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in that high capacity with the most consummate wisdom and the strictest integrity. He died universally respected, 1654, aged seventy-one. He observed to Whitlocke, the English ambassador: "I have seen much of

this world, but I never knew how to live till now. All the comfort I have, and what is more than the whole world can give, is feeling the good Spirit in my heart, and reading this good book-the Bible."

The Children's Gallery.

THE SCHOOL-BOY OF SHAPORE. SHAPORE is a station in Peninsular India, connected with the London Missionary Society. It has its Mission-school, in which Bible truth is taught. That truth was the means of leading three heathen lads to see the sin of idol-worship. On the eve of one of their idolatrous festivals these boys were sent by their friends to prepare clay for the idol. Each had, suspended from his neck, a small silver box, containing an image of their god. But, although leaving their heathen homes thus attired, and charged with "such a command," they resolved to destroy their idol images. And nobly did they carry out this sacred purpose, by casting the fragments of their despised deities into a well. This decisive step excited the rage of their friends. Means were taken to induce them to return to the dark customs of their fathers. With two of the boys these efforts were successful; but the third refused to comply with either the entreaty or command of his deluded relatives. Persecution tried its power. He was punished, deprived of his food, hooted along the street; "but none of these things moved him." The missionary would have taken this heroic boy of eleven under his special care, but his mother refused. At length the little fellow was sent some twenty miles from home, away from the servants of the Saviour, and when heard of last was in a Government school. There, surrounded by the influences of evil, we trust this dear lad will be enabled to "endure as seeing Him who is invisible." May the eye that never sleeps watch over him;

the arm that never tires defend him; the grace that can conquer all preserve him; and long may he live, the devoted follower of" Christ Jesus the Lord!"

And shall a fact like this be lost to the lads of Britain? Rather let them prize the Missionary Chronicle; for while the journals of the day are the record of demolished thrones and convulsed kingdoms, selfish strife and terrible tumults, its pages proclaim the pacific achievements of "the Cross"-the more than romantic deeds of Christian benevolence.

But is there no idolatry in England? Are her sons subject to none of its forms? Are they all free from the dominion of "the powers of darkness?" Would that they were! For we assure you, young friends, that if you would be personally happy, permanently honourable, or socially useful, you must seek for strength to rise above the seductions of sin, and be captivated by none of her enchantments. If assailed by worldly pleasure, and wooed to worship at her shrine, disdain her offers, trample her in the dust, and cast the idol into the well. Rising to deeds so noble, you will live above earth's grovelling pursuits, advance the highest interests of our race, and elevate the spirit of your age. For in a few years the lads of our land will be its artizans, its masters, its fathers, its citizens, its merchants, its rulers. What, then, will so ennoble your position as the cultivation of an enlightened, a generous, a Christian spirit? By the surrender of yourselves to the claims of the great Redeemer-by resolving to extend his empire, will you best promote the prosperity of Britain,

and ensure the peace of the world, while "wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of your times." Much will depend on you! If, prompted by a celestial power, you renounce every idol, whether of matter or of mind, and live only for the glory of Christ, future ages will feel the force of your fervour, and your name will "be had in everlasting remembrance." Advancing on the path of life, you shall be cheered by heavenly prospects, sustained by all heavenly hopes; and, regardless of the hindrances to evangelical consecration, you "shall mount up with wings as eagles." And if, like that bird of daring pinion, you are ever rising towards the land of light, you shall one day reach the ineffable brightness of the vision of the blest. For,

"Did you give your brother the peach I sent him?" asked her father again, a little sharply.

"No, father," said she; "I did not give him that."

"What did you do with it?" he asked. "I ate it," said Lydia.

"What! did you not give your brother any?" asked her father.

"Yes, I did, father," said she; "Igave him mine."

"Why did you not give him the one I told you to give?" asked her father, rather sternly.

"Because, father," said Lydia, ** I thought he would like mine better." "But you ought not to disobey your father," said he.

"I did not mean to be disobedient,

"His wing on the wind, his eye on the father," said she; and her little bosom

sun,

He swerves not a hair, but moves onward, right on!

Boy! let the eagle's flight ever be thine, Onward and upward, true to the line." B. E.

LYDIA AND HER LITTLE
BROTHER.

LAST evening I supped with Lydia's father and mother. Before supper Lydia, her parents, and myself, were sitting in the room together, and her little brother Oliver was out in the yard, drawing his cart about. Their mother went out and brought in some peaches, a few of which were large red-cheeked rare-ripes; the rest, small ordinary peaches. The father handed me one of the rare-ripes, gave one to the mother, and then one of the best to his little daughter, who was eight years old. He then took one of the smaller ones and gave it to Lydia, and told her to give it to her brother, who was about four years old. Lydia went out and returned in about ten minutes.

began to heave, and her lips to quiver.

"But you were, my daughter," said he. "I thought you would not be displeased with me, father," said Lydia, “if I gave my brother the larger peach;" and the tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"But I wanted you to have the larger," said her father; "you are older and bigger than he is."

"I want you to give the best things to my brother," said the noble girl.

"Why?" asked her father, scarcely able to contain himself.

"Because," answered this generous sister, "I love him so dearly; I always feel happier when he gets the best things."

"You are right, my precious daughter," said her father, as he fondly and proudly folded her in his arms; "you are right, and you may be certain your father can never be displeased with you for wishing to give up the best of everything to your brother. He is a dear little boy, and I am glad you love him so. Do you think he loves you as well as you love him?" "Yes, father," said Lydia, "I think he

"Did you give your brother the peach does; for when I offered him the larger I sent him?" asked her father. peach he would not take it, and wanted Lydia blushed, turned away, and did me to keep it; and it was a good while before I could get him to take it."

not answer.

The Cabinet,

WHAT CAN I DO?

THIS is generally the first exclamation after "the heart has believed unto righteousness." It was the cry of the Apostle of the Gentiles; and a due appreciation of the gospel of truth is generally attended with a desire to communicate the same blessings to others. Reader! is this your inquiry? and looking round on your many calls of time and attention, does the cry escape, What can I do?

The question, when associated with a desire to do good, implies a heart influenced by the holiest of motives; but from many minds it discovers a half-heartedness, and a heart but half-influenced by the saddening associations about us, and that eternity for which every human soul is a candidate; and thus we often hear with pain the cry, What can I do?

First, I would say, Are you a Christian? On the right answering of this inquiry depends life or death. If not, what dread responsibilities hang over you! A dying man, and unprepared for the exit ! A being on probation here, and fitted for nothing but a brief stay on earth, and scarcely for that! Oh! reader, as destinies of unparalleled moment await you, let not a day pass without a careful revision of matters; ascertain how it stands between thee and God; and may it be your exclamation, as it was of Bunyan's Pilgrim, "Life! Life! Eternal Life!"

But I will suppose you acquainted with these things; intimately connected with your eternal peace; that you dwell under the shadow of the cross; that you love the Lord Jesus Christ; venerate his cause, awful and holy as it is; and it is your humble ambition to be the means of bringing fellow-sinners to the same standing, hope, and joy; and yet I fancy I hear the cry, What can I do?

Let me then address you. Are you a member of a Christian church? If not, I would put it affectionately, How can you live in such utter disregard of those precepts you profess to estimate dearer than gold? He whom you should delight to honour says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments;" and, "He that is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will I be ashamed before the angels of God." You hope to mingle with the church triumphant, and through a long eternity swell the hallelujahs of martyrs, and ministers, and disciples of Heaven; will you not emulate their example in spreading the interest of the church militant? and how can you do this, standing aloof from that usefulness and safety church-membership naturally provides? Let intense meditation upon this be precursor of devoted and continuous action: participating in the immunities and privileges of the church below, a door of usefulness will be opened to you, and, with Divine assistance, your existence will not prove a blot.

the

L

Are you a Sunday-school teacher? Do you plead you have not time sufficient? And may I ask, Is that the case as your conscience appealed to would state it? How do you occupy the mornings and afternoons of the sabbath? Is an hour or two too much to devote in his service who has paid an infinite price for your eternal wealwhose "face was more marred than any man "-who spent a life of woe, that you might enjoy his smile, and a never-ending sabbath in heaven?

There are scenes in the far distance of very interesting importance. Christian men are devoting their time and talents, are spending and being spent for Christ, in disseminating the gospel of your salvation; and the faithfulness of their Master engages a blessing shall attend it. What are you doing to aid the cause of Missions? Perhaps you say you are not able to do much. Is that an excuse for doing nothing? Is the heart right? if so, the hand will be open. Do you give them your prayers? "Prayer moves the hand that moves the world." Let the sentiment of Heber fill your heart:

"Waft, waft, ye winds, his story;

And you, ye waters, roll;
Till, like a sea of glory,

It spreads from pole to pole.
Salvation ! O Salvation !

The glorious news proclaim,
Till each remotest nation

Shall lisp Messiah's name."

I might point you to our Bible Societies-peaceful and glorious institutions !--which, through their auxiliaries, convey the pearl of great price, by the payment of one penny a week, into many a poor home; and yet, for want of collectors, thousands of families remain ignorant, and perish for lack of knowledge! What argument so great as that from a starving man? Reader! have you pondered on the lot of fellow-sinners in a far more sorrowful positionspiritually starving, for want of the bread of life?

There is the great cause of Temperance. Are you aiding that happy means for the moral redemption of the poor inebriate? Are you setting him an example, by abstaining from those dangerous stimulants yourself, and thus endeavouring to raise him again to happiness and reason, who had been depressed by sin, and debased by strong drink? Oh! if the system we condemn make our brother to offend so ruinously, let us not add one pillar to that same system, but check whatever is polluting. Oh! for the self-denial and selfsacrifice of Him we profess our exemplar; may it be our increasing desire to learn of Him!

Reader! there is much to be done. Of our lives we have no lease. Like the rivers, time is gliding. Sinners are perishing around us. Error, like thistle-seeds, is being sown everywhere; let us check it by spreading truth in every possible way. We have a solemn mission: how are we fulfilling it? We live in eventful times! Never were the friends of truth so called to spread those

principles which are life, and peace, and health, to all that find them. Let us no longer ask, What can I do? but deeply ponder on our mercies and privileges, and act consistently, as the possession of them require:

Deptford.

"I am no preacher; let this hint suffice,

The cross, once seen, is death to every vice;
Else He who hung there suffer'd all his pain,
Bled, groan'd, and agonized, and died in vain!"

S. T.

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CHRISTIAN COURAGE.

THE Christian, of all men, needs courage: indeed, there is nothing which he doth as a Christian but is an act of valour. It requires more prowess and greatness of spirit to obey God faithfully, than to command an army of men,-to be a Christian than to be a captain. What seems easier than for a Christian to pray?-yet this cannot be performed aright without a princely spirit. The Christian in prayer comes up close to God, with an humble boldness of faith, and takes hold of himwrestles with him; yea, will not let him go without a blessing: and all this in the face of his own sins, and under the eye of Divine justice. Indeed, there is no duty in a Christian's whole course of walking with God but is attended with many difficulties. For the farther proof of this point, consider some few pieces of service in which every Christian must engage:

I. The Christian is to proclaim and prosecute an irreconcilable war against his bosom sins. Now, what courage and resolution doth this require! You think Abraham was tried to purpose when called to take his son, his son Isaac, his only son, whom he loved, and offer him up with his own hands; yet what was that to this? "Soul, take thy lust, thy only lust, which is the child of thy dearest love, thy Isaac,

the sin which has caused most joy and laughter, from which thou hast promised thyself the greatest return of pleasure or profit; as ever thou lookest to see my face with comfort, lay hands on it, and offer it up; pour out the blood of it before me; run the sacrificing knife of mortification into the very heart of it, and this freely, joyfully, and presently." Truly this is a hard saying; flesh and blood cannot bear it. Our lust will not lie so patiently on the altar as Isaac, but will roar and shriek; yea, even shake and rend the heart with its hideous outcries! Who is able to express the conflicts which the Christian feels before he can bring his heart to this work? Who can fully set forth the artful insinuations with which such a lust will plead for itself? Lofty must be that resolution which is able to break through such violence and importunity. Then the valiant sword-men of the world have showed themselves mere cowards, who have come out of the field with victorious banners, and then lived, yea, died slaves to a base lust at home.

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