them in their use of the Word. But is it not to be feared, that, in the present day, this devotional use of the Scriptures is very extensively neglected? Why do we hear such complaints of the low state of piety, and the slow progress of God's work, on every side of us? Why do we witness such a large amount of feeble and sickly religion in our churches? Why do the modern infidels sneer at Christianity as an effete system-a religion which has lost its power? May not all this be traced, in some degree at least, to a prevalent neglect of "the lively oracles" of God, as the only sufficient means of rendering the Christian life manly, strong, and diffusive? There may be keen controversies about creeds and churches; the shibboleths of human systems may find zealous attachment and ardent defence; but how little is the Bible the daily food of multitudes of professing Christians! The men of business amongst them have no leisure; the men of worldly ambition have no relish; the men of literature may with propriety and power exhibit the beauties of the Bible, and glorify its bards; but where are the men of devotion, who sympathize in their souls with David's sentiment "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day""How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psa. cxix. 97, 103. It seems almost as if the spirit of the noble Bereans had passed away, and that the searching of the Scriptures, which intelligent and healthy piety demands as its very aliment, is a habit but rarely cherished. The present is characterized as a fast-living age. "My people do not consider." Many of the members of our churches are so engaged and engrossed in the world, that the Word of God, though in their homes and in their pews, obtains from them little devout perusal or prayerful study. Yet the measure of spiritual strength will be mainly proportionate to the

devotional use of the Sacred Record; and if the Christian would grow, he must receive with meekness the engrafted word. In every age the holiest men, those who have displayed the highest vigour and beauty of the Christian life, have nourished their piety by the habitual study of the Divine revelation. And if religion is to any extent superficial or feeble amongst us; if, notwithstanding all our Christian charities and apparent zeal, we do not see much of that manly and strong spirituality which ought to pervade the Church; it is our firm conviction that one chief cause of this is the neglect of the Bible-the little devotional use that is made of it by Christian professors. "The sincere milk of the word" is not desired for the growth of the spiritual life in the soul. The Scriptures may be perused by many without this end being kept in view. The proper condition of the subject is as necessary for growth as appropriate nourishment. There must be desire;-this desire the right use of the Word will strengthen. Truth will reveal herself only to the devout worshipper in her temple. The desire of the babe is simple, earnest, constant, and natural. Thus the believer must betake himself to the Bible if he would grow. In the Word he will find that which will expand his mind and enlarge his heart. This is the armoury from which the Great Master has taught us to take weapons for our defence against spiritual foes: this is the repository of truth, from which we may obtain all healthful nourishment for our intellectual and moral being. He will be happy and strong who makes the testimonies of Jehovah his counsellors, and the Divine statutes his study and song, in his earthly pilgrimage.

The authority of the Scriptures may be acknowledged, the unparalleled beauties of their literature and poetry may be admired, and their sole sufficiency as a standard of faith and practice may be admitted; but if regard to them

one?

Here's a fair world! What wouldst

thou have?

Fair world! O no! Thy beauty's gone; A heavenly Canaan, Lord, I crave. Thus the ancient travellers.-Thus they, Weary of earth, sighed after thee.

Till I both they and thee may see.

Put on, my soul, put on with speed: Though the way be long, the end is

sweet.

Once more, poor world! Farewell indeed; In leaving thee, my Lord I meet.

THE season of summer journeyings has again arrived. Thousands of Christians are seeking the shore, the mountains, and other retreats of health and pleasure. They had better leave their luggage than their religion behind them. Temptations beset every pathway. Fashion and folly are guests at every hotel. A word of caution, then, to Christian travellers may not be amiss.

Beware of trashy and vicious books. You will meet them everywhere, and your leisure, and perhaps ennui, may tempt you to buy and read them. For your soul's sake, let them alone. They might be read at intervals of business, and when the mind is on the stretch of ordinary pursuits, with, perhaps, less danger; but when the mind is relaxed, and every sense is a snare for the soul, it is madness to yield the powers to the fascination of a corrupt author. Select beforehand an adequate supply of pure, healthful reading, for yourself and family, and give Satan's colporteurs a uniform negative.

Beware of evil company.-Fops and coquettes migrate as well as men and women. Every summer retreat will have its complement of dashing, fortune-hunting, simpering gents and misses, who owe more to the tailor than the teacher-more to the milliner than the mother. Maintain your self-respect and simplicity of character. If you are enticed to the dance, or the gambling saloon, it should be enough to answer, "I am a Christian."

The

Beware of Sabbath-breaking. This is the temptation of travellers. boat leaves on Sunday. There is a Sunday excursion of pleasure. Friends call on the Sabbath. The last newspaper has come on Sabbath morning. What is that to thee? It is THE LORD'S day, not yours. Unless change of place is change of relations to the government of God, and an abrogation of the Divine law, you may not yield to these temptations without sin, any more than if at your own fireside. "Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy," follows you to every resting place, and you break that law at your peril, and the peril of all who note your example.

Beware of Christian sloth.-Perhaps you have excused yourself from active Christian duties at home by the pres sure of business. Well, you have thrown off home cares and duties: now what will you do? You are thrown in daily contact with the worldly and impenitent: will you swim in the current, or breast it? You have leisure and opportunity to do good: will you improve it? If you would spend a happy, useful summer, make a manly avowal of your Christian profession everywhere. Seek the good of all around you. your walks and drives, have an object-the good of souls-and they will be all the more pleasant. You feel the need of helps to usefulness: get them at the outset. Your hat and pockets and trunks should be a miniature tract depository. Don't forget the children.

In

A choice variety of good books, and a select assortment of tracts, children's tracts, and handbills, should form a part of the outfit of every Christian traveller, Yet few duties are more neglected. "You cannot tell," writes an eminent and excellent clergyman on a tour, "how sorry I am that I left home without tracts for distribution. I thought of obtaining a supply, but, in the bustle and hurry of getting off, en- | tirely lost sight of the matter, and have regretted it ever since. I have not seen, in tavern or steamboat, a single religious tract or book since I left home. The thing has troubled me very much." What would one think of the soldier going into battle without his ainmunition? His predicament would not be unlike that of the soldier of the cross without his spiritual weapons.

Beware of prayerlessness.-The cabin of a steam-boat, the rooms of a hotel,

the dissipation of a summer's jaunt, are little friendly to prayerful habits. But if the Saviour could convert the mountain side into a closet of prayer, and if Paul and Silas could turn prison walls and stocks for criminals into Bethels, the Christian traveller can find or make a place and an occasion for private and social devotions at every turn of his journey, and in every resting spot. That will be a costly excursion to the disciple of Jesus, that terminates in a prayerless home.

Our earthly pilgrimage will soon be finished. Time is too precious, the journey too short, eternity too long, the vows of God too solemn, to admit of mere summer's sporting and vanity. The Christian-the Christian, always and everywhere-should be the motto and the aim of every traveller.-From the Christian Treasury for July.

A FEW days before Christmas, in the year 1840, a Russian minister was going home, from a place at some distance from the village where he lived. Evening was coming on, and it was growing so bitterly cold, that it was almost dangerous for any one to be out. He was wrapped in a fur cloak, and travelled in a sledge, which went fast over the hard, smooth snow. As he went along, he saw something lying on the ground, and stopped to see what it was. He found that it was a soldier, who seemed to have fallen down exhausted with the cold, and, to all appearance, was dead. The good minister, however, would not leave him on the road, but lifted him into the sledge, with his gun, which lay beside him, and drove on as fast as he could to the next inn, which it took about half an hour to reach. He was not satisfied with leaving the poor soldier in the care of the people there;

VOL. XXX.

but, although he was very anxious to reach his home, he stayed for an hour directing and helping them to do all that was possible, in order to bring the man to conscious life again, in case he were not really dead. And at length their endeavours were successful, and his senses, and the use of his limbs, gradually returned. Then the minister set off homewards, having first rewarded the people of the inn, and also given them money to pay for a good meal for the poor man before he should go forward on his journey. As soon as the man was refreshed, and felt able to go, he insisted upon doing so, although the people did all they could to persuade him not to venture out again that night.

But he said that he was carrying letters which were important, and he must not delay any longer than was quite necessary. So, taking his gun, he

2 N

proceeded on his way, which he found would very soon bring him to the village where the minister lived, to whom he owed his life. He reached the place before long, and, though it was now very late at night, he could not forbear going to his benefactor's house, that he might, if possible, see and thank him for what he had done.

As he went up to the house, he saw that, though it was so late, there were still lights in it; and, as he came nearer, he heard loud voices, and great confusion within. He hastened to the door, but it was fastened; and, without waiting to knock, he ran to the window close by, and, looking in, saw the clergyman surrounded by four armed robbers. They had just tied his hands and feet,

and were threatening to murder him, if he would not tell them where his money was to be found. The soldier instantly forced his way in, fired his gun at one of the robbers, and killed him on the spot. The others attacked the soldier, but he disabled one with his bayonet, and the other two were then seized with fear, and rushed out of the house, leaving the minister, as may be supposed, overpowered by astonishment and gratitude for his sudden deliverance. And then his still deeper and happier feelings may be imagined, when he found that the poor man, whose life he had saved only a few hours before, had now been made the means of preserving his own.-From the Christian Treasury for July.

Ir is matter of deep regret, that in almost every place of worship a certain number of hearers are painfully conspicuous for their late attendance. Nothing requires to be more vigorously dealt with than this, with a view to its ultimate cure. It should occupy the attention of Pastors until it finally disappears from our Christian assemblies. It is a crying evil, from which, perhaps, no congregation, in town or country, is wholly exempt. Dissenting churches are specially guilty of it; and the habit is not confined to the labouring classes, but obtains to an equal extent among those whose circumstances in life render their conduct peculiarly inexcusable. Indeed the indecorous practice is so common, that the feeling of shame, which it might well create, is almost obliterated. No greater reformation is practically demanded. Let the following considerations have their due weight with those who have con

tributed to the great disorder of late arrival at the house of God:

1. It is an offence against God for inconsiderate hearers to be straggling into the sanctuary when a large proportion of the congregation are engaged in acts of prayer and praise.

2. It is a great interruption to the devotional feelings of others, to find themselves distracted by the late arrivals of thoughtless worshippers.

3. It is distressing to the mind of a Christian Pastor to find a perpetual movement among the people, in those early devotional exercises upon which the hallowed impression of the Christian sanctuary so much depends.

4. A penitent review of past neglects, with suitable resolves and purposes of future amendment, would shed a new aspect over all our Christian assemblies, and would draw down the blessing of God upon pastor and people.

GAIUS.