paralyse the best affections of our nature, as pecuniary embarrassments. The sun may shine, the face of the earth smile with peace and plenty, the birds sing, and the flowers yield their sweetest perfumes, but the soul of the man who is in debt is dark and cheerless. The voice of affection may appeal in tones of kindest sympathy to his heart, and perhaps impart a momentary gleam of hope or comfort, but it will quickly pass away. True, as we make our couch, so must we lie; as we sow, so shall we reap-'tis a just and righteous retribution; but the quality of mercy is not strained; and who can observe the miserable and forsaken, struggling with adversity, and, if he can do no more, not feel pity for his sufferings? Mark his pale cheek, his sunken eye, his haggard look; he was once gay and brave, and as blooming as thyself, his eye as bright, his brow as unclouded as thine own -he began life without a care, had an open heart for all, and did not lack the means that ensure many friends; he abounded, indeed, in all the world most prizes; but wanted that which is beyond all other things valuable-wisdom; and those who know him best may, when the grave has closed over him and all his troubles, think that his faults, though many, were errors rather of the understanding than the heart.

The borrower is servant to the lender. Debt is, to some extent, degradation. Young man, think of it! When the poverty is self-created through wanton waste, and culpable improvidence, to degradation is added the sting of remorse. He cannot respect himself, nor will he long

retain the respect of others. Even his inferiors of whom he borrows will despise him.

HUMBLE TOIL ENCOURAGED. WHO does the most good? This question is not easily answered. Such men as Luther, and Wesley, and Edwards, and Wilberforce, and Howard, are prominent among the great workers in the world. But who knows that they really excelled thousands of others whose names have never been mentioned in history? They never could have done the work they did alone. They stood upon others' shoulders. They were made prominent by the circumstances around them; and perhaps their success depended more upon the agency of unknown persons than upon their own power.

The reformer who rides upon the wave of victory is properly remembered with reverence; but the men who have prepared the way, who have worked and moulded the thoughts and aspirations of the people, who have laid the foundation, when God and conscience only cheered them on ward in their efforts, should not be forgotten. Sometimes the pastor, the parents, the Sunday-school teachers, educate, train, and discipline a whole community, permeate all hearts with reverence for the Gospel, and instruct them in the claims of God, the duty of man, and the scheme of mercy which Christ established. By-and-by, a man of zeal and power comes along and gathers these prepared people into the kingdom, and henceforth he is regarded as the chief instrument in their conversion. He is certainly

worthy of grateful remembrance; yet he has very likely done less to bring about this happy result than most of the other labourers. They have worked without the stimulus of an immediate harvest in prospect; they have toiled daily, weekly, constantly, for years; they have ploughed, and sowed, and cultured, and weeded, and watched, and really have done nine-tenths of the work of conversion, and much the harder part of it; and in the great day of revelation it will appear that those who receive the least honour among men, are worthy of the largest praises. We are too liable to esteem that the greatest, which causes the greatest commotion, excitement, and noise. That which grows slowly, grows strong and large. The mightiest forest trees are those which are slow

growth. The wealth and beauty, the perpetuity and vigour of the material world, depend much more upon silent, concealed, modest forces, than upon the impetuous, rapid, explosive, terrific and violent.

We have often been pained to wit

ness the discontent of persons in humble life. They desire to do something valuable, make their mark, leave an impression, and are constantly bemoaning their limited sphere of action. If they could stand before public assemblies, sit in the chair of State, write books for the million, then they think they would be doing something worthy of mention. But to move in the family circle, to live in private, to be obscure and unknown, is to them exceedingly disheartening. But if the realities of life were better understood, they would not be discontented. They work at the root, at the heart, at the sources of personal and social life; they bend the twigs, direct the course of the primitive currents, and thus mould the full-grown life of society. In social life everything depends upon the subsoil; keep that rich, dry, and mellow, and the fruits and grains will grow in glorious exuberance. But when that is cold, wet, and hard, the crop will be meagre, withered, worthless, and weeds and brambles will possess the field.

SIE-The public are much indebted to you for your occasional exposures of the evils of tobacco. The subject is far more serious than at first sight might appear. It is a chief branch of social morals. Dr. Cooke, of Trinity-square, a well-known physician, at a meeting lately held, moved the following resolution :"That as tobacco, in any of its forms use, appears both physically and

of

mentally injurious in its tendency, the meeting cordially unites in the object of this Society." He was glad, he said, to have that opportunity of bearing his testimony against the evils of the prevalent practice of using tobacco. As to snuff, there was, he admitted, something apparently agreeable in handing about a snuff-box; but let every one who had not acquired the habit beware

lest he should thus be led into it permanently. A few years ago, while delivering one of a course of popular lectures at an institution where persons were trained for the ministry, in order to show the injurious effects of snuffing he referred to the anatomy of the nose, and pointed out what must be the effects produced by the passing of a quantity of tobacco into the gullet. When he had concluded, one of the students said to him, that if Dr. So-and-Soa man of great learning and piety, who was an inveterate smoker, had been present-he would not have used such language. Shortly after, he mentioned this to the gentleman himself, who replied, "However strong may have been the language used by you in denouncing the habit, I should have fully concurred in it; I abhor myself almost in dust and ashes, that it has gained such an ascendancy over me."

Sir, I commend these important testimonies to your youthful readers, in the hope that neither my labour nor your type will be thrown away. A FRIEND OF YOUTH.

NECESSITY OF DECISION. SIR,-Having for threescore years very largely mixed with society, I have seen much of young men, and marked the effect of decision and its opposite. I have found it an element in all success; and the opposite, a frequent cause of failure.

Decision is an admirable trait in the character of a young man. Το the faintest whisper of error-to the sweetest smile of guilt-to the softest touch of sin-be decided in your re

sistance. What if jovial companions put the glass to your lips? R determined to resist temptation. A decided negative, at the first approach of sin, wins half the victory. írresolution has paved the highway of life with thorns and briars, and clothed the skies with sackcloth. It has whitened the regions of death with the bones of those who have perished by yielding to the demands of sin. Be decided, and you will be safe.

Still, we must discriminate; other qualities may affect a man's position in life. "I confess," says a thoughtful writer, "that increasing years bring with them an increasing respect for men who do not succeed in life, as those words, 'unsuccessful men,' are commonly used. Ill success sometimes arises from a conscience too sensitive, a taste too fastidious, a self-forgetfulness too romantic, a modesty too retiring. I will not go so far as to say, with a living poet, that the world knows nothing of its greatest men; but there are forms of greatness, or at least of excellence, which 'die and make no sign;' there are martyrs that miss the palm, but not the stake; heroes without the laurel, and conquerors without the triumph."

Granting the truth of all this, closely examined, it will be seen that what is here wanted is decision. fair infusion of that quality would have set all right. Recommending to all young people Foster's "Essay on Decision,"

I remain, yours, GRANDFATHER.

AN address has just been issued by the Jews living in the Papal territory to their brethren in the rest of Europe. This touching document is headed thus:-"The Israelites in slavery in the Papal States to the Israelites in freedom dwelling in other parts of Europe," and in the following terms describes the paternal Government which our fellowsubjects in Ireland are clamouring to uphold:

"It has for its sole object to exercise capriciously and despotically a power which neither knows nor accepts any limit, and stifles-by scaffolds, by tortures, by the pillory, by bastinadoing, by the galleys, by imprisonment, by banishments, by criminal warrants, by the mysterious terrors of the police and Inquisition, and by every species of the most atrocious vexation-every legitimate want, every generous aspiration, and every just demand of the people; it combats alike all progress, opposes railways, telegraphs, the enlargement of harbours, the construction and restoration of the highways, the drainage of unhealthy marshes, the bringing into cultivation of waste land; it crushes intelligence, reviles the results of science and of civilisation, idolises ignorance and superstition, despises agriculture, combats industry, and annihilates commerce, and thus reigns over 3,000,000 of men whom it considers and treats as slaves."

Of their own lot the Romish Jews say:

"No one raised ever, on our behalf, an official and powerful word. Yet we, too, are men like all the rest, created after the likeness of the Supreme God. We do not engage in conspiracies, we are patient, we observe these monstrous laws, and notwithstanding, we are persecuted with Satanic acts and with a refinement of cruelty."

Such is the testimony of the ancient people of God to the spirit of Popery which is pressed on them as alone true Christianity! Is it wonderful if they shudder at the name?

GARIBALDI ON POPERY. THIS eminent man, whose praise is now in all lips, has given us his opinion of Popery. In reply to the students of the University of Pavia, he lately said:-"Some headstrong men wish to plunge our country again in the mire; they endeavour to prevent the work of our resurrection. They disregard the sublime maxims of Christ, and form compacts with powerful men to enslave Italy; they have gratified their thirst for blood by frightful executions, and they would repeat them if they were not restrained by the good sense of nations. In the midst of Italy, at its very heart, there is a cancer called Popery-an imposture called Popery. Yes, young men,

we still have a formidable enemy, the more formidable because it exists among the ignorant classes, where it rules by falsehood; because it is sacrilegiously covered with the cloak of religion. Its smile is the smile of Satan. This enemy, young

men, is the priest! the priest, with few exceptions, &c."

This is a noble testimony borne by Italy's most distinguished son. Who can but rejoice in the matchless influence he exerts throughout his native land?

ALL pledging apart, the governing principle of every Christian household should be total abstinence from strong drink. For the promotion of health and beauty, nothing is comparable to cold water. Nay, for the severest toil, it is preferable to all liquor. This has been proved times without number: a striking example came recently to hand.

In the early part of the year, the 84th regiment marched by wings from Madras to Secunderabad, a distance of between 400 and 500 miles. They were forty-seven days on the road, and during this time the men were, practically speaking, teetotallers. Previous to leaving Madras, subscriptions were made among the men, and a coffee establishment was organized. Every morning, when the tents were struck, a pint of hot coffee and a biscuit were ready for each man, instead of the early morning dram, which soldiers on the march in India almost invariably take. Half way on the day's march the regiment halted, and another pint of coffee was ready for any man who wished it. The regimental canteen was opened only at ten and twelve o'clock for a short time, but the men did not frequent it, and the

daily consumption of arrack for one wing was only two gallons and a few drams per diem, instead of twenty-seven gallons, which was the daily Government allowance. The commanding officer employed the most judicious precautions to prevent the men from obtaining arrack in the villages on the route, and his exertions were effectively seconded by the zealous co-operation of the other officers, and by the admirable conduct of the majority of the men, who were fully persuaded of the noxious influence of ardent spirits during exercise in the sun. The results of this water system were shortly these: during the whole march, the regiment had not a single prisoner for drunkenness; although the road is proverbial for cholera and dysentery, and passes through several unhealthy and marshy districts, the men were free from sickness to an extent absolutely unprecedented in our marches in India; they had no cholera and no fever, and lost only two men by dysentery, both of whom were old chronic cases taken out of hospital at Madras. With these exceptions, there was scarcely a serious case during the whole march. The officers were surprised