GOD'S FAVORITES

It is the quiet, unheralded lives that are building up the kingdom of heaven. Not much note is taken of them here. Their monuments will not make much show in the church-yard. Their names will not be passed down to posterity with many wreaths about them. But they are God's favorites. Their work is blessed. In this world they are like those modest, lovely flowers which made no show, but which, hidden away under tall plants and grasses, pour out sweet perfumes and fill the air with their odors. And in heaven they will get their reward.

THE ANGELS CAME TO TOWN

People tell the story yet,

With the pathos of regret,

How, along the streets, one day,

Unawares, from far away,

Angels passed, with gifts for need,

And no mortal gave them heed.

They had cheer for those who weep;

They had light for shadows deep,
Balm for broken hearts they bore,
Rest, deep rest, a boundless store;
But the people, so they say,
Went the old, blind, human way,
Fed the quack and hailed the clown,
When the angels came to town.

It has been and will be so,
Angels come and angels go,
Opportunity and light,

'Twixt the morning and the night,
With their messages divine.
To your little world and mine,
And we wonder why we heard
Not a whisper of their word,
Caught no glimpse of finer grace
In the passing form and face,
That our ears were dull as stones
To the thrill of spirit tones,

And we looked not up, but down,

When the angels came to town.-Alfred J. Hough.

Thou seest how few be the things, the which if a man has at his command,

his life flows gently on and is divine.-Marcus Aurelius.

WEALTH'S HIGHEST PLEASURE

The Christian idea that wealth is a stewardship, or trust, and not to be used for one's personal pleasure alone, but for the welfare of others, certainly seems the noblest; and those who have more money or broader culture owe a debt to those who have had fewer opportunities. And there are so many ways one can help!

Children, the sick and the aged especially, have claims on our attention, and the forms of work for them are numerous: from kindergartens, day-nurseries and industrial schools, to "homes" and hospitals. Our institutions for higher education require gifts in order to do their best work, for the tuition fees do not cover the expense of the advantages offered; and certainly such societies as those in our churches, and the Young Women's Christian Association and the Young Men's Christian Association, deserve our hearty co-operation. The earnest workers who so nobly and lovingly give their lives to promote the welfare of others, give far more than though they had simply made gifts of money, so those who cannot afford to give largely need not feel discouraged on that account. After all, sympathy and good-will may be a greater force than wealth, and we can all extend to others a kindly feeling and courteous consideration, that will make life sweeter and better.-Helen Miller Gould.

MAKING LAUGHTER

I am not ashamed to make you laugh occasionally. I think I could read you something which I have in my desk which would probably make you smile. Perhaps I will read it one of these days if you are patient with me when I am sentimental and reflective; not just now. The ludicrous has its place in the universe; it is not a human invention, but one of the divine ideas, illustrated in the practical jokes of kittens and monkeys long before Aristophanes or Shakespeare. How curious it is that we always consider solemnity and the absence of all gay surprises and encounter of wits as essential to the idea of the future life of those whom we thus deprive of half their faculties, and then call blessed. There are not a few who, even in this life, seem to be preparing themselves for that smileless eternity to which they look forward, by banishing all gayety from their hearts and all joyousness from their countenances. I meet one such in the street not infrequently—a person of intelligence and education, but who gives me (and all that he passes) such a rayless and chilling look of recognition-something as if he were one of heaven's assessors, come down to" doom " every acquaintance he met that I have sometimes begun to sneeze on the spot, and gone home with a violent cold dating from that instant. I don't doubt he would cut his kitten's tail off if he caught her playing with it. Please tell me who taught her to play with it?-Oliver Wendell Holmes.

To be womanly is the greatest charm of woman.-Gladstone.

IN OLD GARDENS

In green old gardens, hidden away

From sight of revel and sound of strife,

Where the bird may sing out his soul ere he dies,

Nor fears for the night, so he lives his day;

Where the high red walls, which are growing gray
With their lichen and moss embroideries,
Seem sadly and sternly to shut out Life,
Because it is often as sad as they;

Here may I live what life I please,

Married and buried out of sight

Married to pleasure, and buried to pain-
Hidden away amongst scenes like these,
Under the fans of the chestnut trees;

Living my child-life over again,
With the farther hope of a fuller delight,
Blithe as the birds and wise as the bees.

In green old gardens, hidden away

From sight of revel and sound of strife,

Here have I leisure to breathe and move,

And to do my work in a nobler way;

To sing my songs and say my say;

To dream my dreams, and to love my love;
To hold my faith, and to live my life,

Making the most of its shadowy day.-Lady Curric.

THE BEAUTIFUL SINGER

"She seems to me the connecting link between woman and angel," said a bishop of the fair young wife of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Another gentleman said that to see her singing was "like looking into the face of an angel." While her beauty and music enchanted the world, the prettiest part of it all was that she was ever ready, without pressing, to lend her voice to the making of the lowliest and humblest happy. She would sing by the hour for children. What a pretty picture Mr. Rogers gives of her: "Hers was truly a voice as of the cherub choir. She sang here

a great deal, and to my infinite delight; but what had a peculiar charm was that she used to take my daughter, then a child, on her lap, and sing a number of childish songs with such a playfulness of manner, and such a sweetness of look and voice, as was quite enchanting." With a beautiful voice, one is so rich in opportunities to make others happy! Strange that a musician should ever be indifferent to such use of his power!

THE VALUE OF CHANGE

If we would keep bright, let us make occasional excursions into other circles than our own Artists generally go with artists, farmers with farmers, mechanics

MUSIC ON THE RIVER

with mechanics, clergymen with clergymen, Christian workers with Christian workers. But there is nothing that sooner freshens one up than to get into a new group, mingling with people whose thought and work run in different channels For a change, put the minister on the hayrack, and the farmer into the clergyman's study.

Let us read books not in our own line. After a man has been delving in nothing but theological works for three months, a few pages in the patentoffice report will do him more good than Doctor Dick on The Perseverance of the Saints. Better than this, have some department of natural history or art, to which you may turn-a case of shells or birds, or a season ticket to

some picture-gallery. If you do nothing but play on one string of the base viol, you will wear it out and get no healthy tune. Better take the bow and sweep it clear across in one grand swirl, bringing all four strings and all eight stops into requisition.

Take little trips when you can-and carry your wife, or sister, or mother, or daughter along; and just give yourself over to having a good time and making others have a good time. People who stay at home and drudge forever, are in danger of becoming narrow. Work suffers by it. A steamer trip is "worth its weight in gold" to people who are worn out and run down. Of course, if you cannot at any time afford a trip, that is another matter. God will see to it that you do not suffer for what you cannot help. Only, remember -if he gives you means for enjoying yourself and making others happy, you have no right to misappropriate them by unnecessary hoarding.

BOYS AND OTHER BOYS

We once heard of a devout woman who could not sleep at night until her husband had destroyed a pack of conversation cards that had innocently found their way into the house. Her answer to every criticism of her illiberal attitude was as guiltless of grammar as it was of moral discrimination. "Cards is cards," she said, "and one kind of card is as bad as another kind."