Conscience, awaken'd to forebodings dire,
Suggests th' undying worm, the lake of fire:
Brings to remembrance means and mercies past,
All unimproved, and turn'd to wrath at last.
The spoiler, death, disarms the man of might,-
Nerveless he falls, unequal to the fight.
Unlike to him the warrior Christian dies,-
Victorious e'en in death, his soul shall rise,
Potent in Him who, stronger than the grave,
Did e'en the King of Terrors well outbrave:
Rising triumphant from the bed of death,
Sin, Satan, Hell, He trampled underneath!
Ascended Lord! to Thee, with bended knee
And prostrate heart, I yield my soul to Thee!
Spurn not the offering, made in thine own Name,
Thy Name of love-love evermore the same.
Accept this late surrender to Thy will,
And though unworthiest, O receive me still.
Within my inmost heart, inscribe Thy law,
And let me from Thy fulness succours draw;
Unable as I am to raise a thought

To Thee, much less to serve Thee as I ought.
Infuse Thy grace, conform my will to thine,
That I in holiness of life may shine.
Each vile affection from my soul erase,
Let all my future conduct speak Thy praise :-
Thy praise, by whose kind providential hand,
On Britain's favour'd Christian isle I stand.
And who made me to differ from the rest,
Who walk in nature's ignorance unblest?
To Thee, my God, ascrib'd be all the praise,
To Thee I yield the remnant of my days.
Be it my shame and bitter constant grief,
That I so long stood firm in unbelief.
But since in mercy Thou dost smile on me,
And from sin's iron bondage set me free,-
A willing service may I render, Lord,
And walk in truth according to thy word.
Firm in temptation may my faith remain,
Nor aught prevail to risk my soul again;
The passions mortified, corruptions curb'd,-
Trust in my Saviour's merit, undisturb'd.
When adverse waves of sorrow break my rest,
May I recline, submissive, on His breast.'
Or, should the sun of this world's comfort shine,
And my life's cup run o'er with oil and wine,
May every gift in God's own work be spent,
And to His praise by whom they all were sent.
And when this changing scene of joy and woe,
That mix alternate in our course below,
Glides from my mortal view, and life flows fast ;-
To rise from death, and see my Lord at last,—

Be this my glorious portion, this my prayer,

To hymn redeeming love for ever there!

S. B.

SHORT REFLECTIONS ON THE PARABLES OF OUR LORD.THE TEN VIRGINS.

MATT. XXV. 1-13.

THE custom in the East, at marriages, was that the bridegroom should conduct his bride home in the evening with great pomp and rejoicing, while young girls came out to meet them, bearing lamps. Our Saviour uses this custom to illustrate the foolishness of those who make no preparation for the future life, which is of such infinitely greater importance than the present one! He represents the bridegroom as being expected by ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet him. This typifies the second coming of the Son of Man, and the expectant attitude of his Church. Five of these virgins took their lamps, and had provided a sufficiency of oil to keep them lighted for a long time; the other five contented themselves with the present light, and thought not of replenishing it. Thus many worldly minds are perfectly satisfied, if they attend to a few of the ordinances of God's word, go regularly to church, and do a few works of mercy; not considering that their own efforts, without God's assistance, are as nothing, and that they must constantly pray for daily supplies of His grace to keep the flame of godliness alive in their hearts. While the virgins waited for the bridegroom they all slept; the wise and foolish alike go down into the grave, until the last trumpet awakes them from their slumbers. "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." The awful sound startled the sleepers, and all arose to examine their lamps. But, alas! those who had made no provision of oil found their lamps extinguished, and applied to their companions to give them some of their oil. At the last day the horror of those will be great, who, when they stand before the Judge of all the earth, have only the insufficient oil of their own righteousness and their own good works, to keep their lamp burning. They may apply to their happier com

panions, but they will apply in vain ; on earth they might have learnt from them to walk in "the way of righteousness," but now it will be too late; and as they have died so must they remain.

While the foolish virgins went to buy more oil for their lamps, the bridegroom arrived, and took those with him to the marriage who were ready, and the door was shut the door of grace was for ever closed. After a short time the others came and applied for admittance, but were peremptorily refused it. Does not this show us how necessary it is to prepare for our great change now, "while it is called to-day?" Remember, "the night cometh, when no man can work ;" we shall all lie silent in the grave till the morning of the resurrection; and let us think what would be our feelings then, when we see the Lord Jesus-Him whose righteousness we have rejected and despised on earth, and whose grace we have trodden under foot, coming in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels! We shall then see those of our friends who have trusted in the all-powerful blood of the Redeemer, greeted by Him, and conducted to the mansions which He has prepared for them; and, awful thought! we ourselves not only shut out, and for ever denied admittance into those blissful regions, but condemned to outer darkness, and everlasting fire, with the devil and his angels. "Watch therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." Let us strive and pray earnestly that this may not be the melancholy fate of ourselves, or any who are dear to us; let us cast away the filthy rags of our own righteousness, and clothe ourselves with the pure and spotless robe of Christ's righteousness, trusting to His atoning blood alone for our admittance to the marriage supper of the Lamb; and let us pray, earnestly and fervently pray, for larger supplies of grace, to love our God and Saviour better and better, and to trust in Him more and more; so that in the resurrection we may not be among those who awake" to shame and everlasting contempt," but among the happy little flock to whom it is their Father's good pleasure to give the kingdom.

X. Y. Z.

MR. EDITOR,

ALL SAINTS' DAY.

As the Church Missionary Jubilee was fixed to be held on the 1st of November, which is the anniversary of All Saints' Day, perhaps some of your readers may wish to know something more respecting it. This festival of All Saints' Day was retained at the Reformation, with the intention of commemorating, generally, those holy persons of whom no particular mention was made, and to celebrate whom, individually, the days of the whole year would not suffice. It was originally instituted in the year 607, when the Pantheon was taken from the heathen, and devoted, by a solemn consecration to the Christian service, and dedicated to the Virgin and All Saints, as it had, in its ancient state, been appropriated to the worship of all gods'. The period of celebrating the festival was changed to this day by Gregory IV. in 835, to avoid the inconvenience of so many persons, as usually attended its celebration, being taken from their daily and necessary occupations till the harvest was got in, and rural labours ended. Sent by H.

THE CHOLERA.

We have not yet addressed our readers on the subject of this dreadful disease, beyond giving a few precautions, which have been always found of great importance in guarding against it. It is but lately that it has come to these kingdoms; and even now we are so mercifully spared by Almighty God, that it has not spread among us in the same fearful manner, as in most other countries

1 When churches were first dedicated to certain Saints or to the Virgin Mary, it was not intended that these holy persons should be worshipped, but GOD only. Afterwards, indeed, the shocking corruption of paying worship to the creature crept into the Roman Church. But we, in retaining the names of Saints in connexion with our churches, and in keeping days in honour of them, merely maintain the older practice of remembering them for the sake of their good examples, that we may learn to follow them as they followed Christ.

which it has visited. In the most crowded parts of the two capital cities of Britain only, has it yet made any progress; and even there, the number of cases has been fewer than might have been reasonably expected from former experience-much fewer than might have been feared from the state of the population, and, above all, from what our sins deserve at the hands of God. We

do not, of course, wish to speak of it as an evil past and gone, for it is yet in the midst of us, and at any moment may break out violently and fatally in every part of the land. But while we are aware of our danger, let us also be thankful that it has not come down upon us with that sudden violence which has often been known elsewhere as its great terror. We have time given us, with the evidence that it is very near, to consider quietly the subject of a national plague such as we justly deserve; that we may both take all reasonable precautions which are taught us by science and experience, and may entreat our heavenly Father to mitigate and turn away the instrument of His chastisement, before it strikes one common blow at all our homes and families.

Every reader of his Bible is aware of the value of prayer to God against those disasters to which we are liable; and how often He has heard the supplications of His people when they have cried to Him in their distress! If we regard properly our sinful and defenceless state, we shall be in distress for our unworthiness and danger; and if we are timely disposed thus to repent of the evil of our doings, and to turn heartily to God, our prayers will be heard, and His mercy and faithfulness will be displayed as they have always been in years past. The sin and evil most to be feared is that cold and obstinate indifference to the voice of Providence when calling us, as a nation, to repentance, which prevails too generally; and which we all ought, in our several stations, to endeavour to rebuke, and to show by our example an opposite and better spirit.

The repentance of a nation is made up of that of individual persons; and all should look first and most of all to their own souls, to see whether they are prepared to meet their God, if He should now be pleased to call VOL. XXVIII.

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