about that, but Tom said it wouldn't be fair, 'cause you told him to do it."

"I am glad you were careful to be quite fair, Tom," said mother. "It seems to me that that was a kind deed."'

"Well, any way," said Tom, swallowing hard, Jack's not going to get ahead of me this week. I'm going to do so many kind deeds to him that he won't know which one to choose te tell about next Tuesday."'

and geography shows us where the garden of Eden is, which continent, which division.

"History tells us that Adam was the first man that was created and while he was sleeping, God took out one of his ribs and made Eve, after a while Eve went to walk among the trees of the garden of Eden. Conversation took place between her and the devil, the devil told her to eat some kind of fruit which God had told her and Adam not to eat, she took it and ate it, and also took some for her husband. When Adam saw it he did not take no time to ask her where she got it from.

to

"History, geography and the earth, just do to go together. One tells about this, one tells about that, and so forth. Histories are inter esting to read, indeed they are. It tells us about the whale. The whale is the largest animal in the sea. Whales is spoken of in the Bible, God had sent Jonah to Ninevah preach to the people about their sins. Jonah refused to go. He went into a ship with some people, he just went in there to hide from God, but God caused a storm to take place and the ship went from this way to that way. The people was afraid indeed and they began to cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah so they up and throwed him into the sea. While he was going to the very bottom of the sea he met with this animal, so the whale said, 'My friend, where are you going?' Jonah answered and said unto him, 'I have disobeyed my God and I am trying to hide from his face. The whale said, 'You ought to be ashamed of yourself, don't you know that neither you nor I can hide

from His face?' Jonah said, 'O! whale, I am so afraid, I do not know what I am doing or saying.' The whale said, 'The idea of your running away from God, you got to bear the consequences that's all I got to say.' Jonah said, 'Whale, I think you had better swallow me because I see there is no use in talking.' The whale said, 'Jonah, put your head in my mouth and get ready for your life. At the same time he did swallow him up. Jonah thought the whale's body was his end. Therefore Jonah offered up a prayer for his sins. If he should die before he got to the shore, if it was God's will to carry his soul to heaven. The whale did not rest day after day nor night after night. After three days the whale went to the shore and vomited up Jonah. Jonah was like a drowned rat."—Extract from Missionary Review.

COMFORT FOR THE SORROWING.

Whilst the marble wastes beneath the sculptor's hand, the image grows; so should each loss in our estate or circumstance have a corresponding gain in spiritual conformity to Christ.-F. B. Meyer.

"Lo, I see four men loose."-Dan. iii. 25 This is what trial has often done for us. We have become conscious of the binding effect of our own habits which we wore as comparatively innocent, but gradually the conviction grew that they were amongst the weights that should be laid aside. Yet they clung to us until some fiery trial befell us, and from that hour, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, we were free. Do not fear the fire. It cannot hurt one hair of your head, or leave the smell of burning on you, but it will eat out the alloy, and gnaw away the iron bands that. bound you.

I shall know by the gleam and glitter
Of the golden chain you wear,

By your heart's calm strength in loving,
Of the fire you have had to bear.
Beat on, true heart, for ever!

Shine bright, strong golden chain;
And bless the cleansing fire

And the furnace of living pain,

But Jesus never allows His beloved to walk the fire alone. If it is heated seven times hotter than its wont, this is only the reason for His becoming more real, as our living glorious Friend. There always goes beside the tried saint, though not always patent even to the eye of the spirit, another whose aspect is that of the Son of God. Reach out thy hands to Him, beloved, He is there. The Refiner not only watches the crucible, He is in it with thee In all thy affliction, He is afflicted-F. B Meyer.

A Voice from the Land Beyond.

I shine in the light of God;

His likeness stamps my brow; Through the Valley of Death my feet have trod, And I reign in glory now!

No breaking heart is here,

No keen and thrilling pain,

No wasted cheek where the frequent tear Hath rolled and left its stain.

*

O friends of mortal years,

The trusted and the true,

Ye are watching still in the valley of tears, But I wait to welcome you.

Do I forget? Ono!

For memory's golden chain

Shall bind my heart to the hearts below Till they meet to touch again.

Each link is strong and bright,

And love's electric flame
Flows freely down, like a river of light,
To the world from whence I came.
Do you mourn when another star

Shines out from the glittering sky?
Do you weep when the raging voice of war
And the storms of conflict die?

Then why should your tears run down,
And your hearts be sorely riven,
For another gem in the Saviour's crown,
And another soul in heaven?

-Anon.

They tell us that in some trackless lands, when one friend passes through the pathless forests, he breaks a twig ever and anon as he goes, that those who come after may see the traces of his having been there, and may know that they are not out of the road. Oh, when we are journeying through the murky night, and the dark woods of affliction and sorrow, it is something to find here and there a spray broken, or a leafy stem bent down with the tread of His foot and the brush of His hand as He passed; and to remember that the path He trod He has hallowed, and thus to find lingering fragrances and hidden strengths in the remembrance of Him as "in all points tempted like as we are,'' bearing grief for us, bearing grief with us, bearing grief like us. Oh, do not, do not, keep these sacred thoughts of Christ's companionship in sorrow, for the larger trials of life. If the mote in the eye be large enough to annoy you, it is large enough to bring out His sympathy; and if the grief be too small for Him to compassionate and share, it is too small for you to be troubled by it. If you are ashamed to apply that divine thought, "Christ bears this grief with me," to those petty molehills that you magnify into mountains sometimes, think to yourselves that then it is a shame for you to be stumbling over them. But on the other hand, never fear to be irreverent or too familiar in the thought, that Christ is willing to bear and help me to bear, the pettiest, the minutest, and most insignificant of the daily annoyances that may come to ruffle me.-Alexander MacLaren.

HINTS AND HELPS.

CONDUCTED BY D. L. MOODY.

The morning is the gate of the day, and should be well guarded with prayer.-C. H. Spurgeon.

In the death of our Redeemer, we see three infinite depths moved for the relief of human misery: the love of the Father, the merit of the Son, and the energy of the Holy Spirit. These are the depths of wonder whence arise the rivers of salvation.—Christmas Evans.

The spiritual man having passed from death unto life, the natural man must next proceed to pass from life unto death. Having opened a new set of correspondence, he must deliberately close up the old. Regeneration, in short, must be accompanied by degeneration. -Henry Drummond.

When the Gauls had tasted the wine of Italy, they asked where the grapes grew, and would never be quiet till they came there. Thus may you cry, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest." A believer is willing to lose the world for the enjoyment of grace; and he is willing to leave the world for the fruition of glory-William Secker.

The best edition of the Holy Scriptures is a holy life. God wants to translate His supernatural Book into the living experience of all His children.-A. B. Simpson.

Whatever may have been the faults of the Old Testament characters, no mention is made of them in the New Testament. There they are always referred to as saints without blemish. It seems that God delights to praise His saints. He keeps His promise that He will not only forgive, but forget their iniquities, and He remembers only their good qualities. -Bonar.

A watch failing to keep time will not be corrected by any jeweling of the case; painting the organ-pipes will not improve the music.Watkinson.

Communion with God is not to be limited to a few moments of devotion each day. Even as Enoch walked with God, so must we live consciously in His companionship if our lives are to have power with men. "If you want to

is the mouth, is the hand, and one of these is of use all the day long. Faith is to see, to receive, to work, or to eat; and a Christian should be seeing, or receiving, or working, or feeding all day long. Let it rain, let it blow, let it thunder, let it lighten, a Christian must still believe. "At what time," said the good man, "I am afraid, I will trust in Thee."John Bunyan.

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. Ps. iv. 8. Sweet evening hymn! I shall not sit up to watch through fear, but I will lie down; and then I will not lie awake listening to every rustling sound, but I will lie down in peace and sleep, for I have nought to fear. He that hath the wings of God above him needs no other curtain. Better than bolts or bars is the protection of the Lord. *** A quiet conscience is a good bedfellow. How many of our sleepless hours might be traced to our untrusting and disordered minds. They slumber sweetly whom faith rocks to sleep.-C. H. Spurgeon.

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Prov. xxviii. 13. There are two ways in which sin has been treated in human history: man's way and God's way. From the days of Adam man has failed, for he has only covered them up imperfectly. God's way has always been sure, for He doth purge to purity and thoroughly cleanse to whiteness. Man seeks to white-wash the exterior; God washes white the entire being.

"Oh! if we could only lift up our heads and live with Him; live new lives, high lives, lives of hope and love and holiness, to which death should be nothing but the breaking away of the last cloud and the letting of the life out to its completion."-Phillips Brooks.

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EDITORIAL NOTES.

The season of new resolves is at hand. Within the next few days it is probable that more good resolutions will be made and more "new leaves turned over" than in all the remaining weeks and months of 1898. How many of these resolutions will last or how many of the "new leaves" will remain clean and fair we may never know, but in many cases there will be illustrated the futility of counting upon human will power for mending a ruined life. It has been said that even God does not undertake such a work, but, by the regenerating power of His Spirit recreates the soul and forms anew the man who has wasted his former life.

And at this special season when thousands of Christians are united in prayer there should be encouragement for those who are burdened for the spiritual welfare of loved ones. "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly," surely includes the prayers of His children for those whom they love. And to the soul that is living in the knowledge and obedience to God's will this promise comes with power and encouragement.

But even before we seek for blessings upon others may we not wisely examine ourselves to know if we have complied with the condition of this promise? The real secret of a Christian life is conformity to Jesus Christ or obedience to the will of God. If that is the law of our beings we may indeed claim the promise of all good things.

In a recent number of The Congregationalist there has appeared an interesting article

ries in church work, entitled, "WOMEN IN THE HOME FIELD." After enumerating some of the distinctive lines of work for which lady missionaries are specially qualified, the writer says: "Mr. Moody was asked, not long ago, this question: Which makes the best city missionary-man or woman?' He promptly replied, 'Give me woman, every time. I have been in a great deal of city work, and I know. During the day, when the men are out, the women can go into the house and sit down and talk with the mother, the wife and the children, and pray. Women have more tact, and if we had more of them as city missionaries we would have less anarchism and communism. It's a great pity that women are not more used in this work of reaching the masses, and do not offer themselves more frequently.'"

It must be remembered, however, that careful and wise training is needed for such work as Mr. Moody proposes for a lady missionary. Enthusiasm alone is not going to give a young woman the entré to the home of a self-respecting woman, and it is essential that there should be some way in which the missionary should win an entrance. And it is for the supplying of the means for acquiring a welcome to the homes of the non-church-goers that a training is necessary as well as teaching methods for personal work.

The Northfield Training School, with which we are most familiar, is eminently practical in this preparation of its students. Not only are Bible courses offered, but a thorough course is also prescribed in the most elementary household duties, which have been found by experience to be invaluable aids in not only securing an entrance to a home, but in many instances of winning the family itself.

A number of letters have been received, asking if we were still receiving donations for Pandita Ramabai's work. Evidently the offer which was made by "Y," to give one-tenth of all that should be donated by our readers within a certain period, has led some to believe that we were only receiving funds for the same limited period. We would say, however, that we shall always be glad to receive any donations that may be sent to us for this work and forward the same promptly to India.

DAILY

Saturday, January 1st.

Isaiah xiii. 1 to 5.

Verse 1. Chapters xiii. and xiv. are devoted to the judgments to be brought upon Babylon. This verse tells us that this remarkable vision of the future was given to "Isaiah the son of Amoz." Verse 28. of chapter xiv. tells us when the vision was given: "In the year that King Ahaz died." Babylon at that time had Merodach-baladan for its king. For five hundred years an Assyrian dynasty of kings had reigned, sometimes at war with the kings of Assyria, who reigned at Nineveh, and sometimes tributary to them, and never attaining to greatness of power, until the fall of Nineveh in 65 B.C., by the conquest of Assyria by Cyaxeres the Mede, and Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar. Sargon, king of Assyria, defeated and dethroned Merodach-baladan during the life time of Isaiah, and Sennacherib annexed Babylon to the Assyrian Empire about 690 B. C. Sargon is mentioned once in the Bible (Isa. xx. 1), Sennacherib, many times, and his history in connection with Jerusalem, given in detail in Kings, Chronicles, and in Isaiah xxxvi. and xxxvii. Babylon, as the fourth world empire, and as the enemy of Israel, comes upon the stage of history with Nebuchadnezzar the famous son of Nabopolassar (604 B. C.). Rawlin son says: "It is scarcely too much to say that but for Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonians would have had no place in history." The knowledge of these historic facts gives a wonderful interest to the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Babylon. It was the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, and not the Babylon of Merodach-baladan that he beheld, in its worldwide fame and power; and it was the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus, and its later utter desolation as at this day, more than its conquest by Sargon and Sennacherib, that he sees in the burden of his vision. Babylon, all through the prophetic Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments, is a word used to represent world power, as arrayed against Jehovah and His people. Literal Babylon is alluded to, and the judgments that came upon her faithfully depicted, but, a remote fulfillmeut, in the final overthrow of antichrist, is always indicated by the words the Spirit of God has dictated. So here; the coming of Sennacherib into Judah and his overthrow there, seems to fulfill one part of the prophecy; while the conquest of Babylon by Assyria, and then by Cyrus fulfills another part; ts final desolation another;-and beyond all these,

its fall, and the fall of its king, is made a type of Christ's final judgment of Gentile power.

Verses 2 to 5. Surely in these grand words the Spirit of God is describing the whole battle scene through all the centuries, as nation after nation are dealt with by Jehovah, and fall beneath His power. Jerusalem as the city of God, shall stand secure upon the earth, when these have passed away. Text for the day, verse 4, last clause.

Sunday, January 2d.

Isaiah xiii. 6 to 11.

Verse 6. The expression "the day of the Lord," many times found in the prophets, is uniformly connected with the Lord's execution of judgment upon some particular nation or upon the world at large. Here, Babylon (see verse 19) is in view. God permitted the growth and consolidation of that vast empire, as He permits the growth of kingdoms and nations now, until the pride of her rulers and the wickedness of her people became insufferable, and suddenly the day of reckoning and overthrow came, -the day for the Lord as King of nations, to deal with those who had misused their blessings, and abused the power He had entrusted to them. In this sense "the day of the Lord" was seen by Isaiah as coming upon Israel, Judah, Assyria, Babylon, Moab and Egypt, and not far away in his vision, he saw the final day of the Lord, when Christ shall come to judge the world as He Himself foretold (Matt. xxv. 30). It is the blending of the near event with the remote that gives the key to all the prophets, and should deeply interest every child of God in their study (1 Peter ii. 19 to 21). Principles never change, righteousness of judgment can never know variation: as God dealt with nations in the past, so will He deal with the nations of our day. "The day of the Lord" is continually coming to wicked peoples and to wicked persons, and we as witnesses for God should ever be warning our fellow men of its certainty, and of their calamity (Ezek. iii. 17 and 18); and beyond this is the definite day of the manifested presence of Christ upon the earth, "The GREAT DAY of the Lord" (Rev. vi. 14 to 17; Acts xvii. 31).

Verses 7 to 11. Note similarity in Mal. iv. 1: Joel ii. 31 and 32; Acts ii. 16 to 21; Matt. xxiv. 29 and 30. Surely one can see how Isaiah in vision was beholding a series of judgments on nations, but beyond that, a culminating judgment upon the world that is yet to come, the "gathering out of Christ's kingdom on earth of all that offends." Matt. xiii. 40 to 43.