whatever virtues may have marked them, are "evil;" evil because they are never to be recalled, all the enjoyments vanish as a dream; evil because of the memory of their moral imperfections are more or less distressing. I remark again concerning human life in retrospect that, II. It STANDS IN CONTRAST WITH IT IN PROSPECT. Who in starting in life feels that it will be an unsettled state, that his days will be "few and evil?" Hope makes life to the young a settled, lengthened, and joyous thing. It has a home that will afford ample rest, and its "days" will be sunny and almost without end. The contrast between the life we have in prospect, and the life in review, at its close shows us the illusions to which we were subject. Another remark I make concerning human life in retrospect is, III. It SUGGESTS THE IDEA OF A BETTER EXISTENCE. It appears to me that underlying this wail of the old patriarch, there was an impression of a life settled, long, and blessed. This impression, methinks, was the standard by which he measured the ever changing, brief, and unblessed past. Truly, a belief in a future life is almost necessary to reconcile us to the present.

CONCLUSION:-Now at the close of another year let us take a retrospect of our past existence, and let that retrospect strengthen our faith in a life to come, and stimulate our efforts in preparation for it.

No. CCCLXI.

Man Blessing the Lord and the Lord Blessing Man.

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'BEHOLD, BLESS YE THE LORD," &c.-Ps. cxxxiv. 1-3.

The two first verses of this Psalm-which is the last of the Pilgrim Psalms or Song of Degrees-are addressed by the congregation to the priests and Levites who had charge of the temple during the night (1 Chron. ix. 27-33). The last verse seems to be the answer of the priests in dismissing the people with a blessing. I. MAN is here represented as BLESSING THE LORD. "Bless ye the Lord." That is, praise ye the Lord. Although the priests cr "servants" of the Lord are here called upon to engage in this, the sublimest of all exercises, it is the one grand duty, or rather privilege of all men of all classes, climes, and conditions. To praise

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It means

Him is to worship Him, to worship Him in spirit and in truth, to worship Him not merely with the lip but always with the life, in all the engagements, activities, and concerns of every day existence. II. The LORD is here represented as BLESSING MAN. "The Lord that made heaven and earth bless Thee out of Zion." usual form of priestly benediction (Numbers vi. 24). the Lord shall bless thee out of Zion. Observe-First: The Author of the blessing. "The Lord that made heaven and earth." What a condescension in Him, what an honour for us! Observe-Secondly: The condition of the blessing. It seems to imply that He will bless us on the condition that we bless Him, or worship Him. So it ever is, there is a Divine blessing in worship. In truth, to worship Him rightly is to enjoy the highest blessings that He will confer.

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No. CCCLXII.

True Socialism.

BEHOLD, HOW GOOD AND PLEASANT IT IS FOR BRETHREN TO DWELL TOGETHER IN UNITY, &c.--Ps. cxxxiii. 1-3.

The authorship of this Psalm is unknown. Perhaps its reference is to the settlement of the ark in the temple, as the central point of worship. The subject of this poem is at once obvious and beautiful: it is genuine socialism or unity of souls. Unity of souls is not theological unity, religious dogmas divide but can never unite. Not ecclesiastical unity; no laws made by any Church, though signed by all its members, can unite souls. Not mechanical unity, the unity of organisations either political, religious, or commercial. Unity of soul implies unity in the supreme affection, the supreme aim, the supreme rule. Now this sublime ode teaches that such soul unity is good, delightful, and beneficent. I. It is GOOD. 'Behold, how good it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." Why is it good? First: Because it harmonises with man's social constitution. It is what man's social nature

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craves for, his greatest hunger is for loving companionship. It is what man's social nature needs. He needs the ministry of friendship from the cradle to the grave. It is what man's social nature pictures as its grandest ideal. Social unity is regarded by all peoples and nations as the perfection of society. It

is good: Secondly: Because it harmonises with the teaching of the Gospel. Christ inculcated this unity, and prayed for it, that "they all may be one." The apostles everywhere exhort to it, "be of one mind one toward another.”

II. It is DELIGHTFUL. "How pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, it is like the precious ointment," &c. (1) It is delightful to witness. To "behold "it in the family, the church, the nation. All jealousies, envies, rivalries, wars, banished from the scene, and utterly unknown. "Peace like morning dew distils, and all the air is love." (2) It is delightful to experience. "It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard." The reference is here to the good oil, the holy oil of consecration, prepared in a certain way, and for a certain purpose. With this oil Aaron was not merely sprinkled, but anointed; it was poured upon his head, and it ran gently down to his beard and his garments, and this invested his whole person and garments with the delicious aroma. What a delicious fragrance there is in social unity, to feel one with all, and all with one another, This gives to the social atmosphere a delicious perfume.

III. It is BENEFICENT. "As the dews of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion." The words italicised in the text should be left out. It does not mean that the dew falls alike upon the two mountains, but that the moisture that gathers on Mount Hermon is caught up by the sun, and falls in refreshing showers on the distant heights of Zion. The idea is: First: That this unity is peaceful. How silently falls the dew! How serenely moves society where all its members are inspired with love one towards another, no clash, no jar, no grating of the wheels. The idea is Secondly: That this unity is refreshing. It gives to the whole social sphere perpetual freshness, verdure, and beauty.

CONCLUSION.-I call this true socialism, divine communism. It is the union that gives "liberty, equality, and fraternity." There is no "liberty" in any community where brotherly love reigns not, the tree of freedom can only grow on the banks of the river of universal benevolence. There is no "fraterity" where there is not genuine brotherly affection, nor "equality" either. Were secular equality possible, without this brotherly love it would be a curse rather than a blessing. Love lifts all souls up to that sublime plain of being where all are one in Christ Jesus.

The Preacher's Scrap Book.

THE USE OF EARTH-WORMS.

"FEAR NOT, THOU WORM JACOB." Isa. xli. 14.

W

ORMS!"

The very word is repulsive; it calls up the hideous, creeping, slimy, objectionable creatures which haunt the under-world of our globe, and fills the ordinary mind with images of horror and disgust. A man is thought superhumanly humane if he refrains, like the poet Cowper, from setting his foot upon a worm. What is the good of them?" must often have been asked, when the gardener turns up a spadeful of mould which is found full of these wriggling knots. Probably many people incline to believe that they were really created for the express purpose of being bait for anglers, and it is thought an exceptional proof of vivacity, when they are threaded on a hook, to remark "that even the worm will turn." To the horror and loathing, moreover, provoked by the unlovely appearance of the earth-worm is added a certain special dislike. This springs from the absurd and mistaken idea that the ungainly creatures have to do with the decomposition of buried corpses. People hate the obscure animal, popularly said to play undertaker to all flesh, although as a matter of fact worms seldom burrow deeper than a few inches, except to go to sleep. Suddenly, however, the gentle sunbeam of genius has shone into the dark region where these despised beings dwell and work. A great naturalist, to whose admirable instinct of inquiry nothing is "common or unclean," has brought out into full light the nature and function of earth-worms, with the result of proving that there is almost no creature to which man, as a civilised being, owes more than to this humble object. Dr. Darwin has for many years past closely studied these among other neglected denizens of our common planet, and now gives us the fruits of his investigations in a little volume bearing the title of "Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms."

At the touch of his transcendently patient intellect a new glory breaks over the degraded, writhing, offensive worm. Instead of being useless, or even harmful, it turns out that we could never do without these humble creatures. They, and they alone, in their countless millions, and by their ceaseless hidden toil, have made the globe what it is, fit for agriculture and the residence of man. The bulk of the humus or vegetable mould of his fields everywhere is mainly of their manufacture, and goes perpetually through and through their organs to be fitted and perfected for fertility. The most assiduous and wealthy farmer does not lavish half as much nourishment upon his crops as the earth-worms, which in many parts of the British Isles make and bring to the surface of each acre of land ten tons or more of rich fine mould yearly. All things considered, Dr. Darwin inclines to rank the earth-worm higher in the scale of constructive agencies than the coral insect itself, though the last-named rears islands, and ocean-kingdoms. It is the worm which, by perpetually consuming decayed leaves and small particles of soil, disintegrates and renews all the face of our earth. Their castings, hardly noticed, alter invisibly the contour of a whole country. Brought up from below, they make stones and rocks gradually sink, covering: these by the collapse of their tiny burrows, so that the surface grows smooth for our use by their viewless help. Antiquarians owe to the earth-worm the preservation of almost every ancient pavement and foundation by the soft coat of mould with which they overlay these relics. They remove decaying leaves, facilitate the germination of seeds and the growth of plants, and create for us most of our wide, level, turf-covered expanses. Thus at one stroke our great natural philosopher has raised them to an honourable rank in the vast family of creation. The poor earth-worm is henceforward decorated with the blue ribbon of science. He has got his promotion after long ages of neglect. The concluding words with which the most famous of modern natural philosophers sums up this monograph are as follows: “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world as have these lowly organised creatures." To appreciate the patience, the discernment, and the penetrating genius with which Charles Darwin has thus transformed a repulsive into an attractive topic, his new work must be reverently studied. Ever since 1837 he has quietly applied searching and persistent experiments to the habits and the