himself towards saving him; it was just as likely as not that no one would be passing just then, and by the time he had run home for help, or to any one of the nearer houses round about, he would have sunk to rise no more. Oh! George did indeed feel truly thankful that it was he who had fallen in, and not his dear little brother. And think of the fright, the sorrow, and the trouble, this disobedience and falling into the water would cause at home to mother, working there so hard at washing, baking, nursing, or mending, to have her little boy come creeping in, all dripping wet and covered with mud. You think, perhaps, that she would be so thankful that he was not altogether drowned, that she would not mind the addition to her work of putting him to bed, washing all his clothes, and mopping up the mud and drippings; perhaps not, dear good mother! but it would grieve you the more, and render far heavier your consciousness of your naughtiness in having done what you had been forbidden to do, bringing all this additional toilsome work and trouble upon her whom it should ever be your greatest happiness to please and help, and not to vex aud hinder. And now do, my dear little children, learn from this to be obedient to your parents and teachers, that is, always do what you are desired by them to do, and never do what you are desired not to do. Never stay to think, either, whether you like or not to do what you are desired, but be obedient at once and with cheerfulness; then there will be no difficulty about it. You know that your father and mother and teachers, love you and have your good at heart; so believe that they would not willingly deprive you of any real benefit or pleasure, and that they must have some very good reason for wishing you to do this, or not wishing you to do that. And if you do not know, and are not able to think of any reasons, that makes no difference; it is your duty to obey, just the same. Your parents and teachers, if they think you old enough, and choose to give you any reasons for their wishes and commands, can do so if they please, but you must never expect this; whether they do or not, a prompt, that is, quick, and to the best of your ability, a cheerful obedience you must be ever ready to give, without any murmuring or questioning. Remember how Jesus, our blessed Lord, whose example we are told that we should follow, though God gave him so great a work to do in the world, was yet subject," that is obedient "unto his parents:" and in a verse or two after we are told this, it is mentioned that "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." 66 Talking of example, I have a word to say to you about that; those of you older ones who have still younger little brothers and sisters, must often have them put under your care, to watch over in the house or lead out to play. And what a trust that is! You should feel much pleased when you are set to do this; though it may sometimes make you feel anxious, and less free to amuse yourselves, think what good help you are giving to mother when you do it well, and never forget how important it is here always to set a good example to your little brother or sister, by never running yourself or leading them into any mischief, still more danger, whilst yet doing your best to amuse them, and exercising your ingenuity to find a variety of interesting objects to show them, or little harmless games to warm them into health and vigour. OBEDIENCE. "Little children, who endeavour EZEKIEL. A LEARNED student of the prophecies, in speaking of the description of the temple, city, and Holy Land, contained in the concluding chapters of Ezekiel, quaintly says, "Reader, thou hast here a particular description of the temple; it is earthly or terrestrial, such as may be understood from the bare words of the prophet. But what may be designed by this temple in spirit and in truth, and what may be hid under this covering of words, I desire to know from others, confessing myself entirely ignorant of the matter." We must confess our ignorance, not only of the meaning of the vision of the temple, but of the greater part of the book. 66 Yet though the visions and mystical actions of Ezekiel are obscure, there is a great charm in the whole prophecy. It is the production of an earnest, vigorous, and manly mind, and there are passages in it of surpassing excellence, wholly intelligible to the unlearned reader. His description of the favours that God had bestowed upon Jerusalem, which was perfect through His comeliness," but fell, because she trusted in her own beauty;" his address to the king of Egypt in chap. xxxi, where he compares the Assyrian king to "a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and with a shadowing shroud, and of high stature;" and his prediction of the downfall of Tyre, "the merchant for the people of many isles," are not to be excelled by any of the prophets in sublimity and beauty. He uttered many prophecies against the Gentile nations, but his grand subject was the destruction of Jerusalem and its results. Ezekiel, the son of Beizi, was, like his contemporary, Jeremiah, a priest as well as prophet. He was among the second band of captives carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, with their king Jehoiachim. He settled in the north-western part of Mesopotamia, near the banks of the river Chebar, the modern Rhabone, which empties itself into the Euphrates, at a distance of more than two hundred miles from Babylon. He was married, but "the desire of his eyes was taken away at a stroke." He repressed his natural feelings at God's command, and made "no mourning for the dead,” that he might the more effectually impress on the minds of the people, who asked him the cause of such unusual conduct, the necessity of mourning for their iniquities, and not for earthly vicissitudes. It has been surmised that the "roll" of Jeremiah was sent to Babylon, to comfort the exiles there, while that of Ezekiel was transmitted to Judea, to urge his fellow-countrymen to look for no assistance from Egypt, but to submit to their inevitable fate. The elders of the people often sought him, to hear what message he had received from God, but although the Jews of succeeding generations reverenced his memory, they did not rightly esteem the justice of his views of God's government. They particularly disliked the twentieth chapter, considering such passages as "the son shall not bear the iniquity of his father," as a contradiction to the second commandment, not perceiving that while incalculable suffering and sorrow, in this world, is produced by the sins of parents on their descendants, the individual is answerable only for individual sin, and cannot feel the anguish of remorse, or suffer future punishment for the iniquity of another. According to an ancient legend, Ezekiel was put to death by the Chaldeans for exhorting them to leave idolatry, and his body was placed in a cave, where the mortal remains of Shem and his son Arphaxad had been deposited many centuries before. The tomb now shown as his, is a clumsy unornamented building, a few miles from the ruins of Babylon. A Jewish traveller who visited it in the twelfth century, describes it as a "very great and very goodly vault," built by Jehoiachim. This place" is holy, he says, even to this day;" he speaks of large assemblies of Jews making visits to it "for the cause of prayer," and there" they live most pleasant days." The Arabian merchants held large fairs there, and vows were made by the Median Jews at the tomb, in which a lamp continually burned. 66 66 The authority of Ezekiel was much reverenced by the Ishmaelites, and the descendants of both Abraham's sons still make pilgrimages to his sepulchre. Ezekiel preached for more than twenty years; his mission was not entirely fulfilled before the death of Jeremiah. The Jews considered his prophecy so difficult, that they would not permit any one to read it under thirty years of age. OF PRAYER. "GOD is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." These important truths cannot be too deeply impressed on every heart; for where they are not understood and acknowledged, there can be no real prayer or true worship. To pray, is not to repeat words, sentence after sentence, at stated times; no mere words, however eloquent and beautiful, are received by Him who seeth the inmost heart. And yet how many are there who still, like the Pharisee of old, think they shall be heard for their much speaking; who are careful daily, morn and even, to bend the knee and move the lip in prayer to God, with their hearts far from Him! "Oh, Lord, teach us how to pray, in spirit and in truth, that we may not fall into like error!" "In spirit;" aye-from deep down in the secret inner precincts of the soul prayer must rise, if destined to reach our Father's ear ;words should be used only as the expression of thought. But I believe the truest, most acceptable prayer, is that which gushes forth unpremeditated as the song of birds, or an infant's cry; it rises then into the presence of the Most High, fresh, pure, and true, from the sorrow-stricken heart or joy-bursting spirit-oft-times too swiftly to form itself into words. What is prayer?-if not the speech of spirit with spirit: the inwrought, earnest, holy communion of the soul, with the Being from whom it emanated. Do we not often long that our friends could read the hidden emotions and thoughts of our heart?-words sound so poor and cold, however rich they may be in themselves. But it is our heavenly Friend and all-loving Father alone who can penetrate beyond the words, and through the outer garment of all things; and who seeth not the thought only, but also the seed from whence the thought springeth. In prayer to God, oh! how infinitely essential is Truth. Without it there can be no real worship; for God is truth, and an insincere prayer will not be recognised by Him or received as prayer; and whosoever dares seem outwardly to pray without truly doing so in spirit, mocks and despises the most sacred and blessed privilege God has granted unto man. How good, how strengthening and exalting, a true fervent prayer is, they alone know who have felt its power in an hour of need. It is the real living inner man that prays, man undisguised, divested of all affectation; he is true, he must be true while he prays, or he could not pray. He feels standing peculiarly beneath the awful, all-searching eye of God. The very act of speaking to the Living Spirit of Truth and Love, of outpouring before His throne the long-hidden grief, the anguish, the inner struggles, yearnings, and aspirations :-even the thought of speaking to one so inconceivably pure and high, necessitates the most solemn earnestWe must ness and truthfulness our natures are capable of. ever feel that "God is a spirit," and we must worship Him with our whole soul, and truth. Nothing can intercept the earnest, prayerful heart, and the Being who alone listeneth unto it. Whether we be alone, or surrounded by friends, or 'mid the traffic, bustle, and roar of the world-there is ever a free passage for prayer to wing its flight upwards; the tiniest thought, flashing almost too quickly through the mind for ourselves to note, a sigh, a smile, or tear,-is oft-times an earnest prayer, and as such, will ever be grateful and acceptable to our heavenly Father. But no more than that the frequent eloquent lip-uttering is prayer-no more must the soul-breathings, however fervent and sincere, end and complete our worship. As the oft-repeated, though, haply, sincere words professing esteem and love from some fellowcreature, would soon grow wearisome, and finally give much pain and no joy, if unaccompanied with looks and deeds of love-so on high, in a far wider sense, praying availeth little, if our deeds and lives are not conformable with it. If we are "sincere worshippers,' our lives will and must be prayerful; that is, our daily actions and conduct will demonstrate our deep sense of the love and beneficence of our Father, and our continual desire to serve Him. And if in our lives we do not carry out this desire according to our means, for all have the power wherewith to do it in some degree, we cannot be truly earnest at heart. For "as the tree, so will the fruit be also." Indeed it is not the daily prayer, however sincere, so much as this ever-biding acknowledgement, of the presence of God, and our love and and trust in Him, and entire submission unto Him, deep down in our souls-evinced in our conduct through life, and especial |