strong desire to obey the injunctions of Him, who was meek and lowly in heart, and who said, " if ye love me keep my commandments." Nothing could exceed the cheerfulness and patience with which her laborious duties were performed. She appeared half of each Sabbath in her customary seat, and it was always gratifying to witness her humble and devout aspect. One day, said the minister, she called at my house apparently more dejected than I had ever seen her. She had called to tell me her little trials, and to ask my counsel and instruction, relative to her obligations to her own family and the church. It seemed she had been frequently reproved by the members of the church for non-attendance at their private and stated meetings. It was utterly impossible for her to do so, I knew, and told her so. Every moment of exemption from severer labor was occupied with her needle, while at the same time she gave her children such instruction as her capacity and conscience dictated. I know, said I, you have very little time for public worship, but you undoubtedly attend to the daily exercises of your closet, and therefore receive all the comforts of religion. The tears gushed to her eyes; that, sir, she replied, is what distresses me more than anything else. I hardly ever find time even for that—when I would be alone with my Maker, some duty, which my conscience tells me must not be neglected, will intrude, and I find no time to be alone from morning to night. When I go to bed, I try to pray, but my eyelids are so weighed down with weariness, that I have no command of my thoughts, and drop asleep. And yet I am happy, and while I dress my children, sweep my house, or stand over the dish-kettle, I have such sweet communings with my Maker, that I feel he will accept my poor services, though I have so little time to offer them. Patient, and guileless Christian, I exclaimed, grasping her hand, so long as you can feel happy in praying over your dish-kettle, dont be troubled at what others may say to you; such prayers are the most acceptable we can offer our Creator, because the most sincere and unostentatious. Verily, I said, when she was gone, this poor woman has cast in more than we all. For we have offered devotions, or cast into the treasury from our abundance of time, but she of her want hath cast in all that she had. E. O. S. THE PILOT. BY THOMAS HAYNES BAYLEY. Oн, Pilot, 'tis a fearful night, I'll come and pace the deck with thee, Go down the sailor cried, go down, Fear not! but trust in Providence, Ah! Pilot, dangers often met, We all are apt to slight, And thou hast known these raging waves But to subdue their might: It is not apathy, he cried, That gives this strength to me; On such a night the sea engulf’d And such, perhaps, may be my fate, But still I say to thee, Fear not! but trust in Providence, Wherever thou may'st be. WAS IT PROVIDENCE? BV MISS SEDGWICK. TAKE for example, a young girl, bred delicately in town, shut up in a nursery in her childhood-in a boarding-house through her youth, never accustomed to either air or exercise, two things that the law of God makes essential to health. She marries : her strength is not adequate to the demands upon it. Her beauty fades away. She languishes through her hard offices of giving birth to children, suckling and watching over them, and dies early. "What a strange Providence, that a mother should be taken in the midst of life, from her children?" Was it Providence?-No! Providence had assigned her three score years and ten; a term long enough to rear her children, and see her children's children, but she did not obey the laws on which life depends, and of course, she lost it. A father, too, was cut off in the midst of his days. He is a useful and distinguished citizen, and eminent in his profession. A general buzz rises on every side, of "What a striking Providence!" This man has been in the habit of studying half the night, of passing his days in his office and the courts, of eating luxurious dinners, and drinking various wines. He has every day violated the laws on which health depends. Did Providence cut him off? The evil never ends here. The diseases of the father are often transmitted; and a feeble mother rarely leaves behind her vigorous children. It has been customary in some of our cities, for young ladies to walk in thin shoes, and delicate stockings in mid-winter. A healthy, blooming young girl, thus dressed in violation of Heaven's laws, pays the penalty; a checked circulation, cold, fever, and death. "What a sad Providence !" exclaimed her friends. Was it Providence or her own folly ? A beautiful young bride goes, night after night, to parties made in honor of her marriage. She has a slightly sore throat perhaps, and the weather is inclement; but she must wear her neck and arms bare; for who ever saw a bride in a close evening dress? She is consequently seized with an inflammation of the lungs, and the grave receives her before her bridal days are over. "What a Providence!" exclaims the world. "Cut off in the midst of happiness and hope!" Alas! did she not cut the thread of her life herself? A girl in the country, exposed to our changeful climate, gets a new bonnet, instead of getting a flannel garment. A rheumatism is the consequence. Should the girl sit down tranquilly with the idea that Providence has sent the rheumatism upon her or should she charge it on her vanity, and avoid the folly in future? Look, my young friends, at the mass of diseases that are incurred by intemperance in eating or in drinking, or in study, or in business; also being caused often by neglect of exercise, cleanliness, pure air; by indiscreet dressing, tight |