We knew he had come from the Sabbath Land, for his hands were full of gifts our Father had sent us; but we thought of the Old Year, and feared to take them. Then one-a child with a rosy mouth-kneeled beside him, and cried, "Give me my treasure, angel; what hast our Father sent me?" And his gift was another year of life, full and golden; and it was to the young child as a crown. Then a man, with heart at spring-tide, kneeled, and said, "What givest thou to me, angel?" And his gift was another year of action; and it was to him as a treasure, and he hid it in his heart; yet he said not, "Our Father sent it." And another kneeled-an old man, very wearyand, with a low voice, he asked, "What willeth our Father toward me, angel?" and he bowed his head as he spoke. And his gift was another year of suffering; and it was to him as a heavy cross, yet he folded it to his breast. So, one by one, we all received what was sent us, and went forth each upon his own way; and the angels looked down upon us all. shuddering, shrinking soul. We may not drown the whispers, low though they be, by song or revel; for over all sounds of mirth will creep the spirit-tones that ask of the wasteful heart, "Where are thy treasures?" Where are thy treasures, soul? God gave thee life-what hast thou done with it? Canst thou render him his own with usury? Is it enough to live on the green earth, to rejoice in the glow of the sunlight, and breathe in the balm of the blessed air, and bend no suppliant knee, and lift no gushing song to heaven? When good gifts came to thee, didst thou think of the "Father of lights?" and when the cup thy lip pressed was as wormwood, didst remember "He doth not willingly afflict?" Where are thy treasures, soul-thy faith, thy patience, thy love, that, as sweet incense, should arise to the throne? God gave riches to thy keeping-how hast thou bestowed them? When the poor and the needy cried unto thee, was thine ear open to their cry, and thine hand to supply their wants? Has the blessing of him that was ready to perish been upon thee? Has the One who was called the Nazarene looked down on thee, and said, "Inasmuch as thou hast done it unto the least of these my disciples, thou hast done it unto me?" Thrice blessed among earth's children art thou if such a benison attend thee. We have come a long way upon our life-path since then. Some of us have watched our buds of hope unfolding into perfect flowers of joy, and some have seen them blighting, leaf by leaf. There have been graves digged all along the way, and many and many a heart has had a grave digged in it too. To some of us the New Year has been a lavish giver, bringing such treasures of love as our hearts had scarcely dreamed of knowing; and to some but an idol-breaker, crumbling the yielding clay into dust. But he is going now to all of us; and ere the hour is pasting words and thoughts? Or hast thou uttered his foot will have passed noiselessly over the threshold, and another year be born out of the great Hereafter. Another year! Never eye hath seen its dawning; never heart hath beat its moments; breaking from the infinite upon us as new and pure as that first day, when the voice of God first broke the silence of eternity. How solemnly it comes to us, only lighted by the faint white starlight; ushered in by no audible voices, that the soul may meet in reverent silence and alone! At the spell of its presence the chambers of the soul stand all a-light, and the dark secrets of memory are revealed. How the past rises up from its grave to meet us!-the dead past we called it, and vainly fancied we had buried it forever under a pall of forgetfulness. Ah, the lost hours of summer, the wasted treasures of life and love there is no spell to lay their troubled ghosts. They walk to and fro through the heart in an hour like this, and whisper fearful words to the Where are the talents that were lent thee for the Master's service? Hast thou basely lent them to gild foul and corrupting vice, or woven with them a beautiful covering for sin? Hast thou called evil good, and upheld oppression by glow truthful, loving words, that should strengthen him that was ready to fall, and comfort him that had no helper? What were thy songs, poet? Did they breathe the spirit of Him who inspired the sweet singer of Israel, and kindled visions of glory for the grand old bards of the Bible? Ah, it is fearful reckoning to settle alone with one's soul; to read upon memory's book all the record of lost and wasted treasure, of heart-riches ungarnered, gentle words unspoken, kindly deeds unperformed, whispers from heaven unheeded. But the last moment of the Old Year is passing, and even as I write the New Year takes its place. Its moments are yet stainless; its deeds unrecorded. The past has gone from us forever and forever; the future God hides in his bosom; but to-day is given to our keeping for blessing or for cursing. Watch and pray, that when the New Year shall be the Old Year, and the Old Year shall have died, ye may not say, in your bitterness, "Would God it had not dawned !” EDITOR'S REPOSITORY. Scripture Cabinet. SACRAMENTAL MEDITATIONS. -"But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”—Heb. xii, 22, 23, 24. The word sacrament has been so often abused and perverted to superstitious meanings, that many spirituallyminded persons have ceased to use it; yet its true and original meaning, in its application to the Lord's supper, is full of beauty. It was originally a Latin word, used to express the military oath taken by the Roman soldiers when they entered the army, when war broke out, and on certain other occasions. In it they swore that they would be faithful to their commander and to one another; they pledged themselves never to desert their standard, nor abandon their comrades in peril, nor to seck safety by flight, but in all things to acquit themselves as good soldiers. The early Christians, realizing the great truth that they were the soldiers of Jesus Christ, engaged to fight manfully under his banner, and bound to spend their lives in conflict with evil, transferred the word which was previously used to express the military oath to describe those ordinances of the Church in which they pledged themselves to serve the great Captain of their salvation. In this view, then, the sacrament is the oath of fidelity and allegiance taken by the Christian soldier. We pledge ourselves in it that we will be faithful unto death; that we will "not count our lives dear unto us;" that, at all risks and hazards, at any cost or sacrifice, we will obey His commands, go where he bids, do what he enjoins, and yield to him an implicit and unquestioning obedience. These engagements of the soldier to his leader, are those which we undertake to Christ, "that we may please him who hath chosen us to be soldiers." This is our sacramental oath. How have we discharged it? Have we "endured hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ?" Have we "taken unto ourselves the whole armor of God," and stood firm, resolute, fearless against all assaults? Does not the mere rude soldier often put us to shame? Amid all the vices engendered by a military life, what lessons of heroic daring, of uncomplaining endurance, and of unquestioning obedience, may we learn from him! In the sacrifice of himself to the duties of his calling, in the disregard of consequences when obeying his orders, in the willing endurance of hardships, and even the cheerful surrender of his own life if it be required, does he not put to shame the pusillanimity, the sloth, the love of case and pleasure, on the part of many a Christian? Yet they do it at the bidding of a fellowcreature, perhaps in an unjust cause, and with no higher hope than that of gaining a corruptible crown. And shall we, who belong to "the sacramental host of God's VOL. XVII.-16 elect," be less devoted, less resolute, less self-denying than they? Shall we who follow a Divine leader, whose badge is the cross, whose profession is self-denial, whose aim is a crown of righteousness that shall never fade away-shall we be recreants to our high calling, and faithless to our sacramental oath? As we take these solemn vows upon us, and occupy our places in the ranks of the army of the living God, and of Christ our Savior, let us remember that we again pledge ourselves by this sacred rite, to be faithful unto death, that we may hereafter receive the crown of life. The Latin word sacramentum had yet another sense besides that of the Roman soldier's military oath, which seems to have been likewise present to the mind of the early Christians, as they applied it to the ordinances of the Church. It meant the gage or pledge deposited by the parties to a covenant or in a lawsuit. Each party paid down a certain amount as an earnest of the whole. This was called the sacrament of the transaction, binding both of them to abide by the issue. Just so in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, we come with the family of Christ on earth, as the pledge and earnest that we shall "sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God." By this act we associate ourselves with " the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven." We declare ourselves to be "no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God." We claim to be children in that "one family of heaven and earth which is named in Christ." Generation after generation of believers have followed one another here; they have received in succession the sacrament of God's grace, the seal and pledge of his covenant; and now they have passed away from the world of type and symbol, of sacrament and earnest, into the full fruition, the perfect enjoyment of all that they hoped for here. He has been faithful to his covenant, and has kept them faithful unto death. "Once they were mourners here below, Now they have entered into rest. Here "they drank of the brook by the way, and so lifted up their heads;" there they "drink of the river of the water of life freely," where, "clear as crystal," it issues from "the throne of God." Here in the wilderness, the clusters of Eshcol were refreshing and pleasant; they received them only as earnests and foretastes of "the good land" now they "have a right to the tree of life, and enter through the gates into the city." As we yet linger here for a little while, receiving these sacraments and pledges of our heavenly Father's faithful love, we are encouraged by their example still to follow in their footsteps. "One family we dwell in Him: One Church, above, beneath, Though now divided by the stream, The narrow stream of death. One army of the living God, To his command we bow; Part of the host have cross'd the flood, O, Jesus! be our constant guide; MEASURE OF THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER.-"I will therefore that men pray every-where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."-1 Tim. ii, 8. The spirit of prayer is always measured by the spirit of holiness. I mention it as a fact; it is not an argument fit only for a theological discourse; it is capable of being tested as any other fact can be; and there is not one who has observed the matter at all but recognizes that fact as most certain. Except a man is sanctified he can not pray. I am not now speaking of forms of devotion, whether they be extemporaneous or prepared. A man may learn the one, and by mere impulse of eloquence utter the other, and yet have neither heart, part, nor lot in the matter. the passion on which he burns, and the ally to which it clings; and none but the Creator of my spirit, and the Fountain of truth, can have made it such. This is matter of fact, attested by observation and experience, as well as revelation; and when I meditate upon it, I find a moral demonstration in my heart and conscience, that the prayer which is offered in faith shall receive an answer from heaven. How GOD ANSWERS PRAYER.-" By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation !"-Psalm lxv, 5. Rev. Dr. Lathrop illustrating in a sermon the sentiment, that "God often answers prayer in a way we do not expect," introduced the following facts: "A poor African negro was led, while in his own country, by the consideration of the works of nature, to a conviction of the existence and benevolence of a Supreme Being. Impressed with this fact, he used daily to pray to this great Being, that by some means or other he might more distinctly know him. About this time he was taken, with many others, and sold for a slave. For a while he hesitated as to the view he had taken of God, and thought that if there did indeed exist a just and good Being as he had supposed, he would not allow fraud and iniquity to prevail against innocence and integrity. But after a while this poor slave was introduced into a pious family in New England, where he was instructed in Christianity, and enabled to rejoice in God as his friend. He was now persuaded of the fact, that adverse providences are often the means of answering our prayers, and conducting us to the greatest happiness." TAKING REFUGE IN CHRIST.-"How then can man be justified with God ?”—Job xxv, 4. But I am speaking of that habit which sends the man, when no eye sees, and no car hears, into the secrecy of his closet, there, in all earnestness before God, shut up with his Maker, to pour out his soul before him. I say, in that sense, a man can not pray except he is sanctified. Even when he first turns to God, though the burden of sin crushes the conscience, and the fear of perdition flashes upon the soul, still it is only by the influx of heaven's own light that he has discovered his sin at all, and learned to hate it; that he sighs for complete About the year 1100, amidst the almost universal darkemancipation from its dominion, as well as entire freedom ness of Popery, there was a form of consolation to the from its curse; and day by day, as he does battle with temptation, crucifies his selfishness, denies his carnal ap-terbury; and in the year 1475, printed in Germany. It dying, said to be written by Anselm, Archbishop of Canpetites, and goes about doing good; he betakes himself to prayer as his heart's natural home, where his love breathes freely and his spirit is at rest. But, O! let him sin willfully, and then he can not pray-his thoughts wander, his utterance is choked-all is darkness above, and all is barrenness within. The experience of multitudes will testify the truth of this, when they have sought their chambers after the first perpetration of the evil deed. The sure, the worst result of sin is to drive the soul from its Maker. It has passed into a proverb among us, that sin will make a man give over praying, or prayer will make a man give over sinning. I ask you to think on this as a matter of fact, and then let your reflections take wing. I ask you to appeal to your own conscience, to all that is in your intellectual and moral nature, whether it is conceivable that God should have associated this delusion, if it be such, with the highest possible and conceivable power for developing holiness in the soul of man. What! can that be a falsehood, which no man can take to, till his soul has been renewed? and is that a delusion, which is precious and powerful with man just in the same proportion as he is holy, and is thus allied to the goodness which dwells in heaven? No man is good but by the grace of God; not a touch of holiness ever visits the tainted heart of the sinner but as it comes from him; but prayer is the channel through which the Divine purity is conveyed to man, the aliment on which he feeds, was in the following words: "Go to, then, as long as thou it-mix thyself wholly with it-roll thyself wholly on it; THE UNSELFISH HEART.-" Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, seeketh not her own."--1 Cor. xiii, 4, 5. Some people are very selfish. Unless the blessing alight on their actual self, it matters not where it comes down. It can occasion no gladness to them. They can not joy in beholding the faith of other men. They can not exult in beholding the order of other Churches. They do not glorify God for the graces of their believing brethren. The husbandman who sees a cloud melting over the adjacent fields, while not a drop comes down on his own thirsty furrows, is more likely to envy his favored neighbor than to indulge in patriotic congratulations; and so, when a blessing comes down on neighbor Christians or neighbor Churches, there are some who, instead of indulging in that wise congratulation which of all things would be the likeliest to bring the blessing to themselves, they grudge as if they lost what other members of the body get. There are some so grievously selfish, that they take as matters of right, or as things of course, every good and perfect gift; and being little accustomed to view all things in the surety, viewing themselves more frequently from the little hill of their own self-love than from the great mountain of God's free grace, no gift is so great as to surprise them, no mercy is so amazing as to make them thankful. Like the Caspian Sea, which has some unseen way of disposing of its waters, so that whatever rains come down, and whatever rivers flow in, its great gulf never fills, and never a rill runs out from it again; so there is a greedy, all-devouring selfishness, which, whatever rivers of pleasure flow into it, and whatever mighty bursts of heaven-descended bounty exhaust their fullness over it, always contrives to dispose of the whole in the caverns and subterraneous passages of its capacious egotism-the vast mare internum, or the internal sea of self, without one drop overflowing in kindness to man or gratitude to God. And if the sudden advent of some unhoped-for or overwhelming mercy stagger them into a moment's tenderness, they recover their presence of mind before they are betrayed into the liberality of imprudent gratitude, or the vehement expressions of a large-hearted and over-ardent thankfulness. Others, who are not so remarkable for sordid selfishness, are of a peevish, complaining temper. In the first book of Kings, we read-ix, 10-13-"And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the King's house, that then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not. And he said, What eities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul [margin, dirty, or displeasing, unto this day." Now, without waiting to inquire whether the conduct of Solomon on this occasion was right or wrong, handsome or unhandsome, we have no hesitation in saying that Hiram was neither gracious nor wise. Even had the cities not come up to his expectation and perhaps the misfortune lay in his expectation being too high-there was no need to vilify them, and hand down to posterity a memorial of his own spleen. But some men's lot is always cast in the land of Cabul. There is something dirty or displeasing in all their mercies. They find a crook in every field, a drawback on every comfort, a bitter in every sweet. They can get nothing to their mind, nothing that comes up to their idea, neither a Church, nor a minister, nor a Christian friend. And just as they are sullen and dissatisfied in the midst of ordinances, they are fretful at their own iresides. And just as God never gave them a mercy yet where their perversity did not discover more cause for grumbling than for gratitude, so, were they entering heaven itself with this hankering, discontented spirit, they would, in their discontentment, write Cabul on the very gates of paradise. THE SICK MADE WHOLE." Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies.”—Psalm ciii, 3. There is a joy which many here have felt-the joy of returning health. The Lord had brought you very low, so low that nobody expected you would rise again, and you did not greatly care. You were so sick at heart, that life had no attractions for you. Your soul abhorred the very things it loved before. They had to stop the music in the streets, the din so distressed you. Your little sister brought you a few flowers from the garden, but you asked her to put them away, for their fragrance sickened you. Some one offered to read you a chapter, and you gave a listless consent, but you could not attend to a single verse, and soon said, "That will do." But the Lord raised you up again. It was not yet your hour to die. Do you remember the first time you breathed the open air, when you were strong enough to cross the threshold again? It was quite an ordinary day to other people. The shopman stood behind his counter, the student was poring on his book, the smith was hammering at his forge, and noticed nothing remarkable about the day. And when neighbors met, they said to one another, as words, of course, "A pleasant day." They saw nothing extraordinary about it but it was a wonderful day to you. You just felt as if it were a day that God had newly made as if he had on purpose breathed a new freshness into the air, and scattered on the earth a handful of heaven's own sunshine. The commonest things had an uncommon look. They had a friendly look-a happy, thankful look. They all seemed to be singing the 148th Psalm: "Fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl;" were all praising God, for you yourself were praising. And as you hearkened to the merry tune of the evening bird, and the piping tones of the bee hurrying home with his last burden, and the chorus-gush of winds and waters, your swelling heart kept time sweetly, and all the while, to their hosanna. But there is a joy more Elysian still, and it, too, is the joy of returning health-the joy of a forgiven sinner when the Holy Spirit first seals the pardon on his soul. To some, this joy comes so gradually, and with such wise abatements, that they can not date its dawn nor say when that joy was full. But others can. You were a sin-sick, wretched man. The Spirit of God, unperceived by you, was working in your heart and had convinced you of your guilt. You had no desire for any thing; you had not courage to pray; you took the Bible in your hand, but had scarcely heart to open it; you expected nothing there; and you wondered why other people were so happy, for, in your desolate bosom, all was dark despair. You were almost afraid to shut your eyes and take your needful rest, for you did not know but you might awake in hell; and though you put up an earnest cry for mercy, you felt as if God had not heard that cry. These were dismal days. But they are over now. The true light shone. You saw a sin-bearing Savior. You saw God's reconciled countenance in the face of the incarnate Son. You had peace with God-a peace unspeakable and full of glory. Items, Literary, Scientific, and Religions. THE SABBATH SCHOOL.-From the record of conversions in the Sabbath schools under the superintendence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, we see it stated that more than half the net increase of our denomination in the United States, for the past year, has been from the Sabbath schools. The number of Sabbath school conversions in the year was 17,494; and in the last eight years was over 94,000, or nearly one-eighth the entire membership of the Church. Add to this the greater average expectation of life in children and youth, as compared with adults, and we observe a provision for the future numerical strength of the Church, from the nursery of the Sabbath school, fully equal, at a moderate estimate, to the conversion of thirty thousand adultsthe whole net increase-in a single year. THE HUMAN HAIR.-Persons who will take the least pains in observing, will find among their acquaintance a great many men-young men of thirty and thirty-five years of age, whose heads are well sprinkled with silver. We will not attempt an explanation of the matter. A Parisian, M. Stanislas Martin, has published, in the "Bulletin de Therapeutique," the curious case of a worker in metals, who has wrought in copper only five months, and whose hair, which was lately white, is now of so decided a green that the man can not appear in the street without immediately becoming the object of general curiosity. He is perfectly well, his hair alone being affected by the copper, notwithstanding the precautions taken by him to protect it from the action of the metal. Chemical analysis shows that his hair contains a notable quantity of acetate of copper, and that it is to this circumstance that it owes its beautiful green color, which is most singular and remarkable. THE NEBULE.-It has been calculated that a hundred millions of stars compose that portion of the milky-way which is visible to man. Newton declared that the comet so famous in astronomical annals, which appeared in 1680, dashed through space at the rate of eight hundred and eighty thousand miles an hour. At fifty miles an hour, it would take 43,000,000 years to reach the nearest star. SCIENCE INCREASING LONGEVITY.-In the latter part of the sixteenth century, one-half of all who were born died under five years of age; the average longevity of the whole population was but eighteen years. In the seventeenth century, one-half the population died under twelve years. But in the first sixty years of the eighteenth century, one-half of the population lived over twenty-seven years. In the latter forty years, one-half exceeded thirty-two years of age. At the beginning of the present century, one-half exceeded forty years; and from 1838 to 1845, one-half exceeded forty-three. The average longevity at these successive periods has been increased from eighteen years in the sixteenth century up to 43-7 by the last reports. This increase in the duration of life has been caused by improved medical science, improvements in the construction of houses, drainage of streets, and superior clothing. THE LIQUOR TRADE OF GREAT BRITAIN.-A return to Parliament shows that in 1855 there were distilled in the whole of the United Kingdom 27,485,193 gallons of spirits, against 25,003,912 gallons in 1854, 26,441,557 gallons in 1853, 24,423,202 gallons in 1852, 24,543,657 gallons in 1851, and 25,844,887 gallons in 1850. Of this quantity, 7,921,983 gallons were distilled in England, 11,283,636 gallons in Scotland, and 8,297,574 gallons in Ireland. The quantity of spirits charged with duty for consump tion last year was, in Great Britain, 15,728,419 gallons; and in Ireland, 6,228,856 gallons. The total quantity of foreign and colonial spirits entered for home consumption in the United Kingdom, last year, amounted to 4,788,687 gallons, of which 4,457,455 entered England, 192,148 Scotland, and 139,084 Ireland. ENTOMOLOGY.-Professor Agassiz says, that more than a lifetime would be necessary to enumerate the various species of insects, and describe their appearance. Meiger, a German, collected and described 600 species of flies, which he collected in a district of ten miles circumference. There have been collected in Europe 20,000 species of insects preying on wheat. In Berlin two professors are engaged in collecting, observing, and describing insects and their habits, and already they have published five large volumes upon the insects which attack forest trees. RELIGIOUS REVIVALS.-The winter past has been one favorable to the spiritual interests of many of the Evangelical Churches. The Methodist Episcopal Church alone in the west has had accessions to the number of some eight or ten thousand. The Presbyterian and Baptist Churches have also shared largely in visitations from the Holy Spirit. WOOD FOR PAPER.-In Switzerland grated wood is mixed with rags as a material for paper-making, with good effect. White kinds of wood are ground up with water, by the aid of a grindstone, some four feet in diameter, and three feet thick, the wood being continually pressed up against the stone by the action of the machinery. The wood pulp thus formed is strained five times, separating it into five qualities, the coarsest of which is beaten in the common paper machine before it is fit for use. A wood engine, requiring a power of twentyfour horses, produces in twenty-four hours, according to the notes of Mr. Charles Schinz, about two thousand, four hundred pounds of dry, good pulp, which would make it cost, including fuel, labor, etc., about one cent per pound. WIGS FROM HORN.-One of our newspaper exchanges says some savant of Paris has been making wigs from the horns of animals. By some chemical process the horn is softened; then rolled, then cut into hair, which, "for softness and beauty, can not be excelled by the auburn or jet black locks of the belle of the town." VOCAL TRAINING.-The great master, Garcia, who taught Jenny Lind, gave her lessons of only five minutes in length at first, then increased them to half an hour. "The voice is more easily injured than any instrument, and can never be repaired," was his reason. And a short, |