RELIGION A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION.

DR. GROSVENOR's first wife was a most devout and amiable woman. The Sabbath after her death, the doctor expressed himself from the pulpit in the following manner: "I have had an irreparable loss, and no man can feel a loss of this kind more than myself; but the cross of dying Jesus is my support,-I fly from ONE death, for refuge, TO ANOTHER."

POEM.

THE HOUR OF PRAYER.

SWEET hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care;
And bids me, at my Father's throne,
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief,
And oft escaped the tempter's snare,
By means of thee-sweet hour of prayer.
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!

The joy I feel the bliss I share

With those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return;
With such I hasten to the place

Where God my Saviour shows his face,
And gladly take my station there,
To wait for thee--sweet hour of prayer.

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
Then since he bids me seek his face,
Believe his word, and trust his grace,
I'll cast on him my every care,

And wait for thee-sweet hour of prayer.

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolations share,

Till from Mount Pisgah's lofty height
I view my heaven, and at the sight
Put off this robe of flesh, and rise,
To meet my Saviour in the skies;
Shouting as I pass through the air,
Farewell, farewell-sweet hour of prayer.

HANNAH,

Member of Dr. Fletcher's Catechetical Seminary.

THE name of this venomous reptile in the original Hebrew is 1, PETEN; and it signifies to disturb, or make a commotion. How very descriptive and characteristic is this name of the hateful animal when its deadly venom enters into the person whom it wounds by its fatal bite! The venom of this creature is a striking emblem of sin. It is that which above every thing else in the universe disturbs and produces a commotion. The venom of the asp is very peculiar. It is called the cruel venom, Deut. xxii. 33: "Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps." Death is the certain consequence of the bite of the asp,

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which introduces the cruel venom into the body of him it wounds. This is precisely the fatal consequence of the wound which sin, the venomous asp, inflicts. Except by a miracle of grace, the wound of this worst of all reptiles is followed in this life by death spiritual; and, if mercy prevent not, by death eternal in the world to come. Surely, then, the venom of sin is a Oh, may God mercifully preserve us from the fatal consequence of this venom of sin, this cruel venom, this deadly venom !

cruel venom.

But we must proceed to give some account and description of the asp mentioned in various parts of Scripture. Linnæus, the great naturalist, gives the following description of this reptile: "Its nose is terminated by an erect wart; body tawny, with figured streaks, alternately distinct and confluent, or mingled together; and beneath, steel blue, dotted with yellow. It is about a foot long, and in thickness about half-aninch. It is oviparous, that is, lays eggs; and in a very little while after its venom is injected, death is the consequence. Soon after the wound is inflicted, a deadly drowsiness and slumber pervades the whole frame; then a dead sleep, from which the sufferer cannot be aroused; then death!

Galen, one of the most eminent of physicians, says he witnessed the activity and the fatal consequences of the poison. The case occurred in Alexandria, in Egypt. It was in the person of a criminal condemned to die. It was resolved that his sufferings should be speedily brought to a close; an asp was therefore applied to his breast. After it crawled upon him for a short time he expired.

Striking are the allusions to asps in Scripture. In Rom. iii. 13, wicked men are compared to asps ; "The poison of asps is under their lips." And why are they compared to asps ? It is on account of their cunning, malignity, and their gradual but certain murdering of themselves, and their cruelly injuring of others by the venom of sin.

In Isa. xi. 8, it is predicted that "the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp." This intimates that in millennial days, wicked men shall be changed into holy loving saints, and that "there shall be nothing to hurt nor destroy in God's holy mountain."

SERMON VI.

OMNIPRESENCE.

“ Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?"-Psalm cxxxix. 7.

WHAT is the meaning of the word omnipresence? It means to be present in every place, and everywhere at the same time. This is true of God. He is present in every place, and in every place at the same time. He is as much present in one place as in another. Yes, as much present in an African desert as in a lovely English garden. He is as much present in a cottage as in a palace, and as much in a schoolroom of young scholars as he is in the most splendid sanctuary filled with adoring worshippers.

What, then, is omnipresence? We answer, It is one of the attributes or perfections of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, ONE GOD. This glorious perfection can belong to none but God; it can belong to no creature, to no angel. It belongs only to God. God is infinite, and therefore must be omnipresent. To be infinite is to be without bounds and limits; such is God. He is without bounds, he is without limits. Therefore, he must be everywhere present. Zophar thus spake to Job of God as infinite, and therefore as omnipresent, Job. xi. 7: "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" (Ver. 8): "It is high as heaven; what

canst thou do? Deeper than hell; what canst thou know? (Ver. 9): "The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea."

"Can creatures to perfection find

Th' eternal uncreated Mind?
Or can the longest stretch of thought
Measure and search his nature out?
"Tis high as heaven, 'tis deep as hell,
And what can mortals know or tell?

His glory spreads beyond the sky,

And all the shiny worlds on high."-WATTS.

I. WHERE GOD IS PRESENT.

1st. He is present in heaven. Is the sky or the firmament called heaven? He fills the sky or the firmament. Is the vast space where the stars twinkle and shine called heaven? He fills that vast space. There is another heaven still; it is called the third heaven, and the heaven of heavens. The sky, the first heaven, is glorious; the second, or the starry heaven, is more glorious than the first; the third heaven, the heaven of heavens, is infinitely more glorious than the other two. And that heaven, God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one God, fills with his presence and fills with his glory. Thus Solomon speaks of God in heaven, Eccles. v. 2 66 : God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few." The prophet had a blessed view of God as present in heaven, and he gives the following account of what he saw, Isa. vi. 1: “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple." (Ver. 2): "Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly." (Ver. 3): "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."

Oh, what blessedness it must be to enter heaven, and see God filling heaven with his glory! Little children