1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEI^IER. 



105 



us what is better still, cheerful and contented 

 hearts. He who gave us the living bread to 

 nourish our immortal souls, how shall he not 

 give us all other food, which is necessary to 

 support our mortal bodies ?" 



The father and son thanked God. and they 

 began to cut the loaf in pieces, to begin their 

 frugal meal. But as they cut one portion of 

 the loaf, there fell out several large pieces of 

 gold, of great value. The little boy gave a 

 shout of joy, and was springing forward to 

 grasp the unexpected treasure, when he was 

 pulled back by his father. 



"My son, my son !" he cried, "do not touch 

 that money ; it is not ours." 



"But whose is it, father, if it is not ours ?" 



"I know not as to whom it belongs, but 

 probably it was put there by the baker through 

 some mistake. We must inquire. Run — " 



"But, father," interrupted the boy, "you 

 are poor and needy, and you have bought the 

 loaf, and then the baker may tell a lie, and — " 



"I Vvfill not listen to you, my boy ; I bought 

 the loaf, but I did not buy the gold in it. If 

 the baker sent it to me in ignorance, I shall 

 not be so dishonest as to take advantage of 

 him ; remember Him who told us to do to 

 others as we would have others to do to us. 

 The baker may possibly cheat us ; I am poor, 

 but that is no sin. If we share the poverty 

 of Jesus, God's own Son, oh ! let us share, 

 also, his goodness and his trust in God. We 

 may never be rich, but we may always be hon- 

 est. We may die in starvation, but God's 

 will be done, should we die in doing it. Yes, 

 my boy, trust in God, and walk in his ways, 

 run to the baker, and bring him here, and I 

 will watch the gold until he comes." 



So the boy ran after the baker, 



"Brother workman," said the old man, "you 

 have made some mistake, and almost lost your 

 money," and he showed the baker the gold, 

 and told how it had been found. ' 'Is it thine ?" 

 asked the father. "If it is, take it away." 



"My father, baker, is very poor, and — " 



"Silence, my child; put me not to shame 

 by thy complaints. I am glad we have saved 

 the man from losing his money." 



The baker had been gazing alternately at 

 the honest father and the eager boy, and the 

 gold which lay glittering on the green turf. 

 "Thou art indeed an honest fellow," said the 

 baker; "and my neighbor, David, the flax- 

 dresser, spoke the truth when he said thou 

 wert the most honest man in the town. Now, 

 I shall tell thee about the gold. A stranger 

 came to my shop three days ago, and gave me 

 that loaf, and told me to sell it cheaply, or to 

 give it to the most honest poor man whom I 

 knew in the city. I told David to send thee 

 to me as a customer this morning ; as thou 

 wouldst not take the loaf for nothing, I sold 

 it to thee, as thou knowest, for the last penny 

 in thy purse ; and the loaf, with all its treas- 

 ure — and certainly, it is not small ! — is thine, 

 and God grant thee a blessing with it !" 



The poor man bent his head to the ground, 

 while the tears fell from his eyes. His boy 

 ran and put his arms around his neck and said : 



"I shall always, like you, my father, trust 

 God, and do what is right ; for I am sure it 

 will never put us to shame." — Edinbwgh 

 Christian Magazine. 



A "W^ORD TO BOYS. 



Come, boys, and listen a ^avr moments to 

 your uncle. You have now arrived at an age 

 when you must begin to think about doing 

 something for yourselves. The first piece of 

 advice I have for you is, to do everything well 

 which you undertake. There is but little dan- 

 ger of your being too particular in this respect. 

 A boy who is careful to draw a straight line on 

 his slate, will be very likely to make a straight 

 line through life. There is no position in life 

 in which you will not be called upon to act as 

 exact as possible. Step into the jeweller's 

 shop, and see how careful the workman must 

 be in finishing up the article he holds in his 

 hands. Visit the ship-yard, and the man with 

 the broad-ax must learn to hew on a line, or 

 be dismissed. You think of being a clerk. 

 Well, remember that a mistake there is a little 

 less than a crime. I never saw a man who 

 was very particular about his affairs that was 

 not successful. How exact is a military officer 

 in the command of a body of men. A clumsy 

 sailor will never rise to the command of a ship. 



But there is one great danger which besets 

 many young men at the present day. It is the 

 disposition to avoid all solid improvement, and 

 take up with subjects that require no thought, 

 and which serve as mere warfare with godliness, 

 our portion will be that of the ungodly. As 

 the tree falleth so shall it lie. We shall reap 

 what we have sown. 



"Let my example warn you of the fatal er- 

 ror into which you have fallen," said the gay 

 Sir Francis Delaval, near the end of his life. 

 ' 'Pursue what is useful ! pursue what is useful !" 

 Reader, if you would not want to make your 

 life a curse, present and eternal, "pursue what 

 is useful. 



Gentle Utterance. — When a boy of four- 

 teen, following a plough, drawn by oxen, our 

 father said the first day of work, "Let us see 

 who can talk the lowest to Buck and Bright ; 

 it isn't the sound that makes the team go, but 

 the understanding that springs up between 

 driver and team." The thing was new to our 

 ears. We had always heard the "woa haw, 

 Buck," or the "woa haw. Bright," given in 

 tones of bawling only, and had grown to the 

 belief that bawling was the only way of driv- 

 ing. But a little experience on the low keys 

 showed that an ox, dumb and slow as some 

 call him, had not only a show of intellect, but 

 also of the proprieties of his position. Buck 

 and Bright answered as well to a few words 

 1 quietly spoken as to the many vociferated. 



