Furness Abbey.

monks be by Divine permission established ; and that it may remain firm and inviolable for ever , I subscribe it with my own hand , with the sign of the cross . Signed by HENRT—King of England . THURSTAN—Archbishop of York . ACJDIN 7 T . i blsll 0 P

BOAS j - ROBERT , keeper of the seal . ROBERT , Earl of Glo ' ster . " Need we wonder at the wonderful supremacy which the Roman Church gained over the minds at that age , when the great ones cast away their riches so contemptuously . At that time the words of the great Vatican orator would applto her with full force :

y " . Like the vast and universal arch of heaven , she overcanopies all christian climes and nations ; and like that arch she is one—unbroken wheresoever she appears . Cloud after cloud of sectarianism has broken away , or melted into the boundless fields of ether , while other vapours as fleeting and unsubstantial occupy their place . But the arch still stands—for the sacred word of everlasting truth is pledged for its stability . "

But the Church ' of Rome broke from her primitive Christianity , ancl commenced the system of inquisition ancl persecution , ancl she fell ; fell never to rise again , unless it be for a brief space by the heavy lumbering cavalry of brute force , with its concomitant appliances of the gibbet , rack , dungeon , and stake . Furness Abbey is no more . Within her sacred precincts the harsh scream

of the steam-engine is heard , and from the ruins of the abbot ' s house rise a stately hotel , replete with every modern comfort . Half-an-hour ' s walk brings you to the modern Chicago of Barrow , with its gigantic chimneys and forests of ships' masts . But in all her ruins , Furness Abbey serves one useful turn . The grounds are frequented on holidays by thousands , who seek respite from the glare , and noise , and turmoil of the busy town ; and under the precincts

where cowled monks have trod , the hard-working population—resting from their labours—worship nature , ancl through her they arrive at a knowledge of nature ' s God ; forming , perhaps , a truer estimate of His character than the former denizens of this romantic but deserted vale .

The Secret At Last.

THE SECRET AT LAST .

"BY BRO . R . HUNTER , NO . Ill , S . C . IN an auld burgh toon that I daurna' weel name , That boasts o' its heicht in the annals o' fame , There lived , at the time o' this short rhyming tale , A canty auld couple , baith hearty and hale . Fu' lang had they travelled thegether through life ,

Wi' a routh o' its joys and but little o' strife , For the worthy guidman , sae the neebours wad say , In settling disputes had a pawky auld way . And when oucht wad arise to annoy and harass-He wad quietly say , " There nao , Jenny , my lass , Since for weel or for wae we are tied to ae tether , Let's look ower ither ' s fauts and pn' cheerfu' thegether . " And sae , wi' a kindly bit word and a smile The auld wifie ' s anger he aft wad beguile .