this lies the important differences between man and man. The seeming stupid heoomer bright by patient friction with difficulty, while the idle clever man rusts and blunt, his edge. " If onr virtues go not forth from us, 'tis all As one as though we had them not." 2. God is an exact creditor. He starts us in life with a certain fixed capital of energy; just such and such a sum or number of talents. The rest is our part. The increase may be indefinite, in this world and worlds to come. He " lends not the smallest ecruple of his excellence, but, like a thrifty creditor, demands both thanks and use." Let life be the grateful repayment of the spiritual loan. If we do not " pay our way" we shall suffer for it. " Wouldst thou seal up the avenues of ill ? Pay every debt as if God wrote the bill." 8. In the long run, success or failure, prosperity or ruin, is the reaction of our own deeds. We reap as we sow. A Nemesis presides over all our works. "If you serve, or fancy yon serve, an ungrateful master, serve him the more. Put God in your debt. Every stroke shall be repaid. The longer the payment is withholden, the better for you ; for compound interest on compound interest is the rate and usage of this exchequer." "The benefit we receive must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, penny for penny, to somebody. Beware of too much good staying in your hand. It will fast corrupt and breed worms, Pay it away quickly in some sort."-J. Vers. 26-29.-The beauty of growth. L THE SMALL BEGINNING. What smaller or more seemingly feeble than the seed-the thought-the word-the volition? Yet in the beginning lies the end, m the acorn the oak. II. THE D!:MENHE DlvINE POWER. We lie on the bosom of nature as the seed lies in the earth. For as winds blow and waters move and earth rests, God in his might and love bears up and onward the living sonl. All things are ours to work our good. III. 'l'HE SECRECY .U.'D SLOWNESS OF THE PROCESS. God does the best for us while we sleep. The Greek artist represented Fortune driving cities into the net of the sleeping conqueror Timotheus. Cultivate a wise patience. Know the power of the word Wa.itl Think you of all the mighty sum Of things for ever speaking, Thst nothing of itself will come, But we must still be seeking?" "Ripeness is all." 'Tis worth waiting a lifetime for the fruition of an hour. Each hour is a fruition of eternity to him who lives in God. And we may be reaping when we seem only to be sowing.-J.
Vere. 30-34.-The power of ideas. L THE KINGDOM OF Gon IS THE KINGDOM OF mEAB. All forms of the true, holy, and good are included in this kingdom. Life would be intolerable, amidst the greatest physical comfort., without ideas. Our spirit is born to love and live among them. Novelty of ideas is the condition of change for the better in every life-department. 11 lnEAB ARE SELF-MULTIPLYING. Start a beautiful pattern in trade; it gives birth to a whole creation of beauty. Cast in a golden hour a seed of truth or love into the general mind; up springs a flower, whose seed will presently be in all gardens (see TeDDyson's poem). Do a noble deed, speak a word from the full voice of the heart; an infinity of echoes will awake; a thousand imitators will arise. Let us speak in these parables of nature to the many ; and for the few let us analyze and elicit their wider meaninu. For the truths of the seen are less than those of the unseen. Illus- trations light° up a truth not understood; but their value ill transient. Thu truth escapes from this or that clothing into other forms.-J. Vere. 35-41.-Stonn and calm. I. STORMS BREAK UNEXPECTEDLY UPON us. The Lake of Galilee waa peculiarly exposed to them from the north; the wind rushed as OH, 1v. 1-41.J THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. 187