Illustrative Gleanings.

FAITH IN GOD.

MARK Xi. 22.-"Have faith in God."

The Two Rabbis.-A little while after the city of Jerusalem was destroyed, two Jewish Rabbis were walking over the ruins. Both seemed affected at the mournful sight, but one wept, the other smiled. The one who wept was naturally surprised to see his companion smile, and asked him, "How can you smile now, when you see our holy city laid low in ruins ? "Nay," said the Rabbi, "let me rather ask you, Why do you weep P "I weep," answered the first, "because I behold around me the fearful judgments of the Almighty. Our beautiful city is no more, our holy temple is laid waste, our brethren, where are they now ?" "All that," said the other, "is the reason why I smile. I see, like you, how sure God's judgments are; but I can learn how true must be His promises. God hath said, 'I will destroy Jerusalem.' I see He has. But He has also said, 'I

will rebuild Jerusalem.' Shall I not believe His word ? "

LOVE TO GOD.

MARK xii. 30.-" And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."

Cherubim and Seraphim." Father," asked the son of Bishop Berkeley, "what is the meaning of the words cherubim and seraphim, which we met with in the Holy Scriptures ?" "Cherubim," replied his father, "is a Hebrew word, signifying knowledge; seraphim is another word of the same language, and signifies flame. Whence it is supposed that the cherubim are angels who excel in knowledge; and that the seraphim are angels likewise who excel in loving God." "I hope then," said the little boy, "when I die, I shall be a seraph, for I would rather love God than know all things."

ILLUSTRATIVE GLEANINGS.

LOVE TO MAN.

MARK Xii. 31.-"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

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The Bishop and his Neighbours. Bishop Berkeley was so entirely contented with his diocese, that when offered by the Earl of Chesterfield (then Lord Lieutenant) a bishopric much more lucrative than that he possessed, he declined it with these words: “I love my neighbours, and they love me; why then should I begin, in my old days, to form new connections, and tear myself from those friends whose kindness is to me the greatest happiness I enjoy ? Acting in this instance like the celebrated Plutarch, who being asked why he resided in his native city, so obscure and so little, "I stay," said he, "lest it should grow less."

THE FAITH THAT SAVES.

LUKE Xviii. 42.-"Thy faith hath saved thee."

Walking by Faith. The admirable discourse on "Walking by Faith," the first sermon printed by Andrew Fuller, owed its origin to a small matter. It was delivered at an annual meeting of the Northamptonshire Association, at whose request it was printed. Not a word of it was written until after its delivery. On his way to the Association the roads in several places were flooded, arising from recent rains, which had made the rivers overflow. Fuller came to one place where the water was very deep, and he being a stranger to its exact depth, was unwilling to go on. A plain countryman residing in the neighbourhood, better acquainted with the water than the preacher, cried out, "Go on, sir, you are quite safe! Fuller urged on his horse, but the water soon touched the saddle, and he stopped to think. Go on, sir, all is right!" shouted the man. Taking the man at his word, Fuller proceeded; and the text was suggested, "We walk by faith, not by sight."

DELIVERANCE.

GENESIS xiv. 14, 16.—“ And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people."

The Relief of Vienna.-In the year 1683, Vienna, the capital of Austria, was besieged; a great army of Turks, who were

then making war with the nations of Europe, lay before it. When it was known that they were near Vienna, the Emperor of Austria fled from the city, and the poor people in it were left in sad fear and distress. The only person they thought likely to save them was the King of Poland, John Sobieski, and they sent entreating him to come to their help. They knew that he could only come to them over the northern mountains, and day after day they rose early, and watched for the first morning light, in the hope of seeing the Polish army on the mountains. It was anxious waiting, but hope sustained them. The siege began in July: on the 11th of September some weary watchers were looking out from the ramparts to the mountain of Kalimber, when-oh delightful sight!-they saw something bright on the mountain side, and discerned the lances and armour of the brave Poles, marching to the rescue. That very day Sobieski fought a battle, defeated the Turks, and set Vienna free.

ABLE TO SAVE.

HEBREWS Vii. 25.-"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them."

The Slave Girl's Gratitude.-The tears of a slave girl just going to be put up for sale drew the notice of a gentleman as he passed through the auction mart of a Southern slave State. The other slaves of the same group, standing in a line for sale like herself, did not seem to care about it, while each knock of the hammer made her shake. The kind man stopped to ask why she alone wept, and was told that the others were used to such things, and might be glad of a change from the hard, harsh homes they came from, but that she had been brought up with much care by a good owner, and she was terrified to think who might buy her. "Her price?" the stranger asked. He thought a little when he heard the great ransom, but paid it down. Yet no joy came to the poor slave's face when he told her she was free. She had been born a slave, and knew not what freedom meant. Her tears fell fast on the signed parchment, which her deliverer brought to prove it to her. She only looked at him with fear. At last he got ready to go his way, and as he told her what she must do when he was gone, it began to dawn on her what freedom was. With the first breath she said, "I will follow him! I will serve him all my days!" and to every reason against it she only cried, "He redeemed me! He redeemed

me!

He redeemed me!" When strangers used to visit that

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master's house, and noticed, as all did, the loving, constant service of the glad-hearted girl, and asked her why she was so eager with unbidden service night by night and day by day, she had but one answer, and she loved to give it " He redeemed me! He redeemed me! He redeemed me!" "And so," said the servant of Christ, who spent a night on his journey in a Highland glen, and told this story in a meeting where every heart was thrilled, "let it be with you. Serve Jesus as sinners bought back with blood, and when men take notice of the way you serve Him, the joy that is in your looks, the love that is in your tone, the freedom of your service, have one answer to give, He redeemed me!'"

SPECIAL PROVIDENCE.

LEVITICUS XXV. 20-22.—" And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store."

Timely Relief. While the Rev. John Cotton was minister of Boston, intelligence reached that town of the distress of the poor Christians at Sigatea, where a small church existed, the members of which were reduced to great extremity of suffering by persecution. Mr. Cotton immediately began to collect for them, and sent the sum of £700 for their relief. It is remarkable that this relief arrived the very day after they had divided their last portion of meal, without any prospect than that of dying a lingering death, and immediately after their pastor, Mr. White had preached to them from the text, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."

CHRIST'S DIVINITY.

MARK Xii. 36.-" David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit Thou on my right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." Napoleon's Opinion of Jesus.-"I know men," said Napoleon at St. Helena to Count de Montholon-"I know men, and I tell you that Jesus is not a man! The religion of Christ is a mystery, which subsists by its own force, and proceeds from a mind which is not a human mind. We find in it a marked individuality, which originated a train of words and actions unknown before. Jesus is not a philosopher, for His proofs are miracles, and from the first His disciples adored Him. Alexander, Cæsar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but

on what foundation did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love, and

at this hour millions of men would die for Him! I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth, to become food for worms. Such is the fate of him who has been called the Great Napoleon. What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal kingdom of Christ, which is proclaimed, loved, and adored, and is extending over the whole earth!" Turning to General Bertrand, the Emperor added, "If you do not perceive that Jesus Christ is God, I did wrong to appoint you a general."

HYPOCRISY.

MATTHEW Xxiii. 5.—“ All their works they do for to be seen of men."

Defeated Hopes.-" A certain person, who lived in a country town, desired, although he was only a poor man, to make as great a show as his rich neighbours. Accordingly he went on a journey to a distant city, and succeeded, by means of various false representations, in borrowing a little money. As soon as he had it he returned home, determined to produce an impression on his fellow-townsmen. He then dressed his wife and himself in handsome clothes, and bought horses for his children to ride. 'Now,' said he, I shall be respected. People only look at the outside, and doubtless after a time I shall be put into offices of the greatest trust.' But he was deceiving himself, and all his hopes were doomed to disappointment. 'What a show our old neighbour is making!' said the other inhabitants of the town. 'No doubt he has had a legacy left him,' said one. 'Or his wife has come into a fortune,' said another. 'Or it may be his lands have yielded more abundantly this year than last,' said a third. But at length one little old man, who had lived for some time in a distant part of the country, returned to his home in the town; and when he saw the show made by the would-be great man, he told, as a secret which he had learned in some roundabout manner, that he had been borrowing money at a high rate of interest, just to make a display before his neighbours for a little while. Upon this, one of his enemies-for there were many who became jealous of him as soon as he appeared to be in prosperity-wrote and told the person of whom he had obtained the money all the bad things he could collect together. And before long the creditor sent officers to seize his client, who sold his house and all his possessions, and cast him into prison. Thus was he ruined, with the whole of his family, through