itself a tribute beyond what tongue or pen could indite, when we say that there has not been such a sorrow in the land for departed greatness, since the premature decease of the Princess Charlotte. Prince Albert was of the German House of Saxe-Cobourg, that is connected with all the thrones of Europe; and was lineally descended from that great prince who attached his first signature to the celebrated Protest against the absurd pretensions of Popery, which instrument gave to our institutions of free thought and purified worship the name of Protestant. Born the 26th of August, 1819, he had but little more than fulfilled forty-two years of mortal life when he is this day laid with the mighty dead. When he came among us he had all the disadvantages to contend with which a stranger and a foreigner must have. In one of his early utterances as the royal husband, he professed it his delight to devote his life to her Majesty," and to act as one "who belonged to the nation at large;" and how fully he acted up to both these professions, and specially how well they loved and rejoiced in each other's society and in the princely family they reared around them, is known to all, and forms a bright page in the Court-life of Europe in this nineteenth century. 66 Prince Albert was a graceful courtier, and an accomplished man. He diligently attended to his early studies, and was not unskilled in music, jurisprudence, or the arts. He did not wholly escape calumny, as who does? But the nation to-day, and posterity, will do him justice, that though ever by the side of the Queen, and in her Councils, he was no mischievous political meddler. He was ever the promoter of art and industry-the advocate of every useful and philanthropic movement. He laboured to show that as no class of society could do without the other, each was interested in each other's progress; and that there were special duties devolving on those who had wealth and station. The "homes for servants," the "dwellings of the poor," and "asylums for orphans," all had the countenance of his name. But his social virtues, his moral excellences, were most resplendent. "That which destroyeth princes" was never whispered against him. That element of all true Christian virtue was in him-a reverence for the worship and the day of God, and a regular observance thereof. The Queen and he were one in the education of their children; and we know the Bible was always a text-book and an authority in the royal nursery. We remember that it was at his suggestion our great city's mart for all nations bears on its front the words of Judah's monarch-"The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." And though we are quite uninformed concerning that scene which is sacred to a man's spiritual advisers and his dearest friendshis exit out of life; yet may we not hope that the well-instructed Prince, who in private and public acknowledged God, found at last, to his support and joy, that "fulness of grace" that is in Christ for all that need, and which is never denied to prince or peasant. Not without purpose is this lamented death decreed of Heavennot in vain hath this heavy sorrow fallen. May it be sanctified to the palace and to the nation, so that we humble ourselves before the King of Kings, and put our trust in Him alone. Then from this day will He bless us. Our lamented Prince departed from us amid distant thunder-tones, portending war; but already, we trust, around his grave there murmur some songs and signs of peace. For this will every patriot pray-that Her Majesty's reign may be long-continued, and peaceful and prosperous to its close. Brethren, in conclusion, this "rock is removed out of its place"-the pillar on which our Queen has been wont to lean is fallen down-the palace is in darkness and grief-the monarch is in tears, and the nation mourns with her, but we worship, too, today. And Queen and people may say with that monarch of old (and herein is our consolation and strength in trouble)" THE LORD LIVETH, AND BLESSED BE MY ROCK, AND LET THE GOD OF MY SALVATION BE EXALTED!" AMEN. FEMALE EXCELLENCE. Ir may be doubted if, about the middle of the last century, there was in the New World so eminent a Christian as Mrs. Edwards, wife of the greatest divine of the age; or in the Old World so eminent a Christian as the mother of John and Charles Wesley. A word on each : MRS. EDWARDS. In the year 1742 this lady sought and obtained what she called "the full assurance of faith;" and she gives her experience in these glowing words:-"I cannot find language to express how certain the everlasting love of God appeared: the everlasting mountains and hills were but shadows to it. My safety, and happiness, and eternal enjoyment of God's immutable love, seemed as durable and unchangeable as God himself. Melted and overcome by the sweetness of this assurance, I fell into a great flow of tears, and could not forbear weeping aloud. The presence of God was so near, and so real, that I seemed scarcely conscious of anything else. I seemed to be taken under the care and charge of my God and Saviour, in an inexpressibly endearing manner. The peace and happiness which I hereafter felt was altogether inexpressible. The whole world, with all its enjoyments and all its troubles, seemed to be nothing; my God was my all, and my only portion. No possible suffering appeared to be worth regarding; all persecutions and torments were a mere nothing. "At night, my soul seemed to be filled with an inexpressibly sweet and pure love to God, and to the children of God; with a refreshing consolation and solace of soul, which made me willing to lie on the earth at the feet of the servants of God, to declare His gracious dealings with me, and breathe forth before them my love, and gratitude, and praise. "All night I continued in a constant, clear, and lively sense of the heavenly sweetness of Christ's excellent and transcendent love, of His nearness to me, and of my nearness to Him, with an inexpressibly sweet calmness of soul in an entire rest in Him. I seemed to myself to perceive a flow of divine love come down from the heart of Christ in heaven into my heart in a constant stream, like a stream or pencil of sweet light. At the same time, my heart and soul all flowed out in love to Christ, so that there seemed to be a constant flowing and reflowing of heavenly and divine love from Christ's heart to mine; and I appeared to myself to float or swim in these bright, sweet beams of the love of Christ, like the motes swimming in the beams of the sun. My soul remained in a heavenly elysium. I think what I felt each minute, during the continuance of the whole time, was worth more than all the outward comfort and pleasure which I had enjoyed in my whole life put together. It was a pure delight which fed and satisfied my soul. It was a sweetness which my soul was lost in. "In the house of God, so conscious was I of the joyful presence of the Holy Spirit, that I could scarcely refrain from leaping with transports of joy. My soul was filled and overwhelmed with light, and love, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and seemed just ready to go away from the body. I had, in the meantime, an overwhelming sense of the glory of God as the GREAT ETERNAL ALL, and of the happiness of having my own will entirely subdued to His will. This exaltation of soul subsided into a heavenly calm, and a rest of soul in God, which was even sweeter than what preceded it. My mind remained so much in a similar frame for more than a week, that I could never think of it without an inexpressible sweetness in my soul." Such was the glorious experience of this devoted lady, as given by herself a hundred years ago. Now a word for Mrs. Wesley. Fully to estimate her worth, the lives of herself, her husband, and her sons, must be carefully perused. I refer only to the close of her bright career. MRS. WESLEY. "Children, when I am dead, sing a song of praise to God." Such were her dying words. We love to meditate on the words of the departing Christian. We love to recall the jubilant testimony of Janeway, and the almost celestial utterances of Payson. The thricerepeated exclamation of Gordon Hall, in the last spasms of Asiatic cholera, "Glory to thee, O God!"— the sublime language of Luther, Father, into thy hands do I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, thou faithful God!"-the memorable words of the younger Adams, "This is the last of earth-I am content;"-the beautiful thoughts and anticipations of the Venerable Bede and Mrs. Hemans-are all comforting and encouraging to the Christian; but we know of no parting words more sweet and soothing than those of the venerable mother we have quoted : "Children, when I am dead, sing a song of praise to God." 66 Her troubles would then be ended. Her body would be free from weariness and pain; peace and rest would be its enduring heritage. Almost well," said the dying Richard Baxter, when asked concerning his bodily state. Death remedies all physical ills. Who would shed tears over deliverance from suffering? But it is when we consider her spiritual relations after her departure, that the particular appropriateness of the request appears. The con summation of her desires would then be attained-to be with God. The long-wished-for rest that remains for His people, and the oft-contemplated The Christian Fireside. USEFUL CAUTIONS. IMPRUDENCE is the cause of untold misery. Every observant man might write volumes on it. It is confined to no class or condition. It distinguishes and degrades every walk of life. There is hardly a family in the land that is not afflicted by it. It is chiefly connected with money matters. Dr. เ Hall says"If a man ask you to go his security, say No,' and run; otherwise you may be enslaved for life, or your wife and children may spend a weary existence, in want, sickness, and beggary. "If you find yourself in possession of a counterfeit note or coin, throw it in the fire on the instant; otherwise you may be tempted to pass it, and may pass it, to feel mean therefore as long as you live; then it may pass into some man's hands as mean as yourself, with a new perpetration of iniquity, the loss to fall eventually on some poor struggling widow whose 'all' it may be. "Never laugh at the mishaps of any fellow-mortal. "The very instant you perceive yourself in a passion, shut your mouth; this is one among the best precepts outside of inspiration. "The man who always exacts the last cent is always a mean man; there is no evacuant' in all the 'Materia Medica' efficient enough to'purge' him of his debasement; he is beyond druggery. "Never affect to be 'plain' or 'blunt; these are the synonyms of brutality and boorishness; such persons are constantly inflicting wounds which neither time nor medicine can ever heal. "Never be witty at another's expense; true generosity never dwelt in such a heart; it only wants the opportunity to become a cheat or rogue." These few sentences are of more value than a purse of gold. A LOOKER-ON. NEVER DECEIVE CHILDREN. THE importance of truth, without deception, in the management of children, is illustrated by the anecdote narrated in the following paragraph:-" Two small boys met on the sidewalk, and after some minutes spent in conversation, one remarked to the other that some little thing might be obtained if he could procure a few cents from his parents. 'But,' said the other, 'I don't need any money to obtain it, for my mother told me I should have it at such a time.' 'Pooh!' said the first, 'my mother has promised me so many times, and I did not get it, and I do not think you will either. Our mothers only tell us so to get rid of us, and I think it will be so with yours.' 'What, my mother tell a lie! exclaimed the little fellow, and immediately left his companion with a countenance filled with indignation. What a lesson should this afford to all parents, guardians, and those who have the care of youth." MOTHERS AND MEN. THAT it is the mother who moulds the man is a sentiment beautifully illustrated by the following recorded observation of a shrewd writer : "When I lived among the Choctaw Indians, I held a consultation with one of their chiefs respecting the successive stages of their progress in the arts of civilized life; and among other things he informed me, that at their start they made a great mistake, they only sent boys to school. These boys came home intelligent men; but they married uneducated and uncivilized wives, and the uniform result was, the children were all like their mothers. The father soon lost all his interest both in wife and children. 'And now,' said he, 'if we would educate but one class of our children, we should choose the girls; for, when they become mothers, they educate their sons." 999 This is the point, and it is true. No nation can become fully enlightened when mothers are not in a good degree qualified to discharge the duties of the home-work of education. SIMPLICITY OF DRESS. FEMALE loveliness never appears to so good advantage as when set off with simplicity of dress. No artist ever decks his angels with towering feathers and gaudy jewellery; and our dear human angels, if they would make good their title to that name, should carefully avoid ornaments which properly belong to Indian squaws and African princes. These tinselries may serve to give effect on |