POETRY. we shall run the risk of ending our life too in darkness and in despair. But who wishes so to die? No man in his senses. For, however men may live, we know how they all wish to die. "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his," was the wish of a man who loved the wages iniquity. But let no man le deceived: God will not be mocked. His day of reckoning with us will come. Whate we sow we shall reap. Now then, while he may, let the wicked forsake his waylet him return to the Lord, who, for Christ's sake, will have mercy upon him, and abundantly pardon all his transgressions. But this must be now, or it may be never! Poetry. THE LAST GREAT DAY. GREAT God, what do I see and hear? The trumpet sounds, the graves restore The dead in Christ are first to rise, On those prepar'd to meet him. The day of grace is past and gone, Stay, fancy, stay, and close thy wings, One wondrous sight my comfort brings, When heaven and earth shall pass away, ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS. Anecdotes and Selections. AN AGED CHRISTIAN MINISTER had struggled hard through many difficulties without repining, and met with much opposition in the discharge of his duties without betraying the least impatience. One of his intimate friends, who highly admired those virtues which he thought it impossible to imitate, one day asked him if he could communicate the secret of his being always content? "Yes," replied the old man, "I can teach you my secret, and with great facility; it consists in nothing more than making a right use of my eyes!" His friend begged him to explain himself. "Most willingly," returned the minister: "In whatever state I am I first of all look up to heaven, and remember my principal business here is to get there; I then look down upon the earth, and call to mind how small a space I shall occupy in it when I come to be interred; I then look abroad into all the world, and observe what multitudes there are who are in all respects more unhappy than myself. Thus I learn where true happiness is placed, where all must end, and what little reason I have to murmur or to complain." THE PRAYING SOLDIER.-During some unhappy commotions in Ireland, many years ago, a private soldier was daily observed to be absent from his quarters and from his fellow-soldiers. He began to be suspected of withdrawing himself for the purpose of holding intercourse with the rebels; and on this suspicion, probably increased by the malice of his wicked comrades, he was tried by a court martial and condemned. The case being brought under the notice of the commander-in-chief, he examined the minutes of the trial; and not being satisfied he sent for the man to converse with him. Upon being interrogated, the prisoner solemnly disavowed every treasonable practice or intention, declared his sincere attachment to his sovereign, and his readiness to live and die in his service. He affirmed that the real cause of his absence, when not on duty, was that he might obtain a place of retirement for the purpose of private prayer, for which, the general knew, he had no opportunity among his comrades, who had become his enemies on account of his profession of religion. He said he had made this defence on his trial, but the officers thought it so improbable that they paid no attention to it. The commander, in order to satisfy himself of the truth of this defence, observed that if so, he must be able to pray very well. The poor man replied that as to ability he had nothing to boast of. The general then desired him to kneel down and pray before him; which the man did, and poured forth his soul before God with such copiousness, fluency, and ardour, that, on rising, the commander took him by the hand, and said he ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS. was satisfied that no man could pray in that manner who did not live in continual intercourse with God. He not only revoked the sentence, but received the man into his peculiar favour, placing him among his personal attendants, and in the way to promotion. No serious mind can be otherwise than interested at this remarkable intervention of Providence on behalf of this man of prayer. Such he was, and thus exhibited a prominent feature of the christian character. He could not live without prayer, though he thereby exposed himself to the suspicion and hatred of his associates, and even endangered his life: but that God whom, like Daniel, he served, knew how to deliver him in the hour of danger, and not only heard his prayer, but made the exercise of the duty the means of his deliverance. This anecdote also does honour to the general and to his nation, which can point to commanders warmly attached to the religion of God and his Christ, which so many, alas! treat with indifference and contempt. 66 THE REFORMED SOLDIER.-A soldier becoming evidently a religious man met with no little railing from both his comrades and officers. He was the servant of one of the latter. At length his master asked him, "Richard, what good has your religion done you?" The soldier made this discreet answer: Sir, before I was religious I used to get drunk; now, by God's help, I am sober: I used to neglect your business; now, by the same help, I perform it diligently." The officer was silenced, and seemed to be satisfied. "For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." 1 Peter, ii. 15. OLD LAZARUS.-A missionary at the Sandwich Islands mentions an instance of persevering effort to obtain a further acquaintance with the way of salvation. "On one of my last tours," said he, 66 an old man, whose name was Lazarus, who looked as if he could not walk a mile, followed me through the whole length of the district of Kan, travelling not less than one hundred and twenty miles. I endeavoured to persuade him to return home after he had gone a short distance; but he replied, with great earnestness, that the lamp of life was almost out; that his eyes were almost blind; his ears almost deaf; and his feet could not carry him much longer to the house of God, and he wished to hear the blessed gospel as often as he could before he died." A CHILD, EIGHT YEARS OLD, once asked his father why he did not pray for him, as some good parents he had read of used to pray for their children? The father, looking steadfastly at his dear boy, sighed and wept, and, pressing the child to his bosom, said, "No wonder I have not prayed for you, my dear; I have never prayed for myself." "Then I will pray for you, father," said the child. This circumstance was the means of the conversion both of father and mother. ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONSA 199 AN EFFECTUAL REBUKE-A King of Hungary being very sad and pensive, his brother, who was a gay courtier, was desirous of knowing the cause of his sadness. "O, brother," said the king, "I have been a great sinner against God, and know not how to die, or how to appear before God in judgment." The brother, making a jest of it, said, “These are but gloomy thoughts The king made no reply; but it was the custom of the country that if the executioner came and sounded the trumpet before any man's door he was presently led to execution. The king, in the dead of night, sent the executioner to sound the trumpet before his brother's door; who, hearing it, and seeing the messenger of death, sprang into the king's presence, beseeching him to know in what he had offended. "Alas! brother," said the king, "you have never offended me. And is the sight of my executioner so dreadful? and shall not I, who have greatly offended, fear to be brought before the judgment seat of Christ ?" "SEEK RELIGION NOW," was the advice of a young man to his brother, in the State of M- The one thus appealed to had been somewhat thoughtful, but strove to párry with his conviction. That very night he rad engaged to attend a dancing party, and before he set off he ́solemnly promised his anxious brother, who was pleading with him, that as soon as the ball was over he would attend to the salvation of his soul. He went. The saloon was thronged. The lights were blazing. The line was formed for the dance The first sound of the viol arose on the air. He stepped forward, reeled, and fell breathless on the floor! His "now" was in eternity; his soul was at the bar of God! To-morrow is in another world; and lest your soul should be there before the sun sets again, flee, oh, flee to the cross of Jesus now! for "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation"-From America. NOW AND FORMERLY.-It is often remarked, and with a good deal of merriment a the slowness and simplicity of former times, before the invention of railways, that our good honest horse-trotting fathers used to make their wills and put up prayers at home before venturing the long and hazardous journey from Boston to New York and back again. True enough; and it would be well if people were as consistent and pious still. It is at this day as much an act of prudence to make one's will before trusting himself to a journey in the cars or steamboats as it was fifty or a hundred years ago. More lives are lost now in travelling than then; and as much necessity exists for prayers for a safe return. The difference does not consist in the less danger now, but in our greater recklessness and less religion.-American Paper. A MEMOIR OR a Monument. Of all the forms assumed by the pride of family, or by piety, for the memory of the dead, the most useful, worthy, and influential, is a biography, with the letters and THE FIRESIDE. writings of the deceased. The marble tablet, the lofty monument, and the gorgeous tomb, may gratify a vulgar pride, or assert a local importance; but a book, containing the essence of the experience of a life, is a monument doubly beneficial, both honouring the family which produces it, and instructing the persons who peruse it-that is, if it be well and wisely written. The Fireside. THE HOME MOTHER. WE must draw a line-aye, a broad line, between her and the frivolous butterfly of fashion, who flirts from ball to opera and party, decked in rich robes, and followed by a train as hollow and as heartless as herself-she who, forgetful of the task assigned to her, neglects her own children and leaves them to the care of hirelings, while she pursues the giddy round of her amusements. Not so our home mother- blessings be on her head! The heart warms to see her in her daily routine of pleasant duties. How patiently she sits, day after day, shaping and sewing some article for use or adornment of her little flock! And how proud and pleased is each little recipient of her kindness! How the little face dimples with pleasure, and the bright eyes grow still brighter, as mother decks them with her own hands in the new dress she has made. How much warner and more comfortable they feel if mother wraps them up before they go to school! No one but her can warm the mittens and overshoes, or tie the tippets around their necks. There is a special charm about all she does-the precious mother! They could not sleep-nay, for that matter, she could not, if she failed to visit their chamber, and, with her soft hands, arrange the children comfortably before she slept. Her heart thrills with gratitude to her Creator as she looks on those sweet, blooming faces; and when their prayers are done she imprints a "good night" kiss on each rosy little mouth. It may be, too, a tear will start for one little nestling laid in its chill narrow bed, for whom her maternal care is no longer needed. It sleeps, though the sleet and snow descend, and the wild winter winds howl around its head. It needs no longer her tender care. A mightier arm enfolds it. It is at rest! feels and knows that it is safe, and bends meekly to the Hand that' sped the shaft, and turns with a warmer love, if it is possible, to those little ones who are left her to love. How tenderly she guards them from every danger, and, with what a strong untiring love she watches by their bedside when they are ill. Angels must look with love upon her acts. Her children shall rise up and call her blessed ; and the memory of her kindly deeds will live in them for ever. She |