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IN Mr. Budgett's early days pepper was under a heavy tax; and in the trade, universal tradition said that out of the trade everybody expected it to be mixed. In Mr. Budgett's shop stood a cask labelled P.D., containing something very like pepper dust, which it was usual to mix with the genuine pepper. The trade tradition had obtained for the apocryphal P.D. a place amongst the standard articles. of the shop, and on the strength of that tradition it was vended for pepper by men who thought they were honest. But as Samuel went forward in life, his ideas on trade morality grew clearer; this P.D. began to give him much discomfort. He thought upon it till he was satisfied that, after all that could be said, the thing was wrong. Arrived at this conclusion, he felt that no blessing could be upon the place while it was there. He instantly decreed that P.D. should perish. It was night; but back he went to the shop, took the hypocritical cask, carried it out to the quarry, then staved it, and scattered P.D. among the clods, and

slag, and stones.

He returned with a light heart. But he recollected that he had left the staves of the cask in the

quarry; and as there was no need to let them go to waste, his first act in the morning was to return and gather them up.

Now, ye busy shopmen, and ye more noble merchants, say, before the only Witness who beheld that act under the night heaven, have you no P.D. which ought to be scattered before you go to sleep? Your thought turns towards something; you were taught it; men worthy in their way justify it; you are able to laugh others out of their scruples about it; you argue with yourself till it appears "fair enough;" but do for once just go to your private room and sit down and think. Be rational for a moment or two; do not refuse to converse alone with your conscience and your God; ay, go down upon your knees and pray for light, for it is no small matter to be doing wrong. You may smile at it, you may gloss it over, you may "pooh-pooh" warning; but wrong is wrong, and there is a Judge above us; wrong is wrong, and it will find you out. Be sure this world is not a lawless common, where all who can may plunder and go harmless; it is a kingdom with a strong, just King, whose laws cannot be broken, whose subjects cannot be ill treated in His sight without bringing punishment upon the offender.

This world of ours contains a great deal of P.D. The shipowner has a ship which has become too old to carry sugar from the West Indies without damaging it by leakage; so he fits her out as a passenger ship, and advertises her for Sydney as "the well-known, favourite, fast-sailing ship; " that is P.D.

The corn-merchant has a cargo damaged in a gale at sea; but as the underwriters will not pay unless the captain can swear that the vessel struck, the merchant, who was snug in his bed when the gale blew, tries to show the captain that just off Flamborough Head, the keel did actually touch the ground, and that therefore he may safely take the requisite oath; that is P.D.

The warehouseman is standing by a parcel of goods which have been on his hands for some weeks; a customer enters and is received with smiles. "Are these new?" "The latest things we have-just out; in fact, I almost thought you would look in to-day, and have this moment had the parcel opened for you;" this is P.D.

The provision merchant finds that Cork butters of No. 11 brand "open" well, and changes the brand to No. 1; that is P.D. A dealer selling to a man he knows to be "shaky," makes a mistake on purpose, so that the debt seems larger than it really is; if, therefore, he must take a dividend, he will have it on more pounds than are due to him; and that is P.D. If you go on, you will be astonished how P.D. is in most places. In fact, if some just power were to-night to take all the P.D. casks in

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this great shop we call the world, and stave them in, there would be such a confusion to-morrow morning, that the whole shop would have to be re-arranged.

Your business, just now, is to search out P.D. under your own roof, and to be sure you do not let it pass the night there. Out with it!-a curse is in it. Stave the cask in pieces. Scatter the cheat to the night winds. Let the All-seeing Eye behold its dispersion; then go and crave pardon for every instance in the past wherein you have had anything to do with fraud. Do not mock the Almighty by asking pardon for the sin of to-day, when you are holding the same sin in your right hand for repetition to-morrow. Pardon for the past is freely offered; but think not that God will forgive sins you will not forsake. If with a penitent heart you turn from your evil ways, He is merciful to forgive you; but the righteous God loveth righteousness.

TRUST IN JESUS.

s every day Thy mercy spares

Will bring its trials and its cares,
O Saviour, till my life shall end,
Be Thou my Counsellor and Friend:
Teach me Thy precepts all divine,
And be Thy great example mine.
Should poverty's consuming blow
Lay all my worldly comforts low,
And neither help nor hope appear,
My steps to guide, my heart to cheer:
Lord, pity and supply my need,
For Thou, on earth, wast poor indeed.
When each day's scenes and labours close,
And wearied nature seeks repose,
With pard'ning mercy richly blest,
Guard me, my Saviour, while I rest;
And as each morning sun shall rise,
Oh, lead me onward to the skies.

And, at my life's last setting sun,
My conflicts o'er, my labours done,
Jesus, Thy heavenly radiance shed,
To cheer and bless my dying bed;
And from death's gloom my spirit raise
"To see Thy face and sing Thy praise.'

DO YOU PRAY?

Sir Robert Grant.

o you pray? I hope and trust you do; but the form of prayer and the spirit of prayer are so unlike in reality, though they seem to resemble each other, that we must not take the thing for granted. The form of prayer is the shadow, the spirit of prayer is the substance. He who is contented with the form may be said to feed on husks, while he who has the spirit feasts on the fatted calf. One of the best of all prayers is, "Teach me, O Lord, how to pray!"

As there is no Christian duty more necessary than prayer, including praise, neither is there any that

affords greater benefits. It begins and ends with the day; it prepares us for joy and sorrow; it is a refuge from the storm and tempest; it is as "rivers of water in a dry place," and as the "shadow of a great rock in a weary land." You may as well expect a seed to grow without soil, or a plant to flourish without water, as hope to increase in Christian graces without prayer. A prayerless man is a defenceless man, a weak man, and an uncertain man; but a prayerful man is an armed man, a strong man, and a steady man.

Do you know practically what prayer is ?-earnest prayer, urgent prayer, heartfelt prayer? Do you know the hope of prayer, the confidence of prayer, the peace of prayer, and the joy of prayer? There is as much difference between going unwillingly and willingly to the throne of grace as there is between creeping and flying. The one is like journeying by a broadwheeled wagon, and the other like travelling by the railroad. The one oppresses the heart, the other relieves it; the one is an irksome duty, the other a high, a holy, and a delightful privilege.

All God's people are people of prayer; they cannot live without prayer: he who does not pray is either robbing his own soul of comfort, or God of His glory. Saints ought to pray heartily that they may ever be mindful of the grace they have received; and sinners ought, if possible, to pray still more earnestly that they may be made partakers of the everlasting inheritance prepared for the people of God. He who has neither committed sin nor partaken of pardoning mercy may do without prayer-but where is he to be found? The sinner has urgent need to pray for forgiveness, and the saint that he may evermore be grateful.

When Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched. When Elias prayed, no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months. David would never have been such a man for praising God, had he not been a man of prayer; but he gave himself unto prayer: "Evening, morning, and at noon will I pray," said he. Daniel kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed. Peter went up upon the house-top to pray; and as to Paul, his recommendation is to "Rejoice evermore," and "pray without ceasing. There is every reason why we should pray, and no single reason in the world why we should not pray.

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Would you wish to be humble, forbearing, considerate, kind, wise, and useful?-Then pray. Would you wish patiently to endure your trials, and gratefully to enjoy your blessings?-then pray. Would you wish to be calm even when surrounded with care, and to obtain the mastery over your passions ?--then pray. Prayer is as powerful to prevent evil as to do good; to repress sin as to promote piety; to help us on our way to heaven as to smooth our paths on earth. The influence of prayer runs through a man's life, making the rough plain and the crooked straight. Prayer makes a man feel that he is with God, and that God is with him. Do you pray?

It is said that "prayer moves the Hand that moves the universe;" a comment on the text, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." What a thought that the Almighty Lord of heaven. and earth should take notice of the prayers of His sinful creatures, and, still more, that He should regard them favourably, and grant their petitions! What a thought, that He should hear us,

answer us,

comfort us, strengthen us, protect us, guide us by His counsel, and afterwards receive us into His glory! Surely all the affection and faculties of our hearts and souls should be called forth in our prayers.

Sometimes God in mercy refuses our prayers, for we know not what we ask. What! if a spoiled child asked his parent for poison berries, will he give them? No! Neither will our Heavenly Father give us what is not for our good. We must pray that we may be moved to pray with submission to God's holy will; we must pray with a willingness to receive at once, or to wait long for the fulfilment of our prayers; and we must pray, believing that there may be as much mercy in denying as in granting our requests.

Do you find a difficulty in prayer? This is another reason why you should persevere: your Heavenly Father knows your difficulty. Do you feel your unworthiness to be permitted to pray? call to mind the worthiness of Him in whose name you pray. God will do for His sake that of which you are unworthy. The less worthy you are, the greater need you have to pray, and the greater is God's mercy in accepting your prayer. The more you reflect on prayer, and the more you practise prayer, the higher value will you set on prayer. Do you pray?"

But if you do pray, what do you pray for? We should pray for those things that we most require. The hungry want food, the naked clothing, the ignorant knowledge, the sick health, the bewildered a guide, and the sinner a Saviour! Do you pray for what you want? Do you pray that God of His mercy would give you what you require, and make you what you ought to be?

Do you pray for those you love, that they may be made partakers of the same blessings as yourself? Do you pray for God's Holy Spirit, that you may know and do the will of God? Do you pray that you may be kept from all evil, and guided into all good? Do you pray that your sins may be forgiven and your souls saved through Jesus Christ? Do you pray in the very spirit of dependence, faith, love, and thankfulness? If so, be assured that He who heareth and answereth prayer, will hear and answer you. Prayer is one of our greatest earthly blessings, and one of which the world cannot deprive us. Every one may pray who has anything to pray for :

Prayer is a blest employ that throws
A heavenly balm o'er earthly woes;
Improves our gifts, by Mercy given,
And helps us on our way to heaven!

NEVER DESPAIR.

Na populous town lived an old man and his wife. He was a cobbler by trade, and she a poor suffering little woman, who had grown so weak as to

be obliged to keep her bed, and who needed so much nourishment that her husband found it difficult to pay the rent and keep clear of debt.

One Saturday evening the cobbler finished mending a pair of boots and took them

home. Nearly an hour passed before he returned. Meanwhile, the little woman wondered what kept her John so long absent. At last he entered the room looking very much discomfited, and flung himself into the arm-chair by her bedside, saying, "It's no use trying any more, Sally; I shall give it all up." "What's the matter, John?"

"No money for the boots, and no Sunday's dinner. It's no use for me to try any more-people won't be fair, and I'm tired of life."

"Oh, John, don't despair! we shall be helped somehow; God never fails us."

"He will now; the man won't pay for his boots to-night. He kept me waiting all this time for the money, and then his little girl came and told me her father would send it. You know what that means, Sally; it has often been said before, and the cupboard has been bare on Sunday."

"John, John, it's harder to see you lose faith than to go without a Sunday's dinner. Cheer up, and pray with me that something may come yet."

"What's the use, Sally? Where's it to come from?" "God can send it," replied the brave little woman. The words were scarcely spoken before a tap came at the door, and the same little girl who had given the cobbler the message which sent him home despairing appeared. "Father's so sorry he didn't pay for his boots when you brought them," she said; "he wasn't quite sure he could manage it before Monday, but mother thought you might be glad of it, so I've brought the two shillings. Father hopes he hasn't put you out."

John could only nod his head, and Sally say "Thank you."

As soon as the door closed on the child the cobbler knelt down at the bedside and prayed that he might never despair again, but that he might trust in God, even if darker days were in store. And Sally clasped her hands together, and added very reverently, "Dear Father, forgive us, and teach us ever to remember that in all the long years of our married life Thou hast never failed us; and therefore we should be ashamed for one moment to lose our faith in Thy loving care. Amen."

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HE life of John Howard presents many instances of noble self-denial. No man ever more fully acted on the principle, "This one thing I do." Steadily did he walk in the footsteps of that brightest of all examples, our Divine Lord, whose life was an illustration of the words "I must be about My Father's business." While on a voyage to Lisbon, just after the terrible earthquake, the vessel

in which he sailed was captured by the French, and the passengers, including Howard, were carried to Brest, and thrown into prison. There he learned by experience the sorrows of the prisoner; and in his cell was laid the foundation of that work of mercy which subsequently brought relief to so many captives. The dungeon in which he was confined was a most wretched place. He had to sleep upon straw strewn over the stone floor, and he and his fellow-captives had a leg of mutton thrown to them, as it might be into a tiger's

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