Israelites, whose eyes the fulfilment of prophecy has failed to open. To the cross, ye turbaned

and crescented Mohammedans, followers of a false prophet and blind guide. To the cross, ye idolatrous pagans, who bow down to images of wood and stone. And to the cross, ye backsliding sinners, whatever may be the sum of your transgressions. You are bitten by the fiery serpent, sin, and the cross of Christ is your only cure. The brazen serpent healed the wounded body; Christ restores the sin-stricken soul The brazen serpent added to the days of him who gazed thereon; but the life of Him who hung on the cross is a death unto sin, a new birth unto righteousness, a sure and certain hope of heavenly glory, and an unfailing promise of a life that shall endure for ever.

IF THE CROSS BE THY ANCHOR.

Lines addressed to the late Rev. R. H. Shepherd, in answer to his Lines entitled, "The Cross is my

Anchor."

IF the Cross be thy Anchor, thy pilot must be That Saviour that walk'd on the fathomless sea; Who reproved and controll'd the proud waves at his will,

And spoke "peace" to the tempest, and bade it "be still."

If the Cross be thy Anchor, no harm can be hurl'd On thy head when the whirlwind is vexing the world; Innoxious the flash shall disfigure the sky,

And the red bolt of ruin pass harmlessly by.

If the Cross be thy Anchor, by sceptics abhorr'd,
And thy cable the ne'er failing word of the Lord;
Thy voyage is safe, and thy haven secure,
And for time and eternity thou shalt endure.

If the Cross be thy Anchor, then blest is thy lot,
For the crash of creation shall injure thee not;
With the trump that shall wake the wide world
with alarms,

Thy Saviour will hasten thee home to his arms.

I HAVE NONE BUT GOD LEFT NOW!

"I HAVE none but God left now!" said a poor widow, who had been freely pouring out her troubles to an aged friend. She was dressed in black, and had years on her brow, while her face had in it a mournful and anxious expression; but the relation of her sorrows seemed to give relief to her heart.

By the poor widow's account she had passed through deep waters of affliction, and endured, as she said, more than her "share of trouble." One of her two children had been drowned, and the other was then in a lunatic asylum. She had lost her brother and sister, and only three weeks before had buried her husband, being left alone, and in poverty. "All the day long," said she, "I am grieving; and when I wake in the morning, my pillow is wet with tears. Everything seems to have melted away, and I have none but God left now."

"None but God left now!" poor, brokenhearted pilgrim. Knowest thou Him who is yet left to thee? Hast thou felt that God is good?

Hast thou tasted that the Lord is gracious? If not, no wonder, then, thy trouble is heavier than thou canst bear. Hasten to him with thy burden. "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord;" for then thy language will soon be, "Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him," Psa. xxviii. 6, 7.

"None but God left now!" poor desolate widow, "tossed with tempest, and not comforted." He who has cast thee down can raise thee up. He who has wounded thee can heal thee; and he who has bereaved thee, can be to thee more than a husband, and give thee a better heritage than that of sons and daughters. Full as thy cup is of sorrow, peace and joy may yet be thy portion, for the promise of the Redeemer is gone forth: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," Matt. xi. 28.

"None but God left now!" poor, povertystricken mourner. Knowest thou not that the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the silver and the gold, the beasts of the forest.

and the cattle on a thousand hills? Thy desires are not so large as his possessions. There is nothing that is good for thee that he cannot He can wipe the tears from thy weep

bestow. ing eyes, bind up the bones which he has broken, change thy gloom into gladness, and fill thy mouth and thy heart with thanksgiving.

Up and be doing, broken-hearted pilgrim. Onward and upward, desolate widow. To thy home, poverty-stricken mourner. If thou hast God left, then hast thou more need to praise him on an instrument of ten strings, than to hang thy harp on the willows. Go boldly to an ever-open throne of grace.

66

Ask, and it shall

be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock,

and it shall be opened unto you,” Matt. vii. 7