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Some may censure me, but is there not a cause? Pulpits are denied, and the poor colliers ready to perish for lack of knowledge.'

Having once taken the field, he was not only encouraged to persevere in such a course by the multitudes that flocked to hear, but he was shut up to this as his only opportunity of proclaiming the Gospel, as these new and irregular proceedings were the means of excluding him from all the pulpits of the Established Church, in which he held deacon's orders. He therefore soon went again to Kingswood. His second audience consisted of two thousand persons; his third, from four to five, and they went on increasing to ten, fourteen, and twenty thousand. To behold such crowds,' he says, 'standing together in such an awful silence, to hear the echo of their singing run from one end of them to the other, was very solemn and striking. How infinitely more solemn and striking will the general assembly of the spirits of just men made perfect be, when they join in singing the song of Moses and the Lamb in heaven? Yet, as the scene was new, and I had just begun to be an extempore preacher, it often occasioned many inward conflicts. Sometimes, when twenty thousand people were before me, I had not, in my own apprehension, a word to say either to God or them. But I never was totally deserted, and frequently so assisted (for to deny it would be lying against God), that I knew by happy experience what our Lord meant by saying, out of his The first evibelly shall flow rivers of living waters.' dence he observed of having made any impression on his rude auditors was their deep silence; the next and still more convincing was, his observation of the white gutters made by the tears which fell plentifully down their The cheeks, black and unwashed from the coal-pits. open firmament above me, the prospect of the adjacent fields, with the sight of thousands and thousands, some in coaches and some on horseback, and some in the trees, and at times all affected and drenched in tears together;' to which was sometines added the solemnity of the approaching evening,' was almost too much for, and quite overcame me.'

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"As might have been expected from people so utterly untrained, except in the savage sports of bull-baiting, cock-fighting, and other works of the devil, as were the colliers of Kingswood, in no place was the preaching of the Gospel accompanied with more unrestrained outward demonstration of feeling. Convulsions, cries, in some few cases blasphemies, which led to the idea of demoniacal possession, were exhibited. Occasionally, even Wesley, who was accused of being more prone to credulity than his colleague, suspected that the emotions were feigned, and treated them accordingly. But in general, a great mass of the people were savingly converted, and Whitstood well the test of being tried by their fruits. field was about to leave them in prosecution of his purpose to visit Georgia. He prevailed on Wesley to come down to Bristol to occupy his place, and introduced him to his many congregations. Wherever he took his leave, there was loud weeping. Oh,' he exclaims, 'these partings!' An exclamation which, from the day when they whose hearts were knit to Paul at Ephesus 'wept sore, and sorrowed most of all that they should has repeated its painful see his face no more,' till now, echo in the hearts of Christians, and will continue to repeat it, till partings shall cease for ever in the general assembly and Church of the First-born. When he forced himself away from Bristol, crowds were waiting at the door to give him a last farewell, and nearly twenty Blessed be friends accompanied him on horseback. God!' he exclaims, for the marvellous great kindness Many sinners I believe he hath shown me in this city. have been effectually converted; numbers of God's children greatly comforted; several thousands of little books have been dispersed among the people; about two hundred pounds collected for the Orphan House;

and many poor families relieved by the bounty of my Shall not these things be noted in God forbid they should not be written on friend Mr Seward.

my book?

the tables of my heart.'
"His road lay through Kingswood. It must have
been very gratifying to him to find these people, so re-
cently possessed with all the selfish and stormy passions,
waiting to greet him with an entertainment prepared
without his knowledge. He had preached to them on
the duty of educating their children, and urged them to
subscribe for the erection of a school-house; and he him-
self was surprised to witness the cheerfulness with which
they parted with their money on this occasion. On his
farewell visit, they earnestly entreated Mr Whitfield to
lay the first stone, which he did; after which he knelt,
and prayed that the gates of hell might not prevail
against the design, to which petition the colliers said a
hearty Amen!

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"Mr Wesley succeeded him, and after a considerable struggle against his previous habits and ideas of order, took to the highways and hedges, with as much success as Mr Whitfield. His account, a part of which we extract, corroborates all that has been previously said of the state of these people. [November 27, 1739.] Few persons have lived long in the West of England who have not heard of the colliers of Kingswood, a people famous from the beginning hitherto for neither fearing God nor regarding man; so ignorant of the things of God, that they seemed but one remove from the beasts that perish, and therefore utterly without desire of instruction, as well as without the means of it. Many, last winter, used tauntingly to say of Mr Whitfield, if he will convert When he was called heathens, why does he not go to the colliers of Kingswood? In spring he did so. away, others followed to compel them to come in; and, by the grace of God, their labour was not in vain. The scene is already changed: Kingswood does not now, as a year ago, resound with cursing and blasphemy. It is no more filled with drunkenness and uncleanness, and It is the idle diversions which naturally lead thereto. no longer full of wars and fightings, of clamour and bitterness, of wrath and envyings. Peace and love are Great numbers of people are mild, gentle, and there. easy to be entreated. They do not cry, neither strive, and hardly is their voice heard in the street, or indeed in their own Wood, unless when they are at their usual evening devotion, singing praise unto God their Saviour. That their children, too, might know the things which make for their peace, it was some time since proposed to build a school-house in Kingswood; and after many foreseen and unforeseen difficulties, in June last the foundation was laid. The ground made choice of was in the middle of the wood, between the London and Bath roads, not far from that called Two-mile-hill, about three miles from Bristol. Here a large room was begun for the school, having four small rooms at the end for the Two persons are schoolmasters (and, perhaps, if it should please God, for some poor children) to lodge in. ready to teach as soon as the house is fit to receive them, the shell of which is nearly finished; so that it is Thus we see that in the middle of hoped the whole will be completed in spring, or early in the summer. February, Kingswood was a wilderness, and that when the month of June arrived, it was already blossoming like the rose.'

"The effect of the leaven which had been thus placed in this mass of barbarism was made conspicuous in the 'Being informed following year, in the case of a riot, of which Mr Charles Wesley gives the following account: that the colliers had risen in consequence of the dearness of corn, and were marching for Bristol, he rode out to meet them and talk with them. Many seemed disposed to return with him to the school which had been built for their children; but the most desperate rushed violently upon them, beating thein, and driving them

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away from their pacific adviser.' He adds, I rode up to a ruffian who was striking one of our colliers, and prayed him rather to strike me. He answered, Nonot for all the world,' and was quite overcome. turned upon another, who struck my horse, and he also sunk into a lamb. Wherever I turned, Satan's cause lost ground, so that they were obliged to make one general assault, and the violent colliers forced the quiet ones into the town. I seized one of the tallest, and earnestly besought him to follow me. Yes, he said, that he would, all the world over. I pressed about six into the service. We met several parties, and stopped and exhorted them to follow us; and, gleaning from every company, we increased as we marched on, singing, to the school. From one till three o'clock we spent in prayer, that evil might be prevented and the lion chained. Then news was brought us that the colliers were returned in peace. They had walked quietly into the city, without sticks or the least violence. A few of the better sort of them went to the mayor and told their grievance; then they all returned as they came, without noise or disturbance. All who saw it were amazed. Nothing could have more clearly shown the changes wrought among them than this conduct on such an occasion. I found afterwards that all our colliers to a man had been forced away. Having learned of Christ not to resist evil, they went a mile with those who compelled them rather than free themselves by violence. One man the rioters dragged out of his sick-bed, and threw him into the fish-pond. Near twenty of Mr Willis's men they had prevailed on, by threatening to fill up their pits and bury them alive if they did not come up and bear them company.'

It was a happy circumstance that they forced so many of the Methodist colliers to go with them, as these, by their advice and example, restrained the savage fury of the others. . This undoubtedly was the true cause why they all returned home without making any disturbance.'

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and when we look on him "coming as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoicing as a strong man to run his race," or pouring forth his noon-day flood of light, or sitting beneath his gilded canopy in the West, we cannot but account him the most wonderful of all material things, and the best emblem of his Maker's glory. When, however, we come to consider the nature of this brilliant orb, as that has been exhibited to us by modern science, the view becomes yet more sublime. We strive in vain to grasp the truths that have been clearly demonstrated, and fruitlessly endeavour to imagine the probabilities that are founded upon them.

The sun's distance from the earth is no less than 95,000,000 of miles, his diameter is 882,000 miles, and his bulk 1,384,472 times that of the globe which we inhabit. When viewed through powerful telescopes, provided with coloured glasses to take off the glare of light, which would otherwise injure the eye, it is frequently observed that there are large and perfectly black spots upon his surface, surrounded with a kind of border not completely dark. When these spots are watched from day to day, or even from hour to hour, they appear to enlarge and contract, to change their form, and at length to vanish entirely, while others break out in places where none were before. Even those portions of the solar surface, where no spots are visible, are far from being uniformly bright, and constant changes seem to be going on. These appearances have led astronomers to conclude that the sun is not, as was long supposed, an immense ball of fire, but a dark and solid mass surrounded by a luminous atmosphere; a globe, in short, like the earth, clothed in a mantle of shining clouds, which, opening up from time to time, form the spots above described, by exposing to view portions of the solid ball which they enclose.

Science, however, has been unable to discover the means by which this unceasing blaze is sustained, without any perceptible diminution either of his size or of his splendour. We may still exclaim with the mountain "Whence are thy beams, Oh Sun! thine everlasting light!"

The brilliancy of the solar beam must have been observed by all, yet it is not until we come scientifically to consider it that we can form an adequate idea of its power. Repeated experiment has proved that though much of its strength is lost in passing through our atmosphere, the most vivid flames disappear, and the most intensely ignited solids are seen only as dark spots on the disk of the sun, when held between him and the eye. Even if it sustained no loss in its passage to the earth, when we take into account the law of decrease, (formerly spoken of as proportioned to the square of the distance) we find, that at the surface of the sun, light must have three hundred thousand times the intensity of

And now, after nearly a century has elapsed, Kingswood has its humanized population, its Christian mini-bard, sters, its schoolmasters, its libraries; and it not only cherishes the Gospel in its own bosom, but it forms its societies for extending the blessing, and possesses preaching stations where collections are made for the behalf of the heathen whom they themselves but recently resembled. The school which Wesley here describes is not now in the centre of a wood, but has a high road running close by it. It did not succeed well on his plan, perhaps in part from the style of education being too high for the inhabitants, but chiefly on account of the rules of monkish austerity with which he caused it to set out. For Wesley was in character a stern and high disciplinarian, and, mistaking the nature of youth, he exacted rising at five in the rigour of winter, and ceaseless application to some grave pursuit during all the waking hours. This failure of Wesley's school is only mentioned lest gainsayers should suppose the fact was purposely concealed. It does not in the least detract from the evidence that a great and sudden change was wrought, and continues to be visible, among the colliers of Kingswood."

CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY.

No. II.

THE SUN THE SOURCE OF LIGHT.
BY THE REV. JAMES BRODIE,
Minister of Monimail.

LIGHT proceeds from various sources. Among natural phenomena, lightning, meteors, and volcanoes, all emit it in a greater or less degree; and man has devised various means by which to dispel the gloom of night and fill his habitations with artificial day. But the sun is the great source whence the cheering rays proceed,

an Indian noon!

From him

Of all objects that the eye can see on earth or in hea ven, by night or by day, the sun is thus the most wonderful and glorious; and not more glorious as an object for the eye to gaze on, than useful and necessary for the support of life and continuance of comfort. we derive that light which enables us to labour; that heat which changes the cold of winter into the genial warmth of spring, and that life-giving power which makes the ground bring forth its fruits, and ministers food to every living thing. Thus brilliant in appearance and beneficial in influence, the chief of the visible works of God, and the best emblem of his Creator's majesty and beneficence, we need not wonder that unenlightened man has bent the knee to the sun as God, that "beholding him walking in brightness, his heart has been secretly enticed, and his hand hath kissed his mouth."

But if the sun be glorious, how much more so must he be who "set him in the firmament to rule the day," who appointeth "his rising, and his going down," and

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who, if he see meet, can extinguish him as a spark! | cess, but be filled with the Spirit ; speaking to yourselves When we turn our eye to Christ the Creator and Governor of the universe, by whom all things were made," and unto whom "all judgment is committed," the source of all the light that shines on matter, and of all the knowledge that enlivens and sanctifies the mind, how appropriately is he termed "the Sun of Righteousness." Like the sun in the firmament HE STANDS ALONE. The highest effort of any creature, yea, of all creation combined, could neither add to his brightness nor diminish his glory. When he appears, the morning stars of the spiritual heaven are lost in his radiance. For who in beaven can be compared unto the Lord, who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?" Excellence in every attribute is his peculiar property. One creature may be compared with another, but no creature may be compared to the Creator; we may measure the strength of the strongest man by that of the weakest babe; we may say with propriety of the archangel's comprehensive intelligence, that it exceeds by so many times the infant's feeble thought; but when we reach the highest point in the scale of created being, we are as far as ever from comprehending infinity. Compared unto Jehovah all creatures are alike; the seraph and the worm are equally insignificant.

in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody in your heart to the Lord." That it is
intended to be a mean by which believers should in-
struct others, is also evident from Col. iii. 16., Let
the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and
hymns, and spiritual songs; singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord." That it is intended to be the
channel through which the believer's mirth should now,
is manifest from James v., 13., Is any merry, let him
sing psalms." That it is intended to cheer the believer
in his saddest moods, to chase away the gloom and
pain of the present hour, is plain from the example of
Paul and Silas, who, when confined in the inner prison,
with their feet made fast in the stocks, yet, " at mid-
night prayed and sang praises unto God, and the pri
soners heard them." That it is intended to animate the
believer's bosom in the near prospect of sorrows and
trials, and even of death, is manifest from the example
of our Lord. We often read that Christ wept.
never read that Christ laughed, And we read but
once of Christ joining with his disciples in singing,
that night in which he was betrayed, when he had given
to his disciples broken bread and poured out wine, to
be the memorials of his dying love till he should come
again; when his hour of dark and mysterious agony
was full in his view, it is recorded by two Evangelists,
that, when they had sung an hymn, they went out.

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The testimony of experience to the uses and importance of psalmody, may be briefly added to the testimony of Scripture.

Nor is this all; could we multiply the excellence of the noblest creature, even by infinity, the comparison could not be made. There is a difference in kind as well as in degree. To God alone belongs original selfexistent glory; all beside him shine by borrowed light. Whatever wisdom or power is found in any other, flows from him alone. If man is more noble than the beasts that perish, it is because the Lord hath more richly en- 1. In the surprising work of God and revival of Relidowed him. If angels move in a still higher sphere, it|gion, which took place about a century ago in New is because he sustains them there. Whatever excellence is possessed by the creature, it is but a portion that Jehovah has lent him of his own; and at most we can only compare it to the Creator's, as we liken the glitter of the dew-drop to the full blaze of the sun, from which its ray is derived.

SINGING PRAISES.

BY THE REV. ROBERT M. M'CHEYNE. "Praise is comely for the upright."-PSAL. xxxiii. 1. THERE is, perhaps, none of the means of grace which is so much neglected by believers in the present day, as that of singing the praises of God; and yet there is none in which the wisdom and kindness of the Great Head of the Church is more manifest. Since the fall, how craftily hath the great enemy of souls made use of the enchanting power of music to be the insidious vehicle of all things vain, vile and licentious! What worldly passion hath the melody of voice and harp not been used to inflame? What scene of vice or of vanity has been left ungraced by the fascinations of music? Is it not the case now, as it was in the days of the prophetic herdsman, that they who "are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph, yet chaunt to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David?" Truly "the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.' Do the children of God really know that our Lord hath consecrated to his own service this most blessed power, not only to carry the thrill of holy sympathy from bosom to bosom in the crowded congregation, but to blend the kindred voices and kindred hearts of families into one swell of devotion, to cheer the pilgrim of faith, when he droops in his solitude, and, above all, to train up little children to love that Lord Jesus whose praises they sing.

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That psalmody is intended by God to be one of the believer's private and personal enjoyments, is manifest from Eph. v., 18, 19, where, contrasting the pleasures of the world with the pleasures of the Christian, Paul says," And be not drunk with wine, wherein is ex

England, of which Jonathan Edwards was the zealous promoter and defender, he remarks, that "one fruit of the extraordinary degrees of the sweet and joyful influence of the Spirit of God, was the great disposition to abound in the divine exercise of singing praises, not only in appointed solemn meetings, but when Christians occasionally met together at each others houses." Indeed, he mentions this as one of the things which some had found fault with, the abounding so much in singing praises. And he admirably defends it, on the ground that the more the saints on earth are like, in their dispositions, to the saints and angels in heaven, who sing hallelujahs day and night, without ceasing, the more they will be disposed to do like them. He even gives his cautious but decided approbation of a practice which was proposed during that happy period, of companies singing psalms in the streets, going to, or coming from, the places of public worship. It is peculiarly interesting to see that man of soberest and profoundest judgment thus happily expressing himself:-" When God's people are going to his house, the occasion is so joyful to a Christian in a lively frame, that the duty of singing praises seems to be peculiarly beautiful on such an occasion. So that if the state of the country were ripe for it, and there should be frequent occasions for a considerable part of a congregation to go together to the places of public worship, and there was, in other respects, a proportionable appearance of fervency of devotion, it appears to me that it would be ravishingly beautiful, if such things were practised all over the land, and would have a great tendency to enliven, animate, and rejoice the souls of God's saints, and greatly to propagate vital Religion. I believe the time is coming when the world will be full of such things." When such days come, shall not the words of the prophet be fulfilled: The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads."

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2. Some interesting facts relative to psalmody are to be found in the account of the Moravian mission to Greenland. When after fifteen years of sowing the

precious seed with tears, a handful of believers at length sprung up amid the snows of Greenland, the Moravians, at their catechetical and other meetings, began to teach the Catechumens hymns in honour of the Saviour, which they learned with eagerness and sung constantly." "A school was begun for the instruction of such as had any talent for singing, and as two of the brethren from Germany understood the science, they greatly assisted in training the young Greenlanders, who not only improved in vocal, but some of them became even tolerably acquainted with instrumental music."

"A brother, one morning, very early going to let out their sheep, heard uncommonly sweet singing in a tent, and drawing near found it was the head of the family performing his morning devotions with his people. Beckoning to the others to come, we stood still (says the Missionary Diary) and listened to this sweet melody, with hearts exceedingly moved, and with eyes filled with tears, and thought these people were, no longer than two years ago, savage heathens, and now they sing to the Lamb that was slain, so charmingly that it strikes to the inmost soul." What! shall the voice of Psalms rise so sweetly from the tents of savage Greenland, amid their snow-clad rocks, and piles of eternal glaciers, and is it beginning to die away from the cottages and firesides of Christian Scotland?

Take one fact more. The missionaries were one year refreshed by a visit from Bishop Johannes de Watteville, who came to inspect the state of the Mission, and set in order what was wanting. "He bestowed much attention upon the hymns and the singing of the congregation, remarking that it appeared to him that the hymns proved a great blessing amony strangers; for the factor told him that being once on a trading round, thirty leagues distant, he entered a tent that had been pitched awhile in their neighbourhood, and found the children prettily singing several hymns they had learned from the children of the settlement, which furnished him with an opportunity of useful conversation." What! shall heathen children, that know not the Saviour, be found, in the icy wildernesses of Greenland, imbibing | the knowledge and love of Jesus, from the psalmody of the far distant Christians, and shall converted parents, in this land of education and piety, leave their unconverted children untaught to hymn the praises of Jesus, in those plaintive airs, "compared with which Italian trills are tame," those airs which are named from the sufferings of their martyr forefathers?

CHRISTIAN TREASURY.

water, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God,-when shall I come and appear before God !" If we take such contentment in the contemplation of his image in a mirror, as we sometimes here find, how shall we be transported when we see him face to face, and be united to him, spirit to spirit? Can we desire larger possessions than immensity, a surer estate than immutability, a longer term than eternity, a fuller portion than Jehovah ?— FEATLEY.

Whom have I in Heaven but Thee?-That is, Thee I have, and none but Thee in heaven. I deny not that we have God many ways with us in this life, for we see him in his works, we hear him in his word, we taste him in the sacrament, we feel him by the motions of his Spirit within us, we touch him by faith, we draw near to him in love, we rely upon him by hope, we have fellowship with him by prayer; yet all this is nothing to our manner of having him in heaven. A man can only be said truly to have a lordship, a manor, a living, when he entereth upon the fruits thereof, and receiveth the crop. The Lord is, indeed, our lot and portion even in this life; but we cannot reap the thousandth part of the profits and delights he hath in himself, and will afford us hereafter. They to whom He most imparteth himself and communicateth his goodness here, have but a taste only of the tree of life, a glimpse of the Sun of Righteousness, an earnest of their future reward; but such a taste, such a glimpse, such an earnest as they would not lose for all the possessions or enjoyments of the world. These the kingly prophet so exceedingly desired, that he compares the ardency of his affection to the thirst of the hart, either long chased, or after the sting of the serpent has set all his throat on fire. "As the hart panteth for the rivers of |

Meditation on God.-I know that it is the greatest pleasure and the greatest indulgence to think of God. Think of any thing else, and you will find disappointment in it. Whatever you think of long together, will at last give you pain. It will shew you that you must be disappointed and mortified. Whatever man you think of, you will find in him some imperfection. Whatever kingdom you think of, you will find it is badly governed. Whatever sense you think of, you will find that you are met by ignorance and imperfection. But if you think of God, there is no imperfection. He is what he should be, pcrfectly perfect. He is perfect happiness, and is such a fountain of happiness in Limself, that he has enough for all who will seek it. He has so much power, that nothing can resist him. He is so good, that we may be certain every thing is for the best; there is no pain in thinking of these things; there is no pain in thinking of everlasting happiness. We know, indeed, that when the body is weary, it can no longer think of any thing, and after the most delightful thoughts, at last sink into sleep. But, if you meditate on any thing of an irritating nature, it is ten to one but your meditation disturbs you, and is rather an enemy to peace, and quiet, and repose; but if you think of God and his goodness, there is such a soft delight in it, that if the mind and body are not oppressed by sleep, you can continue to think of them longer, with delight, than you can think of any thing else; and yet, if the body be weary and wants sleep, there is such a softness in the delight of meditating on God, that the mind and body easily and delightfully fall into refreshing slumbers.-MAYOW.

Trifle not with Temptation.-Christ never wilfully exposed himself to temptation. Pure and sinless as he was, and all-powerful to resist it as he knew himself to be, Jesus did not go of his own choice into the wilderness to try his strength against the tempter. Whereever that event is mentioned, it is distinctly said, "He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness," an expression peculiar to those passages, as if on purpose to distinguish that act from every other of his life, and show us that he, even he, went not willingly to meet his Father's enemy, and listen to the language of seduction. What a lesson, what a reproof! We, predisposed as we are to sin, incapable of resisting it as we know ourselves to be, do we go boldly, and without necessity, where Satan keeps his court, where he spreads his blandishments, where we know we must meet him, and either defeat his wiles, or be seduced by them? Do we venture to say, that if our own principles are good, there is no risk to us in any company, in any place? Can we walk side by side with the enemies of God, and sit in the counsels of sinners, without any danger of being seduced from our allegiance to God? Jesus was not thus bold, though he might have been. set one step into the wilderness of temptation without the leading of the Spirit, for the fulfilment of some known command, we follow not in the footsteps of our Lord. God took him there, that he might in all things be more than conqueror. God may take us there; and if he does, it will be to conquer too. But of those who go there unbidden, to break a lance with the enemy for pastime, or, knight-errant like, to free the world from his enchantments, let no one think he does as Jesus did.-CARoline Fry.

If we

SACRED POETRY.

THE MISSIONARY.

"He was the first that ever bore
Glad tidings to that desert shore."

My heart goes with thee, dauntless man,
Freely as thou dost hie,

To sojourn with some barbarous clan,
For them to toil or die.
Fondly our spirits to our own

Cling, nor to part allow;

Thine to some land forlorn has flown,-
We turn, and where art thou?

Thou climb'st the vessel's lofty side,-
Numbers are gathering there;

The youthful warrior in his pride,

The merchant in his care:

Hearts which, for knowledge, track the seas,

Spirits which lightly rove.

Glad as the billows and the breeze

And thou-the child of love,

A savage shore receives thy tread;

Companion thou hast none;

The wild boughs wave above thy head,
Yet still thou journeyest on;
Treading the tangled wild wood drear,
Piercing the mountain glen,
Till wearily thou drawest near

The haunts of lonely men.
Strange is thine aspect to their eyes;
Strange is thy foreign speech;
And wild, and strong is their surprise,
At marvels thou dost teach.
Thy strength alone is in thy words;
Yet armies could not bow

The spirit of these barbarous hordes
So readily as thou.

But Oh! thy heart, thou home sick man,
With saddest thoughts run o'er,
Sitting, as fades the evening wan,

Silently at thy door.

Yet that poor hut upon the wild,

A stone beneath the tree,

And souls to God's love reconciled

These are enough for thee.

NOAH'S DOVE.

W. HOWITT.

BY THE REV. JOHN ANDERSON,
Minister of the Congregation of Original Burghers,
Helensburgh.

FORTH from the ark the dove has gone,
On pinions that outstrip the wind.
Day fades, yet, lo! she journies on,
If she a resting-place may find,
Where she may fold her weary wing,-
"Tween sea and sky, sole living thing.
Cease, bright creature, cease to roam :-
Burst the dark waters every where:
They roll above thy forest home;

For thee no resting-place is there.
Back to the ark, on drooping plume,
She hastens thro' the closing gloom.

Like thee I left my father's hearth

Ark of my childhood's joyous hour

This sin and sorrow-deluged earth,
Eager of foot, to wander o'er.

This wandering foot," this "weary breast,"
Where shall I find a place to rest?

Bright bird, were mine thy wings of wind,

To cross that dark deep gulf, the Past;
An ark, like thee, I yet might find;

There rest and refuge find at last.
Vain wish; Time is that fatal bourne,
O'er which no traveller may return.
To all, life is an onward track;
And tho' it is a changing scene,
This is unknown,-returning back

To be again, what we have been.
Time past has made us what we are,
No Time can make us what we were.

An arkless dove art thou, like me,

Of" wandering wing," of "weary breast:" Poor wanderer on life's stormy sea,

Pin'st thou for refuge and for rest? Tho' tempest-tost, tho' seaward driven, There is a RESTING PLACE IN HEAVEN.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Rev. James Hervey. This excellent man, writing to a friend, very shortly before his death, says, "Were I to enjoy Hezekiah's grant, and have fifteen years added to my life, I would be much more frequent in my applications to the throne of grace: we sustain a mighty Were I loss by reading so much, and praying so little. to renew my studies, I would take my leave of those accomplished trifles, the historians, the orators, the poets of antiquity, and devote my attention to the Scriptures of Truth. I would sit with much greater assiduity at my Divine Master's feet, and desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. This wisdom, whose fruits are everlasting salvation after death, this I would explore through the spacious and delightful fields of the Old and New Testament."

Colonel Gardiner. It is said that Colonel Gardiner, after his conversion, devoted two hours every morning to reading the Word of God and prayer. He determined that nothing should rob him of his precious time for devotion. Hence, if his regiment had to march at six o'clock, he rose at four; and if he had to march at four, he rose at two.

Remarkable Preservation.-Dr Calamy, in his "Life and Times," tells us that he knew a captain of a ship, of the name of Stephens, who resided at Harwich, and was of good reputation, and who, with his crew, once experienced a very remarkable deliverance from drowning, between Holland and England. The vessel sprang a leak, and the water poured in so abundantly, that all on board gave themselves up for lost. But on a sudden it stopped, and the water being pumped out of the vessel, they arrived safely on shore. On examination they discovered that the leak had been stopped by a fish which had got so firmly wedged into it that they could scarcely get it out.

** The EDITOR of the SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN HERALD begs it to be distinctly understood, that no attention is paid to anonymous Contributions of whatever kind.

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