such means be arrested almost at life's beginning, and led back to the fold from which they were about to stray.

Perhaps in many cases Young Men's Societies might also do more in this work than they generally do. If they cannot support a missionary from their funds, might not some of them practically become missionaries themselves? We are aware that in some cases, such as Canning-street, Liverpool, the Young Men's Society do much for the neglected poor around them, supplying both funds and workers for an interesting missionary effort among the poor; but we fear that in few cases can it be said that all has been done that might have been done, for the class of young men to which we have alluded.

In 1852, a Young Men's Christian Association was formed in New York; and the following rule, which appears in its "Constitution" is, we think, worthy the attention of the members of similar Societies in this country, especially those connected with congregations belonging to our own Church. To the consideration of such we particularly recommend

it :

"DUTIES OF MEMBERS TO STRANGERS.-The members of the Association shall seek out young men taking up their residence in New York and its vicinity, and endeavour to bring them under moral and religious influences, by aiding them in the selection of suitable boarding places and employment, by introducing them to the members and privileges of this Association, securing their attendance at some place of worship on the Sabbath, and by every means in their power surrounding them with Christian associates."

THE TWO OFFICERS.

WHEN in his master-piece, the "City of God," the great Augustine of Hippo was occupied with developing the characteristics of the natural and the spiritual man, he could find no fairer specimen of the former than in the old military character of Rome. That hardy, self-denied, muchenduring character of Rome's soldiers and statesmen-the men who swayed the senate and the forum, the men who conquered from age to age in the field; that old race, insensible to wine, disdainful of gold, though, on spiritual principles, grievously faulty, yet, compared with other forms of the natural man, could not fail to elicit admiration. Before their indomitable perseverance, before their untiring energy, all other powers had gone down. Though the Tuscan had besieged their walls; though the Gaul had entered their gates; though the Sananite had once dictated a disgraceful peace; though the great Punic Chief, after fighting his way from the Alps to the Tiber, lay long encamped within view of the "Seven-hilled City;" yet from temporary defeat, and occasional discomfiture, they ever rose wiser and stronger than before. Thus, at length, in the language of the poet's prediction,

"Where soft Orontes murmurs

Amid the laurel shades;

Where Nile reflects the endless length

Of dark'ned colonnades;

Where fur-clad hunters wander,

Amid the northern ice;

Where, through the sand of morning-land,

The camel bears the spice;

Where Atlas flings his shadow

Far o'er the western foam,

Shall be great fear on all who hear

The mighty name of Rome."

Thus, though, when the inspired narrative brings us in contact with the Roman power, behind the Grampians the savage Caledonians were free; though, beyond the Euphrates, the half-civilized Parthian was independent, yet from Lucaitonia to Pontus, from the Batavian marshes to the Mauritonian peaks, the Imperial dominion was undisputed, the Imperial tribute was peacefully gathered in. The centre power of the State had a warlike name, and a warlike basis; the Emperor himself was but the first of the all-ruling soldiery, and matters were fast drawing near to that time when the lords of the palace, the rulers of the senate, the dictators of the provinces, might be seen in the white tents and the eagle standard of the Pretorian Guards. The Roman jurisprudence, entering so largely into every modern system of law, their hundreds of leagues of military roads, the vastness of their aqueducts, and the stupendous nature of their public works in general, all evinced the character of a people, who, if less cultured and less artistic than the Greeks, were far superior to them, and to every other ancient nation, in masculine force of soul.

Two specimens of this all-conquering soldiery stand broadly out before our view in the Acts of the Apostles. We meet with the one under his own roof, in solemn and hallowed conference with Peter; the other draws our notice while voyaging over the Mediterranean waters, in the company of Paul. Of equal rank, perhaps of kindred natural temper, they stand, broadly distinguished, memorably separated, by the different treatment which they give to the apostles' lessons. For both would equally fervent prayers ascend. Peter would earnestly plead for Cornelius, while Julius would be the object of devout supplication on the part of Paul. To both, doubtless, with equal sincerity and equal singleness of aim, would the surpassing claims of the Gospel be presented; but on the one the accents of that Gospel fell with saving power, while by the other those accents were listened to without spiritual effect.

In the matured religion of the great apostle of the Gentiles, there was much to impress the better class of worldly men. It was by character that he won the kindness of Julius, and not by that money for which the covetous Felix would gladly have shown him attention, and granted him alleviation. As it was distinguished heathens, the Asiarchs, or "chief men of Asia," that interfered to prevent Paul's exposing his life amid the excited mob of Ephesus, so here, it was a veteran heathen officer who is so won by the demeanour, so attracted by the conduct of this man of peace, as to show as much consideration for his comforts, as thorough regard for his feelings, as lay within his power. The military frankness of Julius might be attracted by the manly, straightforward character of the apostle, to whom all deceit was a stranger, by whom all crooked acts were despised. From Paul's own countrymen he had undergone every form of insult, every kind of injury; but from the "centurion of Augustus' band" the apostle received, as a man, nothing but courtesy and kindness. The conduct of Julius was praiseworthy, amiable, estimable-so far as it went; and it would meet with its reward. Paul would contemplate it with interest, and would remember it with interest. He was not one of those unhappy

persons who delight in forgetting benefits, and who anxiously look out for something in other parts of their benefactor's character, to exempt them from the obligation of gratitude. In other scenes, amid other circumstances, "in his own hired house," in the imperial prison, Paul might not unfrequently recal in thought and in prayer his intercourse with this friendly Roman officer.

But Julius was fatally deficient in the one main thing. Paul, as the inspired and commissioned servant of the Most High, had foretold the future disasters of the voyage. But the wealthy owner, who was himself on board, and the experienced captain of the vessel, expressed an opposite opinion. With them the centurion sided, rather than with Paul. The apostle had no pecuniary stake in the vessel's safety. He had no previous experience of the winds and currents of the latitude where that vessel was sailing; and therefore Julius, acting on the principles of sense, not on the principles of faith, conceived himself justified in disbelieving Paul's warning. The future history of the voyage would; no doubt, in this one point, undeceive him. But we have no reason to believe that, either the shipwreck, or the rescue of all the crew and passengers from the waves, made any lasting impression on his mind. Seeing an individual error, and confessing a universal deficiency, are two very different things; and we have no proof that this courteous centurion ever became sensible of that idolatry and unbelief which were the obstacles to his receiving the inspired message of Paul. For his soul many a fervent prayer would arise from that little believing company of Paul, and Luke, and Aristarchus, who would alternately uplift the voice of united supplication. That apostle who yearned over Felix, over Festus, over Agrippa, would yearn over Julius too. But when Julius had delivered over his prisoner to the appointed authority at Rome, he would speedily forget, in those convivial circles so ready to welcome their bronzed comrade from the East-he would forget, amid all the luxuries, and all the music, and all the merry laughter of the Roman mess-tables, whatever impressions might have been temporarily made on him by the gifts or the graces, the acquirements or the supplications of the apostle.

How different, how opposite was Cornelius! He was earnest in his religious purposes, self-denied in his religious exertions. He was longing for greater degrees of truth. He was ready to receive, prepared to welcome, whatever further discoveries God might be pleased to bestow upon him. He at once sent for Peter, when directed from on high so to do. He assembled his friends, some military men, some civilians, to listen to whatever that apostle might be directed and strengthened to say to them. Before that he had been a centre of good to those around; for the devout soldier whom, as his prayerful emissary, he sent to Peter, might be only one of several in the company which Cornelius commanded. And when the full blaze of Gospel light arose upon his soul-when in signal and striking manifestation the Spirit of God was poured out upon him, in connexion with the preaching of Peter, we cannot doubt that, while, like the Ethiopian eunuch, he would go on his way rejoicing, he would also, like the cured demoniac of Decapolis, spread around him, by word and by deed, the precious savour of the Gospel of the grace of God.

It is the fashion, in certain quarters, to speak and to write with dislike and contempt of the military profession. They who do so would seem to have blotted out the Acts from their Bibles. Few Christians are so humble and so liberal as Cornelius. Few natural men are so courteous as the

centurion who voyaged with Paul from Palestine to Rome. Without going back to that victorious army of the great Gustavus, to whose wellregulated camp devout Presbyterians from Scotland, devout Puritans from England, were glad to repair under his banner, to fight for German freedom against the Popish tyranny of Austria; without recalling the memory of that invincible Cromwellian soldiery, of whom it might be said their foes they never counted, their foes they always faced; let it suffice to remark, that at this day there are nowhere more brave, manful, earnest, nobleminded, frank-hearted servants of Christ, than among military men. Among those who serve their Queen and country, there may be too many who are only idle revellers at the mess-table, or idle flatterers in the ballroom; but there are many likewise who, in firmness of Christian principle, in earnestness of Christian purpose, in constancy of Christian self-denial, might well put to shame those who, in a society purchased by the blood of the very men they sneer at, affect to look down upon those who are ready to risk their lives for their country's safety and protection.

Reader! do you treat the minister kindly, like Julius? Or do you welcome his message, like Cornelius ?

Biography.

WILLIAM ALLEN, F. R. S.

THE subject of this sketch belonged to the religious society known as Friends, but more commonly called Quakers. He was a man of great natural ability, and of much worth, and sprung of parents in the middle walk of life he by his own persevering industry soon rose to eminence, and by his peculiarly pious, consistent, and benevolent life he attained such influence that kings and princes were proud to call him friend, and but too willing to have his advice and counsel. With all this he retained to the last his simple habits, his peculiar religious notions, and his unwavering reliance on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. To take a rapid glance at the principal events of his life, may not be without its use, to show us what earnestness and devotedness can do, and to place before us an example of untiring service in labours of love, and efforts for the promotion of God's glory and the good of men-which each, in his own sphere and walk of life, would do well to imitate.

William Allen was born in London, on 29th March, 1770. His parents were very pious, and early taught him to value Scripture truth, to love the society of those who were its advocates, and especially to take heed to the convictions of the Holy Spirit, as the best check to vice and the safest

guide to truth. His mother was particularly godly: speaking of her he used to say, "I well remember the deep religious solicitude which my honoured and beloved mother felt for her children; how she used to collect us round her in her chamber when we were very young, and talk to us in terms adapted to our capacity of the things which belong to the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

His father was a manufacturer of silk in Spitalfields, and was anxious that William should follow the same business. His early tastes, however, were all towards philosophical pursuits, and at a very early age he devoted himself to the study of chemistry. When he was twenty-one, he was taken by Joseph Gurney Bevan, an eminent chemist, to superintend his establishment in Ploughcourt; and about two years after, Mr. Bevan gave up the business to him entirely. He carried it on all his life; and it may be noticed here, that his integrity in it gave him a name over all Europe, for the genuineness and goodness of the articles he manufactured and sold.

While he was learning his business, he at the same time was most diligent in all studies connected with it. We hear of him attending lectures, Meetings of the Chemical Society, the Physical Society, and others,