The King and the Locusts: A STORY WITHOUT AN END, TO BE READ WITHOUT LAUGHING. HERE was a certain king, who, like many other kings, was very fond of hearing stories told. To this amusement he gave up all his time; but yet he was never satisfied. All the exertions of all his courtiers were in vain. The more he heard, the more he wanted to hear. At last, he made a proclamation, that if any man would tell him a story that should last for ever he would make him his heir, and give him the princess, his daughter, in marriage; but if any one should pretend that he had such a story, but should fail—that is, come to an end-he was to have his head chopped off. For such a rich prize as a beautiful princess and a kingdom, many candidates appeared; and dreadfully long stories some of them told. Some lasted a week, some a month, some six months: poor fellows, they all spun them out as long as they possibly could, you may be sure; but all in vain; sooner or later they all came to an end; and one after the other, the unhappy story-tellers had their heads chopped off. At last came a man who said he had a story that would last for ever, if his Majesty would be pleased to give him a trial. He was warned of his danger; they told him how many others had tried, and lost their heads; but he said he was not afraid, and so he was brought before the king. He was a man of a very composed and deliberate manner of speaking; and, after making all the requisite stipulations for time for his eating, drinking, and sleeping, he thus began his story. "O king! there was once a king who was a great tyrant. And desiring to increase his riches, he seized upon all the corn and grain in his kingdom, and put it into an immense granary, which he built on purpose, as high as a mountain. "This he did for several years, till the granary was quite full up to the top. He then stopped up doors and windows, and "But the bricklayers had, by accident, left a very small hole near the top of the granary. And there came a flight of locusts, and tried to get at the corn; but the hole was so small that only one locust could pass through it at a time. So one locust went in and carried off one grain of corn; and then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn; and then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn; and then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn; and then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn; and then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn; and then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn--" 66 He had gone on thus from morning to night (except while he was engaged at his meals) for about a month, when the king, though a very patient king, began to be rather tired of the locusts, and interrupted his story with: "Well, well, we have had enough of the locusts; we will suppose that they have helped themselves to all the corn they wanted; tell us what happened afterwards." To which the story-teller answered very deliberately, "If it please your majesty, it is impossible to tell you what happened afterwards before I have told you what happened first." And so he went on again: 'And then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn; and then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn; and then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn." The king listened with admirable patience six months more, when he again interrupted him with: "O friend! I am weary of your locusts! How soon do you think they will have done?" To which the story-teller made answer: "O king! who can tell ? At the time to which my story has come, the locusts have cleared away a small space, it may be a cubit, each way round the inside of the hole; and the air is still dark with locusts on all sides: but let the king have patience, and, no doubt, we shall come to the end of them in time." Thus encouraged, the king listened on for on as before: "And then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn; and then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn; and then another locust went in and carried off another grain of corn :" till at last the poor king could bear it no longer, and cried out : "O man, that is enough! Take my daughter; take my kingdom; take anything-take everything: only let us hear no more of those abominable locusts !" And so the story-teller was married to the king's daughter, and was declared heir to the throne; and nobody ever expressed a wish to hear the rest of his story, for he said it was impossible to come to the other part of it till he had done with the locusts. The unreasonable caprice of the foolish king was thus overmatched by the ingenious device of the wise man. Prove your Principles; or, Look at Both Sides. true misery of our condition: injustice, tyranny, and oppression!" said a discontented hack to a weary-looking cob, as they stood side by side in unhired cabs. "I'd rather have them opened to something pleasant, thank you," replied the cob. "I am sorry for you. If you could enter into the noble aspirations"the hack began. "Talk plain. What would you have?" said the cob, interrupting him. "You mean that ?" said the cob. "Of course I do. What right have those sleek pampered hunters and racers to their warm stables and high feed, their grooms and jockeys? It is really heart-sickening to think of it," replied the hack. "I don't know but you may be right," said the cob; "and to show I'm in earnest, as no doubt you are, let me have half the good beans you have in your bag, and you shall have half the musty oats and chaff I have in mine. There's nothing like proving one's principles."- Original Parables. By Mrs. Prosser. The Archbishop of York on Temperance Organization. HE Archbishop of York, at a recent meeting held at Sheffield, in furtherance of the Church of England Temperance Society, thus expressed himself:"As long as this terrible iniquity of drinking prevails to its present extent, we may preach from all our pulpits, we may erect our schools all over the land, and we may make elaborate social arrangements, but we shall never be able to bring the people to the moral height we desire. My hope lies in diffusing serious and sober thought about the matter. There was a time when I thought the Church of England itself was a great Temperance without Temperance, I considered it unnecessary to have a special Society to further that which it was the very object of the Church to promote. I now see, however, the necessity for a special organization charged with attending to the question of Temperance. I declare in the name of Freedom, as well as in the name of Education, that we of the Church of England must awaken all classes to this great and crying evil of intemperance. We must recollect that we are ministers to the souls of men, and that at the very groundwork of Christianity lie the words, 'Deny thyself.' This maxim is not for one class, Self-Conquest. SHOWING HOW BRAVE-HEART AND STRONG-WILL FOUGHT WITH SELF; AND HOW THE VICTORY WAS WON. RAVE-HEART vowed he would oppose Self with all his power; He would live unselfishly, From that very hour. Brave-Heart fought a noble fight, I said I would subdue him." "Of thy victory over Self, Tell me now the story." Strong-Will said, "Bring Self to me, I can be the master." Firm he set his foot on Self; Schooled him, tamed him, gave him rules: Self stole off unseen one day; Much improved returning, Brave-Heart, Strong-Will, were deceived: Humbled, full of shame and grief, Down they bent them lowly : "From this false, this evil Self, Who shall rid us wholly? "We are neither brave nor strong; He who pleasèd not Himself K. The Young Folks' Page. XIV. THE OLD MAN AND HIS FIVE SONS. HERE once lived a good old man who had five sons. 1. Dick, called Careless Dick. 2. Charlie. 3. Willie. 4. John, commonly called Jack. 5. Robert, called Sleepy Bob. One morning he called them all, and after saying that he was not rich, he drew from his pocket five shillings. He gave each of his sons one shilling, and told them they might spend the money on anything they wished, and that he would ask them what they had done with it at dinner time. So The four younger ones appeared in good time for dinner, but Dick did not appear. His father asked where he was, and just then a noise was heard, and the door opened, and Dick rushed in, all covered with mire. His father asked him what he had done with his shilling? Dick said, "Shilling! shilling!" and began fumbling about in his pockets, and said, "Oh, I have lost it; for just as I was coming home, I fell into the duck pond, and I have lost it." His father told him to go and change his clothes. He then asked Charlie what he had done with his shilling? Charlie rubbed his eyes, and said, "Well, poor Archie, the washerwoman's boy, and he looked pale and thin, and he told me that his mother was very ill; and so, to tell you the truth, I just gave him my shilling." His father then patted him on the head, and told him to sit down. He then asked Willie what he had done with his shilling? Willie said, "That as he passed the bookseller's he saw a book called 'Every Man his own Carpenter,' and as he liked working with tools, he went in and asked the price of it; the bookseller said it was 1s. 6d., but, seeing the look of disappointment in his face, he gave it him for a shilling; and here," said he, "is the book." His father patted him on the head, and made him sit down. He then asked Jack what he had done with his shilling? Jack began by coughing, clearing his throat, blowing his nose, and making a terrible fuss. After he had done this, he said, "That as he passed the confectioner's, the things looked so tempting that he went in and bought some tarts, which cost him tenpence, and he spent the other twopence also in the shop." His father then told him to sit down. He then asked Bob what he had done with his shilling? Oh," said Bob, "I went up to my bedroom, and laid my shilling on the window-sill and the sun was shining very brightly, and I asked it what I should do with it, and I fell asleep, and there is the shilling." Now I am not going to tell you what became of Careless Dick, Confectioner Jack, or Sleepy Bob; but I shall tell you about Charlie and Willie. Willie went out to India; and when they were on the voyage a great storm arose, and he seemed to be everywhere, and if it had not been for his handiness the ship might have been wrecked. Charlie went out to Australia, and worked in the bush. One day he became very ill, and could not work. As he was lying under a tree, a horseman passed him and had com. passion on him, and asked him his name, and where he came from? He told him; and the man on horseback said, "Don't you remember me?" He said, "No." The man then said, "Don't you remember Archie, the washerwoman's boy?" Oh yes!" he cried. Archie, like the good Samaritan, put him on his own beast, took him to his home, and paid his passage to England again, and Charlie prospered afterwards. Boys! try and be "handy"; and remember "One good turn deserves"-and generally meets with-" another." The Bible Mine NSWERS are not to be sent to the Editor, SCRIPTURE QUESTIONS. BY THE REV. ROWLEY HILL, M.A., VICAR OF SHEFFIELD. 1. What three things do God's believing people wait for in connection with Christian hope? 2. Was a lobster a clean or unclean animal according to the law of Moses? 3. What marked steps did the devil take with Judas for the betrayal of Jesus? 4. Who is the earliest prophet in Scripture; and how did he prophesy? Searched. us more fully than any other the completeness of God's forgiveness? 6. Can we trace any connection of St. Paul who was associated in a remarkable manner with the crucifixion of our Lord? ANSWERS (See July No.). 1. Acts xx. 17, 35. 2. Exod. xx. 24. 3. Hab. ii. 4; See Rom. i. 17; Gal. iii. 11; Heb. x. 38. 4. Deut. xxvii. 26. 5. Isa. lxv. 20. B Self-Conquest. SHOWING HOW BRAVE-HEART AND STRONG-WILL FOUGHT WITH SELF; AND HOW THE VICTORY WAS WON. RAVE-HEART vowed he would oppose Self with all his power; From that very hour. Brave-Heart fought a noble fight, 'Surely Self is slain at last; I said I would subdue him.” Self lay still; then changed his voice, "Of thy victory over Self, Tell me now the story." Firm he set his foot on Self; Forced him to obey him; Schooled him, tamed him, gave him rules: Yet he failed to slay him. Self stole off unseen one day; Much improved returning, Well-disguised, a noble Self, Courtly, full of learning. Brave-Heart, Strong-Will, were deceived: Till by look and tone of pride, Humbled, full of shame and grief, Down they bent them lowly : "From this false, this evil Self, Who shall rid us wholly? "We are neither brave nor strong; Failed in love and meekness." He who pleasèd not Himself K. The Young Folks' Page. XIV. THE OLD MAN AND HIS FIVE SONS. HERE once lived a good old man who had five sons. 1. Dick, called Careless Dick. 2. Charlie. 3. Willie. 4. John, commonly called Jack. 5. Robert, called Sleepy Bob. One morning he called them all, and after saying that he was not rich, he drew from his pocket five shillings. He gave each of his sons one shilling, and told them they might spend the money on anything they wished, and that he would ask them what they had done with it at dinner time. So The four younger ones appeared in good time for dinner, but Dick did not appear. His father asked where he was, and just then a noise was heard, and the door opened, and Dick rushed in, all covered with mire. His father asked him what he had done with his shilling? Dick said, "Shilling! shilling!" and began fumbling about in his pockets, and said, "Oh, I have lost it; for just as I was coming home, I fell into the duck pond, and I have lost it." His father told him to go and change his clothes. He then asked Charlie what he had done with his shilling? Charlie rubbed his eyes, and said, “Well, |