many, very many, of the readers of the GLEANER may be led from a sense of need to Him who is the only hiding-place and covert from the wrath of a broken law! May they realize here a present and an abiding peace, and then, whether by some sudden messenger from God they are called away, or visited by some lingering sickness, that sweet hymn which E. A. found so precious, and of which she was so fond, shall have its fulfilment to them.

“When pining sickness wastes the frame,
Acute disease, or tiring pain;

When life fast spends her feeble flame,
And all the help of man proves vain,
Then, then to have recourse to God;
To pour a prayer in time of need,
And feel the balm of Jesu's blood;
This is to find a Friend indeed!
When flesh decays, and heart thus fails,
He shall thy strength and portion be:
Shall take thy weakness, bear thy ails,
And softly whisper, Trust in Me.'
Himself shall be thy helping Friend;
Thy good Physician; nay, thy Nurse:
To make thy bed shall condescend,
And from th' affliction take the curse."

Well, my dear sir, I must finish this account, praying the Lord to honour it with His own blessing, adding but one passage, which is my prayer for you. May it be abundantly fulfilled in relation to the work to which the Lord has called you!

"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

Believe me to be,

Sincerely yours in the unity of the faith,
J. C. M.

How sweet are the proofs of God's mercy and love,
By which His dear ransomed, who're written above,
Are brought to the Saviour who bought them with blood,
And borne in His arms to the dwelling of God.

How sweetly this speaks to the saints who are led
To cast on the wide waste of waters their bread,
In hope, when the stream shall glide from the clod,
"Twill rise to a crop to the glory of God!

Go on, weeping sowers, to scatter your corn;
Go, sow it in childhood and youth's ruddy morn;
And, though a long life may have hardened the sod,
Still sow on in hope of the blessing of God:

For he that goes forth, though weeping he go,
To sow the pure seed in the land of the foe,
Shall doubtless be used to the ransomed with blood,
And bring home his sheaves to the garner of God.

Sow on, then, dear readers, sow on, then, the word,
And trust for success to the power of the Lord;
Scatter broad-cast the seed over every clod,
And prosper it shall by the blessing of God.

Though much may be lost on the hardened highway,
Though followed by fowls, yet, every day,
Sow, crying that power may break up the sod;
At length you shall reap-'tis the promise of God.

The husbandman waits with long patience till he
The fruit of his toil in harvest shall see;
The seed-basket now you must bear o'er the sod,
The sickle ere long is the promise of God.

EDITOR.

To live well is to live on Christ.
To die well is to die in Christ.

To spend an eternity well is to spend it with Christ.

SKILL.

(A WORD TO SERVANTS).

MANY great works, such as paintings or poems, can only be done by persons who have the gift of genius. Genius falls to the lot of few; but to have skill in our daily work is within the reach of every one. It is simply this, the art of doing whatever we have to do in the best manner in which it can be done. I speak now particularly to young women going to service, because skill in their work is often the last thing they think of. And yet the advantage of it is very great. In the hands of a person who has skill, materials fall into their proper place. Whatever the employment is, whether cooking, nursing, dressmaking, or the many other things young women have to do, it is done well and quickly, without waste either of time or stuff. Such girls are much valued and sought after, but they are, I am sorry to say, few compared with the hundreds of young women who are bad cooks, bad nurses, bad dressmakers, and who do not fill as well as they might that station in life in which it has pleased God to place them. And yet the girl without skill has the same number of fingers as the girl with it, the same materials to use, and the same opportunity of learning how to use them. Nay, she may be hardworking, and labour from morning till night; but she works in a confusion, and does nothing well. There is no hindrance to her getting skill, but she does not care to have it, and is satisfied with being only a drudge.

And how is skill to be obtained? By attending to very simple rules. First, think of what you are about. Fix your mind upon it, and clearly understand it. This is one secret of success.

Practice has also to do with obtaining it. But you must practise the right way and not the wrong. The first time you do a thing it may be done imperfectly. Be resolved the next time to do it better-better still the next. By-and-by you are sure to master it, and that point gained is skill.

Be careful to attend to little things, for these make up the excellence of the whole. In cooking, much depends on minutes of time, and the exact mixture of things to be used. In dressmaking, the same rule holds good. The smallest fraction will cause a misfit, and throw the dress awry. And little bits of slovenly work will spoil it altogether. As a child once said of her sewing, "There is a may do, and a will do." The "will do" is done with skill, the " may do" without it. Take a high standard from the first. Be resolved to excel. Though your occupation be lowly, it is as honourable, if done with skill, as if it had to do with a kingdom.

But the surest source of excellence lies deeper than mere head-work. If you have the fear of God before your eyes, and do everything as in His sight, you will not do it ill. Religion nowhere sanctions a slovenly way of doing service. On the contrary, it urges the Christian to do it as unto the Lord, and not unto men. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. "Whatsoever

ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord, and not to men: for ye serve the Lord Christ." You will then not have lived in vain, and it will be said of you, "She hath done what she could."

Grant that we may be more anxious to die well than to get through the world well.-Tiptaft.

A LETTER TO A CHILD BY
W. HUNTINGTON.

MY LITTLE DEAR,-Your mother informed me when at Bolney, that you appointed to come and see your old companion Lois at Christmas next, and to spend your days of vacation with me, which I shall be very glad of, as I much wish to see thee, hoping to see much improvement from her diligence at school. And like I shall inquire whether she remembers her Creator in the days of her youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years come nigh when she shall say that childhood and youth are all vanity, and I have no pleasure in them. I have great expectations from my little Betsy, and that she will be like the little captive girl (2 Kings v.) who waited on Naaman's wife. This little maid loved her master and her mistress, and sought their good. She loved Elisha, the Lord's servant as she believed in the power and the goodness of the Lord, and said to her mistress, "Would God, my Lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria, for He would recover him of his leprosy." And all this little captive girl said came to pass. Read the above chapter.

Thus you see how God loves those little ones that think of Him, love His name, and are afraid to offend Him.

Though she was a captive, taken in war, and carried away from all her friends into exile, yet God provided for her. Naaman was a great man, next the king; his wife a great womanperhaps a lady of honour or at Court; and this little maid became a lady in waiting-yea, more, the Lord made her a little prophetess-all that she said came to pass, and how much must her