BY W. S. LEWIS, M.A., VICAR OF ST. GEORGE, WORTHING. GOD'S GIFTS AND MAN'S NEEDS. 1 Kings, xvii. 14.—' Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.' HE chief thing which I would notice in this promise is its admirable precision. Much might be said respecting it as a manifestation of God's power. There would be great interest, also, in considering it as a seasonable support to man's faith. But what I wish now to speak of, as I have said, is its admirable precision. And, together with that, I desire to point out that, in several other examples of God's ways, there is a similar precision to be traced. Let us notice, then, to begin, that the supply which was here promised to the widow was in most beautiful proportion to her needs. Every day when she went to the barrel she found herself able to bring away all that she required for that day. The exact supply was always ready when she came to obtain it. It was neither too little nor too much; neither too soon nor too late. The supply was definite, in short, though ample. There was no deficiency and no waste; may we not say, too, that there was little or no danger in this case of the supply becoming too little by robbery or by fraud? Who could steal that which the widow only obtained when and as she required it, and for immediate use? At the same time there was fully sufficient to supply every one whom God intended to supply. The widow and her household, and her holy guest, 'did eat of it many days.' There was exactly as much, therefore, day by day as was required day by day by the little company in that house: exactly that, I say, and no more. The river of God's gracious bounty never overflowed its channel in this case on the one hand, and never ran dry on the other. It is also to be observed that the supply lasted for so long, but no longer. When the river we have spoken of had done its work then it ceased, like the brook Cherith, mentioned in the seventh verse of this chapter. The barrel of meal, we read, was not to waste, neither was the cruse of oil to fail, until the day that the Lord should send rain upon the earth. But when the promised rain had descended on the earth, and had caused it to bring forth and bud, and so to supply meal and oil in the usual and ordinary manner. then this unusual and extraordinary source of supply was cut off. We see, therefore, that this miraculous provision was not only exact in amount, it was exact also in duration. As long as it was required it continued; so soon as it was not required then it ceased. The miraculous gift to the widow was only continued till there was a non-miraculous supply in its stead. So soon as the exceptional plan had accomplished its purpose, then the ordinary plan was resumed. We are not to suppose, however, that there was in reality any In God's miraculous works, and in His opposition between them. non-miraculous dealings, it is the method only that differs. The principle is the same. This I desire next to point out. Consider, for example, those promises which God has given to His believing children with regard to their temporal wants, and which promises He fulfils by the deep wisdom and power of His ordinary providential arrangements. You may discover exactly the same principle in these as in the miraculous instance of our text. 'Bread shall be given him,' writes the prophet of the man that 'walketh righteously;'‘his waters shall be sure.' But he does not promise him, you observe, anything more. He does not say that he may reckon on the finest of the wheat.' So again the Psalmist writes, "They that fear the Lord shall not lack anything that is good.' And once more he says, 'The Lord is my shepherd, therefore I shall not want.' And so the Apostle writes in the New Testament, My God shall supply all your need.' But he does not say that God will do more than supply it. There is to be no lack, indeed, but no excess; just as in the house of this widow- no superfluity, and at the same time no defect. And according to the tenor of these promises, so is to be that of our prayers: 'Give us day by day our daily bread:' for each day, that is, as it comes; not to-morrow's bread before we require it, nor yet the bread of past days when too late. Let us, therefore, be both comforted and cautioned if we are really looking to Christ for salvation as to these temporal things. Let us see how much to desire, and at the same time how much to expect. We may expect just the same, we perceive, in this matter as God promises in our text-enough for the full extent, and for the whole time of our need; enough for our households as well as ourselves; enough also to enable us to be generous, as the widow was to Elijah. You will never find the righteous, says the Psalmist, forsaken on this point. "Neither the righteous,' he adds, nor his seed.' Let us rely upon it that this is Those that really seek their bread from God shall never need to beg it from man ! true. Let me remind you also that the same principle holds with regard to God's grace. As thy day is so shall thy strength be:' sufficient, that is to say, like our daily bread; but not more than sufficient for each day as it comes. And so the Saviour Himself says, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.' Not more than sufficient, so as to lead to presumption; nor yet less than sufficient, so as to lead to despair: but exactly sufficient; so as to lead to exertion, and through exertion tò success. Let us take unto us, therefore, as another Scripture exhorts us, the whole armour of God, that, having done all, we may stand.' And let us remember what this implies-viz. that we can only stand as saved men, by seeking the whole of God's help; and that we cannot do more than stand when we have. So accurate, we see, are God's gifts! Never less than sufficient to those who really seek to obtain them, and yet only sufficient to those by whom they are sufficiently used! May that be our case! Amen. D DRYBURGH. RYBURGH, 'the Oak Grove,' is ten miles from Kelso and four miles from Melrose. Amid the mingled scenery of river, rock, and mountain, screened by a tall grove of trees, and with a sloping lawn, stretching away in front, are situated the reddish ruins of St. Mary's Abbey of Premonstratensian or White Canons, embosomed in a wood, round which the Tweed makes a crescent-like sweep. In the 6th century a convent occupied the site; but the new house was begun in 1150 by Hugh de Maville, constable of Scotland, lord of Lauderdale, and his wife Beatrice. It was colonised from Alnwick; and David I. is claimed as a co-founder. When the army of Edward II. was on its retreat the imprudent brotherhood went out and jeered the English soldiers, who in return burned their abbey over their ears. This circumstance will account for the intermixture of a later style with the original Norman architecture. Richard II. set it on fire in one of his forays; and in 1544 Sir G. Bowes and Sir B. Layton, at the head of 700 men, once more burned the abbey, saving the church only. St. The ground plan was cruciform, the nave and choir had aisles, the transept had an eastern aisle; and there was a presbytery 36 ft. long in the place of a Lady Chapel. The chapter-house, refectory, kitchen, and dormitories, are Transitional Norman, the choir and transept were Early English, and the nave, measuring 190 ft. by 75 ft., was Early Decorated. The chapter-house, 47 ft. by 23 ft. and 20 ft. in height, has a double circle in the floor to mark the founder's grave. Mary's aisle is the north aisle of the choir, and occupies two bays. In it Sir Walter Scott was buried on September 26th, 1832. A fragment of the presbytery wall is still standing. There are many ruined portions of the conventual buildings remaining-the kitchen, library, dormitory, porter's lodge, cloisters, some dungeon cells, and the west gable of the refectory on the south, once 100 ft. by 30 ft. and 60 ft. high, now mantled with ivy but pierced by a beautiful marigold which is still perfect. MABEL'S PICTURES. YOUR eyes, my little Mabel, Are filled with purest glee; I don't know how to read.' I thought, 'tis so with Nature; And yet, like blue-eyed Mabel, In cloud, and rock, and leaf; Of all the glorious lessons We might have learned below! A A GALLANT DEED. ¡LL was confusion and anxiety at the farm on the morning after the fire. Besides the serious illness of poor Dinah, there were other causes of trouble and alarm. As the doctor was leaving, Farmer Yeatman had walked down to the gate with him, and they had some serious talk about the events of the night before, and the burning of the rick, which, the farmer felt convinced, had been a wilful and malicious outrage. Dr. Fenton quite agreed with him that two such occurrences on succeeding nights could not have been the result of accident, and then it suddenly crossed his mind that he might possibly throw some light on the subject. 6 By-the-by, Mr. Yeatman,' said he, when young Ridley was driving me over here this morning, we passed a group of most suspicious-looking men, standing together up by that old barn at Tollards. They certainly can't have been there for any good purpose at that early hour; why, it was scarcely light! Do you know that, after these determined attacks upon you, I should fear more mischief; and if I were in your place, I would lose no time in getting some help from Mere to protect your place.' 'Do'ee really think they scoundrels will try again, doctor?' asked Farmer Yeatman, in some dismay. 'I've no doubt they will; especially from all one hears about the state of feeling through the country. If I were you, my good friend, I'd take some steps about it at once. The yeomanry were called out a week ago, so Canon Ashton told me when I met him one day. By the way, is he down here now? He'd be just the man to give you sensible advice.' 'No, indeed, or I'd have sent up to his house last night. It's his turn at the Cathedral now, so he's staying in the Close.' 'Well, so much the better; for if he's on the spot there, he'll know where to go, and what to do for you. Can't you send a man off on horseback with a note to him begging him to see about some police, or soldiers if possible? You really ought to have protection in this lonely place before another night.' Such had been the conversation, which had sent the poor man back to his home with a heavy heart. What should he do? he asked himself again and again. His first instinct was always to consult his wife in any emergency, but at this present moment he felt that he must decide for himself, as she had already as much trouble and anxiety as she could bear, for she could not leave her sick daughter. Poor Dinah had been moved upstairs to her own little room, away from the many sounds of the farmyard, as the doctor had emphatically repeated that perfect rest and quietness was the only chance for her. So she lay tossing about on her bed, in the delirium of fever, but not able to endure that her mother should leave her side for a single moment. It was the remembrance of that sick-room which haunted the poor father and added so grievously to his anxiety. He thought of the doctor's words, and felt there was truth in them, for, should another outrage of any kind be attempted at the farm, there could |