and one thing to say. Thomas, this morning I rebuked you very unfairly. I am very sorry for it. I rebuked you in the presence of the whole family, and now I ask your forgiveness in their presence." It must have taken some courage to do that. It was right, was it not? Never be ashamed to apologize for domestic inaccuracy.

Find out

the points-what are the weak points, if I may call them so-of your companion, and then stand aloof from them. -TALMAGE.

The Forgiveness of God.

If you, dear friend, feel that you are spiritually sick, the Physician has come into the world for you. If you are altogether undone by reason of your sin, you are the very person aimed at in the plan of salvation. I say the Lord of Love had just such as you are in His eye when He arranged the system of grace. Suppose a man of generous spirit were to resolve to forgive all those who were indebted to him; it is clear that this can only apply to those really in his debt. One person owes him £1,000 and another owes him £50. Each one has but to have his bill receipted, and the liability is wiped out. But the most generous person can not forgive the debts of those who do not owe him anything. It is out of the power of Omnipotence to forgive where there is no sin. Pardon, therefore, can not be for you who have no sin. Pardon must be for the guilty. Forgiveness must be for the sinful. It were absurd to talk of forgiving those who do not need forgiveness—pardoning those who have never offended.-SPURGEON.

FREEDOM.

True Freedom.

Is True Freedom but to break
Fetters for our own dear sake,
And, with leathern hearts, forget
That we owe mankind a debt?
No! True Freedom is to share
All the chains our brothers wear,
And with heart and hand to be
Earnest to make others free!

They are slaves who fear to speak
For the fallen and the weak;

They are slaves who will not choose

Hatred, scoffing and abuse,

Rather than in silence shrink

From the truth they needs must think;

They are slaves who dare not be

In the right with two or three.

JAMES RUSSELL Lowell.

Spiritual Freedom.

(Composed in Prison.)

A little bird I am,

Shut from the fields of air,

And in my cage I sit and sing

To Him who placed me there

Well pleased a prisoner to be,
Because, my God, it pleases Thee.

Naught have I else to do.

I sing the whole day long,

And He whom most I love to please

Doth listen to my song.

He caught and bound my wandering wing, But still Ile bends to hear me sing.

Thou hast an ear to hear,

A heart to love and bless;

And, though my notes were e'er so rude,
Thou wouldst not hear the less;
Because Thou knowest, as they fall,

That love-sweet love--inspires them all.

My cage confines me round;

Abroad I can not fly.

But, though my wing is closely bound,

My heart 's at liberty.

My prison walls can not control

The flight, the freedom, of the soul.

Oh, it is good to soar

These bolts and bars above
To Him whose purpose I adore,
Whose providence I love;
And in Thy mighty will to find
The joy, the freedom, of the mind.

MADAME GUYON.

FRIENDSHIP.

The Power of Friendship.

There is no power in this world like friendship. There is nothing, as you look upon your life, that has shaped you, made you what you are today, so completely as the friendships in which you have been living from your boyhood up. Now, Christianity seems to be simply the perfection of this power of friendship. It seems to be simply the opening of the sky so we can see that, above every other friendship, above everything that shapes our lives, there is the power of God made manifest in Jesus Christ, so that he who passes his life in utter and entire obedience to that of the Great Master enters into the character of that Master more and more.—Phillips Brooks.

The Spiritual Character of True Friendship.

All friendship, all love, human and Divine, is spiritual. So that it is no difficulty, in reflecting the character of Christ, that we have never been in visible contact with Him. He does not appeal to the eye. He appeals to the soul, and is not reflected from the body, but from the soul. The thing you love in a friend is not the thing you see. I knew of a very beautiful character-one of the loveliest which had ever bloomed on this earth. It was the character of a young girl. She always wore about her neck a little locket, but nobody was allowed to open it. None of her companions ever knew what it contained, until one day she was laid down with a danger

ous illness, when one of them was granted permission to look into the locket. She saw written there: 66 Whom having not seen I love." That was the secret of her beautiful life. She had been changed into the same. image.-HENRY Drummond.

A New Friendship.

Suppose a new friendship enters into your life. If the man or woman is worth anything to you, they ought to be worth a great deal. They ought to advance and quicken your development as you theirs. They ought to make you more complex, more sympathetic with the great Mankind. One knows he is a poor person who does not how delightful the first rush of feeling is, when as yet we only hope we have found another friend, another soul which can touch ours. Old things become new; it is like dew upon a thirsty meadow. Fresh faculties are developed; a fresh eagerness seizes on the old. The dull places of the spirit suffer an enchantment. Music sounds which give delight and hurt not "-plays about the path of life. We look forward to exploring a new soul as men who have found a new continent.--FRANCES E. WILLARD.

False Friends of Christ.

An apostate is like a leper. As a rule, none are more bitter enemies of the Cross than those who once professed to be followers of Jesus. He who can turn away from Christ is not a fit companion for any honest man. There are many abroad nowadays who have thrown off