people at Jerusalem ;-not to speak of those which were only commenced, such as the emotions of king Agrippa, the agitation of Felix, the professions of Simon of Samaria, the anguish of Pilate's wife, and the benevolence of the captain Julius ;-missionary journeys, lashing divisions among christians of different classes respecting things external, mutual prejudices, different solutions of cases of conscience, disputes between brethren, and even between apostles-the developement-the explanations-and the triumphs of the spirit of charity; communications from one military officer to another, from proconsul to proconsul; revelations made to the churches respecting the calling of the Gentiles; collections made by the poor of one church for the benefit of another; prophecies; national scenes; punishments, either perpetrated or designed; summons before Jewish tribunals or Roman municipal authorities before governors and kings; christian assemblies from house to house; their emotions, their prayers, their charity, their doubts and fears; a persecuting king struck by an angel and eaten of worms, at the moment when to please the popular he had accomplished the death of one apostle and had designed that of another; persecutions under all forms,-by synagogues, by the princes, by the Jews, and by popular tumults; deliverances of the men of God, one while by a child, another while by an angel, one while by a Roman tribune, or a captain, of a scripture, by pagan magistrates, or by idolatrous soldiers; tempests, shipwrecks, with details which by their nautical exactness (as we have seen) charm even the mariners of our days; and all this in thirty pages or twenty-eight little chapters! Admirable brevity! Was there not need of the Holy Spirit of God for this conciseness-for this selection of details-for this pious, varied, brief, richly significant manner which employs so few words, and teaches so many things? Fulness, conciseness, clearness, simplicity, elevation, practical richness;-such is the ecclesiastical history which the people of God needed. This is true; but it is not thus that men narrate events.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

Piety and humility were the two beautiful attributes of the illustrious astronomer. Whilst laying out a chart of the gorgeous tracing of the heavens, and tracking his path through the starry labyrinth, he declared that he felt like a little child picking up shells on the shore of the great ocean of truth. Gracefully and calmly he pursued the even tenor of his way; and said, that all he had obtained for his intense studies, was the knowledge of his own ignorance.

X

FAMILIAR LETTERS.-No. I.*

ADDRESSED TO A PERSON ON THE EVE OF TRANSPORTATION. +

DEAR SIR,-As the time of your departure is at hand, owing to the short intercourse we have had, the circumstances in which you are situated, and the distance of the place of your destination, I feel an irresistible desire to address you in a few words at parting. I do not intend to say any thing as to your temporal pursuits, as these will not be, for some time at least, under your own controul, and will be directed by events which we cannot anticipate. It is to a subject of infinitely greater importance that I mean to direct your attention, that is, to the salvation of your soul, to the things that belong to your everlasting peace, before they be ever hid from your eyes. The most interesting, the most important question, that can be put by any of the sons of men-that can be put by you, is," What shall I do to be saved?" In many parts of the world, in all heathen lands, no satisfactory reply can be given to this question, however anxiously it may be put. It is your unspeakable advantage, however, and one which you should prize above everything else, that you have that book in your own tongue, and that you have been taught to read it, which gives the only true answer to this most important inquiry," Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." The Bible informs you who this Saviour is, and it does this in the plainest terms. It informs you of his natures, God and man in one person, -of his offices, of his work,-why he came into our world,-of that work which he finished, when he bowed his head and gave up the ghost in the room and stead of the guilty,—of his resurrection, as the first fruits of them that sleep,—of his ascending up into glory, to appear in the presence of God as the advocate of all those for whom he gave his life as a ransom, for the remission of their sins. This book informs you of the need you as a guilty sinner have of this Saviour. In it you have his express invitation addressed to you in particular,—“ Look unto me, and be ye saved. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." Here too the question is put to you personally," Dost thou now believe,” on Jesus as your own Saviour? Do you now receive and rest on him alone for salvation as he offers himself to you in the gospel? Can you say, in truth, in reply to this question by Jesus himself put to you, "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief." If you cannot answer this question in the affirmative, you must have immediate recourse to him in solemn and fervent prayer, in the language of that book,-“ Open thou mine eyes, that I may see wondrous things in thy law." "Fulfil in me all the good pleasure of thy goodness, and the work of faith with power." Cast yourself on divine mercy, as it flows through Jesus Christ, to the chief of sinners. Do

* This Letter is the first of a series, from the unpublished manuscripts of a deceased author, whose printed Letters and Essays have enjoyed a high share of useful popularity. For their appearance here, we are indebted to the kindness of our esteemed friend PHILOPAIS, whose communications have so often enriched our pages, and who is a near relative of the pious author.EDITOR.

+ This was a young man of respectable parents, and of excellent talents, who was convicted of house-breaking, and sentenced to transportation beyond seas, by the Justiciary Court, at Jedburgh.

this without delay, for the time is short. Do it speedily, lest by delaying any longer the door of mercy may be for ever shut against you. "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation. To-day, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart." There is no other name given under heaven, or among men, by which you can be saved, but the name of Jesus. As therefore you value your own soul-as you wish for happiness in time, and through an endless eternity, embrace the offers of salvation made to you in the glorious gospel. Lay hold on eternal life. And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. This is the only way in which happiness is to be found, either in this life or in that which is to come. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, to which the righteous run and are safe. In this strong place of refuge, no real evil can befal them, no plague can come nigh their dwelling.

In the same book which teaches you what you are to believe, you have an infallible rule of conduct in all your intercourse with society. This rule you have in the ten commandments, upon which you should meditate day and night. It should be your great concern to have them written upon your heart, and to observe them carefully at all times; in keeping this law there is great reward. That you may have a distinct knowledge of what you are to believe and do, you must carefully peruse the holy scriptures,-read a portion of them every day,lay up the word in your heart,—and practice it in your life. You are aware of the danger of departing from any of the commandments of God ;-"Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." You will find this study profitable for the life that now is, as well as for that which is to come. This word is calculated to be your comfort in all your affliction. You will find it your interest to peruse the scriptures, as it may be long ere you be within reach of a place of public worship, in the country to which you are destined.

You may not there, as in the land of your fathers, have an opportunity of going to the house of God in company with them who keep the solemn, holy day. On your long voyage the perusal of the word of Him whose way is in the sea, and his path in the mighty waters, and whose footsteps are not known, will be your greatest solace. The society to which you are doomed, instead of relaxing your attention to the word of God, should be an additional excitement to peruse with increasing diligence what the Spirit saith unto the churches. If it be our duty in every place, and at all times, to watch against every appearance of evil, much more will you find this to be your interest, when you are among the offscourings of the human race. Your earnest prayer should be," My soul come not thou into their secret; mine honour be not thou united with them." Instead of joining with them when they set their mouths against the heavens, when they profane the holy sabbath, you should study more and more to reverence that great and dreadful name, for it is holy, and to count the sabbath your delight, though you be far removed from the courts of his house.

You will be at a distance from your father and mother, and other near and dear relations; but if you believe in God, as your Father in Christ Jesus, he will abundantly supply the loss you sustain, by your absence from your earthly parents. He is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Jesus is a brother born for adversity; and he saith,-" Let all your wants be upon me." Besides, however far remote you may be from each other, you may meet at the divine throne, and pour out your supplications for one another, at the footstool of the Eternal, and thus hold communion with each other. The tears which were shed at parting will be most effectually dried up, by their hearing, from good authority, that you have

found, and walk in wisdom's ways, which are pleasantness, and her paths which are peace. If your prayer be,-let not the errors of my youth, nor sins, be remembered; and if this prayer be heard, and graciously answered; if henceforth you be enabled to walk in a plain path, because of enemies and observers, this will turn their mourning into joy, and their sorrow into gladness. The recollection of the hour of parting, and the anguish they felt at the last farewell, it is hoped, will be a lasting memento to you, ever to act so as to dispel the gloom that for some time must hang over their minds. You will be far removed from their observation; but the eye of the Omniscient will be ever upon you. Whither can you go from his presence? He seeth in the darkness as well as in the light. He is entirely acquainted with all our ways; and all our thoughts, and words, and actions, are recorded in that book out of which we are to be judged. Before an earthly tribunal, it is possible that, for want of evidence, or for some other cause, the guilty may escape, or the legal punishment may be mitigated; but in the great day of judgment, none shall escape deserved wrath. The wicked shall then go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal. That you may retrieve all your errors,—that you may be a son of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,—that your future conduct may be such as to afford joy to your parents, and all your relations,—and that, in due time, you may enter into the joy of the Lord,—is the prayer of― Greenlaw, Berwickshire.

ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN.

Whatever your circumstances may be in this world, still value your bible as your best treasure; and whatever be your employment here, still look upon religion as your best business. Your bible contains eternal life in it, and all the riches of the upper world, and religion is the only way to become a possessor of them.

To direct your carriage towards God, converse particularly with the book of Psalms; David was a man of sincere and eminent devotion. To behave aright among men, acquaint yourself with the whole book of Proverbs; Solomon was a man of large experience and wisdom. And to perfect your direction in both these, read the gospels and the epistles; you will find the best of rules, and the best of examples there; and those more immediately suited to the christian life.

In every affair of life begin with God; consult him in everything that concerns you; view him as the Author of all your blessings, and all your hopes; as your best Friend, and your eternal portion; meditate on him in this view, with a continual renewal of your trust in him, and a daily surrender of yourself to him, till you feel that you love him most entirely, that you serve him with sincere delight, and that you cannot live a day without God in the world.

Since in many things we offend all, and there is not a day passes which is perfectly free from sin, let repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ be your daily work; a frequent renewal of these exercises, which constitute a christian, at first, will be a constant evidence of your sincere christianity, and give you peace in life, and hope in death.

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.

TABLE OF

WRECKS IN WHICH THE CREWS HAVE ALL PERISHED!

[From Lloyd's List, and the Shipping and Mercantile Gazette, from 12th July, to 11th Sept. 1841.]

Exhibiting a wreck of SEVEN SHIPS, and a probable loss of not less than SEVENTY LIVES.

THE SWALLOW OF WHITEHAVEN, July 20th. The lingering hopes of the relatives and friends of those who were on board the 'Swallow,' are now completely worn out; and all expectation of ever hearing more, either of her or any of the crew, are entirely at an end. It is now more than two years since this vessel was launched from the yard of Messrs. Brocklebank, of this port, who were both the builders and owners of the 'Swallow,' which, on being launched, proceeded to Liverpool, from whence she took a cargo and left for South America, where she arrived in safety. On the 15th July, 1840, the 'Swallow' sailed from Guayaquil with a cargo of cocoa for Cadiz, with two gentlemen on board as passengers, who were owners, we believe, of the cargo. After leaving Guayaquil, she was never more either seen or heard of; and as upwards of a year has now elapsed without any tidings of the unfortunate vessel, the conclusion naturally is, that she must have foundered at sea, and all hands perished.

Cardigan, August 14th. A vessel, name unknown, sunk on Wednesday morning, off the Bishop's Head, and all hands, supposed to be four in number, must have perished. She belonged to Cardigan.

St. Kitts. July 13th. The pinnace of the ship Earl of Liverpool, laden with merchandise from Nevis, for this port, was totally lost in the Narrows on the 8th inst. during a gale,—four men drowned.

And if we allow, that for every ten of these casualties, only ONE perished, this will give a melancholy addition of THIRTY to the preceding number.