In the Kingdom of thy grace, The gentleman was touched with the tale of distress, and the character of the desolate child; and next day he told the case to a lady he knew would feel interested in him. The lady requested that he would kindly accompany her to the boy's dwelling, to which he readily consented. Taking along with her a bundle of clothes which might be useful to him, they made their way together up the dark stairs of the house, till they reached the ladder. On ascending the steps and coming to the door, they knocked; but there was no reply. They knocked, again; still no reply! Again; but still no voice, as before, calling, "Come in." The gentleman opened the door. The bed, the straw, the shavings, were just as he had left them. The boy was there too; but he was DEAD! The boy lay on the bed of straw; but the spirit had fled away to the God who gave it! Ragged School Magazine. DON'T THROW STONES. "DON'T throw stones, boy; you may hurt one." "I don't throw them at anybody. What hurt does it do for me to throw stones at the fence ?" "You do not know, my young friend, who may be behind the fence, out of your sight; and the stone you throw for sport, may glance and put out somebody's eyes, or break his head."" "I shall throw stones as much as I please. It's none of your business." "I am very sorry to see you persist in doing a mischievous thing, and add bad manners to a bad habit. I have just seen accounts of two sad accidents from throwing stones, which ought to be a warning to boys against indulging such an evil and pernicious habit. A young man was riding on horseback, when a stone thrown by a little boy, hit the horse and frightened him, so that he started and threw the young man violently on the ground, injuring him very seriously. The horse, however, did not stop to see what he had done, but ran on through the street, and struck a woman, knocking her senseless upon the curb-stone. She was seriously injured in the head, and so bruised that it is doubtful whether she will recover. It seemed a very small thing for the little boy to throw a stone; but the consequences were dreadful. If the woman should die, do you suppose that the boy will ever forgive himself for throwing the stone? But the other story is still more sad. A son of a Captain Edwards, was returning home from school. Just as he was entering his father's gate, he heard a sound in the street, and turning his head, was struck by a stone thrown by another little boy, which hit him on the eye, and instantly destroyed his sight. Now, that poor boy must go all his days with a disfigured face, and a blind eye, just because the other little mischievous fellow would amuse himself by throwing stones. These two cases met my eye the same day, in the newspapers, which shows that such things occur very often. And probably, if in the last case, the stone had hit the boy on his temple, it would have killed him. DON'T THROW STONES. The Christian Treasury. VOLCANOES. THERE are three volcanoes in Europe: Mount Vesuvius, near the city of Naples in Italy; Mount Etna, in the island of Sicily; and Mount Hecla, in Iceland. The first two are best known and most familiar to us, besides being more subject to eruptions, which are the cause of these mountains being so remarkable and terrible. They are called burning mountains, not because they are actually so,—that is, continually in flames,-but because, occasionally, they send forth fire, ashes, and lava. These eruptions take place, however, so seldom, that it makes no difference in the plains of those round about. Vesuvius is in a most delightful climate; the soil and country is so tempting, that the earth is cultivated upon the mountain, and villages built even to its foot, with out any regard to this formidable and dangerous neighbour. Many travellers like to ascend this mountain, although the way is tedious and rugged. The ground for two miles is covered with a kind of burnt earth and stones; and some visitors have found the cinders, over which they had to clamber with the aid of hands as well as feet, very unpleasant. For two miles there is a continual ascent. After this there is a plain, from which constantly issue clouds of sulphurous smoke. In the midst of this plain rises another hill, shaped like a sugar-loaf, and much more difficult to ascend than the former one. At the top of this hill is a vast mouth or crater, about 400 yards across, but shelving down on all sides, like a funnel. From this crater proceeds a continual smoke; and from this, of course, issue those astonishing eruptions which fill the neighbourhood with consternation. Each time these take place, the form of the mountain receives considerable alteration. In ancient history we find accounts of the devastations occasioned by this volcano; but it is of late years that we have the most particular relations. In 1694 there was a violent eruption, during which, ashes and stones were thrown to the distance of nearly thirty miles. A prodigious quantity of melted minerals likewise was thrown out of the mouth, and ran slowly down the sides of the mountain ; many men were employed to cut channels for it, to prevent its spreading over the plains below. In 1706 there was another great eruption, attended with such a bellowing of the mountain, as far exceeded the report of the largest artillery; and in 1717 it was judged that the flames and fiery stones were shot more than 1000 feet above the summit of the mountain. In 1779 there was another eruption; but in 1794, one more dreadful occurred, which was preceded by a powerful shock of an earthquake, felt plainly at the distance of forty miles. When these eruptions take place, all the inhabitants of the villages round about the mountain are obliged to fly for their lives, and frequently whole towns and villages have been buried and swept away with the burning lava. This lava, or liquid matter, that runs from the mouth of the mountain, in cooling, becomes a solid mass, even as hard as marble. It is black, and of a variety of colours, and takes a fine polish. Tables, chimney-pieces, and even snuffboxes and ladies' ornaments, are made of it. Also the streets of Naples and Rome are paved with it, as well as a great part of the ancient Roman highways. The uncommon fertility of the country, and the profusion of fruit and herbage with which it is covered, is sometimes attributed to the neighbourhood of this raging volcano, since the heat of its subterraneous fires, and its sulphureous and nitrous soil, are considered to assist vegetation. The eruptions of Mount Etna are not nearly as frequent. This volcano was called the Pillar of Heaven by Pindar, a writer who lived about 2300 years ago. Its surprising height is such, that Vesuvius, by its side, would appear but a small hill, as may be seen at once by comparing their heights. Vesuvius is 3933 feet high. Etna is 10,955,—above two miles. Hecla is between the two, being 5010 feet to the summit. Etna is by far the most amazing of the three, being the largest volcano in the world. It is above 100 miles in circuit, and to the summit is a journey of thirty miles. Its eruptions are in proportion to its size. The lava of Vesuvius pours forth its stream of liquid fire for seven miles, while Etna emits a torrent thirty miles in length. This enormous mountain is surrounded by smaller ones; it is very diffiult to ascend, and is not so often visited as Vesuvius. In the midst, at the top, stands the great crater of the volcano; which is a little mountain, about a quarter of a mile high, situated in the middle of a sloping plain. In the centre of this little mountain is a large hollow, the inside of which is incrusted with salts and sulpher, of different colours, In the midst of this crater, which goes shelving down like a funnel, is the terrific gulf, and from it continually proceed smoke, and sometimes fire, with frightful and confused noises, which, during the time of an eruption, may be heard at a prodigious distance. The present crater is about three miles round; in the great eruption of this volcano the crater was enlarged to six miles. This eruption occurred in the year 1669. It broke out on the 11th of March, two hours before midnight, on the south-east side of the mountain, about twenty miles from the old mouth, and ten from the city of Catania. The matter thrown out was a stream of melted and red-hot metals and minerals, which ran for fifteen or twenty days together into the sea, close to the walls of Catania. In its course it overwhelmed fourteen towns and villages; and during the time of this eruption, which was fifty-four days, neither sun nor stars could be seen in the neighbouring country. All travellers agree that this mountain affords an example of the different climates throughout the world. Towards the base the heat is excessive, which answers to the torrid zone; farther up, more moderate, which represents the temperate zone; and growing gradually colder, the head of the mountain is at length crowned with snow, which may be considered the frigid zone. Mount Hecla is situated in a very cold climate; so that the heat of the air has nothing to do with these volcanoes. In the neighbourhood of this mountain there are hot spouting springs. In England there are hot springs in different places, which are famed for their medicinal qualities, such as those at Clifton, Bath, Bristol, Matlock, and Buxton; and there is some connexion of these springs one with another, however far apart, since, at the great earthquake at Lisbon, several of them were affected in different ways, at the very same moment; among the rest, those in England. There is, however, a great difference between the hot springs in England and Iceland; the latter partaking much more of the character of volcanoes. The steam of these springs is to be seen rising from the earth at a considerable distance. Eight of these springs are near together, and one throws up continually a column of water to the height of twenty-four feet. So hot was this water, that a piece of mutton and some salmon-trout were boiled almost to pieces in it in six minutes. At Geyser, not far from Skallholt, one of the Bishops' sees in Iceland, forty or fifty of these springs are seen together. The middle one is the largest. The aperture through which the water rises is nineteen feet across; and round the top is a basin, nine |