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That sentiment and the courage to make the sentiment good have set and will set Booker Washington among the great spirits of the centuries. The most of us doubtless never cease to thank God that we were born to some other race than the Negro, but if a man is born a Negro there is no nobler thing he could say and act upon than just that. It takes a colossal courage to do it. The bigger the task the more the honor there is in undertaking it,-if so be that it is worth the effort. Joseph Ernest McAfee, in World Missions from the Home Base.

Heroic Natures. The heroic nature does not complain of the difficulties of life; it rejoices in them. Its temper rises at the challenge of obstacles, as the war-horse frets at the sound of trumpets. Its abiding faith is that

One crowded hour of glorious life

Is worth an age without a name.

Given the choice of a hard or easy task, it will always choose the hard. That is why so many young men turn away from placid, conventional modes of existence in great cities to the known hardships and the unknown perils of the pioneer in new, untamed lands. They hear the call of the wild, but the most animating note in that call is difficulty. To measure their strength against the sullen hostility of Nature, to dare the forces of flood, fire and hurricane in the waste places of the earth, to take their chances in a high spirit of adventure, to stake their lives upon a chance, this is life indeed! Difficulty is for these men a tonic, that braces them for conquest. A life, so padded with ease that it had no difficulties, would appear to them so flat and tame a life that it would not be worth the living.

We are told that at Trafalgar, while Nelson was exclaiming, "See how that brave fellow Collingwood takes his ships into action," Collingwood was saying, "What would Nelson give to be here!" They understood each other perfectly, those two old heroes; the only rivalry there had ever been between them was for the post of danger. Dr. W. J. Dawson, in "The Book of Courage."

On the Lookout for Something Hard to do. In "Best Things in America" there is an account of a boy by the dreadful name of "Adonijah" who liked immensely to do hard things. The harder his experiences the more enjoyment he seemed to find in getting the better of them. When he was about fourteen he began to look for something hard-gloriously hard-in the doing of which he could help to make life nobler and better. He kept thinking about it and at last made up his mind that there could be no harder place, or one in greater need of fighters for the right, than "out West." He lived in the early days of our country, and the hardest place he found in sunny New Mexico. There he lived and devoted his strength to helping the poor struggling people there. In these days there are hard places still to be filled "out West" and in the middle West and in the East and in the South-all over our land-in home mission work-right where you and I chance to live.

III PATIENCE

All These Things shall be added unto you. This is the promise made by Christ. What was the condition: Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness: that is, wholly follow the Lord, and the best reward shall be yours. Throughout all these five and forty years, Caleb had kept his faith in God, and when the prospect of entering Canaan seemed most remote, he had never faltered in his steadfast purpose to do the will of God. He had that patience which means readiness to bide God's time without doubting God's truth. Blessed are they that wait on God, they shall not wait in vain, Isa. 64.4.

Our Impatience.

The good that is to be we covet now,
We cannot wait for the appointed hour;
Before the fruit is ripe we shake the bough,

And seize the bud that folds away the flower. Phoebe Cary. Be not Impatient at God's Delays. You can make a clock strike before the hour by putting your own hands on it, but it will strike wrong. You can tear the rose-bud open before its time, but you mar the beauty of the rose. So we may spoil many a gift or blessing which God was preparing for us by our own

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eager haste. He is weaving our lives into patterns of beauty and strength. He has a perfect plan for each. Don't pull the threads of life. God's love is the motive of all delay, to give us unexpected and surprising blessings. The Class

mate.

The Patience of Christ. The patience of Christ-what a theme! It would mean the whole life of the Saviour from his boyhood to Calvary. From the time when the first consciousness came to him that he must be about his Father's business, he was schooling his heart into patience. It is the word which best describes his character, his humility, his self-abnegation, his submission to God, his composure of mind, his calm and resolute faith. It is the word also which best describes his whole ministry. He took no short cut to his ends. He was working in the subtle media of human souls, and knew that the gains of character, the ripening of faith, the fruits of the spirit, could only come slowly. He sowed for an eternal harvest.

If our hearts are directed into the patience of Christ, will we not go back to our daily duties with renewed faith, and with a consuming desire to do the will of God in the place where we are? May the Lord direct our hearts into the patience of Christ. Rev. Hugh Black, in a Sermon.

SENTENCE SERMONS

Our deeds still travel with us from afar,

And what we have been makes us what we are. George Eliot.
Difficulties are things which show what men are. Horace Mann.
Patience is the passion of great hearts. Lowell.

"Only the firmest and most constant hearts
God sets to act the stoutest, hardest parts."

To attempt a difficult task is a moral tonic-to achieve it, is a radiant joy. Frederick A. Atkins.

"We may be as good as we please if we please to be good."

Every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort. William James.

"

THE LESSON'S MEANINGS FOR US

You wish to inherit only pleasant memories of the past; are you sowing pleasant memories? Paul looked back over his life and said, "I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith," and then he looked forward and said, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness."

The London Christian Endeavor Federation last year had a special campaign under Dr. F. B. Meyer. "The Utmost for the Highest," was their motto. Their "Resolve," which was repeated throughout their meetings, means that they, like Caleb, were wholly following the Lord. Here it is: I yield myself to thee, Lord Jesus, spirit, and soul, and body, in sorrow or in joy, in the dark or in the light, in life or in death, to be thine only, wholly and for ever. Make the most of me that can be made, for thy glory and for the hastening of thy kingdom. In the power of the Spirit of God, shall not the same "Resolve" rise from all our hearts as we close today our year's course of study?

SUBJECTS FOR BIBLE CLASS DISCUSSION

1. Is the distribution of our land right? See 1 and 2, p. 462.

2. Attaining a vigorous and happy old age. Caleb was vigorous; he had not wasted his strength in anxious thought for the morrow; he was happy; he had kept alive his interest in present events and had much work yet that he longed to do.

WORK TO BE ASSIGNED FOR THE NEXT LESSON

Direct your pupils to bring to class whatever written work you wish prepared. In their Biography of Joshua write Part VII, Distributing the Promised Land.

LESSON XIII-DECEMBER 28

REVIEW-A DAY OF DECISION

Golden Text

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jn. 3.16

HOME DAILY BIBLE READINGS-M. Num. 11.10-18, 24, 25. Moses' Cry for Help. Num. 12. Jealousy and Envy Punished. T. Num. 13.1-3, 25-33. The Report of the Spies. Num. 20.1-13. The Sin of Moses and Aaron. W. Num. 22.2-6; 24:10-19. Balak and Balaam. Rom. 14.7-21. Abstinence for the Sake of Others. T. Dt. 34.1-12. The Death of Moses. Josh. 1.1-9. Joshua, the New Leader. F. Josh. 3.7-17. Crossing the Jordan. Josh. 6.8-11, 14-20. The Fall of Jericho. S. Josh. 7.6-15. The Sin of Achan. Josh. 14.1-14. The Division of the Land. S. John 1.1-18. The word Made Flesh.

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In those first years we scarcely dared to hope for a long residence in this "a land that devoureth the inhabitants thereof." Again and again heat and fever took workers from our ranks. Dr. James Cantine.

"With his magician's wand in his right hand he has struck the rock of nature, and great treasure has poured forth, and the name of the rod and wand is 'private property'.

'Tis not the grapes of Canaan that repay,

But the high faith that failed not by the way. J. R. Lowell. Lord, grant me one suit (prayer), which is this-deny me all suits which are bad for me: when I petition for what is unfitting, O let the King of Heaven make use of his negative voice. Rather let me fast than have quails given with intent that I should be choked in eating them. Thomas Fuller.

We who profess to serve and follow the Lord Jesus Christ should be careful to recognize the responsibility laid upon us to give a good report of the unseen land. Gordon Calthrop.

In the lives of many there comes a moment when we are debarred from the promised land, a moment when it is made clear to us that we are not going to receive that which we had set our heart upon, or make that out of life which we had hoped to make. And God makes known to us the cause of it, what incapacity is in us, or what unadvised word or false step it was, that loses to us the harvest of our hopes. A. B. Davidson.

The reason we are so often balked by difficulties is because we expect to see them removed before we venture to pass through them. If we would move right on in faith, as soon as our feet touch the brim the waters would flow away and leave a path. J. R. Miller.

Lonely he was in life, lonely he was in death: but though no man knows his grave, all the world knows his life. Gottheil.

In every undertaking, the question is raised: "Will it bring us to the land flowing with milk and honey? What is the use of all this study and work if they cannot help us to obtain fields and vineyards, if they will not fill our coffers with gold?" Liebman Adler.

There is a loud call for courageous idealists and brave fighters who walk by faith, to stand forth and summon other men to go forward and possess the land of a better social order. The giants of greed and the walls of difficulty cannot be allowed to shut us out nor to frighten us away. Charles Reynolds Brown.