be swearers and ungodly? What can you expect of them when you have compelled them, forcibly compelled them, to spend their Sabbaths in the fields, and withheld from them that instruction which might have rendered them useful and worthy members of society, and by which they might have been taught the way to the kingdom of heaven? Oh! I would not be in your place for all the world—no, not for the lands and the corn that you could give me, or the gold or the honours which the wealthiest monarch could present to me. Oh! what a responsibility rests upon you! Farmers, farmers, believe me, it will sink you down into the lowest pit of hell. You can never stand up against it. God will not suffer this at your hands. There is no excuse which you will be able to allege, that will render you guiltless at God's judgment-bar. For the never-dying souls of those poor children, you, you will have to give an account-their blood will rest upon your heads. You have shut the kingdom of heaven against them. You would not go in yourselves, neither would you let those go who would.

Do you say it is necessary, and that you are not called upon to suffer your property to be destroyed? I deny it. It is not necessary. I can speak from experience. I have had corn fields between the fields of those who have employed “bird-keepers” on the Sabbath-day, and my neighbours could testify to my crops not being a whit inferior to those beside me. I say, there would be no loss. none worth mentioning. And suppose there was, will you not give that small, that very small quantity of grain, of which the fowls of the air might rob you on the Sunday-are you not ready to give that up for the good of the poor lads? Will you not sacrifice what you would never miss, in order that those poor ignorant boys may learn what the birds in the fields can never teach them? Can you go with any comfort, (to say nothing of a clear conscience,) and sit in your spacious pew, and worship with the people of God, while you have left behind you those poor boys to idle away their whole Sabbath, to spend their Sunday with the birds under the hedges, to grow up in ignorance and vice? How can you? Oh! I beseech you give up this iniquitous custom. Never mind what others do. Let them damn their own souls; but don't you. Begin afresh. The Lord has blessed you with a beautiful harvest, shew him you are thankful. You will soon be putting in your wheat. Then commence anew. keeping" lads on the Saturday night, that you will not want them Tell your "birdnext day. Tell them to be sure to go to Sunday-school, and keep the Sabbath-day aright. Trust God to take care of your grain. Be not faithless. Give your lads the Sabbaths which God has given them and you; and believe that the God who makes your seed to sprout and spring up and bring forth fruit-who calls to the rain to descend upon it, and the sun to shine upon it-believe that that same God can and will fill your bosom with a far greater abundance than you are so anxious to secure on the Sabbath-day. PARENTS,-I have a few words for you. Remember that however

forgetful the farmers may be of their duty, you have yours to perform. Do you say that they compel your lads? Do they threaten to withhold employment from them if you will not let them work on the Sabbath-day? What is the question then you have to consider? It is this: "Which do I fear most-God or man? God has sent out his command, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,' &c.; and man calls upon me to let my children break, and profane, and work upon that day. Whom shall I obey? If I obey God, I run the chance of losing eighteen-pence a week. Which is better to earn that money and teach my boy to break the Sabbath, and perhaps lose his soul, and have to answer for it before God's judgment-seat, or give up that paltry sum, and obey God, and send my child to Sunday-school and see him at church, and run the risk of offending my employer?" Now, parents, this is the question for you to consider. I tell you that it is your bounden duty to refuse letting your lad spend the Sabbath-day in the fields. As a minister of Christ, I warn you of the consequence. I exhort you to remain firm, whatever ungodly and worldly-minded farmers may threaten, and I assure you that the Lord will give you more than you will lose. Yes, you will be gainers by it. Many who have kept open shops on the Sunday have closed them, and offended those who bought of them, but they have soon found that they have been gainers. And you who have the fear of God before your eyes do not hesitate a moment, take all consequences, trust your God, have faith in him, tell your master you must have your lad on the Sabbath; tell him that you dare not let your child break the Sabbath. First ask him coolly, and if he refuse, then act as Christians, and be not afraid to tell the world that you fear God more than man, and you can trust Him who "feedeth the young ravens" to provide for you and your children, and that you believe that the righteous were never yet forsaken, nor that their seed begged their bread.

B.

HARVEST GRATITUDE IN GERMANY.

Do not the

DR. Steinkopff writes as follows from Stuttgardt. Germans shame the English? When are the first-fruits hailed with grateful welcome? and if there is anything of a harvesthome, how seldom does it rise beyond idle shouts and riotous excess? Oh, that we might learn a lesson from our wiser and more Christian neighbours!

"Stuttgardt, and, I may add, Würtemberg, is blessed in a still higher sense. A work of grace is carrying on there. Bible, missionary, tract, Jewish, and other Christian and benevolent societies and institutions, are in full and active operation. The word of God is preached by many of its ministers in purity. Some proclaim it with eminent ability, strength, wisdom, unction, and

success. Several of the churches are so crowded, that you must come half an hour before their commencement if you wish to meet with a seat. I preached, last Sunday week, in the parish church of Saint Leonhard, to a devoutly attentive congregation of 2000 people. When, at Stuttgardt and in other provincial towns of the kingdom, the first waggons laden with the corn-sheaves of this year's produce were brought in, thousands of the inhabitants met them in solemn procession. The waggons were placed before the church; hundreds, yea thousands, crowded them; hymns of thanksgiving and praise were sung; heart-stirring addresses delivered by the clergy; and many a tear of grateful emotion was shed for the merciful deliverance vouchsafed by the God of all grace from a season of scarcity and want, and for having begun to crown the year with his goodness. The harvest proves most boun tiful: in many parts of Würtemberg the wheat, rye, and barley have already been secured in excellent condition: the vineyards are a full month in advance, promising a most abundant vintage of the very best kind, provided this beautiful weather should mercifully be continued."

CHOICE GATHERINGS FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.

"I WILL GIVE YOU REST."

THERE are some plants which grow right up-and there are some feeble ones which take hold with their hands, and clasp and climb. The soul of man is like these last. He was not meant to stand alone. He is not strong enough for that. He is not fit to be his own “all-in-all.” The soul of man is a clasping, clinging soul, seeking for something over which it can spread itself, and by means of which it can support itself. And just as in a neglected garden you may see the poor creepers making shift to sustain themselves as best they can-one convolvulus twisting round another, and both dragging on the ground-a clematis leaning on the door which will by and bye open, and let the whole mass fall down-a vine or a passion-flower, wreathing round a prop which all the while is poisoning it so in this fallen world it is mournful to see the efforts which human souls are making to get some object to lean upon and twine around. One clasps a glittering prop-money, for instance-and it poisons him. Another seeks creature comforts-a snug dwelling, a well-furnished library-but Death opens the door, and he has then nothing to lean upon, so falls over on the other side, helpless and dejected. The make of man's soul is upward, and one climber cannot lift another off the ground.

But weedy as this world-garden is, the Tree of Life still grows in the midst of it. God has formed the soul of man of a leaning, dependant make; and for the healthy growth of that soul, it is essential that he should have some object far higher and nobler

than himself to spread his desires and delights upon. That object is revealed in the Gospel: that object is Immanuel. There are in the Saviour's compassions sufficient holds for every craving tendril and eager clasper of the human heart to fix upon and wreath around. Instead of clutching to props which cannot elevate you, the Gospel bids you grow against the Tree of Life; and just as you grow up into Christ, you will grow into holiness and happiness.

And if you have not yet found an object of your heart's content -if you feel that there is still something wrong within you-be advised. Take the Lord Jesus for your Friend. He is one in whom you will find no flaw. He is one of whom you will never weary, and one who will never weary of you." He sticketh closer than a brother:" he does not vary; for "he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever;" and, best of all, he is a friend who is never far away, for he says, "Lo, I am with you alway."

BURNING PRAYERS.

In some parts of India the people worship idols. These idols are the most ugly images, made out of wood and stone. The poor idolaters know no better, so we must not laugh at them, but only pray for them. But I think these poor Indians teach Christians a lesson, and I will tell you how. They are very earnest when they pray to their idols; and they seem very anxious to get what they ask for. When we pray to the only true God, are we as anxious and as earnest to be blessed as the ignorant heathen are? I must tell you a curious custom amongst the Indian idolaters. They put their ugly idol into a small temple. The man who comes to pray, brings his prayer written down on paper to the temple. He finds the priest there. He gives the piece of paper to the priest, who reads it aloud before the idol, and then burns it in a vessel full of burning incense. And what is the poor man doing all this while? Has he left his prayer with his priest, and gone away to his worldly business? No, if you could peep into that temple you would see him, lying full stretch on the ground, with his face covered, in the posture of the greatest humility. Alas! poor idolater, how my heart longs that thou wert praying to the only true God; and that in that humble position thou knewest what it was to cry, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"

Reader, are you a Christian? Have you heard of the true God? Then, of course, your prayer should be filled with greater ear. nestness and anxiety than that of a heathen. Do you go up to God's house to pray? The poor idolater fell prostrate on the ground in his idol's temple. In what posture do you pray in the house of the great God? Do you leave the prayers to your minister to repeat, and do you spend that time in looking around you, and in thinking of other things? Have you been blessed with bodily health, and are you sitting at your ease while your

minister prays? What! sitting at your ease while your minister prays? Is this possible? Can such a thing be true? Oh, surely if you felt yourself a vile sinner, your heart would soon cause your very knees to be humbled, and we should see one who was wont to sit during prayers, now kneeling low at God's footstool.

Reader, have you no occasion to be humbled before God? "Oh, yes," you say, "I am a great sinner, but I do not think God looks at the posture." Yes, reader, God does regard your posture; as that often is the index to the mind. If God hath given you strength, you should devote your body as well as your soul to him. What would the poor Indian idolaters think if they could peep into our churches, and see the people, while their ministers were praying, apparently unconcerned and sitting at their ease, instead of meekly kneeling on their knees.

Reader, if you feel humbled on account of your sins, begin afresh, and join with the words of the Psalmist and say, "O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."

EUNICE.

THE CONTRAST.

THERE is no place on earth

So full of joy and pleasure-
That there is only mirth,

And gladness without measure:
No place where sorrow never comes
To blight with bitterness our homes.

There is on earth no spot

So wholly given to sadness-
That something mingles not

Its soothing drops of gladness:
No spot so filled with thorns of woe,
That plants of pleasure never grow.

It must be so on earth,

Where all is alternation:
There is, where's only mirth;

There is, where's tribulation.

Heaven knows no sorrow, no distress;

Hell never tastes of happiness.

May grace my soul prepare,
Through Jesus the Anointed,
The heavenly bliss to share,

For all the saints appointed:
That I may never see the place
Where all is misery and disgrace.

L. P.