THE COTTAGE CONVERSATION.

"Moreover, to the poor the gospel was and is preached, and to my heart's delight I find it to be true every sabbath-day of my life. And is it not plain, all the neighbourhood through, that while so many of our rich farmers, and tradesmen, and squires, are quite careless, or set their faces against the ways of God, and are dead to every thing that is gracious and holy, a great number of the poorest people are converted and saved? I honour the rich for their station; but I do not envy them for their possessions. I cannot forget what Christ once said, 'How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!"

"Oh! my dear wife, if you did but know how to set a right value upon the precious promises which God has made to the pcor, how thankful should I be!

"The expectation of the poor shall not perish. He delivereth the poor and needy from him that spoileth him. He has prepared of his goodness for the poor. The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One. For he became poor, that we, through his poverty, might be rich; not in gold, but in grace.

"These promises support my soul, and would make me happy, even if I were deprived of that which I now enjoy. I can trust my Saviour for this world as well as for the next. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

"The Lord of mercy bless you, my dear Sarah, with the grace of a contented mind!

Here the gracious man stopped: and whether affected by her husband's discourse, or by any other cause, I know not, but she made no reply. He then said, "Come, children, it is our time for rest; shut the door and let us go to prayer."

"Forgive me," said I, laying hold of the door, as the child was obeying her father's orders, "if I ask leave to make one in your family devotions, before I travel homeward. I have heard you, my friend, when you knew it not, and bless God for the sermon which have this night preached to my heart."

The honest labourer blushed for a moment at this unexpected intrusion and declaration, but immediately said, "Sir, you are welcome to a poor man's dwelling, if you come in the name of the Lord."

I just looked round at the wife, who seemed to be startled at my sudden appearance, and the six fine children who sat near her, and then said, "You were going to pray; I must beg of you to go on as if I were not here."

POETRY.

The man, whom I could not but love and reverence, with a simple, unaffected, modest, and devout demeanour, did as I requested him. His prayer was full of tender affection and sincerity, expressed with great scriptural propriety, and was, in all respects, such as became the preacher of those sentiments which I had overheard him deliver to his wife just before. When he had finished, each of his children, according to the good old patriarchal custom of better days, kneeled down before him in turn, to receive a father's blessing.

It was now late, and the rain was over; I gave the poor man my blessing, and received his in return. I wished them good-night, and went onwards to my own home, reflecting, with much self-abasement of heart, what an honour and comfort it is to be a poor man rich in faith.

Poetry.

"HE CARETH FOR YOU."

WHENCE this fruitless mourning? Christians, why those tears?
Why give way to sadness, and over anxious fears?
Grieve no more, desponding; on your God rely;

Mark: He feeds the ravens-hears their young one's cry.

Harvests shoot and ripen, nurtured by his hand;
Showers refresh, and sunshine warms at his command;
He the spotless lilies clothes in dazzling white-
Say what monarch's splendour's half so pure and bright?
Since the fowls and flowers are objects of his care,
Much more Jesus tells us, saints his love shall share :
Friends, away with sadness; waste not thus your days;
God's unnumber'd mercies call for rapturous praise.

Though we all have sinned, Jesus for us died;
All things thus are given us—God is on our side;
E'en our sharpest griefs are messages of love;
Be patient, yea, be joyful-raise your hearts above.

ENTERING HEAVEN.

THERE is light on the hills, and the valley is past!
Ascend, happy pilgrim, thy labours are o'er!
The sunshine of heaven around thee is cast,
And thy weak doubting footsteps can falter no more.

On, pilgrim, that hill, richly circled with rays,
Is Zion! Lo, there is "the city of saints!"
And the beauties, the glories, that region displays,
Inspiration's own language imperfectly paints.

ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

But the "gate of one pearl" to thee opened shall be,
And thou all its beauties and glories behold;

The Saviour has purchased an entrance for thee,
And thy dwelling henceforth is the City of Gold.

And, perhaps, in the portal the glorified band
Of kindred and friends long removed from thy sight,
Breathing welcome and bliss around thee will stand,
Arrayed in their garments of heavenly light.

Thou hast knock'd, thou hast enter'd, blest spirit farewell!
We rejoice in thy bliss, though our loss we deplore:
It is joy that thou art where the blessed ones dwell;
But, oh! it is grief we behold thee no more.

Anecdotes and Selections.

THE GREATEST WANT.-Men have many wants, but no men in the world want more than those who want the gospel. Of all distresses, want of the gospel cries loudest for relief. What do men need that want the gospel? They want Jesus Christ, for he is revealed only by the gospel. He is all and in all, and where he is wanting there can be no good. Hunger cannot truly be satisfied without the bread of life, which is Jesus Christ; and what shall a hungry man do that hath no bread? Thirst cannot be quenched without a living spring, which is Jesus Christ; and what shall a thirsty soul do without water? A captive cannot be delivered without redemption, which is Jesus Christ; and what shall the prisoner do without his ransom? Fools cannot be instructed without wisdom, which is Jesus Christ; without him we perish in our folly. All building without him is on the sand, and will surely fall. All working without him is in the fire, where it will be consumed. All riches without him have wings, and will fly away. A dungeon with Christ is a throne, and a throne without Christ is a dungeon. He is the way; men without him are wanderers. He is the truth; men without him are deceived. He is the life; men without him are dead-dead in trespasses and sins. He is the light; men without him are in darkness, and go they know not whither. He is the vine; those that are not grafted in him are withered branches, ready for the fire. He is the rock; men not built on him are carried away with a flood. He is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the author and the ender, the founder and the finisher of our salvation. O blessed Jesus! how much better were it not to be, than to be without thee; never to be born, than not to die in thee.-Dr. John Owen's Sermon before the English Parliament in 1646.

ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

PARENTAL ANXIETY.-I have known the grace of God for nearly thirty years, but in spite of all my advice, my five sons and two daughters, all grown up, ran on in the broad way to destruction. This cost me many a prayer and many a tear, yet I saw no fruit of all my labour. In January last I dreamed that the day of judgment was come. I saw the Judge on his great white throne. The holy angels sat around him, and all nations were gathered before him. I and my wife were on the right hand; but I could not see any of my children. I said, I cannot bear this; I must go and seek them. So I went to the left hand and found them all seven standing together in dreadful agony. As soon as they saw me they all caught hold of me, and said, "O, father! we will part no more." I said, my dear children, I am come to try, if possible, to get you out of this dismal situation." So I took them all with me: but when we were come within a bow shot of the Judge, I thought he cast an angry look, and said, "what do thy children with thee now? they would not take thy warning when upon earth. They shall not share the crown with thee. Depart ye cursed." At these words I awoke bathed in sweat and tears. Sometime after this as we were sitting all together on a sabbath evening, I related to them my dream. No sooner had I ended than first one and then another, yea all of them, burst into tears, and God fastened conviction on their hearts. Five of them are now rejoicing in God their Saviour, and I beleive God is at work with the other two, so that I doubt not but he will give them to my prayers. R. E. U. P. S.-The remainder of my children have since been converted, and walk according to the truth as it is in Jesus.

SABBATH DAY COMFORTS.-Alas! how many comfortless homes are there in England. Drunkenness, swearing, and strife, have made them so. And whence come all these? From sabbathbreaking. There are many families in England who earn conjointly a good weekly amount, and yet their habitations are the abodes of wretchedness. And wherefore? They neglect the sabbath. Look and see! for as regards personal and relative comfort that man has the greatest share who is found keeping holy the sabbath-day. Walking in the paths of holy obedience, he enjoys the favour of God, the approbation of the good, and the approval of his own conscience, and he is happy. Remember the sabbath-day to keep it holy.

D. J.

ENJOYMENTS OF THE SABBATH.-The enlightened mind of the christian has its pleasant walks on the sabbath-day, along the green pastures and beside the still waters of salvation. He sitteth down to rest beneath the shadow of the Tree of Life, and the fruit thereof is sweet to his taste. He drinketh of the streams of the river that maketh glad the city of God, and strengthened thereby, he, during the six days following, goeth on his way rejoicing, pressing onwards and upwards to the rest of heaven.

D. J.

ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS.

DRUNKENNESS is thus characterised by Watson, an old Puritan divine:-"There is no sin which doth more efface God's image than drunkenness. It disguiseth a person, and doth even unman him. Drunkenness makes him have the throat of a fish, the belly of a swine, and the head of an ass. Drunkenness is the shame of nature, the extinguisher of reason, the shipwreck of chastity, and the murder of conscience. Drunkenness is hurtful to the body-the cup kills more than the cannon. It causeth dropsies, catarrhs, apoplexies; it fills the eyes with fire, and the legs with water, and turns the body into an hospital. But the greatest hurt it doth is to the soul; excess of wine breeds the worm of conscience. The drunkard is seldom reclaimed by repentance, and the ground of it is, partly because by this sin the senses are so enchanted, the reason so impaired, and lust so inflamed; and partly it is judicial, the drunkard being so besotted by his sin, God saith of him, as of Ephraim, he is joined to his cups, let him alone; let him drown himself in liquor until he scorch himself in fire. O reader, beware of drunkenness ! it is a degrading, damning sin."

RIGHT DESIGN OF LEARNING.-The late Rev. Caleb Evans, baptist minister, of Bristol, having once occasion to travel from home, wrote to a poor congregation to say that he should spend a night in their village, and that, if it were agreeable to them, he would give them a sermon. The poor people hesitated for some time, but at length permitted him to preach. After sermon he found them in a far happier mood than when he first came among them, and could not forbear inquiring into the reason of all this. 'Why, sir, to tell you the truth," said one of them, "knowing that you were a very learned man, and that you were a teacher of young ministers, we were much afraid we should not understand you; but you have been quite as plain as any we have ever had." "Ay, ay," the doctor replied, "you entirely misunderstand the nature of learning, my friend; its design is to make things so plain that they cannot be misunderstood."

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TRUE BENEVOLENCE.-A traveller in Asia Minor, in a time of distressing drought, found a vase of water under a little shed by the roadside for the refreshment of the weary traveller. A man in the neighbourhood was in the habit of bringing the water from a considerable distance, and filling the vase every morning, and then going to his work. He could have no motive to do this but a kind regard to the comfort of weary travellers, for he was never there to receive their thanks, much less their money. This was benevolence.

THE PIOUS POOR.-Many a poor man makes a bright christian: God keeps him humble that he may dwell in his heart, and that the beams of his grace may shine in his life. The evening star-how bright it shines, yet it is lowest in the heavens. So God keeps you

low that you may shine bright. Where do the rivers run that fertilize the soil ?-not on the top of the hills, but in the vales beneath. So, if you would taste of the streams which gladden the city of God, you must abide in the vale of humility.