The daily regular and solemn reading of God's holy Word, by a parent before his children, is one of the most powerful agencies of a Christian life. We are prone to undervalue this cause. It is a constant dropping, but it wears its mark into the rock. A family thus trained cannot be ignorant of the Word. The whole Scriptures come repeatedly before the mind. The most heedless child must observe and retain some portion of the sacred oracles: the most forgetful must treasure up some passages for life. No one part of juvenile education is more important. Between families thus instructed, and those where the Bible is not read, the constrast is striking. To deny such a source of influence to the youthful mind is an injustice, at the thought of which a professor of Christianity may well tremble. The filial affections are moulded by family worship. The child beholds the parent in a peculiar relation. Nowhere is the Christian father so venerable as where he leads his house in prayer. The tenderness of love is hallowed by the sanctity of reverence. A chastened awe is thrown about the familiar form, and parental dignity assumes a new and sacred aspect. There is surely nothing unnatural in the supposition that a froward child shall find it less easy to rebel against the rule of one whom he daily contemplates in an act of devotion. The children look more deeply into the parent's heart by the medium of family prayer. A single burst of genuine fatherly anxiety in the midst of ardent intercession may speak to the child a volume of long-hidden and travailing grief and love. Such words, uttered on the knees, though from the plain untutored man, are sometimes as arrows in the heart of uncon verted youth. The child is forced to say within himself, "How can I offend against the father who daily wrestles with God in my behalf? How can I be careless about the soul, for which he is thus concerned?" And often, when separated from the domestic circle, has the wanderer bethought himself, My father and mother are now praying to God for their boy? He is little read in the human heart who fails to recognise here a great element of filial piety, or who refuses to believe that the tenderness of a child's attachment is increased by the stated worship of the household. There is a kindred influence upon fraternal affection. Praying together is a certain means of attachment: those who pray for one another cannot but love. Think of it, and confess how impossible it is for sons and daughters, every day, during all the sunny years of youth, to bow down side by side in common devotions and mutual intercessions, without feeling that their affection is rendered closer and holier by the very act. Brothers and sisters who have thus been led together to the throne of grace from infancy, are linked by ties unknown to the rest of the world. Delightful as is the syllable HOME, it is made tenfold more so by prayer. The ancient lares, or gods of the house, were cherished, and their altar was the domestic hearth. They were vanity and a lie: "but our God is in the heavens." (Ps. cxv. 3.) The house of our childhood is always lovely; but the presence of the Almighty Protector makes it a sanctuary, and his altar causes home to be doubly home. However long we live, or however far we wander, it will ever abide in memory as the place of prayer, the cradle of our childlike devotions, the circle which enclosed father, and mother, and sister, and brother, in its sacred limit. Now that which adds to the charm and the influence of home, affords a mighty incentive to good, and a mighty check to evil. To make a child love his home, is to secure him against a thousand temptations. Families who live without God forego all such advantages and recollections. The domestic fireside no doubt has its charms, but it is shorn of its religious associations; it is less revered; we believe it is less loved. In families where there is daily praise of God, in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, there is an additional influence on the young. At no age are we more impressed by music, and no music is so impressive as that which is the vehicle of devotion. The little imitative creatures begin to catch the melodies long before they can understand the words. Without any exception, they are delighted with this part of the service, and their proficiency is easy in proportion. No choir can be compared with that of a godly household, where old and young, day after day, and year after year, lift up the voice in harmony. Such strains give a jocund opening to the day, and cheer the harassed mind after labour is done. Sacred song tranquillizes and softeus the mind, makes an opening for higher influences, and prepares voice and heart for the public praise of God. The practice is the more important, as it is well known, that in order to attain its perfection, the voice should be cultivated from an early age. Nor should we omit to mention the store of psalms and hymns which are thus 1 INFLUENCE OF FAMILY WORSHIP ON CHILDREN. treasured in the memory. By this it is, even more than by public worship, that the Scottish peasantry to so great an extent have the old version of the Psalms by rote, in great part or in whole. 423 hallowed by this constant observance, charged to recall their impressions of the past, and to reckon up the advantages which they are denying to their offspring. Christian children must give account at the last day for the privilege of family prayer. It becomes them to be asking whether they are making use of the instrumentality. Customary means of this kind, we know, are apt to become formalities. When the family is gathered, the careless or drowsy child may hear as though he heard not, and kneel as though he knelt not; may attend to no syllable of God's Word, and join in no single petition; but let him remember that every instance of family worship affords a means of direct approach to the Most High, and thus a means of saving his soul. Blessed are those children who, early in their youthful days, remember the God of their fathers, and begin life by choosing him as the guide of their youth! To such, every act of worship is a solemnity and a delight, gradually ripening the soul for faithful service on earth, and for the praises of heaven. Most earnestly is it to be desired, that those who have been baptized, who have been catechized, who have been, during all their youth, embraced in the circle of domestic prayer, should now, when themselves placed at the head of families, carry forward the blessed institutions in which they have been reared, and convey the words of life to coming generations. "We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done." (Ps. lxxviii. 4.) In the rearing of youth, nothing can be thought insignificant which goes to train the thoughts, or give strength and direction to the habits. It is by a repetition of perpetual, patient touches, small in themselves, that the straggling branches of the vine are led by the gardener to grow and spread aright; it is by ten thousand inappreciable dots and scratches, that the plate of the engraver is made to represent the portrait or the landscape. So it is by an ever-renewed application of right principles, that parental care, in the hand of sovereign grace, gives Christian habit to the infant mind. In so precious a work nothing is unimportant: we must give heed to the minutest influences, as we save the filings of gold and the dust of diamonds. For this reason we ascribe to domestic worship a large share in creating useful habits in the young. We scruple not to say that a child receives advantage by being led to do any thing, provided it be innocent, at stated times, with frequent repetition, and with proper care. The daily assembling of a household, at regular periods, for a religious purpose, directly tends to promote good habits. It is a useful lesson for the speechless babe, to acquire the patient stillness of the hour of prayer. It is good for a family to have a religious motive to early rising, and timely attention to personal neatness. It is something to have punctuality in the observance of two hours each day, enforced from the very dawn of life. Those who may be tempted to put this aside with a smile, should first institute a comparison in regard to these particulars, between any two families, of which one worships, and the other worships not. We are willing to abide by the result of the examination, for we are sure that in the latter will be found a great looseness of domestic arrangement, tardy rising, a slovenly toilet; a long irregular, time-wasting breakfast, more conformable to the modern fashion than to Chris-gaged next day, and in the afternoon we accompanied tian usage; evenings without an affectionate rally of the house; and late hours of retiring, or no fixed hours at all. Parents who may read these lines are respectfully invited to consider whether they do not owe it to their children to give them the daily worship of God. Especially are the sons and daughters of the Church, whose own youth was ROSEMARKIE, FORTROSE, AND FORT- BY THE REV. D. LANDSBOROUGH, SALTCOATS. THIS title is a comprehensive one; but I shall pass over the ground speedily. I shall begin with Rosemarkie, which was my ne plus ultra in my progress through Ross-shire. I shall not soon forget the demarkie, on a Saturday evening in August 1845. My lightful walk which I had around the village of Rosefriend, the Rev. Mr. Dickie of Beith, and I had gone to Fortrose, where we were to be professionally en another friend to Rosemarkie, which, though not a place of great magnitude, is beautifully situated, and is, moreover, an ancient borough. The most strikmarkie is certainly to be found in the pretty green ing geological feature in the neighbourhood of Rosehills in the neighbourhood of the town, which, the sections laid open to a great depth, at one place by the weather, at another place by the inroads of a bold stream, show us are composed of old red sandstone, constituting what is rock in geological language, but is too crumbling to be honoured with the name of rock by a mason, as it is only red sand made to cohere by the admixture of clay. One of the pleasures arising from some knowledge of natural history is, the hope of discovering something rare or new when a person is in a part of the country that he has not before visited. Never till this day had I or my friend been so far north as Ross-shire; and after having examined for some time these immense masses of old red sand, or if you will, sandstone, we next turned our attention to the botany of these curious sand-constructed hills. Our scramble on the hill-side was very brief, and the only plants of interest that seemed to abound, were Reseda lutea, wild mignonette, and Carduus Marianus, milk thistle. The latter is a beautiful thistle, rare in Scotland in a wild state. It is distinguishable by the great recurved scales of the involucre, and still more by the pretty milky veins on its leaves. Popery has borrowed a good deal from Paganism. The Pagans had not got the length of the nebular theory. They had a simple method of accounting for the milky appearance of the galaxy, saying that it was produced by some drops of Juno's milk, and accordingly it was called via lactea, the milky way. This was too good a hint to be lost, and accordingly the Popish priesthood ascribed the beautiful flickering on the leaves of this thistle, to some drops of the Virgin Mary's milk; and it was consequently called Carduus Marianus, Mary's thistle. I would much rather write the flora of sweet Rosemarkie Bay than of the pretty sandstone hills. From what we saw in a short space of time, I am sure that to a person who had leisure to pay repeated visits to it in favourable states of the tide, it would yield a rich list of beautiful algæ. The sun, I think, was set before we reached the shore, and yet, in the course of half-an-hour, during the latter part of which the light was fast failing us, we picked up a considerable number of interesting marine plants. As an encouragement to Ross-shire naturalists who may have more than half-an-hour to spend on the shore, I shall give a list of the algae and zoophytes which, in a half-hour which seemed to fly over us with more than usual speed, we succeeded in picking up in Rosemarkie's pleasant bay:-Rhodomela subfusca, Cladostephus spongiosus, Furcellaria fustigiata, Chordaria flagelliformis, Chondrus membranifolius, ConFerva tortuosa, Ceramium rubrum, Enteromorpha compressa, Odonthalia dentata, Delesseria sanguinea, D. alata, D. sinuosa, Gigartina pupurescens, G. pli- | cata, Polysiphonia parasitica, P. nigrescens, P. byssoides, and Punctaria plantaginifolia. I shall pass unnamed some of the larger algæ, to be found almost anywhere on the shore. The zoophytes that we picked up were nearly as numerous as the algae, viz.: -Membranipora pilosa, M. stellulata, Valkeria cuscata, Lepralia unicornis, L. hyalina, Tubulipora patina, T. serpens, Cellepora pumicosa, Sertularia pumila, S. filicula, Flustra carnosa, Tubularia larynx, Crisia luxata, Cellularia ciliata, and Lepralia nitida. The last two, particularly the Lepralia, were the finest specimens I had ever seen. | Late as it was when we returned to Fortrose, we went to see the remains of the old cathedral of Chanonry, knowing that probably we would not have another opportunity. A large apartment into which we were introduced had been the burying-place of the ancient bishops. To be in a ruined cathedral, in the place of graves and dead men's bones, in the sober hour of gloaming, is very much fitted to bring us into a meditative mood. The anthem had once loudly, pealed among these Gothic pillars and under these vaulted roofs; but now silence-the silence of the grave reigned, except when it was broken by our guide in telling us the little that he knew of the history of the cathedral, or the name of some bishop who had reigned as hierarch there many centuries ago, but of whom no memorial now remained except his figure in pontifical garments on the sculptured stone. What is man? A vapour, a morning cloud, a vernal stream, sparkling in the sun, or spending its strength on the unshaken rocks, as it foams, and. fumes, and thunders on; but soon to be lost in the mighty ocean, or more ingloriously to perish during the summer's drought. What are worldly fame and human grandeur? The most ancient of these bishops might think himself a great man, and might imagine that he would never be forgotten. "Stat nominis umbra." The grave-digger does know his name, but neither he nor any one else knows anything more respecting him, than we know of Jared. Nay, they know even less than we know of Jared. But who was Jared? some may say. The very question is humbling to the pride of man, for it shows us that a' person may be great in the world's eye, and may live long, and yet may be almost if not altogether unknown to posterity. Is it not wonderful that it should be necessary to say, "Who was Jared ?" when he was a man of renown we doubt not in his day; and when his day, with the exception of his grandson's, was the longest that has ever fallen to the lot of man, for he lived nine hundred sixty and two years; and yet we would not have even the brief record that he lived and died, had he not been the father of Enoch. There is a pretty sentiment expressed by one of Fingal's heroes, which may have had a place in the heart of Jared: "The strength of Morni's arm has failed. I attempt to draw the sword of my youth, but it remains in its place. I throw the spear, but it falls short of the mark. I feel the weight of my shield. We decay like the grass of the hill: our strength returns no more. I have a son, O Fingal! His soul has delighted in Morni's deeds. His renown will be a light to my soul, in the dark hour of my departure. O that the name of Morni were forgot among the people! that the heroes would only say, 'Behold the father of Gaul." If such was Jared's wish, has it not been granted in the scriptural memorial of his son? "And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." We know not respecting one of these old Popish bishops, that he left a worthy son; and if he had left sons or daughters, it would THE HAND OF THE AVENGER STAYED. have been to his shame, as contrary to the vows of perpetual celibacy, so that it would not have been by "marriage, which is honourable in all," but by concubinage, which would have been his disgrace. But, "de mortuis nil nisi bonum;" and since we have no record of the bonum, let us not conclude that there was the reverse. If even they, however, who rank high in society, are, generally speaking, so soon forgotten, can they who occupy humbler stations hope long to be remembered? Yes; the righteous, whatever be their rank, shall be held in everlasting remembrance. Their names are written in heaven; and though all that they ever said or did may soon be forgotten among men, a book of remembrance is written before the Lord for those who fear the Lord and think on his name; and every aspiration of piety, and every act of kindness, though it were but the giving of a crumb of bread or a cup of cold water to a needy follower of Jesus, from love to his Master, and in the spirit of brotherly affection, will form part of the annals of eternity, and in that great day when the books are opened, will, through grace, receive a great, even an everlasting reward. On Monday morning we rose early, and, accompanied by our friend the Rev. Mr. Frazer of Fortrose, we had a delightful walk along the Moray Frith to the point opposite to Fort-George. As the frith contracts at this place, it is only about two miles across to the point on which the fort is placed in Invernessshire. As there are always ferry-boats in readiness, we soon reached the fort. Had I judged of FortGeorge by Fort-William and Fort-Augustus, which I had seen before, I would have formed a very inadequate opinion respecting it. This is a great fortress; I have even been told that it is the most regularlyconstructed fortification in Britain. It has the complete command of the frith and of the harbour of Inverness. It contains barracks for the accommodation, I am told, of a thousand soldiers, though there I was not in the fort at this time above a tenth of that number. On the fine green, inside of the walls, I gathered pretty specimens of Gentiana campestris; and on the walls I found some good mosses and lichens. Our limited time, however, did not allow us to remain long in this place of strength. We enjoyed the walk, both in going and returning. The tide was not in a favourable state; but I often lagged behind, as I was always falling in with something that attracted my attention. The great roots, for instance, of drifted tangle I found very generally covered with clusters of tubes formed of mud and sand, and which had evidently been the habitation of some living creatures. As I had not seen this before, I sent a portion of it to my excellent friend, Dr. George Johnston, the author of that most interesting and scientific book, the "History of British Zoophytes;" and I learned from him that it was Sabellaria alveolata. I got also a splendid specimen of gneiss on the shore, a rock which is very common in the north, though it is not met with in the west of Scotland. After breakfast we drove back to Inverness. The drive would furnish enough of descriptive matter to fill a page, but I shall refrain. In spite of the tolerably rapid rate at which we were advancing, my eye rested 425 with pleasure on some of the plants by the way-side. There was great abundance of juniper, which is generally found in more elevated situations. And there were gigantic specimens of Galium verum, yellow bed-straw. According to Lightfoot, the Highlanders employ the roots, and especially the bark of this plant, to dye red; boiling them with the yarn, and adding alum to fix the colour. Curtis says these roots yield a better red than madder. The plant is also used in the Highlands as a rennet to curdle milk, combined with the leaves of the stinging nettle and a little salt.* I could not help crying "Halt " to our charioteer as we were rapidly passing fine tufts of some yellow flower close to the sea-shore, not being able, so long as we were in motion, to conjecture what it was. I soon formed a fine bouquet of it, and found that it was Saxifraga aizoides, yellow mountain-saxifrage, a pretty plant, which soon carried me back more than a dozen years, as the last place I had gathered it was in a glen betwixt Loch-Goil-head and Inverary, during a very pleasant little excursion with two young Prussian divines, M. Gimbert and M. Westermere, and two of my Scottish brethren. Nothing sufficiently tempting to stop our progress presented itself till we came to Kessen Ferry, where, whiling away the time till the passage-boat started, I found Catanella opuntia, with some other algæ, in great abundance on the sides of the pier. Soon, however, were we wafted across, and reached in safety the beautiful capital of the Highlands. THE HAND OF THE AVENGER STAYED. THE following incident is taken from the diary of Hans Egède Saabye, a grandson of the celebrated Hans Egede: It has ever been a law in Greenland, that murder, and particularly the murder of a father, must be avenged. About twenty years before the arrival of Saabye, a father had been murdered in the presence of his son, a lad of thirteen, in a most atrocious manner. The boy was not able then to avenge the crime, but the murderer was not forgotten. He left that part of the country, and kept the flame burning in his bosom twenty-five years, no suitable opportunity offering for revenge, as the man was high in influence and many near to defend him. At length his plan was laid, and, with some of his relations to assist him, he returned to the province of the murderer, who lived near the house of Saabye, There being no house unoccupied where they might remain, but one owned by Saabye, they requested it, and it was granted, without any remark, although he knew the object of their coming. sionary, and often visited his cabin, giving as his reason, "You are so amiable I cannot keep away from you." Two or three weeks after, he requested to know more of "the great Lord of heaven," of whom Saabye had spoken. His request was cheerfully granted. Soon it appeared that he and all his relatives were desirous of instruction, and ere long the son requested baptism. To this request the missionary answered, "Kunnuk (for that was his name), you know God; you know that he is good, that he loves you, and desires to make you happy; but he desires also that you shall obey him." The son soon became interested in the kind mis * Hooker's British Flora. father!" For a long time the missionary pressed this point, the poor awakened heathen promising to "kill only one." What a noble example of self-conquest! What an illustrious exhibition of the power of the Gospel! WALKER, TOPLADY, AND BERRIDGE. (From the North British Review.) to the Custom-house. For his health he had been advised to drink some French wine, but on that smuggling coast could procure none on which duty had been paid. Wondering whether this tenderness of conscience pervaded all his character, Mr. Walker sought Mr. Conon's acquaintance, and was soon as completely enchained by the sweetness of his disposition, and the fascination of his intercourse, as he was awed and astonished by the purity and elevation of his conduct. It was from the good treasure! of this good man's heart that Mr. Walker received the gospel. Having learned it, he proclaimed it. Truro was in an uproar. To hear of their general depravity, and to have urged on them repentance and the need of a new nature, by one who had so lately mingled in all their gaieties, and been the soul of genteel amusement, was first startling, and then offensive. The squire was indignant; fine ladies sulked and tossed their heads; rude men interrupted him in the midst of his sermon; and the rector, repeatedly called to dismiss him, was only baffled by Mr. Walker's urbanity. But soon faithful preaching began to tell; and in Mr. Walker's case its intrinsic power was aided by his insight into character, and his ascendency over men. In a few years upwards of eight hundred parishioners had called on him to ask what they must do for their souls' salvation; and his time was mainly occupied in instructing large classes of his hearers who wished to live godly, righteous, and sober in this evil world. The first fruit of his ministry was a dissolute youth who had been a soldier; and amongst this de-, scription of people he had his greatest success One November, a body of troops arrived in his parish for winter quarters. He immediately commenced an afternoon sermon for their spe cial benefit. He found them grossly ignorant. Of the seven best instructed six were Scotchmen, and the seventhan English Dissenter. And they were reluctant to come to hear him. At first, when marched to church, on arriving at the door, they turned and walked away. But when at last they came under the sound of his tender but energetic voice, the effect was instantaneous. With few exceptions, tears burst from every eye, and confessions of sin from almost every mouth. In less than nine weeks no fewer than two hundred and fifty had sought his priIn the summer of 1746, SAMUEL WALKER came vate instructions; and though at first the officers to be curate of the gay little capital of Western were alarmed at such an outbreak of Methodism Cornwall. He was clever and accomplished- among their men, so evident was the improve had learned from books the leading doctrines of ment which took place—so rare had punishments Christianity; and whilst mainly anxious to be a become, and so promptly were commandsobeyed popular preacher, and a favourite with his-that the officers waited on Mr. Walker in a fashionable hearers, had a distinct desire to do them good-but did them none. The master of the grammar-school was a man of splendid scholarship, and the most famous teacher in that county, but much hated for his piety. One day Mr. Walker received from Mr. Conon a note, with a sum of money, requesting him to pay it body, to thank him for the reformation he had effected in their ranks. On the morning of their march many of these brave fellows were heard praising God for having brought them under the sound of the gospel, and as they caught the last glimpses of the town, exclaimed "God bless Truro !" Indeed, Mr. Walker had |