THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.

FREE, yet in chains, the mountains stand,
The valleys linkt run through the land;
In fellowship the forests thrive,

And streams from streams their strength derive.

The cattle graze in flocks and herds,
In choirs and concerts sing the birds,
Insects by millions ply the wing,

And flowers in peaceful armies spring.

All nature is society,

All nature's voices harmony,

All colours blend to form pure light;

-Why then should Christians not unite?

Thus to the Father prayed the Son, "One may they be as We are One,

That I in them and Thou in Me,
They One with Us may ever be."

Children of God, combine your bands,
Brethren in Christ,' join hearts and hands,
And pray, for so the Father willed,——
That the Son's prayer may be fulfilled :—

Fulfilled in you,-fulfilled in all,

That on the name of Jesus call,

And

every covenant of love

Ye bind on earth, be bound above.

JAMES MONTGOMERY.

BRIGHTLY the morning breaketh o'er the sea,
Tinging the azure wave with orient light;
And the wild breeze is springing, glad and free,
As waking from the slumbers of the night;
And the fair ship unfolds her canvass white,
With gentlest art that wayward breeze to woo;
And hope, a wanderer 'mid life's distant blue,

Throws o'er the voyagers her mantle bright.
Visions of wealth entrance the merchant's view;
And honour's meed before the warrior plays,
Thro' flower-wreathed lands the poet's fancy strays;
And the pale student trims his lamp anew.
Sweet hopes and fair; yet desolate the heart,
That in no holier heritage hath part!

THE MISSIONARY SHIP.

AGAIN the morning star its radiance hideth,
And rosy sunbeams o'er the mountains. play;
On ocean's breast another vessel glideth,

Bearing a lonely voyager away.

What seeketh he across the ocean's spray ?
Honour, or wealth, or learning's precious store?
No gain he seeks,-but beareth with him more,
Than all the treasures earth may e'er display.
He hath the pearl of price,-the crown of gold,-
The riches undefiled, -the Spirit's sword,-
The seed unperishing, God's holy word;
And still his hands faith's polished shield uphold—
Such are the gifts he beareth o'er the main,

The gentle blessings of Messiah's reign!

E. M. J.

ACCOUNT OF A REMARKABLE THUNDER-STORM IN SOUTH AFRICA.

BY THE REV. DR. PHILIP.

TRAVELLING in the northern part of the Griqua country, during the months of October and November, 1832, we entered one of those basaltic enclosures for which that country is remarkable. It resembled a large plain enclosed with a line of hills, having the appearance of a circular wall, with here and there hills of higher elevation, like so many towers, at irregular distances, and of the same formation. This plain, which contained several insulated and conical-shaped hills, might be about twenty-five miles in diameter. We were obliged to proceed slowly, on account of our sheep, and soon after sunset we passed one of those solitary hills about four miles from the extremity of the circle. The person who had the charge of our flock, which was a short distance before us, came running back to the wagons, to tell us he had met a wolf at the spot where the sheep were to have rested, and, after he had given us this information, and pointed him out to us, marching off very deliberately, he fired his gun after him.

The day was warm, the thermometer in the wagon being 96o, but the heat was not oppressive, and I never saw more majesticlooking clouds than we had all the day before us. About four o'clock in the afternoon, I observed a thin dark cloud, very much in shape like a funeral escutcheon, and it stood in front of the magnificent pile of clouds I have described, as that emblem of mortality is seen in front of our splendid palaces. In the course of an hour it assumed a tattered and rugged

appearance, and shortly after spread itself in dark streaks over a large portion of the heavens. In this state it continued stationary for twenty-five minutes, and in less than half an hour all the varied perspective of the scene was lost, and the numerous clouds that rose above each other in towering grandeur were converted into one dark and lurid mass of vapour, on which the sun seemed incapable of shedding one enlivening ray. The lightning was uncommonly splendid during the night, and we enjoyed the thunder that kept the line of the hills the more, as it was at some distance from us.

It

Saturday was exceedingly hot; the thermometer was as high as 98° in the wagon. In the evening we rested by a Bushman's kraal, and pitched our tent for the Sabbath. Just as I was retiring to rest, a commando was announced as approaching the wagons. The men were hungry, and I was obliged to give them a sheep and some tobacco. The commissariat of our great captains in this country do not cost them much; they are obliged to find their supplies upon the road. In the morning we had them at worship with the Bushmen, and we had the services conducted in the Dutch and Hottentot languages. During the service, there was a thunder-storm from the north-west. was awfully grand, and passed immediately over our heads. About an hour and a half after this storm, we had another; and at the close of the afternoon service, I observed a third approaching from the same quarter, still more awful in its aspect than those that preceded it. While it yet appeared at a considerable distance, the forked lightning was brilliantly playing on every side. The pole of the tent was fixed to the wagon with hempen cords; I ordered them to be loosed, and the tent fastened with iron pegs. The ball from the top of the tent was lost, and I desired the men to cover the iron spike with a wet cloth. God is the safety of his people, but we tempt Providence if we do not

make use of the necessary means for our preservation. Scarcely had we finished our preparations, when the immense bank of clouds, covering one quarter of the heavens, and making towards us in a direct line, shifted its course, and, taking a line of hills about three quarters of a mile distant, was seen rushing together to one spot, as if designing to collect all its force, and encircle or burst upon us.

The whole mass

The scene was at this moment terrific. appeared like an enormous animal in the air, throwing out millions of feelers to take hold of the earth with, and all those feelers moved in perfect harmony, as if instinct with life. The hill immediately above us is of a conical shape, with a flat top, and is not, perhaps, more than 300 feet above the ground on which we then were. Immediately above this hill it hovered for some time, when, whirling round as if it had been wrapping up its vast volume, alternately attracted and repelled, leaving, at its lowest descent, a space between it and the hill of perhaps from twenty to forty feet. This continued for upwards of half an hour, and during all this time the immense mass was every moment increasing, and the whole was in such awful commotion that the most troubled cloud on Table Mountain can give but a very faint idea of it. It suggested to me the thought that it might, perhaps resemble the cloud which indicated the Divine Presence on Sinai, and it seemed as if it might be a fit accompaniment of the angel who is to sound the trumpet which is to announce that time shall be no longer! When the whole mass had collected immediately behind and on either side of the conical hill on which it had rested, covering a space of many square miles, the lower part of the cloud, which had been all the while in a state of violent agitation, repelled and attracted by the top of the hill I have described, came in sudden contact with its surface, when all at once the lightning and thunder