therefore soon wore away. Next in rarity is 1804, and third 1793. Of the latter date there are a number of distinct varieties, and some of these are much rarer than the usual type. Next in the order of rarity are 1809 and 1795. Of the latter date there are two varieties, of which one is much thicker than the other. The thick kind is by far the rarest.

These are all the dates which can really be considered rare. In order that our readers may form some idea of their numismatic value we may mention that a coin dealer in Philadelphia offers good specimens for sale at the following prices: 1799, $15; 1804, $10; 1793, $5; 1795, $2.50; 1809, $2. Good specimens are cents which are slightly worn but have every feature and letter distinct. Specimens which are entirely untouched by circulation command higher figures. It should, however, be remembered that a person having but a few rare specimens for sale would be lucky if they could obtain from a dealer more than half the price which is demanded of purchasers. OUR BLUE BLOOD.

COPPER CENTS.

The large copper cent is now rarely seen. When one occurs it reminds us of the days when our mental image of the coin corresponded with its actual size, and we valued it much more highly than most of us do at present. It is well known that many persons have amused themselves by attempting to collect all the dates, and that very few have succeeded. Large prices have sometimes been paid for fine and rare specimens, and it is therefore common to affix a fictitious value to all of them. It should. however, be remembered that such high prices are but rarely paid except for coins which are almost as perfect as when they left the mint. Such specimens it is needless to say, are but rarely found, except perhaps in the corner-stones of old churches.

A few facts with reference to the old cent may perhaps interest some of our youthful readers. It began to be coined in 1793 and was discontinued in 1857. During this period it was coined every year but 1815. It was long believed that a few sp cimens were struck during the latter year, but it is now concluded that all the known cents bearing that date are counterfeit or alterations.

The rarest cent is 1799. This is curious as a considerable number are known to have been coined in that year. There is a legend that a ship-captain bought a large number of them immediately after they were coined and took them to the west coast of Africa, but a better reason for their disappearance is to be found in the fact that the metal was unusually soft, and the inscription|

Two centuries and a half ago,

Off trudged to work with shouldered hoe
A woman, barefoot, browned and rough,
With pluck of Puritanic stuff.
Six lusty children tagged behind,
All hatless, shoeless, unconfined,
And happy as the birds that flew
About them. Naught of books they knew,
Save one they read at twilight hour,
Brought with them in the staunch Mayflower.

A pretty lady thin and white,
In a hammock swinging light,
Languishes, and in the shade
Devours rhyme and lemonade,
While bending near, her lover sighs,
And gently fans away the flies.
She murmurs: "Tis so nice that we
Are neither of low family,
But of old Puritanic stock,
That landed upon Plymouth Rock."
-Harvard Lampoon.

THE CHURCH.

As God's ambassidor, the grand concerns
He that negotiates 'tween God and man,
of judgment and of mercy, should beware
Of lightness in his speech. 'Tis pitful
To court a grin when you should woo a soul,
To break a jest when pity should inspire
Pathetic exhortation, and to address
The skittish fancy with facetious tales
When sent with God's commission to the heart!
-Cowper.

SUNDAY-SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.

SINGING DOGGEREL.

Of making Sunday School singingbooks there is no end. The demand is constant and the supply is abundant." There are plenty of Sunday Schools which are not satisfied unless they can change books every season. It is, indeed, just as much a matter of fashion as a change of coats or bonnets.

In meeting this demand many publishers seem to be chiefly concerned to produce books with taking titles and jingling tunes. The contents of the socalled hymns appear to be very little regarded. They generally consist of miserable doggerel, which but for the rhymes could hardly be distinguished from prose. This is bad enough, but the case is even worse when the author, either ignorantly or intentionally, teaches false doctrine. On a recent visit to a Sunday School in the country we heard the cildren singing a dreary hymn which taught, if it taught anything-that after conversion Christians can live just as they please. Good works were represented as obstacles to salvation. Two lines still linger in our memory:

66 Cast away good works forever!
They will rob you of your crown."

mens of the bad taste ard bad grammar of certain doggerel rhymes which appear in a recent collection of Temperance Gospel Songs. Here is a parody on Little Drops of Water: "

Little drops of claret,

Now and then, at first,
Forms an awful habit,
And a dreadful thirst.

The following specimen is, if anything worse than the preceding:

My eyes were of the deepest blue,
No lustre did they lack,

But now you see they both are red,
And one is also black!

My nose was never beautiful,
But then 'twas not amiss:
Old Alcohol he touched it up,
And what d'ye think of this?

Now we ask, in all solemnity, Is it right to teach children such stuff as this? How can pastors and teachers justify themselves when they promote the introduction of books which either teach destructive doctrine, or turn the worship of God into a frivolous amusement? Would it not be better to sing those grand old hymns in which consecrated genius offers its noblest tribute to its Creator? Let us teach the young to appreciate their beauties, and they will no more desire to sing doggerel.

We know, of course, that we are justified by faith alone; but we also know those who are implanted into Christ by faith must bring forth fruits of thankfulness. To cast away good works forever would be to renounce all part in the kingdom of our Lord. It was perhaps fortunate, in this in-tance, that neither teacher nor children appeared to think of the meaning of the hymn. They sang it to a tune which sounded very much like "Jenny, crack corn! I don't care; " and we don't think they cared about anything but the tune.

One of our exchanges gives us spci- | hearts.-Lutheran Observer.

HINTS TO GIRLS.

Give your best sympathy. There is no greater human power than the tenderness of woman. If you can minister to some one in sickness, lessen somebody's distress, or put a flower in some poor home, you have done a thing you will always be glad to think of. You will be remembered, and a woman asks no grander monument than to live in

PUTTING OFF SALVATION.-The LIST OF BOOKS APPROVED BY THE SUN

DAY-SCHOOL LIBRARY BUREAU.

Hamilton, 380 pages. From Exile to Over-
throw, Rev. John W. Mears, D D, 475 pages.
Boys at Eastwick, M. E. Griffith, 255 pages.
Bessie and I, Lilian F. Wells, 304 pages.
Elijah, the Favored Man, Robert M. Patterson,
216 pages.
Week Day Religion, Rev. J. R.
Miller, 315 pages. Almost a Nun, Julia McNair
Wright, 398 pages. Alypius of Tagaste, Mrs.
Webb, 361 pages. Ride through Palestine,
524 pages. Rambles Among Insects, 279 pages.
Summer by the Sea, 304 pages. Daisy and
her Friends, 256 pages. The Story of Mada-
gascar, 313 pages. We Three, 270 pages.
Farmer Tompkins and his Bibles, 330 pages.
The Theban Legion, 239 pages. Wat Adams,
the Young Machinist, 247 pages. Oriel, 340
pages. A Good Name, 240 pages. Aonio
Paleario, 112 pages. Leaves and Fruit, M. E.
Griffith, 368 pages. Consequences, Mr. Dun-
ning, 392 pages. Scattered, do do, 272 pages.
Letting Down the Bars, do do do do. Old
Portmanteau, Kate Hamilton, 277 pages.
House that Jack Built, do do, 368 pages. Rufus
the Unready, Martha Farquaharson, 308 pages.
William Farel, Wm. Blackburn, 347 pages.
Chumbo's Hut, Jno. Hosmer, 234 pages. John
Calvin and his Enemies, Rev. Thomas Smith,
D. D., 208 pages. Finding Jesus, Eliz Strong,
160 pages. Through the Wilderness, Mary
Willard, 207 pages. Westward, a Tale of
Emigrant Life, Mrs Wright, 272 pages. Four
Friends and their Fortunes, Author of Oriel,
320 pages. Trye's Year in India, Julia
Thompson, do do.
NATIONAL TEMPERANCE PUBLISHING HOUSE, library.
New York.

The Lost Estate and Other Stories, Mrs Ballard, 217 pages, $1.00. No Danger, Mary Hodges, 360 pages, 1.25. The Prince of Good Fellows M. E. Wilmer, 367 pages, 1.25. Rose Clifton, Mrs E. J. Richmond. 426 pages, 1.50. The Voice of the Home, S. M. J. Henry, 405 pages, 1 25. A Day with a Demon, Julia McNair Wright, 95 pages, 40 cts. Little Blue Jacket and Other Stories, Mrs M. A. Paull, 162 pages, 75 cts. Bread and Beer, Mary Dwinell Chellis, 381 pages, 1.25. Her Heritage, Laurie Loring, 354 pages, 1.25.

ESTES & LAURIOT, Pubs., Boston, Mass.

Christian Heroines, 290 pages. The Young Woman's Friend. 250 pages. Papers for Thoughtful Girls, 344 pages, in set 4.50. Winning his Way, Chas. Coffin, 258 pages, 1.25. Zig-Zag Journeys in Europe, Hezekiah Butterworth, 311 pages, 1.75. Zig-Zag Journey in the Orient, do do, 320 pages, 1.75. Young Folks' History of Russia, 520 pages, 1.50. Do do America, Hezekiah Butterworth, 535 pages, 1.50. Do do Boston, do do, 480

pages, 1.50.

CASSEL, PETTER, GALPIN & Co., New York,

London and Paris.

We have here a list of Books especially in tended for children of the Infant-School. They are filled with beautiful stories and fine illustrations. 1st set Little Folks' Stories, 12 vols., at 25c.; 2nd set Bible Stories, 4 vols., at 25c. These average 60 pages.

DODD, MEAD & Co., Pubs., New York.

We have here another fine lot of books for little folks, finely bound, beautifully illustrated, and filled with entertaining and instructive stories. The names of the books are as follows:

Little Folks' Ballads, A Christmas at School, A Day in the Woods, Little Nursery Songs, for the Twilight, A Long Day, Bobby Shalto, Uncle Dick's Portfolio, Dick and Grace. The Fish Boy, Songs for the Fireside, A Winter Story, Jack Greene, Little Folks' Songs, A Book about Indians.

These books contain about 50 pages, and are sold at 25 cents a piece.

It is the object of the Bureau to select books for the Sunday-school which are of superior excellence in every respect. The above have been thoroughly examined and are heartily recomended as books of such a character.

REV. C. S. GERHART, A. M.
REV. H. M. KIEFFER, A. M.
REV. R. L. GERHART, A. M.
MISS ALICE NEVIN.

OUR BOOK TABLE.

THE ORPHAN WANDERERS; containing Cared For, and How a Farthing became a Fortune. By Mrs. C. E. Bowen. New York, Robert Carter and Brother, 530 Broadway, 1882. Price $1.00.

These are interesting stories, illustrative of the Providence that cares for young children. The book is well suited for the Sunday School

SWEETBRIAR, OR DOINGS IN PRIORSTHORPE MAGNA. By Agnes Giberne. New York, Robert Carter & Bro's, 530 Broadway, 1882. A story of life among the middle classes in England. It gives the reader an accurate idea of the social condition which it is intended to represent, and the authoress proves herself a careful student of human nature.

THE PETTIBONE NAME. A New England
Story, by Margaret Sidney. Boston, D.
Lothrop and Company, 32 Franklin Street.
Price $1.25.

As a description of rural life in New England this book is certainly to be commended. The story is well told, and the principal characters unusually well drawn. The book has the elements of popularity, and will, no doubt, be extensively circulated. ACTON: OR SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS. By Erie Arnold. Boston, Congregational Publishing Society, Congregational House. induce the young to make an early confession This is a pleasantly told story, intended to of their faith in Christ. In our opinion this object would be more likely to be accomplished if the religious experiences of the youthful characters were not so minutely related. Examples of cheerful, healthy Christian living are more likely to attract the young than particular accounts of the struggles which are sometimes necessary in reaching this happy condition. The design of the book is most praiseworthy, and we hope it may do good.

LESSON X.

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

LOVE TO GOD AND MEN.-MARK 12: 28-44.

Commit to memory verses 29-31.

September 3, 1882.

in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is
the son of David?

1. THE RELIGION OF LOVE, vs. 27-34.

2. THE RELIGION OF PRETENSE, vs. 38-40.
3. THE RELIGION OF SACRIFICE, vs. 41-44.

Ques. What profit dost thou receive by Christ's holy conception and nativity?

Ans. That He is our Mediator, and with

36. For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

37. David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

38. And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,

39. And the chief seats in the synagogues, and uppermost rooms at feasts:

40. Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.

41. And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury, and many that were rich cast in much.

GOLDEN TEXT: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deut. 6: 5.

42. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

43. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more ih, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

44. For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

INSTRUCTION.

110.

Verse 28. First commandment-greatest. 30, Heart, soul, &c.--with our entire being. Thy neighbor-fellow-man. 33. More than all burnt offerings--love is better than all outward forms of service. 34. Discreetly---wisely. Not far-in the right road. 36. David said, in Psalm 37. Lord... Son--Lord as to His Divine nature; son as to His human nature. Common people-the people in general. 38. Long clothing--robes such as priests wore. 39. Uppermost rooms--chief seats. 40. Pretense-false show. 41. Treasury, which was in the court of the women. 42. Mites-the smallest coins in use, worth less than a quarter of a cent. 43. Cast more in---in the sight of God.

CATECHISM.

Verse 28. What question did the lawyer ask Christ? Is it an important one?

29-31. Repeat the answer which Jesus gave. What is meant by loving God with all heart, soul &c., &c.? Who is your neighbor? What is the soul of all true religion? What is the fulfilling of the law? What is the greatest of all virtues?

32-33. What is worth more than all outward services? What enables us to worship God aright, and help our fellow-men?

34. What did Jesus say to the lawyer? Is it enough to be near the Kingdom? What is better?

35. What question does Christ ask? How was Jesus the Lord of David? How was He his Son?

QUESTIONS.

His innocence and perfect holiness covers, in
the light of God, my sins wherein I was con-
ceived and brought forth.

LESSON HYMN: "Oh Love divine, how sweet thou art."