The following extracts are from a prayer of the emperor Taokwang, in April, 1832, at the grave of his ancestors: "I presume to come before the grave of my ancestor. Cherishing sentiments of veneration, I look up and sweep your tomb. Prostrate I pray that you will come and be present, and that you will grant that your posterity may be prosperous and illustrious. Always grant Always grant your safe protection. My trust is in your divine spirit. Reverently I present the fivefold sacrifice." Page 84.

Our space will not permit us to present any statement of the worship of heaven by the emperor himself on the 21st of December, attended by a large retinue of officers

imposing idolatrous services in the world; and every one who can procure the book will read the whole account of the ceremony and inspect the representation of the altar to heaven with the greatest interest.

The other two religions, Buddhism and Taoism, are much like the idolatry of other lands as described to some extent in ordinary missionary literature. But this full statement will serve to deepen in every reader's mind the truth of the apostle's declaration in reference to those who do not know the true God, "that they are without God, and without hope;" and to deepen the conviction in every heart that the heathen do need the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world.

At a reception of outgoing missionaries at the "Presbyterian Home" in San Francisco recently, there was a meeting of two individuals who, though they had never met before, yet the life history of one seems to have been determined by the influences exerted by the other when the father of the first-named person was but a boy.

Forty-three years ago one of these persons went to help lay the foundation of our church in North China, or as far north as in those days we were allowed to go. There he labored as long as health would permit, then (after a term of service in one of our American Indian missions) he found himself acting for awhile as "stated supply" to a church in Missouri, but still in spirit as much a foreign missionary as ever he had been; and this showed itself in frequent missionary sermons, and addresses on mission subjects; by the way in which monthly concerts were conducted; by the formation of juvenile missionary societies; by the dissemination of missionary literature, and by personal appeals. The fruits of these instructions, exhortations and appeals were manifest in the greatly-increased contributions to benevolent objects, and in the dedi

cation of some of the young men to the gospel ministry. One of these, then quite young, devoted himself to the work of foreign missions, and studied with that work in view. Providential circumstances, however, prevented his going abroad, but he labored most earnestly and efficiently as a home missionary, the Master calling him. early to his rest and reward. But he left a daughter on whose mind and heart had been impressed the same devotion to the Master and the same love for foreign missions which the father always cherished; and now this daughter, after many years of self-denying and laborious preparation, goes to enter into the work which her father and mother had so much desired to engage in; meeting on the way the person who under God first turned the minds of those parents to the foreign field, and going, moreover, to take up and help carry forward work in nearly the same field where this missionary, with other pioneers, began long years ago to clear the ground, and where the ripening harvests now invite the reapers.

Thus in unexpected ways and places we may find the bread that has been cast upon the waters. A. W. LOOMIS.

The British Messenger, having called attention to the constant demand of Episcopalians that their "threefold ministry" must be accepted as an essential mark of a true church," and having declared the impossibility of Presbyterians assenting to this, adds:

We are not so blind as not to see that

Episcopacy brings other things in its train. The only centre of unity under that system is to be found in a coalition with the corrupt churches of the East and West. To anything of that kind all true, intelligent Presbyterians are most resolutely opposed. Yet this is what the Church of England is driving at in the Archbishop of Canterbury's mission to the Nestorians, and also apparently in the Jerusalem bishopric.

Our British contemporary has not failed to notice that the same demand is made on

this side of the ocean, by "the Anglicans in America," and quotes thus from Dr. Littlejohn, the Bishop of the Episcopal

Church in that church's diocese of Rhode Island:

Whatever turn the revived discussion of the true order of the church may take, and however the brethren who dissent from us may draw upon the controversial armory of the past or the present, it is certain that this church will never for the sake of union with non-episcopal bodies, constituting a small frac tion of Christendom, do anything to drive it further off than it is to-day from the old historic branches of the Catholic Church, with their more than three hundred millions of souls.

The vigorous English in which the Messenger closes its article will find no dissenting voice among American Presbyterians. It is as follows:

With a union to be accomplished on lines like these we wish to have nothing whatever to do. We prefer to remain true to the primitive apostolic model rather than in

volve ourselves in the trammels of a vaunted Catholic tradition.

Early in the year 1876, a family, consisting of a father, mother, one boy and two girls, started a plan for raising money for benevolent uses. As they kept about twenty hens, the mother proposed that all eggs laid on Sundays should be devoted to such uses. This was agreed to, and ever since that time the father of the family has bought all the Sunday eggs, at the market price, for family use, and put the money into their family benevolent fund.

Then it was agreed that on every Sabbath day each of the family should make such a contribution to that fund as he could will ingly make out of his earnings or savings. Most of these contributions were small,only one cent or a few cents from each, the largest single contribution in all these ten years being twenty-five cents.

In the first year they raised $20.02. With this one of the children was made a life member of the American Tract Society, and the small balance of two cents was carried over to the account of the second year. In the same way the other two children were made life members of the Tract Society, by two contributions of twenty dollars each to the funds of that excellent institution.

I believe it was at the end of the first year that they formed themselves into a society with the appropriate name of The Sunday-egg Society. Since then they have had regular meetings every Sunday, of which a record has been kept by their secretary. Their treasurer has also kept an exact account of the contributions made on each Sabbath, both by the hens and by the children and parents.

After making the three children life members of the Tract Society, they concluded not to send all their money to one place. Perhaps they remembered the proverb about not putting all your eggs into one basket. Since then they have, from time to time, voted to what good objects they would appropriate their money, the children having equal votes with the parents. They have interesting letters from different parts of our own country, and from countries beyond the seas, thankfully acknowledging their useful gifts.

As the children grew larger they became able to give more, and God has prospered their efforts and their plan. If they had only been able to give as much in each year as they did in the first year, it would have amounted to a little more than $200 by this time; but it has amounted to more than $400. The well-kept treasurer's account shows just how much of this has been given by each member of the family and how much by the hens. It also shows to what objects all the money has been given. It has done good in many places and to many people, cheering and helping Christ's servants, making them glad, and, must we not believe, making him glad?

I have a few things to say about this to my little Presbyterians and their mothers and older sisters and brothers. 1. How much more that family have enjoyed their Sabbaths on account of this pleasant scheme! An hour on their porch in a summer Sabbath evening, or in their parlor in winter, could always be pleasantly and profitably spent in the meeting of the Sunday-cgg Society. One of the children would go to the nests, and carefully bring the eggs and count them. They would reckon up how many cents or dimes they would be worth, and the father would pay for them, or have them charged to his account. Then the mother and children would put in their

pennies or half-dimes or dimes, and the treasurer would take account of it all. Then they would talk over the good Christian uses that could be made of the money. What their pastor had said in the pulpit, what they had read in the papers and magazines, whatever they had learned from letters or in any other way, would be discussed. Thus they learned a great deal about missions; about churches that needed houses of worship; about young men studying to be ministers; about old ministers not able to preach any more; about schools, and colleges, and orphan asylums, and homes for widows, and homes for blind people, and a great many other things for which money. is needed. After free discussion, they would vote where the money should go, and the treasurer would send it.

2. You see what large sums many small sums can amount to if we have patience and take time and pains to get them together. "Many a little makes a mickle," says the Scotch proverb.

"Little drops of water, little grains of sand,

Make the mighty ocean and the beauteous land."

Only think of it. That one family, in the first year that they tried it, raised twenty dollars in that way. Probably there are more than 25,000 families that will read this. If each of them should raise $20 next year, it would make $500,000. In ten years what the Sunday-egg Society raised, multiplied by our 25,000, would amount to over nine millions of dollars!

3. Still more important is the habit of consecrating common things. Do you not think that that family have learned to look on even their hens as the Lord's? Holy unto the Lord are all those Sunday eggs; and then all the week, whenever the hens are seen, or fed, or heard to cluck or cackle, they will often be thought of as creatures which God has given, to be kept and cared for and used for him.

Hens are not the only creatures that can be used and managed in that way. If you keep a cow, why not let all the milk she gives on Sunday be the Lord's? Such a family might have a Sunday-milk Society, or an Alderney Missionary Society, or a Red-heifer Benevolent Society.

Probably some of you can think of other ways in which you could get up such pleasant societies in your homes. Probably a

good many families have such societies, or other ways of "laying by them in store as God has prospered them," to give money for his work, and to learn about the many ways in which money thus given to God can be used as he would like to have it used.

I shall be very glad to hear about such plans from any of the homes in which THE CHURCH AT HOME AND ABROAD is read. H. A. N.

I wish that all the "little Presbyterians" could have been in Philadelphia during the great centennial celebration of the adoption of the Constitution in September. There would not have been room for you all on the roof of the Presbyterian Building, from which some of us looked down into Broad Street, to see those interesting processions; but you could have found places somewhere, and I am sure that you would have seen many things that you would remember as long as you live. It was wonderful to see the great crowds of people, hundreds and thousands of them, seated on the platforms that had been built along the streets, or standing in the cross streets, hour after hour, as the processions passed slowly before them. On Thursday, September 15, there was the trades procession, giving many exhibitions of the progress that has been made in these one hundred years, in the ways of working, plowing, building, and even baking and sewing; and on Friday the military parade, led by General Sheridan, when the long line. of soldiers and sailors of the United States army and navy, the militia guards from many of the states and the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic, with banners waving and drums beating, marched before President Cleveland, who had come from Washington to see them.

There was one thing in the procession on Thursday that made me think of a verse in our Sabbath-school lesson for the next Sabbath. You remember that in the last chap

ter of that beautiful Sermon on the Mount that we were studying through August and September, Jesus warns us to "beware of false prophets" or teachers, and says, "By their fruits ye shall know them." Suppose that you go to a nursery, where they raise young fruit-trees to sell, and ask for an apple tree to plant in your garden; if, when the time of fruit comes, you find that your tree is bearing pears instead of apples, you say at once, "This is not an apple tree; some one has made a mistake;" or if, instead of the large, round, rosy-cheeked apples that the nurseryman promised you would grow on your tree, you find little bitter crabapples, you say at once, "This is not a good apple tree. Unless it can be made better we will cut it down and burn it."

Well, now, what do you suppose in all that procession made me think of those verses in the Sabbath-school lesson? It was

the company of Indian boys from the Carlisle school, marching with their slates in their hands.

Look all around the world and examine all the religions and all the governments in all the different countries, and judge by their fruits which is the best. Think of India, where the Hindu mother was taught to throw her baby into the Ganges, to please her god; where the little child widow was made to cast herself into the fire where the body of her dead husband was burning; think of the oppression, cruelty and ignorance of all heathen, Mohammedan