and thus taught them the nature of true greatness. In the hour of His deepest sorrow, when He so much needed the sympathy of the three disciples, and when He seemed inclined to chide them because they could not watch with Him one hour, He checks Himself, and turns the reproof into an apology for them, "Truly the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." How entirely He took them into His confidence. “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth ; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." How endearing are the terms in which He spoke of them. When told on one occasion that His mother and His brethren were standing without, seeking for Him, He answered, "Who are my mother and my brethren? And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, my sister, and mother." This is a marvellous passage. Surely no son ever born of woman loved his mother more tenderly than Jesus loved His mother, and yet He here declares that His own mother was not more dear to Him than the man, the woman or the child that did the will of His Father in heaven! Similar language is used by Him on the morning of the resurrection. "Go and tell my brethren that I ascend to my Father, and your Father, to my God, and your God."

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Then you will observe that it was not merely when they appeared wise and good and amiable that He loved them. Never was His love more tender than when He turned and looked on Peter, in the hour of his weakness and sin. His love was constant. Notwithstanding all their faults He surrounded them with an atmosphere of love from the first day to the last. Having loved His own which were with Him in the world He loved them to the end." And as the end drew near, His love seemed to increase in depth and in tenderness. What words of tender affection He spoke to them on the last night He was with them! The hour of His own great sorrow was just at hand; but in their sorrow He seemed to forget His own. He bade them be of good cheer, and still to believe in Him, as they believed in God. He was going to the Father, when it would be well with Himself, and His going away was for their advantage also. He was going to prepare their heaven, and would come again and take them home, that they might share in His glory. But even in His absence, they were not to be left orphans. He would send the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort them, and not only so, but in some spiritual way He Himself and the Father would come and dwell with them. "If any man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him."

Observe how He showed His love to them after the resurrection. In the hour of His deepest need they all forsook Him; but even then His

love did not cool to them. I have heard some harsh enough comments on their conduct. "It was so ungrateful, and so cowardly." Call it as bad as you please, it was soon forgiven by Him. The message sent to them by the angels at the sepulchre was, "Go tell His disciples and Peter, that He goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see Him." He met with them frequently, but no word of upbraiding for their past conduct escaped His lips. The only allusion to it, is when He questions Peter about his love to Him; but this only makes His own love to Peter the more manifest, as it places the fallen but penitent disciple in his proper position.

And nowhere is His affection for them seen more touchingly than in that wonderful prayer to the Father on their behalf. Did ever affectionate mother pour out her heart more fervently and tenderly on behalf of her children than He did on behalf of His few faithful disciples? In speaking of them to the Father not so much as one of their faults is alluded to. On the contrary, He delights to tell the Father of the good that was in them, and how they had endeared themselves to Him. "I have manifested Thy name to the men that Thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were and Thou gavest them me, and they have kept Thy word. I have given unto them the words that Thou hast given me, and they have received them. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those that Thou hast given me, for they are Thine, and all mine are Thine, and I am glorified in them. I have given them Thy word and the world hath hated them because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil. Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. The glory Thou hast given me I have given them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as Thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me, for Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."

I dare attempt no word of comment on these words of inexpressible tenderness. Take the Book and read the words for yourselves. Take them to your closets, and ponder them before God and learn your duty one toward another, "As I have loved you." You never love each other enough until you come up to this, and most of us, alas! are yet far enough from it. Put the fervent love of Christ toward His disciples beside the coldness, the suspicion and uncharitableness but too prevalent in some churches, and how sad is the contrast ! Let no one say, "That brother

is so unamiable, and that other one walks so disorderly that I cannot love him." The question is, Do you believe them, with all their faults, to be true Christians? If they are, how does He treat them? Does He coldly look on them? or does He not rather love them as He loved

the imperfect disciples of old? Say, does He not love you as individuals! You are daily confessing your many imperfections before God, and yet you are somehow persuaded that you are dear to the Saviour's heart. Now, remember that all your brethren are as dear to Him as you are. He loves you all, and oh! believe it, as He loved those who surrounded Him at the last supper. Those brethren that some of you look on so coldly, are members of Christ's body. They are redeemed by His blood, renewed by His grace, they are the children of God, members of the same Divine family to which you belong. You will soon be with them in heaven, and you will see how much loved they are there.

Does anyone say, "But we cannot be expected to love as He did?" It might be sufficient to answer, that you are at least expected to try. But do ponder His words, "As I have loved you, that ye also love one another." Surely this shows that you have no right to treat your brethren differently from the manner in which He would treat them. Remember that you are true Christians just as far as you resemble your Lord, and it is required that you resemble Him in love to the brethren as in all other things.

How blessed would be the effect on the churches were the tender loving spirit of their Lord to pervade them! Instead of coldness and contention and strife we should be able to sing with heart and soul, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." We should find indeed that "there the Lord commands the blessing, even life for evermore.'

And then, think on the blessed effect on the world, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Let any Christian church show to the world that its atmosphere is one of peace and love, that its members are considerate and forbearing, and patient toward each other as the members of the best regulated family on earth, and such a church will be one of the most powerful agencies for commending the Gospel of salvation to the world around.

EMERITUS..

PLEASURE IN PRAISE.

GOD has wisely and graciously permitted us to sing His praises, thus making His own service a source of pleasure to his worshipping people. The servants of God generally find as the result of experience that duty to Him is in result, if not indeed in the act, enjoyment to themselves. This is doubtless intended in the service of song. Many good people grievously err with respect to this matter, in thinking that the idea of pleasure ought to be banished from the mind of the worshipper. But there cannot be sincere praise without the feeling of pleasure, for the one implies the other. "Is any merry? let him sing psalms." Can

The sound that he So should ours be: The sound should be

any one suppose for a moment that David did not derive his highest enjoyment on earth from his heavenly melodies? raised to his God in praise was a "joyful" one. joyful in its inspiration and pleasant in its effect. a "comely" one, as David calls it; agreeable to the ear, in accordance with the canons of cultivated taste, the outward execution being a fair reflection of the harmony dwelling in the soul of the devout worshipper. Let us not be morbidly afraid of the heart being captivated with the euphonious strains of music so long as the spiritual character of the exercise is kept in view, and what comes from the voice and appeals to the ear, is the mere vehicle of the breathings of the soul. The service of song can become mere sensuous enjoyment only when the spirit of devotion is absent.

Such, the psalmody, it is to be feared, in too many cases is,—a mere pleasant sound and nothing more. Rather than that the service of song in God's house should degenerate into a mere artistic exhibition and pleasant sensation into which no spiritual intelligence and fervour are thrown, let the songs of Zion be sung with untutored tongues that are expressive of genuine feeling. But let us not confound things that differ. It is not the culture and refinement in psalmody which make it a spurious and unworthy part of the service of God. It is the want of spiritual life. Bad singing may be insincere as well as good. Deadness of soul may be accompanied with dull, jarring, torturing sounds, as well as with finished music. Art and culture may be without heavenly inspiration, but so may ignorance and incompetence. What ought to be done is not to dissever cultivation and taste from this important part of worship, nor maintain a jealous fear of attention paid to them, but rather strive to bring and keep men under the dominion of those truths and influences that enable them to sing with the Spirit.

Certain it is that the highest spirituality may be accompanied with a delicate regard to time and tune, and proficient skill in execution. Moreover spiritual truth and sentiment embodied in song and sung aloud by a company are thereby enhanced and intensified. The natural effect of giving expression to any emotion of the soul in harmonious tones and accents, is to augment its depth and force. It is an interesting law of nature, and one that can be turned to good account, that emotion appropriately and effectively expressed, re-acts upon the soul that gave it birth. The moods and aspirations of the soul are quickened when uttered in song. The heart is enchained by the captivating strains of music, and quietly submits to its potent spell. We all know how the world has turned to account this powerful reflex action of the harmonies of music upon the feeling that is uppermost in the mind. How much are scenes of gaiety indebted to it for their interest and liveliness. The warlike notes that are sounded before the battle begins, by expressing and embodying the emotions of pride, valour, and defiance, raise these to a higher pitch in

the soldier's breast, and put him into a state of excitement suitable for engaging in conflict. While it is true that music is willing to lend her charms to such objects as these, she is capable of much higher work as the handmaid of religion, and regards this service as a more congenial sphere for the exercise of her powers. The religious sensibilities are still more easily touched by her gentle hand. She can link herself to what dwells in the innermost shrine of our being, and bring it before us in graceful and pleasing order. Acting on a mind that is really renewed she can rouse slumbering emotions into active play, imprint more indelibly impressions from God's Word upon the heart, fan the flame of holy feeling to a brighter glow, and fix the gaze more intently upon the world to come. The very singing of those psalms and hymns in God's house, which embody the heavenly affections and holy aspirations of a true child of God, help to raise the soul to those towering heights of holiness to which it is so difficult to attain. Just as every wave that comes murmuring upon the beach goes back to increase the volume and force of the next, so every hallowed aspiration uttered in song leads the Christian on to greater strength and maturity of spiritual experience. J.

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE SECULAR AND THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. While we believe in an overruling guidance which divides to the nations their inheritance, and moulds their character, we can see that it makes use of means to gain the result. The features of the country have, no doubt, had their influence. The brown moorlands and misty hills are in harmony with the grave, and sometimes sombre, temperament of the people; and the sweet romantic dells and hidden nooks of beauty that surprise one, ever and again, in the midst of the barest stretches, are reflected in the tenderness and picturesqueness of the national lyrics, and in the latent poetry which breaks the hard surface of prevailing reserve among the country population, wherever they are found in their old simplicity. Yet it is easy to make too much of this. The magnificent scenery of Switzerland has produced no great poet, no outbreak of song and romance, even equal to what has come from the flats of the Netherlands, and the sandy downs of Denmark.

The mixture of races that has gone to form the Scottish people might be made use of to account for many of their characteristics; but here, too, it is possible to exaggerate. Some generalising historians, for example, have laid it down as a rule that the Teutonic nations must necessarily be Protestant; and the Celtic, Roman Catholic; but the reverse might be argued as plausibly. Scotland, which is more Celtic than England, is more intensely Protestant, and no part of it more markedly so than that