01. VI, Vo. IT. —Whole Vo. 286. fottn. 3 Eternity. Eternity! Eternity I TTow long art thou, Eternity t A little bird, with fretting beak, Might wear to naught the loftiest peak, Though but each thousand; years it camo; Vet thou wert then, as no%, the same. Ponder, 0 man, Eternity. Ktornity! Eternity! ' i How lung art thou, Eternity! O man, full oft thv thoughts should dwell t'pon the pains of sin ana hell, And on the glories of the pure, That both beyond all time endure. Ponder, 0 man, Eternity. Eternity Eternity 1 How long art thou, Eternity 1 Who marks thee well would say to God, Here judge, burn, smite me with thy rod, Here let me all thy justice bear; When time of grace is past, then spare. Ponder, 0 man, Eternity. Eternity 1 Eternity 1 How long art thou, Eternity ! I .1,, I, Eternity, warn thee, O nmn, that thou oft think on mo, To sinners, punishment and pain, To them that love their God, rioh gain 1 Ponder, 0 man, Eternity J (For the American Presbyterian.) KEEP IT. BY REV. ALEXANDER CLARK. “Buy the Truth, and seU it not." When a man buys a home, surrounded by ;'l possible conveniences, .and abounding in ill comforts, he rests down there in confi -1 'iice and repose. His every temporal want a ready supply. The quiet of his mme is not disturbed by the bustle of busi ness; and in calm retirement, or in willing working in his lawns, or garden, or orchards, Me owner finds the nearest approach to.con tentment and happiness in this world. Here, in the society of his own family, are a'thou sand delights. He thanks God- for his lov ing kindness and is happy. Would that man exchange his home for any uncertain habitation ? Would he sell it i r a double price in gold, and be homeless ever more ? No, nothing else is so dear to ! m ns his own chosen dwelling place and his 1 .loved family around him! Hut this is only iii- earthly home, within whose old familiar 'mils his body soon must die. There is a inter home—a home and a rest and a refuge : > the soul, and this is found within the • i itrch of Christ—“ the pillar and ground : the Truth." We should not sell suoh precious Truth. I Bemuse there is nothing equivalent to . If we sell it for any earthly treasure, or • Id it in exchange for any sordid pleasure, me sure to be worsted in the bargain. I t crowns of kings, and wealth of king ms; the fame and honor and power of eddents and potentates, are worthless m mpurison with Truth* All rubies and dia nls are but dust in .the bala n 9° and the i"!o world, were it one irnrhense ball of id. would not equal in value the smallest rtiele of Truth. It is safer than health. The Christian 1 'letter part with his right arm than bar ■ the Truth. Let both arms go—let the ■' he burned from their sockets, rather :i -ell the Truth; for it is more preeious dan life itself. Many heroic hearts have ■icred martyrdom at the stake rather than ■tl the Truth. Many brave soldiers have pm their young lives a sacrifice to their 'Jiiti v, rather than see qur national Truth i' l vci ted; and their mangled bodies lie tan pd in one big burial on the enemy’s ground | “day, while many others are bruised and 'Pdiug, and sick in their camps, far away jym their 'homes, and. all for the nation’s Ifutli! When non-professors are willing to -»e life rather than honor, surely, the Chris !,Hlt .-dtould hold the Truth more saoredthan life. , : Tlie richest of men who live for outward " ,v . have but four-score years for the exhi «i«m of their pride and power. Only a *l' while. Soon this brief life will be ended. [Millies, its gold, and its glitter will be over. 11l ». in the judgment-day, the mighty o°d H hnnh away from man his pageantries 1 1 paint, his jewels and his body of clay, » they were dust, and will demand of i " 1 —“ Man, let me see thy truth.” Then it be manifested, if not before, that '•"tb precious alike in all, rich and poor, "o mid black, and bond and free. _ These '"bi'A that are so unlike here, in habiliments, ! in condition and in color, God will r| i-li a way as cobwebs, and his Omniscient ■"will scrutinize the soul to find out how • ! "1' of Truth is there. Nothing else will the soul to heaven—nothing but Truth. filling good shall ever perish, T Mr the corrupt,shall die ; •titli which men and angels cherish, Huirishes eternally. The grave’s dark portal shuts this world of shadows from the view; shall we grasp realities eternal, , 11 to the Truth within us, we are true.”'. ■flu* soul breathes in Truth; 1 ' It is the at*' s phere of souls, and without it we would '5% die. Nothing else can sustainthe t l *'* * intellectual or spiritual being, for i; 10t ii lias no substitute. There is no cre uncertain thing that can be compared n V||, uo to this sacred treasure sent from to the erring sons of men on earth. Christian, consider, watch, and N « not. . . ' ' g, • hit dangerous ta tell the Truth. Our parents sold the Truth, and took.for -1,11 fruit in exchange for it, and alas'l „ 11 !| sad and miserable bargain they made, I 11 diey nor their children could escape. , made wholesale business of it, and sold , l,|| aan race, body attdvsoud to the devil, |we must remain under';the curse, un*; . ""'ciht back to heaven and eternal life; ■blood of Christ. And this is. the price ’ In uh—-this precious blood! For how V' 've escape were it not for “ tub Way, ,/ i 'tii Sl nd the the traitor, sold the Truth for pieces of silver, and afterward, on »c -'f his wretched bargain, went and ' i himself. The bhly profitable jidht of : is the hint ho left us of the manner in which to dispose of all.traitors that should curse the world in following ages This miserable man had been with CSrist—was one of the twelve chosen ones—long profess ed to love and honor the Master,—but like some modern professors, he had such a de sire for money, that he yielded the Truth f6r corruptible things—and Judas made ship wreck-of his faith Although ,the old Judas Iscariot is dead, long, and long ago, there are, even to this day, other Judases in the Church, bartering away their Lord for silver and gold, for rank and position, for fame and for the honor of men. And these latter-day Judases fall below Judas Iscariot in con science, for he had the 'decency to go and hang’himself after his first act of treachery but now-a-days, men will repeatedly do the same meanness, and yet they move in the church and mingle in society. It is a terri ble thing to sell the Truth, and then to be so conscience-hardened, that remorse may not alarm the guilty one to fly for pardon. Ananias and Sapphira sold the Truth and were struck dead in their tracks for it! And yet men and women are so given to m ll a? 1 ! “ anner of . ways now, that the they eyer.had, has been almost hidden by the heart-rubbish, around it. We have-sometimes heard church professors ex press the wish that they could have lived in the time of the Apostles.. It might have been better for Ananias and 'Sapphira had they lived in the nineteenth century! But sooner or later, the righteous judgment of God will fall upon all who have' lightly valued or bargained' off his Truth. Here is the languagc.of Holy .Writ concerning them: e i? r • e s * n their mouth: and the words of tlieir lips, let them even be taken in their pride; and for cursing and lying which they speak, consume them in wrath, consume them that they may not be; and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth." • Wulper. When Truth goes, all- real happiness is gone. Without Truth there can be no hope, no .comfort,,.no jpenmanent. peace, for/ all these blessings are founded upon Truth. Even in this life, there will be sorrow and suffering in proportion as Truth is permitted to be taken away. .'lf we would bo truly happy in this life.and eternally blest in the life to come, we must cherish the Truth and sell it not. • ■ In a future -paper, we may' mention some common ways of selling the Truth, and clas sify the sellers. Philadelphia, Dee., 1861. GOD MANIFEST IN THE FL'eSH. Tit® Sop of God -descended from heaven to bring ns into the adoption of sons. God became man, that man might become a par taker, of the divine nature through grace. At-the evening time of the old dispensa tion Christ was borri mtim-ting to -us that .his.great gifts do not refer to this present life,-but to the life which s to come. He who came the Prince of Peaee^to.reconcile man with God. chose to he born under 'the reign ,of the peaceful Augustus. He who was tb®'deliverer and liberator of his people was horn when, the ;JsraeUtes were in subjecr tion to a foreign yoke. He was born under .the government of a foreign ruler, as if he ,would show that his kingdom was not of this world. He was horn pure and holy, that he might sanctify out impure and polluted na tures. He who was the true light of the world, illuminating its darkness was born m the darkness c f the night He wa- bom poor .and.helpless, to bring us cele tial riche and assistance.. He was born m a stable that be might lead us to the mansions of theieavenly house. Host of angels lejoiced tor they would have us to be associ ted with them in their blessedhes" through the mcarn tion of the Bon of God Ihe miraculous birth of Him who came to be the Shepherd of our souls and lead us back m the way of life, was first announced to shepherds whose .hearts kept watch tor God. They, being humble, ignoble men, ardently-wishing for a Saviour to redeem them frQm the evil of ; their own hearts, could appreciate the glad tidings of . great joy, while the wise and the noble and mighty would have treated the good news with contempt. A choir of angels sung their songs of joy ; for since the fall of our first parents there had been mourning on the earth. The glory of God shined forth from the heavens in honor of Him whom mefi would despise on account of his lowliness. An angel commanded the shepherds to banish fear; for He was bom who would deliver his people from fear and be the author and the giver of all their joy. He would remove the enmity between God and men, and take away the cause of sorrow; and well might the glad song arise, “ Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, good will to men.” True peace had now come to men, who had before' been enemies of God, whose consciences had smitten them with fears, a,nd who had been at strife among themselves.. True peace had : returned to the earth; for he should now bo conquered who had broken down, the -walls of Eden’ftnd led’ the human race into the cap tivity of sin. ’ . Let us now'go with- the shepherds through the Scriptures, and the ordinances of the Church', and hail the infant Jesus. Let us, with Mary, keep in our hearts all the. words qf this jg-reat mystery, and daily recall them, that our memories may ever keep them fresh and joyous. Let us join the angels in i their song, and give due thanks for this,mer clful' visitation. Let us he glad and rejoice with’ all the angelic host. If angels rejoice so greatly over the cause of our joy, how 1 much more should we be glad, fob whom the Lord becomes incarnate ! If the Israelites rused their glad shout" when the ark of the covenant was brought back to them, how much more should we he joyful when the Lord himself, of whom the ark was a type and shadow, comes-to us in a body like our own' If Abraham was glad when he saw the day of Chri"t how glad should we be when he assumes our. nature to be his per pctu lly without di olution! We adore the amazing gooijpess of. God, who, when we were not able to use to him, condescended to us. We a lore the immense power Cf God, who could unite the two n ture the divine and human, so distant from each other, into one, so that he r at one and the same time both God and man. We adore the profound wis dom of God, who could appear for our- re demption in a form impossible for men and ' angels to assume. Infinite goodness had been offended ; infinite satisfaction was re- PHILADELPHIA. THURSDAY DECEMBER 26, 1861. ZZ 1 .V quired. Man had offended God; satisfaction ™fr ai ? ded °f liim > but man could not the demands of divine justice, for he tod no sacrifice of infinite price. God therefore became man, so that, in the nature ot him who had sinned and in the nature of him who was offended, he might offer the in- Unite price of our redemption. We adore this miraculous blending of the lvrne justice and mercy, which no creature before the incarnation could effect nor after it can fully comprehend. “Great is the mystery, God manifest in the flesh.” We -admire, but let us not be. rashly curious to press into the mystery. We desire to look within, but cannot draw aside the veil. Let us confess our ignorance, and not deny the power and the wisdom of God. He became incarnate, not for our i amazement, but for our salvation; Who can understand the magnitude of this mystery ? The great Creator had been oftorided, nor did,man plead with him to pro pose a plan of atonement and reconciliation; Dpt He who had been offended assumed the humanity of the offender, and became the Reconciler. Man had deserted God and'be come an enemy; but he who'had beon de serted earnestly sought the deserter and in vited him to return and be at peace: Does not this infinite - mercy exceed the highest ■thoughts of finite man ? Our nature is made more .glorious by Christ than it was made .shameful by the sin of Adam. We receive more in" Christ than in Adam' we had lost. Sin abounded, but divine grace has super abounded. In Adam we lost our innocence; in Christ we receive full justification from guilt. . Some admire the. divine power: far more to be admired is the divine goodness. - Power and, mercy are equal in God, for each is infi nite. Some admire the work of creation • but to me the work of redemption exceeds all the hound" of dmirtion both re the works of the infinite Gud It was a gieat work to cieate inn who certmly could ho f deserve "n existence before he had any being , but -it seems a greater work to re deem xnan, who deserved only evil from-.the hand of a just and holy Judge. It is won derful that our flesh was made by God for us ; but it is even more wonderful that God should become flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, that he might accomplish for us the redemption of our bodies and souls for ever. • 0 my soul, be -thou to God, who created th'ee, who redeemed thee, and who has prepared for thee ' a heaven of everlast ing bliss !— Gerhard's Meditations. BENEFITS OF EAMILY PRAYER. It is not easyto treat the-man with disre- I speet, who is known often to approach the throne of grace—sacred by such an approach —and who is known to approach that throne only to obtain heaven’siblessings on us. At all times, the ministers of religion have been regarded with respect, "and there is no way .so effectual of securing, ‘esteem in your, fam ily, as by suffering it to be seen daily, tbai you are a friend of God—a converser with, "the Deity—and that you are invested not only with the character of a father, but with the additional venerableness of being the priest of the family, and piesenting their wants and feelings to the King ot king" Thus, 1 too, by your example you sir 11 coi rect and adjust their views of the world. More effectually than by any lessons- you shall teach them your -sense of the value of earthly objects. Time. gold, pleasure, can not be esteemed to be all. when the first and the last thought" of the dav are given to God: Nor can your childien. m advancing years, go forth so easily to the undivided pursuit of gain and pleasure , u bun thej, -tt-iioW uha.l, a, i father and and. a mother, at the altar, have expressed, their views of the value of these tilings. It will check the wantonness of worldly pursuits ; it will come into the plea sures of the ball-room and the theatre, with a chilling influence on all those delights, if the thought then crosses the bosom of the son or daughter that at this late hour, paren tal feelings are expressed at the family altar, and ,a father and mother how before God, to implore his blessing on thoughtless sons and daughters., “ I should bethere,”will be the instinctive language of the heart; “my place is not amid these scenes of vanity, when a parent seeks God; and these scenes can afford no permanent joy, against whose ma lignant influence a parent prays, and to guard me from which a parent now implores the protection of the eye and arm of God.” Such prayers are often heard. And even while it is fresh breathing from the lips of pious pa rentage, the serious thought, the painful mis giving of the child in the place of pleasure, may be already an answer, to prayer, and the purpose may even then be forming to forsake forever‘such scenes, and seek peace and joy in the endearments of the fireside and of home. Let me add, too, that such amusements find their support, with few— few exceptions, from the children of fainilies who never pray; and -this devotion in all our habitations, would at once close our theatres, and no small part of the haunts of vice and ruin. . You will pass, also, into scenes of afflic tion. You will go down into a dark valley, and turbid waters shall roll at your feet, and a?sunless sky shall he over your head. A son, a daughter,- may- dife. Calamity may strip away, yottr property; and slander imay asperse your, name ; and -the wares of trou ble may roll high and mighty oyer your ha bitation., Your pillow may give you no rest; and the deep calamity may spread weeping and woe through all your house. In such scenes who is he that is to be calm? Who to Stand like Mount Atlas, “ when storms and tempests thunder on its brow, and oceans break their billows at its feet ” unmoved ? Who to allay the swelling tide of grief, and be a counsellor and an example there ? Who to- wipe away the tears from' the weeping eyes of children, and; pour, under God, con solation there ? Who but the father at the femily .'altar—the venerable guide and friend of the little community- —he whose heart may bleed like others—for he felt the stroke more keenly than all, when his son or daughter died ; but who still can gather the weeping group before God, and calmly say, “not our will but thine, O God, be done ?” And if he cannot do this; if he be first in agony, and a stranger to consolation, and shall murmur at the stroke, and refuse to be comforted, who knows not the, effect on the family? Grief will deepen and prolong its reign, and sorrow there shall have no comforter. Yet how shall this be done T’ Who does not see that the habit of daily seeking God, of .ac knowledging him in all. the ways of the fam ily, is the only mode of meeting this grief, and soothing these hitter pains of life ? Fam ily devotion shall change the.storm to peace, and open a pathway through all these clouds; and beyond the region? of these muttering thunders, in that upper sky, the splendors of an eternal day are < still' seen, and it shall be felt that there is peace.—rATr. Barnes' Essay. RETRIBUTION BEGUN. following prophetic passage from the Thanksgiving Sermon of■ Dr. Burchard” of New; York, (published in'No. 23 of the Pul pit and the Bostrum) is! already meeting a fulfillment in the great, conflagration of the 11th and 12th of December, in which five hundred and seventy-six buildings were burned, and property to the amount of from five to seven millions of Collars destroyed in Charleston:—;• r .. i . “Governor Pickens, and the State of \vhich he i» the lieu-d, ivill-have their due re ward And if the wide spre d sentiments of the people can influence now. and influ ence a generation jvho must derive their .knowledge from ourselvtes. the crimes of the present population ol South Carolina, with their.penalty, will be read m a page ■ like this. Charleston, once: the chief city ot South Carolina, by reason of -its atrocious t,edo.on, - m endeavoring to compass -the dis ruption of .the United States, now lies -m a ma ~§ of i urns. It never did. advance as other cities, ~nd hastened more speedily to decay The providence of the Almighty h s been peculiarly evere— ~ "eveieaswith Sodom and Gomorrah—and- a keen remem brance of it iniquity still prevails so much aO that its example is held -up to the minds of our children, to execrate and avoid It« commeice r diverted and given to anothei For year" no ships hav e yisited its port Ihe tew .inhabitants tbatyremam realize the abomination ot desolatiton. A curse restsl upon it, and even tbe names of its prominent menaie d tvtoful and d -pi ed The biry hum of congieg ted merchant" h - long been silent. . The business of her streets-lias gone nl the gr - giow~ in the ioad~ Houscs once the residence of familie" whose arrangements ' would denote both wealth and comfort—the rooms of which if tv alls could speak. Would- tell of converse gaj and blasted hopes : houses now roofless, tailing the bode" of unclean bird The State house and the legislative hall still re mam but the unlj sound that strikes the e~i i" the fl ppn gof the wing of bat Of the gardens, once radiant with flowers, not a vestige remains. A shapeless mass -of tan gled weeds—with ivy running, up the trunks of trees with destructive luxuriance and te nacity-sucking then life ap—of which the sere; and.yellow leaf is too "ad n indie tion meets the gaze in every duection Ihe winds sigh through theJwanches, nd the screech owl sqncls forth her SSarp and hitter sorrow.’ ” \ HEBREWS, PHiENICIANS, GREEKS. Rttfftcik'nt account has never, yet been taken of the effect of the influence' of the Hebrews over the Phoenicians in its general results, through the latter, upon‘the culture of mankind. The Jews came into Palestine from Egypt, about. 1500 B. C. ; In Joshua and Judge - faraih r reference, is made" to Great Zidon and the Zidonians. , The temple was built about-the year 1000 B. G. Iliram and Solomon were, then intimate f iends -nd evidently pai takers, to a very considerable extent, ot a common civilization. The reugiuu uf Phuuucia influenced Judea, and we have every reason to believe the con verse true also. The combined fleets of the Israelites and Phoenicians sailed from Eziori geber and Elath, “The Phoenician mer chant and-trading-vessel figures in the Ho meric poems as a well-known* visitor, and the variegated robes and golden ornaments fabri cated at Sidon, are prized among the valu able ornaments belonging to „ the. chiefs. We have reason to conclude generally that, in these early times, the' Phoenicians traversed the iEgcan Sea habitually, and even formed settlements for trading and mining purposes upomsomeof it" l lands.” Mr. Grdte, while profess mg to aoubt whether Tyre or Sidon were the older, admits that while -Sidon is familiar to Homer, Tyre is not mentioned at all, wl ich corresponds precrely to the urn form testimonv of Scripture that Sidon wa the parent city ol Phoenicia Cautious as he is about dates, especially those which con firm Scripture, he admits that the Phoeni cians founded --Gades, or Gadeira. on the southwestern coast of Spain perhaps nearly one thou"and years befoie the Chr "ti n ei - a town which has maintained a -continuous prosperity, and a name (Cadiz) substantially unalteied longei thin nytown in F nope His fust certain Greek date-is 776 B C but the Homeric poems are admitted to be much older 1 han the Olympiads md the Sidomans were then a people excelling in fine manu factures and in commerce How entuely all this agrees with the Scripture statement" we need hardly: say. The period of •• the widest range and great est efficiency of the Phoenician" the ame eminent historian considers to be anterior to 700 B. C. How much earlier they were a highly civilized and energetic people he does not 1 say. but the work which he admits they had acoompli hed previous- to that d"te shows that they mat have been active for a length of time which confirms very strikingly the Scriptural statements. We find, then, that for several hundred years,, and these year of great activity, energy and success in both, the Phoenicians and Hebrews were most closely united- and speaking substantially tbe same 1 nguage We find that this period of dose union imme diately preceded the use and brilliancy of Greek intellect; we find the traditions of Greece pointing to Phoenicia as the souice from which “ letters” < amc we find the Phoe nician. Cadmus the very eponymus of learn • ing in Greece. We Ind moieover m the early Greek authors a eventj of punciple and loftiness of morality ml tendency t purity in religion, which never sprapg spon taneously from any people. These are justly esteemed to. be traces ot* the primitive f ith received by them, perhaps partly from their own ancestors, and partly thiough inter cpjirse witkaMpse who received tbe e ptjn ciples from early times, hut that so quick and intellectual a people obtained no religion, mo- rality dr- learning ftom Phoenicia; is simply incredible. ; ; : - [The above is an extract from an- article on Phoenicia and Carthage; ih the Presbyterian Quarterly Review, , which, is deserving! the attention of Bible students. ■ The writer; pro ceeds to, , show from Scripture and other sources,, !the.'iiyfcimate union of Greece with Phoenicia in’ commerce, letters and religion, and concludes an follows:]—Ed. ' We have thus endeavored to show the con nection, on the one hand, between Phoenicia and -Palestine; and, on the other; hetween Phoenicia and i A comparison of all the evidence, we; think;; will jshow that/the Greek genius received very nnieh material from the Orient, -and . that while it was , in debted to the original revelation made to the feUriiest fathers, it received direct and 'most important assistance from the Hebrews, through Phoenicia. As to Calvinism, which is U dommdn butt for every frivolous wit, every vain worldling, every haird-faced economist • and every ; fasti dious prig;—this*’ muchiahused Calvinism, whatever harm it may do to weak wits sand ; delicate sensibilities, certainly - never ~has i stood, and never can stand, between the Scot tish mind and the lofty philosophy of Plato. There is, on the contrary, a certain high kin ship and brotherhood between ’the Genevan interpreter of divine decrees and the Athe nian expounder of divine ideas, Which fully justifies the significant conjunctioir in which Scottish theology and Platonic : philosophy are placed in the direction of the Book of Discipline. The vulgar ideas entertained about Plato, .that he is ‘ a transcendental dreamer,’ and so forth, will not certainly go far to establish this kinship; for, though Cal vin “might be ‘ transcendental’ enough—as, indeed, all questions about divine decrees necessarily must - be-—he • certainly was no thing of a ‘dreamer.’ But, in fact, to those who will take the trouble to read him,’ Plato is .not one ,w,hit more a dreamer than Calvin. His. magnificent intellect 'is in nowise to he compared to a grand -pile of sunlit clouds, or a rich garden of the imagination,bright with ail dazzling hues, fragrant with all “sweet odofg- : fanned by all celestial-breezes; : and interflowed by the deep full music--cf all ducid streams: his clouds are:, the 1 beautiful background, of the stately edifice of his thought ; his flowers the festoons hung upon its walls. .. He is at bottom a granite palace, as solid as Aristotle, as severe as Cal vin, as. imperturbable as Goethe. What the wbrld ’oftCn talks -about as Platonism, is merely a few rampant : flosCulosities on the massive columns of his argument, which have no more to do with the’strength and sustain ing power of it' than the gold which gilds the horns of-the Sacrificial ox lias to dowithHjhe dx itself—something that* edntributes :inightr iLy,; no doubt, to the ppmp of the exhibition; .;btt.t.:ackafijdpto -.thfi.sesiousnesstofev.thWjb’usi- ■ ptess. • Stripped of suchifantostic decoraticns, Platonism is, in fa.qt,, a Work of Calvihism ’of reason, wiiiie Calvinism might with equal.triith be designated a Pla tonism df the will. Divine reason and divine ‘decrees differ only as thought differs from purpose. . They areequal'ly-necessaryand eternal, immutable, 1 stern, inflexible, inex orable.- Hence -the lofty position and the high attitude which both Plato and Calvin assume with regard to the world and its ways with regard to : the multitude,' -and the opi nions of the multitude. They are both ex tremely one-sided in their ideas, and terribly despotic in their way df avowing them; and rightly so, because the highest truths in mo rals and theology, like the axioms of mathe matics, admit of no compromise, and can to lerate no contradiction. Though ■ Phaeton, the giddy boy, might not be trusted to rein the coursers: of the sun, yet Pallas Athena, the only begotten daughter of the Supreme Wisdom, might, in virtue of the brain from which she sprung, 1 Alone of all who tread the Olympian halls, Borrow Jove’s, thunder.” It is the faculty of all great minds to be des potical.—North Briiish lieview. CHRIST THE TRUTH. “ What is truth ?” was the pertinent ques tion of Pilate to our Saviour. Poor man; he was sadly ignorant, and so would we all be but for the revelation of Christ in the soul. . - ; There are , many truths which the uncon verted man may know; he may know the truths of mathematics, and arithmetic, the. truths of medical science, the truths of meta physics and philosophy, and many of the common every day truths, but unless he know, Christ the truth, what will all his other learning avail him ? . All truth.is dependent upon God for its order and efficacy. The great order of na ture is from God to Cod, he is the beginning, and the end of all things: “‘For whom are. all things, and by whom are all things.” And wherever an individual cuts himself from the order of his creation, he refuses to recog nize dependency, and consequently, must come in conflict in time or eternity, with the . Cod of order. ; So it is with truth, when the great order is not obeyed. ’ Every truth has been assigned, its own sphere, and each truth in the wisdom of Cod bears a relation to'every other truth, and all together suspended upon the great" Truth,' from which they derive their order and effi cacy, and wherever one of these truths tres passes its appropriate boundaries, in So. far it destroys its dependency, and, like a planet cut loose from its circle," is continually' jar- - ring and Conflicting; and not only is its order destroyed, but its value also. Let us: ! object and say that all truth does not depend on Christ for its value. . It may have a tern porary absolute value, but it can have no re lative—which is the great value; and even its absolute value in the eiid will be convert ed against the interests of the individual subject. The truths of agriculture are valuable .to . the farmer, though he be an infidel, because; they are the key by which he unlocks. the treasure of the soil, and by them he' is en abled to draw the most profitable results from his labors. And as' far as they are valuable to him, they have their order. Bnt being - unhinged from the great living Truth, they must idecay with the possessor.' And now' since ne has refused all connection ’between. the truth of which he is possessor, and the Great Living Truth, he may expeet it in death to be converted into an instrument of torture. : Suppose you are : acquiring medical truths, and you push investigation into the science to its farthest possible extent; of what avail will all your medi'cal skill and proficiency be, if. you..refuse all glory to the great physi ol®' 1 ?" What benefit'will it be to you, to Have alleviated' a thousand miseries of the body, if at last you can find no balm for your-diseased soul ? < It’s sad,-in deed, to see men of well-balanced minds possessed, of an extraordinary ambunt of .truth, and yet.that truth without any or <ffr j [Wthput; any end, all .jarring and con flicting; apd being held in unrighteousness, at last piercing, the soul through with many sorrows. : It’s sad to see the physician 1 , 1 a stoic in his profession; developing the great resources 1 of his skill in ministering to the wants of the body, and yet entirely ignorant of the fear fftdrfdfeeage pf&ying,on-hisiSQuli:,alwaya<eady ■ ;tO :appiyAis :; own skill when another suffers, ■but poo proud to ask the assistance of the great Physician when he himself suffers. It’s sad,.too,;to see the lawyer, with wis 'dow and judgment-sufficient to-resolve the mosfc-'eoiripliritrteisbcase, able to expose‘alLthe euhning and tfiekerybf legal technicality, and yet destitute of all knowledge of the binding force of God’s law, not knowing or caring-to know anything of the great Attor ney who offers to free him from the sentence of condemnation passed upon him. And it’s sad, sometimes, to ter, an adept in and im pressive in his heart far from his (Jod,‘and Christ. It’s sad to sec'so' much truth wasted; to see so much held; iriunrighteousness, to see the great;' the wise, and; the learned ones rejecting the Lord Jesus, the only living, immortal (Truth; to see the philosopher whq.gpjpnishes the world' by his wisdom, despising the*'siinple''lruflis i ' of salvation. Look around you,; amongst your friends and acquaintances'; look at the men in our shops, stores and offices, and what a great mass of truth you find unsanctified! Why is it that men will not learn the Truth, the living Truth, when all other truths must depend upon him for its efficacy ? I don ? t ehvy'the physician, his medical‘skill; the lawyer, his legal lore ; nor the philoso pher, his profound wisdom, if God’s glory be not the object of; it all. Much rather give me the prospects of a little child, who don’t mow the difference between black and white, but knows' Christ, than the prospects of him whb ; may; know all else hut Christ. O, mydxiends, if we have not yet learned the Saviour, why need we trouble ourselves, acquiring any further information ? It will only curse ;us in the world tp pome. If Christ be left’out, then away, wjth all books, and schools,Jand teachers and preachers; its is ut terly useless. • Far - better never, to have known that two and two, make four; than flie,;not 1 knowing Christ; ; theri'”yb’u* yon 'are : a sinner,'for Christ" came- into-the world‘-to save sinners; 'if you know ; Christ, then you know that God is just, for Christ died to satisfy ‘ the justice of God; if you know Christ, then you know that salvation has .been provided'for the sinner, for he de clares “he that believeth arid is;baptised, shall be saved.” - But if you don’t know him—ah, ■ sinner, stop and think—if you don’t know him—when the sun has conceal ed its face, and the moon refuses to shed its light; arid not a star appears, "and when deep,;dense clouds; veil the face of the sky, ’tis dark, .very dark, down deep in the dun geon, where the prisoner lies suffering for his crime, and every ray of . light that beams downfrom the world above is thrown back by the unbroken wall; ’tis dark, fearfully dark, but 0, how darker still the soul of that , one who knows not the Lord Jesus, dark and black as hell itself. If we don’t know Christ, then a thousandfold better are the brutes which perish.; . Mg. ; : „ —Banner of the Covenant. 5 CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST. The dew of thy grace is shed upon my wasting spirit with refreshing consolation. My soul languishes, hut soon it will exult in thee; my flesh withereth, hut after a few days it will revive. lam compelled to Un dergo corruptions, hut thou wilt free me from this decay, when thou hfingest me out of all evils. Thou hast newly created me in the image of God, and how can the work of thy hands perish ? Thou hast redeemed me from all. my foes, and how shall death alone tri umph over me? Thou hast devoted thy body, thy blood, and thy entire self for my salva tion; how then shall death-hinder those be nefits which were bought with so precious a price ? : Thou' art my righteousness, and my sins shall not prevail over thee ; thou art my life and resurrection, and my death shall not overcome thee; .thou art my God, and Satan shall hot have. power over thee. Thou hast given me the earnest of the Spirit, and'in this will I glory, in this will I triumph; and I firihly believe, nothing doubting; that thou wilt permit me to enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb. Thou hast clothed me with the we.dding-garment, which I received when baptised (Gal. iii. 27) into Christ; nor will I stitch to this precious, most beautiful robe the tattered rags of my righteousness. How dare, I spoil its beauty with my abomi nable tatters ? t In this robe will I appear before' thy face, when thou wilt judge the world in righteousness and truth. —GcerharcTs Meditations. WE CANNOT STAND ALONE. In the disastrous campaign of Napoleon, when he retreated from Moscow, and liis sol diers one after another fell, dead in the ranks, the only way of preserving life was, as one fell fdr the others to press together, and fill the place of their fallen companions; and thus fewer lives were sacrificed, and-a rem nant escaped. It is so in the toils and strug gles of the Christian host.' God has united’ them in an organic body. They are an army of Christian warriors, called to fight the good fight of faith, to battle against everything that exalts .itself against God, the kingdom of Christy and the welfare of human society. For this they are divinely placed as lights in the world, bulwarks of righteousness, witnes ses for God, watchmen, soldiers, defenders of the faith. They, cannot stand alone. • Ag gregation, and not isolation, is the divine law tor human society, and aggressive Christian action. GENESEE EfifGElilST.—m*: I once heard a good old member praj In the meeting among other gifts, for the gift, of cmttimmnce. - Many have gifts, and every one should have them; we are commanded to covet earnestly the best gifts - But this spe eial grace or gift of holding on to a good course—continuing a good habit—is not' a gift that every good man, or every good woman possesses. • - •■ c I was impressed with an incident which took place during the 'bombardment of the forts at Port Royal. A-young lad, perhaps-- fourteen years of age, s ifrom'}William‘sb|crg, N., Y., was the cartridge-boy. prompt and cheerful before the battle, but during the .terrible shelling of j the-. fQi't,.,n..nd while balls were howling overhead and striking the vessel, this boy with unflinching courage, stuck to his work. Soon, a ball passed near him, struck one of the gunners and laid him upon the sanded deck a mangled corpse. The boy had to pass that body, but unappalled, he stepped quietly over it, and then , over another, ran down and returned with his load of cartridges,-and with out even a tremor, or without growing pale, he continued steadily at work till, victory was proclaimed, and the “Stars and Stripes” were miged over the fort. One would have thought uhat that boy at least once would have fal tered—f-would have been frightened a little ■off the coursp. So one would have thought it .very strange if he', had lacked “ the gift of continuance” when the mangled body lay in hfs way, or when that ball penetrated the mainmast of the frigate. Now, I do not so much admire the prompt mess and willingness of the boy, as his contin uance, ' his steady continuance in the work. He was reliable. That is just what is need ed in the church’s prayer-meeting. Large numbers at the prayeivmeeting help to infuse a spirit of prayer. Every one helps and gains relp by simply attending the, prayer-meeting, whether he prays or speaks, or negleetsboth praying and speaking. I like to see a full prayer-meeting, but I like to see the same faces there. Any man may “ happen in,” as some say. He may “happen” to be there from curiosity, to know how many come—-who’s there—who speaks or prays. He may “ happen” in, because he would like to have the credit of going once in a while, for fear the church-goers may think his piety is only skin-deep. He may “happen” in, because he feels a little uncomfortable, a little dash of devoutness, as he haslost some money lately, or things are going rather hard with him now, or he has lost a frierid or something dearer. Now these happening Christians are not happy ones. They have ito “ continuance there’s no reliance to be placed upon tbeir • attendance either in its value to the church or to themselves. A very little thing or nothing will scare them; off, and they will he wanting at the next meeting. They havh’t got the gift of continuance. Let us bless Hod that some have it, and let us pray that others may have it also. H. S. Rev. Henry Willard, of Znmbrota, Goodhue Co. Minn., writes to the last Some Missionary, of one of the soldiers of the re nowned First Regiment of that young State, as follows: ' . “At a meeting held in our place in re sponse to the first call of the President-for volunteers, Amos G. Scofield was the first man to arise and give his name as ready to start for the war early the next morning. Before he rode off, I sought an interview with him, and found that, with little or no enthusiasm, he possessed a calm determina tion to do his duty,: both as a Christian and a soldier, conscious that he might never re turn. He has now found his grave on dis tant soil; but his diary has been sent to his friends to speak for him. This is the earli est record in his diary: ‘Tuesday, April 23d, 1861. I left home and friends to-day, to enlist in the company from Goodhue county to serve my country, to fight for God and liberty.’ “ As a Christian he let his light shine at once. With other religious men of his com pany, he early interested himself in com mencing and maintaining a semi-weekly prayer-meeting, which was open to any in the regiment who pleased to attend. Of the many regiments engaged in the disastrous battle at Bull Bun, none acquitted them selves more bravely than the Minnesota First; and among its companies, that to whieh Corporal Scofield belonged, has re ceived honorable mention. Whilst rallying his men in the woods, where some of the se verest fighting occurred, he fell wounded by a ball which, entering the back of his neck, passed out from his mouth. The wound was not dressed till the Monday night after the battle, when he succeeded in reaching the hospital at Alexandria, Vai Here he re ceived every desirable attention and for a while it was hoped that he would recover. Death overtook him, however, on Sunday, August 11th. Upon the announcement that the physicians did not expect his,recovery, he clapped his hands, saying: ‘ Blessed be God. Happy, happy!’ The one who gives this information writes also.: ‘At one time I asked him if he was afraid: ‘No, no!’ I asked him if he was sorry that he came to the war ? his answer was— ‘ No, no!’ He wished me to read in the Testament. - He found the 14th chapter of Revelation, and I read the first few verses to him. Then he turned and ; himself read the 130th Psalm, pointing particularly to the sixth, verse: ‘My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, mere than they that watch for the morning. Death came at last, from copious bleeding from the large arteries which had been ’ wounded in his neek.” God is in the midst of the sea—in the calm, and the storm, and the tempest. God is with those who go down to the sea in ships for commerce or defensive war. WHERB no true religion is found, men may avoid theological disputes, whatever else they quarrel about. — J)v. Thomas Scott. froil THE AMERICAX PRESBYTIRIAK.] THOUGHTS FOR THE PRAYER-MEETING. THE GIFT OF CONTINUANCE. NO VI. Tlffi CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. Hope brightens- up the darkest hour. • No. 814
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