WE might be turned out of some things and by some people without any disgrace; if we suffer wrongfully for Christ's sake and take it patiently, it is honourable to us and pleasing to God. (1 Pet. ii. 19). But to be turned out of a good situation or from good society for our faults is really a very serious matter, for, though the excluded person may brave it out, and say, " I don't care," they generally do care, and often, from a feeling of anger or something worse, go to greater lengths of wickedness till they are quite hardened. An outcast soon loses self-respect, and that is really an awful state to be in, and thousands have been brought into it, or rather have brought themselves into it by being turned out of a church, a society, or a Sunday-school. Many years ago, a Sunday-school superintendent was so annoyed and perplexed by one of his scholars that he consulted with the teachers what was best to be done with the lad. One said, "Turn him out, for he disturbs the whole school;" and another said, "Turn him out, for he is a disgrace to us," and a third said, "Turn him out, for he is incurable," and so all the teachers said, "Turn him out." The superintendent said, "We will ask the children." And causing the boy to stand on a form where all could see him, he told the children what the teachers advised, and then asked the children, "Shall we turn him

the offender, said, "No, sir, don't turn him out; forgive him this time and he'll be a better boy." And the little fellow pleaded for his class-mate with tears, and was sure he would be a better boy, and at length said, "I will be surety for him." So it was agreed that he should be forgiven, once more and remain in the school, on condition that his young friend would be surety for him.

This little incident was the means of working an entire change in the heart and conduct of that bad boy. The idea that anyone should love him so much, and feel so much interest in him as to be his surety quite melted him, and he became quite another boy. The Lord gave him a new heart, and he grew up a devoted and earnest Christian. Having. obtained mercy for himself he was anxious about others, and ultimately went abroad as a missionary, to preach Jesus to those who had never heard of his name.

He ever loved the little classmate who became surety for him, and for years they enjoyed much Christian fellowship together; but when the once naughty boy went from his native land, they had to part, and in his first letter home, he said, "I want my surety." Ah, it is a very serious business to be surety for another, and I would advise all my young readers to be very careful if ever they are asked to do so. Judah became surety for his brother, and it was likely to cost him dear (Gen. xliii. 9; and xliv. 32). If Benjamin had really been guilty, and

Joseph had punished the guilt, it would have all fallen upon Judah. 66 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, thou art snared with the words of thy mouth." (Prov. vi. 1, 2; and xi. 15). Many have fallen into that snare and "smarted for it" keenly; therefore take Old Jonathan's advice, and beware how you become surety.

But you must have a surety or you can never enter heaven. The best of us owe a great debt of obedience to God which we can never pay, and we deserve punishment at his hands for our sins, such as would sink us to hell. But for guilty and disobedient sinners Jesus became surety, and as such he paid all they

owed and suffered what they deserved, and they, for whom he stood, repent of their sin, strive to forsake it, and love him him dearly, because he so loved them, and they trust alone in him for mercy. Do you love him? That is indeed a hard heart which the love of Jesus does not melt; for when the justice of God would have cast us out into outer darkness, the dear Saviour stepped in to save by his suffering in the sinner's stead. I seem as if I could love him for saving others even if he had not saved me. My dear young reader, think on these things, and if you really feel that you want a Surety you may trust all with Christ.

STRENGTH FOR THE WEAK. "He is their strength in the time of trouble." Psa. xxxvii. 39.

EVERY child of God has his or her peculiar burden. Our Saviour said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation," and it ever has been and ever will be, more or less, the portion of His children while journeying through this waste howling wilderness, for as ye are not of the world so you must not expect to find a home in the world, but remember that "when the earthly house of this our tabernacle is dissolved, we have a building of God—a house not with hands, eternal in the heavens." But as faith is sometimes weak, and sight is dim, we need props upon which we may lean and support our tottering frames, and these God has graciously granted. May we be enabled by the help and teaching of the Holy Spirit to find out a few of them to the joy and rejoicing of our souls.

The first word in the portion which has been given us is, "He," the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of every desire of the child of God. "Christ formed in you the hope of glory." He, "the Father of mercies and God of all grace;" He, who "hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." "He the Spirit of truth, whom the world can

OLD JONATHAN.

not receive; because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him." But this, "He," beloved reader, is the joy of your heart, the ground of your hope, and the object of your faith, if you have been brought to the footstool of His mercy, with the cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner." No other prop than this will do to lean upon. He is the Father of mercy, and it is mercy you need; for it is mercy alone that can save you from being lost eternally. "He hath borne our griefs and O what love is carried our sorrows." here manifested in bearing your sins "in his own body on the tree." He, the Spirit of truth, who has taken possession of your heart, and, notwithstanding all the opposition from within and without will go on and perfect that work which he has begun, until, at last, you shall be landed safe far beyond the reach of anything that would hurt or destroy.

66

And this blessed He, the glorious Three in One, is our strength in the time of trouble." Doubtless, dear reader, you know full well the time of trouble. Perhaps you are ready to say, it is always a time of trouble. Be it so, what sweet encouragement you have here!" He is your strength;" then be not cast down, however weak you may feel yourself to be; there is plenty of strength in your pre

yea, his strength is made perfect in your weakness.

The darkest path he'll lead thee through, And land thee safe in glory too." The enemy may be watching for your halting, and be ready to say, "Ah, so would we have it," but an unseen arm is yours to lean upon; an unseen eye is watching over you, one that never slumbers or sleeps ; and a voice unheard by those around is sweetly whispering to your heart, "It is I; be not afraid." Thus strengthened and helped on, can you not, like Peter, go forth on the waters to meet Jesus? they may be waters of fierce temptation, affliction, and sorrow; the billows may

whelm; but Jesus is with you, and all is well. "His way is in the sea, and his path in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known;" but it is enough for thee, dear reader, to know it is his way, and therefore "the right way which leads to a city of habitation," and "what thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter."

"Then we need not fear, though the passage be dreary,

Though sorrow at times makes the spirit bow For rest will be doubly sweet to the weary, down;

And soon every cross shall be changed for a crown.' MARY.

DESERTION.

THERE is much caution needed in speaking of this. There are causes which lead to spiritual depression, which are purely physical, arising from a diseased body, an overstrung mind,-a succession of calamities weakening and impairing the nervous system. We know how susceptible are the body and mind together, of being affected by extreme influences. "We are," says an able analyzer of human emotions, "fearfully and wonderfully made,' of that constitution, which in our ignorance we call union of soul and body; we know little of what is cause and what is effect. We would fain believe that the mind has power over the body; but it is just as true that the body rules the mind. Causes the most trivial, a heated room, want of exercise, a sunless day, a northern aspect, will make all the difference between happiness and unhappiness." But are there no cases of spiritual depression arising purely from spiritual

causes ?

We answer,

"Yes; the Bible recognizes such." Spiritual darkness, absence of all spiritual comfort and joy, is no figment of man's theological creed. It is a sad and solemn verity-the experience, too, of God's own children. "Who is among you that feareth the Lord,

that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in the darkness, and hath no light ?" (Isa. 1. 11).

Oh," says the afflicted patriarch of Uz, "that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; when his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness.” Can we forget a more awful and impressive example-ONE soaring above the reach of all grovelling human experience, but tells us, in his bitter "Eloi " cry, that even He knew what it was to be God-deserted and forsaken!

Are there any whose eyes trace these pages, who have ever undergone such a season? Or, it may be, are undergoing it now? I stop not to enquire as to the cause; indulged sin, omitted or carelessly performed duty, neglect of prayer, worldly conformity. Are your feelings alive-painfully conscious that your love, like that of many, has waxed cold; are you mourning that you have not the nearness to the mercy-seat that once you enjoyed, not the love to your Bibles and ordinances that you once had,

that a heavy cloud mantles your spiritual horizon,-God's countenance not what it once was, irradiated with a Father's smiles,-nor heaven what once it seemed, a second home?

"Oh, thou afflicted, tossed with the tem

pest, and not comforted !" do not despond. | In these very sighings and moanings of your downcast spirit, there are elements for hope and confort,-not for despair. They are the evidences and indications that the spark, though feeble, is not quenched, that the pulse, though languid, still beats,-that faith, though still like a grain of mustard-seed, is still germinating. "O thou of little faith, wherefore dost thou doubt ?" It is that very shadow that has now come athwart your soul, and which you so bitterly mourn, which tells of sunshine. As it is the shadow which enables us to read the hour on the dial, so it is in the spiritual life. It is because of these shadows on the soul's dial-face that we can infer the shining of a better Sun. "The wicked have no bands in their

(spiritual) death." Their life has been nothing but shadow; they cannot, therefore, mourn the loss of a sunshine they never felt or enjoyed. Well has it been said, "When the refreshing dews of grace seem to be withheld, and we are ready to say, 'Our hope is lost, God hath forgotten to be gracious,' this is that furnace in which one that is not a child of God never was placed. For Satan takes good care not to disquiet his children. He has no fire for their souls this side everlasting burnings; his fatal teaching ever is, Peace, peace!" Go! exile in spirit, go like that royal mourner amid the oak-thickets of Gilead; like him cry, "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God."

J. R. MACDUFF.

HIS CHURCH:

A Poetic Paraphrase, and an occasional Commentary upon the Book of Canticles. No. XIX. BY J. W. COLE, BRAUNSTON, RUGBY. CHAPTER IV.

Verse 1.-" Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast dove's eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead." Behold, my love, companions of my soul, Behold, again, must I pronounce thee fair: Though, to the world, thy blemishes are known, And black unto thyself thou ofttimes seem'st, Yet, unto me, most fair dost thou appear.

I

gaze not on thee with a human gaze, I look upon thee with a look divine: Seen in myself, I must affirm thee pure. My love, thy eyes are eyes of gentle doves! Within thy locks are they most fitly set,Thy locks of modesty, and truth, and grace. Those flowing locks thy earthly glory are,* Which like a veil, around thy visage wave, And hide thy blushing features from the world. Thy eyes of understanding and of faith,+

Beam with fond beauty, like the turtle's eyes: Constant and chaste, they roam not o'er the earth,

But glance, with ecstasy, towards the skies.
Quick they discern 'twixt error and the truth,
However rude a garb the latter wears,
Howe'er deceitfully the first's arrayed."
Thy graceful walk, thy conversation pure.
"Thy hair," the covering that thy life adorns,

* 1 Cor. xi. 15. † Eph. i. 18.

In healthful flocks, on Gilead's mountain steeps;

Sure-footed they, and comely to the view.t
Thou art not bald of deeds of righteousness,
Like those of whoin my servant James once
wrote,

Who boasted faith, and had no works to show.||
Thy fruits sincere, thy charity's fair flowers,
Are outward evidences, clean and strong,
Of grace within, and heart that's right with

God.

Thy hair, thy works flowing from Christ thy head,

These justify thy faith, 'fore God and man,
And fence thee from the world's reproach and

scorn:

Making ashamed the false accusing foe,
And silencing the ignorance of men.§
Thy outward fruits of inward righteousness,
Do well become the gospel of thy Lord,
Richly adorn the doctrines of thy God,
And recommend the truth to seeking souls.
Conspicuous are thy locks, and ordered well,
Drawing my fond affection to thyself,
Winning the admiration of the world.

I see thy glossy locks, I know thy works;
And all thy hairs are numbered by thy Lord.
The cup of water cold, in my name given,
The smallest action done for Jesus' sake,
Shall fail not to receive its meet reward.
Verse 2.-" Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that
are even shorn, which came up from the wash-
ing: whereof every one bear twins, and none
is barren among them."

Prov. xxx. 29-31. || Jas. ii. 18. §1 Pet. ii. 15. Matt. x. 42.

Thy teeth are like the teeth of harmless sheep,
Not made the things of God, like rav'ning wolves,
To fiercely bite, and injure, and devour;
But made to masticate the angels' food,

The manna sweet, that cometh down from heaven.

Foes of Jehovah, have their teeth like swords, Their jaw teeth sharp as knives, to rend and

tear*

The humble followers of the living God,
And grind the lowly poor, who love the Lord.
Thy teeth are not like these, but hurtless feast
On herbage, growing in the pastures green
Of Bible truth. The promises they crop,
And chew the bread divine of lasting life,
That which sustains the Christian's hungry soul.
These teeth of thine are sound, and fairly set,
Like to a flock of sheep, all even shorn.

That come up from the washing, clean and white;

Like teeth of Judah, white with Canaan's milk.t
As teeth of sheep crop herbage from the hills,
And vales of Palestina's fruitful land,
And peaceful lie to ruminate the same,
So thou, by meditating on my word,
Feed'st on the doctrines of eternal truth;
Growing thereby, in statue and in grace,
And finding sweetness and delight therein.
Not barren, or unfruitful, art thou found,
But labouring to increase the church of God.
Travailing with souls, till they are formed anew,
As healthy ewes, prolific, bring forth twins.

m

OH, TALK TO ME OF HEAVEN
Oн, talk to me of heaven! I love
To hear about my home above;
For there doth many a loved one dwell,
In light and joy ineffable.

Oh tell me how they shine and sing,
While every harp rings, echoing,
And every glad and tearless eye
Beams like the bright sun, gloriously.
Tell me of that victorious palm

Each hand in glory beareth;
Tell me of that celestial calm
Each face in glory weareth.

Oh, happy, happy country where
There entereth not a sin,

And death who keeps its portals fair
May never once come in.

No grief can change their day to night,
The darkness of that land in light,
Sorrow and sighing God hath sent
Far thence to endless banishment;
And never more may one dark tear,
Bedim their burning eyes;
For every one they shed while here
In fearful agonies,

Glitters a bright and dazzling gem,
In their immortal diadem.

Oh! lovely, blooming country! there
Flourishes all that we deem fair,
And though no fields nor forest green,
Nor bowery gardens there are seen,

Nor perfumes load the breeze:
Nor hears the ear material sound;
Yet joys, at God's right hand are found—
The archetypes of these.

There is the home, the land of birth
Of all we highest prize on earth;
The storms that rack this world beneath,
Must there for ever cease.

The only air the blessed breathe,
Is purity and peace.

Oh! happy, happy land, in thee,
Shines the unveiled Divinity,
Shedding though each adoring breast,
A holy calm, a halcyon rest;

And those blest souls whom death did sever,
Have met to mingle joys for ever.
Oh! soon may heaven unclose to me,
Oh! may I soon that glory see,
And my faint, weary spirit stand,
Within that happy, happy land.

BOWLES.

"WHY STAND YE HERE ALL THE DAY IDLE ?"

Oh! why stand ye here in the market?
Oh! why do you idly delay?
When the Lord, he has bidden his workers
To the vineyard to hasten away,
While his reapers are patiently bearing

The burden and heat of the day.

The fields they are white to the harvest,
The clusters hang thick on the vine,
While to share in the glorious ingathering.
The ransomed from earth should combine,
Shall one sickle lie rusting and idle?

Oh say, shall that sickle be thine?
Arouse thee, and gird on thy harness!
Why slumbers the zeal in thy heart?
Who bid thee look on at the battle?

And not in that strife bear a part! Arise! 'tis the voice of thy Captain;

Oh! faithless and cold that thou art.

The shadows grow long on the dial,
The sun draweth on to the west,
Oh! husband the time that remaineth,

And thy labour and toil shall be blest, When the night and the darkness shall herald The season of peace and of rest.

Z. C. S. S., Deptford.
March 8th, 1869.

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THE PATH OF THE JUST.

"The way of the wicked is as darkness:" "But the path of the just is as the shining light.” Prov. iv. 19, 18.

I FEEL like one whose footsteps stand
Far up the path of life;
Journeying with a motley band,
Yet heeding not their strife.

How many wayward loiterers here,
Their devious paths pursue?
We meet, but with no hearty cheer,
And part, with no adieu.