and the clergyman who so efficiently conducts the Grammar school, an endowment of early times, for Atherstone. Mr. Massie's sons continued untrammeled pupils, under his generous care; and by his counsels and their own application, which he helped and cheered, they frequently occupied the highest place. Mr. Massie left three sons by his first wife, whose brief union and many excellences he fondly remembered. In the year 1850, he married again. His second wife proved the source of many comforts, and ministered to the welfare of his family, the efficiency of his Sunday-school and his personal ministry, with great constancy and success. In her he obtained favour of the Lord," and much to cheer him in times of trial. The church was blessed with peace, and their institutions prospered. The residents in town and neighbourhood cordially and liberally co-operated in collections and occasional contributions. The existence of a church of the same denomination indulged the partialities of some who might not have had entire satisfaction in his mode of preaching. In reply to a congratulatory address, presented to him by the church, as their "muchbeloved and revered pastor," he expressed himself in strains which evince what were his spirit and object. The memorial was engrossed on parchment, and was presented at a social teameeting.

second

“My desire, when accepting the oversight of you, was to do the work of the Lord, devoting myself as a living sacrifice for the glory of God, and the wellbeing of man. As those interested in my labour and travail sought the presence and aid of the chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls, so have I discharged the various duties devolving upon me with a respect to His supervision, the eternal welfare of the people of my charge, and my own final account. An apostle wrote, 'In many things we offend all;' to this truth I am ready to subscribe; conscious of imperfections. My hope and peace spring from the grace and substitution of the Lord our Righteousness; and, depending on His all-sufficiency of grace and strength, which my past course of duty at Atherstone as elsewhere has proved, I am encouraged by you and your kind congratulations and sympathy to consecrate myself anew to the work of God amongst you. I hope that in truth I can say as an Apostle, ‘I seek

not yours but you;' considering myself as redeemed by a precious price, and that all such are not their own but bound to live for the glory of Him who gave Himself as the ransom for them. I desire to continue the servant of Christ Jesus, and to stand as your servant for His sake. Let Him only pour out upon us His Holy Spirit, and sanctify to us the trials of past years, then all shall be well. Our faith is that He who is the Head of the Church holds the stars in His right hand, and, as the Sun of Righteousness, causes them to shine in grace and truth for the benefit of those who desire guidance and example, as also for blessing for those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Our duty therefore is to wait upon the Lord continually, and in earnestness of purpose to advance His glory in whatever way He may appoint; whether by our embracing opportunities for making known the Gospel, or by the exercise of patience in the furnace of trial. We are required to shine as lights for the benefit of others, as well as to enjoy the light ourselves; to be epistles of Christ, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, known and read of all men. I am earnestly desirous, my dear friends, that we may all be such, and that men may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus. Read your Bibles with devout prayer for the Holy Spirit, not only that you may understand the truth of God, but that your hearts may enjoy the blessed promises and your lives exemplify the holy precepts therein contained. By so doing, your way shall be light and your end peace and joy; fail to do so, and whatever your profession, I affectionately warn you that darkness, trouble, and eternal misery shall be your only portion. Follow truth, live in fellowship with God and His Son, endeavour to walk with Him who is the life of His people. Behold the Lamb who is the sacrifice for you, and lift your hearts to Him as your intercessor and friend in heaven; earnestly breathe forth your souls for His Holy Spirit, for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His. He is the Spirit of life, and He quickeneth; the man in whom He dwells is a new creation, to represent Christ Jesus in the world, walking in the same path of love, of holiness, of communion with God, and of zeal for the glory of His name."

In this spirit and for such objects

did our deceased brother pursue his ministry, loving his people and being beloved by them. In the beginning of August, 1863, he returned from a visit to the family of Admiral R, whom he had continued to esteem and honour, and who had welcomed him as worthy of all love; and had resumed his duties as pastor of his flock. Mr. Massie had enjoyed good general health, and was seldom unfitted for his pulpit labours. His last illness was brief, and his death was unexpected. An attack, which did not yield to medicine, of obstruction in the bowels terminated fatally in thirty-five hours. On the morning of Friday, 28th of August, he was engaged in the discharge of some local duties, and only went to bed somewhat earlier than usual, hoping to be relieved before the hours of Sabbath began. But the skill of the medical attendant and the endurance of the patient were only the prelude to the silent yet certain march of mortification; and he died at а quarter to eleven o'clock, P.M., of Saturday, the 29th. Peaceful, and in humble confidence, he awaited what he anticipated would be the end of the attack.

When questioned as to his apprehensions on the close of his ministry, he replied, "I have sought the salvation of my hearers." When expressing his

own personal hope, he said, "I look, to Jesus; and when regarding his wife and youngest son, he counselled them, saying to the latter, Serve you the Lord," and to the former, "Trust in God, trust in God." He fell asleep in Jesus, and rests from his labours. The funeral services were conducted by the Revs. T. Mays, T. Burgess, and J. Gouge; and the funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. T. Mays. It was the sorrow of his brother to hear only of this bereavement, when fulfilling a mission of peace in the Western States of America, and thus be deprived of the melancholy satisfaction of ministering the last obsequies to one whom he had affectionately loved from childhood. -The tribute paid to Mr. Massie's memory by the congregation and inhabitants of the town at his interment was truly gratifying to the afflicted relatives of the deceased. The congregation bore their part in the expenses of the funeral, and prepared a place of sepulture in the burying-ground adjoining the chapel where he loved to serve his God and Saviour in the Gospel of peace and truth. A beautiful tablet has been prepared, in terms of grateful and affectionate esteem, to commemorate his name and relation pastor of the church in Atherstone.

CYRENIUS was sent to make an enrolment of property in Syria, and made accordingly, both there and in Judæa, a census (Joseph. l.c., and xviii. 1, sec. 1). But this census seems in Luke (ii. 2) to be identified with the one which took place at the time of the birth of Christ, when Sentius Saturninus was governor of Syria. Hence has arisen a considerable difficulty, which has been variously solved, either by supposing some corruption in the text of St. Luke (a supposition which is not countenanced by any external critical evidence), or by giving some unusual sense to his words,

This taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria." Many commentators and chronologists, for example, Perizonius, Usher, Petavius,

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as

Storr, Tholuck, Wieseler, would render this, was made before Q. was governor of Syria," by a usage otherwise confined to St. John among the Evangelists. But this is very improbable, both in itself and because thus there would have been no adequate ground for inserting the notice.

An unexpected light has been thrown on the matter lately. A. W. Zumpt, of Berlin, the nephew of the distinguished grammarian, in his Commentatio de Syria Romanorum provincia a Casare Augusto de Vespasianum, has shown it to be probable that Quirinus was twice governor of Syria. This he supports by the following considerations:

In 9 B. C. Sentius Saturnius succeeded M. Titius in the province of

is an intolerable burden. And in my sober judgment, the preacher who has neither the talent, nor tact, nor good sense to time his discourses to the average ability of his audience to hear and improve them, should never again stand on a pulpit of wood-certainly not on a mahogany pulpit! Does he not know that the business of a preacher is to instruct, impress, and persuade, and all his attempts after the first three quarters of an hour are generally worse than useless?-that every blow of his hammer on the nail after it is driven home but loosens it? He ought to know it.

2. A want of directness in reaching and elucidating the meaning of the text.

Mahogany though my heart is, I am often grieved to see "Ahimaaz the son of Zadok" run, where he has no intelligent message to deliver; or till he is too much out of breath to deliver any. Let him stand aside; one "Cushi," who dashes directly at the meaning of his errand, and promptly delivers it, is worth more than a score like him. Let him stand aside, and give the sword of the Spirit a chance to cut.

3. A want of symmetry in his message. All doctrine is strong meat. All duty is weak milk. Neither, in my opinion, should ordinarily be administered alone; and neither out of its relations to other doctrines, and other duties. And yet how often has my heart been pained to hear a glorious truth--the Divine sovereignty, for example-hammered out into an iron falsehood! and an imperative duty flattened out into a mere article of convenience! All the duties of religion are derived from the doctrines or founded on them; so the doctrine must be preached to make known and enforce the duty; and both to make the message symmetrical; both to present the truth in suitable proportions, giving to every man his portion in due season.

4. A want of tender earnestness.

It may seem strange that one who has been trampled under foot so long as I have been, should grieve and put in a plea for earnestness; but a heart must be harder than mahogany not to grieve when such themes as sin and salvation; death, judgment, and eternity; are treated without emotion! If" the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it," when one "coveteth an evil covetousness to his house that he may set his nest on high;" why shall not the pulpit cry when

the preacher sleeps, and answer when the truth awakens no earnest tenderness in his own soul?

5. A want of directness in the application of truth.

O for more of the spirit of Nathan to apply the parable! More of the fidelity of John the Baptist to rebuke sin! If my boards were made into a whisperinggallery, I would have every whisper a clap of thunder in the ears of the guilty, and every clap so surcharged with lightning as both to break and melt the obdurate heart.

6. A want of courage.

"O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears." Men set for the defence of the Gospel, afraid to urge its claims! afraid to utter its sanctions! "Alas!" says Richard Baxter,

"how few ministers preach with all their might, or preach about everlasting joys and torments in such a manner as to make men believe that they are in earnest! We have a base man-pleading disposition, which will suffer us to let men go quietly to hell, lest we should lose their respect."

7. The old pulpit also sorrows over a variety of other wants within its limits:such as a want of dignity suited to the place and the occasion: some taking all the liberties they would in lecturing a parcel of boys from a common schoolhouse desk.

A want of ease also; reading and speaking in a strait-jacket, with the feet made fast in the stocks: or if not in such bonds, standing as stiffly, and gesturing as ungracefully as a wooden pump. A want of modulation in the voice also; speaking as the hammer monotonously rings on the anvil, or the lazy pendulum swings off its seconds. The want of certain proprieties moreover, such as may be named, and such as are nameless.

The use of the handkerchief for example; whether it be spread ostenta. tiously over the face, like a jib on a boom, to catch a pious breeze; or used for a less popular purpose. And also the use of cant and common-place expressions; and aesthetic and psychological language, so that the unlearned cannot tell what is piped or harped, and good taste is offended.

Over these and similar faults the old mahogany pulpit has long grieved and sometimes reddened into an indignant blush. It confesses to some relief in having thus unbosomed its sorrows. It

cannot close this catalogue, however, without specifying one more.

8. Treatment of the Bible.

Without that blessed book I should be no better than an auctioneer's stand, or an actor's stage. With it, speaking as the voice of God to men, I resemble the summit of Sinai at the giving of the Law, and the most holy place in the tabernacle. I stand on holy ground. Judge then of my feelings, when the

preacher pounds the Book as though he were hammering out leaf-gold; and assails its pages as he would storm a castle!

Let the volume be treated with due respect. Let its great Author be loved and acknowledged. Let nothing but what is appropriate, and pertinent, and edifying, and saving, enter the old mahogany pulpit, and its sorrows will be turned into joy. J. S.

༡ བློན་ཚེ

NEVER give your son a night-key. Indulgence on this point may at first save you a little trouble, but will cause you greater sorrow in the end. If it should be necessary for him to be out beyond the usual hour, you would do well to sit up for him, and let him in with your own hand. The fact that a parent is waiting at home, the influence of a reception by a mother's voice and a mother's eye, the demonstration thus made of an affection so watchful and so incapable of being happy without knowing her son is safe under her own roof before she can herself rest in sleep-all make a strong impression even on a wayward heart. The youth of a family should all be safely housed at the usual

hour of retiring to bed. No good follows children or families who break through these hours. The union of the cheerful hearts of a household around the blazing hearth and central light of home to part at bed-time with affectionate greetings, is one of the greatest pleasures of the day. It is a powerful cement to the family feeling. Make all this attractive to your children, and keep up the habit unbroken. In most cases the night-key is the key that opens the door of the way going down to the gates of death. When importuned, think of this; and never put into the hands of your son a night-key. It should be held by yourself alone.

The Imperial Bible Dictionary. Blackie. THIS great work, which is to comprise about 20 parts, is steadily advancing. The present is the eighth, which carries the alphabet down to G, and reaches the 640th page, from which some idea may be formed of the magnitude of the great undertaking, when it shall have been completed. The illustrations are very numerous and very beautiful. The typography altogether is exquisite, and the work will be the finest thing of its class. We very cordially recommend all who have not seen it to examine it, and we feel assured that they who do so, will soon make up their minds to take it in. We may just observe that, respect being had to the expense at which it is got up, it is a very cheap publication.

Anthems for Congregational Worship. F. Haddon.

WE have already had occasion to pronounce this volume as one of the best of its class. It is sufficiently comprehensive for its purpose, having twelve anthems and six sanctuses. The typography is in Mr. Haddon's best style, it is elegantly got up, and very cheap.

The Works of Thomas Goodwin, D.D. Vol. VIII., containing, "The Object and Acts of Justifying Faith." Nichol, Nisbet, and Co. We have here what may be designated one of the great author's principal works. In some respects, indeed, it is his greatest performance, seeing that it deals with that which Luther