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as ideas, but only so far as they are confirmed by our own reason and experience do they become dominant truths quickening and modifying our activities.

Similarly with our beliefs derived from a Divine source. The boldest of men must admit that the limitation of human power necessitates the revelation of truths of eternal moment. Infinite in its bearing as revealed spiritual truth essentially is, it is only so far as it becomes our own by reason and experience that we can perceive its verity. God Himself has said to us, "Come, let us reason together," and this appeal is of infinite wisdom, because only by this way can He lead us to the perception of heavenly truth.

What is the result? That the intellect is doomed to a round of

ceaseless inquiry without fruition? No! ceaseless our inquiries may be, but not fruitless, if we test the knowledges of fact and opinion we acquire by the criteria of reason and experience. There will always be a vast unknown, but what we have acquired will be of priceless value, for it will have been the means of development. Lessing said he would prefer the search for truth to having the knowledge of all truth bestowed on him; and he uttered a profound thought if we recognise the necessity of life to the reality of truth.

There are two ways of searching for truth-the one by negative criticism, the other by affirmative construction. Both are of value in the search. Their relative value may be best expressed by saying that negative criticism is like plucking weeds, and affirmative construction like planting seed. The result of the one will depend on the quality of the seed-the result of the other will depend on what is planted in place of the weeds, or on the possibility of wheat being plucked with the tares.

The best way of searching for truth is that which leads to the formation of great central truths. In physics we find it by the knowledge of force; in chemistry by the knowledge of definite proportions; in geometry by the axioms of Euclid; in physiology by the knowledge of respiration and the circulation of the blood; in sociology by the knowledge of sympathy and utility; in morals by the desire of improvement; in religion by the knowledge of God, and hence our duties to Him and to our fellow-men. And in every division or subdivision of inquiry we shall find that the central truth will illuminate the whole.

The necessity of each one seeking for truth will be evident if we wish to acquire wisdom, for wisdom is truth adapted to the welfare of life, and that is the true welfare of life which leads to the development of our highest capabilities. Whenever a new fact or opinion is pre

sented to us let us ask with Coleridge, "What is its meaning?" then let us ask with Stuart Mill, "Is it true?" and if so let us further ask, What good will it lead to? As the illimitable field of knowledge spreads before us, if we are earnest seekers after truth we shall cry with Goethe, "Light, more light."

When Amicus had finished reading this essay, we sat for a time thinking over it; and then followed a long and pleasant conversation which I cannot now narrate; suffice it to say that we both thought of the state we believed our friend had gone to, where God's Word is still a mine of the highest truth, where the Lamb is the light thereof, and where faith and love are known because they are felt. The beauty of holiness cannot fade-its joy will live for ever.

TO MY DAUGHTER ON PARTING.

JUNE 28TH, 1879.

WHEN at the heavenly throne I kneel,
At peaceful morn and quiet eve,
Thy memory o'er my soul will steal,
And with thy name a blessing weave.

That God may grant thee every good,
And grace and wisdom most of all
To choose the Angel's narrow road,
And spurn the world's seductive thrall.
That Truth may be thy guiding star,
And turn thy thoughts to things divine,
And lead to scenes- -not distant far-
That with supernal beauty shine;
Yet not by human greatness bought-

To strength, nor wealth, nor glory given;
These though they dazzle-all are naught
Should they decoy the soul from heaven.
Seek thou the treasure then most dear

When mortal visions take their flight;
Drink at the Fount, as crystal clear,
That sparkled to prophetic sight.

If cloud or sorrow on thee press
(For earth is much a scene of woe),
May righteous hope thy soul possess,
Till He shall heal who deals the blow.

If heaven's sweet sunshine gild thy course,
And fill thy cup with worldly bliss;
Forget not Him-the Only Source

In brighter spheres of joy in this.
So like a summer stream thy peace
Shall softly glide from day to day;
Life's simple good with years increase,
And chase the evil all away.

JESMOND LODGE, MALTON.

ROBERT ABBOTT.

Gleanings.

Truth can be tampered with at no time with impunity.

ELIZA METEYARD.

When

No one lives in vain who does or bears the will of God. there is little or nothing to perform, there may be something to endure.-MISS MANNING.

We cannot comprehend God out of Jesus Christ. In Christ you will find what God is, and what He requires. You will find Him nowhere else in heaven or earth.-MRS. CHARLES.

The heart finds no rest when wounded by the sense of things unsaid. It is on the last look of a kind face or the last tones of a familiar voice that memory feeds in absence.-Author of "Mr. Vernon."

The heart is never won back to God by thinking we ought to love Him, but by learning what He is all worthy of our love. True repentance begins with the love of God. Fear not, but read the Scriptures, and pray. He will employ thee in His service yet, and in His favour is life, and in His service freedom.-MRS. CHARLES.

A vine had entwined itself round the column of a ruined temple in a palace garden. One night a hurricane swept over the land, and threw down the portion of the roof the column had supported, the next morning the vine hung drooping around the column. The gardener came round and looked anxiously at the fading leaves; at first he thought the storm must have broken it; but root and stem and branches, all were healthy. "What ails thee, Vine?” he said, and an answer came rustling back to him from the drooping leaves, "We have failed in the work the Master gave us to do; we were set here to support the temple roof, and the roof has fallen, we have failed in our work." Then the gardener smiled, and held up a ripening cluster of rich purple grapes, and said, "This is the work the Master set thee to do, and thou hast done it." Then a thrill of new life stirred through every twig, and the sap flowed freshly through every little cell and fibre.-MRS. CHARLES.

A good heart is good manners ready-made.-COUNT D'ORSAY.

Those who have never known temptation should look with some little leniency on their fallen brothers and sisters. Stealing a loaf is indefensible; but ere you administer the extreme penalty of the law, pause and think whether you ever knew what starvation really means. -HAWLEY SMART.

You'll be thinking me a queer kind of man, sir, to speak to my betters before my betters speaks to me. But mayhap you don't know what a parson is to us poor folk that has never a friend more learned than their selves but the parson, and besides, sir, I'm an old salt, an old man-o'-war's man-and I've been all round the world, sir; and I ha' been in all sorts o' company, pirates and all, sir; and I ain't a bit frightened of a parson, sir, and I'll tell you for why, sir. He's got a good telescope, and he gets to the masthead and he looks out, and he sing out," Land ahead!" or "Breakers ahead!" and gives directions accordin'. Only I can't always make out what he says. But when he shuts up his spyglass, and comes down the riggin' and talks to us like one man to another, then I don't know what I should do without the parson.-GEORGE MACDONALD.

Do

WHAT THE BIRDS SAY.

you ask what the birds say? The sparrow, the dove,
The linnet, and thrush say, "I love, and I love."
In the winter they're silent, the wind is so strong,
What it says I don't know, but it sings a loud song.
But green leaves and blossoms, and sunny warm weather,
And singing and loving, all come back together;
But the lark is so brimful of gladness and love,
The green fields below him, the blue sky above,
That he sings, and he sings, and for ever sings he,
"I love my love, and my love loves me."

S. T. COLERIDGE.

There is no death-the stars go down
To rise upon some fairer shore;

And bright in Heaven's jewelled crown
They shine for evermore.

There is no death—an angel form

Walks o'er the earth with silent tread,
And bears our best loved things away,
And then we call them dead.

LORD LYTTON.

Miscellaneous.

CONVERSION OF THE JEWS.-There have long been special organizations for the conversions of the Jews to the Christian religion. Lord Rosebery in a humorous speech at the Printers' dinner informed his auditors that the Jews themselves published two newspapers for the advocacy of their own opinions, and there were five published for their conversion. The Established and Free Churches of Scotland seem to give special attention to this branch of missionary labour, and to spend large sums of money with very small results. In the Established Church the report of the committee showed that there had been no converts baptized during the year, one application for the administration of the rite at Smyrna having been "for various reasons delayed," while another "inquirer" who had declared his purpose to become a Christian" had not as yet been baptized in consequence of "no suitable employment" having been found for him. The attendance at the missionschools, it was reported, was very encouraging, the increase in the numbers of pupils for the year being two hundred and eleven. The total expenditure in connection with the mission was stated at £5000. In the Free Church it appeared from the report of the committee that there had been seven baptisms of Jews last year, two, however, being children; and that the total expenditure of the committee had been £5621, being at the rate of £1124, 4s. per adult convert.

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We are not among those who would estimate the value of the soul by any monetary expenditure, but in the case of the Jews would it not be better to leave their conversion to the leavening influence of Christian society and Christian institutions? As at present taught the doctrines of Christianity can have little attraction to the Jewish mind. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity as popularly expounded must appear at variance with the first and greatest commandment of the law, which inculcates the doctrine of the personal Oneness of God; and it is difficult to conceive that this doctrine should be rejected, or any system of faith imbibed that tends to weaken its acknowledgment and authority. If, therefore, the Jew is to be brought within the pale of the Christian Church it must be by a clearer teaching of the personal unity of God and a wiser interpretation of the prophetic teaching of their own Scriptures. This can only be accomplished by the clear demonstration that Jesus is Jehovah, the Creator by whom all things were made, who has

assumed the nature of man that He might become the Redeemer of His people and the abiding Object of their faith and love. For the presentment of this great truth in a manner adapted to the minds of the descendants of the patriarchs the time has not yet come. Doubtless this time will come, and its approach may be nearer than many suppose.

WESLEYAN METHODISM.-One of the marvels of modern Christianity is the rise and growth of Wesleyan Methodism. Its beginning is but of yesterday, and it has penetrated every nook and corner of the land. Avoiding the thorny questions of theological controversy, it has excited little intellectual hostility, and it has attracted the masses of the people by the earnestness of its teaching and the sincerity of the bulk of its disciples. It is one of the agencies of the new age which has done much to quicken the religious life of the people, but has been less successful in the development of religious intelligence. New forms of thought it resists rather than encourages, and is hence less affected than most other Christian communities by the changes of opinion which distinguish modern religious teaching.

The general acceptance of some of the most prominent features of Methodism is also known to be on the wane. As we are writing the report of a meeting in a provincial town reaches us, on which the editor of a local paper remarks: 'The Wesleyan body may be fairly said to be at the head of the denominations; but somehow the institutions by which Wesleyan Methodism is distinguished from some other religious sects appear to be falling in the estimation of the bulk of the followers of John Wesley. The testimony upon this point was remakable, as uttered by one speaker after another at a recent ministerial recognition meeting. All the speakers were satisfied upon one point, that itineracy secured to the various churches a variety of pulpit talent which was not experienced by the other Nonconforming bodies. But when we come to the mainspring of Wesley's system, the class meeting, the almost universal cry was, 'Our classes are not well attended; in this respect we have degenerated.' It does not fall within the scope of this note to suggest a remedy for this state of affairs, but there the fact is, and it is for the leaders of Wesleyanism themselves to grapple with it, as we believe they are endeavouring to do."

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