The wildest will that ever rose, "Thy will and not my will be done, Confessing thee, the mighty Word, I hail thee, Christ, my God, my Lord, Never be ashamed of Christ and his words (Mark viii. 38). I have heard of a young lady at a boardingschool who suffered herself to be laughed out of a good custom she had begun, of taking out her Bible to read every Sunday after she had been at the house of God, because she saw none of her companions do the same. And I have read of three young men in America, who were clerks, and occupied the same rooms. On a Sunday morning, after breakfast, having no other employment, one of them went to his trunk and took out his Bible. The others did the same, and the habit was regularly formed, and by degrees it spread further, and much good was done and evil prevented. "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." SATAN'S great aim is to keep you from Christ, or lead you from Christ; the Spirit's work is to lead you to him, and keep you near him. If you would be happy yourself, endeavour to honour Christ, and make others happy: this is the direct road. "A HAPPY CHRISTMAS." "JANE, Jane, why do you not wake? Remember, today will be Christmas eve, and we shall have a whole week's holiday," cried little Emma Hill, and ran to see what kind of day it was. "Oh, Emma, it is so cold, and the snow is now falling; and I can see Miss Lizzie Jones is up already, and standing at the door catching the snow flakes on a sheet of paper," said Jane; "you had better come again to bed till we hear mother moving about." But the thoughts of having a whole week's holiday made the little girls too happy to think of going to sleep again, and they began to form plans as to how they should spend their time; "for you know," said Emma, "teacher told us that if we tried, we could find some little thing to do to make others happy every day, and then she was sure we should be happy ourselves." "Yes," said Jane, "and we must not forget the verses she gave us to learn-a verse for every day from the second chapter of Luke-so that we may remember why Christmas is such a holy, happy time. I shall learn mine before breakfast, for teacher said that was the best time." So, with this good resolution the little girls dressed quickly, for they heard their mother moving about. Before going down, however, they knelt down and thanked God for having watched over them during the night, and asked him to take care of them through the day, helping them to do right. They then learned their verse and read a little from the Bible, for the lady who taught them on Sunday had told them that if they really loved God, they would read his holy word every day, because he has sent it to us to guide us how to do right and to help us on our way to heaven. Emma and Jane were very happy little girls, and one reason they were so was, because, as I have told you, they did not forget to pray to God and read his holy word every day, and so they felt happy because they were trying to do right. Now, when they went down, Emma, the eldest, washed and dressed their little brother; Jane put out the breakfast; then father came down, and they all had breakfast together. The little girls laughed and talked so merrily, the thought of their holidays making them quite happy. When they had helped their mother put away the breakfast things and tidy up the house, they went off to the woods to get some of the beautiful bright holly. They took home two large bunches of it, and put some in the window, some in the candlesticks on the shelf, and some on the wall; and you cannot think how bright and cheerful it made the room look. After tea their mother gave them leave to go out for a little while with some of their school-fellows, to sing carols at the different houses, which is the custom in that part of the country where they lived. So they put on warm shawls and off they went. It was a clear frosty evening, and far off you could hear the voices of the village children, as they went from door to door singing of the birth of Him who came on earth as a little child and brought peace and good-will to all. Although not on earth now, he still loves little children and invites them to come to him, as he did then. Emma and Jane lived a little way from the village, and as they walked along they looked up at the bright shining stars, and wondered whether it was a star like one of those which guided the wise men to find the infant Saviour. Some of the houses they sang at, they were taken into the hall, and the ladies talked to them, and in all the houses the walls were hung with the beautiful holly and twining ivy. Everybody looked so bright and happy, as though Christmas were the very happiest time of the year. When they went home, their father read a chapter with them before going to bed. He chose that about the good shepherds tending their flocks, and of the good news the angels brought them; they then read over their lessons for Sunday, which they did every evening, and always on Saturday evening repeated them over to each other, so that they might be quite sure of saying them perfectly on the Sunday. 66 66 The little girls were awoke early on Christmas morning by the merry peal of the church bells. "A happy Christmas to you," said Jane, a happy Christmas. I wonder if everybody feels happy on Christmas day. I only hope a great many feel as happy as I do." Then she began counting up all the many things she had to make her happy. First," said she, "I have a comfortable cottage, while old dame Turner has a hole in the roof of hers, and a great crack where the wind and rain come in. Then, what a loving father and mother I have, and I know poor Susan's father is often unkind to her. Oh, how sad that must be! Besides, we have a nice fire to warm ourselves by, and enough to eat and drink, while so many are cold and hungry: I am sure we have a great deal to be thankful for." "Yes, Jane," said Emma; "and as our teacher told us on Sunday, we must ask God to give us his grace, that we may always do the things that please him." "Well, Emma, I only wish we could always do right; how happy we should be. I mean to try very hard today, so that it may be a really happy day to me." The snow had fallen fast during the night, and the ground was one soft, pure spread of white. All the cottages looked as though they were thatched with |