January 5.

Be ready to every good work.-TITUS iii. 1.

THE world needs nothing more than it needs happiness-makers.

JAMES R. MILLER.

"God gives us all some small sweet way
To set the world rejoicing."

SOMETHING EACH DAY.

Something each day,—a smile,
It is not much to give ;
But the little gifts of life

Make sweet the days we live :
The world has weary hearts,
That we can bless and cheer,
And the smile for every day

Makes sunshine all the year.

Something each day,-a word,-
We cannot know its power;
It grows in fruitfulness

As grows the tender flower;
What comfort it may bring

Where all is dark and drear!
For a kind word every day

Makes pleasant all the year.

Something each day, -a deed
Of kindness and of good
To link in closer bonds

All human brotherhood,-
O, thus the heavenly will

We all may do while here!
For a good deed every day
Makes blessed all the year.

January 6.

Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.-PHIL. iv. 6.

I CAN do nothing without the help of God, and that even from moment to moment.

ST. ATHANASIUS.

THE FIRST TANGLE.

Once in an eastern palace wide,
A little child sat weaving;
So patiently her task she plied,
The men and women at her side
Flocked 'round her, almost grieving.

"Our weaving gets so worn and soiled,
Our silk so frayed and broken,
For all we've fretted, wept and toiled,
We know the lovely pattern's spoiled
Before the king has spoken.'

The little child looked in their eyes,
So full of care and trouble,
And pity chased the sweet surprise
That filled her own, as sometimes flies
The rainbow in a bubble.

"I only go and tell the king,"

She said, abashed, and meekly,—

"You know," he said, "in everything

Why, so do we!" they cried, "we bring
Him all our troubles weekly!"

She turned her little head aside,—

A moment let them wrangle,-
"Ah, but," she softly then replied,
"I go and get the knot untied
At the first little tangle!"'

Oh, little children,-weavers all!
Our broidery we spangle

With many a tear that need not fall,
If on our King we would but call
At the first little tangle!

ANNA F. BURNHAM.

January 7.

Teach me thy way, O Lord, aud lead me in a plain path.-PSA. xxvii. 11.

THOSE who travel among the Swiss mountains, or through the deserts of the East, need a guide. Not knowing the way, nor its dangers, they need some one who has been over the whole way before, and can guide them safely. God knows all the dangers of our life from its beginning to its end, and He offers to be our Guide. He says, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye." Let us thank Him for His sweet promise, and follow Him closely all our life long.

A PRAYER.

Lead us, Heavenly Father,

Lead us, Shepherd kind;

We are only children

Weak, and young, and blind.

All the way before us
Thou alone dost know;
Lead us, Heavenly Father,
Singing as we go.

Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.-Ex. xx. 12.

FOR unwearying patience and unchanging tenderness, the love of a true mother stands next to the love of our Father in heaven. And, perhaps, just because it is so constant, because we "get used to it, we sometimes fail to show how much we appreciate it.

"All I am, my mother made me," said John Quincy Adams, when president of the United States. O, be loyal, be true, be loving to your mother, dear boys and girls, and be proud to show how much you love her!

A BOY'S PROMISE.

The school was out, and down the street
A noisy crowd came thronging:

The hue of health, a gladness sweet,
To every face belonging.

Among them strode a little lad,

Who listened to another,

And mildly said, half grave, half sad,-
"I can't-I promised mother."

A shout went up, a ringing shout,
Of boisterous derision;

But not one moment left in doubt
That manly, brave decision.

"Go where you please,-do what you will,"
He calmly told the other;

"But I shall keep my word, boys, still;

I can't,

I promised mother.'

Ah, who can doubt the future course
Of one, who thus had spoken?
Through manhood's struggle, gain and loss,
Could faith like this be broken?

God's blessing on that steadfast will,
Unyielding to another,

That bears all jeers and laughter still,

Because he promised mother!

GEORGE COOPER.

January 9.

If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.—ISA. lviii. 13, 14.

HAVE you ever thought what a great blessing the Sabbath is? Perhaps not, for children sometimes tire of keeping quiet and of trying not to break the fourth commandment. But, oh! did it never come, how the busy, tired world would miss it! I think we should all feel we had lost something very precious. Dean Farrar says, "Very few of us, I fear, think enough of God." On the Sabbath, there is rest, and time to think and read of God, and to hear and sing of Him. Let us never forget to thank God for the Sabbath. It is ours. God has given it to us for our best good; and, while we are thanking Him for it, we must not forget how many there are who know nothing about it, and let us pray for them.