them away; and whether they may not regard any national scourge as partly brought down by their own particular sins, which they have lived in for many years, and which are now at length visited by Divine displeasure and vengeance.

While, therefore, we diligently use the good counsel given us for avoiding the second causes of disease, let us feelingly remember that the first cause is in His hands who looketh on the heart," and "ruleth all things after the counsel of his own will." A praying and repentant people will not usually be a people cut off by the scourge of God, although it is indeed true, that all men are "born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards." It delights the Almighty to display his Divine compassion and faithfulness to all who turn to Him; and He has said, "Call upon me in the time of trouble, so will I hear thee, and thou shall praise me." Have we truly called upon Him yet from our hearts, to avert the dreadful disease which cuts short men's lives by a few hours of intense suffering, leaving them not a moment for their being converted to their God? If not, let no time be lost before every Christian who reads these lines falls down before his heavenly Father, in especial supplication, to implore Him for Jesus Christ's sake to turn this Providence to good to himself and all the nation, and to spare their lives. Prove the sincerity of your belief in His being alone the Author of life and health, by asking of His mercy this act of grace and favour, with the same earnestness as you would supplicate an earthly friend to spare you any severe affliction or loss you feel to be immediately and heavily pressing upon you. If you will not thus resort to God in danger or trouble, you show the truest evidence that your faith is not in your heart. If you trust chiefly to the physician, or to the human precautions which are so useful in their place, but so powerless against the Divine determination, you are settling into the state of an unbeliever, who knows not God. But if we refuse to trust in human means while diligently using them, and place our hope in Him who so graciously promises safety to His people, we shall have no fear of this deadly malady to the body, nor be

willing to live in that dreadful state of ungodliness of heart which itself is "death."

E.

A FACT.

It is surprising how many parents who otherwise take great pains with their children's education, are careless as to the companions they choose. A little boy named Harry Dodd one day said to his father, "Please to give me my dinner quickly, for Jack Hardcastle is going to take me somewhere.' His father, who knew the latter to be a bad boy, instead of asking where he was going, merely said, "Mind Jack does not lead you into danger! !" Harry, having finished his dinner, went with Jack, who took him and Sam Stoker to rob Mr. Butler's garden, forgetting that the garden was overlooked by the sitting-room windows. But while committing their depredations, they were observed by Mr. Butler's servant, who immediately went and seized them, and sent for a policeman, who took them to the watchhouse and locked them up for a few hours; but Jack having the audacity to repeat his offence the next day, they were all taken before the magistrates, who sentenced them to six months' imprisonment, which punishment would have been carried into execution, had not Mr. Butler begged them off. Now all this might have been avoided, if Harry Dodd's father, instead of permitting his child to go with a bad boy, had steadily refused to let him accompany him, remembering the Apostle's assertion, that Evil communications corrupt good manners." Boys little think how much punishment they deserve when stealing apples, eggs, fruit, and other small articles, but even should they escape detection in this world, there is one who sees all their actions, and will not let them go unpunished in the next. It was in consideration of their future good, that Mr. Butler had them taken up; had he overlooked their fault, they might have gone on from one thing to another, and have ended their days on the gallows; whereas, being found out on their first offence, and punished for it, we trust they may turn from their evil ways. M. J.

"WHERE SHALL I GO LAST OF ALL?"

MANY of the heathen priests teach their followers, that the soul, after it has worn out one body, passes into another. They say, if a person has not attended to the worship of the gods, or neglected the priests, then his soul, at death, will go into a deformed and afflicted body; or, if he has given much money to the idol temples, then he shall be again born into the world, of a beautiful form, and shall be rich and happy. A soul, they say, may pass into the body of a bird, beast, or insect; and be punished in its new state for the sins of a previous one: so that it may dwell in a buffalo, or a butterfly, a fierce tiger, or a gentle dove, according to its character in this life. And after many millions of changes, the highest state of perfection will be when it passes into the body of a white elephant!

A Hindoo was lying upon his bed, expecting soon to die. He was full of thought where his soul would go after death. He had been wholly given to idolatry, and now he felt he was not happy. A priest came to see him, when the dying man cried, "What will become of me?" Oh," said the priest, "you will inhabit another body." "And where," said he, "shall I go then?" "Into another." "And where then ?" "Into another; and so on, through thousands of millions." The mind

of the man darted across the whole period of changes, as though it were only an instant, and cried, "Where shall

I

go then?" The priest could not reply; and the unhappy idolater died, with no one near him to answer his anxious inquiry, "Where shall I go last of all?"

Beasts live, die, and are no more; but man wili live for ever. If we, in a Christian land, ask, Where shall we go when we die? the answer is found in the Bible"After death, the judgment" (Heb. ix. 27). Then, if it shall be found that we believed in Jesus, and loved Him for dying on the cross to take away our sins, we shall go to heaven. If we did not believe in Him, and did not obey Him, then we shall go into the place prepared for the devil and his angels. "The wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Matt. xxv. 46).

A little Burman girl was near death, and looking up

to a kind lady, who was her teacher, she said, “I am dying, but am not afraid to die; for Christ will call me up to heaven. He has taken away all my sins, and I wish to die now, that I may go and see Him. I love Jesus more than any one else."

What made the difference between the little Burman girl and the dying Hindoo? One had heard the Gospel from the lips of the missionaries, and had received it into her heart; therefore, she knew she was going to see Jesus, and be with Him for ever: the other lived and died an idolater, and there was no one that could answer his mournful cry, "Where shall I go last of all?"

A young South Sea islander (says a missionary) came loitering about my house in an unusual way. Knowing him to be one of the baser sort, I said, "Friend, have you any business with me?" Tears gushed into his eyes, and he could hardly speak at first: at length he replied, "You know I am a wicked man. Shame covers my face and holds me back. To-day I have broke through all fear. I want to know is there room for me? Can I expect mercy?" When asked how such thoughts came into his mind, he replied, "I was at work, putting up my garden fence. Greatly wearied, I sat down on a little bank to rest, and said within myself, All this great garden, and death for my soul! all this great property, and death for ever! Oh, what shall I do?"" This made him unhappy; and he resolved he would go to the missionary, that he might learn how he could find the way to a better world, where there is no death. From this time he listened to the missionary, and at length became a pious man.

Like the poor Hindoo and South Sea islander, the heathen are unhappy; for they are ignorant of the eternal state to which they are all passing: they know not that Jesus Christ "hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel" (2 Tim. i. 10). Oh, that they soon may hear the joyful sound!

A SOBER VILLAGE.

WHEN the Rev. Mr. Daker entered on the curacy of Smalton, he was much pleased with his village, and felt

thankful for so agreeable a beginning of his ministry, -for this was his first charge. He soon saw, moreover, to his great comfort and encouragement, that the poor people were much pleased when he visited them at their houses; and that they listened attentively to any thing he said, on such subjects as a minister of religion would think it good to call their attention to. He was also much pleased to see that the church was well filled, and that the worshippers were exceedingly orderly and attentive, joining in the service, kneeling at the prayers, and listening with great attention to the lessons read, and the sermons preached. They seemed to understand what they were doing, and anxious to gain knowledge on the great concerns of religion. They were also particularly quiet, and respectful in their general behaviour; and they seemed to have found out that quarrelling, and fighting, and drinking, brought on nothing but misery; and they seemed to enjoy the quiet and comfort of home. Their wives, indeed, tried to make every thing comfortable for them, and so they had no need to go to the alehouse, or any where else, by way of passing their time pleasantly. The village was as pleasant and agreeable a place as any body could wish to live in.

It is not, however, to be supposed that every person in the place was fully and strongly impressed with that holy devotedness to God, to which the Christian is called, and which makes his preparation for eternity; but there was a regularity and order, and a general regard for what was good; and a comfort among the people, and a general steadiness and soberness which made this place what would be generally called a happy village. The great family at the Hall, and especially the young ladies, often took their walks into the village, and called and sat with the cottagers; and the farmers too were very kind to their labourers, and the labourers seemed to be happy and thankful. What struck Mr. Daker the most was, that there was hardly such a thing as a drinking man in the place; and the men had, therefore, more money to lay out in their comforts at home; and there was no look of misery and dirt and poverty within their houses. There were indeed one or two drinking men, and you