but I must offer one or two PRACTICAL REMARKS. Do not object to my following this matter up with some remarks of a practical nature. I am a Christian, and a Christian minister; I feel that all speculation should end in practice; that the law should lead us to the gospel, and Moses to Christ; and, therefore, before we close, let me give a practical turn to this argumentative discussion.

you

In the first place, my dear friends, (and I speak to all of with sincere affection,) if any are here who have doubts about revelation, or who reject it, I do beseech you, however imperfectly I may have brought the argument before you to-night,-I do beseech you to consider and reflect upon it; for I am sure there is great force in this argument, arising from the internal evidence, the elevation and purity, the superhuman character, of the morality of the Bible.

I once read of an infidel-I forget where it was I read it—but I once read of an infidel—a determined infidel, who was led-I forget by what circumstances to doubt the truth of his infidelity, his religious and moral system, if it could be called such; he went into his chamber, opened the Bible, and happened to open it at this place; he walked about his room, and he thought about the distant antiquity of the time of Moses, the uncertainty of all things connected with the infancy of nations; the fabulous stories that are connected with their origin; all sorts of things against the credit of the Bible and the Hebrew legislator; but the thought haunted him, "Where did he get this law? I cannot understand this. How came he by this law?" And by dwelling upon that one idea, he was led on to trains of reflection, to examination of the evidence and the contents of the Scriptures, till his mind rested in his humble and happy reception of the divinity of the volume, and of all that it contains! Weigh this argument, I beseech you. How is it that our moral ideas and our moral tastes are altogether so superior to the philosophers, the priests, the statesmen, of antiquity? I did not speak of our mode of accounting for this in the introductory remarks, but I speak of it now. How does it happen that, since the time of the introduction of Christianity, and in exact proportion as the Bible has become known and diffused, pure, just, and consistent ideas on moral subjects have been diffused along with it? How is that not only those who, in a nation like ours, adhere to, and profess, the religion of the Bible, but those who do not strictly adhere to it, and even those who reject it, whatever may be the lowness of their ideas with respect to some parts of morals, have yet far more elevated views as to the nature of God and the principles of virtue, than what were common in ancient times? How is it that the general standard of morals in this country is comparatively so high among the mass of the people, and really so high among the scrupulous and conscientious disciples of the Scriptures? The fact is, that we are all indebted for that state of mind and feeling which qualifies us for judging of this law, to the direct or the indirect operation of the law itself, and of the volume in which it is contained, upon our sentiments and habits, whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not.

In the second place, I beg to say, and would impress it upon the minds of young men as an argument which I do not know how they can withstand that you will always find infidelity, in some form or

other, associated with profanity and impurity. Now, I do not mean to say that all infidels are either profane or impure; I do not mean to say that all who reject the Scriptures indulge habitually in profanity of speech, or are habitually licentious in their conduct; but I do mean to say that the principles of infidelity will permit both, and that in most infidel publications you will find the most solemn and awful subjects treated with a levity which is as unphilosophical and irrational on the supposition of Christianity being false, as it is profane and impious on the ground of its being true; and I mean to say, further, that you will find, in all the shops in this city that vend infidel publications, you can always get any impure publication you please. I have sometimes gone into shops where infidel publications are sold, in order to obtain some of them which I have wished to examine; and when there, I have asked to look at certain other publications of an immoral character. There they were, in the window, on the counter, on the shelves, ready for any that asked, and ready to be handed to you, perhaps by women! THIS IS INFIDELITY! Walk the streets of this city, go into some of the alleys and lanes where there are shops that publish its "tracts"-its "Bible"-go, and you will find, side by side with books professing to teach a pure creed, and to inculcate a rational morality, or which are filled with objections against our religion, other books, in large numbers, of the most immoral and corrupting description. How is this? How does it come to pass that there is so universal an association between infidelity and impurity? Go into any of the shops that publish Christian books, our tracts," and our "Bible;" go to any, whatever may be the sect they represent; go to Harvey and Darton's, as Quakers; to Seeleys' or Rivingtons', as the Church of England; to Jackson and Walford's, as Dissenters; to Nisbet's; to the Tract Society; to the Methodist publishers; go and ask for any of these infamous publications, and they will turn you out of the shop for the insult. How does this come to pass? Why is it that the men who sell this very impure book (and infidel publications affect to lament very much the impurity of the Bible, and its immoral influence), how is it that the men who sell this book, and who sell all other books founded upon it,-how is it that they, of all men, are insulted, when you breathe in their shop a wish for any publication that has a mark or a shadow of impurity upon it? How can you account for this? I cannot account for it except upon the principle, which I feel to be a fact, that infidelity permits and encourages vice-that against which the thunders of this law are uttered, and that Christianity is the patroness, the nurse, the mother, of purity and virtue.

In the next place, let me say, that if this be the law of God, it is for you and me to meditate very deeply how we stand in relation to it. How does God look upon me as a moral agent in relation to this law? As guilty.

And, in the last place, let the principles which must shut us up to the reception of the law, shut us up also to the reception of the whole volume; and then, when we are compelled to admit the law which condemns us, we shall find ourselves at the same time in full possession of the gospel that redeems: the admission of what may and ought to alarm the conscience, will bring along with it the harbinger

of peace, the annunciation of mercy, the blessings of salvation; we shall have God revealed, not only as the lawgiver, speaking in thunder, but with the still small voice," inviting us, guilty as we are, to his bosom and love.

AN OXFORD-STREET REMINISCENCE.

SOME few years ago, a shabby-looking gentleman, carrying in his hand a fiddle, enclosed in a green bag, entered the shop of an eminent hosier in Oxford-street.

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"I want," said he, addressing himself to the obsequious man of hose, a pair of silk stockings."

"Here are a dozen pair," replied the shopkeeper, "of such a quality as no other house in London can offer. They are cheaper than dirt, and more durable than iron, and when they are worn out, they will cut down into capital socks; but that will not be for many years.'

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Excellent qualities!" replied the shabby gentleman, with the fiddle; "but what is the price?"

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A trifle," returned the seller; only twelve shillings a pair." "Then put up one pair for me," said he of the green bag," and I'll pay for them." At the same moment his right hand dived into the extreme recesses of his breeches pocket, as though he were endeavouring to select something underneath. He was not successful.

"Gracious Heavens !" cried he, "I have either lost my purse, or left it at home, and I know not how I can possibly do without the stockings; for you must understand, that I am going to play at a celebrated concert to-night, and must have them to wear.'

"Well, sir," replied the hosier," that shall not trouble you; we'll send them to your house."

Unfortunately," whimpered the man of sweet sounds, screwing up his features to the dimensions of a dried codling, "I am not going home; but I will, by your kind permission, leave my fiddle as a security for the twelve shillings, only requesting that you be careful of it, and hang it up (for it is a valuable instrument), on that nail, which I see disengaged over the chimney of your back parlour."

"With all my heart," replied the hosier; and immediately conducted the musician into the parlour, where he hung up the fiddle, and having received the stockings, left the shop.

About two days after this event, a person entered the shop, and bought two or three trifling articles. Being suddenly seized with a spasmodic indisposition of stomach, he requested permission to recover himself in an arm-chair of the parlour. The hosier's humanity and civility were equal to his industry. He attended his customer with much assiduity, and by help of a little brandy, rubbing, and chafing, restored the gentleman. As soon as he was well, he began to look about the room; to admire the pictures; to compliment the hosier on his taste, when his eyes rested on the fiddle.

What! my friend," he exclaimed, "are you a musician ?" "No, sir," said the hosier; "that fiddle belongs to a poor fellow who bought a pair of stockings of me two days back, and probably has not yet been able to raise money enough to pay for them, and redeem his fiddle."

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Allow me," said the gentleman, "to look at it-I am a judge of these matters." The fiddle being delivered to him, he drew it from the bag, and having examined it said, as though to himself, "This is really a prodigious fine fiddle!" He then placed it to his shoulder, and negligently passing the bow across the strings, produced a few notes, which appeared to the hosier of such exquisite delicacy, that the passion of gain was for a few seconds suspended.

"This fiddle," said the stranger, "appears to be a Cremona of the best tone.-Mr. Nottingham," he continued, looking up at the hosier, "I have known you some years, and have dealt always with youI know you are an honest man-I will not inform you what is my opinion of the worth of this instrument; but here is a thirty pound note, for which you will give me a receipt; and if, when the wretched musician again makes his appearance, you can purchase it for fifty pounds, this note, which I have now put into your hands, shall be your own." When he had thus spoken, he gave him the note, together with his card; and having received an acknowledgment for the note, departed.

He had scarcely been gone from the shop above an hour, when the musician, in a great hurry, and much worse clothed than before, ran hastily into the shop, and putting down the twelve shillings on the counter, requested to have his fiddle.

"Ah!" quoth the man of yarn. “I'm delighted to see you, I wish to have a few moments' conversation with you;" and taking him into the back parlour, informed him of the liberal offer which the gentleman had made who had been there in the morning.

"With respect to the fiddle," said the musician, "I am well aware that it even exceeds in value what you have offered; nor would I think of selling it, but that my distresses are great, and customers are difficult to procure. To tell you the truth, I am now under arrest, an officer is with me outside, and I have only been allowed a few moments to fetch my fiddle, in order to carry it to a friend, who is ready to advance me upon it a sum of money sufficient to relieve me from arrest." The hosier saw that such was the fact.

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"I will go with you," said he, "to the gentleman's house, and receive the fifty."- Impossible!" replied the musician. He may be from home, or otherwise; I cannot take the risk. The person I allude to is waiting my return."

The wily hosier now began to suspect that the fiddle would escape, and that the thirty pounds commission would be lost. He therefore

resolved on a bold adventure, and added twenty pounds of his own.

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Wait one moment," said he to the musician, "and you shall receive the fifty pounds." The musician hesitated, as if reluctant to part with his fiddle for the price: he surveyed it with tenderness, and said, "Tis my necessities alone, which induce me to part with thee, thou cheerful companion of my life-the better portion of my existence.

But we must separate; and having been a long time the delight of thy master, thou must now become his support."

Tears were visible in the eyes of the wretched musician, and, with a trembling hand, he delivered the instrument to the hosier, and having received the fifty pounds, hurried away from the shop in a very distressed state of mind. The hosier almost repented making such a gain from

so poor a man.

But

business is business."

As soon as the fiddle became the property of the hosier, he ordered a coach, and repaired to the house of the gentleman whose card he possessed. The servants informed him that their master was at home, and he was soon introduced into the library. He found himself in the presence of a gentleman very different in appearance from him whom he had seen in the morning. However, he produced the fiddle, a receipt for the money he had paid, and the card, and begged to know when he could see the owner. The gentleman appeared surprised, and, indeed, the man of stockings very soon became convinced that there must be some mistake. The gentleman acknow ledged the card to be his, but declared himself quite ignorant of the transaction. The hosier was struck with dismay, and returned home in a most disconsolate state, yet not without hopes that the person who had advanced the money would soon make his appearance to claim the fiddle he had so much coveted. At all events, the instrument was valuable, and he might, after all, make a handsome profit. He was relieved from all suspense by the arrival of a customer who was a musical instrument maker; who, having examined the instrument, declared it to be a Dutch fiddle, value about eighteen and sixpence! The sound of a fiddle, ever after, threw the hosier into fits!-Monthly Magazine.

VENTILATION.

EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT OF THE MILLINERS' AND DRESSMAKERS' ASSOCIATION

ON VENTILATION.

IT is an ascertained fact, that in the process of respiration each individual gives off from the lungs a large quantity of air, loaded with carbonic acid; and also, that every gas-light or candle causes a similar deterioration, so that a poisonous atmosphere is thus produced, in which, in fact, if any animal were closely confined, it would instantly perish. These circumstances, although wellknown to scientific persons, are either imperfectly understood, or entirely discredited by those who are uninformed upon the subject; and it is, therefore, desirable to state, that so rapidly do the effects just described take place, that in a work-room 32 feet long, 13 feet wide, and 10 feet high, containing five gaslights, and in which twenty young persons are at work, one-eighth of the whole air of the room will, if not prevented by some kind of ventilation, be changed into poison in an hour. To guard against such deterioration as this, by which the air becomes unfit for respiration and for health, it is estimated that there should be a change per minute of at least three cubic feet of fresh air for each person, and of 15 feet for each ordinary gas-light, when burning, amounting— for the room above-mentioned--to 135 cubic feet per minute.