Nay, fairer; for slowly their petals unfold At morn, and at evening, just touched by the cold,

Yet trusting the same kindly sun in the sky, Asleep on the bosom of Nature they lie.

So rest all the flowers in their evening of life, No work to do now-no labour-no strife; But a calm more delightful, a glorious decay, Like the beauty that waits on the close of the day.

If the garden's gay carpet has paled to the view,

In its brightest carnations and loveliest blue, The scarlet geranium has raised her proud head,

And the gold and the flame-tints have deepened instead.

If some flowers have departed, the rest seem more fair;

They are all that the first frost of Autumn could spare;

More tender in tone, and more graceful in play, As they hang their sweet bells on a withering spray.

So we ring through the garden our soft evening chime,

Sweet vesper of Nature, her calm fading time; We bloom to the last, and we sing as we bloom, And breathe on the night-wind our farewell perfume.

Smiles and Tears.

IKE the flowers in bloom so
tender,

Stands a maiden young and
fair;

Hers no crimson robe of splendour,
Gold, nor diamonds in her hair.

Only now a smile of gladness

Lights the beauty of her cheek; Then a tear-drop tells of sadness,

Ere her trembling lips can speak. Joy!--such joy as tongue could never Tell in tones of human speech,Hearts that love alone could ever Down such depths of feeling reach,Joy that he, so proud and fearless,

Yielding weakness far above;
He, with eye so bright and tearless,
Yearns at last for woman's love.

"Take," he says, "this folded letter, Read it where the roses bloom; You shall understand it better, Mingled with their sweet perfume.

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Witness, all the flowers that hear me, How I long to stand again With thy beating heart so near me,

That my voice may soothe its pain. "All the proudest hopes that painted Life's ambitious course to me, Fade beside the pure-the sainted Love, when memory turns to thee. "All I ever felt of greatness—

Real greatness-good and true, Brings to me the bygone sweetness Of the life that we two knew.

'So, while musing, sad and lonely, Late I tore me from the past; And my mood of melancholy Quickly to the winds I cast. "If, I said, I love that maiden,

As a worthy knight should love, Let no more this sorrow-laden

Heart a coward recreant prove. "Let my truth be shown in serving

Where my help may welcome be;
Her strong faith my purpose nerving,
While her prayers ascend for me.
"Thus I sought, and thus I found him—
Brother-loved in early years;

Ah, what wretched ties had bound him!
Ah, what penitence! what tears!
"But what need of kindly cheering—
Words of hope for days to come;
He, poor prodigal, so fearing-

Trembling on the verge of doom. "Sickness bowed him-pain and sorrow Mingled in his daily lot;

Want was looming in the morrow,

Life had scarce one sunny spot.

"What the end would be, I wondered;
Dark and sad it looked to us.
Many an hour I sate and pondered,
Thinking of the loved-one thus-

"If I lose the prize of honour,

He who led me, nothing loth--
He will put this crown upon her,
That her prayers shall save us both.”

Facts and Fancies. A Book of Sketches and Counsels for Young People. By COUSIN WILLIAM. London: Sunday-school Union. Cousin William" walks in the steps of "Old Humphrey." We do not mean that he is an imitator; his "Facts and Fancies" possess the marks of originality. But the genial tone, the cordial sympathy, the cheerful piety, which has given such a measure of popularity to the works of George Mogridge, eminently characterise these papers by "Cousin William," and we doubt not these qualities will go far to secure for them an equally wide circulation. They certainly deserve it. "Nobody in Particular" is a capital paper; we give the anecdote which seems to have suggested it to the writer :

66 NOBODY IN PARTICULAR.

"It is related of the witty Theodore Hook, that, strolling along the Strand one day, in company with a friend, he observed a dandy approaching them, dressed in the first style of fashion, and sailing down the street with the air of an Emperor, passing by the ordinary mortals who surrounded him with immeasurable disdain. Just as he came near, Hook stepped up to the exquisite, and humbly inquired, I beg your pardon, sir, but are you anybody in particular?' The disconcerted beau looked at the grave querist in utter amazement, and walked away without a particle of dignity left."

The Christian Sabbath. By SAMUEL, LORD BISHOP OF CARLISLE. London: W. Hunt and Co.

This tract contains much in little compass. It presents a condensed argument which thoughtful readers will appreciate. The practical issue of the argument is thus stated:

"First: Dismiss, as utterly untenable, the oftrepeated, but sadly deceitful statement, that the keeping of a Sabbath is a Jewish, a Levitical, a Mosaic institution. Truly it was embodied in the code of the Israelitish Church. But it is as much for all men, at all times, as any one other of those principles which, standing by its side, on the right hand and on the left, are also embodied in the Ten Commandments of God. Secondly: Dismiss, as equally untenable, the phantasy that man, in his present earthly pilgrimage, can ever be elevated above the Sabbatical observance of the Lord's-day. As well may you say that he can be elevated above the holy estate of Matrimony. Both these blessed institutions, the Sabbath and Marriage, were ordained of God, as being even then needful for man's holiness and happiness, in the state of man's innocency. And they cannot, now that man has fallen, be ignored, without grievous harm to the offending member, as well as to the body collective of Christ. Yes truly, I speak it with seriousness, just as the theory that celibacy is a higher estate than wedlock, has ever

resulted, and always will result, in unbridled licence, so will the theory that every week-day should be a Sabbath, inevitably issue in every Sabbath becoming, to all intents and purposes, a week-day.

Thirdly, and lastly: Prize and hallow the Christian Sabbath; sanctify it to Jehovah and Jehovah will bless it to you. (Isaiah lviii. 13, 14.)”

In educated circles this tractate will prove most valuable.

The History of the Church of Christ, from the First Century, to the Completion of the Reformation in Germany. In 6 vols., with Portraits and Maps. London: Religious Tract Society.

We call special attention to these volumes, not because they need our commendation, but because the Religious Tract Society has just made a most liberal offer to supply the whole six volumes to ministers, City missionaries, teachers, and others, at the price of nine shillings. Next to the testimony of the Word, we could desire no better refutation of Romanism than the testimony of impartial Church history. We may add that truth here is stranger than fiction; so that the interest of these volumes is only exceeded by their importance. We refer to an advertisement for particulars of the offer of the society.

The Old Gateway; or, The Story of Agatha. By EMMA MARSHALL. London: Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday.

One of the most interesting tales we have read for a long time. It cannot fail to add to the reputation of the authoress. We took the volume up intending to give it a superficial glance, but our attention was so absorbed, that we reached the last page before we put it down again.

The New Monthly Magazine, for Church of England Sunday-school Teachers. London: The Church of England Sunday-school Institute.

We strongly recommend this magazine to teachers. It has taken a high stand during the present year, and has published some papers of a very valuable character. We are glad to see the Archbishop of York recognizing the growing importance of Magazine Literature, by sending a contribution to the August number.

Our British Constitution. By the REV. FIELDING OULD, M.A. London: W. Hunt and Co. We hope the Members of both Houses of Parliament," to whom this pamphlet is addressed, will ponder the faithful and earnest

appeal of the writer. It would be a happy day | for our land, if our legislators, once for all, resolved never to sacrifice principle in religious matters at the shrine of so-called political expediency; but we fear the day is far distant. Mr. Ould points out a painful instance of episcopal inconsistency. The Bishop of Oxford in a recent debate in the House of Lords spoke thus:

"The movement at present going on is of a gravity which it is impossible to overrate at the present moment. I know how great is the danger arising from the tendency of the young mind of England to turn towards the views and usages of that Church which our forefathers had left with a strange affection. My own attention is being continually called to individual cases in which this strange tendency is to be met with; and a great part of my time is devoted in trying to solve the difficulty of diverting the affections of those who exhibit this tendency from the object to which they are inclined. The present is therefore a grave and serious occasion for those who believe with me that a greater misfortune could not befall this happy land than any faltering in her adhesion to the true doctrines of the Reformation."

Commenting on this passage Mr. Ould proceeds :

“This is sufficiently startling: but is it not infintely more so that these words should have been uttered by one who has done more than any other living man (with one exception) to bring about the state of things which he so feelingly deplores? Who more responsible than he for giving the minds of young Oxonians that 'strange tendency' which he affects to lament so pathetically? How is it possible to reconcile a late published statement of this Prelate, that there was no Ritualistic excess in any of the Churches of his Diocese, with the statement in this speech, that a large part of his time was occupied with endeavours to preserve the wavering allegiance of the young clergy to the Church of which they are ministers?”

It is difficult to know what the Bishop of Oxford really means. Episcopal utterances now should not give an "uncertain sound." Plain Sermons for Plain People. By REV. F. O. MORRIS, B.A. London: W. Hunt and Co.

These sermons deserve their title, which is saying as much as could well be said for any

sermons.

Story of a Feast. Manchester: J. Ferguson.

A suitable and simple harvest-home tract. Suggestive Readings on the Gospels: St. Luke. By a CLERGYMAN'S WIFE. London: W. Hunt and Co.

These Readings, or Notes, sprang out of a necessity often felt by those who conduct teachers' meetings. They have the verdict of experience in their favour, having been in MS. use for years. We consider the writer has thoroughly accomplished her object-" to

give just enough in the notes to suggest fresh views of Scripture to the teachers, and to create in them a desire to study for themselves." Short Arguments about the Millennium. By the REV. B. C. YOUNG. Second thousand. London: Elliot Stock.

The writer believes that the coming of Christ will not be pre-millennial. We cannot discuss this question; but we commend Mr. Young's book as a very able treatise. Certainly, whatever the future may have in store for the world, it behoves Christians now to do what they can to spread the "good tidings of great joy" to "all people." We agree with Mr. Young that God's Word plainly teaches that "the spectacle by which men are to be attracted is one of suffering, not of splendour." "Christ rejoiced in the power of the cross, not in the efficacy of His regal glory. 'I, if I be lifted up,' He said. 'will draw all men unto Me;' not, If I come down, and reign on the earth. The word 'all' may not be designed to teach that a time will come when every member of the human family will be drawn to the Saviour; but it cannot teach less than that all who should be saved by Christ from the time of His crucifixion, should be drawn to Him by the cross." The best way of showing our interest in Millennium promises seems to us to be to "preach Christ Jesus, and Him crucified" to "every creature." Questions of the Day. London: Seeley, Jackson. and Halliday.

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66

These "addresses" were given at “the Islington Clerical Meeting' last January. The subjects treated are The Atonement," Absolution," 66 'The Lord's Supper," and "Future Punishment." The speakers were Dr. Miller, the Rev. W. Cadman, the Rev. J. Bardsley, and the Rev. E. Bayley. The papers are especially adapted for the clergy, but they are not the less suitable for all readers. The Man who kept himself in Repair. By the REV. P. B. POWER, M.A. London: W. Macintosh.

We have a strong feeling against the habit of transforming Sermons into Tracts. The special mission of the Tract is to reach those who, as a rule, do not hear Sermons, and for that very reason are not likely to read them. We would almost guarantee a reading for Mr. Power's Tracts wherever they go.

The Christian Life. By EMILIUS BAYLEY, B.D. London: W. Hunt and Co.

We have only space to announce the publica tion of this practical volume. The topics dealt with are such as render the book specially one for family reading. Plain, earnest, and affectionate words of exhortation, counsel, and encouragement, are addressed to all the mem bers of the Home Circle.