THE FREENESS OF THE LOVE OF JESUS. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”—Matt. THE above is one of the many passages we meet in the Bible which show that God calls, entreats, and commands all men to come unto him, and which exhibit his earnest desire to bestow the blessings of eternal life on all who approach in truth and sincerity, by Christ, the only way to him. Often when thinking of my spiritual welfare, meditating on the goodness of God to me, and reflecting on my past sinful and ungrateful life, I feel lifted up to my heavenly Father, when such soul-cheering passages as the above are presented to my mind while perusing the sacred volume. It is then I have a faint conception-and only, as it were, a distant glimpse of the love which He bears to all mankind, and of the great privileges which he hath bestowed on us; and that, when under mental or physical suffering, we have the kind, loving welcome, "Come unto me." An acceptance of his proffered mercy, a yielding to his Holy Spirit, by believing that God so loved us that he gave his Son Jesus to die for us, is all that is needed on our part in order that we may enjoy the rest of Jesus. How grateful ought we to be that God, in his infinite wisdom and love, hath revealed himself to us in his Word, and that his kind invitation is extended to all. The rich and the poor, the down-trodden and oppressed, the young and the old, the learned and the illiterate, all are invited to come to Jesus. The rays of God's benevolence are still falling on fallen man; and when sinners come to see and know this gladdening truth, it fills their hearts with peace and grateful joy. Oh that this truth were more deeply impressed on our minds, and that the ministers of the Gospel would more readily unfurl the banner of Christ's love in its fulness, and fitness, and freeness, to a perishing world! When this truth is understood and believed, the soul, untrammelled and with confi "I dence, approaches God's holy altar and supplicates his blessing. The Christian, with holy pleasure, pores over the invitation of mercy which has blessed and ennobled his life. The loving welcome of his heavenly Father transports him far above the fleeting and transitory things of earth, and cheers him, as a pilgrim, on the heavenward road. We may have been tossed about with ceaseless troubles, seeking rest and finding none; but Christ wishes us to come to him and find the desired repose. And how can Christ yield this to our souls? Because "he bore our sins in his own body on the tree." He was lifted up like the brazen serpent, that all who look to him might have eternal life. Christ promises deliverance to those who come to him. will give you rest," or peace-" the peace of God." Sin was the only barrier which, so far as God was concerned, was between the sinner and peace with God; but the Lamb has removed the obstacle by his sacrificial death. He has opened up and prepared a way by which man's soul may return to its rest in God. It is, therefore, the duty of man to look to the Cross, to lay down his load of sin at the foot of the Cross, and go on his way rejoicing, expecting at last to enter into the Sabbatic rest which is reserved in heaven for the people of God. The belief of the truth about Jesus will enlighten the soul in the knowledge of Christ, and impart gladness to the heart; and when all our troubles in this earthly scene cease, God will take us home to heaven to enjoy unbroken rest to all eternity. May the reader be influenced and encouraged to come unto Him whose arms are open to receive all who come unto him in sincerity and truth! SPRING-TIME IN THE HEART. POETS, painters, and gossipers have all dealt with spring as a season of beauty only, as a time of renewal and regeneration; forgetting that it is the season also of strife and terror, alternating between sunshine and storm, and, in some climates, the most to be dreaded for its ravages of wind and wave. The vernal equinox is not more strikingly marked here in its bright hues, its bursting of leaf-bud and flower-bud, its softness of sunshine and its gush of song, than it is in other climes by its sweeping hurricanes, its sand-storms and ice-storms, its crash of forests and fall of avalanches; for it is everywhere the season of rapid change, and the summer of fruitage which follows it is but the ripening of the influence which, in its birth, has so many startling features. The spring of the world has its analogies in the spring of time; for in the ages the seasons are repeated, and from the beginning to the end of creation, times, and seasons, and things are counterparts of each other. Geology, astronomy, history; each have their spring-time-their season of buttercups. Far back into the twilight of tradition, spring shows its mask of beauty, and its phase of manycoloured strife. The mountainheights that crown the world were the growths of former springs of forces, as buttercups are now the growths of fair springs of sunshine. Entombed within the rocky ramparts are the ferns and flowers of that old season of renewal, and beside those very plants are the indelible traces of up-heaving forces, writhings, fusings, and contortions, by which the giant masses were blasted and flung about the world played with, as the March hurricane now plays with the stray feather of a bird, or as the ocean, whirling in the equinox, plays with the froth that forms the crest of its waves. Spring in the world and spring in man are only different sides of the same fact. Infancy opens into youth, like the unfolding of a flower. All is promise; the blossom of life breaks upon the ruddy cheek; the freshness of spring-life is there; the laughing lip and the daisy light of boyhood's eye proclaim how lovely is the stormless spring. But the equinox of life comes on, and fierce passions rage; March hurricanes ride upon the breath; March madness usurps the will; the heart becomes a region of storm and tempest; and sometimes the spring folly withers the blossom which should light up manhood's summer. It has its use, this spring of beauty in Nature, this spring of passion in man. As the winds try the branches, and the frost try the buds, sweeping away those that are not worthy to bear fruit, so the passions of man serve as tests of the good that is in him. When they lead not to licentiousness, they impart a virtuous fire, which impels him to noble deeds; and upon the shoulders of impetuous youth, Love is borne in triumph to a home of virtue. Bless thee; bright season of greenness, birth-time of out-door joys, harbinger of plenty, genesis of love; fresh, fragrant, and fertile season of buttercups! Hibberd's "Brambles and Bay Leaves." THE IRISH MILKMAN AND HIS BIBLE. THE Irish are proverbial for wit. The following is a fine illustration of their readiness to meet an opponent, and silence him with his own weapons. An honest milkman, a good Catholic, in the county of Kerry, had obtained a copy of the Bible. He found it a great treasure. His priest learning the fact, made a visit to his parishioner, and, on reaching the milkman's humble cabin, thus addressed him : "Why, my good fellow, I am informed that you are in the habit of reading the Bible. Is my information correct?" แ Sure, it is true, please your riverence; and a fine book it is, too." "But you know," said the priest, "that it is very wrong for an ignorant man like you to read the Scriptures." "Ah!" replied Pat, "but you must be after provin' that same before I consent to lave off." "That I will do from the Book itself. Now turn to 1 Peter ii. 2— 'As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.' Now, you are only a babe, and are therefore wrong to read the Scriptures yourself. You are here told to desire the sincere milk of the Word, and one who understands what the sincere milk is, must give it to you and tend you." Pat listened attentively to the priest's authoritative address, but, no way at a loss, replied:-" But be aisy, your riverence, while I tell you. A little time ago, when I was took ill, I got a man to milk my cows, and what do you think he did? Why, instead of givin' me the rale milk, he chated me by putting wather into it; and, if you get my Bible, perhaps you might be after servin' me that same. No, no; I'll kape my cow, and milk her myself, and then I shall get the sincere milk, and not, as I might from you, mixed with wather." The priest, thus finding himself defeated, and desirous that the mischief should spread no further, said, in a conciliatory tone-" Well, Pat, I see that you are a little wiser than I thought you; and, as you are not quite a babe, you may keep your Bible, but don't lend it or read it to your neighbours." Pat, eyeing his admonitor very cunningly and seriously, replied:"Sure enough, your riverence, while I have a cow, and can give a little milk to my poor neighbours who have none, it is my duty to do so as a Christian, and, savin' your riverence, I will." The priest, concluding that the honest milkman was rather a tough customer, gave up the argument, and walked off abashed.-Christian Guardian. heaven; THERE IS ROOM. WHAT a glorious declaration is this in regard to the Gospel! There yet is room. Millions have been invited, and have come, and have gone to but heaven is not yet full. There is a banquet there which no number can exhaust; there are fountains which no number can drink dry; there are harps there which other hands can strike; and there are seats there which others may occupy. Heaven is not full, and there yet is room. The Sabbathschool teacher may say to his class, "There yet is room;" the parent may say to his children, "There yet is room;' the minister of the Gospel may go and say to the wide world, "There yet is room." The mercy of God is not exhausted; the blood of the atonement has not lost its efficacy; heaven is not full. What a sad message it would be if we were compelled to go and say, "There is no more room. Heaven is full. No other can be saved. No matter what the prayers, or tears, or sighs-they cannot be saved. Every place is filled; every seat is occupied!" But, thanks be to God, this is not the message we are to bear; and if there yet is room, come sinners, young and old, and enter into heaven. Fill up that room, that heaven may be full of the happy and the blessed, for " yet there is room."-Barnes. ONLY A WORD. THAT is all. What of good or evil can there be in a word? Much, indeed! "We should walk through life," says one, 'as through the Swiss mountains, where a hasty word may bring down an avalanche." How significant the figure! It is full of meaning. The best of all books-the Bible-says, "Be slow to speak." And Solomon has said, "A word spoken in due season, how good is it!" "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." It is impossible to estimate the amount of good that an upright person may do through his life by the use of words: the sorrow that may be alleviated; the suffering that may be removed; the light that may be infused into dark minds-ay, and the spiritual life those dead in trespasses and in sins may obtain. But words uttered by an evil tongue what mischief they do! A tongue of this kind, says James, is "a fire, a world of iniquity. It defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the whole course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." The Saviour himself has said, as recorded by Matthew, "That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment." What a world of good or evil there may be in a WORD! R. Connexional Department. CONNEXIONAL PROGRESS. OUR CHINESE MISSION.-We have just received a most interesting letter from our beloved friend, the Rev. John Innocent, of China; from which it appears that Divine Providence is wonderfully opening the way for usefulness among the millions in that great nation; and not only among the millions of China Proper, but among the wandering natives of Mongolia, beyond the Great Wall of China. Mr. Innocent has been amongst them, and found the people there, as well as everywhere else, eager for the Holy Scriptures, and eager, too, to hear the words of salvation. If our friends will but liberally supply the means (and we have means for every enterprise if rightly used), there is a glorious future for our Chinese mission. In the meantime, let us honour God by a prayerful and humble dependence on his blessing for success. There alone, indeed, we have wisdom and strength. On December 27th, 1861, Mr. Innocent thus writes, completing a letter which he had begun on the 28th of the preceding month: "Dec. 27th-Owing to an interference with the regular conveyance of the mail from Tien-tsin, I have not finished this letter before to-day. Since writing the above, I have had a most interesting journey to the "Great Wall" of China, for the purpose of distributing the sacred Scriptures, and explaining the way of salvation to the heathen Chinese. We passed several cities and numerous towns on the way, and met with great civility from the people. In parts where we were novelties, we had, of course, large crowds about us. In every place we had only to declare our mission, or produce our books, to secure a crowd. "The most peculiar feature of this journey is the discovery we have made of the facilities this route opens We up for circulating the Word of God among the natives of Mongolia. We met with large numbers of this nomadic race, some in the service of the Chinese government, and others travelling from place to place in their tents. They were nearly all unable to speak Chinese, though we found one or two with whom we could converse. Their speech has a strong guttural accent, and their appearance in the cold weather is somewhat wild and ferocious, as they dress chiefly in skins and furs. found one or two lamas in each tent, some dressed in yellow, and some in red robes. They travel on camels, and some seem to be employed to carry goods on the backs of these animals. The route we took was the imperial road from Pekin to Jehol, and is the finest mountain road I have seen anywhere. That part of the wall we visited is called Ku-pei-kow, or the ancient northern pass. It is in the midst of wild, majestic mountains, and the WALL is built from the river-bed up to the most precipitous heights, and runs from summit to summit even of the highest mountains in the chain. In many places it is much decayed, but in other parts quite good and strong, and seems capable of enduring another two thousand years. It is certainly a stupendous work, and a wonderful sight. But what pleased me most was to meet, on the wall itself, a young Chinese who could repeat the Lord's Prayer' and the Apostles' Creed' in his own tongue, and showed a tolerable acquaintance with Christian doctrine. We asked him in whom he trusted for salvation, and he said 'Jesus Christ.' Though a Roman Catholic, and the son of Catholic parents, I rejoiced to find there a man who knew and trusted in Jesus. There is no Christian teacher in that place, and no priest, and the young man asked us if we would not remain and teach them our holy doctrines. "We intend to obtain the copies of Mongolian Scriptures which are at Shanghai, and have written to the Bible Society to send out more, as we can reach the Mongolian people in four days' journey, and send amongst them the Word of Life. "I must conclude to catch the mail. Mrs. I. and Mr. Hall unite with me in Christian love to Mrs. C., yourself, and family.-Yours affectionately, "J. INNOCENT. THE HOME WORK. - We hear good accounts from various circuits. Souls are being saved, and the good work is extending; and we trust the returns of the ensuing Conference will show a considerable increase. A gratifying liberality, too, is manifested in supporting the cause, in removing local burdens, and in extending the work of God by means of new chapels and schools. Halifax North, by a noble effort, one worthy of everlasting remembrance, the debt of £1,300 is totally extinguished. At Macclesfield, a new chapel has been built to accommodate the overflowing At masses which could no longer find room in the large chapel of Park-street; at Mirfield, a new school has been erected; in the St. Ives circuit, the accommodation has had to be increased; and when to these are added the chapel building recently effected, or now going on, in the Leeds, Bradford, Hanley, Burslem, Durham, Oldham, Leicester, Sheffield, and other circuits, we have reason to rejoice. We refer our readers to the reports in the present number. have had notice to receive their money; when that notice expires, our beautiful house of prayer will be free. In connection with the above object we held a tea-party on Shrove Tuesday, in the large school-room, when nearly four hundred sat down. The trays were gratuitously furnished and presided over by the following ladies:-Mrs. Reynolds, Mrs. Watson, Mrs. Ramsden, Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Pickles, Mrs. Hanson, Mrs. Scowby, Mrs. G. Brierley, Mrs. Schofield, Mrs. Longbottom, Mrs. T. Spencer, Mrs. D. Spencer, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Fell, Mrs. Anderton, Mrs. Milner, Mrs. Town, Mrs. W. Greenwood, and Mrs. J. Hill. Mr. Alderman Dennis presided over the meeting, and, after some appropriate remarks, called upon Mr. J. W. Longbottom to read the report. The meeting was afterwards addressed by the following speakers, in the order in which they occur:-The Rev. S. Meldrum, C. Watson, Esq., the Rev. Law Stoney, J. H. Brierley, Esq., the Rev. W. Reynolds, Mr. W. Coombs, and Mr. Ezra Seed. The report, prepared and read by Mr. Longbottom, is a document of an extremely interesting character. It embraces so much of the history of Salem from its commencement to the present time, that we present it entire. We feel assured that it will be read with pleasure by many of our ministers and friends in different parts of our beloved Connexion. Yours respectfully, WM. REYNOLDS. "REPORT. "The committee appointed to consider and take measures for the entire removal of the debt on Salem chapel, schools, and premises, have the greatest pleasure in presenting to this assembly a report of their labours; and every friend of the movement will join them in devout thanksgiving to God for the signal success with which their efforts have been crowned. "It was in the year 1797 that the first plot of land was conveyed to six of our worthy fathers-viz.,,William Bolland, Noah Carter, James Tattersall, James Akroyd, John Hodgson, and Josiah Pickles-and upon which was soon afterwards erected Salem Chapel, the first New Connexion place of worship in this district. The land was purchased for £156, but it can scarcely |