reached Fredericksburg in the afternoon, and I have never met any of the company since. Doubtless many of them are gone into eternity, and I am left to tell the story. It may suggest, that,

1. There is a time to speak, and a time to keep silence. A word fitly spoken, how good is it! "Mamma" was the best preacher in that stage. She alone had a good opportunity to say anything pertinently, and without exciting angry words. She did not obtrude, but she bore a humble, modest testimony, and gave a reason of the hope that was in her, with meekness and fear.

2. True religion produces the same effects on the heart and character in every age. It has lost none of its power to renew the depraved, and save them from sin.

3. The doctrine that impressed poor Tom's mind, is still the melting, subduing doctrine of Scripture. Let it be preached.

R.

THE ICHNEUMON.

EVIL DISPOSITIONS MAY BREAK OUT, THOUGH FOR A TIME CONCEALED.

"I HAD," says M. d'Ossonville, "an ichneumon very young, which I had brought up; I fed it at first with milk, and afterwards with baked meat mixed with rice. It soon became even tamer than a cat; for it came when called, and followed me, though at liberty, into the country.

"One day I brought him a small water serpent alive, being desirous to know how far his instinct would carry him against a creature with which he was hitherto totally unacquainted. His first emotion seemed to be astonishment mixed with anger, for his hairs became erect; but in an instant after he stepped behind the reptile, and with a remarkable swiftness and agility leaped upon his head, seized it, and crushed it between his teeth. This effort and new food seemed to have awakened his inward and destructive voracity, which, till then, had given way to the gentleness he had acquired from his education. "I had about my house several curious kinds of fowls, among which he had been brought up, and which, till then, he had suffered to go and come unmolested and unregarded; but a few days after, when he found himself alone, he strangled them every one, ate a little, and, as appeared, drank the blood of two."

Application. It is one thing to restrain evil dispositions, it is another to have them rooted out. Many things may keep

children from the grossest wickedness, but unless He who made the heart change it, its depravity will break forth; and there is nothing, however bad, which they may not do at some time or other. What we really are is not to be learned from what we appear when the eyes of others are upon us, but from what we are when following our own will.

TRACT ANECDOTE.

MORE FRUIT.

A FRIEND who generally carries in his pocket some tracts for distribution, a few months ago was dining at an ordinary in E-. Around the table a large number sat down, where conversation generally was of the most offensive kind. There were three or four persons who could hardly speak without an oath.

After dinner our friend took from his pocket some tracts, among the rest "The Swearer's Prayer," and very respectfully placed one before several of the company. The very title filled them with indignation, and in the most profane and insulting manner they strove to drive our friend out of the room; but, like his Divine Master, he patiently endured all their revilings, and meekly said to them, "Do not be angry, I mean it for your good, and if you curse me, I will in my humble way endeavour to pray for you.". Shortly after the storm subsided, when our friend was requested to give to one and another till each of the company had received a tract,

when he retired.

A few weeks after he had occasion to go to the same city, and in passing down F-street was accosted by a respectable looking man, who seemed rejoiced to see him, and to have an opportunity of calling to his recollection the circumstance of their dining together at such a time at such an inn; and then added, "Well, sir, God sent you there to pluck a brand out of the burning. The tract you gave me that day was instrumental, in the hands of God, in saving my soul;" and taking him affectionately by the hand, and giving his name and address, he added, "The Lord bless you, and make you a great blessing to many more."

GEMS.

T. S.

when

THANKFULNESS.-Did we not often pray for mercy we were in pursuit of it? and shall we think it will suffice once or twice to give thanks when we have obtained it?

GOD'S WAY.-God never makes us what we should be without first making us know what we are.

A LOSS.-A lost affliction is an immense loss.

A HYPOCRITE.-A hypocrite neither is what he seems," nor seems what he is. He is hated by the world for seeming a Christian, and by God for not being one. On earth he is the picture of a saint, but in eternity the paint shall all be washed off, and he shall appear at the judgment in his own colours and deformity.

SLANDER.-A venerable man says, "Let the slandered take comfort--it is only at fruit-trees that thieves throw stones."

I WILL KEEP THEE.

Thus saith Jesus: I will keep
In safety my defenceless sheep;
From sin, and endless misery,
Seeking soul, I will keep thee.
Lord, I believe thy word is sure,
But I am ignorant, and poor;
My goodness reaches not to thee;
For mercy's sake, wilt thou help me?

I passed by the rich and brave;
The needy soul I came to save.
The poor in spirit, blessed be;
Oh! trust me then; I will keep thee.

But, Lord, I have a deeper wound;
An evil heart within I've found:
My nature's enmity with thee.
Offended King! wilt thou keep me?
Of old thy evil I beheld,
Yet was with love and pity fill'd:
I therefore died to set thee free.
For my own sake, I will keep thee.

Yea, I have proved thy power, my God,
And felt thy efficacious blood:
But sin remains, though it I flee.
Wilt thou preserve backsliding me?

Before I wrought upon thy will,

I knew how treacherous thou wouldst deal.
I did thy base transgressions see,
And yet, resolved, I would keep thee.
But, thou shalt conqueror be at length;
Till then, I will renew thy strength:
Sin shall not have the victory;
Only believe-I will keep thee.

Permit me once again to speak:
Sometimes thy face, in tears, I seek;
And oft a gloomy veil I see :

Can'st thou be wroth, and yet keep me?

Let then this answer thee suffice:
In anger I do not chastise.
More fervent be thy cry, thy plea,
And, as I live, I will keep thee.
But, if thou dost forsake thy God,
Then will I visit with the rod.
I may correct to a degree,
Nevertheless, I will keep thee.

But ah! I feel temptation strong:
And, if my journey should be long,
I fear I shall dishonour thee.
Wilt thou continue to keep me?

Can I forsake my heart's delight?
Thy end is precious in my sight.
I conquered death on Calvary,
And from its sting I will keep thee.
I will be near thy dying bed:
Amid the waves, sustain thy head;
My rod, my staff, thy help shall be.
In perfect peace I will keep thee.
I am the Ark that goes before,
To guide the pilgrims safe to shore.
At my rebuke shall Jordan flee.
In life, in death, I will keep thee.
Then, then, my sister, then, my spouse,
I will fulfil my sacred vows,
And thou in bliss my glory see,
When on my throne I've placed thee.

It is enough. My Lord! My love!
The hills, the mountains, must remove;
But I shall still unshaken be:

Thy word is pass'd-Thou wilt keep me.

THE WAVE.

SEE how, beneath the moonbeam's smile,
Yon little billow heaves its breast,
And foams and sparkles for awhile,

And murmuring then subsides to rest. ·

Thus man, the sport of bliss and care,
Rises on time's eventful sea;
And having swelled a moment there,
Thus melts into eternity!

H. Moore.

"There's mercy both for man and beast
In God's indulgent plan;

There's mercy for each creeping thing,
But man has none for man."

How hard it is, when looking on individual instances of kindness, frankness, integrity, and piety, to believe that the heart is not only cruel, but "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked," Jer. xvii. 9. And yet the page of experience confirms that of holy writ; war, and slavery, and persecution are the foot-prints of sin, and where is the land in which they have been altogether unknown? How has this fair world been darkened by human unkindness! How has it been ravaged by the rancour and persecution of man!

There is a way of increasing our advantages and magnifying our mercies, by calling to mind evils which have passed away, or been much mitigated. When we reflect on the trials which others have endured, and from which we have been delivered; if we look back a few centuries only, and see the land that we live in disfigured as it was by blind bigotry, and bitter and relentless zeal; if we see the martyr-fire blackening the sky with its smoke, and reddening the earth with its flame, and contrast with these things our present

JUNE, 1848.

G