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And Oh! may the Lord give us all grace and wisdom; and if the trial comes, not only make us to know what things we ought to do, but also give grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same.

A SECRET TO THOSE WHO CONSULT CHARMERS.

A woman who lived in the county of Sussex, a few years since, having the ague, and hearing of a man who could charm it away, went to him he gave her what he called a charm, which was a paper sewed up in a bag which she was to wear round her neck, and never to open it, for if she did, he told her the complaint would return again. The disease was removed; she continued to wear the bag till the end of four years, when she was stirred up to a concern about her soul, and was taught by the Spirit to see and to feel the exceeding sinfulness of sin. She then for the first time began to fear whether this charm was not the work of Satan: for many days she prayed to the Lord to teach her what she ought to do about it, and at last she saw it to be her duty to take it off; and opening it, found it thus written on the paper, "TORMENT HER NOT TILL SHE IS IN HELL." The disease never returned.

From the Bible, on the subject of charming.—“ There shall not be found among you, a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer; for all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord; and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee." -Deut. xviii. 10, 12.-Isaiah viii. 19.-1 Chron. x. 13.

R. L. C.

A PRAYER.

Eternal God in Christ, grant me the boldness of the lion, the harmlessness of the dove, the gentleness of the lamb, the wisdom of the serpent; gravity without austerity, seriousness without levity, cheerfulness without trifling, love without dissimulation, sincerity without hypocrisy: may I walk in wisdom towards them that are without, kindness towards them that are within; looking constantly unto Jesus for direction and protection, for consolation and sanctification, for perseverance and courage, for victory and triumph. Grant me the astonishing meekness of Moses, the rap

turous devotion of David, the unexampled patience of Job, the conscientious integrity of Daniel, the bold intrepidity of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the unwearied labours of St. Paul, the zeal of St. Peter, the love of St. John; but above all grant, O grant me the righteousness of Christ: the divine law demands of the sinner a righteousness internal in the heart, external in the life, eternal without end: and this righteousness I find in Christ alone, in Christ for ever. Halellujah! Amen.

R. E. C.

THE END. OF AN OLD BELIEVER.

An extract from a letter just received.

You will not be surprised to hear that old A. T. has been called to his eternal rest in heaven. During the last fortnight he suffered much from bodily pain and weakness; saying little, but what he did say, expressive of the full assurance of hope and confidence in the finished salvation of his divine Lord and Master: declaring in glowing language what the Gospel of the grace of God had done for him, a poor sinner. The last time I saw him he was held up in bed, and scarcely able to articulate; when he desired the Bible to be brought to him; and you would have been much gratified, at seeing with what ardour he pressed the sacred volume to his dying lips. "O Lord, establish thy word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused him to hope." He was buried in a decent manner; and followed to the house appointed for all liv. ing, by many who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. As soon as the minister left the grave, that beautiful hymn of Dr. Watts', was sung over his remains.

"From thee my God my joys shall," &c.

R. L. C.

THE CHOLERA.

From the Rev. R. Knill, St. Petersburgh, Aug. 19, O. S. 1831. The letter which I sent to the Missionary Society gave a faint outline of our external distress; but the sorrows of our hearts can only be known by those who have passed through the deep waters of affliction. I view it as a holy discipline, sent by the Father of Mercies, for wise and blessed purposes. What these purposes are I cannot tell; but He is the source of wisdom and goodness, and I would humbly resign it all into

His gracious hands. Our two darling children (of which we were bereft by the Cholera Morbus) are happy; and all the comfort we anticipated from them God can make up in other ways. We think we already begin to see that a peculiar blessing was connected with the death of one of them; and one which will augment the number of active distributors of God's Holy Word.

At the time that one of the children was attacked with Cholera, we had at our house a young man of good talents and extensive means of doing good; but his heart was rebellious against God. He witnessed the agonies of my son, and sat by his bed-side rubbing his hands to ease the spasms; he then ran to the apothecary's for medicine; but before he returned the spasms had ceased, the blood had ceased to flow, the flutterings of the heart were over-the spirit of my boy had fled! This greatly affected my young friend; he trembled, then went into my study and shut the door, and cried for mercy; and solemnly yielded himself up to that Saviour whom he had hitherto neglected. A marked change took place; he became like a lamb; sought the society of the righteous; gave himself to reading, yea, and reading the neglected Bible. He has just left us for another quarter of the world; but he took with him a supply of the Scriptures and Tracts for distribution, and will prove, I trust, a valuable coadjutor to me and to others in the sacred work. O, my dear Sir! how it soothes our sorrowshow it makes the tears of joy to roll down our cheeks, to think that the death of our son should be the instrument of leading a sinner to Jesus! Thus God is accomplishing His own work in His own way:-even so Father, Amen.

Ah, Sir! it was an awful time indeed! People who are seized with Cholera have no time to read, and perhaps no inclination. It is a terrible delusion to neglect the great salvation until sickness and death come.

One of the physicians who has recently been at St. Petersburgh, gives the following account of a gentleman of his acquaintance: A Russian nobleman, who had large estates in the country, at a great distance from the city, was informed that the Cholera had broken out there. He immediately left his country-house, went to St. Petersburgh, and spent his whole time there, in visiting and relieving the sick; among whom he laboured like another Good Samaritan.

EXTRACTS FROM CHARLES' LIFE.

I have no comfort with respect to futurity, but as I resign and commit all future events to the direction of a kind and all-wise providence. Let us act, as present circumstances seem to direct,

and let futurity alone. A cloud went before the Israelites in the wilderness, and farther than the cloud, they could not see their way. It led them in the right way, though it confined their sight to a narrow compass. They knew not the direction where they were to go, nor where to rest; but only that they were advancing towards Canaan. Our point is to know our present duty; every thing beyond that, is caring for the morrow, with which we have no more to do, than with what is to be a thousand years hence. Commit all to the Lord, and look not too far forward, and then all your melancholy fears will vanish. A single eye to God banishes

at once all anxious cares and fears.

When an unexpected cloud gathers, and darkens the heavens above, let us joyfully expect from it a shower of rich blessings. And when the blessings are come, the cloud will disperse, and the sun will shine brighter than ever.

There was a certain town in Wales, which seemed to grow worse and worse, though the Gospel had been preached there for 20 years. Young and old became more depraved. They ran into all manner of excesses, especially at the yearly wake. The most faithful and awful warnings were given by the ministers, but of no use. This was mentioned to Mr. Charles. About two months before the wakes, he sent word to the teachers of their Sunday School, requesting them to get the children to search the Bible for texts which forbid such evil practices, as dancing, drunkenness, fornication, &c. and to commit them to memory, as they might expect him at the feast to catechise the children. The young people set to work, and there was a great deal of talk in the town and neighbourhood about it. When Mr. C. came, most of the people of the place went to see what the children had to say; the meeting began as usual by singing and prayer; then Mr. C. began to question them on the points they had to learn. "Is dancing, my dear children, a sin ?" "Yes, said one, it was owing to dancing that the head of John the Baptist was cut off.""Is it set forth as bad and sinful in Scripture?" "Yes, said another, woe unto them that follow strong drink, &c." In this way he went on with the other sins, and the answers were given with great propriety and seriousness. The people began to hold down their heads, and seemed much affected. Then he addressed them in the kindest manner, and exhorted them by all means, to leave off their sinful practices, to give up the works of darkness and the devil, to attend to the concerns of their never-dying souls, to learn the word of God, like their children, and to try to seek better pleasures, and a better world. The effect was so great, that the houses of revelling were completely forsaken. The next day, a person on the road met the harper going home, and surprised to see him leaving the place so soen, asked him what was the reason? "Some parson," (said he) "with a black cap on, had been catechising them, and persuaded the young people not to attend the feast."

AN ANECDOTE OF A ROMAN PRIEST.

From a person in Quebec.

Not long since a poor woman died here, and left one son. After her death the young man lived on the produce of a cow, which was all he possessed; but he was not left long in quiet possession of this; the priest soon came to him, and told him that his mother was in purgatory, where she must forever remain, unless he would give him some money to pray her out of it. This was sad news for the poor young man; what to do he knew not; but rather than leave his mother in such a state, he determined to sell his cow: this he did, and brought some of the money to the priest to pray her out of purgatory.

The artful man however was not contented with this; but told him that the head and shoulders were out of it, and the whole body would soon be released, if he would give him the remaining part of what he had sold the cow for. The son would gladly have kept back a part at least of his little all; but loving his dear departed parent, he could not bear the thoughts of her suffering, while it was in his power to get her released; he therefore gave him the money: for he knew not the blessed truths of the Bible. Could he have read that book, he would have learned that there is no such place as a place of purgatory after death, for those who have been washed in the precious blood of Jesus; who alone can save all who will come to him, from the bitter pains of eternal death, which the wicked and all those who forget God must endure for ever in hell-fire.

R. L. C.

WALKING WITH GOD.

Gen. v. 24.

"And Enoch walked with God."

He walks with God, who lives a life of faith,
And builds his hope on what the promise saith ;
Who letting go this world, the next secures,
And still as seeing things unseen, endures.

He walks with God, who lives a life of prayer,
And daily casts on him his every care;
Who in this sweet and sacred converse knows
The soul's refreshment and the heart's repose.

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