encouragement given to the heir of heaven by the fact that the elder brother has passed through all the dark passages which lead to the promised rest! God had one Son without sin, but he never had a son without chastisement. He who always did his Father's will, yet had to suffer. Courage, my heart, courage! for if Jesus suffered if that pang which tears thy heart, first was felt by him thou mayst be of good cheer indeed.

Better still is the comfort derived from the

grand truth that Jesus is actually present in the daily afflictions of believers. Jesus knocks at my door, and says, "Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards!" I look forth from the window into the cold and dreary night, and I answer him, "The night is black and cheerless. I have put off my coat: how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet: how shall I defile them? I cannot arise and follow thee."

:

But the Beloved is not to be thus refused: he knocks again, and he saith, "Come forth. with me into the fields; let us lodge in the villages there will I give thee my loves." Overcome by his love, I arise, and go with my heavenly Bridegroom. If the rain-drops fall pitilessly upon me, yet it is most sweet to see that his head also is filled with dew, and his locks with the drops of the night. The howling wind tosses his garments as well as mine; his feet tread the same miry places as my own; and all the while he calls me his beloved, his love, his dove, his undefiled, and tells me of the land which lies beyond the darkness, and speaks of the mountains of myrrh and of the beds of spices, the top of Amana, Shenir, and Hermon. My soul is melted while my Beloved speaks, and my heart feels it sweet beyond expression to walk with him; for, lo! while he is near me, the night is lit up with innumerable stars, the sky is aglow with glory, every cloud flames like a seraph's wing, while the pitiless blast is all unable to chill the heart which burns within while he talketh with me

by the way. In after-years we are wont to speak to one another of that dark night and its marvellous brightness; of that cold wind that was so strangely tempered; and we even say to one another, "I would fain pass through a thousand nights in such company; I would be willing to go on a midnight journey evermore with that dearest of friends, for, oh! where he is, night is day; in his presence suffering is joy; when he reveals himself, pains are pleasures, and earth blossoms with flowers of Eden." Thus doth the Well-beloved by his presence make our darkness light.

C. H. SPURgeon.

I AM CHRIST'S, AND CHRIST IS MINE.

Long did I toil, and knew no earthly rest;
Far did I rove, and found no certain home.
At last I sought them in his sheltering breast
Who opes his arms, and bids the weary come.
With him I found a home, a rest divine;
And I since then am his, and he is mine.

Yes he is mine! and nought of earthly things, Not all the charms of pleasure, wealth, or

power,

The fame of heroes, or the pomp of kings,

Could tempt me to forego his love an hour. Go, worthless world, I cry, with all that's thine! Go! I my Saviour's am, and he is mine.

The good I have is from his stores supplied;
The ill is only what he deems the best :
He for my friend, I'm rich with nought beside,

And poor without him, though of all possess'd. Changes may come: I take, or I resign; Content while I am his, while he is mine.

Whate'er may change, in him no change is seen; A glorious Sun, that wanes not nor declines, Above the clouds and storms he walks serene,

And sweetly on his people's darkness shines. All may depart: I fret not nor repine,

While I my Saviour's am, while he is mine.

He stays me falling, lifts me up when down, Reclaims me wandering, guards from every

foe,

Plants on my worthless brow the victor's crown, Which, in return, before his feet I throw,

Grieved that I cannot better grace his shrine
Who deigns to own me his, as he is mine.

While here, alas ! I know but half his love,
But half discern him, and but half adore;
But, when I meet him in the realms above,
I hope to love him better, praise him more,
And feel and tell, amid the choir divine,
How fully I am his, and he is mine.

REV. H. F. LYTE.

TRUSTING BETTER THAN TRYING.

"Come unto me," said Christ, " and I will give you rest.” Every believer in Christ knows how profoundly true these words are. Even the souls who have not yet trusted in him feel their power. Our spirits instinctively confess their relationship to the divine Brother. They turn to him as the magnetic needle turns to its pole; and, when not held away by other forces, they settle to rest in him. He is not only the Consolation of Israel, but the Desire of all nations. He is our peace; and we own the blessed truth, even before we experience its fulness in our souls.