AN ENEMY SOFTENED. done very simply and speedily by the arrangements of the "only wise God." The spring is ushered in alr st at once. The melting of such enormous tities of snow makes great floods in the rivers, by wich the vast fields of ice are forced up and broken i o fragments, and they at once carried away into the ocean, and heard of no more. The change is often so sudden as to be like magic. For example, I crossed a large river thrice with a sledge on solid ice. as it were to-day, and in about three days, I heard that the ice was gone, and that the steamers were making a clear passage. This is one vast advantage in the sudden springs of America; and, in short, when one is accustomed to the peculiarities of the country, that which at first seemed strange and disagreeable, not only becomes tolerable, but is often found to be useful and conducive to human comfort.-Rev. James Legg. THE DISEASES OF EGYPT. Ix Deut. vii. 15, it is said, "And the Lord will remove from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee." similar expression is also found in Exod. xv. 26: thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the rd thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his ght, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and ep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I the Lord am he who healeth thee." In Deut. xxviii. 60, it is said, "And the Lord will bring again upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, of which thou wast afraid, and they shall cleave to thee." In verses 27 and 35 of the same chapter, erring Israel is threatened with the infliction of a sickness pecu1 y Egyptian, concerning which we have already in another connection made investigation. All of these scattered passages agree in this, that Egypt, in reference to diseases, is a very peculiar land, and is visited by them in a very special degree. The accounts of all those who have made the diseases of Egypt an object of particular attention, show that the author is right in this. Wagner, in his Natural History of Man, calls Egypt "a great focus of the diseases in universal history." De Chabrol, in his “Inquiry concerning the Customs of the Modern Inhabitants of Egypt," of the most important diseases, says, "With an almost equable temperature, and with an always serene sky, Egypt can have only a small number of diseases; but they are for the most part terrible." The same author then speaks of single maladies, the plague, which is almost never wanting in Cairo, and particularly in Alexandria; the dysentery, of which he says, "This disease causes great destruction among them, and especially attacks the children, which it carries off in a frightful manner;" the diseases of the eyes, with which one at least out of every five individuals is afflicted; the small pox, which in Egypt is frightful, and rages far worse than in Europe, &c. In the "Observations upon several Diseases which attacked the Soldiers of the French Army," four seasons of the year are named with reference to healthfulness. The first comprises the time of the inundation. "I name," says the author, "this first season of the year, which continues about three months, the damp season; it may be considered as the winter of the country. The west wind, which then blows, increases the dampness of the atmosphere, which at evening, and especially in the morning, is full of mist. The consequence is a cociness, which is uncomfortable, and detrimental to animal secretions. In this season 33 of the year, diseases of the eyes, the hospital fever, diarrhoea, and catarrhal pains prevail." "The third season of the year," says the same author, further, "which I will give the name of the sick season, since it is destructive to the health of the inhabitants, and especially of strangers, begins about the 1st of March, and continues generally until about the end of May. The south wind takes the place of the east wind, which had prevailed during the earlier part of the year. These south winds are first light, but they increase gradually; they afterwards decrease in the same way; and, indeed, to such a degree, that, during a period of about fifty days, from which they have taken the name chamsin, they are very violent and hot, and hence would become insupportable, if they blew without cessation. At this season of the year wounds heal with difficulty, and are easily seized with mortification. Sicknesses of all kinds take an unusual character, and require the greatest carefulness on the part of the physician; and, in general, all living beings are more or less affected."Hengstenberg. AN ENEMY SOFTENED. "A MAN of my acquaintance," says Dr. Dwight, "who was of a vehement and rigid temper, had many years since a dispute with a friend of his, a professor of religion, and had been injured by him. With strong feelings of resentment, he made him a visit, for the avowed purpose of quarrelling with him. He accordingly stated the nature and extent of the injury, and was preparing, as he afterwards confessed, to load him with a train of severe reproaches, when his friend cut him short by acknowledging, with the utmost readiness and frankness, the injustice of which he had been guilty; expressing his own regret for the wrong he had done, requesting his forgiveness, and proffering him ample compensation. He was compelled to say that he was satisfied, and withdrew full of mortification that he had been precluded from venting his indignation and wounding his friend with keen and violent reproaches for his conduct. "As he was walking homeward, he said to himself to this effect: There must be something more in religion than I have hitherto suspected. Were any man to address me in the tone of haughtiness and provocation with which I accosted my friend this morning, it would be impossible for me to preserve the equanimity of which I have been a witness; and especially with so much frankness, humility, and meekness, to acknowledge the wrong which I had done; so readily ask forgiveness of the man whom I had injured; and so cheerfully promise a satisfactory recompense. I should have met his anger with at least equal resentment, paid him reproach for rething in this man's disposition which is not in mine. roach, and inflicted wound for wound. There is someThere is something in the religion which he professes, and which I am forced to believe he feels-something which makes him so superior, so much better, so much more amiable, than I can pretend to be. The subject strikes me in a manner to which I have hitherto been a stranger. It is high time to examine it more thoroughly, with more candour, and with greater solicitude, also, than I have done hitherto.' "From this incident, a train of thoughts and emo tions cominenced in the mind of this man, which terminated in his profession of the Christian religion, his relinquishment of the business he was engaged in, and his consecration of himself to the ministry of the Gospel." THE RESTORATION. (From "The Lake, and other Poems," just published by Seeleys, London.) "He will swallow up death in victory."-ISA. xxv. 8. "At the last trump (for the trumpet shall sound); and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."-1 COR. xv. 52. "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new."-REV. xxi. 5. TIs the last morn-from dazzled skies descending, His meteor-flight the dread archangel wheels; The adamantine ear of darkness rending, His clarion peals. Amazing sight!-Whether their several ashes Reposed in mountain's breast, or ocean's bed, Or wander'd where the farthest billow dashes, Come forth the dead. Nor linger here; for, lo! in matchless lustre, No longer with a trace of sin encumber'd; But, as the gems of morning, pure and bright: O crowning hour! whose joy, anticipated, And now, each cloud dispell'd, that haply hover'd POPERY A RELIGION OF CEREMONIES. THERE is scarcely an hour in the day (says Thompson, in his "Recollections of Mexico") when the bells are not heard in the street, announcing that some priest is seated in a coach, drawn by two mules, followed by ten or a dozen friars, with gold wax candles, chanting as they go. The coach is preceded by a man who rings a small bell to announce the approach of the host; when every one who happens to be in the street is expected to uncover himself and kneel, and the inmates of all the houses on the street do the same thing. Nothing is more common than to hear them exclaim, whenever they hear the bell, "Dios viene, Dios viene-God is coming, God is coming;" when, whatever they may be doing, they instantly fall on their knees. What I have described is the visit of the host to some common person. The procession is more or less numerous, and the person in the coach of more or less dignity, from an humble priest to the archbishop of Mexico, according to the dignity and station of the person visited. Sometimes the procession is accompanied by a large band of music. The visit of the host to the Senora Santa Anna, was attended by a procession of twenty thou sand people, headed by the archbishop. Until very recently, every one was required to kneel; and a very few years since an American shoemaker was mur dered in his shop for refusing to do it. But now they are satisfied if you pull off your hat and stop until the host passes. SABBATH SCHOOL ANSWERS. A SABBATH school teacher, instructing his class on that portion of the Lord's Prayer, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," said to them: "You have told me, my dear children, what is to be donethe will of God; and where it is to be done-on earth; and how it is to be done-as it is done in heaven. How do you think the angels and happy spirits do the will of God in heaven, as they are to be our pattern?" The first child replied, "They do it immediately;" the second, "They do it diligently;" the third, "They do it always," the fourth, "They do it with all their hearts," the fifth, "They do it altogether. Here a pause ensued, and no child ap peared to have an answer; but, after some time, a little girl arose and said: Why, Sir, they do it without asking any questions." Miscellaneous. THE Rev. John Newton was one day called to visit a family that had suffered the loss of all they possess ed by fire. He found the pious mistress in tears. "I give you joy, Madam," was his salutation. Surprised, and ready to be offended, she exclaimed, "What! joy that all my property is consumed ?" "Oh, no," he answered, "but joy THAT YOU HAVE SO MUCH PROPERTY THAT NO FIRE CAN TOUCH." This happy allusion checked her grief. Many a professor, when tempted by a wicked man, sees the snare and escapes it; but frequently when tempted to the same thing by a professor, a friend, a relation, he is soon overcome, because he does not suspect a temptation from that quarter. As when a wicked man persuades us not to go and hear; 'tis too cold, &c.-we should not hearken; but let a friend, &c., ask us to keep them company instead of hearing, we should be likely to yield without suspecting it to be a temptation. Therefore, we should beware of temptation from the most unlikely quarter. The nearest friend may, and often is (undesigned and unsuspected), the greatest enemy. A carnal hearer is most delighted with the person, abilities, criticisms, language, or delivery of the preacher. That which some will not know, they cannot understand. The riches of the rich, and the abilities of the wise, God assigned for the storehouse of the poor and ig norant. Doubting, guilty souls should consider, that 'tis as much the Spirit's work to pull down as to build up. I think it is a greater happiness to be reproved than to 1 prove; as it is much greater for one's self to be delivered from evil, than to deliver another. THE CHRISTIAN TREASURY. 385 THE PANTING SOUL.* BY THE LATE REV. R. M. M'CHEYNE, DUNDEE. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God."-Ps. xlii. 1. THESE are supposed to be the words of David when he fled from his son Absalom. He seems to have been wandering in some solitary wild on the side of Mount Hermon, the stream of Jordan flowing at his feet. David seems to have been full of pensive meditation, for his enemies reproached him daily, saying: "Where is thy God!"—nay, even God seemed to forget him; all his waves and billows were going over him-when suddenly a deer bounded past him. It had been sore wounded by the archers, or pursued by some wild beast on the mountains of the leopards. Faint and weary, he saw it rushing toward the flowing stream, and quenching its thirst in the water brook. His soul was quickened by the sight. Is not this a just picture of what I should be? Is not my God to me all that the flowing stream is to that wounded deer? "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." I do hope that many of you have come up this day with the same panting desire in your bosom. None but gracious souls can pant after God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. As the loadstone attracts nothing but what is made of steel to itself, so an uplifted Saviour, God manifest in the flesh, draws nothing but what is awakened by his own Spirit to him. May God enable me to show you shortly some of the reasons why the believer pants after God! I. The burden of sin makes the soul pant after God. 1. Unawakened souls-those who feel no burden-do not pant after Christ. (1.) "The full soul loathes the honeycomb." Christ is the honeycomb which God has provided for poor sinners. The sweetest honey is to be found in the clefts of that Rock; but unawakened persons are full-full of peace-full of business full of pleasure. They have no desire after Christ-they loathe the honeycomb. (2.) Unawakened persons are "dead in trespasses and sins." They are as dead to Christ and eternal things as the dead in the church-yard are to the things of this world. The dead bodies in the church-yard are at present within reach of * Preached at a Communion Season. No. 33.* come. the preacher's voice. If they could look up out of their graves, they would see the table spread with the bread and wine; and yet when we speak they do not hear-they do not weep— their bosoms do not pant-they do not rise and Dear friends, the dead souls within the Church are just as dead as they. You too are within reach of the preacher's voice-you too can see Christ evidently set forth crucified; yet you have no desires after Christ. Your eyes weep not-your bosoms pant not-you have no heart-longings after Christ. (3.) When Israel was in the land of Egypt, they had leeks, and onions, and garlic-they sat by the flesh-pots, and did eat bread to the full. They did not cry for manna-they did not seek water out of the flinty rock. So it is with those of you who are unawakened. You have got the leeks and the onions of this world's pleasures, and profits, and diversions; and you care not for Christ, the bread of life. You do not pant after forgiveness and a new birth-you have no heart-longings for the living water, of which if a man drink he shall never thirst again. 2. Many awakened persons do not pant after Christ. There are some who feel like the deer stricken by the archers; but they think they can pull out the arrows, and heal their own wounds. (1.) When Naaman the Syrian came to Elisha, he felt his loathsome disease, and he longed to be cured; but when the prophet told him: "Go wash in Jordan seven times, and thou shalt be clean," he did not believe God's word: "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage." So do many awakened souls among you. You are made to feel your loathsome disease-you sometimes tremble for fear of hell; but when we tell you of Christ's blood cleansing from all sin, you go away in a rage. (2.) When the flood came upon the earth, when the rain fell forty days, and the bowels of the great deep were broken up, I doubt not there were great pantings of heart. Many fled from the wrath to come. Some fled to the top of snowy Lebanon-some to the peaks of Ararat; but Noah only believed God's word, and entered into the ark. So, many of you tremble about your souls, who yet are not believing God's word, and not panting after Christ: "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." (3.) When Christ shall come in the clouds of heaven, it is said all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. There will not be one unawakened person in earth or in hell. Not the proudest and deadest of you will keep from trembling in that day. But, ah! it is only those who believe his word that will flee under his wings. Dear friends, it is not enough that you are anxious about your souls-you must be fleeing to Christ; yea, you must be in Christ, before you are safe. 3. All who are taught of God long after Christ: "Every one that hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me "-"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." When a sinner is convinced by God that his sins are a burden heavier than he can bearthat if he die they will crush him into an eternal hell; when convinced that God has provided a Lamb for a burnt-offering-that this Lamb is free to all he rushes through the crowd. Others may keep back, but he cannot. He places both his hands on the head of the divine Lamb, and says: "My Lord, and my God"—"This God is my God for ever and ever; he will be my guide even unto death""As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." If there is any of you convinced that you are perishing-that heaven is like a great city with walls-that you are outside, and the storm of wrath about to fall on you; has God also convinced you that Christ is the only gate into the city-the strait gate, and yet wide enough to admit any sinner in all the world? Ah! then I know you will strive to enter in-you will agonize-you will not rest day nor night: "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God" If there is any of you convinced that sin is a mortal disease that all other physicians are vain-that Christ is passing through the midst of us full of virtue to heal-I know you will press forward, whatever others do: "If I may but touch the hem of his garment I shall be healed "— "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." I would now invite panting souls to close with Christ. It is a sad truth, that most of Christians in our day are rather coming to Christ than come to Christ. Most of you are like the manslayer running toward the city of refuge, rather than when he sits down within the gates. O if you feel condemned in yourself, and that God has provided a free surety for sinners, why will you not rest your soul upon his finished work?-why will you go round and round the city of refuge, and not enter in! This holy ordinance is intended to teach you | appropriating faith--no more to waver, but to put out the hand of faith and close with Jesus. You do not come to look at bread and wine, but to take it. Take, eat, O panting souls! May God give you light at the same moment to venture on Christ, and say: "This God is ! my God for ever and ever." II. Desire of holiness makes the soul pant after God. 1. Unconverted persons have no desire for holiness, and therefore they do not pant after God and Christ. Indeed, this is the chief reason why poor sinners do not come to Christ. They know that if they came to Christ they would get a new heart-they would bid an eternal farewell to their old companions and pleasures; but most people would rather go to hell than this. When a few Greenlanders were brought into this country, they saw no beauty in the rich corn fields, and woods, and plains; they asked for their fields of snow, and the mountains of ice glancing in the sun. When they came into our houses, they could not endure the cleanness of them; they greatly preferred their own smoky, filthy cabins. So it is with those of you who are unconverted. You have grown up with hearts frozen to God, and to divine things; and when you come to see the heart of a Christian like a garden, with the river of life flowing through it, and beautiful flowers of meekness, love, and holiness growing in it, you cannot bear the sightyou love your own frozen heart better. When you see the clean heart of a child of God, you say: I had rather have my own filthy one. Ah! this is the way with most. You do not long to be made holy-you have no panting after a new birth. It needs grace to desire! grace. You do not desire to be made a new creature-you had rather remain in the image of the devil than be changed into the image of God. You are like Jerusalem: "Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! Wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?" 2. But all saved souls pant after holiness: "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." (1.) When a soul comes to close with Christ he is not made perfectly holy all at once: "The path THE PANTING SOUL. of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Just as you have seen the day struggling with the darkness, then with clouds, till the sun bursts forth in meridian splendour; so it is with the holiness of a Christian. Just as in the richest lands, after the deepest ploughing, weeds will still grow up among the corn; so, many roots of bitterness remain in the believer's heart. Paul thanked God for the grace that was given to the Corinthians-that they came behind in no gift; and yet he said they had strife, and envy, and divisions, so that he could not call them spiritual, but carnal. So is it with every Christian heart. Weeds grow up in the best cultivated gardens. There is enough in Christ to supply all our need. It is our own fault that we are not holy as God is holy. It is not in Christ, but in ourselves, that we are straitened. The shower of grace is plentiful enough, and more than enough; but we do not open our mouth wide. (2.) But every soul in Christ hates sin-pants after holiness. Nothing makes him pant more after God than corruption striving within. Paul never prayed more earnestly than when he had the thorn in his flesh. The thorn in the flesh makes us pant after God. When a vessel is left by the tide lying dry on the sand, it cannot be moved-it is a helpless log. The mariners may try to draw it with ropes, but it only sinks deeper in the sand. They can do nothing but long for the tide, that it may again be lifted upon the waves, and sail into the harbour. So it is with a Christian. You are often like a vessel on the sand. You cannot move. You attempt duties, but it is heavy work. With out Christ you can do nothing. You wait and pant for Christ, for the full tide of the Spirit, to lift your soul above the waves, and carry you prosperously on toward the heavenly harbour. 387 you to feed on Jesus. You do not only look on the bread, or handle it—you eat-you drink. So come into personal union with Christ, G longing soul, and he will be your strength: "God is our refuge and our strength." III. Desolateness makes the soul pant after God. 1. Believers never should be desolate. It is contrary to the promise: "None of them that trust in him shall be desolate." Christ is always the same. His righteousness is as perfect one day as another. If you are clothed in that righteousness, your peace should be like a river. It is very dishonouring to Christ for be lievers to be going bowed down all the day long: "Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice." 2. Still I fear some of you can bear witness that the believer is sometimes very desolate. The moon does not always shine in a cloudless sky. The ships do not always sail on a waveless sea. The believer does not always walk in the smile of his Father. (1.) Outward pr>vidences sometimes cause it, when they come unexpectedly upon us-when we cannot see God's meaning in them-when we suspect his love, and fall into darkness. So Job: "Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, A man-child is conceived." (2.) Sin admitted into the heart is the most common cause. God is a jealous God. So Israel: "She said, I will go after my lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink." 3. The desolate soul pants after God. So it was with Job: "O that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat." So it is with the bride: "I will rise now, and go about the city, in the streets and in the broad ways." So David: "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul Let me invite weary souls to come to Christ after thee, O God." When a child that has been this day. Some of you are feeling the thorn in tenderly brought up, that has been warmly the flesh, and you are praying that it may de- clad and comfortably fed, and cared for by a part from you. Some of you feel like the cri- gentle mother's hand, when that child is turned minal who was chained to a dead body. You out on the cold world, O it is bitter indeed!— feel your loathsome body of sin-you cry: "00 for my father's roof! O for my mother's wretched man!" Some of you are like the smile! So it is with a child of light walking deer that has been wounded by the lion, and in darkness. trembles at its roaring. You have been wounded by Satan, and you tremble to hear his roar. Come you to Jesus. He will give you rest, O panting soul. Close with Christ-feed upon Christ. Without him you can do nothing. Through Christ strengthening you, you may do all things. This ordinance is intended to teach Invite desolate souls to come to God, the living God. Some of you may be feeling like a ship tossed on a stormy sea. Deep calls unto deep, at the noise of God's waterspouts; all the waves and billows are breaking over you. Be persuaded to close with Christ, freely offered to you. Put away entirely the question as to |