strength of all finite intelligences, however pure and strong. "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail, but they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength." Fifthly: They are blest with being divinely conducted into the paths of rectitude. "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness." There are as many paths of life as there are men. As every star has its own orbit, so every man has his own particular path. No two men can walk in exactly the same way, from the diversity of their faculty and their training. All human paths are of two descriptions, the morally right and the morally wrong. The good man's path, whether it be that of a labourer, mechanic, artist, poet, philosopher, statesman, king, or preacher, is "a path of righteousness." Sixthly: They are blest with moral heroism in their march to eternity. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil." We have already said that David does not speak of the article of death here, but of the path of life, which from the very beginning is a shadowy way. He does not say, "though I may walk," "though I shall walk," or "though I should walk," but "though I walk." The figure of death is so colossal that it throws a shadow over the whole path of life. The 800,000,000 men that populate the earth to-day are all moving under its dark shadow. Some tread the valley of life with a stolid indifference. Some tread it with giddy frivolity; with the dark shadow resting on them they grin like maniacs in a dungeon. Some tread the path of life with a slavish dread. "They are all their lifetime, through fear of death, subject to bondage." But the godly man treads it with a heroic step. "I will fear no evil." What is the philosophy of his bravery? Here it is. "For Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." (1.) Thou art with me as the infallible guide in the ever-thickening gloom. What though life be a dark, winding, intricate cavern with mountains above, if He who "weigheth the mountains in a scale, and the hills in a balance," who is the "Light of them who sit in darkness," is with me, what evil have I to fear? (2.) Thou art with me as a safe protector from every possible evil. "Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." That "rod" shall ward off all perils, that "staff" shall sustain under all pressure of the future. II. He appears as a Host to the good. The pious poet here changes his metaphor. The Shepherd, the sheep, and the pasture are left for the Host, the guest, and the table. "Thou preparest a table before me." As a Host. First: He provides for His guests a feast in the midst of their enemies. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies." (1.) The life of the true is a feast. The figure implies three things. (a) A variety in the pleasant. Variety is ever the characteristic and the charm of banquets. How boundlessly varied the blessings which heaven has spread out for the enjoyment of the good on this earth. There are the sensuous, the intellectual, the social, and the religious. The figure implies (6) an abundance in the pleasant. It is almost essential to a feast that the provisions should be ample. Meagreness and scarcity are carefully avoided at banquets. How immeasurable are the blessings provided for the good. The idea of abundance is implied in the text, "Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over." The figure implies (y) a social participation in the pleasant. A feast is not for one but for many, and generally for those of such kindred sentiment as will heighten the enjoyment. Life is social. Observe (2.) The life of the true is a feast prepared by God. parest." All the rich viands of life are provided and spread out by His munificent hand. Not only does He prepare the feast for His guests, but He prepares His guests for the feast. The banquet, however sumptuous and varied in its provisions, is worthless to all but those who are inclined to participate, and who have the necessary appetite. The great Author of the feast imparts these to His guests. "Thou pre But the point here is that the feast is spread out in the “ presence of enemies." A truly good man, who thoroughly enjoys life as a banquet, and moves amongst his compeers with sunny smiles and genial sentiment, is sure to have enemies. Envy and jealousy will create them by hosts. The spiritually morbid and diseased, who cannot enjoy the blessings of providence and VOL. XXVI. T religion, will look at him with the eye of envious hate. Devils, too, envy such a man. A good man has ever had enemies, and ever will. David had them. They now surrounded him as he was feasting at the table of God's Providence. There is something gratifying to a man in feasting before enemies. (1.) There is a gratification of the feeling of independence. Enjoying a banquet with the eye of an enemy on you, you seem to dare him to do his worst. You have the happy feeling that unrighteous malice cannot injure you. (2.) There is a gratification of the feeling of benevolence. Sitting down, enjoying a banquet sufficient for all your enemies, and to which they were invited but would not enter, you feel that as they look on there is a splendid opportunity for them to learn their folly, relent, and attend the entertainment. You hope they will say to themselves, "What fools we are to be outside here indulging in peevish envy, lean-hearted, and halfstarved, whilst our neighbours are so jubilant at the board of plenty." (3.) There is a gratification of our religious feeling. You feel, as you enjoy the rich banquet provided for you, that you have an opportunity of showing your enemies the wonderful bountihood of the Master of the feast. You give Him the praise. As a Host, 66 Secondly: He follows His guests constantly with His goodness. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." The provisions are not for the hour, the day, or the year, or even for the age; the "pastures" are ever green, the "table" is ever loaded. "Goodness and mercy," like an ever-deepening river, follow the godly. If their path should be through obscure glens, intricate windings, and terrible ravines, the river will meander so as to be near them at every point; bearing ever on its calm and majestic bosom fresh cargoes of provisions from the fruitful shores of eternity. "Goodness and mercy shall follow me," &c. Thirdly: He entertains His guests for ever in His house. "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." What a house is His! How vast, how grand, how infinitely numerous and elegant its apartments! The universe is His house. "In my Father's house are many mansions," &c. To dwell in this house for ever, no longer a prodigal in a far country, no longer a wearied pilgrim in the desert, no longer a warrior in the camp, but a son settled down for ever in the mansions of a Father. "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." A NEW METRICAL VERSION OF THIS PSALM. THOU, Lord, art our SHEPHERD; in this we rejoice; We'll drink of those waters, so still and so free, We'll tread the dark valley, with Thee by our side, Our Host is Jehovah, so loving and good, Thy goodness and mercy, have followed us on THE CHILDREN OF THE SCIENCES. "Ir is little more than two hundred years since there was only one man of scientific note in England-William Harvey. When Sydenham was but beginning to practise; when Barrow was studying the Greck fathers at Constantinople; when Ray was yet unknown; when Halley was yet unborn; when Flamsteed was still teething; when Newton was a farmer-boy, munching apples as he drove to market on Saturdays; when Hooke was a poor student at Oxford, assisting Boyle in his manipulations; when Boyle lived in seclusion at the apothecary's-none of the founders of the Royal Society had then emerged from obscurity, and the Royal Society was a small club that met in secret, and called itself the Invisible College. Two centuries have brought a marvellous change. Science came into England with tea, with tea-drinking it spread, and it is now imbibed as universally."-From "The Gay Science." Germs of Thought. THE FOREIGN PULPIT.-No. XXXI. Subject: THE COMPASSION OF JESUS. "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest."-Matt. ix. 36-38. Analysis of Homily the Eight Hundred and Eighty-third. 'N the connection we see the Lord engaged in the activities IN of His calling as the Teacher and Saviour of men. The historians of that time knew nothing of Him and yet His life surpasses all others in significance. The destiny of the race is decided in Him. History informs us of many great men whose lives and doings have been of abiding influence. But Jesus is greater than the greatest. There is always something fascinatiug about an illustrious and influential life; here we have a life more wide-reaching in its influence than any other. We are fascinated, moreover, as much by the moral dignity of a life as by its significance and importance. But there are dark sides to the noblest life, blemishes which we wish away. It is otherwise here. The more we contemplate the life of Jesus, the deeper our reverence will be, for there is no blemish here. But beyond all this, the "kindness and love" of our Saviour is as captivating as His moral excellence. How many scenes in His life might we recall without knowing to which to give pre-eminence! As for example, where He sits in the midst of His disciples teaching them, or where He takes children in His arms, presses them to His heart and blesses them, or where He sits in the house of Mary and Martha with Mary at His feet listening to His gracious words, or where the woman who was a sinner washes His feet with her tears and receives assurance of forgiveness, or where the widow of Nain receives her son from Him and |