the consequence was a most frequent one in an unchanged heart, that is, that I disliked my cousins the more and more in consequence of these convictions, and endeavoured to find amusement in any other source than what might be derived from their society.

But what resources were there to a mind like mine, in a lonely farmhouse? for, as I before said, my uncle farmed his own estate; I could not exchange sentiments with guinea-hens and turkeys; but, in my uncle's second son, though younger than myself, there was more hope of finding a fellow-creature; he was lively, less formed than his sisters of the same standing, as it regarded age, and by no means so impracticable in his way as his elder brother, which last had more than once made me blush for my folly and flippancy, although I could not actually charge him with want of politeness or even with any backwardness to converse with me; nevertheless, I had always found that I had concluded every conversation with him under an impression that I was an inferior being; hence, as there could be no competition between this young man and myself, as I fancied there must be on the part of his sisters, I really believe that his behaviour did more towards humbling me in my own opinion than any thing else which ever occurred in my uncle's house. And this leads me to observe how much young ladies and gentlemen might benefit each other in the common intercourse of society, if they always looked upon each other as beings with immortal souls, and not as persons from whom they are to expect the amusement of an hour. But I have wandered from what I was about to say. I was remarking, that having found the eldest son impracticable, I made various efforts to attract the attention of the second; and so far I succeeded, as to excite his spirits, and make him laugh and talk nonsense; and I even flattered myself that I had made some impression on his feelings; but when the time came for his departure, I had the mortification to find that he actually thought so little of me as to forget to wish me good by, though the tear was in his eye when he bade adieu to his sisters.

Yet I felt his absence, and I should have been glad to have returned home immediately; but the weather was now established in all the delights of May. My aunt was rapidly regaining her strength, she was becoming daily more interested in the society of her young companions, and they pressed our continuance with them so hospitably, that it was not possible for me to urge any objections. I however chose to be sullen on the occasion, and made myself so thoroughly ungracious, that my cousins were at length compelled to leave me much to myself; and I accordingly, when not quite alone, generally sat silent, taking no part in any thing which was passing about me. Silence gave me op

portunities of listening, and solitude of reflection-opportunities which my state of mind made me very unwilling to use at first to any good purpose; but, by degrees, through the divine influence, an influence at that time which I little understood, by the influence of Him who has promised to lead his people by a way they know not of, many of those thoughts and feelings returned, which, as I before said, were connected in my mind with the recollections of my early days, and my uncle's

wife; that sweet lady whom I remembered as bestowing upon me all the gentle and soothing attentions of a tender mother; it was slowly, very slowly, that my dark mind admitted these rays of light; and long long did I resist the convictions which, from time to time, glanced like lightning athwart my benighted soul.

(To be Concluded in our next.)

TEMPERANCE IN EATING AND DRINKING.

PROSPERITY and luxury commonly go hand in hand. With an increase of wealth, the farmer, the mechanic, the merchant, the lawyer, and the soldier, all feed on rich food, and regale on more costly liquors. The effects of rich food and strong drink on the human constitution are very remarkable. In new countries the gout is not known, because the pioneers of the wilderness cannot afford the indulgences that produce that disease. Neither are there patients of this kind amongst active farmers. Hoffman says that " many have lost their gout with their fortunes,"-compulsion to labour and temperance having effected

a cure.

When we hear of the apoplexy, we conclude the patient was corpulent; and when we see a corpulent person, we conclude he has eaten a little too much. We mean no disrespect. Some of those whom we have most loved and revered, belonged to this class. Obesity is a disease, and though it is often associated with a keen appetite, it is no index of the quantity of food taken. We have seen lean persons who were great eaters; and we have seen corpulent people who were comparatively abstemious; but as none can fatten on starvation, they eat a little too much.

Nine such persons

With this subject we are practically acquainted. might have overloaded a stage; and a difference in our condition was not superinduced by indulgences. He who intends to restrain his appetite, should at first take the portion that his judgment assigns him at once on his plate. When it is finished, his task is done; and it may be best to rise without delay from the table, if he can do so with propriety in other respects.

Dyspepsia or indigestion is often induced by other diseases; but we think it more commonly caused by what is taken into the stomach— either in kind or quantity. Patients of this class are often great sufferers. If the disease is not far advanced, the following directions may be useful:-Eat breakfast, dinner, and supper, at set hours. When the appetite is sharpened by fasting beyond the usual time, we eat too much. One half of the food usually taken is enough. There is no danger of starvation. In a short time the constitution will conform to the quantity and recover its tone. Drink nothing but pure cold water. No tea? no coffee? no chocolate? Not a particle. If the stomach is weak, instead of exciting it with liquors of any kind, eat the less.

Brown bread, if we mistake not, was the kind used by the patriarchs; and none died of dyspepsia. Fine bolting cloths were probably unknown in ancient times, and the present generation would be more healthy without them. Massinissa, king of Numidia, "died in the 97th year of his age, one hundred and forty-nine years before the Christian era. He was remarkable for the health he long enjoyed. This strength of mind and body he chiefly owed to the temperance which he observed. He was seen eating brown bread at the door of his tent the day after he had obtained a great victory over the armies of Carthage."

THOUGHTS FOR THE SABBATH.

No. I.-DETACHMENT FROM THE WORLD.

"He grew, and he was weaned."-Gen. xxi. 8.

O MY soul, as I view the little fact recorded in this text, how beautifully it brings to my recollection the growth of grace in the children of the Almighty. Children who, ere infinite love led them to feel the nature of their transgressions, with the direful effects and the heinousness of them, had hard hearts, incapable of spiritual sensation, now feel them softened by the cheering words of the Saviour, "Thy sins. are forgiven thee." From thence grace grows abundantly, diffusing itself over the whole; which grace raises us above the world; and though great dangers and troublesome obstacles arise to impede our farther progress, still this grace will detach our hearts from all the things of earth, and will direct us on to salvation; and thus obstacles never to be overcome, are driven before us like chaff before the wind.

What a sublime possession has the Christian in this, when tempted by petty baubles, by the vain mimicry and show of Satan; he, by grace, cries aloud, "O Lord, shut my eyes from beholding vanity; make me to rest alone upon thee." It enables him, when he beholds the precious gems of earth, to scorn them, and to say, Far, O far inferior is this earthly bauble to my never-fading inestimable gem, the Lord of Hosts, who, by his power, weans us from the world, and bestows upon us the blessed possession of heaven. Happy indeed is the man who at once discharges the duty, and enjoys the privilege, of detachment from the world.

No. II.-MEETING OF THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN.

S.

Among the most delightful associations connected with the world of spirits, is the idea which originates in our belief in the communion of saints, and which represents to us the children of God who have lived upon earth at various periods of time, as forming one fold under one great Shepherd.

Of those who, in humbly pursuing the paths of faith and holiness, are looking forward to be introduced to this company of the redeemed;

there are few who have not fixed upon a chosen circle of just men made perfect, from whose society they expect more particular pleasure. The idea is so natural, so intimately blended with all our better feelings, and really forms so beautiful and strong a tie to the invisible world, that it is one which it cannot be wrong to entertain. The chosen circle, doubtless, consists, in the first place, of those whom having seen, we have known and loved; kindred and friends who have died in the Lord attach us to the citizens of heaven, and cause us to remember Zion with a more vivid interest.

"'Tis sweet, as year by year we lose

Friends out of sight, by faith to muse
How grows in paradise our store."

But it includes others also, belonging to distant countries or times, whose hands we have never clasped, whose voices we have never heard, whose bodily presence we have never seen, but with whose minds and characters we have become intimately acquainted and strongly attached. The simple-minded Christians of primitive times, the confessors who being faithful unto death were to receive a crown of life; the staunch defenders of the faith, especially when their conscientious firmness and boldness in their Lord's behalf were associated with gentleness of spirit; these claim and possess the affection of the sincere Christian. But still that company comprises others perhaps even more beloved than these, whose lives may not have been distinguished by any very remarkable incidents, yet to whom we Owe the thoughts and impressions from which we derive the greatest satisfaction; those who, in bequeathing to us wholesome counsel, have inscribed in their holy pages a picture of their own minds.

How many beautiful thoughts does this passage awaken in the heart! How many dear familiar faces, long loved and lost, seem suddenly to revive in the quiet of our memory, not cold and pale with the shadows of the tomb, but glowing with the warm airs of paradise! How many voices speak to us with the very tones of childhood; how many young feet dance by us with a sound of music! Precious, indeed, to the beloved spirit is this Christian anticipation! It rolls away the cloud from our eyes, it turns the shades of sorrow into the light of morning. We can gaze upon the vacant chair without weeping; we can think of the departed with a placid joy as of one who has set out a pleasant journey to his father's house, there to wait for the coming of the beloved. Thus strengthened, we may go forward boldly on our pilgrimage, neither fainting nor murmuring, but ever turning our face, when wearied, to the garden of rest, whither those whom we pine for have gone before us.

No. III.- -THE SAVIOUR'S COMPLAINT.

"And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"-Mark xv. 34.

Listen, O my soul, methinks I still hear the distant echo of the cry

as it resounds from age to age from Calvary. Methinks I still hear the last expiring words of my beloved Lord, declaring the pains he has endured for thee, if thou hast placed on him thy dependence for salvation, and cast all thy cares on God. Yes, methinks the awfully majestic words from the expiring lips of godlike majesty, still roll through each succeeding age, till time shall be no more. Yes, those words that contained all the energy of his nature, which satisfied the utmost demands of justice, and pleased God the Father, and finished the utmost limits of redemption's plan, still continue, and will continue till time shall end. O then, my soul, throw not away the little hour of life given by Jehovah to stand, supported by him, the fiery arrows of persecution, if thou appealest unto him. Waste thy precious time no more; but look back, and consider how long has already been wasted away, and fly to God, the refuge. Ask his forgiveness for past sins, for His sake who thus suffered and died. But, O my soul, when God shall hide himself from thee, that thou mayest know thy frailty, then will I weep over the sins I have committed, and will cry in the words of my Saviour, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" These words, uttered by faith, shall revive my drooping soul, and grant the peace of which the world can know nothing.

No. IV.-CHRISTIAN INTERCOURSE.

S.

It is recorded as a portion of sacred history, "They that feared the Lord spake often one to another." This declaration discloses both the duty of Christians, and their true temper when in the high exercise of godliness. But this, like many other religious duties, is often neglected by the professed disciples of Jesus. Still, when duly discharged, it is a source of very high enjoyment. By neglecting to converse with one another, Christians of the same church often become alienated in their mutual feelings; jealous of each other, and disposed to feel that they are undervalued by their brethren and sisters; cold and inactive in Christ's service; and disheartened in their efforts to

grow in grace and save souls. One of the greatest evils, except immorality, in a church, is that members do not know each other as Christians. As men of the world and members of civil society, and in relation to secular business, they may be well acquainted, while they are almost entire strangers as Christians. Hence they do not enter into each other's sorrows and joys; and are consequently almost destitute of those endearing sympathies, that should bind together closely the members of Christ's family.

If the members of a church would be faithful to visit each other for Christian conversation and improvement, they would soon perceive their mutual benefit to be very great. Their love to each other would abound; their Christian graces thrive; if they had become backsliders, they would be revived; if they had neglected to warn sinners, they would awake to a faithful discharge of this duty; their clouds of darkness would disappear, and the sunshine of joy, and hope, and spiritual courage, break forth upon their souls; and their growth in grace, their spiritual enjoyment and usefulness, would be vastly increased.