excuse.

And it hath pleased God, in the onward course of His providence, as ages have rolled on since this disclosure was given, to mark with such a precision the important event from which that "hour" and that "day" are to be calculated, that every inattention and indifference appear now to be perfectly without With such a prophecy as is connected with this chronological period of the 391 years' duration of the Turkish empire, the Lord's believing people cannot be overtaken as by a thief, and the apostle says they "shall not." (1 Thess. v. 4.) As the near approaching time, therefore, of its termination draws still nearer, there is every reason to believe that they will be made fully alive to the all-important crisis of which it is the awful signal, and that their hearts will not only be directed into "the love of God," but into "the patient waiting for Christ." As such was the apostle's prayer, so it should be ours; that our hearts may not only be directed into the love of God, but likewise into that which is set forth throughout the whole of the New Testament as the great end of the Christian's hope and expectation," the patient waiting for Christ." (2 Thess. iii. 5.)

EXTRACTS.

A YOUNG friend has sent us the following sweet morceaux, translated from the French.

SANCTIFIED AFFLICTION,

Written by M. Grand-Pierre, pastor at Paris, after severe family bereavements.

'I know a man in Christ, who by a series of melancholy circumstances had lost all that could endear life to him. Not only did he believe that for him the future could reserve no joys-(I mean those that religion authorizes and sanctifies)-but he thought that his faith, which though weak was sincere, would only enable him to bear without murmuring, the burden of an existence, henceforth without interest, without enjoyment. I enter not into more details, for this state of feeling can be more readily conceived than described. This same man can now say, not that he grieves no longer, not that he has nothing to regret, not that he never weeps; but this he dares say, that God has so swallowed up his griefs, his tears, in the ocean of his infinite love, that not only has he recovered his enjoyment of life, but he asks himself at times, if the happiness he has experienced in his trial, is not perhaps greater than that he ever knew; and if God has not blessed him more, in what he has taken away than in what he gave.

'My God! I give thee thanks for having revealed

to me the rudiments of this knowledge, so difficult, so obscure to those who do not receive it from thee. Instead of complaining of the blows with which thou hast stricken me, I wish to bless thee for them. Thou didst grant me great blessings, Lord, before thou chastisedst me; but I now acknowledge that thy chastisements are of all thy favours the least dangerous, the most salutary. Thy riches, thy best riches, are most opened unto him whom thou hast placed in the happy necessity of seeking in thee all his consolation, all his support, all his happiness. I will then say, to the praise of thy grace, that solitude, far from being wearisome, has delights, ineffable enjoyments, for the soul thou deignest to visit-to whom it pleaseth thee to make known thy love, to reveal thy glory. I will acknowledge aloud, to celebrate thine infinite mercy, that the deepest wounds, those that one thought would always continue to bleed, are so mollified' by the wine and oil of thy consolations, that in the fulness of the blessings with which thou replenishest the soul, one reproaches oneself at times for not feeling more the trial that has been sent. I will declare with thanksgiving and the song of triumph, that the ray of thy love can enlighten, animate, and sometimes even gild and embellish the most gloomy horizon of life. Finally, I will publish, O God of my salvation, God of my deliverance, my Rock and my portion for ever, that when all other pleasures have fled the heart, that of being thine, of loving thee, of doing thy will, of devoting oneself to thy service, of finding all one's enjoyment in thee, so increases, so fills the whole capacity of the soul, that one is tempted to ask oneself if what one enjoyed before was happiness, true happiness, complete happiness. Before,

O my God, the place was taken, and thou hast emptied it, to fill it with thyself. Glory be to thee, by Christ Jesus, now, henceforth, and for ever. Amen.

THE PRODIGAL SON.

If the father of the prodigal son had said, "My son, I would willingly receive thee, but not such as thou art; how shall I admit thee in this state, covered with rags, sunk in vicious habits, and thine affections alienated from me? Go first and render thyself worthy of my pardon, clothe thyself suitably, re-establish thy health, reform thy ways; return then to me, and my house will be open to thee." What would have become of the prodigal child, had his father held to him such language? Would he not have said, I am to be clad in suitable apparel, and I am in misery; I am to reform my ways, and I live among corrupters; I am to re-establish my health, and my food is the husks which the swine do eat; I am to love my father, and I live under his displeasure, the stern and indignant expression of his countenance is even before me when I knock at his door: he rejects me; he will never receive me; his consent is but a cruel mocking of my distress; there is no hope; no, I must continue to live as I have hitherto done.'

But what does the father of the prodigal child? He perceives his son, when he is yet a long way off; he runs to meet him: Come to my arms, enter my house, seat thyself at my table; I will restore to thee all that thou hast lost in leaving me ; instead of thy rags "the best robe," royal apparel; instead of unwholesome food "thou shalt be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;" instead of my heavy displeaJANUARY, 1841.

F

sure, my love, with which I will so surround, so overwhelm thee that thou cannot refuse me thine.' Such are God's dealings with man, according to the gospel. He does not say to him, 'I will pardon thee to-morrow; I will love thee to-morrow, when thou hast done something to render thyself worthy of it; but he says, 'I forgive thee to-day; I loved thee when thou wast mine enemy; I have expiated all; I receive thee in grace, without delay, vile, covered with thy sins, such as thou art, that thou mightest love me, and in loving, obey me.'

ON MATTHEW VIII. 2.

"Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean." These words present us with a clear, simple, exact notion of what faith is: "Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean," I am lost, I cannot save myself, thou canst save me; save, Lord. Such is faith. From the moment that this is your heartfelt cry, there is no precious, consoling, glorious promise of scripture which you may not take to yourself personally, and the Lord Jesus is no longer only the Saviour, he has become your Saviour.

ADOLPHE MONOD, Pastor at Lyons.