And then he turned to bless the boy-
The heroic boy was dead!

"They bore his placid corpse away, And dug a quiet grave

Far from his childhood's home, which lay Across the western wave.

"But ye who love him still shall greet Your loved one once again;

For all who trust in Jesus, meet

Beyond the reach of pain."

JAMES MAITLAND HOG,

THE CHRISTIAN GENTLEMAN.

Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor.-1 TIM. v, 17.

Yet was thy liberality discreet,

Nice in its choice, and of a tempered heat;

And though in act unwearied, secret still,
As in some solitude the summer rill
Refreshes, where it winds, the faded green,
And cheers the drooping flowers, unheard, unseen.
Such was thy charity: no sudden start,
After long sleep, of passion in the heart;
But steadfast principle, and, in its kind,
Of close relation to the eternal Mind;
Traced easily to its true source above,
To him whose works bespeak his nature, Love.
Thy bounties were all Christian, and I make
This record of thee for the Gospel's sake;
That the incredulous themselves may see

Its use and power exemplified in thee.-CowPER.

THE functions of laymen in the Church have often been discussed; but the best argument on the subject is living illustrations of what persons not invested with the Christian ministry can do to promote the cause of Christ. Amid the din of ecclesiastical controversy about orders and authority, there have ever been a few faithful men who sought, in nooks sequestered, and with a retiring

humility, to labor for the good of souls. By earnest prayer and zealous effort they have held up a pastor's hands, have extended and blessed his work, and have become his "helpers in Christ." By whatever designation they were known, and whether formally set apart, inaugurated into office, or not, they have really been a most important and influential portion of Christian laborers in the vineyard of the Lord. The employment of the active members of our Churches in work auxiliary to the ministry is very necessary in such times as these, and secures a twofold blessing: first, to the person so engaged, sustaining his piety and increasing his bliss, so tried by the intense secularism of the day; and, secondly, to the Church of God, in preserving peace and extending the Gospel. The exercise of Christian grace is most conducive to personal happiness in religion and to concord in the Church. Give the earnest something to do, he is alike preserved from spiritual distraction and from divisive courses. Put the devoted Christian into a sphere of usefulness, however small, he is straightway an epistle of Christ, known and read of all, and can be the instrument of much good to souls. This was John Wesley's policy, and he stamped the impression of it on the practical piety and usefulness of lay helpers in his communion, where they are more largely employed than in any other section of the Christian Church.

We propose now to sketch one of such "laborers together with God," with the view of showing

what grace can do in transforming the character and in utilizing gifts.

JAMES MAITLAND HOG was born on the seventh of August, 1799. He was descended from a family who held the lands of Kirkliston and Kelly, Linlithgowshire. He studied for the law, and was called to the bar in 1822, but having no necessity, as he was rich, he did not long continue to practice. He resided for some time at Murieston, a small estate near Edinburgh; but in 1834, on the death of his brother, whom he succeeded, removed to Newliston, the seat of his property.

At a time when worldly men and ungodliness prevailed among the affluent and the gentry, Mr. Hog was decidedly pious. "Like Obadiah," says his minister, "he feared the Lord from his youth; his tastes, even when a boy, were sacred, and it was while yet in early manhood that, under the ministry of the late revered Dr. Gordon, (in old St. Cuthbert's Chapel,) he received those saving impressions of divine truth which resulted in his becoming explicitly a Christian. He declared himself at once on the side of evangelical religion; a much less common thing then among persons of his rank and profession than happily it is now. ... Though blessed above many with worldly affluence, and surrounded by everything which was most fitted to make the world attractive, to make it dangerous, though naturally of a cheerful, buoyant disposition, capable beyond most men of enjoying the world, of making himself and others happy,

he had courage enough to 'come out and be separate' from those of whom the psalmist speaks as 'men of the world, who have their portion in this life;' he was wise enough to know that the true secret of enjoying this life is not to have one's portion in it; he preferred the Christian's hope to other men's possessions, he consecrated his life to God."

Having once taken up the cross he was never ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Grace became a second nature to him and pervaded all his faculties, pursuits, and tastes. It is this aspect of the life of faith which is so necessary in the present age of the world, when all are so much in public. Is the reader a decided Christian? Then let him wear his profession easily, gracefully, without constraint and without affectation. Let him confess Christ frankly and constantly, not always perhaps by lips, but in everything and everywhere by the life. Let him labor for Christ as he has opportunity, and reveal his faith by his works.

Thus Mr. Hog exhibited his devotedness to Christ, and he found abundant opportunities to do so. If such were not assigned him by others he would create them, and induce the slothful or the dependent to follow. Ere he had reached his thirtieth year he was set apart as an elder in the Church of Scotland. Evangelical religion was then rising in influence among the people, and even in the councils of the Church. One of the first signs of revival was the sending forth the apostolic Dr.