September 1

The friend of the bridegroom . . . rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's boice. — JOHN iii. 29.

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. — JOHN xv. 14.

EVERY man needs a friend. No one can live alone. He must have companionship, or life would be a dreary solitude. But it must be a true friend; a false friend is worse than none. The flatterer, who tells pleasant falsehoods to deceive, can work more mischief than the worst enemy. The true friend is one who sees things as they are, who perceives the weaknesses of his most intimate companion, but who bears with his infirmities for the sake of all in him that is good.

The divine Friend may be ours if we but return his affection. We can obtain his friendship by giving him our own; and this we are to prove by simple trust and obedience. This giving up of ourselves to him is not an abdication of our personality, an adoption of the Jesuit rule that a man must become a cadaver to be vitalized and animated by another intelligence and will than his own. Our Master asks not for the dead body, but for the living soul; and a man is never so full of life, so "vital in every part," with all his faculties strung to their utmost intensity, as when he gives himself up to the control of him whose service is perfect freedom. Once enter into this new life, and we shall find it blessed indeed.

Henry A. Field.

Hail, Prince of life, forever hail!

Redeemer, Brother, Friend!

Though earth and time and life shall fail,

Thy praise shall never end.

SAMUEL MEDLEY.