CHRIST THE PURIFIER.

THE following account, I know not on what authority, is abroad in the religious world:-Some females in Dublin who met together from time to time, at each other's houses, to read the Scriptures, and to make them the subject of profitable conversation, when they came to the third chapter of the prophecy of Malachi, had some discussion over the second and third verses, respecting the method of purifying the precious metals. As none of the company knew any thing about the process, one undertook to inquire of a silversmith with whom she was acquainted, how it was effected, and particularly, what was the business of the refiner himself during the operation. Without explaining her motive, she accordingly went to her friend, and asked him how the silver was cleared from any dross with

which it might have been mixed. He promptly explained to her the manner of doing this.

"But," said the inquirer, "do you sit at the work?" "Oh, yes," he replied; "for I must keep my eye steadily fixed on the furnace; since, if the silver remain too long under the intense heat, it is sure to be damaged."

She at once saw the beauty and propriety of the image employed-"He shall sit as a refiner of silver," and the moral of the illustration was equally obvious. As the lady was returning with the information to her companions, the silversmith called her back, and said that he had forgotten to mention one thing of importance, which was, that he only knew the precise moment when the purifying process was complete, by then seeing his own countenance in it. Again the spiritual meaning shone forth through the beautiful veil of the letter. "When God sees his own image in his people, the work of sanctification is complete." It may be added, that the metal continues in a state of agitation, till all the impurities are thrown off, and then it becomes quite still; a circumstance which heightens the exquisite analogy in this case.

CHRIST'S IMAGE REFLECTED.

"He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

'Tis sweet to know, that He who tries

The silver, takes His seat

Beside the fire that purifies,

Lest too intense a heat

(Raised to consume the base alloy,)
The precious metal too destroy.

"Tis good to think, that well he knows
The silver's power to bear
The ordeal through which it goes,

And that, with skill and care,
He'll take it from the fire, when fit

For His own hand to polish it.

"Tis blessedness to feel that He

The piece he has begun

Will not forsake, till he can see
(To prove the work is done,)
An image, by its brightness shown,
The perfect likeness of His own.

But ah! how much of earthly mould,

Dark relics of the mine,

Purged from the ore, he must behold

How long he must refine

Ere in the silver He can trace

The first faint semblance to his face.

Thou great Refiner, sit thou by,

Thy promise to fulfil

Moved by thy hand, beneath thy eye,

And melted at thy will,

Oh, may thy work for ever shine,

Reflecting beauty pure as thine.

H. F. GOULD.

13

THE ANOINTED.

"And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are these all thy children?"

THERE yet remains my youngest born;

Far from the tent and from my older sons

He sits apart, tending the sheep,

A gentle youth, who shuns the warrior's toils,

Who seeks the cool shade and the murmuring stream;
There beneath the willow boughs reclined,

. He tunes his lay. The melody of song,'
The timbrel, and the psalter, and the harp,
Are his delight. These are his weapons.
With these he woos angels to meet him.

I have watched him oft beneath a shadowing rock
Upon the greensward lying; around him vines
Brought curiously to twine their flexile arms

With the strong cedar and the lofty fir:
While below, the rich fruit hung pendant
Within reach. His labour this. Here