at this day, what would be the result upon our churches at home, if every Missionary collector acted upon a similar resolution?

Her views respecting the duties of a minister's wife may be gathered from the advice she gave to one of her daughters:-"Your first duty, as a wife, is to study your husband's comfort in all things; and, depend upon it, in the long run, you will best serve the church by fulfilling what is every wife's first duty. Let there be nothing in the home, as far as you can avoid it, that will add to his anxieties. In the management of a church there is much to worry a minister's mind, and to make him anxious and depressed, besides the sense of grave responsibility which all ministers feel more or less. Therefore, it is necessary that the bright and cheerful influences of an orderly home should be his, as far as possible. I know that there are people everywhere who make most unreasonable demands upon a minister's wife. There is a constant cry for visiting;' do not let it distress you, because you cannot satisfy them in this. Make yourself as useful as you can, in any way, public or private; but never to the neglect of home duties." In her own life she thoroughly carried out these views; and, notwithstanding her constantly delicate health, took no small share in all the public church work in which, as the wife of a minister, she found she could be useful. Her influence over young people was remarkable. There are many who, under God, attribute the commencement of their religious life to her affectionate pleadings with them.

The piety of Mr. and Mrs. Dernaley was of a cheerful kind; their love to God had blossomed out into love to man, and it was manifest to all that they had "put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Never were husband and wife more united; their aims and purposes were one. In every thing that concerned their children they had but one mind,-that they might be early led to a saving knowledge of the "truth as it is in Jesus," and whatever was likely to interfere with this was scrupulously guarded against. No friendships, no amusements, were permitted, which to their superior judgment seemed likely to lead to temptation. So well was this understood in the home, that if "No" had been the answer to any request, it would not have occurred to their children to press for an alteration of the decision; and those of them who are spared to mourn the loss of such parents, will ever remember with gratitude the wise and firm, yet kind and gentle discipline, of their youth.

When death released her beloved husband from his earthly pilgrimage, and her weeping daughters were clinging round her, it was Mrs. Dernaley who was the chief comforter in their sorrow. She seemed to expect that the separation would be but for a brief period. She said, "I feel that my work is done. No one who has known me ever thought I should survive your father: but it has been my prayer that,

if it were God's will, He would permit me to be with him to the last; I knew he would miss me so much." The year of widowhood was passed in patient waiting for her Lord's coming. Cheerful, taking an interest in all about her, thinking of the welfare of others, working for them to the last, with an unclouded mind she faded day by day; so imperceptibly indeed that those who watched her could not believe death was so near. For three weeks she suffered greatly from bronchitis, but no complaining word escaped her lips. She was often engaged in prayer, interceding with God for her children and friends, and she greatly enjoyed hearing hymns repeated and sung to her, such as "Jesu, Lover of my soul," and Bernard's beautiful hymn, beginning,

"Jesus, the very thought of Thee

With sweetness fills my breast."

On the day before she died, she was extremely ill; but, in the midst of pain, and notwithstanding her excessive weakness, spoke most earnestly and faithfully to one who came to take leave of her, and whom she had known in her early girlhood. In the afternoon she rallied; and, at her own request, the Lord's Supper was administered, the members of the family partaking of it with her. Those who were thus privileged can never forget that season of holy communion. To a much-loved brother, she said, "It is all well, I am on the Rock of Ages." To another dear friend, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded' He will keep that which I have committed unto Him.' He has kept me all these years, and He does not leave me now. Satan tries to assault my faith; he would fain make me doubt, but," and this was said with a flash of her old energy, "he is a liar,' and always was 'from the beginning.'" In the evening, while her son-in-law, with whom she resided, was repeating passages of Scripture to her, his excessive emotion caused him to pause till he could recover sufficient self-command to proceed. She looked up quickly, and finished the verse which had been partly repeated to her. She then gradually sank, until she gently passed away to her heavenly rest, about half-past three, on Thursday morning, December 19th, 1867. To her it was a "morning without clouds," a day not to be followed by any night. S.

THE INCARNATION OF GOD, AND THE PERSON OF

CHRIST.

THE advancement of man, in the full development of his powers, to a perfect oneness with his Source, was the original design of his creation; his individuality remaining, God would have become "all

in all." This grand purpose was invaded by the introduction of sin. The glory of man was suddenly covered with darkness; a deep abyss stretched between the sinful creature and the holy Creator. But it was impossible that God and humanity could be permanently separated. The conception of the one necessitates the conception of the other; the idea and the fact of man must be complemented by those of God. The heart of man asks for a God; and he has invariably supplied himself with one. It may have been the gloomy and inexorable god of fate, or the dreamy and shackled god of nature, or even the feeble and necessitous god of a self-asserting humanity. The knowledge of God is only attained by an acquaintance with His attributes, which find their expression in "the relation of His nature to reasonable beings." God never forsakes man; neither can man remove from God." Man cannot divest himself of his moral nature, and thus sink into the category of animals. If he attempts the experiment, he discovers that he has produced a demon. His conscience binds him eternally to God. In the ultimate triumph of good over evil, of purity over sin, the true communion of God and men will be realized. A fallen spirit is not to proclaim its victory over Omnipotence. The redemption of men is the gracious purpose of God; through the medium of that redemption the subtile enemy will be foiled; from the wreck of sin, purity and order will arise; and God and man will become eternally one. "God manifest in the flesh" is the cheering pre-announcement of these issues.

The method of redemption is one of those subjects which, from their transcendent importance, command the inquiry of both friends and foes. Some measure of light may be thrown upon the subject by the remarks just made, though it must be maintained that from Revelation our information must be finally derived. It is, however, of value to observe the opinions of men with reference to it; as in so doing we are convinced, by contrast, of the partial and uncertain character of human decisions, and of the clearness and fulness of Divine teachings.

It has been objected by some, who are not disposed to place their confidence in the Bible, that it seems quite improbable that the Creator of so many worlds, which are immeasurably superior, in point of dimensions, to this fraction of His universe, should fix upon it as the scene of the most astonishing display of His condescending wisdom and love. Why should He veil His glory, and take upon Himself the woes of the inhabitants of this speck of creation, and seek to make them "partakers of His nature ?" Was there no worthier sphere for such a marvellous exhibition? This objection is like many others which men urge against the ways of God,is much more apparent than real. Are we to measure the Divine proceedings by any human standard, and to maintain that He must

act, in the manifestation of His love, on precisely the same principle, and by the same rule, as man? This would be to limit God; and in some sense to impeach His character, in a most unwarrantable manner. We see every where illustrations of the fact that His "ways are not our ways."

The disclosures which science has made of the vast amount and varied forms of existence with which our earth abounds, show it to be a universe in itself. Every atom of matter, every drop of water, contains a world of wonder or of life. It may, therefore, not be improper to measure the wisdom and greatness of God by another standard than that of mere extension; and in His estimation this smaller sphere may be more important than the mightiest sun that, accompanied by attendant planets, which pay their constant homage to its greatness, floats in space. In a spiritual sense, too, this world may be vastly more important than any other. We must not regulate our expectations of what may be enacted on any particular scene by the mere extent of the theatre. The grandest events may occur within a very limited sphere. This is one of the prerogatives of mind, which can make what is superficially and materially small the scene of its greatest achievements.

The objection also proceeds on the assumption that other worlds equally with our own require such a manifestation of God. It may, therefore, be very properly met by the inquiry, What if this world only stood in need of this form of Divine interposition? That would be a sufficient reason for such a distinction being conferred upon it; and would be quite in harmony with the Great Teacher's representation of the conduct of the true shepherd: "How think ye? if a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray." (Matt. xviii. 12, 13.) And why may not God leave, in this sense, the countless worlds which He tends, and follow the one which has wandered from its right path, in order to restore it to fellowship with Himself? If in our world only the standard of rebellion has been raised, and hostile forces concentrated, certainly may we conclude that the Great Ruler will hasten with all His power to crush the resistance to His authority, and to restore the erring to His favour and to the condition of loyal subjects. In that case, no other part of His dominion would entertain a sense of neglect; but would rather rejoice over the grand enterprise and its benevolent results.

On the other hand, it has been asserted by some that the very superiority, in a material sense, of this world, furnishes a reason for the display of God's glory which the Incarnation supposes. In the

opinion of such persons, all other worlds are only in a state of development and progression towards the condition of completeness at which our earth has arrived. To them, "our planetary system is the most organized point in the universe;" and they further express their conviction that "the sacred place where the Lord appeared will be recognised as being the absolute centre of the universe."

These and other human opinions show us the necessity of something more authoritative and definite, and make us thankful that we have the testimony of God Himself on these great questions in which we are so deeply interested. The Scriptures represent the sin of man as the occasion for the assumption of our nature by the eternal Son of God. The preservation of the Divine authority, and the restoration of mankind to the communion of God, were the immediate objects to be accomplished. This great design being manifested, the malignant attempt of Satan to lead away our race into permanent rebellion and misery, or to induce its immediate extinction in the exercise of Divine judgment, would be signally defeated. The higher order of intelligences, who had not left their "first estate," would acquire enlarged views of the wisdom and resources of God, while their benevolent nature would exult in the promised redemption of the fallen race. Every part of God's creation that remained faithful to Him would raise its shouts of praise when the scheme of redemption was made known. No doubt it was one of the most honourable and joyful errands with which those angels had been commi-sioned, when they appeared on the plains of Bethlehem, chanting in the ears of the astonished shepherds, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'

This great truth was intimated to the first man in the judgment which was pronounced on the seducer, and which was practically the promise of deliverance to himself: "I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The Seed of the woman was to enter into conflict with the spiritual foe that appeared in the serpent; and, while suffering in the conflict, was to achieve a glorious victory. How significantly and exactly that early statement agrees with the history of the God-man, and with His sufferings and successful mediation! The Divine incarnation was prefigured in the form under which God communicated with the patriarchs. The Maleach-Jehovah appeared to them under a human form; and the Person appearing applied to Himself the titles and prerogatives of God. This Angel of the Covenant was He who afterwards appeared as "God manifest in the flesh;" and the human form which He assumed was beautifully symbolic of His actual assumption of our nature when "the fulness of time was come." The last of the prophets cried, "Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly