disturbances soon arose among this Oh! let those fever'd temples, tions first began about the places, and the better kind of provisions spread upon the board; from struggles and noise they proceeded to blows. Several persons were killed; others became so intoxicated that they fell asleep in the streets, and perished from the severity of the weather. The number who lost their lives amounted in all to at least 500! What a crime it was for this purse-proud wretch to bring a multitude together to poison them! Let those who are fond of such treats to the people think of this example.-Dr. Trotter. ANECDOTE OF AN INFANTSCHOOL SCHOLAR. A LITTLE boy, when at an infantschool, requested to be taught the hymn beginning, "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah;" and while he committed it to memory, his mind would become delightfully imbued with its spirit. His parents being very poor, the little fellow had long lived on potatoes. His mother, however, one day promised to buy him a penny loaf, but was prevented. He came home, and was greatly disappointed at not having his bread, and, being sickly, he could not take his dinner of potatoes. At length he said, smiling, "Never mind, mother; I will go up stairs and sing." He went up, and immediately sung the verse, "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; That sere and wrinkled brow, Respect thine aged father, But measures out his breath, Respect thine aged father, Though in its forced review Each past infirmity, Respect thine aged father, Long ere thou could'st impart And owest thou not thy father Soon, 'neath the verdant valley Shall sleep that hoary head, Where naught can e'er recover A pardon from the dead; With the forgotten past, And deem it thine at last! Respect thine aged father, And from his dimming eye Chase every tear of anguish, Soothe every burdening sigh; Thus let above his pathway, So lonely to the tomb, A radiant halo gather, Dispelling all its gloom. RESPECT THINE AGED FATHER. Then when that eye no longer BY OLIVER CRANE. RESPECT thine aged father, Whose head, now white with years, Hath borne full many a sorrow Along the vale of tears; Shall beam upon his child, When death shall blanch those features As evening dews di-til, Thy father's heard petitions Shall fall upon thee still! The Cabinet. THE ACCEPTED TIME-THE DAY OF SALVATION. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." This is a message from God.-There is much implied in it: dependence and necessity on the part of man, and majesty, condescension, and grace on the part of God. We often feel that the dignity of rank greatly enhances an act of kindness between man and man. Examine this communication. Here is an accepted time intimated.-An opportune, favourable period-a time in which God may be entreated and found. The jubilee under the law was an acceptable, grateful, joyous period, when burdens were removed, wrongs were redressed, and men's "mouths were filled with laughter, and their tongues with singing." Here God announces an accepted time to a guilty and sorrowstricken world. He ascends the throne of mercy, holds forth his sceptre to men, and asks each, "What is thy petition, and what is thy request?" Illustrations readily suggest themselves. See that prodigal, rebellious child. He has broken away from parental restraint and control, and has wasted his substance with riotous living; and to what degradation and misery he has reduced himself! He is not willing to die; he wishes to live, but he has spent all. His thoughtlessness and recklessness give place to consideration. The terrible instrumentality to bring him to this is his destitution and want; his sins are correcting him. When he begins to think, he remembers his home and his father, and resolves to return. But he is reminded of his ingratitude and rebellion. How can he look at his father? will he see him? can he forgive him? Amidst these strugglings of thought and feeling, a message from his father reaches him, intimating an accepted time when he may seek an interview with him. That sheds a ray of hope across his mind. He will go and throw himself at his father's feet, thankful for an opportunity of saying, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants." Or see yonder traitor arrested and imprisoned. He paces his cell in unutterable agony of mind. The evidence against him is distinct and complete; he cannot deny his guilt; his case seems hopeless. But a message reaches him from his sovereign intimating a time of favour, when he will be permitted to throw himself at the foot of the throne, make confession, and sue for pardon. How altered is his case! His eye brightens, his heart is relieved, and he lifts up his head with hope. Do Dear reader, do you feel the burden and the bitterness of sin? you tremble under the apprehension of judgment to come? Do you ask, Can there be mercy for me? Have you endeavoured to get near to God? Have you said, "Oh! that I knew where I might find him; that I might come even to his seat? Oh! that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour?" But do you feel yourself away from God, under his frown, unforgiven, and does your bursting heart sigh for the opportunity of making confession and supplication to him, casting your burden upon him, and pouring your tears and sorrows into his bosom? Then God speaks to you of a time when he will come near to you, and you shall come near to him-a time in which you may seek him, and he will be found; and call upon him, and he will be near-a time in which you may unbosom your soul before him-an accepted time. Here is a day of salvation announced.-It is much for that guilty one to have an opportunity of defence and plea-for_that sorrowstricken one to tell his complaints-and that oppressed one to state his wrongs; but while God appoints a period for a favourable hearing of sinners, he announces also a day of salvation. Salvation is a word of great power, viewed simply in relation to temporal deliverance. Tell that imprisoned man of salvation, and he thinks of fetters burst and prison-doors thrown open. Tell that slave of salvation, and he thinks of manacles broken, the whip destroyed, and freedom realized. Tell that condemned man of salvation, and he thinks of pardon and the burden of a fearful doom rolled away. Tell that afflicted man of salvation, and he thinks of the tide of health bounding again through his veins, and strength and elasticity returning. But how much more of power is there in this word when we view it in relation to the soul, and eternity, and God! It includes deliverance from guilt, fear, sin, and death. It comprises peace, purity, acceptance with God, triumph in death and judgment, and immortal glory! The day of salvation is that in which salvation is given; the period in which the prodigal, returning to his father, shall be welcomed to his home and to his heart; when the penitent, broken-hearted soul, burdened with a sense of guilt, shall be pardoned and delivered from the oppressive load; the period for "proclaiming liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;" the period for "appointing to them that mourn in Zion beauty for ashes, and the oil of joy for mourning, and the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness." A day of salvation! there is melody in the utterance. With brightening eyes and joyous hearts we sing, "Salvation! O the joyful sound, 'Tis pleasure to our ears," &c. This message has a date affixed to it.-It is much to have hope lighted up in the bosom, to sustain and animate amidst toil and difficulty; it is much to have the dawn as the harbinger of day-the blossom as the promise of fruit-the blade and the ear as the precursors and pledges of the harvest. But "hope deferred maketh the heart sick." We are not directed here to a dim and distant future; a present good is offered: "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." What a power is there here to arouse and prompt -Now! You might go to yonder captive, who has for years been immured in that loathsome dungeon, and tell him that at some distant period a day of deliverance will come; and, gazing upon you with his sunken eyes, and slowly raising his attenuated frame, he would tell you it will then be too late. You might tell that lacerated and broken-hearted slave that, twelve months hence, deliverance, freedom will come to him; and he would point to his festering wounds and emaciated body, and tell you it will then be too late. You might tell that fever-stricken man, just sinking into the arms of death, that to-morrow the antidote shall be obtained, and deliverance shall be his; and he would tell you that it will then be too late. But knock at yonder cell and tell that captive that now is the day of deliverance, and his blood, that sluggishly flowed through his veins, suddenly will bound with new life, and he will rise with unwonted energy. Tell that slave that now is the day of deliverance, that now his fetters are to be broken, and now he may walk forth as a free man, and there will be an electric power in your utterance. Tell that dying man that you have got the antidote, and that now is the day of his deliverance, and he will gather up his remaining strength and at once look another man. This, then, is God's utterance. Looking down from heaven upon this world of degradation, suffering, and death; beholding the multitudes of mankind enslaved, condemned, perishing, lost, he cries, "Now is the day of salvation!" Now sin may be forgiven; now purity may be imparted; now the hope of immortal blessedness may be enjoyed; "now is the accepted time." But while this language is full of encouragement and hope, it implies much that is solemn and affecting. The It implies that the future may not be an accepted time. The present is always pressed in Scripture. Duty is never to be deferred. The law says, Now! And all the gospel says, Now! The Holy Ghost says, "To-day, if ye will hear his voice;" not to-morrow-now. The sinner may come to God, and confess and implore now. afflicted, toil-worn, suffering one may come now. This is an opportune, accepted time; but to-morrow or any other period may not be favourable. Then you may seek, and God may not be found; then you may call, and God may not be near. It implies that the future may not be a day of salvation.-This is the day of deliverance. God says, "Come now, let us reason together." The sinner can now be pardoned; the enslaved can now be emancipated; the afflicted and sorrowing can now be relieved; the broken heart can now be bound up; the blood can now be applied; the grace can now be received; the seal of adopting love can now be impressed. The Father waits, the Son waits, the Spirit waits now. But to-morrow the Master of the house may arise and shut to the door. To-morrow God may swear in his wrath that you shall not enter into his rest. This message demands your serious consideration.-Twice in this short sentence the Holy Spirit cries, "Behold"-attend-consider. This is a personal appeal. Dear reader, God says to you, "Behold!" Pause, ponder this. Are you aged? Have you often been appealed to? Again God says, "Behold!" Are you young, and calculating upon years, and security, and pleasure? God calls upon you, without delay, to consider his message now. Behold, to admire and adore.-Was there ever grace like this, that God should condescend thus to speak to men? Why should he care for man, and compassionate his lost condition? He is not dependent for blessedness and glory upon men. Were they blotted out of existence, he would still remain the blessed God. They are rebels that could be crushed like the moth; but see, he not only bears with them, but makes provision for their salvation, and presses the consideration and acceptance of his grace upon them. "Behold, what manner of love is this!" Can you forbear exclaiming, "Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" Consider this, to admire and adore the Lord. Behold, to act.-This is an accepted time for you; a day of salvation for you. This is a precious opportunity; avail yourself of it. Go, throw yourself at the feet of God now. Take words and come unto the Lord now. Wait not, hesitate not; you may be saved now. Take these words to your heart: "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." London. "Believe, and take the promised rest; J. W. R. AN IMPORTANT MOTTO: "GET GOOD-DO GOOD.” My mind was much impressed with these words as they fell from the lips of a beloved minister who was supplying for me lately, and they suggested to me a few thoughts, which I hope may be useful to those who shall read them. We live in a day in which we are called to get much good and to do much good; and in a day in which we may do so. Surely never were such facilities furnished for such a purpose as now. But to my younger friends I may be permitted to say, Be sure you try and get good before you attempt to do good. This is a point that demands serious consideration. Some persons fancy themselves wise ere they have acquired wisdom, and seek to be teachers of others before they have learned themselves. Not that you should keep back the smallest talent; yet be humble, and be continually seeking to improve in knowledge. Get good by frequently bowing your knees at the footstool of Divine mercy. Remember that true wisdom cometh from above. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift; and if you seek wisdom from him you will find it. True wisdom is real good. Get good by a diligent perusal of the sacred volume. There is sound wisdom; yea, all the knowledge that is essential to salvation. |