WORSHIP.

Epiphanius says, "True, the body of Mary was holy, but not God. She remained a virgin and was worthy of all honor, yet she was not given to us for worship; for she herself worshiped him, who was born of her according to the flesh, descended from heaven, the bosom of the Father. Against such an error the Gospel secures us, by alluding to what the Lord himself said-' Woman, what have I to do with thee, mine hour is not yet come.' Lest any one should believe the Holy Virgin more than woman, he addressed her, Woman, what have I to do with thee ?' He called her woman because the future schisms and heresies which would come upon the earth, so that no one out of extreme reverence for this holy woman, should fall into such heretical nonsense. . . let Mary be honored, but the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be worshiped; let no one worship Mary." See Epiphanius, Tome 1, page 1057-1067, Paris ed., 1622.

Christ never said his mother excelled all saints, but that "whosoever doeth the will of God is equal with her,"-brother, sister and mother for whosoever doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matt. 12: 50.

The term "μɛvovvye" (yea, rather), (Luke 11 : 27,) Chrysostom understood it as meaning "rather" and not "surely," as you understand it. And the evs oi (till) (and "knew her not till she had brought forth her first son"), Chrysostom says, does not show that he did not know her after Christ was born, although he himself believed that he did not. He says, "thus even here the Scripture saying till establishes what took place before the birth, but as to matters afterwards, leaves it for you to investigate. Whatever was necessary for us to learn from the Evangelist, he has declared that she remained a virgin till the birth of Christ; whatever seems to follow from the narrative is left to your judgment," &c.-(See Chrys. Tome 7, p. 77, Paris ed., 1627.)

Evidently the "till" may or may not be "never," For instance, I requested my servant "to remain at the house till I return," and he remained till I came : this surely does not mean that he remained there forever" and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep" till "the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Most certainly this does not mean that the earth remained without form forever, or that darkness is everlasting. It is from the connection and circumstances of the theme, that we infer the meaning of the term "till."

Now as it regards the subject of marriage, I cannot see what would prevent a married couple from having children according to God's command, unless marriage is considered a defilement. Mary, too, could have other children after the birth of Christ, and still remain pure, undefiled, holy and just as Sarah who brought a child unto Abraham the friend of God.

[To be Continued.]

IN the Ethnographic Museum of the Basle Mission house, is a fragment of a gun-shell which, with its companions, was thrown, in 1815, from the fortress of Hunningen into the town of Basle, by order of Bonaparte, with the design of reducing that town to ashes. The accomplishment of this design was prevented by the sudden overthrow of the destroyer.

As the providence of God arrested the career of that shedder of the blood of millions, and saved his own beloved city and inhabitants from being added to the desolations, the good Mr. Spittler was led to ponder the question, how to save millions through the blood of that greater Conqueror whose victories are gained not by the death of others, but by that of himself.

He formed the plan of establishing an institution for the education of missionaries. His plan met with the approval of his friends. By their aid a building was erected and operations commenced in 1816.In the museum of that building is placed this fragment of shell as a memento of the good providence which spared the city, and led "Mr. Spittler to feel that the Christians of Basle ought to show their sincere gratitude to the Divine Protector, and our mission is the wonderful result of that feeling."

In forty-seven years there have been trained "400 messengers of the good tidings, 281 of whom are still alive, working the work of God in all zones and climes of the globe.

At first these young men were offered to foreign societies, to be sent forth and sustained as missionaries; but soon it was found expedient to send them under a direction connected with the mission house. This was put under the care of a committee, of which Mr. Spittler was and still is one.

The 281 living missionaries are distributed as follows:-93 in the service of the Basle Mission, 11 employed by the Barmen Missionary Society, 1 by the Moravian Brethren, 35 by the Church (English) Missionary Society, 2 by the English Baptist Missionary Society, 2 by the Methodist, 1 by the Assam Missionary Society, 1 by the American Episcopal Mission, 4 missionaries to the Jews, 12 in the service of the English Church in the colonies: 73 are ministers of German churches in N. America, 5 in S. America, 2 in Australia, 13 in Russia, 10 in Germany, and 5 home missionaries.

The Committee are self-perpetuating—(a unanimous vote being required in the election of a new member)-and perfectly autocratic.— The numerous branch societies scattered over Europe, may send delegates "to tender suggestions, objections, or modifications, but they

have no right of voting." These branches are under no obligation to remain a day in connection with the Committee, and every student may leave the house and every missionary may leave the service of the Committee at will-there is "perfect Christian liberty." "Nearly fifty years have elapsed and still the Basle Committee enjoys the highest respect and perfect trust of all who are connected with its important operations."

There is a plan on foot by the Committee to have a history of the Mission published. The elder missionaries are invited to write a history of their respective stations, and from these will be composed a general history of the whole operation, to be brought out at the semicentennial anniversary in 1866. This will be a very arduous work and a most important contribution to missionary literature.

CHILDREN OF MISSIONARIES.

Connected with the Mission House are "the boy's home and the girls' home," in separate buildings. The missionary is at liberty to keep his children with him or to send them to these "homes" in Basle. If the missionary chooses to keep his children, forty dollars a year is allowed him for each; but the support of those sent to Basle is found to cost one hundred and forty dollars each.

THEIR FUNDS.

Last year the whole income was $135,153. The present debt is $40,000.

THEIR HALF-PENNY COLLECTION SOCIETY.

Of the above $135,153, $40,400 was raised from half-penny contributions. This is effected through a regular organization of “gatherers," "receivers," and "treasurers." Each gatherer collects weekly ten half-pence from ten subscribers. Ten gatherers every two months pour their collections into the "box" of a receiver, and the receivers send the money to the district treasurer, and from the treasurers it is paid to the Committee. A gatherer may not have more than ten subscribers; should he find an eleventh he must obtain a gatherer for a fresh ten, or, at least, keep a separate account of it. Likewise a receiver may not have more than ten gatherers under his control. Thus whole towns and even countries are brought under a network of administration, which, without any expense to the mission, gathers the weekly offerings of thousands-the mites of widows and the savings of children for the work of God.

Such a system must be a most powerful educator of the whole community in Christian action. Might not this example be followed_with benefit by the American churches ?

Such is the minute division of labor that no true Christian heart can feel it an individual burden, and such the perfection of system and ex

tent of reach in the operation, that it must become to the church a source of growth and invigoration like the circulation of the blood in the human body.

THEIR TRADES' COMPANY.

The Committee have formed a Trades' Company, which is under the management of a special Board, consisting of four members. This Board conducts a regular trade-1st, to provide the missionary stations with the necessaries of life from Europe, and 2ndly, to promote industry and agriculture among the natives. The Board, of four, carries on its mercantile operations independently of the Committee. It works with a capital of $40,000, held in shares. The share-holders regularly obtain their interest and dividends. The Mission owns about fifteen shares. After the interest and dividends were paid last year, a nett profit was left of $3,600, which was added to the funds of the Mission. The Committee have a moral supervision over the operations of this Trades' Company. The four members of the Board are individuals about "whose sound, honest Christian principles there is no doubt." In this whole operation is displayed a zeal which is very uncommon and worthy of imitation.

ENTIRE CONSECRATION.-"Entirely the Lord's." That is a great thing to say, and yet to be any less than that is to be below a perfect honesty. His claim, founded in justice, is upon all, and to refuse it, or hesitate to acknowledge, is simply boggling at duty, hesitating at right. It is also refusing to acknowledge the debt of law. "Ye are not your

own ye are bought with a price; wherefore glorify God with your body and spirit." The immeasurable love of Calvary demands the consecration of our little all. And only in such consecration can we be perfectly happy. Then, in hallowed rest, in perfect peace, the soul is stayed upon God, and all is secure in the keeping of the great Purchaser.

WESLEY'S ADVICE TO MINISTERS.-John Wesley knew the importance of studious habits on the part of his preachers. To an indolent one he gave the following appropriate admonition :

"Your talent in preaching does not increase; it is about the same that is was seven years ago; it is lively, but not deep; there is little variety, there is no compass of thought. Reading alone can supply this, with daily meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it any more than a thorough Christian. O begin! fix some part of every day for private exercises. You may acquire the taste which you have not; what is tedious at first will afterward be pleasant, whether you like it or not. Read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a petty, superficial preacher. Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer"-advice which missionaries, as well as home ministers, may well heed.

MATAMOROS AND HIS FELLOW SUFFERERS.

WE had fondly hoped that we should be able to secure the services of this devoted man of God in connection with our own Society. But we learn that he is to go to Bayonne and labor as an Evangelist under the superintendence of a French pastor. A few weeks since he was in London, and had an interview with the Earl of Shaftesbury. From that interview it appears that there were twenty-nine persons at Gibraltar in exile and destitution, on account of their religion. After a full examination of the matter, they were advised to go to Oran, in Africa, about two hundred miles from Spain, under the French Government, containing a large Spanish population, where liberty of conscience and worship exist, and there establish a Protestant colony.—A fund was raised for that purpose, sufficient to send them there and enable them to commence gaining their livelihood.

THE POPE'S NOTION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, WE give below some of the articles of a treaty which has just been concluded between Pius IX. and Gabriel Garcia Moreno, President of the Republic of Equador (South America). This piece was published some few weeks since by some of the French ultramontane papers, and shows what Rome would do in America had she the ascendency here.

"1. The Roman Catholic and Apostolic religion is the religion of the Republic of Equator. Consequently, the exercise of any other worship, or the existence of any society condemned by the Church, will not be permitted by the Republic.

“2. The education of the young in all public and private schools shall be entirely conformed to the doctrines of the [Roman] Catholic religion. The teachers, the books, the instruction imparted, &c., &c., [the provisions are given in a very condensed form,] shall be submitted to the decision of the bishops. "3. Government will give its powerful patronage and its support to the bishin their resistance to the evil designs of wicked persons, &c.

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"4. All matrimonial causes, and all those which concern the faith, the sacraments, the public morals, &c., are placed under the sole jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical tribunals, and the civil magistrates shall be charged to carry them into execution. The priests shall confine themselves to consulting the lay judges, if they think proper to do so.

"5. The privileges of churches [the ancient right of asylum in consecrated buildings] shall be fully respected.

"6. Tithes shall be punctually paid, &c."

Such is the treaty which Cardinal Antonelli negotiated in the Pope's name, in April last, with Signor Gabriel Garcia Moreno, and which has been published by El Nacional, the official journal of Equador.