elevation of mind, no spiritual buoyancy, no hope, no possibility of advance or improvement. Now when we recommend the constant reminiscence of God, we recommend virtually a constant exercise of Faith. “Faith is the evidence of things not seen.” The Presence of God is of course a “thing not seen.” And of all things not seen it is the nearest to us, and that in which we have the most vital interest. Habitually to assure our hearts of this “thing not seen” is to live by Faith. And to live by Faith is to overcome the world and self; it is the life for which Christ redeemed, and for which the Holy Ghost regenerated us. Most true it is that those who honestly attempt this exercise of Faith find it difficult. What attainment worth making, either in things natural or spiritual, was ever easy? Every thing is granted, not instantaneously, but in course of time, to prayer and striving. “Try again” is the simple expedient, which must be resorted to after a hundred failures. No wonder that in a world of sense and numberless distractions the Presence of God should be a hard lesson to learn. But when learned, it is a great secret of holy influence; for it transpires, though we say nothing to that effect, through the calmness and brightness of our minds, that we are much with God. And a portion of this lesson may be mastered daily. * * * * * II. The second practice recommended for the cultivation of the interior life is that of submission to the Will of God. This submission we may and must learn to yield in the little trials and crosses of daily life. The real reason why, when great trials come, Christians are so little prepared to meet them—why even persons religious in the main are all abroad, and know not which way to turn, when they are visited with bereavement or bodily suffering—is, that they have never, if I may so say, acclimatized themselves to the loving endurance of God’s Will amidst the numerous little thwartings and contradictions of daily life. People _will_ go on thinking (or acting as if they thought) that nothing short of a calamity is a sufficiently dignified occasion for the display of religious principle; and thus they do not avail themselves of the annoyances of daily life, as a field for the cultivation of patience and surrender of the will. And thus numerous precious opportunities of growth in grace run to waste.