to the man himself?—I do not mean to the man's success in life, or to his reputation in the world, but to his real self, his inward character.

First, men have a habit of expressing at once whatever crude notions come into their minds. They cannot keep their thoughts. They are sent forth in words before they have sufficient completeness to form the foundation of any action. As such, they come under Christ's definition of idle words; that is, they are workless, if I may coin that word. One result of this incontinence of thought is that the man never does anything. Work only flows from an idea, and an idea is the result of a number of thoughts accumulating in silence, and fitting themselves into harmony. But when cach unconnected and crude thought is at once expressed in words, it is lost; the idea is never formed, and the man can never truly act. He remains to the end a mere maker of noise.

his own mouth he is judged.

Out of

Again, we should also look after our public words for our own sake. A thought or feeling once expressed in public is often bound by expression upon the character. As long as it is unexpressed, the man feels that he may alter it, modify it, change it altogether for another. Expressed, there are many who feel that they have given a bond to the public.

The cry of consistency comes into play. Weak men cannot resist that cry, and it often happens that they really alter their views, but continue to support the old opinions because they fear the charge of inconsistency. Such men should, above all, cherish silence, eschew idle speech, for no degradation of character is like that which follows on continual support in words of that which is a lie to the conscience. In this case idle words ruin character, and we see again what Christ means when he says: "By your words ye are condemned."

And this extends farther than this particular case. All idle, drifting, meaningless talk makes an idle, drifting, meaningless character; for it exhausts force. No power of performance is left to you Then when God comes to judgment, and asks you what you have done, you can only instance words. By your words you are condemned.

Moreover, it has been said that "all loose tongues are akin to lying ones, are insincere at the best." It is partly true. He who speaks and writes the common commonplaces, the common cant, the common plausibilities, who seeks, not the approving witness of his own heart and conscience to that which he says, but the applause of men, soon grows unreal and false of soul. He cannot help it. The only remedy for him is silence-silent effort to grasp

a few thoughts, to get hold of a few facts, to realize a few principles, to do a few true deeds. Then he may speak. For then, when he is inwardly true, outwardly active, he can speak and write truly and vividly, and only then.

Lastly, we are given in the speaker of these words a high example of what words should be. "Never man spake like this man," said his enemies. Why? Because never man had so fruitful a silence as this man. Thirty years of maturing of principles and not one word. Think of that. Never man Why? Because never man

spake like this man. acted like this man; not a word was spoken which had not already been put into action. Never man spake like this man. Why? Because never man loved truth as this man loved it, out of entire, unshaken conviction. He spoke, and men felt in his words-authority. Never man spake like this man! Why. Because never man loved his fellowmen like Christ. He felt the solemnity of speech. He knew the power of words on men, and not one word was spoken by him without a purpose of love to the race. So it was that he could say, and justly say, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." Drink deep of that spirit of his, the spirit of wise silence till you have matured principles; the spirit of vigorous and

faithful action till you are able to speak of what you have done; the spirit of the love of truth, the spirit of love to men, and then speak-utter the facts you have learned, write the thoughts which God has given you, and you will not only bless the world from generation to generation, but also add force to your own character by noble expression of noble thought; and when the judgment is to be pronounced on your life by Him in whose spirit you have lived and spoken, it will come in these words: "My servant, by your words you are justified."

THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS

"A certain man had two sons: and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.

"He answered and said, I will not; but afterward he repented, and went.

"And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.

"Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first."-MATTHEW xxi. 28–31.

MEN say that second thoughts are best. The proverb is only half true. Whether second thoughts are best depends on the character of those who think them. First thoughts, in fine characters, are, perhaps, the best of all, but then in this world it is not always possible to act at once on thoughts. I wish it were, for the march of humanity would then be much quicker. But it may not be wise, in this half-world, for us to get along so fast: at any rate, there are not many characters who act at once on first thoughts. The greater number of people take the difficulty or the duty, and sleep upon it, as they say; and when they have looked at all the results they think will come,