that he may himself adorn " the doctrine of the Gospel, and that unbelievers may be led into the way of truth." And, if a melancholy feeling of the stubbornness of the heart of man, should sometimes lead him to ask, like the Apostles, "are there few that shall be saved?" the answer of our Lord will teach him, not so much to meditate upon this, as to watch, and pray, and put forth all his diligence, that he himself may be found among the faithful: though others may be wrong, let him strive to be right" Strive," says our Lord, to enter in at the strait gate." This was the direction which our Lord gave, instead of answering the question whether few or many should be saved. This does not, indeed, teach us to be indifferent about the salvation of others, for a regard to the good of our fellow-creatures makes a great part of our own spiritual preparation; but it teaches us that it is much more profitable for us to "strive" ourselves to be among those who shall be saved, than to be curious to dive into the councils of God, or to know the comparative number of those who shall inherit eternal life. Whatever others may do,-do thou watch. "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." V. MELANCHOLY END OF ELLEN LOGAN. ON Tuesday, the 24th of July, the body of a fine young woman, named Ellen Logan, was picked up on the edge of the water of the Surry canal. It appeared, from the evidence brought before the Coroner, that this young woman had thrown herself into the canal and drowned herself. Self-destruction is a great crime; it is in opposition to the will of God, who requires us to wait with patience his time, and to devote the portion of life which he allots us, to his service. When a person is rendered miserable from his sins, this misery is often, through the mercy of God, made the means of leading him to repentance; he then learns what are the promises made in Scripture to those who truly repent of their sins, not only grieving for them, but seeking to forsake them. The name of a Saviour who died as a ransom for sin then becomes of the utmost value to him, and the promises of the Spirit to renew the heart to holiness he then feels to be what, of all things, he most stands in need. Let him, then, who has sinned, remember that "he has an Advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous:" let him remember, too, that he has the Holy Spirit to help his infirmities: to these he must fly for safety-but let him not seek to end his sorrows by self-destruction: this shuts out repentance, by wholly taking away the opportunity which longer continuance on earth might have afforded. Those who are unhappily deprived of the use of their understandings, of course cannot comprehend this mode of reasoning; and there are many melancholy suicides committed from insanity. But how often are persons brought to misery of mind by their crimes, by forsaking that course, which God, in his mercy, hath told them was the safe course, the way to happiness in this world and in the next. God has given us rules to walk by, because he knows what will make us happy. We, on the other hand, often chuse to walk in our own ways, and then we are filled with wretchedness. In truth, the cause of nearly all the misery in the world, is, that man will follow his own way instead of God's way. The poor woman who destroyed herself was bowed down with sorrow and shame and misery. "The day before she committed the rash act," the newspaper tells us, "she went to Camberwell for the purpose of looking after a situation of house maid in a gentleman's family. The situation having been filled, she was on her return home, when, it seemed, she met with a young man, an acquaintance, who prevailed on her to accompany him to a house of ill fame. On her arrival at home, the next morning, she began to despond, and to be very melancholy; she could not bear to see her father. Her aunt tried to persuade her to go to him, and to entreat his pardon for staying out all night; but whilst the aunt was gone to the father to persuade him to see his daughter, the poor girl left the house, proceeded to the canal, threw herself in, and was drowned." What shall we think of the wretched man who was the cause of all this misery? It will be said, that he expected no such thing. No; but why has God bestowed on us the gift of reason, but that we may reflect on the consequences of what we do? Why has he given us his written commands, but that we may walk by them, and thus avoid the misery which the breaking of his commands produces. What dreadful scenes of wretchedness are brought to our view every time we take up a common newspaper: and there is hardly one real misery, which we cannot trace to the wickedness of man in not embracing in earnest the religion of the Bible, and walking in that course which God has pointed out. Religion, the Christian religion, is the cure for all this. The Christian, indeed, has his troubles, but these he knows to be his trials, and he is sure that they are sent for his benefit, and that, in the end, they will work together for his good. But for the miseries which sin produces there is no such consolation; there are no such happy effects. All this is wretchedness without relief, wretchedness constantly increasing; unmixed with one ray of comfort, and of hope. "The wages of sin is death." Let every one who reads this, think and let him pray: let him (or her) seek to lead a life according to the Gospel; a life of faith Questions from the History of England. 413 and of holiness, of obedience and submission to the will of God. Our Church supplies him with a prayer: let him add this to his other petitions: Lord of all power and might, who art the Author and Giver of all good things, graft in my heart, the love of Thy name; increase in me true religion; nourish me with all goodness; and of thy great mercy keep me in the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord *. V. QUESTIONS FROM THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. (See page 364, Vol. III.) In what year did Edward the 4th come to the throne? was his What appearance ? What was his character? Can you relate the story of king Edward and the duke of Clarence, and Sir Thomas Burdett? Try to relate it to me in a clear and distinct manner; I don't require every word as it is in the book, but shew me that you remember it; and it will be a piece of good practice for you; that you may learn to express yourself in a straight-forward manner, without hesitating and stammering. What relation was the duke of Clarence to the king? Was the king about to engage in war? What prevented this? How old was the king when he died? In what year did he die? * Collect for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity. VERSES AGAINST CRUELTY. "SWEET it is to see a child, God is love, and never can We ourselves, to mercy owe EPITAPHS (From St. Lawrence Church-yard.) YE who come our graves to view, O GOD! my Guardian, Saviour, Friend, On Thee alone my hopes depend ON THREE INFANTS, Who each died under the Age of Six Months. HAPPY Infants! early blest; |