THE POWER OF PARDON.

BY THE REV. ANDREW A. BONAR, D.D., GLASGOW.

N instrument, good in itself, may be a

hundred times more useful in the hand

-

was urged to speak. He came forward, and kneeling at Stanley's feet, said: "The master is wise: he writes in a book all things that happen. The master forgets nothing. Perhaps, if he looks into his books he may see something about Uledi: how he behaved at the cataract; how he saved many men; how hard he worked; and how he has been the father of the boys, who are nothing without him. Uledi is my cousin: if, as the chiefs think, Uledi must be punished, Shumari asks you to give him the other half, and set Uledi free!" she will take half of the punishment; and now Saywa

says

ment in these terms-" Uledi, by the voice of the Stanley was greatly moved. At last, he gave judg. promised to take the punishment on themselves, Uledi is people, is condemned. As Shumari and Saywa have free!" At the same time, Stanley turned to the two He came forward, humbled and broken down. "It substitutes and pardoned them. Uledi was released. be good in future; and if he pleased his master before, was the devil that got into Uledi's heart. Uledi will he will please his master much more in time to come.

of sin, and hears the gracious voice of the Judge referring to the Substitute and saying, "I have found a ransom," is moved and humbled and broken down.

It is somewhat thus that the sinner who is convinced

"Law and terrors do but harden,

All the while they work alone;
But a sense of blood-bought pardon
Soon dissolves a heart of stone."

When the Holy Ghost shows the sinner even the one sin of unbelief, how his heart fails him! And when he goes into details, taking up the most innumerable instances of most daring rebellion and bitter ingratitude, nothing but eternal death, everlasting hell, the wrath of God abiding for ever, seems possible. At such a moment there is indescribable relief found in such a text as that which tells, "He is able to save unto the uttermost" (Hebrews vii. 25). "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John i. 7). "The just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God" (1 Peter iii. 18).

of a skilful or powerful agent. The sword of Amron, the Saracen caliph, was itself, remarkable; but, wielded by its owner was irrestible. And even so the moral power of certain motives may become, in the hand of the Holy Spirit, a thousand-fold more efficacious, and even irresistible, when used by Him with all His love and skill. If there is power in man's forgiving kindness, what must be the influence of Divine love in forgiveness when the Spirit works through the human heart? The well-known traveller, H. M. Stanley, incidentally recites the following occurence in Africa in 1875:He had journeyed, with a faithful band, over what he calls "The Dark Continent," and was now within a short distance of the wished-for goal. But the resources of the expedition were all but exhausted-even their stores of beads and merchandise, by the barter of which they might be supplied with provisions from the natives, were very low. In this state of things, Stanley was sorely distressed by discovering that a system of pilfering and theft was going on; and, above all, by detecting the chief plunderer to be no other than Uledi, the coxwain of the boat-one of his bravest and, hitherto, most faithful followers-a generous man, who had saved, at different times, the lives of others. Thirteen persons had been rescued from drowning by his efforts; so that he was greatly loved by the men, as well as by the chief. But he it was who had been tempted to commit this theft; and, in the circumstances, the crime was most flagrant, for the lives of all depended on these stores. At sunset of the day when the discovery was made, Stanley summoned a council, stated the case, and asked the leading men And in that same hour what a view does the forgiven that were with him to speak their mind. After much soul get of Him who "His own self bore" ALL the urging, Manwa Sera gave his view of the case. He stripes, paid ALL the penalty-not a part, not a half, said: "It is a hard case; for this is Uledi, whom we but ALL! Such was His love! Surely he will say, all love, and who has deserved so well of us all. Had "From this day I am not my own. He has bought it been another, I would have said we should hang a me!" The Holy Spirit shews it, and ensures the great stone to his neck and pitch him into the river. result; and so he cannot but feel the heat of that great But it is Uledi: let him receive a thorough flogging, to love melting and subduing his soul. He cannot but deter others from repeating the same." The rest of sing a new songthe leading men assented to this. Stanley then turned to Mpwapwa, one of the most sensible of the common men, and asked his view. "Well master, it is a hard question, Uledi is like our elder brother; and to give our voice for punishing him is like asking you to punish ourselves. But the fathers think he should be beaten; and I am only a boy among them. Only, master, for our sakes, beat him just a little !" It was then put to Mavsoak, who had special reason to favour the culprit. "Verily, master," said he, "Mpwapwa has spoken what myself would have uttered. Yet I would say, Remember it is Uledi." After this, Uledi's brother, Shumari, a kind boy was appealed to. He pleaded for his brother, and concluded in this touching manner : "Please master, as the chiefs say he must be flogged, give me half of it; and bearing it for Uledi's sake, I shall not feel it." Last of all, his cousin, Saywa,

"Pardon from an offended God!

Pardon for sins of deepest die!
Pardon bestowed by His own blood!
Pardon that brings the sinner nigh!
Who is a pardoning God like Thee?
And where is grace so rich and free?"

The Wages of Sin is Death; •
but the Gift of God is
Eternal Life.

THE TAY BRIDGE DISASTER.

BY THE REV. ALEXANDER ANDREW, GLASGOW.

HROUGH the long roll of railway accidents, never has there been one more appalling than the Tay Bridge disaster, that happened on the last Sabbath of 1879. Everybody shuddered, as he read, how a train, with a large number of passengers, while passing over it was suddenly caught by a hurricane and dashed into the foaming flood; while feelings of the tenderest sympathy were excited on behalf of those relatives and friends so terribly bereaved.

The bridge was looked upon as one of the wonders of the age, the longest in the world, being within a few yards of two miles wide, and spanning an arm of the sea often very stormy, and therefore worthy of being ranked among the grandest triumphs of engineering skill. With the utmost care it was contrived into arches and interlockings many, and built through a series of years at the enormous expense of upwards of £300,000.

The central portion, on which the accident occurred, extending over half-a-mile, was supported by girders of tremendous size and strength, lifting the line upwards of eighty feet above the level of the sea; and to test its power of resistance, we are told that a luggage train of 360 tons burden had been driven over it at its opening, in perfect safety. And yet, by a blast of wind, this central portion was wrenched from its stone foundation, and plunged into the deep; and that at the very moment when a passenger train, due at Dundee at 7.15 p.m., was passing over it.

And who can conceive the horror which for the moment seized the inmates of those lighted carriages, as they heard the roaring of the wind around them, and the surging of the billows beneath them, and then felt the awful swinging of the train, then the sudden crash and collapse and downward plunge. And what an agony unutterable as, clutching one another, they felt the cold water coming rushing into their darkened carriages, and realized that they were sinking like lead to the bottom of the deep, and there doomed to die! For there was no escape. It was all the work of a moment. And so shut in, encaged within the iron And so shut in, encaged within the iron girders, how terrible thus to die, and be launched so unexpectedly into eternity! And how affecting to think of their poor bodies lying very probably entwined around one another beneath the relentless waves, while some of their wrappers, edging out of the open windows, drift to the shore as silent messengers from the cold bosoms of the dead.

Most tenderly would we speak of this dire calamity; We would weep with those that weep over their loved ones thus snatched from their side. And our most fervent prayer would be that God who, in His inscrutable providence, has allowed all this to happen, would send such succour and support as those parents, and widows, and orphan children thus bereaved, so urgently need.

But are there not lessons intended to be learned from this terrible disaster? Does it not tell us with wonderful impressiveness, the old, old truth that we know not what a day may bring forth-that there is but a step between us and death-and that the summons to

depart this life may come to us when we least expect it? For doubtless those that began their journey to Dundee on the evening of the last Sabbath of the year, had no idea of their being ushered into eternity so soon and suddenly; and what has happened to them in how important to be always ready-to have committed one form, may happen to us in another. Therefore, the keeping of our souls ard all our interests to Him who is mighty to save, and who has pledged His word that "whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

And after all it matters comparatively little how we die, whether suddenly or after a long lingering illness, provided we die "in the Lord." Sudden death will be sudden glory-a quick transition from the storms of earth to the sunshine and calm of heaven.

And let us not think that such as trust the Lord, and

seek to follow Him, shall ever be confounded or put to This bridge from earth to heaven can never be broken. shame. He is the abiding never-failing Mediator. No storm can ever destroy it. For He who is the way to the Father, and to the Father's house, is the almighty Saviour "the same yesterday, to-day, and

forever."

a cobweb, such a ponderous mass into the deep
Yet, does not this terrific storm that hurled, as
suggest the unspeakable power of Him that "rides upon
the storm?" Who can withstand His might? Hence
how foolish to disregard His will-how rash to despise
or reject His invitations of love-and especially those
words that came from "the excellent glory," "This is
Father sent to be our "Hiding place from the wind,
my beloved Son, hear Him!" For Him hath God the
and covert from the tempest;" and how shall we escape
if we "neglect so great salvation ?" Blessed are they
that have sought and found a refuge in Him!

who met such an awful death were sinners above all
And then, although we would not say that those
others, or that this was a judgment sent from heaven
upon their heads-(for the cases of Job and the Tower
in Siloam should warn us against this: it might have
happened on a Saturday as well as a Sabbath night)-
yet may it not be that a merciful God, who is "in all
and over all," has designed this to lead us more
earnestly to consider how far travelling on the Lord's
day is allowable? For God is jealous about his day;
and in the long run, we may depend on this, that
there is no profit in violating the sanctity of the Sab-
bath by unnecessary travelling and trafficking. And
no one can shut his eyes to this, that we are drifting
away as a nation from that holy observance of the
tinguished. And if God by His solemn providence
Lord's day" for which our forefathers were dis-
should arrest us and lead us to become a more
calamity shall not have been sent in vain.
Sabbath-loving, Christ-exalting people, this sad

"Deep in unfathomable mines,
Of never-failing skill,

He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His Sovereign will.

WITH Our own wishes, we enter into prayer; we go forth from it, saying, Thy will, O my God, be done!

GOD's word has two edges-it can cut backstroke and forestroke.

The Man that Could Not Bear It.

By the Rev. WILLIAM MAGILL, Cork.

FEW weeks ago I went to a death-bed where I had been several times before. A young soldier was near his end. I drew near in fear, for I thought that he was unwilling even to hear the Word of Life. With the view of interesting him I spoke in soft tones of the suffering Lamb on the Cross; and when referring to the thief whom He saved in death -how sovereign and rich is grace-the soldier cried out fiercely, "I cannot bear it!" I prayed, spoke tenderly of his sin in rejecting Christ; warned him of his danger; offered everlasting life; and, mourning much, I left. In a day or two he was invalided; he crossed the sea, and before reaching home, died.

I have walked in the shadow of that young man's fate for months. He was young, could not read, was a Presbyterian, lived a dreadful life, sowed the seeds of dissolution, swore at people who visited him for Christ's sake, and went in that state before the God of holiness and justice for trial and doom! His history is not singular. He was so salted in his sins that he could not bear to hear of the sufferings and love and saving grace of the Lord Jesus in his last hours.

Gentle reader, are you better? You are sinful in nature and practice; and every sin is revolt against God, and ruin. You are respectable, honest, moral, kind, sober, busy, intelligent. But is it true that God is not in all your thoughts? Be not angry with me when I say that your carnal mind is enmity against God. Guilty, condemned, depraved, lost-can you bear to be told all this? Does it wound and break your heart? If so, there is hope. Humble yourself before the Cross. A change you need: and it must be great and vital. What-I? Yes, you. It is written, that you must be born again! Neither priest, nor sacrament, nor sermon, nor your own will, can convert you. God only can save you. Of His own will, He begets souls. The breath of His Spirit kindles the new life. You need the life of God. Into Heaven you never will go without it. Can you bear to be told that you are a dead, miserable soul; and that if you enter not the strait gate, and live in and on the Prince of Life, you must dwell in misery for ever? Bethink you, then, and pray.

Let me tell you of Him who came to save. He is God: He is man: He is God with us: He loved: He died: He reigns in glory: He saves sinners: He puts crowns of joy on the redeemed. None but Christ! Oh! look to Him; come to Him; believe on Him. Take the free gifts of forgivenness and life; rest on Him; and walk with Him. You are nothing but a moral ruin. Jesus redeems and rebuilds. He renovates the palace of your soul, and dwells in it. Your salvation is a great work. The righteousness, grace, power, and glory of God are all in it. Can you bear all this? Moreover, a pious life is a blessed life-so blessed that you have no conception of it. Think of walking in love of God and man, and breathing an atmosphere of holy beauty. And oh! the peace which passeth all understanding. What a grandeur belongs to the estate of the justified! Who could depict the privileges of worship; the sweetness of the Gospel; the splendours of immortal glory; the majestic heritages of the believer, which stretch up to God and fill eternity?

Surely a sinful life is folly and madness, as well as guilt and crime. Can you bear all this?

It may be that you are yet in your sins. You never offered an earnest prayer. The Bible is no bosom friend of yours. Politics, gossip, trade, the newspaper, a novel, or drink, these are your recreations, your delights. But the fragments of your time are not spent in the society of the apostles and prophets; of Jesus the Christ, and of God. Can you bear to be told that you are the "wretched man" of the Bible, on the broad way? Oh! why will you die?

And for what are you offering up your soul in sacrifice? Hear me, oh my friend! for it is in tender love I speak. Is it for drinks of distilled spirit, killing soul and body; or for a little money, which is neither Saviour nor portion; or from sheer negligence, the portentous harbinger of eternal death; or for toil, with its drudgeries and its profits? Consider that God is love; that Christ died for our sins accordtion is a free gift, and offered in full now; that countless ing to the Scriptures; that eternity is near; that salvamillions of sinful men like you have obtained justification and life through the great propitiation, and that the Can you bear to be told that your unbelief means eternal destruction? Save, Lord!

time is short.

New Books.

The World of Prayer; by Dr. D. G. Mourad, Bishop of Lolland and Falster, in Denmark. Translated by the Rev. T. S. Banks. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. This is a book of devotional, and, if we may so express ourselves, Protestant ascetic character. It views religion as a life of prayer, and it views prayer chiefly on its subjective side, as an exercise of the soul producing reflex effects on him who prays, more than on the objective, as addressed to a prayer-hearing and answering God. Yet the objective side is not altogether omitted. The book is full of beautiful and profound, as well as practical thoughts. Its standpoint, however, is what we may term modern-Continental; it presupposes the smallest conceivable amount of positive belief in the reader, and so it presents prayer sin, and the means of communion with God. to him as the cure of doubt, and the way to faith, as the cure of Christians desiring to feed on the fullness of evangelical truth will miss a something; but they will also find what will delight and profit them; and, to a certain class of thoughtful minds, who are groping their way Godwards, the book may be very useful. Aitken, M.A.-This is such a book as only an experienced The Difficulties of the Soul; by the Rev. W. Hay M. H. evangelist, as well as able and earnest Christian man, could have written. It is just what it professes to be a sympathetic, earnest, and practical dealing with the difficulties of various kinds that keep souls from closing with Christ for salvation. These difficulties are candidly stated by the author as he frequently heard them uttered by inquirers, and they are ably metfor the most part with real solutions. We think the book, accordingly, fitted, as a whole, to be very useful. At the same time, we do not indorse all its views. If the deliverance of any person wallowing in the Slough of Despond is to hinge on one of the author's positions, that faith is not a supernatural gift of God, we are quite sure that many will not obtain it so; many have found their deliverance in the perception of the blessed fact that it is God who works in them even their faith. But we think most of the book valuable.

The following are small books :-None but Jesus; by the Rev. George Everard, M.A. The author's power of pointed, practical, evangelical address, is well known to our readers. Here are a number of very short and interesting pieces, showing how Christ alone is what we need at every stage of our course, and for every part of our salvation.-I Forgot; by Mrs. Lucas Shadwell. (London: Partridge). An interesting and touching story, illustrative of the danger of children growing up with the habit of forgetting to do what they have been bidden and what they are trusted to fulfil; and showing also an effective method under the bad habit will do well to give them this excellent Parents who have children labouring of curing the habit. little book to read.

THE "SCHOOLMASTER." dreadful a thing it would be to have the soul polluted

It is enough to say that he told me how, when living years before in the neighbouring city, he had been inveigled into sin by one whom he recognised as an old school companion, but who was then leading a dissolute life; and how, after associating with her for WAS once called to visit a poor weaver months, he was mercifully constrained to part from who was evidently dying of consump- her by these words, which he had learned in childhood, tion. So far as I knew, he had led an coming powerfully to his mind-"By means of a outwardly moral life, and before his ill-whorish woman, a man is brought to a piece of bread" ness he had attended the House of God (Pro. vi. 21). with considerable regularity. But he was evidently an unconverted man. He had no sense of sin, no personal trust in the Saviour, no love to Him, and no experience of communion with Him. All his hope for eternity was built on the foundation of his own righteousness. I was sorry for him. I could not bear to think of his going forward to the judgment seat of God with nothing better than that to rest on. And so I tried to awaken his conscience and make him feel that he was a sinner, and not a righteous man.