Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

all who may have the opportunity, will peruse the discourses themselves.

66

But again-were I addressing an ordinary audience -an audience, I mean, consisting of persons engaged in the ordinary pursuits of the world; I might ask, which has appeared most important to your eyes, time, or money? Of which have you been most tenacious; of which the most liberal? Have you been as free and ready to assist the needy and the suffering-to patronise charitable institutions to support the gospel-to contribute to objects of public utility-as you have been to dissipate time? Do you not think more of a shilling than an hour? Would you not be more backward to give the former to any benevolent object than to waste the latter in whatever way you might be solicited? How seldom is it that you refuse your time to any who may choose to give you an idle call-while you would be grieved and vexed were half as many calls made upon your purse, even for the noblest purposes?-and you would disregard them too.

"Is it not true that the loss of a day or a week occasions less pain to most men than the loss of a little prop erty? Is it not true also that they frequently calculate the value of lost time merely by the sum which they might have made during that time? And, if nothing could have been gained, then they do not esteem it any loss at all? Is it reasonable that this should be the case ? Is the worth of time to be measured by gold and silver? Was it to amass these that man was endued with angelic faculties-planted on this earth for a day-and when the day is ended, to be ushered into another world to exist forever-without the privilege of carrying with him a particle of his hard-earned and beloved treasures? God must have placed men in this world for some purposeand, would it not be a mockery of the divine wisdom and goodness to suppose that the acquisition of property were the grand purpose of his being?

"Have you not witnessed-and are you not fully convinced that wealth, honour, power, pleasure, are enjoyed and held by a precarious tenure? That to-day, men may walk forth arrayed in purple and fine linen-the objects of envy to some-of admiration and servile flattery to others while to-morrow, they may appear in sackcloth and ashes-outcasts in the streets, and noue so poor as

to do them reverence-derided and scorned by the very erowd, which now gaze and applaud, as though exist ence depended on their smile? And what do you infer from this caprice of fortune (as it is usually styled,) to which men are so generally enslaved, and of which they so frequently fall the heedless and unpitied victims? What--but that all sublunary things are vain, mutable, transitory-incapable of gratifying rational, immortal natures-and therefore unworthy of your affection and your pursuit? Yet these are precisely the objects of human desire and ambition; and have been so in every age and country, since first the gates of Eden were closed against the guilty pair who led the way in this career of sin and ruin; and who have entailed the same blindness and infatuation on all their posterity.

"Renouncing then these airy illusive goods, which rever imparted a ray of solid comfort to the anxious seeker, or to the proud possessor of them, and which all must leave so soon at best-what remains to occupy our minds, and to call forth the active energies of our nature P-Time-precious time is ours-and of this, none but God can deprive us. Time is our estate. This is our inheritance. It is our all. And on its right improvement depends our eternal welfare. Time is given us to lay up treasures in heaven-to prepare ourselves by submission, by patience, by humility and self-denial, by penitence, faith and prayer, during our pilgrimage through this wilderness of sorrow and temptation; for the full, the perfect, and the perpetual fruition of that Canaan of peace, and plenty, and rest, and joy, and glory, to which the faithful shall, at last, be welcomed.

"Were this sublime, this glorious object constantly in view-Were heaven steadily in our eye, could time ever hang heavily upon our hands;? Could it seem tedious, dull, burthensome? Could we consent to lose so much in idleness; so much in unnecessary sleep; so much in trifling or profane conversation and amusement; so much in puerile or hazardous sports and games; so much in sensu al indulgences; so much in a thousand frivolous and criminal modes, which the evil genius of this world has artfully devised to cheat men out of their most valuable possessions P

"We have all erred in this matter. There is not an individual in this house;-there is not a child of Adam on earth who has not abused time. Nay more, there is not a day in which the best of men, when they review at evening, their conduet during the day, do not find abundant cause of humiliation and repentance before God for their unfruitfulness, their sloth, or their forgetfulness of Him who has solemnly charged them to occupy till he come."

SELECT ANECDOTES.

SANGUINE AUTHOR.

A Poor clergyman, in a very remote county in England, had, on some popular occasion, preached a sermon so exceedingly acceptable to his parishioners, that, they entreated him to print it; which, after due and solemn deliberation, he promised to do. This was the most remarkable incident of his life, and filled his mind with a thousand fancies. The conclusion, however, of all his consultations with himself was, that he should obtain both fame and money; and that a journey to the metropolis, to direct and superintend the great concern was indispensable. After taking a formal leave of his friends and neighbours, he proceeded on his journey. On his arrival in town, by great good fortune, he was recommended to the worthy and excellent Mr. Bowyer, to whom he triumphantly related the object of his journey. The printer agreed to his proposals, and required to know how many copies he would have struck off? Why, sir," returned the clergyman, "I have calculated that there are in the kingdom so many thousand parishes, and that each parish will at least take one, and others more; so that I think we may safely venture to print thirty-five or thirty-six thousand copies." The printer bowed, the matter was settled, and the reverend author departed in high spirits to his home. With much difficulty and great self-denial, a period of about two months was suffered to pass; when his golden_visions so tormented his imagination, that he could endure

66

it no longer, and accordingly he wrote to Mr. Bowyer, desiring him to send the debtor and creditor account, most liberally permitting the remittances to be forwarded at Mr. B's convenience. Judge of the astonishment, tribulation, and anguish, excited by the receipt of an account, charging him for printing thirty-five thousand copies of a sermon, £785, 5s, 6d, and giving him credit for £1, 5s, 6d, the produce of seventeen copies, being the whole that had been sold. This left a balance of £784, due the bookseller.

All who knew the character of this most amiable and and excellent printer, would not be at all surprised to hear, that, in a day or two, a letter to the following pur-pose was forwarded to the clergyman :—

[ocr errors][merged small]

I

I beg pardon for innocently amusing myself at your expense, but you need not give yourself uneasiness. knew better than you could do the extent of the sale of single sermons, and accordingly printed but fifty copies, to the expense of which you are heartily welcome, in return for the liberty I have taken with you."

THE WELL-STORED MEMORY.

A youth, who was engaged in the social study of the holy Scriptures, remarked to a friend that since committing particular texts to memory, they often recurred under circumstances which rendered them peculiarly interesting and practically useful. It was added,-When I look abroad, this text occurs, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy work." When I sit down to meals another text occurs;" Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." When I open the sacred volume, I remember, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," &c. May the Holy Spirit multiply such effects from the social study of ETERNAL TRUTH.

MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.

CLOUDS and darkness often appear to attend the first efforts for evangelizing Pagan lands, where afterwards. the brightest prospects cheer the benevolent heart. We rejoice that the horizon of the Burman Mission appears to be brightening. The following extract from a letter written by Mr. Judson to Dr. Baldwin, when connected with later intelligence, will rejoice every friend to the spread of the Gospel. On their arrival at Ava, they met with a favourable reception from his Majesty and were directed to seek them such lodgings as were agreeable, near the foot of the throne. We trust this will turn out to the furtherance of the Gospel among the millions of Burmah.

Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Mr. Judson to Dr. Baldwin, dated

REV AND DEAR SIR,

Rangoon, August 21, 1822.

Since I wrote you last February, I have been almost entirely confined to the translation of the New Testament, in which I had proceeded to the end of the second of Corinthians, including Ephesians, Hebrews, and the epistles of John; when an order arrived from the king, summoning brother Price to Ava, on account of his med ical skill, of which his Majesty had heard. We expect to leave Rangoon day after tomorrow, in a boat provided by Government. Brother Hough remains in charge of

this station.

The

For several weeks past, there has been a considerable excitement in the minds of our Burman friends. assembly on Lord's days has risen to thirty or forty. Five have lately been baptized, and there remain several hopeful inquirers. These circumstances make me very reluctant to leave Rangoon ; yet the path of duty seems to lead to Ava. May the Lord direct and pros. per this our second attempt to gain some footing in the eapital and the palace."

THE late intelligence from the Palestine Mission is peculiarly interesting. The following brief extracts from the Missionary Herald, will show our readers how these unweariedly active men are employed at Malta.

« VorigeDoorgaan »