they imparted to the unholy purpose, what celerity to the melancholy progress of the sinner! Unjust in their dealings, false in their assertions, unfaithful to their engage.. ments, slothful in their business, they disregard those pure and lofty motives which ought ever to actuate the believer in all the circumstances and relations of life. What wonder is it then, should their character be an object of contempt in the view of every discerning man, and reprobate in the sight of the infinitely pure Jehovah. They en.. deavour, and too often succeed in their endeavours to deceive their fellow-men, but God cannot be deceived. He will not be mocked, and the period is fast approaching, when they shall stand finally at his judge ment-seat. Should any Christian who knows and who loves the Saviour, peruse these imperfect hints, we beseech him, if he regards the cause of God and of truth, to strive and pray that in all things he may "walk circumspectly." Remember that every step you take in life, involves in it a high moral responsibility, af fecting your happiness throughout eternal ages, and not yours only, but the happiness of all within the reach of your influence. Be especially careful, that in all your dealings and intercourse with the world, the Christian graces may shine forth in their native brightness, lest you should tend, by the slightest inconsistency of conduct, to retard by one hour, the return of a single soul to God, or confirm one sinner in his impenitence, and unbelief, and hardness of heart. Let the spirit of Christianity be visible in your whole deportment; let every letter of "the living epistle be known and read of all men," ," and "let your light so shine, that others seeing your good works, may glorify your Father who is in heaven." Then, and then only, will your Christian profession in the eyes of the world approve itself sincere, having its fruit" evidently "unto holiand its end shall assuredly be everlasting life." 66 ness, "IT IS I; BE NOT AFRAID." MATTHEW Xiv. 27. BY THE REV. THOMAS RAFFLES, L.L.D. FEAR not, it is I; ah! be not afraidTho' the tempest is raging, secure of my aid, The storm thou shalt weather, the billows defy, And the song of thy triumph ascend to the sky. Fear not, it is I ah! be not afraid Tho' seven times hotter the furnace be made, With grace of my merit thy robes are perfum'd, And, safe 'mid the flames, thou shalt walk unconsumed. Fear not, it is I; ah! be not afraid Tho' the conflict is sharp, and the triumph delayed, The unchanging decree has gone forth from above, That thou shalt e'en more than a conqueror prove. Fear not, it is I; ah! be not afraid Tho' through the dark vale thy journey is laid, My rod and my staff shall sustain and console, And the sun-beams of glory shine bright on thy soul. Fear not, it is I; ah! be not afraid For soon in the robes of salvation arrayed, THE INNOCENT VICTIM. BY THE REV. JAMES ANDERSON, LIVERPOOL. "To man the bleeding cross Has promis'd all." WHEN the Lord of heaven came into our world, he neither did nor could bring with him any moral defilement: and as he brought no moral defilement with him, so neither did he contract any during his earthly sojourn. Surrounded with sin and sinners, yet still did he remain holy, harmless, and undefiled.' Features thesethe purity and innocence of his characterwhich friends and enemies unite to attest. Peter, one of his own disciples, who had been with him for nearly three years, and |