pauper, for the rich as well as the poor—“Give us this day our daily bread.” And it is thus a prayer for all, because all are absolutely _dependent_ upon God. We have nothing which we have not received. Every good and perfect gift cometh from above from the Father of Light, with whom is no variableness neither shadow cast by turning. In God we live and move and have our being. All men depend upon God, and they depend upon him for everything. For life, for breath, for vigour of mind, for strength of body, we all depend on Him. And nowhere is this utter dependence of man upon God more clearly seen than in the matter of DAILY BREAD. The possession of wealth is apt to blind us to the fact of our _dependence_. Men who are rich and increased with goods are always in danger of thinking they have need of nothing. Men whose affairs have prospered, like the rich fool in the parable, are always prone to think themselves secure and safe for future years, and say to their souls as he said, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” Why, we talk ourselves about a man who has private property which brings him in a few hundreds a year being “independent.” Independent of what? Independent of whom? It is not simply that wealth has a curious trick sometimes of taking to itself wings and flying away; it is not simply that life is full of instances of tragic vicissitudes of fortune; it is not simply that we see the supposed possessor of millions the friend of titled lords one day, figuring in the Bankruptcy Court the next. Even assuming that riches when made can be kept, of whom is a man “independent”? Why, though you had the wealth of the Rothschilds, you would still be as dependent upon God for mere _bread_ as the meanest pauper in Christchurch workhouse. For consider for a moment the facts of the case. All wealth in the last resort _depends upon the produce of the soil_. In these days, when civilisation is so complicated, this is a fact we are always in danger of overlooking and forgetting; but it is a fact, nevertheless, all wealth in the last resort depends upon the produce of the soil—the simple necessaries of life. Gold is only valuable for what it can buy—its power of purchasing what is needful for the support of life. But supposing for one moment that the earth did not yield her increase; supposing a summer should pass without a crop; supposing there should be no harvest of corn or fruit; supposing the world suddenly found itself without food, of what use would your glittering sovereigns be to you? Of what use would your railway shares and bank shares be to you? Of what use would your costly diamonds and precious stones be to you? You could not live upon them! They would be as worthless as the very dust of the street if there was nothing to buy! Yes, that is the simple truth; if the world should wake up in the morning to find itself absolutely