some quarter or other; and frequently it happens at home,-even at our own doors,—and in our own dwellings! You were, no doubt, shocked, when you heard last week how suddenly one of your neighbours was summoned to Eternity; and, as the first tidings of the awful event reached your ears, you gave vent to many expressions of surprize and regret. But have you ever prayed to God that you may profit by that event? Have you ever seriously considered what lesson it is intended to teach you? There is a voice, my Friends, in such events,—a loud, warning, instructive, voice, and the living should lay it to heart. 1. I address those who neglect God and their own souls. Alas! how numerous are such persons in every town and village. Reader! do you belong to this class? Are you neglecting God, your soul, and Eternity? Are you living without faith in Christ, without prayer, without holiness, and without any serious thought what is to become of you when you die? Is this your real true character? How awful then is your situation!You are at enmity with God!--You are standing on the brink of a precipice, which may, any moment, give way, and hurry you headlong to destruction!Open your ears and your heart to the lesson, which your neighbour's sudden death teaches you. It calls you to instant repentance;-it warns you to quit your present course of life without delay;-it tells you that to put this off till to-morrow may prove fatal, -since your soul may be required this night! How dreadful would be your doom should death come upon you in your present state! It would cut you off for ever from heaven and happiness and hope; it would fix you for ever in that place of misery and despair, "where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched!" Oh! repent then and be converted.Pray for peace with God without loss of time.-Flee to the Lamb of God, that your sins may be pardoned, ON FISH. (From the French, see Page 132. Vol. 4.) WHAT an abundance of fish do the waters produce of every size! When I view these animals, I seem to discern nothing but a head and a tail. They have neither feet nor arms. Their very heads cannot freely be moved; and, were I to consider only their figure, I should think them deprived of all that was necessary for the preservation of their lives: but, with these few outward organs, they are more nimble than if they had hands and feet; and the use they make of their tail and fins carries them along like arrows, and seems to make them fly. As the fish devour one another, how can these watery inhabitants subsist? God has provided for this by multiplying them in so prodigious a manner, that their fruitfulness infinitely surpasses their mutual desire of eating one another. I am only in pain to know how the little ones should escape the bigger, which look upon them as their prey, and are continually in pursuit of them. But these weak ones are swifter in their course than the others. They creep into places where the low water will not admit of the larger fish; and it seems as if God had given them a foresight in proportion to their weakness and dangers. Whence comes it, that the fish live and enjoy perfect vigour in the midst of waters so filled with salt, that we cannot bear the taste of it; and how do they preserve, in the midst of salt, a flesh that has not the least taste of it? Why do the best, and such as are most fit for the use of man, draw near the coasts, to offer themselves in a manner to him, whilst a great many others which are useless to him, keep at a great distance? Why do those, which keep themselves in unknown places, whilst they multiply and acquire a certain bulk, No. 43. VOL. IV. P come in shoals at a particular time to invite the fishermen and throw themselves almost into their nets and boats? Why do several of them, and of the best kinds, enter the mouths of rivers, and run up even to their springs, to communicate the advantages of the sea to such countries as lie at a distance from it? -And what hand conducts them with so much care and goodness towards man, but Thine, O Lord ?though so visible a providence seldom occasions our acknowledgment. This providence is every where to be seen and the innumerable shells, which are spread upon the shore, have contained different kinds of fish, that, with a very small appearance of life, are sure to open their shells at certain regular times to take in water, and to seize the prey which falls into the snare. Ė. L. M. THE GERMAN WATCHMAN'S SONG. HARK ye, neighbours, and hear me tell ! Human watch from harm can't ward us, Hark ye, neighbours, and hear me tell! Hark ye, neighbours, and hear me tell! To suffer rebuke for their Saviour's name. Human watch, &c. Hark ye, neighbours, and hear me tell! Human watch, &c. Hark ye, neighbours, and hear me tell! Hark ye, neighbours, and hear me tell! M. I. D. A FATHER'S TREATMENT OF HIS CHILDREN. (Taken from the "History of a Servant Maid.”) "My father never, as far as I can remember, was unfaithful to his word, either in the way of threatening or promising. If he found that we had committed a fault which he had before told us he would punish, we were as certain of the punishment as if we had already received it. It was not, however, every fault that he punished with the rod. The smallest falsehood, or deceit, or pilfering, always brought on us severe chastisement; whilst, if we had the misfortune to break or spoil any article in the house, or the garden, though somewhat valuable, he was but little discomposed, unless it had happened through carelessness, which he reproved more or less sharply; but never in such cases, as far as I remember, did he correct us with the rod. Disobedience to his authority was also a fault which he would not excuse, for he said, that unless he could make his authority, as a father, to be held in con stant reverence, it would not be in his power to obey the Divine law, or expect the Divine promise contained in these words of Scripture: up a Train child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.' But, though my father was thus strict, equally well did he attend to another inspired command: Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they should be discouraged;' for we very seldom could say, or even think, that the commands which he laid upon us were grievous; and, besides, the custom of obeying him rendered them easy, and, if they did ever seem unpleasant, we felt sure that they were for our good. He was, moreover, so kind to us at all times, especially when under trouble, and so cheerful with ns during our little amusements, that we felt for him as much love as if he had indulged us in every thing." PRUDENCE AND GOOD MANAGEMENT TO BE TAUGHT TO CHILDREN. "IT is by little things, that we must at first teach useful lessons to our children. A boy, for example, who lays out every halfpenny he gets in cakes and useless toys, will be so much the more likely to spend his shillings at the ale-house when he becomes a man; and the girl who is allowed to wear her new frock every day, when the old one, neatly mended, might have spared it, can scarcely be expected to turn things to the best account when she shall be placed, in her turn, at the head of a family. "When a child has earned a trifling reward, instead of sending him at once, with his halfpenny, to buy gingerbread, or an apple, would it not be better to offer him a halfpenny to spend now, or a penny to save for the purpose of buying something really useful? Might you not promise, that every child who by care and good conduct gathers together |