BETHLEHEM.

BY A MODERN TRAVELLER.

OUR day at Bethlehem passed most happily; but I was glad to retire early, to a coarse bed provided for me in a small whitewashed cell, which doubtless had been the abode of many a previous pilgrim, overlooking the convent garden planted with orange and lemon trees in full fruit. Perhaps I enjoyed my rude comforts the more, because I had been so long an absentee from regular beds and stone walls. Ought I not to be content, and more than that, thought I, when I reflect that here the Child Jesus, my Redeemer, found no room for his reception; and that in the days of his mature and majestic manhood, He had not where to lay his head? Many a solemn thought and deep feeling occupied my mind, while surveying the hallowed scene of the nativity; but it was when the stillness of midnight hung around me, when the inmates of the convent were silent, and all Bethlehem hushed in repose, that my heart acknowledged its serene and grateful assurance that 1, a poor helpless sinner, so far from home, a brief sojourner in one of the holiest spots of the whole earth, derived all my safety and comfort, and all my grounded hope of future and eternal blessing from Him, who here condescended to take my nature into a marvellous and mysterious union with his Godhead, that He might sympathize in its wants, and its infirmities, and glorify it by his triumphs.

To the east of Bethlehem, not much more than a mile and a half distant, is the village said to be that in which the shepherds dwelt, to whom was made the supernatural announcement of the Messiah's birth. You approach it by a steep descending road, with fig and olive trees scattered on every side; it is inhabited by Greek and Latin Christians, is miserably dilapidated, and conveys an idea of poverty and wretchedness.

After a hasty examination of Bethlehem, as to its interior, I have little to record beyond the fact of its presenting a sad picture of filth, poverty, and ruinous desolation, from which I apprehend there is no help, while it con

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tinues to sigh under the grasp of Mahommedan dominion. And all this sad reality is easily traceable to one sad cause, Israel's rejection of Messiah. Had Israel held fast to their integrity, where is the spot on which the foot of the infidel could have fixed itself securely? where is the mountain, where the valley, from Dan even to Beersheba, from which there should not, even now, be going forth the joyous song of exultation at the glorious triumphs of redemption? in which the voices of the thousands of Bethlehem, and Nazareth, and Jerusalem, would not be heard, bearing their distinguished part? But there is a day coming-(is it far distant?)-when the glory so long departed from Judea shall return with renewed lustre, and gathered Israel shall chant forth the promised anthem for which the Church waits, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."-From "A Pastor's Recollections of the Holy Land," &c. by the Rev. G. Fisk.

EXTRACTS FROM MY FAMILY BIBLE.

MATTHEW X. verse 40, to the end.

HERE, dear family, you are taught to reverence the ministers of Jesus Christ, not merely for their own sakes, but for his sake in whose name they speak to you about your souls. And here observe, that Judas Iscariot was one of the Apostles to whom these words were spoken by our blessed Lord, because it is too much the fashion, now-a-days, to have respect to the person only of a clergyman, and not to his office. He that receives an appointed minister of Christ, receives Christ Himself, and receives God also who sent Him-Jehovah, who is one with Christ. What a blessing it is, dear family, that we of this country have every week an opportunity of seeing one of these appointed ministers of Christ, and of hearing through his lips the word of God out of the Old and New Testament. May neither you nor I slight one of these opportunities, but thankfully receiving the appointed means of grace, and looking upon the ministers of Christ as persons specially charged with the delivery of his Gospel message, may we increase more and more in the knowledge of our Lord

and Saviour, as our "wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption." Lastly, observe, that if you receive a prophet or teacher, because he is a teacher of Christ's holy religion-if you receive a righteous man, because you believe him to be a partaker of the saving righteousness of Christ, and a doer of the righteousness of Christ's holy law, in both cases you shall receive a suitable reward at the hands of God, who in every thing you do, looks to the motive or reason of your action. And further, if you give even a cup of cold water, as a disciple of Christ, to a disciple of Christ-one of those little ones, one of those whom the world despises, you shall in no wise lose your reward. There are many opportunities of doing this give your money, as far as you are able, to support those holy Christian men, who are spreading the Gospel in foreign lands, at the risk of their health, and in some cases of their very lives; give all you can to relieve the wants of poor ministers at home also, and the love of their Master will be your great and everlasting reward.

Chapter xi. 1-7.

John the Baptist, my dear family, sends to know of Christ whether He was the expected Saviour, for whose coming the hopes of all the pious Jews who studied the Scriptures were anxiously looking. Our Lord desires the disciples of John to tell their master the things they had heard Him say, and had seen Him do, so that he might judge for himself whether or not He was the Christ of whom all the prophets had given witness. John could have no difficulty in coming at the proof; for when his disciples gave him the message of our Saviour, he would remember what the prophet Isaiah had written about the Christ, in chap. xxix. 18. xxxv. 4-6, and xlii., and also what David had written in the 22nd Psalm, and also what Isaiah had foretold in chap. lxi. 1-3. Beloved, you can judge of the truth of your religion by a diligent search of the Old Testament. You are bound to give a prayerful attention to what was written about Christ by the prophets who lived before our Saviour came into the world. The great object of all the Old Testament is to lead the

way to Christ. As soon as sin came into the world, a promise of Christ was made (Genesis iii. 15), and from that time God continually raised up prophets to foretel of the office of Christ, that when He came, all sincere and humble people, who felt they wanted a Saviour from the wrath to come, might know whether He was the Saviour they expected. Blessed, indeed, is he who is not offended at Christ; for there is in his religion much to offend an unconverted man. It goes at once to root out his pride; it tells him that he is a poor good-for-nothing sinner, and that, if he wishes to be saved, he must put all his hopes upon the despised and crucified Jesus, who lived in poverty and contempt, and died at last the most disgraceful of all deaths. Again, the religion of Christ is at once contrary to the ways and habits of unconverted people. It aims a strong blow at their selfishness, their lusts, and their uncharitableness. It is altogether against them in fact; therefore it is no wonder they are offended at it. But, my family, blessed are they who are enabled by the Holy Ghost, not to be offended at the plain and simple doctrines of Christ, and at the life of holiness built upon them. Yea, blessed are they indeed, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I hope you will all seek and try to be among these blessed ones. Do, I beseech you, pray over your Bibles, and so prove the Christian religion to be true. It is worth the trial; and, moreover, it is worth the reproach and contempt which you will meet with, for it is assuredly the only religion that can give you peace and joy in believing it. A LAYMAN.

PEACE OF MIND.

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."-ROMANS v. 1.

O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for the mercy which He has shown us, through Jesus Christ. Perhaps no one of the inspired writers was more qualified than St. Paul to declare God's pardoning love to sinners. St. Paul had well experienced God's love: he calls himself the chief of sinners, not worthy to be called an Apostle. But he found pardon and peace in believing

in the atoning blood of Christ. Therefore he writes by the power of the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life. "Therefore," he saith, "being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." And O that the unenlightened may be convinced and find peace to the soul! Christ calls thee by his word, "Come unto me:" ye will not come to me that ye might have life." "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." Are you the children of this world, or can you lay claim to a higher name, that of sons of God by adoption? There is a wide difference between the children of this world and the children of God. We are all partakers of that fallen state, to which our first parents fell, from a perfect state of holiness, in which God had made them. And through their fall, "death passed upon all men;" "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." The very nature of man is to do evil continually: the mind being alienated from God, he seeks his pleasure in this world; he is continually partaking of the forbidden fruit; he seeks peace and finds none; his mind is ever unsettled, passions and other infirmities overcome nature, and drive him further under the power of Satan, the god of this world, who goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The mind is either stagnated with the cares of this world, or given up to the love of money or riotous living. Thus the carnal mind is enmity with God."

Then we come to the nominal Christian, who professes in name to be a Christian, and in his very actions shows the reverse, who is living in nature's darkness: following the dictates of his own mind, and who is "led captive by Satan at his will," trusting in his own strength and reason. These and many more corruptions of human nature tell us plainly," that man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil." O yes! we stand in need of a mediator, Christ Jesus. We soon perceive the fruits of sin after the fall of our first parents; Cain who killed his brother Abel because Abel's offering was accepted of the Lord, and his own refused. But the Lord Almighty assured him, "If thou doest well, shalt