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respectable peasant woman, the wife of a caseiro or small farmer, and the mother of several children. She was accused of saying something not in accordance with the dogmas of the Church of Rome regarding the Virgin Mary, the worship of images, and the sacrament of the Supper. She was imprisoned, and her child at the breast separated from her. After some months' confinement she was released on bail. She was at last tried, in May 1844, and sentenced to death. The superior court found, nine months after her condemnation, that a part of the charge against her had not been orderly proceeded, and therefore annulled the sentence of death, but decreed her a punishment of three months' imprisonment, and a fine of twenty-five dollars, and ordered her to pay all the costs of the proceedings; her term of imprisonment to commence from the period when this decision was laid before the judge in Madeira. The fine and costs of suit were certain worldly ruin to poor Maria and her husband; and from first to last she was subjected to an imprisonment of about twenty-two months. She was set at liberty only in the beginning of July 1845. Her sufferings and oppression made no impression on Maria. When condemned to die, all that she said was: "As God pleases." Her firmness all along remained unshaken; and we have every reason to believe that her knowledge and love of the truth very considerably increased during the period of her imprison

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money and valuables were concealed; they committed the grossest violence on several of the poor women; and when at length they took their departure, they left several of the cottages a perfect wreck. Numbers, both of men and women, fled from their homes, and concealed themselves for several days and nights among the brushwood, only venturing, when pressed by hunger, to approach a human habitation. Twenty-two persons, five of whom were women, were carried to Funchal, and cast into prison, on the 27th of September 1844; and there they still (November 1845) remain. They were treated with the utmost cruelty by Judge Negrao. Provisions were sent them from various quarters, both before and after their committal to prison, because it was known that they were suffering from hunger; but Negrao ordered all to be refused except the pittance which was brought by the plundered and terrified relations of the prisoners who had not fled, and who had the courage to visit them. An English lady of rank petitioned to be allowed to send some relief to the jail, but she received from Negrao an insulting refusal. What will be done with these poor prisoners no one can tell. Meanwhile they are subjected to every species of cruelty and oppression. Their Bibles were taken from them when they were put in prison. There was no religious service for the prisoners till Bible Christians were found among their number. Then the Pope's religion was set up in the jail. Mass was celebrated every Lord'sday, and all the prisoners were ordered to attend it. Maria Joaquina refused, and was carried into the room where mass was celebrated. Finding resistance unavailing, she afterwards | walked on her own feet, but resolutely re

soners from the Lombo das Fayas, and others cast into prison for conscience' sake, were also ordered to attend mass and go to confession. Maria and the women were wont to sit on the floor, and, burying their faces in their aprons, take no notice of anything that passed. At

But the grossest of all the outrages perpetrated on the poor Bible Christians of Madeira, because of their love of the truth, was that to which the inhabitants of the Lombo das Fayas were subjected. The Lombo das Fayas is a district at the head of one of the most beauti-fused to take any part in the service. The priful valleys of Madeira, and the inhabitants were a nice well-behaved set of people, in bean, comfortable circumstances. A number of Maria Joaquina's relations lived there; and the population generally were anxious for instruction, and sought it both from Dr Kalley's expositions and from a school which had been com-length some of the most decided of the Bible menced among them. In consequence of an alleged deforcement of police officers sent to apprehend the teacher of the school, a company of soldiers, on the 23d September 1844, was sent up from Funchal, under the directions of Judge Negrao, who surrounded the cottages of the peasantry during the night, and made prisoners of between thirty and forty men and women. The soldiers were billeted in the place for several days; and under the eye of their superiors, and evidently with their concurrence, committed the most atrocious outrages. They cat up and destroyed the provisions of the poor people, killed their poultry and their cattle, and sacked their cottages, breaking open chests, and carrying off all their clothes of every description. They threatened, and cruelly beat a number of individuals, some of them aged and feeble, to make them discover where their

Christians refused positively to go to mass, and a number more resisted every effort to induce them to go to confession. This was more than the Pope's Christians could tolerate. They deprived their victims of a large proportion of their food, and confined some of the most intelligent and resolute of them in the Bombo. The Bombo is a room or dungeon, filthy in the extreme, in which the worse class of prisoners are confined. It is twelve feet square; and at the time when I left Madeira (June 1845), there were twenty persons confined in this small horrible place, day and night, without fresh air, and with nothing to lie on except the filthy floor. Five of these twenty were Bible Christians, whose only offence was their refusing to go to mass and confession; the rest were the very offscourings of the island. What a refinement of cruelty,

SHAMEFUL PERSECUTIONS, &c.

to seek to compel persons condemned to imprisonment and death for holding certain opinions, to do violence to the opinions for which they are suffering, and then, because of their refusal, to subject them to a second and additional punishment! It is gratifying to know that the Lord gave strength and faithfulness to his people, and that not one has wavered for a moment under the trials which they have undergone. The converts from Popery and from Paganism should have a large share in the sympathies and the prayers of God's people; for verily their difficulties and sufferings are very different from any with which the children of God are practically acquainted in this favoured country. Trials of various kinds we have had of late not a few, and some of them, no doubt, most severe. But when one reads of the ordeal through which the converts from the superstitions of India are called to passthe wrenching asunder of the ties of nature, the entreaties, the promises, the beseechings, the agony of supplication, the threatenings, the dangers, which they must withstand in order to confess Christ; and when one witnesses the crushing oppression, the lawlessness of the law, the bodily suffering, and the worldly ruin to which the poor converts from Popery in Madeira are subjected, one feels that, for an inhabitant of the British Isles, however unfavourably situated, to make a profession of religion, and worship God according to his conscience, is comparatively an easy matter. The converts from Popery and from Paganism should be often, affectionately, and earnestly mentioned at a throne of grace.

In spite of the dangers to which they are exposed, and the hardships and sufferings which they are called to endure, the eager desire of the Portuguese for the Scriptures, and for instruction in scriptural truth, is very striking. Many copies of the Scriptures have been put into circulation. Wherever anything could be gotten for them, a price was required. The poor people have very little money, but such as they had they were most willing to give. One brought wool, another eggs, another fowls, another grass for the cattle. And when the authorities arbitrarily took all the copies of the Scriptures away from the schools, and a report was spread that they were also to be taken from all the persons who had got possession of them, some of the people concealed them in their own premises, and others carried them to their friends among the British residents, to preserve them for them. Whilst the public expositions of the Word were going on, bands of the people were wont to come distances of ten, twelve, and fifteen miles to attend themsometimes setting out in the evening, and travelling during the night, in order to elude observation. Scripture truths came to be the sole subject of conversation, and many and earnest were the communings which were held of the love of God in the gift of his Son, of a

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sinner's way of acceptance with a sin-hating God, and of the happiness prepared for believers. The simplicity of the faith of the converts was very striking. There was an entire absence of our Scotch metaphysical distinctions. Receiving the Bible as the Word of God, their eager inquiry was, What says the Scripture? When they ascertained that, they at once believed it and rested on it: for how could they do otherwise than believe God? They never puzzled themselves with thinking whether their faith was of a right kind. They had God's testimony regarding his Son, and they at once and firmly believed that testimony because it was God's. In very many delightful instances an entire change of temper and of life bore witness to a change of heart, and tes tified that there was indeed faith of a right kind-a faith which worketh by love. One of the most remarkable and pleasing effects of the change wrought in them is their love to one another. They speak of each other by the names of brothers and sisters. They take the deepest interest in one another's welfare and sufferings; and many an act of kindness did they do to their persecuted fellow-believers-many a little gift did they bestow out of their own deep poverty, and at the risk of involving themselves in similar sufferings. Often did it strike us that, in the simplicity of their faith, and their love one to another, they bore a strong resemblance to the first Christians.

The Pope's Christians tried every method to intimidate the poor people, and prevent them from learning and living by Bible truth. We have narrated some of the sufferings to which Popery subjected inquirers and believers. These form but a part of what was done. Many other instances of cruelty and persecution occurred; and, besides these, many ferocious threatenings were uttered which were never carried into execution. To frighten both by deeds and words was the aim of the authorities. Perhaps there were some driven off--the blast scatters the chaff; but the generality, through grace, remained firm and unmoved. Three men, who died in the course of last winter, were refused a place in consecrated ground, because they were suspected of a leaning towards Protestant doctrine, and their bodies were buried by the police in the public way. That was represented to the people as a dreadful thing; but they were too intelligent to be frightened by this bugbear. They replied that the Lord Jesus, at his coming, would find out the bodies of his people wherever they were, even though they were cast into the great sea; for it is written: "The sea shall give up the dead which are in it." What the issue of this work in Madeira shall be is known only to God. But whether it may be crushed and extinguished by the "powers of darkness," or take root and maintain its ground, there is reason to believe that not a few have already passed out of darkness into a marvellous light, and are rejoicing,

even in the midst of many tribulations, in the hope of the glory of God. To God be the praise!

THE PIOUS WEAVER.

Ar the period when the Earl of Weymouth, afterwards Marquis of Bath, was one of the British Secretaries of State, there resided on his manor, appertaining to Longleat House, a pious Congregationalist, named Driver, a cloth-weaver, who belonged to a Church about four miles from his place of abode. As he and his family in stormy weather were obstructed from attending the services of the sanctuary, and as Driver possessed both "gifts and graces" for usefulness, he was authorized to open his own domicile for meetings for prayer and exhortation. The dwelling, however, belonged to the nobleman, and was occupied by Driver as his tenant. It was "the Lord's doing!" and the evangelical work prospered until a Church was formed, and with the sanction of the Earl's bailiff (Davies), and by the aid of the neighbouring Churches, and it is believed John Thornton assisted, a house of prayer was erected; and Driver added to the secular occupation of weaving, the spiritual office of preaching the Word. The hand of the Lord was with him. The word of God increased; and a number believed and turned to the Lord."

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During this interval, the Earl, who was obliged to reside in London on account of his public duties, who was also a very dissipated aristocrat, had either not been made acquainted with Driver's proceedings, or had paid no regard to his course. At length, however, his successful labours became too marked for continued scorn or ridicule. The parish church exhibited such an evident proof of habitual desertion on the part of the people, while the Nonconformist sanctuary was filled with the attentive and devout parishioners, enjoying the "communion of saints," that the pastor could no longer brook either the indifference with which he was treated or the respect paid to the preaching weaver. He therefore resolved, if possible, to crush the mechanic who dared, he said, to "set up a conventicle" in his parish. Some time, however, elapsed before he had the opportunity to commence his malevolent operations, But when circumstances transpired through which the Earl resigned his Secretaryship, the nobleman returned in the summer to occupy his princely mansion at Longleat.

Without delay, the rector had an interview with his ecclesiastical patron and the manorial baron. He complained of Driver's fanatical proceedings; denounced the weaver and all his brethren with all obloquy, as disturbers of the peace; and reviled Driver himself as "a pestilent fellow;" adding his request, that as Driver lived in the Earl's cottage, and the conventicie, as he entitled the house of prayer, was erected on the Earl's domain, that he would summarily eject the ringleader and his whole deceived community. The Earl promised to examine into the complaint, and do what was proper.

The bailiff (Davies) was apprized by the Earl of the rector's virulent communication, and the necessary inquiries were made of that steward respecting the truth of the representation by the rector of the affairs of the parish. Mr Davies candidly unfolded the entire course which he had tacitly sanctioned; testified to the great worth of the humble follower of the apostles, and the numerous moral benefits which had resulted from Driver's efforts to evangelize his neighbours; and enumerated several instances in which the ungodly, who had been formerly subjects of the Earl's judicial cognizance as a magistrate, had become exemplary persons for all

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good conduct and religious consistency; and convinced the Earl that the best method which he could adopt would be to disregard the worldly-minded rector and to encourage the sober industrious weaver. Upon which Davies was directed to invite the Nonconformist to dinner with the Earl. As they were about to begin their meal alone, the Earl remarked: Driver, I suppose you say grace whenever you est.” "Yes, my Lord," was the weaver's reply; "I always desire to acknowledge the divine goodness." "Well then," rejoined the Earl, "say grace now." which Driver made an appropriate petition for the Lord's blessing, both upon the food and the Earl who provided it. After a long conversation, and a scrutiny into all the concerns of the Congregational Church, the Earl added, at parting: "Go on, Driver, and do all the good among the people you can."

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The story soon flew around that Driver had dined with the Earl of Weymouth, and that the Earf was highly delighted with the preaching weaver. induced the rector a second time to expostulate with the Earl, with earnest solicitation that the conventicle might be stopped, and the people be forced to return to the parish church. The Earl again engaged to inquire into the matter, and do the best he could to promote the peace and welfare of his dependents. Towards the close of the season, just before his return to London, Davies was ordered again to invite Driver to dinner with the Earl at Longleat House. The peer had passed the summer and autumn exploring his large demesne; and he ascertained that the impure, the intemperate, and the vicious, in many instances, were "transformed by the renewing of their mind;" that the brawlers and fighters were become prayerful and orderly; and that wherever Driver's influence and principles swayed, all was comfort and decorum, and in the greatest contrast to that portion of the inhabitants who either attended the parish church or professed to follow the rector. Having dined, the Earl summoned Davies into the parlour, and called for the deed which he had direeted the bailiff to prepare. By that instrument the Earl transferred the Nonconformist place of worship, grave-yard, and the dwelling which Driver occupied, with the adjoining field, garden, and orchard, to trustees, for the use of an Independent Church; to which was appended a sum of money as an annual payment for the benefit of the minister of the church. When he had formally signed the deed, he presented it to Driver, with a donation for himself. As he bade him farewell, he subjoined: "Now, Driver, you must quit weaving cloth, and do nothing else but weave sermons! Go on as you have begun; and nobody shall molest you as long as my name is Wey

mouth."

The next day the rector hurried to Longleat House, to remonstrate with the Earl upon his "fanatical doings;" and was about to open his ecclesiastical artillery, when the Earl stopped him, and after sarcastically communicating the result of his investigations among the rector's parishioners, he drily told him, that the only thing he could do to" drive Driver" out of the parish, was this-"PRAY HIM DOWN! PREACH HIM DOWN!" But as these were things the rector did not understand. Driver continued to work in his Master's service, until that "good and faithful servant" was called to "rest from his labours in Christian peace.

PRIDE is as loud as a beggar in want, and a great deal more saucy; for when you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all of a piece.

Let prayer be the key of the morning, and the bolt of the evening.-Henry.

THE PRAYER UNION.

FRAGMENTS.

[MANY of the Lord's people have agreed to hold from the 4th to the 11th of January (inclusive) as a season of united prayer. We had intended calling the attention of our readers to the subject, but gladly give, instead, the following address by an esteemed minister of Christ in the south.]

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Another Union for Prayer has been proposed. Another call is now addressed to the saints of God scattered throughout the world: Arise, and pray! Join with one accord to plead with God." Let the call be widely and warmly responded to by every Church and every saint to whose ears it may come. Arise, and pray! Church of the living God, remember thy calling! To thy knees, to thy closet, and plead! Sleep not, rest not. Think of the Master, think of the saints in other days, think upon a dying world, think upon the blasphemies and growing strength of Antichrist, think upon the rent and bleeding Churches of Christ, think upon the glory of the promised kingdom; and oh, be stirred up to pray! How can prayerless saints and prayerless Churches do the work of God upon the earth? Grudge not the time; grudge not hours of prayer each day. It is all too little for the mighty worktoo little in these prayerless days and in such a prayerless world.

Be in earnest, for the time is short. Be importunate, for vast and eternal issues are at stake. Be believing, for the promise is sure. The groanings that cannot be uttered, the strong crying and tearsthese are the utterances of men who are bent upon the blessing. "We will not let thee go except thou bless us."

Meet together, hold fellowship with each other in the Lord. Stir up one another-fan the faint and flickering flame; for love is cold, and life is low, and faith is waxing feeble among the saints. Oh, look around you on every side, near and far, and call each one on his friend or brother to awake, arise, and pray! Yearn over a dying world; let rivers of waters run down your eyes for them that keep not Jehovah's law. Plead with God for it; there is much to be done in it and for it before the Son of Man come. Join the Psalmist, and say: "How long?" Join the afflicted widow, and say: "How long?" Join the souls under the altar, and say: "How long, O Lord, holy and true?"

"Awake, O north wind, and come thou south, blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices."

THE MANNER IN WHICH THE UNION FOR PRAYER
SHOULD BE OBSERVED.

1. Each Christian should endeavour to set apart as much of the proposed time as possible for private prayer. It is one of the chief ends of this concert to send each individual to his closet, and to summon them to more fixed earnestness of soul in wrestling with the prayer-hearing, promise-keeping God.

2. Besides directing the minds of the household to the objects of the Prayer Union at family worship, small temporary prayer-meetings might be formed among Christians, who may have it in their power to meet with each other. This would tend greatly to promote union in prayer, and help forward the design

of the concert.

3. There should be public congregational meetings during the whole period. These ought to be fre

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THE OBLIGATION OF LIBERALITY. ONE says, I will give to-morrow, to excuse himself shall be alive to-morrow in this place? Another says, from giving to-day. Alas! do you know whether you I am poor-I have need enough myself of all my means. Yes, you are poor, you are destitute; but it is of love, of benignity, of faith, and of mercy. A third says, Whom do I wrong? I keep only mine own. I ask you, from whom did you receive those riches, and whence did you bring them? Did you not come naked from your mother's womb, and shall you not return naked to the dust? Whence did this wealth come? - from chance? What is this but Atheism? If you confess that you received it from God, why did it fall to your lot rather than to another's? God is not unrighteous in the unequal division of property among men. Why are you rich, and why is this man poor? It is, that you may receive the reward of dispensing your goods faithfully, and that the poor may receive the recompense of his patience. When, therefore, you appropriate to yourself the wealth which belongs to many, and of which you are the steward, you act unjustly.-Basil.

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THE RISE AND FALL OF EMPIRES. AFTER the fall of the Portuguese Empire in India, a Portuguese ecclesiastic was asked by an Englishman when he thought his nation should become able to resume its power. "As soon," replied he, as the wickedness of your nation shall exceed that of mine." This man was master of the true key to the interpretation of history, and of the causes of social prosperity, and rise and fall of empires. Righteousness exalteth a nation; but iniquity bringeth any people to shame." Britain, or any other country, is truly great, glorious, and free," just in the proportion in which her people walk worthy of Christianity, and maintain among one another the peace and influence of religion, and diffuse throughout colonial and conterminous territories the civilizing and enlightening knowledge of the Gospel. "Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord."

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Fragments for Ministers.

LET Jesus Christ be my all in all: study Christ, preach Christ, live Christ.-Henry.

A sleepy utterance, even of solemn and pungent truths, is to use the dagger with the scabbard on.

Unprofitable eloquence is like cypress trees, which are great and tall, but bear no fruit.

Beware of curiosities and novelties in religion.— Halyburton.

The desire of appearing to be men of ability prevents many persons from becoming such.-Roch feoucault.

The reason why more success does not attend the preaching of the Gospel is simply, success is not expected.

-Fuller.

Men frequently admire me, and I am pleased, but I abhor the pleasure.—Martyn.

Daily Bread.

FRIDAY.

"Fight ye not against the Lord."-2 CHRON. xiii. 12. Sinners, turn, why will ye die? God your Maker asks you why: Why, ye thankless creatures, why Will ye fight 'gainst love, and die? Providence has a voice, if we had an ear; mercies should draw-afflictions drive; now, when neither fair means nor foul do us good, but we are impenitent under both, this is to wrestle against God with both hands. Either of these have their peculiar aggravations. One is against love, and so disingenuous; the other is against the smart of his rod, and therein we slight his anger, and are cruel to ourselves in kicking against the pricks. Mercy should make us ashamed, wrath afraid to sin. He that is not ashamed, has not the spirit of a man. He that is not afraid when smitten, is worse than a beast, who stands in awe of whip and spur.-Gurnall.

SATURDAY.

"A feast of fat things."-Isa. xxv. 6. Beneath thy shadow let us sit

Call us thy friends, and love, and bride; And bid us freely drink and eat

Thy dainties, and he satisfied.

How rare are Christ's dainties-his hidden manna, the fruits of the tree of life, the grapes of Canaan, the bread that comes down from heaven! How excellent is the water of life! One drop of it would be an everlasting spring in thy soul, that would keep thee from thirsting after the creature any more. What a rich feast are the graces of the Spirit quickened to a lively exercise! What a blessed feast is pardon of sin, peace with justice, peace with the law, and interest in Christ's purchase of intimationsChrist's love, Gospel-promises applied, and communion with God-views of eternal life, wellgrounded hopes of immortal glory !— Willison.

SABBATH.

"Did not our hearts burn within us?"-LUKE Xxiv. 32.
My soul rejoices to pursue
The steps of Him I love.
And burns to see Him as He is
In brighter worlds above.

Of old the Lord used to answer his people's prayers and sacrifices by fire from heaven; pray that he may answer yours in like manner, by kindling a holy fire in your soul-a fire of love to Christ. O love the Lord Jesus as your treasure and portion; let your thoughts be mainly upon him, and your soul's breathings after him. Be much concerned for his interest and cause, and for the spreading of his kingdom and glory in the world; and be looking out and longing for the full and perfect enjoyment of him.—Ibid.

MONDAY.

"The love of Christ."-Era iii. 19.
O love divine! what hast thou done?
The Son of God hath died for me!
The Father's co-eternal on

Bere all my sins upon the tree.

Never was there such matter for songs of praise as the unfathomable love of Jesus. His name is Love; and therefore it is to me as ointment poured forth. I will remember his love more than wine. His nature is love his words and actions were love-he preached and practised love; he lived in love, was sick in love, and died in love.-Ibid.

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It is the shame of many who are called Christians, and have a name and a place in God's family, that they are as backward and indifferent in holy duties as if they were afraid of doing too much for God and their own souls, and as if their chief care were to know just how much will serve to bring them to heaven, that they may do no more. They can be content to go a mile, but they are not willing to go twain. And doth it become those on whom God hath sown so plentifully, to make their returns so sparingly? Ought we not rather to inquire what free-will offerings we may bring to God's altar, and how we may do more in religion than we used to do? They that have found what a good table God keeps, and how welcome they have been to it, should desire to dwell in his house all the days of their life; and blessed are they that do so-"they will be still praising him."-Henry.

WEDNESDAY.

"Thy sins be forgiven thee."—Matt. ¡x. 2.
Here is my hope, my joy, my rest;

I look into my Saviour's breast;
Away, sad doubt, and anxious fear!"
Forgiveness is written there.

We have been great sinners, but we have a great Redeemer, able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him, and have called him by that name of his which is as ointment poured forth-The Lord our Righteousness." Our sins have reached to the heavens, but we have seen God's mercy in Christ reaching beyond the heavens. We have been wretchedly defiled in our own ways, but we have seen not only a laver, but a fountain opened for the house of David to wash in; and have been assured that the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin, even that which, for the heinousness of its nature, and the multitude of its aggravations, hath been as scarlet and crimson.-Ibid.

THURSDAY.

"Better is it that thou shoulde st not vow at all, than that
thou shouldest vow and not pay."-ECCL. v. 5.
Jesus, to thee my soul aspires;

Jesus, to thee I plight my vows;
Keep me from earthly, base desires.

My God, my Saviour, and my Spouse.

When we are at any time tempted to sin, or in danger of being surprised into any ill thing, let this be our reply to the tempter, and with this let us quench his fiery darts: "Thy vows are upon me, 0 God." Did I not say: "I would take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue?" I did say so, and therefore "I will keep my mouth as with a bridle." Did I not make "a covenant with mine eyes?" I did; that, therefore, shall be to me a covering of the eyes, that they may never be either the inlets or outlets of sin. Did I not say: "I will not transgress?" I did so; and therefore, by the grace of God, I will "abstain from all appearance of evil, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness." An honest man is as good as his word.-Ibid.

Edinburgh: Printed by JonN JOHNSTONE, residing at 12 Windsor Street, and Published by him at 2, Hunter Square. London: R. GROOMBRIDGE & SONS. Glasgow: J. R. M'NAIR & Co.; and to be had of any Bookseller throughout the Kingdom.

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