September 1

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.—ROM. xii, 15.

Better than grandeur, better than gold,

Than rank or titles a hundred-fold,

Is a healthy body, and a mind at ease,

And simple pleasures that always please.

A heart that can feel for a neighbor's woe,

And share in his joy with a friendly glow,

With sympathies large enough to infold

All men as brothers, is better than gold.

ALEXANDER SMART.

Ask Him to increase your powers of sympathy, to give you more quickness and depth of sympathy, in little things as well as great. Opportunities of doing a kindness are often lost from mere want of thought. Half-a-dozen lines of kindness may bring sunshine into the whole day of some sick person. Think of the pleasure you might give to some one who is much shut in, and who has fewer pleasures than you have, by sharing with her some little comfort or enjoyment that you have learnt to look upon as a necessary of life—the pleasant drive, the new book, flowers from the country, etc. Try to put yourself in another's place. Ask, "What should I like myself, if I were hard-worked, or sick, or lonely?" Cultivate the habit of sympathy.

G. H. WILKINSON.