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to give up work; and they are quite willing to allow him as much as, with the little he has saved, will support him in comfort. But William, whilst very grateful to them, says no. He would rather be independent as long as he can; and his employers respect him so much, that, whether he is able to do little or much, they will be glad to keep him in their service.

The Excellency of Christ.

HRIST is the pot of manna, the cruse of oil, a bottomless ocean of all comfort, content, and satisfaction; he that has him, wants nothing; he that wants him, enjoys nothing.

Having nothing,

Oh! but a man

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(saith Paul,) and yet possessing all things. that has nothing more than restraining grace, cannot sit down contented, under the want of outward comforts. Christ is good," saith such a soul, "with honours, riches, pleasures, and outward comforts. I must have Christ and the world, or else, like the young man in the gospel, (in spite of my soul,) I shall forsake him to follow the world." Ah! how many shining professors are there in the world, who cannot be satisfied and contented for want of some supposed outward comfort, but are fretting, raging, and roaring, as if there were no God, no heaven, and no Christ, to make up all such outward wants to them! But a soul truly gracious can say, "In having nothing I have all things, because I have Christ; neither honours, riches, nor the smiles of creatures are sweet to me, any farther than I see and taste Christ in them. The possession of all outward good cannot make a heaven of glory in my soul, if Christ, who is the summit of my glory, be absent:" as Absalom said, "What is all this to me, so long as I cannot see the king's face? So says a gracious soul, Why do you tell me of outward comforts, when I cannot see His face whom my soul loveth? Why, honour, riches, and the favour of the creature, are not Christ; let me have him, and let the men of this world take

the world and divide it amongst themselves; I prize Christ above all; I would enjoy my Christ above all other things in the world; his presence will make up the absence of all other comforts, and his absence will embitter all my comforts; so that my comforts will neither taste nor look like comforts when He that should comfort my soul stands afar off. Brooks.

An Evening Hymn.

"The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him."-Psa. xxxiv. 7.

I

NSPIRER and Hearer of Prayer,

Thou Shepherd and Guardian of thine,

My all to thy covenant care,

I, sleeping and waking, resign.

If thou art my shield and my sun,
The night is no darkness to me;
And fast as my moments roll on,
They bring me but nearer to thee.

Thy ministering spirits descend,

To watch while thy saints are asleep:
By day and by night they attend,
The heirs of salvation to keep.

Bright seraphs, despatched from the throne,

Repair to their stations assigned;
And angels elect are sent down,
To guard the elect of mankind.

Their worship no interval knows;
Their fervour is still on the wing;
And while they protect my repose,
They chant to the praise of my King.

I, too, at the season ordained,
Their chorus for ever shall join ;
And love and adore, without end,
Their faithful Creator, and mine.

TOPLADY.

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"The merciful man doeth good to his own soul."PROV. xi. 17.

OME years ago I spent a Sunday in the neighbourhood of some large iron-works in Shropshire. During the service I was much struck by the devout manner of a working-man who sat near me. He was, as I afterwards found, a carter employed in the works. His heart was evidently engaged in praising the Lord

and seeking his favour during the prayers; and when the sermon began, he scarcely took his eyes from the preacher the whole time. As I walked homewards with my friend we came up to our fellow worshipper, just as he and his children passed a field in which were some horses feeding. He gave a low whistle, and three or four of them came at once to the side of the fence and put their heads over it to be fed and fondled. Our road lay in the same direction, so we entered into conversation. After speaking about the morning service, I said to him:

"Your horses seem very fond of you, my friend."

"Yes," he replied, "the poor beasts often teach me a lesson. When I remember how little I do for them, and yet how grateful they are to me, I am ashamed of myself for my want of gratitude to God. 'The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib ; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.' I often think of those words when I see them come to show their love to me. Then, too, I sometimes ask myself how it would be with me if my heavenly Master got angry with me as readily as I get angry

with my horses. I try to treat them kindly, but I sometimes lose my temper with the poor dumb things, and am ashamed of myself for it afterwards. Oh, sir, it would be a bad case for us if God was not more forbearing with us than we are with our servants!"

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Why, Jones," said my friend, "the foreman at the works says that you are as tender to your horses as if they were your children."

If my

"I don't know about that, sir," replied he, "but they are God's creatures as much as I am. Father in heaven made them, I ought to treat them kindly for his sake. There's a deal in the Bible about dumb creatures, and how good God is to them. 'He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.' 'These all wait upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season; that thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.' How good and kind he must be to care for all these millions of living things!"

The good man's heart was so full of his theme, that fresh illustrations of it came up all the way homeward. He felt that God was with him in his daily toil. And that, as he drove his horses to work, or fed and cleaned them in the stable, it was his Master's work, and for his Master's sake that he did it. His devout and merciful spirit was beneficial to him in many ways. It won for him the respect and confidence of his employers; it made him always happy in his work, and it was blessed to his own soul; for his daily duties became to him a constant means of grace. He seemed to be in communion with God in the common tasks of life. He was a striking exemplification of the proverb, "The merciful man doeth good to his own soul."

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