Church as a member of it, and have its forehead signed with the sign of the Cross, in token that thenceforth it shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of CHRIST crucified, and to fight manfully under His banner against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and to continue CHRIST's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end. Perhaps you may not know that a time will come when some of us will receive a new name. "To him that overcometh," (says the Spirit in the book of Revelation) "will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it."-This is probably a figurative expression, the new name written on a stone delivered to us meaning a title made over to us, a right of admission given us, to new happiness and glory in heaven.-But a figurative expression may have, and in the Bible always has, a real meaning: and it is well to think of that giving of the stone with the new name written upon it, to every one that overcometh.-Let us remember that the power of overcoming is freely offered to us all: we all may overcome (by the power of CHRIST, and CHRIST'S Spirit), and obtain that glorious new name, the honour and happiness of which no man but he who receives it, can know ; we all may arrive at that blessedness in heaven, which no man can form a notion of; but which all Who ONCE FEEL IT will know to be far, infinitely above all delight of body or mind, that we ever knew on earth. May God grant us, that steadiness in the pursuit of heaven's happiness, that may, by God's grace, prove the means of our being received to a high degree of glory and reward in the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, JESUS CHRIST! THE WINDS AND THE WAVES OBEYING CHRIST. WITH sails full spread and bending mast Like one who bounds with glee, A fisher's bark was sailing fast Across Gennesareth's sea. A precious freight it was, I trow, But still as on the vessel swept Whose eyes for sin have never wept, Full soundly slept He-for in sooth A wanderer since His noon of youth To spread the rays of light and truth, Awhile that vessel's thoughtful crew Then straight a fearful toil began So wildly with the wind she ran, O'er the black and boiling deep; But fiercer still the surges roar'd, And now, in each bold heart on board, As the winds and waves their fury pour'd Then came they, in their utmost need, "Lord, sleep'st Thou still, and tak'st no heed— Betide our lives what ?" may They spake, and at their words with speed "Oh! ye of little faith!"-He stood, No cloud obscured the deep blue sky, The vessel's track you scarce might spy She rode so peacefully. The vessel's track you scarce might spy— With sails untorn and cordage dry Through the smooth and smiling bay; "Now who is this," the shipmen cry "Whom the sea and the wind obey?" Dear Lord, a lowly life was Thine While Thou with man didst dwell; Thy voice could tame, with charm divine, Incarnate fiends beneath Thine eye To the fields where swine were fed; And is Thy power less wondrous now, Than when they made Hell's demons bow Nay still, though oft Thou seem'st to sleep, And guides Thy Church from deep to deep And still do Hell's dark legions flee From the heart where Thou dost reign, And the sinner is heal'd of his leprosy, And the soul which was dead as dead could be, Moultrie. Gallant and virtuous actions do not more often ingratiate men with the people, than a rolling tongue, a precipitate head, vain-glorious profusion, oily insinuations, feigned devotions, sufferings (though deserved) from superiors, and above all, opposition to the present state.-Abp. Bramhall. Assuredly, Madam, whosoever prays from his very heart, and for such things as he is commanded to pray for, (and such is this renovation' of his mind into the image of Christ,) doth not beat the empty air with his breath, but will find as real an effect of it, as ever he did in any natural action in the world; as suppose in shaking of a plum-tree or eating the fruits of the vine.-Dr. H. More. I, like the cuckoo, have repeated to you the same note to all my letters, from my first writing to you to this very day; to charm you into a cool, humble temper of mind, which is the foundation of all solid prudence.—Dr. H. More. EFFECT OF CHURCH SCHOOLS. EVENTS Occurred in the course of last year (1842), which not unexpectedly, but most alarmingly, directed public attention to the religious education of the poor as the great and only safe bulwark of social order. Disturbances arose in the manufacturing districts to such an extent, as to render life and property every where insecure, and to cause the most serious fears and misgivings in the public mind. Doubts arose, not merely in the timid, but in persons of firmer nerves and more reflecting character, whether the bonds of society could long be held together. At such a crisis, it was most desirable to ascertain how far the influence of the Church and of Church-schools had been beneficially exerted in support of law and order, and in what degree the check 1 Renewal. |