on its exalted holiness, perpetuity, and endless fruition; while the latter, in their unutterable anguish, could only tell of its power to sustain, through an eternity of existence, the gnawings of the worm that never dies, and the torture of the fire that never is quenched. But still we lack the solution. What, then, is the Soul? The philosopher and the metaphysician may speculate on its origin; they may give to the world learned and elaborate treatises, to elucidate its connexion with matter; they may attempt to show its locality, and to prove, when disembodied, its ubiquity and powers of extension; the imagination of the poet may give it figure, form, and size; he may sing of its divinity, of its smiling at drawn daggers, and of the rekindling of its torch of immortality at the shrine of a smouldering universe; but it is for the Christian to attempt the answer - the Christian, who, unentangled by the subtle and metaphysical reasoning of the speculatist, and spurning all conjecture and uncertainty, exclaims-"It is a pearl of inestimable value, lent to brighten, for the diadem of Jesusan efflorescence of the Divine mind, bearing the impress of the Trinity, having immortality for its birth, and eternity for its day." Creation witnessed its gift to man, redemption its price, and eternity will witness its rewards. Swift as the flash of Infinity itself, it passes beyond the confines of time, and spurning the limits of the created, it seeks an audience with its God. Thought and light cannot trace it, death and hell cannot follow it, and eternity's profound cannot fathom it. It will survive the flight of ages and the roll of millenniums, and resisting the latest triumphs of decay, will remain imperishable amidst the last flames of the universe. Clothed with the righteousness of Christ, it scales the boundaries of time, and basking undazzled in the refulgent splendours of the Deity, revels in mysteries the most profound. Corruption has no dominion over it, the intrenchments of the grave cannot claim it, and hell's deepest soundings were not made for it. As a candidate for immortality, it will attune its ear to the symphonies of the redeemed; and admitted to the immediate presence of God she will, with cherubim and seraphim, martyrs and confessors, and prophets and apostles, and all the ransomed of every clime, aid in the one sublime anthem of the blessed-"Worthy is the Lamb;" or, shut out from the ineffable light, be left in darkness and despair for ever. WHAT IS THE SOUL ? S. L.

THE

CONTINENTAL

WAR.

UNHAPPY France! How are the mighty fallen! It was but the other day that the French nation, as a nation, were inflated with the idea of being the first military and political Power in the world, and had thus the destinies of Europe in their hand. They proudly imagined that their strength was invincible, and their glory imperishable. But the spell has been suddenly broken, and the almost unbroken series of disasters which have befallen their arms in the field of battle, have been forcing home the lesson of their inherent weakness, while their glory is being trampled in the dust.

Never was war more unprovoked. It had not even the shadow of justification for its basis. Napoleon III. affects to say that he was but fulfilling the will of his people, and the people as distinctly affirm that they were drawn into it by their now-deposed Sovereign. Both are equally guilty. The Imperial man could brook no rival, and he indulged the dream that, to maintain the balance of power, France must be first and pre-eminent in the States of Europe. The people became intoxicated with the same idea. Hence the Emperor threw down the gauntlet, and challenged Prussia to the contest. Inspired with the principle of self-love and the love of country, Prussia had no alternative but to take the field in self-defence. The Germans had said and done nothing to provoke the war-nothing which could be construed into a casus belli by the French; and yet the French, in sudden and impetuous haste, muster their forces, and take the field against them. They must either submit to be trodden under the iron hoof of oppression, or, like brave men, stand up and fight to the death for the hearths and the homes of their Fatherland. Though neither the King of Prussia nor his people had any strong affection for the genius of war, yet their common love of country soon roused them into action. They took the field, believing in the righteousness of their cause. From the first, the tide of battle set in in their favour. The Emperor conceived that he had but to collect his forces to see his arms crowned with victory. But Heaven was not propitious to his enterprise. Defeat followed defeat, and disaster crowded upon disaster, till he and his army were compelled to capitulate after the murderous battle of Sedan. Unfortunate Prince! unlucky army! unhappy people! The Emperor a prisoner at Wilhelmshohe! The flower of the army either wounded, or in their cold graves, or lying blanched and bleached in the fields in which they fell! How many homes [have been made desolate! how many wives have become widows! how many children have been reduced to orphans!" Strasburg, Metz, and less impregnable yet not unimportant places, have been forced to capitulate. Their brave defenders have been charged with cowardice, treachery, and treason. Other strong fortifications are being assailed, and other places must yield to superior force. The army is not only reduced and subdued, but fearfully demoralised. The Emperor is a

C

prisouer; the nation is without any Executive or responsible Power, and the people are at their wits' end. Paris is not only invested, but is threatened with bombardment. The Government of Defence seem to be judicially blinded, and are insensible to the ruin which is impending over the nation. They appear to be supremely desirous of peace, and yet they reject every overture, and will not accept the conditions on which peace might be secured. The pride of the nation is not yet subdued. They hate their conquerors with a cruel hatred, and refuse one single inch of their sacred soil. They are resolved to die rather than to yield. An armistice has more than once been offered them, but the conditions on which it was made were rejected. Nor have we any very sanguine hope as to any future intervention on the part of the neutral Powers; so that, humanly speaking, the war must go on to the bitter end.

What a contrast do the two contending nations exhibit in their character and conduct! How are we to account for the utter prostration of France, and how for the triumphant power of Prussia? The cause is to be found in the morale of the two peoples. To borrow the words of the President of an enlightened Christian Assembly:-"Why has the one nation exhibited such unexpected vigour, and advanced with scarce a reverse? Because, with many faults, they have had the Bible, to a great extent, as the guide of their social life, and have been trained by churches and pastors, who, in some good degree, have inculcated and exemplified a Scriptural Faith. They are strong, because, speaking generally, they are morally sound. God grant that by long occupation in war, and continued successes, their firm, sober perseverance may not degenerate into an iron, determined self-sufficiency, undirected and unsweetened by evangelical tenderness, generosity, and love. But France, long regarded as the first military Power in the world, how is it that France has so suddenly, so mysteriously collapsed? Oh, she had a godly seed-a Church whose martyr-history now makes the blood course rapidly and the eye fill with tears of admiration and thanksgiving. But the noblest sons of that Church were driven from their native soil, and carried with them not only their industry, but their bracing, purifying influence, to other lands. The Huguenots could not be tolerated by a bigoted, licentious King and Court; they were banished, and then there was no longer salt enough in the kingdom to keep it from corruption. What that nation has passed through since, what it has been to Europe, alas! we know too well. Its revolutions, its restlessness, its incessant wars, its brilliant civilization masking the most frightful immorality, are familiar to us all."

But the day of retribution has come. Corrupt and rotten-imperially, politically, socially, and morally corrupt-rotten at the very heart and core, she has been abandoned in the hour of her misfortune both by God and man, and now she lies prostrate at the feet of a triumphant Power, weltering in her blood!

UNHAPPY FRANCE! HOW ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN !

Minor Christian Moralities.

THERE are many who tenaciously hold the cardinal doctrines of the Christian Faith, yet fail to practise those (so-called) minor duties to which Christ and His Apostles constantly referred. How strange many would consider a minister to be, who told his congregation to "steal no more" (as Paul told the members of the Ephesian Church), or to "put away lying," or to allow "no corrupt communication" to proceed out of their mouth. Yet we have as great, if not greater, need to be reminded of these things. Men narrow their definitions too much, and thus claim to be free from having broken God's commands, though they have constantly disregarded the same.

There are some who would feel indignant if they were charged with uttering a lie, yet their whole life is a continual falsehood. They are not inwardly what they seem to be outwardly. They are the opposite in God's sight to what they are in the sight of men.

Think of truthfulness in its effects on us as a nation. If our policy was one of truth, if all our dealings with other nations were truthful and honest, if nothing of deceit and falsehood marked our intercourse with them, what a proud and exalted position we should have! Whenever such principles are absent, the policy of England is to be condemned, and its glory suffers. In the present struggle on the Continent, the one thing that has most aroused the people of England, is the perfidy of men in whom we had implicit confidence.

If such is the case among the family of nations, what among the family of Christians? If the absence of truth from the nations brings distrust, nothing less than the saddest disasters will arise if there is not the most complete confidence between believers. The Christian should be a truthful man. He lives, moves, and has his being in its very elements. To lie is to cease being a Christian. It is his duty to abhor it with a burning hatred, and how better can he do so than by speaking "the truth with his neighbour," remembering "we are members one of another?"

Among Christian men the truth should ever be spoken, but always in love. Some, alas! have been driven into atheism itself by the conduct of Christian professors. The duty of right-speaking is a very important one. Our speech should be but the outcome of our life, and that life should be (as the life of Christ) one of intense love for the truth, and of equal hatred for all that is false, unreal, untrue. WE SHOULD ALSO BE HONEST. There are appear before the law tribunals of our country. with the prison and treadmill are less guilty than others who are praised

many thieves who never Some who are punished

by men, and regarded as having a spotless reputation. Men should be real, they should speak out, and fearlessly call "sin" and sin-doers by their proper names.

Some respectable thieves rob men of their reputation. They do this by the slanderous tongue. There are beings who would die if it were not for gossip. It seems to be their most constant article of diet. You never meet them but they have some inquisitive questions to put, some marvellous tale to narrate. Thus, by indulging in the most frivolous and vain talk, by starting incredible rumours, they rob their fellows of their reputation. He who does so is a thief. He steals not trash, but his good name, and thus

Robs him of that which not enriches him,
And leaves him poor indeed.

Others rob men of their happiness. Have you ever thought of the effect of unkind words and actions? Have you ever noticed their influence on the lives of men? If so, you must have seen marvellous results. It is possible to make men miserable, to rob them of their happiness, by a rash act, by an unkind word. He who does so is a thief. He steals, in a most awful sense, and merits the severest punishment. The action of the Christian should stand out in sublime contrast to this. We should make others happy as well as ourselves. Other than this is alien to the spirit of Jesus. That man's moral arithmetic is poor whose highest number is number one.

WE SHOULD ALSO PUT AWAY BAD LANGUAGE. Christians abjure swearing. On them the commands are binding :-" Thou shalt not swear,' "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." But is it not possible to break these commands without appearing to do so? The true standard of speaking is, that it may profit men, and what fails to do so is a corrupt communication." The amount of "small talk" in which people indulge is horrible in the extreme. It is utterly abhorrent to one's nature that men and women endowed with the highest gifts should allow them to be wasted. They do themselves much harm, independent of harming others. They fail to enjoy the noblest kind of life, and many a fruitful field, over which they might roam and gather fruit in abundance, is entirely neglected. The matter of Christian conversation demands more attention from us than we generally give it. There are few

Christian teachers but what are pained in this matter. How little difference is found between the talk of the unconverted and those who follow Christ. It is but a little while that we have to sojourn here. The days of our pilgrimage are not, at the most, many. Let us see to it, in dependence on the help of God, that in our case, the words of Paul prove true, and so let our speech be "for the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."

Let the mind of the Master be in us, and we shall give, by our