SPEAKING of the almost universal tendency of men in the direction of pets, the Golden Rule observes that the class of pets which are the most dangerous to the church are pet virtues. Men have some particular gift of grace which by nature it is easy for them to exercise, and they make the most of that virtue. It is very easy for one man to be patient, and he throws all the power of his religion into patience, while perhaps the thing he most needs is benevolence, or activity, or faith. Another man is by nature generous, and he turns all the power of his grace in the direction of his pet virtue, neglecting prudence and patience. Now, the value of grace is not in that it makes us strong on the side of our natural virtues, but that it makes us balanced on the side of our natural defects. The value of our religion is not seen in that it makes our sweetness sweeter, but that it turns our sourness into sweetness; not that it makes an honest man more honest, but that it makes a dishonest man honest; not that it makes a temperate man abstemious, but that it makes an intemperate man temperate; not that it makes a pure man clean, but that it makes an impure man pure; not that it makes a generous man liberal, but a selfish man generous; not that it makes a kind man gentle, but that it makes an unkind man amiable; not so much that it helps us be what we are, as that it helps us to become what we are not; so that men, looking at us, will say we are other and better men than we used to be. He used to be intemperate, now he is temperate; or he used to be selfish, now he is generous; fault-finding, and now he is charitable; obstinate, and now he is gentle; irritable, and now he is patient; desponding, and now he is hopeful; inactive and now he is earnest. The new birth does not consist in mounting your pet virtue as a hobby.—Sunday Herald.