unmoved by calumny and reproach; she teaches us to forgive those who have injured us, and to be the first in asking forgiveness of those whom we have injured; she delights the faithful, and invites the unbelieving; she adorns the woman and approves the man; she is beautiful in either sex and every age. Behold her appearance and her attire! Her countenance is calm and serene as the face of heaven unspotted by the shadow of a cloud; and no wrinkle of grief or anger is seen in her forehead. Her eyes are as the eyes of doves for meekness, and on her eyebrows sit cheerfulness and joy. Her mouth is lovely in silence; her complexion and color that of innocence and security; while, like the virgin, the daughter of Sion, she shakes her head at the adversary, despising and laughing him to scorn. She is clothed in the robes of the martyrs, and in her hand she holds a scepter in the form of a cross. She rides not in the whirlwind and stormy tempest of passion, but her throne is the humble and contrite heart, and her kingdom is the kingdom of peace.

CHRISTIAN PATIENCE.

Sweet Patience is as rare, as fair,
And strong as she is good;
Though much applauded everywhere,
She's little understood.

She is not stoically firm,

Nor passively inert ;

She calmly bides affliction's term,

But not as one unhurt.

And so, like Love, she suffers long,

Is gentle and is kind,

And when enduring pain and wrong
She seeks to be resigned.

Sweet Patience hath an iron will
And heart with zeal aglow;
Yet on God's anvil can lie still
And take the hardest blow.

She deems not pain a natural good,

She is of wiser mind;

But knows, in ways not understood,
It is for good designed.

And so in trouble she is calm,
Can sleep on rolling waves;
For every pain she hath a psalm
While trusting Him who saves.

And if the Savior tarry long,

She waits his coming still;

The soul that trusts she knows is strong
To bear or conquer ill.

She asks not for the ripened grain

Till Summer seasons come;

Knows that the sunshine and the rain
Precede the "harvest home."

She knows the growth of moments brief,
A moment's time endures;

So asks not for the ripened sheaf
Till time the grain matures.

And so with calm and hopeful eye,
Not always free from tears,
She scans the distant as the nigh,
Far down the coming years.

She knows with God a thousand years
Are as a single day:

And so no disappointment fears,
Whatever the delay.

O gentle Power, teach us to wait,
And waiting to be strong;

How sweet submission can abate

The present stress of wrong!

(Joel Swartz, D. D., in New York Observer.)

“BROTHERLY KINDNESS.”

Only once is this expression used in the Bible, but it there forms a link in the chain of Christian graces: "And to godliness, brotherly kindness." Only one higher virtue follows, and that is "charity," or love, which is the crown of Christian excellence. But there are other passages which inculcate this grace, as when Paul says: "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love;" "Let brotherly love continue;" "But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another." Love is to be the ruling affection in the Christian brotherhood. Without it, even godliness becomes morose, sour, and unattractive. Brotherly kindness is the natural and proper index of Christian love. When in full exercise in religious society it commends Christianity as no other principle can. It makes the "living epistles," which the world reads more than the written word, influential examples of what grace accomplishes in the heart. Brotherly kindness

betokens a right spirit and an enlightened mind. It is proof that the soul has learned of Christ. It is a practical application of the golden rule. It is the noblest and best trait of a good man's life. It is a language which speaks for itself-the dumb can utter it and the deaf can understand it. It is the force which breaks hard hearts and bends stubborn wills, when perhaps all other human means fail. A Christian gentlemen once visited a hospital where a degraded and ignorant specimen of humanity lay, sullen and forbidding, upon a sick cot. Speaking kindly to the man, he perceived the effect upon his countenance. Continuing the conversation, he was surprised to see the poor fellow draw the bed-clothes over his head and break out in convulsive sobbing, but as soon as he could control himself he uncovered his face and said: "Sir, you are the first man who ever spoke a kind word to me since I was a child, and I can't stand it." The best of brotherly kindness might not soften some hearts, but this is the spirit which prepares the way for the Spirit of God. Such love should fill our natures that every word and action shall be tempered with kindness. God commands it; the world admires it; conscience approves it. Kindness to the aged, kindness to the young, kindness to each and all; a kindness that is brotherly, Christ-like; a kindness that can be felt as well as heard, that can be weighed as well as seen, such abiding, ruling, substantial kindness would solidify the forces of Christian character, and prove a power in the Church of God. "Let brotherly love continue."

CHARITY.

Charity is "that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow-men, and to do them good." As Cowper

wrote:

"True charity, a plant divinely nursed,

Fed by the love from which it rose at first,
Thrives against hope, and in the rudest scene,
Storms but enliven its unfading green;
Exuberant is the shadow it supplies,

Its fruit on earth, its growth above the skies."

No wonder that Paul placed such a high estimate upon this beautiful grace. "Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." Charity is greater than faith or hope, because it fosters both and is the proof of their reality.

"In faith and hope the world will disagree,

But all mankind's concern is charity."

In its finest development charity is a Christian grace, the noblest Charity is always becoming to man, and It never outgrows itself, never dwarfs the

trait of the purest heart. always in order in society.

other graces, and never loses its own identity. It is said that charity begins at home, and we guess the saying is true. "In the home it is born and bred. It gets its education by the fireside. One of its first lessons is to rock the cradle of infancy, lisping or singing a prayer; another, almost as early, to minister silently to the bed of age; and thus gradually expanding to its perfect growth, it becomes the relig ion of the hearth, the guardian genius of domestic life, the spirit that imbues and embalms all our best human affections." But charity is not confined to the home. It is too great for any limited sphere. It is strong of limb, swift of wing, and generous of hand. It goes everywhere, and tarries long. The circle of its ministries is ever widening, until it embraces the uttermost ends of the earth, and sweeps in its sympathies the boundless domains of other worlds. But charity never bids farewell to the scenes of its nativity. It never forgets the duties that are near, by reason of its attention to those afar. Charity is only another name for love; and "love is founded in reason, and is judicious, intuitively discerning ends and means, and achieving those by following these, as if obedient to a holy instinct." Charity is devout. It listens to the voice of God and finds its highest pleasure in obeying the Divine mandates. It is faithful, too, heeding the still, small voice of conscience, and always busying itself with the concerns that most demand its attention. Charity is never partial, unless it be the partiality of imperative duty. It carries a sympathetic heart, and would bless every body if it could. Its operations are finite only because it is possessed of finite resources. When the whole human race puts on charity, the present sphere of generous thought and practical benevolence will widen and brighten until "that which is perfect is come, and that which is in part shall be done away."

SELF-CONTROL.

Reason, revelation, and conscience, all dictate the duty of selfcontrol. Unlawful passions are to be subdued, and lawful appetites are to be properly restrained. The natural impulses are to be carefully guarded and kept within the limits of safe and lawful indulgence. Disregard of this law results in moral and physical wreck, and not infrequently dethrones reason. Every wise and pure man, with St. Paul as an example, keeps his body under, and brings it into

subjection. (1 Cor. ix, 27.) As we are to govern and restrain natural appetites, so we are not to create hurtful habits. The use of tobacco, opium, and intoxicating drinks is a violation of the law of selfcontrol. So debasing and enslaving may these artificial appetites become that the victim of them is no longer in possession of his full powers of thought or speech, or work or worship. He has voluntarily placed himself in bondage, step by step, as the habits have been indulged, forging the links of a chain which binds him fast. He has thus deliberately cut himself off from the possibility of doing much good, which, as a free man, he might have accomplished. He has involved himself in a condition of filth and degradation which is condemned by the Scriptures as well as the highest and noblest sentiments of humanity. Divine law and refined principles alike require physical as well as spiritual purity. No man can indulge himself in hurtful and shameful habits and be innocent, either in the sight of God or the best society. In the truest belief of earth and heaven it is only a reasonable service that we should, by the mercies of God, present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.

All natural desires should be subject to the law of self-control. We may eat and drink, but are not to be gluttonous; we may clothe our bodies, but are not to be extravagant; we may strive for position and gain, but not be covetous or dishonest, or too eager and hasty, or inordinately ambitious in any respect. Frequent offenses against these plain requirements disturb social order, work bodily injury, and are wholly derogatory to spiritual excellence. We must be manly or womanly, not brutish; we must be sober and well-poised, not vain and feverish. To take into our stomachs only what is promotive of health; to place upon our frames only what is conducive to comfort and respectful appearance; to use our powers only as tends to better ourselves and others,-these are the simple laws of physical life, to obey which should be the study of every person in this world.

Intellectual passions and tempers must likewise come under the law of self-control. Bitter envyings and strife tend to confusion and evil work, not to truth and glory. They are earthly, sensual, devilish, not heavenly, spiritual, or Christ-like. Self-control partakes of that wisdom from above which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits. (James iii, 14-17.) It aims to establish the mind in all comely traits which tend to happiness in the individual and in society at large. It seeks to produce such an equanimity of temper and disposition, or decision and judgment, that every heart is a little throne where the Spirit rules in