The Children's Page.

A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING, AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE.

IN

N the neat school-room of Daltry there were many good sayings printed in large letters and hung on the walls. Just over a slidingpress, in which were kept the books, slates, copies, and work of the children, was hung a board on which might be read, A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING, AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE.

To this board both master and mistress would point when the hour for closing the school arrived; and woe be to that boy or girl who failed to put slate, book, or work-bag in the right place.

Tom Thornton was a careless boy, and very conceited. He thought it was a great trouble to be obliged to wait till the others had put their things away before he could be off to play. He used to say in a low voice to his schoolfellows, "It's all stuff and nonsense being so particular;" and whenever he had a chance he would hide his things behind the desk, or poke them under the press; anything rather than do what he was told.

He was found out and forgiven several times, but at last the master told him the next offence should have its proper punishment; and accordingly, one day, to his desperate rage and confusion, he was flogged, not more for untidiness than for disobedience to rules. Now, while he felt the rod, and as long as he remembered the disgrace, Tom heartily hated the master, and the school, and the rules, for breaking which he was chastised. "When I am a big boy, won't I do just what I like, and put things where I please!"

he said to himself over and over again; yet, as he had no mind for a second flogging, he was very careful from that day to be as orderly as the board required. And, so strong is the power of habit, that, in time, he became one of the most orderly boys in the school. When the master had punished Tom he said to him, "You will thank me for this, one day, my lad." Tom thought to himself, "No, that I won't!" but conceited people are apt to be mistaken.

Tom grew up to be almost a man. He had had two or three places; and at one it was his work to keep a large old office neat, to sweep it, and arrange the things so that they might come to hand readily when looked for.

As he wanted more wages than his employer could give, he left this place for another, where he had been a considerable time when he heard that his old master was dead. "And his widow is in great trouble," said the who told him; "for, in making up person the accounts, she finds that her husband was in debt to some corn-factors a large sum of money. She believes that the money was paid, but she can't prove it, poor thing, so no doubt it will go against her."

Tom was sorry, for he had always liked his old mistress, and he thought to himself if he had remained with her, there would be no doubt, one way or the other, about the money; "for I always put the receipts in one drawer," he said, "and if there were any to show now,

THE LOST RECEIPTS ARE FOUND.

I should have known where to find them; but I know that Dick Harwood, who followed me, put things just as they happened to come."

A day or two after this he heard that there was to be a sale of his late master's goods. He went up to the house with a feeling of interest, and asked of the old servant how it was matters had come to this pass.

"Well," she answered, "it was owing to master's dying so suddenly; and then Dick declared he'd never seen these receipts; and though they've been rummaging in the office, and turned out all the chests and boxes, there's no sign of them."

"I showed Dick where to put everything," said Tom.

"Oh, I don't think he minded much about what you showed him," answered the old woman. "He's a careless sloven of a boy, and it was a bad day when he was engaged."

Tom stood and considered a little, and then said he wished he could see his mistress. When he was taken into the parlour, he asked if she could tell him what year the accounts belonged to, which she did.

"Then," he said, "if you'll let me go into the office I know where they ought to be, for I put all the receipts of that year at the back of the second drawer of the small chest, and so I told my master and Dick."

His mistress readily consented, and walking

up straight to the chest, which he found Dick had filled with his own clothes, old books, and other various things, he, with some difficulty, pulled out the second, which was too full to be closed, and at the back, wedged up tight between the drawer and the chest itself, were the lost papers.

"I knew they would be here," he cried out joyfully, "for this was the proper drawer for them; but you see Dick, instead of using it, has filled it with rubbish. Who would think of looking for papers of consequence among things like these?"

The relief to the widow, though great, hardly exceeded Tom's delight in having thus been able to render her so important a service.

She placed a handsome present in his hand, with which he went straight to the schoolmaster. "Do you remember flogging me once, sir," he said, "for being disorderly, and telling me the time would come when I should thank you for it? I thought I knew better,

but you were right and I was wrong. I have come now to thank you heartily for it, and for all you taught me; and I think the least I can do is to offer you the half of this, for I'm sure I owe it all to you."

The master shook hands with him, better pleased with his frank confession than he could have been with any reward.

"But I think," said Tom, "as the board is getting shabby, you might get it painted over again."

And so the schoolmaster did: a scarlet board, and on it, in letters as bright as gold could make them, A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING, AND

EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE.

BIBLE TRUTHS.

SUNDAY, April 3.—" O Lord, revive thy work"

(Hab. iii. 2).

WHATE

work.

HATEVER good thing there is in the world is the Lord's He planted it here, and made it grow. But how often does his work droop and fade, like some tree planted in a soil and climate which do not suit it. Our hearts at best are but stony ground, and

the world in which we live is a bad climate for the work of We grace. therefore need to offer this prayer. Let us seek a revival in our own hearts first. It is only hypocrisy to talk about the low state of religion amongst our our neighbours unless we begin at home. But when we have humbled ourselves before God, and besought him to revive his work within us, we may then look out upon the church and world around us, and plead for them. Pray for your ministers; pray for your fellow-Christians; pray for the world, perishing in its sins.

"O Lord, revive thy work

in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy."

"Oh, for thy naine's sake hear us cry!
Shine on thy churches, lest they die.
Turn us to thee; thy love restore :
We shall be saved, and sigh no more."

part from us, and when we pass away they cannot go with us into the dark valley. But even there this promise will hold true. He will not leave us even then. Nothing can separate us from him or from his love. And what a solemn warning, too, we have in these words. In the midst of temptation he does not leave us, but he still is with us, and when we sin against him he is still there. If we go alone we are not alone, he never leaves us. If we say the darkness shall cover us, even the night will be light round about us. Every sin is committed with him at our side. May this thought encourage us when we are fearful, strengthen us to resist when we are tempted, comfort us when we are sorrowful: "I will never leave thec."

"In all my vast concerns with theo
In vain my soul would try
To shun thy presence, Lord, or flee
The notice of thine eye."

SUNDAY, April 17 "Thy law is the truth" (Ps. cxix. 142).

us upon the most important concerns, where ignorance or mistake may be fatal, and where true, right knowledge is infinitely important. Let us remember too, that we have something more and better even than God's law in the Bible. "The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ." He is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." We may therefore say to him,

"Thus, by thyself, the Way,
I to the Father come.

Led by the Truth, I cannot stray:
The Life and I are one."

it is the truth. That is to say, it is all true, unlike the writings of man, which always contain many errors and mistakes, though they may have in them

for us. Gold and silver could not One soul was of more redeem us. value than the whole world, and therefore could not be redeemed himself a by it. But Christ gave ransom for us. Nothing else could suffice; but this was all-sufficient. Christ is our Ransom, our Surety, our Saviour. Gave himself." What love was here! "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." But Christ gave himself for us when we were yet his enemies!

66

"Oh for this love let rocks and hills
Their lasting silence break,
And all harmonious human tongues
The Saviour's praises speak!"

HEALTHY HOMES.

HOW TO MAKE HOME HEALTHY.

THERE

HERE is no reason why a cottage should not be as healthy as a palace; for the conditions of health are the same in all dwellings, whether large or small. The first thing affecting the healthfulness of a home which we shall notice, is its site, or situation. This should be on a dry soil, lime or gravel, if that is possible, and it should never be in a hollow or bottom, but on a slope; the best of all situations for a house, because it allows of complete and easy drainage. Cottages, however, are often built on any spot of land that can be spared; and when badly placed, the best thing the cottager can do is to make an artificial slope from his house to some lower point, so as to lead off the moisture, and keep his living-rooms dry. We have known this done with comparatively small trouble, rondering dwellings so situated tolerably healthy, and we have known the neglect of such precautions followed by fatal illness in labourers' families.

The next thing to be noticed affecting the health of the home is the drainage, seeing that no home, large or small, can continue long in a healthy state if the drainage is bad. It is to be hoped that the time is near at hand when no cottager will have to get rid of his waste in an open drain. In most country districts, however, recourse must still be had to the old plan of draining with cesspools. This plan is always practicable, and, where properly attended to, is found to serve; but, to the shame of multitudes

of our labourers, it is often disgracefully

neglected, so that the whole region round their homes becomes a sink of foul odours. Persons so reckless are always among the first to suffer in themselves or their families from the visita

The cottages in our picture were erected by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, at Lachester Gate, Windsor Great Park, for the Crown labourers. They are in two groups, one on each side of the road. Eight of the cottages have three bed-rooms each; four of them have two each. Each cottage has a living-room, a washhouse, a pantry, and other domestic conveniences. There is a pump-house to each group. Mr. S. S. Teulon is the architect.

tions of endemic or contagious diseases. Connected with drainage are other kindred subjects; the pig, for instance, the donkey, and even the fowls, all of which it is desirable to locate as far from the dwelling as possible.

The next thing to be mentioned, and even of more importance than drainage, if that were possible, is ventilation. Working men sometimes meet with awful instances of the importance of ventilation, and the value of sweet, fresh air, and yet we see them constantly careless in the matter in their own homes. Now and then a strong man goes down into an old well to make some repairs, and is brought up dead, killed by the foul air; or he meets the same fate in a brewer's vat, or in one of the city sewers, where he is sent to work. These sad cases teach us plainly enough the value of good air, if we would but learn. In a labourer's cottage there is generally ventilation enough on the lower floor, where the wind has free passage through open doors and windows; but up-stairs the case is very different, the bed-rooms being too often kept closed throughout the day and night, and this, too, in rooms which have no chimneys. It is not too much to say that thousands of labourers' children have lost their lives through the poisoned air of their sleeping-rooms; for air that has been once breathed has been in a measure poisoned by passing through the lungs, and though it may be breathed again without any great inconvenience, it cannot be breathed often without dangerous consequences to the sleeper. The air contained in a room of ten feet square is none too much for a single sleeper; if, therefore, a number of persons sleep in the same space, it is clear that, without some provision by which the room can be ventilated and the air changed, they must all breathe the air which each one helps to poison. It is a good plan to sleep with the window a little open at the top or the door should remain open, and of air be allowed to pass up a free the passage chimney. In cases of sickness fresh air in the bed-room is even of more importance than in times of health. Whatever the disease, the air of the sick person's room should be quite changed two or three times a day, and where the room is small still oftener. The doctor will

prescribe how often this is to be done, and will say whether it is necessary to cover up the patient while the door and windows are open.

Besides pure air to breathe, the cottager wants pure water to drink. The chief drink of his family will be water, and it should be a first consideration with him to have it good and sweet. The water of wells is sometimes poisoned by the drainage from cesspools dug too near them. We knew a whole family poisoned by such well-water, and the cause was not discovered until three of the children had died. The same thing, to our knowledge, has happened with pumps, when numbers of families supplied by the same pump have all been prostrated in health at the same time. This should be looked to, and no man should be mad enough to sink a cesspool where it could possibly drain into a well. In many parts of the country the drinking-water comes from running streams, and in others, as in certain districts in the neighbourhood of London, the only drinking-water is that reserved in tanks dug in the soil, whence it has to be dipped. In either of these cases it is advisable to filter the water before drinking. A good filter is easily made in the following way. Take a small barrel, or common pail, drill a hole in the bottom, lay at the bottom of the barrel a couple of layers of smooth pebbles the size of hens' eggs, upon them lay smaller pebbles the size of nutmegs to the depth of an inch or so, on these sprinkle clean gravel-stones not larger than peas, on the gravel scatter a layer of charcoal broken small, and cover the charcoal with a layer of pure sand. The water poured into the pail will soon find its way through the hole in the bottom, where it may be received in a pan: at first it will be dirty, but in a day or two it will be pure and clear as crystal.

With a dry floor, good drainage, good air and ventilation, and wholesome water, there is no reason why, with the blessing of God and a cheerful spirit, the cottager's home should not be as healthy as the home of a prince. He will need, however, to look to the state of things in his neighbourhood, and must allow no stagnant pools or gatherings of filth and rotten vegetation near his dwelling.