the light from the darkness; and God has seen that it was good.

In all these greater arrangements of divine wisdom, we can see that God has done the same things for the accommodation of the planets that He has done for the earth which we inhabit. And shall we say, that the resemblance stops here, because we are not in a situation to observe it? Shall we say, that this scene of magnificence has been called into being merely for the amusement of a few astronomers? Shall we measure the counsels of heaven by the narrow impotence of the human faculties? or conceive, that silence and solitude reign throughout the mighty empire of nature; that the greater part of creation is an empty parade; and that not a worshipper of the Divinity is to be found through the wide extent of yon vast and immeasurable regions? DR THOMAS CHALMERS.

THE CONDITION OF THE WICKED.

(From Book of Job.)

KNOWEST thou not this of old, since man was placed upon the earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach the clouds, yet shall he perish for ever. He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found, yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; they who have seen him shall say, Where is he? He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall slay him. In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand shall come upon

him. He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through. A fire not blown shall consume him. The heaven shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. The increase of his house shall depart. His goods shall flee away in the day of wrath. The light of the wicked shall be put out; the light shall be darkened in his tabernacle. The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down. For he is cast into a net by his own feet. He walketh upon a snare. Terrors shall make him afraid on every side; and the robber shall prevail against him. Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation. His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street. He shall be driven from light into darkness. They that come after him shall be astonished at his day. He shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

ON CHARITY.

TRUE liberal charity is wisely divided amongst many, and proportioned to the objects upon which it rests. It is not, it cannot be confined to near relations, intimate friends, or particular favourites. These it will never neglect; nay, to these its first attentions are naturally directed. But whatever may be its partialities to those immediately connected with us, or who love and resemble us, it cannot remain under these restrictions. The principle which gave it birth extends its influence in every possible direction. The objects which solicit the friendly aid of charity are many and various. Here we find the afflicted body—there the grieved mind. Here a mourning desolate widow-there destitute orphans; perhaps both together sitting in silent dejection,

or agitated with all the violence of grief. At one time we hear the plaintive voice of the solitary mourner—at another the united cries of a numerous starving family. Turn to the one hand, and feeble tottering age requests support; turn to the other hand, and the deserted infant, or neglected youth, requires a kind interposition. These and many similar cases of urgent necessity, claim the attention and care of the compassionate and generous. On such occasions, how does the man of liberal charity feel and act? Is theatrical representation necessary to rouse his sensibilities? Must he learn from the fictitious tale of misery to compassionate real distress? Must his heart be taught by the tongue of the pathetic orator to move with sentiments of generous sympathy? No! well-attested facts are sufficient to call them forth to the most seasonable and effectual exertions; or he repairs to the house of the mourners, and seeing with his own eyes, and hearing with his own ears, he mingles his tears with theirs-his heart overflows with the tenderest emotions, and his hand readily administers according to his abilities. Amidst such various scenes of sorrow, that which overwhelms him most is, that he cannot extend his help to all. This, however, checks not the ardour of his charity, but prompts his wisdom and prudence to contrive how he may most usefully divide his labours of love. He cannot think of devoting them entirely to one, or a very few, because thus they might receive too much, and others too little. But while he cannot be confined within a very small circle, both prudence and charity forbid his taking too wide a range, lest he should defeat his own benevolent purposes; by extending thus too far, his means would prove unequal to the end. Much may be given away, and yet lose its effect, by being divided into so many small parts that almost none receive

material benefit.

He therefore considers who are the most

needy, the most worthy, and what are their different resources, and he adapts his charity to their state and character. He clothes the naked, or feeds the hungry, or comforts the disconsolate, or educates the friendless youth, or administers counsel to the ignorant, the perplexed, and the inexperienced. Balfour.

THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

THE importance of an event cannot be accurately estimated by the degree of interest which it immediately excites. Many events, which on their occurrence seemed big with the fate of generations, have passed by, and are forgotten; while, on the other hand, the most extensive and lasting revolutions have often flowed from incidents apparently casual and trifling. The black clouds, which threaten a deluge, are often entirely dissipated without leaving a trace behind of the impending tempest; while a cloud, at first scarcely bigger than a man's hand, at last overspreads the firmament with darkness, and pours out an unexpected and desolating tempest.

There is not to be found, in the history of the human race, an instance in which apparent insignificance is more strongly contrasted by real importance, than that which is so simply recorded in the words, "Jesus yielded up the ghost." In this event, if we look merely at its external circumstances, there is nothing to secure remembrance. Man's giving up the ghost is an event of daily, of hourly recurrence. There was indeed something peculiar in this case; for Jesus died upon a cross. But is there anything uncommonly interesting in the fact that a poor and un

friended Jew, accused by His countrymen of aspiring to temporal rule, or to divine honours, should fall a victim to their hatred, and expiate His supposed crimes by crucifixion? The severity of His punishment, when contrasted with the deficiency of the evidence on which He was condemned, might indeed be supposed to excite some degree of sympathy in the spectators; but certainly the probability was, that every vestige of His existence would, in the course of a few years at the latest, perish from the earth.

Yet this event, apparently so trivial, formed the grand and concluding action in a scene the most interesting and important which ever was, which ever will be, which ever can be exhibited on earth. Amid apparent meanness, there was real grandeur; amid seeming insignificance, there was infinite importance. That Jesus who on the cross yielded up His spirit was the only begotten Son of God in human nature. That life which He there laid down was the ransom of men innumerable. Heaven, earth, and hell, felt the Saviour's dying groan. From that event, consequences infinitely numerous, immensely important, and unspeakably interesting, have flowed. Revolutions, deeply affecting the present and the immortal interests of mankind, have been its result in this world; while, among its consequences in the invisible state, faith beholds a guilty elect world restored to the favour of its Creator, the divine government vindicated, and the gates of Paradise set open. JAMES MONTGOMERY.

INDIFFERENCE TO MATTERS OF RELIGION. WE begin by thinking that less reading of the Bible may do: we know it all so well already: why keep going over