the matter with my eyes? I here leave off this journal till some other change or extraordinary misfortune takes place."

18. From six in the morning until ten at night, the forlorn and friendless boy was compelled to work for his cruel taskmaster. No time was left for his loved books, except such as could be snatched from his much-needed sleep. No wonder he was almost broken-hearted.

19. At last relief came. As the poor workhouse boy had been apprenticed to Bowden with the consent of the magistrates, the complaints of the apprentice were brought before these magistrates. Unable by reason of his deafness to plead his case by word of mouth, he used his pen to put his case before the bench. So well did he use that pen, so fluently did he write out his statements, that the gentlemen who were trying the case were surprised and delighted. They could not imagine whence a poor, deaf workhouse apprentice could have learned to express his thoughts so clearly and so powerfully. They granted his release, and sent the poor boy back again to the workhouse.

20. The cruel treatment of Bowden had awakened the boy to a new sense of power-to a new life. He had discovered what a mighty force might be wielded by the pen.

New hopes sprung up in his heart; new views of life opened out before him. His case now had become known. His appearance before the magistrates had brought him into notoriety. A few friends raised a subscription for him, obtained his discharge from the workhouse, and placed him in a position where he might indulge more freely his love of reading and study.

21. Right nobly did John Kitto make use of his new opportunities. After a short residence at Exeter as apprentice to Mr. Grove, a dentist, he entered the service

of the Church Missionary Society, and after careful preparation for his work at the Missionary College in Islington, he went out to Malta as superintendent of the printing department, and resided there eighteen months.

22. On his return to England he found his kind and noble-hearted friend, Mr. Grove, preparing to go out as a missionary to the East, and he at once agreed to go with him as tutor to his children. He went to Bagdad, remaining there nearly three years. During his residence in that city, Kitto obtained that intimate acquaintance with eastern customs and manners which gave such a special value to the important work which he published after his return home—his well-known Pictorial Bible. This valuable work was completed in 1838, and at once became very popular, and has since been several times reprinted. He published several other works, chiefly illustrative of the book he loved above all others -the Bible. His Daily Bible Illustrations was his last and most popular work, and was dedicated to our gracious Queen Victoria. Thus by patient perseverance and untiring industry, the deaf, forlorn workhouse boy raised himself to such a position that the Queen graciously accepted his offer of a dedication. In 1844 the University of Giessen in Germany gave him the title of Doctor of Divinity—a title very seldom given to any layman. But at last the strain of excessive work, the natural weakness of his constitution, and the shock of family bereavement, proved too much for him, and he died at Cannstadt in Germany on Nov. 25th, 1854, in his fiftieth year. His life was a long and continual struggle against poverty, deafness, and ill-health; but he gained the victory, and rose to a position not only of eminence, but of usefulness, enriching the world by his books, and still more by his noble God-fearing life.-Dr. Eadie's Life of Dr. Kitto.

habitual, constant, customary. degradation, painful and miser

able condition.

scant, short.

spectacle, sight.

bench, a name given to magistrates when sitting in judg

ment.

fluently, with ease.

wielded, exercised with power.

probationary, relating to testing. notoriety, publicity.

exultingly, proudly.

disable, prevent.

futile, useless, to no purpose. indignities, insults.

Where was John Kitto born?

Bagdad, a large city in Asiatic Turkey on the banks of the river Tigris.

bereavement, loss by death.

What kind of a home had he? By whom was he brought up? What kind of education did he receive? What made him think very highly of Mr. Roberts? What did he find in Mrs. Barnicle's shop-window? What was his first occupation? What terrible accident happened to him? What sad result did it leave behind? How did he obtain admission into Plymouth workhouse? Who acted as a friend to him while there? Describe his apprenticeship. How did he obtain relief? What was the effect of his pleading before the magistrates? Into what society's service did he enter? To what place was he first sent in the service of that society? Under what circumstances did he go to Bagdad? What did he specially become acquainted with while there? What was his first publication? What was his last, and to whom was it dedicated?

THE MOTHER WHO HAS A CHILD AT SEA.

1. There's an eye that looks on the swelling cloud,
Folding the moon in a funeral shroud:

That watches the stars dying one by one,
Till the whole of heaven's calm light has gone.
There's an ear that lists to the hissing surge,
As the mourner turns to the anthem dirge;
That eye! that ear! oh, whose can they be,
But a mother's who hath a child at sea?

2. There's a cheek that is getting ashy white,

As the tokens of storm come in with the night;

There's a form that's fixed at the lattice pane,
To mark how the gloom gathers over the main;
While the yeasty billows lash the shore
With loftier sweep, and hoarser roar.

That cheek! that form! oh, whose can they be,
But a mother's who hath a child at sea!

3. The rushing whistle chills her blood,

As the north wind hurries to scourge the flood:
And the icy shivers spread to her heart,
As the first red lines of lightning start.
The ocean boils! all mute she stands,
With parted lips and tight clasp'd hands;
Oh! marvel not at her fear-for she
Is a mother who hath a child at sea.

4. She conjures up the fearful scene

Of yawning waves, where the ship between,
With striking keel and splinter'd mast,
Is plunging hard and foundering fast.

She sees her boy, with lank, drenched hair,
Clinging on to the wreck with a cry of despair—
Oh! the vision is maddening--no grief can be
Like a mother's who hath a child at sea.

5. She pressed her brow, she sinks and kneels;
While the blast howls on, and the thunder peals;
She breathes not a word, for her passionate prayer
Is too fervent and deep for the lips to bear:
It is pour'd in the long convulsive sigh,
In the straining glance of an upturn'd eye:
And a holier offering cannot be

Than a mother's prayer for her child at sea.

Oh! I love the winds when they spurn control,
For they suit my own bond-hating soul;
I like to hear them sweeping past,
Like the eagle's pinions, free and fast:
But a pang will rise, with sad alloy,

To soften my spirit, and sink my joy,

When I think how dismal their voices must be

To a mother who hath a child at sea!

shroud, death dress.

surge, a large wave.
anthem, hymn.
dirge, funeral song.
yeasty, frothy.
mute, silent.
conjures, imagines.
keel, bottom of a ship.
foundering, sinking.

lank, drooping.

fervent, eager.

convulsive, with emotion.
spurn, reject with disdain.
control, restraint.
pinions, wings.

alloy, mixture of evil with
good.

dismal, doleful, dreary.