evidences of Christianity, which, though they make the truth of revealed religion in the highest degree probable, still do not amount to mathematical certainty, he submitted the teachings of Christianity to his own inward nature, and found there a prompt response, whose verdict he could no more doubt than he could his own existence. A book so infinitely superior as is the Bible to every other, in its adaption to the wants of the soul, to the tempted, the heart-broken, the dying, to universal humanity in all its conflicts, sins, and woes, carried its own evidence of Divine origin.

A PROFITABLE MISTAKE. ONE day, as Felix Neff was walk. ing in Lausanne, he saw at a distance before him a man whom he took for one of his friends. He made up to him, tapped him on the shoulder, and before looking him in the face, asked him,-"How does your soul prosper, my friend ?"

The stranger immediately turned round and looked at him in surprise. Neff perceived his mistake, apologised, and went his way. About three or four years afterward a person came to Neff, and introducing himself, said he was indebted to him for his inestimable kindness. Neff did not recognise the man, and begged that he would explain himself. The stranger replied,——

"Have you forgotten a certain person whose shoulder you once touched in one of the streets of Lausanne, and whom you asked, 'How does your soul prosper?' It Was I. Your inquiry led me to serious reflection, and now I find it is well with my soul.".

"Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living."-JOB xxx. 29, 30.

THE MOTHER'S INFLUENCE. A MOTHER, on the green hills of Vermont, stood at her garden gate,

holding by her right hand a son of sixteen years old, mad with love of the sea.

“Edward,” said she," they tell me that the great temptation of the seaman's life is drink. Promise me, before you quit your mother's hand, that you will never drink."

Said be-for he told me the story-"I gave her the promise. I went the broad globe over-Calcutta, the Mediterranean, San Francisco, the Cape of Good Hope -and during forty years, whenever I saw a glass filled with the sparkling liquor, my mother's form by the garden gate, on the hill-side of Vermont, rose up before me ; and to-day, at sixty, my lips are innocent of the taste of liquor."

Was not that sweet evidence of the power of a single word ? And yet it was but half; " for," said he, "yesterday there came into my counting-room a man of forty, and asked me: 'Do you know me?' 'No,' said I. I was brought once,' said he to my informant, drunk, into your presence, on shipboard. You were a passenger; the captain kicked me aside; you took me into your berth, kept me there until I slept off my intoxication, and then you asked me if I had a mother. I said, Never, that I knew of; I never heard a mother's voice. You told me of yours, at the garden gate; and to-day, twenty years later, I am master of one of the finest packets in New York, and I came to ask you to come and see me.'

How far back that little candle throws its beam-the mother's word on the green hill-side of Vermont! God be thanked for the mighty power of a single word!

TRANSFORMING POWER.

If you have a fire, cast wood and straw upon it, and it will cause them to burst forth into a flame. Let the fire be furnace heated, then cast stones into it, it will break and dissolve them. Submit to its heat

gold or silver, it will purge away their dross. Cast iron into it, and it will soon transform the metal into its own likeness, a mass of molten fire. Even so with the Spirit. To Him bring your worthless soul to receive revelations and discoveries of the love of God, and the grace and goodness of Jesus; and the Spirit, in taking of the things of Christ, and showing them to you, will fire your whole soul with the flames of gratitude and love. Submit your stony heart to His operation, and He will break it into pieces with the hammer of the word, and melt it into prayers of penitential return. Carry your corruptions to Him to be subdued, and He will purify your soul from sin and from dead works, to serve the living God. Let Him exert His full power upon you, and He will make you like unto himself, pure as He is pure, and you shall be changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

THE OUTSIDE PASSENGER.

SOME years ago, a young lady who was going into a northern county in England took a seat in a stagecoach. For many miles she rode alone ; but there was enough to amuse her in the scenery through which she passed, and in the pleasing anticipations that occupied her mind. She had been engaged as governess for the grandchildren of an earl, and was now travelling to his seat. At mid-day the coach stopped at an inn, at which dinner was provided, and she alighted and sat down at the table. An elderly man followed, and sat down also. The young lady arose, rang the bell, and addressing the waiter, said,-" "There is an outside pas

senger! I cannot dine with an outside passenger!" The stranger bowed, saying,-"I beg your par don, madam! I can go into another room," and immediately retired. The coach soon afterwards resumed its course, and the pas sengers their places. At length the coach stopped at the gate leading to the castle to which the young lady was going; but there was not such prompt attention as she expected. All eyes seemed directed to the outside passenger, who was preparing to dismount. She beckoned, and was answered,"As soon as we have attended to his lordship we will come to you."

A few words of explanation ensued, and to her dismay she found that the outside passenger, with whom she had thought it beneath her to dine, was not only a nobleman, but that very nobleman of whose family she hoped to be an inmate. What could she do? How could she bear the interview? She felt very ill, and the apology sent for her not appearing that evening was more than pretence.

The venerable peer was a considerate man, and one who knew the way in which the Scripture often speaks of the going down of the sun. "We must not let the night thus pass," said he to the countess. "You must send for her, and we must talk to her before bed. time." He reasoned with the foolish girl respecting her conduct, insisted on the impropriety of the state of mind it evinced, assured her that nothing could induce him to allow his grandchildren taught such notions, refused to accept any apology that did not go the length of acknowledging that the thought was wrong, and when the right impression appeared to be produced, gave her his hand. That man was a nobleman.

be

bours in the cause of God, as a teacher and conductor in their school. After tea, the chair was occupied by Mr. Swallow, who, after speaking of the beneficial influence exercised upon the nation by Sabbath-schools, referred to Mr. Thackray's lengthened connection with them, and spoke highly of his efforts as a Christian labourer. Mr. J. A. Whyatt then read an address, and presented the testimonial, which con. sisted of a handsome silver cup, bearing the following inscription :-"Presented to Mr. Matthew Thackray, by the officers, teachers, and elder scholars of Lever Street Chapel Sunday-school, 25th July, 1864." Mr. Thackray, on rising to reply, was much applauded. He said he felt too much affected to speak to them as he ought. He thanked them sincerely for their valuable gift, and also for the many expressions of good-will contained in the address. He had been connected with the school, in which they had all so deep an interest, for a period of fifty-five years; and from the time that he became a teacher in it until that hour he had been actively employed in rolling away the stones of ignorance and vice, and he trusted he should continue his labours so long as God spared him in the world. He was anxious to impress the importance of religion upon the minds of all present, and though he might never probably see them all again in this world, he trusted they should all meet where "the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest."

The meeting was afterwards addressed by the Revs. J. Garside and J. Per cival, Messrs. Taylor, Coppock, and Burgess, and the proceedings (which were interesting and profitable throughout) terminated with a vote of thanks to Mr. F. C. Crawford, secretary to the Testimonial Committee.

REDRUTH.

ON Wednesday, the 6th inst., the largest train that ever left this town started at 9 o'clook, on a pleasure trip for Penzance, including the scholars, teachers, parents of the children, and the friends of the neighbourhood who availed themselves of the favourable opportunity of a day's enjoyment. It was very interesting, on such a beautiful morning, to witness so many chil

dren and teachers, numbering nearly one thousand, marching from the chapel to the station-dressed in holiday clothes, with smiling faces, headed by the Rifle band, and their banners floatin the breeze-where they met with about a thousand more. Arrangements had been previously made to spend a day on the beautiful grounds of Kenegie, the residence of Mr. William Coulson, who had kindly offered them for the occasion. On the arrival of the train at Penzance, the procession was formed, and the principal streets visited, calling forth the commendations of its inhabitants, on Sunday-school organiza. tion, which, to a very great extent, is the hope of the Church. They then proceeded through the garden and grounds of Mr. R. F. Bolitho, who also most kindly invited them to pass through on their way to Kenegie; and, if ever flowers were seen in all their glory, they were at Chyandour that morning, causing many-old and young -to linger on the way delighted. On reaching Kenegie, it was universally admitted that a more beautifully lar uriant and delightful place could not be chosen for a day's pleasure. No sooner were they on the spot than every nook, tree, shrub, and flower began to be investigated, and-like creation-at once pronounced to be good. The landscape was beautiful, as the bright blue sea stood out in striking contrast to hill and dale; and mirth became the order of the day. Our little children will never forget Kenegie, even if they never see it again. The scholars took tea on the bowling-green, each division under its own banner. The visitors sought places most suitable to their tastes, while the band enlivened the whole with playing many beautiful airs. A vote of thanks, carried by acclamation, has been presented to Mr. Coulson, for giving them the opportunity to see the many beauties of Kenegie. It is gratifying to know that all returned in safety, satisfied with their day's excursion, and resolved that if any profit was realized from the treat, it should be given towards the completion of the schoolrooms connected with the new Chapel now in course of erection.

JOHN MARTIN.

HOSTILITIES Continue in New Zealand; the Maories, though defeated, are not subdued. We dread, as a consequence of the war, the extinction of a race who have manifested a peculiar aptitude for civilization, and among whom the Gospel has accomplished wonders.

The Hospital for Chinese at Shanghai, superintended by Dr. Henderson, has completed its eighteenth year. Since its establishment, upwards of a quarter of a million patients have been under treatment; last year there was an ag gregate attendance of nearly 50,000. Dr. Henderson has Chinese assistants. In India the strongholds of heathenism are being slowly, but surely, undermined. The Rev. J. T. Tucker, Church Missionary, in reviewing his twenty-one years' labour in Tinnevelly, states that, in that period, he has received from heathenism and Romanism 3,100 souls, has witnessed the voluntary destruction, by their devotees, of upwards of forty devil temples, and has established sixty schools, and erected sixty-six Churches.

The Buddhistic movement in South

Ceylon, appears to have expended its energy; and the prospects of the Christian Missionaries are more encouraging than they were recently.

Mr Ellis reports that the Gospel is making quiet and satisfactory progress in Madagascar. Many of the native Christians are labouring zealously for the conversion of their "kinsmen according to the flesh." Political affairs in the island are somewhat unsettled; the queen is said to be in jeopardy.

South Africa, notwithstanding the wars by which it is desolated, yields trophies to the power of Divine truth. At Mekuatling, a station belonging to the French Protestant Missionary So. ciety, thirty-one natives were lately received into the Church by baptism.

Mexico, so heavily afflicted with Popery, gives some indications of uneasiness under the yoke. An American Missionary, referring to an interview

which he had had with a converted Jesuit, says, "This converted Mexican informs me that there are 7000 priests in Mexico, and that he knows 150 who are fully convinced of the true charac

ter of Popery, and are more than will. ing to renounce it, were the way opened. Two excellent men, he says, are suffering the severest tortures in prison-one in the city of Mexico, the other in Pueblo. Two more he knows, who have renounced Popery, and are travelling in disguise, knowing not what to do with themselves. He says the great difficulty with them is their extreme poverty. Facts like these are coming up before us, and filling us with amazement. But wherefore do we mar. vel? During the last two years several thousand Bibles have passed into Mexico."

From America we still hear of little else but war projects and movements. General Grant has met with another bloody repulse before Petersburgh, and is reported-whether truly, or other wise, we know not-to be falling back on Washington. The anti-slavery sentiment is taking a firm hold on the population of the Northern States, and rendering a re-union with the South, on pro-slavery principles,' impossible. Thus is even the scourge of war overruled for good.

The progress of Protestantism in Turkey has excited the fears and the fanaticism of the Mohammedans. The Porte, misled by false information, in July, closed all the Protestant Missionary establishments, and arrested several converts; urgent remonstrances, against these proceedings, were success. fully presented by the British Ambassador. The Missionary institutions have been re-opened, and the converts liberated. The latter, however, are removed from Constantinople; we trust that this is only for a time, to save them from becoming the victims of those who regard them as accursed dogs." The disciples of the false prophet evidently regard their religion as doomed to be vanquished by the Cross.

We have pleasure in recording the following example of impartial justice in a Turkish Court:-" One of the Turkish converts baptized, named Ismail, was attacked, a few weeks ago, by a Mohammedan, and barely escaped with his life. The man's rage was first