"Benjamin West relates that he owed his success in life to the fond kiss of delighted approval bestowed on him by his mother, on his bringing her a rude production of his pencil when quite a little boy. 'That kiss,' said the great artist, 'made me a painter.' "Praise, then, when merited, should never be withheld. It is the chief--indeed, generally the only--recompense to which children look; and it is a bitter and injudicious cruelty to deprive them of it. The approval and the censure of its parents and teachers should, in this sense, be the guiding stars of a child's existence. But care should be taken that neither should be bestowed carelessly or with partiality, so as to induce vanity, or, on the other hand, bitterness of feeling." BIBLE ENIGMA. An Apostle employed as a messenger. The son of Zephaniah. A disciple called "the chamberlain of the city." A place whence gold was brought to the temple. An idol of Damascus. He who arrested a prophet that was put into a dungeon. Who said, "The Lord is good, a Stronghold in the day of trouble," &c.? A disciple who dwelt at Troas. A sorcerer struck blind. The name given to the sockets for fastening the stones in the ephod. That without which it is impossible to please God. The place where one was struck dead for touching the ark. Aaron's wife. The Syriac name for "Father." The Epistle where the words are--"Ye are not your own," &c. The place to which Samson gave a name, where he quenched his thirst after slaying the Philistines. Total--one of the titles of Christ, used prophetically. LOW expense is the highway to fortune. THE SIXTH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS GATHERING OF EBENEZER SUNDAY SCHOOL, HASTINGS. Year succeeds year and marks the flight of time, and, in its flight, leaves the impress of many changes, proving to every thoughtful mind that "here we have no continuing city." But, amid the changes of life, the Lord encourages His people to wait upon Him; and none need to do so more than they who are engaged in the work of spreading His truth, whether among old or young; and when the spirit of prayer is kept alive in their midst, they are not without testimony that "the Lord is with them." These thoughts were in the minds of some who witnessed the assembling of the scholars of this school on December 27th, and they marvelled how any God-fearing man or woman can feel indifferent to the welfare of the young, or look on unmoved as they assemble together. To some of us these gatherings are as "the solemn assembly." We see an eager, expectant throng, seeking for that which shall please them--for the most part, seemingly unconscious, for the time at least, that they have immortal souls that must live in eternal happiness or eternal misery, and, therefore, without a knowledge of their state before God. We see our own children, and yearn over them in prayer before God, and, like Ezra, we would "afflict ourselves before God" to seek a right way for ourselves and our little ones.