and ruin will soon be written legibly upon them ; and whether we read it or not, disorder and ruin will inevitably follow. Show me a man who does not mind his own business, and I will show you one who will soon be in trouble.

But do you ask me if it be wrong to do a kindness to another? to bear the burden of the weak? to watch by the bed-side of a sick neighbour? to relieve the destitute? to instruct the ignorant? to warn the careless? and to read the word of God to the blind and unlearned? I reply, that it is a part of your business to do these things according to your ability; for it is the business of every one to do what he can for the glory of God, and for the welfare of mankind: therefore, in doing these things you are really minding your own

business.

It ought to be considered by every man to be a part of his business to make others happy. "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly;" and a Christian man cannot but feel interested in the temporal and spiritual prosperity of his neighbours. You may reprove your neighbour, encourage him, serve him, and love him, and yet mind your own business.

Fail not, then, to follow His bright example, who when he was on earth "went about doing good," Acts x. 38; remembering that it is your

H

74 ON EVERY ONE MINDING HIS OWN BUSINESS.

business on earth to prepare for heaven. Employ every talent you possess usefully; pray in the Saviour's name fervently; read the word of God frequently, and confide in its promises firmly. Do these things, and you shall not fail to find in life and death, in time and eternity, the advantages of having minded your own business.

PLUM PUDDING.

LAST Christmas day I was promised a plum pudding by a stranger. You may smile, and I dare say you will smile at my simplicity, when I tell you, that the thought of receiving a plum pudding from one whom I had never known or seen, pleased me much. It was not so much the pudding, because a quarter of a pound of raisins, a few currants, a spoonful or two of flour, a couple of eggs, a little lemon peel, and a sprinkling of sugar, nutmeg, and all-spice, would make a plum pudding big enough, and good enough for me, any day in the year. And then again, thanks to the Father of mercies, a plum pudding always smokes on my table on a Christmas day; I could hardly fancy that it was Christmas day without it, but the pleasure of receiving such a gift from a stranger, as I said before, pleased me much.

I hardly think there can be a man in the world who values even an intended kindness more than I do. I have a habit of musing on such things, and therefore you will not wonder that I mused not unfrequently on my expected pudding.

A cup of cold water given with kindness, is sweeter and better than champagne, if the latter be presented with a churlish spirit; and a plum pudding, the gift of a kind-hearted stranger, outweighs, with me, an invitation to dine at the Mansion House with the Lord Mayor of London. I thought much, indeed too much, of my promised pudding.

October went away, and November came: the winds whistled loud, the leaves fell from the trees, and the nights and mornings began to pinch me. At last came December, and then I began to talk to myself about my pudding. “Well, it is very kind of my unknown friend. Wonderful what strong sympathies rise at times in our minds towards writers whom we have never seen, and never shall see, till this mortal puts on immortality. There are beings who entered eternity before I was born, towards whom I feel so much respect and affection, that I could hug them in my arms. I should much like to know what it was that excited an interest in my favour, but perhaps I shall know more about it by and by.

"I wonder what sort of a pudding it will be! A very common pudding would hardly be sent to me; and if it be too rich, it will not suit an old man of my plain habits. I must leave the matter till the pudding comes, and then I shall know all about it.

"I dare say it will not be very small, for, if so, the carriage will come to more than the pudding, whether I have to pay it or not; and if it be very large, it will be a tax on the sender, and that I shall be sorry for.

"Let me see! I should think that it would come by the coach about the 22nd or 23rd, or perhaps it will not be here till the 24th; but no matter when, for if it were to come to-night, I should not think about touching it till Christmas day.

"All that I hope is, that while I am eating the pudding with a thankful heart, the giver of it may be as happily employed, and that the day may afford a rich repast of temporal and spiritual mercies to us both. It is a poor friendship that seeks not the welfare of the soul, as well as of the body."

In this way I soliloquized the matter over to myself, earnestly desiring all manner of good things, in basket and in store, in going out and in coming in, to my unknown, kind-hearted friend.

The 22nd day of the month came, but it brought no pudding. The 23rd arrived, but no loaded porter rapped at the door; and the 24th, even Christmas eve itself, came equally emptyhanded.