those who were bowed down by the weight of their sins, and nearly lost and perishing; these he did not cast out; these he did not condemn; to these he proclaimed repentance and remission of sins. "Smoking flax shall he not quench." The flax here mentioned, is the wick of a lamp or taper; it is called "smoking" to show that it is almost burned out, consumed so far that smoke nor light proceeds from it. This saying has a similar meaning to the former one; Jesus did not destroy, he healed those whose life was like an expiring taper: or, to take the loftier sense, he did not absolutely condemn those in whom the light of godliness was near extinguished; on the contrary, he fed their lamps with oil, he gave them the doctrines, the precepts, the hopes, the promises of the Gospel. This description in general exhibits the kindness and tenderness with which Jesus treated the poor, the ignorant, and even the sinful, when they evinced a disposition to become his disciples. "Till he send forth judgment unto victory;" till the Gospel accomplish its triumphs both over Judaism and Paganism; "and in his name shall the Gentiles trust." How truly has this been fulfilled! Of the Jews scarcely any have received the Messias; while all who are now Christians are of Gentile origin. In his name we "trust," or hope, as it is in the original. In him we hope that we shall escape the woes of futurity; in him we hope that we shall attain to the joys of immortality; in him we hope to meet our Divine Master among the many mansions of his Father's house. May these hopes be realised soon after the resurrection of the body! Amen!

CONVERSATIONS AND TALES, ILLUSTRATIVE of CHRISTIAN FAITH AND CHRISTIAN PRACTICE.

No. 1.-INTRODUCTION.

As we propose again bringing the Mornton family before the notice of our readers, it may not be unnecessary to take a short retrospective glance at several occurrences with which we have been made acquainted, since they themselves were last before the public. The loss of his beloved daughter, Mr. Mornton felt as a father, though he bore it as a Christian; his sorrow gradually yielded

to the influence of time and religion, and the whole of his affection now centred in his two remaining children. Minna's grief was more lasting than is generally common at her age; she never wearied talking of the virtues of her dear Sophia; seldom a day passed that she did not visit her grave, and her principal delight seemed to consist in planting flowers upon the hallowed spot. In that tender yet sacred occupation, she was always assisted by Charles, it was congenial with the thoughtful, and somewhat romantic tone of his mind; his little cousin, too, was very dear to him, he never wearied contributing to her amusement; while in return, her artless, pious conversation spoke many a lesson of wisdom to his heart.

She was rather an uncommon child: in her disposition there was a curious mixture of playfulness and solidity— good-temper, pride, and ingenuousness, joined to a sensibility which, if not carefully trained and directed, might in after life become the cause of much disquietude to its possessor: she was likewise imbued, naturally, with much religious feeling; that her father endeavoured to engraft upon right principles; and when at her play-hours, instead of running about like other children, she preferred shutting herself up in her room with her Bible and Hymn-book, Mr. Mornton would take her abroad into the fields, and draw from nature's book that wide knowledge which speaks in language so beautifully to every mind, but especially to that of the young inquirer; or he would take her to visit the village poor-a duty which, before the death of her sister, she had peculiarly delighted in, at the same time inculcating the important truth, that we serve God best by serving his creatures.

The religious conversations they had formerly held, were now unavoidably interrupted. Charles was preparing to set out for college, and Henry was placed at an academy in a neighbouring town. But the holidays were always passed by the students at the Park; and in every visit, they failed not to trace improvement in the moral and religious education of Minna. At the age of seventeen, Charles openly avowed his belief in the principles of Unitarianism; the ministry was the profession to which he looked forward; and he often declared, that the brightest era of his existence was the day he first en

tered the house of his uncle. Matters continued much in this way until Minna had reached her twelfth year, when circumstances, which it is unnecessary to mention here, obliged Mr. Mornton to go abroad for some time. For his daughter to accompany him, was next to impossible; and nothing remained for the anxious father, but to place her, during his absence, under the care of a distant relation in E- -h, whose family as well as himself were members of the Established Church. Mr. Mornton was no bigot in matters of faith; he believed there were virtuous and pious individuals in every denomination of Christians; yet he would have preferred that his child had been domesticated under a roof whose inmates entertained the same religious persuasion as himself. But as this could not be attained, he had only to confide in that Being in whose hands are the issues of every event. Minna was very young, and although she had been strictly educated in the Unitarian belief, it could not be expected that her principles were so firmly fixed as at a maturer age they would in all probability have been. Her nature, too, in some respects was flexible; she possessed not that firmness of mind and decision of character which had so peculiarly distinguished Sophia: had it been the latter, Mr. Mornton would not for a moment have hesitated how to act. As her brother and cousin were to travel on the Continent for a year or two, she would likewise be deprived of their society; and except two male friends, Mr. Mornton was unacquainted with any Unitarians in the city of Eh.

It was several years since he had seen the Rosemore family. Mr. and Mrs. Rosemore were at that time what might be termed rationally orthodox, and were plain, good sort of people; his little girl, he believed, would not from them be subjected to much religious interference; and he had arranged that she should attend regularly every Sunday at the Unitarian Chapel, whose minister, the Rev. Mr. had kindly promised to accommodate her with a seat in his own pew. Every one parted from Minna with regret; and the fond father, the affectionate brother and cousin, prayed that she might be restored to their anxious hearts in all her moral loveliness and beauty. But had Mr. Mornton foreseen the

consequences that were to result from this course of procedure, he would have surmounted every obstacle rather than have consented to a separation from his daughter; he had forgotten that time and influences change the dispositions and character as well as the circumstances of individuals; and they had not passed without having their due effect on the mind of Mr. and Mrs. Rosemore; not but that, in charity, we must suppose they meant to do well, although they certainly took most erroneous methods for forwarding that desirable end. With little of the vital spirit of Christianity, there were few stricter or more laborious professors than they had recently become; few advocated prayer-meetings, revivals, sudden conversions, more powerfully than they did; faith was continually held up, to the utter exclusion of works of beneficence and mercy; every person who differed from them in religious opinion, was pronounced to be in an unconverted state, and excluded from the pale of salvation; religious meetings were constantly held at their house, where nothing was discussed but "the true light," "God's ministers," "the corruption of human nature,” "the wonder how any one could attempt to work out a righteousness for himself" (as if any Christian could be guilty of such unwarrantable presumption), and "how those who deny the Deity of the Saviour could hope to be saved." Such was the kind of conversation that perpetually fell upon the ears of Minna; was it, then, a matter of surprise that she imperceptibly imbibed its spirit, and almost became a convert to those doctrines which were always held up as the very essence of faith? In compliance with the promise she had made to her father, she did continue to attend the Unitarian Chapel, but she also regularly frequented the weekly prayer-meetings; the pious eloquence of Mr. whom she denominated

"cold and lukewarm," had no longer any charms for her heart; and, what with the adulations she hourly received from her new friends, who strove to convince her through the medium of her self-love, Minna at length worked herself up into the belief that she was a perfect saint. At the expiration of two years, Mr. Mornton returned, to find his child everything but what a fond father could desire; beautiful and accomplished indeed she was, but

these he would (oh how cheerfully and willingly!) have resigned, to have seen her only as she was when they had last been together; and he lost no time in removing her from the Rosemores to the peaceful shades of Elm Park, where in the society of her brother and cousin, who had just returned from the Continent, and in the company of Alice Mordaunt, a girl about her own age, and whose parents in the East had consigned to the guardianship of Mr. Mornton until their return to Britain-he hoped in time to see her original simplicity restored, and her sad errors displaced by those enlightened truths which had before shone so unostentatiously in her youthful character. But what grieved him beyond measure, was the spiritual pride which now so peculiarly characterised her; ever declaiming against self-righteousness, none was more self-righteous than she was; she had likewise acquired the most uncharitable habit of judging her friends and acquaintances, and would allow none the name of Christian who differed from her in religious opinion. All innocent amusements and general conversation she reprobated as unlawful and sinful, and the Bible and Prayerbook were seldom to be seen out of her hands. Fortunately, she possessed naturally amiable dispositions; and, notwithstanding her melancholy declension, Minna was too kind-hearted not acutely to feel every time that she wounded the breast of a parent whom she loved even better than herself; but she transgressed now so often in this way, that seldom a day passed without some unpleasant occurrence.

Charles was a silent, though a not less interested, observer of this painful change; still, he hoped and trusted improvement. But Henry lost all patience with the little disputant-a name which he now invariably styled his sister. -and could not help contrasting her behaviour with that of Alice Mordaunt, whose whole life was a beautiful exemplification of Christian obedience.

Reared and educated by pious Unitarian parents, from whom she had never been parted until now, Alice was fast fulfilling the promises of her childhood; in that important, happy period, she blossomed luxuriantly, and, with added years, she was bringing forth much fruit. By every individual at the Park was she appreciated,