that have been made there certain propriety is disregarded by a serto be obliterated by the evening's vant, and she is observed to dress frivolities and follies ? We would far above her station, it is a sure most affectionately and earnestly symptom of something wrong. The expostulate with such servants as money with which this needless indulge this sinful practice. The finery has been procured, is perhaps evening of the Lord's day is perhaps withheld from the cause of Christian the only period of considerable length benevolence, or from an aged parent in the whole week which you can who has been looking to her for asobtain for uninterrupted reading, sistance; or even supposing these reflection, and devotion. Then, at claims to have been attended to, it least, you may stand erect, and, would surely have been far better awaking to the full consciousness employed in forming a little fund of your immortality, hold unbroken against a day of sickness, than in converse with eternal things. Then thus contributing to gratify a foolish that Bible which you received per- vanity. We have even known such haps as a parting gift from an aged extravagance land a servant in debt, father's hand, as you left yon cottage and, tempting her to dishonesty, acin the lovely Highland glen, or sailed complish her ruin. To mention away from yon solitary Orkney Isle, such practices is to condemn them. not neglected or unopened during Surely if to Christian females in gethe week, may be studied line upon neral the advice of Paul is applicable, line, and precept upon precept, and it should come home with double large portions of it hidden in your force to the Christian servant-"I heart as a repellant and an amulet will, that women adorn themselves against all temptation. Blessed in modest apparel, with shamefacedpause in the business of life, in which ness and sobriety, not with broidered a breathing-time is given to the hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly arwearied and fretted spirit! "Sweet ray; but (which becometh women day of sacred rest to all "-thrice professing godliness) with good sweet to such as must win their works," 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10. bread by labour. Verily "the Sabbath was made for man; " a wisdom and benevolence that regarded our highest interests most, appointed it. Is not, then, a Sabbath evening given by us to frivolity like "a price in the hand of a fool"-a tide lost in the affairs of the soul-a precious gift of Heaven unthankfully abused -rashly and foolishly and for ever given to the winds? 3. At the risk of being considered by some as too minute, there is another evil practice which we cannot pass by altogether in silence-we mean, over-dressing. We are very far, indeed, from believing that this practice may be charged against servants as a class; yet it is by no means so uncommon, or so unproductive of evil, that it should be quite overlooked. There is a propriety, even in regard to clothing, that becomes every particular station; and no one will suppose that the inmate of the kitchen and of the parlour should appear dressed alike. When this 4. But let us now speak of a most momentous matter, the choice of your companions. Lasting benefit, or unspeakable injury, will be the result of the friendships you may be led to form. I do not now refer to the persons with whom you may be brought in contact in your situation, for over this you can have little control; but of your self-chosen associates and bosom-friends. Let me beseech you to see to it, as you value your highest interest, that you have no friends whom you would be ashamed to own before a religious parent, or a Christian minister. In short, see that they have the fear of God before their eyes. In this case, the connection will be decidedly advantageous. For Christian friends are mutual helps and defences, watching for each other's safety, and drawing forth each other's graces. They have been justly and beautifully compared by Bunyan to "the several flowers in a garden that have on each of them the dew of heaven, which, being shaken by the wind, they let fall on each other's roots; whereby they are nourished and become nourishers of each other." But suppose your friend to be utterly destitute of godliness, the connection will not only be unprofitable, but injurious; you may perhaps be unexpectedly introduced into scenes which you disapprove, and betrayed into conduct which you will, all your life after, have reason to deplore. To have an irreligious acquaintanceship is like living in a house of infection-the unhealthy influence will, sooner or later, be manifest. Never forget that all friendship tends to assimilation. Solomon has declared this: "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed," Prov. xiii. 20. But while caution in the choice of your female friends is thus necessary, where shall we find words sufficiently strong to represent to you the danger of forming improper friendship among the members of the other sex? The situation of a female servant, especially in a large city, is one peculiarly exposed. Snares are often laid for her of which she has not the most remote suspicion, and all the wiles of cunning and flattery are used to allure her within their grasp. Yes, let her know that there are men to be found, and that as frequently above her station as on a level with it, who have been taught how to "smile, and smile, and be a villain." And oh! let her count that man her enemy, however honied his accents, or profuse his promises, who dares to act in her presence with the smallest degree of improper familiarity. Be assured that the man who would do this, who would even dare to whisper an impure word in your presence, does not respect you; and the moment you submit to such an insult-for to a virtuous woman it is the grossest insult-you will cease to respect yourself. There are facts which the inquiries of benevolent men have recently brought to light on this subject, so heart-rending that they might almost make the marble weep-tales of those who had been once a mother's joy, and some of them even the church's hope; but, tampering with temptation, and yielding a ready ear to flattery, must have their future history traced in a ruined character, a seared conscience, a broken heart, an early death, and a dishonoured grave! What a commentary on the wise man's words-"He that hateth, dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him. When he speaketh fair, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart!" Prov. xxvi. 24, 25. The Address of Dr. Thomson may be had of Hamilton and Adams, London. Che Fragment Basket. HOW TO KNOW PEOPLE. We never learn to know people when they come to us; we must go to them to find out how things stand with them. I find it almost natural that we should see many faults in visitors, and that directly they are gone we should judge them not in the most amiable manner. For we have, so to say, a right to measure them by our own standard. Even cautious, sensible men can scarcely keep themselves in such cases from being sharp censors. When, on the contrary, we are staying at the houses of others-when we have seen them in the midst of all their habits and environments, among those necessary conditions from which they cannot escape-when we have seen how they affect those about them, and how they adapt themselves to their circumstances-it is ignorance, it is worse, it is ill-will, to find ridiculous what in more than one sense has a claim on our respect.-Goethe. LONGING FOR HOLINESS. | Oh, what a weariness is it to live among men, and find so few men! to live among Christians, and find so few Christians! so much talk and so little action, religion turned almost to a tune and air of words; and amidst all our pretty discourses, pusillanimous and base, and so easily dragged into the mire; self, and flesh, and pride, and passion, domineering while we speak of being in Christ and clothed with him, and believe it, because we speak it so often, and so confidently. Well, I know you are not willing to be thus gulled, and having some glances of the beauty of holiness, aim no lower than perfection, which in the end we hope to attain ; and in the meanwhile the smallest advances to it are of more worth than crowns and sceptres. THIS IS LIFE. If we die to-day, the sun will shine as brightly, and the birds sing as sweetly to-morrow. Business will not be suspended a moment, and the great mass will not bestow a thought upon our memories. Is he dead? will be the solemn inquiry of a few, as they pass to their work. But no one will miss us except our immediate connections, and in a short time they will forget us, and laugh as merrily as when we sat beside them. Thus shall we all, now active in life, pass away. Our children crowd close behind us, and they will soon be gone. In a few years not a living being can say, "I remember him!" We lived in an other age, and did business with those who slumber in the tomb. This is life. How rapidly it passes! POWER OF FAITH IN AN AFRICAN. I called upon a communicant, who has for some time been unable to attend the public means of grace. I was much pleased to see him very cheerful, and rejoicing in his sufferings. When I asked him what it was that made him so rejoice, he said, "Because I see, in the Old and New Testament, that all those whom God loved, and who served him, had to suffer. Many come to me, and some in a very sly way advising me to use some country-fashion, which trouble; but I told them,Here is soon would release me from my my Bible, which tells me that it is the will of God that I should suffer, and, therefore, I will have nothing to do with your country-fashions." -Ehemann. A BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRA TION. We have never met with a more instructive example of the secret influences of Divine truth upon the heart of a child, than the following, which is related of Mary Lundie Duncan: When in her fourth year, her little brother struck her in a fit of anger; she instantly turned the other cheek, The uplifted hand was dropped; and and said mildly, "There, Corie." when the child was asked who taught her to do that, she replied, that she heard papa read it one morning out of the Bible at prayer time. PRAISE. But what wonder is it that the Lord loses the revenue of his praises at the hands of the common, ungodly world, when even his own people fall so far behind it as usually they do? The dead cannot praise him; but that they who are quickened by his Spirit, should yet be so surprised with deadness and dulness as to this exercise of exalting God, this is very strange. That soul is most noble, which singly and fixedly aims at exalting God, and seeks to have this stamp on all it speaks and does, and desires, All to the greater glory of my God.-Leighton. SLANDER WITHOUT WORDS. There may be calumny in an expression of the countenance; in a hint or inuendo ; in an altered course VOLENCE. of conduct; in not doing what you | THE COMFORTS OF BENEhave been wont to do, staying away from a neighbour's house, or withholding some accustomed civility. You may both give pain to the heart of your brother and awaken strong prejudice against him, by a lofty air, a nod of the head, a turning out of the way, a glance of the eye, a shrug, a smile, or a rown. TEMPERANCE. Why should good men stand aloof from so good a cause? Temperance makes no Atheists or Infidels, breaks up no Christian assemblies, invades not domestic peace, disrobes no minister, interferes not at the family altar, infuses no pestilential air into the moral atmosphere; it goes through the world destroying curses and scattering blessings. And why should any friend of religion stand aloof?-A. Barnes. When Cato was drawing near the close of his life, he declared to his friends that the greatest comfort of his old age, and that which gave him the highest satisfaction, was the pleasing remembrance of the benefits and friendly offices he had done to others. To see them easy and happy by his means made him truly so. WHO CHOOSES THE ROD. Remember, my friends, you and I are not to choose our own rods; no, God chooses them for us, and chooses that rod which is most suitable. THE CROWN. To win a soul is your noblest prize, and the greater number you win, the greater and richer will be that "crown of rejoicing," which you will wear in the day of the Lord. Sometimes a dream of what may be, Comes like soft sunshine o'er the heart; I hear his prattle at my knee, Feel his warm cheek near mine, and start To find it-ah! so cold and pale, His eye with manhood's ardour burns, He seems to speak-with anxious ear My precious babe, thy restless cry; Come, then, my God, and take the place Dry with thine hand these falling And teach me to confide in thee The treasure thou couldst trust with me. Happy if, rescued from the strait That hope (and well nigh faith) doth fail. Here with submissive soul I wait, And then, again, the dream returns- By thy decision to abide; ADVERTISEMENT OF A LOST DAY. A gem of countless price, Set round with three times eight Lost!-where the thoughtless throng Such as the white-robed choir attune The Children's Gallery. OBITUARY. THE following letter, which was addressed to the writer's pastor, the Editor of this Magazine, will, we are sure, be read with deep interest. It is so simple, so tender, and so spiritual, as to present a touching illustration of the power of the grace of God in the youthful heart: and per to publish them in the CHRIS- "DEAR PASTOR,-I write to in- |