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never be repulsed. My mortal desires shall be all met. I shall find provision for my mind's wants along the whole path of endless being!

But I must pause, to see to whom I am indebted for all this. "He that cometh unto ME shall never hunger." "I am the bread of life." In Christ is all this fulness. And how can I see him, standing, as it were, on the verge of Eternity's great ocean, and while pointing my soul to its immeasurable vastness, giving me such an assurance, without the overwhelming conviction that in him must be found all the fulness of the Godhead. While the sweet language of the promise rings in my ears, my admiring and adoring soul exclaims with an apostle, "MY LORD AND MY GOD!"

PREPARATION FOR HEARING THE GOSPEL.

1. Cultivate, day by day, a simplicity of heart and humility, and proper regard for the precious word of God.

2. Compose your mind on Saturday evening or night, for the solemn exercises of the holy Sabbath.

3. On Sabbath morning, rise early. Let secret prayer and meditation be your first exercise.

4. Keep in a still and uniform frame, all the Sabbath. Read little, except the Bible; relish and digest what you read. But,

5. Take care that this is all done in a sweet and easy way; make no toil or task out of the service of God.. Do all freely and cheerfully, without violent effort.

6. Keep your heart with all diligence as you go to the house of God; look not hither and thither unnecessarily, lest your mind be distracted, and your devotion lost. Much less look about in the

sanctuary, for this is a mark of disregard.

7. Ask, either at home or in the sanctuary, for God's blessing upon yourself, the preacher, and all the hearers.

8. When you retire, after service, remember your obligation to God for having heard his Word, and your responsibility for its improvement. Remember the perishing heathen, and ask that the Gospel may speedily be preached unto every creature.

9. During the Sabbath, refrain from remarks of any kind on the preaching; and from censorious remarks refrain always, except when and where duty may call for them.

10. Digest what you hear, and do it, which will be the best preparation for the next Sabbath, if you should live to see it.

Thus shall your Sabbaths fit you for an everlasting rest in heaven; and the manna on which you feed in the wilderness of this world, shall sustain you, until you are permitted to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the "paradise of God;" which may God in his infinite mercy grant, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be the glory in the Church for ever. Amen.

THE WELL-READ POCKET BIBLE.

In the Report of one of the Bible Auxiliaries in Cornwall, it is said, “One of our most regular subscribers, a young man of about 22 years old, has been called to his eternal rest. Though only a labourer on the roads, he thought it a privilege to spend a portion of his hard-earned wages in supplying himself and others of his family with copies of the Holy Scriptures. Whilst subscribing for one of the largest size, he also provided himself with a little pocket Bible, in order to take it with him to his daily work; and at his dinner hour, it was his practice to retire with his treasure into some quiet corner of a field, and, from the blessed words which it contained, seek that refreshment which he would not have exchanged for all the wealth and pleasure of the world. Every passage that particularly impressed him, he used to mark with blades of grass, and the little Bible (which he gave on his death-bed to his brother, with earnest entreaties that he would read it daily,) is almost filled with these simple and touching memorials. This pious young man's love of the Scriptures was intense; and it may truly be said of him, that not only were the statutes of the Lord his song in the hours of his pilgrimage, but that in his life he adorned the doctrines of God his Saviour. And when death came, after an illness of only four days, it found him with his work done, and his soul ready to obey the summons joyfully. The night before his departure, on one of the Bible collectors calling to see him, and speaking of the blessed prospect before him, he pressed his hand in his, which was already cold, and said, "I cannot speak much: my breath is short, but my hope-oh glorious hope!-is full of immortality."

A COLLOQUY.

"Poor child of the desert! through which thou art wending
Thy pathway of peril, with labour and care;

Say, know'st thou the country to which thou art tending?
And what is the recompense waiting thee there?"

"The Lord of that country to me is no stranger,
I have His sure promise of heavenly rest;

While here in the desert, He shields me from danger,
Provides for my wants, and by Him I am blest."

"Call sure, if thou wilt, all thou here art possessing,
What thou hast in hand, is most surely thine own;
But say, canst thou trust in a promise of blessing
From One that's unseen, in a land that's unknown?"
"The Word of Jehovah hath never deceived me,
I trust in that Word, and rejoice in that name;
When wounded, He healed; when in need, He relieved me,
And He in his mercy is ever the same."

"Pursue, thou poor pilgrim, in Jesus confiding,
Thy path through the desert in patience and peace;
The world may thy faith and thy hope be deriding,
But soon all its din and its clamour shall cease.

"The light of thy Lord shall in safety direct thee,
The voice of His Spirit thy spirit shall cheer;
The arm of His strength will uphold and protect thee,
Till thou in His kingdom of glory appear.

"Then heavenly music, in grandeur still growing,
To loud hallelujahs shall wake and arise;

And praise, like great waters yet spreading and flowing,
Shall swell and ascend to the heights of the skies."

IOTA.

THE JEWS.

"It shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there shall it be said unto them, ye are the sons of the living God."HOSEA i. 10.

O Lord, thy covenant of grace

Thou never wilt forget,

And faithful Abraham's chosen race
Shall own thy mercy yet:

When to their native land restored,

Zion's glad sons shall praise their Lord.
The dawn of that bright day appears,
When unbelief shall cease;
When Love shall wipe away their tears,
And breathe sweet words of peace;
Then shall each contrite heart adore
That holy name, despised before.

Oh! hasten, Lord, that blessed time
When Israel shall be free;

And, gathered from each distant clime,

Unite to worship thee.

When, from the soil thy steps once trod,

Praise shall again ascend to God.

Then Truth from this dark world shall spring,
And Mercy from above;

To earth descend on angel wing,

And dwell with Faith and Love:
For thou salvation's walls shalt raise,
And all thy gates be gates of praise.

GERTRUDE FRANCES.

A. FOSTER, PRINTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE.

FRIENDLY VISITOR.

No. 288.

SEPTEMBER, 1842.

VOL. 24.

THE POOR EARTHENWARE MAN.

An old man, travelling about to sell earthenware and ballads, having been permitted to lodge in a barn, was overheard the next morning to pray in the following manner:

"Thank God I have slept soundly to night, and so this morning am pure and well. Thank God, my ass is well, and has eat a good lock of hay, her crust of bread, and drank half a pail of water. God bless us both to-day! and give me strength to walk afoot, that I may'nt be forced to get up and ride the poor beast, for she has luggage enough already.

"God Almighty send that folks may want my wares, and that somebody may take a liking to my ballads; and them as can afford it may give me some victuals and drink, that I may not give my ballads to servants for it, when their masters and mistresses don't know on't. God Almighty lead us through green lanes, where my poor ass may light of good cropping, without running into other folks' grass or corn; and that, poor thing, she mayn't tumble down and hurt herself, and break my wares.

"And God Almighty incline somebody to give me a night's lodging; and that I may have a dry barn, and some barley straw too (an't please God;) for I am grown old now, and a hard bed is worse than it used to be. But I don't distrust God Almighty's care, for he never let me want in my life; and so his great and holy name be praised now and evermore. Amen."

This simple and affecting prayer cannot fail to interest an enlightened and feeling mind.

The spirit of the poor man is deeply affecting, and reproves many whose advantages have been very far superior to those which he enjoyed. Indeed, what

H

Christian, with the Bible in his hand, does it not reprove?

Its simplicity is admirable. Here is no multiplicity of words, no attempt at finery of language; he comes directly to the point, and expresses, in the simplest style, his wants, his obligations, and his dependence. Oh, had but his views been enlarged, enlightened, and spiritualized, how excellent and delightful would have been his prayer!

His gratitude, contentment, and moderation of desire, are both pleasing and edifying. How much real enjoyment and heartfelt gratitude softened his bed of straw, and sweetened his hard crust, to which the great, at their splendid feasts, and on their beds of down, are too often strangers! Surely a contented mind is a continual feast; and how many of the artificial miseries of human life is he spared, who knows only the simple wants of nature! Perhaps the constant supplies with which we have been favoured, including all the necessaries, and many of the comforts of life, have failed to produce such lively and constant gratitude; although we possess the precious book that leads us to trace all these bounties to the hand of a gracious Father, who gives us all things richly to enjoy. Oh, had the poor man, reposing on his bed of straw in the barn, been directed to that ladder of intercourse between earth and heaven, which the Patriarch saw when extended on the cold, hard stones, what earthly monarch but might have envied his bliss?

His cheerful confidence is also very pleasing—“I don't distrust God Almighty's care, for he never let me want in my life." And has he ever suffered us to want? Has he not said that he never will; but that "bread shall be given us, and our water shall be sure;" and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly? Yet have we not too often indulged distrustful care about those meaner things which our Father knoweth we have need of; as well as gloomy doubts about our interest in that kingdom which he has pledged himself to bestow on the meanest, feeblest

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