himself, with whom thou hast hitherto borne so gently in his strayings from thee! I am unworthy to lift up mine eyes unto thee, or to call thee Father. Yet vouchsafe, I beseech thee to cast thine eyes upon me: for thy looking towards the

sinner maketh him revive when he is dead-return home when he is lost.

Verily to thy looking upon me, I am beholden for my present discontent with myself: as soon as thou didst vouchsafe to look upon me as I wandered far from thee, my sight was restored to me, that I might see in how great misery I was. And thou mettest me by the way, inspiring me with a mindful desire and longing to return to thee.

I pray thee, and beseech thee by the death of thy dearly beloved Son, impart thy Spirit unto me, to cleanse my heart, and to strengthen it with his grace, that I slide not thither again through oversight, from whence I was called back by thy mercy, -Amen.

My lot is cast as a minister, in a small country parish in the county of G-; and as the evil, of which I am about to complain, is by no means confined to my parish, a plain statement of the case may prove useful to the readers of "The Friendly Visitor." I allude to the Love of Dress. In my little chapel at S, where slop frocks and red cloaks mostly prevail, I am sometimes shocked to see young women, in the humblest station of life, decked out with feathers and flowers in their bonnets! One poor girl, who had £50 left her, has spent the whole in this foolish manner; and appearing, almost every Sabbath, in a new dress, may be said to carry her fortune on her back! Calling last week in the neighbourhood of the village blacksmith, who is an industrious, hard working man, with nine children, I saw two white muslin gowns with deep flounces hanging out to dry in front of his shop. Many of our spinning-girls, who in the weekdays shew what they really are, parade the

village on a Sunday with short petticoats, white gowns cut to the extreme of fashion, and straw bonnets laden with ribbons, &c. which far exceed the pretensions of the parson's wife. And what is the consequence of this strange display? The Sunday does not suffice to show off all this foolish finery, and a bad old man has been persuaded to open his house on a wednesday evening (my Lecture night) for dancing, which is often kept up till four o'clock in the morning! Their awful want of devotion at Church plainly shews, that they only come to see and be seen. One young woman, of whom we thought well, and who seemed to be under deep convictions of sin, absented herself for three weeks from a little party which meet in my kitchen on a Friday evening, and which she had always attended. I soon saw a change in her dress. The neat shawl was laid aside for a rich silk scarf. I warned her of her danger: happily she had not gone too far, but took my rebuke kindly, and disposed of her finery. The parents are sadly to blame in this matter, for they send their children to our Sunday school-some with ear rings-others with necklaces-many with muslin frocks, and starched frills, &c.

Editor, that the excess of
Many of the families are

You must not suppose, Mr. their earnings warrants all this. struggling with great distress; and such is their want of forecast, that if sickness comes, they fly to the parish directly for relief.

› Surely such conduct is right down dishonesty; and highly guilty in the sight both of God and man!

That we have to lament this love of dress in some who profess to be influenced by the Gospel, is truly distressing; and Christians in the higher ranks will do well to consider, whether their inconsistent example in this respect, has not tended to increase the evil.

I remain, Mr. Editor,

Your's faithfully,

SCRUTATOR.

SELECT PASSAGES.

Grief is seldom long the portion of a Christian: light springs up in the midst of darkness, and gladness once more becomes the lot of such as are true-hearted. The joys of religion are the encouragement of youth, and the prop of old age. Without them, we sicken even in the midst of prosperity; and, with them, adversity loses all its terrors. They sweeten our slumbers; they soothe our waking hours. At home and abroad, in private and in public, they are our constant companions, our richest treasures. The vigour of youth, and the blush of health, are transitory blessings; the pride of rank soon wearies, and riches make themselves wings and fly away: but the joy of a Christian, though walks upon earth, hides its head in heaven. It is the gift of God; and God alone is able to deprive him of it.-Faber.

ANECDOTE.

A very poor woman in Edinburgh, who was so nearly blind as not to be able to read the Bible, could get nobody to read it to her. She was greatly distressed to live day after day without the comfort and direction of this blessed book. She thought of many plans, and made many inquiries, but all in vain. At last she made a bargain with another woman to read to her a chapter every night; and for this service she paid her a penny a week out of her scanty pit

tance.

THE BIBLE SOCIETY..

The following are extracts of a letter from Prince Galitzin, the President of the Russian Bible Society. He is one of the Ministers of state in Russia, and the intimate friend of the Emperor "Oh! may the blessed time soon arrive, in which there shall be but one fold and one Shepherd! With regard to the progress of the Russian Bible

Society, it is not without being greatly moved by the infinite grace of God towards us, that I proceed to give you some account of it. About 200 societies in the provinces are already united with the Society of St. Petersburg. More than a million seven hundred thousand rubles have been contributed in the space of seven years, to advance this blessed cause. (A ruble is 4s. 6d.) More than 275,000 copies of the Holy Scriptures, in thirty different languages, have been distributed amongst all classes: and while the Russian Version is received with the greatest joy by the whole nation, the Crimean Tartars, the Kalmucs, &c. &c. to the most distant inhabitants of the borders of the White Sea, all begin to read in their own languages and dialects the Word of truth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even in the East, in Persia and Asia Minor, resound anew, after so many ages of sullen silence, the good news of salvation by the crucified Saviour, who is the true God and eternal life.".

Dr. Pinkerton 66 says, a Russian Captain, lately returned from Persia, mentioned that when he was in that country, he happened to go into a house where he was surprised to find between 20 and 30 Persians assembled and listening with attention to one who was reading to them. They informed him it was the New Testament which they were reading. They had tried to conceal it when he went in, stating that they were not permitted to read it publicly. How pleasing the idea that many of the other copies, that have been sent into that empire, may also have their select circles, to which they are proclaiming the glad tidings of redeeming love; and that here and there may be a Nicodemus inquiring, under the shade of concealment, "how can these things be ?"-The Missionaries from Labrador in North America write, Aug. 24;-"Many of our Esquimaux having being told of the nature of the Bible Society, of their own accord began to collect seal's blubber, by way of making up a small contribution towards the expenses of the Society. Some brought whole seals-others half a seal, or pieces as they could afford it. Some brought pieces of blubber in the name of their children, begging that their poor gifts might be accepted. How long (said they when presenting their gifts) have we heard the comfortable words of God concerning Jesus our Saviour, and received so many books treating of him, and yet never thought where they came from! We have indeed sometimes spoken together and observed, that these many books, given to us