as God wants them to be, who have no comfort.

"The Fable of the Oak and the Violet." In a large garden there grew a
fine oak tree, with its wide-spreading branches, and at its foot
there grew a sweet and modest violet. The oak one day looked down in
scorn upon the violet, and said: "You, poor little thing, will soon
be dead and withered; for you have no strength, no size, and are of
no good to anyone. But I am large and strong; I shall still live for
ages, and then I shall be made into a large ship to sail on the
ocean, or into coffins to hold the dust of princes."

"Yes," answered the violet, in its humility, "God has given _you_
strength, and _me_ sweetness. I offer him back my fragrance, and am
thankful. I hope to die fragrantly, as I have lived fragrantly, but
we are both only what God made us, and both where God placed us."

Not long after the oak was struck by lightning and shivered to
splinters. Its end was to be burned. But the violet was gently
gathered by the hand of a Christian lady, who carefully pressed it,
and kept it for years, in the leaves of her Bible to refresh herself
with its fragrance. Here we see illustrated the difference between
pride and humility.

"The Secret of Comfort." Some years ago there was a boy who had been
lame from his birth. He was a bright intelligent boy, but he was not
a Christian. As he grew up, with no other prospect before him but
that of being a cripple all his days, he was very unhappy. As he sat
by his window, propped up in his chair, and saw the boys playing in
the street, he would say to himself: "Why has God made me thus? Why
have I not limbs to run and jump with like other boys?"

These thoughts filled him with distress, and caused him to shed many
bitter tears.

One day a Christian friend, who was visiting him, gave him a book and
requested him to read it. He did so; and it led to his becoming a
Christian. His heart was renewed; the burden of his sin was removed;
and the love of God was shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost.
He learned the lesson of humble submission to the will of God. After
this, as he looked out, and saw the young people happy at their
sports; or, as he gazed on the green earth and the beautiful sky, and
knew that he must remain a helpless cripple as long as he lived, he
yet could say, with the utmost cheerfulness:--"It's all right. My
Father in heaven has done it. I love him. He loves me. I know he is
making all things work together fo