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March 10, 1909. THE PRESBYTERI
ELECTION.
Margaret Grant.
"God having out of his mere good pleasure, from all
eternity, elected some to everlasting life."
D'Arcv was a leader of men, a soldier, and a student
of human nature. A difficult mission had been entrusted
to him, but one which gave promise of success,
success such as would mean a great deal to the government
and everything to D'Arcy's future career. The
command of such an enterprise showed in what high
esteem he was held by his chiefs; but men were needed,
picked men, willing men, tnen who would count the
cost in cold blood and shoulder the responsibilities and
risks. ...
lllo anneal wnc mnrle tlm mo,i>aro * "
?i-i v..v iiivii %v v>l v. ^ i \ t i 1 l 11 1 iiiui iiing
to think it over, as many as it was possible to
muster were needed, but all must go of their own free
will.
That night in his tent D'Arcy calmly made out a
list of the men who would volunteer, for as has been
said before, lie knew his men.
Next motning the volunteers formed in line; not one
man whose name appeared on D'Arcy's list was missing.
A slight disturbance seemed to be going on at
the far end of the line, some of the non-volunteers were
trying to persuade a pian to quit the line while he had
41,^ _! i i - ?
mo* tiidutc. icn simpiy ne \vipeci out, cried one,
"no one would ever expect you to join."
Just then D'Arcv came up. "What's all this, Mullally?
Not expect you to join? Why, man, your name
heads a little list I made out last night of men I knew
I could depend on. I know you, Mullally."
"Faith, he must know me better than I know mesilf,
thin, for I was a-saysawin' up and down, half the night
a-tryin' to decide which would be the worst, seem* the
bv's goin' widout me, or seciii* them come back widout
me."
D'Arcy's mission was successful. He and his men
#
returned, having covered themselves with glory. But
what about the men who did not go? Could they
blame D'Arcy because they were not honored with the
others? Would thev not hnvn felt thrmcelvec A-orv
- J * ~ "" * v1/
much aggrieved had he forced them to go? I expect
it one could have read their thoughts they would have
run thus: "What a fool I was not to go! I'd just as
?good a chance of distinguishing myself as that wild
Irishman, Mullally, or any of the others for that matter.
But bother it all, I thought we'd simply be made mince
meat of. That man D'Arcy's a better leader than 1
gave him credit for being, his men all swear by him?
'D'Arcy's Own' they call themselves. I tell you what,
1 11 head the list next chance that offers for covering
??vacii wiin giciciy giory.
But we are not told that there ever was a "next
chance."?Toronto Presbyterian.
It is one thing to wish to have truth ?->n our side, and
another thing to wish to be on the side of truth.
In that glorious likeness of Christ thou wilt be made
rich and find all the solace and sweetness in the world.?
John Tauler.
AN OF THE SOUTH. 13
FRETTING.
There is one sin which is everywhere under-estimated
and quite too much overlooked in valuation of character.
It is the sin of fretting. It is as common as air,
as speech ; so common that, unless it rises above its
usual monotone, we do not even observe it. Watch any
ordinary coming together of people and see how many
minutes it will be before somebody frets; that is, makes
more or less complaining statement of something or
?i- -
ui.iti which, most probably, every one in the room,
or in the car, or on the street corner, it may be, knew
before, and which probably nobody can help. Why
say anything about it? It is cold, it is hot, it is dry;
somebody has broken an appointment, ill-cooked a
meal; stupidity or bad faith has resulted in.discomfort.
There are plenty of things to fret about. It is simply
astonishing how much annoyance may be found in the
course of every day's living, even at the simplest, if one
only keeps a sharp eye out on that side of things. Even
Holy Writ says we are prone to trouble as sparks to
fly upward. But even to the sparks that fly upward, in
the blackest smoke, there is a blue sky above, and the
less time they waste on the road the sooner they will
reach it. Fretting is all time wasted on the road.?
Herald of Peace. ,
WHAT IT COST.
A collier came to me at the close of one of my services,
and said: "I would like to be a Christian, but I
cannot receive what you said tonight." I asked him
why not*. He replied: "I would give anything to believe
that God would forgive my sins, but I cannot believe
that he will forgive them if I just turn to him.
It is too cheap." I looked at him. and said: "My
dear friend, have you been working today?" He looked
at me slightly astonished and said: "Yes, I was
down in the pit, as usual." "How did you eret out
of the pit?" I asked. "The way I usually do. I got
into the cage, and was pulled to the top." "How much
did you pay to come out of the pit?" He looked at
me astonished, and said: "Pay? Of course I didn't
pay anything." I asked him: "Were you not afraid
to trust yourself in that cage? Was it not too cheap?"
"Oh, no,'1 he said, "it was cheap for me, but it cost
the company a lot of money, to sink that shaft." And
without another word the truth of that admission broke
upon hipi, and he saw if he could have salvation without
money and without price, it had cost the infinite
God a great price to sink that shaft and rescue lost
men.?British Weekly.
TRANSFORMING GRACE.
A lady showed Mr. Ruskin one day a beautiful and
costly handkerchief on which a careless hand had
dropped some ink. The lady said that it was now of
no use. Mr. Ruskin put it in his pocket and carried it
away. In a few days he brought it back to her, having
on it a beautiful picture in India ink, with the blot as
its basis. In the same way God often transforms our
mistakes and life blots into adornments of character.?
S. M. H.