from the horrible pit and miry clay, and set his feet upon the rock Christ Jesus. He felt the renovating influence of the Holy Spirit; he saw the fulness and all-sufficiency of Christ, and was enabled to cast his guilty soul on the atoning Lamb of God. A real change took place in him; and he experienced a little heaven below! He felt the truth of that word, 'Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The love of God was shed abroad in his heart; and he rejoiced 'with a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.' I am well aware that the man who has been all his life iminured in business, and had scarcely a thought beyond the present world, the man whose pleasures have been earthly and sensual, and the frozen hearted' professor of religion, will exclaim, 'This is all enthusiasm.' But I would ask, Can enthusiasm change the heart? Can it enable the sinner, in the near prospect of dissolution, to look on death with delight, as the moment that shall usher him into the eternal world? Can it

Take pain from life, and terror from the tomb, Give peace in hand, and promise bliss to come?' Then let nie, gracious God, live and die in the possession of such enthusiasm!

Through the whole of his long protracted illness, his soul was stayed upon God. He felt no fear of death, but rather desired to depart. He had deep and constant communion with God. In this happy frame he continued till he bade adieu to things temporal, and ascended to glory.

He fell asleep in Jesus on Lord's Day, April 7, 1811, in full assurance of a glorious resurrection to eternal life. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?'

'The Wages of Sin is Death!'

About the latter end of February last, a bricklayer, of the name of Kennedy, was employed at a public building in Belfast. He drank to excess for near a fortnight; for which his employer, a sober man, discharged him from the work. Kennedy was so irritated at this, that he swore he ought to be hanged for not killing his employer; and repaired to the building for that deadly purpose! He ascended the scaffold, and aimed a blow at his employer, which providentially missed him. Stepping on the edge of the scaffold to make a second blow at him, he fell over, and was taken up speechless and insensible! In this state he was carried to the Dispensary, where, not long after, his soul was, called into a world of spirits, to give an account of the deeds done in the body! A short time before he expired, a most horrid shriek was heard through the whole Dispensary, to the very great terror of the patients; one of whom nearly fainted with the fright. The

shriek caused the surrounding air to ring, and died away in a frightful murmur.The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. To decide upon the condition of a spirit when dislodged from the body, is not, in my humble opinion, the province of man; it is with the living, not the dead, we have to do. O that men would hear and fear, and do no more so exceeding wickedly, lest the vengeance of God should overtake them in an hour they think not of! O, ye who live as though ye never should die, take warning! It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!' Dublin.

Evangelicana.

ADOLESCENS.

ANECDOTE OF MR. THOMAS, LATE MISSIONARY IN INDIA.

MR. THOMAS, one of the missionary brethren at Serampore, and who has now finished his pious course, was one day, after addressing & crowd of the natives on the margin of the Ganges, accosted by a Brahman as follows:

Sahaib (or Sir) don't you say that the Devil tempts men to sin " "Yes," answered Mr. Thomas. Then,' said the Brahman,' certainly the fault is the Devil's; the Devil therefore, and not man, ought to suffer the punishment. While the countenances of many of the natives discovered their approbation of the Brahman's inference, Mr. Thomas, observing á boat with several men on board, descending the river, with that facility of instructive refort for which he was so much distinguished, replied, "Brahman, do you see yonder boat?" Yes.' Suppose I were to send some of my friends to destroy every person on board, and bring me all that is valuable in the boat, who ought to suffer punishment? 1 for instructing them, or they for doing this wicked act?" "Why,' answered the Brahman, with emotion, you ought all to be put to death together.' "Aye, Brahman," replied Mr. T." and if you and the Devil sin together, the Devil and you will be punished together."

SPINSTERS.

OUR law supposes all to be of some calling, not only men but women, and the young ladies too; and, therefore, it calls them, during their virgin state, Spinsters. But, alas, the viciousness and degeneracy of this age hath forfeited the title! Many can card, but few can spin; and therefore you may write them carders, dancers, painters, ranters, spenders, rather than spinsters. Industry is worn out by pride and delicacy; the comb and the looking-glass possess the place and the hours of the spindle and the distaff; and their great business is to curl the locks, instead of twisting, wool and flax. So that both male and females are prepared for all ill impressions, by the mischief of an idle

education.'

MATTHEW MEAD.

Augustus so educated his daughter and grand-daughters, that they were accustomed even to spinning of wool: he seldom wore any other clothes than were manufactured by his wife. -Suel. Vita Aug.

The Princess of Orange (Queen of William III.) had no relish for those indolent diversions, which are too common consumers of most people's

time. By her example, it became as much a fashion among the ladies of quality to work, as it had been formerly to be idle.

Lady Russell's Letlers. The following passage of Virgil bears so great a resemblance to the description of the virtuous woman, whose price is far above rubies,' Prov. xxxi. 10—31, that it might almost pass for a poetical imitation of versés 18, 19, 15:

:

A PERSON, now one of · congregation, dates his first serious impressions from reading a Tract put into his hands by a shopkeeper in London. He is a man upwards of fifty years of age; who has lived, till within the last two years, in the total neglect of every thing sacred, and in the constant practice of very gross sins. He was a very hard drinker, a most profane swearer, and, in other respects, ranked among the very worst in our depraved town. On going into the shop of the person above mentioned, in a state of intoxication, he was presented with a Tract, which he afterwards read with attention. It made no small impression on his mind; so that, though he continued for a time afterwards in the practice of sin, he was restless and very uneasy. He shortly afterwards came under the preached word; and the sight of him astonished many who knew him; for he was a monster in human shape. God was pleased to send the word to his heart; he heard with deep sorrow for sin; and, from the consequences which followed, we have good reason to hope his repentance was unto life.

PASSAGE FROM DR. SIBBS.

An excellent spirit breathes in the writings of this ancient, learned, and godly author. They abound in weighty and pleasant remarks. Among many others, I observed the following: 'One seasonable truth falling upon a prepared heart, hath oftentimes a sweet and strong operation Luther confesseth, that having heard a grave divine, Staupicius, say, That that is kind repentance which begins from the love of God, ever after that time the practice of repentance was sweeter to him. This speech of his likewise took well with Luther, That in doubts of predestination we should begin from the wounds of Christ; that is, from the sense of God's love to us in Christ, we should arise to the grace given us in election before the world was.' Soul's Conflict. It is agreeable to find that encouragement is given to republish the works of this and other eminent men, so well calculated to be useful.

EDUCATION.

THE following is an extract of a letter from the Rev. Dr. Ford, Ordnary of Newgate, on the Causes of the Commitment of so many 'Crimes

The cause of the committing of crimes is to be ascribed, in my humble opinon, to the want of early instruction in reading;' conse

quently, a total ignorance of religion, as well as of every moral principle. Indeed, the lower orders are by habit so familiarized with the Divine Being as to swear by him; but they neither believe in him nor pray to him and why? Because they have not been made acquainted with him in their youth, nor have they enjoyed the greatest of all blessings, as well as comforts, of being instructed in his holy word. You cannot expect these people to practise what they do not know. Let the poor be educated, and I will venture to assert, that, in the course of thirty years at most, there will not be one-fourth of the crimes which are now committed. About seven or eight years back, going into the desk, at the Chapel at Newgate, on the first Sunday after the preceding Sessions, I saw 12 men in the condemned felons pew, who, from the respectable appearance of their dress, and the ease of their deportment, seemed to have been proper characters to be introduced into the very best of company. When I announced the day of the month, and mentioned the psalm, I was very much astonished to observe, that not one of these convicts took up a prayer book (though there were several lying before them); neither did any of the party seem to know a single particle of the church. service, or when they were to sit, or stand, or kneel. The ensuing day I attended them in the condemned room, when, after some conversation suitable to their forlorn situation, the following dialogue took place: Ordinary. I take it for granted you are all Dissenters.

A Prisoner. Oh dear, Sir, no; I believe we are all Churchmen. Ordinary. How did it happen, then, that none of you opened a prayer-book yesterday during divine service? Upon this there was rather an appearance of confusion, and a dead silence. I put the question a second time; and one of them hesitatingly stammered out, Sir, I cannot read;' Nor I, nor I, nor I,' was rapidly uttered by them all. Ordinary. How is it, then, that calling yourselves Churchmen, you seemed so ignorant of the customs of the church, as not to answer one of the common responses?

A Prisoner.

Sir, I have not been in the habit of going to church for, as I was never taught to read, I did not chuse to go there to expose ny ignorance. So said several others; and some said their parents

never went.

Ordinary.—As you have not been in the habit of going to church, and none of you can read, how came you to say that you were Churchmen. What is the meaning of the word Churchman?

:

A Prisoner. I really do not know but this I am sure of, that I am no Catholic, nor any of my family.

Ordinary-Were you ever taught the catechism?
Prisoner-I never heard of it in my life.

At this time I have 13 male convicts under my care, 12 of whom are Churchmen, like those of whom I last mentioned, and not more than four of them can read; the 13th is an Irish Catholic, and is not acquainted with a single letter.

If my memory served, I could quote hundreds of instances of si milar ignorance among criminals. Can it be expected, then, that such poor nutaught creatures can be sensible of the immorality of their conJuct? Certainly not. -I am positive that the rising generation cannot be made more guilty than the present, by learning to read; and therefore I am for the experiment being made; but whether by Dr. Bell's or by Mr. Lancaster's method, seems to be of small consequence. Do but teach them to read, and instruct them in the principles of religion, and leave the event to the Almighty.'

CONSIDER CONSEQUENCES,

I laying down general maxims, it is necessary to consider consequences ;--it is expedient (at least sometimes) to point out the good and awful uses which may be made of a proposition, and to guard against

the pernicious consequences which weak or wicked persons may pretend to derive from it. Thus Sylvanus, the abbot of an ancient monastery, convinced a travelling monk of his erroneous application of two texts of Scripture. The story is this: A certain brother came to the convent at Mount Sinai, and finding all the monks at work, shook his head, and said to the abbot," Labour not for the meat that perisheth-and-" Mary chose the good part: Very well' said the abbot; and ordered a servant to conduct the good brother to a cell, and give him a book to read, The monk retired, and sat, hour after hour, all the day long alone; wondering much that nobody called him to dianer, or offered him any refreshment. Bungry, and wearied out, the night' at length arrived: he left his solitary cell, and repaired to the apartment of the abbot. "Father," says he, "don't the brethren eat to-day ?" O yes,' replied the abbot, they have eaten plentifully.' Then, how is it, Father," said the monk, "that you did not call me to partake with them?" • Because, brother, replied the abbot, you are a spiritual man, and have no need of carnal food. For our parts, we are obliged to eat; and on that account we work: but you, brother, who have chosen the good part, you sit and read all day long, and are above the want of the meat that perisheth.' "Pardon me, father," said the monk, "I perceive my mistake." See Dr. Williams's Christian Preacher, 2d edition, p. 3202

6

TREMELLIUS the Jew (who, along with Junius, translated the Old Testament into Latin) when converted to Christianity, made this his motto: Not Barrabas, but Christ.' This was in opposition to what his poor infatuated countrymen once said, Not this man, but Barrabas.' Hereby he gave intination to all the world that he had renounced all for the Lord Jesu Christ, and was resolved to give Christ the preference to every creature. '

·

Rev. Sir,

JUVENILE DEPARTMENT.

To the Editor.

Having read with lively interest in your Magazine of April, a forcible Appeal to Young Persons on Behalf of the poor Heathen, who are perishing for lack of knowledge; and exhorting children to appropriate part of the sums allowed them as pocket money to forward the cause of Missions, I beg to hand you the outlines of a plan which has appeared to myself and several Christian friends, best calculated to obtain so desirable an end, and which we are now carrying into execution with the fairest prospect of success. A FRIEND TO MISSIONS. Bristol,

VARIOUS and extensive as are the benevolent institutions for the Spread of the Gospel, and the Salvation of immortal Souls, yet, as these institutions extend in their usefulness, and consequently in their expences, it behoves the followers of Jesus Christ to seek every new resource by which his blessed Gospel may be more widely diffused, and not to cease their exertions until his name shall be known from the rising to the salting sun.

1

སན་

The institution to which the attention of the Christian is now more particularly directed, is the Missionary Society, the happy effects of whose exertions are too well known to need insertion here; but whose expenditure has, in the two last years, greatly exceeded their income; and whose future efforts must necessarily be contracted, unless additional supplies enable them to keep pace with their enlarging prospects of usefulness.

believed there is, at least, one resource yet unexplored, front