unfading inheritance in his Son. Will you, then, be happy? Receive these gifts of God. This will be a portion that never can be taken away. Make this decision, and whatever change the year may bring, whether of weal or of woe, of health or of sickness, of life or of death, it cannot rob you of your peace; for a year begun and continued in prayer and repentance, whether it close in clouds or in sunshine, in time or in eternity, will end in joy.

Earth sighed. The righteous grieved a brother gone.
The SAVIOUR wept. Affection mourned his loss,
And still around the fallen one it clung
Like ivy to the ruined tower. Heaven smiled;
Bright angels round the bed of death rejoiced,
And spread their shining wings to take the soul
And bear it up to Abraham's bosom.
Death laughed that he had sent his arrow well
And hit a "shining mark." Exultingly
He oped his "prison-house," - the sepulchre,-
And barred his victim in. Well-done! he thought,

And all the victory mine!

But JESUS spoke-spoke with the power of God.
"Lazarus, come forth!" he said. And quick as

Thought, the words unsepulchred the dead.

DEATH could no longer keep his prize, but stood
Aghast to see the portals of his tomb

Fly open and let his victim out.

Defied and conquered by the Prince of Peace,

He looked, and saw in him the conquering God.

THE STAR OF HOPE.

MUSIC BY SUMNER HILL.-POETRY BY REV. E. P. DYER.

Both composed for this work.

It shines from heaven a - far, From yon ce-les-tial portals. How

'mid the fears Of vanished years, Our spir-its else had faint-ed!

When I the past review,

As memory opes her treasure,
The gayest hours I knew

Bring only mournful pleasure;
But Hope, with light

Serene and bright,

Dispels the gloom which saddens ;
From day to day

It cheers my way,
And all the future gladdens.
Hope is a brilliant star;

It sweetly cheers us mortals;
Through clouds it shines afar,

Like light from Heaven's own portals.

Grief's night may shroud the heart,
But Hope soon brings its morning.
Dark years may well depart,
For brighter ones are dawning;
They spring to view,

So fresh and new,

We scarce remember sorrow,

So sweet the ray

Which hues our way

With promise of TO-MORROW.

O! Hope's the brilliant star

Which sweetly cheers us mortals,

To guide our feet from far,

To Heaven's own pearly portals.

MENTAL EXCITEMENT.

BAD news weakens the action of the heart, oppresses the lungs, destroys the appetite, stops digestion, and partially suspends all the functions of the system. An emotion of shame flushes the face; fear blanches it; joy illuminates it; and an instant thrill electrifies a million of nerves. Surprise spurs the pulse into a gallop. Delirium infuses great energy. Volition commands, and hundreds of muscles spring to execute. Powerful emotion often kills the body at a stroke; Chilo, Diagoras, and Sophocles, died of joy at the Grecian Games. The news of a defeat killed Philip the Fifth. The door-keeper of Congress expired upon hearing of the surrender of Cornwallis. Eminent public speakers have often died in the midst of an impassioned burst of eloquence, or when the deep emotion that produced it suddenly subsided. Largrave, the young Parisian, died when he heard that the musical prize for which he had competed was adjudged to another.

THE VINE.

EDITORIAL.

IN former days the rich drapery of the vine constituted one of the most beautiful and picturesque objects of Palestine. All parts of the country were favorable to its cultivation; but the fruits of Eshcol, Carmel, Hermon and Lebanon were renowned for their sweetness and abundance. Clusters of grapes from these vineyards sometimes weighed six pounds or more. Sir Moses Montefiore mentions that he obtained in Hebron a cluster nearly a yard in length.

"Sometimes the luxuriant plant hung its graceful festoons about the trellis, as seen in the engraving; at others it clung from pole to pole, or clad the wooden palisade with a garment of verdure."

The vine was cultivated for its utility in several respects. Camels and goats were admitted to browse on its leaves after vintage. We can scarcely form an idea of the value of its cooling shade in an Eastern climate, where the sun shines hotly through the long summer day. Sitting in cheerful groups, beneath a beautiful arbor, the members of the oriental family partook of the purple fruit which constituted a welcome refreshment, while the laborer gathered and packed for raisins the superabundant store. Both wine and vinegar are also produced from the juice of the grape.

Hence, we account for the fact that no object of nature furnished the inspired writers with so great a variety of allusions as did the vine. In the earliest parable of Scripture, we find the vine, in the language of allegory, exclaiming, "Shall I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?" Thus adverting to the use of wine in sacrifice to the Deity, as well as to its medicinal benefit to man.

The church of God is the vine which his own right hand hath planted. In prosperity it sends out its boughs to the sea and its branches unto the river. In adversity the boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

The Saviour, ever ready to lead the mind from the fields of nature to the field of holy thought for lessons of instruction and admonition, said, "I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me."