Discontent.

THE Lord is too good and too great to be quarrelled with; and never yet did any believer get any good by complaining of Him.

What uncomfortable lives do they live who are continually fretting at that which cannot be helped-quarrelling with the disposals of Providence where they cannot alter them; and thus by contracting guilt, as by indulging grief, doubling every burden.

A repining life is a lingering death.

God usually works deliverances for His people gradually that the day of small things may not be despised, nor the day of great things be despaired of.

It is an evidence of great hardness to be more concerned about our sufferings than about our sins.

The way to forget the sense of our miseries is to remember the God of our mercies.

Sour discontent, that quarrels with our fate,
May give fresh smart, but not the old abate;
The uneasy passion's disingenuous wit

The ill reveals, but hides the benefit.

To quarrel with Providence is to charge God foolishly. His alms are too good not to be patiently waited for.

Discontent casts a cloud over the mind, and renders it more occupied about the evil which disquiets it than about the means of removing it.

'Tis not my talent to conceal my thoughts,

Or carry smiles and sunshine in my face,
When discontent sits heavy at my heart.

If all men were to bring their misfortunes together into one place, most would be glad to take his own home again, rather than those that belong to any one else.

What's more miserable than discontent?

There's discontent from sceptre to the swain,
And from the peasant to the king again.
Then whatsoever in thy will afflict thee,
Or in thy pleasure seem to contradict thee,

Give it a welcome as a wholesome friend,
That would instruct thee to a better end.
Since no condition from defect is free,

Think not to find what here can never be.

No condition of life of itself makes a man content without the grace of God; for we find Haman discontented in the court, Ahab discontented on the throne, Adam discontented in Paradise, and the angels that fell discontented in heaven itself.

He who has enough should wish for nothing more.
Happy is he who limits his wants to his necessities.

Let me ask of God a meek and quiet spirit. When I pray against discontent I bind myself to watch and strive against it. Let me ask God for a humble heart. The humble man is seldom discontented; he thinks that the least of mercies is good enough for the chief of sinners.

They cannot go wrong whose Guide is the Way; they cannot err whose direction is the Truth; they cannot perish whose presence is Life. Let me then commit myself to His care and His love, and discontent cannot lodge in my heart.

If we give up ourselves contentedly to the care of God our Saviour He will keep us from being swallowed up in the whirlpool of Charybdis, or wrecked on the rock of Scylla. He will preserve us from all perils, and bring us safely into the port of Paradise, the desired haven, the haven where we would be.

Cloudy mornings often bring fine evenings.

The malcontent is neither well full nor fasting. What he hath he seeth not, his eyes are so taken up with what he wants; and what he sees he careth not for, because he cares so much for that which is not.

Oh, beg such a heart, that God may do what He will with thee, that His will may be done; and this prayer will procure patience and help against discontent.

It was the beautiful expression of a Christian, who had been rich, when he was asked how he could bear his reduced state so happily: "When I was rich, I had God in everything, and now I am poor I have everything in God."

While place we seek, or place we shun,

The soul finds happiness in none;
But with our God to guide our way,

'Tis equal joy to go or stay.

Doing Good.

I MUST daily follow the example of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and go about doing good, as opportunity may offer, either to the bodies or the souls of the young, the aged, the poor, the sick, or the distressed, seeking to promote their temporal or eternal happiness.

Suetonius, who wrote the lives of the first twelve Roman Emperors, tells us that Titus the tenth, and the best of them, and called the Delight of Mankind-he died at the age of 40—one night recollecting that he had done nothing beneficial to mankind during the day, exclaimed, "Pardidi diem! I have lost a day!"

Marcus Aurelius, the sixteenth Roman Emperor, a philosopher and a systematic persecutor of Christianity-reigned from A.D. 161 to 180-declared that by imitating the gods it was always his study to have as few wants as possible in order that he might be able to do all the good he could to others.

Cicero, who died 43 B.C., said men resemble the gods in nothing so much as in doing good to their fellow-creatures.

Heathens should not put Christians to shame! Julian the Apostate-died A.D. 363-Emperor of Rome and nephew of Constantine the Great, writing to Arsatius, bishop of Cappadocia, says: "This same religion, which they call Christian, is spread far and wide by reason of the great beneficence which those whom they call Christians do show to all mortal men of what religion soever."

Let me remember Christ's mercy was ever pardoning, His wisdom was ever teaching, His liberality was ever giving, His pity was ever helping.

I must do good not to receive more good in return, but as an evidence of my gratitude for what I have already received. I must do all for love and nothing for reward, as Christ commands, "hoping for nothing again; " and so learn the luxury of doing good.

On the gravestone of Howard the philanthropist, who died January 20th, 1790, and who lies buried at Cherson in Russian Tartary, are inscribed these words: "He lived for others." I too must live, not for myself, but for others.

It may be truly said of every Christian who follows Christ: "He does what he can;

"He hath a daily beauty in his life."

I must daily live that I may have "no day without a deed to crown it."

I must daily do all that is in my power to do, though that all be but little.

"How far that little candle throws his beam,

So shines a good deed in a naughty world."

It is no doubt still true of many kind-hearted men that they "Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame."

As a Christian I ought daily to be able to say: "My bosom is full of kindness" to the sick and needy, espécially to them that are my brethren in Christ; and each day to add these words, "I never did repent for doing good, nor shall I now."

What shall I do to be for ever known, to have an everlasting name? I will every day write my name in kindness, love, and mercy on the hearts of those with whom I come in contact, and I shall never be forgotten.

Let us ever act as brothers,

Ne'er with pity be content,
Always doing good to others,
Both in action and intent.

Dr. Johnson used to say, "He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do any." Good is done by degrees. However small in proportion the benefit which follows individual attempts to do good, a great deal may thus be accomplished by perseverance, even in the midst of discouragements and disappointments.

Whosoever sincerely endeavours to do all the good he can, will probably do much more than he imagines, or will ever know till the day of judgment, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest.

Doing unto Others.

OUR Saviour saith: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”—MATT. vii. 12.

To others do (the law is not severe)

What to thyself thou wishest to be done.

Alexander Severus, the 24th Roman emperor, a heathen, who died at York, A.D. 211, used to say: "Do nothing to another which you would be unwilling should be done to yourself." For this golden rule, which he borrowed from the Christians, he had such an uncommon veneration that he ordered it to be engraved in large capitals over the gate of his palace, and on the doors of many public buildings. I ought not to let a heathen put me, a Christian, to shame!

Be you to others kind and true,
As you'd have others be to you;
And neither do nor say to men

Whate'er you would not take again.

Aristides, the rival of Themistocles, by whose influence he was ostracised ten years, was so distinguished for his integrity that he received the glorious surname of " the Just."

Paulinus, after spending his whole patrimony on charity, sold himself for a slave to redeem the sons of a poor widow.

Seneca said: "I would live as if I knew I received my being only for the benefit of others."

We are born to do benefits.

All heavenly hearts are charitable. Enlightened souls disperse their rays. I will if I can do something for others. Though I cannot do what I would, I will labour to do what I can. That we would do

No harsh reflection let remembrance raise:

Forbear to mention what thou canst not praise.

If I be bound to pray for all that be in distress I am sure that I am bound, so far as it is in my power, to practise what I pray