"The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all." (Psa. 103:19)

Some time since, in the early spring, I was going out at my door when round the corner came a blast of east wind--defiant and pitiless, fierce and withering--sending a cloud of dust before it.

I was just taking the latchkey from the door as I said, half impatiently, "I wish the wind would"--I was going to say change; but the word was checked, and the sentence was never finished.

As I went on my way, the incident became a parable to me. There came an angel holding out a key; and he said:

"My Master sends thee His love, and bids me give you this."

"What is it?" I asked, wondering. "The key of the winds," said the angel, and disappeared.

Now indeed should I be happy. I hurried away up into the heights whence the winds came, and stood amongst the caves. "I will have done with the east wind at any rate--and that shall plague us no more," I cried; and calling in that friendless wind, I closed the door, and heard the echoes ringing in the hollow places. I turned the key triumphantly. "There," I said, now we have done with that."

"What shall I choose in its place?" I asked myself, looking about me. "The south wind is pleasant"; and I thought of the lambs, and the young life on every hand, and t............