cuted. Dismissed from a situation of comfort, to toil in a field of labour, under the burning sun of Jamaica, he felt, for a time, dejected; but soon perceived that an opportunity for doing important good was now before him. In his master's family he mingled with a few domestics; now he was in the midst of three hundred slaves. He began, therefore, to tell them about his Saviour, and to invite them to go and hear his minister. Many of them yielded to his invitations; and in a little while, of these three hundred, about a hundred and fifty became regular hearers of the everlasting Gospel.

His master heard of this, and felt still more incensed. He called for him, and addressed him with_severity: "How dare you trouble my negroes? I will have no praying negroes." "Me no tink they are troubled, massa; they do not seem much troubled, massa. Do they work much worse? or are they more saucy, massa ?"

"That is nothing

to you; how dare you trouble my negroes?" "To tell de truth, massa, me tink dat de bread dat is good for my soul, is good for brother neger; and me tink dat if it is a good ting for me to escape hell, it is good for brother neger; and if heaven is a good place for me, it is good for brother neger; and me pray, and me pray for my rich massa, and me tink dat if my rich massa would once go and hear de missionary, he would always go afterwards." This was too much for the master's patience; he called the negro" Parson Sam," banged the door, and sent him away.

The poor Christian departed with a grateful heart, thankful to God that he had escaped with nothing worse than angry words, and began to think what more he could do for his good and gracious God. His owner possessed. other estates, and

NEVER BE CAST DOWN BY TRIFLES. If a spider breaks his thread twenty times, twenty times will he mend it again. Make up your minds to do a thing, and you will do it. Fear

had from a thousand to two thousand negroes upon them. Sam turned his attention to them. When his hard day's work, beneath a tropical sun, was finished, he would steal away to one or other of these plantations, to talk to those slaves about his Saviour, and invite them to go and hear the missionary. Sometimes he did this as often as two or three nights in a week. At other times, when the Saturday came, which was allowed for himself, he would embrace the opportunity thus afforded, and visit a plantation, and invite the negroes to go with him and hear " massa missionary." Thus he persisted in this course of benevolent zeal till he had brought about five hundred persons to become regular hearers of the Gospel, many of whom had felt its power, and of whom, at the time this narrative was given, upwards of forty had been baptized, while a number more were serious inquirers after salvation.

While thus zealous for the salvation of others, he knew where, in the time of trial, to look for strength and grace. The missionary being obliged, for a time, to leave his flock, expressed to this poor Christian his fears, that when the shepherd was gone, the flock might suffer; the negro, however, reminded him that the chief Shepherd is for ever very near; "Massa minister must go, Massa Christ no go; poor neger all weak, Massa Christ all strong." another time the missionary overheard him exhorting some of his acquaintance to exert themselves to bear the expenses of that station, that the Society, thus relieved, might send the Gospel to some of their poor brethren elsewhere. See, my friends, how courage wrought in the poor negro. So do ye, in your several spheres, try and carry out the same principle.

At

A FRIEND OF YOUNG PEOPLE.

IT is not enough that the young Christian should be humble and watchful; he must also learn to hold intimate converse with Heaven, if he would attain to any considerable measure of establishment in the divine life. Slender habits of devotion will be connected with slender manifestations of the power of godliness. It is of immense importance that the religion of the closet should obtain an entire ascendency over the character. And, in order to this, it is indispensable that a fixed and somewhat laborious method of devotion should be determined upon at an early stage of the Christian profession. If a light and trifling mode of serving God in private should be once adopted, there is great danger of its obtaining through life. The young Christian must cultivate the habit of retired and oft-repeated communion with Heaven, if he would look for much of the divine presence,

or if he would expect to attain to much usefulness in the church of Christ. Stated periods of devotion may be agreed on and even adhered to, where there is but little of fervent intercourse with God, and where there is but a partial attendance to the various duties of the closet. If the exercises of devotion are to become interesting, they must be associated with the habitual effort of mind; for we are so constituted, as rational beings, that objects which continue deeply to interest us must engage our faculties. Let me recommend to the young Christian, then, the plan of combining, with the stated prayers of the closet, such exercises of reading and meditation, as may tend to exercise the judgment, to excite the affections, and to store the memory. A regular course of Scripture-reading must, of course, be adopted; and it should, if possible, be such as to conduct the mind, by

gradual steps, to an accurate acquaintance with the entire outline of revealed truth. In pursuing this process, such assistance as may be found necessary must be called in; and, in the excellent Commentaries which abound in this country, there will be found no lack of suitable aid. But do not forget that the meditative qualities of the mind must be added to the investigating, and that the spirit of ardent devotion must sanctify the entire exercise.

I cannot here omit to observe, that the plan of keeping something in the form of a diary will be found to be of the utmost service in enlivening and rendering profitable the meditations and prayers of the closet. But, in recommending the keeping of such a record, I would by no means advise the young Christian to confine it, as is too common, to the mere expression of his religious feelings for the time being, but to extend it to a full and honest estimate of his general character and habits, and to make it the depository of his thoughts, opinions, and feelings, upon all subjects connected with the momentous concerns of religion and eternity. Such a diary as this would be rescued from the charge of common-place, and would be purged from that display of rash and thoughtless expression which often pervades documents of the kind referred to, to the discouragement of timid and self-diffident Christians, and to the awakening of many painful suspicions in the minds of persons not thoroughly acquainted with the legitimate influence of divine truth. An honest record of one human heart is yet a desideratum : and, though the publication of such a document might not tend to edification, it is a matter of undoubted certainty that its existence would contribute to the benefit of the individual who had decision of character enough to supply, from day to day, such a faithful mirror for the reflection of his own actions. J. MORISON.

"SEEING I AM JESUS' LAMB."

THE teacher of a Jewish infantschool relates that when he first took charge of the school, he scarcely knew what to teach the little ones, when a favourite hymn occurred to his mind

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"Seeing I am Jesus' lamb."

Most of the children had learned it in thirteen days. Two months passed without any particular occurrence. One day, in the middle of July, one of the children informed him that on the previous day a little Jewish boy, one of the school, had fallen into the water, and had been nearly drowned. A few days later the boy came to school again, and was very much cast down, and looking ill.

I asked him whether it was true that he was nearly drowned a few

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days ago. He said, Yes," and

told me that he had advanced too far on a washing scaffolding and so tumbled into the water, "Were you not very much frightened when you sank under the water?" I asked him. "No," said he. "But what were your thoughts when the water closed over your head?" "Well," said the little Israelite, with sparkling eyes, "I thought

"Seeing I am Jesus' lamb,

He, I know, will lose me never;
When I stray, He seeketh me;
Death is but new life for ever.
Father, to thy home on high
Take me, for Christ's lamb am I."

ANGEL CHARLIE.

SINCE Mrs. Judson wrote the touching lines entitled, " Angel Charlie," how many mothers have taken up the sad refrain,

"My boy,-ah me,-the sweetness, The anguish of that word."

Even this week have we bent sorrowingly over the tiny, still form of Charlie.

It was the parent's only one, their first-born, lent to them but threefourths of a year ago, now taken back

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to the arms of the ever loving Saviour.

He was a darling babe,-beautiful, bright and winning,- -so that the oldest said, "how fair a boy,"-the youngest, "how pretty a baby." We all loved him; loved to hold him, smiling playfully, in our arms; loved to watch the little face, so pure, in his cradle-bed; loved to press our lips to the round, fair cheeks, and call him pet names.

He sickened suddenly, and in one short day, with sweet smiles on his baby lips, for his stricken father and mother, he was dead.

O it did not seem like death,-the little sinless one! and we recall Mrs. Judson's lines,

"I know by one sweet token,

My Charlie is not dead." Yesterday, they brought the tiny coffin, and we placed his little pillow in, and there the fond father laid his sweet child;-and loving hearts placed flowers around his head and in the little hands. Dear blossom, so fair, in his pure white bed!

The good minister came, with words of Holy Writ, and the petition to the ever listening Ear; and kind friends chanted a song of praise; -and then we carried him to the tomb.

When next I bowed in prayer, to crave comfort for the affliction, that sweet baby face seemed bending to me from the skies; and all today, as thought has recurred to Charlie, I have seemed to see him smiling in the beautiful world above.

We know he is there, in the Saviour's arms, never to have a pain, or shed a tear, or utter a plaining cry-and we turn to the little form again, and read,

"I would not recall thee,

My glorious angel-boy;

Thou needest not my bosom,
Rare bird of light and joy;
Here dash I down the tear-drops,
Still gathering in my eyes;
Blest-oh! how blest!-in adding
A seraph to the skies."

"And they brought unto Him also infants, that He would touch

them; but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God."

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"Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein."

READING THE BIBLE.

"Он, mother," said Willie, "I have read five chapters this morning." A look of pride flashed on his bright countenance as he closed his Bible, and, uttering these words, looked up in his mother's face. He felt he had done something great, and expected commendation; for the little boy loved praise, as many boys do. But his mother said nothing then, for she understood well his habit of reading. Many days, I am sorry to say, passed without his reading a chapter; and then, when told of his neglect, he would take a sudden start, and run over four or five chapters, and feel that he had retrieved his past negligence. But from such hasty reading little good came; it was too hasty, irregular, to make a deep impression.

This little incident led me to think of some hints about reading the Bible, which I here offer to my little readers :

1. Read the Bible regularly. A good man of old says, "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." This is the true idea. The Bible is daily bread, to be taken regularly, that the seed may grow thereby.

2. Read the Bible attentively. The meaning of the Bible is the Bible. Unless he that reads gets the meaning, it will not do him any good. Hasty reading of a great many chapters at once is of no advantage. Read slowly, a little at a time, and think on what you read, and you will understand and remember it.

3. Read the Bible as God's book; not merely because father or mother

wwish you to read it, but for a better reason, because God speaks to you in the Bible. When I have seen a little girl run in, her eyes sparkling with joy, crying, "O mother, here's a letter from father to me, for my

name is on the outside," I always feel a wish she might thus look on the Bible, for it is a letter from our Father in heaven. So feel, and so read, and you will not grow weary of the good book.

"ALMOSTS."

"ALMOSTS" stand on the brink of every great temporal advantage which the world has ever known. There are those who have almost conquered an evil habit, yet have relapsed, and have become wholly lost under its influence. There have been those who have been almost in time, yet have been, nevertheless, wholly left behind. There have been those who have almost given themselves up to their country, yet have hesitated, and have been finally swept away in the vortex of rebellion.

And there have been those who have been almost saved, but who have turned back and become wholly lost.

AN HONEST LIFE. THE poor pittance of seventy years is not worth being a villain for. What matter is it, if your neighbour lies in a splendid tomb? Sleep you with innocence. Look behind you through the track of time. A vast desert lies open in retrospect; wearied with years and sorrow, they sink from the walks of man. You must leave them where they fall; and you are to go a little farther, and you will find eternal rest. Whatever you may have to encounter between the cradle and the grave, every moment is big with events that come not in succession, but bursting forcibly from a revolving and unknown cause, fly over this globe with diversified influence.

LABOUR AND PRAYER. LABOUR is of noble birth, but prayer is the daughter of heaven. Labour has a place near the throne, but prayer touches the golden sceptre. Labour, Martha-like, is busy with much serving, but prayer sits on the mountain-peak, with Moses; prayer soars upward with Elijah, in a chariot of fire. Labour has the raven's wing, yet sometimes goes forth in vain; but prayer has the pinions of the dove, and never returns but with the olive-leaf of blessing. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

MUTUAL FORBEARANCE.

THE house will be kept in a turmoil where there is no toleration of each other's errors. If you lay a single stick of wood on the grate and apply fire to it, it will go out; put on another stick, and they will burn; and half-a-dozen sticks, and they will blaze. If one member of the family gets into a passion and is let alone, he will cool down, and may possibly be ashamed and repent. But oppose temper; pile on all the fuel; draw in others of the group, and let one harsh answer be followed by another, and there will soon be a blaze that will enwrap them all.