THE FIRESIDE. DYING WORDS OF MR. H. S. GOLDING.-A little before his death, when his brother said to him, "You seem to enjoy foretastes of heaven," he replied, "O, this is no longer a foretaste; this is heaven! I not only feel, but 1 breathe the air of heaven, and soon shall enjoy the company!" The last words which he uttered were, "Glory, glory, glory!" He died in the twenty-fourth year of his age. THE COAL-BOATMAN'S DEATH.-A coal merchant at Brigg, in Lincolnshire, had occasion to send a boat to Barton, with a cargo of coals, and ordered one of his men to take charge of it. As the boat was leaving the wharf, a person civilly accosted the man, asking where he was going. "I am going to hell," said he with an oath. Awful to relate, he died suddenly before he reached Barton. A NOBLEMAN REPROVED.-A nobleman seeing a large stone near his gate, ordered his servant, with an oath, to send it to hell. "If," said the servant, "I were to throw it to heaven, it would be more out of your lordship's way." LAW OF PITTACUS.-By one of the laws of Pittacus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, every fault committed by a person when intoxicated was deemed worthy of a double punishment. The Fireside. HIS MOTHER'S TEARS AND PRAYERS. A YOUNG man whose father died when he was an infant, was left to the tender care of his own loving mother, who always managed to controul him so long as he remained with her. "One day in conversation upon this subject, he remarked to me, 'Whenever I was guilty of disobeying my mother, and she called me to account, she would talk to me seriously, and then kneel down in prayer and tell God all about my conduct and the consequences of my course. I used to feel at such times as if my heart would burst, and I have often said, Mother, whip me, but don't talk to me and pray for me.' Ah,' said he, 'it was the talking and praying that affected me more than the whipping, though all were necessary." 199 Yes: nothing we can do subdues the heart of a child more, or › so much, as the prayers of a pious mother. The tender love of a mother expressed in earnest prayer for her child is never forgotten in after life. The feelings then excited will be brought back by memory wherever such a child may be, and to the end of life. 1 THE PENNY POST BOX. The Penny Post Box. CIRCULATION OF THE PIONEER. FROM the letters we have received in reply to our invitation, we select the following hints as to the best means of increasing our circulation for the coming year. "A Working Man" says:-"I take a deep interest in the Pioneer, which is so useful that I should like to see it once a week instead of once a month. It is now the best and cheapest I know. As regards extending its sales; I will tell you what I do, and I do so from a sense of duty. I take one in my hand ready cut open, and shew it to my neighbours and fellow workmen. I then ask them to take one, and I tell them I will get it for them and deliver it myself, so that they shall have no trouble about it. This is the way to get subscribers. If any one should say, It is so much trouble; my answer is, I know that, but what good work that is worth doing can be done without some trouble. But it is not all trouble; there is a reward in knowing we are doing good; and some might do good in this way that are not able to do much in any other way. But the secret of success is earnestness. If we are not in earnest we shall not succeed. I do not, however, believe that any one who sets about the matter in earnest will fail. I am only a working man, but I find time to circulate from 25 to 30 copies monthly. I want other working men, and working women, and sabbath school teachers, to begin in good earnest, and we should soon double your subscribers for 1858; and we ought to do it, and keep them up all the year. If I lose a subscriber in the course of a year I never rest until I have got another, perhaps two, in his place. That is the way to get on and keep on. You, Mr. Editor, ask if the sales are to go up or down; dont think of going down; they must go up. It is in our power to keep them up, and I, for one, shall do my best. So I say ; Go on, go up, with all my heart; To take them in next year. Come let us all in earnest be, A Friend, writing from Wales, says: "I circulate a number of the Pioneer every month, for I am very fond of them, and feel much interest in spreading them all I can. I manage the circulation of mine easy enough, for I take every opportunity of shewing them at the school, or at prayer meetings, or among my neighbours and friends, and when visiting the sick. One of my subscribers has been on the bed of affliction for ten years, and she told me that she would not be without it on any account; and she, though confined to her bed, has persuaded others, who came to see her, to take it. Now is not this doing good. I think it is; and that we all might MUSIC OF SHOP AND FARM LABOUR. do a great deal of good in this way if we would. And really it does one good to do good. I have promises for a dozen more for next year already. I always take them myself to the subscribers. That is the way to get them and keep them. I hope to get more yet. But I will write and tell you. May God prosper you!" "A New Subscriber" says "You ask if your valuable little periodical-the Pioneer-is to go up or down. I say, Go up to be sure! I have only just had it put into my hands, and am so pleased with it that I shall take it myself, and I shall order sixteen copies every month to begin with; and have no doubt that I shall│ soon double that number. I am a local village preacher, and am much pleased with the christian spirit of the work, which is one of the cheapest of the kind I ever saw. Go on in the name of the Lord, and you will prosper! I should like the Pioneer to spread far and wide over the whole land, and I will do my best to help it on." Now shall our circulation be doubled or not? MUSIC OF SHOP AND FARM LABOUR. BY MRS. FRANCIS D. GAGE. THE banging of the hammer, The clattering of the turning lathe, The rattling of the loom, The clipping of the tailor's shears, The clicking of the magic type, The pattering feet of childhood, The housewife's busy hum, The buzzing of the scholars, The teachers' kindly call, These sounds of active industry I love I love them all. I love the ploughman's whistle, Oh, there's a good in labour, If we labour but aright, That gives vigour to the day-time, NOTICE. Our regular readers will observe that as four of our pages must this time be used for Title, Preface, and Contents, we are compelled to leave out our Facts, Hints, Gems, and Children's Corner. 144 WINKS AND SON, PRINTERS, LEICESTER. |