fold an unusually large one; and a hundred-fold an increase almost unheard of. Alas! are our hearts so honest and good, as to make this large return for the seed sown? There was no fault in the sowing; none in the seed. But is the soil good? Does it stand thick and laugh with the abundance of its produce? or is it a poor and thankless land, bearing a scanty straggling crop, here and there a stalk or two; more straw than ears, and many, perhaps, blighted; overtopped by a rank crop of gay but pernicious weeds? A hundred-fold!-but that, you may say, is for saints and martyrs. Well, then, sixty-fold; thirty: nay, but is there any increase? or rather, is it land that is not worth cultivating? land that has no heart in it, and that we have allowed, year after year, to grow worse and worse continually? "The earth" (says the Apostle,) "which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from GOD. But that which beareth thorns and briers, is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned." Now, as it is with the soil of outward nature, so it is with the soil of the heart. That GOD who giveth the rain, the former and the latter in its season- -He too sheds the dews of His grace upon the heart of Christian man : He sends His servants, some to sow the seed of the Word, and others to water it, but it is His own peculiar task to give the increase: but if that soil does not drink in the rain that cometh oft upon it; if it does not bring forth herbs meet for HIM by whom it is dressed, assuredly, it will receive from HIM no blessing; but it will be rejected and finally cursed, and have its end to be burnt, on account of the thorns and briers that it has permitted to spring up and choke the good seed. Do you, my brethren, drink in the rain that cometh oft upon you? do you drink in the teaching of God's Word and Spirit that comes upon you again and again, Sunday after Sun 66 day? do you bring forth the fruits of righteousness, which alone are meet for HIM by Whom the the soil of your hearts is dressed, the GOD Who hateth iniquity, the LORD Whom no man may see without holiness? Oh! when you think of, when you see, the abundant increase of nature, when your fields are standing thick with corn, when you carry the heavy sheaves to your barns, or the barns of your neighbours, think of the harvest which the great husbandman will look for from you and strive and pray that you too may bring forth thirty, sixty, or, if it be possible, even a hundred-fold, before you are gathered, like a ripe sheaf, into the garner of the grave! 'He that gathereth in summer," says Solomon, “is a wise son; but he that sleepeth in harvest, causeth shame." Now is the summer in which we are to gather now is the time for us to bring forth fruit and gather it, and offer it by prayer to God, through the mediation of CHRIST! Let us gather whilst it is summer let us make the most of our many opportunities, before they are withdrawn: let us not sleep, my brethren, in this spiritual harvest of our duty to GoD and man. If you are young, now is the time for you to gather that knowledge of God and of your duty, of CHRIST your Redeemer, and the HOLY GHOST, your Sanctifier, which may abide with you in the busier hours of manhood, and preserve you from the "corruption that is in the world through lust." Are you in the prime of manhood, now is your summer-your great time for action, when you have health, and strength, and energy to do the LORD's work, to resist sin, to assist in charitable objects, to do deeds of mercy and kindness; to earn money, not for your own selfish indulgence, but that you may provide for your own, and have to give to him that needeth. If, again, you are far gone in manhood, and have slept hitherto, call to mind St. Paul's words, that now it is high time to awake out of that sleep." 66 Your summer is hastening to its close; gather then before the winter comes, that will both numb the hand and destroy the crop shame upon you, if you still sleep, when it is the time of harvest; if you still neglect to gather knowledge, and act upon it, though knowing that the time for doing what must be done before we die (unless we are to die for ever), is fast slipping away, and may come to an end to-day-at any moment of to-day-at any moment of the life of man! At the beginning of the Jewish harvest, the first handful of ripe barley was carried to the altar of the LORD, and laid upon it; nor might any man begin his own harvest till that ceremony was performed. The Jews were thus called upon to remember (and this season is one that may well make us remember if we had forgotten) Who it was that gave them the increase of the earth: Who it was that sent the rain, the former and latter in its season. The blessing of harvest is so common, so regular in its return, that we think little of it; and yet all who know any thing of such subjects, know how much benevolent contrivance is necessary for the ripening of the fruits of the earth, and generally for the fitting of this world to be the dwelling-place of man. Accordingly, St. Paul reminded the people of Lystra, that this ripening of the fruits in their season was a constant witness to the power and goodness of GOD. "Nevertheless," he says, "He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." Let us then not overlook the hand and providence of GOD in this matter; let us rather catch the feeling that St. Paul must have had, when he thus spoke to the people of Lystra; the feeling that our Liturgy calls upon us to make our own, praying that "GOD would give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, so as in due time we may enjoy them." Let us then lay, as it were, a portion of our increase, the first portion, upon the altar of the LORD; let us make our barns, and our stores, and all our substance holy, by using all charitably with respect to others, temperately with respect to ourselves; remembering that we are owners of nothing, but stewards only-GoD's stewards. Lastly, my brethren, let us pray for that harvest of the LORD, the souls of men, into which He prayed that labourers might be sent by the LORD of the harvest ;-that harvest in which fruit is gathered unto life eternal. Let us pray for the state of CHRIST'S Church at home and abroad; that it may please God to extend it every where, and to purify it every where; to bring Christian men into charity one with another, and to fill the land, to fill the face of the whole earth with zealous and able labourers, that the fields may every where laugh with corn, and that "both he that soweth and he that reapeth, may rejoice together." HYMN FOR HARVEST. "Thou openest Thy hand, and fillest all things living with plenteousness."-PSALM cxlv. 16. "Oh! that men would therefore praise the LORD for His goodness."-PSALM Cvii. 8. WE come our hearts with gladness glowing, For garners fill'd to overflowing With treasur'd heaps and plenteous store : Has blest anew our happy land. Our praise for this abundant blessing Since Thou, on us compassion taking With daily bread our wants dost feed, Make us to feel for others' need: The heavenly dews our seed have nourish'd, THE WIRAU MASSACRE. (From the "Southern Cross," New Zealand paper, of the 23rd of March.) INTERVIEW BETWEEN HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR AND RAUPARAHA, THE PRINCIPAL CHIEF PRESENT AT THE WAIRAU MASSACRE. ON Monday, the 12th of February, 1844, his Excellency Governor Fitzroy, accompanied by Sir Everard Home, Captain of Her Majesty's ship North Star, Major Richmond, Mr. Commissioner Spain, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Forsaith, and several officers belonging to the North Star, landed at Waikanae. His Excellency and suite were received on shore by the Rev. Octavius Hadfield, Messrs. Symonds and Clarke, and a large body of natives, who, to the number of 400 and upwards, soon assembled in a large open enclosure within the pah. |