harp, which hung on a peg against the wall, sounded sweetly, though untouched by human hand; for an angel played on it, to the saint's great joy. Times without number has this fable been a fact in the experience of pious men ; for as they have read the true sayings of God, an unseen hand has attuned their hearts to music, and their whole being has been resonant with praise. Many texts have been from age to age wells of salvation to troubled souls, from which they have drawn water with joy. Persons have their chosen texts, which sustain them in all their troubles, and however long their troubles last.

Luther's favourite portion in distress was the forty-sixth Psalm. It always reassured him, and gave him strength and peace. Whenever troubles arose, he would say to Melancthon, "Come, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm, and let earth and hell do their worst."

The strong support of Mrs. Tait, wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was Isaiah 1. 10:-"Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." In times of severe and prolonged trial, she more than once was borne up and comforted by these words. One saint says that, in every season of perplexity, he acts on the advice of Prov. iii. 5, 6:-" Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." God always honours the trust, and sheds light on his way.

Who knows all the passages that have sustained and comforted the saints of God in the hour of death? We may glance at a few they show diversity of mental taste, yet they all indicate the rock on which the good man builds, and the home of his affections. John Knox had the seventeenth chapter of John, and the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians read to him on his death-bed. Beza, in his younger years, was one day in the church of Charenton, when he heard the preacher expound the ninety-first Psalm. That day, he took the whole psalm to himself; and, through life, amid all changes, and in all seasons of danger, from pestilence and war, he found every part true. When he came to die, he said, "I have found this psalm true in life; and now I have no more to wait for, but the fulfilment of the last words, I will show Him my salvation."" Such was the humility of Archbishop Ussher, that he often said, he hoped to die with the language of the publican in his mouth; and, true to his hope, his last words were, "God be merciful to me a sinner." A friend asked Ebenezer Erskine, just before his death, as to his hopes; and the good man replied that he was just where he had been for forty years-resting on the text, "I am the Lord thy God;" and there he meant to die. Mr. Robert Bruce's sight

failing him shortly before his departure, he called for the Bible, and said to his daughter, "Turn to the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and set my finger on the words, 'I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.'" When his finger was laid upon the text, he said to those around, "God be with you! this night I shall sup with my Lord Jesus Christ.” The next moment he expired. Two of Dr. John Brown's favourite texts at the last, as they had been for years, were, "There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun," and, "This God is our God for ever and ever." It is recorded of his mother, that she selected a great variety of Scripture promises, and, marking them in her Bible, said, "These are my comforts." Having become very deaf, and also unable to hold up a Bible, she employed her son to copy the list of promises she had marked, and kept the paper constantly in her hand. When asked if she could now trust these promises, she replied, "Guilt stares me in the face; but through grace I desire to trust the promises." These were her last words; and after her death the copied list was found in her bosom, clasped in her dead hand.

Here

The twenty-third Psalm, as we might suppose, has always been precious to dying saints. Edward Irving's soul found rest. It was sweet to the taste of John Sterling. One of the most affecting incidents in connection with it belongs to the American Civil War. Among the dead on one of the battle-fields before Richmond, a rebel soldier lay unburied several days. When his body was discovered, his right hand lay on an open copy of the Bible; and his fingers pressed the words, "Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me."

Thus the Word of God has been tried. It is by this constant use of it that we come to know its worth, and find it so precious. Dr. Arnold says, that a man's love of Scripture at the beginning of a religious course is such as to make the praise which older Christians bestow upon it seem exaggerated; but after twenty or thirty years of a religious life such praise always seems inadequate. "The Word of God," says old Bishop Jewell, "is the water of life; the more ye lave it forth, the fresher it runneth. It is the fire of God's glory; the more ye blow it, the clearer it burneth. It is the corn of the Lord's field; the better ye grind it, the more it yieldeth. It is the bread of heaven; the more it is broken and given forth, the more it remaineth. It is the sword of the Spirit; the more it is scoured, the brighter it shineth."

Word of the Everlasting God,
Will of His glorious Son;

Without Thee, how could earth be trod,
Or heaven itself be won!

I
T would be easy to speak of ma-

Quite recently, almost incredible prices have been paid for ornaments both for household decoration and personal adornment. Not only many hundreds, but many thousands of pounds have been expended on single articles, which, on account of their extreme rarity, or for some other reasons, have been held in very high esteem. This is especially true of articles of jewellery, used for purposes of personal adornment, on ordinary or state occasions. Prices have been paid for precious stones which would amount to a king's ransom -stones which would have no value but for the high esteem in which men have agreed to hold them.

Kingly, royal jewels are often of immense value; our own regalia for instance-if many of the jewels which compose it were to come into the market, such a price would be set upon them that it would be difficult if not impossible to find purchasers.

We have reason for believing that wherever ornaments are worn they are worn not for the wearer's own sake, but for the sake of others--that the wearer may be held in higher consideration by those who look upon him than he otherwise would be. Not many ornaments, in the strict sense of the word, would be worn if there were no people to look upon them, to admire them, to envy them. If we were alone on a desert island, we should want food, we should want shelter, we should want clothes, but we should not trouble ourselves very much about ornaments. ments are worn for the sake of others, that they may admire the taste which devised or selected them, or envy the wealth which was sufficient to purchase things so costly. As a rule they add very little to manly beauty or female loveliness.

Orna

extreme.

It is well that those who seek to please others should depend on what is natural rather than on what is artificial, on what is moral and spiritual rather than on what is material; and so far as ornaments are used, let them be in the strictest sense suitable to their age, their means, their position in life.

If we turn to God's Word we find that this subject has engaged the attention of the inspired writers, and we meet with many instructions as to what we should or should not put on-the ornaments we should or should not wear. We meet with these directions not only in the Old Testament, where we meet with so many and such minute instructions as to the conduct of ordinary life, but when we come to the New Testament we find therein many allusions to the same subject, and assuredly if God deem it needful to furnish us with such directions it cannot be either wise or safe for us to treat them with disregard.

But, how can we wear any kind of ornament upon which the Lord will look with admiration or complacency? Things are judged of relatively, and we know that an ornament worn by a person of moderate means may appear considerable in the eyes of his inferiors or equals, but would be held in very small esteem indeed by others of higher rank and larger possessions. But here the question is as to an ornament which will be accounted of great price by One who possesses all the treasures of the universe-by God Himself, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. Where shall such an ornament be found? How shall it be obtained? The apostle Peter here tells us what it is-it is the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit-which in the sight of God is of great price. He that is possessed of this, will be held in favour both by God and man. Many of the ornaments of earth are wrongly appraised, but this is authoritatively declared by Him who cannot err to be of great price.

This ornament is little sought after, little valued by the world, or indeed by any of us, till we are taught the worth of it by God; yet should it be to us an object of supreme desire, for it is that which will adorn us more than any courtly decoration, any glittering order of earthly nobility-it is that which, however men may regard it, will distinguish us in the esteem of the Most High, for in the sight of God it is of great price.

We see upon a glance at the context that the apostle is here addressing married women, and is pointing out to them how they ought to act as

professed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are not to be ambitious of the distinction which would be conferred upon them by the wearing of costly material ornaments, but they are at once to adorn themselves, and the doctrine of their Lord and Saviour, by wearing the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. This injunction we may regard as addressed to us all; there is not one of us who should not be anxious habitually to wear the ornament of which the apostle here speaks.

What, then, are we to understand by the "meek and quiet spirit," which is here commended as an ornament of great price in God's sight? What is that meekness and quietness of spirit which we are required to cultivate? It is not that stolid apathetic disposition, which seems incapable of being moved, but a spirit, the forces, dispositions, and sensibilities of which, are under wise, sufficient, and gracious control. Now this state of mind and heart, may be, and indeed must be, displayed in all the relations we sustain both to man and God.

If we have a meek and quiet spirit, it will influence us in all our relations to our fellow men. It is a fruit of the Spirit which should distinguish all the followers of the Lord Jesus; a grace of the Spirit by which they should be unmistakably adorned.

He who has this spirit will know how to moderate and govern his own anger, when anything occurs to provoke it. Anger is like mettle in a horse, an excellent thing if excellently managed, but a very terrible thing if we suffer it to run away with us. Meekness is the bridle by which we exercise due restraint and control, meekness calms the spirit, curbs the tongue, and cools the fever-heat of passion.

This same spirit will teach us how to bear and deal with the anger of others; and we, living in a world like this, have often great need to exercise meekness and quietness of spirit in bearing, putting up with the various expressions of anger and irritation, perhaps unreasonable anger and irritation, to which we are exposed. Unpleasant feeling displayed toward us is very apt to awaken unpleasant feeling within us, and knowing how much of easily inflammable material we carry about with us, we should be ready to extinguish the first spark of unholy anger we discern. It should be our first endeavour to avoid exciting the anger of others; our aim should be as far as possible to live peaceably with all men; but if, with all our seeking, we find ourselves, though unconscious of having given offence, exposed to some unreasonable expression of anger or ill-feeling, a meek and quiet spirit will teach us how to possess our souls in patience. We have in Scripture two excellent rules given us. The one is to keep silence, and not answer again; he who is thus slow to speak will be, it is likely, slow to wrath.

Often the only thing which can be done is to keep silence. It is better to bear in silence what we feel to be a wrong, than make matters worse by ill-timed, and perhaps ill-considered, replies. The other rule is that of giving the soft answer which turneth away wrath. He who has this spirit of meekness and quietness, which enables him to rule his own anger, and bear that of others, possesses one great secret of a happy and peaceful life.

But there is also a meekness and quietness of spirit, which we are to manifest in the relations which we sustain to God; and, alas! there are some who are very meek and quiet and gentle in all their dealings with their fellow-men, who have not learned the great lesson of ready and cheerful submission to God.

Where this spirit exists there is a preparedness to accept the teaching of God's Word in every respect. There is in the heart of man, till subdued by God's grace, an unwillingness to accept in its integrity the teaching of God, and it is the very work of God's Spirit to make us willing to sit as little children at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him, who is Himself meek and lowly in heart. When thus humbled we are ready to receive what God says about ourselves, our misery, danger, and need. We are ready to be saved in God's own way, and rejoice in that free and full salvation made known to us in Christ Jesus.

This state of mind is commended to us as an ornament of great price in God's esteem, and as that which will constitute our best and truest adornment. In wearing this ornament we are following the very best examples, following in the footsteps of those who do now, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. If we are meek and gentle in spirit we are like the most distinguished of God's people in every age of the world. Abraham was scarcely less famous for meekness than faith. Sarah is here mentioned as a pattern to married women, but Abraham was more remarkable for this quality than his wife. So might we refer to Moses, David, Paul, John, and others, men of strong vigorous, sensitive natures, and yet withal of meek and quiet spirits. Here, as in all other things, our great example is our Divine Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have, perhaps, more frequent allusions to this feature in His character than to any other; meekness, quietness, gentleness, were qualities which pre-eminently distinguished Him. And we are to follow the Lamb. He has left us an example that we should follow in His steps. We are to emulate His Spirit; the mind which was in Christ Jesus should be in us. He was meek towards His Father, His friends, His foes. We are to be imitators of God as dear children, and we all know that God is meek and gentle; He is not in the consuming fire, the rushing wind, the convul

sive earthquake, but in the still small voice. He is slow to anger, and of great mercy.

We have seen that ornaments are worn chiefly with the view of pleasing others, and there is no ornament more pleasing to man and God than this. How pleasant is it to have to do with those who are of meek and quiet spirit, compared with those who are passionate and turbulent! There are some people of passionate and ill-regulated natures, whom we never care to have anything to do with, if we can help it. We feel that

we can only get on reasonably well with them by keeping them at a distance. The influence of those who are of meek and quiet spirit, is like that of lubricating oil, in the complicated and otherwise grating machinery of life. And let us remember that if we are pleased as we discern meekness and gentleness in others, so they will be

pleased in the same proportion as they discern these qualities in us.

But the great thing is to please God. Many things which are much esteemed by men, are very lightly regarded by God. But here we have an ornament which even in His sight is of great price.

This does not come to us of itself; we must seek it whence we seek every other form of good. We are bidden to put on meekness, we are to follow after meekness, we are to study to be quiet, we are to show meekness to all men, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the perverse and froward; we are to do this at all times and in all things. This difficult lesson can only be learned in one school-the school of God's grace can only be learned by those who are willing to sit at the feet of Jesus, Who is Himself meek and lowly in heart.

PSALM LXIX (MESSIANIC).

"SAVE M E,

GOD!"

AVE me, O God! for the billows of sin
Yea, to My soul rush over, rush in;
Sin poured upon Me, a fathomless flood;
Sins of all sinners --deep waters, deep mud.
I faint, I am weary of waiting for Thee—

I am parched, my sight faileth-deliver Thou Me!
More than the hairs of My head are My foes-
I am all guiltless, all guilty are those.
Lord, my simplicity Thou hast discerned
I gave them blessings they never have earned.
Lord God of Hosts, let none be ashamed,
Trusting the victim Thy justice hath claimed ;
None be confounded who wait upon Thee,
Though mercy to sinners must sacrifice Me.

From youth for Thy sake have I suffered reproof
Of brethren and mother; yea, under her roof;
As zeal for Thy temple consumed Me within,
And so they reproached my presumption for sin.
Weeping and fasting they answered with jeers,
And even the drunkards would scoff at my tears.
Hear Me, My Father, in love and in power,
Help Me in this Thine acceptable hour;
Hide not Thy face from Thy servant in grief,
Haste Thee to save Me, and send Me relief;
Let Me not sink in the mire of despair,
Let not the water-flood swallow Me there;
Let not the grave shut her mouth upon Me,
But raise Thou Me up to give glory to Thee.

Thou knowest the shame that must cover My face-
God as a sinner impaled in disgrace!

While Thy rebuke is my heart's breaking pang,

As in fell torture I wearily hang.

Surely I looked for some pity from men,
But there was no man to comfort Me then ;
They make me eat of the gall as I sink,
Thirsting, they vinegar give Me to drink.
So shall their table be set for a snare,
Judgment, through luxury, tangling them there;
Eyes ever blinded, and backs ever bowed,
Thine indignation must humble the proud,
Whose habitation, made empty, and void,
Is their Jerusalem justly destroyed.

They persecute Him who is smitten of God,
And vex the afflicted who smarts from His rod
So will they fall into crime after crime,
Into Thy righteousness shall they not elimo ;
They must be wiped from the roll of the biest,
Nor with the righteous their lot be possest.

Me, though so poor, and so anguished with pain,
Yet shall My God raise to glory again!
So will I praise His great name in a song,
Giving Thee thanks that to mercy belong.
Better than sacrifice shall be such praise:
Humble true worship delights Him always.

Seek after God, and your spirits shall live;
He to poor captives rich freedom will give.
Earth, tell His love; and ye heavens, His might;
Sea, and all creatures therein, day and night;
For God shall save Zion, and build her anew- –
All Judah shall dwell there, and Israel too;
The sons of His people their heritage win,
And all who love God shall be dwellers therein.

Let us consider, then, what we owe to these little children, who are entrusted, for a time, to our care, and subjected to our influence.

I. First, I think we owe to them that we should understand ourselves the things which we attempt to teach. In saying this, I go far beyond the matter of mere intellectual comprehension. We cannot, of course, be too particular about the distinctness of our conceptions; the lucidity of our arrangement; the firmness of the mental grasp which we are able to lay upon the subject we handle. Want of clearness is fatal. We must always know what we are talking about. But I refer rather to our own personal appreciation of the truths. which we endeavour to impress upon the minds of the little ones. In the work abroad, missionaries are sometimes compelled to employ the services of heathen teachers for the purpose of instructing their young converts in the doctrines and facts of Christianity. The necessity for I suppose it is such-appears to be a very lamentable one. In the work at home, too, I can conceive of cases in which a similar necessity may possibly arise; the supply of spiritually-qualified instructors not being equal to the demand. And yet I do not know. Is it not better to be short-handed in the matter of teachers than to employ the services of those whose heads only are engaged in the work? I would weigh teachers rather than count them. And I suspect that a small school taught by those who are themselves taught of God, would be more likely to advance the cause of the Kingdom of Christ, than a much larger school, under the influence of a mixed multitude of teachers, some having the grace of

Christ in their hearts, and others being entirely destitute of it.

At all events, this seems clear enough, that if I undertake to instruct others in religious truth, 1 ought to be myself under the power of religion. Were I engaged with mere human knowledgewere I teaching geography, for instance, or mathematics, or chemistry-it would matter comparatively little whether I was or was not interested in the subject myself. But not so with the faith of Christ. Here a lack of appreciation betrays itself at once, and neutralises the effect which we intend to produce. Children have penetrating eyes. They can soon tell whether we ourselves care for the things about which we speak. They are quick to detect unreality, and we may depend upon it, that if once we be suspected to be playing a part, or even to be fulfilling a duty in which our heart is not engaged, our influence over them will at once be reduced to nothing.

I owe it, then, to the children I teach that I should have some sort of true and real spiritual experience of my own. If I speak to them of a Saviour to Whom I myself am personally a stranger, if I urge them to duties which I do not practise, and tell them of the happiness of an obedience which I myself hesitate to render, I shall simply hurt instead of helping them. There will be a ring of baseness about the metal, and their little ears will detect it. The sight of a mere profession brought into such close contact with them week after week, will lower their estimate of Christianity, and weaken its influence over their natures. I say not much just now of the damaging effect of such unreality upon myself. When I sit down before a Sundayschool class, I profess by that very act to speak of what I know, and to testify what I have seen. I come to recommend to them One Whom I have found to be my Saviour; and it cannot but be most injurious to my highest well-being to do a work under false pretences, and to be conscious that I am so doing it. But on this I will not enlarge. I have before me now our duty to the children rather than our duty to ourselves, and I repeat that we owe it to them that we should be-well, not eminent Christians, but decided ones-that in a true sense, though perhaps a humble one, we should know the Jesus of Whom we speak to them, and know Him with a personal knowledge; in fact, that we should be spiritual agents sent by the great Head of the Church Himself to accomplish a spiritual work.

Let me add, that we owe it to the children as