He [the editor of The United Presbyterian] thinks that the special need of the Church at the present time is expressed in words which he quotes from Dr. William Speer: "It is the prayer that shall bring again the rushing, mighty wind, so the it shall fill not this or that house, but the nation, the world; that shall scatter forth thousands of evangelists, and teachers, and helpers." Undoubtedly the Church does need prayer, and it needs the movement of spiritual forces similar to those that operated on the Day of Pentecost. But what the Church needs more than anything else at the present time is an appreciation of the immutable and universal character of spiritual law. People take the laws of nature seriously, but they think that the laws which pertain to the soul are of little account, if, indeed, they are really laws at all. We need to realize practically that the spiritual laws of life cannot be affected in any way by our obedience or disobedience, by our respect or disrespect for them: but that we are blessed or condemned by our attitude to those laws. If the members of our modern Churches really felt that they were not simply playing at Church, the Church would not be a social resort, it would not be one among the many respectabilities of life, but would become the exponent of principles of living which men could take home seriously to themselves, and go to work and practise in their daily lives in precisely the same way as they put into practice business or agricultural truths.

New-Church Messenger.

The crisis of the Church is upon us. From one point of view the Church is in a position of tremendous power. Its membership is counted by millions; it numbers among them the illustrious and the great. It is equipped with institutions for every work; schools of every grade, almost beyound number, and agencies for the transmission of knowledge. It is in close touch with the whole world. Men are hastening with the speed of the wind, and words are flashing to the ends of the earth in the lightning's path. In the hands of the Church is wealth untold to command all. And yet the world is driving on in a mad career of worldliness. The Church, the witness of Jesus, is speaking with a voice too weak to be heard outside its walls. The great agency of God for His kingdom is exhibiting but little power as against the kingdom of Satan. We believe in the kingdom of God, and are sure of its ultimate extension to all the world, but at the present time the power promised is not upon the Church at large.

The United Presbyterian.

The Rev. Frederick B. Mott, in an article in The Christian Register on "Religion in England," says:—

"In my socialist friend's view a great body of earnest citizens, severed from the National Church on account of its formalism. and equally from the dissenting denominations on account of their bigoted sectarianism. have intellectually become agnostic, while expending their energy neither in emotion nor theological discussion, but in practical work. ...

"Formalism, divorced from living truth, drugs a nation into deadly slumber. Cold facts alone freeze the soul in icy isolation, sap heroism and the daring insticts of the heart yearning for an inspiration beyond thought more profound than reason, while practice inevitably. even though insensibly. ceases when the arteries are severed which feed it with messages from the eternal. Our only promise for the future must therefore lie in some great reuniting, unifying movement by which the living power of Christian faith may be restored to the fulness of its proper heritage."

The Rev. Cunningham Geikie, D.D., says in The Examiner: "The true Church is not that of robes and ritual and fashion, but an invisible union of the true worshipers, who are God's in spirit and in truth, whatever name they may bear among men. Summed up by Christ himself in the one word. Love, his blessed faith is as open a door to the slave as to the emperor; for the meanest can love as meekly and obey as sincerly as the highest. The shining round of the sun mirrors itself in the wayside pool as well as on the bosom of the ocean. Its image shines back from both with impartial perfectness. if there be an equal to receive it, but that is found more often on the lowly mountain tarn, or the lakelet of the woods, than on the broad breast of the ocean. Yes, and it shines back as if from depths as far down as the heavens are high, from the lonely spring in the desert, and as gloriously, as from the proudest waters. All can love, and holy love is the image of God."

The full text is before us of the apostolic letter of Pope Leo XIII. appointing a commission to promote the study of the Scriptures. It is to consist of several cardinals of the Roman Church, with a number of distinguished Biblical scholars of different nationalities. They are to study modern researches in Eastern lands, philology and ancient Oriental languages, and re-examine the manuscripts of the Scriptures. The papal sanction is given to the use of the aid furnished by heterodox Biblical critiecs and the cultivation of the art of criticism, though with a caution. It is expected that the result of the investigation will be given in an apostolic statement declaring "what is to be inviolably for further investigation, and what is to be left to the judgment of private individuals."

The Congregationalist and Christian World.

"Bring forth fruit with patience." Let others think religion, or theorize on religion, or talk about religion, be it yours to live religion. It is not creeds, or party, or church-manship that will save you. All the dogmatic theology of Christendom will not save you. A day, orthodox creed, or confession of faith, could as little insure the salvation of the soul, as a rule in algebra or a problem in mathematics. Bring forth fruit. Be noble. Love God. Open the drooping leaves of your renewed natures to the gladsome sunlight. In one word—"do those things that are pleasing in His sight." This is the want, the crying demand of our age—a living Christianity, epistles of Christ that may be "known and read of all men."—Macduff.

It is time now to ask the question,—and elect souls everywhere are asking it.—not. Is this according to the creed? but. Is the creed true, and are facts, accurately reported, the bases of the creed: or are the supposed facts deliverances of the human imagination, or events not rightly understood or set down in order as they happen? If this world floats in a universe in which justice is done and right things will be established. we need fear no investigation: but if it is a bad world and a universe of chance, we may do well to shut our eyes to the truth and make such terms as we can with the powers that be.

The Christian Register.

The Bible is the intelligible revelation of an intelligent and loving God to His intelligent, reverent, and obedient children. It is intended to be understood, appreciated, taken into the mind and heart, and incorporated in the life. The Bible is not an amulet, to preserve us from injury like the charms of the sorcerer, though some people seem so to regard it. The Bible is not a rosary to be read and repeated as though the mere recitation of the verses, like the telling of the Buddhist's beads, with no more intelligence than a parrot's will bring us merit and ward off spiritual and bodily danger.

The Examiner.

"Grapho," a correspondent of the Adrance, says wittily: "The man who is trying to reconcile religion and science has been with us a good while. He has a job which lasts. It is good for all kinds of weather and for a lifetime. There is no deadline of fifty in if." The point made is that true science and true religion can never be at a variance. Both are from the same author and there is no need for reconciliation.

The Universalist Leader.

There is just one ground of hope for the world—the reign of Christ in the hearts of men. No superficial Christianization can effect the needed cure. The present state of society in Christendom shows that nominal Christianity is not enough to remedy the evils that afflict the world. Christ regnant in the heart, his spirit controlling the life-this is the sole remedy for the ills of humanity.—The Examiner.

To perfect in you the image of God is the work of a life, the great work, It can be accomplished only by a life. Not by a few brief resolutions in your better moments. though they have their use, but by the plain path of daily duty is this won; by faithful work and pure thought, pure and holy love, the heart of goodness and soul of faith.
Theodore Parker.

Not in careless pleasure, but in watchful love and trust of God your Father, in faithful, fervent desire to be His child, is the secret of life's victory and of the overcoming of death by life.—Stopford A. Brooke.

Seasons of calm meditation and of heartfelt devotion appear to be needful conditions, if we would richly attain that wisdom of which we read: "Whoso findeth me findeth life."—Charles B. Upton.