Paul's perfection, that he would wish to be an anathema from Christ, for the salvation of his brethren, it shows much of a divine nature, and a kind of conformity with Christ himself."

Without multiplying examples and quotations, however, we shall only farther cite an often read, often lauded, often forgotten, yet faultless code for social manners. Were its sublime precepts to be fully observed, the wilderness might blossom as the rose, the lion might lie down with the lamb, and there might be nothing to hurt or destroy in the holy mountain. "Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."-1 COR. xiii. 4-7.

V.

HOME WORK.

"Howbeit, Jesus suffered him not; but said unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee."-MARK V. 19.

"And Moses verily was faithful in all his house."-HEB. iii. 5.

66 'Poor indeed thou must be, if around thee
Thou no ray of light and joy canst throw,
If no silken cord of love hath bound thee,
To some little world through weal and woe.

"If no dear eyes thy tender love can brighten,
No fond voices answer to thy own,
If no brother's sorrow thou canst lighten
By daily sympathy and gentle tone.

"Daily struggling, though enclosed and lonely,
Every day a rich reward will give,
Thou wilt find, by hearty striving only,

And truly loving, thou canst truly live."

HARRIET WINSLOW.

THERE is a safe and easily applied test by which to determine whether the Christian in society is indeed working for God or for himself. If the social work is not carried into the home, finding there a narrower, though not less difficult sphere, there ought

to arise a suspicion, that excitement and love of popularity may have somewhat to do with our social zeal. That Church which sent forth its whole strength in missions to far lands, and left its home-thousands to starve and die, could not be in a healthy condition; and that soul is in much the same state, which expends its energies upon work without doors, and neglects the work within. If each individual Christian performed faithfully his and her share in the home mission-if each cultivated carefully the little garden within his own gates-if each were a faithful steward in the household charge, there would, indeed, be fewer homes that are not homes-there would be fewer flowerless and unwatered gardens-there would be fewer of those arrears of which the Lord, when He comes, will take strict account.

There is one feeling and desire in the human heart which is universal--all wish to be understood. In ordinary acquaintanceship, how frequently the complaint meets the ear--"We cannot come on together, for he never understands me." The constitu

tion of the one mind is a mystery to the other the language of the one heart an unknown tongue to the other. It is strange that in the home, and by the household hearth, encircled by one family, where we might expect misapprehension to be unknown, it exists as frequently as in any other place; jars, coldness, constraints, and dissensions, all arise from it-while even sisters, whose hearts God has created to throb in unison, are often obliged to seek elsewhere that appreciation and sympathy which they have not found in each other. Now, there is a serious home sin involved here. Whenever any one complains of not being understood, it will generally be found to arise from the want of trying to understand. If people would think less of themselves, and be less intensely sympathetic with the intricacies and sensitivenesses of their own hearts, and pay more attention to the peculiarities of others, the evil would probably be greatly obviated. We are aware that many feel rather proud than otherwise of "not being understood," even in their own. homes, and consider it a proof of genius

and highly-wrought sensibilities. We cannot help regarding it, however, as a mark of decided inferiority of mind. True genius is ever easily understood, and true genius ever easily understands. They who are really possessed of true genius, combined with deep and tender feeling, are in possession of treasures not to be locked up in inaccessible coffers, or brought out occasionally to be counted and admired, but to be used every day to gladden and benefit all around. Let them sympathize with others, and others will soon sympathize with them. Let them cast the light of their love upon home hearts, and it will soon so illumine their own, that all who run may read the once mysterious characters.

In home work, home sunshine is a very important element. Many conscientious people strive to perform, and actually do perform, all their home duties faithfully and earnestly, and still there is felt to be somewhere a startling deficiency. They are not seen in their homes as their Saviour would have been, had He shared a home wherein to lay His head, diffusing light and strength,