man, and he arose and drove him forth with blows into the wilderness.

9. And at midnight God called upon Abraham saying, "Abraham, where is the stranger?"

10. And Abraham answered and said, "Lord, he would not worship thee, neither would he call upon thy name; therefore I have driven him out before my face into the wilderness."

11. And God said, "Have I borne with him these hundred ninety and eight years, and clothed him, notwithstanding his rebellion against me; and couldst not thou, that art thyself a sinner, bear with him one night?"

12. And Abraham said, "Let not the anger of the Lord wax hot against his servant; lo, I have sinned; forgive me, I pray thee."

13. And Abraham arose, and went forth into the wilderness, and sought diligently for the man, and found him, and returned with him to the tent; and when he had entreated him kindly, he sent him away on the morrow with gifts.

14. And God spake unto Abraham, saying, "For this thy sin shall thy seed be afflicted four hundred years in a strange land.

15. "But for thy repentance will I deliver them; and they shall come forth with power and gladness of heart, and with much substance."

ON BROTHERLY LOVE

1. In those days there was no worker of iron in all the land. And the merchants of Midian passed by with their camels, bearing spices, and myrrh, and balm, and wares of iron.

2. And Reuben bought an ax of the Ishmaelite merchants, which he prized highly, for there was none in his father's house.

3. And Simeon said unto Reuben his brother, "Lend me, I pray thee, thine ax." But he refused, and would not.

4. And Levi also said unto him, "My brother, lend me, I pray thee, thine ax;" and he refused him also.

5. Then came Judah unto Reuben, and entreated him, saying, “Lo, thou lovest me, and I have always loved thee; do not refuse me the use of thine ax."

6. But Reuben turned from him, and refused him likewise.

7. Now it came to pass that Reuben hewed timber on the bank of the river, and his ax fell therein, and he could by no means find it.

8. But Simeon, Levi, and Judah had sent a messenger after the Ishmaelites with money, and had bought for themselves each an ax.

9. Then came Reuben unto Simeon, and said, "Lo,

I have lost mine ax, and my work is unfinished; lend me thine, I pray thee."

10. And Simeon answered him, saying, "Thou wouldst not lend me thine ax, therefore will I not lend thee mine."

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11. Then he went unto Levi, and said unto him, 'My brother, thou knowest my loss and my necessity; lend me, I pray thee, thine ax."

12. And Levi reproached him, saying, "Thou wouldst not lend me thine ax when I desired it; but I will be better than thou, and will lend thee mine."

13. And Reuben was grieved at the rebuke of Levi, and, being ashamed, turned from him, and took not the ax, but sought his brother Judah.

14. And, as he drew near, Judah beheld his countenance as it were covered with grief and shame; and he prevented him, saying, "My brother, I know thy loss; but why should it trouble thee? Lo, have I not an ax that will serve both thee and me? Take it, I pray thee, and use it as thine own."

15. And Reuben fell on his neck, and kissed him, with tears, saying, "Thy kindness is great, but thy goodness in forgiving me is greater. Thou art indeed my brother, and whilst I live will I love thee.”

16. And Judah said, "Let us also love our other brethren; behold, are we not all of one blood?"

17. And Joseph saw these things, and reported them to his father Jacob.

18. And Jacob said, "Reuben did wrong, but he repented; Simeon also did wrong; and Levi was not altogether blameless.

19. "But the heart of Judah is princely. Judah hath the soul of a king. His father's children shall bow down before him, and he shall rule over his brethren." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

NOBILITY

TRUE worth is in being, not seeing
In doing each day that goes by
Some little good -not in the dreaming
Of great things to do by and by.
For whatever men say in their blindness,
And spite of the fancies of youth,
There's nothing so kingly as kindness,
And nothing so royal as truth.

We get back our mete as we measure
We cannot do wrong and feel right;
Nor can we give pain and gain pleasure,
For justice avenges each slight.

The air for the wing of the sparrow,
The bush for the robin and wren;

But always the path that is narrow

And straight, for the children of men.

We cannot make bargains for blisses,
Nor catch them like fishes in nets;
And sometimes the thing our life misses,
Helps more than the thing that it gets.
For good lieth not in pursuing,

Nor gaining of great or of small,
But just in the doing; and doing

As we would be done by, is all.

Through envy, through malice, through hating,
Against the world early and late,

No jot of our courage abating

Our part is to work and to wait.

And slight is the sting of his trouble
Whose winnings are less than his worth;

For he who is honest is noble,

Whatever his fortunes or birth.

- ALICE CARY.

TACT AND TALENT

TALENT is something, but tact is everything. Talent is serious, sober, grave, and respectable; tact is all that, and more too. It is not a sixth sense, but it is the life of all the five. It is the open eye, the quick ear, the judging taste, the keen smell, and the lively touch; it is the interpreter of all riddles, the surmounter of all difficulties, the remover of all