would be so remarkable a one in his experience, many have supposed that his language here is merely figurative, referring to what he had to contend with through the rage of his enemies. It may be so. It does not sound improbable. But yet the opinion of many of the learned has inclined to the literal interpretation. We know that în those days one of the barbarous methods of tormenting or destroying obnoxious persons was to expose them to wild animals in the amphitheatre." "The Christians to the lions!" was one of the cries of persecution in the early ages of the Church; and he who gathered so many of its communions tells us that he was "in deaths often." that very epistle he shows the imminency of his 'danger, by asking, "And to what end all this, if the dead rise not? And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?" The most ancient traditions say, that here was an actual contest with the rage of brutes. Doubtless he was ready for either violence, and could be as little intimidated by one kind of irrational force as by another. And thus should the Christian heart set itself steadfastly against every foe; against man in his pride, and what is lower than man in its ferocity, and nature and accident in all their blind. forms of terror.

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But lo! he presents himself before us once more,and in how different an attitude from the one in which we have just left him, with his strained muscles and daring countenance! Time had passed by. The unwearied Apostle, after having made a wide tour to the West, was journeying towards Jerusalem. He determined to "sail by" Ephesus, that he might not be detained in that part of the country. But when he arrived at Miletus, a little beyond it, his heart yearned towards the company of the faithful, whom he had confirmed there at so much cost; and he sent for its elders that he might have, at least with them, one conference more. The touching language that he spoke on that occasion has been handed down to us. It would be difficult to find its match for a dignified but tender eloquence. He ended his discourse with a saying of Christ, which the Scriptures have nowhere else recorded: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." And when he had thus spoken, the bold champion whom nothing had dismayed fell on his knees and prayed with them all;-and they, melted

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to tears, threw themselves upon his neck, lamenting that they should never behold him again.

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And this was his departure from Ephesus. Ephesus! It is now a name, and no place. The traveller sits under a covered shed where it stood, and seeks in vain for the traces of its former grandeur. Its goddess may be re produced from the rusty coins of the antiquary; her temple, not even that, The very name it went by, a praise in all lands, would not now know itself under its Turkish substitute. But it is made perpetual mention of under the roofs of innumerable churches of Christ, while everywhere else it is only pored over by the stu dent of things that lie almost forgotten under the ruins of the ages. After every vestige of visible pomp has become effaced, the memory of Paul hallows the spot. The ever-living Gospel makes the waste where the mother of cities once stood blossom again with holy traditions. It sets up the pillars of its testimony, more lasting than the Ephesian marbles, or the great globe, itself, telling us that every thing but God's truth passes away..

of 'e de 'unftb zo od d ART. VII.REFLECTIONS.id su

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"RIGHT" has been defined as "the centre of a circle," and" about right" as "its circumference." The centre remains unchanged, but the circumference may be drawn of any size.

To gain a small advantage, men frequently sacrifice a great one. To gain the equivocal respect attached to wealth or office, men frequently sacrifice the great and -undoubted respect attached to virtue. 1

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Some three hundred thousand emigrants from Europe land annually on our shores. In ancient times these would have been hordes of Celts or Teutones seeking, sword in hand, for better quarters in foreign lands. Christianity and commerce haye done something to improve the world."

A few men furnish ideas. The rest only combine, express, and apply them.

Men's minds, like birds' eyes, are provided with a nictitating membrane, which serves to shut out light when there is more of it than they like.

To many persons whatever is profound is obscure, so that they are easily persuaded that what is obscure is profound. A mud-puddle seems to them as deep as the Mississippi. The unintelligible jargon which passes current with such persons for philosophy reminds us of the machine which Gulliver saw at Laputa, throwing out chance combinations of written words. These were carefully collected by a philosopher of that region, with the expectation that some of the combinations would present new and sublime truths. A number of the philosophical works of our day seem to have proceeded from this source.

Solon said of his laws, that they were not the best in themselves, but the best which the Athenians would bear. This principle of adaptation applies to most laws. They are moral rules alloyed to make them fit for rough use. If a man makes such laws his standard of right, he shows that he is inclined to do right only so far as he is com pelled to it.

It is not enough for a man to pursue such a course as, if pursued by all, would produce the greatest happiness. The doings of the good must take their direction in a great measure from the misdoings of the bad. A course which would befit a member of a community of angels is not the one which befits a man in this scene of warring elements, where vice and misery are the great incitements to virtue. To fulfil the duties of this life, a man must be more than innocent. He must be active in resisting evil and relieving suffering.

To do good to-day is the way to be happy to-morrow.

Melancholy magnifies the evils of life and consumes the energy required to meet them. To indulge such a temper is to violate the duty which lies at the foundation of all others, namely, the duty of keeping ourselves fit to perform our duties.

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Solomon tells us that "in a multitude of counsellors there is safety." But the safety is more often for the, counsellors than for the counselled.

Happiness cannot be had without care and labor. The wealthy are apt to seek for it in a mere change of circumstances. This may remove a particular form of illu But the great cause of unhappiness remains, namely, powers unused and conscience unsatisfied. A sub-acid state of conscience is a common evil. T

A man who acquires fame by overtasking himself commonly impairs his faculties, and suffers the mortification of sinking below the level to which, he had forced himself. It is better to have a reputation below one's ability than above it,

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If you wish for content, do much and expect

little. ba

Do not sacrifice the good that you can have for the good that you cannot havelige te9d gift und

228 Top of edgar nortetesbs to al UT What a man has to do he should do when he thinks of it, and not put it off to a time when he won't think of it. Now is the time for doing, by and by for forgetting. torbikq Suggestions which are scornfully received are often quietly adopted.

One great element of success is, not to be afraid of failing, nor to be discouraged by failing, but to be willing to fail sometimes for the sake of succeeding often. The man who will not act except when he is certain of success will accomplish little.

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Are not the recollections of dreams sometimes mingled with those of actual occurrences, so as to pass for them? May not such impressions account for that feeling experienced at times in new scenes or situations, namely, that we have been in such before?

One reason of a man's over-estimate of himself is, that he looks upon himself and others from very differ

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