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II. HIS UNIVERSAL GOVERNMENT. 'And upholding all things by the word of His power.' Christ not only created, but governs the entire universe. 'All power in heaven and in earth is given unto me.' 1. He sustains the universe. holding all things.' Therefore the feature of His government and dominion are

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(1) Vastness. Myriads of worlds run their cycles in His dominions. All systems lie in His hand.

(2) Minuteness. The hand that rolls the stars along, gives form to the sparkling dew drop, and motion to the fly and flower. (3) Stability. The heavens are strong in the power of His might. For ages all things have continued as they were.

2. The agency employed. Word of His power. His words gives (1) Movement. (2) Order. (3) Harmony to all things.

III. HIS GREAT ATONEMENT. 'When he had by Himself purged our sins.' Sin was the great uncleanness of which He has effected the purgation, the disease of which He has brought the cure. The last head told what He was doing, this tells us what He has done. The atonement is finished.' We may say four things about this gracious atonement made by the Son of God. 1. It was voluntary. He made it of His own will. I have power to lay down my life,' &c. It is the great example of the voluntary principle. It is the great motive in voluntary religion.

2. It was vicarious. It was for us, for our benefit, He died in our stead. He bore our sins and carried our sorrows. By His stripes we are healed.

This glorious exaltation implies three things.

1.

Rest.Sat down.' On earth He toiled, and groaned, and died. He wrought our redemption in blood and tears. He finished His work and He rests from His labours.

2. Acceptance. 'On the right hand.' His offering has been accepted.

3. Honour. 'Sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High.' His throne is above all worlds. His palace is above the stars. He has entered into the Holy of Holies. How great, how glorious, how clothed with majesty is the Lord Jesus Christ. No tongue can speak His praise. And yet He offers Himself to be the Saviour of sinful man. His death is the life of those who trust in Him. Those who bear His cross, and imitate His character shall have His crown. His claims gather thickly upon us. Let us cast ourselves upon His mercy, listen to His voice, follow His footsteps, and then we shall hear His welcome.

G. H.

WHEN Samson left Mr. Willard's he walked two or three miles across the fields and wood; then, striking on a road which led north, he pursued that. He had walked three hours, and was already weary and sensible of weakness, when a waggon drove up behind him. He stepped aside, hoping to be unobserved in the darkness, when a familiar voice exclaimed,

Ah, Samson! we've found thee. Come, don't run away from thy friends and throw thyself into the hands of thy enemies.'

Samson knew the voice. Walking up to the waggon, he said: 'Massa Jones, why have you followed me? Let me go. I never will be took 'live. Don't make me fight you.'

'Fight me? said Abram Jones, laughing. 'What's thee going to fight me for? I've followed thee because thee's not strong enough to walk to-night as far towards the north star as thee ought to go; and because thee doesn't know thy friends from thy enemies here. Get in and ride, and I'll carry thee to a place of safety, and leave thee with those who will carry thee farther on thy way to-morrow night.'

Samson was re-assured, and getting into the waggon was carried forward all night, friend Jones meanwhile giving him much valuable information in regard to the country and the course best for him.

Just before morning they stopped at a house, and he was introduced as a passenger on the railroad, who wanted accommodations through the day and a ticket to the next depot.

Which he shall have to be sure,' said the good man of the house, shaking his hand cordially as he led him in.

Samson was now fairly on the underground railroad, a famous institution, of which, however, he had never heard till he was made to feel its benefits. He was quietly carried forward through Pennsylvania, and then, as it was considered safe for

him to travel by day, he was left to walk, taking directions from one place to another.

One night, about the middle of April, a quiet family in Central New York were aroused by a loud rapat their door after they had retired to rest. The master of the house arose, thinking a neighbour might be in trouble, or perhaps a parishioner was sick and wanted his presence- - for he was a ministerbut when he opened the door, though he is not a timid man, he started back with a feeling something akin to terror; for there, said he, dimly revealed in the starlight, stood the tallest, the largest, the blackest man I had ever seen; so haggard, so worn and weary, and yet so determined in his aspect, that I knew at a glance he was no ordinary man, with an ordinary history. His black face bore the records of terrible suffering, fierce passions and unconquerable resolution.

Samson asked for lodging, and mentioned the name of a friend forty miles south, with whom he had taken breakfast, and who had directed him here.

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He was welcomed with Christian hospitality; for this was one of the many families in that land who fear God more than man who live under the higher law,' and will not Oppress the poor because he is poor, nor turn aside the stranger from his rights.' He was treated with the utmost kindness, which he seemed to feel with gratitude, but he could not divest himself of the fear that he might be betrayed. He ate his sup per with his cane-which was rather a club-in his hand, and when offered lodging in a chamber he declined, saying he would rather stay out of doors than go up there: he would stay where, if there was a treachery, he could not be so easily made a prisoner.

This man, in his wearisome journey, in his perils and suffering for freedom, had felt his heart growing

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he sought far more precious every day. He realized the truth of what the poet has written:

The slave that once conceives the glowing thought

Of freedom, in that hope itself possesses

All that the contest calls for.'

As he drew nearer and nearer to the prize, he lived in the hope of its possession. Life, with all the advantages which a slave can possibly enjoy, became utterly loathsome in his sight. He wondered how he had ever endured it. In those weari. some and perilous night journeys he had enjoyed more than in all his life before, for he had been free free to walk when and where he would-free to choose his hiding place in the swamp. When a fox darted by him, or an eagle soared over his head, he had shouted for joy that they were no longer his superiors in the possession of liberty. He felt that he was taking possession of his birthright, long kept back by fraud. No wonder that he guarded his right with jealous care.

His new-found friends understood his feelings, and willingly gave him a bed on the first floor. His kind host accompanied him to his room, and noticing that he was in pain inquired the cause.

'Dat ar's whar de dog bit me,' he said, laying his hand on his thigh.

'Let me see,' said his friend, and he uncovered the wound, where the stitches of the Quaker doctor were still festering.

And with that wounded limb have you walked from O. to day ?'

O, dat ar isn't much, now,' he said, smiling grimly. It was bad, but I walks pretty well now.'

The next day was the Sabbath, and the pastor went to his pulpit, his heart full of indignation and abhorrence of the oppression which is committed in that land; and if he had not lifted up his voice against that system which brutalizes man, making him a thing to be sold in the market, or to be hunted with dogs like a wild beast, he would have felt

Samson was persuaded to remain and rest through the day, and his kind hostess stayed at home with him. It was during these Sabbath hours that she drew from him the facts which we have tried to relate. When she had heard his story she said to him,

God has guided you, and that you 'Do you not feel that the hand of owe him gratitude and praise for his

merciful care?'

'Don' 'no',' he said, with a bewildered look. 'Don' 'no' anything 'bout God.'

'But has no one told you of God, who is the Father of us all, and who preserves our lives and gives us all we have ?'

'I've heard some folks talk about God; but I don' 'no' where He is. He isn't my Father.'

She tried to explain to him something of the nature and character of God, and of our relations to him, to which he listened with the attention of one who hears a wonderful truth for the first time. When he seemed to have grasped the idea of a God, and our Judge, she said: who is our Creator, our Preserver,

'But, Samson, have you heard of Jesus Christ ?'

'Yes,' he said, 'I've heard the old women speak of him.'

'But do you know that he is our Saviour ?'

'Don' 'no' nothing 'bout him. I's neber heard dat we had a Saviour.'

Then she told him how God was angry with us for our sins; how Jesus, his Son, had come into the world, taken the form of a man and died for us, that we might have pardon and eternal life through faith in him; and how he had risen from the grave and gone up into heaven, where he still lives, our Friend and Mediator. As he listened the fierce look of hatred and passion faded away from his face, and tears flowed silently down his dark cheeks.

'Nobody eber told me dis yere before,' he said sadly. Well might he say that in the midst of a people professedly Christian no man had cared for his soul. He listened with

We will pursue our narrative no farther, except to say that on Monday morning Samson went on his way, parting with tears of gratitude from his kind friends, who have since learned that he reached Canada in safety.

1 Cor. xi. 10.

THE word translated 'power' is perhaps a mere symbolic title for the veil worn by Eastern women: nor is the figure altogether strange or unintelligible to an Oriental. The veil is, in fact, the beautiful lady's strength and defence. Modestly veiled she appears anywhere and everywhere in perfect safety. She is held inviolate by a sensitive, and most zealous public sentiment, and no man insults her but at the risk of being torn in pieces by an infuriated mob; but without the veil she is a weak, helpless thing, at the mercy of every brute who may choose to abuse her. The veil is therefore the virtuous woman's 'power,' and whenever she appears in public she ought to have this power on her head;' in church because of the angels; that is, the messengers and ministers, as I suppose. The women must be modestly veiled, because they are to sit in the presence and full view of the ministers, comparatively strangers to them, and many of them evangelists from foreign nations. Doddridge thinks it indecent to suppose that the ladies must be veiled, lest by their attractions they disturb the minds of the ministers. Such an idea could only be entertained by one ignorant of the power of Oriental customs in these matters. The oldest and most eminently modest native preacher that I am acquainted with,

objected not only to the ladies appearing unveiled (and for the very reason alluded to), but he would not have even their voices heard in the singing of the church, because in this country they never sing but in strains designed and adapted to excite emotions which should be utterly banished from the place of prayer. Put the case thus: a pious and modest Oriental preacher (who perhaps has rarely looked upon the face of any woman except those of his nearest relations) when he rises to preach, finds himself confronted by the beauty and fashion of the city in their best attire. Is it strange that he should be confused and disturbed? And, moreover, the veil is as necessary for the modest female, who desires to worship in purity and peace, as it is for the

angel.' Secluded by the rigid laws of Eastern society from familiar association with all men except near relatives, so that she would be overwhelmed with confusion should her veil fall in the presence of a stranger, it is no reflection upon her purity of mind, but the contrary, that she cannot appear unveiled before the angel with that entire composure which becomes the house of God. Such will wear the veil from choice. Change the state of society (and in many places it is being changed), educate the females (and the males too), let the community be pure from Moslem and heathen mixtures, and trained to free and becoming social intercourse, and then neither men nor women will think of veils and screens, nor