trials of the world; the guiding of our course amid the adverse winds and currents of temptation, by the starlight of duty and the compass of divine truth; the bearing us manfully, wisely, courageously, for the honour of Christ, our great leader in the conflict of life.

KIND WORDS.-They never blister the tongue or lips, and we never heard of any mental trouble arising from this quarter. Though they do not cost much, yet they accomplish much. They help one's own good nature and good will. Soft words soften our own soul; angry words are fuel to the flame of wrath, and make it burn more fiercely. Kind words make other people good natured; cold words freeze people and hot words scorch them, and bitter words make them bitter, and wrathful words make them wrathful. There is such a rush of all other kind of words in our day, that it seems desirable to give kind words a chance among them. There are vain words, and idle words, and silly words, and hasty words and spiteful words and empty words and profane words and boisterous words and warlike words. Kind words also produce there own image on men's souls, and a beautiful image it is. They soothe and quiet and comfort the hearer; they shame him out of his sour, morose, unkind feelings. We have not yet begun to use kind words in such abundance as they ought to be used.

THE WORLDLY HEART.-If the world be in the middle of the heart, it will be often shaken, for all there is continual motion and change, but God in it keeps it stable. Labour, therefore, to get God into your hearts, residing in the midst of them, and then, in the midst of all conditions, they shall not move.

LITTLE SINS.-A man may stand a great temptation, and satisfy himself in that, and think he hath done enough in the way of spiritual valour, and then fall as irrecoverably under the custom of small sins. I might as well lie under a millstone as under a hill of sand; for although I might have blown away every grain of sand if I had watched it as it fell, yet when it is a hill I cannot blow it nor push it away.

DEATH THE PATH TO GLORY.-Death, to a good man, is but passing through a dark entry out of one little dusky room of his father's house into another that is fair and large, lightsome and glorious, and divinely entertaining. Ob, may the rays and splendours of my heavenly apartment shoot far downwards and gild the dark entry with such cheerful gleam as to banish every fear when I shall be called to pass through.

J. KENDALL.

A HOLY LIFE IN LITTLE THINGS.

DID a holy life consist of one or two noble deeds, some signal specimens of doing or enduring or suffering-we might account for failure, and reckon it small dishonour to turn back in such a conflict. But a holy life is made up of a multitude of small things. It is the little things of the hour, and not the great things of the age, that fill up a life like that of Paul or John, like that of Rutherford or Brainerd or Martyn. Little words, not eloquent speeches or sermons; little deeds, not miracles nor battles, nor one great heroic act or mighty martyrdom, make up the true Christian life. The little constant sunbeam, not the lightning; the waters of Shiloah "that go softly" in their meek wisdom of refreshment, not "the waters of the river, great and many," rushing down in torrent, noise, and force, are the true symbols of a holy life. The avoidance of little evils, little sins, little inconsistencies, little weaknesses, little follies, little indiscretions and imprudencies, little foibles, little indulgences of self and of the flesh, little acts of indolence or indecision, or slovenliness, or cowardice, little equivocations or aberrations from high integrity, little touches of shabbiness and meanness, little bits of covetousness and penuriousness, little exhibitions of worldliness and gaiety, little indifferences to the feelings or wishes of others, little outbreaks of temper, or crossness, or selfishness, or vanity. The avoidance of such little things as these goes far to make up, at least, the negative beauty of a holy life. And then attention to the little duties of the day and hour, in public transactions or private dealings or family arrangements; to little words and looks and tones; little benevolences, or forbearances, or tendernesses; little self-denials and self-restraints and self-forgetfulnesses; little plans of quiet kindness and thoughtful consideration for others; to punctuality and method and true aim in the ordering of each day ;-these are the active developments of a holy life, the rich and divine mosaics of which it is composed. What makes yon green hill so beautiful? Not the outstanding peak or stately elm, but the bright sward which clothes its slopes, composed of innumerable blades of slender grass. It is of small things that a great life is made up; and he who will acknowledge no life as great save that which is built up of great things, will find little in Bible characters to admire or copy.-Sent by J. BELL, junior.

MORNING THOUGHTS.

SIN degrades man, but religion ennobles him. Sin makes men miser

able, but love makes them happy. Sin sinks sinners to hell, but grace lifts them to heaven.

Mere profession is like counterfeit coin-it will not bear an investigation; but godliness will go through the most fiery ordeal unscathed.

The joys of Christian perfection are inexpressible. It is the privilege of every Christian to live without sinning; but it is possible for the holiest man to sin.

By sharing our joys they are increased; by sharing our sorrows they are diminished.

The image of God is drawn upon the heart of every believer by the pencil of the Holy Ghost.

Begin the day with Christ if you would wish to succeed.

Earth's afflictions are momentary: Heaven's glory will be eternal. Without Christ the moral hemisphere is densely dark, not a ray of light gilds the horizon, nor frets the clouds; with him it is full of light glorious and too excessively bright to gaze upon.

It is impossible for a man who dies in his sins to be happy anywhere; even heaven would be to him a hell.

Some Christians are in a constant state of congelation, always being in the regions of snow and ice. Drive a man to Christ and he will say, There is no beauty that we should desire him.' Draw a man to Christ and he will say, 'He is altogether lovely. The chiefest among ten thousand.'

Charity is the queen of graces, born in heaven, and wafted to the earth by the Spirit of the Great I am. There are those in the Church in whom we cannot confide any more than we can in any publican or sinner.

The loveliness of nature is not equal to the loveliness of religion.

H. G. HIRD.

HIS noble and truly Philanthropic Institution was set on foot in the year 1843, by a few kind, generous-hearted ladies, who enlisted a few gentlemen of the same benevolent spirit to co-operate with them in their work and labour of love. The premises they occupied having become too strait, the above spacious and beautiful building was commenced in November, 1853. The proceeds of a bazaar held by them, when incidental expenses were paid, left a net balance of £2,026 10s.; this handsome sum, with donations from the nobility, clergy, gentry, &c., brought up the total amount to nearly £6,000. Their Graces the Dukes of Devonshire, Rutland, and Newcastle, &c., with a number of Earls, Lords, &c., contributed to its erection. The building stands in Clarendon-street, and is established for the instruction and employment of the blind of both sexes, from the counties of Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln, Leicester, and Rutland; some as boarders, others as day pupils. There is accommodation for twenty-five males, and twenty-two females, as boarders. The number of pupils on the 30th of June last was twenty-four males, and seventeen females, and sixteen males and three females as out-door pupils and workers. During the last year five males and two females left, and six males and two females were admitted. The instruction includes reading, arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, music, &c.; and the employment, the making of baskets, brushes, matting, matts, cane chair seating, repairing, &c. The affairs of the institution are managed by a resident super

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intendent and matron, and duly qualified teachers, who act under a committee of twelve gentlemen, being governors. There is also a visiting committee of twelve ladies. The necessity of such an institution is clearly shown by the census of 1861, which gives to the above five counties 1,258 blind persons! The committee can already point to many of their former pupils as instances of the advantages the blind are capable of deriving from the instructions afforded them in this institution; many of them hold situations as organists, two as occasional; three play harmoniums for divine worship; and others find full employment as brush and ba-ket makers, some at their own homes, and eleven are constantly employed at regular trade wages at the in-titution, while most find great pleasure and comfort in being enabled to read the Holy Scriptures. The inmates are admitted on the recommendation of a governor, a guarantee from the parish officers, or a respectable householder to pay 38. per week so long as the pupil shall remain in the institution, and on condition of compliance with particulars contained in a "Form of Recommendation," which can be obtained on application at the institution. An act of Parliament has recently been passed enabling Boards of Guardians to pay for the maintenance of blind persons. This institution has been inspected by the Government officer, and is duly certified in compliance with the terms of the Act. The out-door pupils are admitted free of cost, and as the inmates pay but 3s. per week, and as the proportionate cost of each inmate to the gross expenses of the institution is about £16 more than that sum, upwards of £600 is required to be raised annually; and as the only permanent source of income is derived from legacies invested in the funds producing £146 5s., the remainder has to be made up from other sources; therefore it is necessary to make constant efforts to obtain fresh subscriptions and donations, and to increase the sale of goods made by the pupils. Should these facts meet the eyes of masters and mistresses and heads of establishments and families, the writer would kindly urge upon such the benovolent duty of making purchases of requisites for themselves or others of articles made by the blind, which are equal in quality and durability to others to be obtained at marketable prices at the sale rooms, Clarendon-street, Nottingham; by so doing they will render aid to this excellent institution, and encourage this needy class of industrious sufferers. The writer and his better half accepted a kind invitation some time ago to the institution, and examined the work-shops, the dining-rooms, dormitories, sale-rooms, school-rooms, play-grounds, &c., and also listened to the lessons in reading, arithmetic, history, &c., and were astonished at the accuracy and proficiency of the pupils. One of the rules of the institution is, "That no visitor is allowed in the presence of the blind inmates to make personal references to their blindness, but to address them cheerfully." Others, "That there shall be family worship daily, morning and evening, in which all the boarders shall be required to be present."

"That on Lord's day the pupils shall attend public worship of the Church of England twice, under the care of a superintendent; but, if the parents or guardians of any of the pupils wish them to attend another place of worship, they may be permitted to do so, on proper application being made to the committee, providing they are under the charge of a suitable person."

"That any sick inmate may, at his or her request, be visited by any clergyman or minister they may desire."