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mothers and fathers, all great artists, all great benefactors, all the persecuted and despised, and crucified almost, all that have suffered for a principle, all that the dungeons had, and all that the hospitals had, and all that the sea has swallowed, and all that the earth has covered--all of them, though they have passed through so many and such various pains, although they are apparently destroyed, are no more destroyed than the seed that the farmer covers under the clod, that it may rise again in more glorious luxuriance. God has saved everything that was worth saving in this world.

When the florist gathers his seeds in the best way he can and winnows them, giving them the best sifting he can, the poorest seeds are carried away by the wind with the chaff, and he loses them, unless he is a very acute seedsman, and goes after these poor seeds to bring them back again, that they may swell the bulk and quantity of his saleable material. But when the Great Gardener shall save His seeds, the poorest seed of the whole, the most shrunken, if it only has a germ no bigger than a needle's point in it, shall not be lost. Not the great, beauteous, plump seeds alone, but the little infinitesimal seeds-all these God has saved, and He will save them all.—WARD BEECHER.

1287.-REFUSING ADVICE.

Heb. xii. 25.-" See that ye refuse not him that speaketh."

Illustrative. I once happened to be on a visit to a great castle situate at the top of a hill. There was a steep cliff, at the bottom of which was a rapid river. Late one night there was a woman anxious to get home from that castle in the midst of a thunder-storm. The night was blackness itself; the woman was asked to stop till the storm was over, but she declined; next they begged her to take a lantern, that she might be able to keep upon the road from the castle to her home. She said she did not require a lantern, but could do very well without one. She went. Perhaps she was frightened by the storm-I know not the cause —but in the midst of the darkness she wandered from the path and fell over the cliff. The next day that swollen river washed to the shore the poor lifeless body of this foolish woman! How many foolish ones are there who, when the light is offered them, only say, "I am not afraid; I fear not my end!" and how many have perished because they have refused the light of God's truth, which would have guided them on the road to heaven.-BISHOP VILLIERS.

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EASILY TURNED ASIDE.

HEBREWS XIII.

1288.-BROTHERLY LOVE.

Heb. xiii. I.-"Let brotherly love continue."

Illustrative.-A gentleman of Marseilles, named Remonsat, shortly before his death, desired that his numerous family might be assembled about his bed. He acknowledged the delight which his children had afforded him by their affection and attachment, and especially for the tender love which they bore to one another. "But," continued he, “I have a secret to disclose, which will remove one of you from this circle. So long as I had any hopes of living I kept it from you, but I dare not violate your rights in the division of the property which I leave you. One of you is only an adopted chid-the child of the nurse at whose breast my own child died. Shall I name that child?" "No, no," said they with one accord, "let us all continue to be brothers and sisters."

1289. GOD'S HELP IN TIME OF NEED.

Heb. xiii. 6.-"So that we may 'boldly say, The Lord is my helper." [R.V.] With good courage.

Illustrative. Fresenius, a pious minister at Fraukfort-on-the-Maine, one day found his mother, who was a widow, concerned about a dollar which she much needed at the time, but did not know whence to procure it. Not being himself able at that instant to furnish her with one, he said, speaking under the impulse of a strong faith, " I, likewise, believe you must have the dollar; I accordingly turn this hour-glass, and assure you that if the dollar is really needed, it will positively be here on the table before the hour-glass is run down. If it does not lie here, God will convince us, after this hour, that it was not as indispensable as we imagine." The hour-glass was scarcely run out one-half when a messenger arrived, who had traversed an eight hours' walk, bringing a dollar which some one was owing to Fresenius. This dollar rejoiced mother and son more than if they had received a large capital, they considering it a great memorial coin of the Divine help received.

1390. EASILY TURNED ASIDE.

Heb. xiii. 9.-"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines." [R.V.] Teachings.

Illustrative. On the summit of a hill in a Western State is a courthouse, so situated that the raindrops that fall on the one side of the roof

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descend into Lake Erie, and thence through the St. Lawrence, into the Atlantic. The drops on the other side trickle down from rivulet to river, until they reach the Ohio and Mississippi, and enter the ocean by the Gulf of Mexico. A faint breath of wind determines the destination of these raindrops for three thousand miles. So a single act determines, sometimes, a human destiny for all time and for eternity.-CUYLER.

1291. NO CONTINUING CITY.

Heb. xiii, 14.-"Here have we no continuing city."

Illustrative." If any one here has visited Rome, he will remember --for none who have travelled thither can forget the scene-the long street of tombs which forms one of the approaches to the Eternal City. For miles on the road these monuments erected over the departed stand on either side of the way, at brief but uncertain intervals, until the traveller reaches the gate. Exactly thus it is with us on our pilgrimage to that city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God; on every hand we are reminded of our mortality, until we in our turn fall by the wayside, and swell the number of the dead."ARCHBISHOP TRENCH..

1292.-CONSCIENTIOUSNESS.

Heb. xiii. 18.-"In all things willing to live honestly."

Illustrative.-An Indian having received a coin with some tobacco that was given him, sought his benefactor in order that he might return the money thus given in mistake. A person hearing of his desire, urged him to keep it, when the Indian, shaking his head, said, “Ah, me got good man and bad man here," pointing to his breast. "Good man say,

'Money not yours; you must return it;' bad man say, 'It is yours, it was given to you:' good man say, 'That not right, tobacco yours, money not yours;' bad man say, 'Never mind, nobody know it, go buy rum ;' good man say, 'Oh no! no such thing.' So poor Indian know not what to do me lie down to sleep, but no sleep; good man and bad man talk all night, and trouble me. So now I bring money back; now me feel happy."

There was a lad in Ireland, who was put to work at a linen factory, and while he was at work there a piece of cloth was wanted to be sent out which was short of the quantity that it ought to be; but the master thought that it might be made the length by a little stretching. He thereupon unrolled the cloth, taking hold of one end of it himself, and the boy at the other.

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He then said, "Pull, Adam, pull!" The niaster pulled with all his might, but the boy stood still. The master again said, "Pull, Adam, pull!" The boy said, "I can't." "Why not?" said the master. "Because it is wrong," said Adam, and he refused to pull. Upon this the master said he would not do for a linen manufacturer; but that boy became the Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke, and the strict principles of honesty of his youthful age laid the foundation of his future greatness.

A gentleman jumping from an omnibus in the city of New York, dropped his pocket-book, and had gone some distance before he discovered his loss; then, hastily returning, he asked every passenger whom he met, if a pocket-book had been seen finally, meeting a little girl of ten years old, to whom he made the same inquiry, she asked, "What kind of a pocket-book?" He described it; then, unfolding her apron, she said, "Is this it?" "Yes, that is mine; come into this store with me." They entered; he opened the book, counted the notes, and examined the papers. "They are all right," said he ;"fifteen notes of a thousand dollars each; had they fallen into other hands, I might never have seen them again. Take, then, my little girl, this note of a thousand dollars, as a reward for your honesty, and a lesson to me to be more careful in future." "No," said the girl, "I cannot take it. I have been taught at Sunday-school not to keep what is not mine; and my parents would not be pleased if I took the note home; they might suppose I had stolen it." "Well, then, my child, show me where your parents live." The girl took him to a humble tenement in an obscure street, rude, but cleanly. He informed the parents of the case: they told him their child had acted correctly; they were "poor," it was true, but their pastor had always told them not to set their hearts on rich gifts. The gentleman told them they must take it; and he was convinced they would make a good use of it, from the principles they had professed.

The pious parents then blessed their benefactor, for such he proved ; they paid debts which had disturbed their peace, and the benevolent giver gave the father employment in his occupation as a carpenter, enabling him to rear an industrious family in comparative happiness. This little girl became the wife of a respectable tradesman of New York, and had reason to rejoice that she was born of pious parents, who had secured their daughter's happiness by sending her to Sunday-school.

A few years ago, Thomas Mann, who was well known in London as "the honest waterman," was engaged to hold himself in readiness, at an hour specified, every day. The gentleman for whom he undertook to wait, and to whom he was well known, was prevented using his boat for three weeks, at the end of which time, upon his offering to

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pay, agreeably to the stipulation, Mann replied, "No, sir, only for the first two or three days. I afterwards learnt, by inquiry, that you would not want me, so I ceased to wait, and I will not take your money."

1293.- LISTENING TO ADVICE.

Heb. xiii. 22.-" Suffer the word of exhortation."

"Be sure, Herbert," said Mr. Wise, to his son, not to go beyond your depth in the river: the surface looks very fair and sparkling, but there is an ugly eddy beneath, that may prove too strong for you." "How do you know, father?" asked Herbert. "I have tried it," was the reply. "It nearly overcame me; but I could swim, and so got beyond it. Remember what I tell you; beware of the undertow." Herbert went to bathe, and was very careful to keep near the shore every time. "It cannot be very dangerous here," he thought, and uttered it aloud to a companion; "it is as smooth as glass; and I can easily return if it is rough beneath, for I can swim now." You had better not go," urged his friend; "it is very dangerous." "I will go in a little way," replied Herbert, "and if I find it dangerous, come back." And he started vigorously for the middle of the river. His companion watching him, saw him throw up his arms wildly, and heard his shout for help; but when help reached him, it was too late. The undertow had got him. He was drowned in the treacherous river.-MRS. RAYNE.