THE GREAT MASTER.



"I AM my own master!" cried a young man, proudly, when a friend tried to persuade him from an enterprise, which he had on hand; "I am my own master!"

"Did you ever consider what a responsible post that is?" asked the friend. 

"Responsible is it?"

"A master must lay out the work which he wants done, and see that it is done right. He should try to secure the best ends by the best means. 

He must keep on the lookout against obstacles and accidents, and watch that everything goes straight, else he must fail.  "Well."

"To be master of yourself, you have your conscience to keep clear, your heart to cultivate, your temper to govern, your will to direct, and your judgment to instruct. You are master over a hard lot; and if you don't master them, they will master you."

"That is so," said the young man.

"Now, I could undertake no such thing," said his friend. "I should surely fail, if I did. Saul wanted to be his own master, and failed. Herod did. Judas did. No man is fit for it. 

'One is my Master, even Christ.' I work under his direction. He is regular, and where he is master, all goes right." 



Dr. Bacon.




KEEP SINGING.



WE had a servant once who always used to be singing whether outside the door whitening the steps, whether washing the linen, cleansing the tea things, or cooking the dinner, she would be constantly singing or humming over something. I said to her one day, "Betsey, what makes you sing so?"

"Well," she answered, "I think it keeps bad thoughts away; and if I didn't sing, sometimes I should get so low-spirited I shouldn't know what to do with myself? "A good deal of philosophy in Betsey; because you know that boys, if they have to go through a churchyard at night, always begin whistling to keep their spirits up. 



Spurgeon.