The ice palace.

Ideals control life.

In the papers not long since, was an account given of a palace of ice, constructed for the entertainment of a Russian prince. There it stood, brilliant as crystal, bright in its blue transparency on all its turrets and towers. But it appeared so cold and hard and cheerless that no one would go inside. Then at nightfall, came a lad with a torch-no, only a taper-a mere lit candle; he went through the door, and in an excited instant the singular structure shone through all its substance with warmth and homelike welcome. Only a taper!

But the palace was illuminated, for it was made so that it could shine. So with any character constructed out of intellect or accomplishment alone; it may have thought and energy, force and loveliness. But it demands and needs the true ideal of a living Christ inside of it:

The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin-
The light of the world is Jesus!

1. Observe, then, how thinking affects character; ideals control life. Some say it makes no difference what a man believes if he is only sincere in his faith. Alas, it makes all the difference in the world! “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." Character decides destiny, too. So the more sincere one is, if he be in error, the worse it is for him. "What think ye of Christ ?"

2. Observe also that one may study his ideal through his personal experience and character; and that is the safest way. Just inquire what your notion of Christ is doing for you in the long run. It is of far less moment what a man believes or does than what he is. And he

Abraham left Terah.

Aristotle's maxim.

So he may know

is what his ideal makes him to be. unmistakably whether his views are correct by examining whether they are making him gentler and purer; whether they are milding his temper and mellowing his charity; whether they are kindling his hope of the life to come, and loosening his hold on the life that now is.

3. Observe that the only safety for a young believer is found in accepting the scriptural Christ for his all in all. Never mind what tradition says. Abraham left his own father Terah when he became certain that Terah was going to stay and die in Charran. Is Jesus Christ your sacrifice as well as your model? Do not let men confuse you by asking if you believe in a dead Christ. No, you do not; but you ought to believe in a dying Christ, and now living.

4. Observe how pitifully the world's hero-worship contrasts with the Christian's love. It was an old maxim of Aristotle that the fondness for imitation is in man's nature from his infancy, and herein he differs from all other living creatures. It did not need that a great philosopher should tell us this, we see it everywhere. But the chief lack is a model. Humboldt travelled the world over, and saw everything; and he recorded in his diary at the last what sounds almost like an aphorism: "The finest fruit earth holds up to its Maker is a man!" It is possible he found one, but he happens not to have mentioned his name. People have extraordinary notions of what constitutes greatness. History says that in the ninth century the Poles elected Lasko II. for their king because he won a footrace. Francis I., writing to the emperor Charles I.,

Ecce homo.

The question reversed.

signed himself "the first gentleman in France." Meantime, there stands the Christ! His friends love Him supremely, and are not ashamed of Him. Ecce homo !

5. Finally observe that by-and-by this great question of the ages will be reversed; and then it will be of the highest moment to ask, What does Christ think of me? This is what we sing:

Till then-nor is my boasting vain-
Till then I boast a Saviour slain !

And, oh, may this my glory be,
That Christ is not ashamed of me!

XXI.

NEVER THIS WAY AGAIN.

"YE SHALL HENCEFORTH RETURN NO MORE THAT WAY."Deuteronomy xvii. 16.

WE are told that at one of those splendid pageants in Berlin, not long ago, the wife of the English ambassador unfortunately unfastened the necklace she was wearing, and lost a costly pearl somewhere in the roadway. Perhaps it might have been regained if a serious search had been in order at such a time. But the grand procession must hurry along, and a lost place in the rank was of more account than a lost pearl.

not return by the same way.

They did

We may be in equal peril if an accident should occur in this ceaseless rush of our years. And most of us know that valuable reflections are apt to be dropped carelessly in the dust in such gay life of the holidays as these which usher out and usher in the rapid seasons. It is certainly wise-and to some meditative people even welcome-to note a few quiet lessons suggested, and keep them to think over.

"Ye shall henceforth return no more that way." It is not necessary now to trace the historical connection of this fragment of a verse. It will be enough for our present use to know that it contains the thought which renders it appropriate fo. a motto with an admonition in it for the close of the year. There was a moral juncture of affairs in the circumstances of God's hosen

Taking spiritual stock.

An old experience.

people which led Moses to say to them that hereafter they ought to be exceedingly careful how they behaved, for they could not now go over the ground again with new decisions. They must take their choice, and be ready to stand by it in all the future.

I. It is now a most significant time for the taking of spiritual stock. Most religious people would be glad to know just where they are, and how the balance stands.

They tell us that established merchants often die of remnants. Besides the yearly account of true sales, it is sometimes discreet to make a sudden vendue and clear out lumber. This figure fairly holds in our religious and moral career. It is weary work, that of stubbornly fighting on, in one's old age, against those habits, passions, and associations which years of listless indulgence have bulked in upon our nature. It is better just to have a clearing out, even if one is afraid he may be suffocated with the lifted dust. Many a Christian man is hindered in growth by reason of his proud trying to retain an old experience, of which he can make nothing valuable, but which he thinks he is bound to defend for consistency's sake.

A brave man need not lay down supinely and admit he has lost mastery of himself. Indeed, that is not his greatest peril. Some persons are more exposed to ruin from mere reaction resulting from mastery regained. The most to be apprehended is that one will suffer the work of self-renovation to be put off so long that when he really accomplishes it (if he does) he will be compelled to loosen and uproot his whole being in order to tear out his besetting sin.