2. They are prophetic. Behold me," she says, "from henceforth an object of wonder to all generations; from age to age my name shall be exalted; to all I shall be known as the most blessed of women." If Mary had not been inspired from on high, how could she have declared that all generations should know her and call her blessed? Nevertheless, we are witnesses of the literal accomplishment of her words. Let us see that we are not wanting in reverence for her, or in giving her that honour which the HOLY GHOST has thus assigned to her.

3. They accurately set forth the attributes of GOD. Elisabeth had said to her, "Blessed is she that believed," intimating that her faith had been the cause of her blessedness. Mary confirms this truth by adding, "My happiness is indeed great, but I owe it to the undeserved mercy of the LORD, His good pleasure alone is the source of my glory, and of the favours with which He has distinguished me; He chose me by an act of His Grace; hence all my greatness, hence the motive for my love. Yes; He is the sovereign LORD of all; Holy is His Name, and without limit is His Power, Who hath wrought such wonders in me." "He that is mighty hath magnified me and holy is His Name." Ah! if men did not forget to fear GOD, and to acknowledge His goodness, they would see that goodness continued from father to son, and enduring from generation to generation. "His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation." In these words Mary extols the three special attributes which ever characterize the works of GOD, and upon which all His mysteries, even the Gospel itself, are founded, viz., His power, holiness, and mercy. What an encouragement to believe does the sincere heart here find! But, alas! man's spirit of pride within him rejects the mysteries of GOD's power, which he cannot understand; his corrupt heart sets itself against the mysteries of His holiness, which are so distasteful to his inclinations, and his love of sin abuses the mysteries of His mercy, widening or narrowing GoD's longsuffering to suit his own passions. Let us beware of such dangerous errors; let us thank GOD for the wonders which He wrought in her, and let us thank Him also in her words for the wonders which He still works in us whenever He takes up His abode within us in the Communion of His Body and Blood, which is the Sacrament of His power, of His holiness, and of His mercy.

SECOND POINT.-Mary praises GOD for what He had wrought against the oppressors of His people.

"He hath shewed strength with His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich He hath sent empty away.

1. As regards the past. GOD, she seems to say, has in all times dispersed the enterprises which wicked men have formed against His people. Thus did He deal with Senacherib, Holofernes, Antiochus ; and more signally still was the might of His arm shown against

Pharaoh, the first persecutor of Israel, whom He hurled from his throne, and with his whole army precipitated into the depths of the sea while on the other hand the Hebrews, despised and trodden under foot, without arms and defenceless, without any resource in themselves or external support to depend upon, emerged from slavery glorious and triumphant. The Supreme Dispenser of all earthly wealth spoiled the rich tyrants, and endowed the poor fugitives who lacked the bare necessaries of life with the treasures and magnificence of Egypt. The pride of the mighty was laid low, and the lowliness of His people Israel exalted. Let us adore with Mary the sovereign goodness of GOD, and not hesitate to place our whole reliance on Him, Who can so easily bring down the pride of man, and Who delights to exalt the humble soul that rests on Him.

2. As regards the future. The history of the past, and of Pharaoh in particular, is in her mouth also, prophetic of what should befall all enemies of GOD's people, whether the Jews, who, after crucifying the GOD of humility for combating their pride, had to see their vain dreams of glory crumble to dust in the ignominious dispersion of their race; or the unbelieving nations, who lifted themselves up in opposition to CHRIST and His religion, and then found the vain desires of their heart come to nought, or perhaps themselves became the heritage of the despised Nazarene. Tyrants have inflicted upon the followers of CHRIST persecutions more protracted and more bloody than anything the Jews suffered in Egypt: but how were they more successful than Pharoah? Have not Christians under the protection of Gor triumphed even more gloriously than did the Hebrews over their oppressors? Surely we see at the present day a literal accomplishment of Mary's words. Where CHRIST was once blasphemed, altars are now raised in His honour, and where kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers took counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, there kings are now the nursing fathers of His Church, and queens her nursing mothers.

3. As regards the present. We may find in Mary's words in struction for our daily conduct. She seems to say to each one o us, "Is your earthly lot one of honour, power, wealth? then beware of taking advantage of your high position to be overbearing towards those beneath you, lest you draw down upon yourself the vengeance of Him Who regardeth the cry of the oppressed. If, on the other hand, it is your fate to meet with oppression and injustice, take courage; in humble faith rest all your hope in the LORD, and be assured, even whilst you sink under your burden, that you are gaining for yourself a victory, for which a crown of glory is laid up in heaven, to be bestowed on you in the end.”

THIRD POINT.---Mary praises GOD for the favours shown to the Church.

"He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel: as He promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever."

Here let us keep in view three distinct periods of time.

1. The time of the promises. To the Church of the Old Testament, i. e. to the ancient people of God were the promises made. By faith in these promises the Jew recommended himself to God's favour, and obtained salvation. The great promise made to Abraham was, that of his seed a SON should be born, in Whom "all the nations of the earth should be blessed." Nothing could have been clearer than this prediction; and so in faith the whole Jewish nation anxiously waited for this SON, Who was to be their Messiah, the Anointed of the LORD. Happy indeed for them had they recognised Him with equal readiness when He appeared! We, however, have the consolation of seeing in the events which then took place, the unmistakeable accomplishment of promises made long before the events themselves occurred.

2. The time of the fulfilment of the promises. This time has arrived; the new Israel, the Church of JESUS CHRIST rejoices in their full accomplishment. The Son of the "blessing" is come; a virgin bears Him in her womb; soon He will appear and manifest Himself to men; all that has been predicted of Him He will perform. This is what Mary tells us; she teaches us that in the Incarnation of our Blessed LORD all the promises of the Law were ended, and all those of the Gospel begun. We see with our own eyes the fulfilment of this prophecy. The nations of the earth have been enlightened with the light of JESUS CHRIST, and have turned from the worship of idols to serve the living and true GOD. But besides this we have a further cause for wonder in

3. The period during which the promise should last. The promise, says the Blessed Virgin, is "for ever," i. e. for all ages, until the end of the world. It was not for a few years, or even for a few centuries; it was not with a transient splendour that the religion of CHRIST was to dazzle the world: at the present time, after the lapse of nearly two thousand years, we see it still enduring, notwithstanding the different character of the nations which profess it, and the revolutions through which they have passed; notwithstanding persecutions, heresies, schisms, abuses, scandals. Daily do we see new nations embrace the faith, and become partakers of the promised blessings.

PRAYER.

We thank Thee, O LORD, that Thou hast permitted us, Gentiles though we be, to share these blessings which Thou hast promised to Thy people: O let not our faithlessness and insincerity cause Thee to withdraw them. Think upon the faithful in our land, and for their sakes continue Thy mercies to us, and increase them more and more. Grant that we may no longer abuse them, but that it may be our privilege to hand them down to our children. May the never-failing accomplishment of Thy promises confirm our faith, and fill us with love and gratitude. Pour Thy special blessing on England, our beloved country, and may it rest upon her "for ever." Amen.

"I'm far too Poung to Die."

"O say not that I'm dying, that I shall live no more,

O tell me not that Tyrant is lurking by the door;

I will not leave this earthly scene, though sick and weak I lic;
As yet I cannot quit this life: I'm far too young to die.

"But yesterday I wandered all down the flowery meads,

The stock-doves they were building, the bloom was on the reeds;
To day, cut down and prostrate; helpless, failing, here I lic,
You tell me that I'm dying, but I'm far too young to die.

"It cannot be-it shall not be-'twill soon pass off again;
'Tis but a moment's illness, for e'en now I feel no pain;
I'm not prepared-I cannot die-before my eyes I see
The fearful looming future, and the terrible' To Be.""

And as he spake, a still small Voice came floating down the wind,
That gave ease to his broken spirit, and soothed his troubled mind;
It spake of the hereafter as a joyous happy time;
Linked with mansions in the heavens, with an ever-sunny clime.

And it spake soft words of comfort, it bid him not despair,

But higher look, and higher, above all pain and care,

To think of the hereafter as a triumph o'er the past,

The bright and glorious future as an heritage to last.

A smile was on that sad, pale face; a bright gleam lit that eye; "I'm ready now-I thought that I was far too young to die :"

His hands were raised in earnest prayer, 'twas then he meekly spake ;

..

"O take me, LORD, to those bright realms, for my dear SAVIOUR's sake."

"I thought that I was far too young, to quit this earthly scene,
My thoughts were wandering downward to the fading and terrene,
But now they're soaring upwards to Thy bright and glorious clime,
Take me home, O GOD, my SAVIOUR, O LORD, Thy time is mine."

Notices of Books.

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HYMNS AND HYMN WRITERS.

"A Hymnal, for Use in the Services of the Church." By the REV. J. B. TREND, B.A., Fellow of St. Augustine's College, Canterbury. London: RIVINGTONS, Waterloo Place; Oxford: W. R. BOWDEN, 35, Holywell Street. Price 2/6, 1/6, and 1/3.

:

We rarely meet now-a-days with a Clergyman who has not in some shape or other dabbled in 'Hymnology.' Laymen, too, have done good service in the work of writing, translating, or revising Hymns. During the last five-and-twenty years there has in fact sprung up an almost universal demand for Hymns in our public Services and it is scarcely more difficult to find an unrestored' Church, than to meet with a parish into which some new Hymn-Book, some new Edition, or some fresh Supplement, has not been introduced. Even the secure retreat of rustic Churches is being denied to Dr. Nicholas Brady and Nahum Tate, Esq., for country Rectors have the hardihood to supplant those worthies for the Christian Knowledge Society's Collection, or some equally safe substitute.

Meanwhile, the multiplicity and variety of Hymnals is immense, a state of things which is inevitable while the Church, during a period of transition, is engaged not only in restoring or revising, but actually in creating its stock of Hymns. This variety of HymnBooks is, in fact, no evil, for without it the Church could not bring to light and assimilate to her Services the rich materials made available by the research and devotion of recent years. The actual progress made has been most rapid during the Church Revival, each good Collection contributing something to the sifting off of bad Hymns, and the eventual consolidation of those which stand the test of actual experience. Nor is it by any means a discouraging feature in the movement that the best recent Collections exhibit considerable sameness, and reproduce, for the most part, precisely the same Hymns.

We are far, therefore, from discouraging New Hymnals, or fresh editions of old ones, for without these it would be impossible either to do justice to any fresh stores of Hymns, or,-what is no less desirable, to amend or withdraw such Hymns in existing Collections as experience shows to be unsuited to the requirements of our Services. Each Hymnal as yet must be regarded as in some measure provisional, and may cheerfully give place hereafter to à better.

But whatever the actual improvement observable in our recent

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