counterpart, the craving for its proper good will keep the imprisoned creature restless and unquiet. The finny and the feathered captive, each alike wants something to complete the fulness of its joy:-the twining herb reaches the limit of its range, and curls up its tendrils or twists them back upon itself: and the creature-worshipper is haunted with fear of evil, or grows cross and weary with his idol. But in all this, it is man who is marring the work of God. Give each his proper scope, and you will at once make each of them happy. That golden fish God made for the sunny eastern river; that strong-winged bird He made for the blue and boundless firmament; that clasping, tenacious plant He made for the tall crag or the towering forest-tree: even as for that panting, aspiring, clinging soul of yours, He has provided a rest and a rejoicing in His own infinite excellence and uncreated all-sufficiency. Reader, take that range. Launching into the river of God's pleasure; mounting into the high noon of adoring assurance; clinging to the Rock of Ages, and enclasping the Tree of Life,―rise to the fulness of your immortal powers, and taste the blessedness which was man's in the beginning. And if this you learn to do, you need mourn no irreparable loss nor fear any cureless sorrow :-for in all events your heart's best treasure is secure, your truest Friend is deathless. There may be danger in the sunny creek, but you have a hiding-place and safety in the deep and ample river. There may be a serpent in the grass, or an inundation may drown the nest amidst the meadow flowers; but even while you alight on the sod you keep your eye on the firmament, and when the fields are flooded you can soar upward and sing at Heaven's gate. A dear companion may die, or a fond hope may prove a bitter disappointment; but "The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock." "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength (margin, THE ROCK) of my heart, and my portion for ever." J. H. REVIEW OF THE MONTH. THE Universal Exposition was to open on the 1st of May; but it had to be postponed till the 15th, and even now it appears to be in the same "backward" state with the rest of the season. But nature is stronger than emperors, and does not need to wait on artisans and contractors. On May-morning Mount Vesuvius opened a grand exhibition of his own, which has since been giving a nightly excitement to the people of Naples. The enormous outburst of lava has destroyed many plantations and vineyards; and with the lurid blue of the landscape, and with the cloud of firecoloured smoke resting on the immediate scene of devastation, whilst the mountain quakes with its own artillery, the nocturnal spectacle must be one of the most awful conceivable. The correspondent of a London paper describes a plain of burning coke, some 200 feet wide, with lava under it, which he watched moving onward, "until, accumulating in large masses, over it thundered into the valley beneath. Down, down we watched the red line in the distance, burning and destroying everything it met with. A whole plantation of chestnut-trees yielded to its power: they twisted, and screeched, and groaned like martyrs in an auto da fé, and then gave signals, by a brilliant flame, that their sufferings were over. The noise of the advancing stream was as that of an Alpine torrent over a shingly bed-sh-sh-sh-sh: such was the continued murmur of the thousands of tons of burning coke which were ever moving on, and tumbling mass over mass." To those who value the truest philosophy in union with enlightened and exalted piety, we would commend "Passing Thoughts," by Mr. Douglas of Cavers,-the first number of which has yielded us rare enjoyment. "Goethe," "Rousseau," Humboldt," "Italy," "Cousin and Eclecticism," "Grecian History," are the topics under which the accomplished author has given some of the ripe results of his extensive learning, his delicate observation, and his profound and original thinking. We hope the series will not be a short one: for it is seldom that a "heart" so "fixed" is united to a spirit so free, and seldom that even from the pen of a layman so charming a contribution has been made to the pages of Christian literature. The Rev. J. Anderson's "Bible Light from Bible Lands," is an interesting volume of Scripture illustration, by one well acquainted with both the Word of God and the Holy Land. The second volume of "The Library of Biblical Literature," like its predecessor, contains a large amount of information in a pleasing and popular form. "A Pastor's Sketches," by Dr. Spencer of Brooklyn, are not the less valuable because many a minister, if only gifted with sufficient descriptive power might delineate similar scenes; whilst they supply hints and precedents invaluable to ministers whose experience is less extensive. In a completed volume we have now before us the Lectures delivered to the Young Men's Christian Association in Exeter Hall during last winter. They will convey to future times a noble specimen of the eloquent instruction which was provided for the youth of the metropolis by some of the master-spirits of this age. We have here, not only the spirit-stirring effusions of Gough, and Guthrie, and Stowell; but the lovers of useful knowledge and original research will find abundant gratification in Archbishop Whately on "The Origin of Civilisation,"-in Mr. Burgess on Greek Christianity,-in Mr. Martin's amusing narrative of the "Opposition to Great Inventions," and in what is to us the gem of the series, Mr. Alford's Lecture on "The Intelligent Study of Holy Scripture." Actinism, the principle most active in photography, 27, note. Alchemists, results of their labours, 25. Anderson, Rev J., Ladies of the Refor- Animals, number of existing species of, 93. Aut, eyes of the, 223. Apollinaris, why the charge of heresy was Articulata, structure of, 93; arrangement Augsburg, printing establishment at, 361. Babyrusa of Malaya, 152. Baker, Captain, noble devotion of, 40-42. Ba le Missionary Society, number of mis- Bayne, Peter, M.A., The Christian Life, Bees, peculiarity of their eyes, 223; their Beetles, muscular strength of various species of, 225, 226; organs of their Benneh, or "Mother of Waters," ex- Birds, number of species of, 93, note. Blind man, the, who mistook a snake for British seamen, instances of their gene- Brutes, to what extent capable of reason- Burns, Rev. J. D., Vision of Prophecy, 79. Calotype process of Mr. Fox Talbot, 28. Cat, instance of reasoning faculties in a, 10. Caterpillar, history of a, 261-265. Celestial world, contemplations on the, Cerebral nerves, 148, 149. Cervical nerves, 150. Charcoal, use of, as a disinfectant, 303. Chemistry. See Photography. China, progress of the war in, 229, 230. Cilia of the nostrils, their design, 378, 379. Coal, method of its occurrence, 415, 416; Coal-fields of Great Britain and Ireland, Coal-formations, in the Mississippi river, Cochineal insect, 359. Cocker, Edward, a practitioner in the arts De la Beche, Sir Henry, death of, 387. Diptera, or two-wings, 359. Dog, instance of reasoning powers in a, 10. Douglas, Mr., of Cavers, Passing Thoughts, Dragon-fly, number of its eyes, 223; its Earth, reflections on its future condition, Earth-worm, its rings, 100; value of, in Eastwick, Professor, his translation of Edgar, Mr., History for Boys, 79. English Letter-writers: Horace Walpole, Euclid's Elements of Geometry, 383. Fables of Pilpay: The flies and the jar of Falcon, how trained to pursue the gazelle Farmer, Miss, Tonga and the Friendly "Fathers." amount of credit to be given Fishes, number of species of, 93, note. Flea, its leaping powers, 227. Flies, the, and the jar of honey, 431, 432. Galena, 371. Ganglionic system, 151. Gardner, Dr., Christian Cyclopædia, 159. Geneva, interesting movement among the Geology, its revelations of the earth's for- Geometrical propositions, a new method German clergyman, description of the life family, 33; its food, ib.; its horns, ib.; Gnat, the, 359; mouth of, 228. |