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That you write it me down, as plain as you can."
Upon which the old hermit, he went to his pen,
And brought me this note waen he came back again:

"Tis being and doing and having that make
All the pleasures and pains of which mankind partake;
To be what God pleases, to do a man's best,
And to have a good heart, is the way to be blest."

BYRON.

The Reflection of Happiness.

Surely happiness is reflective, like the light of Heaven; and every countenance, bright with smiles and glowing with innocent enjoyment, is a mirror, transmitting to others the rays of a supreme and ever-shining benevolence.-WASHINGTON IRVING.

HEALTH.

Take Care of Your Health.

Let me utter one practical word: Take care of your health. There have been men who by wise attention to this point might have risen to any eminence-might have made great discoveries, written great poems, commanded armies or ruled states, but who by unwise neglect of this point have come to nothing. Imagine Hercules as oars man in a rotten boat. What can he do there but by the very force of his stroke expedite the ruin of his craft? Take care, then, of the timbers of your boat, and avoid

all practices likely to introduce either wet or dry rot among them. And this is not to be accomplished by desultory or intermittent efforts of the will, but by the formation of habits. The will, no doubt, has sometimes to put forth its strength in order to strangle or crush the special temptation. But the formation of right habits is essential to your permanent security. They diminish your chance of falling when assailed, and they augment your chance of recovery when overthrown. --TYNDALL.

Condensed Comments.

Take a walk to refresh yourself with the open air, which, inspired fresh, doth exceedingly recreate the lungs, heart and vital spirits. --HARVEY.

You will never live to my age without you keep yourself in breath with exercise.-SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.

The health of a community is almost an unfailing index of its morals.--MARTINEAU.

Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life. --SIR W. Temple.

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THE HEREAFTER.

The Continuity of Life.

The continuity of life lifts the shadow also from another mystery-the lives that have been cut off in their prime. When one is richly endowed and carefully trained, and has come to the zenith of his power, his sudden removal seems a reflection on the economy of God's Kingdom. Why call this man to the choir celestial when he is so much needed in active service? According to Jesus, he has not sunk into inaction, so much subtracted from the forces of righteousness. He has gone where the fetters of this body of humiliation and embarrassment of adverse circumstances shall be no longer felt.

We must not think of him as withdrawn from the field. We must imagine him as in the van of battle. We must follow him, our friend, with hope and a high heart.— JOHN WATSON (Ian Maclaren).

The Two Mysteries.

We know not what it is, dear, this sleep so deep and

still;

The folded hands, the awful calm, the cheek so pale and

chill;

The lids that will not lift again, though we may call aná

call;

The strange white solitude of peace that settles over

ah.

We know not what it means, dear, this desolate heart

pain;

This dread to take our daily way and walk in it again. We know not to what other sphere the loved who leave

us go,

Nor why we're left to wander still, nor why we do not know.

But this we know: Our loved and dead, if they should come this day,

Should ask us, "What is life?" not one of us could say. Life is a mystery as deep as ever death can be;

Yet, oh! how sweet it is to us, this life we live and see!

Then might they say, these vanished ones-and blessed is the thought:

"So death is sweet to us, beloved! though we may tell you naught.

We may not tell it to the quick, this mystery of death; Ye may not tell us, if ye would, the mystery of breath."

The child who enters life comes not with knowledge or intent;

So those who enter death must go as little children sent. Nothing is known! But I believe that God is overhead; And as life is to the living, so death is to the dead.

JOAQUIN MILler.

This Life and That.

This life is the childhood of which yonder life is the manhood. As the childhood is, so shall the manhood be. We are making Heaven now. By building into ourselves principles, by creating in our souls holy tastes, we are rearing the walls of jasper and paving the streets of gold and beautifying the eternal mansions. I believe Heaven to be just this: A new setting of the principles we are mastering and working into our personalities and embodying in our works and characters here and now. By doing well our fragmentary duties day by day we are getting ready to sing the new song of Heaven.

This story is told in connection with a celebrated musician who had a large number of pupils: It was his purpose at the end of a specified time to give a grand concert, at which his favorite pupil was to be made the conspicuous figure. There was one among the others to whom was given fragmentary work. No part of his instruction seemed to have the least connection with any other part. It was dull work, but he practiced upon the dull fragments and fought discouragement. He did his best and forced the whole man into the work. When the day of celebration came he was chosen as the favorite pupil. He felt that he did not know a single complete piece of music. Tremblingly he took his place at the instrument, but when the score which he was to play was placed before him he throbbed and thrilled with delight to find that the completed work was made up of the fragments which he had mastered, and which were now perfectly arranged. This gave him courage, and so be

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