WRITTEN Poetry. THE CHRISTIAN CAPTIVE'S WELCOME TO DEATH. AT THE CLOSE OF A LONG AND HORRIBLE IMPRISONMENT, AND UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH AT THE STAKE, BY FRANCISCO SAN ROMAN, OF BURGOS, ONE OF THE EARLIEST OF THE SPANISH MARTYRS, A.D., 1544. It is told me I must die: Be glad, O my soul, And rejoice in Jesus thy Saviour. If He intended thy perdition, Would He have laid down His life for thee? Would He have expected thee with so much patience, And given thee so long a time for repentance? Would He have called thee with so much love, And illuminated thee with the light of His Spirit? Would He have drawn thee with so great force, And favoured thee with so many graces? Would He have given thee so many good desires? Would he have set the seal of the predesti Celestial Treasury. THE BIBLE. We are so accustomed to the sight of a Bible, that it ceases to be a miracle to us. It is printed just like other books, and so we forget that it is not just like other books. But there is nothing in the world like it or comparable to it. The sun in the firmament is nothing to it, if it be really what it assumes to be an actual, direct communication from God to man. Take up your Bible with this idea, and look at it, and wonder at it. It is a treasure of unspeakable value to you, for it contains a special message of love and tender mercy from God, to your own soul. Do you wish to converse with God? Open it and read it. And at the same time, look to him who speaks to you in it, and ask him to give you an understanding heart, that you may not read in vain, but that the word may be in you as good seed in the ground, bringing forth fruit unto eternal life. Only take care not to separate God from the Bible. Read it in the secret of God's presence, and receive it from His lips, and feed upon it, and it will be to you as it was to Jeremiah, "The joy and rejoicing of your heart." The best advice which any one friend can give to another, is to advise him to consult God; and the best turn that any book can do its reader, is to refer him to the Bible. INFLEXIBILITY OF THE WORD OF GOD. OLD HUMPHREY once said he was sadly annoyed by an old oak tree. A crowd of people were assembled, and he was going among them, when a celebrated personage was passing by. Most of the throng saw him, and he would too, had it not been for that provoking tree. It was no use him standing on tiptoe, or stretching his neck, it would stand. His fuming and fretting was all in vain, not an inch would it stir. And thus it oftentimes is with a text of Scripture. Do what we will with it, there it stands. It may reprove us, it may annoy us, it may grieve us; but for all this, it will not alter its signification-it will not abate ought of its uncompromising character. Let us take an instance. There is that text of Holy Writ which says "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses,” Mark iv. 14, 15. Now there are some things so very provoking! Some people, who at times use us so very ill, that forgiving them seems to be a thing altogether out of the question. On common occasions, we might make an effort and pass over a great deal, we might forgive those who have offended us; but when they have deeply injured us and wrung our heart-strings with bitterness and bad conduct, must we forgive them then? Nay, read the words:-"If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses." Think what you may, do what you will, the words will not alter their meaning. Forgive, or you will not be forgiven. In such a case, what is to be done? There is an old saying "If the mountain would not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain." But we have no need of this saying in this instance, seeing that we have a better one in the Holy Scriptures-"Let us not fight against God"- -Acts xxiii. 9. "Who hath hardened himself against God and prospered."-Job ix. 4. It is in vain to expect God's Word to bow down to us, and therefore we must bow down to the Word of God. Sabbath School Repository. A NARRATIVE FOR TEACHERS. I WAS sitting one evening in the depth of winter by my fireside, surrounded by a group of happy faces, a little fellow on each knee, and all in full merry talk about the pleasures we should enjoy during the approaching Christmas vacation, when the parlour door opened, and a note was put into my hand. I unfolded it and read the A NARRATIVE FOR TEACHERS. "Is it very far?" "I haven't been long coming, for she said, 'Run hard, or father will die before the gentleman will get here.'" I bid my children good night, and hastily prepared myself for the walk. The wind was blowing very hard, heavy clouds were rollng about, and a cold sharp sleet was falling on the already whitened ground. My residence was in the mining district of Staffordshire, and any one acquainted with the neighbourhood, who has travelled along the by-paths and roads on a dark winter's night, will understand the feeling, amounting almost to reluctance, with which I left my cheerful fireside, on that dreary night. But duty called me-a dying man, a fellow-sinner, required my aid; and in a few moments the feeling of half unwillingness was lost in anxiety for the man whom I was about to visit. After numerous slight adventures, we arrived at the cottage. I followed the wife up the steep narrow staircase to the sick-bed. A man apparently of about five-and-thirty years of age lay on the bed, with his face and head almost covered up with bandages; the left arm also was bound up and laid outside the bedclothes, whilst his whole body seemed to be in great pain. I spoke to the poor man, but was answered only by a groan, which drew forth another food of bitter tears from those who were in the room. My attention was thus drawn to them, and as I could do nothing for the poor man, I endeavoured to comfort them in their affliction, by pointing them to Jesus the friend of the distressed, and took leave, promising to call again on the morrow. Business engagements prevented my calling at the house before four or five o'clock in the afternoon of the next day. The second boy, William, was at the door watching my approach, and as I came near, he called out, "He knows us, Sir; he has spoken to us several times. Mother has been wishing you would come." 39 These words from so young a child showed what pleasure this evidence of improvement had produced in the family. I went up stairs. hoping that I might find the sufferer able to listen to the words of mercy, which, through Christ are addressed to the guilty. I stepped softly into the room, and paused behind the bed-curtain, arrested by the voice of Susan, who was repeating with great earnestness, This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;" and then she added with gentle tenderness, "He will save you, father, if you believe in him." "I am too ill to attend to you, child," was all the reply she received. A sigh escaped from the child, as she sat down by the bedside, apparently in prayerful thoughtfulness. I moved forward so as to engage her attention. She looked up, blushed, immediately and said, rose, "I'll call my mother, Sir." Taking a chair at the side of the bed, I spoke to the poor fellow, who, though evidently better, was still suffering very much. He seemed surprised at the sound of my voice, and turned his head to gaze at me, but the bandages which enveloped his head prevented him from discerning my features. I replied to this movement, by saying, "You do not know me, but I called last night, soon after your accident, and felt anxious to see you again." "Thank ye, Sir," he said, "I'm very bad, and don't know how it will go with me, but it was well I was not killed; I'm afraid I shall lose my eyes. It would have been a sad thing for them poor things if I had been taken." "And how would it have been with you," I asked, "if you had been called so suddenly into the presence of God? You know, I hope, that there is no salvation for the soul, save as we repent of sin, and look to Jesus Christ the sinner's friend?" The countenance of the man again expressed surprise, and, as if speaking to himself, he said, "It is he- -it is his voice." Then turning again towards me, he asked, "Is your name Mr. Sir?" "Yes," I replied, "that is my name; but you are a stranger to me, as I am almost a stranger in this neighbourhood." "I thought I knew your voice," he said, "as soon as I heard it, and your words just now brought back to my mind when I last saw you. ,, My interest in him was now increased and I asked with some curiosity, "Yes, very well," I replied; "but it is certainly many years ago, for I was then quite a young man." "Well, Sir, and don't you remember a dark-haired boy of the name of William, who used to give you a good deal of trouble, and whom you used to teach in the week at your own house sometimes?" "I do very well remember him," I said, "and is it possible that you are that same lad? I often made enquiry after him, but never learned more than that the family had gone away; and I had long since forgotten the surname, though I remember the boy William." "I am the same lad, Sir, lying here now, and very glad I am to see you again." With this, he stretched out his hand to welcome me. Exhausted with the excitement and the conversation, he fell back on the bed, whilst I, deeply interested in this unexpected recognition of my long-forgotten scholar, retired from the bedroom to the little room below. Evening Calk. COPY OF A BILL Found in the Ruins of Wentworth House, Rev. S. M. Guire, to John Jones. Repairs at Roman Chapel. For solidly repairing St. Joseph Ghost Repairing Virgin Mary, and Making her a New Child ... ... Furnishing a Nose to the Devil, putting a Horn on his Head, and glueing a Piece to his Tail... ... 8. d. 4 5 6 when, in the days of the apostles, it stood allied only to poverty and the proud world's scorn; and never did it sink more into inaction, or display more the mere activity of convulsive disease, than when, in the middle ages, it stood allied, among Romanists, chiefly to wealth and worldly greatness. The riches of earth, and the riches of the soul, can be brought to co-exist only through the operation on the owner's mind of a rare degree of heavenly grace. DEATHS IN 1850.-To Sir Robert Peel, Louis Philippe, and President Taylor, we must add the Duke of Cambridge; the Em4 6 peror of China, our antagonist in the opium war; the American statesman, Calhoun; the Prussian minister, Count Brandenburg; the Queen of the Belgians; the Duke of Palmella; the Vice-Chancellor of England, the Recorder of London, the Chief-Justice 10 10 THOMAS AQUINAS AND POPE INNOCENT Iv.-Thomas Aquinas-usually known among Roman Catholic writers, as the angelic doctor-was admitted to terms of intimacy, and held in high esteem, by Pope Innocent IV. Entering, one day, the papal chamber, he found the pretended successor Doherty, Wordsworth, Jeffery and Bowles; Miss Jane Porter; Wyatt, the sculptor; Sir Martin A. Shee; Frazer Tytler, the historian; the elder Brunel; James Smith, the agriculturist; Neander, the German theologian; poor Waghorn, of the overland route, and many other names, respectable in this age, and venerable, perhaps, in the ages to come. PEACE. If peace is not to be found at home, is it not natural to expect that we should look for it abroad? The parents, and husbands, who know not this, may be brought to repent of their ignorance.Zimmerman. Printed by JOHN KENNEDY, at his Printing Office, 35, THE SOUL'S WELFARE. WHY INFIDELS REJECT CHRISTIANITY. IN inquiring into the reasons which probably influence men in their rejection of Christianity, it is our intention not to indulge in any vituperative remarks, but to examine the question with all the calmness and fairness which it deserves. We cannot penetrate the breasts of our fellow mortals; but we are justified in judging of the tree by the quality of its fruit. It is upon this equitable principle that we design to proceed in the inquiry. Some men's motives are easily seen, in the nature of their pursuits, notwithstanding all their attempts to hide them from view. We observe, 1. That infidelity arises from a secret desire that religion may not be true. Such is the power of vice over the human heart that no less an influence than that of the Deity is able to extinguish it. Men are, beyond all controversy, in their natural state, under the control of vicious propensities, which often push them to the most awful lengths in wickedness. Indeed, the commission of crime is, in most cases, pleasant and agreeable to the corrupt mind; and, were it not for the timely checks of conscience, which, to a great extent, neutralize the sweets of transgression, there is no knowing to what an extent the votaries of vice would be impelled. Under such circumstances, it is natural that men should seek to smother the voice of conscience, and by every possible means to drown their fears. Whatever accords with the unsanctified feelings and in clinations of the mind, is gladly and eagerly embraced. But if any thing is met with of an opposite character, it is rejected and contemned. Now, it so happens that the gospel is irreconcilably opposed to moral impurity and corruption. It assures us that the change which it is necessary for us to undergo before we can enter into the kingdom of heaven is so great, that it is properly represented under the figure of being born again.' We are assured that by 'nature we are the children of wrath,' in consequence of our inherent depravity; and on that account we must undergo a regenerating process, seeing that without holiness no one can see Jehovah. The mode of salvation is prescribed in the command given us to repent, or to humble ourselves in the dust of self-abasement, and to believe the gospel, or to trust in the merits of another for remission. The gospel, moreover, expressly enjoins the utmost purity of life and also of heart. No sin is tolerated, however dear or sweet. The right eye is to be plucked out, and the right hand is to be cut off, if they are occasions of sinning. The very thoughts are to participate in this state of purity. Is it then any wonder that the undefiled religion of the gospel should meet with opposition from those who are so captivated by vice that its wreathed yoke has become sweet as the silken fetters of enchantment? Is it a matter of surprise that the guilty sinner, feeling himself oppressed with the apprehension of hastening punishment, and unwilling to abandon his sins, should muster courage, in the first place, to express his doubts as to the divinity of religion, and then VOL. II. D. |