dulgence on that of parents, should withhold the attendance of so many children and young persons who ought to be employed in getting good or doing good.-From "The Family Book." F. A.

DECEIT

THERE is nothing in which some persons employ their talents and abilities more constantly than in deceit. But there is no abuse of them more flagrant and offensive in the eyes of God. It brings down His just anger upon the offender with a fearful weight of vengeance, when the powers of mind He has given to raise us above the brutes, to enable us to serve Him more nobly than they can, are employed in those vile arts of dissimulation and hypocrisy which He abhors. "A God of truth, and without iniquity; just and right is He:" and "He requireth truth in the inward parts," in those He has created and redeemed.

But what does He too generally discover in the hearts of men? Falsehood, treachery, deceit, and dissimulation. Men themselves are always discovering it in others; how much more does God see these things, who knows them in their very beginnings, in the imaginations of the thoughts of the heart? And it may be observed, that in nothing do men practise deceit more than in the most sacred of all subjects, that of religion. They profess in general the greatest respect and regard for it. They wish to appear to others truly impressed with a sense of its value and necessity, and besides this they desire to have it supposed that they worship and reverence God in their hearts; while they are at the same time in reality utterly careless and thoughtless of all His laws, and living unholy lives. They suppose that by fair professions they can deceive those who are interested in their welfare, especially their spiritual pastors; and they even sometimes deceive themselves, as well as others, into a mistaken belief of their uprightness. But our Saviour said, "Ye shall know them by their fruits;" and by their fruits they are generally to us made known. A false profession is soon discovered by the evil fruit it bears. The "bramble-bush cannot bring forth grapes," although

its blossom may be very bright and pretty. We must wait till the fruit appears, and then we know the sort of tree to which it belongs. Deceit in religion is generally revealed soon or late, even to the sight of men; but to God it never has a covering. To Him it is always plain and naked, in all its vile deformity, and folly, and wickedness. If He spares the disclosure of it for a time, it is only to make its final discovery more complete and fatal. What innumerable disclosures will be made at the last day, to the confusion of all deceivers! How many coverings of hypocrisy will then be torn away, leaving the wretched soul beneath them to the gaze and scorn of all the assembled multitudes! What will then be the gain or advantage of all the most plausible professions, kept up by the cleverest devices, and guarded from detection by the most diligent efforts of cunning and duplicity ?

Hypocrisy will have done nothing but enclose itself in a net from which there is no escape. It has written its own condemnation upon its forehead; for while it professed what was good, it showed that it knew what was good, while following and loving deceit. It has always been said that "hypocrisy is the homage which vice pays to virtue;" and this means that vice would not put on the appearance of virtue, unless it felt it was better and greater than itself. So it may be said to do a sort of homage, to kneel down before it, and do it reverence, when it puts on the appearance of being good, to deceive the world. The homage it will do however, at the last, will be of a much more humble and abject kind. Then it will crouch, as a slave, before the light of truth; and bow down to be condemned as one of the worst forms of human corruption. The more successful it has once been in deceiving, the more utter will be its defeat and confusion. The subtlety of the serpent is one of the deadliest of his crimes. If you, then, my reader, are cherishing this serpent in your bosom, even in one of its smallest forms, do not be deceived any longer into attempting to deceive. Be sure you are yourself the most deceived of all by every empty pretence, or vain boast and profession you make to the ear of man. You

are the dupe and victim of the serpent, while you are practising his art, and employing his subtlety for the purpose of blinding others. The simple-hearted and the unsuspecting, whom you are able for a time to practise upon, are not your dupes; for they are but standing by, while you are working out your own ruin and detection. You are yourself the one deluded and dishonoured; and upon you alone will the shame and contempt fall. Break forth and deliver yourself from the snare in which you are taken, before it becomes so tight and so multiplied that you cannot escape. Come forth into the light of truth before you forget, in the darkness you have thrown around you, the very nature of the truth itself. No one is it so easy to deceive as ourselves; and no one is so difficult to undeceive, when once blinded by our own devices. Attempt immediately to remember and realize the omnipresence of God's eye, and the power of His glance, which is always penetrating your inmost soul while you do not feel it. Practise the thought of this great truth, turning it in your mind, and looking at it in different shapes, until it takes possession of you. Live in the presence of God, till you cannot live without the remembrance of Him. Pray that you may have given you a feeling faith in Him, to make it impossible for you to attempt to conceal or to deceive again. Live in the light; and the arts of darkness cannot then be cultivated any more. No one would put on their disguise in the sight of the persons they intended to impose upon; and we are always in the sight of Him "with whom we have to do." If all men would remember this, that it is the all-seeing God" with whom they have to do," they would never practise hypocrisy or deceit any more. They think they have to do with man; they disbelieve in God; and this makes them do all "to be seen of men." "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of." E.

ANECDOTES OF SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

To illustrate the force of Christian principle, and how the rude Indian even is enabled thereby to overcome the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, I will

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mention one instance which has come to my knowledge. It frequently happens that, during the dry season, parties from George Town and the coast ascend the respective rivers in the colony, for the purpose of enjoying a pleasure trip at the falls. This, however, cannot be accomplished without the aid of Indians. On one of these occasions a party arrived at the grove where I resided, and hired the requisite number of hands. These were all members of our congregation, as there are no heathens permitted to live at the place. The gentlemen tried to persuade them to drink rum, and one of their number was made drunk in consequence. As soon as they returned he was accused of this, and, by sentence of his own people, excluded from the Holy Communion for the space of three months. He was truly sorry for what had happened, and, in consequence, was again admitted to the enjoyment of the Christian's privilege of coming to the Lord's table. The year following the same party arrived, wishing to engage the services of the people for the occasion; but not a single Indian was willing to go. One of the gentlemen came to me, and expressed his surprise at the refusal of the Indians; but, when he was told the reason, he promised that he would take care that such a thing should never happen again. Upon this, I conferred with some of them, and, at last, succeeded in persuading them to accept the offer, depending on the promise, that, instead of rum, as usual, sugar or molasses should be dealt out to them. When on their way to the rapids, the same gentleman tried to persuade the same Indian to drink but one glass of rum. "Did you not promise that you would give us sugar instead of rum?" he asked. "Why do you tempt me to get drunk?" The gentleman replied, "Oh, you refuse because you know the Dominie does not like your drinking rum; but you see that I, and all the rest of our company, take a glass of brandy; why should not you? Come, drink but one glass, and don't be afraid of the Dominie: he does not see you now." "I am not at all afraid of the Dominie," replied the Indian; "why should I? He does not see me, I know; but," pointing 2 The Indian's name for the missionary.

2

with his finger towards heaven, he added, "there is One that seeth me and you, and Him do I fear, but not the Dominie." The gentleman in question was silenced, and was much disconcerted at the remark the Indian had made. He had no pleasure in the trip, and the whole company returned sooner than had been expected. Although I have no reason to believe that the party, and more especially the individual to whom the answer was made, did profit by the circumstance, yet, of this I am sure, that they shall know that the word of that Indian was a message from the Lord to them. I should, probably, have never heard of this noble resistance of temptation, had not the same gentleman related it to me. It must be borne in mind, that drunkenness is the besetting sin of an Indian; and it may be surely inferred, therefore, that whenever he has strength to overcome it, it is by grace he is enabled to obtain the victory.

Speaking of his native congregation, Mr. Bernau, the missionary, writes: "I called the attention of the communicants to the custom of Christians in other countries, respecting the vessels used on the occasion of administering the Lord's Supper. Having spoken to them on the words of the Apostle, 'Let all things be done decently and in order,' I directed their attention to the propriety of procuring communion plate, observing, that I intended to get it as cheap as possible. After some conversation on the subject among themselves, they inquired, of what metal it was the custom to make the vessels? Having answered their questions, I observed that I thought of having them of pewter, as the cheapest material they could be made of. No, Dominie,' they exclaimed with one voice, 'let us have them of silver, and show our children that we have not received God's good word in vain!' 'But this will be a great expense to you, as I do not wish any to contribute towards this object but those who are members.' How much do you think it will cost?' 'At least 251.' 'Well, let us have them of silver.' Within a fortnight's time the members collected the money among themselves, and one of them brought the sum, and laid it on the table. There were at that time forty-eight communicants.