and pretensions go for nothing. They are mere words, -empty, unprofitable words. Away with these, and let us have realities.

The Bible says honour to whom honour is due. But what honour is due to a man who is ignorant, has no intelligence, or who acts dishonourably, and cannot be depended on ;-who is depraved and vicious, or deceitful, and who is content to act on the cowardly maxim of doing in Rome as the Romans do? Very little indeed. We may honour the office he holds, the relation in which he stands to us, the elements of our common humanity he shares, but we cannot honour him for a manhood he has not, or which he himself dishonours and perhaps disgraces nearly every day.

Men complain they have no opening, no scope or chance to show what is in them. If they only had a chance, they say, they would act nobly like men, and prove themselves heroic. But the occasion does not make the hero. It is the spirit that is in him apart from any question of rank or station. No more does it need a large sphere and great opportunity to exercise the highest manhood. That is a very common but mistaken notion. In truth the highest kind of heroism can only be found in obscurity.* For the conspicuousness of an action takes away from the heroism. It is easier to be heroic and therefore it is less heroic. A coward can be brave when all the world is looking on. A cruel man can be kind under the gaze of the public eye. A miser will open his hand if his praise is to be trumpeted to the world's end. "But if a man, when nobody is standing by to applaud, take the elements of manhood and exercise them in obscurity so that they sparkle and

* Ward Beecher.

shine and flash and flame, then he is heroic. And though unseen by man, there is not one of these acts that God does not behold and the angels observe, and by-and-bye a day of publication is coming when the roll of their heroic deeds will be read to an assembled universe, and the heroes dragged forth from their obscurity and made to shine as the firmament and as the stars for ever and ever."

"We live in deeds, not years,-in thoughts not breaths,

"In feelings, not in figures on a dial.

"We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives

"Who thinks most-feels the noblest-acts the best.

To sum up all, we conclude by reminding you of the man Christ Jesus-the example he hath left us—the law he hath revealed to us-the warfare he calls us to wage and the glory he sets before us. And once more we re-echo in your ears the inspiring words of the text, -"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong!" Be strong! and play the man for the city of our God and the Captain of our salvation, and in due time ours shall be the welcome approval-" Well done! good and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord." Even so come, Lord Jesus.

Then is sung PSALM XXVI. 8-12.

THE habitation of thy house,
Lord, I have loved well;
Yea, in that place I do delight

where doth thine honour dwell.

With sinners gather not my soul,

and such as blood would spill:

Whose hands mischievous plots, right hand corrupting bribes, do fill.

But as for me, I will walk on

in mine integrity:

Do thou redeem me, and, O Lord,
be merciful to me.

My foot upon an even place

doth stand with stedfastness;

Within the congregations

th' Eternal I will bless.

Let us pray.

O God, our everlasting Father, bestow on us thy blessing. Endow us with heavenly wisdom and grace that we may truly love and serve thee. Our chief end is to glorify thee, our highest honour is to be like thee, and our highest privilege is to have communion and fellowship with thee.

We bless thee that thou didst send thy Son into the world to save sinners. We rejoice that thy Son, chosen Father, gladly came to save his

and sent by thee the people from their sins. Thou hast recorded in thy word for our instruction how he lived and died, that eternal redemption might be procured. Thou hast assured us that by the life he lived and the death he died, he finished the work thou gavest him to do, and thou dost now command all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel. Thanks be unto God for the unspeakable gift of his Son, and life everlasting in him! Thanks be unto God for the good tidings of great joy which are unto all

people, of a Saviour born-a Saviour crucified-a Saviour risen from the dead and now enthroned at thy right hand to give repentance unto Israel and the forgiveness of sins. We bless thee for the gospel message of mercy, -the message of pardon for the guilty,-of healing for the sick, of cleansing for the polluted, of liberty for the enslaved. Bless the Lord, O our soul.

that

We give thee thanks for the record of the Saviour's life on earth. We rejoice that he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, but did always those things that pleased the Father, and was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. We pray we may truly understand that he came to save his people from their sins. Keep us from imagining that he has purchased for them any liberty to sin, or that we may think lightly of it. By faith may we daily apprehend Christ as our Prophet, Priest, and King. May the example of Christ ever be before our eyes, the law of Christ be written on our hearts, and the love of Christ constrain us to the keeping of his commandments.

Often, alas! have we faltered in the path of duty. May we now lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. May the impressions made on our minds not speedily be effaced, nor our zeal soon evaporate, nor our goodness be as the morning cloud and the early dew.

his own steps.

paths that our

It is not in man that walketh to direct
But do thou hold up our goings in thy
footsteps slip not.
Give us daily grace

for daily duty. May thy word be the man of our counsel, and thy law our daily delight. May we not be children

in understanding. In malice may we be children, but in understanding may we be men. Searching the scriptures daily, may we grow up unto the full assurance of understanding of the mystery of God, and of the Father and of Christ. Not as those who are ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth, but as having a holy ambition to know thy mind and will, and assured that by knowing the scriptures we shall be made wise unto salvation.

We pray thee that we may be enabled to live a life of practical godliness. May our religion not be a mere profession only. May we seek first the kingdom of God, and while setting our affection on things above may our daily conduct manifest that we are not forgetful of the duties of this life. According to our place and station may we adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. In public life give us grace to be conscientious, high-minded, and above all mercenary motives. Seeking the good of our beloved land, may we never be influenced by favour, self-interest, or the fear of man,but by principle and the fear of God.

We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us from the evils of a world that lieth in wickedness. Preserve us from the snares, and deceits, and thousand artifices that abound in society and social life. May none of us through haste to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and those foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. Diligent in business, may we also be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. May no evil communication proceed out of our mouth, no false or wicked word. May we ever be men of truth and honour, fearing God and hating covetousness. Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, may we live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed