GOD'S PRESENCE.

THEY who have God's presence have all that they need; for in his presence is fulness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore. Are they in doubt and danger? they hear the Master's voice saying, "Peace, be still;" and, "It is I; be not afraid!" Are they in the water or the fire? "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned." Christians, indeed, are not over particular about circumstances, so that they are blessed with God's presence. When Jesus is seen walking upon the sea, they know that there will soon be a great calm. The people of God know what winter is as well as summer; they know what thorns are, as well as flowers. Often do they walk in desolate places, and stumble in rugged pathways, with a darkness that may be felt all around them; but when God is with them, crooked things are made straight, and rough places plain. I ask not therefore whether you are at ease or in trouble; whether you are sitting down in green pastures, or standing up in a fiery furnace; but, rather, Is there one with you like unto the Son of God?" See Dan. iii. 25.

ON DRESS.

WHAT a medley of opinions, what diversified inclinations there are among mankind on the subject of dress! One follows the fashion; another is negligent, and becomes slovenly; a third considers neatness an indispensable requisite ; a fourth disapproves of wearing mourning; and a fifth dresses plain and lowly, making it a matter of conscience to do so, and deeming it wrong to do otherwise. For myself, I leave the right and the wrong of the thing, believing as I do that we are too apt, in many cases, to be more precise than our heavenly Father requires us to be. We are too much given to bind ourselves where he gives us liberty, and to take liberty where he would bind us for our good; but I am rather fond of following out my own feelings in these matters, and in letting others follow out theirs. Let the rejoicing bride and bridegroom adorn themselves with their wedding garments; and let those who are sorrowful, if they list, put on sackcloth and go softly. Some time ago, in leaving the house of

a neighbour, I took up a hat which had crape around it; but as it did not fit me, I returned

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to change it for my own. 'Well, sir," said the owner of the hat, "I do not much wonder at the mistake, as we have each of us hoisted the symbol of sorrow. May that sorrow which is shadowed forth on our hats be sanctified to our hearts, and then it will be a blessing to us both." This Christian remark had my hearty Amen! and the crape on my hat has often, since then, brought it into my mind.

Whatever be our opinions about dress, it is not, I think, wise to affect singularity. Were a man to dress himself up in a Merry-andrew's cap and bells, or a Harlequin's jacket, he might set the neighbourhood grinning around him, but he would add thereby neither to his comfort nor his reputation. But, after all, weakness is more pardonable than ill-nature; and, therefore, though I hold with no extremes, I dislike the extreme of fashion less than the extreme of fault-finding.

THE

BITTER FRUITS OF WAR.

THE surgeon who would cure a wound must probe it to the bottom, if it be requisite; and he that would produce a hatred of war, must not be afraid to make manifest its enormities:

"The field of battle (Borodino) had all the appearance of an extinguished volcano. The ground was covered all around with fragments of helmets and cuirasses, broken drums, gun-stocks, tatters of uniforms, and standards dyed with blood. On this spot lay thirty thousand half-devoured corses. The emperor (Napoleon) passed quickly -nobody stopped; cold, hunger, and the enemy, urged us on: we merely turned our faces as we proceeded, to take a last melancholy look at the vast grave of so many companions in arms uselessly sacrificed."-SEGUR'S Russian Campaign.

Read, ye fathers! Are ye ready thus to sacrifice your sons? Is this the fame and the glory ye desire for them? Are ye quite content that the

Y

242,

THE BITTER FRUITS OF WAR.

flesh of your flesh, and bone of your bone, should thus be made an untimely banquet for birds and beasts of prey?

"Multitudes of these desolate fugitives lost their speech; others were seized with frenzy, and many were so maddened with the extremes of pain and hunger, that they tore the dead bodies of their comrades to pieces, and feasted on the disgusting remains."--SIR ROBERT KER PORTER.

Read, ye mothers! and ask yourselves if it was for this that ye nourished and brought up your children tenderly-for this that ye watched and wept over them, and taught them to lisp their infant prayers?

"In the hospitals of Wilna were above nineteen thousand dead and dying, frozen and freezing; the bodies of the former, broken up, served to stop the cavities in windows, floors, and walls ; but in one of the corridors of the great convent, above fifteen hundred bodies were piled up transversely, as pigs of lead or iron. In the roads, men were collected around the burning ruins of the cottages, which a mad spirit of destruction had fired, picking and eating the burnt bodies of their fellow-men."-SIR ROBERT WILSON.

Read, ye fathers and mothers! ye wives and husbands! Read in the bitterness of your spirit, and instead of railing on the culpable demerits of