vicegerents, not sovereigns. God is the sovereign; we ought to rule.

under him.

This idea, then, that the master of a family is God's vicegerent, and that in his household he has to administer the government of God, and not his own, lies at the foundation of his duty. If he feels this, and acts on this principle, he is safe.

He will be humble. Feeling under a law himself, he will set an example of submission, which will be readily followed. The captain who obeys his general best, will in turn be best obeyed by his soldiers. If, however, you the master, rebel against your own sovereign, how can you expect your own children will be submissive to you.

His authority will be sustained. Weak, frail, and ignorant as man is, if he rules his house in the name of God, and not in his own, he will have authority. But he must do it really in the name of God. He must feel that he acts as the representative, the lieutenant of his Master in heaven; and if he feels this really, he will be clothed in the eyes of those under him, with power from above.

He will have a guide. Should he act for himself alone, in his own name, and guided by his own wisdom, he will be almost continually in difficulty, if he feels any sense of responsibility at all. Emergencies will often arise, when he will be beset with difficulties, and scarcely know what to do. If, however, he will undertake to administer God's government in his family, instead of his own, there is One above him to give him full direction, and to take all the responsibility of consequences.

But if the master of a family concludes to come and surrender himself and his family to God's care, making himself the vicegerent, not the sovereign, he must do it in earnest; and while he performs his duties in the name and under the authority of God, he must feel that his children and friends, and all his possessions, and all his hopes, are really in the hands of God, to be disposed of according to his good pleasure. If such a surrender is really and honestly made, and the master after it exercises his power over his household, not as principal, but as the steward of God, he may feel safe and happy, whatever may be the circumstances in which he is placed. And yet some fathers and mothers strangely prefer to live in open irreligion; to commence their union without committing themselves to God; to receive their children--trusts so invaluable-without recognizing the hand which bestows them; to bring them

up

in impiety; to give up their families to discord and sorrow, knowing too that the time is approaching when they must part for ever. And how miserable must these partings be! A father bending over the dying bed of a child, whom he has never even attempted to prepare for

eternity, and now he sees that he is going before his Judge, and his wretched parent dares not even inform him of his danger;—a child bidding adieu, a final adieu to a parental roof, where no prayer has been offered, the blessing of heaven never invoked, and God never acknowledged; parents going down to the grave in old age, with children scattered over the earth, confirmed in sin; and some perhaps already gone to their final home of sorrow, where the miserable father and mother must soon join them-these are bitter cups; but they must be drunk by those who incur such responsibilities as come upon parents, and yet do not acknowledge God, and seek his guidance and care.

"I must, I will acknowledge God in my house; I must commit my family to his care, and act under him in the management of it. I must have his guidance, his protection; I must have him to fly to, as a shelter, when trials and afflictions come upon me in future." Who can refrain from saying this, and acting accordingly?

In efforts to promote the Saviour's kingdom, Christians should look with special interest at measures calculated to promote the religious welfare of family circles. For as we have already said, it is God who has grouped the human race into families. The other institutions and relations of life man has formed for himself; but the ties by which husband and wife, parents and children, are bound together, are formed directly by the hand of God.

It is curious to observe, that the Creator, in all his plans, looks at valuable results, not at magnificence in the means of accomplishing them. In a summer's evening the earth is dry and parched, and plants are ready to droop and wither, from the heat of the day, and some plan must be devised to refresh and revive them. A human mechanist would have gratified his pride by exhibiting some magnificent machinery to accomplish effects so extensive. God does it, silently and unseen, by the evening dew. Few know how or why it falls, but in the morning millions perceive its refreshing and invigorating effects.

So in the production of moral effects. God secures the simple principle, which when secured, will operate every where, and the immensity of whose results depends upon the universality of its application. Man, on the other hand, is prone to look with too much interest at what is magnificent and grand as a means, and to forget what should be the real object, the widest possible extension of useful result. In a word, man turns his attention to more splendid organizations than that which surrounds the fire-side, but God finds nothing so worthy of his attention and care. Man founds empire, organizes armies, erects cities. Jehovah establishes the family; links the husband to the wife, and the pa

rent to the child; and protects the institution by laws, whose observance will secure the highest earthly happiness, and whose violation will be followed by the most acute of human woes.

In taking this course, our Maker has shown that the promotion of human happiness is his great design; for happiness, if it exist at all, must exist in the family. A bad government makes misery enough, it is true, but the woes it brings are nothing compared with those of bad families. Let piety and peace, and mutual confidence and love, reign in all the dwellings of a nation, and, after all, how little can a tyrant do to mar the immense amount of enjoyment which will gladden the land. He may draw off, by taxation, a portion of their substance; he may condemn a few individuals unjustly to death; but despotism on the throne will bear no comparison in regard to its efficiency in working evil, with irreligion and vice at the fire-side. To avert these evils nothing will suffice but genuine piety; and the first step, in bringing a household under the government of God, is to establish in it the open worship of God.-Abbott's [American] Religious Magazine.

A DAY OF RECREATION IMPROVED.

BY THE REV. CHARLES GILBERT.

WHILE idleness, as it sometimes assumes the form of the love of pleasure, is the fruitful parent of many crimes, and often conducts to the most disastrous consequences; occasional seasons of relaxation from the accustomed pursuits of life, if properly improved, may be rendered subservient at once to the health of the body and the mind. Solomon assures us, that "to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." Jesus himself occasionally mingled with scenes of natural rejoicing, and was found partaking of the pleasures of the retired intercourse of friendship. Thus we find him at the wedding-feast turning water into wine, in order to supply the guests; and often at the house of his beloved friend Lazarus.

Baxter, on the subject of recreation, observes, "The end which you should propose in using it, must be to fit you in your service to God, either for your calling, or his worship, or some work of obedience in which you may please and glorify him. It is just to your duty, as the mower's wetting to his scythe, to make it for to do his work."

The following brief narrative may furnish a practical illustration of the foregoing remarks. In our own beloved country it is our happiness not unfrequently to meet with families which present to us the most lovely illustrations of domestic religion, and which remind us of those sketches which are so admirably drawn by the pen of inspiration, such as the following, "And Jesus loved Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus." "The elect Lady and her children." We usually find that such households are distinguished by their Christian esteem for the servants of Christ.

By such a family, well known in one of our Midland counties, a minister was invited to spend a few weeks last summer, for the purpose of recruiting his health, which had suffered from afflictions, and the labours of his holy calling. This interesting family employed all their kind assiduity to renovate the health of the servant of Christ. Amongst other means, it was proposed to spend a day in visiting a romantic and elevated, part of the country, a few miles from their esidence, which commanded an extensive view of three counties.

The time arrived, it was a fine day in July. Some other friends were invited to join in the excursion, and about noon they were all assembled at the place of their destination. Having alighted from their conveyances, they were soon all busily occupied, some wandering amidst the beautiful retirements of the solitude; others, surveying with delight the enchanting prospect which unfolded itself; while a few were viewing distant and indistinct objects through a telescope. Our table at an early hour being literally "spread in the wilderness," the ground furnishing us with a table as well seats, we commenced our novel meal by singing the lines,

Be present at our table, Lord,

Be here, and everywhere adored;

These creatures bless, and grant that we
May feast in paradise with thee.

During the meal, conversation of a cheerful, intelligent, and pious description passed rapidly round. At the close of the refreshment, thanks being returned to the Author of our mercies, the whole party commenced a ramble through the beautiful and extended plantation by which they were surrounded. The stillness of the scene was disturbed only by the hum of flies, or other insects, or the occasional chirping of some of the feathered inhabitants of the place; which, combined with the coolness of the shade, and the cheerful influence of the sun, as its rays fell upon the leaves, imparting to them almost every variety of hue and tint, spread a calmness over the mind truly delightful. In the course of our ramble we came to a spot in the midst of the solitude, where a fine fir tree had been recently felled, of which the party availed themselves as a place of rest. While seated here, amongst other topics of conversation, as all were fellow-heirs of the grace of life, the minister proposed the following inquiry, "What are the best means to keep religion alive in the soul?" A young and pious farmer offered the first reply, which was, "Prayer and meditation." This met with general approval, and he was followed by a lady, who suggested the importance of Christian conversation; after the company had deplored the backwardness of Christians to enter upon intercourse of this description, a young lady considered "Searching the Scriptures," as highly calculated to promote this end. This gave rise to some observations on the importance of this duty, and the value of the bible above all other books; when a lady, the wife of a minister who was present, thought, "that we should watch over every thing most likely to draw us from God." A warm-hearted and devoted female who was of the party considered that "we should constantly keep in view the immense value of our souls."

This remark was followed by one from a humble and retiring young Christian, which was quite in keeping with her general character, to the following effect-"a close attention to private duties." Another young friend suggested that we should cultivate "a high sense of the love of Christ."

The minister who had proposed the inquiry, being now requested to offer his opinion, replied, that he considered "active exertion in the cause of Christ, as of the highest moment in promoting the interests of religion in our own souls."

There was still a Christian present, who had been thirty or forty years in the ways of God, who had not yet offered her views; the minister now requested that she would favour the friends with the result of her experience, when she replied, "Ejaculatory prayer." Having now rested ourselves, we returned to the spot where we had dined, and found the servant preparing tea under an elegant fir tree, commanding a beautiful and extended prospect. Here we now sat down to partake of the cup

"That cheers, but not inebriates,"

and, after refreshing ourselves with this most refreshing beverage, we commenced a second ramble, from which we were re-called by the sun rapidly declining towards the western horizon; and after bidding farewell to a spot, which had afforded us so much delightful and profitable recreation, we commenced our journey homeward amidst scenes of rural activity, for it was the time of harvest, and the sweet serenity of a summer's evening, reviewing the proceedings of the day; and as the twilight was falling around us, we safely arrived at home.

THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE.

BY MRS. CAMERON.

(Continued from page 7.)

THERE were indeed certain moments, but these were of rare occurrence-few and far between, like angel's visits-when the sweet figures of my cousins, (still infant figures in my imagination) and the gentle form of my ever beloved aunt, with the kind and cheerful countenance of my uncle, and the various beauties of the large and perfumed garden which encompassed that house, all rose before me, and seemed to speak of a state of existence and a set of feelings which no longer appertained unto me-feelings which I could not understand, and which were, however, connected with religion-yet not the sort of religion with which I was then acquainted, and which appeared to me dull and wearisome beyond expression; for I must inform my reader that my great aunt was not without her religion, that she always read "Blair's Sermons" and "The Whole Duty of Man" on a Sunday, and made me do the same; and that she went to church on many of the day mentioned in Nelson's "Fasts and Festivals," though she never paid any further attention to these days than what the simple observance of this form required, and, as I before said, the world was all in all to us; and therefore we could have no relish for religion, for the carnal mind is