required elsewhere. His connection grounds on which Independency rests? If so, you cannot be said to hold these views on principle. You have taken them up loosely, and you will be prepared, at any time, to drop them. Should circumstances prompt, you will have no difficulty, at any day, in renouncing them, and stepping within the polluted fold of the Established Church. When you meet with parties opposed to these views, you will not only be unable to contribute to their illumination, but to defend your own position; and, it is just possible, may be led to embrace other and unscrip with the army and its chiefs commenced at the period when Colchester, and subsequently all Essex, surrendered to the Parliament. Fairfax made Coggeshall his head quarters, became acquainted with Owen, and induced him to become his chaplain. After this, Owen frequently preached before the army and the Parliament, proceeded with Cromwell in his expedition to Ireland and Scotland, returned to Coggeshall for a brief season, was appointed first to the deanery of Christ Church, and afterwards to the Vice-Chancellorship of Oxford, sur-tural notions, if presented to you with vived the Restoration, and died, full of honours, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, in August, 1683. As a man, a Christian, a preacher, a controversialist, a theologian, he has scarcely ever been surpassed. Notwithstanding the prominent place he occupied in the doings of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, his character passed unscathed through the scandals of the Restoration period, and few men have left behind a more illustrious name. Now, Young People, what say you to the case of Owen ? Have you examined the subject of the kingdom of God by the same test? Or have you received the matter traditionally, and without a careful consideration of the plausibility, and pressed upon you with the vigour which talents impart. There is great force in the words of Owen, in which he admonishes all to beware of examining the Word of God for themselves "who would avoid the danger of being made Independents" We know not that ever a higher compliment was paid to this form of Church Polity. The system is pitiful that will not bear examination conducted by the light of heaven ; and not less pitiful is the man who takes the highest matters upon hearsay, instead of using his own understanding to inquire, that he may form an independent judgment, and exercise an enlightened conscience. The Counsel Chamber. NEW YEAR'S DRINKING. THE Duke of Wellington, during the Peninsular War, heard that a large magazine of wine lay on his line of march. He feared more for his men from barrels of wine than batteries of cannon, and instantly despatched a body of troops to knock every wine barrel on the head. Christmas and the New Year we fear as much. Like him, we cannot remove the temptation-shut the dram-shop, and break the whisky-bottle-but we are sure that, unless you will be persuaded to avoid it, the return of such seasons will prove fatal to the life of some and the virtue of many. At no other season of the year does our town present sights so distressing and so disgusting. Well may Christians pray, and parents weep, and our churches be hung in black;-there are more young men and women ruined, more bad habits contracted, and more souls lost then, than at any other season of the year. We never see a man, or- -oh, shame! —a woman, with their whisky bottle and with their "happy new year," pressing drink upon others, without thinking of that old murderer Joab, when, taking Amasa by the beard, and saying, “Art thou in health, my brother?" he stabbed him under the fifth rib. You intend no ill. No more does the fool who casts firebrands, saying, "It is in sport,—it is in sport." You know that in thousands of cases these customs lead to ill, and issue in ruin. What unlooked-for mischief comes of the drinking customs, we saw a melancholy instance of but last Martinmas. Late in the evening of the day, after the term, a young woman knocked at our door. Her good clothes were all draggled in the mire, and the traces of the night's debauch were visible in an otherwise comely countenance. It was sad to see her, but sadder still her story. She rose on the morning before a decent servant, with wages, and character, and virtue, and self-respect, the respected child of respectable parents. She was afraid to face them; and now she stood, a lost, shameless creature, begging for pity and a shelter. and on her way to another met with some companions; they persuaded her to taste a little spirits, and then a little more, and still a little more, till, first maddened, and then stupified with drink, she became insensible, and woke to find herself robbed and ruined. What a revolution drink and these four-and-twenty hours had wrought in her history! It reminds us of a stone which our hand had loosened on the hill-top-first it moves a little, then, caught by a tuft of grass or bush of heather, it halts an instant, then moves again, and now begins to roll slowly, then quickly, then it flies, then it leaps madlike on, till at length it thunders down on some rock below, and is shivered into a hundred fragments. She had left her place, Twenty years ago, while a clergyman was sitting at his book on a beautiful summer afternoon, he heard a foot on the gravel, and saw the shadow of a passenger cast on the glossy leaves and beautiful flowers of a China rose-bush which served as his window-screen. The servant came to say that one calling himself an old college acquaintance was in the kitchen; and there, for he declined to enter the room, in old rusty black, out at the knees and elbows, with his head hanging down, stood a beggar-in whose haggard face he traced the features of one whom he had known as a most accomplished student, the pride of his parents and family, and once the envy of many. Degraded in his own eyes, he would not lift up his head, nor speak, nor stay, but, clutching at the offered charity, he hurried off-a man who might have adorned a pulpit, now a vagabond on the earth, cast off by all his friends, to die by a dike-side, and be laid, with no regrets, in a drunkard's year. We are not the enemies, but, on grave. But three weeks ago, on going up the High-street, a sudden start and the rapid turning away of a face, called my attention to one who had reached the lowest infamy. In her swollen and bloated features I recognised one whom I had known in better days, and had last seen when, five years ago, I prayed beside her mother's dying bed, in the garret-storey of a high tenement of the Cowgate. From her childhood she had been the widow's best earthly comfort-the little ewe-lamb of her bosom -and I have heard her mother, who blessed God for the fair opening of that flower, tell, with tears of joy in her eyes, how Mary sang her hymns, and with what power she prayed to God in their lonely home. Happily, now for her, the mother lies at rest in the Greyfriars Churchyard; but her Mary, who, from a Sabbath-school scholar had grown up into a Sabbath-school teacher, walks the High-street, another victim added to the thousands whose first fall often dates from these festive seasons-who begin with a glass and end with a bottle. the contrary, the friends of every recreation and amusement which can exhilarate the spirits, and give a tone of cheerfulness to the mind, and health to the body. These would help our cause instead of hindering it. In innocent sports, expeditions to the country, visits to museums, gardens, picture-galleries, public-buildings,-let such amusements be sought and enjoyed; but against drinking places and customs let every master warn his workmen-every mistress her servants-every man and mother their children. At this season let all be specially on their guard—their motto this:-"Touch not, Taste not, Handle not." Let the readers of this paper resolve to do what they can, by their example, influence, and advice, to stop this annual debauchery. Offer no spirits-refuse them when offered. "Be not partakers of other men's sins." "Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall." OUR BED-ROOMS. THEIR Small size and their lowness the case is rendered worse by close renders them very insalubrious; and windows and thick curtains and hangings, with which the beds are often so carefully surrounded as to prevent the Our larger towns are becoming a disgrace to Scotland; and our country, with its old character for piety and so- The consequence is, that we are breathpossibility of the air being renewed. briety hanging in threadbare rags upon ing vitiated air during the greater part its back, is becoming a disgrace to the of the night,—that is, during more than Empire. We have small hopes from a third part of our lives; and thus the period of repose, which is necessary for Justices of Peace or Members of Par- the renovation of our mental and bodily liament. If this evil is to be stopped, vigour, becomes a source of disease. -these waters dammed up and driven Sleep, under such substances, is very often disturbed, and always much less back,-it must be through the blessing refreshing than when enjoyed in a wellof God by you-the people themselves; ventilated apartment. It often hap and to you, therefore, we presume to pens, indeed, that such repose, instead make this appeal; the necessities of of being followed by renovated strength and activity, is succeeded by a degree the case are our apology. of heaviness and languor which is not We wish you, indeed, a happy new overcome till the person has been some bed-rooms during the night, and she will be able to account for the more healthy appearance of her children, which is sure to be the consequence of supplying them with pure air to breathe.-Sir James Clark. HOW TO GET SLEEP. How to get sleep is to some persons a time in a purer air. Nor is this the only evil arising from sleeping in illventilated apartments. When it is known that the blood undergoes most important changes in its circulation through the lungs, by means of the air which we breathe, and that these vital changes can only be effected by the respiration of pure air, it will be easily understood how the healthy functions of the lungs must be impeded by inhaling, for many successive hours, the vitiated air of our bed-rooms, and how the health must be as effectually destroyed by respiring impure air, as by living on unwholesome or innutritious food. In the case of children and young persons predisposed to consumption, it is of still more urgent conseful. quence that they should breathe pure Let such rise and chafe the body air by night as well as by day, by seand extremities with a brush or towel, curing a continuous renewal of the air or rub smartly with the hands, to proin their bed-rooms, nurseries, schools, mote circulation, and withdraw the &c. Let a mother, who has been made excessive amount of blood from the anxious by the sickly looks of her chil- brain, and they will fall asleep in a dren, go from pure air into their bedA cold bath, or a room in the morning, before a door or sponge bath and rubbing, or a good window has been opened, and remark run, or a rapid walk in the open air, the state of the atmosphere,-the close, or going up or down stairs a few times, oppressive, and often fœtid odour of just before retiring, will aid in equalthe room,-and she may cease to won-izing circulation and promoting sleep. der at the pale, sickly aspect of her children. Let her pay a similar visit, some time after means have been taken, by the chimney ventilator or other ways, to secure a full supply and continual renewal of the air in the few moments. These rules are simple and easy of The Fragment Basket. PRAYER AND DANCING. The following anecdote strikingly illustrates the strength of maternal love, the beauty of faith, and the efficacy of prayer. It was related by a blind preacher : "When I was about eighteen years of age, there was a dancing party at Middleborourgh, Massachusetts, which I was solicited to attend, and act, as usual, in the capacity of musician. I was fond of such scenes of amusement then, and I readily assented to the request. I had a pious mother; and she earnestly remonstrated against my going. But, at length, when all her expostulations and earnest entreaties failed in changing my purpose, she said, 'Well, my son, I shall not forbid your going, but remember, all the time I shall spend in praying for you at home.' I went to the ball, but I was like a stricken deer carrying an arrow in my side. I began to play; but my convictions sank deeper and deeper, and I felt miserable indeed. I thought I would have given worlds to have been rid of that mother's prayers. At one time I felt so wretched and so overwhelmed with my feelings, that I ceased playing and dropped my musical instrumentfrom my hand: There was another young person there who refused to dance; and, as I learned, her refusal was owing to feelings similar to my own, and perhaps they arose from a similar cause. My mother's prayers were not lost. That was the last ball I ever attended, except one, where I was invited to play again; but went and prayed and preached instead, till the place was converted into a Bochim, a place of weeping. The convictions of that night never wholly left me, till they left me at the feet of Christ, and several of my young com. panions in sin ere long were led to believe the Gospel also." THE IN-DWELLING WORD. Many blessed consequences flow from having the words of Scripture in the memory. We cannot always have our Bibles in our hands; especially if our calling leads us to manual labour. When you walk by the way, good thoughts will be promoted, and evil thoughts will be shut out by some good word of God turned over in the mind. Choose your text in the morning with this view. When you are at work, you may derive unspeakable profit and comfort from ruminating on some savoury promise. It may, by the blessing of God, do you as much good as a sermon. When you are at prayer, texts of Scripture in the memory will aid your devotion, by awakening right feelings, suggesting seasonable requests, and prompting to suitable expressions. Thus you join "the Word of God and prayer." When you retire to rest, or lie awake during the night-watches, or sit beside the sick or dying, you may taste the sweetness of many a gracious promise, and may say, "In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul." When you are in pain, fear, sorrow, or sudden peril, one verse of the Bible may be like a star to the benighted mariner. Oh, be persuaded to make it a part of every day's duty, to commit to memory at least one new verse; and fail not to store up like treasures in the minds of your beloved children. YOUTHFUL NEGLECT. Walter Scott, in a narrative of his personal history, gives the following caution to youth: "If it should ever fall to the lot of youth to peruse these pages, let such readers remember that it is with the deepest re-ret that I recollect in my manhood the opportunities of learning which I neglected in my youth; that through every part of my literary career I have felt pinched and hampered by my own ignorance; and I would at this moment give half the reputation I have had the good fortune to acquire, if, by doing so, I could rest the remaining part upon a sound foundation of learning and science." NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS. Question-Who is the lightest man in the world? Answer-The Frenchman. Who is the heaviest ?-The German. Who is the most serious?—The Englishman. Who is the most vivacious?—The Swiss. Who is the proudest?—The Spaniard. Who is the most humble?-The Russian. Who is the most enterprising?—The Pole. Who is the laziest ?-The Turk. Who is the widest awake ?-The American. Who is the sleepiest?-The Hottentot. Who has all these virtues and vices mixed together ?—The Italian. "THINKETH NO EVIL." If you want an enemy, choose the person, and expect him to be one; if he is now your friend, ten to one if you do not, sooner or later, realize your expectations. But, on the other hand, if you take a man to be friendly, ten to one if he does not become so. Take for your motto, "Thinketh no evil." |