That, their spiritual instincts becoming more acute, "the senses exercised to discern between good and evil," their choice may be no hesitating one, between that which may serve for present gratification, and that which shall yield a lasting peace. But that through the all-sufficient grace of their Lord, they may choose whom they will serve, "Redeeming the time"; and, that in them may be fulfilled all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power.

Thus, as a portion of the universal Church of Christ, may this religious Society, which has been wont to uphold a high standard of faith and practice, hasten, rather than hinder, the desired consummation, when that Church shall arise and shine in the glory of her risen Lord, and when she shall go forth amongst the nations, "clear as the sun, fair as the moon, terrible as an army with banners."

That the advent of the blessed time when "the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ," is devoutly to be longed for, none I think will be ready to deny; shall we not then yield our hearts now to His Government, and seek by watching unto prayer, and near communion with our God and Saviour, to have our lamps burning, and oil in our vessels with our lamps, that, having by His grace fulfilled our part in service, or in suffering for His sake, we may be ready, when the midnight cry is heard, to go out with joy to meet our Lord?

ANNA F. Fox.

OURSELVES AND OTHER PEOPLES.

"The scheme of the world is very large, and, as it has been quaintly said, 'It takes a many to make a world.' "Friends in Council."

SIDE by side with the Divine declaration that "God hath made of one blood all the nations of men," we see the equally Divine law, which, by strongly-marked mental and physical characteristics, separates one race from another. That this nationality is deeply stamped on human nature no one can doubt who recalls how much of history consists of its vehement assertion through baptisms of fire and blood. The strength of the tie which binds men to their own country and their own form of faith is as manifest on the low, watery plains of Holland, as in the lonely valleys of the lofty Alps, where

"O'er the snows and round the pines,
Has swept a noble flood,

The nurture of the peasant's vines

Has been the martyr's blood."

But if, in the large scheme of the world, there is an appointed place for every people that has not cast away its birthright, yet is there no equality in their position. Where there is the first there must also be the last; though to no one race is given in largest measure all the best things which the hand of a Father, infinite in power as in love, can bestow upon His children. Nations have been chosen to be the leaders of mankind, and then dethroned when they were false to their calling. In antiquity the Roman, the Greek, and the Jew were (to use Dr. Arnold's words) "the three

peoples of God's election; two for things temporal, and one for things eternal." From all of them the sceptre has departed, and the barbarian and the Gentile have become their heirs.

We need not look far at the present time for an illustration of the truth that when a dominant race, as represented by its rulers, is steeped to the lips in corruption and cruelty, no power on earth can long bolster up what has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. But if for every nation that has not so outlived its day of grace there is a place in the Divine economy which no other can fill as well, it becomes a question touching us most nearly what is the station which our own country is designed to hold. Although it is quite out of date now to hate the French because they eat frogs and wear wooden shoes, we still hear much of our insular prejudices and contempt for foreigners. Doubtless there is truth in the charge; but quite as characteristic is the Euglishman's propensity to depreciate his own country, and to hail with " gloomy rapture" prophecies of national decay. He goes abroad for a brief holiday of three or four weeks, in his best temper, and returns delighted with the French, Italians, or Swiss, as the case may be, contrasting their politeness with English rudeness.

It is, indeed, to be acknowledged that we are wanting in that gracious quality of courtesy; that the rugged Anglo-Saxon needs more polishing than many other races. It is to be feared that we are not exactly a pleasant people, and that the injustice done to ourselves and others by our neglect of the Apostolic injunction, "Be courteous," is very great. Still, let us be fair to ourselves. If that which is said to be "the next thing to Christian grace" is never more exquisitely displayed than by high-bred English men and women, we shall find that it is not those who, guided by honest sympathy, have had most to do with English working

men, even some of the roughest among them, who would say that they are destitute of this gift; and at least it must be acknowledged that politeness in such springs from a deeper source than in some others.

It is not only that the long array of our best and noblest will bear comparison with that of any land on earth; but is not the same true when we come down lower in the scale? They were not picked men who silently mustered on the deck of the Birkenhead, and having sent off as many as the boats could safely hold, went down without a word. They were not picked men who, when the Orpheus stranded, remained behind, after helping to put off the last boat-load of their comrades; and then, the saved standing on the rescuing vessel's deck, with hearts yearning towards the comrades left to die

"Gazed into the dark

'Till on their startled ears

There rose from that swift-sinking bark
A sound of gallant cheers.
Again, and yet again it rose;

Then silence round them fell

Silence of death, and each man knows
It was a last farewell."

from the very level We are not in the They are exactly

They are not picked men who, every time some terrible disaster occurs on land or sea, rise of the common place into heroes. least surprised at these things. what we look for. Far be it from us to say that the average men of other nations cannot attain to the same height. But surely there is something essentially English in the silence with which our great deeds are done which betrays a vast reserve of strength, perhaps of that "greatness of heart," which Lord Burleigh said made religious persecution useless where his countrymen were concerned.

If to England has fallen, not only the heritage of Rome as the lawgiver of the world, but also the Greek faculty for colonisation; if, through her greater patience, she outrides the political storms in which other nations suffer shipwreck—are these things the result of a blind chance? It was while enjoying the glowing beauty of Southern Europe that Dr. Arnold wrote :-"Feeling as none can feel more strongly the evils of the state of England, yet one cannot but see also that the English are a greater people than these more like, that is, one of the chosen people of history, who are appointed to do a great work for mankind." In the same strain Archbishop Trench writes:

“Elect of nations! for the whole world's good,
Thou wert exalted to a doom so high."

And the late Frederic Myers closed one of his noble lectures with the words:" If the first of your blessings is that of being Christians, the second is, beyond all question, that of being Englishmen." If these passages express, as we think they do, the common feeling of our best and wisest minds-of those who are keenly alive, as none others can be, to the darkness of the clouds which shadow our horizon, to the greatness and the number of the evils in our midst-is there not a heavy responsibility lying on the thoughtful men of this generation? Is it enough pressed upon the young that each one of them, in the absolute freedom of speech and of action which is his birthright, must throw his influence on one side or the other?-either doing his best that the purposes of God shall stand in making England a blessing to mankind, or else helping to frustrate them? It is not by shallow pride and childish boasting; not by condoning guilt and crime and calling evil good-if by these things British interests are supposed to be furthered that the patriot is shown. Nor is it by the ease-loving spirit which