98 DEATH'S VISITS TO THE VILLAGE. in anguish, and quite as bad to hear the curses he uttered in his despair. He died as the wicked die, without hope, "driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world," Job xviii. 18. "Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil," Joel ii. 13. If Death thus goes up and down, and across and around the village, at all seasons of the year; if he takes away the young and the old, the feeble and the strong, the rich and the poor, the righteous and the wicked; how long will he pass by THEE? Is it thy prayer- "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his?" Numb. xxiii. 10. Is Christ thy hope, thy trust, and thy salvation? If so, thou mayest indeed rejoice, and say with exultation, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me," Psa. xxiii. 4. THE MARINER'S COMPASS. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," Isa. xlv. 22. A NEW subject and novel remarks are frequently excellent things; but, as they are not always to be had, it may be well to remember that an old subject--ay, and an old saying toomay at times be made very profitable. One word, then, on the mariner's compass. The finger of the compass points towards the north. The vessel, by its reeling and tossing, may cause it to quiver and shake, and force it for a time from its natural bent; but, even in its quivering, you may still discover the point from which it unwillingly turns: and when the vessel is again quiet, again will it quickly settle, pointing northward. Christ is the point towards which the hearts of his people are directed by the hand of God, who has made them willing in the day of his power. But temptation, sin, and affliction, may toss the followers of the Redeemer to and fro, and for a 100 THE MARINER'S COMPASS. season force them from their proper position. The world, the flesh, and the devil, may succeed for a time in turning them from the supreme object of their adoration; but, even in the storm of temptation, Christ is the point to which their desires struggle to steady themselves-yea, and the point to which they shall be steadied eternally, when there is no more rocking in the tempest of this world's tribulation. THE SMUT IN THE CORN. WHEN We look around us with an humble and inquiring spirit to obtain knowledge, there are few, if any, of God's works, which will not afford lessons of useful instruction. During last autumn, I was walking abroad with a Christian friend; and we passed through several corn-fields when the wheat was full in the ear, but not ripe. It was of a grateful green colour, and waved to and fro, as the wind passed over it, like the billowy surface of the sea. The stems were very high, and the crop appeared abundant. Such a scene brings many a Scripture subject to the mind of a Bible reader. He thinks of the famine in the land of Egypt, when for seven years there was “neither earing nor harvest;" of the sheaves that stood up and made obeisance to the one in the midst, as they appeared in Joseph's dream; of the disciples plucking the corn as they walked through the corn-fields on the sabbath day; of Ruth gleaning in the fields when Boaz 102 THE SMUT IN THE CORN. gave commandment to his young men, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not;" of the seed sown in good ground, which brought forth fifty and an hundred fold; and of that fearful warning wherein it is said of the Lord of glory, that he will "gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable," Luke iii. 17. The corn-field was surrounded on all sides with meadow and pasture land, and fine elm and oak trees; so that, with the exception of here and there a farmer's homestead, we could see nothing but the sky above us and the grateful green fields, while silence reigned around. How different was such a scene from the high houses, the thronged pathway, the crowded carriages, and the continual rumbling and rattling of Cheapside, which we had so lately left! As we passed through the field, my companion began to pluck some of the wheat ears. He brought half a dozen of them to me, and I much admired them for their beauty and fulness; but, when he told me to press the grains of wheat, I found that they contained nothing but a thick juice of a dark blue colour. Soon after, we met two good |