needlewoman, (not the modiste,) will dispense with all needless trimmings, and by carefulness save in the wear of the dress, that which has not been grudged in its price.

Now I think I hear a query touching flowers and feathers. I am well aware, that by some, the presence or absence of such decorations is made, though not avowedly, a test of Christian consistency; and where, by whatever cause, the conscience of young people is influenced by the feeling here alluded to, such ornaments can only be inadmissible, when the adoption of them is required as a proof of that filial obedience which Scripture very plainly commands; while it gives no directions on the details, though several on the principles, propriety, economy, and modesty of costume. In other cases, perhaps the wisest course is to avoid personal decoration farther than is necessary in order to avoid singularity of appearance; for though some females of respectability are supported by the manufacture of mimic flowers, and though the barter of beads and penknives for ostrich feathers is one step towards the civilization of Africa, still really beautiful artificial flowers are so rare, and palm-oil is so much more plentiful than ostrich feathers, that the demands of the court and of the highest circles may be considered quite sufficient to answer the purposes of humanity.

One of the greatest evils connected with dress is its encroachment on the time of many young women, who, belonging to the middle ranks of society, seek by their own industry and ingenuity to follow the changes of ever-changing fashion; and truly their never-ending,still beginning, and seldom successful toils, remind one of the fabled labours of Sisyphus and Tantalus. These endless cuttings and contrivances are often very absurd, but they are also very sad. A wardrobe neither too extensive nor ever in the excess of fashion, does not require them; is more satisfactory "in the using ;" and the recollection of time saved for better purposes, will surely be more satisfactory when death and judgment shall enable us to realize our vast responsibilities as rational, free, and immortal beings.

One hint more. No one, though attired in the costly splendour of Howell and James, can ever be well-dressed without the most delicate and scrupulous personal neatness. This both saves the purse, and embellishes the person; and it is only right to seek to be pleasing in the eyes of our friends: but the greatest of all ornaments is that "meek and quiet spirit," to which, while giving due attention to the proper arrangement of needful raiment, the Christian lady will give "more earnest heed."

MARY ALICE.

THE MONARCH.

BY THE REV. J. D. HULL.

HE steereth the rolling tempest;
He curbeth the comet fleet;
He steps on the madden'd billows,
And meekly they couch at his feet.

He sits on the throne of the morning,

On leaving his chamber of clouds:
Then wrappeth his face in a mantle,

And darkness the universe shrouds.

He bendeth the bow of the thunder,
And, flashing, his shafts fly forth;
He calls to the deep for its waters,
And poureth them out on the earth.

He sits in creation's centre,

And layeth a hand on each pole;
He toucheth the stars with his finger,
And onward rejoicing they roll.

He reineth the rushing nations,
As one who a war-horse rides :
Yea, swayeth their stormy tumult,
As moonlight swayeth the tides.

He bends to his purpose all beings,
The mighty as well as the small;
He humbles the proudest, and getteth
A tribute of honour from all.

He treads on the earth, and it trembles
Till kings from their thrones are hurl'd.
O! Man, give the Monarch glory,

Who righteously rules the world.

Huntly Lodge Cottage, Aberdeenshire.

THOUGHTS ON THE CHRISTIAN'S COURSE.

(Concluded.)

AVING considered the principal characteristics which the Christian is called upon to manifest, and the duties which are attached to the several branches of his vocation, as set forth in various similes of Scripture, let us now regard the crowning blessedness, the determining marks of that most close and affecting relation, which, without superseding any other, seems to absorb all others in its own comprehensive range; and to transfuse into them all an influence which enhances their privileges, and renders their duties delightful.

The Christian is not only a servant but A SON; not merely a pilgrim far from home and seeking a future portion, but a being already endowed with precious gifts, and received into communion with his God. As a pilgrim, a soldier, a servant, and a steward, the Christian looks forward to attainment and peace, to rest and to reward; but as A SON he desires not cessation, but continuance; not a transition into a new relationship, but the perfecting of one that has been actually commenced; he looks forward to a state in which, released from hinderance and defilement, there may be a complete development of those bonds of union and of those conditions which are even now in existence and in a state of advancement; a full enjoyment of those blessings which are already, in some measure, vouchsafed to him. The spirit of filial love to Himself, which God implants in the hearts of His children, is a strong and influential principle; by its sweet promptings and its lively impulses, the Christian is cheered onward in his pilgrim-path, and animated to his appointed warfare; his service is rendered congenial to his feelings, and his stewardship becomes the engrossing interest of his life; while the restraints and obligations attendant on these characters render them the salutary education and discipline of the child of God; and if, resting in presumptuous confidence on his sense of adoption, and on his tenure by anticipation of the heavenly inheritance, he disregard or cast off such divinely appointed guidance, he thereby proves himself to be grievously deficient in the true feelings and characteristics of a son;

and manifests his great and peculiar need of that tutelage to which the humble and loving spirit will rejoice to submit itself; for the evil tendencies which would speedily disorganize any earthly family or community, whose members, however amiable and well-disposed, were entirely exempted from regulation or control, exist throughout the human race, and are not yet extinguished even in the household of faith, so long as its members are still compassed about by the sins and infirmities of mortality; and the constraint of preceptive authority and moral obligation is therefore requisite in every department of human existence, to repress injurious influences, to purge out the old leaven, and to train and purify the soul in its upward course. Deep, tender, and trustful, as are sometimes the affections and feelings developed by the filial and parental relation even in this world, where sin and selfishness so powerfully militate against them, yet the purest and holiest of these manifestations can but faintly illustrate to us the nature of the exceeding love of the Heavenly Father, for His poor, sinful creatures, and fall short even of the imperfect love which may be kindled in the renewed heart of man for the all-holy and most merciful God. The simile of sonship, however, under which the condition and character of the Christian are so largely set forth in Scripture, furnishes a peculiarly rich and instructive theme for contemplation; and it may conduce to our fuller improvement of the subject, if we confine our considerations to certain distinct and striking points of resemblance between temporal and spiritual sonship, as consisting, first, in the obedience and submission required; secondly, in the conscious dependence and expectation maintained; thirdly, in the exercise of affection; and fourthly, in oneness of nature, and growing resemblance.

The duty of submission and the stringent obligation of obedience stand as outworks around the more tender and intimate bonds of the filial relation, (whether in the natural or the spiritual sense ;) they afford a shelter and security against those disturbing influences of ignorance, infirmity, or sin, which in an evil world concur to interrupt and mar the manifestations of love, and the development of sympathy or communion of spirit. On the other hand, veneration and obedience on the side of the inferior party, are the due fruit and result of a conformity in will and an affection of heart toward a superior being. Such feelings may exist between an earthly parent and his child; such, in a higher form, are implanted by the Spirit of God in the hearts of His children. In our God we find the original and perfect type of the parental character. No caprice or misapprehension can affect His pre

cepts. His will coincides with infallible wisdom, and the most gracious love dictates his dispensations towards his creatures. Obedience, implicit and unmodified, is therefore the part of His children; not merely obedience formal and outward, but that obedience which includes the subjection of thought, affection, and desire; and in the continuous endeavour after such full conformity to a holy law, the heart, and mind, and will become habituated not only to submission but to sanctity.

The child's state of dependence and expectation constitutes one claim on the part of the parent to his obedience, and furnishes an incentive to that obedience, lower indeed in character than that which is supplied by love, yet powerful in itself, and, within due limits, allowed by God, and employed in the scheme of salvation as a force urging men in the right direction, till its impulses are purified and finally absorbed by those of love. The trustful dependence of a son upon an earthly parent may be shaken or destroyed through the imperfection of its object, who may prove unable or unwilling to satisfy His child's want, or fulfil his expectations; but that faith and confident reliance with which the Christian rests upon his God, if it be regulated by knowledge and purified by grace, shall not deceive or fail him; and in proportion as such reliance is implicit, comprehensive, and unwavering, he shall derive from it an answering blessing from the Fountain of all Good. The final and deliberate experience of every Christian will respond to the revelation which God has made of Himself, that He will withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly; for the seasons of apparent denial are those in which the blessing is for a time suspended, for the trial and exercise of Christian graces; or they are instances in which the appeal has been but half made, and the answer unrecognized. It may be that the son has cast himself on the Father's love without due reference to his wisdom; that his voice gives utterance to the desires of the carnal mind; or that some cravings of self-will or self-indulgence have mingled with his holier aspirations. In such a case the answer of the Father responds not to these alien desires; but while He withholds that which would cherish the evil, He may at the same time, and even through the medium of disappointment, increase the faith and purify the love by which that evil may be subdued, and thus grant the desire which is pre-eminent in the heart of every child of God; and in thus making his children partakers of his holiness, he endues them with the richest of all blessings now, and makes them daily more meet for their heavenly inheritance-an inheritance, which, though like an earthly portion, provided and laid up in store by paternal care, is not, like that,