"Old Scotland for ever!" feel, we believe, that they specially belong to us.

With the breath which fills

Their mountain pipe, so fill the mountaineers,

With the fierce native daring which instils
The stirring memory of a thousand years,

And Evan's, Donald's, fame rings in each clansman's ears.

"Providence," said Napoleon, sneeringly, "is generally on the side of the strongest battalions." Be it so; but will anyone deny that the character of the soldiers has much to do with the strength of the battalion they form? And was it not the character of our soldiers-a character fostered by the traditions of their native land, fostered still more, perhaps, by the religious teaching of their native church and parish school-that made them strong on many a memorable day, and never more strong than on that memorable day at Waterloo, when the great commander I have named generously exclaimed as he saw his own ranks yielding before their onslaught, "Les braves Ecossais" -"Brave Scotsmen." As we see these banners waving peacefully here, let us keep in mind our nationality. The names that are inscribed upon them tell how powerful a feeling that is to make men strong and brave. It enters like iron into the blood. In faded characters we read the names of battlefields where Scottish men and Highlandmen maintained the honour and prowess of their native land.

On the slopes of Quatre Bras

The Frenchman saw them stand unbroken. On the day of Waterloo

The pibroch blew where fire was hottest. When the Alma heights were stormed, Foremost went the Highland bonnets, And before "their thin red line"

The Cossack rider turned and vanished.

When on India's burning plains,
Dearly saved was Britain's honour,
Outram, Havelock, and Clyde

Led the Highlanders to conquest.
Joyful rang the pibroch loud

Through the sounding streets of Lucknow,
And, like angels sent to save,

Came the brave ones to the succour.

As it was in days of yore,

So the story shall be ever:

When the doughtiest deed are dared,
Shall the Gael be forward pressing.

Think, then, of the name ye bear,
Ye that wear the Highland tartan!
Jealous of its old renown,
Hand it down without a blemish!

So in wild Gaelic measure, and with true Celtic fire, has a modern poet sung the prowess of his Highland countrymen. May the sight of these banners inspire every soldier who looks on them-whether Lowland or Highland-to echo his earnest desire to "hand down the name they bear without a blemish!" and should the day ever come when we as a people are tempted to succumb to sloth, luxury, and first to undervalue, and finally to give up national power and privileges which are our heritage from God, and which have been dearly purchased by those who went before us, may these emblems and the stirring memories that cling to them help in some degree to wake up the last drop of blood left in our hearts, and nerve us to bear ourselves like the children of our sires. "We have heard with our ears, O God, and our fathers have told us, what work Thou did'st in their days in the times of old. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but Thy right hand and Thine arm and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou had'st a favour unto them. Through Thee will we push down our enemies: through Thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us." These are some of the voices which we and those that come after us, shall hear from these old banners as they hang in this church.

PLAS

The Children's Column.

Sermons for Children.

"They shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."-Matt. i. 23.

THI

THIS prophecy spoke of a gift which God was to bestow upon mankind.

If you were told that the Sovereign of this country was going to send you a present upon Christmas-day, would you not be greatly interested and excited? Would you not keep wondering what it could be, and fancying all sorts of beautiful and delightful things? Well, this prophecy spoke of something far better than the gift of any earthly sovereign. It spoke of God's gift the gift of Him who is King of kings, and Lord of lords.

But this gift was not only God's gift. It might be God's gift, and yet nothing very great or wonderful. For God's gifts, though all good, are not all great. But the gift was to be something quite by itself, such as God had never bestowed, and would never bestow, or need to bestow again. In general, it is not the rare things but the common things that are God's best gifts to men. The gems of the mountain, the pearls of the ocean, the gold from the mine, are very rare, and because rare very valuable. But they are not so valuable as the common air we breathe, the light that shines upon all, the cattle which feed upon a thousand hills, the corn which rolls in golden waves over countless plains and valleys. But this gift of God was not only to be the rarest, it was also to be the most precious of all His gifts.

"They shall call his name Emmanuel-God with us." This was God's great, His unspeakable gift.

And how was He with us? He was not only present with us, for He is present everywhere-in crowded cities, where men congregate, and in the lonely desert, where human foot has never trodden; where men with restless thoughts and busy hands work out their countless plans, and where the flowers bloom unseen beneath the silent stars, and the young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. It was in another way that He was Emmanuel-God with us. He came to be one of ourselves-a man among men, to think our thoughts, to share our feelings, to live our life. He was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. He looked out upon the world with

human eyes.

He saw the sun which He had Himself created rise and set. He saw the flowers, to which He had Himself given their fragrance and beauty, bloom, and wither, and die. He loved with a true man's affection those very men whom as God He had formed, and served with a strong man's devotion those very men whom, by right, He reigned over as King.

And He not only lived in the world as men live, He was born into the world as men are born. It was of the Babe of Bethlehem, whom His mother brought forth, and wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in the manger, that it was said by the Prophet, "They shall call His name Emmanuel." Think of it children. That little Baby-born in a stable and laid in the manger, because there was no room for them in the inn-the mighty God-Emmanuel-God with us! He was a weak, helpless child, in His mother's arms. He could do nothing for Himself. He had no speech even to tell what He wanted, or say what He felt. He had to depend entirely upon the love and care of others; and yet, all the time, He was Emmanuel, God with us.

The Bible tells us that the Saviour of Man had to be made like unto His brethren; and so He went through all their experience. If He had been a man without being first a child, He would not have been like other men; and so, the Bible seems to say, He would not have been able to help and to save them. He was made like them that He might bear their sins and die for them upon the Cross; and He was made like them too that He might understand them, and feel with them, and know by experience their temptations and difficulties, and needs; and as children have to be helped and saved, as well as grown up men, He was a child before He was a man.

Then think how by appearing on earth as a child, a weak helpless infant, who depended entirely upon the care and tenderness of others, He encourages all, both old and young, to come to God, and trust in God, and love God. Men think of God as a great and dreadful God, and they are right. They think of Him as terrible in His might-awful in His holiness-strict in His justice and so undoubtedly God is. But, when He came closest to men, as it were, and made Himself most clearly known to them, how was it that He chose to appear? Not in awful majesty, but in a low condition; not as a mighty king, but as a little child; not with strict demands and dread threatenings, but with silent appeals to their love and tenderness. So He appeared on Christmas-day, and by so doing did He not tell us very plainly and touchingly that He wants us to come to Him, and trust in Him, and love Him? Then, to conclude, this day is kept by Christians all over the world as Christ's Birthday. When birthdays

come to us who are growing old, they make us feel how much we have changed; how different we are from what we were when life was young. But the Child who was born in Bethlehem was Emmanuel-God with us; and of Him it is said, that He is the same yester day, to-day, and for ever. And so you may be sure that Jesus Christ, on His throne of glory, never forgets, and never can forget the days when He was a child and lived a child's life in the world. It should make you very happy to believe this; and if, by God's grace, you can trust in Him as one who understands you, and feels with you, and loves you, you need not doubt that it will make Him happy too. We read in the Gospels -somebody, I think, has said this before, but it is worth saying again-that once He rejoiced in spirit, and once He was much displeased. "In that hour," it is written, "Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, 'I thank Thee, O, Father; Lord of heaven and earth! that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes.' And again, "They brought young children to Him, that He should touch them; and His disciples rebuked those that brought them." But when Jesus saw it He was much displeased, and said unto them, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for, of such is the Kingdom of God." And He is yesterday, and to-day, and for ever the same.

R. W. MACKERSY.

MY GRAVE. WHEN I am dead, oh, lay me in

Some quiet spot on earth, Where trees are green, and sweet birds sing, And daisies have their birth.

Where running brooklet babbles bye,
And murmurs o'er the stones,
And whispers to mine ear thy name,
In fond familiar tones.

And when you come to see the place
Wherein your own love lies,

I'd have you think some pleasant thoughts
Of all our earthly ties.

Some comfort, too, I'll bring you then,
In silence tho' it be,

For I am still thine own, in death,
Unto eternity.

And if you join me there some day,
Our hearts in hope will lie
Until the One Great Lord of All,

Shall call us to the sky.

So lay me in some quiet grave,
Unmarked by any stone,
Where nature has her mildest sway,
And we can be alone.

A. B.

Calendar for December.

1st--Died, Pope Leo X., 1521; Ebenezer Elliott, poet, the Anti-corn-law rhymer, 1849.

2nd-Advent Sunday.-Died, Francis Xavier, Catholic missionary, 1552; Amelia Opie, novelist, 1853.

3rd--Born, Robert Blomfield, poet, 1766.-Died, John Flaxman, sculptor, 1826; Robert Montgomery, poet, 1855.

4th-Born, Thomas Carlyle, 1795; Dr. John Kitto, Biblical illustrator, 1804.-Died, Cardinal Richlieu, 1642; William Drummond, of Hawthornden, 1649; Thomas Hobbes, 1679; John Gay, poet, and dramatist, 1732.

5th-Died, Johann Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart, 1792; John Bewick, wood engraver, 1792.

6th-St. Nicholas Day.-Born, Rev. Richard Harris Barham, author of "The Ingoldsby Legends," 1788-Died, Dr. John Lightfoot, divine and commentator, 1675.

7th-Cicero, assassinated, 43 B.c.-Died, Dr. John Aiken, popular author,

1822.

8th-Born, Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542; Johann George Von Zimmerman, author of Treatise on Solitude," 1728; Richard Baxter, Nonconformist divine, 1691; Thomas de Quincey, miscellaneous writer, 1859.

9th-Born, John Milton, 1608.

10th-Died, Krummacher, 1868.

11th-Born, Charles Wesley, musician, 1757.

12th-Died, Colley Cibber, dramatist, 1757; Sir Mark Isambard Brunel, engineer of Thames Tunnel, 1849.

13th-Born, Dean Stanley, 1816; William Drummond of Hawthornden, 1585.-Died, Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1784.

14th-Born, Daniel Neal, divine, and author of "History of the Puritans," 1678; James Bruce, Abyssinian traveller, 1730; Rev. Charles Wolfe, author of "The Burial of Sir John Moore," 1791.-Died, General George Washington, 1799; Prince Albert, Consort of Queen Victoria, 1861.

15th-Died, Isaac Walton, author of "The Complete Angler," 1683. 16th-Born, George Whitefield, celebrated preacher, 1714; Jane Austin, novelist, 1775.-Died, Wilhelm Grimm, writer of fairy tales, 1859. 17th-Born, Ludwig Beethoven, 1770; Sir Humphry Davy, 1779. 18th-Died, Samuel Rogers, poet, 1855. 19th-Born, Captain William Edward Parry, Arctic navigator, 1790.— Died, Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1851 20th-Born, John Wilson Croker, reviewer and miscellaneous writer, 1780. 21st St. Thomas Day.-Born, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1117; John Kepler, distinguished astronomer, 1571.- Died, Giovanni Boccaccio, celebrated tale writer, 1375. 22nd-Died, Richard Allein, Nonconformist divine, 1681; Sir Philip Francis, reputed author of "Junius," 1818. 23rd-Born, Robert Barclay, celebrated Quaker, author of "The Apology." 1648.-Died, Michael Drayton, 1631.

24th-Born, George Crabbe, poet, 1754.-Died, Hugh Miller, 1856. 25th-Christmas Day.-Born, Sir Isaac Newton, 1642; William Collins, poet, 1720; Richard Porson, 1759.-Died, Rev. James Hervey, author of the "Meditations," 1758.

26th-St. Stephen's Day.-Born, Thomas Gray, poet, 1716. 27th-St. John the Evangelist's Day.- Died, Thomas Cartright, Puritan divine, 1603; Dr. Hugh Blair, 1800; Charles Janet, poet and essayist, 1834; Rev. William Jay, eminent Dissenting preacher, 1853.

28th-Innocents' Day.-Died, John Logan, poet, 1788 Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1859.

29th-Born, Sir Archibald Alison, historian, 1792.-Died, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1170.

30th-Died, Roger Ascham, eminent scholar and writer, 1568: Jacques Saurin, eminent Protestant divine, 1730.

31st-Died, John Wycliffe, 1384; John Flamstead, astronomer, 1719.

Ecclesiastical Calendar for December. SUNDAY, 2nd-First Sunday in Advent.

The Epistle to the Romans, xiii. to end.
The Gospel of St. Matthew, xxi. 1-13.
SUNDAY, 9th-Second Sunday in Advent,
The Epistle to the Romans, xv. 4-13.
The Gospel of St. Luke, xxi. 25-33.
SUNDAY, 16th-Third Sunday in Advent.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians, iv. 12-17.
The Gospel of St. Matthew, xi. 2-10.
SUNDAY, 23rd-Fourth Sunday in Advent.
The Epistle to the Philippians, iv. 4-7.
The Gospel of St. John, i. 19-28.

TUESDAY, 25th-Christmas Day.
The Epistle to the Hebrews. i. 1-12.
The Gospel of St. John, i. 1-14.

WEDNESDAY, 26th-St. Stephen's Day.

For the Epistle-Acts of the Apostles, vii. 55 to end. The Gospel of St. Matthew, xxiii. 34 to end. THURSDAY, 27th-St. John the Evangelist's Day. The First Epistle of St. John, i. 1 to end. The Gospel of St. John, xvi. 19 to end. FRIDAY, 28th-The Innocents' Day. For the Epistle-Rev. xiv. 1-5. The Gospel of St. Matthew, ii. 13-18.

MOLINOS GOLDEN THOUGHTS. Read these thoughts :-" The brazen gates are closed behind us, which shut out the fantastic throng of troublous and distracting thoughts Above and around us, in the windows and on the walls are saints and apostles, martyrs, servants, and seers, who have endured to the end. Sense is there, but it is sense in its ideal entirety - not the erring and wandering sense of perplexed humanity. Melodious sound is there, but inarticulate; or, if articulate, in the hallowed words of cen. turies-which have lost the note of finite utterance, and become universal as silence itself! Form is there, but form hallowed and mystical-without choice or alternative-without growth, and without decay; and before the adoring individual sense. Thus, chastened and annihilated, is presented the God-given Humanity, as God Himself restored it, and offered it before the Universe as a sacrifice again."-J. Henry Shorthouse.

Books for Reading.

"Five Great Painters:" Essays, reprinted from the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews. By Lady Eastlake. 2 vols.London: Longmans, Green & Co.

"The Parables of Our Lord." By Marcus Dods, D.D. The Parables recorded by St. Matthew. Edinburgh: Macniven & Wallace. 3s. 6d.

'Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress." New Edition. Illustrated with 140 Original Designs. By Gordon Browne. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, Crown Buildings, 183 Fleet Street, E. C. Small post 8vo. 3s. 6d. 'Light in Lands of Darkness: " a Record of Missionary Labour. By Robert Young; with Introduction by the Right Hon. the Earl of Shaftesbury, K.G. London : T. Fisher Unwin, 26 Paternoster Square. Price 6s. "Heroic Adventure:" Chapters in recent Explorations and Discovery; with Portraits and Illustrations. Same pub

"The Prince of the Hundred Soups:" a Puppet Show in narrative. Edited and with an Introduction by Vernon Lee; Illustrated by Sarah Bush. Same publishers. Price 3s. 6d. "Life of Luther." By Julius Köstlin. With Illustrations from authentic sources. Translated from the German. London: Longmans, Green & Co. Price 16s. "Anecdotes of Luther and the Reformation." London: Hodder & Stoughton, 27 Paternoster Row. Price 3s. 6d. "A Woman's Reason:" a novel. By William D. Howells, author of the "Lady of the Aristook." Edinburgh: David Douglas.

"The Parish of Taxwood, and some of its Older Memories." By J. R. Macduff, D.D. With Illustrations by A. Rowan. Same publisher.

"Good Lives: Some Fruits of the Nineteenth Century." By A. Macleod Symington, D.D. Same publisher.

"Prue and I." By George William Curtis. Same publisher. "Golden Thoughts," from "The Spiritual Guide of Miguel

Molinos, the Quietist," with Preface. By J. Henry Shorthouse, author of "John Inglesant." Glasgow: David Bryce & Co.

"Curious Epitaphs: collected from the Graveyards of Great Britain and Ireland; with Biographical, Genealogical, and Historical Notes." By William Andrews, F. R. A.S London: Hamilton, Adams & Co.

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