Then this precious word is backed up by a sweet promise, "I will help thee," a wonderful condescension, a mysterious revelation: it comes just when and where needed. Jesus said to his disciples, "It is I: be not afraid." "I will help thee." Subjects of fear, here is a promise for you. The poet said— "In darkest shades, if he appear, My dawning is begun.' Light, life, and liberty spring forth at the appearance of Jesus; salvation is in that glorious One. "I will," and who can frustrate that will? Who can stand against it? "I will create," "I will destroy," "I will bless," "I will work," and who shall hinder?-Who? Perhaps we have tried, Satan has, the world does, old nature tries, but "I will," is the same for ever and ever. What a rock for foundation!-the will and purpose of our covenant God. Storms and tempests may rise, winds and waves may beat, and the mighty billows may roll, but this foundation and superstructure is immoveable. "I will," for the helpless! Help, help, for the helpless! God helps to think, to desire, to believe, to pray, to rejoice, to praise, to love. God helps to creep, to walk, to run, yes, and sometimes to mount. Jesus said to his disciples, "Without me, ye can do nothing." How true is this, creature help is sometimes necessary (though not to salvation), but Jesus' help is always necessary, for temporals as well as spirituals: he helps us into life, and helps us all through life. Nothing can be done without it; and it is Divine, suited to the fearer, and adapted to the helpless, to every one. It is timely, constant, aud enduring; it is food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, riches to the poor, rest to the weary, strength to the weak, salvation from sin, deliverance from law, curse and condemnation, yea, it is everlasting life to the dead. That little word thee, comprehends a very great deal,-the universal church of Jesus Christ, an innumerable host; Jacob or Israel, of whatever nature or clime, they are the seed of Abraham, the seed of God, the favourites of Jehovah, chosen, sanctified, redeemed, justified, loved with an everlasting love, and not as a whole merely, but individually, personally, eternally, and experimentally, to each and every one; yea, the little, weak, and despised one, not one is forgotten by "our Father." Some that read these few sentences may begin to reason and doubt within themselves, as to whether they are partakers of this precious grace, help. They say, All that you have said is true, and I can endorse it, but the question is with me, Am I one of them? The answer is, You never would have felt the anxiety about it if you were not of them; the very longing of your soul after this unspeakable blessing, help, is an evidence that the seed of grace is implanted, and this seed will increase and multiply, for the work of grace never ceases. The worldly professor and ungodly, do not want help; they are strong in themselves, they often make use of a false phrase in heart, lip, and life,"God helps them that help themselves;" but God's way is to bring his own to feel their need of help, and then he says to them, God is thy refuge and strength: a very present help in every time of trouble, the trouble first-then the help. There may be others who can say, to the glory of his precious name, Hitherto the Lord hath helped me; Well, what he has done, he can do,-he will do. The consolation is that God hath promised, and he always fulfils his promise: "God is faithful." I hope I have not trespassed too much upon your time and patience. These are just a few thoughts that sprung up in my mind, I trust by the Spirit's unction. They are at your disposal, and may God Almighty accompany the same with his rich blessing, and he shall have the glory. Numb. vi. 24, 25, 26. PAUL'S THREE DESIRES.-The apostle had three great desires, and each centred in Christ :-The first was, to be found in Christ (Phil. iii. 9). The second was, to magnify Christ (Phil. i. 20). The third was, to be with Christ (Phil. i. 23). Each was realized. Poetry. w THE COMMUNINGS OF CHRIST AND In countless numbers on thy neck are seen.|| HIS CHURCH: A Poetic Paraphrase, and an occasional Com- Verse 4.—" Thy neck is like the tower of David, And find their weapons in the time of war. These all exalt their Saviour, Christ their Head; To feed the body, and sustain the church:- They bend not at the noise of flattering lips, These tempered arms are goodly to behold,- + Psa. xxxvii. 39. Jewels bright and rare, in beautiful array, TREASURE IN HEAVEN. "Where the treasure is, there will the heart be No longer now for pleasure Of vast, of untold worth; 'Tis sweet at noon to wander Beside some silvery stream, Like some forgotten dream. From Sol's effulgent light; Of life that never dies, Of free redeeming grace; When most we need relief; The souls that trust in him, BY T. ATTWOOD. When under temptation my soul is cast down, When death apprehends me to bear me away, WHEN within me my heart is o'erwhelmed with I'll join the blest song with those that I love, grief, And I to the Saviour repair for relief, From the end of the earth to thee will I cry,"Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." When sorrows encompass my pathway around, And comfort no more in the creature is found, In the depths of distress to thee will I cry,"Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." When losses and crosses my path still attend, And persons prove foes who once were my friends, In these tribulations to thee will I cry,"Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." When walking in darkness, 'midst thousands of fears, My couch, like to David's, well wetted with tears, In those painful seasons to thee will I cry,"Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." When brought very low through affliction and pain, Though in my frail body diseases should reign, With pain still increasing, to thee would I cry, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." THE LORD'S-DAY. And singing salvation to thee will I cry, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." A FRAGMENT. How dim and indistinct the past becomes, Like eastern glory at the opening day, Gleanings. LET us seek to prize the means of grace while we have them. In a country which is the reputed palladium of liberty, where the greatest of all liberty, the liberty of the truth, has been purchased by the blood of our fathers, -the time we trust, with God's help, may never come when these bulwarks will be overthrown, when our sanctuaries will be closed, our Bibles proscribed, our Sabbaths blotted from the statute-book, and bigotry, in league with rampant infidelity, again forge the chain and rear the dungeon. But, remember, that protracted sickness or disease may overtake us, and debar us from the precious blessing of the public sanctuary. Yes, I say, the public sanctuary! God's appointed ordinances can never be superseded or rendered obsolete by human substitutes. Some may urge that books, now-a-days, are better than any preaching, that the press is more potent and eloquent than any living voice. But church or pul pit is not a thing of man's device. It is a Divine institute. The speaker is an ambassador in his Master's name, charged with a vast mission from the court of high heaven, and the house of God is the appointed audience-chamber. God does not indeed (nay, far from it), forsake the dwellings of Jacob." The lowliest cottage-home may become a Bethel, with a ladder of love, set between earth and heaven, traversed by ministering angels ! The secluded sick-chamber may become a Patmos, bright with the manifestation of the Redeemer's presence and grace! But, nevertheless, "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary." The promise remains, "I will make my people joyful in my house of prayer." It is the solemn "trysting-place," the pledged ground of the covenant intercommunion. "THERE I will meet with thee, and commune with thee from off my mercy-seat l' "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion" "How goodly are the tents, O Jacob! and thy tabernacles, O Israel !" Reader, let me ask, How stands it with you? Are you conscious of a reverential regard and attachment to God's holy place? Does the return of the Sabbath awake in your heart the old melody of the sweet singer of Israel: "This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!" Do you go to the solemn assembly, not to hear the messenger, but the message; not to pay homage to a piece of dust (the vilest and most degraded form of idolatry), but feeling yourself a beggar in the sight of God. Do you ap proach it as the place of prayer, over which the cloud hovers, laden with spiritual blessings? Do you go to it as the house of God, seeking fellowship and communion with the Father of spirits, desiring that all its services, its devotions, and praises, and ex hortations, may become hallowed magnets, drawing you nearer and binding you closer to the mercy-seat? Oh, let not the boon of Sabbath privileges degenerate into an empty form, the mere pageant of custom. Let the Sabbath hours be sacredly kept, let their lessons be sacredly treasured. Let their close find you a Sabbath day's journey nearer heaven. Let their hallowed fragrance follow you through the week, let them be landmarks in the pilgrimage, towering behind you the further you go, like Alp piled upon Alp, flushed with roseate light, guiding and cheering you when low down in the valleys of trial and sorrow, and when called to descend the last and gloomiest valley of all. Spiritual Correspondence. A LETTER TO A YOUNG INVALID. MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND,-I was very pleased to find by your letter that you were still in the land of the living, for when I wrote to you I had my fear lest your residence should have been changed to a land where the postman could not find you. But why should I have feared your departure, and why should you be unwilling to go? Did Christ die for you? And has the Holy Spirit quickened your once dead soul, and made sin a burden to you, and taught you to cry for mercy? Then you need fear death no more than you would a dark passage leading to a splendid mansion. For God is your Father, and heaven is your home, and Jesus Christ is your elder Brother, who has gone before you to get all things ready for your reception, and will come again to meet you and guide you up to your high abode. Then there will be an end of pain; that poor weak body of yours which you have not been able to drag about for so many months will be as beautiful as Christ, and nimble as a lark. Still it is natural to cling to life, and I do not know that it is sinful, so long as we are not rebellious against the Lord's will. Flesh shrinks from the pangs of separating from earthly friends. But grace is able not only to make us willing, but glad to go. I was not surprised to hear of the death of G. P., and was thankful to know that his end was peace. Well do I remember his prayer at the new year's meeting, which caused me to feel a great union of soul to him. When you are ill, J. R. MACDUuff. and Satan tempts you to fear, think of George, and what grace did for him, and remember it can do the same for you. Should it be the Lord's will to raise you up, and grant you health to enjoy life, I shall be glad, and I pray that you may enjoy much communion and fellowship with the Lord Jesus. The object for which that great and good man Paul lived, was, that he might know Christ; and if he was not ashamed to live for such an end, why should we? We need not only to know there is a Christ, but to be on terms of friendship with him. He is the best company, for his words are words of wisdom, and cause our hearts to burn with love. He is the best Friend, for he takes an interest in all that concerns us, and is never weary of hearing us tell out our sorrows; moreover he is able to help and to comfort us, and even to make us rich in wealth which will outlive time itself. He is the nearest and should be the dearest relation we have. Do you want the love of a mother?" As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you' (Isa. lxvi. 13), saith the Lord. Do you want the tender care of a father?" Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust" (Psa. ciii. 13, 14). Yes, dear child, he knoweth your frame, how weak it is, and how you have suffered. Do you want the constant affection of a husband ?—" Thy Maker is thy husband; the Lord of hosts is his name" (Isa. liv. 5). Do you thirst for the fond love of a brother?" Jesus "is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother" (Prov. xviii. 24). Oh what sweet, what dear relationships he sustains to those who love him, and I pray that you may know him in those relationships. Let it be the aim of your life, and he will more than make up for all you may lose for his sake. I trust you continue better, and are able to get to the house of God, and find it good to be there, and with our united Christian love to yourself and all your circle, believe me as ever, your affectionate friend in the Lord Jesus, J. S. A. P. S.-Ask Alfred how Mr. Ripley's bantam crows; he will know what I mean. I hope the poor bird's comb is not cut! LIGHT AND SHADE. "In the day of prosperity be joyful; in the day of adversity, consider." Thus spake the word of truth to the sons of God; and it will even be the wisdom of his children to observe the Lord's doings, who alone is excellent in wisdom, doing wonders, and who is pleased to intersperse our path with variety that we should be well-disciplined in his word of promise, and be looking for the realization of the things that God has covenanted to give to his people; and among that family, of whom I trust I form an unworthy section, it has been my lot to experience many changes, yet, believing that all are working together under the all-wise arrangement of God, for my good and his glory, and thinking it might possibly be some good to the followers of Jesus to hear of some of his wonderful work, I have ventured to put pen to paper. exclaim, Why me, thus honoured! But it is the Lord's doing, and marvellous in our eyes. But there had long been a shadow cast over my humble home, in the form of consumption, slowly, yet surely, eating away a life, and that of our youngest child and daughter, who for six or seven years had been declining under its power; and though we had declined to hope for favourable changes, yet, when the blow came, it fell heavily. And so she, who for the last time went beyond the precincts of the house to witness her brother's baptizing, the last Thursday in April, the last Thursday in May, laid in the silent repose of the last enemy-Death: he did his work at the Lord's bidding, and the prisoner was released from the clog of sin and disease, and passed, as in a childlike slumber, to be for ever with the Lord. Truly it has been a sanctified time to my soul, and I trust to others as well. In this I am able to see the wise and benevolent arrangement of my heavenly Father, the tender plant taken out of all the storms of an evil world before the parents who had so tenderly loved and cared for her, thus being spared the trying feelings of leaving so weak a vessel to a boisterous ocean. Nevertheless, I doubt not, even then, my merciful God would have equalized the load, according to his word; and he did sweetly enable me to say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away: blessed be the name of the Lord." We laid her mortal remains with her dear brother's, who died, 1865 (aged 17 years) in Jesus, in the City of London Cemetery, Ilford. Our young brother Griffin, of Jireh, spoke to us and the many friends assembled, in a very solemn, faithful, and comforting manner, and as we left the grave, mingled tears and groans toThen, first, as to light. It was my un-gether. My soul felt as wax under the speakable privilege, on the last Thursday softening hand of God. I inwardly exin April, to baptize my eldest son with claimed, "It is well." another young man, at West Ham. It truly was a solemn time to me, as well as a touching scene, many were greatly moved, and, I trust, profited. I could well Yours faithfully in Jesus, Reviews. Compensation of Ecclesiastical Persons in the Irish Church. By CHARLES CROSSLIE. Collingridge. The author of this pamphlet, speaking of the Irish clergy, asks, (p. 4) "To what extent are the servants of such an institu tion entitled to compensation from the State?" " "When," he says, "those servants entered the service of that institution, they entered the service of the State." Of course they did. We have always maintained this, as a necessary corollary |