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laughed at conquered the better emotion, and I again dropped the top of the trunk. As I turned away from it, one of my room-mates, who observed my undecided movement, said laughingly :

"I say, R, what's the matter? you seem as restless as a weather-cock!'

"I replied by laughing in my turn; and then, conceiving the truth to be the best, frankly told them both what was the matter. To my surprise and delight they both spoke up, and confessed that they both had Bibles in their trunks, and both had been secretly wishing to read in them, but were afraid to take them out lest I should laugh at them. Then,' said I, ‘let us agree to read them every Sunday, and we shall have the laugh all on one side.' To this there was a hearty response, and the next moment the three Bibles were out; and I assure you we all felt happier all that day, for reading them in the morning.

"Nor was this all; for the next Sunday, while we were reading our chapters, two of our fellow-boarders from another room came in. When they saw how we were engaged, they stared, and then exclaimed, 'What is all this? A conventicle?' Nothing dismayed I related to them exactly how the matter stood; how we three, having found we had all been afraid of each other without cause, had now agreed to read every Sunday. Not a bad idea,' answered one of them. 'You have more courage than I have. I have a Bible, too, but have not looked into it since I have been in Boston! But I'll read it after this, since you've broken the ice.'

"They at once joined us, and sat quietly till churchtime. The tidings of our little meeting soon spread through the house, and the result was, that every one of the clerks, and there were sixteen who boarded there, spent his Sunday morning in reading the Bible. The moral effect upon our household was of the highest character. All those youths are now useful and

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Christian men, and more than one is labouring in the ministry."

Now, dear reader, here is a lesson for you. Will you receive it, and act it out for yourself? Will you determine to be faithful to your own convictions of duty, even if the ridicule of your associates should result from your integrity? Are you doubtful whether you have strength of mind enough to do this? Then seek for strength from above. God will help you, if you ask Him. However timid and irresolute your natural disposition may be, He can invigorate and improve it, and give you, in the most trying circumstances, all the firmness and decision which you need. Look at the apostle Peter; so weak and cowardly, that he is led by the simple interrogation of a servant maid to deny, even with oaths and curses, the Master whom he loves. Look at him again; how bold and fearless he is as he stands a prisoner before the Sanhedrim, and nobly defends the cause of the Crucified One. Whence the difference? You may solve the enigma by recalling the Saviour's parting command to His disciples, "Tarry ye at Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." Now that grace which strengthened the wavering Peter is freely offered for your acceptance. Avail yourself of it at once; and the transformation, if not so striking in your case as in his, will at least be as real and as lasting.

And then, while maintaining an honourable stedfastness in religion, you will also quietly adhere to the thoughtful opinions which you may form about comparative trifles. Doing great things will help you to do little things. Ever ready to yield to the wishes of others in matters of indifference, where no principle is involved, you will, at the same time, be superior to the ridicule which would attempt to divert you from a right object, or draw you from a good cause. With your conscience at rest, and your mind made up, you will be able, when any debateable point is started, and

you are met by the stern and overwhelming question, "What will people say?" to respond, cheerfully and pleasantly, in the spirit, if not in the words of the inquiry, "What will the driver think!”

ALICE H.

CHRIST ALL AND IN ALL.

I LOVE to think of Thee

O gentle Saviour, full of grace and love;
Amidst life's toils and turmoils, dear to me
Is the remembrance of a Friend above,
Whose sympathy can soothe in hours of care,
As well as heighten every joy I share.

I love to trust in Thee :

This life hath mysteries I cannot solve;
But Thou canst clear up each perplexity,
And good from seeming evil wilt evolve;
Therefore, in Thee I fearlessly confide,

For Thou through life my steps wilt safely guide.

I love to rest on Thee,

Calm as a child within its parent's arm,
Environed with a sweet security

Which banishes each thought that could alarm;
Oh, in a world where strife perpetual flows,
How precious is the haven of repose!

I love to speak of Thee;

To whisper to the wearied burdened heart

Of thy salvation, perfect, full, and free,

Of joys which Thou art waiting to impart;
I love to tell to those around thy worth,

And strive to spread thy Name through all the earth.

I love to work for Thee;

To labour in thy vineyard day by day;
Through obstacles to toil on manfully,

And help to pioneer thy glorious way;
My brightest powers I to thy service give,
And, oh, to live is Christ while thus I live.

I love to follow Thee

In every step which Thou hast marked to tread ;
Thy bright example sweetly lureth me

To keep the ranks which Thou hast nobly led ;
Onwards I press, though rough the way may be,
For every moment brings me nearer Thee.

I long to dwell with Thee;

To see Thee as Thou art, to hear thy voice,
To add my song to heaven's rich minstrelsy,
And in thy loving presence to rejoice;
From sin and sorrow and temptation free,
Oh, Saviour, it is heaven to be with Thee!

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WHEN "sister" had left us, we went to one of the open casements, and I well remember the sensation of repose with which we congratulated one another on the grandmother's not having been present; and though the consciousness of a far higher presence was strong in our hearts, we experienced also somewhat of that feeling which made king David say, "Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, and let us not fall into the hand of man."

In our childish fashion, we began to speculate as to how we should behave if we always believed and remembered that the Great God was observing us; and then, as I suppose most children have done at some time or other, we suddenly formed a resolution, that from that day forward, we would behave quite differently; that we would reform all our faults, never be idle over our lessons; nor play at improper times; nor concoct any

mischief that we might have done; nor tease the little ones; nor hide ourselves in the shrubberies when we knew the nurse was looking for us to call us into bed.

In short, we passed in review all our childish faults as far as we knew them, and made a set of rules for future good behaviour. We had a fashion at the school where I was, for writing sets of rules; one would have thought the rule under which we lived was stringent and inflexible enough; but no, we copied Madame's favourite phrase, "I shall make a rule Mes Demoiselles," and we made more rules than even our rulers.

We often spent part of one half-holiday, in writing rules for the spending of the next; elaborate rules, as to how long we would play with our dolls, how long we would spend over our home letters, how long in reading our story books, how long in feeding our birds; in short, we had scarcely one half-hour which we could call our own, that we did not hamper with rules containing as many additions and subtractions as a long division sum. I had imparted this fashion to Lucy, and we had already made, and altered, and broken several sets of these rules; but, on that delightful Sunday evening, while the sun was sinking into the distant sea, and reddening the sky, the water, the walls, our white frocks, and the fluttering leaves of our Bibles, we made one set more. The particulars of them I have forgotten, but the intention formed in all childish simplicity, was to help us to keep the presence of God always in our recollection.

There was a little picture in one of my books, which represented Hagar in the parched wilderness, sitting apart from the fainting Ishmael; underneath it were the words, "Thou God seest me; this we said, we would hang on the wall opposite to our two stools, where every afternoon we sat learning our lessons for the next day, or doing our play-work, as we called it.

How little, for all this sympathy of love, a child is known to his elders! How little during the ensuing week, our childish struggles, our wavering endeavours to do right, our surprise at our own failures, were suspected in that orderly household. The days, however, went and came, and our rules it appeared must have had some real influence over us, for I well remember that the nurse and housekeeper commended us to "sister" as "excellent good children, as toward, friend, as thee would wish to see." The restrictions which we had laid upon ourselves were not light ones for children to observe, and though they only bound us to do our duty, it was not wonderful that we sometimes broke through them, and sometimes lightly forgot them, considering that the red curtain did not always hang in our sight, and considering that childhood and youth are vanity.

Another Sunday evening came; we learnt our lesson in the

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