dictions were uttered one and two thousand years before Christ. They are of such a character, too, and relate to such events, that even were he the most crafty impostor that ever lived, he could not possibly bend them to purposes of deception; because their fulfilment was to be brought about by the rage and malice of his enemies, or by circumstances over which he could possibly have no control. And yet history gives us no account of their being fulfilled in any other person but "the man Christ Jesus." In him they were all fulfilled to the very letter, and in so purely accidental and unstudied a manner to human view, without forethought, in the natural course of things, that even his disciples, familiar as they were with them, seem totally unconscious of the fact, until the work was accomplished, and the Saviour had died and rose again. "These things his disciples understood not at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him."

Now what shall we say of these things? How shall we account for them? What shall we think of that prophetic vision which lifts the veil, and looks far forward into the mists and shadows of the future, and describes the miraculous birth, character, labors, sufferings, and death, and all the minute and striking circumstances of an exalted and yet despised personage? Can it be anything less than the special inspiration of the Almighty? Can any eye but that of an Infinite Mind read in the ages to come a chain of events so wonderful and extraordinary, and all in reference to a single individual at a single definite time? Yet it was done by prophet and seer, but no mind can account for the fact, only by admitting that He who giveth to whomsoever he will, inspired their vision. And what shall we think of that individual whose whole life, from his birth to the cross, was but a continued fulfilment of these things? Can he be an impostor? Is there anything in his whole life that justifies the least suspicion of imposition and fraud. No; the keenest scrutiny will gaze in vain to detect the least thing of the kind. Wonderful as were the prophecies, and miraculous as was their fulfilment,-impossible as the whole may appear, yet the wisdom and power of an Infinite Mind accounts for them all to the satisfaction of enlightened reason. But you suppose Christ an impostor, and all prophecy were dreams of the imagination, and you suppose a miracle more astounding and incomprehensible than any that Revelation claims, and for which there is nothing in the universe to ac

count. The concatenation of predictions and circumstances centering in, and clustering around, Christ, to my mind, clearly demonstrate him as a special messenger of God to reveal his will and purpose to the world.

THE PENITENT.

BY REV. HOSEA BALLOU.

WHEN all my follies I survey,
Which lie along the crooked way
My wayward feet have trod ;
Most serious thoughts within me rise,
And tears of grief gush from my eyes;
My thoughts return to God.

And from his presence would I hide,`
Too weak his presence to abide,

Or stand before his face.

But whither shall I flee, that I
May hide from the All-seeing eye?
Where find the unknown place?

No heights above, nor depths below,
The hidden, secret place can show,
Where God does not reside.

No, had I strength of wings to fly,
And pass the distant planets by,
He would my flight deride.

Yea, had I years to spend in flight,
Nor pause by day, nor rest by night,
And oft my strength renew;
When ages thus had passed away,
To my confusion and dismay,
I'm present in his view.

Now fears distract my troubled breast,
Beneath accusing conscience prest,

Nor can I guilt conceal.

What more remains for me to do?
May I for pard'ning mercy sue?
For me can mercy feel?

Prostrate, a penitent, I lie,
And fervently for pardon cry,
To him who can forgive.

And now I see his gracious face,
Radiant with love and full of grace;
I see, believe, and live!

How lost, beguiled, and blind, was I,
From such a gracious Friend to fly,
And leave a fount of grace;

Leave him in whom I live and move,
And from my God and Father rove,
Nor see his smiling face!

Could such vain purposes succeed,
And sinful man from Him be freed
Who fills immensity,

Lost and forlorn must be his fate,-
Unblest and dark remain his state
To all eternity.

Let sinners hear the voice divine;
In humble penitence resign
Their hearts to him alone,
Whose mercy like a river flows;
Whose goodness great no limit knows,
Eternal as his throne.

Then walk in wisdom's pleasant way,
Her precepts love, and each obey
With a determined will;
And, trusting in the power divine,
In ev'ry Christian virtue shine,
The law of love fulfil.

HINDRANCES TO RELIGIOUS CULTURE.

BY REV. J. G. ADAMS.

"Other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful."-MARK iv, 19.

AND what are some of the hindrances in the way of our spiritual culture? The first of these which we will mention is named in language preceding that just quoted.

1.

"THE CARES OF THIS WORLD AND THE DECEITfulness OF RICHES.

The first-mentioned evil seems to be found everywhere. I call it an evil so far as it is suffered to interfere with Christianity. Care,-worldly care, cometh to all who realize in any degree the responsibilities of life. To provide for his own household is a Christian demand of every man. He must meet this demand, or be recreant to the high trust im

posed on him. The evil to which I allude is that of suffering our worldly cares so to engross our thought, our time, our life, as to shut out the great idea of moral progress, check the upward aspirations of the spirit, and bring all the desires and pursuits into the narrow range of mere present earthly justification. Against this very evil Jesus aimed his instructions, when discoursing to those around him in that inimitable sermon on the Mount. "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. That is, be not over anxious about these affairs. So far as they belong to duty, attend to them; but see that they engross not your main attention. Trust in God,―serve him, follow after him. Seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. "Therefore (for the admonition is repeated) take no (anxious) thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye_shall drink; nor yet for your body what ye shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body more than raiment ?" Look higher than mere sensual enjoyment. Seek to glorify God in body and in spirit, which are his.

Notwithstanding our Christian light, however, this habitual delving goes on. How shall we live? is still the main, the most anxious inquiry. How shall we live in body? not how shall we live in spirit? The Christian command is reversed. Temporal concerns first; the kingdom of God afterwards. All thoughts, meditations, anxieties for the outward; but few or none for the inner man. Morning and evening, and all hours, even to those in the night watches, are given to the cares of this world. Under the weight of these toil body and mind. For the upward aspiration, the culture and growth of the soul, the watching, the praying, the subduing of evil passions, and the strife to follow after that which is spiritual, and pure, and godlike, there is no time, no time! The hours fly,-the days, months, and years pass, the same round of toil is seen, the same stature of a moral being is preserved. No high attainments, no rich and profitable experiences, no enlargement of vision, no increase of faith, and hope, and love! Is this life? It

may be, but it is not the life of the Christian.

Does the toiling man reply, that he must thus labor and strive; that the cares of the world press so heavily upon him that he is compelled to yield to their importunities, even at the hazard of omitting the claims of his spiritual life?

This is not good reasoning; it will not stand in the light

of Christian precept. The law of Christ requires no departure from strict duty. This we say to him who comes with the excuse just rendered. What if thou art compelled to toil hard with thy hands,-early and late to strive in all diligence with the calls of temporal life upon thee?-considered apart from God and his special requirements of thee? Is it an excuse to forget God, that thou art not to neglect thy family? Be not deceived. If the truth of heaven is permitted to speak, it will tell thee that all the duties and callings of life are full of the means of religious instruction. The wisdom of the highest may be heard, and its influence bless in the long hours of labor and anxiety for thyself and those dear unto thee. That wisdom directs us to be "not slothful in business," but yet "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Toil not, therefore, for worldly comforts and enjoyments alone. Seek the spirit's instruction. Let life, with all its cares, prove a good and profitable school to it; a school that shall make thee wiser and wiser every day and hour thou art called to learn therein. So shalt thou find life indeed, and obtain favor of the Lord.

"And the deceitfulness of riches." Here is another cause of spiritual blight and dwarfishness,-another hindrance in the way of religious culture and discipline. By the deceitfulness of riches here, I mean that absorbing desire for money which so universally pervades this age and land. Gain, wealth, these have been, these are, the great watchwords of our night, the mottos of our day. Those behind look to those onward in this feverish rush, and struggle hard to reach the places which they have gained. Go where we will, this spirit is encountered. It is in the city and country, with the farmer, mechanic, merchant, and seaman, in our courts of justice and halls of legislation. It is in Christian life, and enters the pulpit, and the vestry-room, and the parish meeting, whispering of outlays, and expenditures, and income, and style. There are prayers, exhortations, sermons, hymns, religious exercises, all uttered more in the spirit of Mammon than in the spirit of God. Christians, those who shall keep that which is spiritual elevated above that which is merely temporal, too often have their eyes so intensely on worldly gain,-the gain of dollars and cents, houses, lands, and other possessions, that it is almost impossible for them to look into their own hearts. They have no time for this. Religion, of course, must have its place among other affairs. And this is about all. A very small place is allowed it. A few minutes,-half an hour or an hour, it may be, in the day, and this time, perhaps, the