eternal principles which now and then loom upon the human spirit in nebulous, far-off glory,-if the mind never feels an enthusiasm and a love for attributes and objects which neither its faculties nor its opportunities will now permit it to fully understand. If hard work and business call out the energies, and brace up the powers, of the mind to a sense of duty, and a holy strength of purpose, then are they most beneficial; but in so far forth as they tend to dry up the immortal aspirations, to clip the wings of intelligence, enthusiasm, faith, and hope, are they debasing, destructive, and deadly. In the present life you have little opportunity for studying the works and ways of God; you are doomed to a life of physical necessity. But man is not confined to this life. There is a glorious prospect for those who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God. For as there is now a life in which the physical of necessity predominates, so there shall be a life in which the rational and spiritual shall predominate. All our hopes, and wishes,

We

and expectations, proclaim it to us. know not the details of that life; but we do know, that when this body shall have returned to the ground, the spirit, clothed in a body like that of our adorable Redeemer, shall have full faculties and facilitiesfor learning the eternal attributes of God, and the wonders of his works and ways. We often feel humbled and sad when we find how inadequate are our feeble faculties and short lives for grappling with and mastering those high and glorious principles which continually elude our grasp, and hover over our comprehension as if they were formless, intangible spirits from the invisible land; but then it is an unbounded satisfaction to feel that this life does not limit our existence, but that in the life which is to come the conditions of our being shall be totally altered. Then the truths which the mind labours for, and the substance which the mind feels after, shall stand out before it in abiding form and living light, when God shall fully satisfy the desires of his people, and lead them into scenes of ever-increasing joy.

THE FIRST LIE.

I remember it as yesterday. The roses flush by my side as if newly opened; they hang from rude trellises trained over the low kitchen. How delicious the woodbine smells! I scent it through the open gates of my childhood's memory. And that dear wee garden that my mother loved and tended; and the old wooden pump, with its necklaces of green moss! A little winding path led to that pump, and by it, out into the orchard. I think that when a little girl my mind must have been poetically inclined, for I have stood many a time with swelling heart and clasped hands, gazing at the trees all a-blossom, and likening them to so many things,-to drops of snow, to bits of fleecy clouds, to lambs' wool, white and soft, -to everything tender, pure, and beautiful.

One day in early spring, my father brought home some choice young fruit trees, and the hands set them in a rich black earth, so straight and so neatly, that they were a pleasure to gaze at. I was then a little thing, not yet four years old, and I remember his replying to all questions with that straightforward simplicity that he always used towards children, and indeed towards everybody.

He told me that in a year or two, there might be some beautiful red apples on those pretty trees, and asked me if I could wait with patience till then,-and if I had faith to believe that of which there was no sign. I had a vague idea then that the apples lay hidden in the trunk somewhere, and somebody had once told me that angels came down and put the fruit on, after the blossoms had gone,-but it was not hard to believe my father, for he always told the truth. Two springs passed, and at last there came a few blossoms on the little trees; beauties they were, tinged with little pink edges, streaked with faint veins; and some of them I could see plainly by standing on tiptoe, for the trees were very short.

That year my Aunt Mary died, and I was sent for, to pass a few months with her lonely little girl.

It made me sad to see her looking s0 sorrowful, and dressed in that somber black; but she was not very sorrowful more than a week or two, and by degrees we came to have fine romps; and after the fun was exhausted, we sat in the housekeeper's room and listened to her garrulous tongue, as it rattled off pleasant stories and mirth-provoking anecdotes.

At last the fall months came, and in October I was to return. Pleasant as my stay had been, I was wild with delight at the thought that I should soon meet my gentle mother, and my dear, dear father. How I flew through the old house, after I had kissed everybody, and almost everything,even to the sober old cat, who gave an ungracious protest, and jumped angrily over my head! The flowers had faded, but the autumn glories were in all their vivid colouring and beauty of apparel. The pump still bore its wreaths of moss, and its iron handle, standing almost upright, received a hearty shake at my hands. I passed into the old orchard. It was filled with fruit, and on one of the transplanted trees hung one,only one great rosy apple, so tempting, so luscious-looking, that from the first I felt a desire to possess it, and before I had given myself time to resist the evil, the apple was in my hand. Oh, how strangely I felt for a moment! I turned to go into the house and give it to my father, trusting that he would ask no questions; or if he did, my frankness might be my mediator; but the melting lusciousness that seemed to permeate even the glosy rind, melted my resolution, and I hurried breathlessly to a large tree at the end of the orchard, and, as guilt always strives to do, hid myself. Not a mouthful did I enjoy; it was sweet, delicious, but in my wicked haste I choked it down, and had eaten to the core, when I heard my father's voice. A clap of thunder had not sounded more terrible than those mild tones, just then; I threw down the remnant of the apple, wiped my hands, and, with cheeks that seemed bursting, went forward to my father. He looked at me keenly, and we passed into the house to meet a little friend who had called to see me after my long absence.

I was so filled with the great misery of my sin, that I could hardly force myself to seem pleased with the visit; and all that long afternoon my heart ached.

"I am sorry, mother," said my father," but the apple you wanted so much is gone."

I cowered as I stood watching my mother. preparing sweetmeats for my little friend and myself. My mother paused with a look of anxiety, as she said, "Who do you suppose has taken it? It was there this morning."

"I am afraid some of the children,”— "I didn't touch it," cried I, before he had finished.

my mother, "why are you so ready to deny before the question is asked?"

I said nothing. In a little while my father took me into his work-room, to show me a little toy he had been making for me.. My cheek still burned, and I kept choking, back the tears; I was suffering the first agony of a lie unconfessed.

Suddenly my father took my hand, and drawing me towards him, held up the very apple-core I had thrown away.

"I never touched it; I never saw it; I: didn't throw it there!" I cried in incoherent sentences; then shrieking in my agony, I began to sob and cry piteously.

"My daughter you took the apple," said my father, in his calm sweet voice,-and oh, as I looked at him I saw tears in his eyes, and his lips, those mild lips, trembled. That was terrible! I could have borne his anger, I longed for him to scold me, and call me a wicked, lying girl,-anything but that look, that look that pitied me so. I stopped crying, but I thought in the silence that followed, my heart would burst; my eyes were bent to the floor, and it seemed as if I could scarcely breathe. I felt his fingers under my chin, pressing it to make me look up. I heard his voice, now a little sterner, saying, "Lift your eyes up, my child," and I did lift them, heavily, to his sorrowful face. Then he talked with me about my dreadful sin till my very soul was melted within me; till at last I cried out,"Oh, forgive me, forgive me,-I took the apple; I told a lie,-I am very wicked, I shall never dare to pray again!"

"I am old now," said the sweet-faced lady who told this story,-"I am old now, but the prayer that my father offered to heaven, that agonizing petition, mingled with the sobs of strong feeling, I seem to hear it as if it were a thing of yesterday. Days, weeks, passed before I felt innocent again. Alas, I have always, and shall carry to the judg ment with me, the memory of that first lie. For months my cheeks tinged at my father's glance, and my heart felt faint when I thought of my sin. But never since then, -never once have I been tempted to falsehood. The sting of remorse left a wound, thank God, that bleeds afresh at the thought of wrong. Oh, I often think, if children who are thoughtlessly left to work out their own life-problems could have the benefit of a supervision like that of my gentle, praying father's to watch for evil, and apply the remedy, what a world full of angels this would be!"

NOTES OF THE MONTH.

POLITICAL.

After all the grandiloquence of Lord Palmerston at Manchester, and all the bold assertions of the leading journal and the Government organs, it seems we are to have a Paris Conference again. England, under her high-talking Premier, is obliged to humble to Russia and to Louis Napoleon. Disraeli, who is just now taking dinners with the Emperor, and The Press, his organ, are right after all. At Manchester, war, or fulfilling the terms of the Paris contract, were the alternatives offered to Russia; the terms of the treaty were too plain to need discussion: we think they are so, and, no doubt, Lord Palmerston still thinks so; but, most unaccountably, whether in Neapolitan or Russian matters, France or her Emperor is leader. Alliance between the two countries appears to resolve itself into the English Government enslaving itself to the despotic leanings of the Emperor of France.

The

We are told, indeed, that a pretty little drama is prepared for the ensuing Conference. It has been agreed that Russia shall yield the points in dispute, but that she shall do so at a Conference ! This little peppercorn tribute is to be paid to her dignity! The result is to be as England demands it should; the form in accordance with the wishes of Russia! Lowering to the allies as even this arrangement appears to be, we cannot believe, till we see it otherwise, that Russia and France will not get something out of it for the great brother despot. It may be otherwise, but while diplomacy is secret, we shall certainly find English plenipotentiaries overreached by the astute servants of the continental despots.

From the Continent, generally, there is no news of interest, if we except the Sicilian insurrection, respecting which, details are still wanting and reports conflicting, but which appears, for the present at least, to have been put down. A soldier has attempted to assassinate the King, and has been executed for an attempt, which, had it been successful, would probably have exalted him into a hero. The Emperor of Austria is doing his best to obtain the applause of his Italian subjects; an. Austrian amnesty is published, but time will show whether those absolved morally needed an amnesty.

been as satisfied with a fair defeat as the free-soil minority is.

We must own that the indications in favour of Kansas entering the Union as a Free State are more favourable. We have most hope from the almost furious language in which the Southern journals ap-. peal to the new President. Were not their infamous cause in danger, they would hardly work themselves into such a wrath. It would appear, too, that the electioneering promises of Buchanan to Free State electors, will place him in extreme difficulty in regard to Kansas. The South will madly aim to secure by law what it has got by violence. At the same time a considerable party there fears irritating the North too much by the outrageous villany of the affair. Deliverance, we hope, will come through a majority in the House of Representatives, who will vote only for a free Kansas, though supporters of Buchanan generally.

Preparations are being at last busily made for the new Parliamentary session. Amongst the topics engaging most attention is the Income Tax, which is still continued at war rates, though peace is fully established. The Ballot is also beginning to excite attention, though not so much as it deserves. The Ticket-of-leave system is also being widely discussed, chiefly on account of the prevalence of great crimes of late, many of which have been committed by ticket-of-leave convicts.

Another noble spirit has passed from amongst us, the Rev. Theobald Mathew, the venerable apostle of temperance. For some years his health has been so enfeebled, that his death might have been daily expected. His visit to Madeira proving of benefit to him, no serious symptoms had given special cause of apprehension to his friends until immediately before the final struggle. He was born in the year 1790, and was, consequently, in the sixty-seventh year of his age.

ECCLESIASTICAL.

This en

Dr. Livingston has arrived. terprising missionary has crossed the whole continent from west to east, exploring its wastes, visiting the people who inhabit it, and showing a path for commerce, and the diffusion of the light of the Gospel. The results of his journeys will tell with mighty power upon the temporal and spiritual interests of that great but almost unknown continent.

It gives us sincere pleasure to announce the arrival of Mr. Ellis at the capital of Madagascar. His prospects were highly gratifying. Frequently during his journey to the capital messengers were met, bringing letters and expressions of welcome from the Prince and his friends; and, on approaching the last stage, these messages, with other modes of attention, became more frequent. It was also the wish of the Queen that such attentions should be as respectful

as possible. In all that is to him of deepest interest, Mr. Ellis states that his hopes are more than realised; but the general state of the country is much the same as for some time past, except that greater quietness and more apparent cordiality exist between different parties.

The Univers quotes a letter from Hong Kong, addressed by a missionary, of the name of Arnal, to Father Cazencuve, of the congregation of the Fathers of Mercy at Bourdeaux, mentioning the execution of another missionary, M. Chapdelaine, on the 29th of February last, in the province of Quang-vi, China. He was beheaded by order of the chief mandarin, after undergoing the most excruciating tortures. His head was then suspended from a tree, and a parcel of children allowed to throw missiles at it in order to make it fall down. The liver and heart, according to this letter, were fried in a pan, and eaten up by the Chinese, under an impression that it would render them invulnerable. The head was subsequently carried off and secreted by a pious christian. A young man and woman were put to death with the missionary for having embraced Christianity.

For some time past much attention has been excited in regard to Australia. Friends there have offered, by letter in the magazine some months ago, £200 towards the expenses of any one sent out to enquire into the state of the churches. The whole question has been brought before the Missionary committee by the committee of the Birmingham Auxiliary. Careful and anxious consideration was given to it in successive meetings, and the committee had the advantage of the knowledge and experience of Mr. John Saunders, formerly of Sydney, and Mr. Born, a merchant of Melbourne, a member of one of the churches there. The Rev. J. Tayler has long had his mind directed to Australia, and the Birmingham committee strongly recommended the committee to send him out. Mr. Tayler had a conference with them, when a resolution was adopted encouraging Mr. Tayler to go thither. As many friends in Birmingham and elsewhere are prepared to assist in defraying the expenses of outfit and voyage, the cost to the society will be small. We rejoice to hear that Mr. Tayler has resolved to go. We most heartily commend him to the sympathy of the churches, and to the blessing of God.

In the Court of Arches, Sir John Dodson has given judgment on the admissibility of the appeal brought in by Archdeacon Denison against the judgment of the Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury, sitting at Bath. Sir John rejected the appeal.

BAPTISTS IN GERMANY.

Our readers have already heard of the arrival in England of our beloved brother, the Rev. J. G. Oncken. His object in visiting England is to enlist the sympathies of English christians in the efforts made by his brethren and himself for the evangelization of Germany; and the necessity for

He

his doing so arises from the fact that the American Baptist Missionary Union, by whom our brethren have been hitherto sustained, have been compelled, by circumstances beyond their control, to reduce the amount of aid rendered to them by one half. We are glad to see that the committee of the Baptist Union have cordially commended Mr. Oncken's appeal. The following are extracts from Mr. Oncken's address, which has been forwarded for insertion in our columns. Mr. Oncken says:"Germany was, at the commencement of our labours, sunk in Rationalism and Scepticism; and it was only here and there that a faithful testimony was given from the pulpits of the land to the divinity of our adorable Redeemer, the efficacy of his blood and righteousness, the personality of the Holy Spirit, or the eternity of future punishment. With such a state of things amongst the clergy, it may well be imagined that the religious condition of the population generally was deplorable in the extreme. But God had purposes of mercy towards our land; and, in accordance with his general mode of accomplishing these purposes, he employed also in this instance the feeblest instrumentality. It was towards the close of the year 1823 that the writer commenced his labours at Hamburg. had just then formed a connexion with the Continental Society as their Missionary, and in his journal of January 4th, 1824, he wrete, and transmitted to the Secretary, the late Rev. Isaac Saunders, Rector of Blackfriars, as follows: Last Sabbath I held the first meeting; ten persons attended; this evening about eighteen were present. Read the 55th chapter of Isaiah; .afterwards spoke a few words from verse 1, on the blessings offered, and the freeness of them. I pray that what is sown in weakness the Lord may raise in power.'-Sixth Report of the Continental Society, 1824. The sigh of the then warm-hearted but inexperienced youth has been heard. The seed scattered with a trembling hand has been watered by gracious out-pourings of the Holy Spirit. Millions have since heard the glad tidings of salvation, and many thousand sinners have been savingly converted, and rescued from eternal misery. But the principles of religious liberty were not acknowledged in Germany; and no sooner was the fact known to the clergy, that so-called religious conventicles were held, than the civil authorities were put in motion to stop them. Threats, fines, confiscation of property, imprisonment, and banishment, became the order of the day, and have been experienced, with few exceptions, by our missionaries and colporteurs, and the brethren generally. So that during twenty years I had to preach with locked doors, for fear, not of the Jews, but of the Christians. My missionary tours were usually made at night, to elude the vigilance of the police and gens d'armes. It was generally in midnight hours, when the silence of death reigned around, that the converts were examined, and led to some neighbouring stream to be buried

with Christ in baptism,-and that under the roof of some humble cottage, the church was organized, the Lord's death commemorated, and the bishop, teacher, or deacon ordained. Before break of day I had to be on my way to the frontiers. The work was, however, from God, and, therefore, the combined civil and ecclesiastical powers opposed to it could not retard its progress. In 1834 the church at Hamburg was formed of only seven believers, and now seventy churches,-all formed on the model of the first church at Jerusalem, as recorded in Acts ii.,-have arisen, not only in Germany, but also in Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, and France. Some

20,000 precious souls have experienced the Divine power of the Gospel on their hearts, through the labours of these churches. A large number have already joined the saints in light, whilst between 6,000 and 7,000 remain until this day recommending the Gospel by lip and life to the perishing multitudes around them. Among the converts are many from Romanism, and also a few of the descendants of Abraham. In the high mountains of Silesia, one of our churches consists entirely of converted Romanists. Our preaching stations exceed 500. The brethren engaged exclusively in missionary labour and colportage are eighty, and a large number of other brethren aid in preaching the Word at the stations. The annual sale of the Holy Scriptures (without the Apocrypha, still circulated by the Continental Societies) varies from 70,000 to 90,000 copies, and the Tract circulation will reach in the present year fully 1,000,000, Of the Scriptures 600,000 copies, and of Evangelical Tracts upwards of 8,000,000, have been issued from the depôt at Hamburg since its establishment. Our prospects are encouraging as to the future, inasmuch as the spirit of persecution is gradually yielding to the conviction that our members rank amongst the most loyal subjects of the different States. New fields of labour are constantly opening before us, and we are thus encouraged to believe that this Mission is destined to accomplish far greater things in the general diffusion of the Gospel, and in the conversion of sinners to Christ, than those already achieved." Annual subscriptions and donations will be received by Messrs. Barclay, Bevan, Tritton, and Co., 54, Lombard Street; at the Baptist Mission House, 33, Moorgate Street; and by Mr. Wilkin, 136, Long Acre, London, to be placed "to the credit of J. G. Oncken, on behalf of the German Mission."

CHURCH-STREET CHAPEL, BLACKFRIAR'S ROAD, LONDON.

On Tuesday, Dec. 16th, services were held in the above place of worship, publicly to recognise the Rev. W. Barker (late of Blackburn) as pastor of the church. In the afternoon, at five o'clock, tea was kindly presided over by the ladies of the church and congregation, after which a public meeting was held, when the Rev. John Bigwood (formerly pastor of the church)

occupied the chair. After a hymn by the Rev. H. J. Betts, the chairman engaged in prayer. Mr. Sanders, a deacon of the church, briefly stated the circumstances which had, he hoped providentially, brought the present pastor to the important sphere of labour in Church-street. The Rev. J. Angus, D.D., addressed the meeting upon the nature of the ministerial office, stating his wish that the union so formed might be of long continuance. The Rev. W. Miall spoke of the relation of the pastor to his people. The Rev. W. Howieson spoke of the relations of the people to their pastor. The Rev. John Hirons spoke of the difficulties connected with the Dissenting ministry, and the congregational and voluntary principles distinguishing them. The Rev. S. Green spoke of the encouragements to christian effort. The Rev. R. Robinson, of York-road chapel (Independent). spoke of the venerable place as one he had visited when a Sunday scholar; and he anticipated the co-operation of the new pastor in works of faith and labours of love in this district. Mr. Barker spoke of the intention of the people to make some special effort before long to obtain new school-rooms; and he believed that in future years he should find, as he had found in past years, that out of the schools many persons would come forward to tell what God had done for their souls. The Rev. H. J. Cook addressed the unconverted; and the Chairman closed the meeting with prayer and the doxology.

SYDENHAM CHAPEL, FOREST HILL.

About two years since a few friends, pertaining to different religious bodies, associated themselves together for worship in a small chapel in Sydenham, which they hired for three years. The necessity of an effort more worthy of this populous and growing locality speedily forced itself on their attention; and, encouraged by the kindness and liberality of others, they resolved to commence. An eligible and centrical site has been secured,-plans have also been agreed on, and upwards of £1,600 promised or paid up. On Friday, Dec. 12, the foundation-stone of the new edifice was laid by Joseph Tritton, Esq., in the presence of a numerous gathering. The proceedings were introduced by the Rev. S. Green, who gave a comprehensive history of the movement, and of the steps which had led to the settlement of the Rev. J. W. Todd in connection with it. Prayer was offered by the Rev. Joshua Russell. Rev. F. Trestrail, in a most appropriate manner, expressed the gratitude of the building committee to their treasurer, and presented him with the trowel After having laid the stone, Mr. Tritton addressed the audience. After refreshment, the company adjourned to Wells-road chapel, where a public meeting was held-A. T. Jay, Esq., in the chair-when addresses were delivered by W. Heaton, Esq., the Reva. Dr. Archer, Dr. Angus, W. Landels, A. M. Stalker, S. Manning, J. S. Davis, and J. W. Tood.

The