or forward horses; and, to add to our fears, the banks were so steep, we could not effect a landing for nearly a mile a-head. I looked at our farmer; his eye was uneasy, startled, and twinkling with something like fear. I asked what he thought; he thought it was both unsafe and imprudent. I looked at the young woman; she looked pale, thoughtful, and serious, but spoke not; on her lap she carried a small willow basket, the lids opening to the handle. While I was observing the effects of fear on her countenance, she took from her basket a little red book. She opened the book, turned a few leaves, fixed her eyes, and read about a minute. As she shut and replaced the book in the basket, she turned her face towards the heavens; she closed her eyes for a moment, and her lips moved.

During the remainder of our perilous ride she sat composed, but spoke not. I looked at the young man; he trembled in every limb; ten minutes before, he looked stout enough and fierce enough to have made the passage of Lodi on the right hand of Buonaparte, but now he sat in dismay; this leap in the dark took him by surprise; he was like one without hope: while she placed her tender foot firmly on the Rock of Ages, and with her hand she ook a grasp upon the skies. At this moment I saw before me what I thought was hope, and no-hope, personified: hope, in the person of this young female, who neither screamed nor wrung her hands, neither needed smelling-bottle nor hartshorn, but sat strong in the faith of her little red book; and no-hope in the person of this young man, who, from strength of body and vigour of mind, might have passed for one of the very lords of the creation, but now sat unstrung, and feeble as a child. They had taken from him his little red book, and given him a blank book in its place: he had no hope!

Its

We stopped at the village of Catskill. I asked Miss Campbell for a sight of the little red book she carried in her basket. title was, Daily Food for Christians, being a Promise, and another Scriptural Portion, for every Day in the Year, &c." I asked her what portion it was that seemed to please her so much while we were sleighing in the water. She pointed to the 15th, 16th, and 17th of February, and their texts; that of the 16th runs thus: As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people," &c. The psalm, "Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take," &c. As I returned her book, I observed,

“There are some who say this book is all delusion." "What if it is? it is at least a cheap, a comfortable, and a very innocent delu. sion," said she; "they may call it what they please; but I intend to make it my companion through all my journeys in life, unless they produce a better book."

Now, reader, there was nothing miraculous or unaccountable in the matter of the red book. This young woman had read of some who, in times of trouble, had drawn support from the leaves of the Bible. She was now in a situation where there was no refuge on the right hand or on the left. She thought of the little book; in turning to the text for that day of the month, (this was on the 23rd,) her eye lit on the texts above cited; they were in Isaiah xli. 14, xlviii. 15, Ps. cxxv. 2. When you read these words, and reflect that she believed them to be inspired, you will not wonder at her sitting unmoved in the midst of the danger.

THE INFIDEL'S DEATH-BED.

Added to the many proofs of the folly of infidelity, and its incapability to sustain its believer on his death-bed, is the following renunciation of this fatal delusion, by Micaiah Woods, Esq., who died in the county of Albemarle, (United States) on the 23d of March, in the 61st year of his age. We may cherish the belief that there is no God, while in health and strength, and while the hour of death is, in our apprehension, far distant; but when brought upon the bed of sickness, when the grim messenger of death stares us in the face, when a guilty and awakened conscience sets our sins in array before us, it is then we shall feel and know there is a God.

The sketch is given by a minister of the gospel through the columns of the Charlottesville Herald:

"Mr. Woods, from his first settlement in life, had been industriously and successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits, and had in this way amassed an ample fortune. He possessed a vigorous and discriminating mind, a kind and benevolent heart. Few men have enjoyed a larger share of the confidence and love of their associates and acquaintances. He had long and ably filled several of the most responsible offices; and at the period of his death was the high-sheriff of this county.

"Ten days before his death, I was called to visit him. No apprehension was at this time felt of a speedy dissolution. He had no fever, and his mind was unusually clear and vigorous.

"When I entered his sick room, a scene of moral sublimity was presented which I can never forget. A venerable old black man -one of his own slaves-stood at his bedside, grasping his master's hand, and pointing him to the Saviour. There, sir,' said the sick man, 'you see a faithful old servant, who has answered the end of his being far better than I have mine-he is a Christian, I am a lost sinner. I would rather now be what he is, than what I am, though I possessed the wealth of the East Indies. I have been a wretched disciple of Tom Paine; and, what is worse, I have endeavoured to make others as bad as myself. Will you pray for me?" With this affecting request I complied, surrounded by his weeping family and friends.

6

"During the afternoon and evening, he made many such remarks as the following: What have I gained by all the deistical works of which I was once so fond? Nothing but the horror and distress of mind which I now suffer: they, they are the cause of my misery -now they seem to me as the poison of the serpent. I despise, I renounce them all.' On the next morning he said, 'When I am cold in the dust, tell the people from the pulpit all I have said to you. Give them a full history of my case. Tell them I have made full proof of infidelity, and that I found it, when I came to die, as a basket without a bottom. It may do in life, but I know

full well that it will not do in death.'

"Two of his old friends and associates called to see him, who, he supposed, still entertained the sentiments he had just renounced. He was much affected at seeing them; addressing himself to them, he said, 'I hope you will not think I am intruding, that you will not be displeased: we once held the same opinions; I hold them no longer; I renounce that creed, I cannot die an infidel; I beg you to renounce it also.' He continued to speak to them with great pertinency and force. When they left the room, he asked me if he had done wrong, if he had said any thing amiss, adding, "I could not let so good an opportunity pass of trying to do them good. I pray they may never forget it.'

"The open and unqualified renunciation of infidelity was accompanied by symptoms of unaffected repentance. He was not overwhelmed with fear; indeed, he very seldom alluded to the

consequences of sin, but seemed to be wholly engrossed with thoughts of its intrinsic vileness. A very common expression of his was, 'All that I can say is, God, have mercy upon me, a poor, mean, vile sinner.' At another time he spoke substantially as follows: 'I am aware that my acquaintances have always considered me a very upright, moral man, a good citizen, and they love me a good deal more than I deserve. But had they known what a heart I had, they would have thought very differently. With all my outward morality, I have been at heart a vile sinner.' Smiting on his breast, he exclaimed, Here have been thousands of sins which no eye has seen but the eye of God'."

THE DRUNKARD CONVERTED.

Something more than two years since, the bruised, mangled, and bloody visage of a man, and the awful oaths and blasphemies that he uttered, called my particular attention to his unhappy family. He had just returned from one of the drunken brawls, by which for twelve years he had disturbed and disgraced the neighbourhood in which he lived. His wife was pressing to her agitated bosom the infant offspring of the depraved being who had promised to love and to cherish her, but whose intemperate habits had left them to want. With a wife's fidelity, and a mother's fondness, she had attempted by her own labour to support the family; but for this her utmost exertions were not sufficient. Her situation was, therefore, truly wretched; and the more so, as she herself was without the consolations of religion. As I left this habitation of woe, with a bleeding heart, and with weeping eyes, I pondered over the degradation of human nature, and cried out, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? these souls to thee?" I found that the wife the guilt of sin. She said that she thought thing, and that she intended, when she had opportunity, to avail herself of its benefits: but that the care of her infant, and other things, rendered this for the present impossible. With such remarks, she met the many invitations given her to attend church, and with their sufliciency she appeared fully satisfied. At length the Lord took her infant to himself; and while the mother's heart was yet tender, I again called upon her, and succeeded in persuad

What can I do to lead had no just sense of religion a very good

ing her to accompany me to the house of God. There she became so much interested as to be willing afterwards to attend frequently, yet no deep impression was made on her mind until February, 1837. She then had pungent convictions of sin; but they did not continue-yet she often attended church after that time. Early in the present year the husband was induced to accompany her there; and at my next visit she told me that since he had done so there had been a great change in him, for he had forsaken his cups, and ceased to treat her unkindly. It now indeed became evident that the Gospel had made a deep impression on his mind; and the effects of this were visible in his conduct. Yet he had become so stupified by a long course of intemperance, that but very little information could be obtained from him. He and his wife, however, became constant attendants upon the ministry of the Gospel: the wife's convictions returned with increased power; the husband's mind gradually regained some measure of its former strength; and they erected a family altar, signed the pledge of total abstinence, and gave themselves, as they profess, without reserve, to the Lord. They now acknowledge, with gratitude, the kindness of God in bereaving them of their child, and thus leading them to himself. Their neighbours bear testimony to their good conduct. To God, who has saved them, be all the praise!

AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF A CHIEF OF AIMEO.

In the island of Aimeo lived a venerable chief of the name of Vara. Before the Gospel reached this ignorant island, the superstition and cruelty of the natives exceeded all description. They used to offer up human sacrifices to their gods; and Vara, the chief, was the most active amongst them. One day the king, Pomare, sent an order to Vara to procure him a human sacrifice immediately. Vara went in search of a victim, and was rather at a loss to know whom to fix upon, when he heard a child's voice crying after him, and on looking behind, he saw that it was his own little brother who was running, and following him at a disAs soon as the hard-hearted brother saw him, he turned round, struck his head with a stone, and killed him. He then put him into a large basket, made of cocoa-nut leaves, and sent him to the king, Pomare. When the poor mother heard of the death of

tance.