Ah, but sometimes I do not believe. Don't you? What do you make of that passage? it has often been made a blessing to me-"Though we believe not, yet He abideth faithful." Jesus is such a loving, faithful Saviour, that if He has once manifested His love to thy soul, opened thine eyes, enlarged thy heart, and led thee to Himself as the only ark of the covenant-the only strong hold-has given thee, I say, at any one time to hope in His salvation, He will never leave thee nor forsake thee, but will in mercy again manifest Himself to thee as a sin-pardoning God and a Saviour, and enable thee once more to lay hold upon Him as the only hope set before thee in the Gospel. Oh, then, as poor prisoners of hope, may He again enable us to turn again from all refuges of lies to Him as the only strong hold and only refuge of the distressed. Denholme.

PRAYING MOTHERS.

THE excellent Mrs. HAWKES, the spiritual daughter of the Rev. RICHARD CECIL, writes in her Diary :

T. B.

through many years of weakness and sorrow. He enabled her to walk worthy of her high calling; and He stood by her in a dying hour. Her last words were, For me to die is gain;' and, I will pray for my children while I

The late Rev. RICHARD KNILL, of St. Petersburg, has left a similar testimony on record :

August 9, 1789.—I have been shutting myself up in my dear departed mother's chamber, the very walls and furniture of which are sacred. A thou-have breath. sand times have I marked her retiring into it for purposes of devotion. Often have I heard, her strong cries and tears to God, and often caught the sound of 'MY CHILDREN,' as if that interest was uppermost. At morning, at noon, and at evening, she never failed to retire to read and pray. Thousands of tears has she shed in this chamber, where I have sometimes had the privilege of kneeling down by her side. How present is her image! how sweet my communion with her departed spirit! Little did I then know the value of her intercession for her children; or the weight of her character or example as a Christian. Thank God, I know it now; and abhor myself in proportion as I estimate her. Oh that I might but tread in her honoured steps! Oh that her prayers for every one of us may be like bread cast upon the waters, found after many days! Oh, may my dear mother's God be my God! He graciously carried her

:

"September 30, 1836.-Proceeded to Braunton, my native place, and found my brother alive, but weak in body; and, I trust, improving in spiritual things. My soul was greatly comforted by his conversation, especially on the majesty and glory of the Saviour. At night I was accommodated with the same bed which I had often occupied before. The furniture remains just the same as when I was a boy. But my busy thoughts would not let me sleep; I was thinking how God had led me through the journey of life. At last the light of morning streamed through the little window, and my eye caught sight of the very spot where my sainted mother, more than forty years ago, took my hand, and said, 'Richard, my dear, kneel down with me, and I will go to prayer.' I seemed to hear the tones

of her voice; I recollected some of her expressions. I burst into tears, and rising from my bed, fell on my knees just on the place where my mother kneeled, and adored the Divine goodness for giving me such a parent. Bless the Lord, O my soul, at every remembrance of this mercy."

Reader, I believe we shall never know till, by God's grace, we get to heaven, what honour God has put upon a pious mother's prayers. There is something in the yearning of a Christian mother's heart for the soul of her child

almost divine; it comes nearer to the
love of Christ for His sinful and rebel-
lious people, than anything else a crea-
ture can feel. There is hope for any man
whom God has blessed with a praying
mother; for any, that is to say, but the
man who can scoff at a mother's prayers,
and despise a mother's tears, for the
salvation of his soul. That man's heart
must be so hardened, his conscience so
seared, he is so
past feeling," that if
he is saved it will be a miracle of grace
indeed.
W. M.

Wavertree.

E. B. M.

[WE have, on previous occasions, called our readers' attention to the sweet poetic pieces of the Widow of our ever-to-be-revered aged friend and father in Christ, the late Old Pilgrim, of Birmingham. He has left a Weeper in the Wilderness, tried much on account of the way; labouring day by day as a teacher of the young, as much on their behalf (for she delights in teaching) as on her own, to secure a humble share of the bread that perisheth. But God, in addition, has imparted to her a sweet gift for writing; and the score or so of pieces she has penned has brought her help by the way, as well as afforded much comfort to others on their lonely pilgrimage. We shall subjoin a couple more pieces from the same pen, and merely give our readers the hint, that by forwarding a few postage stamps to E. B. M., 57, Bath Row, Birmingham, they will receive by return of post a packet of these precious Songs of Zion, which are admirably adapted for district visiting, sick-room calls, or enclosure in letters.-ED.]

CONFLICT.

I'LL take my harp down from the willows,
Sweet Spirit! come tune it afresh ;
Oh! raise me from sin and corruption,
From Satan, the world, and the flesh.
I'm often in doubt and dejection,

Entangled by many a snare;
But looking to Thee for protection,
Who knowest my every care.

I'll take my harp down from the willows,
Nor longer be silent and sad;
For goodness and mercy surround me,
Oh! let me rejoice and be glad ;
These conflicts will shortly be ended,
This heart be deceitful no more,
And I, to my Saviour ascended,

Shall joy and rejoice evermore.
I'm journeying on to the kingdom,

Where harps are prepar'd for the saints;
There sin shall no more have dominion,
And banish'd will be my complaints:
Oh! then never more on the willows,
My harp shall be silently hung;
But tuu'd to the praise of Jehovah,
Shall every chord be strung.

Birmingham.

"WHY ART THOU CAST DOWN?"
PEACE be to thee! child of sorrow,
So thy Father hath decreed,
Fear not, therefore, for the morrow,
Help will come in time of need:
Let not unbelief confound thee;
Let not faith and hope decline;
Love and mercy still surround thee,
For a faithful God is thine.
Credit what thy God hath spoken;
Listen to His loving heart:
Not one promise can be broken;
Never will His love depart;
Oh! remember how He found thee,
Wand'ring in a maze of sin,
Cast His arms of love around thee,
Broke thy heart and took thee in.
Canst thou doubt Him any longer,
Let thy tears be turned to joy;
Confidence i: God be stronger,
Nothing can thy life destroy :
Thorny paths of tribulation
Lead thee onwards to thy rest;
Thou shalt realize Salvation,
And with life and light be blest.

E. B. M.

&

THE

GOSPEL MAGAZINE.

"Comfort ye, comfort ye, my People, saith your God." "Endeavouring to Keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace." "Jesus Christ, the same Yesterday, and To-day, and for Ever.

Whom to know is Life

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High."-Psal. xcii. 1.

PERHAPS none more than ourselves are wont to feel such wretched deadness, coldness, thorough heartlessness in prayer. Probably nineteen times out of twenty-aye, more likely ninety times out of a hundred, it does seem to us the merest mockery to attempt to pray with all the heart, the soul, the understanding. We bow the knee, and attempt to lift up our hearts in prayer to God; but, in a moment, and ere we are aware, our thoughts are carried away to the very ends of the earth. The train and the telegraph can bear no comparison to the speed with which our thoughts travel to and fro through the whole habitable globe. We compass sea and land in the twinkling of an eye; and, in a moment, embrace all sorts of schemes, and devise all kinds of plans. Never is the mind more active than when the body is in a kneeling posture. Never are such wonderful things about to be accomplished as when we rise from our knees, if we may judge from what has been darting through the mind like so many phantoms, as so many dissolving views passing before the eye of the spectator. And such is the medley-such the jargonsuch the perfect absurdity of even attempting to pray, that one is half-inclined at times to decline that attempt altogether, deeming it the veriest mockery, and considering it only adds condemnation to condemnation. The only wonder is, that anything like a string of words has been kept together, sentence succeeding sentence, in something like order, whilst at the same time the mind has been in such a confused, disordered, miserably-bewildered state. Then comes a word which seems to cut up the would-be worshipper root and branch. "God is a Spirit, and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." And again, “These people draw nigh unto me with their lips whilst their heart is far from me." This is followed by the memorable lines of Dr. Watts, that

"God abhors the sacrifice

Where not the heart is found."

Well, now, beloved, notwithstanding all this daily contention and truly painful experience of what poor fallen flesh, and a deceitful, thankless, wandering heart are, we are wont not unfrequently to say, "Preface prayer with praise."

H

We acknowledge with you, that at first it may seem a very cold and heartless kind of thing, and practically we can understand your fearing it to be mere mockery; but now let us test the matter for a moment. We will presume you wake at an early hour of a morning; aye, and with that waking what distressing thoughts you for most part have! Depressed to a degree, harassed beyond measure, full of dread of the day about to dawn, you are ready to turn upon your bed, and seek once more to forget, in a little sleep, what may be coming; and yet you fear to indulge in this, lest you should add to your present condition the condemnation of the sluggard! Well, now, though you may have overlooked it, we doubt if you have not begun the day already with a heart-felt petition; the language of that sigh of yours was, "O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me;" that groan meant, “ Lord, help me;" aye, and the Lord understood it as such. It did not escape His ear, though it did thine, poor soul. And, though you may not have heard nor regarded the reply, yet the gracious promptings of the heart of Him who had so tenderly watched over thy midnight slumbers was, "I will help thee. Fear not, my child. Be not dismayed. Yea, I will help thee; yea, I will strengthen thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Ah, fear not! for no weapon formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue rising in judgment against thee thou shalt condemn."

Our God has been pleased to set Himself forth in the tender and endearing character of a Father; yea, he has distinctly said by the psalmist, that "like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.' We pray you not to overlook that word fear-godly, reverential fear; a fear that desires to honour Him, to obey Him, to love what He loves, to hate what He hates; a fear that in reality expresses itself thus :

دو

"Do not I love Thee, dearest Lord?

Oh, search this heart and see;
And from my bosom tear the part
That beats not true to Thee."

But, with regard to a father, we will suppose a case.

Bear in mind, first,

the relationship-a father, the begetter, the child an offshoot of himself-a part and parcel of his own life; bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh : so that every feeling and emotion of that child vibrates in his own heart, convulses his whole frame.

Well, that child we will presume to be in difficulty: he has a duty to perform, or an engagement to fulfil. He feels his weakness, he mourns over the fact that he is unequal to the task. That duty or engagement he knows is in strict accordance with his father's will, and knowing this, he is most anxious to fulfil the same: hence the conflict between a felt inability and an equally felt inclination. He is looking at two objects-himself; his father; the powerlessness of the one, the pleasure or will of the other. Hence the struggle. Now, however that child may fail in the accomplishment of the duty or the task, is not the very effort, and the desire and inclination which prompt that effort, a proof of reverence, esteem, love? Are not the very promptings of that child totally distinct and adverse to the rebellion and selfwill that at once reject the directions and demands of a parent, because such directions and demands are uncongenial and distasteful to the child? Do not the two cases widely differ?

Moreover, what parent but would deeply feel and as deeply sympathize with the child whom he knew to be thus struggling between inability and

inclination? Has he commanded him to go here, or to go there; to do this or to do that? The child goes, but he fails; the child attempts to do the thing, but he is unable; and yet in both cases he has thrown his whole heart and his whole power into the matter. Would not both the attempt and the failure prove the sincerity of his love, and the extent of his obedience, in that he had put forth his powers to the utmost, though that utmost proved a failure? There was no reserve of strength, and therefore there was no lack of obedience. Surely, this is the meaning of the Holy Ghost by the apostle (2 Cor. vii. 11, 12), "As there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not."

Again, when under the failure which we have contemplated, the father flies to the relief of the child; and, in place of upbraiding him for that failure, removes the burden and carries it himself, or does the thing which the child was unable to do; regarding the child at the same time with pity, love, tenderness, accepting the will for the deed; what, think you, would be the emotions of that child? Not self-satisfaction certainly, not the disposition to say, "How well I have said this; or how well I have done the other; my father has a just right to be pleased; I have merited his good will." No, the very failure prevents the indulgence of this self-gratulation. But in place of it there is gratitude, admiration, love! "What a father! how tender! how loving! how kind! He is not angry, but he pities me."

Beloved, spiritualize these ideas; take them in the highest, largest, fullest sense; they apply to our Father-God, and to His tender, loving, gracious devotion towards His children. He sees the struggle, knows full well the conflict, beholds more comprehensively by far than we can all that His dear children have to battle with between a fallen nature, a corrupt heart, an enemy ever watching, ever striving to lead astray, and the recognized declaration of His righteous mind and will. Infirmities and short-sightedness cleave to an earthly parent, and those infirmities may occasionally lead him to overstep the boundary which dictates prudence and pity. Through his own personal infirmities, he may be betrayed into a "provoking his children to wrath," or chastise for his own pleasure," and that a sinful pleasure, because of the frailty that followed Adam's fall. But these infirmities, whether of short-sightedness or self-will, can never cleave unto our God. He is wisdom itself, compassion itself, tenderness itself-our God is LOVE! Whilst, therefore, His wisdom so infinite penetrates into the innermost recesses of our hearts, His tenderness compassionates our condition. Hence the desire to pray is an acceptable desire, the attempt to praise is an acceptable attempt. If an earthly parent takes the will for the deed, how much more the Heavenly! He knows that it is in sincerity, and simplicity too, His children bow the knee at His footstool. Whatever the intention there, whatever the struggle there, whatever the failure there, He recognizes the great fact that their very resorting thither is a practical expression of a felt wish to acknowledge His past and present mercies, goodness, love; and to appeal to Him for the further manifestation of kindness and compassion; and whilst their wanderings and waywardness in the very attitude of prayer prove the depths of human infirmity, and cause them to sink into the utmost self-loathing and detestation, under the wise and gracious orderings and overrulings of the Holy Ghost, it leads them into a corresponding acknowledg-.