which astonished the gift-laden Magi from the East, brought great joy to the shepherds of Bethlehem. Among the peasantry of happy old England, are many simple-minded, devoted followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. Favoured are those families amid which dwell truly pious servants who, in the spirit of those who waited on Naaman, succeed in directing their sin-stricken superiors to the Great Prophet and Physician of souls.

John Brailey, of Swimbridge, near Barnstaple, did not neglect the few advantages which he derived from the instruction afforded in the village weekday and Sabbath school, but followed them up so as to be able to read and write, and keep accounts with very fair correctness. Instead of idling away his evening hours in frivolous talk, or foolish sports, or debasing self-indulgence, he addicted himself to reading the Scriptures, to profitable conversation, and to religious exercises. As a parish apprentice, John Brailey obtained the reputation for honesty, truthfulness, and upright conduct. Throughout a lengthened service in one family as a farmlabourer "he was never known to swear, or tell a falsehood, or be tipsy." Such was the testimony of his late master. He hated a lie. The sin of drunkenness his soul abhorred. The public-house, with its unnumbered evils and wretched associations, had no attractions for him. His delight was in the house of God. Whoever was absent, John Brailey could be found in his place. In providing things honest for himself and his family, and in contributing towards the support and extension of the work of God, John found a more congenial way of spending his earnings, than in the indulgence of a depraved appetite. Happy the day for the peasants and artizans of our land when they abandon the too prevalent habits of excessive drinking, and

the higher powers of human nature are cultivated.

Industrious, efficient, and good-humoured as a workman, John was daily preparing for his latter end. His mortal sickness fell upon him somewhat suddenly, but found him calm and resigned. The salvation of each member of his family formed his chief anxiety, and led him to declare his intention, in case of his recovery, to address to each of his children a letter of religious advice and persuasion.

The clear sense of his acceptance with God, retained uninterruptedly during many years, accompanied him in his last days. When the Bridegroom came, the lamp was trimmed, the flame was burning bright, and there was oil in the vessel. As he trod the borderland, the sound of the heavenly "harpers harping with their harps," fell upon his ear, causing him to say, "How delightful the music and singing I hear." Said he, “I am entering a valley dark and winding, but soon I shall be round the corner, and all will be bright." Thus, at the eventide of life, there arose a light to the righteous. Once more he said, "Before me is a river, broad and deep, and how shall I get across? Ah, the Spirit tells me that in the midst of the dark, cold waters there is a Rock, and that Rock is Christ. Treading on that Rock, I am safe." Thus amid holy calm and joyous hope, John Brailey entered that rest which, said he, "for thirty years I have been labouring to find."

"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." BENJAMIN BROWNE.

The Good Sea Captain; or, the Voyage of Life. A Memoir of Captain Robert Steward. By the REV. JOHN BAKER, M.A. London: Wesleyan Conference Office. Our readers shall form their own judgment of this useful and well-written book from the following extracts:

"In these pages we are about to sketch the life of a pious sailor, who first won the great blessing, and then carried it in every ship he sailed in and to every shore he touched, a genuine son of the sea, a man of open soul and loving heart; wild and rollicking and thoughtless in his early days, but when the grace of God reached him and made him 'a new creature' in Christ Jesus, simple as a child, gentle as the ripple of a summer wave; while in all that concerned duty and principle and conscience, strong as the cable and firm as the anchor; one who for many years, afloat and ashore, at home and abroad, professed a good profession both by word and deed, and who at length after a long voyage, not without tossing and buffeting, quietly dropped into that blessed port,—

"Where all the ship's company meet
Who sailed with the Saviour beneath."
*

"Captain Steward had now found rest unto his soul;-rest from the guilt of sin, from a slavish fear of God, from the domination of evil tempers and dispositions, from unruly and turbulent passions, and from the haunting dread of death;-the rest of conscious forgiveness, of inward peace and heart-satisfaction: and he had found this rest, not by the struggles of nature or the efforts of reason, but by a penitent faith in the atoning blood of Jesus. He gives rest, and He only;-rest to the understanding in the knowledge of the only true God, and of Himself the saving Christ Whom God hath sent;-rest to the will by bringing it into harmony with the Divine Will, and rest to the heart by placing its desires and affections on its

true and supreme good. Blessed rest! The mind at rest because it has found the Truth, the will at rest because it has found its repose and freedom, and the heart, the insatiable heart, at rest because it has found its portion and happiness. And, listen to what the Saviour says to the labouring and the 'heavy-laden,' 'Come unto Me, and I will give you rest; '-'give,' we have not to buy it, not to earn it, not to merit it, not to suffer for it, it is a gift." *

"Fuller, in his portraiture of the good sea-captain, says, that he is as pious and thankful when a tempest is past, as devout when it is present. Not clamorous to receive mercies, and tongue-tied to return thanks. Many mariners are calm in a storm, and storm in a calm, blustering with oaths. In a tempest it comes to their turn to be religious, whose piety is but a fit of the wind; and when that is allayed, their devotion is ended.' Alas! this is true of others besides seamen. There are many people that only call upon God in time of trouble; sailors that only pray when they are in a storm; soldiers that only pray when they are going into battle; and multitudes of persons of all kinds that only betake themselves to prayer when sickness comes, when distress comes, when bereavement comes, when death threatens. And we believe that God often hears prayer though it may have been neglected before; though it may for the first time be extorted from us by pain, or anguish, or fear. believe that God answers the prayer of many a poor sailor who, amid the howling and roaring of the storm, for the first time thinks of the Saviour he has so long forgotten; that in hospitals and prisons God answers many a cry of distress from the sick man's bed and the felon's cell, though uttered by lips that in health and strength had been strangers to the language of supplication, while familiar enough, may be, with the

We

language of blasphemy. And what condescension on the part of God to listen to the man that never thought of his Father in heaven' so long as he fancied he could do without Him; to receive the shivering, trembling wretch that never turned his face homewards until he was driven by the pangs of misery or of terror! But though prayer very often begins in trouble, surely it is not to end there. How many there are who cry mightily to God on a sick-bed, when racked with pain, when throbbing and burning with fever, who, when raised up by Divine mercy, forget all about the prayers they had offered and the Vows they had made! Their religion lasts as long as their trouble lasts, and when their danger seems to have passed away, their praying soon follows." *

"It is sometimes said, 'No man can serve God in the navy; no man can serve God in the army. A sailor can't be a Christian man; a soldier can't be a Christian man. There is SO much drinking and swearing, jeering and scoffing, so much to hinder and so little to help, that a man can't fear and love God as he ought to do in such a place.' This life-sketch is proof to the contrary.

Captain Steward found Christ at sea, and he followed Christ at sea, and he preached Christ at sea. He was saved on board ship, and on board ship he grew in grace and waxed in strength. His vessel was a house of prayer, a house of God; and whether in English ports or foreign ports, outward bound or homeward bound, in fine weather or in foul weather, the voice of supplication, the song of praise, regard for the Sabbath, care for the soul, were never lost sight of. And the grace that made him what he was, 'a burning and a shining light,' can make you like him. He was, as we have seen, though piously brought up, a wild, random youth, fickle and wayward, fond of pleasure, easily led astray; and he found it a hard task to give up sin and to turn his back upon the world. At the feet of Jesus he found the pardon of sin, the favour of God, peace of conscience, a clean heart, a right spirit, victory over evil and the evil one, protection from tho wrath to come, and all that he needed to make him holy and happy, and to fit him for the duties of earth and for the joys of heaven; and at the feet of Jesus you, too, may find the same precious blessings. O come to Him without a moment's delay!"