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28 THE The Family THE USE OF FLOWERS. God might have made the earth bring forth Enough for great and small, "The oak tree and the cedar tree, Without a flower at all. We might have had enough, enough, XT' ? " r ?ji every warn, oi OUTS, For luxury, medicine, and toil And yet have had no flowers. Then wherefore, wherefore were they made, All dyed with rainbow light, All fashioned with supremest grace, Upspringing day and night? Springing in valleys green and low, And on the mountains high, And in the silent wilderness Where no man passes by? Our outward life requires them not? Then wherefore had they birth?? To minister delight to man, To beautify the earth; To comfort man?to whisper hope, Wh pno'or hie foith io AI tv? For who so careth for the flowers Will care much more for him! THE COWARD. Among the other girls, strong, steadynerved young creatures who could play tennis all the afternoon and dance gaily through recreation hour in the evening after it, who were afraid of nothing that walked, ran or crawled, and emerged from private Interviews, known to be uncomplimentary in nature, with careless serenity and unconcern?among girls like these delicate lttile Peggy Carew, who was afraid of cows, blanched at the sight of a grass-snake, and trembled if a teacher frowned at her, was held in a sort of contemptuous alTection. TU/v ?1~ 1 ? *? * iic Birio iu?ea reggy wunout question ?people always did. But it was a pity she was such a little coward. Most of all, Peggy's roommate, "Tony" Vanderwater, felt the humiliation of it, and worked unceasingly to teach Peggy how to brace up. Peggy?who adored Tony? would acknowledge her cowardice and promise to try; but the sight of* a spider In the corner of the room would shake all the color from her lips. Then Harriet Davenport appeared and at once became the rage. Principal and teachers discussed the case anxiously, but mere seemed nothing to do. Her influence was bad, but so long as it declared itself by a subtle lowering of the whole moral tone of the school rather than by any definite acts, there was nothing to do Kllf malf Meantime, Harriet's authority grew steadily. Not all the girls liked her, but they all feared her clever sarcasm, and even the best of them, dreading her laughter, shrank from openly opposing her. Then came the night of her "spread." There had been spreads before, but never one like Harriet's. Last of all, she produced two bottles of champagne. The girls glanced at each other. They did not like it, yet as Harriet was hostess, and PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOUTE after the treat she had given them?and of course it was just for once? That was when the thunderbolt fell. Peggy Carew, white-faced and trembling, looked straight at Harriet. "I can't, Harriet. I care more for my father than any one in the world?and he trusts nie." Instantly Tony was standing beside her. "Count me out, too, Harriet. I'm with Peggy," she declared. And then in a rush the others followed; it was a virtual stampede?not all Harriet's mockery could recall them. In a moment her kingdom had collapsed. Up in their room Tony hugged Peggy ecstatically. "And I called you a coward!" she cried. "O Peggy, I'll never forgive myself!" "But I am!" Peggy renlied. in amaze ment. "YOU'RE A BRICK." ? Some time ago I heard the following address to the young people at the church I usually attend, and thinking it would interest other boys and girls, who had not the opportunity of hearing it, I asked the minister to write it out. This he was good enough to do, and here it is: "My text for you this morning is not to be found in your Bible, though I dare say you have all heard it before. The other day I heard some one say to a boy who had done a kind and manly deed, 'Herbert, you're a brick!' and that's mv text?'You're a brick!' 'Oh,' you will say, 'that's slang, and we must not use slang!' Well, I think you will agree with me when I have finished that this, if it is slang, will not do you any harm at all. "I am going to tell you where this phrase came from. It was used a very long time ago by a Spartan king, whose name was Agesilaus. We are told that there visited him an ambassador from another part of Greece, and the king showed him the wonders of Sparta. Now, this ambassador had heard how great and mighty a man the king was, and he expected to see the towns surrounded by great high walls and towers to keep off the attacks of the enemy. And he found none at all. So he said to the king: 'Oh, king, I have visited the towns over you rule, and though I have looked, yet have I seen no walls to defend them against an enemy. I am amazed.' 'Why,' said the king, 'you have not looked carefully enough, Sir Ambassador; come again tomorrow morning, and I will show you the walls of Sparta.' And the ambassador went away more surprised than ever, and was very curious the next morning when he returned to meet the king. "Then the king led him out down the plains, where his army was drawn up in full battle array, with their spears and their shields shining in the sunlight. Pointing to the battle lines, he said proudly to the ambassador: 'There, sir, thou beholdest the walls of Sparta?ten thousand men, and every man a brick!'? o?oijr uiau a. untit?every man loyal and true, ready to defend his country and fight for his king. "And so my text is, 'You're a brick,' and I say it to every boy and girl here. I want you each to be a 'brick,' to be loyal and brave, and true?not to the king of Sparta, but to the King of kings, to God ?fighting for him and defending his ? name. You remember when Jesus came [. January 6, 1909. to earth, men expected him to build a great throne and to establish himself as King of the Jews. But Jesus said: 'No, I .will not build a throne, nor a city of bricks or stone. My kingdom is made up of men and women, boys and girls, and I will reign in their hearts. My kingdom is within you." Jesus relies on every boy and girl to defend his cause, to be loyal to his kingdom, to be his walls of defense. "I want you, then, to take this text away with you, and when any one says to you, because of some kind deed you have done, 'You're a brick,' remember that you really are; for Jesus has chosen you to be loyal and true to his cause, and to his kingdom. Every kind word, good deed, loving thought; every battle against sin, temper, disobedience?all these will please your King and win for you a crown of eternal life."?The Australian Christian World. TWO WAYS OF GETTING UP. When we tumble out of the right side of the bed, How bright the sun shines overhead! How good our breakfast tastes?and, O! How happily to school we go! And o'er the day what peace is shed? When we tumble out of the right side of the bed! Wnen we tumble out of the wrong side of the bed, How dusky the sky frowns overhead! HOW dull our lessons hero KfAco mothers, How perfectly horrid our sisters and brothers! (And they all say, too, it's our fault, Instead!) When we tumble out of the wrong side of the bed. ?The Outlook. THE GREATEST GIVING. Imperial giving is not measured by the purse but by the heart. Some men have gained a reputation in the world by the magnitude of their gifts. They are commonly spoken of as "great givers." But who says so? The greatest giving upon wnicn we nave tne Divine mind is that of a woman who gave two mites. It is time that churches especially came to their senses in this matter of estimating gifts. For the great work of the world and the Kingdom is not going to be done by a few huge gifts, each tagged with the giver's name, but by the steady, systematic offerings, out of grateful, humble hearts, from a host of faithful people. It is not in the power of the richest man on earth to pay the bills of organized Christianity for a single year.?W. T. Ellis. WHEN JESUS IS WITH US. When Jesus sits in the ship everything is in its right place. The cargo is in the hold, not in the cabin. Cares and gains, fears and losses, yesterday's failure and today's success do not thrust themselves in between us and his presence. The heart cleaves to him. "Goodness and mercy shall follow me," said the psalmist. Alas, when the goodness and mercy come before us, and our blessings shut Jesus from view! Here is the blessed order? the Lord ever first, I following him, his goodness and mercy following me.?Mark Guy Pearse.