sure.

They may be perverted-they may be used according to the directions of Satan, but such a use is robbery. It is taking from Christ his property. The intellect belongs to Christ. Some one may say, "My mind is my own, and I will use it as I please." Not so, your mind is not your own; it has been bought with a price. The purchaser alone has a right to say how it shall be used. You have no right to abuse it. You have no right to use it in favouring error instead of truth. You have no right to use it in doing Satan's work. It was made to perceive truth, to devise and execute plans of benevolence.

It is not

Its

The imagination belongs to Christ. It is to be used in his service. to be used as a minister of sin. chambers of imagery are not to contain images of vice. It may be a fountain of good or of evil, of joy or of sorrow, according as it is used for Christ or for Satan. It was not given in vain. It is not to be eradicated. It is to be used for Christ. A sanctified imagination may be a mighty instrument of good. By it can be formed the ideal of excellence, which we are bound to reach. By it may abstract truth be clothed with life, and rendered instinct with power.

The affections belong to Christ. They were included in the purchase. They must, therefore, be given to their owner, and exercised according to his will. They are not to be given to earth's objects; they are to be set on things above. The love that led to the payment of the purchase price should fasten them on the author of that love. We may not love whatever we please. We may not love that which the Redeemer hates. Our affections have been bought by him, and should be in perfect sympathy with his.

Has the reader been bought with a price? Has he recognized Christ's ownership not only of all that he has, but of all that he is? It is not difficult to acknowledge in words that we are the property of Christ; it is difficult to acknowledge it in deeds. Some acknowledge that they hold their property as stewards, and endeavour to dispense it according to the will of Christ. Perhaps they are not careful to exercise a like stewardship over their minds. They would not waste their property, for that would be sinning against Christ; but they allow their mental powers to run to waste without thought. In the sight of Christ mind is more precious than

money. He notes how we bestow our affections more carefully than how we bestow our funds.

Let us be careful to recognize Christ's right to what we are, as well as to what we have. Let our powers of mind and heart be cultivated for Christ's sake. Let them always be used in accordance with his will. Then shall the senses occupy their appropriate place as the organs of the mind; then shall the perceptive powers commune only with truth; then shall the imagination be as pure as the forms of beauty which it mirrors; and then shall the affections be set on things above.

CHRIST WITH THE WOMAN OF
SAMARIA.

SEE Jesus seating himself fatigued upon
the stone at Jacob's well, near the village
of Sychar. A poor woman comes to
draw water. Disregarding the preju-
dices of the Jews against the Samaritans,
he enters into a familiar conversation
with her, draws out her true character,
and imparts to her some of the richest
lessons of divine truth; yea, to this poor
woman he gives the first clear utterance
to that sublimest truth, "God is a Spirit,
and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth." Worldly
wisdom would have taught this lesson
to a Nicodemus, but Jesus imparted it
to an ignorant, outcast woman.
event justified his course; the soil proved
to be more susceptible.

The

How far the history of the Saviour's interview with the Samaritan woman will go to explain our duty to those whom we view as ignorant, or below ourselves, or outcasts! We should take a warm interest in all classes of men, particularly the most defective; feel above none; desire to do all good. Our duty to our inferiors, or those whom we view as degraded, is oftener and more variously illustrated by Jesus, perhaps, than any other Christian duty. And are not men inclined to pass by this class? Do they not too often resemble the priest and the Levite, rather than the Samaritan?

But behold the Saviour a little further on, as the disciples return and entreat him to eat. He has no need-he has been enjoying a higher feast. Has the simple fact that a poor Samaritan woman has opened her heart to receive the gospel, produced so profound an impression upon his mind? Hear him: "I have

meat to eat that ye know not of;" "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work;" "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."

And this train of thought suggested by the conversion of that poor woman! What an illustration of the spirit of the gospel work! What a representation

of the value religion places upon the soul of man! Men rejoice when the influential, the educated, the rich are converted; but Christ rejoices over the converted soul-not its appendages. The true work of the Christian is with men as sinners, not with their outward circumstances.

ABSTINENCE FROM FOOD.

"And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread." -1 KINGS xxi. 4.

THUS acted the puissant monarch, because he could not get Naboth's garden. See the creature in the shape of a man, pouting his lip, and throwing himself on his bed, and refusing to eat food, because he could not gain his wishes. The domestics brought refreshment, but their lord would not take it; they went, therefore, to queen Jezebel, to communicate the sorrowful intelligence, and she immediately went to his majesty, and inquired, "Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest not bread ?" He then told his pitiful story.

How often do we see full-grown men acting in a similar way, when disappointed in their wishes! Approach them, and they avert their faces; offer them food, they will not eat; and, generally speaking, their friends are so weak as to gratify their wishes at any expense.

Does a person wish another to forgive him some crime or debt? he will refuse to take food till he shall have gained his purpose: and though the injured man may feel very unwilling to pardon, yet the dread of being haunted by the ghost of him who dies through hunger will generally induce him to comply. But instances have occurred where whole families, and even towns, have refused to eat food till those who were placed over them granted their requests. Bishop Heber mentions a great religious offence having been committed by the Mahometans of Benares against the Hindoos of that city, when "all the Brahmins in the city, amounting to many thousands, went down in melancholy procession, with ashes on their heads, naked, and fasting, to the principal ghats leading to the river, and sate there, with their hands folded, their heads hanging down, to all appearance inconsolable, and refusing to enter a house or to taste food. He also describes another scene of almost a similar nature in the same city, which arose from a house-tax imposed by the British Government. On that occasion, more than "three hundred thousand persons, as it is said, deserted their houses, shut up their shops, suspended the labour of their farms, forbore to light fires, dress victuals, many of them even to eat, and sate down, with folded arms and drooping heads, like so many sheep on the plain which surrounds Benares."-Roberts.

LETTER WRITING.

So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth."-1 KINGS xxi. 8. AT this day, in the East, not a female in ten thousand is acquainted with the art of writing; and I think it probable that Ahab's affectionate queen did not write the letters with her own hand, but that she caused it to be done by others. It is not unlikely that the state of female education in the East, in modern times, is precisely the same as was that of antiquity; for I do not recollect any female in the Scriptures, excepting Jezebel, who is mentioned as having any concern in the writing of letters. That highly-gifted Hindoo female, Aviyar, has left wonderful memorials of her cultivated mind; and I doubt not, when female education shall become general in the East, from them will be furnished many an Aviyar, to bless and adorn the future age.-Ibid.

TAKING BY THE BEARD.

"Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him."-2 SAM. XX. 9.

OFTEN have I been amused to see men take each other by the beard or chin, when they wished to show affection, or gain a favour. Soon after my arrival in Ceylon, I saw a Mahometan in a great rage, with several people around him, who at intervals placed their hands in a supplicating position, and then took hold of him gently by the chin and beard. Not then understanding the language, I inquired into the cause of their conduct, and was informed that the people were greatly in debt to the Mahometan, and that he was swearing to sell their property, and send them to prison. They were, therefore, trying to appease his wrath by taking him by the beard.

See the wife also who wishes to have some new jewels or robes, or to go to a festival, or to be forgiven some fault; when she gently strokes her lord on the beard, and entreats his favour.

Thus did the treacherous Joab, under the guise of true friendship, stab Amasa "in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died."-Ibid.

THE subject of the following sketch was born Feb. 16th, 1787, and spent the early years of her life at Faversham, in Kent. Her love for this place, and for the county of Kent, remained with her, warm and enthusiastic, to the close of life.

She made no profession of religion till after her marriage with Mr. Brounger, which took place when she was not more than seventeen years of age. By this step she was removed from Faversham to London, and became a member of the Baptist church at Devonshiresquare, with which her husband was already a communicant, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Timothy Thomas. In the autumn of the year 1824, after a short season of widowhood, she was united in marriage to him who now lives to mourn her loss, Dr. Beddome, of Romsey. The years that followed were spent in the diligent fulfilment of the domestic duties that devolved upon her. Placed at the head of a large family, she brought all the native energy of her character to bear upon its management. She also became the centre of a large circle, throughout which her influence was deeply felt. Her character was one far above the ordinary level; her opinions were not received on hearsay, but were wrought out for herself; and her convictions, being living convictions, not only took deep root in her own mind, but were powerful in their effect upon others. But that which chiefly distinguished her was her high moral standard. To this standard she intuitively referred every book she read, every sentiment that was enunciated in her hearing, and every incident, even the minutest, that transpired in her daily life. Her love of justice was chivalrous, her mental glance was keen, she was especially quick to detect hollowness and hypocrisy, and she was distinguished for her courage to reprove sin, and to do battle for the right. Combined with this elevated principle, and throwing a softening hue over her whole character, was an untold warmth of heart, which made her friendship, to those who were privileged to possess it, one of the sweetest draughts in their earthly cup. Many there are who, as they look back on her sincerity, clear as

crystal-on her faithful affection, which could always be relied on, as a rock of adamant and on the beautiful harmony which existed uninterrupted between her practice and her profession-are ready to say, with weeping, that they shall never find her like again.

The church of Christ assembling in the Abbey Chapel, Romsey, found in her for thirty-three years a judicious and ever-ready co-operator in works of usefulness. The pastor's heart was always cheered by the alacrity with which she entered into his views, and the kindness with which she sought his comfort. In the management of the British School she took an active part, till her growing infirmities compelled her to relinquish the engagement. In one much-loved institution, in spite of increasing bodily weakness, she retained her place, as secretary and general manager, to the last. This was the Dorcas Society, which had been founded by the sis ter of the present Viscount Palmerston, the Hon. Mrs. Bowles, and which, of the many societies in the country bearing the name, is perhaps amongst the most useful and the best conducted.

The present sketch would be incomplete without the mention that Mrs. Beddome was brought by her position into contact with several families of distinction residing in the neighbourhood, and that this connexion exhibited in a fresh light her transparent simplicity of character. Never, in any circle, it may be safely averred, did she breathe a sentiment which disguised her convictions, either as a Christian or as a conscientious Dissenter from the Established Church. Her alacrity in the honest avowal of her opinions, where others of a more cowardly spirit would have been contented that their silence should be construed into acquiescence, could not but compel respect in those circles where such utterances were seldom heard.

Whilst she thus maintained a dignified course of holy consistency in the sight of the world, in her closet she knelt low before God. The views she entertained of herself were most humble, and her experience was not unchequered by doubts and fears. Her friend, Mr. Adkins, of Southampton, in the funeral

sermon which he preached on her decease, and which has since been published, says, "Knowing, as I did, the recesses of her soul, in confidential communications relating to spiritual subjects, I can bear testimony to the scrupulous sanctity of her conscience, to the depth of her humility before God, to the solemn and serious investigation with which she examined into her religious character, and the ground of her hope for eternity; the consequent renunciation of all that she had felt or done, as it related to personal merit; and her sole and simple reliance on the one great oblation on the cross once offered for sin. A valued friend writes to her mourning husband, "One of my last conversations with her had reference to Mrs. Stowe's tract, 'Earthly Care a Heavenly Discipline,' and she repeated with tears in her eyes :

'Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee; E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me:' and I have never forgotten the emphasis

which impressed me with the unfeigned desire of her soul."

For many years preceding her death, she was the subject, in a greater or less degree, of daily suffering, but not a murmur escaped her lips. She had borne the heat and burden of a long and busy day, and her wearied spirit longed for rest. Suddenly, but gently, it was given her at last. A stroke of paralysis at once deprived her of consciousness, which never returned, till she awoke satisfied in her Saviour's likeness. Her body was consigned to the tomb on February 16th of the present year. It was her seventy-first birthday.

And here the record ends. But what we call life ended is life begun, and death is the gate of immortality: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ!

We believe that the resources of the Christian Church are equal to every call and to every duty. Does the Church herself believe this? And is she prepared to act in harmony with her own deeper and more serious convictions? From the obligations imposed upon her by our living and ascended Lord, no power can release her; nor will her mission be fulfilled, till all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.

The plan of a Lord's day gift, of the full measure which grateful love can spare from the week's receipts, or from the weekly average of a quarterly, halfyearly, or annual income, as laid down by the apostle, in 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2,—“ On the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him," is now engaging deeper and more serious attention, and is happily being practised by hundreds of earnest Christians.

Its advantages, above all other known methods, should secure its universal adoption. It is an act of sacred worship, and a means of grace to the soul; it is a frequent remembrancer of mercies received, and an incentive to give in the proportion in which they have been re

"

ceived; it is the presentation of only that it is easy and delightful to give; it secures universal co-operation, by a just and safe measure from each, for the most important objects; it meets God's claim first, as his supremacy dictates; it places all gifts on high and holy motives; it furnishes sufficient incentives and occasions to abstain from worldly conformity; it nourishes and expands generous dispositions and God-like character, by oft-repeated acts of loving bounty. Its practice would produce in the hearts of Christians the joy of conscious consistency, exhibit to the world the proof of their devotedness, and obtain from their glorified Lord and Redeemer the blessing of his approving love.

When believers thus lay up privately for the requirements of God's glory and man's welfare, as the first grand claim on their receipts, every worthy object will be aided amply and cheerfully; and the money question will cease so much to absorb the time, distract the heart, and weaken the testimony of both ministers and churches.

The general adoption of this system by the Church would as much tend to elevate her piety, and increase her spi

revenues.

ritual prosperity, as to augment her The present glorious work of God on the other side of the Atlantic was immediately preceded by the formation of the American Systematic Beneficence Society, and by the return of hundreds to the apostolic plan of highproportioned, conscientious, weekly giving.

Has not the love of the Father, who has reconciled us to himself; has not the grace of the Saviour, who has died for our sins; has not the communion of the Spirit, who hath renewed and sanctified us, power to constrain us to this practice?

But what is to be the ratio of giving? We prefer leaving each Christian man to the solemn convictions of his own conscience and the light of the New Testament. The great Teacher has left on record his will in relation to the property possessed by his disciples; and his apostle has irresistibly urged the demands made by the Holy Ghost upon us, by reminding us of the infinite condescension and grace of Him, "who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we, through his poverty, might be rich."

The blessing of God on the efforts which have already been made, has induced a few Christian gentlemen to institute a more extensive inquiry into the subject, the results of which they purpose bringing more definitely before the Christian Church.

To collect and arrange the cases in which the practice of the Weekly Offering has been attended with success, a Corresponding Committee has been appointed, to act for the time being,including the Revs. Dr. Ferguson, C. Gilbert, W. Tyler, and J. Ross,-who thus jointly commend the subject to the candid attention of believers, and earnestly invite communications from those now engaged in working the plan, for future publication.

Recent Facts illustrative of both Personal and Congregational Weekly Giving; for one, for several, and for all objects.

From Rev. WILLIAM ELLIOTT, Epsom, May 25.-"It was adopted here, with the entire consent of all the members of the church, when the church was formed in January, 1857. So thoroughly are all here satisfied with the principle now, that no one would be listened to who would think of proposing its abrogation, or the adoption of any other plan in preference to it. We adopted it not only for the pastor's salary, but for all ecclesiastical purposes. Such a thing as a

charity sermon"-that is, a sermon followed by a collection for missionary or any other object-we never have."

Essex, May 22, 1858.-" You will rejoice with me when I tell you that we have given to our minister more the past three quarters of a year by 50s. than we did the whole of last year; our contributions are all increased fifty per cent. to the various institutions for which we have collected at different periods; and at our only collection, which is for the Sunday-schools, we raised fifty per cent. more than we have done for twenty years! I thank you most cordially for introducing the subject to our notice."

From Rev. W. M. WOODS, Swaffham, May 31, 1858.-"The practice of giving weekly for the support of the gospel among my friends was commenced about eighteen months ago, and up to the present time has been successful; that is, we raise all that we require to meet our expenditure, whereas previously we were always about £2 or £3 per quarter deficient. When, owing to this deficiency, attention was first called to the desirableness of adopting some other mode than the usual one for raising funds, I urged a similar plan to the one which you are advocating-that is, the envelope plan. My people, however, led by two or three warmhearted brethren, proved themselves to be more voluntary than their pastor; for they resolved that they would have no names, or numbers, or envelopes, but would deposit in a box at the door whatever amount they could afford weekly. Of course, it was not for me to discourage their pure voluntaryism, and I therefore threw myself upon them. The result, though probably less than it would have been if my plan had been adopted, has nevertheless been such as to allow of no complaint. I may also state that during the time the weekly plan has been adopted, the friends have raised nearly one half as much more than formerly for the foreign mission, and have regularly contributed to a fund for the erection of a new chapel, which we hope to commence this summer.'

From Rev. JOHN KAY, Hanley, Staffordshire." I have lately taken the opportunity of conversing with the members of the congregation respecting the working of the Weekly Offering.' I am glad to find that, after nearly two years' experience of it, they like it. I have not met with a single excep tion. The pecuniary result continues satisfactory, and we have now lost sight of our former methods-seat-rents, subscriptions, and quarterly collections; the weekly envelope meets all these objects.

"I have no recent information of its working in places where I have introduced it, but I believe it is as satisfactory with them as with us. I do not know of a single failure, where the envelope has been used."

From Rev. J. POLLARD, Newport, Monmouth, June 1, 1858.-" So far as we have been able to work the thing, we have found