we are adopted into God's family, and become heirs of an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. We receive the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father, and have imparted to us a title to eternal life. This is a truly delightful turning. It is to turn from sin to holiness, from danger to safety, from misery to happiness, from death to life, from hell to heaven. And God calls upon us thus to turn. We must either turn or die; and He says to us, "Turn ye, turn ye, for why will I ye die?" This language is expressive of the tenderest compassion and solicitude, and the most exuberant sympathy and love. It is an appeal full of kindness and pity, and regardful anxiety for the perishing souls of men. It is as though our heavenly Father saw us on the brink of a fearful precipice, with only a step between us and certain destruction, and, in tones of earnest feeling and rousing import, called upon us instantly to turn about, that we might not perish. But figures are too poor adequately to set forth and describe the sinner's peril. It is not death by falling over a precipice, nor any other form of temporal death, that is meant in this passage, but the death of the soul, the death of deaths, the undying, eternal death of man's undying spirit-if he turn not that he may live. The precipice, on the verge of which the sinner stands, is the awful one of eternal, remediless ruin; the pit of which he is in danger is the bottomless one, whose smoke ascendeth up for ever and ever; the fire to which he is exposed is unquenchable, and will burn to the lowest hell, producing weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and inflicting torment and woe beyond description and even conception. But God wishes us not to be miserable, but happy; He wishes us not to die, but live; He wishes us not to burn in hell, but to enjoy the delights of heaven; and He condescends to reason the matter with us, to plead with us, and to appeal to us, as a compassionate and loving friend-"Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die?" As much as if He had said: "There is room for you all in heaven-I have embraced you all in the arms of my love-I have given my well-beloved Son to redeem you all-I have made ample provision in my Gospel for the salvation of you all I have striven and still strive with you all by my Spirit I want not one of you to perish-oh, why will ye die? Why will ye slight my love, my compassion, my sympathy, my Son, my grace, the salvation provided for you, and choose death when ye might have life? Why this infatuation? Why will ye harden your hearts, and stiffen your necks, and stop your ears against me? Why will ye set at naught both your obligations and your interest? Why will ye force your way to destruction and misery? How can it be that you are determined on all this? Why will ye exhibit conduct so strange, so unaccountable, so fraught with peril as to your highest, your eternal interests? Why, oh, why, are ye resolved, determined to die? Come to my arms, fly to my bosom, confess your follies, believe in my Son, consecrate yourselves to my service, and let me impart to you life and salvation. Come now, and I will receive you graciously and love you freely. I will pardon your sins, give you the pledges of my love, and fill you with peace, and joy, and heaven. TURN YE, FOR WHY WILL YE DIE? Sinner, what hast thou to say to this? How wilt thou meet the appeal? How wilt thou resist it? How canst thou resist it ?-an appeal from such a being, made in such a way, and on such a subject? -an appeal made by thy Maker and Redeemer-made with the utmost tenderness and pathos-and made on a subject involving thy eternal wellbeing and happiness? Oh, is it not passing strange that such an appeal can be disregarded by a single soul? And yet it is disregarded by multitudes. We fear it may have been hitherto practically disregarded by some who may read these lines. Friends, how much longer do you mean to disregard it? This appeal has been made to you all your life long. It was made to the Jews of old, and it is made to you. There it stands, in God's own Book, and it has been rung in your ears again and again by ministers and others, and applied to your hearts by the Holy Spirit. You have thus heard it from without and from within. The voice has followed you and cried in forceful and melting accents, "Why will ye die?" You have heard it in God's house, in the street, in the field, in the busy throng, and in solitude; you have heard it by day and during the night watches. You have heard it long, and you hear it still. It has pursued you from week to week, from month to month, and from year to year, and yet it follows you. Many a severe struggle have you had in grappling with this appeal, and many a time have you felt how cruel it has been, both to yourselves and your merciful Heavenly Father, to withstand it; but still the devil and sin have prevailed, and you have not "turned" from your evil ways, nor given your hearts to God. Once more the appeal is made; let it not be made in vain, lest, by your continued obstinacy and persistent opposition to God, you exhaust the Divine patience, and find yourselves overtaken by a resistless avalanche of retributive punishment. God will not be mocked. He who will not turn must die. There is no other alternative. It is either conversion or damnation. If we will not turn on earth, we must burn in hell. Jehovah is inflexibly just, as well as unspeakably merciful; and, though His long-suffering is great, there is a point beyond which it may not pass "For mercy knows the appointed bound, Sinner TURN-do it instantly-thy case is alarming-thy danger is inexpressibly great-thy eternal happiness or woe may depend on thy turning Now. Hesitate not; decide at once; go to Him whom thou hast so grieved and insulted; go with the publican's prayer in thy mouth, and let all thy trust be in the "bleeding Lamb," and thou shalt not die, but live! The salvation of the Gospel, in all its richness, fulness, and glory, shall be thy portion; God shall be thy Father, Christ thy Elder Brother, and heaven thy eternal home. Blyth. L. SAXTON. PHYSIOLOGY AND THE SABBATH. PROFESSOR MILLER, one of the most eminent men of science connected with the University of Edinburgh, has published an instructive volume, entitled, "Physiology in Harmony with the Bible, respecting the Value and Right Observance of the Sabbath." His positions, illustrated with much learning and force of argument, are substantially these: 1. That the muscles and brain of man, the special organs of labour, are to work-to do all their work, in six days of the week. It is God's desire and command, and, under due regulation, this labour is, for health, a blessing. 2. In working, the organs of work suffer exhaustion, and need repose -the rest of the night, and the rest of the Sabbath-days. 3. In that rest, the needful energy expended in labour is regained ab intra. 4. Not resting and not working at the proper times are deviations from this rule, and, as such, detrimental. 5. The soul, like the body, is destined to work, and is invigorated by its healthful working; but also, like the body, in working it suffers weariness. The needful refreshment comes ab extra ; not by inaction, but by exercise of another kind. 6. The Sabbath is the special time, and spiritual exercises are the special means for such refreshment. 7. To labour mundanely on the Sabbath, except in works of necessity and mercy, and to abstain from spiritual exercise on that day, each is alike a deviation from the rule, and, as such, detrimental. The man that so errs outrages God's holy law, and incurs His righteous dis pleasure, both here and hereafter; despising, as he does, that which is not only the law of God's holy word, but also, and, equally, the constitutional law of man's being-or, rather, well-being physiologically considered. The man that loves, honours, and obeys the law of God in all things, finds, practises, and experiences that "godliness which is profitable unto all things, having the promise, both of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." Or, in another point of view, a saving knowledge of and communion with Christ-Christianity-is essential to the well-being of man, even in this world. Without this, his body may live through its short span passing well, after a sort, as may that of a horse, dog, or other lower animal; but the soul, spirit, mind, can know no true, refreshing, and sustaining power; it cannot really prosper, and be in health; prematurely it passes, as to some of its highest and noblest functions, into decrepitude and decay, even now; and, at the body's death, its death is eternal! COINS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. "And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard."-MATT. xx. 2. A PENNY a day seems a small compensation for a labourer; but the coin in question was not a penny of the present day, but was a denarius, a silver coin, the intrinsic value of which was sevenpence halfpenny. This gives one a better idea of the value of labour at that time. And it shows that the good Samaritan was more liberal and generous than the usual reading of the text would indicate-Luke x. 35. He gave the poor man that fell among thieves two silver coins of the value of fifteen pence. We have reason to believe that silver was at that period ten times as valuable as it is at present; in other words, fifteen pence then would buy as much as twelve shillings would now. It thus appears that the Samaritan, besides the other valuable things, wine and oil, which he bestowed upon the injured man, gave the "host" money enough to pay the boarding of the guest for some time, perhaps for several weeks, because this interesting event happened in the hill country of Judea, between Jerusalem and Jericho, where the charges at the inn were probably quite moderate. Thus a liberal provision was made for the intervening time which would elapse before the benevolent man would return from Jerusalem. And in case he should be delayed in his return, he said to the inn-keeper; "Take care of this man; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." This generous and neighbourly conduct of the good Samaritan our Lord commends, with the injunction, "Go, and do thou likewise " -ver. 37. The ointment with which Mary anointed our Saviour is said to have been " very costly "John xii. 3; and "very precious"—Mark xiv. 3. "Some had indignation within themselves and murmured against her," because her ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred pence and the money given to the poor."-Mark xiv. 4, 5. The propriety of saying that it was very costly and very precious, appears very clearly when we ascertain that the price at which it was said to have been sold was equal to forty-five dollars* of our own money. Mary's offering was therefore a valuable one intrinsically; but much more so, as she wrought a "good work," which is spoken of throughout the whole world as a memorial of her love and devotion to the Saviour "-ver. 6. Again, when the five thousand persons were miraculously fed, we are told that the disciples asked, "Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?"-Mark vi. 37. The present value of a penny is about two cents. It would seem to be very unreasonable to talk of feeding such a multitude with four hundred cents' worth of bread. But when we know that two hundred pence were equal to thirty dollars of our money, we can *An American dollar is about four shillings of English money. readily understand how, with that sum, bread enough might have been purchased not only to enable "every one of them to take a little "-John vi. 7; but if the proportionate value is considered, the money would have bought a loaf of bread for each one of the great multitude that were assembled. The great Master of the feast, however, preferred to feed them by his creative power, and thus the five barley loaves and the two small fishes were miraculously increased; "and they did all eat and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments"-Mark vi. 42, 43. It is difficult to determine with accuracy the relative value of money in different periods of the world. The prices of the same denomination, coined at different times, greatly varied in weight and in fineness, or in the proportion of pure silver to the alloy of base metal used in the coinage. The denarius of Tiberius weighed about sixty grains, and contained about ninety per cent. of silver and ten per cent. of alloy, and was worth, as we have seen, about sevenpence halfpenny; but as the Roman Empire declined, the denarius was diminished in weight and fineness, until at length it fell to about the value of threepence. It was perhaps on the model of this reduced denarius that the English penny was established. The pound sterling, as originally constituted in England, and up to about A.D. 1300, was composed of a troy pound weight of silver.-James Ross Snowden. MARKS OF RELIGIOUS THE following are a few marks by which you may judge whether your soul is prospering : 1. When you are reluctant to religious conversation, and the company of serious, heavenly-minded Christians, and enjoy yourself best with men of the world. 2. When, from preference, you are absent from meetings for prayer, confine yourself to Sabbath meet ings, are easily detained from them, and are ready to excuse such neglects. 3. When you are afraid to consider certain duties seriously, lest your conscience rebuke past neglect, and insist on fidelity now. 4. When it is more your object, in doing duty, to pacify conscience, than to honour Christ, obtain spiritual profit, or do good to others. 5. When you have an over-critical spirit respecting preaching; are dissatisfied with the manner, as inelegant, too plain, too intellectual, or not according to some favourite model; or with the matter, as too doctrinal, or too preceptive; or when you complain of it as too close, or are suspicious of personality. 6. When you are more afraid of being accounted strict, than of sinning against Christ by negligence in practice, and unfaithfulness "to your Lord and Master." 7. When you have little fear of temptation, and can trifle with spiritual danger. 8. When you thirst for the complacency of men of the world, and are more anxious to know what they think or say of you, than whether you honour the Saviour in their sight. 9. When scandals to religion are more the subject of your censure than of your secret grieving and prayer before God, and faithful endeavours for their removal. 10. When you are more afraid to encounter the scorn of, or offending man, by rebuking sin, than of offending God by silence. 11. When you are more bent upon being rich than holy. 12. When you cannot receive deserved reproof for faults, are unwilling to confess them, and justify yourself. 13. When you are impatient and unforbearing towards the frailties, misjudgments, and faults of others. 14. When your reading of the Bible is formal, hasty, lesson-wise, or merely intellectual, and unattended with self-application, or when you read almost any other book with more interest than the Book of God. 66 15. When you have more religion abroad than at home; are apparently fervent when seen of men,' 17 or languid when seen only in the family, or by God alone. 16. When your religious taste is more for the new things of men, than for the old things of the treasury of God's word. 17. When you call spiritual sloth and withdrawment from Christian activity by the names of prudence and peacefulness, while sinners are going to destruction, and the Church suffering declension, unmindful that prudence can be united with apostolic fidelity, and peaceableness with most anxious seeking of the salvation of souls. Also, 18. When, because there is a false zeal abroad, you will neither trust yourself nor others, even in that fervency in spirit, serving the Lord" which Paul taught and practised. 19. When you are secretly more gratified at the fall of some professor of religion than grieved for the wounds which he inflicts on Christ. 20. When, under chastisement of Providence, you think more of your sufferings than your deserts, and look more for relief than purification from sin. 21. When you confess but do not forsake besetting sin. 22. When you acknowledge but still neglect duty. Reader, if you feel in a declining state, use God's remedy for your recovery. This is it: "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy."— (Hos. xiv. 1-3)-British Messenger. WE WANT MORE LOVE. WE want more love; more of that self-forgetting affection. We must have "the triple cord of love," if the work is to go on successfully; more love to Jesus, to each other, and more love to our ministers. The true centre of love is love to Jesus. And if that burn brightly in the heart, there will be a gracious and comely development of the celestial principle toward those who come within the sphere of its influence. It is the love of Jesus that must animate the missionary over burning plains, or icy mountains; the love of Jesus must stimulate the faithful minister to persevere in his work of inculcating the doctrines of the word of life. Go, then, to the fountain; learn what it is to speak of Christ, for Christ's sake; and dwell upon his finished work for sinners, until a measure of the love which reigned in his bosom is transferred into your own. We want more love to each other. There is, sometimes, nothing but a stiff formalism, or a polite courtesy observable among members. They are but one body, and, therefore, an entire sympathy should subsist between the different members. The weakest and most illiterate should be on such terms with the intellectual and influential that, should anything occur needing aid or advice, he could go to his superior friend, with the certainty of obtaining it both freely and fully. Each member ought to feel that he is backed by the influence and authority of the whole Church; so that if he grieves, it is a common grievance; or to rejoice, it is a common joy. We want more love for the ungodly. We want that love which will fill us with tender charity toward those who manifest that conduct toward us which we have manifested in a hundred-fold degree toward our Saviour. Let us, above all, remember that the soul of every member of our family is a treasure so immensely precious, that the wealth of a thousand worlds would not be a substitute for its loss-that |