I have the honour to be, sir, Your obedient servant, G. E. GOURAUD. _Little Menlo, Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, Surrey, June 26th, 1888_. P.S.--It may be interesting to add that the above communication was spoken by me into the phonograph, and written from the phonograph's dictation by a member of my family, who had, of course, no previous experience of the instrument. THE HOUSE UPON THE SAND. "Whilst we were conversing with a man named Joachim," says a missionary to Syria, "in the city of Nazareth, a sudden but violent storm arose, and terrific peals of thunder rolled over our heads. The brow of the hill whereon the city was built was every moment gleaming as the lightning flashed. The rain fell in torrents, and in the course of an hour a river flowed past the convent door, along what lately was a dry and quiet street. In the darkness of the night, we heard loud shrieks for help. The floods carried away baskets, logs of wood, tables, and fruit-stands. At length a general alarm was given. Two houses built on the sand were undermined by the water, and both fell together, while the people in them escaped with difficulty. It was impossible not to pity these poor, houseless creatures, and, at the same time, to thank God we were in a secure building." The power and meaning of these words spoken by our Lord was thus made plain--"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." UNSEEN PROTECTION. A lady was wakened up one morning by a strange noise of pecking at the window, and when she got up, she saw a butterfly flying backwards and forwards inside the window in a great fright, because outside there was a sparrow pecking at the glass, wanting to reach the butterfly. The butterfly did not see the glass, but it saw the sparrow, and evidently expected every moment to be caught. Neither did the sparrow see the glass, though it saw the butterfly, and made sure of catching it. Yet, all the while, the butterfly, because of that thin, invisible sheet of glass, was actually as safe as if it had been miles away from the sparrow. Poor, fearful child of God, it is when our Protector is out of sight that our hearts fail us. Elisha's servant was in great fear when he awoke in the morning, and saw the city of Dothan encompassed with horses, and chariots, and a great host; but when his eyes were opened, at the prayer of the prophet, his fears vanished, for he beheld the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even for evermore."