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PEBBLES.

BY CAROLINE GLEASON.

y're just so foolish," the young mother said,

n deprecating tones,

glancing at the window-sill o'erspread

Vith little, shining stones,

As year by year, the fresh returning Springs
With blossoms strew the wild,

As fresh a joy to me their coming brings
As to any foolish child.

Then chide them not, but freely let them bring

The gifts that worthless seem;

gathered from the brook a precious The first bright flowers of the opening

gem,

Pure white, or red, or blue,

Spring,

The pebbles from the stream;

y fancy that because they care for The nest whence fluttered the sparrow's small them,

They're just as much to you."

well! I know 'tis many weary days Since I, a little child,

ugh meadows green and tangled forest

ways,

Hunted for blossoms wild;

brood,

The summer roses fair,

The broad, frail fern leaves from the shadowy

wood,

The dainty maiden-hair;

The furry catkins from the forest tree,

Grasses, in nodding sheaves,

waded where the stream in shallows Winged seedlings that the wild wind scatters broke,

To see the pebbles shine;

limbed the rocky hillside's dizzy slope For the nodding columbine.

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free,

And gorgeous autumn leaves.

Perhaps through all the shades of thought

and care,

Their clear young eyes can see

That their small treasures, sweet and fresh

and fair,

Are very dear to me.

O grave, young mother, do not scorn to

look,

Or coldly turn away

at their foot, like war-horse fleet and From the fresh pages of the open book

strong,

The rushing waters sped.

grassy billows, rolling wide and free, Blend with the far-off sky;

ships at anchor on the prairie sea,
The scattered homesteads lie.
edy pools, by forest shaded streams,
The wild duck rears her brood;

-voiced, the rippling rivulet winds and gleams

Through flowery solitudes.

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ite of distance, spite of change of time, Scorns not to form, with wondrous skill and

My heart still warms and thrills

he mere memory of the brook's clear

chime,

And the grandeur of the hills.

care,

The smallest insects' wings;

Nor thinks it vanity to make so fair

A thousand trifling things.

"HE CAME TO HIMSELF."

BY REV. GEORGE H. VIBBERT.

USTIN MARTYR wrote:

evil. If it were as the old dogma represents it, we should never thrill with admiration for goodness, and pant for holiness. When the good and evil were presented, would

J. This is the nature of every one that is inevitably, because naturally, evil hoved

66

way.

.

born, to be capable of virtue and vice; for nothing would be deserving of praise, if it had not the power of turning itself either In the beginning He made the human race with the power of thought and of choosing the truth and doing right, so that all men are without excuse before God; for they have been born rational and contemplative. . . And again, unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be."

I think that these declarations are in keeping with Scripture and experience. Christ came not to totally depraved creatures, but to those capable of reformation and growth. His offer of help presupposed that men were able to accept. His appeals to conscience

and reason and the affections were without force and meaning, if those who heard them could not respond. The doctrine of total depravity asserts that men are naturally averse to good, and cannot do good without a miraculous change and experience; while Christ came and offered bread and water to those who were hungry and thirsty, and who knew they were hungry and thirsty. Had men been totally depraved, they would have had no interest in the truth. They were made for sin They had inherited tendencies which inevitably led them to prefer error to truth, and sensuality to purity. Worms, it was their nature to grovel. Sin was their native element. How could such beings understand and appreciate Christianity?

The accepted fact that Christ came with a spiritual religion adapted to spiritual beings, and offered it to men as their appropriate nourishment, is a clear refutation of the dogma of total depravity.

More than this, if we are totally depraved, why should we shun sin? It best comports with our nature. Brutes may properly seek brutal pleasures and be satisfied with brutishness. Why be ashamed of sin, since it is the legitimate outgrowth of our natures?

It is not so. We know that we are not all

But we see everywhere our fellows conquering temptation, and toiling upward with hope that they shall win holiness. Faith and patience and self-sacrifice are honored as worthy the toil they cost, and as evidence of well used powers. Sinful as we are, yet love and hope and humility find many disciples, and give full promise of the greater naturity of powers give 1 to beings who were made little lower than the angels

The depravity of human character may not easily be exaggerated. We all know what ravages sin makes, and we say it is deplorable because its victims are capable of better things. They might do better if they would. They are beside themselves. They waste their substance. They are not themselves.

Which shall be taken as the representative of human nature-the bad man, or the good? Black, shrunken grain, gnarled, unripe fruit, are not shown as the natural product of seed and tree. We produce ripened wheat, luscious fruit, as the proper index of the nature of seed and tree, and of their capacity. So we say good men and women fairly represent the characteristics of our human nature. The best products of our schools and churches are types of healthy manhood and womanhood. Christ is the model of intelligent beings, and he goes before us to show what we may be when our natures are fully develored.

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The depraved man, who has not sought truth, nor loved holiness, but ignorantly and yet wilfully become false and impure, may serve to warn us of what misdirection of our power may bring us to, but is not a representative soul. He, who by the side of the wicked man has grappled with temptation, and won purity by many a hard struggle, is for our example, and shows what human nature may attain. Not unaided human nature, for no soul is entirely cut off from Divine help. The tree yields not perfect fruit with no aid of sun and rain and dew, nor can human nature develop all its rare powers and produce its perfected character with

out the light and heat and nourishment which God provides.

This imperfect presentation of the danger and the capability of our common nature may be profitable, if it lead us to see what possibilities we may attain by avoiding the perils incident to our being here, and grappling resolutely with obstacles, and conquering temptation. Shame and humility will keep us alive to the need of watchfulness and toil if we would reach the full perfection of our natures. What reason for shame have we, who are so nobly endowed, yet are awkward in the use of our energies-we who might walk steadfastly upward with the light of Heaven on our faces, and its joy in our hearts, yet who stumble and grope and fall in the way of perdition.

SO

O, if we could learn of what we are capable, and would try our powers! If we would but trust him who revealed not only God's character, but what we might become, we would give the lie to those defamers of our nature who declare that we are inclined wholly to evil, and are fit only for endless burnings.

. If we believed that man's nature shows evidence of Divine workmanship, with what different spirit should we regard and treat our fellow men. Be sure:

"Through all disguise, form, place, or name,

Beneath the flaunting robe of sin,
Through poverty and squalid shame,
Thou lookest on the man within!

On man, as man, retaining yet,

Howe'er debased and soiled and dim,
The crown upon his forehead set,

The immortal gift of God to him!" Then we would help to remove the burdens that press our brother down, and would lead him as we would be led into employment, worthy children of God and heirs of immortality.

It is not true, I re-assert, that we are totally depraved, and can do no good thing. We have conscience and reason and will, and our souls kindle at contemplation of holiness, which, though lofty and pure, is not beyond our attainment. Sometimes we use our energies, and feel them grow strong for better achievements, and are encouraged, and are conscious of yet untried forces within us. And then, we grovel, or with broken wing, fall to the dust. Yes, Young was right:

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us.

How poor, how rich, how abject, how august,
How complicate, how wonderful, is man!
How passing wonder He who made him such!
Who centered in our make such strange extremes,
From different natures marvellously mixt.
Connexion exquisite of distant worlds!
Distinguished link in being's endless chain,
Midway from nothing to the Deity!
A beam ethereal, sullied and absorpt,
Tho' sullied and dishonered, still Divine!
Dim miniature of greatness absolute.
An heir of glory! a frail child of dust.
Helpless immortal! insect infinite!
A worm a God!"

"I find, then, a law," wrote Paul," that when I would do good, evil is present with For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."

Jesus Christ can help us to be delivered "from the body of this death." He led the ancient prodigal, "when he came to himself," back to his Father. He will lead us to vantage ground, where we can assert the dignity of our natures and give immortal powers full and glorious employment.

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