When thy pleasures

All depart,

What will soothe thy
Fainting heart?

Friendless, desolate, alone,
Entering a world unknown?

Oh, be earnest !
Loitering

Thou wilt perish:

Lingering

Be no longer-rise and flee;

Lo! thy Saviour waits for thee! -Independent.

FATHER AND SON; OR, WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE?

ON new-year's eve, a small company of friends and neighbours were seated in Mr Ripley's parlour. An outcry on the part of a large number of boys in the street, occasioned a pause in the conversation. "It seems to me," said Mr Bruce," that boys are a great deal more noisy than they used to be."

"There are more of them," said Mr Huston, "than there used to be. My sheep make more noise now than they did when I kept half a dozen, just enough to keep us in stockings and home-made flannel."

"It is true," said Mr Bruce, "that if you get a large number of boys together, they will naturally make more noise than when they are alone; but that is not what I complain of. Boys are worse than they used to be. They are more unmannerly, rude, and deceitful than they used to be."

"That ought not to be the case," said Mr Johnson; "there is a great deal more said and written about bringing up children than there used to be."

"Saying and writing won't answer the purpose," said Mr Rivers. "Parents must put the saying, and the writing (so far as it is true), into action; they must train up their children in the way they should go; do not you say so, Mr Ripley ?"

"Yes," replied Mr Ripley, " children want attending to."

"Do you think they receive as much attention from their parents as they did thirty years ago ? " "No, as a general thing, I do not think they do, and there is a reason for it. There is a great deal more business to be done now than there was thirty years ago. It is impossible for business men to give much attention to their children. The matter must be left chiefly with the mothers."

"I do not remember any passage of Scripture which excuses such fathers as may have a great deal to do, from bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

"A man's duty is, in a measure, determined by the circumstances in which he is placed. One thing is pretty certain, that if mothers do not attend to children, they will not get attended to."

and a store, and a factory all to attend to. As soon as I am up in the morning, I must be off to see to one or another of these, and it takes every hour of the day, and pretty late at night, to keep them going straight. I seldom see my boy from breakfast-time one day, till breakfast-time the next day. What can I do in the way of looking after him?"

"Not much, certainly. The question for you to decide, as it seems to me, is, which is worth the most? the farm, the store, the factory, or the soul of the boy? It is plain that you cannot attend to them all. You should, of course, neglect that which is of the least value."

Mr Ripley turned away from Mr Rivers, persuaded himself that he did so in order to avoid the necessity of saying any thing inconsistent with the courtesy required by hospitality. He took some credit to himself for his forbearance in relation to what he termed Mr Rivers' bluntness. He was soon deep in politics with Mr Huston.

Where was the boy to whom allusion was made in the conversation above recorded? He was in a room, over the entrance to which was a sign with the words, "VILLAGE GROCERY." The village grogshop would have been more in accordance with truth. Had you entered that long, low room, you would have seen a red curtain drawn across the further end, and lights gleaming through the curtain. You would have heard sounds indicating the employment of those who were cut off from the view of the ordinary customers. Had you drawn aside that curtain, you could have seen James Ripley, and three other incipient gamblers, seated round a table. There they remained till nearly ten o'clock, when James came out with a flushed countenance and a swaggering air.

"I say, Jim," said Mr Ames, who sat by the fireside, in hopes that some one would bestow upon him a glass of liquor, "what would your father say if he were to know where you spend your evenings?"

"He would not say any thing; he has too much to do to attend to a chap of my size." "The more pity."

"You take care of number one," said James, as he left the room.

"He would make a fine boy if he were looked after a little more closely," said one whose visits to the grocery were occasional, and who, in the judgment of the charitable, did not drink enough to hurt him.

"He is in a bad way," said the former speaker, "The old gentleman is making money very fast, but it is a chance if his son does not find a way to make it go faster than it came."

"Perhaps he will do better when he gets older," said the keeper of the grocery," with a smile which partook largely of the demoniac.

"Perhaps he will."

Having spoken these words, Ames gazed long and steady upon the glowing embers. Perhaps he was thinking of his own early days-of his first trans

"Just see now how I am situated; I have a farm,

was thinking of the probability furnished by his own dark and bitter experience, that one who had

early entered the paths of vice would retrace his steps and return to virtue and happiness. Something like a tear stood in his eye. He rose and went towards the door, then turned to the grocer, and sought in vain to get credit for a glass of rum, and then made his way towards what was called his home.

It may be asked, was Mrs Ripley indifferent to the welfare of her son? By no means. She loved him as a mother must love a son, and desired to restrain him from wandering. When he was quite young, she had exerted a wholesome authority over him; but as he grew older, she shrunk from the attempt while unsupported by her husband. She made a vain effort to retain her influence while she relinquished her claims to authority. With an aching heart, she saw him become more and more regardless of her wishes, and more and more wedded to sin.

The rapidly progressing ruin of the once promising boy, became the theme of general remark. One man was found bold enough to remonstrate with the father for his neglect. He met him in the street. Without any conciliating remarks he inquired, "Do you know where your son spends his evenings?" "At home with his mother, I suppose." "You had better make inquiry about it." Mr Ripley did so, and found to his astonishment, that his boy was never at home before ten o'clock that often he was out at a much later hour. Further inquiries revealed the manner in which his evenings

were spent.

"I will put him in the store, where I can have an eye upon him," said Mr R. He did so; James soon found that his father's eye was upon other objects. He laid his course accordingly, and the only effect of his connection with the store, was increased celerity in his downward course. He procured from the store the means of gambling on a larger scale. This led to a more frequent recourse to the intoxicating cup. Ere he was twenty-one, he was a wandering

vagabond.

Many thought it strange that the son of so affectionate a mother, and the inmate of such a comfortable home, should turn out so badly. The farm, the store, and the factory turned out better. What made the difference?

THE GREATEST WANT.

No men in the world want help like them who want the gospel. Of all distresses, want of the gospel cries loudest for relief. A man may want liberty, and yet be happy, as Joseph was; a man may want peace, and yet be happy, as David was; a man may want plenty, and yet be full of comfort, as Micaiah was; but he that wants the gospel wants every thing that should do him good. A throne without the gospel is but the devil's dungeon; wealth without the gospel is fuel for hell; advancement without the gospel is but going high to have the greater fall. What do men need that want the gospel? They want Jesus Christ, for he is revealed only by the gospel. He is all and in all, and where he is wanting there can be no good. Hunger cannot truly be satisfied without manna, the bread of life, which is Jesus Christ; and what shall a hungry man do that hath

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no bread? Thirst cannot be quenched without a living spring, which is Jesus Christ; and what shall a thirsty soul do without water ? A captive, as we all are, cannot be delivered without redemption, which is Jesus Christ; and what shall the prisoner do without his ransom? Fools, as we all are, cannot be instructed without wisdom, which is Jesus Christ; without him we perish in our folly. All building without him is on the sand, and will surely fall. All working without him is in the fire, where it will be consumed. All riches without him have wings, and will fly away. A dungeon with Christ is a throne, and a throne without Christ is a hell. Nothing is so ill, but Christ will compensate. All mercies without Christ are bitter, and every cup is sweet that is seasoned with but a drop of his blood; he is truly the love and delight of the sons of men. He is the Way; men without him are Cains, murderers and vagabonds. He is the Truth; men without him are liars, like the devil, who was so of old. He is the Life; men without him are dead, dead in trespasses and sins. He is the Light; men without him are in darkness, and go they know not whither. He is the Vine; those that are not grafted in him are withered branches, prepared for the fire. He is the Rock; men not built on him are carried away with a flood. He is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the author and the ender, the founder and the finisher of our salvation; he that hath not him hath neither beginning of good, nor shall have an end of misery. O blessed Jesus! how much better were it not to be, than to be without thee; never to be born, than not to die in thee. A thousand hells come short of this-eternally to want Jesus, as men do who want the gospel. They want all holy communion with God, wherein the only happiness of the soul doth consist. Without him, the soul in the body is a dead soul in a living sepulchre. They want all the ordinances of God, the joy of our hearts, and the comfort of our souls. O the sweetness of a Sabbath!,the heavenly raptures of prayer! O the deprived of! If they knew the value of the hidden glorious communion of saints, which such men are pearl, and these things were to be purchased, what would such poor souls not part with for them? They will at last want heaven and salvation; they shall inhabit a glorious mansion. They shall never behold never come into the presence of God in glory, never Jesus Christ but when they shall call for rocks and mountains to fall on them and to hide them from his presence. They shall want light in utter darkness; they shall want life under the second death; want refreshment in the midst of flames; want healing under the gnawing of conscience; want grace, continuing to blaspheme; want glory in full misery; and, which is the sum of all, they shall want an end of all this: for "their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched."-Dr John Owen's Sermon before the English Parliament in 1646.

THE BEST TIME TO LIVE. L.-MOTHER, I wish I had been born in Judea when Jesus was upon the earth.

Mrs A.-What makes you wish so?

L.-It would have been so easy to become a follower of Christ then.

Mrs A.-It would have been easy to follow him from place to place, but not to become his spiritual better advantages for becoming Christians than those follower-to become a true Christian. We enjoy far did who lived in Judea when the Saviour dwelt in the flesh.

Mrs A.-Yes. There was nothing in the sight of Christ adapted to save the soul. Those who were saved in those days, looked to him by faith, and that we can do as easily as they could, indeed more easily. We have not as many difficulties in our way as they had. We have not their Jewish prejudices to overcome. We are not exposed to the persecutions to which they were exposed.

L.--But they had the privilege of hearing the very words of Jesus.

Mrs A.-We have the privilege of reading the very words of Jesus. We have probably more of the very words of Jesus than were heard by any one person, unless we except the twelve who were always with him. Then we enjoy a peace and quietness, and advantages for education, to which they were strangers. They heard the gospel occasionally as Jesus passed near; we hear it Sabbath after Sabbath. They had only the Jewish Scriptures, and only few had access to them. We have the whole Bible, and can at any time read in our own language the wonderful works of God. I might mention many more particulars which show that we have better advantages for becoming Christians than were possessed by those who lived in Judea when Christ was upon earth.

L.—I never saw it in that light before. I always thought the people of those times were peculiarly guilty for rejecting Christ.

Mrs A.-If men are guilty in proportion to the light they enjoy, those of Judea were less guilty than those who live in this favoured land. Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum saw a great light, but they had not the light which we enjoy. While we are to be thankful for richer advantages, we ought to be most careful to employ them aright, lest a heavier doom than befell the inhabitants of Capernaum should fall

upon us.

L.-On one account I should like to have lived then; I could have ministered to the wants of Jesus. What a privilege it would have been to have him under one's roof!

Mrs A.-You can do the very same thing for him now, or rather what he regards as the same thing. L.-In what way?

Mrs A.-By ministering to the wants of those who belong to him. "Inasmuch," he says, "as ye have done it to the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." In this respect, then, those who lived in the time of Christ had no advantage over us. We can do as much for Christ as they could, and more, for we have greater means; we are possessed of more property than they were.

L.-I do not see, then, but that we were born in just the right time.

Mrs A.-The time appointed by God is doubtless the best time, and the circumstances in which we are placed the best ones for us. We are to do our duty in those circumstances, without inquiring whether others have a harder or an easier lot. We are prone to believe that some other condition than the one in which we are placed would render the

ever may be our condition, we have the promise, "as thy day is, so shall thy strength be."-A. D. L.

HOW TO MAKE A WILL. DESPATCH this before thy sickness doth increase, and thy memory decay; lest otherwise thy testament prove a dotement, and so be another man's fancy rather than thy will.

To prevent many inconveniences, let me recommend to thy discretion two things:

If God have blessed thee with any competent share of wealth, make thy will in thy time of health. It will neither put thee farther from thy goods, nor hasten thee sooner to thy death; but it will be a greater ease to thy mind, in freeing thee from a great trouble when thou shalt have most need of quiet. For when thy house is set in order, thou shalt be better enabled to set thy soul in order, and to dispose of thy journey towards God.

If thou hast children, give to every one a portion, according to thine ability, in thy lifetime; that thy life may seem an ease, and not a yoke unto them. Yet so give as that thy children may be still beholden unto thee, and not thou unto them. But if thou keep all in thy hands whilst thou livest, they may thank death, and not thee, for the portion that thou leavest them. If thou hast no children, and the Lord hath blessed thee with a great portion of the goods of this world, and if thou meanest to bestow them upon any charitable or pious uses, hand not over that good work to the trust of others, seeing thou seest how most of other men's executors prove almost executioners. And, if friends be so unfaithful in a man's life, how much greater cause hast thou to distrust their fidelity after thy death?

Lamentable experience showeth how many dead men's wills have, of late, either been quite concealed, utterly overthrown, or by cavils and quirks of law frustrated or altered; whereas by the law of God the will of the dead should not be violated, but all his godly intentions conscionably performed and fulfilled, as in the sight of God, who in the day of the resurrection will be a just God both of the quick and

dead.

Let rich men be warned by such examples, not so to marry their minds to their money, as that they will do no good with their goods until death divorceth them. Considering therefore the shortness of thine own life, and the uncertainty of others' just dealing after thy death, in these unjust days, let me advise thee, whom God hath blessed with ability and an intent to do good, to become in thy lifetime' thine own administrator, make thine own hands thine executors, and thine own eyes thy overseers; cause thy lanthorn to give her light before thee, and not behind thee; give God the glory, and thou shalt receive of him, in due time, the reward which of his grace and mercy he hath promised to thy good works.-Lewis Bailey.

ABSENCE FROM CHURCH. He has been absent from church for several Sabbaths.

Have you been to see him? Perhaps he is sick. And O how grateful are the attentions of a fellowmember of the church to a sick brother! Do not leave him in his loneliness, uncheered by a word of sympathy or comfort. Go and sit by his bedside, and talk cheerfully to him, and read the Word of God to him; sing some of the songs of Zion, and pray with

him. You may do him great good; administer spirit- | ual comfort to his heart, and he will love you more as he recovers, and the religion that prompts you, and the church with which you are mutually connected, will become dearer to him as he realises the precious sympathy which its fellowship evokes.

Have you been to see him? Perhaps he is poor, and wants fitting garments to appear decently in the house of God. It may be a false pride that keeps him away on this account, or it may be the true cause of his absence. It is a cause of more frequent recurrence than many of us are willing to admit. Visit him delicately, kindly. Win his confidence, and inquire like a brother for the reasons. And if this should be the case, interest yourself with your brethren for the supply of his necessities. Jesus will remember your kind interposition, and say to you approvingly, "I was naked, and ye clothed me."

Have you been to see him? Perhaps there is affliction in his family. His wife or child may be suffering, and need his attention at home. He may even be kept from his daily employment by nursing the sick, and thus doubly need your fraternal sympathy and aid. At any rate go and see what is the matter; you may be very useful to him.

Have you been to see him? Perhaps he is a wanderer from the fold. He may have yielded to temptation, and be turning toward the "beggarly elements of the world." He may have become offended at something he has seen or heard. Something may have aliented his affections from the church. Visit him, and evince your interest for his spirituality. Talk to him kindly and faithfully, and you may win him back again. How happy for you, how happy for him, if his wandering feet are checked and turned again toward Zion! "If a brother be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness." "He that converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and hide a multitude of sins."

THE CLOCK OF LIFE.

LITTLE Lewis Rollins lives at the large house on the hill, with the pillars before the door. He sometimes rides out on a pony, though he is a very little boy to be on horseback. Lewis is a nice little fellow.

Mr Rollins one day went with his son to the old clock that stood in the hall, to teach him how to find out, at any time, the hour of the day or night. He explained to him that the broad hand marked the hour; the long finger the minutes, and the quickmoving, small, thin finger, the seconds.

Again and again, Mr Rollins repeated his instructions to little Lewis, and was very patient and forbearing with him in the mistakes that he at first made in naming the time. At last little Lewis, to his great joy, was perfect in his lesson, so that he could tell what o'clock it was almost as well as his father.

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the clock of life. I mean the beating of your pulse; for it may often remind you of the value of time, and the necessity of turning it to good account. Time is worth more than the finest gold.

"My pulse is the clock of my life;

It shows how my moments are flying;
It marks the departure of time,

And it tells me how fast I am dying.' "He who lives a day without doing good, loses a day; and he who makes another happy, is sure to be all the happier for it himself.

"I will show you how to lay your fingers on your pulse properly, and you must remember that every beat you have lived a moment longer in the world, and have a moment less to live in it. Truly may we all say, 'Lord, make me to know mine end, and the how frail I am. measure of my days, what it is; that I may know Behold thou hast made my days as an hand-breadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee.'-(Ps. xxxix. 4, 5)."

Little Lewis felt that his father had made him left to himself, he did not fail to go over, again and much wiser than he was before; and, when he was again, the lesson which had been taught him. A dozen times in the course of that day was he seen running into the hall to look at the clock-face; and almost as many times was he heard to repeat the words, while his fingers were on his wrist,

"My pulse is the clock of my life;

It shows how my moments are flying;
It marks the departure of time,
And it tells me how fast I am dying."

spirit of unfeigned love, and bear to them the glorious gospel. We mean by this something quite beyond sending them a printed Bible, or an appropriate religious tract. We mean that you who know and love the gospel, and possess it in your souls as a living power, should carry its living power to these not religious families in your heart. This is easily done, provided your heart is really full of the gospel. When this is the case, the living power within you will be transmitted, as on electric wires, to the hearts with which you come in contact. The eye and the tear are gifted with a voice to the heart; your words will be wisely persuasive when love to the soul makes you eloquent. God is wont to befriend such missionaries. He knows how to give them, in such an hour, a word of wisdom and power which even their adversaries can neither gainsay nor resist.

How essential that such missionary work be done! For want of it, how many thousand families in our nation live on year after year, utterly unblessed of the gospel! Scores of thousands rarely come to the assemblies of God's people to hear the gospel; few or none go to carry it to them. Hence they live substantially as if there were no gospel in the land -as if the region of their birth and of their death enjoyed no light from heaven, revealing life and hope for lost man. We do not say of them that ab

solutely they have no gospel light; usually they have; enough to be to them a savour of death. They are not saved thereby.

In this point of view, then, revivals are needed. In seasons of revival, aggressions are made upon irreligion. Many a time have our own eyes rejoiced at the sight. Whole families, reached and transformed by the gospel's power, have henceforth made common cause with Christ and with his people. "There was great joy in that city.”—Oberlin Evan.

THE EMPTY CRADLE. "The mother gave in tears and pain

The flowers that she most did love; She knew she would find them all again In the field of light above."-LONGFELLOW. THE death of a little child is to the mother's heart like dew on a plant from which a bud has just perished. The plant lifts up his head in freshened greenness to the morning light; so the mother's soul gathers from the dark sorrow which she has passed a fresh brightening of her heavenly hopes.

As she bends over the empty cradle, and in fancy brings her sweet infant before her, a ray of divine light is on the cherub face. It is her son still, but with the seal of immortality on his brow. She feels that heaven was the only atmosphere where her precious flower could unfold without spot or blemish, and she would not recall the lost. But the anniversary of his departure seems to bring his spiritual presence near her. She indulges in that tender grief which soothes, like an opiate in pain, all hard passages and cares of life. The world to her is no longer filled with human love and hope in the future, so glorious with heavenly love and joy; she has treasures of happiness which the worldly, unchastened heart never conceived. The bright fresh flowers with which she has decorated her room-the apart

ment where her infant died-are mementoes of the far brighter hopes now drawing on her day-dream. She thinks of the glory and beauty of the new Jerusalem, where the little foot will never find a thorn

among the flowers to render her help necessary. Nor will a pillow be wanted for the dear head reposing on the breast of a kind Saviour. And she knows her infant is there in that world of eternal bliss.

She has marked one passage in that book-to her emphatically the Word of Life-now lying closed on the toilette table, which she daily reads. "Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

LIVE FOR SOMETHING.

THOUSANDS of men breathe, move, and live; pass off the stage of life, and are heard of no more. Why? They did not a particle of good in the world; and none were blest by them, none could point to them as the instruments of their redemption; not a line they wrote, not a word they spoke, could be recalled, and so they perished-their light went out in darkness, and they were not remembered more than the insects of yesterday. Will you thus live and die, O man immortal! Live for something. Do good, and leave behind you a monument of virtue that the storms of time can never destroy. Write your name by kindness, love, and mercy, on the hearts of the thousands you come in contact with year by year, and you will never be forgotten. No, your name, your deeds, will be as legible on the hearts you leavé behind, as the stars on the brow of evening. Good deeds will shine as brightly on the earth as the stars of heaven.-Dr Chalmers.

DEATH AND THE ALEHOUSE.

"AT our village feast or wake," writes one, "there is much drunkenness and rioting. Sunday was heretofore the chief day of gaiety. On a Sunday evening last year, seeing the yard of the drinking-shop full of topers, a person went in amongst them with tracts and offered them at the ale counters. The first tract offered was, Are you prepared to die? The man who took it, read the title aloud and said, 'No sir, I am not.'

"He was asked, 'Is this the place to prepare to die?" "He said, "No sir, I think not.'

"He then took up his hat and said, 'I will go off immediately took the tract away in his hand, and left the village to go home. In half an hour the yard was clear."

CONSULT THE TOWN-CLERK OF EPHESUS. "I HAVE heard you say," observes Dr Mather, "that there was a gentlemen mentioned in the 19th chapter of the Acts, to whom you was more indebted than any other in the world." This was the townclerk of Ephesus, whose counsel was to do nothing rashly. Upon any proposal of consequence, it was usual with him to say, Let us first consult with the town-clerk of Ephesus." What mischief, trouble, people more in the habit of consulting this gentleand sorrow would be avoided in the world, were

man!

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