THE VOICE OF HOME. to repentance now fail to secure obedience, they will act with constantly increasing disadvantage hereafter. If God be justly displeased now, he will be more and more displeased by continued disobedience. Every day's procrastination therefore increases, at a fearful rate, the probability of our final perdition. THE VOICE OF HOME. 31 subdued; disinclined to study, while very quick in his apprehensions; eager after the attainment of any object on which he had set his heart, although wanting in that quiet, plodding perseverance which so distinguished his elder brother, and which, with a moderate share of abilities, generally accomplishes more than even genius, which puts forth, only at intervals, that amount of energy which must be continuous to insure success. At the time his brother left for college, he had reached an age when it was deemed necessary to decide on some step as to his future prospects. His father was desirous that he should follow his own occupation, in which, indeed, as had his elder brother before him, he had been partially engaged. To this the youth consented, and most probably but for an offer, which was shortly after made to his father, of an advantageous kind, he would have lived and died a Scottish peasant. (From "The Gift Book for the Young.") Is the hollow of a small retired glen, in the county of Perth, and at a short distance from the shores of Loch Tay, whose blue waters might be seen glancing in the sunbeams, rose a humble cottage. One side rested against the face of the rock, that towered high above its crooked chimneys, and sheltered it from the fierce winds that at times rushed down the mountains, and shook the thick fir-trees and pines that clothed their sides. In the front of this dwell- His mother had a distant relative residing at ing was a small patch of greensward, at the end of Paisley, who had amassed some property by the which ran a little brook, whose waters, issuing from manufacture of shawls, who was desirous of having between some lichen-covered rocks, a few yards high-in his office a youth in whom he might confide, and er up the glen, leaped exultingly along, as if rejoicing in whose advancement he might feel an interest. in their escape from the dark and secret depths of The communication, by which he made known to the mountain, through which they had wound their James Ghis intentions with respect to one of his silent and solitary way. sons, caused a little excitement in the domestic circle at the cottage. It was an opportunity for William's worldly advancement, of which the father was unwilling to deprive him; while, at the same time, he was not insensible to the dangers to which he would be exposed in the midst of a dense population, and subject to so many unhallowed influences, which, in spite of the utmost vigilance on the part of his relations, might unhappily affect the youth, and produce tastes and habits altogether opposed to the purity of his morals and the peace of his soul. In nothing had G and his wife shown so much solicitous care as in the religious education of their children. Know In the cottage, whose situation I have described, the present occupant had grown up from his birth, s had his father and grandfather before him. The pot around was endeared to James G- by nany time-honoured and hallowed associations, not only because there he had been born, and there his parents had died; but there was an historical interest ttaching to it, of no trifling nature to him. James G- was a Scottish peasant of the highest rade, or, as in England he would be called, a small armer. He had received the usual éducation of his class in Scotland. To this he added an extensive Acquaintance with a variety of subjects; and possessing, from experience, the incalculable worth of d a sound judgment, and a warm, benevolent heart. Divine knowledge, and drinking daily of the sweet With these excellences, natural and acquired, was waters that flow from the throne of God, they were Associated a deep-rooted piety, that threw a halo of assiduous in their attempts to lead their children to orightness and beauty over all the other features of the same sources of holy enjoyment; and, by wellhis character; and which displayed itself in all his grounding their minds in the truth, to guard them ntercourse with his fellow men, and especially in against the insidious snares of the infidel and the the bosom of his family. James G- had an worldling, and the not less dangerous foes, their own dmirable wife, and both most carefully and pray- depraved passions and appetites. In the case of their erfully brought up their offspring in the fear of the eldest child they had the pleasure of witnessing the Lord. Five children gathered around the parental beautiful flowers of genuine piety unfold themselves board, and although its provisions were of the sim- in his heart, and diffuse a fragrance around his every plest kind, never did a happier group assemble at a action. But it was not so with William. With no meal. The eldest boy, who was of a gentle spirit, and vicious habits that they had observed; with no of a contemplative turn of mind, his father fondly hankering after gayer society than he found at home hoped would be a future minister of the gospel; the-this, perhaps, the seclusion of their dwelling would noble and natural wish of many a devout, though poor, Scottish peasant's heart. Often as the youth sat by the side of the brook that murmured before their door, absorbed in the perusal of some old and worn volume from his father's well-selected, though scanty shelves, did the mother's eye gleam with tears, as softly she breathed the prayer of her inmost heart, that he might realize their fondest wishes. And not in vain were all their yearnings and hard toils to secure for Gilbert the education that should qualify him for the solemn office they hoped he would choose to fill. With a devout, though trembling heart, he sought counsel of God, and consulted with others, until at length a path was opened for him to enter the university of Glasgow, where, after passing with honour through the several courses of study prescribed, he was ultimately introduced into the ministry. We follow the footsteps of the second boy and third child of the family, William. He was in all respects the very opposite of his elder brother: lively even to boisterousness; hasty in his temper, but speedily have rendered impracticable, had he wished it-they yet discerned nothing that indicated any religious feeling; any due appreciation of the infinitely momentous nature of eternal things. It was this that made them tremble at the prospect of his leaving the parental roof. Many days did the father and mother muse on the offer that had been made, and many fervent prayers did they present to Heaven for direction. At length a second, and yet more urgent request, together with reiterated assurances of watchfulness over his kinswoman's child, led them to resolve to send him to Paisley. This resolution was communicated to William, who, charmed by the novelty of the prospect, looked forward, with his characteristic eagerness, to his change of position and engagements. The preparations for his departure were soon made, and a day fixed for his father to take him to his new abode. It was on the evening preceding his departure that the family were grouped around the deal table, on which "the big ha' Bible" lay. His father read a portion of Divine truth appropriate to the occasion, and, bending the knee, supplicated, in ardent petitions, the blessing of the Great God on his child. His voice faltered as he adverted to the dangers to which his boy would be exposed, and the ill-supressed sobs of the mother told how deeply her maternal heart sympathized in the anxiety of her husband. William felt the warm tears gushing through his closed eyelids, as he listened to the weeping and requests of his parent; and his heart trembled as his father continued to pray, that he might not by any untoward behaviour, by any false step, "bring down their grey hairs with sorrow to the grave." When the prayer had ended, each one, as if by mutual consent, remained for a short time in a bending posture, and at that moment of solemn quiet, the setting sun, bursting through a dark cloud, poured a stream of glory into the room, and, resting upon the uplifted countenance of him whose voice had just ceased, almost unconsciously his lips uttered the language of the prophet," At evening time it shall be light." He knew not, at the moment, how truly prophetic were the words. At break of day, William set out on his journey, accompained by his father. It cost him no small pain to leave the home of his childhood, where so many happy hours had passed, to enter upon another and a novel scene, in the midst of strangers, where all was uncertainty both as to his actual position and future prospects. The last words of his father's prayer yet rang in his ears, and during the long hours of a sleepless night, he seemed to have made an advance in thoughtfulness at which he himself was surprised. Not only did he feel sorrow at leaving the friends of his youth, and the home of his childhood, but a deep and undefinable feeling of regret pervaded his heart as he turned away from the different objects around his home with which he was so familiar. The lake had never appeared so calm and beautiful; the hills, whose heathery sides he had so often climbed, never so bold in their outline; and the air, laden with the sweets rifled from the beds of wild thyme, never so fragrant and reviving. Old Jock, the house-dog, leaped before him as if to prevent his leaving them; and the blue-bells, dripping with the dew, hung their heads, as if sad at his departure. But leave he must, and with a loving farewell of his mother, he joined is father at the entrance of the glen, where he was waiting for a conveyance to carry him to his destination. Arrived at Paisley, James G-gave his son into the hands of his relation, reiterating to the youth the solemn injunctions he had addressed to him as they rode together during their ride. On the same day he returned home. Left to himself, the first night, as William retired to rest, he mused on his altered position. He was now in the midst of strangers; had taken the first step into the busy world, of which he had heard so much in the quiet of his cottage home; and whose dangerous paths, of which he had been so often warned, he was about to traverse. He had read of many who, with fair prospects, had fallen; the hopes of whose anxious friends had been blasted, and their once happy hearth made desolate. Should he ever bring a gloom over his father's house? This was an agitating question that shook his soul. How was he to act to avert so dreaded an evil? How guard against the many dangers of which his father spoke? And then he recollected with vividness the instructions he had so often received from the lips of his mother; the wise cautions, the affectionate and urgent appeals, she addressed to him. Her form seemed to stand before him, as on the preceding night, she uttered, with pale and trembling lips, h maternal blessing on her beloved child; and as he thought of that mild, blue eye, that ever looked so lovingly on him, even in his most passionate moments, he almost believed she was near him; and that again, as when he laid his head on her bosom, and wept his farewell, he felt her warm breath on his cheek, and heard her earnest solemn words. It was his own heart that spake that echoed her parting benedictions. It was the voice of home before which his spirit bowed. He bent his knee in prayer, and sought blessings for himself and those who were dear to him; and, when he sunk to sleep, it was to dream of home. The details of the everyday life of a clerk in a counting-house, where the light of heaven, struggling through dingy windows, falls languidly on desks and ledgers, and walls wainscoted with shelves and cupboards, are not likely to be very full of interest to any one. William G-soon understood the nature of his duties, and was very efficient in their performance, manifesting a commendable diligence, which obtained the favourable notice of his employers. Their favourable opinion was also conveyed to the cottage; gladdening the hearts of all its inmates. But upon matters of religion there was no apparent, and, indeed, no real progress. In the same establishment with himself, was a young man from Edinburgh, of the name of H who thought it a mark of superior intelligence and wisdom to question that which most people, and they the most sober-minded and sensible, allowed; and to reject all doctrines that did not harmonize with his own inclinations. With a knowledge of the utter hostility of Mr C- his master, to these principles, he had carefully concealed them. But now that he was hourly in the society of a youth, a year or two his junior, he began to draw his toils around William G, by uttering insinuations of such a nature, that while they tended gradually to undermine the faith of a partially-informed mind, did not suddenly shock him, even though he had never before heard the truth of Divine things questioned. By degrees, the tempter advanced on his victim. Small publications, advocating sceptical opinions, with a show of philosophy and reasoning, were placed in his hands, and eagerly read by the thoughtless youth. The more these were studied, the less his Bible was perused, and the shorter his devotional exercises became. He regularly communicated with home, but not one word did he write of the nature of the subjects on which he was reading. The plague was spreading through his soul; and none but the cruel author of the mischief that was going on, at all suspected it. More than twelve months had elapsed since he had come to Paisley, and a change had passed over him, which, had his friends known it, would have filled them with inexpressible sorrow. But God was working out his own counsels with infinite wisdom, and was about to save poor William G- from the tremendous gulf of hopeless and gloomy infidelity into which he seemed ready to plunge. It was his second birth-day since he had left his father's roof; and the morning of it brought him a letter from his mother, filled with expressions of maternal tenderness, and words of sound and judicious advice. She spake of the pleasure she hoped he enjoyed in the study of his Bible, of the duty of prayer, of the dangers to which the young were exposed in the midst of a large population, where the loosest opinions on questions of morality and religion were rife: she painted, in liveliest colours, the anguish and shame, the deep, unutterable agony with which the defection of any of her children from the way in which they had been trained, would give her THE VOICE OF HOME. and her husband; and expressed her joy that, hither to, her hopes had not been disappointed; and then, in a strain of holy and affectionate fervour, invoked the blessing and protection of heaven upon her child. William read the letter with a pale cheek, a quivering lip, and tearful eye; and, as he finished the perusal, the folly and guilt of his recent conduct rose before him. That tone of confiding love in which his mother's letter had been written; and that happy ignorance of his alienated condition which evidently existed, affected him more than the severest upraidings, or the calmest and clearest reasonings would have done. Could he bring wretchedness to that parent's heart? Doom her to bitter sorrow and to a premature grave? And for what? For a system of iniquity, which his judgment had often despised, though his unchanged heart had yielded to its seductive influences. He walked about his room in great agitation, and, as he did this, his eye fell on the small copy of the Scriptures which his mother had placed among his clothes at the time he first left home. He took it from the place where it had rested for several months, unopened; and, wiping off the dust, he sat down to read. His eye lighted upon the words of Solomon, "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." It was as if a thunderbolt had fallen at his feet. With whom had he been walking? with the very fools of whom revelation speaks; who say "No God?" With a burning brow and pained heart, he knelt and exclaimed, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight;" and his sobs mingled with his petitions. His spirit had heard, and had bowed as it heard, the thrilling "voice of home." The next day he burned the publications, in the perusal of which he had spent many precious hours; bitterly reproaching himself for his insufferable folly in allowing his mind to be deluded by such shallow sophistries. He shunned the society of his former associate, whose transference to another part of the premises, during business hours, relieved him from a great part of the danger to which he had been exposed, from the frequent and artful insinuations, which, at intervals, he managed to breathe into his ear in the course of the day. Hsoon observed an alteration in the manner and conversation of William, and was not slow in asking questions as to the cause. A hasty expression of unwillingness to enter upon the subject, with a hint that he had heard from home, was followed by a sneer of contempt from H, who supposed that it was a direct communication, relative to the subjects on which they had so often conversed, that had been received by William from his friends; and not that it was the conviction of his own mind, which had been roused to so great an extent by the confiding and earnest tone of his mother's letter, that had led him to abandon the false and dangerous opinions he had been imbibing from his treacherous friend. From this time, H sought other associates, and William was left unmolested. Years rolled on, and though scrupulously honest and upright in his conduct, there were no symptoms of real religion in the heart of William GThis, which was noticed with pain by the keen eye of his watchful and anxious mother, whenever he visited his home, was, to her and his father, a source of no small grief. And this was not the less poignant when, by a change in the circumstances of his employer, it was deemed necessary he should reside in London, whither he was desirous William should accompany him. It was with great reluctance James Gand his wife acceded to this proposal; but as their son appeared to regard it as opening before 33 him yet brighter, prospects, with a heart filled with some painful forebodings, they consented, and he left his native land. Arrived in London, he busied himself in his duties, and for two years nothing of importance occurred. He regularly attended a minister of the Scotch Church, to whom he bore letters of recommendation from one of the elders of his father's kirk; but his was an attendance without devotion, and consequently without profit. Into some of the various scenes of amusement with which the metropolis abounds, he, with two or three of the young men in his establishment, went from time to time. But happily these were not congenial to his taste; and often he reproached himself for mingling with crowds, where, with nothing to improve the mind, there was so much that was calculated to injure the heart. Letters from home often excited a temporary compunction, although, alas! too brief to lead him to fling off the associates who were the principal cause of his visits to these places. But an hour was approaching when the voice of home should be heard as aforetime, and in tones more loud, and distinct, and emphatic. William was ever a delicately-formed youth. Even amid the healthy breezes of Perthshire there were symptoms of premature decay, which his residence at Paisley had not removed. Still it was hoped he might outgrow this feebleness, and, for some time, the fond desires of his friends appeared likely to be realized. But at the close of his second year's residence in London, unmistakeable signs of consumption appeared. The rupture of a blood vessel in the lungs laid him on a sick-bed for weeks, and then, in the hours of leisure which this affliction afforded him, his mind looked back to the past, and contemplated the future. It was a solemn scrutiny he undertook, and a deeply painful season to him; for conscience spoke loudly of past neglect; of the misimprovement of early privileges, and of the witness which his parents could bear against him. And now the lessons of childhood recurred forcibly to his memory: the morning and evening hours of family devotion; and, above all, that sacred time on the Sabbath afternoon, when, one by one, his mother took her children and prayed with them alone; and to which devotions she so often referred in her letters. He groaned in spirit as he reflected; the voice of home seemed floating around, and with a bursting heart he cried to God. Alas! that man should need affliction to remind him of his obligations to his Maker, and check the froward spirit in its career of folly! Poor William grew worse. A physician recommended a change of air; and his heart yearning again to visit the scenes of his childhood, he resolved to go back to Scotland. He went to Liverpool by the railroad, and thence to Glasgow by sea; whence, by easy journeys, he reached his father's house. How different had been his prospects when he left it! Buoyant with help and hope, with the world before him, peopled by his active imagination with scenes bright, and pleasant, and prosperous! And now, how had they faded! He returned a feeble invalid-to die! He felt assured of this, for each day he grew weaker; and when, therefore, he laid his throbbing head on his mother's breast, as she received him into her arms, he exclaimed, "O death will be easier here, mother!" With a swelling heart, yet from fear of exciting him too much, endeavouring to hide her agitation, she kissed his pale brow, and said, "God, my child, can yet restore you." "Never in this world," said William; "help me to prepare for the next." Long was the conference that evening between the parents and their sick boy; and when the latter had retired to rest, it was with a strong faith, though with a bleeding heart, they bent the knee together; and while all the other inmates of the house were slumbering save the invalid, they pleaded long and ardently for him. His quick ear caught their words, and the tones of yearning fondness and anxiety; and it seemed as if he were again a child, and all the past had been a long and confused dream. What a host of associations these familiar voices of his home had aroused! the impressions of his boyhood, when with reverential awe he listened to the parental injunctions, were revived; and his pillow was wet with the tears of the penitent, as with fervency he prayed, "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy, remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord!" the captain nor my fellow-passengers, would afford me that assistance in my Christian walk which the feebleness of my infant steps at that time so much required. The first few days of the voyage were more than irksome, and I was often with sadness reminded of my late neglected privileges of Christian worship and Christian communion. One day, however, I overheard the captain speaking in terms of the highest commendation of his black steward; but adding, that he was so addicted to praying and singing psalms, that he had often threatened to build a steeple over his steward's pantry or cabin; the captain, I grieve to say, and all my fellow-passengers, were scoffers and blasphemers. This conversation seemed to put new life in me, and I hoped that there was one at least on board with whom I might converse respect Eagerly did he peruse his Bible from day to day; and when too weak to do this himself, he listened to the gentle voice of his only sister, or to the mellowing the things which pertain to our everlasting peace. tones of his beloved mother, as they read its blessed truths. Month after month he lingered; the "outward man' decaying, but, happily, the "inward man was "renewed day by day." He bent at the Saviour's feet for pardon, and his prayer was daily to the Spirit of grace for that "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord." The chill autumnal gusts were heard on the hills, and William's frame quivered under their influence. Rapidly, at last, his disease advanced, and the close of an October day witnessed his departure. One hand was clasped in both his mother's; the other was grasped by his sister. Slowly and distinctly the pale lips of his brother, the minister, who had joined the family, uttered, "Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.' Believest thou this?" The dying youth opened his eyes, which had before been for some time closed, turned them on the speaker, then slowly on each of the members of his family gathered round his bed, fixed them on his mother's face, and feebly exclaimed, "Yea, Lord, I believe;" closed his eyes again, gave a gentle sigh, and his spirit fled. "Even so, Lord, for so it seemeth good in thy sight," exclaimed the father; while his wife, whose tears had been so long repressed, now with deep sobs laid her face near that of her child, and wept with that sorrow which a bereaved mother only can know. God had answered James G's prayers. Atevening time there was light. And "the voice of home," which had again and again struck on the smitten heart of the youth, had not been heard in vain. Oh that none of our young readers who have been blessed with a holy, happy fireside, may ever know the anguish William G- felt, when the remembrance of his sin smote him for his neglect of the instructions received there! And remember, where one like him is snatched as a brand from the fire, not a few perish for ever, through their neglect of the lessons of childhood and youth. PETER THE NEGRO SHIP MISSIONARY. A MINISTER of the gospel has recorded the following account of one who, as we speak of a home missionary and a foreign missionary, may well be called the ship missionary. "The negro of whom I am about to tell, was steward of a vessel which was a regular trader between one of our ports in North America and Liverpool. In this vessel I engaged a passage on my return to my native country. I soon found that neither I had observed the meekness and kind attention of the steward; but had not expected to discover a brother in Christ, in one whose office and manner of life seemed so uncongenial to the growth of pure religion. After what I had heard, I speedily made myself known to him as one who was under the same guidance, and, I hoped, travelling the same road as himself; and many were the happy hours I spent, many the pure lessons of gospel wisdom I received in that little spot, which the captain, in his scorn, had described as worthy of a steeple. But the benefit I derived from my negro brother did not stop here; he not only preached the word to me in his little cabin, but was instant in season, and out of season, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting me, with all long-suffering and doctrine. I was then but very young in the family of Christ, and was often much inclined to deny my Master in the presence of his enemies; but never, after my first interview with Peter, did I seem to acquiesce in the sentiments of my ungodly companions when ranged round the cuddy table, or shrink from reproving the profane expression, without a word of Christian counsel from my faithful brother. I think I see him now as he waited upon us at table, casting upon me the pitying and sorrowful eye, when he found me ashamed of my Master and his cause. He would afterwards seize the first opportunity afforded him of speaking to me alone, and would always commence his address (knowing that the voice of conscience was heard within) in these words, "Ah! Massa, no get peace that way;""Massa no get peace by being ashamed of Jesus." One could not be displeased with the reproof, however troublesome so faithful a monitor might at times appear, his manner being so very respectful, and at the same time his affectionate inter-|| est so apparent. But I found I was not the only object of his Christian labours on board the vessel; his master (the captain), the other passengers, and every member of the ship's company, heard from the lips of Peter, at one time or another, the words of eternal life. His consistency and open confession of the truth, caused his exhortations to be received without offence, and to be listened to with attention. All respected pious Peter, and he embraced all within the circle of his charity. People could not but love him, especially one who, like myself, had so TIRED OF THE MINISTER. largely been blessed through his instrumentality. I often thought of his trying situation, exposed so continually to the close contact of persons so notoriously addicted to blasphemous and evil conversation as are the common sailors, especially when in the service of a man whose constant habit was the holding forth to the ridicule of others his steward's religious feelings and habits. To add to the misery of his situation, as I conceived, he was, moreover, utterly deprived of the benefit of the ordinances of God's house, except while the vessel was in port; and one day I spoke to him on the subject, expressing my surprise that he should choose such an occupation as his present one. I asked him how he came to be so situated; he answered, "I don't know, massa; God call me to this place." "But," I replied, "I wonder you remain in it; surely you might serve God with more comfort in any other sphere; what causes you to continue as a ship's steward ?” “What, don't you know, massa?" he said, "Not I," I replied. "Why, massa, don't you know? Every voyage we have fresh passengers, fresh crew; so you see, massa, every voyage we have a new congregation; I preach to new people." Here was the secret disclosed why this man of God was the steward of the "Corsair." O, that we all had the missionary spirit of pious Peter! 35 way is clear, and the place of your duty is home. But be quite sure that you could not by method, diligence, preparation, and judicious delegation, attend to every duty of home, and yet leave opportunity for mothers and mistresses, who were patterns of devoone weekly visit to the sanctuary. I have known tedness to home duties, and at the same time were exemplary in their attendance at the house of God. The devoted mother wants an occasional relaxation from her assiduities; and what so refreshing as an hour spent in the house of God? A more difficult case is that of the WIFE whose husband is inimical to religion altogether, and especially so to its week-day engagements. Constant attendance, in such circumstances, can hardly be expected; and many thus situated must forego the pri vilege, and seek to make up by renewed diligence in the use of the private means of grace, the loss they are compelled to sustain of the public ones. LABOURING MEN, I am aware, are under a strong temptation after a day's hard toil, to imagine they are too tired for a sermon, and that they will be excused by God for going home to spend the evenin in their own house, instead of his. In many, ver many cases, this is not an excuse, but a sufficien: reason for their neglect; their labour is so great an so exhausting, as to utterly incapacitate them for that mental application which is necessary for a profitable attendance upon the means of grace. In this case the gracious Redeemer himself makes the same defence for them as he did for his slumbering dis WHY DO YOU NOT GO TO THE PRAYER- ciples, and says the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. MEETING? TRADESMEN often say they have no time; they cannot leave their business: that is, they will not. I am aware that it is not, and could not, by any contrivance and forethought, be always made convenient for tradesmen, especially shopkeepers, to be at the house of God on a week-day evening; but could it not be oftener done than it is? Would not a settled purpose, a good plan, and a little preparation, generally leave the way open for such persons to the sanctuary? Is it not enough time given to the world, to carry on its concerns till seven o'clock in the evening? If there be a party to be joined, or some public business to be attended to, cannot tradesmen find time for this? Oh! brethren, try, try. Be anxious to throw off the cares of the world time enough to be found in your place at the house of God, on the evening of the weekly service. But your residence is too far in the country to enable you to attend. Then why go so far? Why sacrifice the pleasure and improvement to be gained in the sanctuary, for the enjoyment of rural scenes? The modern taste for a country residence is making sad work with piety. How many are there, who, on this account, can attend only one public service even on the Sabbath! And has it not proved a snare in other ways, leading to a neglect of their trade, and to expenses which their income was not adequate to meet? Your salvation, professing Christians, your salvation is, or should be, the great business with you; and every thing else should be subordinate to it. Some who will read this Address are the MOTHERS of large families, and imagine they find in their domestic and maternal cares an insurmountable obstacle in the way of such services as I now recommend, and a sufficient excuse for neglecting them. I readily allow that in many cases this is admissible. Duties cannot be in opposition to each other. There is no religion in neglecting a dependent family, and allowing home to be a scene of confusion, even though it be to attend public worship; and if this must be the result, judgment and conscience being witnesses, your Suffer, then, dear brethren, the word of exhortation on this important subject; renounce all excuses: endeavour to be in a state of mind which shall not prompt you to seck after them. Be in earnest, far more in earnest, than are the generality of profes sors, about your soul's concerns. Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure. Hunger and thirst after righteousuess. Live the life of faith. Set your affections not on things on the earth, but on things above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Be not satisfied with mere external religious decorum, and a consistency in which the world, or your fellow professors, can see no flaw. Let your conversation be in heaven; feel and act as the citizens of the celestial state. Walk with God; rejoice in hope of the glory to be revealed; and steadily look at eternity. In order to keep up such a state of mind, comply with the admonition of this Address. Let it be matter of conscience, not of taste merely, to attend the week-day services. You need them; and they will help and bless you. Be regular in your attendance. Do not let it be a mere occasional thing to be there, when an admonition has been delivered on the Sabbath calling upon you for the performance of this duty, or when something extraordinary is to be heard. This is the case with too many. We see them sometimes, but oftener miss them. Be it with you AN ORDINANCE FIXED AS THE SABBATH; keep the evening free from all occupation; make no other engagement. When invited to something else, say, No, that evening is given to God." "The diligent soul," I repeat, "shall be made fat." This is diligence. May it be yours.-James. TIRED OF THE MINISTER. THE faithful minister of the gospel has no sinecure. He has plenty of labour, no less anxiety, and little Not the least of his troubles encouraging success. arise from the humours of unreasonable men. Let us take an example. We give it in the form of a colloquy : |