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posing triumphal arch in the world, being one hundred and sixty feet high, one hundred and forty-six feet broad, and seventy-two feet deep. Yet it is difficult to say which is the more to be admired, the arch itself or its magnificent situation. As you stand upon its summit, by simply turning around your eye sweeps the entire extent of twelve beautiful avenues, which radiate from the arch toward every corner of Paris. You can point out every important building, and your vision is limited only by the low hills dotted with suburban villages which surround the capital like a line of bulwarks. During the dark days of 1871 the Communists, who then held possession of the city, lifted heavy cannon to the top of this arch by steam power and from that point bombarded the city with fearful effect.

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It

There is of course a good deal of fine sculpture upon the archthe finest, no doubt, to be found in four colossal groups, at least one of which, that shown on page 10, will repay close inspection. represents the triumph of Napoleon after the Russian campaign, and in effect sums up the whole meaning of this triumphal arch-the glorification of Napoleon. The nations of the earth are kneeling at his feet; victory crowns him with laurel; fame, with her trumpet, proclaims his deeds abroad; and history records them for the edification of posterity.

One of the most prominent objects in every general view of Paris is the enormous gilded dome of the Hotel des Invalides, the hospital and refuge which Napoleon used for

LE PALAIS DE LA CHAMBRE DES DEPUTIES.

the faithful old soldiers who had made him what he was. And under the centre of that dome the great captain lies, in accordance with his latest request-that his ashes might lie on the banks of the Seine and among the French people he had loved so well. Twelve colossal figures of victory in mourning attitudes stand about the tomb. Here also are displayed numerous battleflags captured in his campaigns, and on the mosaic pavement of the crypt are recorded the names of his chief victories.

One of the most striking of the many monuments of Paris is that of Leon Gambetta, a patriot statesman of the Republic that succeeded the third Empire. His stirring eloquence aroused the failing hearts of his countrymen to resist the invasion of France and siege of Paris. He organized the balloon post during the memorable siege, and escaped from the city to join the army in the field. His monument represents him in one of his dramatic attitudes.

"All round the year the trusting soul May find the word of promise whole; The flight of time, unknown above, Breaks not our Father's boundless love;

"Unbroken be the tranquil light
That folds our lesser sphere,
As ever pure and calm and bright,
All round the year."

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Let us forget the things that vexed and tried us,
The worrying things that caused our souls to fret;
The hopes that, cherished long, were still denied us
Let us forget.

Let us forget the little slights that pained us,

The greater wrongs that rankle sometimes yet;
The pride with which some lofty one disdained us
Let us forget.

Let us forget our brother's fault and failing,
The yielding to temptation that beset,
That he perchance, though grief be unavailing,
Cannot forget.

But blessings manifold, past all deserving,

Kind words and helpful deeds, a countless throng,

The fault o'ercome, the rectitude unswerving,

Let us remember long.

The sacrifice of love, the generous giving

When friends were few, the hand-clasp warm and strong, The fragrance of each life of holy living

Let us remember long.

Whatever things were good and true and gracious,
Whate'er of right has triumphed over wrong,
What love of God or man has rendered precious,
Let us remember long.

So, pondering well the lessons it has taught us,
We tenderly may bid the year "Good-bye,"
Holding in memory the good it brought us,
Letting the evil die.

-Christian Endeavour World.

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HALE AND BELL'S CAMP, TWELVE MILES FROM CARTIER.-READING ROOM IN BACKGROUND.

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ET us rise early and accompany this group of stalwart lumbermen to the scene of their daily toil. It is yet dark; even the moon, hanging like a great white globe among the pine-tops, seems to emit but a pallid shadow that is scarcely light. The camp-fire shines through the opening door in a flickering ruddy shadow on the snow outside. The air is full of the hush of the hour before dawn-the stillness of the winter woods. Snow and trees, trees and snow, and darkness, and stillness, broken only by the sturdy tramp of the men, who, shouldering their axes, follow the path through the forest. It will be light enough to

begin work by the time they reach. their chopping-place. The darkness and solitude do not seem to awe or silence them. They are accustomed to these things. They always start forth to their day's work long ere most of us have left our pillows. After all, their lot is not as bad as that of some of their work-fellows. It is not as bad as the stifling, underground life of the miner. It affords a contact with nature of which the workman amid the whirr of machinery knows nothing. There is pure air, open sky, and that blessed quiet in which great souls have ever been nurtured.

But the life of the "bushman has its dangers and its drawbacks. Conceive of from fifty to two hundred men shut away in an isolated camp in the woods with their evenings, their Sundays, rainy days, and public holidays all hanging idly on

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WALLACE, M'CORMACK AND SHEPPARD'S READING CAMP, 35 MILES FROM BLIND RIVER, ONT.

their hands. No books, no papers, no church services, no home influences, no suggestion of refined and progressive civilization. What is the inevitable result? What is left them but the pipe, the cards, and the bottle? And so their leisure hours, that might be turned to such good account in developing the citizens of our nation, are often dissipated amid degrading influences. Carlyle says:

"It is not because of his toils that I lament for the poor; we must all toil, or steal (however we name our stealing), which is worse; no faithful workman finds his task a pastime. The poor is hungry and athirst; but for him also there is food and drink; he is heavyladen and weary; but for him also the Heavens send Sleep, and of the deepest; in his smoky cribs. a clear dewy heaven of Rest envelops him and fitful glitterings of cloud-skirted Dreams. But what I do mourn over is that the lamp of his soul should go out; that no ray of heavenly, or even earthly, knowledge should visit him; but only, in the haggard darkness, like two spectres, Fear and Indignation bear him company. Alas, while the Body stands so broad and brawny, must the Soul lie blinded, dwarfed, stupefied, al

most annihilated!-Alas, was this too a Breath of God; bestowed in Heaven, but on earth never to be unfolded!-That there should one Man die ignorant who had capacity for Knowledge, this I call a tragedy, were it to happen more than twenty times in the minute, as by some computations it does! The miserable fraction of Science which our united Mankind, in a wide Universe of Nescience, has acquired, why is not this, with all diligence, imparted to all?"

Apart from any higher motive, as a young and growing nation we cannot afford to have fifty thousand woodsmen and miners, who, by their votes, share the control of our nation and its laws-we cannot afford to have these men shut away from every means of obtaining knowledge. "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." If we give men liberty to control our land we must also give them light. This is what the Canadian Reading Camp Association is striving to do under the able guidance of the Rev. Alfred Fitzpatrick, B.A., its General Secretary. For the benefit of those who have

not

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A CORNER IN THE ONTARIO LUMBER COMPANY'S READING ROOM, 6 MILES FROM NORTH BAY.

taken an interest in this work we may say that its object is to develop a home study system of education for these men. In some camps seventy-five per cent. of the men can neither read nor write. The Association has two teachers at work and is engaging five or six six others. These teachers spend their evenings in the reading rooms, encouraging the boys to improve their spare time. They are endeavouring to supply current literature, which is of necessity expensive. Those desirous of helping on the work will see, therefore, that it is not so much old papers and magazines that are needed as money to meet necessary expenses. The teachers are being engaged at considerable cost. Certain Bible-classes and Sunday-schools have been asked to assist in the work by becoming responsible for one week's salary for one of the teachers. Two of these teachers, one of whom is a university graduate, are devoting all their time to this work. The others will

work in the woods during the day and devote their evenings to teaching. They will be paid by the company for their work during the day, and the Association will pay them from ten to twenty dollars a month additional for their services as teachers. Says one of our periodicals: "Mr. Fitzpatrick began the movement in a tentative way in a few lumber camps, and so great has been its success that he strongly urges the extension of the plan to other lumber and mining camps. Besides the assistance of private beneficence, he is urging the co-operation of the Ontario Government. The Hon. Mr. Harcourt. Minister of Education, gives the assurance of his heartiest co-operation. The modest sum of twelve hundred dollars has been placed in the estimates for the current year. It is hoped that as the work expands this will be considerably increased."

This is not a work of charity; it is a mere act of justice. When we stop to think that one-third of the

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