be here as early as he could this morning; but he told her, if he was not here early, to send to beg you to excuse him, as in that case he could not see his landlord until this morning, and therefore could not be here until twelve o'clock.'

This account appeared satisfactory; and I believe the good rector was really glad to hear that this very useful John Tennisson, for whom he certainly felt much interest, was quite out of harm's way.'

6

Our breakfast party was more animated than ever; but though in accordance with my very faulty practice, I kept it together as long as I could, it was finally broken up, as Nanny had some household affairs to attend to, and, I suspected, also to inspect her foster-sister's purchases, and advise her thereupon. I was consigned to the library for the chief part of the morning.

When we met at dinner, I could not possibly imagine what had occurred to make our good rector so unlike what he had been a few hours before. His usual ruddy complexion was quite gone, he eat as if unconsciously, then pushed away the plate, and seemed ready to groan aloud. I was very uneasy, and I fancied the servant looked as if he was possessed of some painful intelligence; but before the meal was quite ended, Nanny, whom Mr. Hastings had engrossed in a dissertation on spinning, a subject which interested her at least as much as the young Oxonian, discovered the cause of my inquietude, and though she made no inquiries at the moment, appeared fully to share it. As soon as the servant had withdrawn, she rose, and approaching her father, leaned over his chair with her hand in his, and a face as pale- What is the matter, papa?'

He did not reply.

'Has not something distressed you?'

'Yes, my child, I intended to tell you after dinner.'

'What is it?' said Nanny—' Mamma ! '—and she sank down on the chair from which Mr. Hastings

rose.

'Oh, no, my love. I have here alarmed you too much; but to me this is a most distressing affair: a murder was committed last night.'

'A man I fear ill prepared for his end-Pat Delany.'

'Unfortunate man! but I was so alarmed-I expected worse, though I could not think what. Is it known who caused his death?'

Ah, my poor girl, that will be the worst part of the story for you to hear. John Tennisson is charged with the crime, and lodged in gaol.'

[We have been assured by the author of this tale, that the leading events did actually occur within her own knowledge, not many years since, in Ireland.—ED.

SUGGESTED BY PSALM XLII. 5.

"Almighty God-cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit.”—Prayer before the Communion Service.

As thoughts of sore unmingled pain
Come crowding o'er the wildered brain,
And throbs the palpitating heart,
While to the eye the tear will start;
And for a time the heavy weight
Of care and sorrow seems so great,
The weary spirit scarce can bear
The load that lies a burden there:
O then the heart is desolate,

And all things outward seem to borrow
The sombre hue of inward sorrow!

For wayward fancy loves to brood
In silence oft and solitude,
Perhaps on some imagined wrong,
Some cherished passion hidden long
Within the secret of the heart;
Or some dear idol seeks a part
Of that which all has long been given
A living sacrifice to Heaven.

Ah! then we feel a fiery dart,
Which adds its poison to our sorrow,
And would forbid a brighter morrow!

Yet, Christian, rid thee of thy chain,
Collect thy scattered thoughts again;
Into one central focus bring

Each fearful and each guilty thing,
That would withhold thy trembling soul
From his, thy Saviour God's, controul.
Yes, take it all to his dear cross,
And for his love count all things loss;
Ask him in faith to make thee whole:
For he to joy can turn thy sorrow,
And bid thee hail a brighter morrow!

M. W.

WE want something upon which to rest our anxious spirits, in the prospect of death and eternity. CHRIST is the resting-place of the soul, and there can be no solid peace, no lasting satisfaction, until the dependence of the heart be placed upon what he has done and suffered for us. Oh, then, come to Him; and, leaving every refuge of his, and turning away from all the sandy foundations of your own doings and deservings, look to, and lean upon that "Rock of Ages," and trust alone in the Lord Jesus Christ; for in Him alone is righteousness; in Him alone is everlasting salvation.-Rev. C. Neat.

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

(FROM HALDANE'S EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.)

THE following instance of the conversion of an opposer of the gospel is so remarkable, that for the glory of Divine grace it ought to be recorded. I know nothing in church history, since the days of the apostles, more illustrative of the power of that grace, and of its visibly instantaneous operations, while its reality has been proved by its effects to the present time:

A pastor of a French Protestant church, near Marseilles, visited Montauban, in the south of France, in the year 1818, when I resided there. On his arrival I was introduced to him, and we immediately entered on the subject of the gospel. I found him strongly fortified in his opposition to the grace of God, and learned that on his journey to Montauban, having heard of the discussions that were agitated there respecting justification, and the way of acceptance with God, he had in various meetings entered keenly and even violently into the subject, thinking it his duty to oppose, with all the energy he possessed, such a doctrine as that of justification by faith without works. This question among many we fully discussed at our first and subsequent interviews. I had not encountered one who appeared more decidedly hostile to the truth as it is in Jesus,