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some power has it, a power which exercises control over the particles one by one, and makes them go where they ought to go, so as to finish the structure of the plant. Is it the root that thinks, then, for all the rest of the plant? but who thought for the root before it existed, when there was nothing except the grain of wheat thrown into the ground? and if the root could think, how could it transmit its thoughts up to the ear, and command the particles, to go into the shape of bran envelopes, or to go inside them and become flour, and then to pack themselves in a form which shall be orderly, beautiful, and secure? There must be some power distinct from the for possessed by each particle, and superior to all, which directs the movements of each, so as to bring out the predestined figure, as the commander directs the movements of every soldier on the field What is this power? You say it is Life: Yes, that is a beautiful word-but it means nothing, unless it means mind. These wonders conduct us by a very short process of reasoning, to a Spirit of Life, which is a Spirit of Thought, of Order, and of Power-the all-per vading Spirit of God, who "maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains," who "so clothes the grass of the field," and who thus "openeth his hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing. It is not a piece of poetry, but profound truth and philosophywhen we say that it is God who "giveth food to all flesh, because his mercy endureth for ever." He who gave the manna, gives the corn And he who will not acknowledge God in nature, would not have acknowledged him, even if he had seen the manna lying like a broad wreath of driven snow, around the camp of Israel.

Thus let us learn to give unto God the glory due unto his name and not to look upon an ear of wheat, or a loaf of bread, or bountiful harvest, with an atheist's eye.

And what enormous quantities are given! If all the corn that has been reaped in England, during this year, could be gathere together the food of London and Manchester, of Glasgow, and d all their sister-cities, and rural neighbourhoods, it would make great mountain. If all the hay for cattle-it would form a lofty hay-stack that would cover the half of the area of the metropolis Great is the Lord and of great power, His understanding is infinite "The earth is full of his riches"-the barns are filled with his treasures of corn-the dark cellars are flowing with his stores glittering wine; and all the works of art in nature are his; thes pictures and prospects of beauty, which no price can purchase, and no art emulate or amend-effects of sunshine and rain, of mountain, copse, and fruitful field, compared with which the works of Turner, are but the daubs of infancy, these are His riches-and to he gives them all-that we may inherit the earth. Shall we glorify Him as God-since "He is not far from any one of us," and His are "all our ways."

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In the autumn, the Jews were invited to celebrate their feast of in-gathering in honour of the God who redeemed them from Egypt, and fed them in Palestine with corn, and wine, and oil, from age to age. This celebration was inaugurated on the 1st of Tisri, with the Feast of Trumpets, when throughout the Holy land, the solemn summons was to be sounded, for all the inhabitants to lift up their thoughts to the God of glory. After ten days, they assembled around His altars at Jerusalem-to sing the great harvest and vintage songs to the Lord of Sabaoth. But first they must be prepared for joy by an awful fast and day of repentance before God. "On the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. Whatsoever soul it shall be, that shall not be afflicted in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among the people." This was the great day of atonement, called by the modern Jews, who have just celebrated it, "the Black Fast," when for twenty-four hours no one touches a morsel of food, and every Israelite bewails his transgressions, and seeks pardon of the God of salvation.

"Just like religion," will say some paltry malignant infidel—“ to bring gloom into the midst of gladness, black shadows into the midst of sunshine,-" affliction of soul," when the earth was radiant in her autumn beauty, and the presses were bursting with the purple clusters of the vine." Nay rather, my poor infidel, here was a profound proof that the Mosaic-law came forth from God the author of nature and of human life. Man is a moral and intelligent being, and cannot be made happy by mere explosions of merriment, or by a cheerfulness derived only from stacks of corn, or vats full of new wine. The season of ripe vintage, and of golden fruits, is also the season of fading leaves. Nature herself inspires a profound thoughtfulness, as well as a vintage and a harvest song. Amidst all her increase she breathes a sadness which directs us beyond the earth for a remedy. Like many a marble statue of Mary, ever-virgin, before which deluded nations bow, Nature refuses by the expression of her countenance the worship of her adorers. Look above me

she says-to my Maker. And by the sadness which underlies her smile, shedirects us away from this shadow of death to worlds where "their sun shall no more go down, nor their moon withdraw her shining." The new year's festival of the Feast of Tabernacles was to be a time of solid joy to those alone whose hearts were anchored in a region where time is not measured by the sun.

Yes, the joys of vintage were preceded by the sorrows of a religious repentance-and by a spiritual communion with God, symbolized by the entrance of the high priest, on that day only, into the presence of God, within the vail. And thus should we associate our enjoyment of a bountiful harvest, with deeper thoughts of our own sinfulness, and with renewed faith in that Great High

Priest, who has entered into the Holiest, having obtained eternal redemption for us. He only will eat his bread with gladness and singleness of heart, who has first believed in Jesus for the remission of sins, and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Peace with God is the only solid foundation for worldly gladness. And he only who possesses "all things," can be said truly to possess and enjoy anything. He who goes about to enjoy earthly plenty ori prosperity, without having first" afflicted his soul," and obtained the forgiveness of sin, will feed on ashes, and lie down in despair. Every day, every hour, is diminishing the remaining sum of pleasures to him, for whom only fiery torments of conscience remain hereafter. He is snatching his little all of happiness from the overhanging boughs, as he hurries forwards to the abyss of "everlasting de struction." But he who fasts, as well as feasts, and prays as well as prospers, has always his best wealth remaining in reversion; and exquisite as are many of his satisfactions here, rendered more delightful by the moral refinement which teaches him "temper ance in all things "-they are but the first diamond drops of an endless shower of blessing-the first faint beams of a glory which shall never fade away.

There will be another feast of in-gathering, another Feast of Tabernacles, of which these Jewish ceremonials were but the type. "The harvest is the end of the world." The seasons of history shall roll round, and bring the autumn of earth and heaven. Then every seed sown shall appear again in its outgrowth, The tares and the wheat shall be full-blown, and ready for the fire or the barn.

All principles shall have developed themselves in individual and national history; in art, in science, in philosophy, in literature, in policy, and in social life. The grand experiment shall have been fully tried, and now the righteous and the wicked shall be divided for ever. Into God's barn of heaven shall go all the wheat-into his furnace of unquenchable fire, all the chaff. And then where shall we be found? Is that mysterious power of the Spirit, creating us anew, as plants of righteousness, bearing fruit unto God? Is there a daily circulation of true thoughts in our mind, the new material?and is there a new and beautiful formation of that fruitful life,which is either wheat for God's table, or clusters of Eschol for his cup, or branches of righteousness beautiful and glorious to deck the housetops of heaven, when Israel shall celebrate in the celestial Palestine, his deliverance from eternal death? Let us "search and examine ourselves." to see whether God is "working within us, to will and to do according to his good pleasure."

E. W.

VITAL ELECTRICITY.

WHAT is this animal magnetism, this vital electricity?" said I to yself the other day, after reading a puff paragraph about galvanic elts and magnetic brushes. "Is a certain amount of it necessary a man's well-being?" Perhaps some lack of it on my part is e reason of my being so lazy, and feeling so out of sorts just now. I looked up two or three books on the subject, and found that ectricity was supposed to be a certain subtle fluid existing in and oving through ordinary matter, and yet is not itself ordinary matr, being a something that cannot be seen or handled, and can be own only by its effects. A kind of spirit it seemed to be, hidden ad quiet for the most part, but every now and then springing up to action, and manifesting its power by sparks and shocks, and the anging of chemical bodies, and many other curious phenomena. It uld be generated I was told, moreover, in various ways; by rubbing lass againt silk, by placing different metals in an acid liquid, or by wirling round a magnet in front of coils of wire arranged in a parcular manner. There are many ways, in fact, of producing elecicity of giving rise to a fresh quantity of it, just as a candle ves rise to light and heat-not merely of drawing off a certain aount, as one takes water from a pump. The fluid thus proced will pass through certain bodies, but will be stopped by others; e former being called conductors, the latter non-conductors. As passes to and fro through different objects, the bodies that become Il of it are endowed with wondrous powers. Its strength is almost oundless, and it moves with a speed that man can hardly conceive And yet, great as is its might, it is wholly obedient to certain ws, and can be guided with the greatest ease by a scientific hand. ery potent is it, and very wonderful in its ways, as it works in the ames of what we call living beings, especially in the more highly rganized ones, such as man and those animals which possess a welleveloped nervous system. The nervous system, indeed, if you look t it properly, is but one great electric machine. The brain is a attery, composed of ever so many little cells, in which the precious uid is generated. From it run in all directions to all parts of the ody the nerves-the little tubes which pass the fluid on whither t is wanted. If you wish to bend your arm, your will sends forth little electricity from your brain; it darts along the nerve to a nuscle and gives it a shock; the muscle starts and your arm is bent. That this is the case is shown by the fact, that if you apply an ordinary galvanic battery to the nerve instead of the brain, the effect s just the same. But electricity is not only wanted to contract the muscles, or to move the limbs, it is also in some way necessary for the health of all parts of the body. Without electricity the muscles

will not be firm, the skin will not be sound, the stomach will not digest, the heart will not beat, the hairs will not grow, the brain will not think;-the whole frame feeds, as it were, upon the electric fluid. In a similar manner every part of the body, and not the brain alone, produces in return a certain amount of the same agent, which is distributed to other parts. There are, in fact, numberless currents of electricity passing and repassing all over the body, but the nerves form the chief ways along which they move. If we regard the blood-vessels as the highways-the railways along which the particles of gross matter, the visible flesh and blood, travel-we may imagine the nerves to be a sort of system of telegraphs, by means of which the invisible, the intangible, the spiritual agencies, so to speak, do their work.

"Ah!" thought I, "that is clear enough; and the inference, too, is very straightforward. If I do not possess a sufficient quantity of this fluid, of course my body will not prosper; my flesh will not be sound, my strength will fail, the various processes of my economy will not go on with regularity and harmony, and I shall be out of health. But all I have to do is to obtain an electric machine, a galvanic belt, or a magnetic brush, or something of the kind, and so pour into my body a further supply of the fluid it so much requires. I must confess I was very much pleased with the idea, and almost made up my mind to buy a belt. Second thoughts, however, induced me before doing so to consult my friend the Professor. To my great surprise he' poo-poohed' the whole matter. 'It was all rubbish,' he said." "In the first place, there was no such thing as the electric fluid. Electricity was no thing, no substance, either fluid or solid, intangible or corporeal, visible or invisible. It was simply a polar force—that is, a force arising from a polar arrangment of atoms.' 'Indeed!' said I, 'and pray what is that?"

"You will observe,' said he,' that in every contrivance for producing electricity, there are always two antagonistic substances or agencies employed. In the common frictional electric machine. there is always the thing that is rubbed, and the thing that the other is rubbed against, the glass and the silk, as the case may be. In the galvanic battery there are the two different metals. And in the magneto-electric machine there are the two poles of the magnet before which the two coils of wire are whirled. When electrical action comes into play, a certain change takes place in these couples, whereby each half becomes of an exactly opposite nature to its fellow. What that change is may be best seen by referring to the magnet and inquiring what takes place when anything is magnetized. for magnetism and electricity are in reality almost the same thing. You can turn one into the other. If you have electrical power. you can always make a magnet, and if you have a magnet you never need be at any loss for electricity. The one is nearly the

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