COMMENTS. The present lesson pursues the same theme, the life of the first Christian Church, as a community having its very existence in the element of love. The love, in this instance, manifests itself in a miraculous work of mercy performed upon an afflicted man. We have no means of knowing how soon after the day of Pentecost this event occurred. 1. Peter and John. These two disciples are frequently found together. See Luke xxii. 8; John xxi. 7, 20, etc. Their very unlikeness of character probably served to draw them together and make them helpful to each other. Their being together here reminds us of our Saviour's sending forth His disciples "by two and two." Mark vi. 7. Into the temple. See note on Ch. ii. 46. The hour of prayer. According to the Jewish observance, there seem to have been three special hours of prayer (see Daniel vi. 10; Ps. lv. 17); the third hour (9 A. M.); sixth (noon); and ninth (3 P. M.). The Apostles continued the observance of these hours. It was at the third hour, when "they were all with one accord in one place,' that the Holy Ghost came down upon them at Pentecost. Acts. ii. 1, 15. It was at the sixth hour that Peter "went up upon the house-top to pray." Acts x. 9. It was the ninth hour, being "the hour of prayer," when Peter and John "went up together into the temple." This last hour also coincided with the time of the evening sacrifice. It is not to be understood that these were the only times of prayer; but they were the more special hours, previously well established, and which the Apostles were careful in preserving. Peter and John went up into the temple to pray. It is a great privilege to pray to God in one's closet, but it is also a great privilege to go up to God's house and to join in the common prayers of God's people. Our Saviour annexes a special promise to the prayers which Christians agree in and offer in common. Matt. xviii. 19, 20. They went up into the temple to pray. One chief object of our going to Church is, to pray. "Mine house shall be called a house of prayer." How prone we are to forget this! 2, 3. Nothing certain is known of the gate here called Beautiful. The lame man was placed there daily, because it was a favorable place to solicit alms. Compare John ix. 1, 8. This circumstance made his lameness the more widely known, and gave the greater notoriety to the miracle. Ver. 10. 4, 5. Look on us. Peter's fastening his eyes upon the lame man and commanding him to look on them, was in order to fix his attention and arouse his confidence, desire and hope. It was preparing him for the miracle. We trace the same thing in our Saviour's miracles, as, for example, where He said to the impotent man, "Wilt thou be made whole ?" John v. 6. 6. Silver and gold have I none. The Apostles were poor. Yet they had what was better than silver or gold. See 2 Cor. vi. 10: "As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing and yet possessing all things.' Such as I have give I thee. This is the feeling of every truly Christian heart to give such as one has. When we have no silver and gold with which to minister to the wants of the poor, sick and afflicted, we may yet give them of such as we do have; we can give them our Christian love, our sympathy, our personal attention, the labors of our hands, which, under the blessing of God, may often accomplish what money, given without personal attention and interest, could not do. 7-10. The narrative seems to imply that, in addition to the cure of his physical lameness, the man received spiritual health and strength. So much seems to be implied in his going with the disciples into the temple, and praising God. We here learn the lesson of Christian love, manifesting itself in acts of compassion towards the afflicted. It is a question for every Christian, how he may be the most helpful in a world of suffering and trouble. Though we may do much by contributing to benevolent societies, etc., yet nothing can ever take the place of personal attention, seeking out cases of distress, visiting the afflicted, watching by the sick, going into the houses of the poor, and ministering unto them personally with our means, with our sympathy and with our labors. James i. 27. We mount to heaven mostly on the ruins of our cherished schemes. He Wanted the Heathen to have them, too. THE spirit and aim of those who are sending the Bible to the heathen is beautifully illustrated by an incident narrated of little Miller Bissell, of Nor walk, a dear child of seven years of age, whose early death occurred a few months since. He belonged to a "Sunbeam Circle," a company of little children who gathered up in "mission boxes" such gifts as they could, and who in this way during the last year raised sixty-five dollars for the foreign field. Often during the week that Miller was so ill did he ask to have his Box" examined, that he might see how much he had for the "poor heathen children." Once on opening it his mother's attention was attracted by a little piece of newspaper among the pennies. "Why Miller, what is this?" she said, "you don't want this in." Oh, yes," he said in his quick bright way, "yes I do, mamma, why they are beautiful, beautiful verses about God. I do want the heathen to have them too, they are beautiful. I know they will like them." And so the precious little paper was put back to be sent with his other treasures for the Lord. He admired the verses, and wanted the heathen to have them too. This was genuine benevolence, and it illustrates the nature of true love which seeks to give to the heathen that gospel which is to us as the pearl of great price.-Bible Society Record. HOME is next to heaven. And the home that is well-ordered, comely, pure and bright, is thus heavenly by the agency of woman's heart and woman's hand. No school can teach the science of house-keeping.-Starting Out. GOD intends that every faculty of thy being shall bring glory to Him, and blessing to our fellow-beings. Let us see to it that we do not bury any gift or talent, but rather doubly and again redouble them for use for the Lord. To be studying Jesus Christ, what is it but to be digging among all the veins and springs of comfort? and the deeper you dig, the more do these springs flow upon you. Health Maxims. The best three medicines in the world are warmth, abstinence and repose. Whatever promotes a comfortable and harmless state of mind promotes health. Men consume too much food and too little pure air; they take too much medicine and too little exercise. Patent medicines are temporary in their effects; they alleviate or smother instead of eradicating disease. Every man owes it to society to become rich; for the poor man's advice is never heeded, let it be ever so valuable. Very many diseases are laid at the door of "the weather." It is the want of weather which brings multitudes in our larger cities to an untimely grave. In small quantities, and occasionally, many things may be eaten with advantage, which, if eaten continuously for weeks and months, or in inordinate amounts, would occasion serious results. Persons may outgrow disease and become healthy by proper attention to the laws of their physical constitutions. By moderate and daily exercise, men may become strong in limb and muscle. Pads and supporters are all pernicious, and worse than useless, because they teach the system to rely on them, and cannot support one part of the body without causing an unnatural strain on some other part, and to that extent tend to disease that part. To all young persons, to students, to the sedentary, and to invalids, the fullest sleep that the system will take, without artificial means, is the balm of life; without it there can be no restoration to health and activity again. Never wake up the sick or infirm, or young children of a morning; it is a barbarity. Let them wake of themselves. Speaking of changing the clothing, we consider it hazardous to lessen its amount after dressing in the morning, unless active exercise is taken immediately. No undergarments should be changed for lighter ones during the day ordinarily. The best, safest, and most convenient time for lessening the clothing, is in the morning when we first dress for the day.-Dr. Hall. THE right knowledge of Jesus Christ, like a clue, leads you through the whole labyrinta of the Scriptures. compelled to fight and kill one another on opposite sides in battle. It is reported that England altogether employed about thirty thousand of these German hirelings to suppress the American Revolution. Of these sixteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-two were fur sel. As the majority of them were from Hesse-Cassel, all the German soldiers of the British Army came to be called Hessians. The Duke of Brunswick, furnished five thousand seven hundred and twenty-three men; the Duke of Hanau, from one thousand to two thousand. The Prince of Waldeck and others furnished smaller numbers. After England had vainly applied to Russia and Holland for men to carry on the war, these dissolute princes eagerly caught at the offer to enrich themselves by trafficking in the blood of their subjects. Hesse-Cassel or Kurhessen is a small Principality of Germany. Its Electors or Kurfürsten were prominently active in the Reformation of the Sixteenth Cen-nished by the Landgrave of Hesse-Castury. Good and great men those early Hessian rulers were, who served God and the truth at the risk of fortune and life. Their successors for the century past have belonged to the most ignoble, sordid and depraved of European rulers. Frederick II., who became a convert to the Church of Rome, was ruler of Hesse during the American Revolution. He was a man of low principles, and achieved a disgraceful notoriety by hiring out his soldiers to other countries. With the wages thus earned by his brave subjects, at the sacrifice of their homes and life, he became very wealthy. This traffic in the lives of his people branded his memory with infamy. Hesse-Cassel never numbered over one million of inhabitan's. Less than that during his reign. He hired five thousand Hessian troops to England to fight against the Pretender in Scotland-son of James II. And nearly seventeen thousand soldiers he hired to the British Government, which were sent to America to subjugate the American Colonies and keep them under the British yoke. For this service he is said to have received $22,000,000. At that time Germany was cursed with some petty sovereigns, who hired out or sold their subjects for their personal profit. Sometimes they sold their soldiers to two sovereigns engaged in mutual war, so that these men would be The Duke of Brunswick was then about sixty-three years of age, and had ruled forty years. He had squandered millions on his Italian opera, his corps of French dancers, his theatre, journeys, mistresses and gaming." His son, Ferdinand, then co-regent and heir apparent, was as worthless as his father. А free-thinker, who discarded the religion of his ancestors, he was married to a sister of George III. of England, but from the second year of his marriage be treated her with indifference, and ever thereafter preferred his mistresses to her. Such were the Brunswick rulers, who sold their subjects to England. To get the requisite number of soldiers they impressed old men, raw boys, and recruits kidnapped out of remote countries. Providence seemed to punish Ferdinand for his wickedness. Two of his sons were idiotic and blind. His oldest daughter, wife of the Prince of Wurtemberg, a man of brutal habits, perished in 1788. His oldest son died two years before his father. And Ferdinand had his eyes shot away in battle. Deserted by his friends and his mistress, crushed and dispirited, he died a miserable death. Frederick II. of Hesse-Cassel was at this time about fifty-six years of age. Since the R formation flesse held to the faith of the Reformed Church, and its rulers were among its staunchest defenders. In its doctrines and usages this Landgrave was trained up. But he early affected to be wiser than his fathers. He courted the friendship of Voltaire, and affected to doubt the teachings of the Bible, and "scoffed alike at the Old Testament and the New." In 1749 he turned Catholic. Bancroft says: "He was the coarse representative of the worst licentiousness of his age; fond of splendor and luxurious living; parading his vices publicly, with shameless indecorum;" he sought to introduce French modes of life, had his French playhouse, a French Mistress, and a French Librarian. their Prince." In sooth a vulgar, heartless man. It is said that his troops were among the best in Europe, but they had no heart for the cause of England. Their leader, General Keister, was a blunt, brave, cheerful, crippled, honest old warrior, without genius for war. Frederick knew the feelings of his men. It was not doubted, if the Hessians, on their way to their place of sailing, were to march along the left bank of the Weser, through the territories of Prussia, and perhaps half a score of petty princes, one-half of them would be lost on the way by desertion! Among their number, as is quite natural, were a class of rogues, who wished for a country where they could plunder and indulge their evil propensities at will. The Prince of Waldeck had a world of trouble to secure the number of men promised. He used force and deceit. He constrained even the village pastors to encourage enlistments from the pulpits! He promised the conscripts great wealth, if only they would consent to become the hirelings of George III. Even after he had gathered them, he needed a corps of mounted soldiers to escort them on their journey, and prevent their deserting. Although their rulers were well paid, the poor soldiers were poorly cared for: "The ships were very badly fitted up; the bedding furnished by the contractors was infamously scanty, their thin pillows being seven inches by five at most, and mattresses, pillow, blanket, and rug, altogether hardly weighing seven pounds. The clothing of the Brunswick troops was old, and only patched up for the present; 'the person who executed the commission for purchasing new shoes for them in England. sent fine, thin dancing pumps,' and of these the greatest number were too small for use." Although carefully educated, "his nature was coarse, brutish and obstinate." His wife, the mildest and gentlest of her race, a daughter of George II., was forced to fly from his inhumanity to her father for protection. His second wife, whom he married when he was fifty-three, he treated no better. Such was the man who for money compelled his poor subjects to serve the cause of a tyrant. When the contract with England had been clos d he hunted his men as a blood-thirsty wild beast hunts its prey. To escape from such an odious service his subjects fled into Hanover. "Soldiers were impressed from the plough, the work-shop, and the highway; no man was safe from the inferior agents of the princes, who kidnapped without Hitherto Hessians were noted for their scruple. Almost every family in Hesse bravery; "their valor had been proved mourned for one of its members; light-in all the battle-fields of Europe." To hearted joyousness was not to be found force them to aid in keeping a people in among its peasantry; most of the farm chains who were entitled to freedom, work was thrown upon women, whose aroused the indignation of the civilized large hands and feet, and lustreless eye, world. Even George III., at first, felt and imbrowned and yellowing skin, ashamed of the business and said: "It showed that the beauty of the race suf- amounts to making me a kidnapper, fered for a generation from the avarice of which I cannot think a very honorable occupation." Yet he consented to have it done. Many a noble protest was uttered in the British Parliament. Lord John Cavendish said: "The measure disgraces Britain and humiliates the King." Lord Irnham said: "The Landgrave of Hesse and the Duke of Brunswick render Germany vile and dishonored in the eyes of all Europe. as a nursery of men for those who have most money. Princes who thus sell their subjects to be sacrificed in destructive wars, commit the additional crime of making them destroy much better and nobler beings than themselves." The Duke of Cumberland, brother of George III., said: "I have constantly opposed these oppressive measures; I heartily concur in reprobating the conduct of the Ministers; My Lords, I lament to see Brunswickers, who once to their great honor were employed in the defence of the liberties of the subject, now sent to subjugate his constitutional liberties in another part of this vast empire." Voltaire professed to find traces in the views of the Landgrave of Hesse which savored of the teaching of Frederick the Great. The grand Prussian King indignantly replied: "Were he a graduate of my school, he would never have turned Catholic, and would never have sold his subjects to the English as they drive cattle to the shambles. The sordid passion for gain is the only motive of his vile procedure." Bancroft says of the Landgrave of Hesse: "From avarice he sold the flesh of his own people while they were yet alive, depriving many of existence and himself of honor. In an empire which spoke the language of Luther, the land of free cities and free thought, where the heart of the best palpitated with hope for the American cause, the Landgrave forced the energies of his state to act against that liberty which was the child of the German forests, and the moral life of the Germanic Nation." Such were the man and measures which England employed to defeat the struggles of the American Colonies for independence. Without the aid of the German soldiers, the British army would have been comparatively weak, and could not have prolonged the war as long as it did. These Hessian soldiers were friends of freedom. Of their own accord they would never have fought against American liberty and independence. It was the greedy, infamous tyrant, Frederick II., who sold them under the British yoke. A large part of them were members of the Reformed Church, as were the most of the subjects of Hesse-Cassel at home. As prisoners of the American. Army many of them came under the ministration of pastors of the (German) Reformed Church in this country. During the most trying time of the R-volutionary war Dr. Casper Dietrich Weyberg was pastor of the Reformed Church, Race Street, near 4th, Philadelphia. Dr. Harbaugh says of him in the Lives of the Fathers: "Dr. Weyberg took a warm interest in the war of the Revolution. Strange as it may seem for a minister in the Kingdom of peace, he had quite a fancy for mingling, in some way or other, in the warlike struggle of the times. He stood out prominently, as a patriot; and is said to have acted, for a time, in the capacity of chaplain. At the time when the British held possession of Philadelphia, he preached to the Hessians, who thronged to hear him, in great crowds. He boldly asserted the justice of the Americau cause; and bore down, with such energy, upon the wickedness of the oppressors, that the British began to feel the effects of his fearless appeals, in the daily desertion of their Hessian mercenaries. In order to put a stop to his preaching, they threatened his life, and threw him into prison. He was, however, soon liberated." Dr. J. Berg, a later pastor of this church, says of Weyberg: "I have been assured by aged members of the church, that it used to be confidently affirmed that the Hessians would, in all probability, to a man, have left the British service, if the old father had not been silenced." During the imprisonment of Weyberg, his church was used as a hospital and his congregation scattered. On May 5, 1779, he wrote to the Classis of Amsterdam, Europe, under whose jurisdiction he and his flock were placed: |