3. This love must be expressed by praying for your Christian friends, and by being ready on all occasions, so far as you have the ability, to help them both temporally and spiritually, to advise them in difficulty, to relieve them in distress, to comfort them in affliction, and in every possible way to build them up in the faith of the Gospel.

It is not necessary that we should enlarge on this department of Christian duty, for the cultivation of brotherly love cannot fail to produce peace, unity, benevolence, zeal, and every Christian virtue that can adorn the character, and make Christian brethren what they should be towards each other, as helpers of each other's faith, and as co-workers in the great business of saving souls.

III. We shall now call your attention very briefly to THE DUTIES WHICH OUR CHURCHES OWE TO THE CONNEXION. Our Connexion is a confederation of churches designed to promote the following objects:1. To secure and maintain an efficient staff of ministers, so that every circuit in the Connexion may be supplied. In working out this object the strong has to help the weak.

2. To effect such an exchange or removal of our ministers from one circuit to another as will be likely to promote the vitality, health, and expansion of the whole body.

3. To sustain, with vigour, all our institutions, and especially the missionary institution, so that we may act with greater power and effect in subduing the enemies of Christ, and in extending his kingdom.

We are all well-assured that these great, benevolent, and necessary objects could not be accomplished without Connexional unity. Now, our Conference, which is a representation of the entire body, is the centre of that Connexional unity whence all our laws for government and action proceed. What I wish to impress, and, if possible, engrave, on the heart of our churches is, the necessity of Connexional loyalty. We are pleased to observe that in every circuit this principle is taking deeper hold of the conscience, the judgment, and the affection of our people. Still there is room for great improvement. Let our friends from every part of the Connexion ponder this, and let them resolve, so far as they can influence their circuits, that every Connexional obligation shall be sacredly and faithfully fulfilled. Such a manifestation of Connexional fidelity could not fail to exert a most salutary influence on the whole body. It would inspire confidence, elicit benevolence, and, in all respects, increase our power to do good. We now proceed to the closing exhortation :—

IV. THE DUTIES WHICH OUR CHURCHES OWE TO THE WORLD. As this branch of our subject has been brought before us in the missionary services, we shall only lay down a few positions, accompanied with very brief remarks. We are told by John that "the whole world lieth in wickedness," that is, all the unregenerate people of the world are under the power of the Wicked One, and, therefore, are in danger of being lost for ever. We are further told, by Christ himself, "that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Thus we learn that the beloved Son of God, by his incarnation, and by the fulfilment of all his mediato

rial offices, has opened the way by which all mankind may be saved: so that there is not one sinner but may be rescued from the power of the Wicked One, may be pardoned, purified, and made meet for the kingdom of heaven. Now, Jesus Christ has made his church responsible for the proclamation of these joyful tidings to the whole of the human family; and while it is specially the business of ministers to be the bearers of this good news, and by all the powers of argument and affectionate entreaty to beseech men to be reconciled to God, still the great work is not confined to them. Every member of the Church should be a missionary, and should make it the supreme labour of his life to seek the salvation of souls. This is the mission of his Christian calling, the end for which God continues him in the world after his conversion. Now, every person, however humble his position, has a measure of influence, and by instruction, example, and prayer, may do something to promote the conversion of men. And when our people's hearts are right with God, so that they feel the burden of souls, and are penetrated with a deep sense of their responsibility, they are impelled to labour, as a relief to their own minds, that they may stand pure of the blood of souls, and be prepared to give an account of their stewardship with joy; and the good people perform this labour with supreme pleasure, knowing that they are doing something to lessen the aggregate of human misery, to save souls from death, and prepare them for heaven.

But the great commission given to the Church is-" Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." To work out this commission involves more than can be done by direct and individual effort; and hence, our Connexional combination to send missionaries to different parts of our own country, to our colonies, and to heathen lands. This enters into the essence of the duties which Christian people owe to the world: "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith in Christ." We must all rejoice to observe that this great mission-work is deeply affecting the heart of the universal Church, and calling forth responses of devout sympathy and benevolence, such as was never before witnessed. And in concurrence with this, the providence of God is working-working mightily-going before the Church; preparing the way for its operations; challenging a stronger faith, a richer benevolence, a more burning and self-denying zeal. The cry of Providence is—Onward! "The fields are already white unto harvest." Let every minister, every officer, and every member of the Church prepare to put in the sickle, to gather the sheaves, that they may be garnered in heaven. Then we can sweetly and loudly sing the "harvest home!"

It is very clear, my brethren, that the Church is essentially missionary in its character. In the "Witnessing Church," by Dr. Harris, it has been shown in a very lucid manner, that this is the law of its being and progress; and that no Church can do its duty without an active development of the missionary spirit. And, further, it is equally clear, from the entire history of the Church, that it has prospered or declined in proportion as it has fulfilled or neglected this primary law of its constitution.

And, as we have already intimated, there never was a time in the history of man when the world was so prepared by Providence for missionary aggression. Now is the time for action; for every member of the Church, for every Christian to come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty;" and surely every one will be anxious to do something to help in routing the powers of darkness, and to hasten that period when the kingdoms of this world shall "become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever."

We have now endeavoured to present before you the duties of our churches. Let those duties-both as they relate to the ministry, to your fellow-Christians, to the Connexion, and to the world-be seriously pondered by every member of the Church, and let each one resolve that, by the help of God, every duty shall be faithfully performed. Then will Zion arise, and "put on her strength," and "the beauty of the Lord our God will be upon us; and the power of the Church will be felt wherever her labours extend.

Do you wish for motives to stimulate you to diligence and fidelity in the performance of the great duties before you? Need I remind you of the value of souls? that the loss of one soul is a calamity which no tongue can describe, and yet thousands of these precious souls are perishing around you? Do not let them perish, if any effort you can make will save them. Think of what Christ has done to save them: "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." Call to mind His toils, His tears, His prayers, His agony and bloody sweat,-His cross and passion on the

tree.

Remember that time is short, and life is uncertain; you have need, therefore, to work while it is day.

Reflect on the solemn account you will have to give to your Lord; and that if any perish through your negligence and unfaithfulness, God will require it at your hands. On the other hand, if you be faithful, you will meet the Judge with joy, and hear the welcome plaudit "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

ITALY PAST, PRESENT, AND PROSPECTIVE.-No. I. ITALY has a history of its own, peculiar and unrivalled in the splendour of its conquests and in the development and progress of its social and political institutions. No nation of modern Europe can point back to a past so crowded with great events, and so crowned with great successes; the work of men who-opening up its early history in a comparatively high state of civilization, so far as civilization is possible without the Bible— were great patriots and great heroes.

The early history of Rome is no doubt mixed up with fable, and the fictions of the poets; introduced probably to gratify the natural craving of mankind for something wonderful, a craving especially strong in the birth and incipient struggles of nations.

Tradition informs us that Rome was founded by its first kingRomulus-about seven and a half centuries before the Christian era, and when the Republics of Greece were rapidly gaining their highest glory. Its seven kings-Romulus, Numa, Tullus, Ancus, Tarquin, Servius, and Tarquin the Proud-together reigned about two centuries, and were mostly engaged in wars with the neighbouring tribes in the Italian peninsula. The last monarch was a despotic and cruel tyrant; and the people, having driven him from the capital, declared they would never more be ruled by a king. By Romulus, the people were divided into two great orders: the first was made up of persons most distinguished for merit, birth, and property, and were called patres, or fathers, and afterwards patricians; the other order was called plebes, or people. All state offices were held by the patricians; the plebes— afterwards plebeians-served in war, and paid taxes for the protection they received. The religion of the early inhabitants of Italy appears to have been of a more simple and rural character than that of ancient Greece. No traces of human sacrifices are to be found. Polytheistic it was, but it had no tales of the amours of its gods, such as disfigured the religion of the early Greeks; and its princes claimed no affinity with the deities worshipped by the people. It numbered thousands of gods, who presided over every act of mankind, though it enjoined no worship of images till images of the deities were made known to the Romans by the introduction of Grecian art. For some time, on all important questions, the ancient Romans sent to Greece to consult the oracles at the temples of Delos, Delphi, and Olympia. The abolition of the Monarchy being followed by the establishment of a Republic, the Romans gave themselves to the art of war, the glitter of conquest, and the development of political institutions. The two great classes, into which they were divided, maintained a perpetual struggle for the supreme power, and thus public spirit and public enterprise were kept alive. The dignity and national honour of the Roman Republic might supply useful lessons to some modern states. Roman senators thrilled the people with eloquence which has yet to be surpassed, and Roman poets and historians wielded pens, instinct not less with elegance and beauty than with life and power. But war and conquest in the eyes of the Romans were the grand objects of life, and they raised their armies by hundreds of thousands, and they fought and conquered, and fought and conquered, until they subdued every nation within reach, and planted the Roman eagle in every quarter of the known world. Reverses came in their turn; the barbarian Gauls crossed the Alps and came upon them (B.C. 388) like a vast army of savages. They laid waste their cities and plains, and pushed on to Rome, which they besieged, captured, and razed to the ground-having massacred its senators. But Camillus, whom they had before exiled, returned, drove back the hordes of foreigners, and another Rome speedily rose from amid the ruins of the first; and the Republic sprung forth with renewed life and vigour. Civil commotions often threatened destruction to the state, but the strong hand of government as often crushed them. To secure his own power, Sulla put to death ninety senators, fifteen consulars, and 2,600 knights, and caused 100,000 people to lose their lives. But still the Republic regained its liberties, and pursued its victories and conquests as before; nor did it cease till it had ruined

the great Hannibal, destroyed Carthage, carried its arms and its authority over the entire of Italy, including Lombardy; over Spain, bounded by the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic; over Gaul, or modern France, then including all the territories within the Pyrenees, the Alps, the banks of the Rhine, and the ocean; over Germany, and Eastern Europe, bounded by the course of the Danube; into Asia, comprising most of the countries on the shores of the Euxine, and as far as Syria and the banks of the Euphrates; over the entire coasts and islands of the Mediterranean, including Greece and large territories in Northern Africa; and then into ancient Britain, which-though really conquered by the emperors-was first made a Roman province by Julius Cæsar. The Empire, in fact, commenced its career with a territory of 2,000 miles in length and 3,000 in breadth, comprising an area of above a million and a half square miles. With the great general, Cæsar, virtually ended the Republic-which had lasted about five centuries-and the conquests of Rome. Aiming at supreme and absolute power, Cæsar, who in nine years had made the conquest of Gaul, enlisted against himself both friends and enemies. It was proposed to crown him king; the senate heaped honours upon him; made him perpetual dictator; gave him the prænomen of Imperator; named him the Father of his Country; placed his statue among those of the seven kings in the Capitol, and in the temples, and carried it along with those of the gods at the games; he was allowed to wear constantly a laurel crown, and to have a golden seat in the senate-house and forum. But a few resolute men-about sixty-seeing the Republic, the glory of their country and the pride of their hearts, thus fading from their sight, resolved to save it. As Cæsar sat in the senate, he was attacked with the daggers of Casca, Brutus, Cassius, and others, most of them professed friends, and he fell at the foot of Pompey's pillar, pierced by three-and-twenty wounds. Fearless and unscrupulous, the result of insatiable ambition and love of fame, Cæsar, in his time, was the greatest man that Rome, or perhaps any other country, had produced. But he would have sacrificed anything for his ruling passion. He was equally great as a soldier, a statesman, and as a man of letters. Still, his military renown was won at a horrid cost. Eight hundred towns were subdued by, or submitted to, his legions; 300 nations he is said to have conquered; he was victorious over 3,000,000 of men; he killed or caused the death of 1,000,000; and he reduced another million to slavery. But such a man must be a scourge! He had proposed, indeed, to rebuild Carthage and Corinth; to cut across the Isthmus of Corinth; to drain the Pomptine marshes; to let off the Fucine Lake; to dig a new bed for the Tiber, to prevent its flooding the city; to make a causeway right over the Appenines to the Adriatic; to collect books for a public library; and to reduce the mass of Roman laws to a reasonable compass. But he fell while attempting to reduce to order the civil strife and anarchy of the Republic, caused by the patrician and plebeian factions, and went suddenly before the Searcher of all hearts to render his account.

By a Revolution the Republic passed away and the Empire was founded. It was the purpose of the emperors to preserve and consolidate what the Republic had won, more than to add new conquests to their already vast territory. The enormous wealth plundered from the