dungeon at Rome, a prisoner in chains, is heard to say, "I have _all_,
and abound!"

Guard, on the other hand, against that spirit of continual fretting and
moping over fancied ills; that temptation to exaggerate the real or
supposed disadvantages of our condition, magnifying the trifling
inconveniences of every-day life into enormous evils. Think, rather, how
much we have to be thankful for. The world in which we live, in spite of
all the scars of sin and suffering upon it, is a happy world. It is not,
as many would morbidly paint it, flooded with tears and strewn with
wrecks, plaintive with a perpetual dirge of sorrow. True, the
"Everlasting Hills" are in glory, but there are numberless eminences of
grace, and love, and mercy below; many green spots in the lower valley,
_many more than we deserve_!

God will reward a thankful spirit. Just as on earth, when a man receives
with gratitude what is given, we are more disposed to give again, so
also, "the _Lord_ loveth" a cheerful "receiver," as well as a cheerful
"giver."

Let ours, moreover, be a _Gospel_ thankfulness. Let the incense of a
grateful spirit rise not only to the Great Giver of all good, but to our
Covenant God in Christ. Let it be the spirit of the child exulting in
the bounty and beneficence of his _Father's_ house and home! "Giving
_thanks_ always for all things unto God and _the Father_, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ!"

While the sweet melody of gratitude vibrates through every successive
moment of our daily being, let love to our adorable Redeemer show for
_whom_ and for _what_ it is we reserve our notes of loftiest and most
fervent praise. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!

"ARM YOURSELVES LIKEWISE WITH THE SAME MIND."

Seventh Day.

UNSELFISHNESS.

"For even Christ pleased not Himself."--Rom. xv. 8.

Too legibly are the characters written on the fallen heart and a fallen
world--"All seek their own!" Selfishness is the great law of our
degenerated nature. When the love of God was dethroned from the soul,
self vaulted into the vacant seat, and there, in some one of its Proteus
shapes, continues to reign.

Jesus stands out for our imitation a grand solitary exception in the
midst of a world of selfishness. His entire life was one abnegation of
self; a beautiful living embodiment of that charity which "seeketh not
her own." He who for others turned water into wine, and provided a
miraculous supply for the fai