publishers gave £300, and for the two others, £600 each.

The whole of these volumes experienced a degree of success which exceeds all that we read of in the history of pulpit literature. They circulated," says Dr. Finlayson," rapidly and widely wherever the English tongue extends; they were soon translated into almost all the languages of Europe; and his present majesty (late majesty, George III.) with that wise attention to the interests of religion and literature which distinguishes his reign, was graciously pleased to judge them worthy of a public reward. By a royal mandate to the Exchequer in Scotland, dated July 25th, 1780, a pension of £200 was conferred on their author, which continued unaltered till his death."

LATE ATTENDANCE AT PUBLIC

WORSHIP.

A want of punctual attention to the hour of commencing divine service, is a fault but too prevalent in worshipping assemblies. A worthy clergyman whose congregation had given him much vexation in this respect, began his discourse one Sunday in these terms: "When I came here to begin to worship last Sabbath morning, I believe there were not twenty people in the chapel; at the weekly lecture it was the same; and again this morning; my heart is pained. What can you mean by this conduct? Do you mean to worship God? then I must tell you plainly, and with the authority of a christian minister, that this is no worship; deceive not yourselves, God will not

accept it at your hands." He proceeded to enforce this point with great earnestness and feeling, and produced such an impression on the minds of his hearers, that next Sabbath, almost every person had assembled by the time he ascended the pulpit.

A very common cause of late attendance, especially with the fair sex, is the time employed in dressing. Herbert has some lines so applicable to this sort of apology, that every lady would do well to have them written in letters of gold, and suspended over her toilet, that they might be ever present to her eyes.

To be dressed!

Stay not for the other pin. Why thou hast lost
A joy for it worth worlds!

GARRICK'S PRECEPTS TO PREACHERS.

The celebrated Garrick having been requested by Dr. Stonehouse to favour him with his opinion as to the manner in which a sermon ought to be delivered, the English Roscius sent him the following judicious

answer.

MY DEAR PUPIL,

You know how you would feel and speak in a parlour concerning a friend who was in imminent danger of his life, and with what energetic pathos of diction and countenance you would enforce the observance of that which you really thought would be for his preservation. You could not think of playing the orator, of studying your emphases, cadences, and gestures; you would be yourself; and the interesting nature of

your subject impressing your heart, would furnish you with the most natural tone of voice, the most proper language, the most engaging features, and the most suitable and graceful gestures. What you would thus be in the parlour, be in the pulpit; and you will not fail to please to effect, and to profit. Adieu, my dear friend.

ARCHBISHOP USHER.

Usher, afterwards Archbishop of Armagh, was very zealous against the Roman Catholics, and averse to their toleration. He once preached before the officers of the Irish government, from the text in Ezekiel, "And thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days; I have appointed thee each day for a year." In the course of his sermon, he made an application of the text which was remarkable. "From this year (1601)," said he, "I reckon forty years; and then those whom you now embrace shall be your ruin, and you shall bear their iniquity." The apparent accomplishment of this prediction in the Irish rebellion of 1641, was a singular concurrence, and in the opinion of many, perhaps in his own, was regarded as an indication of his prophetic spirit.

When this eminent prelate was deprived of his benefices, he sought leave to preach publicly in London. Through the friendship of Mr. Selden, he became preacher to the Society of Lincoln's Inn, which afforded him a maintenance; but being obliged to relinquish it on account of the loss of his sight, his salary was curtailed, and he lived in poverty the remainder of his life.

APOLOGY FOR FLATTERY.

James II. once asked a preacher, how he could justify the commending of princes when they did not deserve it? He answered, that princes were so high in station, that preachers could not use the same liberty in reproving them as other men, and therefore by praising them for what they were not, taught them what they ought to be. The king was pleased with the ingenuity of the answer, but observed that, for himself, he did not desire to be complimented into his duty; they had his full permission to tell him plainly of his faults; he desired their prayers, and not their praises.

PURITAN COURT PREACHERS.

Edward Dering, a puritan divine of the sixteenth century, was much celebrated for his eloquence in the pulpit. He appears to have carried his resistance to the established religion to a greater height than most of his brethren, and did not spare even the queen herself (Elizabeth). On one occasion, when preaching before her majesty, he told her that, when she was persecuted by Queen Mary, her motto was tanquam ovis (like a sheep); but now it might be tanquam indomita juvenca (like an untamed heifer). The queen, with a mildness not usual with her, took no other notice of his rudeness, than merely to order that he should not preach at court again.

ARRESTING ATTENTION.

"

A party of clergymen were one day in conversation, pleasantly talking of their success in preaching. One of them said, Gentlemen, I once converted a man with my eyes." When requested to explain, he added, "a straggler once entered my church, and casting his looks towards me, he thought I was staring him in the face. To avoid my observation, he removed from door to door, but to no purpose. At last he resolved to stare me out of countenance; his attention was thus fixed upon what was said, and his sentiments and conduct from that day underwent a complete change."

STRIKING APPEAL.

Mr. Doolittle, a nonconformist minister, who lived towards the close of the seventeenth century, once discovered among his congregation a young man, who, being shut out of the pews, discovered much uneasiness, and seemed anxious to quit the chapel. Mr. Doolittle feeling a peculiar desire to detain him, effected it by the following expedient. Turning towards one of the members of his church, who sat in the gallery, he asked him aloud, "Brother, do you repent of your coming to Christ?" No, sir," he replied, "I never was happy till then; I only regret that I did not come to him sooner." Mr. Doolittle then turned towards the opposite gallery, and addressed himself to an aged member in the same

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