Bible Society. The latter, it is well known, had its origin in the proposal to supply Wales with Bibles. "Why not," said a philanthropic spirit, who was present at the meeting, "why not a Bible Society for the world?" The spark ignited, and burst into a flame.

And whence sprang the juvenile societies that have poured such large contributions into the funds of the various societies, but from a sermon preached by the late Rev. Matthew Wilks, May 13, 1812, from Jer. vii. 18, "The children gather wood," &c.

The sentiment at the head of this paper should teach us not to despise small things or feeble efforts. Every Christian can do something for God and religion. No creature is to be regarded as unimportant. Children may distribute tracts; the young may be collectors for Bible and Missionary Societies. The pious

may instruct the rising generation. All should labour in the great cause. The rich should contribute freely and liberally of their abundance, as the stewards of God. And all should pray, "Thy kingdom come!"

We should remember, too, and act upon the principle, that no efforts, small or great, can succeed without the Divine blessing. On the warehouse of the merchant, on the shop of the tradesman, on the field of the husbandman, on the pulpit of the minister, it is written, "God giveth the increase;" "There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few," 1 Sam. xiv. 6. It is ours to work; it is the Lord's to prosper. He that goeth forth, even weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Penryn. R. C.

MY DEAR SIR, It has grieved me much to observe that in the list of missionary services for the month of May next no notice is given of a public prayer-meeting previous to the anniversary services, to implore the aid of the Divine Spirit upon the varied and important labours of the Society in foreign lands.

Surely, sir, at such a time as this, when this noble and godlike Institution is assailed from foes within and without, we are most forcibly reminded, that in the prosecution of the missionary enterprise we must not depend on an arm of flesh, but must exercise an increasing confidence in the wisdom, power, and grace of Him who ruleth amongst the armies of heaven, and who alone is able to say to the restless pride, the fierce passions, and the bitter rage of his haughtiest foes, "Thus far shalt thou go, but no farther." Truly, sir, we live in no ordinary times. Never, perhaps, at any period in the history of the modern church of Christ, was there such a loud

call upon the professed servants of God for humiliation, vigilance, and earnest prayer as at the present moment. Surely, if our Lord blamed the Pharisees of old for not regarding the signs of the times in which they lived, how much more shall we be to blame if, in the eventful times that are passing over our heads, we are indifferent to those signs in the political and spiritual horizon around us which call aloud upon us to increased watchfulness and prayer! The more numerous the trials, and pressing the difficulties, by which this great Society is surrounded, the more loudly are we called upon to earnest supplication at the throne of grace on its behalf.

It has been remarked by many missionaries from foreign lands, How poor and meagre an attendance there is at our prayer-meetings for the revival of religion at home and abroad! How little pleading is there with God, on the ground of his promises! How great is the want of holy fervour in the supplications of some of our church-members!

and how weak their sympathies with a sinful and perishing world! how little of the compassion of the Divine Redeemer, who, when he came nigh to the city, the guilty and unbelieving city,-even amidst the plaudits of the surrounding multitude, wept over it!

Much has been said, and that justly, that our churches are, many of them, working missionary churches; and so far as giving and working go, this, in some cases, is delightfully true: but are they, to the same extent, praying churches? If so, how is it that our ladies' working parties, our juvenile meetings, and public anniversaries, are so well attended; and our prayer-meetings so deficient in attendance and spiritual life? Where is that earnest wrestling of the praying patriarch, which led him to exclaim, "I will not let thee go, unless thou bless me?" Where is that pleading for a double portion of the Holy Spirit's influence, which Elisha was so anxious to obtain? Where is that holy violence which taketh the kingdom of heaven by force? Where is there that deep sympathy with our missionaries in the sorrows and disappointments they meet with in their work which there ought to be? How often does the success which the great Head of the church vouchsafes to his servants in some parts of the world excite a missionary feeling; whilst the trials and obstacles which they meet with in others awaken no sympathy or prayer! How little feeling is there manifested for our native converts in heathen lands, who are surrounded by the temptations and allurements of their heathen relatives, and by all the corrupting associations of idolatry! A missionary, writing from Madras, speaking of the effects of the baptism of four Hindoo youths, says: "The institution, in the English department, is reduced more than half in number, and the preparatory schools have also suffered much, with the exception of the girls' school. The Hindoos are now set on our utter ruin, and meditate a meeting of all castes, right and left hand, to prevent parents, by heavy penalties,

from sending their children to our schools. We believe that the God whom we serve will, in due time, overturn this confederacy, and make the great events that are passing over our mission tend to the glory of his name and the advancement of his cause among the heathen. In the mean time, our souls are gladdened by the grace given to our young converts, who are feeding in green pastures with the relish of their first love. But they are so feeble in themselves, and bring so many heathenish habits and customs along with them, that they require constant watching and nursing." How much need is there that we should uphold our young converts, amidst such scenes of temptation, by our affectionate sympathies and fervent prayers, and thus strengthen the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees! How much need that we should cry unto the Lord Most High, that he would calm the rage of the heathen, and prevent them from destroying the work of his servants!

As to the objects for prayer, they are almost too numerous to mention. Look at our persecuted brethren and sisters in the South Seas, Madeira, and Madagascar, who are literally "Wandering about in dens and caves of the earth, being destitute, afflicted, tormented," the victims of the persecuting and cruel spirit of Paganism and Popery. Look at some of our mission-stations in South Africa, broken up by intestine war. Look at the declension of spiritual religion in some of our mission churches in the West Indies. Look at the afflicted and distracted condition of some parts of Ireland at the present moment. Look at the strenuous efforts which Popery, and its daughter, Puseyism, are making to establish a ceremonial instead of a spiritual Christianity in many parts of Protestant England, and her foreign dependencies. Look at the readiness with which some of our statesmen would endow Popery to-morrow, if they thought they could do it with any safety to their own standing. Surely the appearance of these clouds in the spiritual horizon should lead us

of conduct with filial confidence, his ways of difficulty with holy fellowship, and his ways of sinfulness with tender contrition. It is his delight to acquaint God with all his undertakings; to receive his direction; and to tell him his distress; that he may be guided by his counsel, confirmed by his strength, pitied by his love, and delivered by his power; and how sweet, above all, to overcome his strangeness under a sense of guilt, and to lay open his ways of sin before him "Without partiality and without hypocrisy!" Then, indeed, he is enabled to say, "Thou heardest me." "I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."-Bridges.

WATCHING FOR ANSWERS TO PRAYER.

This will encourage us to pray again. It gives such a sweetness to the mercies received, when they come to us marked with this inscription, "Received by prayer." It is not our inevitable weakness, nor our lamented dulness, nor our abhorred wanderings, nor our opposed distractions, nor our mistaken unbelief; it is not any, no, nor all these, that can shut out our prayer. If "Iniquity" is not " regarded in our heart," we may always hear our Saviour's voice, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name. Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."-Ibid.

SANCTIFIED AFFLICTIONS.

Milner, in one of his works, most accurately calls affliction, "The theology of Christians." To the same purport is the testimony of a learned French divine and tried saint of God: "I have learned more divinity," said De Rivet, confessing to God of his last days of affliction, "in these ten days that thou art come to visit me, than I did in fifty years before. Thou hast brought me to thyself. 'Before I was afflicted I went astray,' and was in the world; but now I am con

versant in the school of my God; and he teacheth me after another manner than all those doctors, in reading whom I spent so much time. Were I to enjoy Hezekiah's grant, and to have fifteen years added to my life, I would be much more frequent in my applications to the throne of grace. Were I to renew my

studies, I would take my leave of those accomplished triflers-the historians, the orators, the poets of antiquity, and devote my attention to the Scriptures of truth; I would sit with much greater assiduity at my Divine Master's feet, and desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. This wisdom, whose fruits are peace in life, consolation in death, and everlasting salvation after death, this I would trace; this I would seek; this I would explore, through the spacious and delightful fields of the Old and New Testament." Such was the testimony of one who had cultivated the classic fields with no inconsiderable success, and who, above most men, had enriched his soul with the glorious treasures of the word of God; whose praise is in all the churches, as the author of Theron and Aspasio.-Ibid.

MEDITATION.

What a fruitful harvest did David reap from daily meditation on the law of God! He became wiser than his enemies in subtilty; than all his teachers, in doctrines; than the ancients, in experiences. Luther recommends us to pause at any verse of Scripture, and to shake, as it were, every bough of it, that, if possible, some fruit, at least, may drop down to us. Should this mode, he remarks, appear somewhat difficult at first, and no thought suggest itself immediately to the mind capable of affording matter for a short ejaculation, yet persevere, and try another and another bough. If your soul really hungers, the Spirit of God will not send you away empty. You shall, at length, find in one, and that, perhaps, a short verse in Scripture, such an abundance of delicious fruit, that you will gladly seat

yourself under its shade, and abide there, as under a tree laden with fruit.—Ibid.

THE FAMILY OF CHRIST.

There is one thing that strikes us much concerning this family. It is the way in which Christ speaks of the special in

terest which he takes in each member.

"Those that thou gavest me I have kept,

and none of them is lost." How like the family feeling! Each name, each face, is known; known so familiarly, that the least and youngest would at once be missed. The place where each sits; the room which each occupies; the time of their going out and coming in; their looks; their habits; their tones; are so thoroughly known, that the moment any one is absent, he is missed. And then no other can supply his place. His absence makes a blank, which none but himself can fill. An acquaintance or fellow-townsman may drop away and never be missed. His place is easily filled up by another. Not so with a member of the family. A break there, is a dismal blank; and when death has carried off a brother, a sister, or a parent, who, or what, can ever fill their room? When one flower fades, another springs up, fresher, perhaps, and more fragrant, and we forget the faded one. But the withered family-flower can have no successor it dies, and there is a blank for ever. Might it not be with some such feeling that Jesus looked round upon his vast household circle, and while surveying each well-known face, gave thanks that not one was lost; as if he could not have spared so much as one of those whom the Father had given him?—H. Bonar.

DIVINE CHASTISEMENT THE MARK OF

SONSHIP.

It is very remarkable that the apostle Paul fixes upon affliction as the mark of true sonship. Truly, he makes it the family badge. Nay, he makes it the test of our legitimacy. "What son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But

if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." Chastisement is, then, really one of the chief marks of our lawful and honourable birth. Were this characteristic not to be found on us, we should be lacking in one of the proofs of our sonship. Our legitimacy might be he was not recognizing us as his truecalled in question. It might be said that

born sons, and that either he had never There must be the family-badge to estabreceived us as such, or had rejected us. lish our claim of birth, and to be a pledge of paternal recognition on the part of God our Father.-Ibid.

AFFLICTIONS DISCIPLINARY.

This discipline begins at our conversion. The moment we are taken into the family it commences. "He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” This is the discipline of love. There is no wrath nor vengeance in any part of the process. That of the school may be harsh and stern, but the discipline of the family is love. -It is the discipline of wisdom. He who afflicts is the God only wise. He knows it. He knows what evils are to be found exactly what we need, and how to supply in us, and how these may be best removed. The Divine training is no random work; it is carried on with exquisite skill. The time, and the way, and the instrument, are all according to the perfect wisdom of God.-The discipline of faithfulness. "In faithfulness thou hast afflicted me," saith David. He is so faithful that he will not pass by a single fault that he sees in us; but will forthwith make it known, that it may be removed. He is faithful when he blesses; more faithful when he chastens. This is surely strong consolation.-It is the discipline of power. Everything must give way before him. This thought is, I confess, to me one of the most comforting connected with the discipline. If it could fail; if God could be frustrated in his designs after we have suffered so much, it would be awful. To be scourged, and