-Amen.• What· an lnexprllllllible blewg 1B here anxiously desired tor all mankind l -A higher willh for the. whole hwuan race cannot be imagined. • ·· · ' L To OBIU GOOD. It is " grace." Maurice takes the ttpress{on to mea.n • grace- ,fulnela of cha.raote,-graeefnlness of J811Us Christ." This means,! think, something more than-fa.Tour. Even the favour of God-oonfened oo one who lacks a graceful disposition is not Ukely to be rightly received or appreciated. However valuable In ,ftsel~ :the. gift be8towed, ii lt is· not be.stow-ed freely' and unrestrained, can nem ~ •ppreciated. cBut a. graciousness of nature or character is in itself & boon. Great favO'Urll are. often, bestowed in an ungracious manner~ therefore, if received at all, it is with niluet.anoe and pain. The grace of a Christly character is delicately and tenderly aliive to all that ia beautiful in form, and tender and courteous in our -intercourse with men. Indeed~ all nature is graceful. How gra.ceful are the movement.a of efff1 form•lif me, etod. Ami all arhtruggles to shape itself into the gracious. · . '· - II. TRB cm:u OOOD J'BOM. THB .IhoHEff. ,From all · beings that have ever entered this circle of humanity, Christ in goodness transcel)dB them all. "He is our Lorq ,._ 11Ur-'.Master, «:King hf kinge;;·and Lord of lord8," exalted above all priilclproities and pow..ra, etc. He ia-Ji,&US,'" Lord Jesw," Sav.iour, of mankind, Cht~t aoointed of the Father, OOl),BeCrated 'to<the higrum fuuctiona under God; having hall things t.he'.pre- eminence. .,. · , · · • , ,, . ·, : llL TBll CIIID' GOOD l'BOM TBB HIGm:ST ro ALL. · "Be with you -alt,. · Not only all the Ohnrches in Asia Minor, but .all mankind everywhere. He is good to all, and " his ;tender mercies· are ovet -all the'works of his hand.". · St. Paul told the savages ,of liyCIIOnia that God was sending the rain from heaftn for a fruitful lieaeon. Real graoe- ifuln,8118 is not artificial, bu\ ~ Take trees of the same order-let it be the oak, the elm,or any other. From the one the ·vital np has departed and life is extinct. -It ii' cnt into artistic forms. stnined with beautiful, hues ; to the eye it 1laa a charm of .ipecial beauty; The other tree, of precisely the same order, grows on the 1!81De soil Smm :which its yeuog roots sprang up at first. It has reached maturity : the- vitatr sap atreama through all its veins, its green and leafy branch88 bow down ·in• circling forms t.o the, mother,,soil. It shiver1:in the str<mg breeze;·but gently moves in the zephyr. It is perpetually changing in shade, shape, and swi. . And then a delicious aroma per- .'l'Rdea the whole, and scents--the air with fragrance. Which of theie· trees,•y'you, la the more graceful 7 Not ,bejormer;,however exquisitely &rtistie. From year to year jt stands, be&ring the aam_& aspect. . It wakena within you no ·fresh inspimtion. . But the latter is all gracefulness·; it is graceful in all its lines; curves,,and sha.dei;•';~ ln all its ·motions, whether it bernl.s, violently to· the· hnrricatie ·or pose& 'pealletully on !ihe silent air, It la somewbat,thua with ·'ID8n. This is the made gent1eman,sishaped according to all the niceties of oonventional etiquet'Mi, like the ll!llthetic 'ti~ber~ ~tho_\it lteart; and~ is thetru&•gendernlul, born of all that is truly graceful U1'1!8Dthnein '8nd sympathy. The ~ob& and fiunkeya are at beet but ·highly ornament.al fnrnitute, -utterly destitute of that: inner gi;a.ciouaness which ·touches all unsophistioated nalutel into a. blessed kindred.ship of heart. · ' · · · CoirOLUBION. What oan we· desire more than this gracefulness of- Ouiat? '!'Ida :gracefulntlllSof Christly cb:ai'aeter pervades his whole history, character, life,aad deatli. llis:ilpim la the q u i n ~ of the gospel.-D. T. .. · · ·
In conclusion, I would heartily recommend n!ade~ earefnlly to. peruse the Bishop of as 'Bipori's Esdursua on the whole ofthil 'book given below. · . ,
· .ExcroBSUB A.-fie angel, qf IIM-OTn,rcAee. The most usual interpretation regards the angels of the Churches as the chief ministers or presiding elders of the eo~rega.tion. '.Thie interpretation ia so -very widely adopted that it has been mentioned hi' the notes; but the reader will have per<:eived that it is not a view which can be considered al together satisfactory, In the fiFit pllic~ whatever d~ we accept for the Apooalypse, it is at least strange to find the titles "elders n or "bishops,., which were in couimon 1Userexchanged for the d0ubtfu.1 one of ..,angel." A common explanation ia''that the term is derived from the synagogue 11tatT, where the messenger, or "angel of the 11yna- gogue," was a recognized officer; but the transference of such a Utlc to any office in the Christian Church is at leut doubtful, and 1111 the officer so styled was only a aubordinaw oa. nn. 1-21.] THE ruJ:Y:ELATION OP ST. JOJIN TDE .D(YINJI; 681