dwell upon them in the light of the precepts and promises of the Hearer of prayer, would not the review strengthen our faith, and make the privilege of prayer seem doubly precious? With such facts fully present as the history of the church in all ages has given, might we not look with more earnest hope upon the cloud of prayer, so long ascending daily for our stricken country?

terhood called the Daughters of Mary, in which, on payment of so much a year, almost all the women of our capital were enrolled.

Every year, from the 8th of November to the 8th of December, the day of the Immaculate Conception, lasted a splendid festival, in ing prodigality of incense, of lights of oil, which orchestral music, singing, and astonishliquid gas, wax, and every luminous combustible in the world, glittered and flared in every part, in the cornices, in the ceiling, and particularly on the high altar. Every right the church blazed with a sea of flame, and fluttered with clouds of muslin and gauze draperies. It could only be lighted up in time by be

ginning in the middle of the afternoon, and the work of extinguishing was only ended when the night was far advanced.

A priest named Ugarte, headed that Sisterhood from the beginning, and' worked his way down to such a depth of superstition. that one of the least of his extravagances was the invention of a Celestial post-office trick, by which the Daughters of Mary might correspond with the Virgin in writing. At the entrance of the temple the Virgin's letter-box was constantly open, and there persons of a robust faith deposited in sealed letters their wishes and their prayers. Every Wednesday that letter-box for eternity was placed before the high altar, and Ugarte, who acted as postman between the Mother of God and her daughters, exhibited to the divinity those offerings-of course keeping that singular correspondence to himself.

This same mountebank got up a religious raffle for the favor of the Virgin-in a recent instance two prizes being drawn by a skeptical Miniser of State and a woman whose character was not dubious. The old times of pagan idolatry had resuscitated in the center of exaggerated Catholicism.

A few minutes before 7 in the evening of Tuesday, the 8th of December, more than 3,000 women and a few hundred men knelt in

For the space of three years what incentives have there been for prayer for our nation; and surely at the present time these incentives are in no wise lessened. Needed help-safe deliverance from foes near and distant, within and without, can be expected only through the channel of peni-that church crammed to overflowing. Howtent, believing prayer. Were every Christian heart thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Luther and John Knox, how soon might the nation be prepared to see the salvation of God, in the restoration not only of peace, but of universal freedom. "When the Son of Man cometh shall He find faith on the earth?" "O, that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion."

AN APPALLING CATASTROPHE,

THOSE Conversant with the daily papers have been apprised of the terrible calamity that occurred in Santiago, the capital of Chili, S. A., on the evening of Dec. 8th, 1863, occasioning the sudden death by fire of some two thousand human beings, mostly young women and children. The account given by a writer in the Valparaiso Mercu ry, is as follows:

"Ever since the newly-invented mystery of the Immaculate Conception of Mary was declared at Rome, in 1857, the church of the Company, formerly belonging to the Jesuits, had become the focus of devotion of a vast Sis

ever that did not prevent a compact mass of fanatics from attempting to fight their way in from the steps, because it was the last night of the Month of Mary, and no one could bear to lose the closing sermon of the priest, Ugarte. Then Eizaguirre, the Apostolic Nuncio and favorite of Pius IX, the founder of the American college at Rome, was to preach also. It is said that Ugarte, wounded in his feelings as chaplain of the "Daughters of Mercy," because Eizaguirre had told him that the illuminations of his church could not be compared with what he had seen in Rome, exclaimed with enthusiasm: "I will give him, when he comes to preach, such an illumination as the world has never seen. Nobody can deny that Ugarte has kept his word?

dles had hardly finished when the liquid gas in a transparency on the high altar, set on fire its woodwork and wrapped in flames a kind of tabernacle wholly composed of canvas, pasteboard and wood. In less than two minutes

Indeed the lighting of the lamps and can

the altar, about 23 yards high and 10 broad, was an inextinguishable bonfire.

The advance of the fire was perhaps even more rapid than the panic of the audience. When the fire had flown from the altar to the roof, the whole flock of devotees rushed to the principal door. Only those near the lateral doors, were able to escape at the first alarm. Then, the flames having crept along the whole roof, and consequently released the lamps of

oil and liquid gas from the cornices to which they were strung, a rain of liquid, blue fire poured down upon the entangled throngs below.

A new and more horrible conflagration broke out then in that dense living mass, and in less than a quarter of an hour two thousand human beings had perished.

The immediate effect of this terrible disaster upon the people is thus discribed.

"The population of Santiago, so supine and so priest-ridden, is fired with indescribable indignation at the monstrous conduct of the priests. The public conscience holds them guilty of the death of all these victims-and particularly the mountebank Ugarte, the inventor of the Virgin's Post-Office imposture, (vide Fortnightly Review), because by collecting together all the material most likely to produce a fire-a countless number of lights, pasteboard scenery and muslin hangings, admitting a vast crowd-and covering the one door open with a screen, they took every pains to bring about this tragedy. When the fire broke out and people were escaping by the sacristy, they blocked up this door to devote themselves the more undisturbedly to saving their gim-cracks. The list of things saved makes one's blood run cold. What the priests saved, what they have put away in cigar-shops and the houses in front are a gilt image, some wooden saints, a sacred sofa or two, some books, chalices, silver candlesticks, and a great deal of sacred matting and carpet!

After saving their trash, these specimens of the good shepherds, that give their lives for their sheep, flew away in company with the owls and bats that infested the ancient walls, except that one priest favored the agonizing victims with his absolution, and Ugarte requested them to die happy, because they went direct to Mary. They then forsook the scene, and in that awful night, when fainting women and desperate inen strewed the streets, and writhing forms, that a few hours ago were graceful and beautiful maidens, moaned and died in chemist's shops, not a priest was to be seer to whisper a word of Christ's comfort to the dying ear, or hold the precious crucifix before the glazing eye."

This most awful calamity-though occuring in a distant city-has its lessons that come directly to our homes and hearts. The horrible idolatry and blasphemy presented in the foreground of the terrible picture, the youth and comparative innocence of most of the deluded victims, whose baptism of fire will be told throughout Christendom, and the heartless selfishness of the guilty leaders, manifestly responsible for this wholesale "funeral pile," are features that cannot fail to fix the attention of thoughtful minds, and like the opening of the Inquisition in another age, may help to break the apathy of the churches, and enable them to discern more clearly the difference between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. "When Thy judgments are abroad in the earth, then will the inhabitants thereof learn righteousness."