“SEVEN sheep were standing By the pasture wall. Tell me,” said the teacher, To her scholars small, “One poor sheep was frightened, Jumped and ran away. One from seven—how many Woolly sheep would stay?” Up went Kitty’s fingers— A farmer’s daughter she, Not so bright at figures As she ought to be. “Please, ma’am”—“Well, then, Kitty, Tell us, if you know.” “Please, if one jumped over All the rest would go.” * * * * * SAID Willie: “The Man in the Moon In Mother Goose came down too soon, For I’ve read it over and over; But he’d done a sillier thing to-day, When Flossie and I went out to play And roll in the field of clover. For up in the sky, right overhead, When every star had gone to bed, And the sun was shining bright, We saw his moon, looking pale and thin, Because he’d forgotten to take it in, After hanging there all night!” —_Selected._ [Illustration: BURNS’S HIGHLAND MARY.] [Illustration] THE BEE’S WISDOM. SAID a wandering little maiden To a bee with honey laden, “Bee, at all the flowers you work, Yet in some does poison lurk.” “That I know, my pretty maiden,” Said the bee with honey laden, “But the poison I forsake, And the honey only take.” “Cunning bee, with honey laden, That is right,” replied the maiden; “So will I, from all I meet, Only draw the good and sweet.” —_Selected._ THE HARD TEXT. (_Matt._ xii. 34.) “O GENERATION of vipers.” Thus Jesus called the Jews or their leaders. Put this with other names he gave them—“hypocrites,” “fools and blind,” “serpents” (read the twenty-third chapter of Matthew)—and maybe you will wonder how he, so gentle and forgiving, could do it. “Yes,” you say, “they did provoke Him; they treated Him most outrageously, calling Him all sorts of bad names, and finally putting Him to death in the most cruel manner. But it does not seem quite right for Him to call them vile names back again. It looks as though He lost his temper and became awfully angry with his enemies.” Indeed it does say He once looked around upon them with anger. So you are right with that word, but its real meaning is indignation, the righteous feeling every one should have against wrong. Thus you ought to feel against swearing, stealing, the liquor business and all such things. It would be wicked for you to smile at such things. So much for anger—the anger of Jesus. Now about “calling names.”