matter, which is generally a nest of grubs. At their extremity, a sort of water collects, which, as it prevents them from ripening, must be let out. Amos, it is probable, was employed in these various operations; which has induced Simon and others to render the words, not a gatherer of sycamore fruit, but a dresser of the sycamore tree; which includes all the culture and attendance it requires."

In confirmation of this testimony, that a certain attention was bestowed upon the sycamore fig, to aid it to become more perfectly ripe, another traveler says: "At the time when the fruit has arrived to the size of an inch diameter, the inhabitants pare off a part of the centre point. They say that without this paring it would not come to maturity."

In Psalm 78: 47, there is an allusion to a judgment which God would send upon his unfaithful people, namely, he would destroy "their sycamore trees with frost. To see the full force of this, we must remember that naturally it is a very unusual thing for sycamore fruit to be injured by frost. It buds late in the spring. On this account it was called by the ancients arborum sapientissima, the wisest of trees, because it thus avoids the nipping frosts. The blighting of the sycamore figs was therefore the more plainly a curse from God on the people for their sins.

Some have supposed that the sycamine tree, mentioned by our Saviour, differs from the sycamore; but critics generally make it the same. "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should be done." Luke 17: 6. On this passage Paxton, applying it to the sycamore, remarks: "It strikes its large diverging roots deep into the soil; and on this account our Lord alludes to it as the most difficult to be rooted up and transferred to another situation: 'If ye had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you.' The extreme difficulty with which this tree is transferred from its native spot to another situation, gives to the words of our Lord a peculiar force and beauty. The stronger and more diverging the root of a tree, the more difficult it must be to pluck it up, and insert it again so as to make it strike root and grow; but far more difficult still to plant it in the sea, where the soil is so far below the surface, and where the restless billows are continually tossing it from one side to another; yet, says our Lord, a task no less difficult than this to be accomplished, can the man of genuine faith perform with a word; for with God nothing is impossible, nothing difficult or laborious."

Thus we have found this tree rich in instruction and in sacred associations. How often are we reminded, by the frequent allusions of Scripture to objects in nature, how necessary to the full

understanding of the Divine Word, is a thorough acquaintance with natural history of the Bible. We sincerely hope our articles on this subject may serve our young readers in this way; and also awaken in their minds a desire to pursue the subject for themselves by the aid of other helps. Thus they will find the sacred scriptures, not only rich in themselves, but also a constant stimulus to them to seek knowledge from other sources. They will find the world of nature an interesting and instructive commentary on the world of spirit and grace.

THE BROKEN HOUSEHOLD.

BY ALICE CAREY.

Vainly, vainly, memory seeks
Round our father's knee,
Laughing eyes and rosy cheeks,
Where they used to be;
Of the circle once so wide,

Three are wanderers, three have died.

Golden haired and dewy eyed,

Prattling all the day,
Was the baby that first died;
Oh! it was hard to lay
Dimpled hand and cheek of snow
In the grave so dark and low.

Smiling back on all who smiled,
Ne'er by sorrow thralled,
Half a woman, half a child,
Was the next one called;

Then a grave more deep and wide
Made they by the baby's side.

When or where the other died
Only Heaven can tell :
Treading manhood's path of pride
Was he when he fell.

Happy thistles, blue and red,

Bloom round his lonely bed.

I am for the living three
Only left to pray;

Two are on the stormy sea;

Farther still than they

Wanders one, his young heart dim,
Oftenest, most, I pray for him.

Whatsoe'er they do or dare,

Wheresoe'er I roam,
Have them, Father, in thy care,
Guide them safely home!
Home, oh! Father in the sky,

Where none wander and none die.

THE CALL OF ABRAM.

BY LEHICTON.

ABRAM the son of Tereh, was born in Ur of Chaldea. It was customary in scripture genealogy to mention the first born of the family upon whom, in virtue of this relation, were bestowed peculiar blessings. In particular cases the Lord saw fit to deviate from this custom, and to bestow peculiar favors upon a younger member of the family. Such was the case with Abram, as he seems to have been the youngest of the three sons of Tereb, who are mentioned in the Scriptures. The name Abram, which means a high father, was afterwards changed to that of Abraham, the father of a multitude.

When Abram was about seventy-five years of age he received a call from the Lord to depart out of his native country; to leave his friends and kindred, and to get himself into a land which God would show him. In the land in which he lived he was surrounded with idolatrous neighbors, and idolatrous practices, into which he was continually liable to fall. This, together with other purposes laid up in the councils of God concerning Abram and his posterity, and which were remarkably fulfilled afterwards, may be among the reasons for his call. We are now concerned with the call, and Abram's conduct in the premises.

In the sacred narrative we read of no hesitation on the part of the patriarch; no arguing the case in his own mind; no counting the costs, although the command may not have appeared to his own mind-that is, to his reason simply, as being very full of promise, or even perhaps promising at all. He was no doubt happily and comfortably situated among his friends; his outward circumstances may have presented no cause wherefore he should arise and go into a strange land. And God did not see fit at the first to unfold to him his designs concerning him and his posterity. It then required a sacrifice on his part, and was from the start an act of faith.

In the call of Abram we may see a type of what must take place in every one who is called from the kingdom of darkness into that of light and grace. The analogy is of the most perfect kind, and logical and natural withal. Abram was the type of the faithful, and the truths with which he was brought into contact, which are absolute and eternal, and which, although brought down in the sphere of nature, pointed to others in the order of grace. These truths were lived out in the person of Abram, and have therefore become for us flesh and blood.

Man cannot be saved in the condition in which he is born. That may be one in which he is well pleased to dwell and remain. He

may be among his friends in a two-fold sense; outwardly the world is in harmony with him, and inwardly his thoughts and feelings are pleasing and familiar to him. Going out of this condition involves a sacrifice. This is sometimes as painful as the plucking out of an eye, or the severing of a right arm. It involves a struggle in our nature, with our own sins, and with the prince of the air. These contests are hidden, and are not understood by the children of the world. They are known however to the Christian, and when you speak to him of sore conflicts, of hard fighting, of inward groanings and of mighty breathings, you do not speak in an unknown tongue. His experience responds to the descriptions. Indeed when this is not the case there is room to fear that all is not right. If all is still within, it affords room to fear that the enemy holds absolute dominion.

This sacrifice must be in disposition complete. Abram left all. Not many Christians in the present day are called to forsake father, mother, wife and children, lands and houses, for the Gospel's sake, as were some of the primitive Christians, yet Christianity is now precisely what it was then, and Christians must have the same disposition should circumstances require it. There should be a disposition to give up all for Christ's sake. If the disposition be complete, no contingencies will occur under which there will not be a safe and certain rule. Suppose Abram had cast longing eyes back upon his native hills and vales, the lovely associates of his childhood days; upon the prospects of wealth and enjoyment that may have been opening up for his manhood, and had commenced to hesitate and doubt respecting the righteousness of the command that was given him. What, suppose ye, would have been the language addressed to him? "He, that having put his hand to the plow, looketh at the things that are behind, is not worthy of the kingdom of heaven."

The act requires faith. Had Abram lacked faith, his obedience would have been blind and slavish. His reason might have sugguested that God had the right to command, and the power to punish disobedience. Influenced by such motives, he might have started upon his journey, but that would not have been a cheerful obedience. It was an intelligent obedience, and not blind. It was not, however, what might be called an intellectual assurance. He was unable by a logical process of reasoning simply, by deductions from natural causes, to calculate the interest involved. It was the assurance of faith. God had called him, and had promised to bless him, and he knew by this kind of assurance that he was faithful to fulfil.

There is something peculiarly interesting in this part of the analogy. It teaches that, in the kingdom of grace, obedience continually goes before knowledge. This is the case in the first step, and in all the life of the Christian. This was the motto of the

learned and pious Anselm. The scriptures teach us the same: "If ye obey my commandments, ye shall know of the doctrine." Men, in seeking salvation, generally commence directly the opposite of this; they want to know all about the kingdom of grace before they enter it. If you speak of mysteries in religion, they think of phantoms, of creations of the imagination, which are not for one the same as for another. They resort to the Scriptures, and expect every thing to yield to the scrutiny of their search; they imagine that they find dark sayings and contradictions there, and perplex themselves with these, while they have not yet made the first step in obedience to the command of the Gospel; they expect to be able to see clear through the way before they have yet entered upon it.

In what, then, does this first act of faith consist? In the case of Abram it consisted in taking God at his word; submitting to his guidance; trusting implicitly and without wavering in him. He arose and departed, leaving all the consequences to God. It is submitting one's self to Christ in the ordinance of his Church. This is an act of obedience that must rest upon faith, and knowledge must come afterwards. Abram could not understand fully the nature of the promised land that lay before him, until he had journeyed and beheld it for himself. There are those who are hindered from obeying his call by considerations like these "they must become good" before uniting themselves to the church-that is, as if poor, hungry, and starving men, before whom a plentiful table had been spread, and of which they had been invited to partake, should say, "We must first provide ourselves with food, and satisfy our craving hunger, and then we will accept of the invitation, and partake of the bounties spread out for us." In a state of nature men are poor, and blind, and naked, momentarily standing in danger of falling into the pit. In the church is salvation; treasure to enrich; light to shine upon our darkness; garments of salvation to clothe our nakedness; yet many imagine that they will get all these out of the church, and thus qualify themselves for its service.

This mistake arises from the low views which we permit ourselves to entertain of the nature and powers of the church. Are we about to connect ourselves with some respectable human society, we prepare ourselves to give character and weight to that society by our wealth, influence and talents. Reasoning thus of the church, we imagine that it has need of us, while precisely the opposite is the truth-we have need of the church. It is a mournful fact, staring us in the face every day. Vast numbers of young persons, members of Christian families, and who rest under the solemn vows of baptism, seem to feel quite at rest out of the church, and deem their position, to say the least, quite as safe as any other. They do not despise the church; they attend upon its or