But I am what I am!
As content as a lamb;
No new state I'll covet,

For how long should I love it?
No, I'll be what I am,—

As content as a lamb !

August 12.

The Lord make you to increase and abound in love, one toward another..-1 THESS. iii. 12.

As unexpected flowers which spring up along our path, full of freshness, fragrance and beauty, gladden us,-so kind words, gentle acts, and sweet dispositions make glad the sacred spot called home.

Aids to Endeavor.

VACATION DAYS.

It isn't enough that flowers bloom,
That grasses wave,-

That ten whole weeks of happy time
Our own, we have ;

Something else the summer must hold,
Sweeter than honey, and brighter than gold.

It isn't enough that glad birds sing,

That brooklets run,

That lessons are thrown to the careless winds,-
Every one;

Something else the summer must hold,
Sweeter than honey, and brighter than gold.

It isn't enough that sea-shells gleam,

On sandy shore;

That tossing waves on the ocean's breast

Tumble and roar ;

Something else the summer must hold,

Sweeter than honey, and brighter than gold.

But it is enough that a loving heart
In work and play,

Should make all others surrounding them
Happy alway;

This is the charm the summer must hold,

Sweeter than honey, and brighter than gold.

MARGARET SIDNEY.

August 13.

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.-ACTS xx. 35.

ONCE there was a king who had a little boy whom he loved. He gave him beautiful rooms to live in, and pictures, and toys, and books. He gave him a pony to ride, and a row-boat on a lake, and servants. He provided teachers who were to give him knowledge that would make him good and great. But for all this, the young prince was not happy. He wore a frown wherever he went, and was always wishing for something he did not have. At length, one day, a magician came to court. He saw the boy and said to the king: "I can make your son happy; but you must pay me a great price for telling the secret."

"Well," said the king, "what you ask, I will give." So the price was paid. Then the magician took the boy into a private room, and wrote something with a white substance on a piece of paper. Next he gave the boy a lighted candle, and told him to hold it under the paper, and read what was written. He read these words:

"Do a kindness to some one every day."

The prince made use of the secret, and became the happiest boy in the kingdom.

SELFISH AND LEND-A-HAND.

Little Miss Selfish and Lend-a-Hand
Went journeying up and down the land;
On Lend-a-Hand the sunshine smiled,
The wild flowers bloomed for the happy child,
Birds greeted her from many a tree,-
But Selfish said, "No one loves me!"

Little Miss Selfish and Lend-a-Hand
Went journeying home across the land;
Miss Selfish met with trouble and loss,-
The weather was bad, the folks were cross.
Lend-a-Hand said, when the journey was o'er,
"I never had such a good time before!"

August 14.

MARY F. BUTTS.

Who hath despised the day of small things ?-ZECH. iv. 10.

BE diligent, after thy power, to do deeds of love. Think nothing too little, nothing too low, to do lovingly for the sake of God.

E. B. PUSEY.

THE DAISY.

I am but a little daisy

The children know me well;

I blossom by the roadside wall
Within a little dell;

I'm but a flower of humble mien,

And little worth, I know,

But still the Lord so wise and great

Hath bidden me to grow.

There's many a flower more stately far,
And many a one more fair,

And many a one whose fragrance floats
More sweetly on the air;

But since the Lord the daisy made

I have my mission still.

No other flower in all the vale

The daisy's place may fill.

I am but a little daisy
And yet, perhaps I may

Give pleasure to some humble child,
Or cheer some traveler's way.
Though in the garden I'm not found,
I may by waysides blow,

And some poor heart may thank the Lord
Who made the daisy grow.

August 15.

And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.-MATT. iii. 16, 17.

REMEMBER, my child, how the Spirit of God came to Jesus, and know that His Spirit will also come to thee, if thou dost ask Him; not as a dove, not with a sound, but felt, though unseen. And in moments of silent waiting upon Him, thou wilt hear a voice within thee, saying, "Thou art My child,”—and the voice is the voice of God. ROBERT BIRD.

THE HOLY SPIRIT.

He came in semblance of a dove,
With sheltering wings outspread,
The holy balm of peace and love
On earth to shed.

He comes, sweet influence to impart,
A gracious, willing guest,

While He can find one humble heart
Wherein to rest.

And His, that gentle voice we hear,

Soft as the breath of even,

That checks each thought, that calms each fear,
And speaks of Heaven.

Spirit of purity and grace,

Our weakness, pitying, see;

O make our hearts Thy dwelling-place,
And meet for Thee.

HARRIET AUBER.

August 16.

I will hear what God the Lord will speak.-PSA. lxxxv. 8.

I SAW a little spotted turtle sunning himself in the shallow water. I lifted the stick in my hand to kill the harmless reptile; for, though I had never killed any creature, yet I had seen other boys, out of sport, destroy birds, squirrels, and the like, and I had the disposition to follow their wicked example; but, all at once, something checked my little arm, and a voice within me said, clear and loud, "It is wrong!" I hastened home to my mother, and asked what it was that told me it was wrong. She wiped a tear away, and, taking me in her arms, said: "Some men call it conscience, but I prefer to call it the voice of God in the soul of man. listen and obey it, then it will speak clearer and clearer, and always guide you aright; but, if you turn a deaf ear, and disobey, then it will fade out, little by little, and leave you all in the dark, and without a guide. Your life depends on heeding this little voice."

If you

THEODORE PARKER.

THE VOICE WITHIN.

The still small voice that speaks within,
I hear it when, at play,

I speak the loud and angry word,
That drives my friend away.

If falsehood whispers to my heart
To tell a coward lie,

To hide some careless thing I've done,
I hear the sad voice nigh.