MEN often complain that others prevent their influence and power in a community. Even persons who are found in the fellowship of the church think that if some of their fellow church members would give them a better opportunity they could be more effective for good. There is a power possessed by men which grows out of important social standing in a community, and also a power attendant upon the possession of a strong, vigorous, and prudent mind. Wealth often contributes to the influence of a man, and enables him to control others. Now and then men have appeared in the history of the race who have risen above their fellows, and above almost all surroundings, and taken command of hundreds, thousands, and hundreds of thousands of men, bringing them to bear in the support of a common idea, sentiment, or purpose, conceived by their own minds. But there is a power of character which every man may possess in a large degree, with which none else is to be compared. This is the peculiar power of the Christian. It is the silent, unconscious, incessant, and almost omnipotent touch of might to human hearts. Men are swift to judge character; and though false estimates may sometimes be placed on character, yet it is a fact that in our enlightened country even popular judgment, if expressed according to candid conviction, approximates the truth. Sometimes, to be sure, a single imperfection of a Christian may be exaggerated and made to misrepresent him; occasional misunderstandings growing out of ignorance of the facts, may do him injustice. But true piety must and does make its mark and leave its impress on those about. They may seek to resist it, but it is as the story told of the conqueror who chastised the mad waves by beating them with chains for washing away his temporary bridge across the Hellespont. The presence of a pure man, and the consequences of his sincerity and nobleness of character, is as the constant rays of the sun upon the yielding ice. When the constant power of Christ shining in human character falls upon their hearts,—they may not be broken as with a flood, but they are melted. Men want power; and it is not wrong that it be so if it be used for good. Some members of the church think they can secure it in some way yet unknown to them. They look upon it as an incident which happens to some men, or which is secured by some slight ingenuity of effort. But let it not be so imagined. There is a power behind that which appears or seems to be. There is a heart, a character behind it, which is its foundation and life, and without which it would soon flit away. If a man desires to be potent in the hands of God for the accomplishment of good to his fellow-men, he must put himself into God's hands and stay there. It is said that a company of persons going away from where they had heard Mr. Bramwell preach, busily discussed the question how he had such power in the pulpit, and always had something new to tell them. They could not solve the problem. Then an old Christian woman, who understood the secret of the Lord, said, "I can tell you, Mr. Bramwell lives closer to the gate of Heaven than other people, and God tells him things which he don't tell other people." She had the secret. He who lives near to God will have an indescribable power unknown to others. Activity may do much to increase a man's power for good, and it ought to render its aid; but no amount of assumed zeal and interest, no extent of bluster and profession, can supply the lack of strength growing out of a sickly moral character. That man whose family is well ordered, and whose children are followers of that which is good, has power over families about him. The very life and character of his domestic circle is a beacon-light to others. He whose life is stainless has power over the lives of others; such a life itself is a mountain of strength which no enemy can break down. If you would be strong as a Christian, be holy. If you have little or no influence in the church and community, you have reason to suspect your religion. "A city that is set on a hill can not be hid."—Religious Telescope.