AN INDIAN PARABLE. once said, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." (Luke ix. 5, 8.) He was the Father's only begotten and wellbeloved Son, and the adored of angels, yet for our sakes he submitted to be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His own, to whom he came, received him not, and all men, few excepted, hardened their hearts against his love, scorned the mercy that he came down from heaven to offer, treated him with undeserved hatred, denied his pretensions, and even dared to assert that he performed his great works, not by his own almighty power, but by the assistance of Beelzebub. The child, of whom I first spoke, conferred a benefit upon one city, and one city only; but the child from Heaven has favours to bestow not only upon some, but upon all who desire them the one by his continued privations became instrumental in the bringing of a stream wherewith to bless his people; the other by his unexampled sufferings, and ignominious death, even the death of the cross, opened a fountain of living water wherewith to bless the whole world. Both provided water for the necessities of man; but the one was water that perisheth in the using, and regarding which it is written,"He that drinketh thereof shall thirst again," (John iv. 13) the other is water, which in the man that partaketh of it shall be a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John iv. 14.) Blessed be the Lord God whose beloved Son has given to the world the water of life; and blessed be the Son for his great and inestimable gift. Behold! he inviteth you to drink. Will you not do it? The people of the city which was destitute of water, received the water that was brought into it, and not only received it, but used it for all the purposes of life. Had they refused to do this, of what advantage would it have been to them to know that there was water in the city? And can the water of salvation which is in the midst of you profit you any thing, if you do not go to it and partake of its blessings? How will the eternal Father, the ever-blessed Son, the Holy Spirit, the angels of light and the saints of God, regard you if you reject the great gift from heaven? a gift purchased with the precious blood of the Son himself. And how will you escape if you neglect so great Salvation? Let me beseech you, if you have neglected it hitherto, to do it no longer. "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way." 1 AN INDIAN PARABLE. (Ps. ii. 12,) Drink of the water of life that is freely offered, and live for ever! And if the people of the city, though once the enemies of their benefactor, when made sensible of his great goodness, became his friends and united to praise and extol his name, shall we, who were in like manner once the enemies of the Son of God, but are now his friends, shall we be unwilling to honour and glorify him before men? If angels praise him, shall we not praise him? If the shepherds journeyed to Bethlehem to see him, with gladsome hearts, shall we not be joyful in the prospect of seeing him, not now in a manger, but seated on a glorious throne on the right hand of the Majesty on high? May we, dear friends, be among the number of those who are anxious to behold the Son in his glory, and to whom at the last day will be addressed the words, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world." Matt. xxv. 34. But in order to behold him in his glory, and to dwell with him in his everlasting kingdom, it is necessary that we should both know and do his will; and his will is revealed to us in his last Testament, even the Scriptures of truth. Let us do with this precious record of his love in like manner as did the people of the city with the last will and testament of the person of whom I first spoke. They, as we have seen, read it and became acquainted with its contents, and were thus enabled to act as became the objects of the testator's bounty. Let us imitate the example thus set before us; and so shall we be wise unto salvation. Let us listen to the exhortation, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." (John v. 39.) (John v. 39.) "Let the sacred book be a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path,' (Ps. cxix. 106,) to guide us into the way of all truth. And let us say with the Psalmist, "I will keep thy statutes," (Ps. cxix. 8,) "I will run in the way of thy commandments." Ps. cxix. 32. "Blessed is he whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditateth in his law day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringing forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." (Ps. i. 2.) "Great peace have they who love thy law." (Ps. cxix. 165.) "In the keeping of it there is great reward." Ps. xix. 11. POETRY. Poetry. "THY KINGDOM COME!" FATHER OF MERCIES! speed the promis'd hour; Seen through thick clouds by Faith's transpiercing eyes, -All hail!—the age of crime and suffering ends; Anecdotes and Selections. GOD'S GREAT LOVE TO A GUILTY WORLD.-Mr. Nott, a missionary in the South Sea Islands, having read, on one occasion, the third chapter of the Gospel by John to a number of the natives, some of them appeared deeply impressed. When he had finished the 16th verse, one of them, much affected, interrupted him, asking, "What words were those you read? Let me hear those words again." Mr. Nott again read the verse, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotton Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life; "when the poor pagan rose from his seat, and said, "Is that true? Can that be true? God love the world, when the world not love him! God so loved, as to give his Son to die, that man might not die! Can that be true?" Mr. Nott read the verse again, told him it was true, and it was the message God had sent to them, and that whosoever believeth in Jesus would not perish, but be happy after death. The feelings of the wondering pagan were too powerful for expression or for restraint. At length he burst into tears; and as these rolled down his dark visage, he withdrew, to meditate in private on the amazing love of God, which had that day touched his soul, and there was every reason to believe that he was afterwards permitted to share the joys of Divine peace, the fruit of the love of God, in his own heart. ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS. 66 book. THE PRICELESS BOOK.-One of our pious neighbours talked to a poor working woman, who was at her house helping her, respecting the salvation of her soul. The woman appeared much interested in the conversation, but expressed her regret that she was not able to read. Some portions of the New Testament were read to her. "Dear me!" said the woman, "what a nice book that is! How I should like to have one like it for my husband; he can read; and if you will get me one, I will pay you by a little at a time." "Very well," said my friend, "take this home with you." In the evening she returned to her husband, and showed him the "What is this?" said the man. "A New Testament." "Have you bought it?" "Yes." "I wish you had not; it is a waste of money. The book is not worth any thing." "Nay," replied the wife," there are good things in it. I have heard them myself, and if you will read a little you will find them-they are there." The earnest persuasion of the wife prevailed. He opened the book, and the first passage which caught his eye was, "A certain blind man sat by the way side begging; and hearing a multitude pass by, he asked what it meant; and they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by; and he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!" This was like a nail fastened in a sure place. He continued reading for hours; and when he finished for the night, he said, "Well! there are good things in it after all; it is worth the money." Let us hope that, enlightened by the Holy Spirit to understand it, they both found there the "pearl of great price." A WORD IN SEASON: BY A CHILD.-Some time ago, a little girl, about six years of age, entered our sabbath school. She paid much attention to, and seemed to profit by, what she heard, occasionally taking an opportunity of relating to her mother any anecdote or advice given by the superintendent. At length she had a little tract given her, in which this sentence was prominently printed, "How much better it is to get religion when we are young, than to defer it till the time of old age." This book she carried to her parent, and putting it into her hand, drew her little finger with a significant glance over the sentence just quoted. The mother made no reply, but could not forget the words pointed out to her by her little daughter. In the course of the afternoon, she made another effort by enquiring, "Mother, are you going to chapel to-night ?" "Not that I know of," was the reply. But the little monitor was not discouraged. At length the hour of worship came; and running up to her mother, she exclaimed, “O mother, the people are going to chapel: do you go? Remember, the little book said how much better it is to get religion when we are young, than defer it till the time of old age.' "The mother, astonished and affected by her child's importunity, was prevailed upon that evening to go to the house of God. For seven long years before that night she had never entered a place of worship but twice, upon the occasions of a THE FIRESIDE. funeral and a wedding. Since that night she has been a regular attendant. But this is not all; the word preached has been made the power of God to her salvation, and she has become a member of our church. How does God condescend to bless the humblest instrument, and " a word spoken in season (even by a child), how good is it." The Fireside. FEMALE FINERY. THE Rev. Canon Stowell, M.A., delivered at the Corn Exchange, Manchester, a short time since, a lecture entitled "Christian Thoughts on the late Arts Exhibition." In the course of his remarks he made the following observations on finery. "There seems," he said, "to be a rivalry in dress among some females, which was anything but becoming and anything but beautiful. And then they carried the fashion to such an extreme, that they outdid the fashion itself. As for bonnets, they sometimes dwindled into bows and as to under-garments they swelled into hogsheads. It will be well if, in this time of depression, many of the fathers and husbands do not find the Christmas bill rather a melancholy sequel to the Art Treasures Exhibition. Far be it from me to throw out any indiscriminate or general censure on a sex whose advocate and champion I have felt every good man must be. There were many, very many, worthy exceptions; I would hope, indeed, that modesty and moderation were rather the rule, and that these extravagances were the exceptions. But let me throw out a hint to my fair sisters-follow the example of your own beloved Queen, and you will not go wrong in your dress. I watched her narrowly as she stood on the dais, and her dress, while rich as it ought to be, was strikingly plain, and ornament of any kind I could hardly detect; and as for her bonnet, instead of one of those little bits of things stuck on the back of the head, it reminded me of one of the good old coal-box shaped bonnets. I think the ladies of Manchester, aye, and the ladies of England, too, had a silent but eloquent reproof from their Queen, and I trust that they will lay it to heart. It will be far more noble to follow the example of their own modest matronly Queen, than the example of a foreign potentate, who is not of royal birth, and is not distinguished, like our own Queen, for the motherliness of her appearance. But I leave this delicate topic, on which I hope I have touched tenderly, and rather in playfulness than in severity, and sure I am that my christian female friends before me will forgive me, for I do not think that the lecture: I have been giving about finery will belong to them." |
