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THE IMMORTAL SOUL.

against the soul." Repent of your errors and your sins. Reform your conduct. Deeply humbled by a sense of your guilt, and truly penitent before God on account of your aggravated offences, seek his pardoning mercy through the blood of the crucified Saviour. Hear the gracious words of the merciful Redeemer, "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." To this almighty Saviour fly for help, and he will save you. But delay not; escape for your life. "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.'

"For

Should the reader, deceived by satan and enslaved to his sins, reject this serious advice, his soul must be numbered with transgressors, and at length receive its awful doom; but should he feel disposed to care for his own soul, he will be willing to receive the following directions: Remember "the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul." Read the scriptures. It is the book God has given for the instruction of the soul. the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." This word will show you your guilt and danger as a sinner, and it will also reveal an Almighty and affectionate Saviour, "able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," is the encouraging declaration of the holy word to every sincere penitent. lieving on the Son of God you shall obtain peace and joy, and the love of God shall be shed abroad in your heart, by the Holy Spirit given unto you. Hope, as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, shall bear you up amid the storms of life, and not being of those who turn back unto perdition, but who believe to the saving of the soul, you shall ultimately receive the end of your faith, even the salvation of your soul.

Be

Dear reader, may this desirable experience be yours, saved by faith in the blood of the Lamb, may you in the world of glory thus express your adoring gratitude, "Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of Truth-Thou hast delivered my soul from death.-Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me bless his Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies!"

Amen.

J. F. W.

POETRY. ANECDOTES, SELECTIONS, AND GEMS.

Poetry.

THE VALUE OF THE SOUL.

BY JAMES MONTGOMERY.

WHAT is the thing of greatest price,
The whole creation round?

That which was lost in paradise,
That which in Christ was found.

The soul of man,-Jehovah's breath,
That keeps two worlds at strife;
Hell moves beneath to work its death,
Heaven stoops to give it life.

God, to reclaim it, did not spare
His well-beloved Son;

Jesus, to save it, deigned to bear
The sins of all in one.

The Holy Spirit seal'd the plan,
And pledged the blood divine,
To ransom every soul of man ;-
That price was paid for mine.
And is this treasure borne below,
In earthly vessels frail ?

Can none its utmost value know,
Till flesh and Spirit fail?

Then let us gather round the Cross,

This knowledge to obtain,
Not by the soul's eternal loss,
But everlasting gain !"

Anecdotes, Selections, and Gems.

A DREAM.-"The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream." Jeremiah xxiii. 28.-In a season of affliction I was laid on my bed. One evening, after tossing to and fro, I fell asleep, and dreamed that I saw a venerable person, whose quick and penetrating eye told that he was a shrewd observer of mankind. He gently touched me, and with a mild voice, said, "A covetous man!" Starting from my slumbers, I pondered over this admonition, wondering much. At length, being more composed, I fell asleep again, when the same words, only in a more powerful voice, were, by the same person, again spoken, who bidding me look straight before me, I saw a man who I knew had been all his life gathering up money,

ANECDOTES, SELECTIONS, AND GEMS.

and hoarding it with a griping hand. Many poor applicants had applied to him for some small portion of his riches, but he was deaf to all their entreaties, and heeded not the poverty and necessities of his fellow men. I said, "this man's heart is set upon his riches." “Mark his end," said my Mentor, "see in the distance that grim figure approaching." They met, and at one stroke the king of terrors laid the votary of mammon low, and he fell a lifeless corpse. Then I thought I saw the soul of the hard-hearted money-getter ascend in its upward flight through the vast fields of space, far above the earth and earthly objects. With astonishment, I asked, "is this soul going to heaven!" "Yes," said the venerable person who had answered my previous questions, "it is; but mark; keep thine eye steady." At that moment the pearly gates opened, and on a throne of judgment sat in glory the Eternal Judge, and when the soul reached the bar, questions of the greatest moment were put to it. "What have you been doing on earth? I gave you riches: how have you used them? Hast thou fed the hungry, clothed the naked, assisted the destitute; above all, hast thou done anything for the furtherance of my gospel in yonder world?" Conscious guilt afforded no answer. The soul was speechless, and in that awful moment there was no Intercessor. A gathering frown veiled the milder glories of the Judge, and his voice pronounced the dreadful word, "DEPART." A yawning gulf seemed to open near where I stood, and as the wretched soul sunk down into the abyss, I heard it shriek, "My riches! my riches! my riches!" so loud, that trembling I awoke, and behold, it was a dream; but I cannot get rid of the idea that such a scene is often witnessed in the Eternal World.

Oakham

P.

A GOOD ACTION.-Three things enter into the composition of a Good Action, scripturally so considered:-these are, a right principle, a right rule, and a right end.

2 Cor. v. 14, 15.

2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.
1 Cor. x. 31.

The right principle is the Love of God. The fight rule is the Word of God. The right end is the Glory of God. "My grace is sufficient.""As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me."- "He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked."

Be all my heart, be all my days,
Devoted to thy single praise;
And let my glad obedience prove,
How much I owe, how much I love.

1 Thess. v, 23.

Col. i. 10.
John xiv. 21.

2 Cor. viii, 9.

FAMILY PRAYER.-He who prays extempore with his family ought to avoid tediousness, formality, far-fetched phrases, fine language, and an artificial arrangement or connection. Tediousness will weary, formality will chill; curious, figurative, and farfetched expressions or phrases will perplex; and the least appearance of what is artificial will tend to fix the attention on the method

THE FIRESIDE.

of the petitions, rather than on their spiritual and all-important meaning. Our prayer at the head of our family should be simple in language, succinct in expression, inartificial in arrangement, serious in its manner, warmly devout in its spirit and not so long as to induce any approach to weariness,

Facts and Hints.

W. DAVIS.

AMBROSE Says, "idleness is the devil's pillow" wherefore many good Christians, who think the devil deserves none, take it away from him and put it under their own heads.-J. P. Ritcher.

THE PEACE SOCIETY has issued a circular which terminates thus:"Arbitration is friendly-wise-easy and cheap. War is fiendish foolish-difficult and dear."

HOW TO PUNISH." What do you mean to do with K.?" said a friend of Theodore Hook, alluding to a man who had grossly vilified him. "Do with him," replied Hook; "why I mean to let him alone most severely."

USES OF THE MOLE.-It is stated that farmers in Gloucestershire are purchasing moles by hundreds, and turning them out on their arable lands! Scores of the destructive wire worm have been found in the stomach of a dissected mole.

THE GOLD AND SILVER PLATE in Windsor Castle is valued at two millions of pounds sterling.

The Fireside.

A WORD ON COOKERY.

THE female head of a family who wishes to keep a good table, according to her circumstances, must have a proper knowlege of several important matters, besides making a pudding, or dressing a joint of meat. Indeed, if she be not a good manager in general, it will be but occasionally, and by mere chance, that she cooks even one dish properly.

First, there is money: she should well understand how much she can afford to spend on food, and how to lay it out to the best advantage, on what is really profitable and nourishing, what is worth the money asked for it, and what may be so portioned out as to secure something comfortable every day. Without a steady plan in these matters, prudently adjusted, and steadily adhered to, a family may be one day living in luxury, and another day half starved. The way habitually to have enough of everything is never to have too much of anything. The want and misery of many families arise, more from want of discretion in managing their resources, than from the real scantiness of their income. Where this is the case, if their income were doubled, they would still be poor and uncomfortable.

Next, there is time: a working man's wife has many things to attend to. She had need to rise early, move about briskly, and make

THE PENNY POST.

the best of every minute, or her affairs will be all behind-hand and in confusion. Among other things, her family will rarely sit down to a comfortable well-dressed meal. A good manager is known by her forecast. She thinks of what she has to do; she knows when a thing ought to be begun, in order to its being finished at the proper time, and she takes care to do it accordingly. In the business of cooking, a minute's timely preparation may save an hour of bustle and discomfort. Even in the difference of having to draw a pail of water, when the pot is wanted to be put on the fire, or having it stand ready for use, may consist the difference between having the family meal ready in proper time, or too late and ill-cooked. To think of things at the proper time; to have a time for everything, and everything to its time, are habits worth many pounds in a year to a family manager, and contribute much to family comfort, whether the house and income be large or small.

Esther Copley, in Family Economist.

The Penny Post.

ON DOING GOOD.-A few summers ago we were engaged in advocating the interests of a Sabbath School in a large Northamptonshire village. The next day, guided by a venerable friend, we visited several christian families, and among others two old disciples, with whose pious conversation we were pleased and edified. The other day we received a letter from one of these, penned with much care, and from which, as it contains some facts and hints that may be useful, we give an extract or two:

66

Perhaps you recollect when at B

coming with Mr. Rto see two old women. Then we were both able to go to the house of God; but the last two years we have been prisoners at home. My friend and companion in tribulation has left the world and sin behind. If it is convenient, I should like you to notice thatMay 25, Mrs. Ann Muddiman died, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, in the ninety-third year of her age, and the seventy-third of an honourable membership with the baptist church at B- Her maiden name was Staughton, a descendant of William Staughton, of Blisworth, who was imprisoned in Northampton gaol for holding meetings in his own house, about the same time John Bunyan was in Bedford gaol. I have been very poorly ever since my dear friend's death, with influenza and erisipelas, or should have sent this a fortnight ago. I would not trouble you with this scrawl, as I cannot see to write many words, but I wished to say that we have here many who go to the house of God, and return the same week after week, who know what is right, but do the wrong. And many mothers and sisters are mourning every day over thoughtless relations. I was pleased with the hints in the Reporter on the means to promote a revival.

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