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y ^ 12 THE PRESBYTEFTA Devotional and Selections BE STRONG. By Maitbie D. Babcock. Be strong! We are not here to play, to dream, to drift. We have hard work to do, and loads to lift. Shun not the struggle; face it. 'Tis G-U s gift. Be strong! Say not the days are evil,?who's to blame? And fold the hands and acquiesce?O shame! Stand up, speak out, and bravely in God's name. Be strong! It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong, How hard tha battle goes, the day how long. Faint not, fight onJ tomorrow come3 the song. YOUR DESTINY. Your destiny God has placed in your hands, despite all' that your environments may be. Compa/e the grand old man, Gladstone, one of England's ex-premiers, with Rosebery. What makes the difference? Simply the difference in their ambitions when young men. ao it is in all nations and in all conditions. Compare John with Judas Iscariot, Paul with Demetrius, Luther with Cardinal Wolsey, Washington with Napoleon, Jefferson with Aaron Burr. The difference in all these, and the difference in their fame is all determined by the difference in their highest ambitions. Joseph's first and highest ambition was to be true to God, and it led him up to the premiership of Egypt, although the way did lie through a dungeon. Daniel's highest ambition was to be true to his convictions of duty to God, and it led him to the premiership of t!:^ Babylonish empire. These are but striking instances of how truly God does take care of the young men whose highest ambition is fidelity to truth and righteousness. And this is as true in the case of the humblest as it is in the case 9f the young men of wealth and noble birth.?Religious Telescope. OUR RESOURCES. \vith the resources of a bank account no man should starve. He can have at will that with which to procure bread. Is it not more sublimely true that the * Christian has the resources of the Eternal at his command.? He can have at will that with which to procure peace, joy and rest amid all the turmoil and excitement 4.u:? a wt'.iu ?,1 U1 111 Id UllS^ WUIIU. Willi UIl 1IU131 clllll Sll 111 UI till earthly battle waging around him, the Christian can stop, if he will, and hear instead thereof "the deep and musical sound of the ocean of eternity and see the lights of heaven shining on its waters still and fair in their radiant rest." You have a Shepherd of your souls who, while you are surrounded by the heavy cloud and darkness of severe trial or bereavement, is far more solicitous for your welfare than you can possibly be. Why, ttipn allow thr? trial tr> nvprrnmp vnii ? Tf Clod hf? for you, who or what can be against you? The eternal God, a loving Father, is at your side waiting to help you. Oh, believe it, and in that faith the radiance of heaven will drive from your heart the cloud and darkness. Your N OF THE SOUTH. March 3, 1909. trial, your hard duty, your great responsibility, your grievous burden, may still be there, but, 0I1, how transformed ! The power of the Eternal enters your inmost nature to make you strong and brave and divinely patient. You have taken up your cross, and what seemed impossible to bear is borne with a tranquility which the world cannot know, for his yoke is easy and his burden light.?Dr. Lunn, in Christian Intelligencer. THE WELCOME. We all as suppliants must make our way into the presence of the great King, but there is 110 doubt as to the welcome which awaits us. There is no doubt of our acceptance; the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ constitute an attire which carries invincible argument with it. For us the golden scepter is extended ; for us there is the smile of welcome; for us there is the promise to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. But when we have the ear of the King, let us see to it that we plead not for ourselves, but for others; let us pour out our heart in intercession and supplication; let us secure for dying men, by our faith and sacrifice, the hastening of the coming of the day of God.?F. B. Meyer. PRAYER FOR THE SCHOOLS. It is proper and a "bounden duty" that prayer be offered in every church and in every home for the bless;n^ n^A tu.. ?:iu ?. ui vjuu. x iic miiuuiis who are 01 scnooi age and the vast multitude of teachers alone call for the prayers of the people. The fact that these pupils are at the character-forming age is a command to us to seek for the teachers the wisdom necessary to give proper training and guidance, and for the pupils the spirit of study and obedience. The school is the adjunct to the family. From the nursery the children go to the care and moulding power of the teachers. Parents in the home give the first impulses; the teachers follow closely and give shape and character to the life. The pupils of today will be the me n and women of tomorrow They come quickly into all the duties, powers and responsibility of life in the home, in society and in the nation. The subsequent life is simply the working out of the principles instilled and the habits formed in the home and the school. A very large number of those who attend the schools come from homes in which there has been no moral training. Poverty, intemperance, irreligion and vice are the primary classes from which many enter the public school. They are placed under the cane of those who, if competent and faithful, may overcome these first evils and give new direction to life. Again many are from homes of purity and Christian grace. Their first knowledge of the larger world is in the school in contact with some who have not had such training. Tt 5c - *?i -1? - .c w, me icatiicrs iu inrow around them the protection of a pure, Christian life, a warm heart and great personal power. Upon no class do greater responsibilities rest than those assumed by our teachers. Our prayer, therefore, should be earnest and persevering that every one may be competent in moral power as