Seals of thy true apostleship. And, if the brightest diadem

Whose gems of glory purely burn Around the ransom'd ones in bliss Be evermore reserved for them

Who here, through toil and sorrow, turn
Many to righteousness,—

May we not think of thee, as wearing
That star-like crown of light, and bearing,
Amidst Heaven's white and blissful band,
The fadeless palm-branch in thy hand;
And joining with a seraph's tongue
In that new song the elders sung,
Ascribing to its blessed Giver

Thanksgiving, love, and praise forever!

Farewell!-

And though the ways of Zion mourn
When her strong ones are call'd away,
Who like thyself have calmly borne
The heat and burden of the day,

Yet He who slumbereth not nor sleepeth
His ancient watch around us keepeth;
Still sent from His creating hand,

New witnesses for Truth shall stand-
New instruments to sound abroad

The Gospel of a risen Lord;

To gather to the fold once more, The desolate and gone astray,

The scatter'd of a cloudy day,

And Zion's broken walls restore ! And, through the travail and the toil Of true obedience, minister Beauty for ashes, and the oil

Of joy for mourning, unto her! So shall her holy bounds increase With walls of praise and gates of peace: So shall the Vine, which martyr tears And blood sustain'd in other years,

With fresher life be clothed upon; And to the world in beauty show Like the rose-plant of Jericho,

And glorious as Lebanon!

The Reciprocal Influence of Missions.

BY THE REV. ERSKINE MASON, D. D.

We live in an interesting, because eventful age. Occurrences are continually taking place which arrest attention, as well on account of their suddenness as their importance, seeming to indicate the approach of the world to some great crisis in its history. In this respect, the present is more distinctly marked than the past, and the future will be more marked than the present, as the lines of God's providence converge more rapidly to the point in which they are all ultimately to terminate. Every new phase in the aspect of human things, imposes some new obliga tion, and wisdom is deriving instruction continually from the signs of the times. We learn generally what duty is, from the oracles of God; we must learn what are appropriate duties, at any given time, from the particular developments of Providence by which that time is marked.

In view of the characteristics of the present eventful age, the Christian world has been awakened to a sense of the obligation which these characteristics

impose; and believing that the great point in which all the lines of divine Providence are to terminatethe issue upon which all events are directly or indirectly bearing, is the final triumph of the Gospel, the perfect establishment of the Redeemer's kingdom in the world, the claims of benevolent effort assume a peculiar importance, and plans of usefulness are projected and prosecuted with zeal, taking advantage of events, and having direct reference to the spread of the Gospel.

It can hardly be supposed of a Christian observer of the signs of the times, that he should be indifferent to any right form of Christian effort; and yet it may be possible that, in some instances, there may be hesitation as to the most effective methods of usefulness, and even a paramount importance may be given to agencies which are but secondary in their nature. It is not believed that any one of the separate parts in the great enterprise of the church of God, which are urging their claims upon the Christian world, can be dispensed with. They combine to form a consistent whole, and a relaxation of effort. in any one department tends to destroy the symmetry of the general arrangement, and diminish its effectiveness; and yet there may be one form of Christian enterprise which, if not intrinsically more important than the others, is so, because of its relations to all the rest-it may constitute the spring of the whole machinery, without which it could never move.

If there is one point upon which the Christian eye should be intently fixed, it is undoubtedly the field of foreign effort. The bearings and relations of the foreign missionary work are such as to give it a commanding position, and to claim for it our highest interest. It is a very superficial view of the whole subject of Christian effort, which gives to the home field a paramount importance. Plausible, indeed, is it to say that we have all around us, in our own land, a large unevangelized population, which claims, as part and parcel of ourselves-as linked to us by strong social sympathies, and being immediately under our eye and within our reach-our first regards. The importance, nay, indispensable necessity on every account, of the firm establishment of the kingdom of God among ourselves is not called in question; but then it may be asked, if an exclusive attention to this one end alone is not calculated to prevent rather than to secure its attainment?

There is, I imagine, a very mistaken notion prevalent, and a very mistaken policy growing out of it, as though there was an undue attention given to the foreign work, leading to a neglect of that which especially belongs to us, and which they who are at home imperatively demand; and efforts to carry the Gospel to the heathen are prejudiced in view of the numerous and pressing claims of home.

it

In such reasoning, however, and the position which goes to establish, there seems to be an entire over