pit with him; and there he discovered the following affecting record of the filial affection and steadfast piety of the youth. In the darkness of the suffocating pit, with a bit of pointed iron, he had engraved on the box his last message to his mother, in these words :-"Fret not, my dear mother; for we were singing and praising God while we had time. Mother, follow God more than I did.—Joseph, be a good lad to God and mother." Seek to save Souls. DURING a recent voyage, sailing on a heavy sea, near a reef of rocks, a minister on board the vessel remarked, in a conversation between the man at the helm and the sailors, an inquiry whether they should be able to clear the rocks without making another tack; when the Captain gave orders that they should put off to avoid all risk. The minister observed, "I am rejoiced that we have so careful a commander." The captain replied, "It is necessary that I should be careful, because I have souls on board. I think of my responsibility; and, should any thing happen through carelessness, I should have a great deal to answer for: I wish never to forget, sir, that souls are very valuable !" The minister, turning to some of his congregation, who were upon deck with him, observed, "The captain has preached me a powerful sermon ; I hope I shall never forget, when I am addressing my fellow creatures on the concerns of eternity, that I have souls on board!” Beautiful Illustration. SOME time ago, a few ladies were reading the third chapter of Malachi: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me," &c. One of the ladies gave it as her opinion, that the fuller's soap, and the refiner of silver, were only the same image, intended to convey the same view of the sanctifying influ ences of the grace of Christ. "No," said another, "they are not just the same image; there is something remarka ble in the expression in the third verse: He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'" They all said, that pos sibly it might be so. This lady was going into the town, and she promised to see a silver-smith, and report to them what he said on the subject. She went, without telling him the object of her errand, and begged to know the pro cess of refining silver; which he fully described to her. "But do you sit, sir?" "O, yes, madam, I must sit, with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace; since, if the silver remain too long, it is sure to be injured." She at once saw the beauty, and the comfort, too, of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Christ sees it needful to put his children into the furnace; but he is seated by the side of it. His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and his wisdom and his love are both engaged to do all in the best manner for them. Their trials do not come at random; the very hairs of their head are all numbered. As the lady was returning to tell her friends what she had heard, just as she turned from the shop door, the silversmith called her back, and said that he had forgotten to mention one thing; and that was, that he only knew that the process of purifying was complete by seeing his own image in the silver. When Christ sees his image in his people, his work of purifying is accomplished. The Blessings of Affliction. JULIA D—, was the gayest of a fashionable and dissipated circle. Deprived of the instructions of a parent at an early age, she had been brought up without restraint, and left to rove at liberty in search of pleasure. In person she was lovely; her sparkling eyes betrayed the intelligent countenance, her smiling lips the heart that was unsound by mortification. Though her education had imparted much that was showy and superficial, yet she was by no means deficient in intellectual attainments. Beautiful, rich, and amiable, she could not be destitute of admirers, who would pour into her ear the language of flattery. Yet, with all that seemed necessary to confer earthly felicity, she was not what the world called h what she herself wished to be, happy. A burst of feeling, an exhilarating flow of spirits, often enlivened her counte nance, yet as often would the vacancy of an idle hour, or the silence of solitude, whisper that there was "one thing needful." It was the want of this requisite, that impaired her seeming joy in this moment, and launched her out into all the extravagancies of gaiety in the next. It was about this period, that she was on the eve of being united to one, in every respect her equal. Whatever might have been her feelings with regard to the gaiety and dissipation in which she lived, this last circumstance engrossed her utmost soul, and formed one of the strongest ties that bound her to this world. Without narrating all the intermediate incidents, it may only be observed, that when the full consummation of her happiness seemed to be not only in prospect, but near at hand, she was visited with affliction and grief. He, on whom her earthly felicity depended, was suddenly cut off and carried to the silent grave. To those who have been brought up in the school of adversity, calamitous events do not excite that unalleviated sorrow, which rends the hearts of those on whom the vial of misery is poured, when in the midst of their most joyful prosperity. Julia felt the blow keenly. The chastening hand of Providence had torn away the object of her love, that object which had entwined around her heart's inmost joys. She was like some gay flower on the mountain's brow, on which the unfeeling storm had poured its fury, that still retains existence, even when despoiled of beauty. She pined in secret. None could sympathize, for none could conceive the ardor of her af fection. The condolence of the world was disgusting; it made her deeply sensible of the want of one, to whom she could pour out the sorrows of her soul. The skeptic would have arraigned the decrees of Prov idence. He would have regarded the bereavement, not only as cruel, but unjust, and have plunged headlong into the vortex of dissipation: One part, one little part, we dimly scan Through the dark medium of life's feverish dream, But God seeth not as man seeth. It is a good thing to be afflicted; and so Julia felt. The world had lost its charms. Its pleasure had satiated; its frivolities had lost their enchanting spell. With a heart broken in affliction, where could she turn, but to that neglected Source of all goodness? Well would it be, if all would "consider in the day of adversity," and hail the chastening rod, as that which brings the wandering soul back to its duty. But, more than this, serious reflection had convinced her of the impropriety of the dissipation, in which she had lived, and led her to form those resolutions, which she has never since broken. Though the expression of her beautiful features is still melancholy, yet it is that of subdued sorrow. Those sparkling eyes that once flashed with the brilliant coruscations of wit and youthful animation, now beam forth with a mild devotional feeling, that indicates the entire change within. She bears in her countenance that humility, seriousness, and sweetness of disposition, which is one of the surest indexes of the Christian's heart. This is not all her benevolence and charity to the distressed, and her religious consolations to the afflicted, have endeared her virtues to the humble sons of poverty. Now her heart can adore the mercy of the all-wise Creator, in thus weaning man from his too close affection to the world, by the hand of affliction, so that he may approach to behold the neglected face of Him, who is ever gracious and long suffering. And now that she has tasted of the imperishable joys which spring from religion, she can see that the cares and pleasures of this life are indeed "vanity and vexation of spirit." The Converted Son. A MINISTER, from England, happening to be at Edinburgh, was accosted very civilly by a young man in the street, with an apology for the liberty he was taking ;"I think, sir," said he, "I have heard you at Spa-nelds chapel." "You probably may, sir, for I have sometimes ministered there." "Do you remember," said he, "a note put up by an afflicted widow, begging the prayers of the congregation for the conversion of an ungodly son ?" "I do very well remember such a circumstance." "Sir," Baid he, "I am the very person; and wonderful to tell, the prayer was effectual. "Going on a frolic with some other abandoned young men, one Sunday, through the Spa-fields, and passing by the chapel, I was struck with its appearance, and hearing it was a Methodist chapel, we agreed to mingle with the crowd, and stop for a few minutes, to laugh and mock at the preacher and the people. We had only just entered the chapel, when you, sir, read the note, requesting the prayers of the congregation for an afflicted widow's son. I heard it with a sensation I cannot express. I was struck to the heart; and though I had no idea that I was the very individual meant, I felt that it expressed the bitterness of a widow's heart, who had a child, as wicked as I knew myself to be. My mind was instantly solemnized. I could not laugh; my attention was riveted on the preacher. I heard his prayer and sermon, with an impression very different from that which had carried me into the chapel. From that moment, the truths of the gospel penetrated my heart; I joined the congregation; cried to God in Christ for mercy, and found peace in believing; became my mother's comfort, as I had long been her heavy cross, and through grace, have ever since continued in the good ways of the Lord. An opening having lately been_made for an advantageous settlement in my own country, I came hither with my excellent mother, and for some time past have endeavored to dry up the widow's tears, which 1 have so often caused to flow, and to be the comfort and support of her old age, as I had been the torment and affliction of her former days. We live together in the enjoyment of every mercy, happy and thankful; and every day I acknowledge the kind hand of the Lord, that led me to the Spa-fields Chapel. The Contrast-Two death-bed Scenes. I SELECT from many similar cases, which came under my observation, in the course of my professional avocations, in various parts of the world, the two following: |