Poor Mary! how tremblingly did she receive God's word by the mouth of his minister; and when the service was ended, how humbly and dejectedly did she seek her home! She thought often on what she had heard, and felt dissatisfied and sad. Her husband, who had been long accustomed to drown all unwelcome thoughts in the forgetfulness produced by intoxication, urged her to go with him to the public-house; but this she resolutely declined. She had learned that the wages of sin is death, and reflection told her, that in her own case the way of sin had proved the way of misery. Again the Thursday evening came round, and the bell called the worshippers to the house of prayer, and again Mary joined with the assembly. From that time, whenever the doors were opened for service, there she might be found. And the Lord gradually opened her mind, and taught her by his Spirit, and gently led her to come and cast her burden of sin on the Lord Jesus, who has said to the tried and sorrowing, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." One day the clergyman preached from those words of the psalmist, "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." It was a sermon which Mary could never forget. She determined that henceforth her trust should be in him only; she prayed that her weak faith might be strengthened, and that God would fit her for those duties, to the performance of which she now felt herself to be called. She did put her trust in God; and when she prayed, "Lord, keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me," the Lord granted that request. A change soon came in the once wretched home. Mary read the Scriptures daily. She read there that God commands his children to provide for their own households; to be sober; to be not slothful in business; to train up their children in the way they should go; not to neglect the assembling of themselves together for public worship; to search the Scriptures; to love God, and to love their neighbour as themselves. She had never before felt that these things were her duty. Now she strove diligently to follow all the commandments of God, from love to the Saviour who had done so much for her. She took her children regu larly to the house of God, and sent them to the Sunday-schools; and she felt a deep, an earnest anxiety, that her husband should forsake the ways of the foolish, and live. With frequent words of tenderness she urged him to accompany her on Sundays to the church; and there he learned, too, as she had done, to love and serve God. He forsook the habits of vice, became sober and industrious; and the once miserable family were now clothed, and fed, and taught, and their humble fireside became a happy one. Who can say what present and future good may not have been effected by the change wrought in Mary? Who shall tell where it may end? Children's children, and generations yet unborn, may, through this event, have received countless blessings. The eternity of good is a delightful thought, and may well stimulate us all to work heartily in God's cause. One soul is converted-one profligate person called from darkness into light; and then, through his means, others are induced to walk in the ways of God: and so the good may go on and on through untold ages. The first good may seem but as a grain of sand, but it may roll onwards, and gather as it goes, until it is as the great mountain. The family of whom this account is given are living now. Worldly circumstances have prospered they are respectably situated in life, the parents keeping a shop in the same town in which they have always lived, and maintaining their family in comfort; their children are rising up to call them blessed, and, beyond their home on earth, they are looking to those mansions in heaven which God has prepared for those who love him. Mary one day remarked to a lady who had long known her, “Oh, ma'am, God has opened my heart! how different are my feelings from what they once were! what a miserable life was I leading! now mine is indeed a happy one." Her leisure time is now spent in visiting the sick, and poor, and afflicted, and in endeavouring to bring the drunkard and the sinner into the fold of God. A change of character like this is a grand testimony to the truth of the Bible; and it is a testimony which may be marked by all. We have large and valuable works on the evidences of Scrip ture; and all that learning could do has come in aid of these evidences. The historian has brought forward the records of ages to show us how the prophecies of holy writ have received their literal fulfilment in the rise and fall of nations, in the desolation of great kingdoms, in the ruins of proud cities, in the dispersion of the Jews, and in the barren condition of the once fertile Palestine. Learning and talent have been employed to show how the words of Scripture have proved themselves, and how completely that sentiment of holy writ is verified, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." God has greatly blessed the labours of good men in works like these. But those who have not leisure or learning to investigate for themselves the authenticity and genuineness of the holy writings-those whose minds have not yet been trained to argument-can yet mark and understand facts which occur before them. The truths of God's word have been brought by God's Spirit to bear upon the consciences and affections; and then the drunkard has become sober, the thief honest, the liar truthful, the wrathful gentle, and the proud humble; the promises of God have supported the living and cheered the dying; and millions, who once lived in vice and depravity, have, at length, exclaimed, with David, "The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." ANTS OF THE WEST INDIES. P. "THE works of the Lord are great;' and as this may be seen in what we are accustomed to pass over as little things, the attention, not only of the sluggard, may be arrested, but that of all who have pleasure in seeking out the workings of God's hand, when Solomon says " Go to the ant;-consider her ways, and be wise which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." As these wonderful little creatures abound most in tropical climates, they are found in great variety and abundance in the West Indies. They swarm almost as numerously in the houses as in the open air, besetting every article of food to which they can possibly gain access, and overrunning every part of the house, in quest of anything which they can carry off as prey. Their indefatigable activity renders it necessary for housekeepers to adopt many contrivances to preserve everything eatable from their intrusive rambles. The smallest tribe is the sugar ants, which are so minute, that no precaution can effectually guard against their persevering attacks. They may be often seen forming a busy stream along the wall or floor, each bearing his load of sugar, or eagerly pressing on towards the scene of plunder, of which they have obtained some intimation. The rapidity with which they convey to each other information respecting any newly-discovered prize is very remarkable. No sooner is a small portion of sugar, or anything of a saccharine nature, dropped, than it is found by some of the ramblers; and, when carrying away their load, they may be observed to stop, as they meet with others, and apparently communicate to them some information where the treasure is to be obtained, and shortly others will be perceived, streaming in that direction from the nest. It is, however, rather singular that these minute beings cannot bear the glare of the sun; for when the sugar-basin is taken out for use, and placed in the sun for a few seconds, the intruding swarm may be seen scampering away in the greatest haste this being well known as the best course to get rid of them. There is a larger tribe, which beset not only everything sweet, but all other articles of food. On this account, pantries and safes are provided with various means for preserving cold meat, and all kinds of confectionery, from their invasions. One common mode for this purpose is, to place the vessel, containing the substance to be protected, in a larger one, half-filled with water, like surrounding a castle by a moat. But frequently this will be unavailing; for either by accident, or design and self-sacrifice, a bridge of dead ants will soon be formed across the moat, over which the living ones carry forward their marauding expeditions. Another method is to suspend a large safe by a single cord; and as their only access to its contents must be by the cord, that is covered with chalk or oil, to which they seem to have an anti pathy. In a short time, however, these difficulties will be surmounted, as the oil may become dry, or the chalk will have lost its offensive properties; and then they readily make their way down the cord, in pursuit of their plunder. Having for some time exerted his ingenuity in vain, to withstand these little marauders, the writer was at length successful in invention, by making use of the half of a calabash, which forms a bowl, and when the cord was passed through the centre and the orifice rendered air-tight, filling it with oil; by which contrivance I effectually resisted their course, until the oil evaporated-a fact of which their persevering vigilance rendered them aware, before I became cognizant of it, only by finding them swarming in the safe, and rioting on the spoil. Though these tribes are very annoying, by their incessant obtrusions, there are others which are still more so, being properly called "stinging ants." Of these there are two varieties: a small red ant, and a larger black one. They are sometimes found in houses, though they most abound in the open air; and the person who accidentally treads on their nest, is made to smart for his incaution. There are several families, which chiefly attach themselves to particular plants, and seem to feed upon the minute creatures which are found on the leaves and branches. Some swarm very much among the sugar-cane, and are said to be so far beneficial, as to defend that valuable plant from the destructive inroads of the rats; but others have been known to come down in such numbers from the woods in the mountains, as to do great injury. This was the case in the island of Grenada, about 1777, when they descended from the hills in such torrents, that several parts of the country were literally covered by them. Neither fire nor water could stop their progress; for they were so swept onward by their living tide of numbers, as to extinguish the fires which were kindled to impede their course and they so rushed into the streams of water, that those which were drowned constituted a floating causeway for the great body of their invading army to pass over. Rats, mice, serpents, and every kind of reptile were destroyed in their course; and at length they beset the growing canes, and rendered it necessary for the standing crop to be burned down as the only apparent means of clearing them from the country. Their ravages, at last, were effectually checked, in the course of a kind providence, by the welcome fall of a succession of heavy rains. This was an extraordinary case in the West India islands; but along the northern shores of South America, from Surinam to Honduras, ants occasionally make similar incursions from the interior. There they are gladly hailed by the inhabitants, who throw open their houses for their free ingress; as on such visits they destroy rats, scorpions, cockroaches, serpents, and all other reptiles, and then retire from the coast. The remarkable instincts of these minute creatures most wonderfully display the wisdom of God. We are accustomed to view him as soaring far beyond the flights of thought, when we contemplate his power in the planetary world; but when we see him controlling the inconceivably small movements of animal life, by the unerring laws of instinct, we behold both his goodness and wisdom. Let us look at an ant's nest, and what wonders do we discover!-its formation-the busy life it displays,-the division of labour, the order, the fixed laws, and activity with which the different classes of workmen carry on their operations, and the seeming forethought, design, and intelligence which directs all the movements! The white, or wood ants, perhaps, display this most wonderfully. Naturalists have asserted, that in their works they surpass bees, wasps, or beavers, as much as European nations excel savages; while the construction of their apartments may be placed in comparison with the celebrated works of man. They have their royal apartments, nurseries, magazines, arched chambers, and covered galleries. There are three orders in a nest; - the workers, the smallest and most numerous; soldiers, which are a larger size; and the royal pair, the parents of the race. Royalty only is privileged with wings; and as these carry the queens but a short distance, and then fall from their bodies, they seem, when thus bereft, in a very helpless condition. If, however, a queen be found by a few straggling workers, they elect her as their head, and carry her off in triumph, to form a new settlement. into the nest, and the soldiers as quickly again mount the breach. In this case, the first object is to construct the royal chamber, where the queen is duly inclosed, while the approaches to it will only admit her required attendants, which are much smaller than herself. The workers then proceed in the construction of the other apartments. The eggs of the queen are carried away, and carefully deposited in the nurseries, where the most watchful attention is given to them. These ants form their constructions and derive their food from decayed trees, or any wooden buildings, on which they can prey without being disturbed. In Africa, where they abound to a greater extent than in the West Indies, they destroy abandoned huts or whole villages, and raise their nests ten or twelve feet above the ground, one after another, till, at a distance, they appear almost like a negro village. In the West Indies, their nests are seldom more than three or four feet high, and generally placed at the root of a large tree. They carry on their depredations through a covered way, which they extend to a considerable distance, when they have discovered a decayed tree, or some dry wood, on which they can go to work without interruption. The writer once had an opportunity for observing their ravages on a wooden edifice, which, standing near a wood, had been unoccupied, and left shut up for some time. When this building was examined, it was found that these little depredators had reduced the doors, windows, and the boards in the roof, as well as many of the beams, to little more than thin crusts. As the roofs of houses in the West Indies are generally formed entirely of wood, the ants will sometimes there carry on their depredations to a great extent before they are discovered. The nests of these ants are conical, and covered with an incrustation, which sufficiently protects them from the heaviest rain. Should this covering be broken, it is interesting to a close observer to notice the alarm which is immediately spread through the whole community. First are seen the soldiers, rushing to the breach, eager to repel the assault; and should an enemy be discovered, he is fiercely at tacked. But if no adversary be in sight, the soldiers retire, and the workers directly commence the required repairs. Should there be, however, fresh cause of alarm, the workers precipitately fall back The loyalty of these diminutive citizens is also remarkable. It has been ascertained, that if the nest be broken into, and the royal apartment be opened, the little creatures will defend it as the point of most interest, and then their next efforts will be to commence its reparation. How wonderful, then, are the instincts with which these minute beings are endued! Think of the body of one of these, and its several parts,—the eye, the mouth of the worker, formed for one purpose; that of the soldier armed for another; the limbs and the sinews and nerves for their movements; and then, the seat of that law of seeming intelligence which so regularly guides them to fulfil the ends for which they were created! Oh! the depth as well as the height of the Eternal Mind! And does God thus care for ants? What, then, must be his care for beings whom he has endowed with powers to serve him, and made capable of immortality! B. L. "BE NOT AFRAID, ONLY BELIEVE." No condition can be so deplorable but Christ has a plenitude of grace to give; nor can any objection be made so forcible, but what is fully answered in the sweet invitations, strong encouragements, and precious promises of the gospel. If a soul should object the high aggravations of his sin, they cannot be higher than those everlasting hills from whence the blessings of grace and salvation flow, Deut. xxxiii. 15. If he should complain of the cursed depths of sin, it cannot be deeper than the eternal counsels of God, Eph. i. 9. If he should object the long continuance of sin, it cannot be longer than the streams of God's everlasting love, Jer. xxxi. 3. If he should complain of the number of his sins, they cannot exceed the multitude of God's mercies, Psa. li. 1. If he object how extensive his sin is, it cannot be more so than the place of broad rivers, which is God himself, Isa. xxxiii. 21. Has he been a rebel against God? Christ has received gifts for the rebellious also, Psa. lxviii. 18. Is he the chief of sinners? Christ came into the world to save the chief of sinners, 1 Tim. i. 15. Is his soul lost? as Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost, Luke xix. 10. Is he bound under the tyranny of Satan? Christ came to deliver those who were subject to bondage, Heb. ii. 15. Is he dead in sin? The Son of God quickeneth whom he will, John v. 21. Is he far off from God? Those who were sometimes far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ, Eph. ii. 13. Is his conscience wounded by sin? Christ healeth them that are bruised, Luke iv. 18. Is he defiled, so that no part is clean? The blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin, 1 John i. 7. Is his heart as hard adamant? A believing view of a pierced Jesus will melt it down, Zech. xii. 10. Is he an alien from all good, without God, and without hope? The streams of Divine grace are sufficient to enrich him, and make him possess all things; therefore the poor, the maimed, the halt, the blind are called, Luke xiv. 21. And every one that thirsteth is invited to come to these living waters, and for their encouragement Christ hath given this strong assurance, and saith unto all, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," John vi. 37. What can the soul desire more? Here is ample provision for every want, a succour for every need, an adequate satisfaction for every desire; therefore, to every soul that is seeking the Lord, the words of Christ addressed to the woman who besought him to heal her daughter, may be well applied: "Be not afraid, only believe."-Herrick. ALAN QUINTIN'S INQUIRIES. HOW DO YOU MEAN TO ACT? How do you mean to act? is a plain inquiry, but not a prudent one,-it promises everything and performs nothing, it is "all cry and little wool,"it is like a cipher, that is of no value by itself, though of much worth with other figures, it is a winged arrow, too light in the head to fly, and too blunt to enter the heart it is aimed at. I must sharpen and give it weight; I must make my question not only a plain question, but a proper question, a prudent question, and a practical question, by pointing out the exact circumstances under which it is proposed. The inquiry, How do you mean to act? means nothing, without the case being stated to which it applies. How do you mean to act? is a general question, and cannot call forth a particular answer. Now I mean to be precise, pointed, and particular; my inquiry, then, shall be made precise, pointed, and particular also. It is an excellent thing to know how to act in critical cases, and to be prepared for events of importance. A famine, a flood, or a fire, is bad enough, with every arrangement that forethought can make to meet it, but for it to come upon us unawares would be fearful indeed. Famine, and flood, and fire, it is true, are not sure to come upon us, but if these evils are uncertain, others are certain; and it is with regard to these certain evils that I mean to ask you, How do you mean to act? Trifling and putting off, and making excuses, will not answer your purpose here. The evils to which I allude are assuredly coming: How do you mean to act? If we live, old age, with its infirmities, is sure to come upon us. Labour and sorrow attend an old man as his shadow. The aged stand in need of great consolation. David, no doubt, thought so, when he prayed to the God of his fathers, "Cast me not off in the time of old age,' Psa. lxxi. 9. Are you prepared for the grey hair, and the feeble frame, and the failing sight, and the tottering tread? Can you bear, think you, to be left alone, hour after hour, musing on the past and the future? A patient, cheerful, grateful, and pious old age has many consolations and enjoyments; but an impatient, desponding, repining, and ungodly old age is fearful to contemplate. Old age will come, if life be allowed you: how do you intend to provide for it-how do you mean to act? Though now we may be in health, byand-by we shall be visited with sickness. This, also, may be regarded as a cer tainty. The tooth-ache, the ear-ache, and the head-ache, will most likely be yours, and perhaps more painful visitations. Job must needs have been in a sad case, when he was afflicted "with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown," Job ii. 7. Nor was David in a much better condition when he cried out, "I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears." It may not be thus with you, though the fever may burn you, the ague shake you, and consumption waste |