ing their brethren to starve, is it not just that he should drive such servants from his house? Christ is our king, and we are his soldiers. We are enlisted, and furnished with weapons, and kept in daily pay, that we may carry on his war with sin, and extend his victories till sin is driven from the earth. If instead of doing this, we turn our back upon the king's enemies, and seek only to enrich ourselves, Christ can do no other than disown us. Whether we are disinterested and charitable or not, Christ is and he will never favour and prosper any Christian or any church that does not give itself to labour heartily for the salvation of the world.

When persons are first awakened to the importance of religion, it is to be expected that their attention and cares should be principally employed upon themselves. They need nursing for a time at first, and God is willing that they should be nursed. But they must not be nursed for ever, Even from the first they are required to confess Christ, and by a Christian behaviour to let their light shine before men. But when they have had time to learn the way of truth, and stay their troubled thoughts, they are expected to devote themselves to the work of doing good to others. We nurse our children for a time, but afterward we expect them to assist in supporting their younger brothers; and it is thus that God deals with his people. Let each one, therefore, who is wishful to escape the snares of hell, and to obtain eternal life, begin to work for God. Let him cast away all thoughts of attending to his own salvation alone. Let him know that he can only stand himself by helping up his brethren. And let him be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the works of the Lord. God will then guard you indeed. He will appoint his angels to attend you, and they shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. By supporting and blessing others you will engage all heaven in your behalf, and neither earth nor hell shall ever have the power to harm you.

A FEW THINGS THAT ARE NOT TO MY TASTE.

1. I CAN never look without pain upon Nelson's monument at Liverpool It is intended, I suppose, to set forth the power and greatness of Britain, and the achievements and honour of Lord Nelson. But to me it looks like a libel upon Britain, it stands like a monument of shame. This monument represents Great Britain as having chained the nations of the four divisions of the earth. This is the meaning I put upon it. Britannia is represented as dominant, and before and behind, and on each side, is the figure of a man chained, and hanging his head in sorrow. The interpretation I put upon the monument was this: behold the might and the glory of Britannia! she has enslaved the four corners of the earth. If this be our glory, I hope it will soon pass away. If I had been the enemy of Britain and had wished to slander her, I would have erected just such a monument as that. A nation's glory is in the intelligence, and virtue, and happiness of her people, and in her labours to improve and help the world. If a nation is to be praised, she should be represented as free herself, and spreading the blessings of freedom through other lands.

But Nelson was a hero; his business was to kill; and it was impossible to praise the hero and the country in one monument, without turning the praise into disgrace. I should hope the monument will be removed before long, and something put in its place that may reflect some credit on the town of Liverpool, and the British nation. All warlike monuments should be abolished. They always tend to excite bad passions, and to strengthen the worst prejudices.

2. I never like to see naked statues. There is a statue of George the Fourth in Liverpool, representing him as riding naked upon horseback. How unnatural, and disgraceful.

3. I do not like to see monuments to any men of doubtful worth. Why should men be praised on account of their wealth or rank? Yet many of the monuments in our country are erected in memory of persons of the vilest character. One such man as Howard, or Penn,

or Wesley, or Raikes deserves more praise than ninetenths of all the characters to whom our public monuments are dedicated.

4. I very much dislike the spirit of many hand bills. One tells you that such a man is selling cheaper than any other in the kingdom; and another that such an one is selling off at prime cost; and another that some one is selling off under prime cost. Here you read of GREAT BARGAINS, TREMENDOUS SACRIFICES, and RUINOUS PRICES. Another calls on you to rejoice with him because in consequence of the present depressed state of trade, he is enabled to offer you goods at unparalleled low prices. All such bills I look at with disgust; and I should never go into a shop from which they were sent out. They are most of them false, and in many cases the parties publish them with a consciousness that they are publishing lies. I spoke to one shopkeeper that sent out such bills, and he acknowledged it was not true, but then, said he, there is no getting on without such things. I had been a regular customer at his shop, but I left it immediately. I thought if he would lean on sin for support, he should find out what sin would do for him, It was not long before I saw his shop was shut up, and I heard he was gone to jail. It is bad to tell lies on these bills, but it appears to me to be worst of all, when the depressed state of trade, by which thousands are deprived of bread, is spoken of in such a lightsome way. Α Christian heart could not indite such bills; and Chris tian people cannot read them without pain. Does it sound like humanity to exclaim-Come friends, rejoice with me! In consequence of the depressed state of trade, I can sell you a parasol, a fancy bonnet, laces, and flowers cheaper than ever? When will men learn to love their fellow-men! When will they learn to weep with them that weep ! I hope my young readers will discountenance all such hand-bills, and always prefer to do business with those persons who seem to have some respect to truth and decency, and some regard to the sorrows of humanity.

CONSISTENCY OF REVELATION.

IT is my conviction that there is nothing in the whole system of revelation but what is intelligible to man. Not only is there nothing contrary to reason, but there is nothing above reason. There are many things that are above the reason of a child, perhaps, and there are many things above my reason in its present state; but there is nothing, I fancy, but what is capable of being understood by human reason, as human reason increases in vigour and capacity. Those things which seem to contradict reason, and which seem to contradict one another, either are not both doctrines of revelation, or else the contradiction is only in appearance. All truths agree; no two opposite sentiments can be both true. And there are no opposite doctrines in revelation; and there is nothing in revelation which contradicts any truth in nature and philosophy. Nature and religion agree; and run sweetly into one another. And in proportion as we advance in knowledge, and increase in mental vigour, the harmony of natural truths and religious doctrines will be more clearly and more fully manifest, as well as the agreement of all religious doctrines with each other. That which is dark and mysterious in religion is not unintelligible; it is dark and mysterious simply in consequence of the imperfect state of our understandings; and as our own minds improve, all the mysteries that hang about religion will gradually fade away.

Many things which seemed very mysterious to me seven years ago, now seem as plain as the light of day. Things which seemed inconsistent and irreconcileable, now seem to agree; and things which once seemed altogether incredible now appear perfectly evident.

And I have discovered that the greatest cause of perplexity to me, has been the blind belief of erroneous doctrines. I was taught to believe certain doctrines as true from my childhood, without any proof of their truth; and these doctrines I regarded as parts of the religion of the Bible. These doctrines I thought I must hold fast, whatever might come in my way. And I, of course,

did cling to them fast enough, and considered a belief of them as essential to my salvation. If Scripture seemed to contradict them, I must explain the Scriptures so as to make them agree with my creed. If any thoughts came into my mind, tending to make me doubt the truth of some of those doctrines, I used to consider them as temptations, and try to cast them out as quickly as I could. And all the time these doctrines were, more or less, erroneous; and all the trouble and anxiety of mind I felt were the effects of cleaving to them without evidence. When, at length, I gained strength and courage to examine the Scriptures for myself, and to reform my creed according to their teaching, my spirit was relieved. First one notion of my childhood gave way, and then another; as the clouds disappear, when the sun arises in its strength. And as the traveller who moved on with fear and trembling while the darkness surrounded him, walks cheerfully and boldly forward when the sun shines brightly on his path; so did my spirit, which had been wrapped up in the obscurities of error, now go forward joyously, happy and confident. The inconsistencies in my creed were harmonized; the notions which had seemed incredible, now proved to be no parts of religion, or else, by being viewed in new light, and in new relations, they seemed reasonable and true. Some scores of difficulties have thus passed away, leaving my creed more pure, and my spirit more free.

There are still some subjects which seem to have attached to them a portion of mystery; some points which I cannot fully explain to my own satisfaction; but these I doubt not will in time become clear. The difficulties that remain are as nothing compared with those that have passed away. And as I have discovered that former difficulties arose from the imperfection of my own notions, and the weakness of my own mind, and not from any imperfection or error in the religion itself; so am I persuaded it is with the difficulties that remain. My mind is gathering fresh strength daily, and it is daily remodeling its notions, and lessening its remaining difficulties; and I doubt not but that in length of time the last sha