stranger, a foreigner, an alien, and an intruder. It came in with sin and shall go ouli therewith. (2)'l'hat. it is tendering high and holy service~ Of. St. Paul, "Our light allicuon which is," eic. (2 Cor. iv. 17). "In these verses it is nohnerely lll!88rted that; one dal we &hall be rid of pain, but also that meanwhile it is working ·out for us •glory. · It not merely precedes, but produces, is the mother, the progenitor, of glory.'' Does t.he mariner grieve over the rushing wind which fills his sails, and bears him t!Wiftly on to the haven where he would be? No more should we over pain, since it. ia our· helper forward, homeward, heavenward. (3) That it will one day certainly and for ever cease. . 11. CBltlST ALONE DOES THIS. "Human wisdom has from the fil'Bt been helpless before what may be called the problem of pain. It ha,s no explana~ion of suffering; it cannot give it a satisfactory position in the scheme of life. 'l'o philosophy sorrow is. an anomaly and an offence. Philosophy hath builded her house, she bath hewn out her seven pillars, and she bath acquainted her heart with all wisdom; and yet there is, a skeleton in her house, a. spectre glides through her pillars, aud a pressge of hollow, final failure is in every effort to keep up appearances. She cannot contrive what. to do with that problem of sorrow, suffering, and pain. She baa but two things to which to. trust, and she can trust in neither. The first is ·stoicism, the seoond anodynes. With atoicilm ahe tries to meet the question on the spiritual side; with anodynea, on the physical. In each direction she encounters defeat. She tells the sufferer to harden his heart and 11et his teeth, and bear it if he can, not in faith and love, not in hope and trust., but in stern, atiff defiance. And when she finds it useless to try and help him that way, and hears his shrieks repeated, and meets his reproachful and despairing eyes. Bhe has ,but one expedient more, in the anodyne and anll!Bthetic. She exhibita",the drug or the subtle vapour, and thereby stills the pain. In this she admits defeat, and flies before the foe. She baa relieved the body indeed, but it is at the expense of the spirit. The Bense of pain is gone, but the light of the soul is also extinguished. The dying flesh feels no more its own agony because the heaven-born flame of reason is quenched, and the man is drugged and era.zed into etupefaction and unconsciousness. Thus does Philosophy deal with the terrible problem of this painful life. She has no spiritual medicine for it; while phyBical remedies amount at last to the suspension and temporary destruction of conscioUB e~istence." But we have eeen our Lor<l'a more excellent way-a way so blessed that it is an insult to comrre the one with the other. Glory be to his Name for ever for that which he bath done IIL WHAT WB ABB TO DO. See to it: 1. That when suffering comes on you. you ban Christ ne&T you to turn your pain into blessing. Come to him now, that he may IX)me to you di.en. 2. Think of, sympathize with, pray for and succour those who now are 1nffering. Ask him to be near them. and go you near them yourselves with loving help. So join with him in his merciful work, and there shall come on you the blessing, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto my brethren, ye have done it unto me."-S. C.
Ver. L-" All th-ings mw:" a spring B6rmo'A. What a vivid and glorious illustration of these words we witness in the beautiful spring-tide season I For in the natural world God is, indeed, making all things new. 'l'he bare brown stretches of land have become verdant with the springing corn; the. skeleton-like branches of the trees, which a few weeks 11go tossed their gaunt arms and moaned sadly beneath the pitileas temp,1t and cold, are now covered with rich foliage, and many are bright with bea.utiful bl0680JDS1 lovely for the eye to look npon. The glades of the wood and the hedgerows whioh were mut.e but a while ago, because their feathered songsters were away in warmer climes, are now once more resonant with song; for "the wint.er is over and gone, and the time of the singing of birds is come." The aspect of universal nature is compl~y changed-transfi,,"Ured and transformed from that which it wore in. tht weary wintry t.'ine. God has made "all ~ings new." We never could have belieYed it possible bad" we been less familiar with many a previoua spring. Were we able t.o think of ourselves a.a utt.erly ignora.nt of the resurrection and regeneration of spring, !,lid we know nothing of what God is wont to do in this season of the year, we could 110Ter have. believed such a change pouible. As we looked upon all the rich beauty of the earth, we should be ever asking, " Who are these, and whence came they? ,. We jDOnld never have imagined that thO&B bare aeeda, which were cast into the ground. GJL xn.1-2'/.] THE REVELA'illON OF' ST. JOHN THE Di'VINE. 52~