and discovered no hesitation or reluctance in the immersion. "However," he says, "I perceived several times, that as often as it waded deeper than the knee, it displayed its wings, and allowed them to hang to the ground. I remarked, too, that when I could discern it at the bottom of the water, it appeared enveloped with air, which gave it a brilliant surface; like some sort of beetles, which in water are always enclosed in a bubble of air. Its object in dropping its wings on entering the water might be to confine this air; it was certainly never without some, and it seemed to quiver. These singular habits were unknown to all the sportsmen with whom I talked on the subject; and perhaps, without the accident of the snowhut in which I was concealed, I should also have for ever remained ignorant of them; but the above facts I can aver, as the bird came quite to my feet; and that I might observe it, I refrained from killing it." A pair of these birds, which had for several years built under a small wooden bridge in Carmarthenshire, had a nest early in May. Though the bird flew out on the approach of the spoilers, no eggs were found when it was taken. In a fortnight afterwards, five eggs were taken in a nest which had been built in the same place; and in a month later, a third nest was removed from the same bridge, which had four eggs, which was ascertained to be the work of the same pair. On the last occasion the female was sitting, and on quitting it, she instantly plunged into the water, and after disappearing for a considerable time, emerged at a great distance down the stream. The nest of another water ouzel was also found in a steep bank which projected over a rivulet; and the nest was so ingeniously concealed among the moss by which it was surrounded, that nothing but the old bird flying in with a fish in its bill would have led to the discovery. The young ones were nearly feathered, but unable to fly, and the moment the nest was disturbed they fluttered out, and dropping into the water, instantly vanished; but in a short time re-appeared at some distance down the stream, and it was with difficulty that two out of five were secured. The water-ouzel may be said to be rather local than rare, but is seldom found in the counties near London. S. THE DILIGENT. "The soul of the diligent shall be made fat."Prov. xiii. 4. We invite attention to the diligent. Diligence, in the abstract, is neither a virtue nor a vice. The term in itself is indifferent. It always derives its character from the object of its pursuit—the thing which it seeks perseveringly to attain. If that be good, it is a virtue. If that be evil, it is a vice. We are about to speak of diligence in well-doing; in other words, to speak of a Christian grace, as exhibited by Christian men for the imitation of all who would "make their calling and election sure." To them the precept is, “ 'give diligence;" and none who value the privileges referred to, will find fault with the injunction which incites to an appreciation of them. It is possible, notwithstanding the rapid decrease of the school which denies the doctrine of human responsibility, that these thoughts may be looked at by one who thinks it right to persist in that denial. Before we attempt a sketch of the diligent Christian, therefore, with his privileges, enjoyments, and hopes, we would invite the person who is supposed to be reading this paper carefully and prayerfully to examine the following injunctions with their respective contexts: "Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently," Deut. iv. 9. "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live," Deut. xxx. 19. "Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee," Deut. vi. 17. "Take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul," Josh. xxii. 5. 'Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life," Prov. iv. 23. "Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David," Isa. lv. 2, 3. "When thou 66 goest with thine adversary to the magis- | probable results, ever generously point to trate, as thou art in the way, give dili- results of the most animating kind, so gence that thou mayest be delivered from that the diligent disciple may adopt as him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and his own the language of the laborious the judge deliver thee to the officer, and apostle of the Gentiles, "I therefore so the officer cast thee into prison. I tell run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till as one that beateth the air," 1 Cor. ix. 26. thou hast paid the very last mite," Luke We shall look at the diligent Christian, xii. 58, 59. "We beseech you that ye then, first, as a man stimulated to activity receive not the grace of God in vain.- by the prospect of a valuable prize. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, "Know ye not," says Paul, "that they now is the day of salvation,” 2 Cor. vi. 1, 2. which run in a race run all, but one reWhy stand ye here all the day idle?-ceiveth the prize? So run, that ye may Go ye also into the vineyard; and what- obtain." The prize is certain, the reward soever is right, that shall ye receive," sure:-"To him that overcometh," says Matt. xx. 6, 7. "To-day if ye will hear the exalted Saviour, "will I grant to sit his voice, harden not your hearts," Heb. with me in my throne, even as I also iii. 7, 8. "And we desire that every one overcame, and am set down with my Faof you do show the same diligence to the ther in his throne," Rev. iii. 21. And full assurance of hope unto the end: that the value of the prize is inestimable. It ye be not slothful, but followers of them is, says Paul, an "incorruptible crown," who through faith and patience inherit 1 Cor. ix. 25; and "a crown of rightethe promises," Heb. vi. 11, 12. "Where- ousness, 2 Tim. iv. 8; "a crown of fore seeing we also are compassed about life," says James, i. 12; and "a crown of with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us glory," adds Peter, 1, v. 4. That which ・lay aside every weight, and the sin which is so characterized by inspired writers, doth so easily beset us, and let us run must be so valuable as to set all compariwith patience the race that is set before son by visible similitudes at defiance. us, looking unto Jesus the author and That which is distinguished by rightefinisher of our faith," Heb. xii. 1, 2. ousness," "life," and "glory," and all Giving all diligence, add to your faith "incorruptible,' must be intrinsically virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to precious beyond all computation or comknowledge temperance; and to temper-parison. Such a prize, if attainable by ance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," 2 Pet. i. 5-11. 66 any possibility, requires but to be contemplated, to nerve the energies, and stimulate the activities, and elicit the powers of any aspirant. To obtain it is true fame, honour, and glory; and the certainty of its attainment, if the rules be attended to, is placed beyond question by Him who has exhibited it as the stimulant to energy, and the goal of activity. The diligent disciple of Christ, then, keeping his eye fixed on the prize set before him in the gospel, presses on amidst the opposing influences of the visible and the temporal. Animated, both by the intrinsic worth of the prize, and by the glories which associate themselves with its reception, he fixes his earnest attention on the These citations are sufficient to show the city of habitations, the new Jerusalem, responsibility of those who are favoured the home of redeemed men and sinless with spiritual privileges, and the conse- angels, and the dwelling-place of God. quent duty of earnestly pursuing the end He thinks also of the disgrace of failure, for which they were given. Activity in and, upheld by Him whose grace is suffia good cause is praiseworthy among men, cient for him amidst all his difficulties, and and approved by God. He who has re- whose strength is made perfect in weakbuked sloth, has presented the most stir-ness, amidst all his temptations to linger ring inducements to diligence in the by the way, he resolves that no man shall spiritual life; and those precepts which take his crown. His brow is radiant with make it our duty to obey, even apart from heavenly light; his eye is lifted to the hills whence his help cometh; his countenance beams with indications of communion with his exalted Leader; his demeanour bespeaks the greatness of his enterprise; and his course is straight onwards through the path, whose length he knows not, but which leads to the object of his holy solicitude. And as every foot of the way is disputed by principalities and powers, and spiritual wickednesses in high places, he is clothed with the whole armour of God, that he may be able to resist the fiery darts of the wicked. His loins are girt about with truth, and his feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; he has on the breastplate of righteousness, and the helmet of salvation; and over all he has the shield of faith, whilst he wields the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Knowing that rest and the crown are to be bestowed together, he forgets his weariness in anticipation of the one, and holds on his way in hope of the other. Feeling assured that he follows no cunningly devised fable, but that the crown of righteousness shall be bestowed on all who love the appearing of the Lord the righteous Judge, his constant prayer is that he may be enabled to finish his course with joy. Hence his diligence in the Christian life. Let us look also at the rules by which this activity is regulated. He has not only to run, but "so" to "run that he may obtain " the prize. Swiftness of foot was celebrated among the ancients. "Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe." Among those who joined David at Ziklag, some are mentioned who were as swift as the roe upon the mountains." And in David's famous lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, he says "they were swifter than eagles." Homer constantly commends Achilles as the "swift-footed;" and he tells us "No greater honour e'er has been attain'd Than what strong hands or nimble feet have gain'd." However valuable this agility might be in pursuing an enemy, or running for a prize, yet, in the latter case especially, the observance of certain rules was indispensable. The apostle Paul more than once illustrates the Christian race by alluding to the Olympic games. The Stadium especially serves for illustration. But a course of preliminary training, as well as rigid attention to the laws of the race, was necessary for the competi tors. Horace has referred to the preparations: "A youth who hopes the Olympic prize to gain, All arts must try, and every toil sustain." In like manner, however encouraging the prize set before the Christian, he must begin his activities and continue them by rule. The starting point is Calvary: Christ crucified is the first lesson-a lesson to be both felt and remembered ever after. All that is meant by being born again must be experienced. The self-denial involved in the precept of Christ, "Follow me," must be submitted to, whilst the faith and hope which it implies must be respectively experienced and cherished. The glory of God must be the primary motive of all exertion, if the Christian would be diligent according to the tenor of redemption; and when it is so, he will find grace given him, enabling him to lay aside every weight that encumbers him in his heavenly race. And in proportion to the unmixed character of this motive will be his readiness to comply with the apostolic entreaty: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service," Rom. xii. 1. Having thus entered the race, according to the invariable rule for all who shall obtain the prize, and being thus inspired to activity by the most powerful of all motives, we are prepared to contemplate the various manifestations of the Christian's diligence. He begins the day in the closet. The Bible is before him-the book that reveals the character of God, his Creator, preserver, Redeemer, and Judge-that lays open the condition of man as an intelligent, moral, and accountable being—that describes the ruin brought upon mankind by sin, and the Divine plan for the justification, sanctification, and ultimate glory of all believers-that enunciates the system of agency which God has instituted as the medium through which saving truth is conveyed to the soul-that proclaims the effectual working of the Holy Spirit by that truth-that details the evidences of a state of safety in contrast with those of a state of danger, and that exhibits the attractive and solid joys of heaven for the purpose of drawing the spectator from the vanities of time and sense. Pondering the statements of this invaluable book, and desiring to be influ ception, may be found at the right hand of the Judge, clothed upon with his righteousness, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe. enced by its purifying and elevating prin- But as the cultivation of his own heart, ciples, he presents himself at the throne because primarily important, is first atof grace, to which he has access by faith tended to, so the next object of his Chrisin Christ Jesus, and earnestly beseeches tian activity is the well-being of those God to subdue in his heart all the adverse whom God has placed under his protecworkings of his depraved nature, and to tion. He is next seen, therefore, as the assimilate him to the image of the Sa- head of the family, and the centre of the viour. Deeply impressed with the neces- domestic circle. Again the book of unsity of fidelity to himself, he tries the state erring truth is opened. He reads reof his heart by the inspired test of cha- verently some of its inexhaustible lessons racter, and examines the nature of his of wisdom; and, kneeling before the Most motives as in the sight of God. Con- High, presents those whom he tenderly scious of a thousand follies and deficien- loves to the mercies of his covenantcies, his confessions are of the humblest keeping God, giving thanks for the Prodescription; and having learned from vidential blessings of which they are all bitter experience, as well as from the recipients, interceding for them that they Bible, his constant liability to err, and may bear the image of Christ—may share his constant exposure to moral evil, he in the blessings of his atonement-may earnestly implores fresh donations of be useful Christians whilst their lives on gracious influence, that he may be pre-earth continue, and that all, without exserved from the plagues of his own heart, from the evil that is in the world, and from those deceptions which the objects of sense are continually practising upon the unwary; and, extending his desires beyond that which relates to mere preservation, he prays that he may be enabled to walk as a child of light-to show before the world the genuine character of the religion he loves-to illustrate its benevolence by showing kindness to his fellows its truthfulness, by high-toned integrity-its holiness, by personal purity; and the amplitude of its provisions for the recovery of man, by inviting the wretched to the Saviour, and intreating the rebel to be reconciled to God. On his knees he has communion with God as his Father in Christ. By this wonderful privilege his graces are quickened, his estimate of the great salvation raised, his resolutions to live to Him who died for him strengthened, and his sense of the unutterable love of Christ deepened. The machinery of thought and action thus brought under the inspection of Him who seeth in secret, the diligent Christian goes forth to the legitimate toils of life comforted and strengthened. He has been closeted with the King, and knows more of the secrets of that spiritual kingdom of which he is a subject, and whose laws, if they operate at all in this world, must first develope themselves upon the heart of the individual man. He has been at the source of spiritual consolation, and is prepared to receive the mercies of the day with lively gratitude, or to submit to its disappointments with Christian tranquillity, as fatherly chastisements which shall issue in good. We follow him now to the active business of life. Have his morning's devotions detained him beyond the usual hour? He is at his desk, or in his shop, as early as those who have no fear of God before their eyes. Have his spiritual contemplations unfitted him for a correct estimate of the secularities of life? On the contrary, the clearness of his judgment, and his correct appreciation of character have caused him to be looked up to by others. Have his religious principles interfered with his perceptions of political rights? So far from it, they have given him the proper data on which to found conclusions? Have his desires after a better country crippled his energies regarding the duties of this world? He is diligent in business, while fervent in spirit. Have his convictions of the importance of eternity made him callous to the sufferings of time? To the extent of his ability, he clothes the naked and feeds the hungry, and sympathises with distress, and alleviates woe. The needy flee to him, and his name is revered in the circle of the afflicted. He does good unto all men as he has opportunity, not forgetting the special claims of the household of faith; and the charity which he extends, without ostentation, is ever accompanied by "a word in season,” fitted to impress the thoughtless, or to cheer the desponding, or to warn the unruly, or to check the wayward, or to edify the believer. He considers the temporalities of which he is constituted steward, as so much material agency by which to further the interests of spiritual truth. In him, consequently, the external apparatus of the gospel, and Christian and benevolent institutions, have a steady friend and supporter. While he prays for their success he consistently places at their disposal those means by which, in part, the Redeemer works for the accomplishment of his own gracious purposes. He believes in doctrine while he discharges duty; and so far from thinking that the former exonerates him from the latter, the heartiness of his obedience is in proportion to the strength of his faith. Nor has his high estimate of mind, and of the necessity of its training and culture, made him careless regarding the social disorders and temporal discomforts of the people; for he is a patriotic citizen, a benevolent member of the community, and diligent" in every good work." Teacher, in celebrating the praises of the God of salvation, in encircling the throne of grace, and in listening to illustrations and enforcements of the truths of the everlasting gospel from the lips of the pastor whom he esteems "very highly in love for his work's sake." He appears in the house of prayer as a man in earnest. His appearance indicates that he appreciates his privileges, and that, whilst he is mentally thankful for every intimation from the pulpit calculated by the blessing of God to arouse, correct, or edify others, his self-honesty is actively at work in his own breast. Wishing to be a doer as well as a hearer of the word, he tries himself by the illustrations of Christian character which are presented to himquestions his faith whether it has cordially received the doctrines which are expounded-measures his spiritual stature by the claims of Christ, which are found in the sacred volume, to ascertain whether he is growing in grace-tests his motives by representations of the spirit Methodical in all his duties, and decided in all his purposes, the day closes as it began; and he retires to rest, cheer-uality of truth, and of the heart-searching ful, grateful, hopeful, with his mind fixed upon that adored Saviour with whom he desires to live for ever. The first day of the week dawns. The sun, that was concealed by a preternatural veil when the world's Redeemer was suffering on Calvary, now pours his light upon the nations as if it were vocal with the intelligence of the Sufferer's victory and resurrection; and the diligent Christian, whose active labours have been rewarded by refreshing rest, arises with the sentiment of a grateful welcome to the loved day: "Hail! morning, known among the blest! Scarce morning twilight had begun To chase the shades of night away, Mercy looked down with smiling eye, And Hope with gladness raised her head." prerogative of the God "with whom he AN ELECTRIFYING MACHINE IN PERSIA. WHEN sir James Malcolm was in Persia, on his first expedition, an electrifying machine which he took with him was one of the chief means of astonishing his Persian friends; and with its effects he surprised and alarmed all, from majesty itself to the lowest peasant. At Isfahan, all were delighted with the electric machine, except one renowned doctor and lecturer of the college, who, envious of the popularity gained by this display of superior science, contended publicly that the effects produced were moral, not physical; that it was the mummery the Europeans practised, and the state of the nervous agitation they excited, which produced an ideal shock; but he expressed his conviction that a man of true firmness of mind would stand unmoved by all that could be produced out of the glass bottle, as he scoffingly |