THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.

་

THOMAS G. SPEAR.

OH! woman of olden Samaria! tell

What the stranger of Galilee said at the well,
When he paused and sat down all alone by the way,
With his holy lips parched, like the summer-dried clay

I will tell you the words of the sage that I saw,
When I went to the well the bright waters to draw,
Where the stones are all mossy and green at the side
And the life-cheering drops so delightfully glide.

"Alone with my jar, ere the blaze of high noon,
With a carolling voice, and my feet all unshoon,
I leisurely sought for a draught of that wave,
Which the wisdom of Jacob our forefathers gave.

"At the verge of the fountain I stood, and, behold,
In silence there sate, with his garments in fold,
A Hebrew apparelled in seamless attire,
Whose presence did reverence deeply inspire.

'He asked for a drink from the pitcher I bore,
Of that cool well of Jacob, delicious and pure;
And I gave it unready, yet gave it at last,
When the spell of his spirit had over me passed.

"He told then of waters that flowed for the soul, From the rivers of life that unceasingly roll, Gushing freely for all that would seek them in awe, With faith in the might of the Lord and his Law.

"He said that salvation was born of the Jews,
With a blessed Messiah to love and to choose,
Whose feet with the brightness of Virtue were shod,
While Righteousness rose in the path that he trod.

"He said in these mountains our worship should cease,
And Jerusalem's glory forget to increase; -
That God was a spirit to love and adore,
Whom in spirit and truth we must seek and implore.

"And, with countenance looking celestially calm,
Whence holiness beamed with a soul-given charm,
He said that himself was Messiah, foretold
By the Patriarchs, Seers, and the Prophets of old!

"Oh! beautiful sight, on those features to gaze,
As the holy announcement came forth, like the blaze
Of the horizon lights, to the zenith unfurled,
For the wonder and love of the sky-viewing world!

• He told me of things that I deemed were unknown,
Save unto myself, and my chosen alone;
And all that I knew he perused in my soul,
As it bowed to his will, and confessed his control

"A Prophet! a Prophet!' I uttered amazed;
Our God for his people a Prophet hath raised!-
An angel hath come from the light of his throne,
The Messiah at last to the world to make known.

"O'erawed by his words, from his presence I turned,
With my heart full of thought, as it fluttered and burned
With the weight of the marvels I heard and I saw,
By that fountain whose waters I wandered to draw.

"Thus thus have I told what so lately befel

My wondering soul at the Patriarch's well;
Where the waters, though sweet, as the wayfarer sips,
Yet sweeter the words of that bright Stranger's lips!"

Thank thee, oh! thank thee, Samarian friend!
For the God-light that did to thy vision descend
For the words that thy spirit remembered and told,
And the sacred delight they for ever unfold!

THE VIRGIN MARY.

MRS. CLARA LUCAS BALFOUR.

THE character of the highest importance, and most spiritual significance, in the New Testament, is the Virgin mother of our Lord:" the Mater Dolorosa of eternal sympathies;" the lowly maiden of the house of David, of whom all generations, taking up the salutation of the angel, exclaim, "Blessed art thou among women." If by woman sin first entered our world, and death by sin, it is a blessed contemplation that woman was honoured as the means of giving life to the human nature of our Divine Redeemer. Womanhood itself was for ever elevated and dignified by the sublime mystery of the birth of Him who was "made of a woman," "made under the law," who "was God manifest in the flesh."

We learn that the Blessed Virgin dwelt in the city of Nazareth, and her personal history commences with the salutation of the angel," Hail! thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women." No words could convey a higher idea of the Divine approbation than these. Mary was highly favoured; the Lord was with her. The highest aim of spiritualized human nature is to obtain the favour

and realize the presence of God. This, in her opening woman hood, was the blissful portion of the holy Virgin. In contemplating her life, therefore, it becomes us to observe her peculiarities, and learn from thence to deduce what qualities of mind and conduct are likely to secure the favour of God and to evidence His presence in our hearts. There is one primary characteristic of the mother of our Lord that does not appear in anything like an equal degree in any of the Old Testament heroines: this was HUMILITY. Many of the illustrious women of the former dispensation were gentle in word and deed, but gentleness and humility are not synonymous terms. Gentleness is an outward manifestation of a calm and equable spirit, subdued and regulated by reason, and it is sometimes merely the result of a kindly and genial temperament. Humility is a far nobler virtue; it involves both self-examination and selfknowledge; it fixes its adoring gaze on the perfections of Deity, and the moral requirements of a pure and holy faith, and is the result of a just comparison of human faults and frailties with abstract principles of Christian virtue. There may be gentleness without humility, but there cannot be true humility without gentleness. It was meet that the Virgin mother of our Lord should be the first to exemplify the primary principle of her Divine Son's hallowed system. The heathen world, with all its moral theories and philosophical precepts, knew of no such quality as humility; and the religion of the Jews but feebly embodied this great virtue. Hence, though Miriam and Deborah were gifted and noble women; Hannah and the Shunamite, gentle, tender, and benevolent; Esther, grateful and patriotic; and each spiritual and energetic; we should not say of all or any of them that they were humble. The Virgin's character was essentially so. When the heavenly visitor

M