disobliging; for it appears that Peter and his companions had passed a night of fruitless toil, and had taken nothing. Our Lord, therefore, having first consulted for the interests of the kingdom of God and the establishment of his authority, shewed himself not unmindful of the inferior wants of the body, and proceeded to add to the disheartened fishermen their daily bread. "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught," was his command. At his word, Simon let down the net, and a draught was taken, which clearly shewed that the success was out of common course, and due alone to the hidden powers of the stranger. Peter as yet knew not the Lord; but the reward which his obedience met with furnishes a useful lesson. Our faith may be imperfect; we may walk on still in darkness; but if we follow on we shall know. Our path of duty lies more in action than in contemplation. God is in heaven, and we are on earth; soar as high as we may, he is higher-we cannot attain unto him: he condescends to come down to us, to dwell in us, and be with us in the humble duties of our every-day calling. Thou art set over a few things; be faithful and thou shalt be ruler over many things. Fill with propriety the lower place, and thou shalt go up higher.

But to return. "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Dread of supernatural power is an instinct of our nature: the untutored savage, who sees for the first time nearing his shores the majestic vessel that walks the waters like a thing of life, hurries to the concealment of the mountain or the wood, until the horrible vision be overpast. It is the same with civilized as with barbarous man. Though more skilled to determine the boundaries which separate what is according to nature, and what is beyond it; once possess a man of the firmest nerve and the strongest understanding, with the conviction that a spirit stands before him, and the hair of his flesh will stand up, and fear come upon him,

and a trembling that will make all his bones to shake. There is indirect confession inwoven into man's very constitution and make-of original, indwelling sin. The dream is one, and the interpretation one, and St. Peter has given it. "Depart from me, (is the language of universal man,) depart from me, all spiritual nature that is higher, or lower, or other than my own; for I am a sinful man." Yes, it is a sin that accounts for the glaring inconsistency, that while man delights to expatiate through the fields of creation, and rejoices to find all things" beauty to his eye, or music to his ear," the very rustling of the veil which conceals the Creator causes man to shrink back in indescribable alarm, and close his eyes against the coming revelation. Sin is the barrier that separates man from his Maker. The variance, then, is on our part. Blessed be God, the overture of reconciliation comes from him. In tones most soothing to our perturbed spirits, the first words of heaven fall upon our ear: "Fear not," is the introduction and the burden of all messages to man. "Fear not, Abraham; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." "Fear not," said the angel, "for behold I bring good you tidings of great joy, which shall be to you and to all people." "Fear not," said Jesus unto Simon; " from henceforth thou shalt catch men." Be henceforth a minister of my Gospel, and be wise to win souls. Lift up the standard of my cross, that sinners may flock unto it; and I, the Captain of their salvation, will lead them to conquest over sin and death; I will lead them to a land of quietness and rest.

"And they forsook all, and followed him." It was not much that they left-a couple of small boats and their nets; but it was all they had, even all their living. It shewed their love and self-denial as strongly as if they had forsaken palaces and gold. The poor man's circle of pleasures and desires is small; but his circle is not the less perfect because it is small. A man can resign no more than his all; he must resign, if need be, no less.

There can be here no mistake. We know precisely what God requires; we know whether we are willing to comply. We can neither deceive him nor ourselves. "My son," is the address of God to each of us, alike in mercies, in warnings, and in troubles," give me thy heart." Reply not, in a spirit of uninstructed terror, "Who art thou, Lord? depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” To you he has been revealed as a God of love, to whom belong mercies and forgivenesses; and there is no fear in love. Say not-(which is a more common case)—say not, with desperate and malicious wickedness, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, and I love my sin too well to crucify it at thy bidding: what have I to do with thee? art thou come to torment me before the time?" For to all who say, the day will too surely come, when their wild wish shall be fulfilled, and they shall hear a voice, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire."

Nay, rather draw nigh unto God, and he will draw nigh unto thee. Say, and say from the heart," Come, Lord, for I am a sinful man, unable and unwilling of myself to help myself; take me as I am, and make me what I ought to be: come, and cleanse this nest of unclean things, and let thy Spirit brood lovingly upon it; expel from my heart, thy proper temple, the disorderly passions which have robbed thee of thy honour, and me of my peace; remove those obstacles which keep me from thee, and thee from me. Thou didst think it all too little to leave the glories of thy Father's kingdom, and to seek me when I was wretched, and miserable, and lost; let me not think it too much to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. Come, and thus make me holy; come, and thus make me happy— happy in life, with thee for my assured portion; happy in death, with thee for my comforting guide; happy after death, where there is fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore, in the presence of thee my Saviour and my God."

NECESSITY FOR PRAYER ON THE SUNDAY.-Satan keeps no Sunday; on that, as well as on the week-days, "he walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." When the children of God enter his sanctuary, Satan, their adversary, accompanies them, and endeavours to pervert their understanding, divert their attention, and lull them to slothfulness or indifference; and should he fail in all these, he follows them from the house of God to their homes, and tries his best, perhaps by the instrumentality of an acquaintance or friend, to scatter the good seed sown by some faithful labourer in Christ's vineyard. Surely the children of God should be very watchful, and "continue in prayer" on the Sabbath.-A. C. T. S.

"LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE MEN."-We ought to let our light shine before men; but then every one should do so in the situation in which Providence has placed him. Nor does God intend by this command to let our light shine before men, to refer simply to the office of the ministry, or to any official teaching in his Church. It is not merely thy lips, Christian, but thy life, which is to be the lamp. It is thy general character and conduct which are to edify thy brother and glorify God. He intends that all thy thoughts, words and works should silently testify that thou art born of God, and that the peace of God dwells in thy heart. Then it is that thou throwest around thee that gracious radiance which the Saviour means when he bids thee let thy light shine before men; then it is that thou preachest the Gospel as the power of God unto salvation, more effectually than can be done by thy words. And, remember, that those spiritual lights have the purest radiance which are the least conscious of their own brightness; and that those Divine flowers diffuse the sweetest fragrance which make the least display.-Krummacher's Elijah.

A TRUE ANECDOTE.-An unfortunate young woman, who had been led into the paths of sin, so as to lose her good name, and become the mother of a hapless infant— the child of shame and misery, lately told a Sundayschool teacher the history of her first departure from the ways of peace. "I once thought," she said, "that nothing could induce me to be absent from my place in the Sunday-school, so fond was I of it, and so much interested in the instruction I received; but, as I grew up, some of my companions in the town where I lived, used to laugh at me for continuing to go when I was so big; and one girl, in particular, who lived next door, was always ridiculing me, and trying to tempt me to give up going. I resisted for some time, but at length, one Sunday, I yielded, and consented to spend the day in some scheme of amusement, instead of attending the school and Church. All that day I felt as if the Lord might justly strike me dead for my sins; but, as the week passed, this feeling wore off, and by the time the following Sunday came, I determined, as I had once broken the ice, I would continue to indulge myself, and shun the ridicule I had hitherto incurred in attending the Sunday-school." This was the beginning of her downfall, as she felt and acknowledged herself. Oh, let it be a lesson of solemn warning to other Sunday-school scholars, who may be placed in similar circumstances.

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER'S REJOICING.—Archbishop Williams once said to a friend of his, “I have passed through many places of honour and trust, both in Church and State, more than any of my order in England these seventy years back; yet were I but assured that by my preaching I had but converted one soul to God, I should take therein more spiritual joy and comfort, than in all the honours and offices which have been bestowed upon me."