SABBATH MEDITATIONS.

No. XLIX.

JUNE 1.-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

Morning Lessons: Judges iv.; Mark ii.
Evening Lessons: Judges v. ; 1 Cor. xv.

GOD IN CHRIST THE ONLY SUFFICIENT STRENGTH. "Is not the Lord gone out before thee?"-JUDGES iv. 14. Meditation." The Lord hath ever means at hand

for his servants' comfort and deliverance. If they

know how to pray, he knoweth how to comfort..... For comfort lean thyself upon God, cast thy care upon him he will bring it to pass. God hath means beyond our sight: if man cannot do it, angels can, and shall; and if no man will pay the widow's debt, God will: if nobody will feed Elijah, the ravens shall. Why do we talk of means? All means are shut up in God..... Shall any thing be impossible with God? If God's people can break through all hindrances of unbelief and every discouragement to prayer, God will break through these and a thousand more, to their comfort" (Harris).

Prayer. Vain is the help of man. Verily, there is neither help nor strength for us, Lord, but in thee. Shall we trust him, who sitteth in the seat of the scornful? Shall he be our confidence, who walked in the counsel of the ungodly? and shall we not rather have faith in him, the mighty Counsellor, who biddeth us cast all our care upon thee, with whom only is everlasting strength, and grace sufficient for every need? Forbid it, Father, that we should be as the chaff which the wind driveth away. We will no more stand in the way with sinners, whom thou that sittest in the heavens hast in derision, and shalt break with a rod of iron, and dash in pieces like a potter's vessel; but our souls shall flee unto the mount of holiness, that we may kiss the Son of thy love, lest he be angry; that he may bless us, because we have put our trust in him. Yea, when storms and tempests, heaviness and sorrow, buffet us, and thy chastening is upon us, we will pour out our prayer; and the voice of the broken heart shall ascend unto thee; and we will hide ourselves under thy wings, O thou, our hiding-place, the rock of our defence, and the lifter-up of our head. Unto thee will we cry, who art one with him and he with thee; and thou wilt hear us from thy holy hill, and thy right hand shall go out before us. Thou, Lord, with whom only we can dwell in safety, wilt bless us, and give us rest and peace: thou wilt discomfit Satan and all his host, that rage against our souls, even as Sisera and all his host were subdued before Israel; for they that trust in thee shall prosper and prevail.

And are not all things given unto thine anointed One, O gracious Father? Is he not risen again unto thy right hand, to make intercession for them that ask, and seek, and knock, in his dear name? Shall not the meanest and the least of his flock find pasture and a sure refuge within that fold, to which he is the door and the entrance? In all times of our necessity, whether of soul or body, will we, believing on him, go boldly unto thy throne of grace, even with the boldness and confidence which is by the faith of him: so shall we find rest in thee, and our sorrow shall be turned into joy. If the world hateth us, we know that it hated him before it hated us. If troubled

within and on every side, we shall not be distressed if perplexed, we shall not be in despair; if persecuted, not forsaken; if cast down, not destroyed. For this cause, we faint not, O most loving and most merciful Father, for this cause; since greater art thou that art for us than all they that are against us. And thou, O Jesus, wilt walk with us, as with thy little ones, the children of Israel, through the fiery furnace. Though thou triest us as silver, with holy Job, and layest trouble upon our loins, it is that thou mayest prove us, and refine us from the dross of earthly corruptions; that thou mayest be glorified in thy servants that flee unto thee, the Lord their Saviour and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. O put away from us, we beseech thee, the spirit of bondage and fear, and fulfil us with the Spirit of adoption. Let thy mercy be upon us, and compass us about; for thou art our trust and our hope: to thee only belongeth salvation: in thee and by thee only can we attain unto the fruition of thy saints in the heavenly kingdom of thy Father's glory. Amen.

No. L.

S. K. C.

JUNE 8.-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Morning Lessons: 1 Sam. ii.; Mark ix.
Evening Lessons: 1 Sam. iii.; 2 Cor. vi.

CONFESSION, AND TURNING UNTO GOD BY
CHRIST.

"This is my beloved son, hear him."-MARK ix. 7.

Meditation. "They labour in vain that kick against the pricks, that strive against his gospel. For he is a prince of might that doth defend it; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' The sun will run his course: the passage of the gospel cannot be stopped. The gospel is not bound.' While it is it is the very seed of it. Now, as he is our King, so persecuted, it is enlarged. The blood that is spilt for

require the law of God; that prophet, like unto our Priest and Prophet too, at whose mouth we should Moses, the searcher of truth; that very Son of God, of whom the Father hath said, 'Hear him.' He is the Priest, who once for all hath sufficiently sacrificed for our sins; by himself, and by none other; once, and not often; upon the cross, and not upon the altar; sufficient for all such as shall be saved. He is the

priest, the high bishop that maketh intercession for us; the only Mediator between God and man; to teach man the will of God, to reconcile God to man, to make intercession between God and man" (abp. Sandys).

Prayer.--O Lord, heavenly Father, we beseech thee, for his dear sake who suffered so many things, and was set at nought for us, cast us not away with the faithless in our generation. "Lord, we believe: help thou our unbelief!" Bear with us, and suffer us yet awhile; that, by thy grace and power, we may enter into ourselves, and examine our hearts, and search out our ways. Lead us and guide us by thy good Spirit, that we may know and feel how grievously we have offended thee, the living God; and grant us so thorough a conviction of our sinfulness, that we may be constrained to cease from every evil way, and, in true contrition of soul, offer thee the sacrifice of a repentance made acceptable by the sprinkling of the blood of thy Lamb, and the incense of humble thanksgiving for thy wondrous forbearance and long-suffering towards us.

For the merits' sake of thy beloved Son, whose rent body is the altar upon which only we dare offer unto thee any oblation, we pray thee, bow down thy merciful ears to our petition; extend thy saving arm to the "little ones" who believe in him; and take us, in soul and body, under thy sheltering wing, which, for the love of him, thou spreadest over them that receive him whom thou hast sent.

Bless us, O beloved of the Father, and keep us, that we lose not the reward thy free grace hath promised to such as belong unto thee. Let thy word dwell richly in us with all wisdom, and create us anew, blameless and purified; gather us into thy fold, as sons of God; and in such wise fashion us as his dear children, that we may be as shining lights in the world, setting forth the word of life in all our conversation. O make thine own divine image so to grow in us, that in thy day, O Christ, we may rejoice and be glad, as they who have not received the grace of God

in vain.

Sanctify us, O Spirit of the Father and the Son, by thy gracious ministrations, and let the fruit of our faith ripen into a sure witness, that thy grace hath taken root and place in our carnal and earthly hearts. yea, let us bring forth no works but thine, the fruit of true repentance, of sanctification, and of a holy life; giving offence to no man, no, not even to them which are without, but walking quietly, honestly, and orderly in all things, provoking one another unto love and good works; that men, beholding in us a godly single-heartedness and unreprovableness, may be won also to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour, and be admitted with us to the sonship of the Father, and to be joint-heirs with Christ, who liveth and reigneth, with him and with thee, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen, amen (in part from abp. Sandys). S. K. C.

The Cabinet.

SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE SOUL.-Religion is experience, and not speculation; and, therefore, the true knowledge of Christ Jesus is the personal and self-appropriating conviction that he is made unto us "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.".... If we are strangers to that life which the soul derives from God, what can all our notions of the work and righteousness of Christ amount to, but to a senseless value placed on means without an end, a new and living way, which leads we know or ask not whither? If we breathe not after holiness and God, what has redemption brought us? What has that great salvation saved us from, but from a material hell, which has no existence but in the carnal mind? What has it purchased for us, but a heaven which is a mere barren notion or an empty name? For my own part, I have no hope for time or for eternity which is not grounded upon the alone merits of that Saviour who offered himself, once for all, to save, without money and without price, the guilty and the lost. But, if I can say, as I trust I can, with my whole heart," God forbid that I should glory, save only in the cross of Christ," my rejoicing is in this, that on that cross my Saviour unbarred the gates of

everlasting life, and died, "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God"—not that he might take us by a hand of flesh, and lead us into the presence of some visible majesty, but that he might effect a true and vital reconciliation of mind and nature between the Creator and the creature; that the dark cloud of offended justice might no more veil the heavens, but

that the warm beams of the Eternal Sun, the gladdening emanations which issue from God, might again flow down upon the soul of man, and touch the springs of happiness, and quicken the seeds of immortality within it. Such, my brethren, is pure and undefiled religion, a present salvation, the dawning of an everlasting day.-Rev. H. Woodward.

CHRISTIAN CONSIDERATION.-Every thinking man will look around him, when he reflects on his situa

tion in this world, and will ask, "What will meet my case? what is it that I want? what will satisfy me? I look at the rich, and I see Ahab, in the midst of all his riches, sick at heart for a garden of herbs: I see Dives, after all his wealth, lifting up his eyes in hell. and begging for a drop of water to cool the rage of his sufferings: I see the rich fool summoned away in the very moment when he was exulting in his hoards. If I look at the wise, I see Solomon, with all his wisdom, acting like a fool; and I know that, if I possessed all his wisdom, were I left to myself, I should act as he did: I see Ahithophel, with all his policy, hanging himself for vexation. If I turn to men of pleasure, I see that the very sum of all pleasure is that it is Satan's bed, into which he casts his slaves: I see Esau selling his birthright for a mess of pottage: I see Solomon, after all his enjoyments, leaving his name a scandal to the church to the latest age. If I think of honour, take a walk in Westminster Abbey: there is an end of all inquiry: there walk among the mighty dead: there is the winding up of human glory! And what remains of the greatest men of my country? A boasting epitaph! None of these things, then, can satisfy me. I must meet death: I must meet judgment: I must meet God: I must meet eternity."Rev. R. Cecil.

Poetry.

THE FATHER OF LIGHTS. (For the Church of England Magazine.) BY THE REV. J. S. BROAD, Incumbent of St. George's Newcastle-under-Lyme.

(James i. 17).

FATHER of lights! Supreme, Most High,
Above all human majesty,

Whose glory through the world appears,
Unmark'd by bound, untold by years;
Darkling, we pray to thee for light
Great Spirit, pure and infinite!
Where'er we turn, thy gifts we see:
All things around are full of thee.
Each flow'ry mead and waving plain
Drinks in thy fertilizing rain:
Earth gladdens with ten thousand springs
Of blessing, through thy visitings.

Our lengthen'd days with good abound, Our years are with thy bounty crowned: Thou openest, where thick dangers meet, A pathway for our wand'ring feet:

'Mid clouds and gloom thy still small voice Is heard, to guide us and rejoice.

But richest, best, all gifts above,
That perfect offering of thy love,
Thine own eternal Son is given,
And with him all in earth and heaven;
For he whose faith receives the Son
Hath all things in that blessed one.
In vain, amid our cares and woes,
On earthly good our souls repose;
For wheresoe'er we look or range,

The things of time are wont to change:
Unmov'd alone thy power hath stood-
Sole, self-existing Source of good!
Immutable thy glorious name,
To-day as yesterday the same:

No shade of change thy being knows-
Unfailing brightness from thee flows;
Thou, first and last, art wont to dwell
In thine own light ineffable!

Our hearts of prayer to thee we lift,
Author of every perfect gift;
Bend to our wants, in mercy bend,
Pure, heavenly blessing on us send;
And let us, while we wait below,
More of thyself enjoy and know..

Miscellaneous.

JESUITISM IN SOUTH AMERICA*.-The Indians were astonished at the first appearance of a jesuit, and knew not what to make of a man who came to them single and unarmed; who at once comprehended, as if by instinct, all their forms of salutation and social ceremony; who adopted their manners, and bestowed presents upon them. And what an effect must the first tones of the flute or the violin have had upod them! The tale is still told of one of the jesuits who played long on the violin, and only begged, as a reward for his pains, that he might be allowed to sprinkle a little water upon the heads of the listening Indians. But this they would not grant: they would dance, but not be sprinkled. The obliging musician then seated himself under a tree, while the Indians surrounded him, beseeching that he would continue to play. "Bring me a little water," said he, " and I will play for you as long as you please." As soon as the water was fetched, they surrounded him again; while he sprinkled and fiddled, and fiddled and sprinkled, until both parties were fully satisfied. On another occasion, the missionaries predicted an eclipse of the sun or the moon, at which the Indians laughed at first; but, when the phenomenon took place, they consented to be baptized, and yielded themselves to the sway of the jesuits. In many instances the mis

• From "The Jesuits, and their Mission to Chitquios, in South America:" by Moritz Bach. London: Williams and Norgate. A striking picture is here presented of that which is "another gospel." How different to the mode in which the apostles laboured.

sionaries availed themselves of a knowledge of physics to attain their purposes. "C'est le premier pas qui coûte." When a horde of Indians was thus in some measure tamed, and made nominally Christian, the jesuits began to study the language and manners of the people. Soon after baptism, packages of all sorts of tools, clothing, ornaments, and convenient things, were freely distributed among the neophytes. Houses began to be built, fields were sown and planted, and the Indians were instructed in the care of oxen, horses, sheep, goats, swine, and poultry. But care was taken lest the new converts should become disgusted with their toil; and, sometimes, tribes of Indians already civilized were called in to assist in the establishment of the new mission. Now, for the first time, some mention was made of the Christian religion. The missionary gave to the Indians some instruction concerning the Trinity, the virgin, and the saints; then built a chapel and introduced the mass, with prayers and preaching. Still the old forms of worship were retained, and treated with the utmost respect for instance, in the morning a Christian mass was celebrated; but in the evening a very different mass was performed, and the jesuit himself danced and sung with the natives in honour of the old gods of the country. With slow but sure steps the labours of the new mission advanced towards their object. By degrees, almost imperceptible, the old heathenism vanished, and the new religion was established. Christianity, with all its ceremonies and solemnities, was intimately united with the daily life of the converted Indians. At four o'clock in the morning the father of every family began his domestic devotions by repeating the "pater-noster," the "aveof the household, still lying in their beds. Next, they Maria," or the "credo," followed by all the members went to mass, from which none dare be absent; the jesuit frequently going his round at the time, and driving with his whip every one who stayed at home when not sick. At San José there is still to be prepared for his part in the penitential services of seen, in a corner of the sacristy, the demon-figure former days. The jesuit, after declaiming on the sins of the people, suddenly called out, "Now comes the devil, to take you all." At that moment the church-doors were fastened, nearly all the lights were extinguished, and Satan came in upon a car, arrayed as a great black fellow, with fiery eyes, nose, and tongue; with horns, tail, and hoofs; while an Indian, concealed behind the fignre, raised a terrible cry. The struck and in despair, while the jesuit proceeded to congregation, as may be easily imagined, were horrorexplain the designs of the evil one who moved about in the church. After some quarter of an hour spent in this exhibition, the preacher would say, "But, through the intercession of the holy virgin, grace is again afforded to you, and the devil shall not have you this time." At this the black gentleman vanished, this ceremony arose a very curious custom, still preand the church was suddenly lighted up again. From served among the Indians of San José, who include the arch-fiend in their prayers, as if they believed the proverb-" Es bueno tener amigos, mas que sea en

los infernos."

moved,

THE Society in which the family at Dwas the highest in the neighbourhood. It was not, certainly, a licentious, but it was a gay, a worldly society. The young ladies were fascinating and accomplished: they had received a first-rate education; and, save in the knowledge of "the one thing needful," were really well instructed. Their mother was a thoroughly worldlyminded woman—the greatest evil which can befall a girl. Destitute of religion herself, she never, for one moment, thought of impressing its importance on her daughters; and, if they played well, painted well, sang well, danced well, and were perfect in other accomplishments, and had a prospect of forming good marriages, shew as perfectly satisfied their spiritual state entered not, for one instant, into her calculation.

A ball, in honour of the succession of a neighbouring baronet, had produced great excitement, and collected together the élite of the surrounding country. Of that ball Emma D. ——was the star; and she knew it. A giddy, thoughtless girl; she danced, and it was gracefully; and she prattled, and it was prettily. She was perfectly aware of her attractions. Who like Emma D---? The D-s were all pleasing; but she unquestionably the most. They were dressed elegantly and tastefully and expensively: their mamma took care of this. She thought nothing about their souls; but she was marvellously fussy about their bodies. She was anxious to gain husbands for her daughters -the main spring and moving principle of many

a mother's heart.

For weeks before, there had been constant preparations, ordering of dresses, consultation as to patterns, writing to humble friends in town to

It is said the morning after a ball is generally a very wretched one. It is not precisely like that of the drunkard, who is miserable until the wonted stimulus is again quaffed; but it is not much unlike it, as may be witnessed in those who enter on the gaieties of a London winter. About two, the young ladies at D-made their appearance to breakfast; and, to while away the five tedious hours before that of dinner, when some of the company of the preceding evening were to be present, they strolled into the village, and called, as a matter of course, at old nurse's cottage; for they still liked her, though they did not like her new ways. She was not at home. Her sisters went to look for the old dame; but Emma was far too tired; and she flung herself, nearly exhausted, into the dame's chair, and, listless, yawning, and wearied, took up a little, well-thumbed book that lay on the table; and, half asleep, her eyes lighted upon the words, "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." Reader, never destroy a good tract!

Emma returned to the hall with her sisters; and verily it was a night of much festivity and revelry. No expense was spared. A large party was assembled; among whom was the young baronet. After a sumptuous entertainment, merrily did the music strike up, and joyously was the dancing carried on. No form so sylph-like as that of Emma. Proudly did papa look upon her; and anxiously did mamma watch the countenance of the baronet, who had been a friend of Frank's, at college. She was convinced he was fascinated with Emma: she was more and more strengthened in her conviction; and she was happy.

Emma retired to her room jaded in body, and her mind was ill at rest. For the first time after a night's dissipation she read her bible, and knelt down to prayer. Amidst all the merriment of gladsome voices, the strains of delightful music, the pretty, flattering speeches poured into her ear, there was one voice, louder than all, heard midst the dance and at the banquet: "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” A feverish night was followed by an uneasy morning. She could not rest; and, long before the family and those guests that remained had been down to breakfast, she strolled through the wood to old nurse's. As she passed along, the knell from the church fell upon her ear. Of the clerk, who met her, she inquired for whom it was ringing, for she had not heard any one was dead. "Ah, Miss Emma, it is a sad, sad tale. We have sent for the coroner. Poor, poor Lucy Wilmot went yesterday afternoon to wake with her