After all I have done, and after all I may yet do, I must confess that I am but an “ unprofitable servant.” Uncle John, therefore, was no prophet.

Sit above the globe,
My rising soul, and dress thyself around,
And shine in virtue's armour; climb the height
Of wisdom's lofty castle, there reside
Safe from the smiling and the frowning world.

Yet, once a-day, drop down a gentle look
On the great mole-hill, and with pitying eye
Survey the busy emmets, round the heap
Crowding and bustling in a thousand forms
Of strife and toil, to purchase wealth and fame,
A bubble or a dust: then call thy thoughts
Up to thyself to feed on joys unknown,
Rich without gold, and great without renown.

THE GOLDEN RULE.

“ Mamma, I should like to know why this is called the Golden Rule. Will you be so kind as to tell me?"

The little girl who asked this question was named Bella. She held in her hand an old sampler of her grandmother's, on which were worked several texts of Scripture; among the rest, the words of the Lord Jesus, Matt. vii. 12.

Her mother told her that it was so called on account of its great value, gold being the most precious of all metals. “Gold does not rust or canker quickly, like some metals. You know that iron and steel, if they become wet, are soon spoiled with rust."

“Yes, mamma,” said Bella ; “I once left my knife in the garden, and when I found it, it was all over red rust; and though it has

been rubbed many times since, there are spots which will not come out."

"And copper ; you have seen a green sort of rust on that, have you not ?"

“ Yes, you told me it was poisonous."

"Well, gold will not thus become rusty, however it may be exposed. Neither can it be destroyed by fire. You have often seen your brothers melt lead; as it becomes hot and liquid, a sort of film appears at top."

“Yes, I remember; it looks like grease.”

“ But it is a waste of part of the lead. Every time it is melted, the lead becomes less and less, and it would soon be quite wasted. But this would not happen to gold, if it were put in the hottest fire. And then, gold has a greater value in a smaller compass than any other metal."

“ How do you mean, mamma ?”

“I mean that the same weight or size of gold is worth more than the same weight or size of any other metal. You know that gold, and silver, and copper, are all coined, or made into money. When we want to buy things, we give money in exchange for them. Now look, here are a golden sovereign, a silver shilling, and a copper penny. The

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sovereign and the shilling are about the same size ; but the sovereign will buy twenty times as much as the shilling; and though the copper penny is much larger than either, it would take two hundred and forty pence to buy as much as might be bought for one sovereign. On these accounts gold is reckoned the most precious of all metals."

“ Then, mamma, is this the most precious of all texts ?"

“Every word of God is pure and precious ; and best fitted for the use for which it was designed. We must not think one part better than another, for every part is perfect. It is as compared with the rules which men have invented, that this is called the Golden Rule. Read it over, and tell me what you think it is intended to teach you."

Bella read, “ All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them :"-and after pausing for a minute, she said, “ To do to other persons as I should like them to do to me."

“It is to teach you your duty to others. There have been many large books written to teach us this; but if they were all put together they would not teach us more than

this one short text. Indeed, unless the persons who wrote them knew this text, they could not teach half so much. Besides, the rules they give may suit one person and not another; or they may be proper at one time and not at another. But this one text is enough to teach every person in the world how to behave to every other person ; and it never injures or wears out, or becomes corrupted, or out of use, like all the rules that men invent. The person who has this rule in his heart is able to act well towards everybody that he has to do with, and under every circumstance in which he can be placed; just as a person who has plenty of gold coins in his purse can buy whatever he wants. And if every person in the world acted by this rule, all would live in peace, and be happy together.” .

"Well, mamma, I will learn the text by heart, and then I shall always know how to behave.”

“Do, my dear ; but remember, it is not enough merely to know the words. You must feel that it is your duty to do as they teach you; and you must beg of the Holy Spirit to help you always to think of it, and