? If you put pictures in a bottle do they shine
through? Do thoughts in the heart shine through
the face? Can you repeat that couplet which
begins: "Handsome is--"? If we think Christ's
thoughts constantly do we become more like Christ?
If we think bad thoughts do we become unlike Him?
What book is it which says: "As a man thinketh in
his heart, so is he"?

[Illustration]

SEEDS.

THOUGHTS, WORDS, DEEDS--THEIR LIFE AND PERPETUITY.

SUGGESTION:--Seeds, or grain and fruit of any kind
can be used for illustration.

MY YOUNG FRIENDS: I have here to-day quite a variety of seeds. Some of
them are very small, and some, as you see, are quite large. The seeds of
each class have in them a principle of life, which makes them differ
from sand, or small stones of similar size, because if I plant these
seeds in the ground they will grow.

[Illustration: Different Kinds of Seeds.]

When you take different kinds of seeds, there is one thing that is very
interesting about them. It is the different kinds of coverings in which
they grow. For instance, if you take a chestnut, it grows in a burr with
sharp thorny points; others are folded as though rolled up very tightly
in leaves, as you will find in the hazel nut or filbert. Some seeds grow
in rows, like beans and peas in a pod. Some grow in a very soft bed,
like cotton seeds. Some grow imbedded in a downy substance which blows
all around, carrying the seed with it, like the thistle, and the light
fuzz of the dandelion. Sometimes the seed is buried in the inside of
fruit, as in the case of apples, pears, peaches, plums, and various
other kinds of fruit. Sometimes it is buried beneath the beautiful
leaves of the flower. So you see there is great variety.

Now, these seeds may represent words. There are a great many varieties
of words. All words have the principle of life in them, because they
express thought; and these thoughts when received into our minds develop
into action. Therefore we say that words have a principle of life in
them, and it is important that we should be careful not to permit bad
words to have a place in our minds. Very often you will see boys and
girls reading worthless papers which they think will do them no injury.
But the fact is, that these boys are influenced in all their living by
that which they read in these papers. It might be very light and
trifling,