everlasting Gospel to the people of that heathen and degraded realm. It reaches its destination; and, taking his life in his hand, the missionary enters upon the work to which he has devoted himself. He makes known to the blinded idolaters, among whom he has come, the true character of God; he tells them of the way of acceptance through a crucified Redeemer; he speaks of that change of nature which all must undergo before they can "see the kingdom of God;" and, sowing the precious seed in tears, and watering it with many prayers, he waits for the blessing. This is a peacemaker. The tendency of his labours is to change the dark places of the earth into abodes of purity and love. Such peacemakers were the Moravians in the icy wastes of Greenland; Brainerd among the savage aboriginal tribes of North America; Williams in the islands of the Southern Ocean; Vanderkemp and Campbell and Philip on the burning plains of Africa; Morrison in China; Thomas and Carey (and, in the present day, our own Duff and his coadjutors) in India. "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God."

We have an example of a peacemaker of the highest order in the great apostle of the Gentiles. "I have therefore," he writes to the Romans, "whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. For I will not speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ. Yea, so have I strived to preach, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: but as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you. But now hav

ing no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company." This striking passage sets before us, not one of the world's heroes, who has scattered his enemies on the blood-stained field of battle, and brought kingdoms under forced subjection to his rule, and who, in the intoxication of success, is contemplating further conquests of a like deadly and destructive kind,—but a hero crowned with victories won in the propagation of the Gospel, and looking forward, with a grand and sanctified ambition, (how different from the earthly principle which bears that name!) to additional and still higher achievements in the same cause. In Damascus, in Arabia, in Judea, in Antioch, in most of the provinces of Asia Minor, in Macedonia up to the very borders of Illyricum, in Athens, in Corinth, he has successfully fought the battles of the cross. But far from being satisfied with what he has accomplished (or rather, to use his own mode of expression, with what Christ has done by him), he is revolving schemes of wider reach, enterprises of vaster magnitude, than any he has yet undertaken. He eyes afar the capitol of the world, imperial Rome. Nor do his views stop even there. Rome shall be but a stage in his evangelistic progress. Spain, the western limit of the then-discovered globe, must hear the message of divine love! Search now the roll of those warriors," demi-gods of fame," with whose deeds the page of history is full, and say to which of the number, considering only the question of greatness of soul,—will you assign a higher place than to Paul the peacemaker?

But our attention need not be confined to extraordinary cases of ministerial talent or devotedness. When a common preacher of the Gospel labours faithfully among the

people over whom he has been set,—striving to bring unconverted men to Christ,-and urging upon those who have received the Gospel the duty of walking worthy of God, he, in his sphere, is a peacemaker. Should his ministrations be blessed for the conversion of a single sinner, or the edification of one believer, he will have contributed so far to abate contention, and to advance the reign of peace among mankind.

Of course, it is not necessary, in order to be a peacemaker, that one should occupy an official position in the church of Christ. Ministers are formally commissioned to preach the Gospel. They are expressly separated to the work. But every individual should, to the utmost of his ability, act the part of a peacemaker within the sphere of his influence. Philip was a peacemaker, when he sought out his friend Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." The woman of Samaria was a peacemaker, when, after her soul-awakening interview with Jesus, she "went her way into the city, and said to the men, Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did is not this the Christ?" There are few private Christians who cannot do something, and all should feel themselves under obligation to do what they can for diffusing the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. Parents in particular, I may observe, should watch for the souls of their children, "as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief." They will thus be peacemakers, in the best sense, within their several domestic circles. A mother carefully trains up the babe whom God has given her,—bearing it often on her spirit at a throne of grace,— seeking, as affection and gratitude and a sense of responsibility unite in calling her to do, to incline it from its earliest years to the service of its Maker. She seizes every

opportunity, as its mind develops, to make it acquainted with the things that concern its eternal welfare, and to win it to Christ, adding the example of a pious life to her prayers and instructions. God blesses her efforts: and the son, over whom she has watched, and wept, and prayed, grows up to be an ornament to society, an honoured and consistent member of the church, perhaps an instrument of saving benefit to thousands of his fellow-men. Is not such a mother a peacemaker? But for her, the history of that child's life might have been a tale of strife, and confusion, and every evil work. Owing to her, it is a record of the exemplification of all that is sweet and amiable. BLESSED IS THE PEACEMAKER; FOR SHE SHALL BE CALLED A CHILD OF GOD.

II.

THE LOVE OF THE BRETHREN.

"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren."-1 JOHN iii. 14.

THE duty of a Christian is, in one sense, to love all mankind, those who are yet unconverted and the enemies of the cross, as well as those with whom he has fellowship in the Gospel. The command is, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;" and our neighbour, as the parable of the good Samaritan shows, is any one to whom we have it in our power to do a kindness, though he may be an utter stranger to us, may belong to a different nation, and may profess a faith diametrically at variance with our own. So wide is the law of love that it includes even those who cherish and display the bitterest hostility towards ourselves. "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good. to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you." But along with a wide affection, embracing many objects within its extensive circle, there may co-exist an affection of narrower range, and proportionally greater intensity. Accordingly, while it is the duty of a Christian to desire the welfare of all his fellow-men, he is required to cherish a special affection towards his fellow-Christians; and this is what Scripture

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