Letter from a Brother to a Sister.

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contribute to our advantage, or to our amusement; and, in return, we often make their lives miserable, and put them, in wantonness, to an untimely and a painful death. Instead of this, it would be much more becoming to treat them with kindness while they live and not to deprive them of life, till some sufficient cause render it necessary, and then, = with as much tenderness, and as quickly as possible.

In cruelty to dumb creatures, there is, moreover, on many occasions, a great appearance of unmanliness and cowardice. For these creatures are put to torture whilst the men who allow of this are themselves in no manner of danger.

If, therefore, we wish to soften, and not to harden our hearts; if we feel it our duty to conform to the intentions of God; if we regard our interest, or our character; if all, or any, of these motives have force to actuate us, let us cultivate humanity towards animals.-Young, chiefly.

Part of a Letter from a Brother to a Sister during her Sickness.

I AM anxious, my dear Sister, to entreat you seriously to consider your situation: it would be sinful in me to attempt to deceive you, by saying, I hope you will soon recover; because, from every account I can procure, there is not the most distant hope of it. My affection and my duty, both impose the unpleasing task upon me, to give you this awful information.-You are, my dear sister, on the border of an eternal world; and I cannot help fearing that you entertain some false notions respecting the terms of future acceptance. From the conversation which has passed between us, I have reason to fear that you are expecting to go to

heaven when you die, because you do not recollect having injured any person in your life. Is this a sufficient ground of hope, even if the thing itself were true? It is like saying, that because I have not robbed my neighbour, it is the duty of the king to give me an estate; and because I have not injured the creatures, whom it was my bounden duty not to injure, I am to expect that God will, on that account, bestow on me eternal happiness!

Alas! my dear sister, eternal life is not to be thus purchased. How much wiser would it be to survey your past life, and see how things have stood between God and your soul !-to reflect upon the manner in which you have treated Him! whether you have devoutly turned your thoughts to Him, who blessed you with all your earthly comforts, and has daily showered down His benefits upon you. How have you kept his sabbaths? Do you find no offences committed against him; no duties to him neglected? Have you done all that you might have done for the good of your fellowcreatures? I would not be harsh, but, my dear sister, let us see what we must do to be saved!

You are now probably on a death bed :—the last hour may soon arrive. What will be the situation of your soul when it parts from a painful and miserable body? Jesus Christ has said, "Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.”Your blessed Redeemer is willing to save you. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever! We change, but he changes not. Pray to God to convince you of your real state and condition! that he will shew you the value of your Redeemer's great atonement, to justify you, and the necessity of the blessed Spirit to sanctify you. In a few days, perhaps in a few hours, all earthly things will with you be over! Christ has died to save us all, and those who see their need of his salvation, and desire to be saved by him, will be rescued from the

power of sin here and from condemnation hereafter. May you find your mind thus anxious to seek this Divine Saviour; and whilst you seek to be saved by his merits, may it be your great desire to do his will, and to submit in all things to his dispensations.-Chiefly from Forbes's Ricordanze. T.

THE WORLD.

THE world we live in is an object of interest to us all, from the time of its creation up to the present day.

Its form is that of a solid globe, containing within, mines of gold, silver, iron, precious stones, salt, coal, stone, chalk, &c.; and without, a beautiful decoration of fruits, flowers, and herbs, for the use and gratification of its inhabitants. In the short and sublime account of the creation given by Moses in the Bible, we are told, "that the sun was formed to rule the day, and the moon to rule the night." The manner in which the light of this glorious luminary is enjoyed by the earth is as follows. The earth has a double motion: it moves at once round its own centre, and round the sun; just as a carriage moves round its own axletree, and round a court yard. Round itself it moves in one day, the half turned from the sun being dark, and that towards the sun being light, and this motion causes day and night. Round the sun it moves in one year, forming the varying seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The moon moves round the earth in 28 days: she is a dark body, and borrows her light from the sun, consequently when her side which is not shone on by the sun is next the earth, we have no light from

we see that side which is turned towards the sun, she appears completely bright, and is then said to be "full." There are several other large stars called planets, which move round the sun, in more or less time than the earth, and we may suppose that they are worlds formed for a purpose as full of wisdom and mercy as our own, for we know that they are formed by the same Almighty hand.

When we behold the heavens thickly set with stars, filling an immensity of space, and when we reflect that, from any of those stars, our own world, big as it seems to man, and abundantly peopled with millions of intelligent beings, appears no larger to them than they to us, we are lost in the amazement of our own conceptions!

The body of the sun is supposed to be a million times bigger than the body of the earth.

The only true account we can expect of the affairs of man in the early ages of the world, is to be found in Holy Writ, and the account given by Moses, from the Creation to the Deluge, a period of nearly 2000 years, is very short. All that we learn is the melancholy tidings of the rapid corruption of the ways of man after the first entrance of the devil and sin into this once happy world, and the consequent destruction of mankind by the flood. Of this awful deluge, as recorded by Moses, we have to this day sufficient proof in every quarter of the globe: proof that at some period the waters covered the face of the highest mountains; thus leaving a sufficient proof of the punishment which visited a corrupt and sinful world. T-a.

(To be continued.)

Thankfulness.

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THANKFULNESS.

GREAT and manifold are the blessings which we enjoy from God, and it is impossible for man to be thankful enough for them. Daily are we fed by His hand; He it is who watches over us, refreshes us whilst we sleep, and, after quiet rest, raises us up to our several duties; He protects us during the day, 2. and, in the evening, again gives us calm repose; there is nothing upon the earth but feels His goodness, the smallest insect that exists partakes of His bounty. He protects all, and He it is who findeth food for the worm, and for every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

If God takes such care of the smallest object upon earth, how much rather should he extend that care to man,-a being whom He has endowed with reason, whom He has raised so much above the brute creation, and made little inferior to angels. What advantages, what blessings does man enjoy! gifted with a mind capable of receiving the purest sentiments and of imparting them to others, he may be not only a useful and agreeable member of society, but may also obtain the favour and blessing of his God. These are blessings which we do not sufficiently appreciate and value. When we consider that there is an Omnipotent being who watches over us, and preserves us from dangers and temptations, that there is one who looks upon his faithful followers with a father's eye,who assists them in all their works, and watches all their steps, and who will lead them to eternal and everlasting happiness in a world to come; when we seriously consider this, surely our hearts will rise with gratitude to that most merciful and kind Father who has done so much for us, and who'