life in his instructions, atonement, and intercession. He is also full of vital influence, which he conveys by the Gospel, to all who receive him. He says, "And I will put my Spirit within you." His indwelling puts life into our faith, love, hope, patience, joy. Union to Christ secures fruitfulness in holiness, and the Saviour shows the importance of this: "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." Love to Jesus leads us to glorify the great Father in heaven. He is glorified by obedience to his will, submission to his appointments, and delight, constancy, and earnestness in his service. The Saviour was always concerned for the honour of his Father, and he would have all his followers imitate his example. The advantages of abiding in Christ are immense. There is safety, strength, growth, beauty, hope, joy, consolation, eternal life. All the blessings of salvation are in him. There is not one blessing out of him. All the living water you need is in him. All the fruits of salvation are on this tree of life. All the riches of glory are in this mine. Hence, permanent union to him must be of vast importance. And think of the dreadful doom of apostates! The apostle says, "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." And Jesus teaches us the sad consequences of not abiding in him: "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." All who do not abide in Jesus are rejected by him as a vinedresser rejects, cuts off, and throws away as useless the dead branches. There may be branches in the visible Church of Christ who have no vital union to him. Thus it was with Judas.

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Abide in me," is the abiding command of Jesus to all his people. This is pleasing to God. This shows that you have high thoughts of Jesus, and that you seek your happiness in him. And this is honour justly due to him. This shows the confidence we repose in him. The Christian should employ means to abide in Jesus. He should contemplate his glory. He should study his word. He should cherish the presence of his Spirit. He should often listen to his voice in his house. He should wait at his throne. "He giveth more grace." Converse

with revealed truth will cherish the roots of our piety. All who know the worth of Jesus will seek to keep near him. There is in him an infinite fulness of spiritual blessings. There will be temptations to forsake Jesus; but we must resist them all. Fidelity will receive a rich reward. Have you forsaken Jesus? The Gospel invites you to return. He waits to heal your backslidings. Are you abiding in Jesus? Then rejoice in the union. All who abide in him now will soon abide with

him in paradise. "Christ in you the hope of glory." H. H.

DEATH OF MOSES.

THE most noble and thrilling act of Moses' life was his going upon the mountain to die. He had performed deeds of renown, and passed through exciting scenes of terror and dread; but nothing he ever did or suffered is worthy to be compared with the moral bravery displayed in the manner he met death. And no scene connected with all his eventful life was half so grand and solemnly imposing as the summit of Nebo presented, when, from its highest elevation, the leader of Israel passed away. When an innocent babe in his cradle of rushes, he was committed to the waves of the Nile. But there he slept as calmly as an angel in the paradise of God; for over that little ark the angel of God spread the radiant wing of protection, though the infant sleeper knew it not. When a man, he stood before Pharaoh's court, pleading for the release of his people; and there he confounded the magicians and astrologers of Egypt by the wonders he performed; but God was with him. As a leader and commanding general, he stood on the verge of the deep, wide sea; on either side the granite mountain pile towered to the sky, and close in the rear of his army appeared the forest of Egyptian spears; deafened with the despairing wail of his countrymen, he softly whispered, "Stand still, and see the salvation of God." By his shepherd-rod he made a path in the sea for his people; but that rod was magnetized with omnipotence. Alone he ascended Sinai's heights and stood on the earthquake, faced the strength of the tempest, walked in thunder and lightning, and talked with God; but this fearful rage

and concussion of nature was soon to pass away. He had led the valiant sons of Jacob from bloody conquest to victory, and for forty long years tented in the dreary wilderness; but God's promise was, "I will go with thee," and so it was; but now he goes on Pisgah's top to die, and to die alone! Our nature instinctively shudders at the shades of solitude.

If there were any imperfection in Adam's paradisaical state, it was that he was alone in a great world. God said it was not good for him to be alone. But we can endure loneliness when well; but, ah! to be sick alone, and to die alone, who can bear the thought? -not even a stranger's hand to help, or a stranger's eye to weep over my dying struggle. Could it be in a lone room, on a soft bed in a dark night, where our friends might find our lifeless corpse at early morn, it might be endured; but, oh! to die alone amid the wild mountain's dreary shade! My nature trembles at the thought, and I feel a sense of suffocation while contemplating the scene.

Moses ascends

the rugged steeps of Nebo, not to survey the battle-field, and give the word of command to his valiant army, but to be conquered himself by the conqueror of victors-to meet Death alone. He knows whither he is going, and for what purpose he is to stand on Pisgah's heights. He is not prepared for the death-scene by wasting disease, but is in the full vigour of life: "His eye was not dimmed, nor his natural force abated." Upward he goes, mid rock and crag, and shrub and shade. He takes his last, lingering look at the lovely tents of Israel, spread in the vale below. Still higher he sees the lovely Canaan, mapped out beyond the rolling Jordan. Its towering hills and verdant vales lie before his first and farewell view. But he is never to enter there. Here, on this wild mountain, he is to die; but his nerve does not fail. Upward still he climbs to reach the summit. Death is there, robed in his pale mantle, with drawn sword, to slay the conqueror. Behind the vail, poised on radiant wings, in semicircles of light, are the angelic bands, ready to receive into their shining ranks the spirit of the slain. He walks into the pale shadow of Death; his heart is chilled, his lips are sealed, the body is dead, and an angel is born. Shrouded in mortal paleness, the corpse lies upon

the cold earth. But listen: angels dig his grave, and the Lord buries him in the valley of Moab. "And no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."

"Could we but climb where Moses stood,
And view the landscape o'er,
Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore."
H. A. G.

FOUR WRITINGS ON THE CROSS. PILATE intended that there should be three. The fanatical Jew, who had repelled with scorn the very idea of a Nazarene being the Shiloh, read in the Hebrew the name Jesus. He had rejected the pretender from the place to which prophecy and miracle seemed to have lifted him. The circumcised bigot thought to do God's service by crucifying the son of Mary. Jesus was a name which disappointed pride and long-cherished malice have rendered infamous among the Jews in every land. Even their children make the sign of the cross at this day, in the East, in the sand with a stick, and when a Christian passes, spit upon it. Their fathers read the name on the cross in Hebrew, and then invoked the blood of the Crucified One on themselves and children, not in mercy, but in vengeance.

The second handwriting was in Greek. Jerusalem was a provincial city, whose manners and customs were controlled by the overshadowing influence of the capitals, Antioch and Alexandria. Greek was the polite tongue in both these splendid cities, and the upper classes of intermediate towns must speak it and read it also. The fact that the entire Testament was written in this tongue for Jews, Hebrews of the Hebrews, shows how universally the Greek was understood, although the people spake the Syriac or Aramaic. To the strangers, also, from the polished cities of Greece, who might be at Jerusalem, Pilate intended to speak in this superscription.

They were given to superstition, and yet they adored wisdom and beauty as they dwelt in forms of thought and substance. Could the Roman governor have thought that there were any of the sons or daughters of Attica or of the Egean who would pause at the cross, read, and believe?

The inscription was repeated the third time, in the tongue of the conqueror. Herod, a cunning and unprin

cipled Jew, had introduced himself to Augustus at the island of Rhodes. He had gone there on purpose to make his bow, with the true Oriental spirit, to the rising sun of Rome. Augustus, soothed doubtless by bribes and flatteries, confirmed Herod in his power. Pilate and his soldiers spake Latin. Cornelius, at least, and perhaps other believers also, used it. For their sake the inscription was put in this, to the dwellers at Jerusalem, barbarous tongue.

But on the cross there was another inscription, which neither the murderous Hebrew, the idolatrous Greek, nor warlike Latin could read. There was a band, some of whom lingered near the cross, who, with tears of thanksgiving as well as grief, read the words. Among that class Mary was seen. How much her overflowing heart then found which the giddy, selfish, depraved spirit never sought nor cared to find.

No angel pencil could have drawn the fourth inscription in clearer or brighter lines. The bow of promise was not inscribed on the dark bosom of the storm cloud in plainer characters. The stars, the work, O God, of thy fingers, show not in more radiant lines the utterance of an unseen goodness than this handwriting on the cross.

Millions have marched under the sign of the cross; other myriads have worn it upon their dress, and in jewellery on their breasts, without being able to see and read this fourth writing upon it. Other millions have looked in faith, child-like faith, and there beamed forth from that accursed tree on which the Saviour died this last and yet first inscription, in rosy characters of mercy: "GOD IN CHRIST IS LOVE."

THE HOME MOTHER.

WE must draw a line, ay, a broad line, between her and the frivolous butterfly of fashion, who flirts from ball to opera and party, decked in rich robes, and followed by a train as heartless as herself-she who, forgetful of the holy task assigned her, neglects those who have been given to her charge, and leaves them to the care of hirelings, while she pursues her giddy round of amusements. Not so with our home mother; blessings on her head! The heart warms to see her in her daily routine of pleasant duties.

How pleased she sits, day after day, shaping and sewing some little article for the use and adornment of her little flock! And how proud and pleased is each little recipient of her kindness! How the little faces dimple with pleasure and the bright eyes grow still brighter, as mamma decks them with her own hands in the new dress she made! How much more warm and comfortable they feel if mamma wraps them up before they go to school! No one but her can warm the mitts and overshoes, or put the comforters around their necks.

There is a particular charm about all she does, the precious mother. They could not sleep-nay, for that matter, she could not, if she failed to visit their chamber, and with her own soft hands arranged them comfortably before they slept. Her heart thrills with gratitude to her Creator as she looks on those sweet, blooming faces, and, when their prayers are done, imprints a goodnight kiss on each rosy mouth.

A

It may be, too, a tear will start for the little nestling bird in its chill narrow bed, for whom her maternal care is no longer needed. It sleeps, though the sleet and snow descend, and the wild winter howls around its head. It needs no longer her tender care. mightier arm enfolds it. It is at rest. She feels and knows that it is right, and bends meekly to the Hand that sped the shaft, and turns with a warmer love, if it be possible, to those little ones who are left to love. How tenderly she guards them from danger, and with a strong, untiring love, she watches by their bedside when they are ill.

Blessings be on the gentle, homeloving mother! Angels will look with love upon her acts. Her children will rise up and call her blessed, and the memory of her kindly deeds will enfold her as a garment.

WHICH WAY DOES THE TREE LEAN?

"If the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be," Eccl. xi. 3. There is a solemn meaning couched under this metaphor. The tree will not only lie as it falls, it will also fall as it leans. And the great question which every one ought to bring home to his own bosom without a moment's delay, is this-What is the inclination of my soul? Does it, with all its affections, lean toward God, or from him?-J, J. Gurney.

THE GOSPEL DOCTRINES.

The doctrines of the Gospel are to the weary and heavy-laden soft as the dew on tender herb, and refreshing as copious showers to the earth when parched with heat. They present, in the blood of Jesus, a balm that heals the wounded conscience, and that dispels all its anxious fears; that turns disquietude into peace; that fills the soul with blooming hope and with joy unspeakable. Ask that once disconsolate mourner, who saw himself exposed to the avenging hand of heaven, who felt his sins a burden too heavy for him to bear, and whom law terrors or Satan's fiery darts had driven almost, if not altogether, to the brink of despair; ask him, I say, what was it that made his soul the seat of tranquillity and consolation, that changed the shadow of death into the light of the morning, and clothed him with the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; and he will tell you that it was a sight of Jesus crucified revealed to the eye of faith. Beholding the handwriting of the law nailed to the cross, and the sword of justice sheathed in the heart of him who died on it as a surety; finding it written that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-that his blood cleanseth from all sin, and he will cast out none that come to him-the Lord gave him power to set his seal to the testimony; and he came with all his guilt, and wants, and unworthiness, and he found Jesus true to his word, and mighty to save. He lives now a monument of his mercy, to proclaim the riches of his grace, and to declare to others that Christ crucified is all in all to them that believe.-De Courcy.

THE WORTH OF A SOUL. When we endeavour to estimate the worth of an immortal soul we are utterly lost in the attempt. The art of spiritual computation is not governed by the same principles and rules which guide our speculations concerning earthly objects. The value of gold, silver, merchandize, food, raiment, land, and houses, is easily regulated by custom, convenience, or necessity. Even the most capricious and imaginary worth of picture, medal, or statue may be reduced to systematic rule. Crowns and sceptres have had their adjudged valuation, and kingdoms have been bought and sold for sums of money. But who can fix the adequate price of a human soul? "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" The principles of ordinary arithmetic all fail here; and we are constrained to say that he alone who paid the ransom for sinners, and made the souls of men his purchased possession, can comprehend and solve the arduous question. They are indeed bought with a price; but are not redeemed with corruptible things, as of silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. We shall only ascertain the

value of a soul when we shall be fully able to estimate the worth of a Saviour.-Legh Richmond.

THE PATIENT CHRISTIAN.

Under the pressure of any affliction," Thy will be done," as it is the patient Christian's unceasing prayer, so it is the ground of his unvarying practice. In this brief petition he finds his whole duty comprised and expressed. It is the unprompted request of his lips-it is the motto inscribed on his heart-it is the principle which regulates his life-it is the voice which says to the stormy passions, "Peace, be still!" Let others expostulate, he submits; nay, even submission does not adequately express his feelings. We frequently submit, not so much from duty, as from necessity; we submit, because we cannot help ourselves. Resignation sometimes may be mere acquiescence in the sovereignty, rather than the conviction of the wisdom and goodness of God; while the patient Christian not only yields to the dispensation, but adores the dispenser. He not only submits to the blow, but vindicates the hand which inflicts it: "The Lord is righteous in all his ways." He refers to the chastisement as a proof of the affection of the chastiser: "I know that in very faithfulness thou hast caused me to be afflicted." He recurs to the thoughtlessness of his former prosperity: "Before I was afflicted, I went astray," and alludes to the trial less as a punishment than a parental correction. If he prays for a removal of the present suffering, he prays also that it may not be removed from him until it has been sanctified to him. He will not even part from the trial until he has laid hold on the benefit. THE SUBJECTION OF THE BODY.

The Christian is justified and filled with all good, and made a true son of God by faith alone. Yet, while he remains upon earth, in this mortal state, he must keep his body in subjection, and perform those duties which result from an intercourse with his fellowcreatures. Here, then, it is, in the Christian scheme, that works are to be placed; here it is that sloth and indolence are forbidden; and here the convert is bound to take care that, by fasting, watching, and labour, and other suitable means, his body be so exercised and subdued to the spirit, that it may obey and conform to the inward and new man, and not rebel and obstruct the operations of faith, as it is naturally inclined to do, if not restrained. For the inward man, being created after the image of God by faith, rejoices through Christ, in whom he possesses so great a treasure; and hence his only employment and delight are to serve God freely in love. -Luther.

LUTHER HIMSELF.

I am a peasant's son, and my father, grandfather, and great grandfather, were all common peasants. My father went to Mansfeld, and got employment in the mines there, and

there I was born. That I should ever take my bachelor of arts and doctor's degrees, etc., seemed to be not in the stars. How I must have surprised folks by turning monk, and then again, by changing the brown cap for another! By so doing I occasioned real grief and trouble to my father. Afterwards I went to loggers with the Pope, married a runaway nun, and had a family. Who foresaw this in the stars? Who could have told my career beforehand?-Michelet's Life of Luther.

POLITENESS INDISPENSABLE.

Virtue and religion are not only compatible with elegance of manners, but are strengthened in their exercises by them; and every man who is not a misanthropist, every woman who is not a nun, must feel the necessity of attention to forms and usages, and to those elegancies of manner which characterize good nature and uprightness of heart as much as they do a fashionable education. Politeness is as essential to the man of business as to the haunter of gaming-tables and west-end saloons; it is even more so, to remove that reproach against trading influences in which the wealthy so often indulge.-Blunders in Behaviour Corrected.

BELIEVE AND LOVE.

Believe, and you shall love. Believe much, and you shall love much. Labour for strong and deep persuasions of the glorious things which are spoken of Christ, and this will command love. Certainly, did men indeed believe his worth, they would accordingly love him; for the reasonable cannot but love that which it firmly believes to be worthiest of affection. Oh, this mischievous unbelief is that which makes the heart cold and dead towards God. Seek, then, to believe Christ's excellency in himself, and his love to us, and our interest in him, and this will kindle such a fire in the heart as will make it ascend in a sacrifice of love to him.-Jeremy Taylor.

HE WILL GIVE YOU REST.

Are you travailing with sorrow? Are you heavy-laden with the burden of oppression or woe? Christ will give you rest! Doubtless the heavy-laden with the burden of sin are first invited; but the words exclude no other sufferers. There is no exception of age, or rank, or clime, the extent of the travail, or the weight of the burden; the childish sorrows of the weeping schoolboy are as much the subject of the Saviour's sympathy, as the matured wretchedness of the aged man: all come within the Saviour's invitation.-H. Blunt.

BAPTISTS IN THE UNITED STATES.

The grand total of Regular Baptists in the United States, as appears by the American Baptist Almanack for 1858, is 897,718. The number in the British Provinces, 28,812; in the West Indies, 36,050. Total in North America, 962,580. Besides these, the number of those who practice immersion is put down thus: of Anti-Mission Baptists, 58,000; Freewill ditto, 49,809; Six Principle, 2,500;

Seventh Day, 7,250; Church of God, 13,800; Disciples, or Campbellites(estimated)200,000; Tunkers, 8,200; Mennonites, 36,280; in all, 362,039.

MEDITATION ON THE WORD OF GOD.

By continual meditation on the sacred writings, a man as naturally improves and advances in holiness as a tree thrives and flourishes in a kindly and well-watered soil. All the fruits of righteousness show themselves at the proper season, as opportunity calls for them; and the words, which are to his actions what the leaves are to the fruit, fall not on the ground, but are profitable as well as ornamental. Everything in him and about him serves the purpose for which it was intended. His brethren are benefited by him, and his Maker is glorified.-Horne.

THE SECRET OF SUCCESS. The late Mr. Tegg, the celebrated publisher, on being asked to what he chiefly owed his success in life, replied, to three things-punctuality as to time, self-reliance, and integrity in word and deed. "In addition, however," said he," to these points, I have derived much advantage and comfort in life from being deaf, as well as blind, to all calumnies and attacks. I have never cared for what anyone malignantly or perhaps foolishly said of me; neither have I been ready to resent real or imaginary affronts."

HOW TO ACT USEFULLY.

The most efficacious manner in which we can act usefully in the immense circle of the world, and for the good of humanity, is to fill our place in the circumscribed circle of domestic virtues; to form around us an atmosphere of love and benevolence. We must do the good that lies in our power; it afterwards belongs to Providence, and not to us, to make that good contribute to the general utility.-Bishop Jebb.

POLITE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

It is our duty to encourage everything of a refining nature, so long as we lose in the pursuit none of the solid excellencies of character; and by a proper attention to such things, we insure for ourselves reception in quarters where we should be obnoxious without them. These acquisitions are equally important to both sexes, though those of the masculine gender are most guilty of the blunder of setting them at nought.-Blunders in Behaviour Corrected.

DIE TO SELF.

Live as near to Jesus as you possibly can, but die to self. It is a daily work. Jesus is as a sun that shines on the other side of a mountain, and now and then a sunbeam comes over the top; we get a glimpse, a sort of twilight apprehension of the brightness of the sun, but self must be much more subdued before we can bask in the beams of the ever-blessed Jesus, or say in everything "Thy will be done."-Beveridge.

REPENTANCE.

Defer not repentance until another day; for God, who has promised pardon upon your