Father! oh, Father! ask not this, But this in mercy spare: My prayer unheard, unheeded, sped, He hedged my way so closely in, Yet still I strove to break the fence, But he who loved me at the first, And show'd me that the dreaded cross I stoop'd-I raised it up, and lo! Then grateful, humbled to the dust, OPPORTUNITIES. MARK that long dark line of shadows, From the present moment flies: Characters of light or darkness Gabriel's pen from each requires : At the day of doom will rise, Buried powers of good unmeasured, Yet I thought I should have treasured, All your weight upon it lies; Oh, my soul! no further lengthen L. N. R. The Children's Gallery. "WEEP WITH THOSE THAT WEEP." THE cold winds whistled and whirled along the narrow streets in a perfect tempest of rudeness, defying the protection of cloaks and comforters, and causing large and small to shiver at his keen and searching roughness. Little Bettie Moore was standing by the window, wrapped to the chin in a large shawl, looking out into the street at the passers by. In the room behind her burned a large fire, and her little brother was rolling on the rug before it, very happy, in the enjoyment of comfortable indolence. "Oh, George," said Bettie, "do come here; only see this old man, buttoned up to the chin, and wrapped to the eyes, blundering along against the wind. Now here comes a young lady trying to walk gracefully, but she cannot for pain. See, now she stoops forward, as if to let the blast drive over her head. Ha! ha!" "What next, Bettie ?" said George. "I am too lazy to come and look; if you'll tell me it will do just as well." And with this he yawned, and stretched his feet towards the glowing fire. "Oh, George, will you believe it? a man is coming with a little coffin in his arms! There, he has placed it on the stone step at the gate, and is looking so sad; I'll run down to the door and ask him if I can do anything for him; and, forgetting the cold, little Bettie ran down the go to stairs, and swinging open the front | The poor, sorrow-stricken man did door, rushed out to the gate. church, the minister did pray for him, and he finally joined the church, and died at last in the hope of reunion with his lost babe. The man glanced upward at her a moment, and then, dropping his head on the lid of the coffin, burst into an agony of tears. Little Bettie stooped down and wept also. What a scene! The little, finely-clad child, and the rough, half-dressed man, weeping together over that small unvarnished coffin. "God bless you, little miss; sure it must be that you are an angel that God has sent to feel for the poor and broken-hearted. May the spirit of her that's in this coffin attend you, and shield you from evil." "Is it your little girl?" asked Bettie. "Yes." "Well, you can meet her again when you die, if you'll be good. Mamma says we'll meet our little buried sister in heaven if we love God, and tell the truth, and do to others as we would have them do to us. Oh, I'm so sorry for you," she continued, almost choked with sobs, "but you'll try to meet your little girl in heaven, won't you?" A DREADFUL THING TO DIE. I lately attended the funeral of three children (two brothers and their sister) in one week, all members of the Sabbath-school; and the very next week another and older brother sickened with the same disease, and before the Sabbath was laid in his grave. Four children in one family, and all from our little school! What a breach at home! How sad those parents feel as they look around their silent house! How sad the teachers as they look at their vacant seats! It is a solemn thing to die! I wish the children who read this would think of it, and ask themselves if they are prepared. It is an easy thing to die if you are ready. Some of these children "I will, with God's help," said were very happy on their dying beds, the man, looking at the child through and talked and sang sweetly, and his moistened lashes in astonish-prayed with their friends, and were ment. "Will you pray for me, little lady?” 66 Yes, sir; I'll pray for you every night before I go to bed; and if you'll come to church on Sunday, you'll hear our good minister pray for you; he always prays for the sorrowing ones of earth."" "God bless you, little darling; I'll go to church for your sake; good bye! Run into the house; it's cold for the like of you;" and the man gathered up his child's coffin and resumed his journey. Alas! alas! for friendless poverty, that must, unheeded and alone, bear its own loved to the yawning and repulsive grave! Yet, thank God that there are mothers who teach their children how to go to heaven; that there are ministers who never forget to pray for the bereaved and afflicted. Yes, thank God that there are children who remember, and can repeat, the lessons taught them. willing to die, that they might go away and be with Christ. The Saviour loves to have good children come to him, and he opens his arms to receive them when they die. Do you remember those precious lines: "Jesus can make a dying bed While on his breast I lean my head, It is a dreadful thing to die if you are not prepared. Think of going to the judgment-seat of Christ with all your sins upon your soul! Think of what the Saviour will say to you when you stand up to be judged for all the wicked thoughts you have ever had, and all your wicked words and all your wicked actions. part from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." "De If you die in your sins you must perish. Oh, that you would think of this while you are alive and well! | than half a mile, and their tunnels CONSIDER what incredible labour and diligence, accompanied by the most unremitting activity and the most unwearied celerity of movement, must be necessary to enable these creatures to accomplish, their size considered, these truly gigantic works. That such diminutive insects, for they are scarcely the fourth of an inch in length, however numerous, should, in the space of three or four years, be able to erect a building twelve feet high, and of a proportionable bulk, covered by a vast dome, adorned without by numerous pinnacles and turrets, and sheltering under its ample arch myriads of vaulted apartments, of various dimensions, and constructed of different materials; that they should, moreover, excavate, in different directions, and at different depths, innumerable subterranean roads or tunnels, some twelve or thirteen inches in diameter, or throw an arch of stone over other roads leading from the metropolis into the adjoining country to the distance of several hundred feet; that they should project and finish the, for them, vast interior staircases or bridges lately described; and, finally, that the millions necessary to execute such Herculean labours, perpetually passing to and fro, should never interrupt or interfere with each other, is a miracle of nature, or, rather, of the Author of nature, far exceeding the most boasted works and structures of man; for did these creatures equal him in size, retaining their usual instincts and activity, their buildings would soar to the astonishing height of more would expand to a magnificent cylinder of more than three hundred feet in diameter; before which the pyramids of Egypt and the aqueducts of Rome would lose all their celebrity and dwindle into nothings. The most elevated of the pyramids of Egypt is not more than 600 feet high, which, setting the average height of man at only five feet, is of the workmen employed; whereas not more than 120 times the height the nests of the termites being at least twelve feet high, and the insects themselves not exceeding a quarter of an inch in stature, their edifice is upwards of 500 times the height of the builders, which, supposing them of human dimensions, would be more than half a mile. The shaft of the Roman aqueducts was lofty enough to permit a man on horseback to travel in them.Kirby. VOICES OF NATURE. BY MRS. SIGOURNEY. SWEET child, look upward to the sky; And look upon the streams that flow That swell the unfathom'd main. Then, should'st thou, little one, inquire, The youngest star amid the throng "GOD IS MY MAKER," doth it sigh And when the sun forsakes the day, And dews their tear-drops weep, "PRAISE GOD OUR MAKER," doth it say, And folds itself to sleep. The Cabinet. GLORYING IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST. MANY of our readers have often heard of the celebrated Sermon of Mr. Maclaurin, the friend and adviser of Whitefield, on "the Cross of Christ." Never was it more important that the said sermon should be extensively circulated than at the present time, when many are in danger of forgetting the "Cross of Christ." With a view to excite interest in the Sermon, we shall state some of the facts of the history of the great preachergiving a choice portion of the sermon itself. The Rev. John Maclaurin was born in Argyleshire, in 1693. He was the eldest of three brothers, of whom the youngest, Colin Maclaurin, is known as one of the most eminent of British mathematicians and philosophers, remarkable, among other services to science, for the share which he had in expounding and popularising the discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton. The brothers pursued their University studies together, but at an early date diverged into their respective paths. After a complete theological training, first at Glasgow, and then at Leyden, John Maclaurin became, in 1719, pastor of the church at Luss, a village on the banks of Loch Lomond. In 1723, he was transferred to the North-west parish of Glasgow. Here his preaching, both in English and Gaelic, was laborious and animated; and he soon became distinguished for his holy zeal and vehemency. He was the chief contriver and promoter of the Concert for Prayer, which was complied with by numbers, both in Great Britain and America. He closed his active and useful life on the 8th of September, 1754. With respect to the sermon, there is probably no single discourse in the English language which has acquired a higher place in the esteem of sound theologians and evangelical Christians. It is no less valuable for the instruction and edification of private members of the church, than admirable as an exemplar for young preachers. Not only is it happy in style, but its subject is the very heart and life of the Gospel system. SERMON.. "If the cross of Christ met with much contempt on earth, it met also with incomparable honour. It made the greatest revo lution in the world that ever happened since the creation, or that ever will happen till Shiloh come again; a more glorious, a more lasting change than ever was produced by all the princes and conquerors in the world. It conquered multitudes of souls, and established a sovereignty over men's thoughts, wills, and affections; this was a conquest to which human power hath no proportion. Persecutors turned apostles; and vast numbers of pagans, after knowing the cross of Christ, suffered death and torments cheerfully to honour it. The growing lights shone from east to west; and opposition was not only useless, but subservient to it. The changes it produced are sometimes described by the prophets in the most magnificent expressions. Thus, for instance, Isa. xxxv. 7: 'It turned the parched ground into pools of waters, made the habitations of dragons to become places of grass, and reeds, and rushes; made wildernesses to bud and blossom as the rose.' It wrought this change among us in the utmost isles of the Gentiles. We ought to compare our present privileges with the state of our forefathers, before they knew this blessed object, and we will find it owing to the glory of the cross of Christ that we, who are met here to-day to worship the living God, in order to the eternal enjoyment of him, are not worshipping sun, moon, and stars, or sacrificing to idols. "But the chief effects of the cross of Christ, and which show most of its glory, are its inward effects on the souls of men. There, as was before hinted, it makes a new creation; Christ is formed in them, the source and the hope of glory. This is a glorious workmanship-the image of God on the soul of man. But, since these effects of the cross of Christ are secret, and the shame put upon it ofttimes too public, and since human nature is so much influenced by example, it will be useful to take such a view of the honour done to this object as may arm us against the bad example of stupid unbelievers. "The cross of Christ is an object of such incomparable brightness that it spreads a glory round it to all the nations of the earth, all the corners of the universe, all the generations of time, and all the ages of eternity. The greatest actions or events that ever happened on earth, filled with their splendour and influence but a moment of time and a point of space; the splendour of this great object fills immensity and eternity. If we take a right view of its glory, we will see it contemplated |