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INTEMPERANCE.

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None but Christ!" Wisehart at the stake said, “This fire torments my body, but no whit abates my spirits." Saunders, when he came to the place of execution, fell to the ground and prayed, and then arose and took the stake in his arms to which he was to be chained, and kissed it, saying, Welcome the cross of Christ! Welcome everlasting life!" Farrar said, "If you see me once to stir while I suffer the pains of burning, then give no credit to the truth of those doctrines for which I die." And by the grace of God he was enabled to make good this assertion. Bradford, turning his face to John Leaf, a young man about twenty years old, who suffered with him, said, "Be of good comfort, brother; for we shall sup with the Lord this night." He then embraced the reeds, and repeated Matt. vii. 13. Latimer, at his execution, said to Ridley, who suffered with him, "We shall this day, brother, light such a candle in England as shall never be put out!" Ridley said to Smith as he was knocking in the staple which held the chain, "Good man, knock it in hard, for the flesh will have its course." Philpot, when he was come into Smithfield, kneeled down and said, “I will pay my vows in thee, O Smithfield!" Being come to the stake, he kissed it, and said, "Shall I disdain to suffer at this stake, when my Lord and Saviour refused not to suffer a most vile death upon the cross for me?" Cranmer, who signed the popish tenets only through fear of death, at his execution said, "This is the hand that wrote, and therefore it shall first suffer punishment." Fire being applied to him, he stretched out his right

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hand into the flame till it was consumed, crying with a loud voice, “This hand hath offended!" often repeating “This unworthy right hand!" That was a Christian expression of one of the martyrs to his persecutors, "You take a life from me that I cannot keep, and bestow a life upon me that I cannot lose which is as if you should rob me of counters, and furnish me with gold." As Hooper was going to suffer, a certain person addressed him: "Take care of yourself; for life is sweet and death is bitter.” “Ah, I know that," replied he; "but the life to come is full of more sweetness than this mortal life, and the death to come is full of more bitterness than this uncommon death." Herod and Nicetes tried to turn Polycarp from the faith: he replied that he had served Jesus Christ for many years, and had always found him a good Master; that he should therefore submit to all the tortures they would inflict, rather than deny him. And when he was threatened to be burnt, he replied to the proconsul, "Thou threatenest me with a fire that burns for an hour, and then dies; but art ignorant of the fire of the future judgment and eternal damna tion reserved for the ungodly. Order what punishment you think fit." When a martyr was going to the stake, a nobleman besought him in a compassionate manner to take care of his soul," so I will," he replied, 'for I give my body to be burnt, rather than have my soul defiled" Ignatius in his epistle to the persecutors of the church, gloried, saying:-" the wild beast may grind me between their teeth, but I shall by that, become as choice bread in the hands of my God."

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Temperance Advocate.

Intemperance.

He who is intemperate is the very lowest of all slaves. Doth not intemperance rob us of our reason, that chief excellence of man, and drive us on to commit the very greatest disorders? Can he who is immersed in pleasure find time to turn his thoughts on things that are useful? But, and if he could, his judgment is so far overborne by his appetites, that, seeing the right path, he deliberately rejects it. Neither should we expect modesty in such a character; it

being most certain that nothing can well stand at a greater distance from this, than the whole life of the voluptuary. But what can be so likely to obstruct either the practice or the knowledge of our duty, as intemperance? What can we suppose so fatally pernicious to man, as that which deprives him of his understanding, makes him prefer with eagerness the things which are useless, avoid or reject whatever is profitable, and act in every respect so unlike a wise man.-Socrates in Xenophon.

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A TEMPERATE man is modest: greediness is unmannerly and rude. And this is intimated in the advice of the Son of Sirach: 'When thou sittest amongst many, reach not thy hand out first of all. Leave off first for manners' sake; and be not insatiable lest thou offend. Temperance is acco.npanied with gravity of deportment: greediness is garish, and rejoices loosely at the sight of dainties. Sound but moderate sleep is its sign and its effect. "Sound sleep cometh of moderate eating: he riseth early, and his wits are with him.' A temperate person is not curious of fancies and deliciousness. He speaks not often of meat and drink,-hath a healthful body and long life; unless it be hindered by some other accident:—whereas, to Gluttony, the pain of watching and choler, the pangs of the belly, are continual company. And therefore Stratonicus said handsomely concerning the luxury of the Rhodians, They built houses as if they were immortal, but they feasted as if they meant to live but a little while.' And Antipater, by his reproach of the old glutton Demades, well expressed the baseness of this sin; saying, 'that Demades, now old and always a glutton, was like a spent sacrifice, nothing left

of him but his belly and his tongue-all the man besides is gone."-Jeremy Taylor. Suicide.

THOSE men who destroy a healthful consti tution of body by intemperance and an irregular life, do as much kill themselves, as those who hang, or poison, or drown themselves.-Sherlock.

Effects of Wine.

WINE heightens indifference into love, love into jealousy, and jealousy into madness. It often turns the good natured man into an idiot, and the choleric into an assassin. It gives bitterness to resentment, it makes vanity insupportable, and displays every little spot of the soul in its utmost deformity.—Addison.

In the year 1848, eight millions one thousand four hundred and forty-nine pounds one shilling and four pence were spent by the people of this kingdom in tobacco! If the tobacco had been worked into pigtail half-an-inch thick, it would have formed a line 99,470 miles long-long enough to go nearly four times round the earth.

Varieties.

IMAGINARY EVILS.-Imaginary evils soon become real ones, by indulging our reflections on them: as he who is in a melancholy fancy, sees something like a face on the wall or wainscot; can, by two or three touches with a lead pencil, make it look visible, and agreeing with what he fancied.—Swift.

CHINESE APHORISMS.-He who toils with pain will eat with pleasuse. No duns outside, and no doctors within. Forbearance is a domestic jewel. Something is learned every time a book is opened. To stop the hand is the way to stop the mouth. Who aims at excellence will be above mediocrity; who aims at mediocrity_will fall short of it.-The Chinese, by J. F. Davis. CHARACTER.-Character will always operate. There may be little culture slender abilites-no property-no position in society; still, if there be a character of sterling excellence, it will command influ

ence.

It will secure respect and produce impression; besides, who knows in what

it may result? therefore let all pay the utmost attention to character, nothing is more important.

But

SELFISH MEN.-The selfish man believes that by closing his heart against his fellows, feeling he escapes much suffering. and centering in self every thought and his egotistical calculations are invariably defeated; for his contracted sympathies being all directed to one focus, he so aggravates the ills he endures, that he expends on self more painful pity than the most enthusiastic philanthropist devotes to mankind.-Lady Blessington.

THE HUMBLE-MINDED.-They who are truly humble-minded have no quarrels, give no offence, contend with no one in wrath and bitterness; still more impossible is it for them to insult any man under any circumstances.-Paley.

Printed by JOHN KENNEDY, at his Printing Office, 35, Portman Place, Maida Hill, in the County of Middlesex, London.-May, 1850.

Theology.

The Holy Spirit.

WHO is the Holy Spirit? He is the third Person in the eternal Godhead, and possesses the same glorious perfections and attributes, and claims the same prerogatives as the Father and the Son. It is a fact fully asserted by the Father, in the volume of inspiration, that the influences of the Holy Spirit are as essentially necessary in the economy of redemption, as the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is his province to convince man of sin. There is nothing plainer in Scripture than this, that man is sunk in sin; yet he remains ignorant of it, until the Spirit works upon, and convinces the mind, of the awful but certain fact. He convinces, too, of the inefficiency of all our own efforts to rescue ourselves from this condition. It is his office to take of the things of Jesus, and show them to the soul; to show the dignity of his person-the design of his mission and suffering-the promises of his word-the efficacy of his blood-and our final acceptance before him. He assists the soul in the various services of religion, and helps to mortify the lusts of the body. It is He must crown all our labours for the good of souls, with success. By Him our characters are formed of eternal glory. He always acts uuder the influence of Christ, as the Mediator. Christ lives and makes intercession for us; the Holy Spirit, under his gracious influence, makes intercession in us. to whom is it promised, that it shall be granted? To all them that ask it. What encouragement, then, have we to expect this Holy Spirit, if we ask for it aright? It is absolutely necessary for us to possess it; and it is a privilege which the Father and the Son have engaged and promised to bestow. Let us then seek for it, and highly prize it. Archbishop Usher used to say, that if popery should ever gain the ascendency again in 'Britain,' it would be owing to the general neglect of the influences and outpourings of the Holy Spirit.

The present mixed condition of the Righteous.

But

Look first at their knowledge. How limited, how dark is it! This they know, for God has sent down His Holy Spirit to teach it them, that to win Christ is salvation, but how little do they know of Christ, of the glory of his person-the tenderness of his love-the unsearchable riches of his grace-the depth of his condescension-and the height of his greatness. They talk of heaven, and they know enough of it to long to be there, but ask them to describe its actual blessedness, and they are obliged to have recourse to terms, to which they themselves can attach hardly one clear idea. And what do they know of God, of his infinite and eternal nature, of his works and ways? And what of their own hearts? They search them indeed diligently, and would know them thoroughly, but they are baffled. There is a desperate wickedness within their breasts an exceeding deceitfulness-an inconsistency—a strangeness which they cannot explore. In a word, they have just light sufficient to discover the thick darkness of their soul-just knowledge sufficient to show them their ignorance- -just wisdom enough to bring them on their knees-to make them cry out with the perplexed psalmest, "Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death." Next, observe the outward circumstances of their conditon. And we need not refer here to an imprisoned Joseph, or a dethroned David, or a troubled Israel. The whole church of God declares with one voice, "Thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down." We ourselves have experienced changes; great and unexpected changes, such as in our childhood and youth we never thought

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of—such as even now, we can hardly believe to be real. We have sung of mercy one hour: the next, perhaps, we have wept under distressing judgments. To day the God of providence smiles on us, tomorrow he frowns. Now he lifts us in the world higher than ever our once buoyant hopes ever rose, and now again he sinks us lower than our darkest fears had ever placed us. And all this, while we cannot discover what he is doing with us; so perplexing are his doings, so obscure his purposes, that we cannot understand them. All that we can do is to stand still and wonder; and all that we can say of the matter amounts to no more than this, "His way is in the sea, and his path in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known." And how stands the case if we turn from our outward to our inward comforts? O what a wonderful mixture of light and darkness, what strange vicissitudes are there! Comforts indeed we have, comforts that we would not lose for all the pleasures that the world can give, could they all be poured at the very same moment into our hearts; but then, how soon are these comforts gone! how easily are they lost; with how much sorrow are they sometimes preceded, and with how much bitterness are they at other times followed! Look at the tossed christian ;-one hour almost as happy as an angel, the next, "of all men the most miserable." His mind at one time peaceful as the ocean in an evening calm, at another time, "like the troubled sea when it cannot rest:" Now exclaiming," The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" And now, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?" In the morning singing as it were at the gate of heaven, and in the evening, groaning as though drawing nigh to hell. And whence arises this fluctuation of feeling, this mixture of peace and wretchedness? It arises from a mixture elsewhere, from wavering holiness. There are changes here also. The justification of every pardoned sinner is ever the same, fixed and immutable as the love of Christ; but his sanctification is only in progress, advancing indeed, but impeded by many hinderances and liable to many partial declines. He feels a law in his members warring against the law of his mind; the flesh lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, faith struggling with unbelief, zeal with sloth, the love of Christ with the love of sin; impatience sometimes yielding to submission, and sometimes overcoming it. Hope rising out of fear, and fear darkening hope; heavenly affections soaring upwards to their God, and earthly desires clinging to the soul and keeping it from its rest.

we discover at once that brought out of darkness that in the present life There is mixture and

Such is the Christian's day. Whether we look at his knowledge, his outward circumstances, his inward comforts, or his holiness; his sun does not always, nor brightly shine; that he is into light, but that his day is a stormy and cloudy one; his state is not altogether evil nor completely blessed. change in his portion.

Peace in Affliction.

The Happy Patient.

soundness of voice and a "Blessed be my Saviour, Every new pang brings me

I SHALL Soon sleep in Jesus," said Mary, with a calmness of manner which surprised the physician. I shall soon be permitted to see him in his glory. nearer to the world of perfect holiness and heavenly bliss.

How precious, how

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divinely favoured, to be carried onward toward the fountain of life and love! My friends tell me that I may recover from this illness; but I desire, O Lord, to depart and to be with thee; disappoint me not thou portion of my soul."

She said this slowly, and with a solemnity yet delightedness of tone, which made her words thrill through the hearts of her attendants. After musing a few minutes in evident triumph of spirit, she again broke the reigning silence: "Will my dear father," she asked, be allowed to visit me? I am desirous he should again see me before I die, that I may once more tell him of the unsearchable riches of the divine grace. O, my redeeming Lord, thy goodness to thine unworthy handmaid passeth knowledge!" Her request, however, could not be complied with. Her physician assured her that the slightest excitement might do her extreme injury; and he urged her not to think at present of her father, but to continue meditating in silence on those great truths which she felt making her so happy. "I am resigned," was her reply. "The Lord will not withhold what is good. A sense of his own love, or a view of his own likeness, is gloriously enough to satisfy the soul. Yes, the company of the dearest relation is but as a drop of the ocean, compared to the presence and communion of the Father of mercies; for-0, let me think of this! He is God,' he is the God,' he is 'the God of comfort,' he is 'the God of all comfort,'—'who comforteth us'-'in our tribulation,'—'in all our tribulation.' This is marvellous; and he'dwells in us,' and is our portion,' our 'hope of glory,' our 'life,' our 'exceedingly great reward.' O for a thousand tongues to tell the praises of redeeming love!"

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She lay for a while in a state of exhaustion, fatigued and flushed by her exertion. But her mind seemed active as ever. The speaking, singing smile which played upon her countenance, ceased not a moment to tell that all in her heart was 'joy unspeakable and full of glory.' In a feebler tone than before, she asked, "May my brother be admitted?" But as she spoke, the physician was whispered away by a servant, leaving the question unanswered, and beckoning Mrs. to watch his patient till his return.

In the parlour when Dr. Mason entered, were Mary's brother, his friend Oswald, and a strange gentleman. The physician immediately communicated Mary's request to the first; and enjoining him to use his best influence to induce her to speak little, and avoid excitement, desired him to continue with her during his own absence. "I have taken a very great liberty," said Oswald to Dr. Mason, as the brother left the apartment; but I trust the urgency of the occasion will be a sufficient apology. In the multitude of counsellors, you know, there is safety. I remembered this morning that my friend Dr. Fairley, to whom I have now the honour of introducing you, intended to be in the neighbourhood yesterday evening. On hearing your unfavourable opinion of your patient's case, I rode instantly away to ascertain whether he had arrived. I alone am responssble for having brought my friend hither, aud I shall receive as a personal favour, your consulting with him whether means can be devised for averting the calamity which you apprehend."

Dr. Fairley was not so aged a man as Dr. Mason, but he was more famed and experienced. Oswald, in the whirld of his excitement, had forgotten that, like himself, he was a free-thinker, yet unlike him a free-thinker who made no secret of his principles, openly avowing them, and using neither restraint nor care to conceal their influence on his mind. This was an awkward oversight; nor did Oswald advert to it, till no opportunity remained of putting his friend upon his guard.

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