Anger resteth in the bosom of fools.'-ECCL. vii. 9. forsake wrath."-Ps. xxxvii. 8.

"Cease from anger, and

Upon the margin of the silvery flood,
Come, see the Lion in his wrathful mood.
His roars terrific from the rocks rebound,
And nature trembles at the dreadful sound;
His furious tail he works from side to side,
His bristly name he shakes with awful pride;
His eyes, wild rolling, glare with startling light,
With paw upraised, he stands prepared for fight,
And wherefore stands he thus with warlike look?
He sees his image in the quiet brook.

Man, born to reason, like the foolish beast,
Lets rage hot boiling fester in his breast;
The cause as futile: he himself possess'd
Of evil tempers, colours all the rest.

LOOK! here is the Lion, the king of beasts. See where he stands
maddened with rage.
The savage monarch is alone; the beasts of
the field hide themselves when he is angry; his dreadful roar makes
them tremble in their dens; the echoing hills reply to the sounds
thereof. Now he becomes hot with passion. He lashes with his
furious tail his heaving sides; he shakes thunder from his shaggy
mane; his eyes dart lightning. See he has raised his murderous
paw; he is ready to grapple with his foe. Terrible he looks in
the season of his wrath.

But what has enkindled his rage? What is the cause of this fierce commotion? Nothing but his own shadow. He sees his reflected image in the placid stream. Face answers to face; everyindication of passion is faithfully reflected. He beholds no common foe. He prepares himself for mortal combat.

The above engraving is an emblem of Anger, and of the worthless causes that oftentimes give rise to it. Anger is one of the most fierce and deadly passions that agitate the human breast and afflict mankind. Let anger ascend the throne of the human mind, and all other passions, affections, and interests are trampled under foot. A brother lies swimming in his blood; a village is depopulated with the edge of the sword; cities burned amid the conflagration of fire; and kingdoms, given over to the horrors of war, become desolate, pass into oblivion, and are known no more. But who can declare the miseries that flow from anger?

Anger, as a sinful passion is never justifiable; but it oftentimes exists without any real cause whatever. Like the lion in the picture, the man is angry at the reflection of himself; it is his own image that he sees. He imagines, and this is all; his own evil temper colours all besides. The object of his wrath is innocent, perhaps as quiet as an unruffled lake.

Be sure before you give way to anger, that your neighbour has injured you, and then-forgive him. But if even an apparent cause does exist, suppose some one has injured me. Is not this enough? He that sinneth wrongeth his own soul; shall I therefore sin and wrong mine? To have an enemy is bad; to be one is worse. And why should I inflict self-punishment for the crime

of another?

The angry

There is a degree of madness connected with anger. man is brutishly insane. This is so wherever it is seen; whether we regard it in the conduct of Xerxes, who flogged the waves, and cast fetters into the sea to bind it, because it. broke his bridge of boats,—or in its daily outbreaks around us.

But is there no cure for this contagious evil?

There is. What is it. When Athenodorus was about to retire from the court of Augustus Cæsar, he gave the emperor this advice : "Remember, whenever you feel angry, that you neither say nor do anything until you have repeated all the letters of the alphabet." This is good: but the following is better: When a man feels himself sinking into the gulf of angry passion, looking by faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, let him exclaim: Lord, save or I perish!" rising storm will pass away, and all will be calm and peaceful.

66

The

', The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit."-Ps. li. 17. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall find mercy."-PROV. xxviii. 13.

REPENTANCE.

On bended knees, replete with godly grief,
See, where the mourner kneels to seek relief;
No" God, I thank Thee," freezes on his tongue,
For works of merit that to him belong;

Deep in his soul conviction's ploughshare rings,
And to the surface his corruption brings;
He loathes himself, in lowest dust he lies,

And all abased, "Unclean, unclean," he cries.
From his full heart pours forth the gushing plea,
"God of the lost, be merciful to me !"

The light of life descends in heavenly rays,

And angels shout, and sing, " Behold, he prays."

BEHOLD here an individual on his knees weeping. He is in great distress of mind; he has retired from the busy walks of life, and comes to this place of solitude, to give vent to his feelings. His groans break the surrounding silence; they return in soft, but melancholy echoes to his ears. Above his head are seen descending particles of heavenly light; a little in the rear stands the plough, imbedded in the opening earth.

This is an emblem of Repentance. The man bowed on his

knees represents the true penitent, whose soul is humbled under the mighty hand of God. He withdraws from the vanities of the world; he is sick of sin; he breaks the silence of solitude with his inquiries of, "Oh that I knew where I might find Him!" He does not, in the pride of self-righteousness, exclaim, "God, I thank thee that I am not as other men," etc. Oh, no! too deeply he feels the plague of his own heart.

As the plough enters the hard soil, and lays bare furrow after furrow, even so has conviction penetrated the heart of the true penitent, and laid bare its deceitful folds, and discovered its once hidden depths of pollution and guilt. He abhors himself in dust and in ashes; he can only say, "God be merciful to me a sinner." The ploughshare of God's convicting Spirit has entered and broken up the fallow ground of his heart; hence he brings the sacrifice with which God is well pleased—that is, " a broken and contrite heart;" and the light of Jehovah's countenance falls full upon his soul, as a token of Divine acceptance.

Repentance consists in a change of mind or purpose, wherein the penitent" ceases to do evil," and "learns to do well." The prodigal repented when he said, "I will arise, and go to my father," and departed. The farmer's son, who, when he had refused to go and work in the vineyard, and afterwards altered his purpose, and went, repented. Saul of Tarsus, when he refused any longer to obey the mandates of the chief priests and scribes, and inquired, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" repented. Thus we see it consists in actually doing the will of God. It is not mere anxiety: Simon Magus had this; nevertheless he was still in the "bonds of iniquity." Nor mere trembling: Felix trembled, yet retained his sins. Nor remorse: Judas had this, and died in despair; and Dives also, though in the regions of the lost.

Repentance is the gate of heaven. It is the condition, upon the fulfilment of which depends eternal life. "You repent, and I will forgive." Hence the ambassadors of heaven have invariably directed the attention of sinners to this as a first step towards obtaining the favour of God, and every promised blessing. The prophets, in their denunciations, John of the desert, in his fiery exhortations, the Saviour, in His divine instructions, and the apostles, in their warm appeals, enjoined upon every soul “ repentance toward God."

Through this gate all have passed, who have at any time been

recognised by the Almighty as his servants. The children of Israel passed through it, typically, when they ate the bitter herbs-before they beheld the pillars of cloud and of fire in the wilderness; Isaiah, ere he touched the sacred harp of prophecy; Elijah, ere he ascended in the chariot of ethereal fire; Ezekiel, before he gazed upon the visions of the Eternal; Daniel, before the Angel of God ronounced him," Blessed;" Paul, ere he was " caught up to the third heaven;" and John of Patmos, before the glorious revelations or" Alpha and Omega," filled him with wonder and astonishment; and "the hundred and forty-four thousand," ere they sung the song of Moses and of the Lamb. Repentance is a sacred duty. "God now commands all men everywhere to repent." Why? "Because all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; "and Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."