unto you." You have been called; you have been visited; you were warned. The heavenly Light shone upon you. To those who reject the warning, Christ said, “You say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth."

Self has often stood with us where Christ should stand. We put self first, instead of last. An American bishop, named Jesse Tepeck, was called to visit a student who was lying ill of fever. He went to his bedside and spoke to him, and, in the ravings of the delirium, the young man cried out, "Oh! there is that great Jesse Tepeck!-that great, big Jesse Tepeck! He comes between me and the cross of Christ! Why does he not get behind it?" Yes, we must get behind Christ; not trying to lead Him, but let Him lead us. We must have our hearts so full of Christ that we shall lose sight of self. We live by fits and starts, up and down, to and fro, like a door upon its hinges, till we learn to lose sight of self. Keep thy eye singly upon Christ, and thy whole body shall be full of light.

That bishop went home and fell on his knees, for that student had taught him the reason of his own comparative failure. Therefore bring the ragged edge of all thy own failures to the foot of the cross of Christ. His blood cleanseth from all sin. There is holiness of life on earth for all who cling to Him. He has power to heal thee. is able to keep thee from falling. Let thy prayer to thy Father in heaven be, "Create in me a clean heart, O God! and renew a right spirit within me!" "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

He

Pray without Ceasing!"

RAY when the morning sun
Awakes you from your sleep;

Pray, ere its course is run,
God you from sin will keep.

"Careful and troubled,"
Just means disobey;
"Bring here thy burden,"
You will not, you say.

And yet "He careth,

He careth for you;"
Have you not tried it,

And found it is true?
Have you known one of
His promises fail?
Have you not proved that
His strength does prevail?

Alter thy motto,

Then, "trouble" no more;
Go to the old Book

Of heavenly lore.
"Careful for nothing,"
There written I see.
Saviour, I thank Thee;
Make that true of me.

S. M.

Crowning Goodness.

A SEPTEMBER SKETCH.

HEN David, in the beautiful 65th Psalm, is singing of God, as seen in the wonderful works of nature, he seems so enraptured with his subject, that, at last, as though words failed him to express his full feelings, he exclaims-"Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness; and Thy paths drop fatness !"1 which is equal to saying, What can go beyond this crowning? what higher blessing, or what richer honour can be conferred; for when God crowns, His work is perfect; where He bestows beauty, it is matchless beauty! There is very great significance in this word crownest-no other would so fully explain the psalmist's meaning; to know why this is the case, we must

1 Psa. lxv. II.

inquire, What is a crown? and then we shall see that David by no means used it as the first word that occurred to him. A crown is an adornment set on the wearer's head, and therefore visible to all who choose to behold it. There is no excuse, but blindness, for not seeing it; therefore when a crown of goodness is set upon the year three things are signified

First, that it is a beauty visible to all.

Second, that it is an encircling beauty.

Third, that it is God's beauty. Thy beauty, or it never could be a crown of goodness.

It is of this crown that we would now speak, although the present month, September, forms but one jewel in it. From January to December all the year is crowned. Each month has its own attesting beauty and its own distinguishing feature, but all unite in one tribute of praise to Him for whose "pleasure they are and were created,1 and seem to revolve in the sight of a busy and too often forgetful world, with the quiet reminder, "The goodness of God endureth continually," smiling on each face. Crowned indeed is the whole year with the lovingkindness of the Lord :

"Each season bringing beauty, yields back praise
To its kind God, the God of all the year.
Spring never flags, nor fails with vernal gear
To deck fair Nature yet in infant days.

Nor wanting Summer's robe and golden tress,
All flower-entwined and gemmed with pearly dews;
Nor Autumn's chastened tints and blended hues,

So gently merging into Winter's dress.

Each in succession goodly crowned, and each
To us this silent truth-fraught lesson teach-
That we in all estates from youth to age
Live still beneath the care of Nature's Lord,
Whose love is sure, whose bounty will afford

Grace for each day and strength for every stage."

But does any reader of this magazine say, is this lovely month to yield us only a sermon and a sonnet? No, here

is a short story that bears on our subject, Crowning mercies.

Fancy must first paint a cottage on the outskirts of a wood, and then place within it an elderly couple who might have been called old by some folks that count age by grey hairs, puckered skin, and trembling knees but old Rob and Grace had within them a fountain of perennial youth, that, supplied from the well of life, was ever freshly springing forth and imparting an evergreen look that made the aged couple a happy fulfilment of God's promise-"his leaf also shall not wither." 1 Ah, and more than that, "he shall bring forth his fruit in his season. Those who have once experienced the holy delight of yielding seasonable fruit towards God, will understand the blessings concealed in these promises.

Let us now visit this woodland cottage in the hope of finding Rob and Grace at home. "Good morning, Grace; we are early customers you see, but we have a fancy to some of your fruit, which does not remain long in your stall;" and Grace raised her face towards us with a quizzical expression, and said,

"There's some youngsters behind you, I s'pose, or old September folks like you wouldn't be after the apples and

nuts!"

"But September folks need not all be old, need they, mistress? I know some one not very far off that is in his Septembers, and yet"

"You're meaning my old maister-eh, but 'twould take a power of Septembers to make him old-but then, sir, he's got the root of the matter in him, and afore you can destroy the plant you must kill the root !"

Ah, here he is to speak for himself. Rob, here is your wife speaking behind your back!"

"And she's kindly welcome to, sir, for you've left out the two words that would make it a sin," said the cheery old man with a smile.

1 Psa. i. 3.