November 7

1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved to the sight of my mother.

4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding

8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee; she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.

11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

12 When thou gorsst, thy steps shall not be stratened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

13 Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

14 ¶ Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief, and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause wine to fall.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

20 ¶ My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings

21 Let them not depart from thine eyes: keep them in the midst of thine heart.

22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

23 ¶ Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and persevere lies put far from thee.

25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee

26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

"'Thine heart' is the source and centre of moral character—the throneroom whence issue the forces that rule the life—give its supreme occupancy to God. 'The issues of life' come from it—let God, the Source of spiritual life, live and rule in it. For some reason 'diligence' is required to keep it; the speared sentinel and the sleepless eye. Is it because 'the heart is deceitful above all things?' Is it that this lost, all is lost? this polluted, all decays? Or is it that this kept pure, and you see God? Keep it, but do not freeze it. Keep it for Him"

"Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away" (verses 14. 15).

"It is said, in one of the old 'Lives of the Saints,' that the devil found a young man at a theatre and took possession of him, and the saint rebuked him, and said, 'Why do you take one of the Lord's children?' and the devil said, 'What business has one of the Lord's children on my ground?' It is thus in temptation. Men tempt the devil. They send a message to him, inviting him to come and take them. . . . It is never safe for a man to run so near to the line of right and wrong that, if he should lose a wheel, he would go over. You should keep so far from the precipice that, if your wagon breaks down, there is room enough between you and the precipice; otherwise you cannot be safe."—H. W. Beecher.

Closet Promise.—The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man.—Psalm xci. 11.

Clothe with life the weak intent, Let me be the thing I meant, Let me find in Thy employ Peace that dearer is than joy.

Out of self to love be led, And to heaven acclimated; Until all things sweet and good Seem my natural haliburde —John Greenleaf Whittier.

Our thoughts are the epochs of our lives; all else is but a journal of the winds that blew while we were here.—Henry D. Thoreau.

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

Breakfast Motto.—He filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.—Psalm exlvii. 14.

Weekly Proverb.—Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.—Poor Richard.

DAILY BIBLE READING.—SCENES IN THE LIFE OF NOAH.

Sunday.—Noah Findeth Grace—Gen. vi. 1-13.

Monday.—Noah's Faith.—Gen. vi. 14-22.

Tuesday.—Entering the Ark.—Gen. vii. 1-24.

Wednesday.—The Ark Resteth on Ararat.—Gen. viii. 1-12.

Thursday.—Leaving the Ark—Gen. viii. 13-22.

Friday.—God Blesses Noah.—Gen. ix. 1-7.

Saturday.—The Covenant of the Rainbow—Gen. ix. 8-17.

TWO MARJORIES.

The home of one is a stately dwelling Just at the head of a garden-square, Where the songs of birds in the trees are swelling, And the spray of a fountain fills the air; The other lives in an alley bare Of leaf and bloom, with her toiling mother; But over their play At school each day The Marjories came to love each other. Last year, when they talked of the summer over, Marjorie second heard with a sigh: "O! how happy to be a rover; Nothing of forest or field had I." Marjorie first made sweet reply.

And counsel took of mamma's pity: "What can I do, That Marjie, too, May leave, next summer, the dusty city?" She gave up the toys, and the bonbons' pleassions. The Paris doll with its toilets' perle, And laid the sum of her gathered treasure In a Japanese casket side aside; And so, with the next bright summer tide, Over the clover-fields together, By hollow and hill And meadow-rill, Both Marjories played in the golden weather! —Kate Putnam Oigeed in Wide-Awake.

Love your enemies — Matt. v. 44.

My little friends, you will find it hard to go through life and do what is right and not make some enemies. But you must not hate them. You must treat them kindly; pray for them; love them. A little girl one day went to her mother to show some fruit that had been given her. "Your friend," said the mother, "has been very kind." "Yes," said the child. "She gave me more than these, but I have given some away." The mother inquired to whom she had given them, when she answered, "I gave them to a girl who pushes me off the path and makes faces at me." On being asked why she gave them to her, she replied, "Because I thought it would make her know that I wish to be kind to her, and she will not, perhaps, be rude and unkind to me again." Now, that little girl treated her enemy kindly. That is what the Bible means when it says: "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for, in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head"—that is, by your kindly treatment you will melt and overcome him. Thus, oftentimes, our bitterest enemy becomes our best and most faithful friend.

THE NEAREST WAY HOME.

I know you will like this picture. Most boys and girls like to play in the water. They are never better suited than when they get their shoes and stockings off and go wading. These children have taken off theirs and are carrying them in their hands. The boy is a little timid and hardly knows whether to venture or not, but his sister is encouraging him to take a step. The water is not deep and they can easily wade across. Close by are some beautiful water lilies, and I imagine they will stop and pick some as they cross over. I wonder how many of my little readers live near the water. Perhaps those of you who do not, often visit your little friends and relatives who live by some river or lake. It may be the great ocean. Well, now, did you ever have father or mother tell you not to play near the water? Not to get into boats along the banks or go in wading? I imagine I hear you say, "Yes." And I hope you obeyed.

I read of a boy who said to his mother, "Mother, let me go to the river and play in the boat?" "No, George, I had rather you would not," said his mother. "Accidents so often happen that I am afraid to have you go." "But other boys go, mother." "Yes, my son, I know it; but other boys get drowned, too. If you go, Willie will want to go, too, and I shall feel anxious about you all the time." Now, George was the oldest son of his widowed mother, and it was not strange that she feared to have him exposed to danger. But, in spite of his mother's command, he resolved that he would go; so, while his mother was busy getting tea, he stole out at the back door, and away he ran to the river, intending to get back before his mother missed him.

Just as he arrived there, some boys were playing in the boat. He jumped in, too. In an instant the boat tipped over, and all were in the water where it was very deep. The others could swim, but George could not. Soon he was drowned. Ah! how dreadful for his poor widowed mother! But how still more dreadful for the poor boy! -to be drowned in the very act of breaking God's commandment, which says, "Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

Do you know, dear children, that, in the Bible, there is a curse denounced against those who do not honor and obey their parents? In Deut xxvii. 16, we read these solemn words: "Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother." In Proverbs xxx. 17, God speaks in this awful way: "The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." These passages teach us that disobedient boys and girls can not prosper in their ways.

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FORTY-FOURTH WEEK.

PEARL TEXT.—Be content with such things as ye have; for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.—Heb. xiii. 5.

My future will not copy fair the past On any leaf but heaven's. Be fully done, Superior Will! I would not fair be one Who, satisfying thirst and breaking fast Upon the fulness of the heart, at last Says no grace after meat. My wine has run Indeed out of my cup, and there is none To gather up the head of my repas:

Scattered and trampled yet I find some good In earth's green herbs, and streams that bubble up Clear from the darkling ground—content until I sit with angels before better food Dear Christ! when thy new vintage fills my cup This hand shall shake no more, nor that wine spill. - Elizabeth B. Browning.

Contentment is not to be caught by long and foreign chases; he is likeliest to find it who sits at home and duly contemplates those blessings which God has placed within his reach—The Art of Contentment.

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR.