labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you: and to esteem them very highly in love for their works' sake." Be sympathizing with the afflicted, "comfort the feeble-minded-support the weak," give counsel to the young and inexperienced-and "by love serve one another." Cultivate a peaceful and harmonious disposition. "Follow after the things that make for peace; and things whereby one may edify another." "Let nothing be done through strife and vain-glory." "Do all things without murmurings and disputings." Let these apostolic precepts be regarded-and let no encouragement be given to factions, that you may ever be one in action, and one in affection. yield one to another in matters that may be unimportant, in brotherly love, and carefully avoid anything that may disturb your peace and union. "Consider one another to provoke to love and good works." If one is dejected, cheer him. If one complains, animate him to do good. If one slackens, stimulate him to perseverance. If one wanders, try to reclaim him. Endeavour to promote each other's well-being and well-doing. Do these things by kind words. Do them by a devoted example. Do them in the spirit of love; and you will succeed. The cultivation and exercise of this kind, respectful, peaceful, and christian spirit and deportment will ever tend to the true edifying of the church. Finally, cultivate the spirt of prayer, and personal consecration to God. It very rarely happens that those who live in the habit of daily devotion, of reading the Scriptures, and prayer, fall into any great sin, or grievous error. God preserves them that live near to him, and keeps them from falling. He enables them, by the bestowment of his grace, to serve and honour him. Live then, brethren, near to God; seek him from day to day. "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths." Look well after the state of your own souls; and do not rest except as you have evidence of your individual acceptance with God. And next to your own salvation, let the happiness, prosperity, and welfare of the church lie near your heart. Pray for your fellow members. Pray for the young and the aged, and for those with whom you often come into contact, that they may be holy, and alive to God. Pray always, and earnestly for your minister: let him never be forgotten. He needs your prayers, and the help of divine grace. How great was the importance the apostle attached to the prayers of his brethren! 'Brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course." He is young-pray for him. He is your teacher-pray that he may be taught of God, and that none may despise his youth. Pray for him in your closets, before you come to the house of God; pray for him in your familiesand at all times-that his heart may be encouraged, and that he may "speak the word boldly, as he ought to speak." God will hear and answer prayer. Such, brethren, are some of the duties resting on you. Oh, if you rightly discharge them; if your life, your attendance on the means of grace, your devotion to the service of the church, your christian love, and your habits of personal piety and prayer, are thus exemplified, you will "do all things unto edifying." All you are, and do, and say, will be for the honour of God, and the edification of his people. You profess to be a christian people, born of God, and united for the purpose of carrying on his cause in this place. Every duty that has been urged on you arises out of this profession, and you are only consistent as you seek to discharge them. Resolve then, in the strength of God, that you will endeavour to I do all things unto edifying;" that your deportment amongst men, and your demeanour in PRAYER FOR A REVIVAL. the church, and your consecration to God, shall have this tendency and purpose. This will give you great personal enjoyment: much consolation in your association; and it will secure the blessing of God. The only hope for a true revival of religion in this place is, under God, in the presence of an active and devoted ministry, and a consistent and zealous and prayerful people. You have to-day attended the services connected with the recognition of a christian pastor, and you are therefore called upon by your very circumstances to set out in a career of holy zeal, and consecration to God. Cheer the heart of your pastor by your renewed consecration to God. Resolve before Him, to whom you owe your redemption, that henceforth "you will strive together for the faith 455 of the Gospel," that "from this time God may bless you." If you are now living to God, a church, a temple, "builded together for a habitation of God," and continue to walk in love, and zeal, and holy devotion to God, you will not only be useful on earth, but happy in heaven. After contributing to the edification of his church on earth, you will be removed to that bright region where all dwell before the throne of God. There, many of the duties you are now called to perform will be superseded by the perfection of the heavenly state, but love will remain, and every earthly service will meet its reward. "Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." PRAYER FOR A REVIVAL. PROBABLY the most of you, respected readers, who will peruse an article with the above caption, believe in the efficacy of prayer. You believe it is the duty of every Christian to pray the prayer of Habakkuk, "O Lord, revive thy work, in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy;" and yet you may not all pray for a revival as you ought to pray for it! If you do, you will experience it; for Christ has said, "If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it." Will anything" include a revival? If so, how shall we pray for it? Suffer me to remark, it is evident that not " I. We should pray for a right object. Anything" then is to be limited to that which is proper, consistent, right. If it is contrary to the revealed will of God, there would be a contradiction of terms, and we should make God say that he would do, and would not do, the same thing at the same time. His word is our guide in these matters, and that for which we pray must be consistent with it. So it must be with providence. We cannot expect God to work a miracle to supply us with food, or raiment, or to save us from death. Our food is to be obtained by the "sweat of the brow," according to the laws of Nature; and we have something more to do, ordinarily, than merely to ask for ready-made clothing, bodily health, or a well disciplined mind. We must employ the means to secure the end. If we violate the laws of physiology, and neglect the means of mental or moral improvement, our prayers for these blessings will be in vain-not because God cannot answer us, but because he does not. It is equally necessary that our prayers should be in accordance with the influences of the Spirit, which is vouchsafed us, to indite our petitions, and help our infirmities, that we may pray for what we ought. "Anything" for which we have the true spirit of prayer, we may hope to receive. We should have, in prayer, a definite object before us-an object We should feel the need of that for which we pray; otherwise it will not be acceptable in the sight of God. It would be mere mockery-such as would induce us to turn away the poor beggar from our door,-and would not God despise such hypocrisy ? Such an object is a revival of religion. It is specific, needful-as every Christian ought to feel, and right; and no child of God who prays for it as he ought will doubt as to its being in harmony with Revelation, Providence, and the influences of the Holy Spirit. II. We should pray with a right motive. Men are too apt to be selfish in their prayers. When they pray that their children and friends may experience religion, it is not so much that God may be honoured thereby, as that they be saved from danger and distress; or that their assistance may lighten their own burdens in the family, or in the church. On this account they pray; but if prayer is founded on sympathy or self-interest, the motive cannot be right. Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 66 III. We should pray with a right disposition. Without meekness, sub mission, and trust, it is useless to approach God with our petitions. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." We must have confidence in the being and intelligence of God. How otherwise can we feel right towards him? Can we commune with a principle as with a friend, or offer our petitions to an imaginary being, with any hope of an answer. We must believe that God will answer our prayers-not merely that he answers prayer, but that he will really answer our prayers. Such trust is not required of us without reason. The ground of it is laid in the promises, prophecies, and providences of God, aided by the influence of his Spirit. Let us study these, and be imbued with that Spirit that "helpeth our infirmities and maketh intercession for us," and our prayers for a revival will be attended with success. IV. Weshould pray in a right manner. The way in which we should approach God is clearly defined in his wordnot indeed the words we should use, the dress we should wear, or the attitude we should assume, but the name we should employ as our Mediator— "in my name, says Christ. We are not to approach God in our own names; for we are sinners, and have no claim upon his mercy, but it is our privilege to plead the merits of Christ, and through him to prevail. Our petitions should be frequent, continuous, and agonizing—“ Pray always"-" without ceasing," is the command; and the propriety of it may be seen in the fact that we are always dependent. Jacob, Elijah, and Christ himself, furnish us with good examples of importunate prayer. Our Saviour's mind was so fixed, he prayed so earnestly, and his feelings were so intense, that 66 his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Since the days of Christ, there have been many strong men of prayer, who prevailed with God. The bloody Mary said that she feared the prayers of John Knox more than all the armies of Europe; and well she might; for while he was agonizing at the throne of grace for the deliverance of his country from tyranny and persecution, he experienced relief, and expressed it, though he knew not what was done until he heard of the death of Mary, which occurred about that time. Multitudes are lost eternally for the want of acceptable prayers. Revivals are not enjoyed because christians do not pray for them as they should, realizing the threatenings and believing the promises of the Almighty. Thus they virtually throw away the Bible; and instead of cultivating the spirit of prayer and labouring for the salvation of souls, they let little things engross the attention and divert the mind from the great object for which every christian ought to pray and labour. WEATHER PROPHECIES. Indications of Weather, as shown by Animals, Insects, and Plants. THE possibility of foretelling weather Without indulging in any comment, I will state a few particulars in regard to the different indicators with which nature has supplied us. When a pair of migratory birds have arrived in the Spring, they immediately prepare to build their nest, making a careful reconnaissance of the place, and observing the character of the season that is coming. If it be a windy one, they thatch the straw and leaves on the inside of the nest, between the twigs and the lining; and if it be very windy, they get pliant twigs and bind the nest firmly to the limbs, securing all the small twigs with their salivas. If they fear the approach of a rainy season, they build their nest so as to be sheltered from the weather. But if a pleasant one, they build in the fair, open place, without taking any of these extra precautions. In recording these facts, we have kept duly registered the name of the birds-the time of arrival in Spring-the commencement of nesting --the materials of nest, and its position-the commencement of layingnumber of eggs in each nest-commencement of incubation-appearance of young-departure in Autumn. But it is our insects and smaller animals which furnish us with the best means of determining the weather. We will now take the snails and show the various phenomena they present. These animals do not drink, but imbibe the moisture in their bodies during a rain. At regular periods after the rain they exude this moisture from their bodies. We will take, for example, the Helix Alternata. The first fluid exuded is the pure liquid. When this is exhausted it then changes to a light red, then deep red, then yellow, and last to a dark brown. The Helix is very careful not to exude more of its moisture than is necessary. It might exude it all at once, but this is not in conformity to its general character, as this would prove too great an exertion. The Helix alternate is never seen abroad, except before a rain, when we find it ascending the bark of trees and getting on the leaves. The Helix, Arborea, Indentata, Ruderati, and Minuta, are also seen ascending the stems of plants two days before rain. The Helices Clausa, Ligera, Pennsylvanica and elevata generally begin to crawl about two days before the rain will descend. They are seen ascending the stems of plants. If it be a long and hard rain, they get on the sheltered side of the leaf, but if a short one, they get on the outside. The Luccinea have also the same habits, differing only in colour of animals, as before the rain it is of a yellow colour, while after it is a blue. The Helices Solitaria, Zeleta, Albolabris, and Thyroideus, not only show by means of exuding fluids, but by means of pores and protuberances. Before a rain, the bodies of Zeleta and H. Thyroideus have large tubercles rising from them. These tubercles commence showing themselves ten days previous to the fall of rain they indicate; at the end of each of these turbercles is a pore. At the time of the fall of rain, these tubercles with their pores opened, are stretched to their utmost to receive the water. Also, for a few days before a rain, a large and deep indentation appears in the H. Thyroideus, beginning on the head between the horns, and ending with the jointure at the shell. The Helices Solitaria and Zeleta, a few days before a rain, crawl to the most exposed hill-side, where if they arrive before the rain descends, they seek some crevice in the rocks, and then close the aperture of the shell with glutinous substance, which, when the rain approaches they dissolve, and are then seen crawling about. In the Helix Albolabris the tubercles begin to arise after a rain, while before they grow smaller, and at the time of the rain, the body of the snail is filled with cavities to receive the moisture, The H. Zeleta, Thyroideus and Albolabris, move along at the rate of a mile in forty-four hours. They inhabit the most dense forests and we regard it as a sure indication of rain to see them moving toward an exposed situ ation. The Helices Appressa, Tridentata, Falla and Paliatia indicate the weather not only by exuding fluids, but by the colour of the animal. After a rain the animal has a very dark appearance, but it grows of a brighter colour as the water is expended, while just before the rain it is of a yellowish white colour. Also, just before a rain stria are observed to appear from the point of the head to the jointure of the shell. The superior tentacula are striated, and the sides are covered with tubercles. These Helices move at the rate of a mile in 14 days and 16 hours. If they are observed ascending a cliff it is a sure indication of a rain. They live in the cavities in the side of cliffs. The Helix Hirsuta is of a black The leaves of trees are even good barometers; most of them for a short, light rain, will turn up so as to receive their fill of water; but for a long rain, they are so doubled as to conduct the water away. The Rans, Bufo and Hyla, are also sure indications of rain, for as they do not drink water, but absorb it into their bodies, they are sure to be found out at the time they expect rain. The Locusta and Gryllus are also good indications of a storm. A few hours before the rain, they are to be found under the leaves of trees and in the hollow trunks. We have many times found them thus, but we have never known the instinct of these little fellows to lead them to unnecessary caution. 66 THREE OF THE LATE DR. CHALMERS' LETTERS.* ADVICE TO A YOUNG CLERGYMAN. Edinburgh, 12th Nov. 1838. "MY DEAR SIR,-I shall say nothing of practical or devotional reading and study, indispensable though they be to the upholding of the best and highest functions of our being, but speak chiefly of intellectual pursuits and professional business. And first it were of immense value to lay it down as a rule, to which you should doggedly and determinedly adhere, that of giving two or three hours daily for at least three days in the week, and, if the calls of immediate business allowed, for more days than this, to some high subject of professional literature. I pressed this on Mr. Douglas, constitutionally one of the most indolent men I know, and the result was his work on the Advancement of Society,' &c. Your Exegesis on Miracles,' and your 'Sermon on the Sacrament,' convince me that if you would but select your topics and do likewise, you could, by dint of perseverance, furnish products of sounder and still higher quality than those to which I refer. "And the same habit of so much time for this elaborate mental exertion might not only issue in superior authorship, but superior sermons, of which it were well that you had a certain and increasing number when called to preach on great public occasions, or to first-rate auditories. Selections from the Correspondence of the late Thomas Chalmers, D.D., LL.D. Edited by his Son-in-law, the Rev. William Hanna, LL.D. Edinburgh: Thomas Constable and Co. |