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und to prepare a stock of provender to take with me, as a future supply for the road. So I set to work and ground up about two gallons of meal, on a steel mill, and also parched and ground two or three pounds of coffee, which, with several pounds of sugar, and ten or twelve pounds of bacon, I carefully wrapped up and stowed away in a haversack for future contingencies. I had been so long upon scanty rations, or none at all, that it seemed to me almost impossible to satisfy my inordinate appetite. Half a dozen times during the day I knocked off work to cook a cup of coffee, to fry a slice of middling, or to boil a pot of mush. It was decidedly a “feast day” with me, and I did not fail to make hay “while the sun shone;” and, to conclude the day in an appropriate manner, when night came I turned into a nice, clean, comfortable bed, and slept like a prince till long after sun rise the next morning. Written for Burke’s Weekly. CHARLEY ABBOTT: THE LITTLE BOY WHOSE FAILURE WAS THE MEANS OF IIIS SUCCESS. S long ago as 1776, there stood in the streets of Canterbury, England, Sißf ■! near the Canterbury Ca thedral, a little, old-fash ioned barber’s shop, with its red and white pole over the door, and W its modest display of wigs and puff \i boxes in the window. The shop, though a small one, was the best in the town, and its master, a lean, stiff and exceedingly dignified man, was well thought of by all, especially by the clergy, whose pationage he enjoyed, from the Archbishop down. Through their in fluence, his little son, Charley, a lad fourteen years of age, had gained admis sion as a pupil into the King’s School. Charley received so good a name from the master of the school for industry and du tiful behavior, that the clergy resolved to make the lad’s fortune by placing him in the Cathedral choir, where there was a vacancy. The boy who gained this place was considered well provided for, as he at once received a maintenance, and would eventually get £7O (about $350 in gold,) a-year. but there was another candidate for the place, and in spite of the strong influ ence of his clerical friends, little Charley’s chances were considered at least doubtful, °n account of the superiority of the other hoy s voice. At length, the day of trial came, and Charley Abbott was beaten by his clear-throated competitor. With a BTJRKE’S WEEKLY. heavy heart, ho hastened to. his father’s shop to impart to him the woful tidings, and then, unable longer to command his grief, lie burst into tears. Mark the sequel: had Charley Abbott gained that place,he would probably never have risen beyond it. But failing to get it, he returned to the King’s School, final ly entered Oxford University as a poor scholar, and fought his way up to fortune and to fame. lie became Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, the highest of the Eng lish Courts, and a peer of the realm. Late in his useful life, Lord Tenterden, once Charley Abbott, attended ser vice in the great cathedral of Canterbury, in company with one of his associate Jus tices. At the close of the services, he said to his friend: “ Ho you see that old man there among the choristers? In him, behold the only being I ever envied. When we were boys together in this town, we were rival candidates for a place in the choir of this cathedral. He was successful. If I had gained what at that time was the dearest wish of my heart, he might have been accompanying you as Chief Justice, and pointing mo out as his old friend, the church chorister.” How often failure in early life is the first step to future greatness, and that which in youth is considered the greatest misfortune, is really a blessing in dis guise. “If I Should Die Before I Wake.” OTHER, every night, w^en s°i sa y> ‘Now I lay me,’ and do HU you know, mamma, * though I am four years I never thought what it meant until Fanny Grey died. I asked nurse if Fanny died before she ? F waked, and she said ‘Yes.’ She went to bed well, and had a spasm in the night, and died before she knew anything at all.” “Noav, mother,” continued Rena, “I want you to tell me about ‘Noav I lay me,’ so that when I say it I may think just what it means.” “Well, Rena,” said her mother, “I shall be very glad to tell you. \\ hat docs it mean when you say, ‘ Now I lay me down to sleep ?’ ” “O! that means, mother, that I am just going to lie down in my bed to go to sleep till morning.” “Well, then, as you lie down to sleep, what prayer do you offer to God?” “‘I pray the Lord my soul to keep. I want the Lord to take care ot my soul while I am asleep, and to take care of me all over , mother. But, mother, if I should die before I wake, would the Lord be tak ing care of me, then ? Now, it seemed to me when Fanny died that God did not take care of her that night, and so she died.” u Oh, no, Rena! God did take care of her. The little verse says, ‘lf I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take;’ so you see God took little Fanny’s soul to himself; and when she awoke, she was in the arms of the blessed Jesus. Now, Rena, when you say, ‘Now I lay me, I want you to think this way: ‘ Now I am going to bed and to sleep, and I want the Lord to take care of me. If I am not a good child, and do not pray to God, ought I to ask him or expect him to take care of me ? Let me lie down feel ing that I am in the Lord’s care, and if I should die before I wake, that still I am the Lord’s child ; and I pray that He may take my soul to dwell with Him.’ ” “0, mother! I will try and remember. Why, I used to say it slow, and clasp my hands, and shut my eyes, and yet I did not think about it. Thank you, mother dear. Please hear me to-night when I say my prayers.” Ah, little children ! arc there not a great many, who, like Rena, say their prayers without thinking what it means?—mere words, with no meaning in them. God cannot listen to such prayers. They are not for Him “unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.” Think of what I have written about little Rena when you say “Now I lay me” to-night; and I pray that God will watch over you, waking and sleeping. Paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer. The following paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer has been set to music in England. It is the best we have ever seen in any language —there is nothing wanting, and nothing redundant: Our Heavenly Father, hear our prayer; Thy name be hallowed everywhere ; Thy kingdom come, Thy perfect will In earth, as heaven, let all fulfil ; Give this day’s bread that we may live ; Forgive our sins as we forgive; Help us temptation to withstand; From evil shield us by Thy hand; Now and forever unto Thee, The kingdom, power and glory be. Amen. Plant Something. —Plant a grapevine, strawberry plant, rose bush, or even a beet or a carrot—something to care for, and watch and study by give more pleasure than any toy, besides adding something to your knowledge. It may, perhaps, be the beginning of a suc cessful career as a fruit-grower, a garden er, or a botanist. 175