he sweetly inclines him to a right course of conduct. "The way of man is not in himself"-the act is man's. "A man's heart deviseth his way; but the Lord directeth his steps." Providence is over events.—All events are under Divine superintendence. Strictly speaking, nothing happens accidentally or fortuitously. Chance is an ambiguous word. What we deem in 66 our ignorance to be chances are purposes with God; events are the developments of his will. Nothing walks with aimless feet." The famine that happened in Egypt was decided in the counsels of heaven, long before it became an established fact. Joseph, speaking of it to Pharaoh, said, "The thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass." The princess of Egypt did not discover the babe in its ark of bulrushes, on the banks of the Nile, by accident, but Providence directed her to the spot, that Moses might be preserved. Philip did not casually meet with the treasurer of Queen Candace, on the road to Gaza, but the angel of the Lord bid him wend his steps thither, that the Ethiopian might obtain from his lips a knowledge of Christianity, and through him be proclaimed to his countrymen. The plagues with which ancient Egypt was visited were sent by Providence, that the Egyptians might know that God is the Lord. The destruction of the guilty cities of the plain; the fall of Babylon; the overthrow of Nineveh; the ruin of Tyre, and the sacking of Jerusalem and the burning of its temple, were ordered by Providence. All things are of God. He is the director of all events. Men too frequently, in trying to account for effects produced in the natural world, trace them to secondary causes. Are the seasons dry or wet, hot or cold, healthy or sickly, the astronomer and meteorologist fancy they all arise from physical causes, and that Providence has nothing to do with such effects. The potato disease and the cattle plague cannot be satisfactorily accounted for by the state of the atmosphere; the desolations of the storm on sea and land arise from a higher cause than the raging winds; deficient crops come from a power higher than blight and mildew. "The Lord reigneth." "This truth, Philosophy, though eagle-eyed In Nature's tendencies, oft overlooks; "He Material agencies are but secondary causes, God is the first cause. "Fire, hail, snow, vapour, and stormy wind, fulfil his word.” maketh winds his messengers, and flames of fire his ministers." Let us not forget the agent in the instrument. The most apparently trifling events, as well as the most significant, are from God. To deny the former we must of necessity deny the latter. The germination of a seed, the fall of a sparrow from the housetop, the death of an insect, the birth of an empire, the enthronement of princes, the revolutions of kingdoms, the abdication of monarchs, the vessels wrecked among the rocks, the waterspout that destroys the growing crops, the earthquake that swallows up cities, the plague that carries off our cattle, the cholera committing its merciless ravages, and the desolating famine, are all under Divine guidance and control. "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" Divine Providence is mysterious in its character.-The works of God in Nature are very mysterious. They contain problems which human sagacity cannot solve. How mysterious that a little seed deposited in prepared soil should, in due season, shoot into a graceful plant, and blossom in beauty surpassing the glory of Solomon! How mysterious the history of a common insect, from the egg to the caterpillar, and from the caterpillar to the chrysalis, and from the chrysalis to the gay butterfly that basks in the sunshine! How mysterious the fall of an apple from the parent tree! Why did it move towards the earth, and not in an opposite direction! What mystery is involved in this single fact! The geologist has acquired considerable knowledge of the structure of the globe, and the formation of its varied strata ; but take up a pebble from the street, ask him to tell you its composition, to explain the nature of that something called cohesive attraction, by which its particles are held together and made to assume its present form, and he will tell you that he cannot fully explain. Go to the botanist, and listen to what he has to say concerning herbs and their medicinal properties; and then gather a wildflower from the roadside, and ask him to explain the processes of its life, how it appropriates its food and assimilates the food to its own nature, and he will confess his inability to do so. Go to the physiologist, and when he has fully described the mechanism of the human frame, its several parts, its bones, muscles, tendons, brain, nerves, circulation of the blood, respiration, seeing, touch, taste, and smell, ask him how the blood flows to the brain and from thence to the extremities, and how the body is supported by fluids and solids which by the stomach are converted into blood, to supply the waste constantly going on from insensible perspiration and animal energy expended in the discharge of daily duty; he will tell you he does not fully understand. Go to the psychologist, and when he has explained the constitution of the human mind, and the uses of its several faculties, ask him to explain how mind and matter are united, and how the body is the obedient servant of a well-balanced mind? He cannot tell. Creation teems with mysteries. As in Nature so in Providence, there are dark enigmas we cannot solve. Providence to us is a volume of sealed mysteries. It is, however, plain to its great Author; he sees the end from the beginning. When Ezekiel saw the vision of wheels, he saw the throne and a light about the throne. From the summit of yon high cliff look down on the ocean rolling its waves beneath. In all ages it has borne upon its bosom the wealth of nations, and transported myriad fleets to the havens for which they were bound. It still rolls on and is never still. Like the proud hosts of a victorious army, its waves march onward in tidal flow, and opposed by impassable barriers. on the one hand, they retreat as though they were resolved to conquer on the other. Like the sea, Providence is ever moving, both when we sleep and when we awake. The farmer sleeps while his crops are growing; the florist sleeps while his plants are advancing towards perfection; the passenger sleeps while steam and tide bear him onward in the direction of his destination, but Providence is ever wakeful. There is mystery connected with nations-their birth and growth, their prosperity and power, and their corruption, decline, and fall. There is mystery in individual history. Mystery is seen in the history of Joseph and Jacob, and Moses and Job, mystery profound and inscrutable. There is much mystery in the operations of Providence around us. Fond parents grieve over lost children who at the period most hopeful are smitten down like beautiful flowers by a nipping frost. Helpless orphans mourn over departed parents, and desolate friends lament the sudden loss of those dear to them by a thousand imperishable memories. The young and healthy die, while the aged and infirm linger out years in sorrow. Adversity is apportioned to the good, while the wicked frequently flourish in material prosperity; we well nigh stumble at these things. We look heavenward, and pour out our complaints to God apparently in vain. 66 Verily he is a God that hideth himself." The sacred writers frequently speak of providential dispensations enveloped in impenetrable mysteries. Zophar said to Job, "Canst thou, by searching, find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." Job also remarks, "These are parts of his ways but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?" The Psalmist, too, says, "Clouds and darkness are round about him, while righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne." And Paul exclaims, "O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, his ways past finding out." The future will be a commentary on the past. The mysteries of Providence shall hereafter be fully cleared up. the present they are beyond our reach, as stars unseen by telescopic vision, or pearls that lie concealed beneath the ooze of ocean. Let us derive consolation from the words our Lord addressed to Peter, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." For Divine Providence is harmonious in its operations.-The universe is in action. The sun shines in the firmament; the earth is moving in her vast orbit; the everlasting mountains stand firm; the seas dance to the music of celestial influences; and the seasons roll on in their uninterrupted course. In the spiritual world all is action. "My Father worketh hitherto," said Jesus, "and I work." The Holy Spirit is at work, enlightening dark minds, subduing stubborn wills, and renewing human hearts. Bad and good spirits are active; the bad seek our ruin, and the good minister to our salvation. All things work for good. A storm at sea is often associated with shipwreck and loss of life and property, but the sea-storm is God's filter by means of which he preserves the sea from becoming a mass of putrefaction, from whence would issue noxious vapours which would destroy everything that lives. A land-storm, though in some instances productive of disaster, yet is useful. The red lightning, as it gleams across the heavens, purifies the air; and the booming thunder loosens the mould about the roots of trees and plants, and thus prepares the way for them to receive sustentation from the falling rain and darting sunbeams. The earthquake, though so olating in its effects, is for good. It gives vent to volcanic matter, and scope to the causes by which it is produced. War, and pestilence, and famine, are overruled for good; for while they chastise men for their sins, they oft cause the wicked to tremble, and the inhabitants of the earth to learn righteousness. All things work for good in the moral world. God evolves good out of evil. Sin is a curse which he has converted into an occasion for the display of richest mercy. In the atonement made for sin, justice is seen in awful sternness, holiness in unblemished purity, truth in unyielding rectitude, and mercy gentle and unsullied, rescuing the sinner as a brand from the eternal burning, giving him sweet access to God because he is freely pardoned, and justified from all condemnation. "Where sin abounded grace did much more abound." Who are they that stand before the sapphire throne, hymning in sweetest music the praises of our dear Immanuel? They are spirits redeemed from earth, having "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb;" they are ever advancing in super-eminent glory, and are happy examples of the truth that, "as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, even so by the obedience of one many are made righteous." All things work for good in the events which happen in the providential world. Look at the varied occurrences in the life of Joseph, beginning with the coat of many colours, to his being placed on the throne of Egypt, and you will see that every event was a link in the chain of causes by which his well-being and the Divine glory were secured. The adversities of Job were intimately associated with his subsequent prosperity. His latter days were greater than his beginning. All things work in co-operation for our good-the adverse as well as the prosperous-things visible and invisible, past, present, and future, all are for good. They do not work singly but collectively. As in medicine there is usually an admixture of ingredients which if taken singly might prove fatal to life, but which mixed together are the means of restoring health, even so in Divine Providence, varied events viewed severally seem directly opposed to our best interests, but regarded unitedly they work out our real good. Providence not only works with efficacy but harmoniously. It is as a musical instrument in the hand of God, to his touch it breathes a marvellously grand anthem of benevolent purpose. There is no privation, there is no sorrow, there is no disappointment, and there is no affliction which does not contribute to our good and the Divine glory. "Nothing befalls us fortuitously; nothing happens in vain or without a meaning, but every event possesses its proper and destined place, and forms a link in that great chain of causes which is appointed to carry on our improvement and felicity. As all the rivers upon the face of the globe, however circuitous they may be in their progress, and however opposite in their course, yet meet at last in the ocean, and there contribute to increase the mass of waters; so all the seemingly discordant events in the life of a good man are made to preserve, upon the whole, an unerring tendency to our good, and to concur and conspire for promoting it at the last." Providence is not as an avalanche, crushing all before it, but as a river rippling at first, like a rill down the sides of a mountain, D followed by minor streams, till it rolls into the broad ocean of eternal bliss. "Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break Miscellaneous Articles, Anecdotes, &c. A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF PASSING EVENTS. ERE the next number of the Magazine is perused by many of its readers, the present year will have closed upon us, and a new one have commenced. Although the year 1865 has not been as eventful in its character as some of its predecessors, it will furnish no inconsiderable amount of material for the pen of the historian to dilate upon. To review the public events of the year is not our purpose; we have glanced at them from month to month as they have transpired. The beginning of a new year suggests solemn reflections upon the past. It is a time for heartsearching, for rigid self-scrutiny-for serious and earnest reflection on our own augmented obligations for the blessings, temporal and spiritual, of which we have been the recipients during the past year-and for renewed consecration to God and his service. May we have grace to improve the period aright, to begin the new year well, and to spend it, should our lives be prolonged, more holily, more devotedly, and more usefully by far, than we have any previous year. Several changes have been made in the Cabinet since the death of Lord Palmerston, and the acceptance of the Premiership by Earl Russell. Lord Clarendon has been transferred to the Foreign Office, the post previously held by Earl Russell; Sir Robert Peel has resigned the office of Secretary for Ireland, and has been succeeded by Mr. Chichester Fortescue, some time Under-Secretary for the Colonies; Mr. Forster, one of the members for the important borough of Bradford, has been of fered, and has accepted, the office vacated by the removal of Mr. Fortescue to Ireland; and Mr. Göschen, the popular representative of the City of London, has been taken into the Government as Vice-President of the Board of Trade, in the place of Mr. Hutt, who, it is said, has been offered a baronetcy on going out, but declined its acceptance. These changes appear to have given general satisfaction, and it is not improbable that others may yet take place. The expectation seems to be pretty general, that a comprehensive measure of Parliamentary Reform will be submitted to the new Parliament by the Russell Government. Mr. Forster, in a large meeting recently held at Bradford, expressed a confident opinion-and his present position gives some weight to his statements-not only that the Government would introduce a Bill that would be satisfactory to the country; but that they would be prepared to stand or fall by it. It is to be hoped, therefore, that there is now some prospect of the settlement of this question. Our hopes must not, however, be too sanguine, lest disappointment should be experienced. Earl Russell expressed himself very guardedly to the Bradford deputation; so much so, that the most opposite interpretations have been put on what he said. Probably, much will depend on the manner in which the country takes up the subject. A very great sensation has been produced by the events which have occurred in the island of Jamaica. Those events are of the most grave and startling character. In the month of October an outbreak took place among the coloured population at Morant Bay, in the parish of St. |