ALL AT IT, AND ALWAYS AT IT.” When Wesley was once asked by what magic he had rendered his followers so efficient, he is said to have replied, that the great secret consisted in this, that they were "all at it, and always at it." Acting upon this principle, every new adherent was not only set at work, but kept at work. There was something found for every one to do; and, such was the system of responsibility which was established, that they had to do it. Not one in all their ranks was suffered to remain idle in the vineyard. If there was but one talent, it was employed. The feeblest among them were not allowed to plead their incompetency to the task assigned them, and while the rich were required to give of their abundance, it was made the duty of the poor to aid the cause, at regular and brief intervals, out of their pittance. Giving was as much a system, as their meetings for preaching and for classes. And where there were talents, even of a very inferior order, they were brought into requisition. Their members, when called upon, prayed and exhorted-took the charge of classes were appointed to circuits. And in this way many were induced into the ministry, who, when they began to preach, had a very limited command of language, and knew very little of the Bible; but by being always at it, their own minds were expanded, and their gifts increased.

For one, I am inclined to attach great importance to this motto of Wesley. We have praying members, working members, persevering members, official and unofficial: but it cannot in truth be said, that we are all at it, and always at it. If we go to our Sunday schools, it is but a small portion of the members of the church, that are capable of teaching, who engage in this delightful employment-and only a part of the youth, in connexion with our congregations, who are reaping its advantages. If we go to the week-day prayer-meeting or lecture-are all the members of the church there, or the half of them? And if scrutiny were made for the free-will offerings of the church, how many would be found on the list of delinquents-so that we are not all at it. Much less are we always at it. And it becomes us with deep humility, not only to confess, but to forsake our "sins of omission." O how much have we left undone! How faithless to our covenant vows! Upon how many does the spirit of deep slumber rest

forgetful that the night is far spent, and that the day is at hand. Reader, are you at it? Are you always at it?-Watchman.

NEAR VIEW OF ETERNITY.

Eternity is another thing than what we ordinarily take it to be in a healthful state. Oh, how vast and boundless! Oh, how fixed and unalterable! Oh, of what infinite im

portance is it that we be prepared for eternity! I have been just dying, now, for more than a week; and all around me have thought so. I have had clear views of eternity; have seen the blessedness of the godly in some measure; and have longed to share their happy state, as well as been comfortably satisfied that through grace I shall do so: but oh, what anguish is raised in my mind for those who are Christless, for those who are mistaken, and who bring their false hopes with them to the grave! The sight was so dreadful that I could by no means bear it; and I said, under a more affecting sense than ever before, "Who can dwell with everlasting burnings?" Oh, methought could I now see my friends, I might warn them to see to it, that they lay their foundation for eternity sure.- -Brainerd.

MURDER DEEMED A DUTY.

Among the followers of the house of Stuart there was a faithful follower of the name of Hadfield. The fallen line having no better return to make him for years of service, established him in a hotel on the Arno at Florence, now the Quatre Nations, to which the partisans of the royal exiles in consequence resorted. Mr. Hadfield had recently married; the birth of a son soon completed his domestic happiness. There could not be a finer, healthier boy. After a few months, the child fell asleep one day and awoke no more. His death was in no way to be accounted for! The grief and disappointment of his parents only gave way to the birth of another

infant the following year; it was also a boy, blooming, and full of life. He slept the sleep of death to awake no more! A third was born, and the same mysterious fate awaited him. The horror of the heart-stricken parents can only be imagined-"The shaft flew thrice, and thrice their peace was slain."

The following year the olive branch was again held forth in mercy. A fourth child was vouchsafed, it was a girl. The parents watched and prayed, but trembled! Only a few weeks had passed over when the nurse, to whom the infant had been intrusted, ran to them one day, her countenance full of horror, her lips livid— she could not articulate, but held out the babe to its mother. After some restoratives had been given, the poor creature recovered sufficiently to tell, that, having left the nursery for a moment, while the child slept, and without her shoes for fear of waking her, she was amazed, on her return with noiseless steps, to find old Brigida, the laundress of the hotel, leaning over the cradle, with a vial in her hand. unconscious of her presence, was talking to herself. The nurse could distinctly hear her words to this effect: "I must snatch another heretic from hell! Drink, my child, and join your brothers; they are angels in paradise. The blessed Virgin waits for you." The wretch was in the act of applying the vial to the infant's lips when the nurse darted forward, snatched up the child, and fled. Old Brigida fled too; but it was to a convent; where her guilt was deemed meritorious, and her re

The crone,

demption secure. She died soon after in the odour of sanctity. The child was saved, but the afflicted parents, obliged to live abroad, baptized her (in their terror) according to the rites of the Roman church. The daughter proved of precious mind. Her talents and beauty rendered her well known in after years in England. She was the celebrated Maria Cosway.-Autobiography of Leigh Hunt.

THE POWER OF CONSCIENCE. There is a man now in the Insane Asylum at Utica, New York, who has been driven into insanity under the following circumstances. He is an Englishman, and he received before leaving England quite a large sum of money, as a legacy from his father. He was worth previously a considerable property. By a codicil in the will he received one hundred and sixty pounds, which in the body of the instrument were reserved to a brother and sister. This latter sum was induced by some persuasion and effort on the part of the recipient, although it has never been supposed that he resorted to any means positively unfair or improper. This additional sum, thus obtained, so pressed upon his thoughts and conscience, as finally to drive him raving mad.

will; and I told him to do it." He fancied, too, that he was beset with evil spirits in consequence of the unfraternal act. Efforts were made to divert his mind from the one dark theme; but in vain. It was suggested to him, that he might now restore the £160, and thus atone for everything. "Not so," he always replied; "it wouldn't be my father's will— would it? That's what troubles me. I'd give all my property to change that, but it's too late." Ringing the changes on this sore point, his mind gradually became shattered, and nothing but constant watchfulness prevented his self-destruction.

THE MAGIC OF A SABBATH SCHOOL.

What a good thing is a sabbath school in a bad neighbourhood! It is like a gas-light in some dangerous corner; it makes darkness visible. It is a "Sanitary Society,”—it makes the people clean and tidy. It is a "Mechanics' Institute," it draws out the mind of the people. It is a society for "the reformation of manners," producing a more thorough change than could be effected by a thousand laws. It is a society for