harmony by his miracles of love, and man to his God by his bloody cross, and man to man by his life of labour and death of substitution. That was a Brother! Then be ye brotherly. Seek to make a brother of every man. Bid him return to your Father and his Father, to your God and his God, to your Brother and his Brother. Bid him come home with you. Show him the brotherhood which reigns among the members of Christ's body, and welcome him to its fellowship and joy. Be not distant to your own flesh and blood. Be like those whose philanthropy we have sketched in the preceding pages-like Cranfield among tailors, Pounds among cobblers, Page among joiners, Miller among copperplateprinters, Reeves among coach-builders, Dober among potters, Paterson among ploughmen, Sarah Martin among dressmakers, Elizabeth Gow among domestic sérvants, and Harriet Stoneman among the suffering poor. Or if your station be higher, be such a brother as Last among farmers, Mogridge among literateurs, Vicars in the camp, Gardiner in the ship, Mackenzie in the college, Kelly at the counter, Thorneycroft at the forge, Golding Bird in the hospital, Perthes among publishers, Townley among lawyers, Budgett among merchants, Adelaide Newton in the sick-chamber, and Elizabeth Fry in the prison. Or if you possess higher rank, show such brotherhood as did Haldane and Wilberforce, Sir Edward Parry, Sir Andrew Agnew, and Lord Teignmouth; as did Madame Guyon, Lady Colquhoun, and the Countess of Huntingdon. Almost all of these were recently in our midst, working for Christ in doing good to souls. They coveted earnestly the best gifts, and in their useful labour show with what success. These were brothers and sisters of our suffering humanity.

But while living for others, neglect not yourself. Personal piety is the great secret of public usefulness. Let no

pressing engagement prevent your own urgent application for the Holy Ghost. No gift can compensate for His loss. "God giveth his Holy Spirit to them that ask him." Thus may you attain to knowledge, faith, experience, and develop usefulness. Thus only can you be first rate. I do not mean you to envy the gifts of others; but take your copy from the Lord himself—at first hand. Let the influence of the examples recorded in this book lead you to the source of their character and spring of their usefulness; then, guided by their way, you may seek a sphere for usefulness. Gifts drawn from Christ keep the soul most humble. The loftiest tree has the deepest roots. The noblest philosopher was he, who though he occupied the proud pre-eminence of the foremost of his age, confessed he was as a little child playing with a few pebbles on the shore of an ocean of illimitable discovery. The highest Christian was he whose own confession-and it was no proud humility -placed him among the least of all saints and the very chief of sinners. Covet earnestly the best gifts; but seek them at the cross, where all selfishness and pride are crucified. Drawn thence, they are ever loyal to the Redeemer, and full of sympathy for man. Drawn thence, they are formed into proper shape, toned to right harmony, and made to possess all the distinctness of individual character, while contributing to extensive influence. Thus, as the members are one body, the stones one building, the colours one light, the stars one firmament, so are the redeemed one family, and God and man are made to realize the unfathomable words of Jesus, That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: THAT THE WORLD MAY KNOW THAT THOU HAST SENT ME."

"It is a little thing

To give a cup of water; yet its draught

Of cool refreshment, drained by fevered lips,
May send a shock of pleasure to the soul

More exquisite by far than when nectareous juice

Renews the life of joy in happiest hours."

TALFOURD.

CHAPTER II.

THE BEST GRACE.

"Yet show I unto you a more excellent way."-1 COR. xii. 31.

"Faith, Hope, and Love, now dwell on earth,

And earth by them is blest;

But Faith and Hope must yield to Love,

Of all the graces best."

THE acquisition of gifts is a laudable ambition. They elevate man in the scale of being, increase his means of happiness, and afford him enlarged spheres for usefulness. The scholar who knows many languages—whether of the dead or living tongues-possesses gifts which many envy, and of which they need frequently to avail themselves. Learning opens the stores of ancient and foreign thought, deciphers the symbolic letters which contain the history of nations, and becomes a medium of communication between people of different tongues. It has rendered into the diversified dialects of men the oracles of God, and is now preaching the gospel to people of every land.

The artist who successfully cultivates and acquires the gift of depicting on canvass the scenes of nature, history, or imagination, paints for immortality and obtains the admiration of the world. The aspiring student, by attaining this one gift, has raised a more lasting memorial than he who reared the pyramids or conquered nations, and exercises a more lasting influence on the minds of men. The monarch and

the noble are remembered only as the patrons of his pencil or the subjects of his art.

Mechanical genius is one of the greatest gifts of nature, and one of the most prized acquisitions of men. It has ennobled Watt and Arkwright, Brindley and Stephenson, and conferred inestimable blessings upon society. It has aided to develop this country's power, and made her the benefactress of the nations.

Intellectual powers able to cultivate and enrich philosophy, to argue with a clear and resistless logic, and to throw a halo of genius around the description of ordinary truths, are gifts of greatest value. They can dictate faith to men, secure the consent of reason, and detect the sophistries of the plausible theories by which so many are deluded. These gifts evince the grandeur of conceptions which the human mind can realize, the glory they can bring to the Author of being, and the benefits which they can confer on the world at large.

The gifts by which each fills his place in society and the Church, and is enabled to discharge the duties incumbent upon him, though they may not make so brilliant a lustre, nor obtain such notoriety as those to which we have just referred, yet are as valuable a possession, as becoming objects of ambition, and as blessed means for usefulness. Generalship could not take a city or win a battle if the soldiers' courage were awanting. Invention could not command manufacture if the skilled artisan were not ready to labour in its adaptation to the useful arts. The more humble gifts are the most coveted, because on their acquisition and exercise many depend for their daily bread.

Ability to speak a word for Christ, to do a kind action to men, is a gift of no small worth, and may be possessed by all who believe in Jesus. It can, as we have seen, be the

means of saving souls and advancing the cause of God in the world.

Notwithstanding, the apostle, after urging his readers to covet earnestly the best gifts," adds this important exception-"Yet show I unto you a more excellent way." Gifts are desirable, but graces are a better possession. Intellect is a rich endowment, but heart is more blessed. "The intellect has no heart," says Vinet; "but the heart has intellect." Mysteries are worthy of the earnest study of the strongest minds, and there are in Christianity as many as will occupy the greatest intellects throughout eternity to fathom and elucidate; but the possession of the love of God is more excellent than the knowledge of them all. A heart full of affection to Christ is more surpassing rich, and is endowed with more perennial joys. The clean heart ranks higher than the clear intelligence. "When Sir Walter Raleigh had laid his head upon the block," says an eloquent divine, “he was asked by the executioner whether it lay aright. Whereupon, with the calmness of a hero and the faith of a Christian, he returned an answer the power of which we all shall feel when our head is tossing and turning on death's uneasy pillow,-'It matters little, my friend, how the head lies, provided the heart be right."" Now the love of God in the heart is worth all other acquisitions which the head may covet or possess. It is the more excellent way of happiness and usefulness.

It contains the essential blessing which all others lack. 'Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." It is quite possible to attain the highest position in language, and be able to speak your way through all the civilized world, and yet be devoid of that which makes a communication between God and your soul. It is