THE CASKET.

WAITING FOR HEAVEN.-BY THE REV. DR. GUTHRIE.

Home to be home is the wish of the seaman on stormy seas and lonely watch. Home is the wish of the soldier, and tender visions mingle with the troubled dreams of trench and tented field. Where the palm-tree waves its graceful plumes and birds of jewelled lustre flash and flicker among gorgeous flowers, the exile sits staring upon vacancy; a far away home lies on his heart; and borne on the wings of fancy over intervening seas and lands, he has swept away home, and hears the lark singing above his father's fields, and sees his fair-haired boy-brother, with light foot and childhood's glee, chasing the butterfly by his native stream. And in his best hours, home, his own sinless home,-a home with his Father above that starry sky,-will be the wish of every Christian man. He looks within him; the world is full of suffering; he is distressed by its sorrows, and vexed with its sins. He looks within him; he finds much in his own corruptions to grieve for. In the language of a heart repelled, grieved, vexed, he often turn his eye upwards, saying, "I would not live here always." No. Not for all the gold of the world's mines,-not for all the pearls of her seas,-not for all the pleasures of her flashing, frothy cup, -not for all the crowns of her kingdoms,-would I live here always. Like a bird about to migrate to those sunny lands where no winter sheds her snows, or strips the grove, or binds the dancing streams, he will often in spirit be preparing his wing for the hour of his flight to glory.

The holier the child of God becomes, the more he pants after the perfect image and blissful presence of Jesus; and dark although the passage, and deep although the river may be, the more holy he is, the more ready will he be to say, "It is better to depart, and be with Jesus." "Tell me," said a saintly minister of the Church of England, whose star but lately set on this world, to rise and shine in better skies-"tell me," he said to his physician, "the true state of my case; conceal nothing," adding, his eye kindled, and his face beamed at the very thought, "if you have to tell me that my dissolution is near, you could not tell me better or happier news." Paul said, "I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better; nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." He judged it best for himself to go, but for others he judged it best to stay. And there are few nobler sights than to see that man, with his foot on the door-step of heaven, return to throw himself into the very thick of battle, and be spent in his Master's work. The crown of martyrdom often within his reach, he drew back a hand that was eager grasp it. He took as much of life as the coward-guilt that is afraid to die. He was not impatient of the hardships, wounds, and watchings of the warfare, so long as he could serve the cause of Jesus. It was sin, not suffering, that he felt intolerable, and which wrung from him the bitter cry, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?" His Saviour's spirit, he chose rather that Christ should be glorified through his labours on earth than that he himself should be glorified with Christ in heaven. And so long as he had tongue to speak for Jesus, and an arm to hold high above the battle's tumult the banner of the faith, he was willing to work on, not impatient for death and his discharge. His was a higher and more heroic wish than to get to heaven. He wished to make a heaven of earth; and persuaded that nothing could separate him from the love of God, or, finally, from heaven, believing that all which God had said of him he would do for him, and knowing that though the vision tarried, it would come, he possessed his soul in patience and peace, waiting for the Lord.

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It is a cowardly thing for a soldier to seek his discharge so long as his country's banner flies in the battle-field. The Christian should be a hero, not a coward; and with such faith as all may get, and many have enjoyed, God's people, while they look to heaven, will with patience wait for it. On his way home the saint will prove himself a good Samaritan, ready to stop even on a heavenward journey, that he may raise the fallen, bind up the wounds of humanity, and do all the work that meets him upon the road. Nor shall this go unrewarded. "The sleep of a labouring man is sweet." And, oh, heaven shall be sweetest to him who has wrought through the longest day, and toiled the hardest at his work. Now and then he will be lifting up a weary head to see how the hours wear by,-if there be yet any sign of his Master coming. But upborne under the heat and burden of the day by the confidence that "He who shall come will come, and will not tarry," he works patiently, and he suffers patiently. The most importunate and urgent prayer he ventures on, is that of one who, trembling lest patience should fail and religion suffer dishonour, cried, when her pains deepened into agony, and the agony became excruciating, "Come, oh, come, Lord Jesus! come quickly."

HE SHALL APPEAR IN HIS OWN GLORY, IN THE GLORY OF HIS FATHER,
AND IN THE GLORY OF HIS HOLY ANGELS.

Full in the midst, veiled in transcendant rays,
Jehovah all his glorious beams displays,
In Christ revealed, the Father's power divine,
And all his manifested splendours shine.
High on his throne in majesty adored,
Aloft he wields the sceptre and the sword.
Seven starry crowns his legal brow adorn,
Like mountain summits gilded by the morn;
While o'er his head a radiant rainbow glows,
And o'er the scene its varied lustre throws.

In radiant groups, arrayed in light they fly,

Like beauteous clouds that gild the western sky,
While streams of dazzling splendour round them play,
Bright as the sun, yet far less bright than they.

The signal given, Heaven's pearly gates unfold
Resplendent with celestial wealth of gold;
While tenfold radiance from those portals streams
Bright as from clouds the bursting sunlight beams.

The trumpet sounds. Angelic chiefs are seen
Speeding their flight celestial ranks between.
Their squadrons forming, marshalling their train,
And spreading, in vast phalanx, o'er the plain,
Till that long column, broken up and changed,
Appears in mighty circle re-arranged:

Christ in the centre, throned; while round Him stand
Of cherubim a bright, majestic band;

Then seraph choirs, with minstrelsy divine,

And highest archangelic legions shine;

Princedoms, dominions, thrones, and heavenly powers,

And angel-hosts, fresh from celestial bowers;
With those who-in created worlds abode

Planets and stars which with their presence glow'd;

Unnumbered hosts of every rank and race,
All bright and fair and decked in heavenly grace;
In circles vast extending far and wide,

Yet spreading still like ocean's boundless tide ;
While bordering the whole, a tuneful band
Of harpers from all worlds united stand;
And cherubs tall sustaining banners bright
The mighty circle fringe with dazzling light :
Before the throne their crowns archangels fling,

And, prostrate, Heaven's high hosts adore their king.
Seraphic choirs take up the grateful song,
And all assembled worlds the strains prolong.
Till from the centre to the utmost bound

Of that vast circle, notes of worship sound.

THE WICKED, TERROR-STRICKEN IN THE TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD,
Pale Horror walks the earth and lifts on high
His blazing torch, which glimmers through the sky,
And shows his features wane, his hair erect,
And wildly rolling eye-balls which reflect
His spirit's inward gloom and dark dismay,
As he from house to house pursues his way.

AWAKE, YE DEAD, AND COME TO JUDGMENT!
Those strains that host now stop with one accord,
When, lo! the great Archangel of the Lord,
Arrayed in fire, in living glory drest,
Magnificent, in front of all the rest,

Advancing nearer, and yet nearer still,

Sounds forth the trumpet, long, and loud, and shrill,
Resounds the blast, and while the nations quake,

He cries with mighty voice, "Awake! awake!

Arise and come to judgment all ye dead."

That awful voice these trumpet echoes spread
From east to west, while from the earth and skies
Loud pealing echoes ring, " Awake! arise!"

A BEAUTIFUL ALLEGORY.

A traveller, who spent some time in Turkey, relates a beautiful parable, which was told him by a dervish, and which seemed even more beautiful than Sterne's celebrated figure of the Accusing Spirit and Recording Angel. "Every man," says the dervish, "has two angels-one on his right shoulder and another on the left. When he does anything good, the angel on his right shoulder writes it down, and seals it, because what is done is done for ever. When he has done evil, the angel on his left shoulder writes it down. He waits till midnight. If before that time he bows down his head, and exclaims, 'Gracious Allah! I have sinned, forgive me! the angel rubs it out; and if not, at midnight he seals it, and the angel upon the right shoulder weeps."

PRAY MUCH, PRAY WELL.

“When a pump is

Felix Neff once made the following comparison: frequently used, but littlle pains are necessary to have water; the water pours out at the first stroke, because it is high. But if the pump has not been used for a time, the water gets low; and when you want it you must pump a long while, and the water comes only after great efforts. It is so with prayer; if we are instant in prayer, every little circumstance awakens

the disposition to pray, and desires and works are always ready. But if we neglect prayer, it is difficult for us to pray, for the water in the well gets low."

THE MIND AND THE DARK LANTERN.

What surrounds us, reflects more or less that which is within us. The mind is like one of those dark lanterns which, in spite of everything, throw some light around. If our tastes did not reveal our character, they would be no longer tastes but instincts.

LITTLE THINGS.

Drops make the boundless ocean, and particles lift the everlasting hills. Little kindnesses and attentions are the sugar of life.

THE LIFE OF A MAN.

As the rose-tree is composed of the sweetest flowers and the sharpest thorns-as the heavens are sometimes overcast and sometimes fair, alternately tempestuous and serene-so is the life of man intermingled with hopes and fears, with joys and sorrows, with pleasures and pains.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

ST. MARTIN'S, OVERTON CIRCUIT.

We are making some little progress here. The Chapel in which we have worshipped for many years, having gone very much out of repair, it became a source of anxiety to the friends; it was a rented building, and being so, it was deemed unwise for us to undertake the repairs; and, in addition to that, it has been for some time upon sale. A meeting of members was convened, to consider what steps ought to be taken, for in a short time we might be without a place to worship in. The question of purchasing the premises was first discussed, but one difficulty after another arose, and it was at length resolved to erect a new one, if land suitable for the purpose could be obtained. Land being procured, the building was at once commenced, and now we are regularly worshipping within its walls. The opening services were commenced on Lord's day, April 12th, by three sermons being preached: those in the morning and evening, by the Rev. H. Breeden of Rochdale, and that in the afternoon, by the Rev. J. D. Thomas, Independent minister of Ellesmere. It was a Sabbath that will be remembered by a goodly number for some time to come. An influence pervaded the meetings, which we sincerely wish would always attend the preaching of the Word, both here and elsewhere, whenever it is preached.

On the following day we had a public tea-meeting, and notwithstanding the very unfavourable state of the weather, and the distance the people had to come, there were nearly 300 persons sat down to tea.

As is customary on such occasions, after tea we held a public meeting, the Rev. S. Massie, Minister of the Circuit, took the chair, and plain, practical, and soul-stirring addresses were delivered by the Revs. H. Breeden, T. Guttery (Primitive), and Messrs. D. C. Davies (Independent), and J. Moyan (Wesleyan Reformer).

The services were resumed on the following Sabbath, when two sermons were preached by the Rev. D. Crumpton, Baptist minister of Oswestry. The congregations at all the opening services were excellent, and at some of them many had to return without being able to gain admission, and we are happy to say that ever since they have continued very good, nearly all the seats in the Chapel are taken, and we are hoping to see at no distant period, the arm of Jehovah revealed among us. The entire building consists of a Chapel twelve yards by eight, with a School-room underneath, of nearly the same

dimensions, and also a neatCottage, which is adapted for the service of a schoolmaster. It is a neat and comfortable building, and those friends of ours from a distance are very much pleased with it. We cannot as yet exactly state the entire cost, but as nearly as we can ascertain, it will be 300%, exclusive of all the drawing of the materials, which has nearly all been given by the farmers in the neighbourhood. It is placed upon trust, and we hope in a short time to have it in very comfortable circumstances. The prayer of our heart is "Establish thou the work of our hands, yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

CARLISLE CIRCUIT.

C. G.

You will be pleased to learn that we are alive to the interests of Christ's kingdom.

Endeavouring to maintain those interests, we have had our Circuit Anniver sary. On Easter Sunday, two sermons were preached in the Tabernacle, Lowther-street, by the Rev. Wm. Jones, our esteemed minister, and on the following day the annual tea meeting was held. The trays were gratuitously furnished, and the proceeds, together with the collections on the Sabbath, were given to aid the Circuit Fund. The Rev. Wm. Jones presided at the tea meeting, the attendance at which was very encouraging, and addresses were delivered by the Revs. R. Shields (Primitive Methodist), W. A. Wrigley (Independent), and Witson (Evangelical Union), and Professor Faulding, of Rotherham College. The Rev. Professor is a pleasing example of earnest Christianity, sanctified intelligence, and genuine catholicism. He was attending a Tea-meeting of the Congregationalists here on Good Friday, when becoming aware that ours would take place on the Monday after, he volunteered to serve us. And such was the character of his speech, that we were led to thank God that such a man is found in the position which he occupies.

I will only further trespass on your space by saying, that we are about largely to alter our Chapel in Carlisle. Plans have been agreed to, and tenders are being received for the completion of the works.

The alterations, there is no doubt, will be real improvements, and will make the place more worthy the noble cause with which it is connected.

Carlisle, May 11, 1857.

WORKSOP.

A.

On Sunday and Monday, the 26th and 27th of April, the Anniversary Services of our Sunday-schools were held at Werksop. On the 26th, two sermons, beautifully illustrated by historical references, were preached by the Rev. M. Baxter, of London, to deeply interested congregations. On the 27th, the annual tea-meeting was held in the school-room. The children were first treated with tea and buns; then their friends and other visitors took tea. The collections after the sermons were larger, and the attendance at the tea more numerous than on any similar occasion for several years. At the public meeting, the chair was kindly taken, and ably filled by Mr. J. Cheetham, (Wesleyan). Appropriate selections of poetry, &c., were recited by the children of the school, and sung by the choir; after which followed the treat of the evening, a speech from the Rev. M. Baxter. He showed us, from the history of the Anglo-Saxon race, and from the history of our own Country, how Christian education raises and ennobles communities as well as individuals. "Righteousness exalteth a nation." The only thing to be regretted was, that he had not more time, as it is not often we in this rural district get such an opportunity.

The anniversary has been the best in every sense that we have had for May the teachers of our school, be enabled to thank God, and take courage. They are exemplary in their perseverance under discou

some years.

ragements.

WORLE CIRCUIT.

S. SMITH.

On Good Friday, a public tea-meeting was held as usual in the Wesleyan Association Chapel, Worle, it being the twentieth Anniversary of the opening