A short time ago in the South of England there lived two friends. They were always together; they loved each other, and could not bear to be apart. For a long while, the greater part of a lifetime, this friendship continued, and as they were both religious men, their friendship was blessed and strengthened by Almighty God. But after a while it pleased God to try their love for each other, and like the dead fly in the ointment, or the worm at the root of Jonah’s gourd, he sent a slight cause of disagreement between them. So slight a matter was it that it was difficult to say which of the two was to blame, but it was sufficient to come between them. And so little by little a coldness arose, each being too proud to say he was in the wrong, until the coldness ripened into anger, and so they separated. For some years they lived apart, hearing nothing of each other, until one morning when one of them was reading the newspaper, he found the report of his friend’s death. So sudden and unexpected was it that it took him quite by surprise, and he never recovered the shock. Night and day he kept thinking of years gone by, when they were firm friends, and then he would remember the evil day when their disagreement took place, and then came death! Reader, if you have been living, or are living in enmity with anyone, go _at once_ and ask their pardon, or if necessary grant it. So shall you pray with some hope of acceptance the oft-repeated words, and show not only with your lips, but in your life, that you really mean what you say when you pray, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us." "Then forgive and forget!--’tis a rule of such worth, That ’twould scatter rich blessings all over the earth; Turn deserts to gardens of beauty and peace, And bid half the storms of contention to cease. As we act to ourselves, we should act to another, And look on each man that we meet as a brother, In hope that when nature lays claim to her debt, Our God will in mercy forgive and forget." *HARD WORK.* "Work is sweet, for God hath blest Honest work with quiet rest-- Rest below, and rest above, In the mansions of His love, When the work of life is done, When the battle’s fought and won. Working ere the day is gone, Working till your work is done: Not the work that pain imparts, But the work of honest hearts; Working till your spirits rest With the spirits of the blest." _Anon._