inspiring influences; and it is
only through an unfailing succession of such Rugbeians--growing up here
in the same spirit, and going forth endowed with the same character and
the same purpose--that this honourable name, this tradition of good
influences, can be perpetuated.

And, if we desire to see how close this is to the spirit and the work of
our Lord, how it is, in fact, one manifestation of that spirit which is
the saving influence in human life; we have only to turn from the text
with which I started to that with which I may conclude, from the Psalmist
meditating on the city and temple of his heart's affections, to the
Saviour, as He drew near to the Cross, praying for His disciples--"Father,
the hour is come. . . . I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have
finished the work Thou gavest Me to do. I have manifested Thy name unto
the men whom Thou gavest me out of the world." . . . "And for their sakes
I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified. Neither pray I for
these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their
word."

The only change we see as we step from the Psalms to the Gospel, from the
Jewish pilgrim to the Saviour whom we worship, is that religious
patriotism has expanded into the love of souls, the love of Him who laid
down His life to save us from the power of sin and death.

It was for you and me that Christ was praying; and His prayer for us will
be answered so soon as it inspires us to follow in His footsteps, so that
we too, as we kneel before God each morning, each night, and think of our
duty to those around us, may be able to say, in these words of His, which
are at once a prayer and a consecrating vow--"For their sakes I sanctify
myself, that they also may be sanctified.'"

II. THE CHILD IN THE MIDST.

"And He took a child and set Him in the midst of them: and when He had
taken him in His arms, He said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one
of such children in My name, receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive
Me, receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me."--ST. MARK ix. 36, 37.

It is one of the characteristics of our time, one of its most hopeful and
most encouraging signs, that men are awaking to higher and purer
conceptions of the Christian life and what it is that constitutes such a
life. We are beginning to feel, as it was not felt by former
generations, that the only true religion, the only Christianity worthy of
the name, is that