shall we give thee not profession but reality. We shall clearly discern between the means of grace and the right end of serving thee as thy loving children.' Hosea would telf his contemporaries that, instead of a golden calf at Dan, there should be calves upon the lips, that is, prayer and confession as sincere as that of the publican praying in the temple. The Pharisee, who had no religion, published a catalogue of the means of grace. The publican, a pauper as to means, looked at the end of religion. Hosea taught his fellows the right words to use and the true thoughts to think. As they lifted up their eyes unto the hills, and asked whence should their help come, he prompted them to sincere utterance-Assyria shall not deliver us. We shall count a horse a vain thing for safety. We shall never again look to what our hands have molded and carved, and address them as gods, for in thee, O heavenly Father, the orphans find tender pity and compassion. Thus Hosea, eight centuries previously, anticipated in utterance the though of Jesus when he said, in John 14: 18, "I will not leave you orphans." As the book of the gospel of St. John is the book of the conversations of Jesus, so here, in Hosea's scroll, we see God conversing with man, replying through his servant,— "I will heal that hurt of my people which hath come from stumbling on the dark mountains of sin, I will love them freely, for mine anger is turned away." All through the Old Testament, which in itself is a song of songs, God represents himself as the lover and his people as the beloved. When they fall into idolatry, it is as the sin of adultery. When they walk obediently in holy service, it is as the rapturous mutual love of bride and bridegroom. Throughout Hosea, God speaks in the tender, alluring language of Canticles, of the shepherd lover to the Shulamite. He says, "I shall be as the night rain unto Israel. He shall grow as the lily. Let his roots strike forth as Lebanon." The stability of a character that comes from divine strength shall be his who heeds the gracious invitations from God. The beauty and perfume of that flower, which always in Christian symbolism tells of the resurrection of Christ, shall be theirs who follow on to do the divine will. The Koreans speak of a beautiful character as "perfuming" its dwelling-place and environment. The Scripture term is "a sweet savour," pleasing to God. Profusion, beauty and larger serviceableness are still further promised as the result of the Divine forgiveness and the union of man's will with God's. Even after great calamity, when the trunk shall have been cut down, his saplings shall spread. The root of the living tree shall send forth many fresh shoots. The beloved of God is to be not merely a tree, but a garden. Just as in a balsam forest, under the hot sunshine of summer, we are delighted and almost overpowered with the sweet odors, medicinal and tonic, so the smell of the obedient shall be as Lebanon. How many precious Christian lives have illustrated these promises! As we write, we think of a noble missionary in Japan, but little known to the world, modest, forceful, whose life of self-effacing toil for his fellow men was as beautiful as the snow-white lily. Yet he always reminded one of the dignity and strength of the cedar of Lebanon. His memory to-day is as widespread perfume. The axe of death has leveled the tall form, which has disappeared from human sight, but the good he has done, the young men whom he has trained, the host of his good works, are as a vast garden. In his life he saw the promises afar off and greeted them. Now he has entered into fruition. Not only spiritual blessings, but increase of the enjoyments of life, through fertility of the earth, are promised to those who live in righteousness, doing God's will. Once more shall they that dwell under his shadow bring corn to life. The prosperity of the people shall be as that of the blossoming vine. The renown of Israel shall be as grateful to the senses as the bouquet of the vine grown in the district of Lebanon. This is the promise that runs through the whole Bible, that, to those who seek God to know and to do his will, there shall come, not only divine favor, but the blessings that enriches without adding a sorrow"Blessings from heaven above, blessings of the deep that coucheth beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb," of the earth and for society. As actual, prosaic fact, the most permanent prosperity, the greatest amount of it for the masses of the people, is found in those nations who seek exaltation by righteousness and whose God is the Lord. The purged and penitent man (pictured in verse 8) shall say, "What have I to do any more with idols?" and, having said this in sincere repentance, God declares, “I, on my part, respond to and recognize the penitent soul." Here we have an anticipation by Hosea of the parable of the prodigal son-the wanderer from his father's house, who, amid the swine, comes to himself and asks what he has to do with this fruit of folly when a home and a loving parent are awaiting him. In the response, we behold the father, who, in the musings of his paternal heart, has already in sympathy heard the penitent outcry of his son and, seeing him afar off, comes to meet him. Repenting Israel cries out before the heart-subduing love of Jehovah, "I am like a green fir tree." In this, we see the confession of self-abasement, yet also hear the note of hope. Israel realizes how far from maturity and perfection he is, just as the prodigal said "I am no more worthy to be called thy son." Quickly the answer comes, alike to ancient Israel, to the Syrian prodigal, and to the penitent for all time, "From me is thy fruit found." God at once promises his healing grace, his fructifying spirit, his rewarding grace. The father in the parable calls for the gold ring, the best robe and the fatted calf, to rejoice and make merry over the lost that is found. So evermore, in one strain, from prophet, from the Christ, from the apostles and the true preacher, sounds the sweet message of the reconciled Father. If "the penitent's desire opens every gate of fire," how much more does the Father of all yearn for his children, and how sweet to him is the cry for help and pardon from he wanderer! Fitly and beautifully Hosea's volume of prophetic sermons closes with an epilogue, containing words of wisdom for our age and for all ages. "Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? William Elliot Griffis. DANIEL IN BABYLON DANIEL 1: 8-21 "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." When the Chaldean monarchy was at the height of its glory, and that great city of Babylon, the heart of one of the mightiest empires of the world, was throbbing with an intense and feverish life, there was brought to the court of Nebuchadnezzar the king a young man of prepossessing appearance, courtly manners, and remarkable intelligence. He was a captive from far-away Judæa, and was probably of noble descent. He soon became a great favorite in the Chaldean court. He was quick to learn, and ready to act; and soon he was found to be qualified to fill the highest places of trust under the government. In consequence of his interpretation of the king's dream he was made governor of the province of Babylon; and he was retained in offices of the highest trust and power through the remaining period of the Chaldean monarchy, and afterward under Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian. His life was a success, from whatever standpoint it may be viewed. It was a success not only in the eyes of God, but in the eyes of the world; and for this reason it is full of interest for every young man who, while he is honestly desirous to be loyal to God and the truth, is, at the same |