be put out of the synagogue. parents, He is of age, ask him.

Therefore said his

Then again called they the man that was blind, and said, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that whereas I was blind now I see. Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? Will ye also be his disciples? Then they reviled him and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses: As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said Who is he Lord? that I might believe on him! and Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world: that they which see not, might see; and that they which see, might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; Therefore your sin remaineth.

EXTRACT FROM THE TASK-BOOK V.

COWPER.

Acquaint thyself with God, if thou would'st taste His works. Admitted once to his embrace

Thou shalt perceive that thou wast blind before:
Thine eye shall be instructed, and thine heart
Made pure shall relish with divine delight
Till then unfelt, what hands divine have wrought.
Brutes graze the mountain top, with faces prone,
And eyes intent upon the scanty herb

It yields them; or recumbent on its brow
Ruminate heedless of the scene outspread
Beneath, beyond, and stretching far away
From inland regions to the distant main.
Man views it, and admires; but rests content
With what he views. The landscape has his praise,
But not its author. Unconcerned who formed
The paradise he sees, he finds it such,

And such well pleased to find it, asks no more.

Not so the mind that has been touched from Heaven, And in the school of sacred wisdom taught

To read his wonders, in whose thought the world, Fair as it is, existed ere it was.

Not for its own sake merely, but for his

Much more, who fashioned it, he gives it praise;
Praise that from earth resulting as it ought

To earth's acknowledged sovereign, finds at once
Its only just proprietor in Him.

The soul that sees him, or receives sublimed
New faculties, or learns at least to employ
More worthily the powers she owned before,
Discerns in all things what with stupid gaze
Of ignorance, till then she overlooked,
A ray of heavenly light, gilding all forms
Terrestrial in the vast and the minute;
The unambiguous footsteps of the God
Who gives its lustre to an insect's wing,
And wheels his throne upon the rolling worlds.
Much conversant with heaven, she often holds
With those fair ministers of light to man,
That fill the skies nightly with silent pomp,

Sweet conference. Inquires what strains were they
With which heaven rang, when every star in haste
To gratulate the new created earth,

Sent forth a voice, and all the sons of God
Shouted for joy. "Tell me ye shining hosts,
"That navigate a sea that knows no storms,
"Beneath a vault unsullied with a cloud,
"If from your elevation, whence ye view
"Distinctly scenes invisible to man,

"And systems, of whose birth no tidings yet
"Have reached this nether world, ye spy a race
"Favoured as ours; transgressors from the womb,
"And hasting to a grave, yet doomed to rise,
"And to possess a brighter heaven than yours?
"As one who long detained on foreign shores,
"Pants to return, and when he sees afari
"His country's weather-bleached and battered rocks,
"From the green wave emerging, darts an eye
"Radiant with joy towards the happy land;
"So I with animated hopes behold,

"And many an aching wish, your beamy fires, "That show like beacons in the blue abyss, "Ordained to guide the embodied spirit home "From toilsome life to never ending rest. "Love kindles as I gaze. I feel desires, "That give assurance of their own success, "And that, infused from heaven, must thither tend. So reads he nature, whom the lamp of truth Illuminates. Thy lamp mysterious word! Which whoso sees no longer wanders lost With intellects bemazed in endless doubt, But runs the road to wisdom. Thou hast built With means, that were not till by thee employed, Worlds that had never been hadst thou in strength Been less, or less benevolent than strong. They are thy witnesses, who speak thy power And goodness infinite, but speak in ears, That hear not, or receive not their report.. In vain thy creatures testify of thee, Till thou proclaim thyself. Theirs is indeed A teaching voice; but tis the praise of thine

That whom it teaches it makes prompt to learn,
And with the boon gives talents for its use.
Till thou art heard, imaginations vain
Possess the heart; and fables false as hell,
Yet deemed oracular, lure down to death,
The uninformed and heedless souls of men,
We give to chance, blind chance, ourselves as blind,
The glory of thy work; which yet appears
Perfect and unimpeachable of blame,
Challenging human scrutiny, and proved
Then skilful most when most severely judged.
But chance is not; or is not where thou reignest:
Thy providence forbids that fickle power
(If power she be that works but to confound)
To mix her wild vagaries with thy laws.
Yet thus we dote, refusing while we can
Instruction, and inventing to ourselves

Gods such as guilt makes welcome; Gods that sleep
Or disregard our follies, or that sit
Amused spectators of this bustling stage.

Thee we reject, unable to abide

Thy purity, till pure as thou art pure,

Made such by thee, we love thee for that cause,
For which we shunned and hated thee before.
Then are we free. Then liberty, like day,
Breaks on the soul, and by a flash from heaven
Fires all the faculties with glorious joy.

A voice is heard, that mortal ears hear not
Till thou hast touched them; tis the voice of song,
A loud hosanna sent from all thy works;
Which he that hears it with a shout repeats,
And adds his rapture to the general praise.
In that blest moment nature throwing wide
Her veil opaque, discloses with a smile
The author of her beauties, who retired
Behind his own creation, works unseen
By the impure, and hears his power denied.
Thou art the source and centre of all minds,
Their only point of rest, eternal Word!
From thee departing they are lost, and rove
At random without honour, hope or peace.

From thee is all that sooths the life of man,
His high endeavour, and his glad success,
His strength to suffer, and his will to serve.
But oh thou bounteous giver of all good,
Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown!
Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor;
And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.

REVELATIONS.
CHPTER V.

And they sung a new song, saying. Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.

And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

A STATE OF PROBATION CONSIDERED, With reference to Divine Goodness.

PALEY.

Of all views under which human life has been considered, the most reasonable, in my judgment, is that which regards it as a state of probation.-It is not a state of unmixed happiness simply: it is not a state of designed misery, or of misery simply: it is not a state of retribution: it is not a state of punish