ful during the past; yet year after year he spares us that we may bring forth more fruit. Let us in this respect be imitators of him as dear children; and exercise a spirit of forbearance towards those of our fellow-men who appear to abuse their privileges, and refuse to serve the Lord. While we pray for them, "Lord, let them alone this year also," may we take pains to save them. Still may the barren fig-tree stand! Verdure and bloom, and fruit afford, JULY 13. "He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth." DAN. iv. 35. 44 "T HE world is not a vessel which is suffered to drift about, without a pilot, mast, or sail: but one in which an Almighty hand guides the helm. The human race is not an unbridled, ungoverned mass, but an immense flock, fed by an all-satisfying Shepherd. History is not a web of human will and blind chaos,-but a work of art, for which He, who orders all things, twists the thread of all human doings and undertakings. And if it does not everywhere manifest itself as such a work of art, we must bear in mind that it is still only a fragment; and that our eyes are obscured, with regard to the ways of God. Wait till the Lord Almighty reaches the end of his great designs, and till eternity removes every veil, and sharpens the eye and the understanding. Oh, how shall we then sink down in adoring astonishment before the feet of the Eternal, when we perceive how everything, even that which was the most opposed and inimical to his holy will, was obliged to submit, become subservient to, and even promote, under his all-powerful hand, the exalted plans of his rule and government! How rich the consolation which already springs forth from the consciousness that high above the tumults here below, the throne of the Ruler of the universe rests in eternal glory; and that all that takes place on the earth is guided, as by leading-strings, the ends of which run together into his all-powerful hands!"-Krummacher. All things on earth, and all in heaven, JULY 14. "Do nothing rashly." ACTS xix. 36. D sus; R. Cotton Mather mentions a person, who used to say, that there was a gentleman mentioned in the nineteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, to whom he was indebted more than to any other man in the world. This was he whom our translation calls, "The town-clerk" of Ephewhose counsel it was, "to do nothing rashly." When any proposal of consequence was made to him, he usually replied, "We will first advise with the town-clerk of Ephesus." Atten. tion to this wholesome advice would save us from many mistakes into which we hastily plunge ourselves, and spare us many bitter reflections on past words and doings. Of all persons it becomes a Christian, whose words are so weighed and whose actions are so watched, to be calm and deliberate in his whole demeanour. Grant, O God, that all my conduct may be marked by a gravity and seriousness becoming the Christian name! Whene'er in haste I seek to speak, To save me from the threatening storm. JULY 15. "We live unto the Lord." ROM. xiv. 8. T HE late excellent John Newton was once speaking of a young lady, who was recently dead. A friend of hers immediately asked, "0, Sir, how did she die ?" The venerable man replied, "There is a more important question than that, my dear, which you should have asked first." "Indeed, Sir," said she, "what question can be more important than, How did she die ?" He answered, "The question, How did she live ?" If we live to the Lord-live to serve and please him -live to glorify him in our bodies and spirits, which are his-then our death will be safe and happy. May my life be a life of faith, of labour, and of love to God, crowned by a peaceful depar ture to glory! With heavenly prospects full in sight, I find my heaven begun below. JULY 16. "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 JOHN 2. HE soul prospers when it clings closely to Divine things-when it is frequent in its attendance on the means of grace-when it is active in the service of God-and when it is ever looking with the steady eye of faith to heaven. Its prosperity is apparent by the advances it makes in religious knowledge-by the growth of its virtues -and by its multiplied and enlarged joys. To enjoy this soul-prosperity is of the utmost importance. In possessing it we possess the greatest possible blessing. It is far superior in value to all the treasures of the world; and it fills us with a peace more satisfactory and permanent than all earthly pleasures. "Nothing," says Sibbs, 66 can be very ill with us when all is well within. We are not hurt till our souls are hurt. If the soulitself be out of tune, outward things will do us no more good than a fair shoe to a gouty foot.' I would always make it my chief business to promote the prosperity of my soul. May all the pursuits and associations of life be made subservient to this one grand purpose. Shower down upon me, O God, thy gracious blessing that I may abound in all good words and works to thy glory! Shine on my soul, eternal God! JULY 17. "We have an advocate with the father." 1 JOHN ii. 1. ESCHYLUS, one of the most celebrated poets of Greece, lived about four hundred years before Christ. With his two brothers Cynegirus and Aminius, he distinguished himself in the battles of Marathon, Platea, and Salamis. But his countrymen forgot their obligations both to his valour and genius, and in compliance with the voice of popular clamour, he was unjustly sentenced to death, and would have been immediately executed, but that his brother Aminius, who had lost a hand in the service of his country at the battle of Salamis, promptly threw off his cloak, and presented the maimed arm to the view of his brother judges. The appeal, though silent, was powerful, and Aeschylus was in consequence pardoned. So Christ, our elder brother, presents himself with the marks of his sufferings upon his body, before God, on behalf of his people. When the law would press home its charges upon us, and pronounce its condemnation and penalty, he points to the head that was crowned with thornsthe side which the soldier's spear entered-and the hands and feet that were nailed to the cross. The judge looks upon these marks of conflict, and then he looks upon us, and declares us justified from all things of which the law would accuse us→→ justified wholly and for ever. May I ever commit my cause to this all-prevailing advocate, "Jesus Christ the righteous!" In every dark distressful hour, When sin and Satan join their power, That Jesus bears me on his heart, JULY 18. "The eye also which saw him shall see him no more." JOB XX. 9. HE great prince Saladin, although a Mohammedan, was wiser than many professed Christians. After he had subdued Egypt, passed the Euphrates, retaken Jerusalem, and performed other great exploits, he finished his life by an ac |