There is room enough on earth to find graves for the finest abilities and noblest powers. The ground which received one talent will also receive the five. Every man can be his own sexton. You can easily find a spade to dig a grave for your talents and abilities, your money and your time. But understand that in burying your talent you are burying yourself; in burying aught that God has given you, you are burying part of your very life.—Joseph Parker.

Friday, 11th. The love of Christ constraineth us. 2 Cor. v. 14.

The love of God is not a dream. It does not rise only in the solitary, musing breast. It is cultivated and exercised, by the mind intent on good, in the hours of business and even in the seasons of relaxation. It is a principle which will grow with us and be as large as our life. It will shape our actions, it will elevate our employments, it will make us retain our freshness, it will give us an everlasting youth.-Selected.

Saturday, 12th. His servants shall serve him. Rev. xxii. 3.

We are here as apprentices to learn the art of service. No grief, no loss, no stern discipline, no dreary failure, no misery of death, but shall one day find its compensation in that great fitness for service which it shall have wrought out in us. "Who, then, is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?"-Mark Guy Pearse.

Sunday, 13th. He hath done all things well. Mark vii. 37.

In the baptistry of the cathedral at Pisa is a wonderful dome. Spacious, symmetrical, composed of the choicest marble, it is a delight to stand beneath and gaze upon its beauties. Thus I stood one sunny April day, when suddenly the air became instinct with melody. The great dome seemed full of harmony. The waves of music vibrated to and fro, loudly beating against the walls, swelling into full chords like the roll of a grand organ, and then dying away into soft, long-drawn, far receding echoes, melting in the distance into silence. It was only my guide, who, lingering behind me a mo ment, had softly murmured a triple chord. But beneath that magic roof every sound resolved into a symphony. No discord can reach the summit of that dome and live.

Every noise made in the building-the slamming of the seats, the tramping of feet, all the murmur and bustle of the crowd-is caught up, softened, harmonized, blended, and echoed back in music. So it seems to me that over our life hangs the great dome of God's providence. Standing, as we do, beneath it, no act in the divine administration towards us, no affliction, no grief, no loss which our heavenly Father sends, however hard to bear it may be, but will come back at last softened and blended into harmony, with the overarching dome of His wisdom, mercy, and power, till to our corrected sense it shall be the sweetest music of heaven.—J. D. Steele.

have me to do? Acts ix. 6.

Every relation which we occupy hath its duties; every hour with which our lives are lengthened out hath its divine purpose.— William Mountford.

Tuesday, 15th. Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men. Acts xxiv. 16.

It is a great secret to maintain, not a scrupulous, but a sensitive conscience; and whensoever the clear surface of the mirror is blotted or blurred by the slightest mist, to search out the cause, and at all costs to rectify it. Conscience and the Holy Ghost are expressly allied by the apostle-the crystal stone ever bathed in the translucent glory of heaven.-F. B. Meyer.

Wednesday, 16th. None of us liveth to himself. Rom. xiv. 7.

There are purposes which God Himself cannot fulfill on earth except through you, and every sin of yours is a barrier set in God's way. To be sinning, not against yourself, but against the universe; in the petty yielding to your own indolence or neglect to be a hinderer of God's great ends in the world-that is what gives awfulness to every thought of sin. To injure, blot, ruin yourself-that may be a small matter; but to hold back the vast mechanism of creation-that gives your little life significance. -Francis G. Peabody.

Thursday, 17th. Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 1 John

iv. 7.

In an engine-room it is impossible to look into the great boiler and see how much water it contains. But running up beside it is a tiny glass tube which serves as a gauge. As the water stands in the little tube, so it stands in the huge boiler. When the tube is half full, the boiler is half-full. When the tube is empty, the boiler is empty. Do you ask, "How can I know I love God? I believe I love Him, but I want to know." Look at the gauge. Your love for your brother is the measure of your love for God. Do you love men? You can estimate that. You can read what is registered in the tiny tube. By this you can know your relation to God. There is not one love with which you love God and another with which you love men. Love is one. As it stands toward man in the gauge, so it stands toward God in the great reservoir into which you cannot see.-Paul M. Strayer.

Friday, 18th.

Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. John xvi. 23.

In all our praying we are not to forget that our prayers are to be answered. Some are to be answered just as we wish, some in a way different from what we wish, in a better way. Some are to be answered by a change in us, some by a change in others. Some are to be answered by the giving of greater strength to bear crosses, some by the lifting of the crosses. Some at once, some in the years to come, and some await eternity. And yet they are each to be answered.-Selected.

Saturday, 19th. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. Prov. xi. 25.

The truly Christian life takes as its motto: "As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men." It finds, it contrives to make such opportunities, and, in helping others, the follower of Christ is helped himself. For Christian service is twice blessed; any deed of love you render will not only benefit him you seek to aid, but it will prove a blessing to yourself. You will not be thinking of recompense, but Jesus will see to it that, if you give even a cup of cold water in His name to a thirsty soul, it shall not be left without reward.-C. A. Salmond.

Sunday, 20th. Only be thou strong and very courageous. Josh. 2. 7.

Our God's tender love for His servants makes Him concerned for the state of their inward feelings. He desires them to be of good courage. Some esteem it a small thing for a believer to be vexed with doubts and fears, but our Master does not think so lightly of our unbelief. The Christian ought to be of a courageous spirit, in order that he may glorify the Lord by enduring trials in an heroic manner. If he be fearful and faint-hearted, it will dishonor his God. Besides, what a bad example it is. This disease of doubtfulness and discouragement is an epidemic which soon spreads amongst the Lord's flock. Moreover, unless your courage is kept up, Satan will be too much for you. Let your spirit be joyful in God your Saviour, the joy of the Lord shall be your strength, and no fiend of hell shall make headway against you; but cowardice throws down the banner. Labor is light to a man of cheerful spirits, and success waits upon cheerfulness. The man who toils, rejoicing in his God, believing with all his heart, has success guaranteed. He who sows in hope shall reap in joy; therefore, "be thou strong, and very courageous.”—C. H. Spurgeon.

Monday, 21st. Let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Gal. vi. 9.

Engrave upon your hearts, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord"; and then take up, piece by piece, the work He lays before you, and do it thoroughly. It may look little and insignificant all the way, but at the end the golden grains shall have made a shining mountain.-Selected.

A great many people purpose to do right, but the trouble with them is that they purpose in their heads, and that doesn't amount to much. If you are going to be a Christian you must purpose to serve God away down in your heart. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness."— D. L. Moody.

Wednesday, 23rd. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. Ps. cii. 13.

What a vast portion of our lives is spent in anxious and useless forebodings concerning the future, either our own or that of our

dear ones! Present joys, present blessings slip by and we miss half their sweet flavor, and all for want of faith in Him Who provides for the tiniest insect in the sunbeam. Oh, when shall we learn the sweet trust in God our little children teach us every day by their confiding faith in us? We who are so mutable, so faulty, so irritable, so unjust, and He Who is so watchful, so pitiful, so loving, so forgiving! Why cannot we, slipping our hand into His each day, walk trustingly over that day's appointed path, thorny or flowery, crooked or straight, knowing that evening will bring us sleep, peace, and home?-Selected.

Thursday, 24th. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 Cor.

X. 12.

It is a fact which all close students of human nature must have observed, that there is a backwater of temptation which is more deadly than its assaults. You may fight hard against a temptation, and fight victoriously. You may beat it off and crush it down, and then, when weary with the conflict you suffer the strain of vigilance to relax, it will steal in and easily master the citadel which lately it spent all its force to win. Beware of the moments in which you succeed the best. They are the most perilous of all. Just when the consciousness of triumph seems to permit and justify disarmament for a moment, the subtle foe with whom you have to deal will steal in on you and win a treacherous victory. Never relax the strain. Never forget that each new victory opens a new danger and gives fresh call for vigilance and courage to keep what has been won. Never believe that the devil is asleep; never believe that a besetting sin has been eradicated; never boast of a comng victory.-J. Baldwin Brown.

Friday, 25th. He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 1 John ii. 6

Do not forget that your life may be the only Bible your neighbor ever reads. Your words, your actions, are spread ever before him like so many pages to be read. He is forever scanning you carefully, looking for a blot here, a blemish there, or some absolute mistake. You may think lightly of some inconsistent action; he does not, and is quick to take advantage of such to defend

cross

Num. xx. 8. I Cor. x. 4.

The first command to Moses was to "smite the rock." On the second occasion he was told to "speak to the rock.” Moses, however, in rashness and unbelief, disobeyed God, and instead of speaking to the rock he smote it again. For this he was visited with judgment. The application of this truth is most instructive. Christ is the Rock. He was once smitten, and on the of Calvary the living streams to cleanse the soul of the sinner issued forth. But having been once smitten He needs not to be smitten again. "By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." We need no repeated sacrifice. To smite the Rock again is simply to say we do not believe in the finished work of the Lord Jesus. The Rock has been smitten; the blood has been shed; the work is "finished." Now the command is, "Speak to the Rock." This is all that is needed to bring down the healing streams-"the living waters from the river of life." At all times, in all places, for all purposes, in the battle of life or in the stillness of the dying chamber, "speak to the Rock."-Frederick Whitfield.

Monday, 28th. He that hateth his life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal. John xii. 25.

Nothing is eternal but that which is done for God. That which is done for self dies. Perhaps it is not wrong, but it perishes. That which ends in self is mortal; that alone which goes out of self into God lasts forever.-F. W. Robertson.

Tuesday, 29th. As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy. 1 Pet. i.

15.

Sabbath school. For some years the additions and baptisms have reached about the same figures.-Selected.

More of
Nothing could be more
Luther's Works. like what men are fond of
calling the "irony of fate"

than the discovery of other works of Martin Luther in the Vatican at Rome. "God moves in a mysterious way," and men ofttimes serve His purpose when they least think it. The newly discovered books consist of (1) two commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans; one glossatorial, especially explaining important words; the other a long exposition of the teachings. (2) Two copies of a Latin version of Romans, which Luther had printed with a special view to the students who attended his lectures so that they could write notes between the lines and on the margin. (3) Two MSS. containing Luther's lectures on Romans, condensed from his commentaries. (4) Two commentaries on the Epistle to the Hebrews, like those on Romans.

Archaeology and Scripture.

The further archæological research goes the more it corroborates the testimony of the Scriptures. Although, in the minds of some, the Scriptures need no evidence, this agreement is not unacceptable as an endorsement of science. In this light a recent discovery at Jerusalem, of which The Christian World speaks, is particularly interesting:

About thirty yards from the Bir Eyub, or Well of Job," which Jewish and Christian tradition identifies with En Rogel, or the Fullers' Fountain" (Josh. xv. 7), from thirty to fifty vats have been found hewn in the rock. Their shape is wholly different from that of the vats connected with oil and wine presses, and one at least is exactly like the fullers' vats depicted on one of the tomb paintings of Beni-Hassan. So it is suggested that they represent the remains of ancient fulling works, and thus confirm the above mentioned tradition, which has been rather discredited in recent years, many topographers finding En Rogel in the Fountain of the Virgin. If the suggestion is right, and it seems to be favored by Dr. Selah Merrill, who has carefully examined the vats, which were discovered by Mr. Hanauer, modern research has lighted on a relic of the industry of Jerusalem which may be as old as the time of Joshua.

Japan and The war between Japan and Christianity. China, as well as the results of the last decade, have shown the superiority of Japan to be due to her readiness to assimilate anything Western. The following report from The Interior is consequently not surprising:

There are at present in Japan one hundred and twenty-one thousand Christians, of which number forty-two thousand are Protestant, fifty-four thousand Catholics, and the rest members of the Greek church. In the whole group of islands there are said to be nearly one thousand missionaries, seven hundred and sixteen of these being Protestant. The Church of England has the largest force upon the ground, being represented by one hundred and twenty-four laborers, while the American Board has sixty-seven and the Methodist Episcopal sixty-five. Nearly one hundred churches, almost without exception Presbyterian or Congregational, are self-supporting, and most of them contribute to the spreading of the gospel in other cities than their own There are more than fifty-five hundred boys and girls in the mission boarding schools, and in the sixteen theological schools one hundred and thirteen students are preparing to become pastors of native churches.

Night Theological School.

imitation.

The scheme adopted by a certain Baptist church is well worthy of

It has started a theological training school whose sessions, in order to reach those whose days are occupied, are confined to the evening hours. The ad. mirable purpose of this school is to "provide a thorough course of study to fit young men and women more completely for Christian work in their respective churches; to prepare students for the gospel ministry; to make proficient Sunday-school workers; to offer lectures to young women in training for deaconesses; to give instruction in missionary lines, and to cultivate a Christian spirit among the different denominations." The school was founded by the late Rev. George W. Samson. Its present dean is the Rev. Leighton Williams, with whom are associated seven teachers of reputation and ability. The entire course covers a period of four years; two years complete the Bible school teachers' preparation, the third year furnishes a missionary course, and the fourth a theological course. The tuition is entirely free, the only outlay being a registration