to try your faith; but there shall be a meeting, and He is more concerned about it than you. He says, "I will come to you."

"With friendly mind I hid my face,
Yet went not far away;
Retiring but a little space,
My orchard to survey.

I went but down to see anew,
My garden of sweet nuts
Within the shady grove, and view
The pleasant valley fruits.

I, ravished, saw my beauteous bride
Lament my absence sore;

Nor could myself in thickets hide
From her a moment more."

A SERVANT OF THE CHURCH.

To G. C.

SUNDAY WORK.

DEAR FRIEND, Will you pardon me if I make a remark upon a part of your "Wayside Notes" for this month? Is it really imperative for a child of God to occupy a situation in which he must work on the Sabbath-day; should he not rather give up his situation? The Lord would not suffer one of His children to lack and to suffer hunger, because he would keep His commands. Them that honour me I will honour." And again, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shall honour Him, not doing thy own ways; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord," &c. How could the man you mention expect to delight himself in the Lord on his "free Sunday," when he had previously, habitually, and for the sake of a worldly subsist ence, dishonoured God by breaking His law? Please forgive my freeness. Yours in best bonds,

REPLY.

H. E. W.

BELOVED IN THE LORD,-I would have replied to your queries privately, but, as I have received other communications upon the same point, perhaps it is best to make use of our family Magazine for the purpose of making a few remarks upon Sunday work. Methinks, H. E. W., you have never had your faith put to the test under the circumstances alluded to. Let me bring before you the reality of the case. A working man, the father of a large family, and a lover of Jesus, is struggling on amidst all the trials attendant upon such a position; his sole income is a guinea a week, and yet,

from the frugality of an industrious
wife, with his small pittance he manages
to pay his way, and keep his children
neat and clean. He has been for many
years in an establishment, and has suc-
ceeded for some time in awarding off
Sunday work; but at last the time
comes when he must either do it or
throw up his situation. It is in vain for
him to appeal to his employers, and tell
them that they ought to have such a
provision made that work on the Sab-
bath day might be entirely avoided.
They are men of the world, and would
not bear such interrogation. In this
emergency he comes to the writer, and
with tears in his eyes, says, What
do if
you
you were me, Sir? I

would

your

feel I would throw up my place at once, if I were a single man; but with the difficulty of getting another berth, and with my seven dear children, I am afraid. Had he thus come to H. E. W., according to her ideas, she would have said, Oh yes, you must not break the Sabbath day; the Lord will not let children suffer hunger. 'Tis Saturday night, get your wages and have done with it. But we must confess this was not our advice. We counselled as follows:-Well, my dear fellow, is there not a throne of grace to go to? Now don't throw yourself out of a place hurriedly; but you go to the throne; tell the Lord your grievance, and I know and believe He will deliver you, though perhaps not at once. Never mind; fulfil your duties quietly and cheerfully, yet pray on. The sin lies at the door of your employers. Pray for them too; and I verify believe the Lord will deliver you out of your present emergency. And so it is, for I think I can see the cloud breaking for this poor fellow; and if that is on the break,

the hand of the Deliverer will soon appear out of it.

Now I think H. E. W. is hardly right in calling this poor man's position habitually, and for the sake of a worldly subsistence, dishonouring God by breaking His law, any more than when the disciples of our Lord, under circumstances of need, "began to pluck the ears of corn on a Sabbath day and eat them;" for which, while the Pharisee | censured them strongly enough, our dear Redeemer rebuked them not, but founded upon it a parable, showing that a case of necessity is no breach of the Sabbath. No, dear H. E. W., I do think, however painful it may be, we must wait for the moving of the pillar of cloud, and not run before it; and we may recollect, even with our dear Redeemer Himself, that Joseph was not advised to expose Him to Herod's wrath, because His eternal Father would shelter Him. No; the angel's advice was, "Flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word." So I think the lot is cast into the lap, and the Lord will bless in the lot; and if a trial like the one alluded to breaks over us, still our position is to be there until the Lord's command comes, Go forward!

If in these views I err, I wait for counsel, remaining, dear H. E. W., Yours in Christian fellowship,

G. C.

[The foregoing was improperly placed in the compositor's hands without our knowledge; but we cannot allow it to go forth to the public, without stating, that we feel compelled to differ from the views taken by our beloved Correspondent, G. C. Had the question been put to us, which it would appear was put to him, we should have said, "Refuse to work on the Sabbath-day, and, with all due respect to your employer, state, plainly and faithfully, why." Then leave the result with God. If the employer persists in his unlawful demands, then the God whose laws and whose day his child has honoured, will provide elsewhere. No man was ever yet a loser for his practical regard for the Sabbath. If G. C. looks at the subject again, we think he will find that the case of our Lord with His disciples, and that of Joseph fleeing into Egypt, are not paral lel with the case of the man who is urged by his employer to labour on the Sabbath-day.-ED.]

A SERVANT OF CHRIST.

HAD I my choice of honour or of place,
It would be this, "A Herald of free grace,"
With all its trials, its burdens, and its cares,
My soul a love to this employment bears.
Called to this office, what a wondrous thought,
By Christ Himself, and by His Spirit taught,
What need of humbling grace to keep from pride-
From rash presumption, and whate'er betide.
Paul had his thorn, to keep him very low,
And I must have my thorn while here below;
But here's the mercy-all-sufficient grace

Is stored in Jesus for the ransomed race.

"Sin shall not have dominion over you,"

Says He whose name is Faithful, Just, and True;
"But grace shall reign," oh, blessed promise this,
For it contains the flower of endless bliss.

Lord, put thy holy unction in my heart,
And let me never from thy truth depart;
Fearless thy precious gospel still proclaim,
And spread abroad thy honourable name.
Let power divine attend thy preached word,
When spoken from my lips, my blessed Lord;
Without thy blessing all will come to naught-
Then bless the Word, and let some fish be caught.

A. II.

THE WEEPING DISCIPLES; OR, CONSOLATION FOR THE

PARTED.

recognise the hand of their God_and Father upon them, just selecting them, and guiding them to the place and the work He means them to accomplish. Beholding thus the love which severs, it will mitigate our sorrow, and we shall not dare to oppose its decision. Nor should we forget that the absence of an endeared friend, may be sanctified to the bringing our hearts nearer to One who is present at all times, and who by every trial He appoints us, perpetually exclaims, "My son, give me thy heart."

And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him.”—Acts xx. 37. Ir appears needful that the heart of man we love, it is the mercy and privilege of should be well furrowed by sorrow, in each child of faith, to have his path, order that the precious seeds of truth place, and portion below, assigned him by may take deep root within, and bear fruit his Father's hand. It must be wrong, to the praise of his great Creator. It is therefore, to sorrow over those from a cheering thought, however, that the whom we are parted in the faith, as April days of our grief, when sanctified, though the hand of an enemy had torn do but prepare us for a spring-time of us asunder, or invincible necessity or joy, and a ripe autumn of spiritual fruit-blind chance had effected our separation. fulness and beauty. Arising out of the When called upon, therefore, to part nature of things, therefore, it is impos- from those dear to us in the Lord, let us sible for those who despise the rod of not view their lawful avocations, simply affliction ever to be wise, or for those as calling them from us, but let us who simply weep without God, to be possessed of that holy and sublime hope which is the especial heritage of those who are chastened and subdued by Divine mercy. Among the many things which sadden the heart and fill the eyes with tears, is that of separation from those made dear to us by the ties of natural and spiritual love. The inspired evangelist, in describing the departure of the apostle Paul from the brethren at Miletus, presents us with an interesting and deeply affecting illustration of this. It is not our intention, however, to dwell upon this incident in the life of this great man, but just briefly to state some few things which may tend to console the Christian under such circumstances. Let him, then, consider that those from whom he is parted belong to God, that they are His especial property, and that, redeemed by the blood of His Son and sanctified by His Spirit, He has a greater interest in their well-being and all that concerns them, than any one else, however near and dear to them; and has a right, therefore, to fix the bounds of their habitation, and to determine whether they shall dwell upon the land or the sea, in the solitary and uncultivated wilderness, or the crowded city. Whatever, therefore, our feelings may be, it is our duty to bow to the will of God, and cheerfully to acknowledge that He has a right to do with His own as it may please Him.

It behoves us, therefore, to remember, that whatever we may be called upon to suffer from the absence of those whom

The believer, too, should consider, that as his Christian relatives and friends belong to God, they have an especial interest in His love and care; that He has promised to be a wall of fire round about them, and the glory in their midst; that Jesus Himself will be a sanctuary to all who love Him, and that it is declared that nothing shall harm those who are "followers of that which is good." Upon the words of a covenantkeeping God the Christian may therefore rely in peace, when called upon to surrender those whom he loves to a perilous path or a strange country.

The Christian should also bear in mind, that his friends are witnesses for God, lights enkindled by His love to dispel the darkness of men; that wherever they go their example may elevate their fellows, and the seed of truth which they scatter, yield a rich fruitage to the glory of their Lord. To accomplish these designs of Divine mercy, many must constantly sail upon the mighty deep, and others wander in distant lands.

Christian hearts may weep over the inexorable influence of the bread which perisheth, while yet the purposes of God's love are accomplished by His all but homeless children, who are compelled, as it is sometimes said, to travel hither and thither, in obedience to the call of a secular avocation. But O, Christian! reflect that the one over whose wanderings thou dost mourn so frequently, whose absence thou dost deplore, is an epistle of God's love; and it may be the will of thy Father, that he should be frequently taken from thee to exhibit the truth in the midst of thick darkness, and to bring many wanderers to the feet of his Lord. Should not this mitigate thy sorrow, and constrain thee to pray that each step taken from thee, by those thou dost love, may be but a step towards some poor benighted heart,

destined to be the temple of truth and the throne of Jesus.

There is the mercy-seat, too, Christian, to which thou canst perpetually go and commune with thine absent one. Neither wind nor wave, storm nor tempest, nearness nor distance, can affect this; here thou wilt ever find One who can help and sympathise with thee, and whose love, stronger than death, still binds thy heart to thy absent friend, with a cord no change can break, and whose spirit enkindles in thy heart the immortal hope, that when death shall remove thy frail tabernacle, thou wilt meet with the endeared object of thy Christian love in that holy world where sorrow and parting are unknown.-From "Lessons from Jesus," by the Rev. P. Balfern.

WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE? WHO?
To the Editor of the Gospel Magazine.

DEAR SIR,-Believing that the interest of Zion lays near your heart, I have felt constrained to call your attention to the state of York.

A mysterious chain of providences cast my humble lot in this city in January, 1855; I had then but one attraction, nor have I ever seen another since. Nearly three years passed away without meeting one individual whom I could feelingly greet in the name of Jesus. In vain I searched for a trumpet that gave a "certain sound," and came away from church and from chapel with the language of Mary, "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him." My Sabbaths were ushered in with a sigh, and closed with tears, at the remembrance of bygone days, when the Sabbath morn was hail'd with a

"Welcome, sweet day of rest." I inquired at some of the booksellers here, "Have you any subscribers for the Gospel Magazine ?" The answer was, "No; we have a few for Zion's Trumpet and the Gospel Standard." This led me to one whose heart the Lord had touched, and who was inquiring the "way to Zion, with his face thither ward;" and who, like myself, dissatisfied with all he heard,

dwelt alone, and not reckoned among the people," and having "no open vision," the word of the Lord is precious unto us. My only channel of Christian ommunion is the correspondence of many of the excellent of the earth with which it is my high privilege to be honoured; and, "kept by the mighty power of God," I have been preserved from mingling with the heathen and learning their works, and proved, that

"When all created streams are dry,

His fulness is the same."

My soul has been kept alive, in this land of drought and famine, by a daily maintenance from the King's table," Meat to eat the world knows not of," and water from the smitten rock. My precious Jesus hands me many a sweet morsel in secret, and often has He wiped the tear from the widow's eye, by sweetly whispering, "Peace, be still, for thy Maker is thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is His name." But to the point in hand.

I

After many tears and many prayers, once made an appeal to the Editor of Zion's Trumpet," to which he called the attention of his readers, as may be seen on the covers for January, 1858; but having had no response, I feel a strong

impression on my mind to make an ap-dling bands for want of better nursing?

peal to you, having first spread the matter before the Lord; and should the Lord incline your heart to publish it abroad, through the Protestant Beacon, who can tell whose eyes it may meet, whose heart it may touch with sympathy, and God is a sovereign, and causeth it to rain upon one city and not rain upon another,

And who can tell, there may be many poor sinners, dead in trespasses and sins, who may be brought to hear the joyful sound and live? "Is anything too hard for the Lord ?" at all events, light discovers darkness, and truth is the best mirror for error. "Salvation is of the Lord." Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts." He that made the walls of Jericho fall

down flat before the "blasts of rams'
horns," Gideon and his little band "faint,
yet pursuing, to gain the victory," the
"worm Jacob to thresh the mountains,'
the stripling David's fingers to fight,
and hands to use the bow, so that Goliath
falls before him; can, if consistent with
His sovereign will, send a man of truth
to York, and make him a "sharp thresh-
ing instrument having teeth." Should
this appeal meet the eyes of a herald of
salvation, whom love to Jesus, and love
to immortal souls constrains him to
count all things but loss "for Christ,"
and should he hear the voice of his divine
Master saying, "Go over into Macedonia
and help them," I feel persuaded that if
the Lord sends him without purse or
scrip, He will provide him with a better
lodging than He found Himself when
He came to tabernacle in our flesh, of
whom it is written, "The foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man hath not where to
lay His head." And though I
may not
be able to provide for a servant of the
Lord, what the Shunamite did the
prophet, still the interest of Zion lays
nearer my heart than any earthly object
or subject, or I should not have taken
up my feeble pen upon a subject of such
vast importance. But who can tell, “the
race is not to the swift, nor the battle to
""the lame takes the prey."
There is in this ancient city a population
of more than 40,000 souls, twenty-six
churches, and fifteen chapels, and not a
"trumpet that gives a certain sound."
It is indeed a dark place, but I leave the
matter in the Lord's hands, whose I am
and whom I serve. And may the choicest
blessings of Israel's Triune Jehovah,
crown your work of faith and labour 'of
love, with His broad seal, is the prayer
of one of the Lord's mourners.

Omnipotence hath servants everywhere," and it is only for Him to say to one, "Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh;" and should this meet the eye of one of the King's ambassadors, who has received his commission from the Lord, to "Go and preach the gospel to every creature," necessity laid upon him to "declare the whole counsel of God, whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear," bold for his Master and His cause, "armed with the Spirit's two-edged sword," "determined to know nothing among men, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified;" uninfluenced by any secular motives, an ardent desire for the salvation of immortal souls, the welfare of poor, languishing Zion at heart, a single eye to the glory of God, "willingly to take joyfully the spoiling of his goods," and come to York upon the rule laid down by the great Master of assemblies (Matt. x. 7-16): I would say to him, in the name of the Lord," Come, and where Satan hath raised an altar to the unknown God," there unfurl the bloodstained banner of the cross, erect the gospel standard, and exalt a precious Jesus upon the gospel pole, as Moses did the serpent in the wilderness; point poor sinners to Calvary, with Behold the strong," a the Lamb of God," the poor sensible sinner's only refuge, the saint's eternal and everlasting portion; and who can tell how many may rally round the banner! There must be some "salt" in this city. Surely the Lord hath reserved unto Himself a remnant "who hath not bowed to the image of Baal;" and are there not some of the Lord's hidden ones who have wandered out of the way of understanding, dwelling among the congregation of the dead; and many of the Lord's little ones kept in their swad

66

York.

S. H.