single household heroes and heroines may be found? Mostly heroines, perhaps; patient and worn wives and mothers and sisters, "without a hope on earth to find a mirror in an answering mind;" "meek souls" who live and "little deem their daily strife an angel's theme." Household martyrs-patient, gentle, kindly; loving, amid coldness or hate; ever set aside, yet ever to the fore; overlooked, yet indispensable to those about them; bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things. And these are they who are, for the most part, so truly heroic, that they have no knowledge of their heroism. They do but do their duty, and if a word of appreciation from some outsider should come, it is received with no simulated surprise.

"If their own life plaudits bring,

They're simply vexed and hurt, that such
An easy, yea, delighfal thing,

Should move the hearts of men so much."

Theirs is something of the unconscious heroism of a dog. Your dog gets you your water-lily, not that you may write a poem about it, but because it saw that you wished for it. If a pat or a kind word come, that is indeed reward, appreciated, though not exacted. If it floats with its dead master down yellow Tiber, holding him up with its paws as long as it can, it did it not that man might write its praise for the generations to come, but only because of the simple faithfulness and love of its canine heart. Gelert could die, never regretting his service, though dying too soon for the torrent of repentant words. And that other dog, noting the fall from the saddle of its master's bag of money, and giving him no peace, when he wished to ride on his way, so that, thinking it to be mad, he turned his grieved face away and shot his importunate servant-well, when the master, suddenly perceiving his loss, turned back, and, tracking the dog by his blood, found that he had crawled back to keep watch beside the bag, what did he find? Not resentment, nor consciousness of nobility. No; only simple service unto death, and loving dogeyes still, and a grateful licking of the mistaken, caressing hand, and much content to find his trust relieved, as he turned him on his side and died.

To go once more from dogs to man. The Iron Duke's single thought of duty has been already spoken of. Not only in command, however, but in the ranks, all true soldiers, we love to say, not without good grounds, pre-eminently the British soldier-is animated by the true heroism which looks at duty as a thing apart from praise.

"Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die, Into the valley of death, Rode the Six Hundred."

And this reliability is not a mere matter of animal courage. It is something more than that. "We have done that which was our duty to do;" thus it would sum up its performance at the end.

"When the Birkenhead went down," as we were recently reminded, "everybody knows how splendidly the soldiers behaved. The Duke of Wellington, a very short time before his death, referred to the disaster in a speech at the dinner of the Royal

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Academy, and it was noticed at the time that he said nothing about the courage displayed, which he appeared to take for granted, but dwelt exclusively upon the admirable discipline which had been maintained."

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Nor is it only soldiers who may be thus matter-ofcourse, unpraised, unconscious heroes. Here is a brief account, cut from the Standard, of one. see, not so much as his name is given. But it is written in the roll-call of heroes, for all that. "Three men who were engaged yesterday in clearing out a drain at the Pennywell Rodd Tannery, Bristol, were found by a labourer, working on the top, to have succumbed to the effects of the foul air. They were lying in the bottom of the drain quite helpless. The labourer jumped into the hole and lifted the three men out, although he, too, was nearly overcome by the fumes."

But now must not all self-consciousness, in even the most heroic life, find a wholesome check in that saying of the Master, "When ye have done all that is commanded you"? If the bravest, best, most faithful glow of self-complacency give place to the blush of human service be tested by this test, must not the shame? Ah, surely it is for the Master to praise, if grievously imperfect and inadequate, was yet earnest He graciously deigns to do so, service that, howsoever service, service sadly felt to be unworthy, yet the offering of true love: a willing heart, though the flesh was weak. Self-consciousness, if it be not leagued with self-deceit, must lead to self-abasement. The heart must be humbled, that finds always great things done feebly, and wise things done foolishly, and right things much alloyed with wrong in the doing them. And some hearts are even over-sensitive of this, and serve with a heavy spirit, while they yet serve with their might. Yet they shall be counted as heroes, doubtless, who, against odds, sometimes faint, often wounded, but never giving in, "alone uphold the day."

These need encouragement, but others, warning. Let them thus consider of the thing. A man has a man's work to do, and a man's power with which to do it. Whatsoever his hand findeth to do, he is expected to do it with his might.

But, as a matter of fact, the most part of men are unfaithful to their trust, or at least, do slack tively few that are true and leal become marked service, not working heartily. service, not working heartily. Thus the compara

men. Let us remember that if all were true men, none would be beyond others, heroes, though there would be yet differences-leaders, and rank and fileaccording to the more or less talents committed to each.

May we not learn a lesson from the way in which the angels do God's work? Can we imagine surprise, even applause, among them, at the mere performance of delightful duty? But we are not as they are, who excel in strength. We seem to excel in weakness, and so strength among us, at all, is prized and praised. Surely, then, now is our special opportunity for work which the King shall count to be heroic, although we tender it with shame. And though our own strength be weakness, yet we may dare and endure. For He hath said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," and "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

THE public life and career of James Garfield, from the log hut to the White House, will form a bright page in history. But there are special lessons to be gathered from his religious character. His parents were God-fearing people, and their home, though humble, was consecrated by the Divine presence. The father died when James was young, but the pious mother brought up her children in the love of the Saviour, and in the ways of truth and righteousness. There are many incidents remembered and recorded, proving that the good seed, sown in faith, bore good fruit.

His early years were passed in hard labour, and in adventurous employment of various kinds. Ho had for a time a hankering after the sca, but gave this up in deference to his mother's wish. She objected also to his being engaged in a canal boat, from fear of the evil company into which he would be thrown. He left that employment, but he had caught a malarial fever, which prostrated him for five months. It was a time of searching of heart, and the mother's prayers and pleadings were earnest. Not long after his recovery he yielded himself to the Saviour, and, as a friend has recorded, "he consecrated body, soul, and spirit to Him, in a conscious act of faith and self-surrender." This was no transient emotion, but the deep working of the Spirit of God in a true and thoughtful mind.

He joined a Christian community, holding the cardinal points of evangelical religion, and of which the distinctive feature was the adoption of the New Testament as the sole rule of faith and practice. In the fellowship of these "Disciples of Christ" he continued, and though not formally set apart for the ministry, he was known as an earnest and effective preacher. Afterwards when he rose to be Principal of Hiram College, where he had been a pupil, it was his custom to begin each day with prayer, reading the Scripture, and an address, seeking to exert good influence on the students. Elected a State Senator at the of twenty-eight, he carried into public life the same high and consistent Christian character. When the Civil War broke out, he thought it his duty to take an active part on the side of what he regarded the cause of justice and right, of civilisation and liberty. In 1863, he entered Congress as one of the represen tatives of Ohio, and held the seat till his election as President.

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Many illustrations of his religions character appear in the records of his life, but we have space now to mention only two characteristic incidents. When the nation was startled by the terrible tidings of the assassination of President Lincoln, a deep feeling arose for vengeance on the South, whose leaders were supposed to have instigated the murder. Garfield was in New York at the time. A mass meeting was being held, when a telegram from Washington was read: "Seward is dying." A tumult portending vengeance agitated the crowd. At this crisis the voice of Garfield was heard: "Fellow citizens, Clouds and darkness are round about Him. His pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne. Mercy and truth shall go before His face. Fellow citizens, God reigns; and

the government at Washington still lives." These pious and patriotic words stilled the tumult of the people. They were words simple yet sublime, and their power was felt throughout the nation.

The other incident was mentioned by Bishop Simpson at the meeting of Americans at Exeter Hall. At the Convention at Chicago, when the Republican party were selecting their candidate for the Presidency, Garfield was one of the leading men of the assembly, though his name had never been mentioned for nomination. The day before the decision was the Sabbath, and he went to the house of a friend, away from the excitement of political strife, and worshipped in an obscure little church of the denomination to which he belonged. "Them that honour me I will honour." Although the high position to which he was called by the voice of the nation exposed him to danger, it raised him to an clevation from which his character, noble by nature and doubly ennobled by grace, has been displayed before the whole world, and will exert an influence in all time.

On the day of the funeral of the President a special service was held in London at St. Martin'sin-the-Fields, which was attended by Mr. Lowell, the American Minister, and many American citizens. The Archbishop of Canterbury delivered an address, which gave expression to the general feeling in England, and touched all hearts. After a noble tribute to the President's character, and a review of his career, he thus concluded :—

"And now, my brethren from the other side of the Atlantic, and all of us, what lessons have we to learn from this mourning which has brought us all together so remarkably this day? Families disunited are often said to be brought together by some comnion sorrow. Thank God, we are not disunited, but we may be brought better to understand and love each other by our union in this common sorrow. There are many bonds to keep us together. The same blood, the same tongue, the same literature, each of us enjoying the privilege which the literature of the one race gives to the other; science in each

country lending its aid to develop the industry, the prosperity, each other. We know here in England, my American friends, and the happiness of both. We have learned to appreciate your boundless hospitality shown to ourselves or our sons who have visited you and who have received from you a welcome as of relations near in blood. But our union above all must be based upon our common Christianity. We know that the Lord God Almighty has committed to us a trust-beyond the trust He has given to any other nations of the world-to carry through the boundaries of the human race a civilisation founded upon Christianity.

"Let us learn that this union is the only true union to keep us really together in the dark ages that may be in store for the human race; that individual, family, social, or political life must all have its cement in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some may think that from this country there goes forth at times an uncertain sound as to religion, and that we have received uncertain sounds from over the Atlantic, but the heart of both nations, thank God, is still truly Christian, and in the ages that are before us may the Lord teach us both more distinctly to recognise the priceless value of the common guide, which alone can safely lead both nations in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."