"He restoreth my soul." What joy can be compared with that of the "first love!" And by contrast how dark is the heart which has lost that freshness.

"How tedious and tasteless the hours
When Jesus no longer I see;
Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flowers,
Have all lost their sweetness to me."

There may be various causes for this state. Some glaring failure, some open departure from the Lord's path, will be sure to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. But declension may often come in such a gradual insidious way, that one is scarcely conscious of it until the soul is at a moral distance from the Lord. The roots of declension are suggested in the Lord's words to Ephesus, "Thou hast left thy first love." Some trifle, some careless state of soul, neglect of the Word of God and prayer-these are among the fruitful causes, and are always, in one form or another, the marks of this wandering.

In such a condition one may be more or less faithful in the performance of outward religious duties, even service may be engaged in, but One is left out, and without Him all is unprofitable.

The remedy?-simple, but deep reaching. "If thou wilt return, return unto me." The One whom we have grieved is the only One who can restore unto us the joy of our salvation, the sweetness of communion with Himself. Many of us are tempted to try other ways of recovery. We work more earnestly, we redouble our efforts in service, we give more time to Bible reading and study. These are all right as fruits, but they cannot restore our souls. No one but "the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls" can do that. Let us honor His power and prove His love by turning to Him at once. We would not think of turning a sinner in upon himself, or exhort him to work and struggle for salvation. We would tell him that all is done, and that the sooner he leaves himself in the Saviour's hands the better. Is the way of restoration of the saints any different? Having begun in the Spirit, are we to be made perfect by the flesh?

Let us remember too that if we are out of communion, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Whatever the contributing causes, we must come to our own hearts to find the source. Business may have been pressing, duties exacting, the world has been attractive, some friend or friends may have tempted us-but none of these nor all together could have entered our hearts or controlled our lives without our own consent.' We often find persons bitter against others, charging them with the responsibility of their condition. Let us not deceive ourselves, but go directly to our Lord with the simple, heart-felt confession, "Against thee, Thee only, have I sinned." How quickly would the clouds pass, leaving nothing between our souls and the Lord. May the Lord make this true of each one of us.

And how good it is to be back to the only One who rightly understands us, and to whom we belong, with all we have and are. Now His Word is our delight, our ' food. We drink in its holy truths and find their suitability; prayer instead of a dull form becomes the "vital breath and native air" of our souls; service, testimony-all is now fruit, vitally flowing from the "True Vine." How sweet fellowship is; how essential a true subjection to church order; how unspeakably precious the breaking of bread! "When the Lord turned our captivity, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing."

Let us then make it our chief aim to keep low in the presence of Him who is our all; to lead and draw the Lord's beloved saints-so far as in us lies-to the same blessed place.

Criticism and Intercession. What strange companions these two words are! They are at the very antipodes of thought. The first is the heart occupied with the failures-real or imaginary-of our brethren. The second brings us into the presence of our holy but ever-loving Father. There is however one point in common between these words. Each is occupied with failure, but in how different a way. Criticism leads me to hunt for blemishes and failure in my brethren. I am occupied with evil. Even if all I say be true, I am not helping my brother, but rather being dragged down to his level; I am spreading that which will defile others. How a spirit of criticism will weaken a gathering of the Lord's people. It will beget a spirit of cowardice, for the critic usually talks behind the back of the one who is being criticized. He is usually afraid to face him. Criticism mars our own communion, and is utterly powerless to help. It is not of course meant that we must not speak of others' faults when it is our duty to do so, but this is vastly different from mere criticism.

Intercession also is occupied with others, and with their weaknesses and faults, but in how different a way. All is brought-we ourselves are brought-into the holy presence of God. We commune with Him, with our Lord, about the wrong of our brother. Thus we are not dragged down, but really brought closer to Him. We eat the sin offering in the holy place (Lev. 10:17). And how different the effect upon our brother! Instead of awakening anger and resentment, or driving him away, we attract and cause godly exercise. And with what blessed results. The Lord works, the brother is brought into His presence, and it may be is rejoicing in the blessed work of restoration. May the Lord make us to know this practically- to be not critics, but intercessors.

We translate the following from a French publication:

"A Noble Deed. There are about fifty-one thousand slaves (51,000) in the State of Nepal, India; and their owners (approximately fifteen thousand) may be divided into three classes:(1) Those who are proprietors of slaves not of their own will, who having fallen heir to them, treat them leniently as grown up children. (2) Those who hold them for their profitable labor's sake. And (3) an unscrupulous class that make a traffic of them, do not hesitate to separate wife from husband, and children from parents.

"The Maharajah (the ruling Hindu Prince of Nepal) has made an appeal to the patriotism of his people in view of liberating these slaves, and making a compensation to their owners; himself giving about 400,000 dollars to this end. This noble purpose and deed places the Maharajah of Nepal on an equality with Abraham Lincoln!"

"Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (2 Cor. 8:9).

An Oak tree under whose branches lie several generations.
This White Oak, at Basking Ridge, New Jersey, is said to be the third largest oak tree in the United States. Its branches measure 130 ft. across from tip to tip; and its trunk is 23 ft. and 7 inches in circumference at its largest part.

Under it are many graves. One of the oldest is that of

"Joseph Lamb who departed this life in 1749, aged 60 years."

The inscription on the head-stone, still legible, reads thus:

"The terrors dire from Sinai's Mount
Thy mouth did ever proclaim
As well as the message of grace
In thy great Master's name.
But with pure ethereal fire
With Seraphim above,
We hope and trust thou now dost sing
The wonders of His love."

It is sweet to note that Joseph Lamb, being taught of God, did not commingle Law and Grace as so many preachers now do, but preached to those early settlers in New Jersey, the grace of God through Christ delivering from the Law's condemnation.

The log-house in which Joseph Lamb preached has been replaced by a large and substantial brick building. We earnestly hope that Joseph Lamb's preaching has not been displaced by the pompous but degenerate Modernism.