mistakes may, and as I believe do, exist on the part of many upon this point. The opinion which prevails most generally amongst the candidates for worldly distinction is that "talent" is the great desideratum; that great natural gifts, superior parts, intellectual powers, are the great essentials to success in life. And these, consequently, are the most envied of all endowments. But I believe that thousands are deluded by this imagination. I believe that a reference to the testimony of experience and of facts, and to the cases of those who have succeeded best in life, would at once dissipate the delusion, and prove that their success in life was certainly not owing in all cases, or in most cases, to what are called great natural abilities; but that, on the contrary, whilst hundreds with what are supposed greater natural parts, more quickness of intellect, failed in the race of life, men of supposed inferior abilities have surmounted every obstacle, and acquired honour and distinctions. I believe there is no greater delusion, or more dangerous, than that which exists as to the immense advantage of great natural parts or abilities, as if to possess these were to achieve every object, to carry every point. So far is this from the case, that what are thought to be great natural talents, talents without cultivation, without unwearied industry, are the most worthless endowments ever possessed. Experience proves that these, of themselves, and without great industry, never accomplished any thing, except to make him who possessed them a worse man than others. And never was there a greater mistake than the common habit of lauding and commend ing great natural talents*. Except they be allied to virtue and unwearied industry, they are, I believe, worse than useless. Providence never intended that any advantage should be given to any except as the reward of virtue-for unwearied industry is, in a sense, virtue. Great natural talents, or what are imagined to be great natural talents, without industry, have never done any thing except to make a man a cleverer profligate than others. And well would it have been if this had always been insisted upon, Many have been ruined by the foolish and injudicious praise of their supposed great natural abilities. These ought never to be admitted or acknowledged apart from industry. The truth of these remarks will apparent to those who have watched the course of some who were accounted clever youths, or indeed men, who had neither energy, industry, nor be perseverance. If, then, called to name the quality or endow ment which more than another is essential to suc cess, even in this life (leaving out of the question the consideration of man's higher destinies), I should at once say, "self-control;" self-control in its best, highest, most comprehensive sense. Of all the qualities possessed by man in entering on this scene of temptations and allurements and dangers, this is the best, this the most enviable, and infinitely to be prized beyond what are imagined to be great natural parts. And one or two obvious reflections will make this apparent. The path to worldly success and honour and happiness is, in truth, a plain and easy one, much more so than it is generally believed to be, if one * How many a youth has been ruined by this foolish and injudicious praise! What keep the steady, right onward course. constitutes the difficulty of it is, as all know, its being beset on the right hand and on the left with snares and seductions and allurements of various kinds, fitted to make one turn aside from it. And the truth is, if one can resist these, his course is easy. It is true (to change the figure) he has to sail between dangerous rocks-the Scylla and Charybdis; but, if he shut his ears against the siren voice, there is no difficulty, no obstruction in his passage. The ruin of thousands is that they cannot do this. Instead of keeping the direct, straight-forward path, they turn aside. They cannot resist the solicitations of sinful pleasure: they are led and mastered by their passions; and hence the thousand wrecks of hopes and prospects which we see floating on on all sides. They had plenty of natural ability and talents to ensure success in any path of honourable exertion: they had advantage enough for gaining their object; but they listened to the seductive voice of sinful pleasure, and they struck against the rocks. To the want of self-control the ruin of the fairest prospects of thousands is to be traced. If one and another escape the peril and steer his way safely, you find that this is not owing to superior natural endowments, but to his selfcontrol more especially. At that dangerous crisis of human life, when opposite and antagonistic powers seem to be contending for mastery of the human soul, when, to allude to the beautiful ancient apologue, "virtue and vice seem to be struggling to see which of them shall get it into their service," at that crisis it is the quality, the quality of self-control, which carries one triumphant over every impediment which obstructs the path to success. Again, one of the great essentials to success in life is perseverance, patient continuance in the path of duty. If we look to the men who have succeeded best in life, we shall find them for the most part to be they who stood firm amidst the storm as well as the sunshine; who, amidst many discouragements and threatening appearances which were fitted to make them turn aside, still persevered and kept the one object in view. It and personal comfort to a high sense of duty, who is the men who habitually sacrificed inclination persevered when others gave over. They were the men that often hoped against hope. And that we shall find to have been one of the great secret of their success. It was self-control gave them all the advantage. This made them hold on their course, when others fainted and grew weary of the conflict, tired of the dull round of duty. This made them hope, when others despaired. This made them wait patiently for the end, when others were cast down. Again, in this life a thousand causes of irritation and exasperation will be met. Soon or late all, in passing through it, will have their temper tried, their powers of endurance taxed to the uttermost. They will meet with unkindness, insolence, ingratitude, wrongs and injuries of various kinds. The natural consequence of these is to exasperate, to throw one off one's guard, to occasion hasty, intemperate expressions of our feeling, to make men act from the impulse of the moment rather than from the dictates of prudence. Many possessed self-control has gone on steadily in the path of honour, surmounting every impediment, escaping the lures which are fatal to others, and attained his object at last. But we cannot much wonder at this; for self-control is the quality in man which is most conducive to the moral order of the universe. It is the abuse of it, it is the unruly wills and affections of men which make this world the scene of hatred and strife which it is, which make man the scourge of man. But the grand counteractive to these is self-control. And, therefore, far above the triumphs of genius and have made shipwreck of their fortunes on this rock. It would be scarcely credited what an amount of injury men have done themselves by thus acting on the promptings of sudden anger and passion. Many have, in an unguarded moment, done acts which they have had reason to repent for the rest of their lives. Men have alienated friends for ever by an unguarded expression. Men have almost ruined their prospects in life by some rash act done on the impulse of momentary feeling. The finest opportunities have been lost, the brightest prospects clouded by these means. Now, it is not great talents that are re-intellect are those victories which man, through quired to obviate a danger of this kind. One quality would have done it-self-control. Had they, who thus did such injury to themselves, curbed their feelings; had they kept back the hasty expression; had they, when excited and exasperated, sprinkled the drops of patience upon the rising anger; had they allowed an interval to elapse before they gave an answer; had they pre-pendence, a liberty, an honour which is not pos served a dignified silence, instead of giving way to a burst of rage, they might have been spared the unhappy consequence which followed, and retained the position in life which would have conducted them to honour and affluence. Once more multitudes in this life are ruined by rash speculations, by being tempted by deceitful prospects of good, by following in the wake of the multitude. This is most men's weakness and ruin. They cannot judge for themselves. They do the same as others do. The phantom which others are in pursuit of they must follow. The golden prospect which tempts one tempts all. This is the rock on which so many have split. They cast away the substance to grasp at the shadow. Who escapes it? Not the man of superior talents, of great genius. On the contrary, the "clever" are often the first to fall into the snare. No: it is the man of self-control. The man that is able to keep in check the strong desires which overmaster others; who, when others are hurried resistlessly along by the crowd, can stand, can maintain his ground, and by so doing escape the seductions to which thousands fall victims. This is in truth the quality, the possession of which is the true secret of success in life. This is what, beyond almost every other, leads to respectability and influence and happiness. This is what gives most weight and strength to the character. This is the quality which has always shone conspicuously in the men that have been foremost in the race of life. And yet this is a quality within the reach of all. All may aspire to it: all may hope to attain it, even they of the most moderate abilities. All may acquire self-mastery, self-control; that noblest of all qualities, which inspiration has dignified by passing one of its highest encomiums upon it, "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." And it is some consolation to reflect, in these times, when intellect is so idolized, when the powers of reason are the boast of thousands, when men are ready to fall down and worship superior mental endowments, that God's providence has so ordered that the chief requisite for success in life, in the path of honest exertion, is rather moral than intellectual qualities. Experience of life shows that, while thousands who possessed high mental endowments have failed, the man who divine grace, obtains over himself. And, in this jar ring, tumultuous scene, where thousands are led away, the sport of their blind feelings and im. petuous passions, the man who presents the noblest exceptions to others is the man who is master of himself. He who has obtained this self-mastery is morally the first of men. He boasts an inde sessed by the greatest ruler upon earth, who is a stranger to his principles. Yes, this man that masters himself, that has power over his own will and can abide stedfast in his purpose, is the first of men. He who has conquered himself has no other enemy that he need to fear. Poetry. HYMNS FOR THE SUNDAYS IN THE YEAR (SUGGESTED BY SOME PORTION OF THE SIE (For the Church of England Magazine.) FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVent. "Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.”—(The Gospel) Matt. xxi. 5. WHEN Jesus rode through Judah's street Lo! "thy King cometh unto thee." Yea, "King of kings," and "Lord of lords"! Instead of strife with spears and swords. Expected by her children long, Is Jesu's coming, loved and sought; And with him in the heavens shall live. With joy he may appear to thee! HUGHES, 12, Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to be PRINTED BY ROGERSON AND TUXFORD, THE ESCAPE AT NIAGARA. THE following account appeared lately in an American paper: "I heard from one of the guides that a young English lady had a narrow escape on Friday morning. Perfectly enchanted with the scene, and anxious to possess some memento of her visit, she, assisted by the guide, stepped on the ridge on Goat Island, familiarly known as the Hog's Back,' from rock to rock, antil she reached the large slab which divides the American No. 976. sheet of water, and in the crevices of which grew a small tree. From this, gathering a branch, she proceeded on her perilous return-journey, the boiling waters at her feet, within two yards of taking their mad leap, and the spray flying around her. At the second step, the rock being wet and slippery, she fell; but fortunately the water here was shallow, and formed an eddy. The guide stood firm; and she retained her grasp of his hand, and thus escaped with an awful fright,' and a thorough baptism in Niagara stream, obtained, per haps, nearer the extreme edge of the falls than was ever previously managed without loss of life. She neither screamed nor fainted when she reached terra firma, but, like a sensible woman, felt thankful for her deliverance, and proud of her trophy, which she had retained all the time." : There are few, I thought, as I read this anecdote, that have been so near destruction, and yet have escaped it. The means of escape, in this poor rash girl's case, was her clinging fast to the hand of her guide. And I felt disposed to pursue the train of thought just suggested a little farther. What is it that holds up weak man from the abyss that boils beneath his feet? What is it that only can steady his steps, re-assure his courage, and conduct him finally to a place of safety? Left to himself, he would assuredly perish he would stumble, and fall. But there is a Guide, skilful to lead and strong to deliver. There is a Guide who has risked, nay, who has sacrificed his life for the preservation of those that were perishing. That Guide's hand is kindly and firmly stretched forth; and we must energetically grasp it. Our hand, the hand of faith, must not let the Saviour go. Then, kept through faith unto salvation, and landed beside him on the heavenly shore, we shall have abundant reason to be thankful for our deliverance, and to acknowledge that it was his mercy that saved us. Never, never, let us let go the Guide's supporting hand. An account of the falls of Niagara appeared in this Magazine, vol. xxvii., p. 425. RESPECTING OUR SAVIOUR'S PROPHECY Upon which our Lord informed them that Taking Matthew xxiv. as the basis, it will be found that in verses 4-14 (compare Mark xiii. 5 13, Luke xxi. 8-19) a kind of negative answer is given to the first question, "when" Jerusa len's desolation should "be"; and a warning given to prevent their expecting the destruction of Jerusalem to happen too soon. In verses 15 22 (compare Mark xiii. 14-20, Luke xxi. 20-24 a reply is given to the second question, and "th sign, when all these things" relating to the deBY THE REV. C. H. DAVIS, M.A., struction of Jerusalem were about to "be fulfilled," is named; to which is added, in verso THIS prophecy is contained in Matt. xxiv., Mark 23-28 (compare Mark xiii. 21-23), a warxiii., and Luke xxi. 5-36. In many points it ing not to expect Christ's coming at that resembles a former prophecy delivered by our time. And then in verses 29-36 (compare Mark Lord on another occasion shortly before, and re- xiii. 24-32, Luke xxi. 24, 25-33) an answer corded in Luke xvii. 20-37. The latter prophecy, given to the third question relative to "the s as recorded by the three evangelists, is substan- of" his "coming and of the end of the world. tially the same in each account; though some The expression in Matthew xxiv. 34, “Veri portions of it, which are omitted by one, are I say unto you, that this generation st related by at least one of the other two. The not pass, till all these things be fulfilled,” h apparent difficulties of this prophecy seem to have puzzled many persons. But the following arisen from a supposition that it is a double pro- to be the true solution of the difficulty: At ve phecy-a prophecy generally applicable through- 3, two questions are recorded. (1), “WE: out to two events, viz., the destruction of shall these things be?" i.e., the destruction Jerusalem and the coming of Christ, though Jerusalem and its attendant signs; and, completely applicable in all its parts to neither. "What shall be the sign of thy coming, as Thus the most forced and unnatural construction the end of the world?" Our Lord, having giv has by some interpreters been put upon verses a detailed answer to these questions, adds in ves 29-41 of Matthew xxiv., in order to make them 34, "This generation shall not pass, til seem to apply to the destruction of Jerusalem; these things [i. c., the things connected with Jennwhile verse 34 has puzzled very many in the appli-salem's desolation] be fulfilled"; but, he adds › cation of the prophecy to the actual coming of the Lord at "the end of the world." The prophecy, however, in its simple and obvious meaning, seems to contain a continuous account of the Jewish nation from the time of the destruction of Jerusalem to the time of the coming of the Lord, together with a notice of some of the signs which are to precede his coming. The disciples had been speaking of the splendour and magnificence of the temple. verse 36, "but of that day and hour fi... th day of his own personal coming, of which be to just been speaking] knoweth no man." And it is a certain fact that that portion of the prophey relative to Jerusalem's desolation was fulfilled the very letter about forty years afterwards. while the Lord's own personal coming has not ye taken place, and is in many passages of scripture represented as a sudden and unexpected event, which will take the world by surprise. Let us, then, briefly consider the import of the has occurred in our own times. As though our prophecy in Matthew xxiv., with its literal ful- Lord had said, "The end of the world, about filment. In verses 4-14, our Lord, in reply to which you ask, is not yet. This gospel must the question respecting the time of his coming, 'first' be preached as a witness to every nation. put by men who expected that it would happen And then,' and not before, will be the time of together with the destruction of Jerusalem, warns my coming." The verses following, viz., 15-28, them of the danger of being misled by impostors which relate to Jerusalem's desolation, seem to who would pretend to be Christ the king; confirm this view. The expression, "The aboand many we know did so appear, like Theudas, mination of desolation, &c.", in verse 15, is in and Judas of Galilee, and a certain Egyptian (see | Luke xxi. 20 explained by these words, " When Acts v. 36, 37, xxi. 38). He forewarned them ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then also of wars and famines and pestilences; but that know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then they were not to be alarmed by these, since "the let them which are in Judea flee to the mounend" even of Jerusalem's glory was "not yet," tains." Here was "the sign when all these much less the end of the world. We see, also, things" connected with Jerusalem's ruin should from Luke xxi. 12 that the persecutions of the "be fulfilled." And Christ's people, instead of Christians were to begin before the wars and waiting in the city expecting the coming of famines and signs; but, as they were continued Christ to deliver them from the hostile armies (as together with them, the word "then" in Matthew without this warning they might have been led xxiv. 9 is also strictly true. Now all this came by the ancient prophecies in Ezekiel xxxviii. 8to pass. In Acts iv., v., vi., vii., and is. we read 14, 21, 23, and Zechariah xii. 1-10, xiv. 1-4, to of cruel persecutions, even unto death; while we do) were rather to "flee to the mountains," and do not read of a famine until Acts xi. 28. But leave the unbelieving part of the Jewish nation to the accounts of persecutions are continued to the their fate; for that Christ was not then coming in very end of the book of Acts, during the space of glory according to these prophecies, but that about thirty years, and are confirmed by other "the times of the Gentiles" must first "he fulwriters such as the Roman Tacitus, and the Jew- filled," during which the gospel should be ish Josephus. Moreover, we learn from Tacitus preached to all nations for a witness unto them, and Josephus that in all parts of the then known in order that God might thus "take out of them world there did occur both "wars" and "rumours a people for his name" (Acts xv. 14). of wars" about that period; and also "pestilences and famines and earthquakes in divers places," together with the destruction of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius (see bp. Newton's Dissertations, xviii. pp. 332-335). Our Lord, however, reminded his disciples that when these things occurred "the end" was "not yet," for that these were only "the beginning of" troubles. This predicted respite was remarkably fulfilled. For the wars which raged in other places did not reach Jerusalem till nearly forty years afterwards, when Titus besieged that city (see Dr. M'Neile's Lectures on the Second Advent, p. 10). With respect to the "fearful sights and great signs from heaven" (see Luke xxi. 11), they are recorded by Tacitus and Josephus as matters of history, such as a comet overhanging Jerusalem in the form of a sword, the appearances of armies fighting in the clouds, and several other "fearful signs" (see bp. Newton, pp. 335, 336). Our Lord winds up this part of his discourse with the declaration, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matt. xxiv. 14). It is thought by some that this means that the gospel should be preached to all nations to whom there was then an access, by means of their intercourse and connexion with the Romans; and that then the end," the destruction of Jerusalem (compare Ezekiel vii. 2, 3) should "come." This may be the true interpretation; for it is confirmed by the testimony even of heaten historians, that the gospel had taken root in all parts of the then known world; St. Paul probably visited Britain, and St. Thomas, India. The verse, however, is more probably parenthetical, and refers to the preaching of the gospel which Our Lord then describes in verses 17-22 of Matthew xxiv. the horrors of the siege, and the necessity for a rapid flight, adding, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And, except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Verses 21, 22). Now Josephus, in recording the fact, uses this remarkable expression, "All the calamities which have befallen any nation, from the beginning of the world, were but small in comparison with those which befel the Jew" (see bishop Newton, xix. pp. 348, 349). And from Josephus we also learn that at the time of the actual siege many incidental causes combined towards bringing about a "shortening" of the siege, and facilitating the escape of the Christians (see Dr. S. T. Bloomfield, on Matt. xxiv. 22). Our Lord next warned his disciples in verses 23-26 against the false prophets which would arise. And it is a matter of history that some of them led their deluded followers into "the desert" (ver. 26), like the Egyptian referred to in Acts xxi. 38; while others, and one in particular, led them into "secret chambers" (ver. 26), or places of security (see bp. Newton, pp. 352-3). And therefore, in verses 27, 28, our Lord exhorts them to give no credit to any reports that Messiah had come, and was in this place or in that place. For that the second coming of himself, the only true Messiah, would be attended with such circumstances as would at once make it public to the whole world; just as a flash of lightning, which in the same instant shines upon the eyes of spectators in remote and opposite situations. Moreover, that, as, wherever there is a carcase, there the eagles are sure to be guided by the instinct given to them by God, so God will take care |