ence. Christ had greatly exalted the whole family. The result should have been their abounding gratitude and profound humility. But being, in this instance, unduly lifted up, they were left to unwise and shallow conduct, and to incur merited reproach. So true is it, that while humility is the forerunner of elevation, he that exalteth himself shall be abased.

Should some Christian mother, therefore, read this sketch, some mother whose son has been called to God's holy ministry,—perhaps it may remind her to wish for that son, not that he may be accounted greatest and most renowned among his brethren. It will, I hope, be suggested to her to pray, rather that he may be divested of all pride and vain ambition; that he may, in his heart, lie at the feet of all his brethren-that the eminence he shall seek on earth shall be that of lofty devotion to Christ Jesus, and of far-spreading usefulness in his generation-that every faculty of his be consecrated to salvation. And if these things be so, that mother may dismiss her fears and rejoice. She shall see her son in great renown, one day-when "they that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmanent; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever."

9

Mary Magdalene,

LITTLE is known of Mary Magdalene. Her place of birth and residence was probably Magdala, of Galilee; and she had been one of the victims of demoniacal possession, and one of the multitudes of these afflicted ones who had sought and obtained relief from the Saviour's almighty hand. Nothing that was more disreputable than the affliction alluded to can be shown to have been associated with her name and character; and the various suspicions in which many have been pleased to indulge themselves concerning this excellent lady, are as unjust to her as they are indicative of the ignorance or carelessness of such as have been disposed to cherish them. It appears likely that Mary Magdalene, as well in character as in circumstances, possessed an unspotted reputation, and an elevated standing in society. Her whole attitude toward her adorable Saviour appears amiable and beautiful in the highest degree. She scarcely makes her appearance on the evangelical page, save in connection with the crucifixion and resurrection of the "Lord of glory.” We observe her prominent among other women in witnessing his sufferings upon the cross. She was one of the weeping ones who followed him bearing his cross up the "dolorous pathway," and

to whom he said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me!" She was at the side of the disconsolate Mary when those words of the expiring Redeemer fell on the ear of John, saying, "Behold thy mother!" She was present when Joseph, the good and just, deposited the sacred remains within the sepulchre, and she beheld the arrangements, and how the body was laid. Of all the friends of Jesus she was the first who revisited the sepulchre on the morning of the resurrection; and was the first of human beings that discovered and gave information of the mysterious absence of the Saviour's body. Returning to the place of burial, she it was who stood weeping there, and as she wept, looked within the sepulchre and saw the two angels robed in white, and heard their heavenly voices. She it was who, before all others, saw the risen Christ. "Mary!" said the Lord of Life.

"Master!" responded the astonished disciple. She it was who, first of all, was commanded to proclaim her Saviour's resurrection, and that his ascension on high was at hand. And "Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her." The apostles proclaimed to the world the resurrection of Christ; Mary proclaimed this resurrection to the apostles. If Paul was the "last of all," Mary was the earliest of all, to see the risen Lord.

Such was Mary Magdalene. Only a scene or two opens upon us in which she appears and acts.

Yet these suffice to indicate to us that she was one of the most devoted of all the Saviour's devoted followers, and one of the most excellent of women. During the ministry of her Lord and Master she was one of those who "ministered unto him of their substance." During his humiliation and passion she never left him for a moment. Of all his deep sufferings at the last she was a partaker, and was present and heard when he cried, "It is finished!" She " saw where he was laid "within the sepulchre, and prepared the spices and ointments for his body. She did what she could; and none of sacred women rise on the view, clad in fairer beauty and more becoming gracefulness than Mary of Magdala.

Sapphire

THE story of Sapphira and her husband is one of deep and painful melancholy. They were both, as is probable, among the disciples; but of their origin, residence, or other circumstances of their history, the sacred record is silent. They rise before us only that we may contemplate their disastrous end, and the mournful cause that was concerned in bringing it to pass. Sapphira was obviously implicated entirely with her husband in the guilty transaction that proved their ruin.. They were both concerned in the sale of the estate. When her husband retained a part of the

price, Sapphira was privy to it, and consented to the measure. Alas for that act! There she fell, and there it was that loveliness and goodness departed hence. Her heart had yielded to crime, and her lie to Peter was the expression and sealing of her wickedness; and God cursed her with her husband, and the grave all suddenly closed over them both.

Sapphira lied. It is not narrated to us that this was her character. We are impressed rather that such was not her habit,-that in ordinary circumstances she was a truthful woman. In the present instance covetousness interferedSatan was at hand to take advantage of the corrupt motions of nature-what faith she had gave way, and she sank. Great and terrible is the crushing and the wreck, when a soul, heretofore upright, deliberately consents to deception and falsehood. It is as when some beautiful edifice, reposing gracefully upon its foundations, falls instantly, by some dire convulsion, into a mass of shattered and sightless ruins. It is as when the brilliant and mighty engine leaps in its flight upon some deadly obstacle; there is the crash, the shock, the wreck, and the dying. Or it is as when some tall and noble ship-a few moments since, riding triumphantly over the billows-now smitten by some woeful disaster, goes down at once, beneath the beneath the cold and bottomless sea. When a man consents to falsehood-when he becomes guilty of a lie, then all is lost. If he has