God, "from whom, and by whom, and for whom are all things;" who created the world, and adorned and beautified it; who covered it with verdure, made it fruitful, fills it with its various products, and sustains it for the service of man. It is a great thing to have this public recognition of the Most High made, as it were, every hour of every day, from the very centre of all mundane and secular activities; it is a stirring recollection, that that very building, thought by many to be the temple of Mammon, should stand forth as a preacher and teacher on behalf of God; and, still more so, that its English voice should be distinctly heard above the din and discord of its many languages, perpetually proclaiming to its busy multitudes, and the busy multitudes of the whole city, what, if practically pondered, would cool avarice, prevent fraud, moderate ambition, inspire truth, dictate justice, make every man feel as a brother to his fellow, and all nations, ranks, and conditions of men, as the members of one vast and undivided confraternity.

It is interesting to think that the same illustrious Prince who suggested the inscription for the Royal Exchange, originated the idea of the Exhibition of the industry of all nations. It is to the honour of England, that the first time the whole world so to speak, comes together for a peaceful purpose, the meeting takes place in the British metropolis; and it is to the honour of England's Queen, not only that he should have been the father of this thought, but that by a previous one he should have attempted, as it were, to sanctify industry, and trade, and commerce, and manufactures, by an open recognition of the providence of God as the source of them all. It is worth living for, to be, first, the occasion of a great central commercial edifice, in one of the greatest cities of the world, bearing on its front the record of the central truth of religion; and then, secondly, to be the cause of the congregating together, in that city, of men of all lands and of all languages, to look, among other things, upon that edifice, and to observe the truth which the people it represents have there publicly enthroned!

At the opening of the Palace on the first of May, every body seemed bright; goodhumoured; happy; willing to please and be pleased! It was as if all the world had met to celebrate the arrival or reign of universal concord. The Palace of Industry was the Temple of Peace. There were some military uniforms, and a few soldiers here and there, but no one thought of

fighting! It was not a battle,—it was not even a review. It was not War when merely making a holiday; showing himself off in his fine clothes to a gaping multitude, and startling or amusing them by his gigantic sport. A little boy-a child of some five or six years old-while we were all waiting for the coming of the Queen, got away from his mother. or sister, ran into the midst of the central crowd of dignitaries and diplomatists, walked up the steps of the platform on which was the chair of state, turned round, and stood looking about happy and delighted, and then went back again to the cover of the wing from which he had escaped! The whole thing showed such a sense of security,—such a feeling in the boy that there was nothing to frighten him or to hurt him here, that he appeared like an impersonation of the spirit of the place. He could not have done or felt as he did in any assembly of thirty thousand people that ever met in the world before within the same walls. Such assemblages there have been, and larger, but they met for purposes of cruelty and blood,-to see men fight with beasts or with each other. In the Crystal Palace is mirrored, we trust, the dawn at least of the predicted day, "when the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; AND A LITTLE

CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM."

Then there was to be seen for some time in apparently friendly conversation, the Iron Duke and the Lancashire cottonspinner;-Wellington and Cobden;-the man of war and the apostle of peace! It was a suggestive sight. The old soldier did a great and necessary work in his day. By his decisive stroke at the battle of Waterloo, he terminated the protracted contentions of Europe, and gave to us, as a nation, a peace that has continned for thirty-five years.

The spectacle partook of the the tender, the beautiful, and the domestic even, as well as the sublime. Into it, the Queen and her illustrious Consort came, each leading by the hand one of their children! Up and down, through and amongst that mass of people, they moved together in the same manner. Pomp and state were in some degree laid aside, and the sovereign, for the time, seemed to have become one with the people. She was reecived with affection, as well as loyalty; and appeared to enjoy and to acknowledge her reception, not so much as a crowned Queen, as a happy woman, an elated wife, and a loving

mother! It must have been the most wonderful hour in the whole life of Prince Albert, that hour of the opening of the Exhibition!-intense must have been the feelings with which he looked on the realization of his great idea; the end of so much anxiety; the commencement of the harvest of so much hope! Everything was propitious. The sun in the heavens shone down upon the scene with unwonted brightness, as if He who "sits in the centre" thereof, approved the undertaking and blessed it from on high. There was not an accident of any sort,-nothing for one moment to excite alarm, to produce panic, or occasion apprehension in the mind of the assembly. In spite of the tens of thousands that filled it, in no part of the edifice was there crack or strain, the indication of weakness, or any sign of insecurity. The outdoor crowds, instead of being

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disposed to rudeness or riot, or capable of being excited to tumult and rebellion (!), would seem to have been more than usually pacific; a sort of restraint appears to have been upon the worst even of those who congregate on such occasions; for, on the following day, there were no cases of either quarrels or robberies such as ordinarily attend state pageants and civic processions. The royal Patrons of peace and industry retired from the scene in which they had developed a new phase of royalty, and read a new lesson to kings, amid the benedictions and prayers of the multitude with whom they had met and mingled. They could not but retire happy and glad; grateful to God for what they had witnessed, and what they had done: and, in the fulness of their emotions of devout thankfulness, like David, perhaps, "returned home to bless their household."

HOW INFANTS ARE SAVED.

INFANTS have never done evil, and yet they die. They are treated as Adam merited to be treated. Though guiltless in themselves, they sinned in their great public head. Adam acted, not personally, but for his whole posterity. His was a probation, not of private virtue, but of the virtue of his species. Whatever he did had the same effect upon the divine law, and bore the same relation to the divine government, as if done by all his offspring. His fall was not the fall of Adam, but the fall of man. "In him all die, for in him all have sinned," infants as well as adults,-persons who never come to years of understanding, as well as persons who live to hoary hairs, and in much iniquity. But" as the offence was, so is the free gift." Just as death was entailed by the guilt of Adam, so is life conferred by the obedience of Christ. Infants never did evil, and yet they die : they also never did good, and yet they are saved. Condemnation comes upon them none otherwise from Adam, than justification comes upon them from Christ. Their bodies return to dust, merely because the former violated God's law; and their souls are carried to glory, merely because the latter "magnified the law and made it honourable." Explain to us the system of things in virtue of which they are mortal, and you at the same time explain the system of things

"Adam

in virtue of which they are saved. was the figure of him that was to come." He was the public head of his posterity, just as Christ is the public head of the redeemed. Our Lord, like our first father, acted not personally, but as a representative. Whatever he did had the same effect upon the divine law, and bore the same relation to the dvine government, as if done by all persons who shall eventually be saved. Infants, passing into heaven, are treated simply as he merited to be treated. They first "sinned in Adam," and became mortal; and they next were crucified with Christ," and are in consequence "raised up with him," and made to "sit together with him in the heavenly places."

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Now our Lord declares; "Except ye receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child, ye shall in no case enter therein." We must be saved as infants are, or not saved at all. The method of deliverance is the same for us as for them. Christ is "head over all things" for every member of his body,-for all the portions of his church, and all the subjects of his kingdom. We differ from infants in our condition, chiefly by adding personal sins; and we must differ from them, in the mode of our deliverance, chiefly by adding active faith-that faith which "works by love, purifies the heart, and overcomes the world." Their and our grounds of safety are the same; their treatment and ours, on the part of God, consists

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alike in imputing the merits of the Saviour. We receive salvation in the same sovereign, or rather representative, and entailed manner, in which we have received mortality. We owe our mortal condition all to Adam; and we must owe pardon, heavenly influence, and eternal glory, all to Christ. "Neither is their salvation in any other; for their is none other name under heaven, given amongst men, whereby we must be saved." But he in no wise casts out the meanest or the guiltiest who trusts him. "It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners."

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UPRIGHT DISCIPLINE.

A MOTHER was once trying to persuade her little son to take some medicine. The medicine was very unpalatable, and she, to induce him to take it, declared it did not taste bad. He did not believe her. He knew by sad experience, that her word was not to be trusted. A gentleman and friend who was present, took the spoon and said, James, this is medicine, and it tastes very ill. I should not like to take it, but I would if necessary. You have courage enough to swallow something_which does not taste good?" "Yes," said James, looking a little less sulky, "but this is very bad indeed." "I know it," said the gentleman, "I presume you never tasted any thing much worse.' The gentleman then tasted of the medicine himself, and said, "It is really very unpleasant. But now let us

see if you have not resolution enough to take it, bad as it is." The boy hesitatingly took the spoon. "It is, really, very bad," said the gentleman, "but the best way is to summon all your resolution, and down with it at once, like a man." James made, in reality, a great effort for a child, and swallowed the dose. And whom will this child most respect, his mother who deceived him, or the honest dealing stranger? And whom will he hereafter most readily believe? We cannot deceive our children without seriously injuring them, and destroying our own influence. Frank and open dealing is the only safe policy in family government, as well as on the wider theatre of life.

ONLY ME.

A LADY had two children, both girls. The elder was a fair child, the younger a beauty, and the mother's pet. Her whole love centered in it. The elder was neglected. while 'sweet' (the pet name of the younger) received every attention that affection could bestow. One day, after a severe illness, the mother was sitting in the parlour, when she heard a childish step upon the stairs, and her thoughts were instantly with the favourite. 'Is that you, sweet ?' she inquired. No, mamma,' was the sad touching reply, 'it isn't sweet; it's only me.' The mother's heart smote her; and from that hour only me' was restored to a place in her affections.

THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT,

AND THE INTELLECTUAL ADVANCEMENT OF THE PEOPLE.

No well-wisher of his fellow creatures can look without feelings of grateful emotion, upon the wide spreading advancement of the temperance cause. Even if he does not thoroughly coincide with all that is put forward by the advocates of the total abstinence principle, he cannot observe the immense benefits which its adoption has brought into the homes and hearts of multitudes, without experiencing the conviction, that it is, indeed, one of the great agencies which providence is employing

in the great work of the moral elevation of the people. To those, who have noted its first entrance and reception into localities which have, hitherto, been the abodes of sottish extravagance and midnight revellings,-accompanied as they invariably are, with squalid poverty and loathsome wretchedness; its advent, reminds one, of the fairy tales over which our childhood delighted to linger. The sweet legends of benevolent spirits and of unseen agencies, rise before us; and we, unconsciously, compare this great movement to some good genius, following whose footsteps, the greenest verdure and the gayest flowers spring up, where all before had been

sterile barrenness and ruinous desolation. To how many homes has it not come as a guardian angel,-a beneficent benefactor, causing the fair fruits of domestic peace, love and harmony, to smile around, where all before, had been sullen misery and brooding discontent, or utter destitution. May he not justly rejoice in the immediate, the great advantages, which are its invariable accompaniments. But, though there is enough here to secure the sympathies, and to earn the assistance of every benevolent heart, there are other results which the temperance movement cannot fail to have upon our social condition, which, though perhaps, somewhat more remote, are certainly not of less importance. It is intimately connected with the intellectual improvement of our nature. Intellectual culture is one of the demands and requirements of that nature,-" For the soul to be without knowledge is not good;" and only when the head is clear, the mind free, and the faculties braced, can that culture be profitably pursued. By the general consent of the most eminent authorities, the intellectual faculties are clearer, more cogent, and most vigorous, when entirely free from the stimulous of intoxicating liquors. Let the members of all our temperance societies remember, that it is an imperative duty they owe to themselves, to those around them, and to their God; to cultivate, to cherish, the high and noble faculties with which they are endowed. Instead of the degrading sensual indulgences of the tap room and the gin vaults, let them as they leave for a while behind them their daily toil, possibly, with aching limbs, but with unclouded brains and vigorous minds, turn aside for a while, into the fair fields of our abundant literature. Who is there that will not rise elevated, refreshed and streng thened, from commuing awhile with the solemn strains, or the joyous utterances of heaven-born poetry, or from poring over the deep mysteries of calm philosophy, the marvels of nature deep hid in the eternal hills, buried amid the fossil remains of bygone ages, or wide spread above, around, and beneath us; or from the daily increasing wonders which the perseverance, ingenuity, and industry of man, are continually revealing to us in the arts and sciences. Who is there so lost to the enjoyments of harmony, that shall not feel his soul thrill with the inspired tones of music, as they float along, carrying with them the rapt soul; and, while listening to nature's melodies poured forth by warbling songsters in the leafy grove or by the cool shade of the murmuring stream,

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or to the lofty pealing of the swelling anthem the grand chimes-or the sweet song from the masterpieces of Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and other sweet singers, whom it would be vain to attempt to number, has not oft experienced that it were not too wild a stretch of the imagination to suppose, that the celestial songsters for a while descended to earth, and touched mortal lips with a portion of their heavenly fire.

The pages of history invite our earnest attention. In how brief a space of time, may we mark the rise and fall of empires, note the progress of arts and civilization in them, then, the gradual inroads of luxury and extravagance, which have undermined their vigour, and finally hastened their decay. They warn us of the transitory nature of mere earthly greatnessfame-or renown-and teach us that the true hero is he, who, obtaining first, the mastery over himself, goes forth into the world as the champion of the oppressed, the supporter of the right, and the emancipation of the enslaved. With such lofty themes before us, brethren, let us awake, arouse ourselves, shake off the shackles of apathy and indolence-let our motto be"Excelsior." Higher and yet higher let our earnest aspirations be fixed; and regarding all these things, so valuable in themselves, as but stepping stones to others yet more lofty, may we strive to free our souls from the grovelling littlenesses of life, and dedicate our lives to highest, holiest ends. With minds strengthened by temperance, expanded and exalted by intellectual culture, we shall find new beauties in nature, fresh and increasing glories in the contemplation of every new manifestation of Divine wisdom, power, and beneficence. The setting sun shall smile upon us with a brighter glory, leading our thoughts above; the moon shall shine with a more refined and chastened light, and the language of the stars in their mysterious courses shall tell with a new influence upon us. The glad voices of nature's choristers shall to our quickened ears speak forth their Maker's praise, while our hearts overflow with admiration to the mighty Creator and Sustainer of the whole. Cheered and supported by the remembrance of our relationship to the universal Father, our souls shall glow with a new love, our homes shall witness us with calmed brows and chastened spirits, while peace and harmony shall once again dwell on the soil from which they had long ago fled.

Nottingham.

T. G.

JOHN BUNYAN.

JOHN BUNYAN wandered for several years, as a tinker, in Bedfordshire, his native county; and, during most of these years, he was a ringleader in wickedness, and in every description of riotous excess. His stock of education consisted simply in ability to read and write, and was incompetent to operate as any check to his depravity. His natural conscience sometimes, indeed, placed a momentary arrest upon his career, and filled him with alarm; but it was uniformly resisted, and was so often placed under the mastery of his passions, that, if grace had not interfered, it might soon have become 'seared as with a red-hot iron.' He was frightened in a de.. gree from extreme sin, by three successive narrow escapes from death. Twice he was nearly drowned, and once he asked a comrade to take his place for a few minutes as a sentinel, when the latter, immediately after complying was shot through the head with a musket ball. These events made impressions on his mind which rendered him thoughtful, and tended to deter him from many vices. He eventually became married to a religiously disposed woman. His partner and he were so poor that, when they went together, they had not so much household stuff as a dish or a spoon. she brought, as her dowry, two pious books, and a sincere and firm regard to the claims of religion; and, by inducing her husband to read her two little volumes, and frequently expatiating to him on the religious life and religious happiness of her father, she soon incited him to serious reflection. While in this condition, Bunyan was one day travelling, in the course of his trade, through Bedford, and overheard a group of women conversing on the things of God. He stopped and listened to their conversation. They talked of the influence of the Holy Spirit, and of the nature and necessity of the new birth. These were new subjects to Bunyan; and they were most opportune to his state of mind. He felt deeply affected by what he heard, and strongly convinced that he was as yet ignorant respecing the very rudiments of true religion. Introducing himself to the acquaintance of his providential instructors, he frequently engaged with them in amiable discussions, and readily received whatever light on divine truth their knowledge and experience

But

enabled them to communicate. He speedily became a totally changed man. His sentiments, his dispositions, his condition of heart, and his entire outward conduct, underwent a complete renovation. He now 'rejoiced in Christ Jesus, worshipped God in the spirit, and had no confidence in the flesh.' He sought and obtained peace with God through the merits of the Redeemer's sacrifice; and he, at the same time, adopted the prayer of David, 'Create in me, () Lord, a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.' He, in one word, understood and believed how 'grace reigns, through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.' See how God 'leads the blind by a way they knew not, and in paths which they had not trod!' See, also, what 'weak and despised things of this world' he employs to fashion a prime instrument of showing forth his glory! No man of his age rose to higher usefulness, or became a more attractive in England than John Bunyan; yet none of his brother ministers had a humbler origin, or possessed, in early manhood, a character so far removed from what he eventually acquired. Let who may attend to the instructions afforded by the events of God's providence, and by the humble fearers of his name; and, through the heavenly grace, they shall follow on to know the Lord.'

A VENERABLE BISHOP.

A venerable bishop of Worcester, during his preaching, had observed a poor man remarkably attentive, and made him some little presents. After a while he missed his humble auditor, and meeting him, said, "John, how is it that I do not see you in the aisle, as usual?" John with some hesitation, replied, "My lord, I hope you will not be offended, and I will tell you the truth. I went the other day to hear the methodists, and I understood their plain words so much better, that I have attended them ever since." The bishop put his hand into his pocket, and gave him a guinea, with words to this effect-"God bless you, and go where you can receive the greatest profiit to your soul."

Printed by JOHN KENNEDY, at his Printing Office, 35, Portman Place, Maida Hill, in the County of Middlesex, London.-August, 1851.