S. I certainly do a great deal of good.

B. "There is none righteous, no not one," Rom. iii. 10. S. Everything I do, then, is evil?

B. "Thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest," Jer. iii. 5. "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits," Prov. xvi. 2. S. I will not be persuaded that my heart is bad.

B. "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool," Prov. xxviii. 26. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jer. xvii. 9.

S. Whatever may be said, I am an honest man, and have injured no one.

B. "All seek their own," Phil. ii. 21.

S. Is, then, a man to forget himself?

B. "Know ye not, that ye are not your own? for ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.'

S. Well, then, since it is impossible for man to obey so strict a religion, God will consider our weakness, and will not require perfect obedience.

B. "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them," Gal. iii. 10. S. I hope that God will not curse me.

B. "The Lord

Neh. i. 3.

will not at all acquit the wicked,"

S. Although I am not innocent, yet I am not wicked enough to deserve the punishment of hell.

B. "How shall we escape the damnation of hell?" Matt. xxiii. 33.

S. Is there no other way to escape such a terrible judgment? B. "Jesus saith, I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me," John xiv. 6. "There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," 1 Tim. ii. 5.

S. May I hope then, that if I do as well as I can, Jesus Christ will do the rest?

B. "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law," Gal. v. 4.

S. What, then, must I do?

B. "Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out," Acts iii. 19.

S. But how shall I be delivered from the curse of the law? B. "Christ hath redeemed you from the curse of the law," Gal. iii. 13.

S. All then will be saved?

B. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned," Mark xvi. 16.

S. How am I to believe?

B. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness," Rom. x. 10.

S. I have endeavoured to believe, but

B." Without faith, it is impossible to please God," Heb. xi. 6. S. Again I ask, What must I do to be saved?

B. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," Acts xvi. 31.

S. But can Jesus Christ save me?

B. "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him," Heb. vii. 25.

S. Is it possible that God is willing to save me?

B. "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live," Ezek. xxxiii. 11.

S. But if I am so unworthy of his mercy, I fear that he will not receive me into favour.

B. "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out," John vi. 37. "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life," John v. 40.

S. I think I have the will to go to Jesus.

B. "To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts," Heb. iii. 7, 8. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation," 2 Cor. vi. 2.

S. Well, I will try to answer the call of God; perhaps

to-morrow.

B. "Boast not thyself of to-morrow," Proverbs xxvii. 1. "This night thy soul shall be required of thee," Luke xii. 20. S. I know one may die at any time; but may we not repent and find grace at the last hour?

B. "Because I have called, and ye refused, I will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer ; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me,” Prov. i. 24-28.

S. What will become of me if I die without repentance? B. “And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments," Luke xvi. 23. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God," Psa. ix. 17. "Now con

sider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver," Psa. 1. 22.

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S. Whither then shall I turn for help?

B. "The Spirit helpeth our infirmities," Rom. viii. 26. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," Luke xi. 9. "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him!" Luke xi. 13.

CATARACT OF NIAGARA.

The

WHAT a mass of waters is falling over this precipice of 160 feet-700,000 tons of water in each minute. Being the discharge of the waters from so many thousand miles, which are stopped in their course by the great lakes, almost the same quantity flows over the Falls at all seasons of the year. river is, indeed, not so high (1846) by two or three feet as it was two years ago, owing to the less fall of water from New York and around the lakes in the last year; still the difference affects not the grandeur of the scene. Lake Ontario is below Lake Erie 330 feet. It is this descent of this mighty river in the course of a few miles, which gives all that variety of rapids and tumbling of the waters, and the most magnificent cataract on the globe.

The depth of Niagara River below the Falls must be great, as the stream is relatively narrow and not rapid. Measurement shows it to be 200 feet deep, and from the Falls to Lewiston, from 160 to 240 feet. It must be that such a mass of water falling 160 feet, will wear away the rock to a great depth.

The muddy green colour below the Falls is dependent upon the kind of rocks, which are thus ground to an impalpable powder. On standing a few hours the sediment is apparent.

For the first eighty feet the channel at the Falls has been cut through limestone, and in the next eighty feet, which extends to the water, is a soft shale or greenish slate. Below this shale, according to the New York Geological Reports, lie limestones, shales, and sandstones, reddish, green, gray, and mottled, into and through which, in its depth of 200 feet, the river has worn its passage, offering materials enough and of the right kind, to give the peculiar colour of the waters.

A little below the Falls on the American side, a passage has been cut through the rocks from the surface to the water's edge, at an angle of thirty-one degrees. Visitors

descend by a railway carriage, or, at their option, by 290 steps, or about 175 feet. This descent is under a covered way, from which you come out at the foot of the American Falls in full view of their grandeur, while you are stunned by the roar and enveloped in the spray. The impression of their height may be increased by this descent and the bursting of the perpendicular flood upon your eye.

As you cross the river to the Canada side, the soul is roused by the magnificence of the scene, as the eye takes in the whole expanse of falling waters. An ocean seems to be pouring over its exhaustless treasures. As you pass up the stream, the grandeur of the cataract, and especially of the horseshoe, possesses oppressive interest. To give more scope to the mind in this position, a steam-boat has been built to bear its passengers close under the cataract. At a mile and a half perhaps below the Falls, a good road has been cut out and through the rock down to the river, and the steam-boat starts from this landing place or dock. The project has been tried with success. At this time a more powerful engine is being placed in the boat, so that the steamer shall bear you as near under the great cataract as can be safe. In this position you are placed between the sides, or within the curve of the great cataract; you look up its amazing fall of waters; you feel the mighty power of the boiling stream in the trembling of the boat; you are surrounded with the spray and drenched by it; you are deafened by the mighty roar. It is not easy to imagine what superior effort can be made to impress on the mind the sublimity and awe of the scene. You will not need to look over your head in a prostrate position, as is sometimes done on Table Rock, to amplify its magnificence.

It is near the landing place of the steam-boat that the suspension bridge is intended to be thrown across the river by a single span from shore to shore, and 200 feet or more above the river beneath. This is a splendid project; its execution is judged to be entirely practicable. The projectors are said to be only waiting for the approval of Queen Victoria, which is confidently expected in a short time. Should the project be successful, a considerable change may take place in the lines of communication. One thing is certain, however, that no one line can monopolize the travel. The country is too full of people, and motion, and business, and the interests and connexions are too diversified to admit of such a result.

The bow on the cloud, as seen in the clear light of the sun, or of the full moon, is ever attractive. Hanging upon the spray of the Falls; and varying with the changes produced by the wind, it loses none of its interest. When it is stretched out over the horseshoe, it is exceedingly sublime. The Greeks called the bow, Iris; and hence the name given to Iris Island, which seems suspended in great peril on the edge of the great precipice. In the bow even here, the covenant which God made with the earth after the flood, presses upon the mind. It is the token of mercy. The poetical may call it the daughter of the mist, but the devout will see in it the sign of the covenant-the speaking index of the promise, bearing a message of good to man. It is a curious fact in ancient mythology, that the Greeks considered Iris as a messenger between the heavens and the earth, especially employed by Juno. As a token of the covenant, the bow is in truth a messenger from Jehovah to our race. In the language of God to Noah, we trace the origin of the notion in mythology. In the operation of the same laws, the Almighty stretches out the bow of promise, and the language is—" Ever true, ever faithful, ever worthy of confidence is our God: the Lord, he is God."

Y. C.

WHAT WERE THE CLOUDS LIKE?

WHAT can be more beautiful than the clouds, either in the morning, the middle of the day, or at night? The word of God says, "The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and in the clouds are the dust of his feet," Nahum i. 3.

The birds were singing cheerily as the all-glorious sun burst forth from the east like a conqueror; but what were the clouds like? They were like robes of light of all colourscrimson, and ruby, and emerald, and purple, and yellow as the topaz. When I saw the orb of day, "Oh," said I, "this is, indeed, the ambassador of the Almighty One, who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind," Psa. civ. 3.

It was mid-day, and the haymakers were at work; some with their forks, and some with their rakes, and many a merry laugh rose from the meadow. The new-made hay smelt like a posy; but what were the clouds like? They were like rocks of coloured crystal and diamond glittering on the brink of a lake of molten gold. The sun was riding high