Below the surface wonders are being wrought by Omnipotent Goodness which will result in beauty and food for millions in months to come.

Is it not thus likewise in the human soul? Is it not deep thought and lowly secret affection that are hidden springs of Christian fruit? Good works can only result from heavenly roots extending in humility, the outgrowth of softened affections and of heartfelt love to the Lord. When such states exist before our Heavenly Father, He makes our soul like a watered garden. The winter of our affliction becomes a glorious summer; and in proportion as the roots have sunk deeply by the abnegation of self, so will the trees of righteousness rise and spread a glory and a blessing to all around.

Winter also is the season when the evergreens show their vigour, hardy and brave, unaffected by cold or inclemency. They correspond to those great truths that are undiminished by time and change. "That God is ;" "that He is ever good." That He is the Fountain of Hope, and will bless what He inspires. That we were born for heaven, and time is but our nursery. That under all circumstances we must walk in the path of goodness and truth, leaving results to Him who is too wise to err and too good needlessly to afflict. These are the soul's evergreens, and the winter that brings them out is doing a glorious work, and will enable us to say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within us, bless His holy name."

Lastly, winter is the season for indoor comforts, cheerful family evenings, and charities towards those less favoured with the advantages of social abundance. The warm fireside, the delightful company of those we love, the pleasures of reading and conversation in the charmed circle of a happy home. These are compensations for many privations in the weather around, and enough to stimulate our grateful thanksgivings to take the form of Blessings on Old Winter. When outward circumstances are unfavourable, let us betake ourselves to inward blessings, and they will more than make up for all we have lost.

There is one more reflection in relation to winter to which I would point, and it is invited in the Divine words at the head of this paper. It is said, "It was the feast of dedication." This feast lasted eight days; four at the close, and four at the new opening of the year. It was otherwise called "THE FEAST OF LIGHTS.' A candle was lighted in each house the first day of the feast, and another added each day, until on the eighth day eight candles were burning. It was to celebrate the rededication of the temple in the time of the Maccabees, when the temple was restored from heathen pollution. It was not to celebrate the first dedication by Solomon. This rededication will

correspond to a rededication of the soul every time when mental winter comes. The soul must light up its candle, with a solemn purpose of regeneration represented by the lights and the number eight-seven a former state completed, and eight a new beginning.

Jesus was walking in Solomon's porch. The porch of Wisdom leading to the temple, or interior kingdom of the Lord.

When we thus rededicate ourselves, the Lord will be there to meet us, receive us, and bless us. Jesus is walking there. It will, it is true, be winter outside, but it will be a Divine feast, a glorious summer within. In the midst of our joy our blessed Saviour will say to us, as He said on that occasion, "My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me, and no man can pluck them out of My hand.",

J. B.

THE WORLD'S FUTURE.

(Continued from page 17.)

"Sweet is the harp of Prophecy."-The Task, Book vi. 247.

FOR many reasons I have selected the prophet Isaiah in illustration of the argument from the Old Testament on the great truths connected with the Second Advent. It is a many-sided question; but there is one golden thread running through the prophets, so that all perfectly accord; and to understand one is to be furnished with a key to the whole. Nor is it any elaborate or far-fetched argument which I attempt; on the contrary, it is one remarkably simple. Pope in his immortal eclogue has gathered up the principal threads in this grand subject, and presented in a striking manner the three leading lines of thought the Divine Redemption of mankind; the benefits resulting from the Incarnation in the renovation of the human mind; and the consequent moral restitution of the world at large.

The pointed manner in which Isaiah foretells the coming and character of the Redeemer, and the nature of His kingdom, has won for him the distinction of the Evangelical Prophet. His marvellous words, so ill perceived by the ancient scribes, are more largely quoted in the Gospels than those of any other prophet. When at the commencement of His ministry Jesus went into the synagogue at Nazareth to read, the Book of Isaiah was handed to Him, which He opened at the passage, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me;" concluding at the words, "the acceptable year of the Lord."1 It is worthy of note 1 Isaiah lxi.

that He omits the allusion to "the day of vengeance;" undoubtedly because the ideas which these words would produce in the minds of the Jews were at variance with the Divine sentiments implied. The passage quoted is in harmony with all the Lord's teachings; and, as every one must see on reflection, in harmony with the character of the kingdom He came to establish, which was to be perfected and extended at His second coming.

There is a striking agreement even as to words in many passages of Isaiah and the concluding chapters of the Revelation, which speak of God, the Redeemer, dwelling with His people, comforting the mourners, and wiping the tears from off all faces; the creation of new heavens and a new earth, containing a New Jerusalem; and which show, moreover, the perfect love and obedience which should reign in the Messiah's kingdom, making it the crown of all kingdoms.

One feature in common between the two Advents does not appear to have shared the attention it demands. They are in many instances described together, or as one quickly following the other, leaving the impression of the Second being a fuller development of the First. The First Advent was the dawn; the Second the advancing day. The Sun of Righteousness appears in Christ, but is soon overcast with clouds; in due time, however, it bursts forth again with greater glory. The First Advent was effected without observation; the Second comes like a thief in the night. The grandest event the world has ever witnessed was accomplished with the utmost noiselessness; Christ came as a little child. So when He comes in glory, it is not in the glory of this world, but one invisible to the eye of sense. At the First Advent, "the people which sat in darkness saw great light; to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light sprang up." 1 At the Second Advent, "the Lord is to be an everlasting light." 2

When the Lord spake about His departure from the world, how did He comfort His disciples? By promising them His presence in Spirit. "The Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot [as yet] receive, He shall dwell with you." And in this way He is truly to dwell with them Himself. "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." Again He says, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth." "He shall glorify ME for He shall receive of MINE, and shall show it unto you.' "4 Thus the Redeemer would be in the world more perfectly by His Spirit than He could possibly be in person. One blessing which He

1 Isa. ix.; Matt. iv. 2 Isa. lx.; Rev. xxii. 23.

3 John xiv. 4 John xvi.

"2

couples with this coming in Spirit is more plainly to reveal Himself as the Father.1 He had declared to Philip, "He that seeth Me hath seen the Father;' now He instructs them that by the Spirit He will Himself be with them. A still greater blessing was to be communicated by His presence in Spirit than in person. Presence in person limited His Divine sway; in Spirit, His power would be unlimited. Indeed in what other way, after His full glorification, could He be present with men? For "He dwelleth not in temples made with hands;" but in the living temples of human hearts. What was the grand object of His coming in the flesh except to become for "Immanuel "-God with us? Thus respecting His First Advent Isaiah writes, "Say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God!" 4 And of the Second Advent it is said, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and God Himself shall be with them." 5

ever

3

It is not a little remarkable that at the present day, more emphatically than at any preceding period, all men profess to be seeking this "Spirit of Truth." For this we behold them laboriously searching in a thousand channels, whilst they have not as yet recognised with any common consent the chief channel of its diffusion. Nor is it at all commonly acknowledged that Truth should lead men, not merely to worldly wisdom, but, above all, to spiritual wisdom and righteousness.

We find the greatest diversity of sentiment as to both end and means. Many still look with jealousy upon the advance of Science. Many more regard with prejudice the teachings of Religion. Some boldly assert that it is within the province of human intelligence to attain the highest wisdom unaided by Divine Power. Truly the landscape of society, despite the struggling beams of the morning, abounds with gloom. Of this, however, we propose to say more in a future section of our paper. There is another fact which at this moment presents itself for grave consideration. It is the condition of the world on the eve of the marvellous social revolution in which we now live.

Thompson, in his poem on "Liberty," gives utterance to a thought worthy of remembrance. Speaking of the Dark Ages, he says—

"THEN WAS the night of time that parted worlds.”

In point of fact, this "night of time" did not terminate, as commonly supposed, with what is designated the Renaissance era. It involved 5 Rev. xxi. 3.

1 John xvi. 2 John xiv. 3 Acts xvii. 24. 4 Isa. xl. 9.

beyond all other matters a spiritual darkness, commencing at the Council of Nice, and covering some thirteen centuries. In fact this "night of time" separated the First and the Second Advents. It originated with the rise of Arianism, and continued until the time of Voltaire the period of the deepest gloom and utmost indifference to religion.

I would ask those who are really in search of the Truth to look impartially at the condition of the civilized world in the middle of the last century, when the Second George sat upon the throne of Britain. It is true, Science had commenced her brilliant career. Copernicus, Galileo, Bacon, Newton, Harvey, Locke, and others had bearded the lion in his den, and struck a terrific blow at the arrogance of the Romish Church. But examine the moral and religious phases of society.

Those who have the means, and do not shrink from the labour, may consult the contemporary literature of Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and England descriptive of the period just mentioned, on which some gifted author might produce a work which the world would "not willingly let die." The chief difficulty is to deal with the enormous mass of evidence that presents itself on the subject. If any one doubts, perhaps the doubt may be removed by consulting the authorities referred to in any standard cyclopædia, under the various heads of historical, economic, political, moral, religious, philosophical, and social literature. Where opportunities forbid this research, a less toilsome, and by no means uninteresting, labour may be advised. To those who find pleasure in our noblest poetry, I would recommend a careful reading of "The Task," the most thoughtful production of a pen whose severe accuracy in facts no one can question. The descriptions, truly picturesque, are almost confined to our own country, which, in this respect, fairly represents the European world. Bespeaking our patriotism with the noble sentiment—

"England, with all thy faults, I love thee still,"

the poet proceeds to sketch many of the ugly blots which marred all the blessings of his country; and there is hardly a nook of society into which he has not given us a glimpse.

The "pulpit" claims his first and most severe animadversions, carrying out the sentiment previously expressed in another poem

"Tis in the Church the leprosy begins."

He then presents the contrast of "a preacher such as Paul" with a character which seems to have frequently called forth his "perfect