unto Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities, and plagues, and of evil spirits, and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering, said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

REFLECTIONS.

The miracles of Jesus were designed to prove that God had sent him, but it was ever his aim to make them also directly conducive to the happiness of mankind. Of this benevolence in the exertion of his wonderful power, the present is an affecting instance. Desolate indeed was the situation of her whom he relieved, the widowed mother, a sufferer already under the dispensation which had deprived her of her husband, and now called to part from her only son, the last prop of her bereaved age. But the Saviour speaks, and while the tears are yet flowing over the bier of her lost one, she sees him restored to life, and presented to her again, with gentle words from her heavenly benefactor. How must she have blest the messenger of God, who thus employed the power given him from above! What tears of grateful joy must she have shed, with her recovered son! We too, like her, have mourned over friends; we too have felt what it is to be desolate on earth: shall not we, at length, like her, find the lost ones restored to us by divine beneficence? How blest will then be the reunion of long divided affections; how rapturous the offering of praise to the Universal Father!

HYMN.

BISHOP HEBER.

Wake not, O mother, sounds of lamentation:
Weep not, O widow, weep not hopelessly!
Strong is his arm, the bringer of salvation,

Strong is the Word of God to succour thee.

Bear forth the cold corse, slowly, slowly, bear him!
Hide his pale features with the sable pall;
Chide not the sad one, wildly weeping near him ;
Widow'd and childless, she hath lost her all.

Why pause the mourners? Who forbids our weeping?
Who the dark pomp of sorrow has delayed?

"Set down the bier. He is not dead, but sleeping;
Young man, arise;" He spake, and was obeyed.

Change, then, O sad one, grief for exultation;
Worship and fall before Messiah's knee!
Strong was his arm, the bringer of Salvation,
Strong was the Word of God to succour thee.

SECTION XXIV.

MIRACULOUS CALM.

MARK IV. 30.

AND he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: but when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the

shadow of it. And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it; but without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship; and there were also with him other ships. And there arose a great storm of wind; and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow; and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

REFLECTIONS.

It is the same being, who wept over the tomb of Lazarus, who took up little children in his arms and blessed them,— who, on the cross, forgot his own agony in the thought of his mother, that now, in the majesty of the Son of God, commands, and "the wind and the sea obey him." If ever a being could be raised above his race, if ever there were one in whom we should look to see no mixture of the softer human feelings, it would be one gifted with such power as Jesus possessed; yet never was there a heart in which every feeling of holy human nature glowed more warmly. How does his perfect character shame the cold philosophy which has been too prevalent, the philosophy of selfishness,

the idea that dignity or happiness can be attained by the destruction of the purer and gentler affections. The religion of Jesus smiles on all that is lovely in human character. At its voice, as at that of the Saviour on the lake of Galilee, the winds and waves of passion sink, and a holy and beautiful calm spreads over the soul beneath its sway.

HYMN.

MRS HEMANS.

Fear was within the tossing bark,
When stormy winds grew loud;
And waves came rolling high and dark,
And the tall mast was bow'd.

And men stood breathless in their dread,
And baffled in their skill-

But One was there, who rose and said
To the wild sea, "Be still!"

And the wind ceas'd:-it ceas'd!-that word
Passed through the gloomy sky;
The troubled billows knew their Lord,
And sank beneath his eye.

And slumber settled on the deep,
And silence on the blast,

As when the righteous falls asleep,
When death's fierce throes are past.

Thou that didst rule the angry hour,
And tame the tempest's mood;
Oh! send thy spirit forth in power,
O'er our dark souls to brood!

Thou that didst bow the billow's pride,
Thy mandates to fulfil;—

Speak, speak to passion's raging tide,“
Speak, and say-" Peace, be still."

*

torment me not.

CURE OF A DEMONIAC.

LUKE VIII. 26.

AND they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, nei-. ther abode in any house, but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man; for oftentimes it had caught him; and he was kept bound with chains, and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion; because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain; and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine; and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked. When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went, and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were