THE DUTIFUL SON. 1834.] sent the eternal and holy rest, which the true believer shall for ever enjoy in heaven. M. Is it enough to do these things every seventh day? S. These, indeed, are things which every man ought daily to remember and meditate upon. But on account of our negligence and weakness, one particular day in seven is wisely appointed for this special purpose.-Lord's Day Monthly Record. MR. EDITOR, THE SABBATH. BY ISAAC WATTS, D. D. One day amidst the place Where my dear God hath been, My willing soul would stay In such a frame as this, And sit and sing herself away THE DUTIFUL SON. THE enclosed Letter was forwarded to me by a brother Clergyman of the county of Carnarvon. It may perhaps be read with interest: it may convey encouragement to those who are not in the habit of giving and receiving rewards until they are deserved. It may afford a hint to those persons and parishes who have hitherto been in the habit of giving premiums for improvidence, and to those who have been the miserable victims of such mischievous and ill-advised beneficence. I have seen the medal alluded to in the letter; it is of silver, and has an inscription on each side: the one in the Welsh, the other in the English language. The following is a copy of the English inscription. From The Rector and Parishioners to Griffith Griffiths, Of their high admiration of Yours, A Welsh Clergyman. The following is the Letter alluded to. REV. AND DEAR SIR, ON my arrival yesterday at, your note of inquiry respecting my humble Medalist, was put into my hands; and I deem it the better mode of answering your purpose, to draw upon your patience and relate from first to last, "the short and simple annals of the poor" young man. His mother was a pauper residing, but not settled, in our parish, where she was very much esteemed: she was bed-rid for sixteen months, a wretched martyr to the Black Jaundice: her weekly parochial aid of two shillings could afford her but sorry comfort; but the necessaries, nay, indeed, the little comforts of life, viz. a good fire, an occasional bit of meat, a cup of good tea, and not unfrequently a glass of wine, were supplied by the admirable conduct and entire devotion of her youngest son, who had been, a year before, released from his apprenticeship to a joiner. This dutiful attention drew forth the notice of a person then erecting a mill in our parish, where he was employed twelve months, (his poor mother dying in the interim) to afford him an opportunity of gratifying, what seemed to be the chief object of his solicitation and anxiety, ministering, by purse and by personal assiduity, to the numerous necessities of his afflicted mother. The cottage she inhabited was four yards square, no loft above; and that he might be within hearing of his parent's call at night, he had a few blankets spread upon straw in an adjoining room of an empty malt-house. She had no one but her son, to lift her up and lay her down, 1834.] CHRISTIAN IMPROVEMENT. 9 to make her bed, her fire, her victuals; and to hold her in his arms, as she had so often done for him during his infancy. With the exception of about £2, he spent all his earnings in affording his mother what comforts lay within his means. She died about a month previous to his being out of employ at the mill; and when he applied to me, as parish Minister, for a certificate of his moral conduct, I presented him with the Silver Medal, on showing which at Liverpool and Manchester, no more questions were asked, and he invariably got work. But the style of workmanship in England was so different to that to which he had been accustomed in Wales, that he was obliged to work for small wages; and kindly advised by his respective masters to remain some time in England, he did so for two years; and returned to Llanengan merely to show CERTIFICATES of his good conduct, signed by his respective employers: and he forthwith embarked for New York, where the "Medal" again operated as his talisman; and he has written to say that it has been the foundation of his fortune, which, when he acquires, he will come and spend in his native mountains,-God willing. CHRISTIAN IMPROVEMENT. No man can love Christ too devotedly, nor serve God too laboriously. Not to advance in piety and virtue, is to go back. Every step we take in the path of the just, excites and enables us to make a further progress. Improvement is the testimony of the Spirit, the pledge of sanctification, the earnest of a better state. No man will say on his death bed, "to what purpose was all my care and diligence? I might have been less devout, less selfdenying. Why did I lead so strict a life?" But many; alas, too many, will say at that fearful hour, "Why did I not improve my time? How much better I might have been, if I had not wasted my opportunities and neglected the offers and means of grace, and quenched the motions of the Spirit!" Brethren, what are the terms of salvation? Striving, watchfulness, soberness, labour, diligence, fear. These are the words of God, and He will be as good as His word. He is not mocked. Let us not attempt to deceive Him, nor act the hypocrite with our own consciences, lest finally we should have our portion with the careless, lukewarm, unprofitable servants, in that dismal place, "where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." -Bishop of London's Sermon on Christian Improvement. A THOUGHT IN SICKNESS. (From a volume of Sacred Poems, published in 1760.) To wear the chain, how long? till grace divine, And thus prepare the mind for heav'nly joys. Be present pains, with future blessings fraught, With all its sins, and all its pains below. Jesus, in Thee, in Thee, I trust, to raise Renew'd, refin'd, and fair, this frail abode; Then my whole frame shall speak thy wond'rous praise, M. M. THOUGHTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. (Chiefly from Bishop Horne.) A SLAVE being once presented by his master with a bitter melon, immediately ate it all. "How was it possible," said his master," for you to eat so nauseous a fruit?" The slave replied, "I have received so many favours from you, that it is no wonder I should, once in my life, eat a bitter melon from your hand." This generous answer of the slave struck the master to such a degree, that he immediately gave him his liberty.-With such sentiments should man receive his portion of sufferings at the hand 1834.] ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH HISTORY. 11 of God; and more particularly as he must know that they are intended for his good. Speak the truth; keep your word; and intermeddle not in affairs which do not concern you. A child is eager to have any toy he sees, but throws it away at the sight of another, and is equally eager to have that. We are most of us children through life: and only change one toy for another, from the cradle to the grave. It is much to the honour of the Athenians that they had a law among them, obliging every man, who found a stranger that had lost his way, to direct him into it again. A christian is under obligation, by the divine law, to do the same in spiritual things. If I provoke a man, he is the worse for my company; if I suffer myself to be provoked by him, I shall be the worse for his. Cardinal Wolsey's reflection, made just before he expired, should be laid to heart by every man when tempted to bestow upon the world, or any thing in it, that affection and service which are due to God. "Had I but served God as diligently as I have served the King, he would not have given me over, in my grey hairs." "It is incomparably better," says St. Augustine, "to shut the door of our heart against even just anger, when it offers to come in, than to give it entrance: it being uncertain, whether it may not grow too powerful for us to turn it out again." ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH HISTORY. (In the last number, p. 413.) Answer 1. Edward the First became king of England after the death of his father, Henry the third. A. 2. Prince Edward was in the Holy Land when his father died. A. 3. Edward's wife was queen Eleanor. A. 4. This queen is said to have sucked the poison from a wound in the king's arm, made by the poisoned dagger of an assassin, in the Holy Land. A. 5. Edward the first came to the throne in the year 1272. |