the young woman, and he then noticed that her dress told of recent death. She looked toward him, and through her tears said: “I cannot help it. The child is not mine. I am doing my best." "Where is its mother?" the farmer inquired, relenting somewhat in his tone. "In her coffin, sir; in the luggage car at the back of the train," said the

her deep grief.

young woman, in

The big tears fell unbidden from the farmer's eyes. Rising up from his seat before all the passengers, he took the babe in his arms, kissed it, and, walking to and fro, did his rough best to soothe the motherless child, and make some reparation for his cold hard words. How many words and looks of unkindness would be changed into actions of sympathy and help did we but know more of others' sorrow!

The Voice of Restitution. I was holding special services in Invercargill, New Zealand, the most southerly town in the world. Deep interest was excited in the meetings, and criticism kindly and unkindly was freely expressed concerning the effect of the preaching. A portly farmer, who had himself been present, was appealed to. His words were very characteristic, and as follows:-" That's the sort o' preaching for me. Why, look here; six months since I had a new tether-rope stolen off one of our cows, and, bless me, why, that ere tether rope was brought last Saturday night and left at the back kitchen door. You may say what you like, but that's the kind of talk we want."

Was it Leap Year?-A young and well-known minister, whose power and usefulness as a preacher manifested itself in the large sphere he occupied, received a letter from a lady offering in marriage her hand, her heart, and her fortune. Our estimable friend, who at that time was a bachelor, returned the letter with another written by himself, in which he strongly advised the lady to "give her heart to the Lord, devote her fortune to His service, and to keep her hand until it was asked for."

The Living God and Scientific Research.-We may be sure that a measure of thirty-six inches will express the length and limit of a yard anywhere. It is certain that a pound weight of sixteen ounces is the same in any part of the world. Light in our time is not likely to be found at midnight, nor can it be confounded with darkness. A man is neither a monkey nor a horse, nor. is it probable he will develop into either. Things which are fundamental are likely to remain so. Science may reveal, but she must come to Him who is the foundation of all things in the final appeal. Mechanics may discover hitherto unknown forces and apply them by inventive fashioning, but whether it be light, electricity, steam, or any other regal force, discovery is the utmost which is likely to be claimed for mechanical genius and research.

Men have profited themselves and enriched the world by working along the lines of the Creator's hidden paths. Watching with ceaseless study the workings of the God of forces, man has merely developed and crudely applied that which already existed. Take, as an example, the application of the power of steam. Steam is not an invention; it is simply a discovery. The power of steam always existed; thousands of years have not produced invention fundamentally considered. The stream of time rolled on until the way to break in and harness the force was discovered. Man's inventive faculty designed the engine, but it was in order to utilize and apply existing power.

In like manner electricity always existed, whether for blazing light or lightning message. How strange that the tendency to ignore the God of forces should be manifested amongst the very men who are so successful in the wide and fascinating fields of scientific research. Why is this? Is it that the grandeur of His infinite and endless working so dazzles the vision of the students, that there is neither time nor disposition for His contemplation who is behind all power, whose path is in the great waters, "and who by searching cannot be found"? Startled and amazed amid the

growing wonders of His huge laboratory, the materialism of some of these workers is perchance as understandable as the child's temporary absorption with its toys and pleasures. May it not be that as in the experience of growing sons, education, need, and discipline give the Father a place, personal, real, and blessed; so these children of scientific research may yet declare, We have seen Him of whom all forces speak, the Almighty God, "the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." At length we know Him who "as a father pitieth his children, pities those that fear Him; for He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are dust (Psalm ciii. 13-14).

George Stephenson's House.-I was at Chesterfield preaching Christ. Near the railway station stands a large, well-built brick house, in which the famous engineer, George Stephenson, used to live. I visited it, but to find it empty. The weeds were growing in luxuriance in the courtyards and gravel walks that surround the building. The caretaker led us along the corridors, and into the spacious bedroom from whence the spirit of the great engineer had passed away. All was silent, and it was a real sorrow to know that imprudence and litigation had done disastrous work since his departure. Dust and cobwebs hung thickly in the various rooms. What a contrast to this scene of desolation to hear the shrill whistle of the flying express rushing through the station with its freight of energetic life. Inside the house everything seemed to speak of decay, emptiness, and death. The only living thing seen in my visit to the once busy home of George Stephenson was the clear and springing water still flowing in the well which his energy had fashioned years before. As I thought of the man whose invention and enterprise had laid to so large an extent the basis of the great railway institutions of our land, I wondered whether the freed spirit of the great engineer knew of the mighty impulse which his genius has given to travel and transit everywhere.

"A Great Deal o' Grammar."-Billy Bray, the Cornish miner, on the occasion of the opening of one of the five chapels which he was instrumental in erecting, was appealed to as to his opinion of the sermon that was preached. Billy had been induced to secure the service of a man who prided himself upon his intellectual power. Indeed it was with some difficulty that the exquisite Reverend was induced to preach the opening sermon at all. Polished stones brilliantly exhibited would truthfully represent the preacher's ornate address. As William Arthur in his "Tongue of Fire says, the service was

"What be my

"Faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly nil.” Billy's answer was characteristic and capital. 'pinion? I'll tell ee--a great deal o' grammar and very little of the Faither." Certainly we do not wish a ministry without intelligence, but I fear that Billy's criticism only too clearly indicates where the weakness of a great many preachers is to be found in this day. The man, and what he is and says, has taken the place of the servant whose business it is to represent the will, word, and work of his Lord.

The Secret of Peace.-"Travelling in the West of England," said Lady Hope, "I was very much surprised at one of the stations to see the guard of the train surrounded by seven passengers, each one of whom was plying him with questions which seemed to me difficult to answer. I was amazed at his quietness and self-possession. One after another he dealt with, and satisfied, them all. When it was over, I said to him, 'Well, you must be a wonderful man to keep yourself so calm amidst all this excitement.' 'Not at all, madam,' he answered. The peace of God which passeth all understanding keeps my heart and mind, and I can manage easily enough.' What a testimony! Truly this railway guard knew the secret of quiet amid the whirl of business. Verily it is 'The peace of God which passeth understanding."

"You shall reap if you faint not.". "Sir, I must leave my situation," said a young servant to the pastor whose ministry she attended. "Why so?" replied the pastor. "Why, sir, my mistress is so careless of the young children committed to my care that I cannot bear the responsibility any longer. Sometimes I do not see her for three or four days. My mistress is what is called a fashionable woman. Balls, operas, and parties are frequented to such an extent that, though I have the charge of four young children, I have known a whole week pass and not a single word exchanged, or a single visit to the nursery made." After a pause, the minister said; "My young friend, my conviction is that you should not leave your situation. True, your position is a difficult one; but I am persuaded your Lord has stationed you there to shine as a light in a dark place." The counsel of the minister was taken, and the Christian maiden returned to her situation. Twelve months elapsed, and a second visit was paid to the minister's house by the servant. Her dark dress spoke of death; and in a few words she told how her mother had gone "in to see the King," and that her father, a small farmer in the country, needed her assistance in his home. "For these reasons I am about to leave, sir. I felt that I must come and tell you, because you counselled me to stay. You will be glad to know what a change has taken place in my mistress during the past three or four months. She no longer frequents theatres and balls, her life is a complete contrast with the past. Her care of the children, home, and servants is entirely different; and we now have family worship in the house." With quiet modesty, she added, “A few days since my mistress called me aside and said, 'Alice, you are leaving us. I feel I cannot permit you to go without telling you that the change you may have noticed in me and in this house has been under God mainly caused by your consistent example and Christian life.' I only mention it, sir, because I think it right to tell you what resulted from your former counsel." Together the servant of Christ and the Christian maiden prayed and gave thanks for this rich harvest