Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

cruelly he had taken that life away, which he could never give back; and he remained thoughtfully by his mamma's side long after the pain of her gentle punishment had gone off, and he resolved that he never again would be so cruel to any of God's creatures. May He give the little boy strength to keep such a good resolution.-Band of Hope Review.

"WHY AM I NOT USEFUL?"

OUR want of usefulness is often to be ascribed to our want of spirituality, much oftener than to our want of natural ability.-A. Fuller.

A SATURDAY NIGHT QUESTION.

Am I more fit to serve and to enjoy God than I was last week?-S. Pearce.

Nov. 1.

SATURDAY NIGHT.

A TEXT FOR OUR TEACHER.

November 1862.

I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain.-Isa. xlv. 19. 8. If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Gal. iii. 29.

15. Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.-John xiv. 13.

22.

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.-John xiii. 17.

29. Thy testimonies also are my delight, and my counsellors.-Ps. cxix. 24.

[graphic][merged small][merged small]

"A WRECK! A WRECK!"

On his return from Madagascar in 1857, the Rev. W. Ellis sailed from Mauritius in the steamer England, on 13th January. A few days after they left the island, the ship encountered a terrible storm.

"A

Two days afterwards, on the 21st January, Mr. Ellis was sitting in the cabin, when he heard the cry, wreck! a wreck!" Hastening on deck, he saw among the tops of the waves, about two miles distant, a small blue flag or signal, and in a few minutes more, he discerned a sort of raft, with two figures, a white man and what seemed a negro, sitting upon it, up to the waist in the sea.

Immediately the England let down one of her boats, which, manned by five stout, willing sailors, was soon rushing on her way to the wreck. She was watched from the ship with breathless anxiety; and when one man, and then the other-stiff, benumbed, and swollen with water-was lifted safely into the boat, a cry burst from all lips, "They are saved! they are saved!”

Soon the boat was alongside, and the two men, bruised and bleeding, were lifted on board. Wrapped in blankets, and with the doctor's kind care, they speedily recovered. They proved to be the captain and one of the men of the Henry Crappo, an American whaler. She had been upset and sunk in the gale, and the whole crew, twentytwo in number, had perished except those two.

Two nights and two days they had been upon their frail raft, when God made the England the means of their merciful deliverance. The coloured sailor was a Sandwich Islander. Mr. Ellis, knowing his language, having been once a missionary in the Sandwich Islands, conversed with him, and repeated the lines,

"He Akua homolele

Ke Akua no kakou."

"A God of perfection, or goodness, is our God.”

The man's face brightened while he listened, and taking up the words he finished the verse, and repeated the rest of the hymn. It turned out that the sailor was the brother of a native teacher in the Sandwich Islands, and that the hymn which had cheered him when a castaway on the wild ocean, had been written by Mr. Ellis himself, more than thirty years before. The England soon after reached the Cape of Good Hope, where the rescued seamen left her, to find their way to America.

In what wonderful ways does the Lord fulfil his proImise to his people, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt find it after many days."

HOW TO DRIVE AWAY BAD COMPANY.

THE Rev. John Elliot, styled the apostle of the Indians, was once asked by a pious woman who was vexed with a wicked husband, and bad company frequently infesting her house on his account, what she should do? Take," said he, "the Bible into your hand when bad company comes in, and that will soon drive them out of the house."

66

A BOOK OF BANK NOTES.

"I HAVE many books," said the Rev. John Newton, "that I cannot sit down to read; they are indeed good and sound, but, like halfpence, there goes a great quantity to a little amount. There are silver books, and a very few golden books; but I have one book worth more than all the rest. It is called the Bible, and that is a book of bank-notes."

STOP THE TRAIN!

I REMEMBER having seen, long ago, a frightful accident. There was a railway train filled with goods, sheep, cattle, and market produce, standing at the top of a long inclined plane. The trains at that place were lowered down by a rope. There were a great many other trains, and carriages, both full and empty, standing at the top of the incline. The men were busily engaged each with his own work. Some were adding a few empty carriages to the end of the goods train before it was let down the inclined plane. As each carriage was pushed slowly up, and joined to the others, it gave the train a blow. Each of these blows produced some effect. At last, as carriage after carriage was added behind, those in front began to move slowly, very slowly at first, down the incline. each turn of the wheels, they went faster and faster, and soon the motion became visible to every one. An outcry arose. Some ran to the breaks; others ran to try and fasten the large rope to the hindermost carriage, but all in vain; the boldest were terrified; the speed increased; and soon, with a rumble like thunder, and a speed like lightning, the whole train darted down the hill, and was smashed, with all its living freight, into splinters and atoms at the bottom.

At

This is too frequently the progress of little sins in a child's heart. If you do not take good heed, you may get fairly started, without break or guard, down the inclined plane of sin. And the end of it is destruction and death, sure and certain. Nothing short of a miracle could have stopped that train, when it was once fairly set in motion. And nothing short of a miracle of grace can stop you, when once you are fairly advanced in the full career of little sins. You are on the way to that end now, my dear young friend. The wheels are moving, more and yet more rapidly. Stop! stop now, while yet there is time.-Family Paper.

A WORD TO A LIAR.

LYING lips are an abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.—Prov. xii. 22.

« ZurückWeiter »