by the rules laid down in the Bible, and to grow more and more like His true disciples. If you do not find that you have these feelings towards Christ, then it shows you are not a real believer, and you cannot hope to be saved by Him; but if you have them, you may take comfort, and go on your way rejoicing in the hope that you are in the strait and narrow path which leadeth to life. But did not the preacher tell you what a difference there was between God's service and Satan's? How the one was

perfect freedom, and the other only a hard bondage?

Mary. Yes, and he said what a difference there was between God's dealings and the reward Satan gives his servants-while Satan only pays the wicked what they have earned, which is hell-fire; God gives His servants what they can never deserve, everlasting life and glory.

Widow J. Ah! Mary, what a thought that is! our salvation after all is a free gift-we could never earn it by our own works. Did the preacher say any thing more about that?

Mary. Yes-it was the second part of the sermon; after he had told us what we all deserved, and what Christ had done to save us from ruin, he said we must remember, that, though we owed every thing to the mercy of God, yet we must not think this gift would be ours, if we lived careless and thoughtless lives, for God would only bestow it upon those who asked for it with real faith, and who were really anxious to be His true servants. He said, if we wished to enjoy heaven at last, we must begin now to think and to feel as God's saints in heaven will feel-otherwise we should not be prepared for it, and even if we could go there, we should not find it a happy place. He said further; that without holiness no man can see the Lord, and that we must be daily growing more and more holy and watchful, thinking always that this world is not our home, but that we belong to a better country into which sin can never enter.

Widow J. Yes, Mary; and you will quite understand this if you remember what happened last year when the ladies gave away many comforts to the poor in this parish; they sought out who were the most industrious and steady people—they did not give away their money

1839.] DIALOGUE BETWEEN MARY AND WIDOW J. 383

or clothing to the drunkards and swearers who were idling about at the public house, but they inquired of our parson who he found most honest and sober, who seemed most attentive and orderly at church, who brought up their families well. But yet these people could not say they had earned the ladies' gifts; they had only done what it was their duty to do: the ladies got nothing from them in return for what they gave them. I only mention this to show you how wrong and foolish it is to think because God gives us everlasting life, it does not signify how we live in this world.

Mary. Yes, neighbour; the new rector said a great deal about that, and he warned us against it very much; but he said, a real Christian, that is, one who really loves Christ, and trusts to be pardoned by Him, will always strive to grow like Christ, and to do the things which He has commanded; so that when we see a man living in sin, we may be quite sure he is not a true believer, but only one in name, just as we know what a tree is, by the sort of fruit it brings forth. My little boy was walking with me in the lane one day, and he cried for the berries in the hedge, which looked very nice, and he thought they were blackberries; but when I gathered them to please him, and he had tasted one, he said, "O mother, it's so bitter"-for they were only sloes.

Widow J. Is not that just what we often meet with in the world, neighbour? and I am sure I can speak for myself, that I have done many things which people thought good, and have seemed to lead a better life than others, while there has been within me a root of bitterness, which has led me to give way to evil tempers at home, to murmur at the crosses and troubles God saw fit to send upon me, and to forget to pray to Him for grace and strength to keep me from falling. Now all this was owing to my want of real faith, and to my not being watchful enough against the first temptation to sin. Not that we shall ever be safe on this side the grave, from continual struggles, even after we become true believers; and I dare say the Rector told you, the more we strive against sin, the more Satan will seek to ensnare us, and that the best people are always the most humble and fearful of doing

what is wrong, and always think themselves the worst of sinners. The reason of this is, they know better than other people how holy God is, and how He hates sin; they watch themselves more closely, and they see how often they offend Him, either by doing what is right only to be seen of men, instead of having a single eye to His glory; or by praying to Him with wandering minds, or by giving way to unkind feelings towards others; and a hundred other faults which careless people never think to be sins at all, but which grieve and distress true Christians more than any worldly troubles they can suffer would.

Mary. Yes, neighbour, and by this sermon I learned what I never understood before about my own sinful heart, and I hope it will, by God's blessing, teach me to watch myself, and to look only to Christ for His help, and never again to think, because I am not worse than other people, that therefore I have a right to go to heaven.

Widow J. Oh, Mary! if you do but treasure up in your heart what you heard yesterday, and pray constantly to God to give you His Holy Spirit, to write His law in your heart, and to make you a new creature, you will have, even in this world, such a peace of mind and such joy as you could not have, even if you had gained all the riches of the earth; for they only bring care and sorrow, while to God's true servants it is promised, that all things shall work together for their good; and that at the last great day, when Jesus will sit on the throne of His glory they shall receive this joyful sentence: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." L. S. R.

PLANTING TREES.

THE autumn is the season for planting fruit and forest trees; there is something pleasing to ourselves, useful to our family, and beneficial to our country in planting trees. Every man who puts an apple-tree into his little garden, or an elm or an ash into his hedge, is a patriot in his way, and has done something to leave the earth better than he found it. Sent by A. B.

THE PYRAMIDS OF JIZEH IN EGYPT.

IN a print of the ancient site of the city of Memphis, given in our June number, several pyramids are seen in the distance, of which there is a short description in the extract from the works of a traveller in Egypt and the Holy Land. Those Mr. Stevens principally mentions are the Pyramids of Sacchara, but the others, which he calls "their mightier neighbours," are represented above, and are admitted to be the most astonishing productions in the world of the labour and industry of man.

They are named from the small village of Jizeh on the bank of the Nile, distant from them about 11 miles. The three which most attract the attention of travellers, and are so conspicuous in the print, stand near one another on the west side of the river, almost opposite to Grand Cairo, and not far from the site of the ancient Memphis. They are situated close to a large space of ground, formerly used for the purpose of a burying-place to that immense city, and were erected by the pride and superstition of the Egyptian kings, to contain and conceal their own remains, and those of certain animals which they worshipped. The largest of the three, covers no less than 21 English acres of land at its base, and its height is found, by accurate measurement, to be 479 feet, which is greater by 119 feet than that of St. Paul's in London. It is composed of solid stonework throughout, except where some small chambers are left to contain the coffins for which it was designed. The entrances to these chambers were closed up by immense blocks of granite, but the curiosity of travellers made a way into the hidden passages leading to them, and thus the purpose of their construction appears to be discovered. The following is taken from the pleasing account by Dr. Clarke of his visit to the Pyramids. "By reflecting the sun's rays, they appeared as white as snow, and of such surprising magnitude that nothing we had before conceived in our mind had prepared us for the spectacles we beheld: the sight instantly convinced us that no power of description, no representation can convey ideas equal to the effect