doubts and fears; I, with the full assurance of faith? Now, why should we not be equally happy?"

His face beamed out, and the work was done.

From that hour my friend's heart was overflowing with joy and gratitude, and, though suffering acutely for the remaining weeks of his life, his newly found peace flowed like a river.

The natural sorrow at parting from a dearly loved wife and children was soothed by his Saviour's love; and while, with tearful eyes and broken voice, he spoke of that separation, his face would suddenly change, illumined as with a ray of sunshine, and he would rub his hands together for very gladness, and say, "All is well; O Lord, I am in the covert of Thy wings.'

BE HAPPY AS YOU CAN.

THIS life is not all sunshine,
Nor is it yet all showers,
But storms and calms alternate,
As thorns among the flowers.
And while we seek the roses,
The thorns full oft we scan,
Still let us, though they wound us,
Be happy as we can.

This life has heavy crosses
As well as joys to share,
And griefs and disappointments
Which you and I must bear.
Yet if misfortune's lava

Entombs hope's dearest plan,
Let us, with what is left us,
Be happy as we can.

The sum of our enjoyment
Is made of little things,

As oft the broadest rivers

Are formed from smallest springs.

By treasuring small waters

The rivers reach their span;
So we increase our pleasures,
Enjoying what we can.

There may be burning deserts

Through which our feet must go,
But there are green oases

Where pleasant palm-trees grow.

And if we may not follow

The path our hearts would plan,
Let us make all around us

As happy as we can.

Perchance we may not climb with
Ambition to its goal,

Still let us answer, " Present,"
When duty calls the roll!
And, whatever our appointment,
Be nothing less than man,
And, cheerful in submission,
Be happy as we can.

NEWS OF THE CHURCHES.

It is announced that Dr. Under- | Tooley, of the Metropolitan Taberhill has resolved not to allow him- nacle College, to Brierley Hill, self to be nominated for re-election Staffordshire; the Rev. E. Spanton, to the office he has so long and of the same College, to Caxton, honourably filled, as secretary of Cambridgeshire; the Rev. T. D. the Baptist Missionary Society. He is to be asked to accept the office of honorary secretary at the approaching annual meeting.

Jones, of Llangollen College, to Machinlleth; the Rev. J. O'Dell, of King's Bridge, Devon, to George Street, Hull. The Rev. P. F. Pearce, late of Hull, has gone A new chapel has been opened over to the Establishment. The at Bishop Auckland for the ministry Rev. W. R. Stevenson, M.A., has of the Rev. H. Gray.-The founda- resigned the pastorate of the tion stone of a new chapel for the Church in Broad Street, Nottingministry of the Rev. H. Briggs has ham. The Rev. J. G. Philips been laid at Milwood, Todmorden, has, in consequence of ill-health, Yorkshire.--The chapel in South resigned the pastorate of the Street, Exeter, under the care of Church at Builth. The Rev. J. the Rev. F. Bosworth, M.A., has Jackson, of Sevenoaks, has rebeen reopened, after restoration signed the pastorate of the Church and extension. at Addlestone. The Rev. J. Lewitt has relinquished his charge at The Rev. H. V. Hobbs has been Albemarle Chapel, Scarborough. recognised as the pastor of the The Rev. G. Sear has resigned Church at Great Missenden, the pastorate of the Church in Bucks; the Rev. W. Rhys, of North Street, Halstead, Essex. the Church at Dennar Chapel, The Rev. J. Hirons, has, on acPembroke Dock; the Rev. A. E. count of ill-health, resigned his Seddon, of the Brook Mission pastorate of the Church at High Church, Liverpool; the Rev. G. Wycombe, Bucks; and the Rev. Durno, M.A., of the Church at W. J. Dyer, who for some months Arbroath; the Rev. E. Cossey, of has been co-pastor of the Church, the Church at Bingley, Yorkshire. is now the sole pastor.

The following reports of MINISTERIAL CHANGES have reached us since our last issue:-The Rev. G. H. Cook, of Bristol College, to Summer Hill, Maindee, Newport, Monmouthshire; the Rev. G. W.

We regret to announce the death, at Kettering, of the Rev. J. Jenkinson, at the age of seventy-six; also of the Rev. J. Burns, D.D., of Edgeware Street, Paddington, at the age of seventy.

APRIL, 1876.

ON SOME OF THE SUBORDINATE CHARACTERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

BY THE REV. W. BROCK.

IV. PHILEMON AND ONESIMUS.

THE Epistle to Philemon has an interest and a value peculiarly its own. It contains no elaborate scheme of doctrine, like the Epistle to the Romans; no glowing description of privilege, like that to the Ephesians; and at first sight we might wonder at its admission into the canon of Scripture. But it proves to be a precious fragment of early Church history. It affords us a glimpse into the existing state of society; and it shows us the manner in which the social problems of that day were dealt with by a Christian apostle. And this is done by suggestions and intimations ont of which we may construct the whole story of the master Philemon and his fugitive slave Onesimus. The opening salutation of Paul's letter presents to us an earnest Christian man: "Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow-labourer." The next words seem to introduce us to his wife, 66 our beloved Apphia," and their son, "Archippus, our fellow-soldier;" and they indicate that their home was one of the head quarters of the brethren "the church that is in thy house." It becomes also clear that Philemon was noted for his hearty and hospitable character; for it had rejoiced Paul's inmost heart to hear of his "love to all the saints," and of the refreshment which they gained from his brotherly attentions. To Paul himself Philemon bore an ardent affection: "thou wilt do more than I say," writes the apostle, confident in his loyalty; and well he might, for the man was one of his own sons in the faith, owing to him, under God, his own self, and therefore everything he had. Add to all this, that he seems to have been a householder of wealth, owning slaves, and able to free them if he chose, and we have a tolerably complete sketch of the man and his position.

Where then did he live ? His own name is nowhere else given; but we have Archippus mentioned (Col. iv. 17) as one of the ministers of the Church at Colosse; and Onesimus appears (Col. iv. 9) as one of the bearers of the Epistle written to the brethren there; the greetings also in the two letters to the Colossians and to Philemon are from the same men. The conclusion seems simple: that Philemon was a citizen of Colosse, and a member of the Christian community there. Now Colosse was one of the cities of Asia Minor, which lay at no great distance from Ephesus. Paul implies that he had never himself visited it; but Philemon may have encountered Paul at Ephesus during the two years of incessant activity in which "all they that

VOL. XIX, N.S. IV.

dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks." And returning home, with others like-minded, he was probably the instrument of founding the Colossian Church, and one of the pillars that sustained it. It was thus that many of the primitive Churches must have been established, and the gospel spread in the remoter districts. Is there no similar process at work in heathen lands to-day? The few instances of the kind that have lately come to light are surely earnests of much that is unknown. Many a modern Philemon may hear the gospel in Delhi or Shanghae and carry it to regions of the far interior, which the feet of the English missionary can never penetrate.

Philemon had a slave, whose name, Onesimus, the "useful" or "profitable," hardly answered to his conduct. He had proved distinctly unprofitable; and he had at last run away, leaving the affairs entrusted to him in confusion, and possibly carrying with him some of his master's property. "If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought," leaves the last question in charitable doubt. But the slave became a fugitive; fled, we may suppose, to some seaport, and from thence worked or begged a passage to the great imperial city where, as in our own London, a runaway might live for years and successfully avoid detection. "A great city, a great solitude."

Onesimus found himself in Rome; and here occurred one of those singular concurrences in which good men delight to see the finger of God. Paul also was at Rome, a prisoner, but enjoying at that time full license to preach the gospel to all who chose to hear it. How the Colossian slave came within his influence is left to conjecture. We may well suppose that he would soon be reduced to abject poverty and wretchedness, for there was no almsgiving in heathen Rome, no hospitals or refuges, nor so much as the casual ward of a workhouse, with its night's lodging and its crust of bread. Onesimus might steal if he could; or, if his heart failed him, he might throw himself into the Tiber and end his misery without any danger of interference. But there were Christian hearts now in that city. Did the watchful eye of Mark or Luke light upon the poor stranger, and did they bring him to their master? Or had he heard speak of Paul in old days at Colosse, and so was he of his own accord attracted to the preaching? He came, by some means; he listened, and the saving words seemed meant for him; he stayed to inquire further, and Paul took a world of pains to teach him; and at last he too became a Christian: "my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds." The brethren took him in, and cared for him as one of themselves; and he returned the kindness with an eager devotion. "A faithful and beloved brother," writes Paul; specially dear to me, and unspeakably useful; one whom I would thankfully retain with me, if it were right. A brand plucked from the burning! A trophy from the very slums of Rome to the power of Christ and of His gospel!

A critical question now arose. Very early in their intercourse Paul

must have discovered the relation of Onesimus to his friend Philemon. He was still, according to the law of the age, his slave, bought with his money, or born in his house. He was a fugitive slave, liable, if once recovered, to any punishment his master might inflict. What should be done? How should Paul, standing as he did in so sacred a connection with both men, adjust the difficulty between them?

Ardent spirits may insist that, since slavery of every kind is wrong, that slave ought never to have been allowed to return. Tell Philemon nothing; or, if something must be told, tell him that his yoke is broken, and forbid him, in the name of God, to lay it on again! Certainly, had the case arisen in our own age, even with so good a master as Philemon, and with a slave so fortunately situated as Onesimus, no other course could have been fairly open to Christian

men.

But it was eighteen centuries ago when Paul was writing, and the world was unripe for the social reformations of later days. A crusade against slavery was never dreamt of then, even by the wisest and best. The early preachers of the gospel came not as reformers, but evangelists. They did not attack the institutions of the heathen age; but they sought to create an atmosphere throughout society in which those institutions, so far as they were evil, would of necessity crumble and decay." In Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free." Once let that spirit of universal brotherhood spread, and the doom of slavery would not be distant. And meantime, the exhortation came impartially to masters and to slaves in that Colossian Church. "Servants, be obedient, as unto Christ; " "Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven."

Onesimus then shall go back to his master, a Christian brother now, but still his slave. Paul sends him back, sorely against his will, for he would fain retain his skilful services; but as he is about to appeal to Philemon's generosity, so he will himself act generously and frankly. "Without thy mind would I do nothing;" without Philemon's consent, even the precious boon of freedom shall be held in suspense. Let the master have his rights, as far as he chooses to claim them. Ay, and if there is money due from the fugitive, or any charge on which he could be convicted, Philemon may press it if he will; only let him press it on Paul, as surety for Onesimus: "I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it."

We feel, as we read the letter, that the repayment will never be asked. We feel also that Onesimus is safe. What master, distinguished for "faith and love," as Philemon was, could stand out against the flood of Christian motive and appeal which flows through the Epistle? Onesimus became a Christian, and that under the preaching of Paul! The useless and troublesome slave changed into a helpful and honoured brother, "profitable to thee and to me"! Gone for a season, that he might be received again for ever, and be at his master's side in