the pangs of hunger. He is kind to the unthankful and to the unworthy. 3. It was free from ostentation and from pride. A plainer, cheaper meal could scarcely have been given than this, of barley loaves and fish. The absence of luxury on this and on other occasions during our Lord's minidry is a rebuke to our self- indulgence. "Feed me with food convenient for me." As ostentation was avoided, so also was pride. Our Lord did not look down with contempt upon the pitifully small provision ofl'ered by the disciples-" seven loaves" and "a few small fishes." He did not put these aside and create afresh, as he might have done; but although he needed not to take the loaves, he did take them. Use to the utmost what God has already given you. Do the best you cl\n with what you have. As you use any gift, it will increase as the loaves did which the <lisciples carried to the multitude. 4. It was accompanied by devout acknowledgment of God. J csus " gave thanks " over this labourer's dinner. God's presence will make the eating of common loaves a sacrament to us. Let us thankfully receive his gifts, and in his name distribute them, that our beneficence may be a humble copy of our Lord's. II. CHRIBT'e EOONOMY, On this occasion, as on that near Bethsaida, the evangelists tell us that the apostles gathered up the remnants of the feast; and, judging from John vi. 12, we may be sure that on both occasions they were obeying their Lord's command. In God's gifts to man there is no waste, except where our ignorance and carelessness misuse them. The leaves of a tree are not mere ornaments, as was once imagined, but are means of nourishment; and when they fall and are driven by the wind into secret resting-places, they still enrich the soil. Not a drop of rain is wasted, fall where it may. Every year we are learning more and more that what was squandered as refuse from factories and sewers was meant by God for use. Science is following in the footsteps of these disciples of Christ. 1. Economy is needed in regard to the use of owr daily food, This wealthy nation is peculiarly wasteful. Servants use extravagantly anything of which tbere seems plenty. Artisans are prodigal in expenditure when wages are good. 'l'he middle classes and the upper classes are increasingly luxurious. All this was rebuked when Jesus taught his disciples that, although he could multiply food so easily, they were humbly and patiently to take up the fragments. 2. Economy is called for in the use of all God's gifts. Physical strength we should husband, and not squander. In seeking wealth or honour, many a man lives to repent his disobedience to this law. The whole life is Go<l's. We have no right to force into a few years what he meant to occupy its whole length, but are called upon to work thoughtfully and lawfully. There is a great waste of mental strength also going on amongst us. Some books and papers occupy the mind only to debase it. In education we ought to seek for ourselves and others well-trained and well-developed powers, so that nothing may be wanting to our complete manhood when we lay ourselves as living sacrifices on God's altar. Spiritual sensibility, also, is wasted when it evaporates in temporary excitement. The engines which make most noise are _those whic~ a.re doing nothing. When slea.m is up it must be used. So when feeling 1a arou_se~ 1~ D?-ust be turned into activity. 3. Ewnomy is the more requisite when gifts are diminishing. At the end of an abundant feast little was left, yet even about i\ the_ Lo~d Jesus was concerned. Gather up what is left of former religious teachin:,,, which 1s too often lost; of good resolutions, which have been broken a(7ain and ll"ain; of old beliefs, which have been shattered, and must be rearranged; of good reput;tion, al.though so little is left; of opportunities for Christian service, which may appear shght and casual, but fairly used will multiply and grow.-A. R.
Vere. 2~-2~.-The blind man of Bethsaida. The variety of method adopted by our Lord 1n hie acts of healing finds a striking illustration in the contrast presented between the cure of this blind man and that of Ilartimmus. The si"ht of the latteF 0 was instantaneously and perfectly re:,tored, but it was otherwise with the former. If, WI we believe, Christ's miracles were symbols of spiritual experiences, we must expect variety in these also; and we see thom in the contrast oxisting between the sudden transformation of a profligate, and the religious life of one who from a child has known the Scriptures, and loved the thinas0 that are excellent. For the further elucidation of such truth, consider- I. T11E BUDJEOT OF THIS MmAcuLous cuirE. 1. He was a blind man. Although light .352 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. [c11. vw. 1-38.