e died a happy Christian death. But
before he died, as he was the owner of the cottage in which the
little girls lived, he gave it to their father. What a beautiful
illustration we have here of our Saviour's words--"Give, and it shall
be given unto you!" This miser gave _a loaf of bread_ to these hungry
children and God gave him _the grace that made him a Christian_! And
as we think of this we may well say that "giving _is_ God's rule for
getting."

And thus we have considered the lesson of liberality which our
Saviour taught; the proofs of that lesson found in the Bible; and the
illustrations of it from the Bible, from nature, and from everyday
life. The three things to be remembered from this subject are _the
lesson_--_the proofs_--_the illustrations_.

I will quote here, in finishing, three verses which teach the same
lesson that our Saviour taught when he spoke the words from which I
have tried to draw the lesson of liberality. The title at the head of
them is taken from Solomon's words in one of the passages from the
book of Proverbs, which we have already used.

"THERE IS THAT SCATTERETH AND YET INCREASETH."

"Is thy cruse of comfort wasting?
Rise, and share it with another;
And through all the years of famine,
It shall serve thee and thy brother.
God himself will fill thy storehouse,
Or thy handful still renew:
Scanty fare for _one_ will often
Make a royal feast for _two_.

"For the heart grows rich in giving;
All its wealth is living grain:
Seeds which mildew in the garner,
Scattered, fill with gold the plain.
Is thy burden hard and heavy?
Do thy steps drag wearily?
Help to bear thy brother's burden,--
God will bear both it and thee.

"Is thy heart a well left empty?
None but God its void can fill;
Nothing but a ceaseless fountain
Can this ceaseless longing still.
Is the heart a living power?
Self-entwined its strength sinks low;
It can only live in loving,
And by serving love will grow."

CHRIST TEACHING HUMILITY

During the earthly life of our blessed Saviour, we see how
everything connected with it teaches the lesson of humility. This is
pointed out in the beautiful collect in The Book of Common Prayer for
the first Sunday in Advent. Here we are taught to say:--"Almighty
God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put upon
us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in w