were suggested by the recollection of a little domestic incident, to which I was a silent though not uninterested spectator.

During the summer months of 1834, I was spending a few weeks with a happy married pair, who had tasted the good and ills of life together only a twelvemonth.

Both possessed many amiable qualities, and were well qualified to promote each other's happiness. My second visit to my friends was of a week's duration, in the month of December. One cold evening the husband returned home at his usual hour, at nine o'clock, expecting to find a warm fire for his reception, but instead he found a cheerless, comfortless room. His first thought, no doubt, was that it was owing to the negligence of his wife; and under the impression, in rather a severe tone, he said, "This is too bad! to come home from the office cold, and find no fire I really should have kept it in." I sat almost breathless, trembling for the reply. I well knew it was no fault of hers, for she had wasted nearly the whole of the evening, and almost exhausted her patience in attempting to kindle a fire. She in a moment replied, with great kindness, "Why, my dear, I wonder what is the matter with our stove? We must have something done to-morrow, for I have spent a great deal of time in vain to make a fire." This was said in such a mild, pleasant tone that it had the most happy effect. If she had replied at that moment, when his feelings were alive to supposed neglect, "I don't know who is to blame; I have done my part, and been freezing all the evening for my pains. If the stove had been put as it should have been all would have been well enough." This, said in an unamiable, peevish tone, might have added fuel to the fire, and led to serious consequences; but fortunately her mild reply restored perfect serenity. The next day the stove was taken down, and the difficulty, some defect in the flue, was removed. What will not a kind word accomplish?

THE greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. Duty and blessing go hand in hand.

Original.

THOUGHTS ON THE COVENANT.

Concluded.

AND now how delightful to look back and survey at one view the ground that we have been over while treating of this inter-esting subject. There is such a covenant. Christian parent, it is made, first of all, with thine own soul. But it includes also thy children. It is made by God himself. It originated in His own free love and mercy, and not in any merit, present or foreseen, of thine. It contains exceedingly great and precious promises; promises that are sure and can not fail; promises established upon the ground of the Redeemer's merits and mediation; promises guaranteed by God's own veracity and faithfulness; promises which have been verified in the experience of believers in all past ages; promises which have been the hope and comfort of the saints from the days of faithful Abraham to this day; promises to which every humble, faithful follower of Christ may lay claim, and thou thyself, Christian reader, among them. These promises tell thee of blessings such as thou hadst never dreamed of before. All unworthy as thou art, a poor, weak, fallen, sinful being, they tell thee of pardon from thy God, of help and deliverance in thy sins, of returning peace of conscience in thy soul, of joy in the Holy Ghost, of guidance and a safe conduct for thee through all the way of thy pilgrimage here, of an increase of grace and a growing conformity to the will of God, of support under trials and consolation in affliction and sorrow, of victory over death, of a joyful resurrection, and an eternal life with Christ thy Redeemer and His people in heaven. All this the promises of the covenant speak of and make over to thee. What a sweet, encouraging, blessed thing is this covenant! And why should we not often think of it, often recur to it in trouble, often assure and re-establish our faith when it fails, by means of it? Why should we not go to such portions of the Bible as the third chapter of Galatians and the eighth chapter of Hebrews, and ponder well their meaning, and drink deeply VOL. I.—NO. XI.-21

into their spirit and design, and thus get fresh strength and courage for the duties and trials of life before us?

Nor are these blessings confined to thyself alone, Christian parent. The promise is to thee and to thy children. In the covenant of thy God blessings are laid up for thine offspring. And such blessings, too! So great! so free! so needful! so lasting! so sure! "I will be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee." What more can be desired than is summed up and included in this brief promise? God engages to be thy God. And then, as if this was not enough, and as if He heard thee still saying, But what shall become of my children when I am dead and gone from them, or when they are dead and gone from me? He adds, "I will be to them a God also." Fear not for them; only dedicate them to me; put the seal of my covenant upon them; and train them up for me; pray for them; instruct them out of my word; set a good example before them. Thus seek for them, first of all and chief of all, a place in my kingdom, and I will send my renewing Spirit into their hearts, and they shall be born again of water and of the Spirit, and thus shall they be fitted for and introduced into my spiritual kingdom on earth, and my kingdom of glory and blessedness in heaven. Keep them not away from me. Hold them not back. Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

And now, in conclusion, and with this gracious covenant full in our view, we ask leave to address a few words of friendly counsel to two or three classes of our readers. We thus single them out that we may make what we have to say to them more specific and better suited to their case.

1. To parents. Do not fail to dedicate your children to God. Do not fail to have the seal of the covenant placed upon them. Do this while they are young, in their earliest days, before they are taken away from you, as they are liable to be in early life. Do this in simple dependence on the grace of God; in faith and love; and in the humble waiting posture of those who expect His blessing to follow-that blessing without which all means and all outward ordinances will be in vain. See to it, that in giving up your children to God in the divinely appointed ordinance of Household Baptism, you do also give up yourselves to

Him to be His true and willing servants. Do it cheerfully and with your whole heart. Do it speedily, forthwith, if you have not done it already. If you should neglect to do this the time will come (and it may be near) when you will most deeply regret such neglect. When your children are dead and gone it will then be too late. And if the blessings of the covenant are despised now, and you have no desire that your children should share in these blessings, they may grow up only to despise these blessings themselves, and, like profane Esau, may at last be shut out from all participation in them. Much depends on you in this matter-oh, how much! Do not be unfaithful to the souls of your children! You have, in them, a precious deposit committed to your hands. Their spiritual birthright, their eternal inheritance is, in a sense, in your keeping. Do not, through unbelief or carelessness, throw it away. At least do what you can for them, and if it be so that they should then perish the fault will not be yours, and you will be able the more readily to submit and acquiesce in its being so.

2. To parents who have not given their children to God, and to mothers especially, who belong to this class. How can you live in the neglect of so high a duty, so great a privilege? Is it not a privilege (as well as duty) to devote your child to God? What, no privilege to have the Infinite God a God to your child! to have Him your Father and its Father! and to be, both yourself and your child, His adopted and beloved children! a son, a daughter, of the Lord Almighty! Is this no privilege? What is a privilege if this is not? But why, then, neglect it? Why throw it away! Why expose it to be lost? If you. have no faith in God's covenant, is this any good and sufficient justification? We have shown you that there is such a covenant. We have pointed you to its blessings. We have thus set life and death before you for your election between them. And now if we ask, yea, urge you to choose between them, will you deem us unreasonable? No, surely. You will, at once, give up yourself, your children, your entire family, to God.

3. To children that have been given to God. Dear young friends, remember that the obligations of the covenant are upon you. Your parents can not do all for you that you need to have done. They have given you to God. They have cast them

selves and you, both together, upon the mercies of God's covenant. They have brought you to the baptismal font and there pledged and sealed you unto the Lord to be His servants forever. They have prayed for you. They have instructed you. They have exemplified, in some good measure, we trust, the precepts of Christ before your eyes. And now will you not do your part? Perhaps your parents, one or both, have been taken from you. And if not, they soon will be, or at least may be. O remember the words of that "dear covenant" upon which God has caused their souls to rest in hope for you.

4. To children that have an unbelieving father or mother. Betake yourselves to the covenant for them as well as for yourselves. Sometimes it has been found that God blesses the parent for the children's sake. He hears prayer. He regards the cry of the humble. Who knows but that your believing prayers may prevail for your father or your mother, and bring their souls under the bonds of the everlasting covenant. Then what joy to your souls, and what additional privileges will come, through them, into your possession. You love and honor your parents. How can you do so much to testify your regard for them as by seeking for them the blessings of the covenant? If they have neglected your souls, do not you neglect theirs. Do at least what you can for them. Hope, plead, wait, in all dutiful love and obedience toward them, till the desired blessing come, or till your opportunities for doing them good are all at an end. And now we commend this whole delightful subject to the attention, the faith, the prayers of those readers of this journal who may chance to cast their eyes over these humble pages; hoping and desiring that the blessings of God's covenant, both here and hereafter, may be their happy portion, through faith in the precious Redeemer, who interposed the agonies of His soul even unto death to procure these blessings for all who will look to Him for them.

WHERE grace makes a combat, death shall make a conquest. It is an uncontested truth that no man ever made an ill figure who understood his own talents, nor a good one who mistook them.