THE FIRESIDE. TRUE WISDOM.-I say, be acquainted with the grave and death. The fool puts the evil day far away, but the wise man brings it nigh. Better be ready to die seven years before death comes, than want one day, one hour, one moment, one tear, one sorrowful sigh, at the remembrance of the ill-spent life that I have lived. This then is that which I admonish thee of, namely, that thou know death, what it is, what it doth, when it comes; also that thou consider well of the danger that death leaves that man in, to whom he comes before he is ready, and prepared to be laid by it in the grave. SPURS OF THE SOUL.-If thou lovest thy soul, slight not the knowledge of hell; for that, and the law, are the spurs which Christ useth to prick souls forward to himself withal. What is the cause that sinners can play so delightfully with sin? It is that they forget there is a hell for them to descend into for their so doing, when they go out of this world. For here usually he gives a stop to our sinful course; we perceive that hell hath opened her mouth before us. Lest thou shouldst forget, I beseech thee another time, to retain a knowledge of hell in thine understanding, and apply the burning-hot thoughts thereof to thy conscience. This is one way to make thee gather up thy heels, and mend thy pace in coming to Jesus Christ, and to God the Father by him. The Fireside. WHAT DO YOU TALK ABOUT? That is, when you happen to meet in one another's houses, or in the shop, or in the market? I know very well what some find to talk about, and it is poor stuff, that does no good; some gossiping tale, and not a little slander sometimes. Now when neighbours do happen to meet it would be a fine thing if they could hit upon something worth talking about. I say so, for I know it is not thought of enough even by some good people. I heard the other day of a christian woman who was in a small grocer's shop, and the widow of a clergyman came in who began to ask her if she went to meeting yet, and observed that she wondered how she could leave the church-she could not. The other replied, "Well, you may be a good christian in the church if you will." To which the widow replied, "I hope to be a christian some day" They parted. The widow went home, sat down in her chair, and died! We would fain hope that on her way home she thought of what had been said in the shop, and gave her heart to Christ. However this shows that christian people should always talk about something good, for, as in this case, it may be the last time those they talk with may hear it. We should mind what we talk about. THE PENNY POST BOX-FACTS, HINTS, AND GEMS. The Penny Post Box. INCONSISTENCY, OR THE JEW AND THE SHOPKEEPER. THE present agitation respecting popery reminds me of a conversation between an acquaintance of mine and a Jew. I can vouch for the truth of it, as my friend related it to me himself soon after. The Jew entered his shop, saying, "Anything in my way to-day, cheap and good?"-No: I have no occasion for anything in your way, but I think that I perceive you to be an Israelite?—Yes, I am an Israelite.-Then I suppose you do not eat pork.-But I have heard that some of your people do.-I do not know. I do not eat pork. But I have heard that some of your people take a piece of pork and put it into a pan of water, thrusting it under the water, and saying, 'go down pork,' and then taking it out and saying, 'Come up veal,' and then eat it as such.-I do not know that any of our people do any such hing. I do not.-But if they do you must think that it is very wicked as well as absurd to impose on their consciences in this way?—It is not so bad as some christians do.— How can you say so? You cannot mention anything that christians do that is so bad as that.-Yes I can, and a great deal worse.Well, now what can it be?-The parson takes a child, sprinkles water in its face, and says, "Go away child of devil-Come child of God." Now if water can turn child of devil into child of God, then water can turn pork into veal. Facts, Hiats, and Gems. Facts. OF NATIONAL PROSPERITY, 1850. Never was there such a year known in England as the last. Never were food, and clothing, and books so cheap. Some land-owners and farmers are suffering by the great change made in the corn-laws; but the landlords must lower rents, for the people of England must and will have cheap bread. They will never consent to tax bread-corn again. TAXES.-Though many have been taken off the income is so great that more may come off. MANUFACTURES. More goods have been manufactured and sold both for home and foreign consumption. S. B. FIFTY THOUSAND more grown-up hands have been employed in manufactories, and not so many children. WAGES are higher, and where not raised, go further, which is the same thing. MORE MEAT is consumed by the working classes, and more clothing bought. SIXTY THOUSAND more beasts were slaughtered for food. POOR'S RATES are sinking. There are very few able-bodied on the books. After these seven good things, we must mention two bad things:1. There has been, we fear, more drunkenness! and 2. More sabbath-breaking!! Ah! sinful people! thus to return evil for good. ་་ Hints. FACTS, HINTS, AND GEMS. "I CAN DO WITHOUT IT."- Can you reckon how much this would save you in one year, if you whispered it to yourself when you go a marketing? A GOOD WIFE.-Where can you find her? Not at her neighbour's a gossiping, but in her own house, where all is clean and tidy. There you may find her. -- A GOOD HUSBAND. Where can you find him? Not at the beer-shop among a pack of idle noisy fellows, but at his own work-sticking to it. BEING BETTER OFF.-Everybody would like to be better off. Well: the way is wide open, and with the blessing of God you may enter and go on. Who can stop you? No one but yourself. THE KEY OF SUCCESS is-what? Not being in luck's way, as some say, or having a rich friend, as others tell you, but your own perseverance. DO YOUR BEST.-Let a man do his best, and the world may do its worst. THE WILL OF GOD.-He that will not seek to know the will of God, has no real wish to do it, and he that does not desire to do the will of God, ought not to consider himself a christian. PRAY AND WAIT.-What is worth praying for, is worth waiting for; therefore not only ask of God, but wait upon God: ask him to give, and go again and again until you receive. WINTER prepares the earth for the beauties of spring aud the glories of summer, so do sanctified afflictions prepare the soul for the rest of heaven and the joys of eternity. SINNERS hasten to hell like greyhounds, while we creep to heaven like snails; they work with all their half-hearted in the cause of God: might for satan, while we are only they are a living lasting reproof to us. FAITH IN CHRIST.--The stronger our faith in Christ, the more perfect our obedience to Christ; the faith that receives Christ, always works for him. A FEW VARIETIES. War is death's harvest home. The plough SIN 18 A POISON, a poison that is a key to nature's workshop-produces stupor; hence those who Wine is a spur to make the brain live in sin are fast asleep at the gallop.-A book is made of brains mouth of hell; and if saints indulge preserved in ink.- Money is the in sin, they fall asleep at the very greatest slaveholder in the world. gate of heaven, as did the ten virgins. -Peace is the parent of science and art.-Drunkenness is temporary madness.-Religion is the best preservative from all evil. Gems. From Smith's "Dew Drops." REBELLION AGAINST GOD. He that will not have God to reign in his heart, would not, if he could help it, let God reign in the world: he would be God's equal at least, his superior if possible. OBEDIENCE proves a man to be God's friend, disobedience proves a man to be God's enemy: he that lives in sin, hates God in his heart. EXPERIENCED CHRISTIANS can give God credit, and wait his time; but weak christians must receive immediately, or else they sink into gloom, and distrust God's promises. THE FULNESS OF GOD'S LOVE was never seen in heaven, until man fell on earth; in our redemption and salvation the infinite fulness of God's love shines forth in all its vastness and variety: "Herein is love." RICHES OF CHRIST.-How vast must the riches of Christ be; he has supplied the wants of hundreds of millions, and made them wealthy to all eternity; and yet his riches are unsearchable still. THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. The Children's Corner. MY SISTER'S GRAVE. For Girls. SUGGESTED by reading of a child who adorned her sister's grave with flowers, and fed the little birds on her grave, believing that her sister would hear them chirp and sing. 'Twas on a lovely summer's eve, Fit time for those who love to grieve, I walked into the grave yard, there To think of those whose early care Had nursed my childhood; there they lay Waiting for the great rising day. When, lo, a child my notice took, In mournful dress, with pensive look; Yet peace serene she must have felt, For meekness on her features dwelt. She bore a cup, brim full of seed, With which the birds she meant to feed, Besides a wreath of flowers entwined, As if for some kind use designed. Upon a neatly sculptur'd grave, O'er which a drooping tree did wave, She strewed her treasure, and retir'd, To wait till daylight had expired. Soon came the songsters full of glee, To eat and sing their melody; Of this bereaved, lovely child. "My dear, why do you do this task?" With anxious feelings I did ask: "To whom would you such kindness show? What friend or parent rests below?" "My own dear sister," she replied, "Who lov'd me much; yet ere she died, I saw her waste from day to day, And mourn'd she could not join in play: Her face grew pale, she seem'd so weak, As if she had not strength to speak. But never woke again to speak; And can she not the sweet birds hear? Does she not see that I am near? Nor tears, nor death, are known again." W. S. ATHEISM VERSUS COMMON SENSE. "Atheism clothes the world in black, draws a dark and duskish cloud over all things; doth more to damp and stifle all relishes of intellectual pleasure, than it would of sensible pleasure to extinguish the sun." John Howe. THE Existence of God is a fundamental truth in religion, and the belief of it lies at the foundation of all virtue and happiness. In the Bible no formal attempts are made to prove that there is a God, because it is one of those self-evident truths which the majority of men, in all ages, have received with confidence and with joy. Among all nations, the bulk of the people have believed in the existence of the first great cause of all things; in the originator, sustainer, and governor of the world; and in the Final Judge of all human actions. Nature, indeed, teaches the eternal power and godhead of the Creator so clearly as to leave men without excuse- -(Romans i. 20.) Yet there are persons who will not see the marks and proofs of the divine existence, which may be found even in the beauty of a rose, or in the colours of the rainbow, or in the magnificence of the visible universe. Swayed by pride, and by the love of sin, they spurn the moral restraints which a belief in the existence of a holy and righteous God must put on their passions, and hence they live without God in the world. Men holding atheistical opinions, in their most hideous forms, have been found in every age; and some of them even in our own country. But men were raised up by Providence to confront those apostles of atheism, by facts, by arguments, and by demonstrations, which put an end to the controversy, so far that no man of learning was left on the side of atheism. Atheists are now making new efforts to spread their pernicious opinions among the populations of our large towns, while arguments, which have been refuted a thousand times, are published in penny magazines, and other cheap publica tions. But there is no need to prove the existence of God. A few words, however, may be of some use in showing the consequences of atheism, as a warning to young men who may be in danger of plunging into this abyss, to the ruin both of body and soul. Let them use their common sense upon the question at issue, between a few atheists and the overwhelming majority of mankind. Let them not be carried away by sophisms, by declamation, or by the sleight of men, who |