glory; if he were not our all in all, our sacrifice, our justification, our sanctification, and our redemption, we should have enough to sink us into the slough of despondency for ever.

"Up, and be doing, Humphrey. Let us be no longer children, but acquit ourselves like men. The sons and daughters of a king should be kingly in their thoughts. The heirs of heaven should be heavenly in their desires. Let us press on, well knowing that, amid all our infirmities, more are those that are with us than those that are against us. Let us be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord,' 1 Cor. xv. 58."

ON

UNREASONABLENESS.

SURELY man is the most unreasonable of all God's creatures! Feed the birds of the air, or the beasts of the field, and they will be satisfied; but the more is given to man, the more he requires.

If he have riches, he will hug his bags of gold, and carry out his plans to increase them. If he have estates, he will join house to house, field to field, and vineyard to vineyard; give him a county, or a kingdom, and he will crave for more.

When we rise in the morning, we expect to pass through the day prosperously. If we lie down to rest at night, we expect to enjoy refreshing slumber. If we propose a journey, we expect to perform it unmolested and uninjured.

If we pass through one birth-day, we expect to arrive at another in good health; to eat and to drink, to ride and to walk, to wake and to sleep in peace, without considering that these

things cannot take place, unless. God, of his infinite mercy, keeps us from a thousand temptations, and delivers us from ten thousand dangers.

So continually are we partaking of God's blessings, that we look on them as things of course: the seed we sow must, in our apprehension, spring up abundantly; our tables must be provided for, and the mercies of yesterday must be supplied to-day, and those of this year continued to us through the next. How seldom do we offer up the prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread," Matt. vi. 11, with a full consciousness of our entire dependence on our heavenly Father for our earthly supplies! And how frequently do we feel more gratitude to our fellow worms, for a passing act of kindness, than to the Lord of life and glory, for his permanent and unmerited mercies! We bow and cringe to a fellow sinner, to obtain at his hands the empty baubles of an hour, while the love of the Redeemer of the world, the means of grace, and the hope of eternal glory, are sought for with indifference.

Let us look more on our common mercies as the gifts of God. Let our health and our strength, our days and our nights, our bits and our drops, and our meanest comforts, be regarded as being

bestowed by a heavenly Benefactor; and let us bear in mind our own unworthiness, that we may be more reasonable in our desires, and more grateful when they are attained.

ON READING.

THE other day it happened that, while I was sitting in the midst of a family, in which were several young people, the doctor called, one of the party being a little ailing. Now, the doctor is a friendly man, of good parts, and of a kindhearted disposition; but very unsound in his religious views, inasmuch as he is guided by his own opinions, instead of the records of eternal truth.

It has often puzzled me how it is that some medical men, who so ardently seek to know, and who understand so much better than others, the wonderful frame-work of the body, should manifest so much apathy and ignorance respecting the soul. I always liked the society of medical men, but for all that, Old Humphrey is not one that will tickle their ears with pleasant words, when he sees an opportunity of touching their hearts with a salutary truth. There are many doctors who are well versed in, and influenced by the Holy Scriptures, to their own advantage, and to that of their patients; but there are others who