them to the camp just at the time when they were needed. That this last occasion of God sending quails to the camp of Israel is not the same with the first mentioned in Exodus, is evident from the fact that, in the first passage, they came only for a single day, but in the last they came for a whole month. Num. ch. xi. v. 19, 20.

Some writers, fond of what is curious, have endeavored to show that the word translated quails, does not designate this bird, but something else. Thus some have said they were pheasants, others that they were a kind of sea fowl, others still that they were thrushes, and some even that they were locusts. It will, however, be seen at once, from the correspondence between what we know of quails and the history itself, that these birds, and nothing else, are meant by the sacred writers. "The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven." Ps. ch. cv., v. 40.

God's goodness is also seen in the fact that these birds which he gave them are "a most agreeable and delicious food." Besides this, he gave them rich supplies: "He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea.' Ps. ch. lxxviii. v. 27, 29.

Thus did a kind heavenly father feed a perverse and rebellious race in the desert. He cast them not away in anger, but bare with them in patience forty years. Thus he gives us an example of his long suffering, which bids us never to yield to despair; but let not sinners forget that the same God who now feeds them to draw them to himself, will not always forbear if they continue in impenitency. Though he bare long with those who murmured against him in the desert-though he did not at once punish them but, much more, fed them and did them good, yet when they turned not to him he at length "sware in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest!"

Thus if your ears refuse,

The messages of grace,

And hearts grow hard, like stubborn Jews

That unbelieving race:

The Lord, in vengeance drest,

Will lift his hands and swear,

"You that despised my promised rest

Shall have no portion there!"

TO-DAY.

DON'T tell me of to-morrow;
Give me the man who'll say
That when a good deed's to be done,
Let's do the deed to-day!
We may command the present,
If we act and never wait,

But repentance is the phantom

Of the past, that comes too late!

OUR SAVIOUR AT A WEDDING.

BY THE EDITOR.

A MARRIAGE! A Christian marriage at Cana, in Galilee. A marriage in a Christian family. Probably the first Christian marriage ever celebrated!

How do we know that it was a Christian marriage? From the guests that were invited, and that were also present. If it had not been a Christian family they would not have invited such guests; neither would these guests have gone to attend it. We know them by the company they keep.

"The mother of Jesus was there?" She was there. It is not said of her, as it is of the rest, that she "was called," or invited, but was there before. It seems that she abode in the family where

the wedding was.

From this it would seem that the members of this family were in some way related to the mother of the Lord. It is supposed by some that this wedding was at the house of Alpheus, whose wife, Mary, was a sister to the virgin mother of our Lord. This would explain why the mother of Jesus was there without being called. It would also explain why she was so anxious that the guests should be supplied with wine; such anxiety would not have been natural or in place unless she was in some way identified with the family. It may be that she was abiding with her sister for a time; or, perhaps, Joseph, who is not mentioned, was dead, and she dwelt permanently with her sister, while her illustrious son was journeying from place to place, making known the coming of his kingdom.

It is more than likely that the bride and groom were themselves relatives of Jesus and his mother. Some of the ancients have supposed that the bridegroom was John, the Evangelist and beloved disciple. Theophylact makes John a nephew of Jesus. This would explain why Jesus commended his mother to the care of John when he was about to expire upon the cross.

"And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.' If the above suppositions are correct, then the invitation to Jesus and his disciples, and their presence at the wedding, are all natural. It was appropriate that they should be at the first Christian marriage. It was natural that they should be called to be present on such an occasion at the house of Alpheus, who was the father of two of our Lord's disciples, James and Matthew, or Levi, as he is sometimes called. It was proper for them to be called in at the marriage of a relative, at the house of a relative, and where the Lord's mother dwelt.

May we not take this marriage as a pattern, after which all marriages ought to be celebrated.

I. All marriages ought to be Christian marriages. Those to be

united ought always both to be Christians; for no Christian has a right to marry except "only in the Lord." Marriages ought always to be solemnized by a Christian ceremony. Marriage is, in its deepest conception, an ordinance of the church, and not merely a civil contract authorized by the State. To make marriage merely a civil contract, is to exclude Jesus from it. This is to ignore and deny altogether its religious character, and its religious meaning. To such a wedding Christ never went, and never will go.

II. All Christian marriages require the presence of the right kind of guests. These ought to be selected, not according to their wealth or social station, but according to the holiness of their character and life. What was the character of the guests at the marriage in Cana! "The mother of Christ, the most pure of all virgins, the most holy of all wives, and the most Christian mother!" Jesus, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinhers. The disciples who were called to be saints. These were the guests. Was ever a marriage festival honored by such a circle. of guests?

III. It is right and proper that, at the solemnization of a Christian marriage, the relatives should be present, and constitute the principal portion of the guests. This was the case at the wedding in Cana. There is something beautiful in those home-marriages, where all the relatives meet in one glad company. When this is the case we have already an assurance that the engagement about to be consummated was entered into with proper reference to the feelings and character of the families concerned. This is to be kept in view; for the union to be formed is not confided to the two to be married, but it includes, in its wider range, the families and relatives on both sides, between whom there ought henceforth a more intimate relation to exist.

How proper, then, that the joyful festivities of the wedding-day should bring together, and melt together, into one circle of love, all who are to be, by that wedding, constituted relatives-which they were not before. To have no reference to all this is not Christian but barbarous. When marriages are thus solemnized in the bosom of a Christian family, and, by binding two individuals of different families together in holy ties, are made the means of binding these families themselves together more closely by the formation of new relationships, it is then that marriage answers its true mystical meaning. It becomes, in such a case, the means of extending the kingdom of Christian love, and serves in the formation. of the purest and most permanent of earthly friendships.

IV. Amid the joy and festivity of a Christian marriage, the holy restraints and sacred proprieties, which should reign in Christian society, ought not to be laid aside or forgotten. Joy and gladness is not forbidden on such an occasion. It is a festive time, and the glow of happy hearts is not to be puritanically quenched;

and yet the joy must be so tempered and subdued as is meet in the social festivities of those who are ever to rejoice with trembling.

The presence of the Saviour, and of the holy Mother, at the wedding in Cana, no doubt, attuned the joy of the guests to a Christian measure. All that is now necessary, on similar occasions, is to feel the presence of that same Jesus, who is ever willing and ready to honor those who acknowledge him in the formation of such unions, with his presence. If all will rejoice with that meekness and humility, which they believe would meet with his approval, and which they would have been willing to have manifested if they had been among the guests at Cana, there is no danger that any thing will appear to displease this glorious guest. He will be present to smile on their festivities, to bless their happy hearts, and to sanctify their joy.

THE UNGRATEFUL SON.

"THE eye that mocketh at his father, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out." Prov. xxx., 17. This is a terrible denunciation against ingratitude to parents, and even in the present day is sometimes virtually fulfilled.

Some years ago, an Irish gentleman, who was an extensive contractor on our public works, was reduced to poverty by the profligacy and dishonesty of an ungrateful son. The old man lost his

wife and, to add to his calamity, his health failed; and, to fill the cup of his sorrow, he lost his sight. Thus poor, friendless, blind, and forsaken, he found an asylum in the Franklin county almshouse, Pennsylvania.

While an inmate of this refuge for the afflicted, his wicked and ungrateful son traveled that way; he was informed of his father's situation, and that his parent wished to see him; and, although he passed within two hundred yards of the alms-house, he refused to stop and see the kind father he had ruined. Now, mark the result. The very day he passed the alms-house on his way to Gettysburg, in an open carriage, he was overtaken by a storm and took a severe cold that resulted in the destruction of his eyes. He lay in Gettysburg in a critical situation until his funds were exhausted, and and those who had him in charge took him to the Franklin county alms-house.

The very day he was brought in, his father, having died the day before, was carried out. He was put in the same room, occupied the same bed, and in a short time followed his neglected and heartbroken father to the judgment-seat of Christ. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.

VOL V

B

CHRISTMAS.

BY THE EDITOR.

Mortals, awake! with angels join
And chant the solemn lay;
Joy, love, and gratitude combine
To hail th' auspicious day!

THIS month brings again this happy festival, when the Church celebrates the glorious advent of our blessed Saviour into our world. It comes at the breaking in of winter, when the earth lies dreary and cold around us; so was the world, and so are our hearts, morally, without a Saviour. Christmas comes as a joyful holiday, in the midst of the gloomiest of months; so came Christ, and with him music and joy, when the world lay in moral gloom around. So he comes still, as a joy-inspiring festive guest, into every dreary, gloomy, wintry heart that will receive him.

Some very beautiful and significant customs, especially among the Germans, are associated with Christmas; and, it is sincerely to be regretted, that they are suffered by their descendants to go into neglect. Such, for instance, is the custom of giving GIFTS on Christmas, especially to children. Well do we remember the days of our childhood when, long before it arrived, the weeks to Christmas were counted with that undisguised hope and joy which is known in its true sweetness only to the innocent hearts of youth! Then when it came, what a joyful fluttering of hearts as, the evening before, the hats, the baskets, and the stockings were ranged along the wall to receive the gifts of CHRIST-KINDLEIN! Then, in the morning-Christmas morning!-who shall be up first? Who shall find the largest portion of nuts and cakes in his hat, basket, or stocking? Who, ah! who but-the best child! Yes, the one that was truest, most obedient-that one shall stand forth in triumph, holding up to his more mischievous fellows the largest bag and the fullest basket! All hail! for this is the time of reward to the good! CHRIST-KINDLEIN has been a close observer of all the actions of children during the year, and he will not forget the GOOD!

Who does not see in this innocent and playful custom something which is far more than play. How it fastens the hearts of children, by a thousand tender cords, to home, to parents, to Christmas, and to Christ. When many years have gone, with their joys and their sorrows, memory recalls these seasons with their scenes; and, with the sweet remembrance of childhood, comes an influence which softens the heart, and makes it holier.

If we more closely interpret these Christmas customs, what do they teach? Why, first of all, are gifts given at Christmas? Surely because on that day Heaven gave us the GREAT GIFT-the gift of gifts. When God gives to us, it is to show us that we ought