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sion of her poor tortured frame; many have thought-whether with reason or not we do not now say-that she had sinned grievously. The Saviour had pitied her hapless condition; and the same voice which commanded the devils to depart, pronounced her sins forgiven, and assured her of his deathless love. In a susceptible and ardent nature, such as we imagine hers was, such loving-kindness could not fail to awaken corresponding affection. She could think of nothing but his love to her; every feeling was swallowed up in her love to him; henceforth her life was devoted to his service; her greatest joy was to minister to him. And this strong attachment led her to brave all the dangers and horrors of that scene-to watch, that at least she might sympathise with, his sufferings. This made her among the last to leave his cross, the first to visit his tomb.

Of Mary the wife of Cleophas we know so little, that we cannot tell how far a more than ordinary spiritual attachment, how far her relationship to the mother of our Lord, and, therefore, to our Lord himself, led to her presence there. Natural affection would not unnaturally lead her to remain with her sister, that by her presence she might support her under such a terrible affliction; but we must also recognise the existence of a powerful spiritual attachment, to account for the fact that of all his kindred she was the only one who with his mother stood by the cross.

In the mother of Jesus both natural and spiritual affections were, no doubt, strongly exercised. And though either of them apart would sufficiently account for, we have no doubt that their blended influence actually led to, her presence there. Naturally she was knit to him as her son; spiritually she adored him as her Lord; and either feeling was strong enough-the two together were more than sufficient-to make her brave, for the sake of being by his side, the pangs worse than martyrdom which she endured in that hour.

It was not the part of a mother-a mother whose maternal feelings have never been destroyed or weakened by self-indulgence-and espe cially of such a mother as she was-a mother whose naturally pure affections had been strengthened by all those qualities in her son which were fitted to take captive a pious mother's heart-it was not the part of such a mother, either from a regard to her own feelings, or from the fear of personal danger, to forsake her son in that dark and dreadful hour. We admire the calm, the heaven inspired fortitude which enabled her to suppress her own feelings when there was so much to wound them, and to stand there as a comforter when she needed so much to be comforted: we attribute this to God's sustaining power. But her presence there we should expect from the working of the maternal instinct. If her affections be not vitiated and withered, the mother's heart would propel her, regardless of all personal considerations, to go where she can share, and, by sympathy, at least, mitigate, the sufferings of her son. She would belie her motherly nature could she leave him all alone in such suffering as his. For as has been truly aud beautifully said,—

"There is in all this cold and hollow world, no fount
Of deep, strong, deathless love, like that within
A mother's heart. It is but pride wherewith,
To his fair boy, the father's eye doth turn,
Watching his growth. Aye, on the babe he looks,
The bright glad creature springing in his path,
But as the heir of his great name, the young
And stately tree, whose rising strength ere long,

Shall bear his trophies well. And this is love!
This is man's love! What marvel?

Your breast the pillow of his infancy,

You ne'er made

While to the fulness of your heart's glad heavings
His fair cheek rose and fell, and his bright hair
Waved softly to your breath! You ne'er kept watch
Beside him till the last pale star had set,

And morn, all dazzling, as in triumph, broke
On your dim weary eye; not yours the face
Which, early faded through fond care for him,
Hung o'er his sleep, and, duly as heaven's light,
Was there to greet his wakening! You ne'er smoothed
His couch, ne'er sung him to his rosy rest,

Caught his least whisper, when his voice from yours
Had learned soft utterance; pressed your lip to his
When fever parched it; hushed his wayward cries
With patient, vigilant, never-wearied love!
No: these are woman's tasks!"-

that is woman's love! And love like that will never leave a son to endure in loneliness, without the presence of one sympathising friend, such agony as attended the Saviour's closing hours. But while an unvitiated motherly heart would have been sufficient to prompt Mary to take her stand by the cross of Jesus, it will not be doubted that in the childhood, and youth, and early manhood of Jesus, when he dwelt with his mother, there were qualities to beget such an intensity of maternal affection as woman had never felt before. As a child he had all the winning qualities, without any of the fretfulness, of childhood. As a youth he had never given her cause for grief; and even from his early years, she had been prone to take counsel of the superhuman wisdom which gleamed in his speech. In his manhood he began to exhibit those divine qualities which excited her adoration while they strengthened her maternal love. And when day

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and when, in his youth, she saw those divine qualities gleaming forth, which filled her soul with awe, while they increased her fondness for her child;-and when, in his manhood, she beheld him full of grace and truth, and of God-like wisdom and power, ready to be revealed unto Israel, yet her son still-her son in the respect which he showed to her, and in his strong filial affection;-when she beheld all this in her son from day to day, how strangely commingled must have been her maternal and reverential emotions! How she must have regarded him with feelings which were peculiarly her own-love more sacred than that with which a mother ever looked upon her child-more tender than any other disciple ever cherished for his Lord! And having such love, it does not surprise us to see her standing by his cross, although in witnessing his agony she realises in all their bitterness those prophetic words of Simeon, which she has tremblingly remembered for these three-and-thirty years: "A sword shall pierce thine own soul."

It is not, however, to detract from the praise which is due to the fortitude of these holy women, that we thus notice the feelings to which their

presence by the cross is to be attributed; and nothing that has been said, if rightly understood, can possibly lead to this result. It is rather fitted to make that fortitude appear more surprising and admirable.

We have no wish to be sentimental on such a subject, and yet it were scarcely just not to say, that the fortitude evinced by their presence there, reflects credit on woman which might well be envied by the sterner and stronger sex. When we read of the three women being there, we cannot help asking, Where were the men? And to our shame we read the answer: Judas betrayed, Peter denied him, "all his disciples forsook him, and fled." Ah! we boast of our superior strength, and we talk patronisingly, sometimes it may be sneeringly, of woman as the weaker vessel. And yet here are women abiding a test of endurance, and fortitude, and fidelity, under which the men have shamefully failed; or, if we claim one exception, that one exception doth but strengthen the position, inasmuch as it was the loving John, the most womanly of all the disciples of Christ. Have we not reason to lower our pretensions in presence of that scene, and to acknowledge that woman's deep affection is more to be depended on than the proud self-reliance of man?

Although we have spoken of not being surprised at Mary's presence at the cross, owing to the peculiar nature and strength of her affection. for her son, it should be remembered that the very strength of their affection only serves to make the fortitude of these women more manifest. The more they loved, the more they suffered as they witnessed the sufferings of Christ. The stronger their attachment, the more were they pained by the sight of what he endured. A cold heart might have looked on with comparative indifference; but hearts loving as theirsembracing the Saviour with such ardent affection-were pierced by every wound of his, lacerated by every sound of reproach, wrung by every pang. Oh! who can conceive of his mother's feelings?-how much she must have endured through those six fearful hours!

"See her standing by the cross,

In her untold grief alone;
Ah! she weeps the double loss
Of a Saviour and a Son.
Who her weary woe can see,
And not weep in sympathy?"

To her it was worse than to the others, because her affection was peculiar to herself. They loved him as their Lord, she loved him both as her son and Lord. And the natural element in her affection, as being more sensible, would pain her still more than the spiritual. That the others should have endured is, perhaps, less wonderful-though even in them we see the "fortitude of heroic love." But that his MOTHER should have been able to endure so long-" not prostrate in a swoon," as Mr. James says, "or beating her breast, wringing her hands, tearing her hair, and shrieking in frantic grief-but standing in silent, though pensive anguish, to witness the horrors of crucifixion, so far surpassing those of any modern method of execution-the crucifixion of her son, and such a son: O wondrous woman! and act surpassing wonder.

*

*

I cease

to wonder at anything that female fortitude, upheld by divine grace, can do, after it could stand in the person of Mary at the foot of the cross, when Christ her son and Lord was suspended there!"

(To be continued.)

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MODERN MISSIONARY LITERATURE.*

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CHRISTIAN MISSIONS have made a literature of their own, which is at once characteristic, valuable, and extensive. Few weeks pass without the publication of one or more volumes describing some portion of the mission field, or narrating the labours of some of those true successors of the Apostles,"-men to whom, like Paul, "this grace is given, that they should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." It has been ingeniously remarked that the Acts of the Apostles is the only book in the Bible which is left unfinished. The Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel, are complete. No jot or tittle may be added to any of them. Each book of each great division forms a finished whole. But the Book of the Acts of the Apostles reaches no climax, is closed by no parting salutation, is sealed as complete by no concluding Amen. On the face of it the document is unfinished, and breaks off in the middle: "And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him." Thus abruptly does the inspired narrative break off almost in the middle of a sentence, suggesting that it alone of all the books of Scripture records an unfinished work, and that the narrative is to be taken up and carried forward by uninspired pens, till at last "the top stone is brought forth with shoutings," and the spiritual temple is complete. Each age has contributed its chapter or verse. Opposition, persecution, corruption, discipline, mistakes, failures, and successes, alternate with each other in the uninspired as in the inspired narrative. We see the same Divine Spirit working through the same feeble and fallible instruments, upon the same corrupt and depraved nature, with results precisely analogous, in those days as in these. Our missionary literature forms a supplement to the Acts of the Apostles.

Apart from its directly spiritual value, we claim a very high place for missionary literature on purely secular grounds. Our enlarged acquaintance with foreign countries, and uncivilised or half-civilised races, is to a great extent due to the reports of labourers in the Mission field. Books of travels are for the most part costly, and only partially trustworthy. The writers, even if free from exaggeration-that besetting sin of travellers-yet have generally hurried over the scenes they describe, and have seldom remained long enough to render a true and faithful account of the real condition of the people visited. Like the famous French tourist who, generalising from a single instance, wrote, "The Scotch women squint and have red hair," they are always liable to mistake the exception for the rule, the incidental for the universal. Our missionaries, on the other hand, are placed in a position the most favourable for observation. They have access to the interior of society and see it in all its phases. By their platform addresses, their communications to missionary periodicals, and their more elaborate volumes, they have communicated an amount of geographical and ethnological information among the great mass of the people, which it would be difficult to estimate too highly. There are comparatively few regions and races on earth whose characteristics may not be studied to advantage in our missionary literature; for there are now, happily, few parts of the world in which a mission has not been established. The volumes named in the foot-note to this paper, are far from including all that have been produced on the great theme of Christian mission within the last few weeks. They are simply those which have been produced by a single publishing house, Messrs. Nisbet and Co., to whom our Christian literature in

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England and India: an Essay on the Duty of Englishmen towards the Hindoos. By B. W. Noel, M.A. Nisbet & Co.

The Night, the Dawn, and the Day; or, the Reformed Church bringing India to Christ. By the Rev. R. Croly, M.A. Nisbet & Co.

Caffres and Caffre Missions. By the Rev. H. Calderwood, South Africa. Nisbet & Co. Creoles and Coolies; or, Five Years in the Mauritius. By the Rev. P. Beaton. Nisbet & Co.

almost every department has been so deeply indebted for some years past. It may serve to illustrate the truly catholic nature of missionary enterprise to observe that these volumes emanate from members of four distinct Christian Churches, the Baptist, the Independent, the Presbyterian, and the Episcopalian.

To Mr. Noel's book we give the first place, as it so well deserves, both from its size and intrinsic excellence. It forms a very valuable addition to our missionary literature. Those who were privileged to hear his address in the library of the Mission House, at the annual meeting last April, and who remember how the assembly was thrilled by the earnestness of its simple unadorned appeals, will know that he has made the question of Indian Missions his own. This volume is but an expansion of that speech, enforced by statistical information of the most telling kind. The first sentences of the preface may serve to indicate the design of the book and the spirit in which it is written :

"I have written this book because something of the kind was wanted. 132,000,000 of our fellow-subjects in India-not to speak of 48,000,000 in the allied states-are dishonouring God and are themselves in great danger. Of these, 112,000,000 of Hindoos are worshipping obscene idols instead of God, in total ignorance of the Lord Jesus Christ; and 20,000,000 of Mohammedans, while they misrepresent God, hate the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet we have done almost nothing to convert them. Over 36,000,000 of these we have ruled a hundred years, and many millions of them have not to this day once heard from us of God or of Jesus our Saviour. Christians being not their own, but bought with a price, should glorify God with their bodies and their spirits, which are God's. Yet millions of professed Christians in England, who have among them wealth, talent, education, and leisure, have seen God shamefully dishonoured by our fellow-subjects without doing anything to remove that dishonour."

This is a fearful indictment to prefer against the Church of our land, and, alas! too true. No amount of rhetorical amplification or declamatory eloquence could equal the force of Mr. Noel's calm, unostentatious statement of the terrible fact. No further argument or appeal ought to be necessary in order to arouse the Church to an attitude of self-sacrifice and energetic activity without parallel since the days of the Apostles.

The following abstract of the table of contents will show how thoroughly Mr. Noel covers the whole ground of inquiry :-INTRODUCTION. The Con fession of Christ by the East Indian Government. The Object of British Rule in India. PART FIRST. Duties arising out of the Mutiny. PART SECOND. Of Things to be Removed or Amended by the East Indian Government. PART THIRD. Things which the East Indian Government ought to do. PART FOURTH. Of the Duties of Individuals. The last part-on the duties of individuals, Christians, and Churches-is much the longest and much the best part of the book. Here Mr. Noel is emphatically at home. To some of the views advocated in the first part, upon the punishment of the mutineers, and the reconstruction of the native army, we think just exception may be taken. They scarcely fall within the scope of the volume, and in some minds will raise prejudices at the outset. But when he comes to speak of the duties of the Church towards India it would be difficult to praise too highly the clearness of his views, the fullness of his knowledge, or the cogency of his appeals. There is nothing artificial or ad captandum in the arguments or assertions. He is too thoroughly in earnest to stoop to flourishes of rhetoric. He speaks with an earnestness calm yet intense, and makes his appeal to all that is purest and holiest in the breasts of his hearers. We cannot but think that a devout and prayerful study of this volume would do much to remove the difficulty of raising funds for Indian Missions. If we could but enter into the spirit which Mr. Noel here enforces, men and money would be forthcoming, and believing prayer would draw down a blessing beyond our largest expectations.

THE NIGHT, THE DAWN, AND THE DAY, is almost exclusively historical. The writer seems tolerably well informed on the early history of Christianity in India, and his narrative can hardly be read without instruction. But we are constrained to say that he has not the faculty of making the best use of his material. The defect seems to consist in the want of a definite aim and purpose, the result of which is, that little precise information is given and no vivid impression is produced. We may be allowed to smile We may be allowed to smile at the thorough state

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