interest in the blood of Christ, justified by which, though thou mayest hear the repetition, thou shalt be free from the condemnation. Pray that, when the other books are opened, thy name may be found in the Book of Life. And, see, the volume prepared for another year; as yet its pages are unsullied: time is before thee, seek to improve it; privileges are before thee, may they prove the gate of heaven; judgment is before thee, prepare to meet thy God!" He turned to depart; and as I heard the rustling which announced his flight, I awoke.

Was it all a dream?

A GEM IN THE RIVER.

A young mother, with tears of bereavement in her eyes, stood over the river of death, gazing wistfully into its black and sluggish waters, as if she would fain rest her gaze upon some object away down-down in its fathomless depths. She gazed long and wistfully, and the black waves rolled sullenly, sluggishly onward.

And the mother laid her hands submissively on her bosom and wept, and said, "My gem! my gem!"

And a celestial being, like an angel, stood near the hidden door of her heart, and whispered in a silvery voice, like music, "What seekest thou, mourning sister ?"

"Alas," said the mourner, "I once, even yesterday, wore a beautiful gem in my bosom! To me it was invaluable; it was no trivial gem, it was one that kings and monarchs might well have been proud of. The riches of the East could not have purchased it from me. In an hour that was to me evil and miserable, the gem dropped from my bosom into the black night of this deep river. As I saw it floating away from me gently as the coming of an eastern shadow, I reached after it, but it was beyond my grasp; and my gem, my babe, smiled upon me, as it was riding on the waves further

She looked as she was bid, and a cry of sweet and rapturous joy burst from her lips. "Thanks to the Father! I see my gem floating in a great black wave. Oh, may I not wear it in my bosom again ?"

"Stay, my sister, thou art deceived; what thou seest in the river is not thy gem; it is the shadow of what was given thee in trust. Look, sister, heavenward, and bid thy mourning heart rejoice."

She looked aloft, and away up in the dark beclouded sky, she saw a single spot clear and blue, and in it a bright star was gleaming, and its silvery rays came down and danced on the gloomy river, giving the black wave a brightness, as if silvered through and through; and away down many fathoms the bright reflection rested, and this the mourner thought was her lost gem. She gazed silently upon the scene, and the star from heaven was shining. And the voice of the angel came again, like unto the sweet song of many instruments of music, saying, "Sister, the gloomy waves thou seest, though cold, and dark, and terrible, roll ceaselessly onward up to the great gate of heaven, and thither they bore thy mourned-for-gem, which the good Father lent thee; the waves have borne it back to him, and it blooms and shines for ever near the throne, like yon brightly beaming star!"

The voice was hushed, and the sorrowing mother turned away with her eyes lifted from the earth and gloomy river, and fixed them hopefully and wistfully on heaven.

And the bright star she saw, when tears filled her eyes, mourning for her loss, yet beams brightly, and it shines on her little baby's grave.

HARD EARNINGS; OR, THE LAW

OF LABOUR.*

Christianity has at least, two separate and distinct relations to the conditions of

human existence. In the first place, it bears very distinctly upon the circumstances of our future existence. Its profession is, that the condition in which those

who receive it shall then be placed, shall be essentially different from the circumstances of privation, sorrow, and affliction, in which now they are frequently found. But there is another relation of Christianity to our condition, which is by no means unworthy our consideration-its relation to the circumstances in which we at present exist. It finds us, in many cases, suffering, bearing heavy burdens, and engaged in stern conflicts. And the question is, What will it do for us in these respects? Does it profess in any way to better our circumstances, to relieve us of our difficulties, and to clear away the many elements of discomfort and sorrow that would otherwise embitter the current of our life? Will it, in short, do for us in the present, what it professes to do in the future, viz., put us in circumstances different from these we find it so hard to bear?

An answer to this question is not to be supplied without some discrimination. In the long history of nations, the tendency and practical results of the christian faith are, to elevate the lowly, and ameliorate the condition of those who are bowed down with heavy burdens and exhausted with unceasing toil. But as respects the short life, and special lot in life, of any one who becomes a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, it makes no such profession. But the profession which it does make is, perhaps, quite as beneficial. To those who are hungry, it does not bring bread. To those who are diseased, it does not supply soundness. It will not bring back dear and beloved friends who have been snatched away by death. It will not remove the necessity for laborious industry. But it will, and frequently does, throw such a light upon these sorrows, as sometimes to elicit beauty from what appeared to be but blackness, and glory from the grief. It will not lighten the burden, but it will give strength to bear it. It will not release from a condition of toil, but it will so gladden the heart and enlighten the understanding that the spirit of the man may sustain his infirmities. The views we take of our position will often render wearisome labour easy, and excessive burdens light.

If it can be any kind of comfort to those who endure affliction of any sort to know that their trials are by no means uncommon, but just those to which multitudes of their fellow-men are subjected, it will not be without service to remark, that the Law of Labour is one that is far more

generally experienced than is sometimes supposed by those who have come to be called "the working population." My own conviction is, that very, very few are exempt from that condition in which they have to earn their subsistence by much labour, and under many privations. But my purpose at present is not to insist upon this in a way that will array the feelings of one class against another, but simply to speak of things as I find them, in order that the sons and daughters of toil, of whatever class, may enquire for themselves, Is it possible to ascribe any nobleness to our lowly duties, or to supply any interest to our dreary lot?

It would be an occupation by no means unworthy a thoughtful, enquiring man, to engage in some such course of reasoning and thinking as the following:-"Well, my lot is rather a hard one. Early in the morning I have to go to my work, and to keep at it till night. Through the day, the only cessation I have is the short time I allow for meals. And though I work, and work from Monday till Saturday, and from January to December, it does no more for me than just to get me an honest livelihood. When I look into the future, I can see nothing different from this, it will be still the same. For it is impossible that I can lay anything by, to release me in the future from such a mode of life. They tell me that I ought to improve my mind by reading and such things. Improve my mind, indeed! What time or heart have I? How can I settle down to that, after my hard work all day? And as to religion, I hope it does not require much spare time to be religious, for if it does, my case is hopeless. I wonder, now, how it comes about that I am in such a condition as this. There is no particular fault that I can take to myself in the matter. I have not been very imprudent. My habits are tolerably good. I am sober enough, honest enough, industrious enough. It is quite plain that it is not my own fault, for, if anything, I have risen, rather than otherwise, since I began life. The fact is, it is just the condition to which I was born. But, then, how did we all come into this condition? I wonder if it was the fault of some who lived before us? Would any new laws in Parliament make the matter better? That is, not would they place one family or another family in better circumstances, but would they relieve all of us of these difficulties? No, they really do not seem able to do that.

Some people say it is God himself who has put us all into these circumstances,-that he has so arranged things, that we must work hard if we would live, and live happily.. Now, that seems at first to be speaking hard things about him. And one does not like to think so freely about his doings as about men's, especially when it raises up hard thoughts in the mind about him. But, after all, there does seem something reasonable in the statement. Because if he is stronger than all besides, and if he governs this world, and interferes about everybody's affairs, as the Scriptures declare, then it does seem certain that I could not be placed in a condition of difficulty and toil, that I did not bring myself into, without his having something to do with it. At any rate, it must be his doing, to make men liable to such circumstances. I do not much like such thoughts, because they do seem to make him appear unjust, or at any rate a hard Master, and unfeeling, rather than a good Friend and kind Father."

Now, it cannot be doubted that many of the particular forms of hardship we have to endure in the present generation, are the natural and necessary results of the mistakes and misdoings of those who have lived before us. We have received as a heritage, the possessions-good, bad, and indifferent-of our fathers. We will not say that we have to work harder and to fare scantier because of what they did, and left undone; but it is a fact, that there are some particulars in which their proceedings bear rather heavily upon us. For instance, we should not be taxed so heavily, were it not that a national debt of a thousand millions has come down to us, the interest of which has to come every year out of the pockets of rich and poor. And you may say that one reason why you have to work so hard is because of this incumbrance. This is one side of the question, but there is another. In former generations the people had no national debt, and yet they worked more like slaves, and lived less like men, than you do. While our fathers have left us this weight of inconvenience, they have left us also a weight of obligatiou, in the legacy of improved arts, improved sciences, improved commerce, improved rights, extended liberties, and advanced morality. And these have done far more to benefit us than their debts have done to oppress us. We return, then, to this position-that your lot of labour, as a lot, does not spring from them as its fountain-head. It might, in

some sense, be modified by their acts, but, was not created by them.

Then, again, the position in which you find yourself is not one that is created, or that could in any material degree be affected for the better, by Act of Parliament. It is my humble, but firm conviction, that the expectations which are frequently entertained respecting the good that would result from the most perfect and unimpeachable political constitution, are entirely fallacious. My own conviction (which you are quite at liberty to reject if you please) is, that a political constitution-wise and gracious as Heaven itself-could affect the condition of the mass of the people, in reference to their hard earnings, only to a limited extent. Not that I do not sympathise with all true political and social reform. I think it a great privilege wherever it is secured. But so often has it left the people where they were before, and so many departments there are of individual and domestic affairs into which it cannot penetrate, that I have ceased to look at this as the fountain whence the streams shall flow, to refresh, to strengthen, and to gladden the people.

However much, then, these various influences might affect and modify the circumstances of our lot in life, we do seem to be brought back to the conclusion to which our meditative friend was conducted, in the soliloquy we reported a few minutes ago. It does seem to be the case, that it is by the arrangement of that Being who has created us and determined the bounds of our habitation,-that man (bearing the character which he does bear) should not have all things prepared ready to his hand, -should not find them attainable without trouble; but that he should (as we said before), by much labour, and under many privations, earn his subsistence.

Many minds feel a strong aversion to a statement of this kind. There is a strong dislike frequently expressed at any representation which seems to throw the authorship of any of the evils we endure, upon the Most High. And there are three grounds upon which persons may refuse, or at least hesitate, to fall in with the statement we have made-to the effect that man is reduced to the condition of labour and toil in which we find him, by the appointment of Heaven.

The first objection arises from our observation of facts. We see that, in many instances, we can

trace the poverty and

hard lot to which many persons are subjected, most distinctly to their origin, and cause. And this cause is to be found, in some cases, in the imprudence, if not anything worse, of the parties themselves; in other cases, in the injustice of which they have been the victims; and, in other cases, in calamities over which no one in particular seems to have had any control. Now can you, with any justice, ascribe the condition in which these persons find themselves, to God, when it so manifestly results from these earthly causes? Our answer is, that no one pretends but that the follies, the mistakes, and the crimes of men do much aggravate the liability to suffering, and increase the troubles of those who are concerned in them; but this by no means puts away the original proposition, that it is by the sentence of Heaven (the gracious sentence, we doubt not, when we come to understand it) that man is placed in the position where he is liable to such consequences.

The second objection will take this form. If this proposition be true, then it does seem to follow that any attempt to better our circumstances is a contradiction of the will of Heaven. The folly of such a strained objection as this would be manifest by applying it to any similar proposition. We all know that death is the appointment of Heaven. We suppose that no one but some old Alchymist would pretend that it is not. Still, what should we think of the man who would argue, that if this be so, it must be a contradiction of the will of Heaven to try to alleviate the pains of disease, or delay the stroke of death?

There is a third difficulty with which we have to battle; and we have dismissed the other two as being of small importance, in order that we may make some lengthened observations upon the one we have now before us. It has respect to the feelings with which some persons would be likely to regard the Most High, were they led to take the view of his dealings which we have indicated. We think it important that we should make some remarks by way of meeting a spirit of dissatisfaction and complaint, that, at first sight, such a representation would seem to justify, against the Author of our being and the Ruler of our lives. We say, then, that the true interpretation of the matter will demonstrate that this feeling of complaint and dissatisfaction is irrational on various grounds..

1. In the first place, then, to take the lowest ground, and the simplest position, we remark that the sentence is one of justice. It is a punishment.

2. To go one step further, we remark that the condition in which we find ourselves is not only a punishment, but a mitigated punishment. You consider it a hard lot to be condemned to a life of toil." Your feelings rise in complaint and insubordination against the holy God, because he has ordained that nothing that is excellent shall be obtained without consuming labour. But God himself teaches you that this which you consider such a hard lot, is, after all, a most mitigated form of the punishment you really have deserved. That, after all, it does but indicate, and, as it were, suggest, the fate you have deserved, and which the obstinate and finally irreclaimable must one day endure. The Scriptures teach us that sin deserves immediate, and utter, and unalterable destruction. But Jehovah, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, refrains from executing the stern requirements of justice.. Though he shows his unchanging displeasure against sin, yet he does not punish in proportion to our iniquity. "Sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily." The crushing, overwhelming punishment of sin is delayed, in order that men may have space for repentance,-that they may at last altogether escape the punishment they deserve, and that their happiness may be completely secured. God has passed a sentence, and does execute the sentence, upon all the sons of men; part of that sentence condemns you to toil and sorrow in the pilgrimage of life; but this, instead of awakening distrust of God, and dissatisfaction with him, should excite your liveliest gratitude; inasmuch as, while you are hereby reminded of the inevitable consequences of sin, the offer of salvation from its eternal consequences is at the same time

made to you. While it is a punishment,→ a just punishment,-inasmuch as we are verily guilty, yet it is a most mild and mitigated punishment.

3. The impropriety of the state of feeling we have indicated is still more manifest when we remember that it is a restraining punishment. The punishments which God inflicts upon men are not simply with a view to retribution-doubtless there is this element in them-but there is a purpose far more gracious in its character. They

are also intended to restrain in some measure from further evil, that the sinner might do himself no further harm. What is it that confines the hot passions, that curbs the imperious thoughts, that restrains the impure imagination, that gives a man a true idea of the earnestness of life? What is it that makes man sigh for the rest of the earthly Sabbath, and the better rest that remains for the people of God? What is it that renders union, common feeling, and progress, possible? There may be in many circles and in many hearts a higher purpose and a nobler motive, but we hesitate not to pronounce that interest, stern necessity hard labour, have exercised a most potent influence in keeping this rebellious world from hopeless, unmitigated, howling anarchy and despair.

4. Once more, this punishment is reformatory. The lot appointed to man, that of adversity and labour, is most conducive to man's moral reformation,-most calculated to induce and strengthen in him those qualities which secure the admiration and approval of men. We can, of course, only form our opinions respecting things as we witness them in a fallen world. But it does seem to us that nothing is so cal culated to bring out the energies and strengthen the faculties of the human mind, as the stern necessity which condemns man to trial and labour. Adversity is calculated in a special measure to strengthen and discipline the moral excellences of our nature. It educes fortitude, patience, and strength of purpose, that could never be manifested in seasons of sunshine, gladness, and ease. Who can withhold his admiration when he sees the manly worker nobly pursuing his task, that he might honourably fill his position, and place his family above want? or the delicate maiden, "with fingers weary and worn," pursuing her mournful task? or yon destitute widow, who must forget her sorrow, and go out into the world, for her children cry for bread? Would you look for true heroism, for courage and endurance,-for the true nobility of the human mind? You need not go to former history,-you need not visit the plain of Balaklava, or the field of Inkermann. You will find them in rich abundance in many an humble home, and by many an obscure hearth. Go to the cottage,-not the mansion. It is not where every want is attended to, not when every wish is gratified, that the true dignity and nobility of manhood come out

in brightest effulgence. But it is often when the dark day of adversity sets in, when the urgent call of necessity is heard, that qualities shine forth which were not at all supposed to be possessed. You may find many excellences of character, much strength of principle, among the favoured sons of fortune; hut we much mistake the matter if we look to such a quarter as the native place of human heroism. The pressing demands, and the imperious call of immediate necessity, often draw out the richest powers and the fullest energies of human nature. And where the heart is renewed by grace, and the mind is spiritual, the privations and labours of this earthly pilgrimage often prove the most sanctifying influences the mind receives, and the most meetening discipline for "the inheritance in light."

Subject then, as most of us are, to a condition of toil, and to the law of labour, it will be peculiarly unfortunate for us if we should entertain feelings, or cherish views, calculated to unfit us for the circumstances in which we find ourselves. If hard work be our lot, it is very fortunate if we can convince ourselves of one unquestionable truth, that labour is honourable, that it is no discredit to bow the shoulder to the burden, and that in the long run it is the truest happiness. It is no degradation, but an honour to a man, to stand before his fellows and say, "In the sweat of my I eat bread."

face

Once more, we would guard against a state of mind and feeling pretty nearly the opposite of that upon which we have dwelt. It is doubtless true that, considering man's character and tendencies, the condition in which he is placed is the most merciful and restorative condition to which he can be subjected. But let us ever remember that it is, after all, a great descent from man's high original. There is great danger of men looking upon this as the normal state of humanity, instead of regarding it as a portion both of the punishment and remedy for sin. It is no degradation to you, in relation to your fellow-men, to labour for your daily bread; but it is a tremendous moral degradation if you sigh for nothing else, if you long for nothing higher and nobler. In one sense there is true nobility in being satisfied with your lot, however lowly, and in performing your work, however despised. It is glorious to be thus minded; but it is a desperate debasement if the soul never gets a glimpse of those