rection, through every channel, it goes forth, now touching the roots of society, then the trunks, the branches, the herbage, and the fruit.

This is that power, hidden not in the hands simply of priests or preachers, of the learned, the honorable, and the rich, but diffused in the church, and possessed by the more obscure and lowly ones of the flock, in just and equal proportions. It is found inherent in the character for goodness which every true follower of Christ may possess; the "one talent which it is death to hide," and which the least in the kingdom may have and improve. Be careful lest you value it not, or hide it in a napkin ! In the church it is like the law of gravitation, operating unceasingly on the smallest and the greatest of objects. It is as the light of the sun composed of innumerable rays, sending warmth and life on all that they touch; and yet so gently do they descend, that the eye is not shocked by them. Indeed, the greatest forces of Nature are those which never meet the eye or disturb the senses. "I think," said one, "that I'm of no use to the

church or the world. I'm old and worn out, and can do no good to anybody."-"Don't think so,” said the preacher under whose ministry she sat. "I always preach better when I see you before me, and find you a listener." No one can say how much the congregation was indebted to the presence of that old Christian for the wholesome lessons of instruction they received. In the family, in the neighborhood, in the church, in the world, the spirit of good is ever at work, and its effects are mighty. The Saviour "went about doing good." His presence did good as well as his words and his deeds. Like the power, that reached the very fringe of his garment, unseen and without display, it healed all who touched it by the hand of faith. Mighty influence! When shall the church be pervaded by it!

"God doth not need

Either man's work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best; his state

Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed,

And post o'er land and ocean without rest;

They also serve who only stand and wait."

CHAPTER II.

IT

It may be proper to state that some thirty years since there was a class of Christians who held to the idea very tenaciously, that all things happened in the present life according to a fixed and inexorable decree, and that man was as passive in the hands of his Maker as clay in the hands of the potter; and that he could do, nothing toward his own recovery from the state in which Providence assigned him, but must wait his will and the execution of his purposes, supposed to be secret and unknown to the creature.

The blighting influence of this theory was then extensively felt; and to this day many avail themselves of it, and continue in their sins, under the persuasion which they readily adopt, that they can positively do nothing. This heartless, specula

tive, hair-splitting theory, called then "Othodoxy," was felt in all parts of the country. Those who adopted this system were known to be for the most part penurious and selfish; they were opposed to all appeals made directly to the world for their conversion, and to all attempts at missionary work for the evangelization of the heathen. Of the Scriptures they were extremely ignorant, the proper observance of the Lord's day, and a scriptural discipline; and all liberal support of the pastors of churches were unknown among them. This class, not wholy extinct, were the Pharisees of the Christian church, and held tenaciously to their opinions, and believed that all who did not see with them were doomed, as reprobates, to unconditional destruction.

We introduce one of this class to our readers, under his appropriate name of "Hard-shell," a name not unfrequently bestowed upon them. They belonged to that class in vegetable physiology known as the shell-bark hickory, which takes root in patches and preordained regions. The seed, being

heavy, is not easily driven by the winds away from their chosen localities; and being covered with a luxuriant foliage and perennial bark, constantly shedding, there is thus formed a pretty rich soil for its cultivation. Where one is met, there is always sure to be found many in the same latitude.

We will now introduce one of them to the reader.

"I fear," said Philip, "that we shall not begin to rebuild until the contest is ended, or some way reconciled between the two great parties-Catholic and Protestant; or that a third party shall be eliminated from them, representing the true ideal of the Christian Church, as seen at the beginning. When this shall be accomplished, or how, I do not know, only I feel an inexpressible desire to see it done. Indeed, my only hope for the world lies in this direction."

Hard-shell was not pleased with this reflection. He thought that God had a people on the earth, and always had, and that the present order of things on the whole was the best, and that all things had been ordained by a fixed and unalterable decree. He