JULY.

Atheist, forbear! no more blaspheme, God has a thousand terrors in his name: A thousand armies at command, Waiting the signal of his hand, And magazine of storm and magazine of flame.

Sublime on thunder's rapid wings

He rides in arms along the sky, And scatters fate on swains and kings; And flocks, and herds, and nations die!" WATTS.

THIS, the fifth Roman month, Quintilis, received its present appellation from Julius the Cæsar, by a posthumous act of the senate. It agrees with the eleventh historical month, AB, of the Jews.

1. The anniversary of the death of Aaron, in Mount Hor, B. c. 1452. 2. Archbishop Cranmer born, 1489. Klopstock born, 1724.

Madeira, or, the Island covered with wood, discovered, 1419.

4. The declaration of American Independence, 1776.

The dog-days begin, and end August 11; they are so called, because at Argos there was a festival for the killing of dogs during this sea

son.

5. The new coin, called a sovereign, was ordered to pass current at twenty shillings, 1817.

6. Granville Sharpe died, 1813.

Samuel Whitbread died, 1815. This is Old Midsummer-day. 7. The city of Jerusalem, with the temple, walls, and palaces, is razed to the ground, the inhabitants are carried into captivity, and the entire Israelitish monarchy terminates, (after it has stood four hundred and sixtyeight years from the accession of David,) in the eleventh year of the unhappy Zedekiah. See 2 Kings xxv. 8.

The national anthem, "God save the King," is first sung in Merchant Tailors' Hall, the king being present,

1607.

10. John Calvin born, 1509.

Hadrian died, 138; he it was who built the great wall from Newcastle to Carlisle.

London Bridge was burned, 1212, and 3000 persons, inhabiting that little borough, perished in the flames.

The anniversary at Haerlem, for two days, of the INVENTION of PRINTING with moveable types, by Lawrence Janssen Costa, 1440. The emblems on his monument are a branch of beech, a winged A, a wreathed snake, and a lamp.

Julius Cæsar born. He conquered three hundred nations, took eight hundred cities, defeated three millions of men, one-third of whom fell in the field of battle.

14. The Bastile destroyed, 1789. 17. Dr. Isaac Watts born at Southampton, 1694.

18. A Hebrew fast, because that on this

day in the time of Ahab, the evening lamp was extinguished.

21. A memorable earthquake, which shook the greatest part of the Roman world, A. D. 365. Fifty thousand persons lost their lives in Alexandria.

23. The first British newspaper established in the reign of Elizabeth, 1588, and named "The English Murcurie."

25. William Romaine died, 1795. 27. Tobacco first introduced into England as a medicinal drug. Andrew Marvell born, 1678.

29.

The number who died of the plague in one week in the year 1625, was 2471.

COLOSSIANS II. 14. "Blotting out the hand-writing that was against us; nailing it to his cross." Do you remember reading about the beautiful garden of Eden, dear children; and have you not often thought how very happy Adam and Eve might have been if they had only obeyed the Lord's command? It was pleasant whilst they were holy, because they had no feelings of fear and sorrow. It is sin which brings these unhappy thoughts; and after they had taken the forbidden fruit, every thing in that beautiful garden seemed changed: I say seemed, because the change was really in themselves. A guilty conscience troubled them, and they were afraid because they had done wrong. They could not hide them selves from the Lord, and they felt his anger as much as if they had seen it written against them, "Thou shalt surely die." Two brothers were resting in a field; at a little distance stood the altars on which they had been offering sacrifices to the Lord. The younger one had obediently taken the lamb from his flock, and remembering the promised Saviour, had humbly asked the Lord to accept his offering, and pardon his sins. This prayer was heard, and fire from heaven fell upon the altar to burn the lamb; but on the other altar no fire came. Cain had brought the fruits of the ground, an offering which he could spare, and which pleased him best; but with it he brought no broken heart for the Lord to bless, and his sacrifice could not be accepted. Anger and jealousy filled his heart, he could not bear to see his brother right when he was wrong, and he rose up and struck him to the ground.

Cain was a murderer; and on his forehead he bore the dreadful mark of sin. He fled; but he carried with him the memory of his guilt, and every one saw it there. What would he not have given to have removed that mark; but it was the handwriting of an angry God, and he only could blot it out.

In the large and splendid hall of a palace, we see a king surrounded by his guests, long tables are loaded with provisions; the king is seated on his throne at the head of the room, and there is a great noise of shouting, laughing, and joy. Suddenly it ceases, and looks of terror and alarm are upon every countenance; the king is pale and speechless, he points to the wall opposite to him, and there a hand is seen writing with fire. What mean those words? Can any one tell? The wise men are not wise enough. At last Daniel, the servant of the Lord, is sent for. Can he explain? Yes; he has been taught, and Belshazzar hears the dreadful words, "God has seen his sin-his kingdom is taken from him-and he must die!" die, unprepared! Oh! Daniel, can you not blot out that sentence? No, the Lord has written it, and what he writes no man can hide, or put away.

Dear children, I have one more picture to describe. There is a great white throne, and on it sits a holy and glorious King; thousands and thousands of people are ga thered there; and one after another they stand before that throne to answer to the Judge. What is it they see that troubles them so much? Words, and thoughts, and deeds they had forgotten, rise up before them, not one is left out;

and the handwriting is against them: "The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die." Dreadful sentence! Can no one blot it out? Cannot the sin be hidden from the Judge? See, a little child is there; and before her rises up, in a sad picture, sinful thoughts, naughty tempers, broken Sabbaths. Poor child, have you no answer to make? She remembers too late that she might have had a Friend who could have done all this for her, but she refused his offer. He is standing there waiting to know his own children, but that child he never knew; she must "depart." Another little one comes near, they had been companions at the same Sabbath-school; had listened to the same teachers, and enjoyed the same Sabbath blessings. The dark picture of her sin is before her, but she lifts her tearful eye towards that heavenly Friend; he knows her look; she is his own child, bought by his precious blood, and he blots out the handwriting. It is seen no more, and the child is welcomed into heaven; for the Saviour says, "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world."

My beloved children, I have been describing a real scene, and one in which we must have a part. Let us think for a few minutes seriously about it:

I. THE HANDWRITING AGAINST US.-Conscience tells us about this. Is there no sin in your hearts, dear children? Think of the last week -month-year-all the years you have lived. Suppose we began to write down our sins, we have forgotten a great many even in the last few days; but God does not forget, and when we stand before him, we shall remember, because we shall see them written there, and

not be able to hide from God's anger. Think of this that you may learn the way to be saved before it is too late.

II. THE BLOTTING OUT. — - Belshazzar might have ordered the writing on the wall to be covered, but that would not have taken it away. Blotting out is making the writing so that it cannot be seen at all. Some marks are easily removed, but there are others which never can be cleansed. Ink with which we write is very difficult to get out; but sin makes a deeper stain than all. People have tried all kinds of remedies, but nothing we have will do. The Bible says, Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness; and it tells us of the cure, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Did you know this before, dear children? Then, of course, you have asked the blessed Saviour to blot out your sin. Does any one say, "No, I have not?" How strange. Do you not wish to be happy; then why not go at once? It is sinful and dangerous to wait, for you do not know what a day or an hour will bring forth.

III. How JESUS DOES THIS,"NAILING IT TO THE CROSS."It was there that Jesus suffered. When people were crucified, it was the custom to put on the top of the cross a paper, on which was written an account of what they had done, and why they were punished. This is what is meant by "nailing it to the cross." Our sins brought the Saviour to that dreadful death. It was our punishment he was bearing; we ought to have been on that cross, or to have suffered much more than the pain of being crucified. Does it not melt your heart in sorrow to think that the Saviour suffered, and that he suffered for you? Did he love you, a weak sin

ful child, and do not you love him in return. Come to his cross with me, dear children; let us think of him bearing the heavy load of our sin and the anger of God, which we deserve. Listen to the cruel mockings of the Jews; see his agony and pain; hear him cry,

"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!" And now, will you not confess your sin, and ask the blessed Jesus to blot out all by his most precious blood, that so you may have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ!

B. C. 1171.

THE ELEVENTH PROMISE OF A SAVIOUR AS THE MESSIAH, OR CHRIST.

1 SAMUEL II. 1-10. P.-It is very remarkable, and very beautiful to observe, how the Spirit of God at pleasure chose one and another to declare his most gracious promises to man, and how he could make either the false prophet to praise him, as in the case of Balaam, or honour the humble and patient to be the messengers of his truth, as in the case of Hannah. Hannah was a faithful woman, living in a simple and sincere dependence upon God, and having no child she prayed to God, according to the great desire that the women of Israel had to be mothers, that he would be pleased to bless her with children. He graciously vouchsafed to her the desire of her heart, and Hannah, full of gratitude for his goodness, brought the child Samuel she had borne, as an offering to the Lord, and presented him with a song of thanksgiving, in which, being assisted by his Spirit, who has said, "To him that hath, more shall be given and he shall have abundantly," she was enabled to foretell the coming of the Saviour, and to be the first to speak of him as the Christ or Messias, the anointed of the Lord. Look to 1 Sam. ii. 1-10, and read over those ten verses. Of whom does Hannah speak in the first two verses?

C. Of the Lord.

P.-What does she call him there? C.-The Rock: for she says, “neither is there any Rock like our God."

P. And the last promise of a Saviour that we were considering, spoke of him as a Rock; so that Hannah's song shows that this promise was still kept in remembrance. Then she goes on in the next few verses to refer to those who had hitherto derided her because she had no children, and is thus led on from one point to another, until in the 10th verse, she speaks of "the adversaries of the Lord," and no longer of her own, and declares how God shall overcome them. He is to thunder out of heaven, to judge the ends of the earth, to give strength unto his King, and to exalt the horn of his Anointed.

C.-But where is he here said to be Messiah or Christ?

P.-The word Anointed is the same as Messias or Christ, so that it is here promised that God shall raise up his Anointed one, or his Christ, and shall make him a High and Holy One. Jesus was the Anointed of God in several senses,-first as a Prophet, which Moses declared he should be; and Isaiah afterwards speaks of him as saying "The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek," which words our Lord applied to himself, Luke iv. 18; secondly, as a King, as it is said in the second Psalm, "Yet have I anointed my King upon my holy hill of Sion," Ps. ii. 6; for in the margin of the Bible you will see that the word set, should be, according to the Hebrew,