a love of truth, and the fear of God, and a desire for usefulness, a great number of books will never do him any harm; and if he be without common sense, and regardless of truth, and uninfluenced by the fear of God and the love of man, confining himself to a few books will never make him good or great or useful.

We have but one remark more to make at present, and it is this; all the best preachers and authors, and the most useful among private christians, have been men of much reading. Even the Quakers, who depend less on outward helps than other sects, have had no great men but what have been great readers also. Penn had read books without end almost, before he was twenty-four years of age; and Barclay appears to have been one of the most extensive readers of his day. The Apostle Paul advised Timothy to give attendance to reading, and he himself carried his books and parchments with him on his travels, and read the authors among the Gentiles, as well as Moses and the Prophets. Baxter, the best of religious writers, read thousands upon thousands of books, and the best among his successors have done the same; and no one is warranted in expecting to resemble those great ones in worth and usefulness, who does not imitate their example.

ENCOURAGEMENT TO TEACHERS AND THE TAUGHT: OR, A BOY'S CLASS AND A MISSIONARY. A Sunday School was established near my residence, just at the time that I first felt the blessedness of a pardoned sinner: and in that School it was my privilege to become a teacher. This was of great advantage to me, as it matured my knowledge of divine things, and afforded me constant opportunities of speaking to my class about the salvation of their souls. The boys generally conducted themselves well, and gave me much satisfaction by their diligence in committing hymns and large portions of the Scripture to memory; but I often sighed in secret, because I could not perceive that any of them had experienced that important change, with

out which a sinner cannot enter heaven. John iii. 3 and 5.

In the year 1812, I left them to study for the ministry; and then proceeded to India, and afterwards to Russia, to teach my fellow-creatures in those distant lands the sacred truths which I had taught my class in an English Sunday School.

On my return from Russia, I had been preaching to a large congregation in London, when two young men came to converse with me, about their going as missionaries to the heathen. There also came a third person, who, after waiting some time, said, with a smile, "You do not appear to recollect me, Sir!" No, Sir: I do not know that I ever saw you." "Indeed!" said he; "why, I was once in your class in the Sunday School." "What! at Bideford ?" "Yes." "What is your name, Sir ?" "My name is W "There were two brothers of that name, one was called Samuel, and the other Johnny." "I am delighted to see you, Sir, after such a lapse of time: pray what is your occupation ?" "I am captain of a brig; and am happy to say she is my own. My wife's father and my father united together, and bought the vessel for me. "This is very gratifying intelligence," I replied; "but pray, Captain, how are you sailing on the voyage to eternity?" At this he looked grave, and the tear trickled down his sun-burnt cheek, while he added, "I hope I am going on well, Sir. I carry a Bethel flug' with me; and when I come into port I hoist the flag as a signal, to see if there are any praying sailors there; and, if there are, we have a prayer-meeting and on a Sunday I give then, a word of exhortation." "Well, Johnny, this is transporting; do tell me where and when this good work began.' "It began, Sir, in the Sunday School, and, through the blessing of God, I have been preserved by it, amidst all the snares and temptations peculiar to a seafaring life." "Can you tell me any thing of the other boys of my class ?* "Yes: one of them died triumphantly, while he was a student at Homerton College. Two others I have seen this voy

age in London. One of them is a baptist, and the other is a churchman, but both of them are pious men ; and as we were conversing about our early days, we could all trace up our religion to the instructions you gave us in the Sunday School,"

Reader! think what I felt at this unexpected disclosure of the divine blessing, with which God had followed my feeble labours. I had not seen these youths for two and twenty years; but God had watched over the seed which I had sown, and he had watered it, and made it grow. May all who read this be encouraged to labour, and pray and wait, and at last meet the same rich reward. Amen.

Since I saw the Captain in London, I have been in the west of England, and preached in the place where I taught in the Sunday School. In the course of my sermon I alluded to the Captain, and expressed a hope that, if any of my class were still living in that town, they would come and see me. Three respectable men responded to this call, all of them pious; and one of them said, "I shall have reason to bless God for ever, Sir, for your kind instructions; and now I should like to give you some token of my gratitude in return." "Thank you, friend," said I, "what token of gratitude can you give me ?" "I am a tailor," he replied, " and my business is prospering; and I will give you a new coat." And he gave it. And I have it now. And I keep it to wear on those occasions when I preach for the benefit of Sunday Schools! What teacher, or what scholar, may not learn a good lesson from this ? RICHARD KNILL.

ON THE PROFLIGACY AND CONSEQUENT MISERY OF SOCIETY.

No benevolent man can contemplate the present state of society, without strong feelings of compassion; nor can he trace the miseries of society to their source, without regreting that more is not done to spread through the world the knowledge and truth of the Gospel of Christ. On whatever side he turns, he beholds human nature sadly degraded, and sinking into the most deplorable wretchedness. Ye philo

sophers, who exert your ingenuity to explode, as unnecessary, the little virtue and religion that remains amongst us, leave your closets awhile, and survey mankind as they are found in our large towns and prison-houses, and then say whether your hearts do not smite you on the recollection, that you have exercised those talents which God Almighty gave you for kinder purposes, in breaking down the fences of morality. Let him who coolly controverts the distinction between moral good and evil, and who, instigated by vice and vanity, boldly fights against the religion of Jesus, and the comfortable doctrines of the gospel; repair to the cells of the convict, and spend the midnight hour with the murderer who is doomed to fall a victim on the morrow to the justice of his country. Ah! little think the conceited sophists who sit calmly at their desks, and teach men to laugh at all that is serious and sacred, to what an abyss of misery the actual practice of their speculative opinions will reduce their followers! If they thought on this, and possessed hearts capable of feeling, they would shudder at the tendency of their writings, and henceforth apply their abilities in teaching other doctrines.

Can the rulers of this world possess a plenitude of power without attempting to exert it for the prevention, or the mitigation of the misery of society? I have no esteem for that species of politics which pretends to pursue a national good independently of the happiness of individuals; and I cannot help thinking, a system of government which derives any part of its wealth from the wretchedness of the greater part of its subjects, not only defective but diabolical. To encourage intoxication for the sake of increasing a revenue, though it may be natural in a confederacy of sharpers, is an idea so mean, so base, so cruel, that the statesman who entertains it, however loaded with civil honours, and renowned for his wisdom, deserves to be stigmatized with eternal infamy. That the vices and miseries of society chiefly arise from the multiplication of houses for the sale of intoxicating drink, is a truth which no one can question; how strange then, that politicians and governors, that pretend to love their country, do not seek to have those abuses swept away. But in the present constitution of affairs, it is greatly to be feared, that the blind desire of raising a large revenue overbears all moral considerations. What, indeed, is the moralist to the financier? The greatness of empire, like that of private life, is for the most part estimated by riches, exclusively of private virtue and intellectual excellence.

rance.

Much of the profligacy of society arises from extreme ignoAll men pursue with ardour the possession of some good, real or imaginary. What is it which must constitute

If men will care too much for themselves, their cares shall become curses; but when they spend their cares on others, they change their cares to comforts.

Make it your business to supply the needy with necessaries, and you will soon find out what is the best and truest luxury. In paring your excesses you will lighten your load; in giv ing them to the poor, you will lessen their sorrows, and in both you will multiply your own delights.

DISAPPOINTMENTS.-As for those disappointments that come not by our own folly, they are trials or corrections of heaven; and it is our own fault if they prove not our advantage.

To repine at them does not mend the matter; it is only to grumble at our Creator. But to see the hand of God in them,