yet everyone will allow that the wish exists. This sentiment prevails from the highest officer to the youngest minister among us. Already from many a family-altar supplications have been made on its behalf. Some whose plans will be changed, others whose expectations will be fulfilled, by the action of Conference, have pleaded with God to exercise His overruling Providence. But we appeal to the ten thousands of our Israel, who have no immediate and direct personal interest in its decisions. Why should not the approaching Conference be remembered in the morning and evening devotions of every Methodist home in the land? If the promise declares that the united prayer of a few can do great things, what may we not expect if all agree to ask for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Bradford gathering? Ministers would then return to their homes and their work with a quickened piety, and a more intense yearning over souls, which would tell upon their future ministrations and their future lives. The churches would catch the inspiration, and burst into a holier and warmer life, that should be the earnest of a year of revival and growth. The special facilities which approaching winter always affords, might then be employed advantageously in aggressive work among the formalists and unconverted, who frequent our sanctuaries. And we doubt not, but earnestly believe, that our very complete church-organization would then bring forth spiritual results more commensurate with the liberality and activity everywhere manifest.

In the future we see nothing to discourage, but much to cheer us onward. We can exercise our trust without fear; for Methodism was never so independent as to-day. We have a work to do; a holy mission to fulfil. Our splendid church-machinery only needs the motive power from heaven, and it will work harmoniously and successfully. Brethren, pray for the showers of grace for the living fire from on high. Let the confidence and resolution of the prophet Micah, when he declared, "I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me," be yours. Then shall we prove the full significance of the promise once made to a repentant and reformed church: "I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." T. H. E.

THE QUIET HOURS OF CHRIST.*

In reading the life of our Lord, we are much impressed with the intense and incessant activity every where manifest. As though endowed with superhuman physical powers, He is beheld ever preaching the new and

* From the "Evangelical Magazine,” for May.

immortal truth, and working wonders of miraculous might. No time was lost or wasted, no opportunity neglected or unimproved; and this appears strikingly true, when the simple record states that "the people came early in the morning to Him in the temple, for to hear Him." What large proportions of His biographies are but narratives of His numerous travels! And there is peculiar appropriateness in the apostolic summary of His life, He "went about doing good." Yet in sweet contrast to all this, and as a beautiful relief, we find Christ not absorbed in public life, to the exclusion of social intercourse and enjoyment. He is seen to be evidently social, exhibiting much kind and blessed sympathy in domestic scenes. He continually delighted in converse with His immediate circle of disciples, and found many occasions for receiving those tender ministrations of love which always awaited Him in the quiet and peaceful houses of His friends. All this is confessedly very beautiful and very precious; but it is not all. A true life is not spent simply in performing public duties, or enjoying the comforts of social intercourse; there is yet something more.

There must

be hours of solitude and retirement, or a needed element is lacking, the life is not complete. So we find, in contrast with this unceasing work, and pleasure in the amenities of friendship, that Christ, whose example is perfect in all its parts, had His quiet hours of solitude. In this there is deep and holy meaning, which in busy times like these should start into fresh life. Let us review a few of the instances, given in the Gospels, of Christ's retirement from fellowship with men ; and, in doing so, it is needful to remember that we possess but a fragmentary history of the earthly life of our Lord. The record contains but few, comparatively, of His glorious deeds, and stirring, far-reaching words. His seasons of solitude, though so rarely recorded, may, however, indicate the constant practice of Christ. Looking in this light upon some of the instances narrated, such a statement as that in Mark i. 35 is pregnant with deep and hallowed meaning. There we read, that "in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." And why was this? May we not fairly conclude it was to prepare for the duties and work of the day? He knew all the urgent demands, all the temptations and dangers that would press around His path; all the hypocrisies and sins that would sicken his heart; all the contempt and scorn that would greet Him while pursuing His holy work; and therefore we perceive He seeks, by sacred communion with His Father, in the solitary place, before the dawn of day, that inward strength, needed preparation, and Divine assurance, which come in answer to early prayer. Again, another season of retirement noticeable is, when the duties of the day are past. Turning to Matt. xiv. 23, we learn that, after a day of hard, exhausting toil, having fed the famishing people by a miraculous multiplication of a few loaves and fishes, "He sent the multitudes away, and went up into a mountain apart to pray; and when the evening was come, He was there alone." Another instance is found in Luke xxi. 37, where there is drawn an exquisite contrast between His daily work of "teaching in the temple," 2 R

VOL. X.-FIFTH SERIES.

and His retirement into the solitude of the Mount of Olives when night drew near. We know nothing whatever of the utterances or silent communion of those solemn hours; and where the Scripture speaks not, speculation is unsafe : but we should not pass the bounds of reverence by suggesting that probably the day's work was then reviewed; that at the close of each portion of His labours He rendered to His Father, even as every Christian does, an account of His stewardship. And, moreover, can we not suppose that His exhausted powers were then revived? Few sufficiently consider that Christ's work was the most exhaustive to all His energies, physical, mental, and spiritual. We can imagine nothing more so. The Divine was always expressing itself through the human, and our poor nature soon grows tired and worn. Grand thoughts wear out the human mind; incessant toil destroys bodily energy; spiritual wrestling with sinful men produces exhaustion in the soul. So we can believe it was with Christ; and these evening hours of prayer would be most welcome to Him. Weary with His work, sorrowing on account of men's contempt, and the hardness of their heart, He would retire to obtain that consolation and assurance which only the Father could give. Thus, at the commencement and close of His daily life, Christ found time to retire and pray.

But this is not all. We remark that he withdraws into solitude at every season of special need. To mention a few. We remember that before He appeared in the capacity of Teacher of the Word, before His entry upon His public ministry, He spent forty days and nights in the wilderness. There, where no human eye watched, or human sympathy cheered, even as it always is and must be in men's experience, He encountered and conquered the powers of unbelief. Thus was He preparing for the awful life-work that lay before Him. So at another era in His history we read that when peculiar dangers threatened Him, when conspirators were consulting to take away His life, He, conscious of the malignity and cruelty of His foes, and needing, therefore, special help, "in those days, went out into a mountain, and continued all night in prayer to God." (Luke vi. 11, 12.) In strange contrast to this, we perceive again and again, that, not when seeking His preservation, but when no danger is to be apprehended, at the moment of His greatest popularity, when every mouth is filled with praises, and many are anxious to press His brow with the regal crown, He suddenly disappears; and, as we learn, at a particular crisis of this description, (John vi. 15,)" He departed again into a mountain Himself alone." Thus did 'He testify His distaste for outward shows of power, and that His king'dom was not of this world. The holy calm of the mountain-side would prove exceedingly sweet, as He then again assured Himself of the elevated spiritual purpose for which He dwelt amongst men.

We cannot forget another crisis of His life, when the solitude was sought by Christ. When anticipating the darkest scene in His earthly course, 'when His spirit would be agonized by suffering the cruelties of public scorn and a lingering death, He retired into Gethsemane, and alone prepared Himself for the cross by a fierce struggle with the weakness of His flesh.

When the victory was gained, a strong angel comforted Him. After which He reappears with serene brow, and, unmoved, bows to the will of the Father, which is unconsciously executed by the hands of wicked men. In all these notable instances, there is especial need, which could only be met by private, undisturbed fellowship with God.

Another incident, hardly coming under the designation "special need," must be pointed out. Christ retires into solitude when suffering from bereavement. He has heard from the disciples of John the Baptist of the sad death and burial of their beloved, but misunderstood, master : whereupon the biographer tells us, "He departed thence by ship into a desert place apart." (Matt. xiv. 13.) Every mourner's heart will truly interpret this act. It was the natural expression of Christ's grief. He must leave the crowding multitude to mourn the loss of him whom He honoured and loved so much. At such seasons busy life is a mockery, a dreary contrast to the desolate feelings of the heart. Human friendship and sincere sympa thy may be good and appreciated to the full; but, 0, we seek some quiet resting-place, where we may enjoy the solace of unseen tears! we put away with gentle, but firm hand all earthly companionship, and in the undisturbed communion of the silent spot we seem nearer to eternity and the loved ones gone from our embrace. And in this act of Christ is there not something inexpressibly touching, because beautifully human, which comes gently, yet powerfully, home to all suffering hearts?

These are some of the seasons which the Gospels reveal of the quiet hours of Christ; and is there not great need that the lessons they contain should be fully impressed upon our minds?

The example of our Lord is often placed before us to arouse our activities; but is it not needed likewise to teach us the necessity of seasons of retirement? He is our model in active work; so likewise in prayerful solitude. He felt the want of retirement; is it not more urgent for us? He was pure and spiritual to the highest degree; we are sinful, easily tempted, and speedily drawn astray. His work was elevating and Divine in its tendency; ours often material, carnal, and leading (though not necessarily, if the soul be right) to forgetfulness of God, and the things of another world. It is impossible to live the highest life, to be a Christian in the full sense of that word, without spending some time in quiet communion with God and the unseen. All who have experienced the burden and the struggle to walk aright know this full well. As we stand at the gate of the day, and see all its opportunities for good, and its likelihoods of evil, we must bend in some secret place, asking for wisdom and strength; and when the hours are past, we must retire to meditate upon that which has been done, and to weep for the things left unaccomplished. We need preparation for daily duty, and reflection when the day is done; and this the quieting influences of a prayerful solitude alone can give.

And those extraordinary seasons of need,-times when a new prospect opens before us, when worldly influences are overpoweringly strong, when peculiar dangers beset our path, when the shadow of a coming calamity

darkens the way, when a great sorrow unseals the fountain of tears,-how numerous are the seasons urging us to seek some solitude as calm and undisturbed as a mountain-side! We must go apart and pray, for only then shall we be prepared " for all that is to come."

In times like these, how little opportunity is given for meditation and prayer! Even in our sorrows we are surrounded by busy life, which intrudes upon us everywhere. The hurried tramp of many feet is heard night and day. The sound of contending voices rings even in the solitude of our closet. It ought not so to be. The gospel of prayer must be com bined, harmonized, blended with the "gospel of work," or life will be a great mistake. If we would be prosperous in heart, pure in life, heavenly amongst earthly occupations, we must follow the example of Christ.

We do not advocate such retirement from the world as the Romish Church once deemed a sign of peculiar saintliness. Not for self-mortification, not for vivid, almost physical combat with demons, or communion with angelic beings, but real, holy fellowship with God and His Christ. We hold it wrong to interfere with the real duties of life; but copy Jesus, and we shall not err; for we cannot discover that any time was absorbed in solitude that should have been employed in fulfilling His mission and work. Activity and retirement were so properly balanced that they never clashed. Remembering that a man can receive nothing except it be given him from above, may we often go apart from busy life into some solitary spot, to spend a quiet hour with God!

THE RELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITIES OF THE HEATHEN BEFORE CHRIST.

III.—SPECIAL TESTIMONIES (continued).

(Concluded from page 533.)

THE signs of Egypt were not only intended for the rebuke of Pharaoh, and for the rescue of Israel, but as a demonstration of the utter vanity of idols, and of the absolute supremacy of Jehovah. Ineffaceable impressions of this truth ought to have been received by the delivered people. “Unte thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the Lord He is God; there is none else beside Him." How many other truths were involved in that singular intervention, the strongest insight would fail to enumerate.

The words and acts of God" have an inexhaustible meaning." Prophetic utterance is impatient of exclusive application to one event; for all analogous occurrences harmonize with its spirit, and successive cycles of history supply their corresponding instances, giving new fulfilment to the word. In like manner a Divine act is not an isolated fountain, unique in descent and easily traced, but rather like the spring on the mountain-top, flowing down in many streams to valleys on every side, and issuing in ever-separating results. When man works, he has to concentrate his attention upon