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the same object in view if you be going to learn a business. It is very difficult for dressmakers to avoid working very late during particular seasons of the year; but a woman who values her own soul, and who feels that she is responsible for the spiritual welfare of those she employs, will never send home work on a sabbath morning. If the work must be sent off on Saturday night, it stands to reason that there can be nothing gained by keeping the young people employed after eleven o'clock; so that, though they may retire to rest over-fatigued with an unreasonably long day's work, the sabbath at least is a day of rest.

It is, therefore, your duty, as you have been taught in a sabbath school, to make particular inquiries, when seeking a situation, as to whether work is ever sent home on the sabbath morning: if it be, you ought to decline making an engagement. You may be assured that you will not be required to take it home; you may even be promised that you shall not be required to work after twelve on Saturday night still you will be treading on forbidden ground by uniting yourself so closely with voluntary sabbath-breakers. You may find it difficult to meet with a conscientious employer in the particular business you may wish to learn; you may have to pay a larger premium, or give your work for a longer time, or even to engage with a less fashionable house; but the path of duty is the path of safety, and they who walk in it will be preserved from the destroyer.

It stands to reason, that if all young people refused to work on the sabbath, employers would be obliged to refuse to send home their work on that day, and thus a stop would soon be put to this flagrant violation of the Lord's day. It would be a happy thing for work-people generally, if all families, ay, even all religious professors, would refuse to take in work after six o'clock on Saturday evening.

I was once present when the sister of a pious clergyman asked her dressmaker when her dress would be sent home.

"On Saturday," was the reply. "If it cannot be ready to send before six in the evening," quietly observed the lady, "please not to send it till Monday, as my brother does not like anything to be sent in on Saturday night; it interferes with our preparation for the sabbath," added she, turning towards me; "and it keeps work-people employed too late for either their temporal or spiritual welfare." Should you, my young friends, ever be placed at the head of a family, remember this incident, and "go and do likewise."

By learning your business with a person who obeys the fourth commandment, you may hope to escape one of the great evils connected with sempstresses-the introduction of improper books to be read aloud by one, in order to keep the rest more closely at work. That this is customary in some places, I was told by a young person, who said that, during her apprenticeship she heard nearly all the novels of the circulating library read aloud. You may also hope, in a wellregulated establishment, that a proper restraint will be put upon the conversation of the young people; so that, if frivolity cannot be excluded, scandal and indelicacy of speech may not be tolerated.

I once asked a worthy and pious man what had become of his daughter, as I had not seen her lately. With a smile of self-complacency, he replied, that she had gone to learn dressmaking with Miss M, of N-~. I looked grave, I suppose, for he added, "You need not be uneasy about her ma'am; she is in good hands, I assure you; Miss Mis so particular with her apprentices, and takes such pains to improve their minds and teach them good behaviour, that it is thought as good as sending a girl to a boarding-school to send her there. And," added the pious father, "she takes such care of them on the sabbath; she takes them with her to chapel, and sometimes to the sabbath-school; and when they are at home, she supplies them with suitable books and magazines." That lady afterwards married a minister of the gospel, and adorned her new sphere with as

much grace as she had done the one which she had left. Again, my readers, apply the moral to yourselves. If you should ever be at the head of such an establishment, endeavour faithfully to perform your duty as a Christian, to those who are placed under your care.

But you must not only strive to avoid evil and to get good in your new situation; but you must endeavour to benefit others, and to show how much you have gained of what is most valuable by being educated in a Sunday-school. If you be in domestic service, show the superiority of your early training by your prompt and cheerful performance of the duties which devolve upon you. Be respectful in your deportment and mode of speaking to those whom Providence has placed over you; if they be members of the same church as yourself, don't forget that the distinctions of rank are not necessarily destroyed between you and your employers.

On the contrary, be doubly watchful over your conduct, so that religion may not be evil spoken of on your account. Show that you really value family worship by so planning your work as to be at liberty at the appointed time; and show your estimate of sabbath privileges by being so diligent during the week, as to enable you to go to worship with as little inconvenience as possible to the family.

If you be learning a business, you cannot choose your companions at work; but you may avoid intimately associating with them during your hours of leisure, or on the sabbath, should you find that their habits and principles are the opposite of those inculcated by a Christian teacher. While with them in the workroom, you may show your regard for Christian consistency by firmly and kindly discountenancing all improper conversation, and by evincing a willingness to render them all the assistance in your power. An amiable and obliging disposition, and a cheerful temper, will, in time, secure you not only the respect but

VOL. XXV.

the goodwill of your companions, and will induce them to listen, with civility at least, when you introduce useful subjects of conversation. You need not expect to escape some degree of ridicule, if you oppose the worldly views of those with whom you associate; and, in some instances, perhaps, you may have to suffer persecution; but you have learned, in the words of Him who spake as never man spake, that "blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my name's sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

Observe, the Saviour says you will be "blessed" when persons speak evil of you "falsely;" not if you, by the indulgence of a captious temper, or a morose spirit, make religion disagreeable in their eyes. It is your duty to show to all you come into company with, that your religion is not mere profession-that it does not consist in grave looks, Scripture quotations, and a stern condemnation of all who differ from you. Let them see, on the contrary, that it makes you humble, meek, forgiving, and courteous; not willing to displease others, or needlessly or hastily to take offence. Often repeat to yourself those admirable lines of Watts:

"I would not willingly offend,

Nor be easily offended;
What is wrong I'll strive to mend,

And endure what can't be mended."

In short, conduct yourself in such a manner that if your employer should want another apprentice, she may kindly inquire of you, whether you know of another girl who has been taught at the same Sunday-school as yourself, who wants a situation; as she should be glad to engage one who has, like you, been blessed with a pious and judicious teacher.

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471

THE BIBLE.

(An Extract from Dr. Chalmers's Works.)

We ask our readers to think, in such a mass and multitude of materials, what an interminable record it would have been had each of the various historians been abandoned to the impulses of his own taste and his own fancy. Where would have been that condensed and expressive brevity which is nowhere else to be met with in the whole compass of literature? How else could the record of such a number of centuries have been given at once so briefly, and yet so comprehensively? What would have been our security, that, in such an infinite diversity of topics, the most pertinent would have been selected; and those which are best adapted to the purposes of a revelation? That there should be such a keeping between the parts of this vast and varied Iniscellany-that, altogether, it should be confined within dimensions so moderate, that, instead of swelling out into an unmanageable size, this record of thousands of years should, though not a meagre chronicle of events, but a vivid and interesting narrative, abounding throughout in touches of graphic delineation, nevertheless, have all been comprised within the limits of a pocket volume; there must have been a management here beyond the wisdom of man, and far more beyond it in the historical, than in the didactic parts of the composition; there must have been One presiding intellect that foresaw all, and over-ruled all; for the random concurrence of such a number of authors could never have terminated in such a unique and wondrous combination, insomuch that it holds more emphatically true of the historical, than of the doctrinal, in the Old Testament, that, "whatever things were written aforetime, were written for our admonition, on whom the latter ends of the world have come."

This consideration is insisted on with great strength and judgment by Mr. Haldane, in his pamphlet on Inspira

tion; and at still greater length, in a way too we think exceedingly striking, by Joseph Cottle, in the second volume of a miscellaneous work, entitled, “Malvern Hills, with Minor Poems and Essays." The following are copious extracts from one of those essays, being an

66

Argument in favour of Christianity deduced from the size of the Bible." The whole argument, which is admirably put, is well worthy of perusal :-" When an uninspired man undertakes to write an important history, entering often into detail, of incident, description, and delineation, the work necessarily becomes extended; but, when mighty events are recorded, the rise and fall of states, the lives of warriors and kings, the principles that regulated their conduct, the aggressions of neighbouring potentates, with all the results and changes which arose from conquest or subjugation, the boldest reader is appalled at the probable accumulation of pages. If this writer has to describe also his own country and ancestors, under all the impressions of personal and national feeling, the temptation to amplify becomes still more imperative; and to what a magnitude might a work be supposed to extend, which was to comprise the labours not only of two or three such writers, but a long succession of them, through many generations? Now the Bible is this extraordinary book, and it is not only totally dissimilar to all others in its nature and execution, but is equally contradistinguished by the rarelycombined qualities of comprehension and succinctness. The transactions referred to are grand beyond comparison. The writers related occurrences which excited a supreme interest in their minds. They were personally, as well as relatively, connected with the circumstances recorded. Many of them narrated their own exploits, as well as the exploits referable to anterior ages. The multifarious writers consisted of historians, legis

THE DUTY OF PROFESSING CHRISTIANS TOWARDS BACKSLIDERS.

475

tions occurred which could pertain to so limited a region, including the destruction of Zion and its magnificent temple, the captivity of a whole people for seventy years, their ultimate redemption, with the rebuilding of their city and the temple of their great King. At length, in the fulness of time, the Saviour of the world appeared, in whom a thousand predictions all centred. His birth and ancestry are narrated, with many incidental occurrences. His sermons are given, his precepts, his important actions, his miracles, and his prophecies. To this are subjoined his arraignment at the bar of Pilate, an account of the indignities he endured, his patient sufferings, his death, and his resurrection. To all this are added, the lives and travels of his apostles, the establishment of the first Christian churches, with a narrative of individual and general persecutions; twenty-one apostolical epistles, a volumé abounding with striking incidents; and the whole concluding with a series of the sublimest revelations. Yet this diversified mass of materials is concentrated into a compass which a finger

lators, biographers, moralists, poets, and prophets. The periods described present a matchless assemblage of important events the creation, the fall, the antediluvian corruption of man, the deluge, the confusion of tongues, the origin of all the great monarchies of the earth, the lives of the patriarchs, (entering often into the minutest statements,) their wonderful escape from famine, the call of a particular people, (springing from the patriarchs, in whom was preserved, amid universal Polytheism, the knowledge of the one Living and True God;) their ultimate bondage and miraculous preservation; their wandering, for forty years, through the Desert; the giving of the moral and ceremonial law, the establishment of the same people in Canaan, where they were sustained for fifteen hundred years, till the coming of Christ, while all the great dynasties by which they were surrounded successively crumbled away,-the Babylonish, the Assyrian, the Persian, the Egyptian, and the Grecian. To these events must be added the expulsion of numerous idolatrous, long-established, and powerful nations of Palestine; the reigns of an extensive succession of mo- | might suspend, and a wayfaring man cari narchs, in two different lines, under whom the grandest and most complex transac

read."

THE DUTY OF PROFESSING CHRISTIANS TOWARDS BACKSLIDERS. To the Editor of the Evangelical Magazine.

SIR, Will you allow me to refer to what has deeply impressed me as a neglect of duty on the part of the Christian church. The law of the Master in reference to a fallen brother is clearly explained: "If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone." 66 Reprove him sharply," in private, first, then in the presence of one or two others; if still inattentive, tell it to the church; and if he will not hear them, if the case is gross indeed, expel him from your fellowship and companionship, "let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." The backslider, by his imprudence, (and

imprudencies, are often very sinful,) or by his gross sin, inflicts a wound on the universal church, and, in proportion to his standing in the church is that wound felt. Satan rejoices over the fall of the youthful stripling, as he sees success at tend his diabolical efforts; but if a standard-bearer fall, there is joy in the court of the prince of the power of the air. Surely the event which cheers our great adversary, must wound professing Christians. Are we not all brethren, members of one family; yea, parts of one body? Are we not therefore all sharers in the dishonour; and is there, can there be, a time more suitable for the expres

4.7.6 THE DUTY OF PROFESSING CHRISTIANS TOWARDS BACKSLIDERS.

sion of deep and heartfelt sorrow than when one who has long been regarded as a pillar, stumbles and falls? Towards such an one our duty is very clearly expressed by the Great Head of the church; but I fear his command is very imperfectly understood and obeyed. Expulsion from communion is justly inflicted; but, where are the efforts to "restore such an one in the spirit of meekness" prompted by a love to Christ and a love to souls, and a sense of our own infirmity, "considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted?" Are not backsliders too often treated with neglect? Do we not, as Christians, too seldom feel for and sympathize with their grief?

means so necessary to his restoration and

recovery.

My dear Sir, I feel that, as a Christian church we are verily guilty in this matter. There are no special efforts made for the backslider; if he is ever alluded to it is only "by the way,"-and yet Christ came to save the lost, to restore the wanderer, and to call back the backslider.

How touching is the language of the prophet-"How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? (though bent on backslidings,) mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together," Hosea xi. 8. "Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord," Jer. xxxi. 20. "Return ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings," Jer, iii. 22. “I will heal their backslidings, I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from him," Hos. xiv. 4.

:

With what tender compassion did the Lord turn and look upon Peter, and how kindly was the poor backslider included in the message given to Mary Magdalene, Mark xvi. 7. There is something equally touching in the language of the inspired epistles; and surely we ought especially to feel for those who have wandered out of the way. Is it not the shepherd's office to seek the lost, and to rejoice when he has found them, more than over those who by the help of God have maintained their consistency? We are all in some sense our "brother's

An individual who once stood high in the church, perhaps as a minister or deacon, through want of watchfulness, falls; | by his fall not only is a deep injury inflicted on the church of Christ, but the name once held in reputation becomes a by word and reproach: the branch of the church with which he was associated meet; full of indignation, and in obedience to apostolic commands, they expel the transgressor, and erase his name from the communicant's roll. They are very careful, and justly so, (for I plead for no extenuation of the backslider's punishment,) to free themselves from "that wicked person," and to avoid any participation in his sin; but, what is done to restore him?-Is he not too often allowed to weep in secret, without any attempt being made by his former brethren to direct him to the Fountain opened for the cleansing of the backslider? His house is deserted, his name unmentioned, his presence avoided; and should he hap-keeper;" and whilst we ought to be very pen to meet his former brethren, they pass by on the other side. And, what is the effect of this conduct on him? He feels that he is deserted by all his former friends, and if he does not run greedily into the paths of sin, and seek companions and friends amongst the vilest, the sanctuary he used to frequent, the place where once he was noticed and welcomed, but where now he is shunned, is forsaken; and thus he is shut out from those very

diligent in striving to arouse the unconverted, surely we ought to use every effort to stir up the lapsed, and only cease those efforts, when they obstinately refuse to hear the word, and turn their back on Him who waits to "heal their backslidings; "-surely, here is employment for pastors and deacons in a direction hitherto greatly neglected. I plead for the souls of backsliders, and ask my young ministerial brethren especially,

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