With thunders from her native oak She quells the floods below, As they roar on the shore Where the stormy winds do blow: We would not, indeed, assume that such warlike accompaniments are destined to mark the event of the restoration, of which the Lord hath said, "Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee," but many scriptures lead us to look for opposition to this glorious work; and if England be, as surely she appears to be, the Tarshish of this dispensation, her naval supremacy will be the means approved, because appointed, of God for accomplishing the decree. Assuredly the time is near, and a very brief period will decide the question. C. E. A WOMAN'S GRIEF. To tend a dying husband's bed, To bend her o'er a suffering child, To see the tiny coffin close,- To rear a dear and duteous son For heaven's bright, blest abode ; And live to know him blindly run Down error's devious road.To see the child she taught to pray Become of sinners chief: And madly cast his soul away, This is a Woman's Grief! To have a daughter, fond and fair, And find the darling of her care To see her heave the deep-drawn sigh, Yet, Woman! seek that Friend on high, That grace was always prompt to aid, Yes! In that dark and dismal hour, His pity still retained its pow'r, And can he-will he-ever fail To soothe a Woman's Grief? HUIE. PUBLIC DIFFICULTIES. It is easy for persons who do not possess the information necessary for a comprehensive view of a subject, to fancy themselves masters of it, and to feel impatient, and even indignant, because their views are not carried out; but it is not easy, it is awful, to act with power in a doubtful case, when the welfare of millions, in this world and in the next, may depend upon that act. Let the difficulties of the Government then be made subjects of prayer indeed, not merely in a stated form, but with conscientious earnestness and frequency, imploring Almighty God, for his dear Son's sake, to pour forth abundantly upon our beloved Sovereign and her responsible advisers the spirit of practical wisdom and political sagacity, duly combining patience and firmness, moderation and decision, for the performance of their high and solemn duties. And now, a word on what in most of my addresses to you occupies nearly all my words,-" Render unto God the things that are God's." This again is comprehensive, requiring all that we are, and all that we have, ourselves, our souls and bodies, our time, our talents, our properties, to be a holy and lively sacrifice unto Him: that we should in all things, whether in acts which are avowedly religious, or in the various business of this world, or in relative engagements, or in domestic enjoyments and responsibilities, or in political duties, cultivate the intention, and aim, and desire to do all in the way which we really believe to be agreeable to the will of God our Father, God our Redeemer, God our Sanctifier.-"England's Cæsar," by the Rev. Hugh M'Neile. EXPOSITORY REMARKS ON GENESIS. No. VI. VERSES 17-19.-" And unto Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life: thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat of the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.” The insulted Lawgiver proceeded now to pass sentence upon Adam, whom he first charged with the violation of the law, at the instigation of his wife, whose voice he had obeyed in preference to that of his Creator. And it would seem that Adam had not only been guilty of the breach of the divine command, but previously to his sin of disobedience had exalted the creature into the place which was due to the Creator alone, and that this first fatal step had led afterwards to his apostacy from God. So that we may here observe a difference in the form of the transgression committed by our first parents, and notice that as the woman's disobedience appeared to spring from her allowing her reason to take the place of humble faith in God, so Adam's sin arose from MARCH, 1844. P |