ence of the Spirit, has revived and blessed them. The bread cast upon waters has been found many days hence.

the

This man, by some providence of God, or by the simple operation of the Spirit, has been brought under conviction. His has been a life of wickedness. Every walk of vice he has trodden, every guilty passion he has in turn gratified, every sacred principle he has wantonly violated, and his whole course lies before him arrayed in blackest colours and charged with penal terrors. But there is one point in that course more terrible than all the others—one sting sharp and torturing above all the rest. He sees a peaceful, happy family-all is love and harmony in the little circle. The parents delight in their children, and the children lovingly confide in their parents. But the scene is changed. The family is broken up and scattered, and the parents are in their grave. What fell blow has thus shattered in pieces the compact little household? What wicked hand has thrown the brand of discord and death into the once calm and bright circle? Was it not a traitor's hand? Did not the blow come from a member of the family? Was it not a son, the pride of the household, who, by his wicked folly, worked this sad ruin, and by his defiant persistence in evil brought the grey hairs of his parents down to the grave? And as the wretched man realizes the horrid iniquity of his conduct, wild despair wrings his heart. And certainly conduct could hardly be worse; life could hardly be more abused. But if the great, gnawing sorrow which it has awakened should be sanctified, and lead to saving repentance!-what then? Why, that man's past life, and, above all, that part of it which witnessed his greatest crime, will surely be redeemed. If the crime of the youth press so heavily upon the conscience of the man as to lead him to sorrow, then to repentance, and lastly to peace through faith in Jesus, the period of youth, however wicked, cannot be said to be wholly lost: it has been in some measure recovered-it has been redeemed.

Past days and hours cannot be relived, but they may be turned to good practical account. Some event or circumstance connected with them may, as we have seen, become the means of securing life and peace to the soul, while every Christian may employ the varied experiences of the past to his great advantage in the present. The love of Christ will make the past to us a present and very precious property. What was before very useless becomes wondrously useful. The very dross is transmuted by the touch of grace into gold. The sins of the past will keep us humble; its mercies will awaken gratitude; its difficulties will make us wiser and stronger; its idleness will stimulate our diligence; and its unhappiness will give a higher value to our present peace. Every grace of the Christian character may find food convenient for it in the receptacle of the past, which thus becomes, when explored by the light of the Word and the help of the Spirit, a mine of untold wealth.

Another year has gone by-gone silently into the past. 1866 exists only in the memory, or in records which some day will make history. And we who have survived it occupy the position of a traveller who has made a chequered voyage, and who, standing on the shore, looks back upon the sea, and thinks of the many vicissitudes through which he has passed on the bosom of the great waters.

What a complicated tissue does a single year of a man's life form! Pleasures, pains, duties, neglects, fears, hopes, doubts, assurances, toil, rest, light, darkness, temptations, encouragements, sins, repentances, backslidings, returns, yearnings upward, grovellings downward--all, and a thousand more, cross and mingle their threads and colours, and fashion a piece of patchwork which none but God, with his all-penetrating eye, can reduce to order or

design. The further a Christian advances in likeness to God, the less entangled become the threads, the more harmonious the colours, until at length, when he passes from earth to heaven, he exhibits the perfect beauty and harmony of holiness. His motives and aims grow more simple and more definite. His character is increasingly moulded by the truth and love of Jesus. Greater steadfastness and repose mark his religious life; and as the years go by he rises more and more above the world until he enters the skies. How important, then, that our years and days should be all numbered, scrutinized, studied; so that by avoiding past sins and cultivating past germs of excellence, the close of every year may find us better Christians, more useful citizens, and happier men. The past year has been pushed out by the present; but by the link of memory you still retain a hold upon it. Let it not go, like Jacob when wrestling with the angel, until you receive a blessing from it. The voice of God is still echoing from its pregnant months, and weeks, and days, in warning, in encouragement, in promise, in counsel, and in love. Let us listen reverently to that voice in all its various notes, and then our days shall be as rungs in the ladder (each above the other), which rises from the scene of our warfare here to the scene of our triumph and rest hereafter.

To the world generally the year which has just died has been an unusually momentous and exciting one. Politics, religion, commerce, physical and social life, have all been marked by the most startling events. Looking back, we see war again dyeing with blood its old familiar fields in the centre of Europe; hoary dynasties falling like poppy-heads, never to rise again; divided nationalities drawing together irresistibly; the world arranging itself under a few great empires, according to the instincts of race, instead of under a confused multitude of weak and arbitrary States; and, what is especially worthy of attention, race suspicious of race, nation of nation, and all arming themselves to the teeth in the most approved fashion, in expectation of a contest the like of which the earth has never seen. We see the Papacy struck at its centre by a shattering blow, though at its outer extremities exhibiting a convulsive energy which its friends hope will yet save it from ruin; error rising in many forms, and displaying a vigour and taking a hold upon society which could not have been anticipated; and evangelical churches, as if discerning a weakness and apprehending a coming conflict, striving to heal their divisions and to unite in a few strong battalions the scattered hosts of the Lord. We see the boasted commerce of our country collapsing, and plunging multitudes of innocent and guilty into ruin, showing itself to be, to an alarming extent, little else than a reckless speculation, a huge system of gambling, a profound and heartless piece of dishonesty. We see plague and pestilence baffling all our science, and slaying their thousands of men and cattle in every country; the rains descending in devastating floods, turning our rivers into lakes, and embracing in their watery arms the foundations of our cities; scanty harvests, dear provisions, and a decreasing demand for labour-signs on earth and signs in the heavens. Other things, too, may be discerned by the thoughtful-that frantic Fenian movement among our Irish brethren; those unhappy combinations of capital against labour, and labour against capital; the growing desire for the enlarged representation of our people in the national Parliament; and the general unrest of nations and men all the world over. It has been a very remarkable year—remarkable not more for the developments which it has brought to light than for the seeds which it has planted of things yet to come. Our position between the old year and the new is a very solemn one, solemn beyond precedent. Clearly our God is about to do great things. Vast and long-discussed pro

blems are about to be solved in these last times. If we be spared to live a few years longer we may have to take part in transcendent struggles both of a political and of a religious character. May the good Lord our Saviour prepare us for all that he purposes to send in our time, and enable us ever to live faithfully and heroically!

"Ye are

And what does this mean? Just this-that by prayerful effort we should redeem the present time. The present is the only part of time that we call our own. The past is a thing of memory; the future is a thing of hope; the present moment only is an actual possession. And memory and hope are only of real value in so far as they benefit the present. Some live in the past, and, reclining indolently on its recollections, make little use of the present. Others live in the future, and spend their days in dreaming of the phantomship which is ever coming in but never comes. But the wise man lives in the present. The redeemed soul redeems the hours as they pass. no longer your own," says the apostle, "ye are bought with a price." And to give ourselves to Christ is to give our time. All must be surrendered to him. How often do we forget this, in spite of the warning cry which comes from the swiftly-passing years! The time spent upon earthly things is out of all proportion to the time spent in communion with God or in the active service of Christ. This, it will perhaps be said, is necessary. The very constitution of society, the very conditions of life, demand that the bulk of your time should be employed in occupations connected with the world. You cannot avoid it if you would. Such is your lot, and you must bend to it. In one sense this is all true; but in another sense it is all false. Many make the mistake of severing religion from the other interests and duties of life, and placing it upon a pedestal by itself. There is a time, they say, for business, and a time for pleasure; a time for labour, and a time for rest; and there is also a time for religion. Let us have business in business hours, and let us have religion on Sunday. But is religion to be regarded and treated thus? Is it unable to associate and blend with the more mundane interests connected with human life? None but the irreligious, the profane, and the worldly will have the boldness to say so. Everything in the world apart from sin is good, and has what we may call religious sympathies and religious aspects. In every walk or avocation of life the soul may as truly and effectively serve God as in the pulpit or pew. True godliness sanctifies the whole life, making it all beneficent, and covering it all as with the glow of heaven. Hence such exhortations as that which enjoins upon masters the duty of remembering that they have a Master in heaven; upon servants the duty of serving, as unto the Lord; upon men in business the duty of being diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;" and upon all men the duty of doing all-whatsoever they do, whether they eat or drink—to the glory of God.

While gathering lessons from the past, let us faithfully apply these lessons in the present, and resolve, by God's help, to consecrate our time more fully to the service of the Saviour. Let us not divorce religion and life, but make them inseparably one-religion life, and life religion. "Awake, thou that sleepest." The King calleth thee, for he needeth thy service. The enemy is pouring in at the gate, and laying waste the fields and cities of Zion. The world is groaning louder than ever under the bondage of the oppressor. Error is multiform and rampant, science is presumptuous, and life is reckless. Stupendous conflicts are looming in the near future. And is this a time for sleep? Up and redeem the time! Watch and pray and labour ! Take to thyself, reader, the whole armour of God, so that in the day of battle thou mayst prove thyself a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and in the

day of account, when the King cometh in triumph, be ready to meet him with gladness.

THE UNION OF THE CHURCHES.

THE Presbyteries of the four Churches that are contemplating union have now considered the findings of the united Committee, and sent to their own representatives in that Committee such suggestions as they deemed necessary. Some appear to be disappointed with the result. The Churches, in their separate deliberations, have not manifested all that confidence in each other, and hearty determination to overcome difficulties, which marked the proceedings of the Committee in Conference, and it is now seen that the union cannot be accomplished so soon as was anticipated. We cannot share in the surprise or disappointment which this has occasioned. It was not to be expected that the Churches would keep pace with a Committee in whose discussions they could have no share, or be prepared to accept findings which were the issue of a long and careful process of investigation, without subjecting them to a sifting process that should in time demonstrate their soundness or unsoundness. A few large-minded and large-hearted gentlemen, brought together from the different bodies, and sitting face to face in friendly conference, is a different thing from some scores of Presbyteries (containing so many diverse elements) acting not in conference, but in their separate capacities, and necessarily assuming in some measure the position of judges. Even the Committee, with all their advantages, did not arrive at their decisions in one sitting or in one year; and can we expect that the Churches, in confirming their decisions, will show less anxiety to do right, or act more hurriedly in a matter so momentous? We must give time. We must allow the differences which have hitherto separated the uniting bodies, and the methods suggested to reconcile or remove them, to be fully discussed by our ministers and people. And we may rest assured that the work of the Committee, if it be sound, will gradually commend itself to all, and in good time bring about such a complete and obvious harmony as will compel the consummation of the union.

One thing is clear-all parties to the negotiation must be prepared to make some slight concession. Without this, union is impossible. The main point of difference to be settled concerns the duty of the civil magistrate. Though the Free Church holds to the principle of a State Church, and though the United Presbyterians, as a body, repudiate it, in neither Church is the subject a term of communion; it is an open question. Let it remain an open question. But some ask, What is meant by an open question? Does it imply freedom of thought and speech only, or freedom of action also? In one of our Southern Presbyteries it was urged that every man should be allowed to act according to his views, to receive or reject a State endowment, in the event of such an endowment being offered to him. The idea of toleration, it was said, embraced both principle and action. But surely this would be giving to the individual minister a freedom which at present he does not possess or wish to possess in any of the Churches, a freedom quite inconsistent with the upholding of Presbyterian order. No Free Church minister would think of accepting an endowment, were it offered to him, without the sanction of the Church courts, and no Presbytery or Synod would venture to give the sanction-such a case would have to be settled by the Supreme Court. Why, then, complicate the movement by asking, as a condition of union, a freedom which no Presbyterian Church gives or could give? All that can properly

be implied in the making of the subject an open question is that each of the negotiating Churches shall be allowed to take with it into the union the principles and the practice with which it is now identified, and that henceforth there shall be no denominational testifying either for or against State provision for the maintenance of religion. If endowments should be offered at some future time, the Supreme Court of the Church will have to determine whether they shall be accepted or refused. This might cause the United Church again to divide; but if union is desirable in our present circumstances, we must make up our minds to risk the occurrence of such an event. But is it likely that non-conformists will ever be put in a position to choose between voluntary effort and State aid? The almost unanimous opinion is that such a thing is, to say the least, exceedingly improbable-so improbable as that it should not be allowed to arrest proceedings in the direction of union for a single day, or be deemed worthy of any consideration in the preliminary arrangements. After all that has been said on the subject of the civil magistrate, we can discern in connection with it no real obstacle to a speedy and harmonious union.

A more serious matter is the suspicion which, in certain quarters, has been cast upon the orthodoxy of our United Presbyterian brethren, and which has given an unhappy colouring to the suggestions that have been adopted by many of the northern Presbyteries. We deplore the language that has been used, and the spirit displayed, in some notorious instances. We believe the United Presbyterian Church to be as sound in the faith as any of the sister Churches. And, moreover, seeing that all alike subscribe the same confession of faith, we are bound in charity to believe that all subscribe it honestly, and attach the same meaning to it, unless we have clear evidence that the preaching and teaching of the different Churches are not the same. The charge of heresy, made but not proved, has excited a state of feeling which may prolong the negotiations for a time, but which, we feel assured, will not be allowed to wreck the union effort. When all has been said that can be said, and when the substantial soundness of all the Churches has been vindicated, a better mind will prevail, and the breeze that for a time threatened disaster will only clear the air, and bring the Churches more safely and happily into the prayed-for haven.

The discussions in the Presbyteries have brought to light another difficulty, which has weight with some. There are not a few in the Free Church who hesitate to commit themselves to the union on the ground that it would deprive them of the influence of historic associations. In the amalgamation of Churches with separate histories, each Church would have to sacrifice, to a considerable extent, its historic position and the special glory which it may have attached to it. Heart-stirring memories, whose influence is still strong and deep, could not, after the union, be associated with the testimony and life of any particular communion. The history of the United Church would begin with the union, and the past would be a common inheritance, but because common, not so influential. We can understand why such a consideration should have power with some, especially in the Free Church, with its recent sacrifices and historic claims. But the question comes to this-whether the cause of Christ will be best promoted by the maintenance of historic identity at the sacrifice of union, or by the union at the sacrifice of historic identity. Which will contribute most to the glory of the Saviour, the preservation of inherited memories with separation, or the partial sacrifice of such memories with union? There can only be one answer to the question, we think. A concession must here be made by all the negotiating Churches if union is to be effected-a