the Bible. This poor Romanist, taught to hate the Bible, is now heard humbly and gratefully to sing, "Lord, I have made thy word my choice,

My lasting heritage;

Thus shall my noblest powers rejoice,

My warmest thoughts engage."

For the Advocate and Guardian. IRRELIGIOUS ASSOCIATES.

strong attachment which was growing up between her children and their nurse; the remark led Mrs. Maybee to inquire, "Do you think, Mrs. Goodman, we have any|| thing to fear for our children, from the influence of Catholic servants ?"

Let me urge upon you the importance of avoiding the evil influences that may surround you, and the ruinous consequences of associating with the irreligious. A blessing is pronounced on him "that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." "If sinners entice thee consent thou not," was the wise in junction of Solomon to his son. Look at the history of Lot, which affords many profitable lessons on this subject.

However moral or amiable your companions may appear, if they are strangers to vital piety, their society may prove injurious to your best spiritual interests. At first you may think that your principles are too firm to be shaken, and you may tremble at the thought of ever joining in their revelry. Yet how soon may you imbibe their spirit of mirth, and venture on in all of their worldly amusements, till having lost the power of religion, you can with a bold face, enter the ball-room, join in the giddy dance, frequent the theatre, or billiard saloon.

The voice that was "tuned anew" in singing the songs of Zion, and that produced those beautiful sounds to the praise of God, is soon employed to amuse and entertain your ungodly companions. And with them you will incur the heavy guilt of wasting many precious hours-hours that, when these carthly scenes are ended and you are laid on your dying bed, you would give worlds to redeem. You may live on, forsaken of God, your comforts destroyed, and by your example lead others astray, and your last hours be filled with such

cles wrought by the priests, and of the infallible cfficacy of relics, charms, holy water, &c., have a fascination for children, which tempts them often to listen, though at the time they may not credit their statements, but the oft-repeated and positive declaration, that they themselves have seen these wonders, may at length gain partial credence, if not full belief, and thus the foundations of truth are being undermined."

"I have never thought seriously on the subject; it|| has always seemed impossible to me, that any of my family could be induced to embrace Romanism."

cretly accompanied the servant to church for a length of time, and before his parents were aware, he was a confirmed papist; neither persuasion nor punishment could induce him to abandon it. The poor child had never been instructed in any religion, and feeling the need of a faith to rely upon for the future, he clung tenaciously to the only hope which had been set before him. A gentleman informed me that he had on exhibition at his store door, in Broadway, a fine painting of the virgin Mary, and infant Jesus; he said it was a common thing for Catholic servants to bring Protestant children there and teach them, in imitation of their example, to knee before it, kiss it, and cross themselves."

66

6

'How was your attention first drawn to this subject?' By several circumstances which occurred years ago. I was speaking with my little girls of four and six years of age, about the sacrament which they had seen administered, when I was abruptly interrupted by the elder, with the remark, Why mother that is not bread and wine; Ellen told me, when I was at grandmother's, that it is'nt bread, it is the flesh of God! And little "In the circle of my acquaintance, I have known two Lida earnestly chimed in, 'I'll tell you what she said, instances, of girls brought up in pious families, who had mother; she said, the bread is the very flesh of God, every advantage of religious instruction, and professed and the wine is his very blood!' you may be sure! to experience a change of heart, and united with the was much surprised at this development; the converchurch; yet after a brief separation from these families, sation with Ellen had occurred weeks before, and had they married Catholics, and to do so, were first baptized evidently produced a strong impression, and it might into that faith. Had the possibility of such a step been have been permanent too, but for this providential opthought of, they might have received specific instruc-portunity to ascertain and correct the error my children tion, which would have guarded them against it."

"It is but natural that these girls should be desirous to convert our children to their views, and in proportion to their attachment to them, will they be zealous to save them from the dangers of heresy."

"If they openly assailed the doctrines of Protestants, our older children would be likely to defend them, and to ask help of others to refute their errors; thus they might escape unharmed; it is the secret insidious infusion of falsehood which we have most to fear.

"I have directed my children to repeat to me whatever the servants say to them on the subject, so that I arguing with them, because it only ends in anger, and may at once counteract the effect; I have forbidden their increases prejudice. But I am most concerned for the effect upon the little children; they are left more to the care of servants, and the scclusion of the nursery is favorable for instilling in their minds many evil lessons as well as good ones. The prayer book is Biddy's constant

had imbibed. I found too that my vigilance must not be confined to servants, that it was important to inquire into the religious sentiments of teachers also. I desired to place Mary and Lida in a small school, and madeconsiderable inquiry in the neighborhood to find one; I was at length directed to an old lady, by a mother who sent her children to her, and was much pleased with their improvement, I called on the old lady in schooltime, and after a brief interview, engaged to send my girls.

They were all eagerness to go to school, and started on Monday morning furnished, (according to her rule,) with the price of a week's tuition in advance. On their return, I met them at the door, and asked, 'Well, little ones, how do you like your school?' 'Oh, mother!' they both cried with enthusiasm, 'See what the madam taught us to do,' and suiting their action to their words they proceeded to cross themselves on their forehead, breasts, and arms, repeating the words,- Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! That was their first lesson in the new school and it was their last."

"It is a wonder to me that Protestant parents pat

life. Oh! that I had shunned those wicked associates. That I had but hearkened to my pastor's counsel. But who can portray the feelings of regret, and the bitter reproaches of a sinful life, at the hour of death?

As a Christian, you are a child of God, a member of His family, a temple of His spirit, and a citizen of heaven. Choose, therefore, for your associates, those who are friends of God-friends that will be friends in heaven. ARABELLA.

For the Advocate and Guardian. DANGEROUS INFLUENCES.

THE weather for several weeks had been cold and rainy, unseasonable for June, and well calculated to make people contented within doors, but at last the sun shone forth beautifully and all nature seemed resplendant with his beams; the grass put on a new livery, the flowers were more fragrant, and man and beast participated in the general cheer.

Mrs. Goodwin improved the opportunity to call upon her neighbor, Mrs. Maybee; they were members of the same church, and were both mothers of large families, and they liked nothing better, when they met, than to talk over the minutiae of domestic training, to compare the results of various modes of discipline, &c.

Mrs. Maybee received her friend very cordially, and after some desultory conversation, they entered upon their favorite topic. Mrs. Goodwin referred to the

tures excite the curiosity of the children, and leads to inquiries and superstitious explanations; then, the cross, the rosary, the holy water, the abstinence from meat, all become so many themes for instruction in the peculiarities of popery."

"I believe I have not been sufficiently awake to this danger, but my nurses have not had much opportunity for such influence. I make both business and pleasure subservient to the interests of my children, and arrange matters so as to spend much of my time with them. I hesitate to commit them to the sole care of a nurse (with whom I am not well acquainted,) even for their daily walk; for I have known these occasions improved for visiting; while mothers suppose their darlings are enjoying the fresh air of the Park, they may be in some dirty tenement, in the most filthy and infectious portion of the city, witnessing vulgarity and profanity, even more to be dreaded that pestilence. Besides, nurses are often heedless of the comfort of children in their care and are sometimes cruel; I have often seen them drawing a sleeping infant in a wagon, where the sun was beating on its face, or hurrying a child along, scolding and whipping it to increase its speed, when it was evidently too weary to walk."

"All this is true; and more, it is not unusual for them to take children to their churches, and teach them to perform their idolatrous ceremonies. A little boy whose parents were careless on religious subjects, se

real or fancied superiority to others; and yet seem blind to the proselyting influences which will inevitably be brought to bear upon their children there. I know one family who sent a son and a daughter to one of these schools; the son turned out a priest, and the daughter was always afterward unsettled in her views, and finally abandoned all interest in religious subjects. These educated Catholics must be capable of exerting a much greater iufluence than our ignorant servants."

"Yes; but you mistake if you suppose all Catholic servants are ignorant; I had a German girl living with me, who was as well versed in Scripture knowledge as myself, and she was well supplied with the most specious arguments in support of the peculiar doctrines of her church, and would defend them with the quotations from Scripture most suitable for her purpose; I doubt whether many of their priests could so abiy defend their faith. She left me to enter a nunnery."

Well, Mrs. May bee, you have pointed out a palpable evil, but where is the remedy? We are usually obliged to have Catholic servants or none."

"That is a lamentable fact, and the remedy I would suggest, I have already alluded to, viz., increased watchfulness and effort, to fortify our children against error, by specific instruction on these subjects; and we may be instrumental in leading these benighted Papists from darkness into the light of truth, by wisely improving occasions of instructing the children in their

A GOOD CHARACTER BETTER THAN WEALTH. "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right."-Prov. xx, 11.

"Is he rich?" "Is she rich ?" "Are they rich?" “No—0—0—0, but they are good," screamed a boy at the top of his voice.

Just then dashed away a lad in his father's carriage. Edward entered his mother's room, threw down his book with force, and said, "Well, I am glad he is gone."

"Edward," said his mother, "why do you say so; is it honest? perhaps you asked James Ferney to stay longer."

"No indeed, mother; I did not ask or wish him to stay a moment longer. I was beginning to tell him what a delightful time we had at Round-hill, and what a pleasant, intelligent family the Matsons are; when he interrupted me by asking, 'Are they rich? And it is the same thing he continnally does, I never tell about anybody but he asks me that question, and it stumps all the wit out of me. It's just the way he treats boys at school; a rich boy, or one whose father is rich, he will put up with anything from him. I let him see I don't respect riches, for I always show off little Tommy Gaddes handsomely. Jim Ferney and two or three other boys will say, when we are going to do something, they don't want Tommy, though they like him well enough; but his father is a tin-pedler. When I found that out I took good care Tommy should not be in the back ground. He is that little boy who has black eyes and black hair, who was at my party, and you liked his manners so much, and asked me his name. Oh, mother, he is a bright boy, and Mr. Gilbert knows it, and puts him on as fast as he can go. Tommy knows the boys feel so toward him, but he says, only let me get my education, and I don't care how they treat me.'

"And Helena Ferney is just the same, though she is a nice enough girl; last spring, when I went over there for cousin Mary, she began to ask me about the Renwicks, and before I could say much to answer her questions, she said, "Are they rich ?" and it bothered me. Why, mother, it is a disease in that family; they must be dreadful rich themselves, to make such a fuss about riches."

The

Mrs. Lyman did not say whether James' father was rich or not, but secretly thought it is indeed a disease in that family, as she remembered the many times she had been in company with Mrs. Ferney, and heard her whisper nearly loud enough to be heard by the stranger she was speaking of, "Is she rich?" so that she had often been sadly mortified, and could sympathize with her Eddie. Like mother, like children-how true! stamp of opinions children receive at their father's table and fireside, goes out with them into life, and they shame or honor their parents, by their ways and doings; they show what their parent's estimate most, riches or worth, education or ignoIf parents make it their business to discuss, in the hearing of their children, the affairs of others, faults, mishaps, losses and failures; put down merit, and elevate gold and silver as the essential good, of course their children will generally walk in the same ways.

rance.

A PIOUS MOTHER.

YOUNG friends, do you know her value? Do you prize it above all price?

Thank heaven for a pious mother. She is our safeguard in trial, our comfort in affliction, and our guide in prosperity. No earthly influence contributes so much to mold our moral character as those gentle words from a mother's lips, which enter into the stature of our soul, and will no doubt live with it forever. No earthly name has a sweeter, dearer sound, than the name of mother. Deprive us of all other friends, take from us all other comforts of life itself, aud the trial would not be half so great as the loss of a pious mother. Her example and influence are more valuable than a world of wealth, and that she may live long to advise and counsel us, should be our most earnest prayer. And how we pity those little boys and girls-those young ladies and gentleman, whose heart must echo that sad sentence, "My mother! is dead!" How we pity those homeless wanderers in a cold and heartless world, who have no fond mother's voice to soothe and sustain them in

the gloomy night of sorrow.

her winning arts of love to comfort her poor mother's heart, and still would she sing,

"I want to be an angel," And so saying, she fell asleep. May we not indulge the hope, that He, who on earth received the hosannas of children, stooped from his heavenly throne to listen to the song and hear the prayer of this little one?

The mother, bereaved and sad, sought the house of prayer, which previously she had much neglected; the Lord opened her heart, and she attended to the word spoken, and has, we trust, became a new creature in Christ Jesus. What the goodness of God failed to do, the stern teaching of affliction accomplished; it led her to repentance. Now she is in the house of God, no more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home; she has found the house of God to be the

home of the sorrowful.

We are often reminded of the beautiful story of the Alpine sheep; how, when they have cropped the meadow, the shepherd wishes to make them climb to

mountain side,"

She became greatly interested in the exercises, and longed for the Sabbath to come, and listened with delight to the bell that called her to school. Soon, however, she was taken very sick; her disease was violent in its nature and rapid in its progress.

Her parents watched day and night by her little crib, administering to her wants and soothing her pains; it was their first-born, their only child, and she was the joy of their hearts, the light of their home. Medical skill was exerted to its utmost, but availed nothing; the little one must die. The fond parents, well-nigh distracted, still cling to their darling; and while their hearts are break

But cannot accomplish his object, till in his arms, their lambs he takes, and then they follow on, heedless of all danger. Jesus takes his children to his bosom, that the parent may be attracted to heaven; He empties the heart of its idol, and desolates the home; that he may reign in the one, and be worshiped by the other. Some one has remarked, "We think of God chiefly when we are sorrowful. It would be well for us, and more profitable, perhaps to remember Him in our pleasures, when we meet success, or feel in full strength, or press our children to our breasts, or when the rejoicing sunshine doth gladden us. We are more familiar with supplication than with thanksgiving, and that from ingratitude, and not because our unprovided wants are the more numerous. Every omitted thanksgiving detracts from our faith and from its supporting power, and contributes also to render our communion with God a monotony of complaint and petition, a gloomy wearying of heaven and ourselves with our selfish prayers."

How often we are taught the benefits of affliction, the sweet uses of adversity; we like to see more drawn to God by His love, but if they will not be drawn, then welcome anything-pain, poverty. sickness, bereavement-anything that will draw them to his feet.

"There is no God," the foolish saith,
But none, "there is no sorrow,"
And nature oft the eye of faith

In bitter need will borrow,

Eyes which the preacher could not school,
By way-side groves and raised;
And lips cry," God be pitiful,"

That ne'er said, "God be praised."

And here are lessons of warning and reproof for parents and unbelieving, who idolize the gift and forget the Giver; here is our example for little children; they may hear of Jesus, and learn the way to heaven, while very young, and here, too, is encouragement for the Sabbath school teacher, and the tract visitor; "Be not weary in well doing, for in due season, ye shall reap, if ye faint not."

PROFANITY.

PROFANITY in a child is a terrible thing. We encountered a lad some six or eight years old on ribly at a companion; no one in "the army in the street, the other day, who was swearing terFlanders" ever indulged in fouler profanity than this mere child. Where he had learned so to

freely, before children, is not perhaps a rare custom; and it is surprising to hear the speeches children, thus educated, will make to the shame and disgrace of those who trained them. Beside the evil of shutting their minds against receiving good from those very channels.

Y.

and clearly,

"I want to be an angel,"

And then said, "Mamma, mamma, don't cry, I want to be an angel."

As she drew nearer the end of her journey, though much exhausted, she still tried, with all

but if he has parents-a mother who loves him and a father who cherishes great hopes for his future-we pity them. Their boy can never be anything else than a curse and a shame so long as his lips utter blasphemies. The swearer, however proud or elegant he may be however ele

In one single house, on the Fifth Avenue,

Three young ladies were found, all below twenty-two, Who have been three whole weeks without anything

new

In the way of flounced silks, and thus left in the lurch
Are unable to go to ball, concert or church.
In another large mansion near the same place
Was found a deplorable, heart-rending case
Of entire destitution of Brussels point lace.

In a neighboring block there was found, in three calls,
Total want, long continned, of camels'-hair shawls;
And a suffering family, whose case exhibits
The most pressing need of real ermine tippets ;
One deserving young lady, almost unable

To survive for the want of a new Russian sable;
Another confined to the house when it's windier
Than usual, because her shawl isn't India.
Still another, whose tortures have been most terrific
Ever since the sad loss of the steamer Pacific,
In which were ingulfed, not friends or relation,
(For whose fate she perhaps might have found consola-
tion,

Or borne it, at least, with serene resignation)

But the choicest assortment of French sleeves and collars
Ever sent out from Paris, worth thousands of dollars,
And all as to style most recherche and rare,

The want of which leaves her with nothing to wear,
And renders her life so drear and dyspeptic
That she's quite a recluse, and almost a skeptic,
For she touchingly says that this sort of grief
Cannot find in Religion the slightest relief,
And Philosophy has not a maxim to spare
For the victims of such overwhelming despair.
But the saddest by far of all these sad features
Is the cruelty practised upon the poor creatures
By husbands and fathers, real Bluebeards and Timons,
Who resist the most touching appeals made for diamonds
By their wives and their daughters, and leave them for days
Unsupplied with new jewelry, fans or boquets;
Even laugh at their miseries when they have a chance
And deride their demands as useless extravagance.
One case of a bride was brought to my view,
Too sad for belief, but alas! 'twas too true,
Whose husband refused, as savage as Charon,
To permit her to take more than ten trunks to Sharon.
The consequence was, that when she had got there,
At the end of three weeks she had nothing to wear,
And when she proposed to finish the season
At Newport, the monster refused out and out,
For his infamous conduct alleging no reason,
Except that the waters were good for his gout;
Such treatment as this was too shocking, of course,
And procedings are now going on for divorce.
But why harrow the feelings by lifting the curtain
From these scenes of woe? Enough, it is certain,
Has here been disclosed to stir up the pity
Of every benevolent heart in the city,
And spur up humanity into a canter

To rush and relieve these sad cases instanter.
Won't somebody, moved by this touching description
Come forward to-morrow and head a subscription?
Won't some kind philanthropist, seeing that aid is
So needed at once by these indigent ladies,
Take charge of the matter? or won't PETER COOPER
The corner-stone lay of sone splendid super-
Structure, like that which to-day links his name
In the Union unending of honor and fame;
And found a new charity just for the care
Of these unhappy women with nothing to wear,
Which, in view of the cash that would daily be claimed,
The Laying-out Hospital well might be named?
Won't STEWART, or some of our dry-goods importers,
Take a contract for clothing our wives and our daugh-
ters?

Or, to furnish the cash to supply these distresses,
And life's pathway strew with shawls, collars, and
dresses,
Ere the want of them makes it much rougher, and
thornier,

Won't some one discover a new California?

Oh ladies, dear ladies, the next sunny day
Please trundle your hoops just out of Broadway,
From its whirl and its bustle, its fashion and pride,
And the temples of Trade which tower on each side,
To the alleys and lanes, where Misfortune and Guilt
Their children have gathered, their city have built;
Where Hunger and Vice, like twin beasts of prey,

Have hunted their victims to gloom and dismay;
Raise the rich, dainty dress, and the fine broidered skirt,
Pick your delicate way through the dampness and dirt,
Grope through the dark dens, climb the ricketty stair,
To the garret, where wretches, the young, and the old,
Half-starved and half-naked, lie crouched from the cold.
See those skeleton limbs, those frost-bitten feet,
All bleeding and bruised by the stones of the street;

Hear the sharp cry of childhood, the deep groans that

swell

From the poor dying creature who writhes on the floor,

Hear the curses that sound like the echoes of Hell,

As you sicken and shudder and fly from the door; Then home to your wardrobes, and say, if you dareSpoiled children of Fashion-you've nothing to wear!

And oh, if perchance there should be a sphere,
Where all is made right which puzzles us here,
Where the glare, and the glitter, and tinsel of Time
Fade and die in the light of that region sublime,
Where the soul, disenchanted of flesh and of sense,
Unscreened by its trappings, and shows, and pretense,
Must be clothed for the life and the service above,
With purity, truth, faith, meekness and love;
Oh, daughters of Earth! foolish virgins, beware!
Lest in that upper calm you have nothing to wear!

The theme discussed in the following article is one of growing importance-and we think will commend itself to the prayerful consideration of the friends of reform in city and country. The writer inquires whether the Advocate will devote a column to this subject. We answer: occasionally, provided the articles furnished are adapted to do good, and meet the approval of the Publishing Committee.

In the following paper, while extremes are wisely avoided, sound sense and Christian principle are indicated that do credit alike to the head and heart of the writer.-Ed.

For the Advocate and Guardian.

FASHIONS FOR CHURCH.

lic worship, the hours that immediately precede the Sabbath-day, the chief part of every week of our lives, be devoted to the adorning of our persons, to the considerations of what we shall put on.

I do believe that a great many conscientious and humble-minded women, come to church in their usual attire without at all reflecting upon its effect. They have got so used to flounces and flowers, to lace and lustre, that they see no incongruity between their appearance and the prostrate attitude of soul of "miserable sinners." They do not see that the general effect of a church full of heterogenous colors and materials, is to give to one standing at the preacher's point of view, the idea of a congregation of butterflies. I cannot tell, but I should think, it must have a deadening influence on the preacher.

The "love

At the least, it must be a saddening one. of the world" sitting there, year after year, complacently listening, unmoved to tears of repentance or stirred by terrors of judgment! But the writer of the article on Self-Denial laments that the evil of fashion in dress, is "tolerated in the churches," and appeals to 66 ministers of the gospel to preach the whole truth and to give a caution to every one in due season," as though it were one of those evils men "wink at" as unavoidable or beneath the dignity of pulpit eloquence. The difficulty that lies in the preacher's meddling in the matter, is that he can but deal in general denunciations, to which all assent, the moment he descends to particular details, we all smile. It is mothers who must set the example. They have the knowledge, they must have the courage. They know that the Bible gives explicit directions for the dress of Christian women, fashions for all time. Here is the list: modest aparel, shame facedness, sobriety-and good works; not, broidered hair, gold, pearls, or costly array, but, the hidden man of the heart. They know that "extravagance of female dress is impoverishing many families." They know more; they know that crimes that have appalled the readers of judicial inquiries, have had their hidden origin in this very folly of parents' indulging their children in extravagance in costly array. They know that as it brought one gray

AN article in the Advocate for Aug. 15, on SELF DENIAL, has suggested some considerations upon modern female dress, as adapted to the house of God. It is a subject that must often have forced itself upon the attention of Christian mothers, and can never have done so more than at the present time, when dress has acquired an influence over the female mind, from the throne to the cabin, that threatens to make an all-absorbing topic of thought and conversation, of that which was in its origin purely a necessity. Many a time have I desired to lead a crusade against the tyrant" fashion," but have held back from the lack of courage to make myself prominent and notorious. For, be it observed in a parenthesis, no woman has ever yet entered into the arena of public life, be it as preacher, physician, lecturer, or modeler of dress, without having drawn upon herself much animadversion, odium, and coarse criti-head, once highly honored, to the scaffold, so it is cism, both from her own, and the other sex; so that no one who has been reared in the hallowed shade of private life, dares to risk the consequences of braving public opinion.

The writer of the article on Self-Denial appeals to Christian mothers to begin the work of reform. I suppose if a meeting were to be held for the purpose of debating the subject, that no satisfactory conclusion could be come to, so various arė tastes, and so fast binding are habits.

Will the Advocate open a column, for articles discussing the propriety or unsuitableness of prevailing modes to professing Christian wearers? will it give this space for utterance to the thoughts and opinions many of us hold, some of us act upon, but which too many of us smother from the dread of singularity?

An elegant costume is not in itself a mark of a worldly spirit in the wearer, much less, can a careless, untidy appearance, suggest to any one the loveliness of the Christian character; still there is one test of dress by which every thing should be tried, and that is, appropriateness. It does not require to be argued that a rich silk dress and a lace bonnet, are inappropriate for the visits paid to the sick and needy, just in the same way, it strikes my eye, that gaudy apparel is inappropriate to the house of God.

bringing to premature age and death, many a father | who toils by day, and racks his brain through sleep-withholding night, that his daughters may suffer no stint in the gratification of their taste for dress. They know more! They know something of the life behind the scenes, of the life of the young men doomed to celibacy because they cannot afford to marry. They know more! They know something of the crimes committed by those who being married yet cannot meet the expenses of fruitfulness! They have met with those unnatural human beings who class human offspring under the head encumbrances! These are very horrid things to write,-to hint at! we do not need to go into the bystreets of poverty to gain this knowledge;-it is verily thrust upon us, we would if we could, shut our eyes from it but we cannot!

Can nothing be done to remedy the evil? I ask again, will the Advocate open its columns to suggestions from Christian mothers? I humbly offer mine, not believing in their conclusiveness, but simply as suggestions for others to improve upon. I would, as I said before, begin at the house of God. Whatever we wear at home, or in the street, or at a social gathering, let our costume for the house of God be plain. Would it be possible to put the stamp of vulgarity on gay apparel in church? that would effect something. At present ladies who wear a very neat close bonnet, and plain "duster" in the street for "shopping," come out on Sundays in a flutter of ribbons, flowers and flounces. Would it be possible to have a uniformity of costume for church? Every one a close bonnes and veiled, with a plain-colored flounceless skirt, and quiet cloak or shawl as the season may require? I cannot help thinking that if the right persons set this fashion of church costume it would not only become general, but be worn at other Moreover the dress, though

In a restricted sense of the text, "Let judgment begin first at the house of God," let us begin by adopting a sober costume for the services of the sanctuary. We know that God seeth the heart, we know that he is no respecter of person, we know therefore that the humblest, meanest worshiper, is precious before him, for that we all are accepted through Christ. Not respectability, not taste in dress, not elegance of manners, not any world's gloss of any kind makes us acceptable to God! How then shall the moments before going to pub-times from preference.

E. I. N.

Advocate and Guardian.

NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 1, 1857.

"HARVEST HOME."

ONCE more the summer is ended, and the harvests of the earth are reaped. The season has been propitious, and the husbandman enjoys the rewards of his toil. He beholds the well-filled garners with the assurance that 'mid the rigors of a coming winter, want will not visit his dwelling, and his heart swells with gladness. And does not pure gratitude, too, well up from its fountains, to Him who "openeth his hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing."

How beautiful the heartfelt inquiry from the recipient of large mercies, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits?"

Supposing there must be many throughout our favored country, whose souls would be "thrice blessed" by bestowing thank-offerings to the Lord from the bounties of the season received so liberally from his munificent hand, the publishers of this little sheet take the opportunity to solicit anew an early remembrance of the Charity of which it is the organ. The Home is at the present time in special need; at no time since its commencement have its wants been more urgent. While hundreds of destitute children and adults, both needy and worthy, look to it from day to day to be fed, fields, gardens, and well-filled store-houses, it has none. "Whence are to come its supplies?" is the everrecurring question. While provisions in the city command excessively high prices-the number to be fed and cared for is not lessened, and the necessities of the work, in all its departments, do not diminish. The voice of humanity, the voice of conscience, the dying, living love of the Redeemer, urge it forward. The pecuniary claims were never more pressing than at this season; strenuous and untiring effort must be made to cancel them. Kind reader, we need not entreat you to help us— for we know you will. We know that this is your cause as much as ours, that you would not have it retarded for the want of the little you can do, with far less sacrifice than was made by the poor widow who contributed her two mites.

We know when you consider what will be pleasing to Him, who "though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor," that he might make lost wanderers his Adopted Children, heirs of grace and glory, you will not feel, though you have been privileged to give to this object from year to year, that it is not a privilege still to give.

Expecting soon to pass away from a world of sin, sorrow, and want, to give an account of your stewardship, and, as a free gift, all unmerited, to possess a blissful inheritance, fadeless and eternal, you wish so to apply your earthly possessions that you may review their use from those heavenly heights, not only without regret, but with joy unspeakable. Could we persuade twenty thousand

people to give forthwith, people to give forthwith, "as unto the Lord," one dollar each, for the use of his needy and friendless little ones, that sum would free the Home-Chapel from debt-and give a new impetus to the great and good work. And surely none, up yonder, with the saved ones around the Throne, would regret the gift. What professing Christian would not be happier for the life that now is, by contributing for the rescue of friendless childhood, barely the cost of the superfluities found on his annual expense bill. Would he not, by so doing, lay up treasure in heaven, worth more than all the trappings that please the sense. Joy in harvest, has been felt in all ages since first the morning stars sang together, and it is surely right that the husbandman should rejoice in his "harvest home." May the season now closing prove eminently suggestive of labor and hope for the harvest where immortal sheaves shall be gathered; and may all so give and labor that none among the ignorant and neglected, now within the sphere of Christian charity, shall have occasion at the last to testify "the harvest is past, and the summer is ended, and we are not saved!"

WHEN WILL CRIME BE DIMINISHED?

"My soul is sick with every day's report."

THE deplorable state of public morals existing in this city may well lead the Christian parent to adopt the language of the weeping prophet, "O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people." The following just comments upon this topic recently appeared in the Tribune. They suggest problems better solved in the closet in the light of Divine truth,

than elsewhere.

time to be enlisted in any fraudulent or felonious enterprise.

Which of us, we have asked, is safe? We pass by, with the exquisite superciliousness of the Pharisee, the hand-cuffed and hang-dogged detected, marching to his cell and his bread and water, but even then there may be a busy demon at our ear, whispering of that first step which it is the sweetest and yet the hardest to take. Nobody knows what particular demon may assail him. Money, position, fame, a pretty face, envy, contempt, revenge-no matter what its name may be called !—either of these may assail him. Fortunate for the world will it be, if many take warning from the events continually occurring, and case themselves, as in mail, against the evil assaults of the hour."

How shall the "many" thus encase themselves, walking, as they do, amid pitfalls, treading among quicksands-fearing no danger and leaning upon broken reeds. Without that grace which bringeth In this only may salvation, surely none are safe.

be found an antidote.

It is an alarming fact that in this metropolis of the Tombs from month to month, than are seeking near a million, far more are gaining admission to admission to our churches-and we may well inquire, Why is it thus?

To the Christian citizens of this commonwealth, an appeal comes up ever and anon from the abodes of moral darkness, and from the marred forms of the living and the dead.

It comes both from Christian homes, and homes never blessed by domestic altars. The watch-fires of the enemy are kindled. The demon, who goeth about seeking whom he may devour, has taken the outposts of the citadel of virtue on the right hand and on the left. A moral chloroform seems to have been inhaled by the sentinels on duty, and

where are the watch-towers on which the command is steadily obeyed, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet; show the people their transgressions and the house of Israel their sins."

"It is crime! crime! crime everywhere! Burglary is chronic; the shooting has become stale; mobs are mere nothings; murders are sources of merriment; larcenies are levities, and poisonings are productive of puns; while any new filthiness will sell the newsWhen, in the annals of our country, have crimes papers. "When will New York be finished ?" is a common question. Alas! that it should be perfect in hor-against society been so rife, as at the present time? rors before it is perfect in houses.

The truth is, that we have traveled the whole circle; boxed the compass, if we may say so, of shame and sin. There is not, we suppose a single law upon the statute book which has not been violated within the last year.

Murder, arson, rape, grand larceny, petty larceny, highway robbery, seduction, adultery, abduction, forge

During what period of our history as a people, have the columns of the daily and weekly press, been so disgraced, and made often insufferably loathsome by the recorded doings of libertinism, profligacy and kindred crimes, as in the past year.

Scarcely has one revolting case ceased to stun the sensibilities, and harrow the better feelings, than another and another follows; till the question cannot fail to be suggested, When will the calender of crime in New York be finished? While the last act connected with the Bond St. tragedy-an act too full of sin and shame to leave a lingering doubt on the public mind whether the perpetrator is not a murderess-is arresting the attention of all classes, a clerk at the Howard Honse is found guilty of embezzling the funds of his employer amount

ry, defalcation, obtaining goods under false pretenses— these are common crimes. And now we are having a taste of uncommon ones. Mrs. Cunningham's supposititious child gives a rounded beauty to our criminal calender. Her new offence is a rare one, made rare by its nature; for the most difficult assassination is easy in comparison with the successful introduction of a false heir. But we have soared to the climax of criminality at last the attempt to cheat a man dead and gone into the tomb,-the grand rascality which reaches beyond the grave and seeks to make a miserable moldering corpse the resusitated and revived accomplice of injust-ing to some $18 or 20,000. A gay mistress, fast ice. A shameless woman, casting scorn upon the sacred horses, and riotous living, consume most of this responsibility of her sex, deterred by none of those gentle substance, the residue is made the means of leademotions which have been considered inherent in the fe-ing others in the road to ruin. We quote again : male bosom, simulates, for the sake of a few paltry dollars, the throes of maternity, and clasps to her bosom as her own the offspring of another. And more and worse. She finds not one, not two, not three, but many, who are ready to aid her in the wretched cheat. There is no swindle which any one of either sex can devise or propose in this City, in which he or she may not find assistants. All the Burdell affairs, considered inclu-father's hopes, and by the prayers of a mother, proud of sively, show that there are little coteries of crime, societies of sin, bad men and bad women ready at any

ence.

"The crimes which we start at are real virtues in comparison with the crimes which we read of with indifferTake the destruction of a single human soul. A boy comes to this city, because the parental home is too poor to retain him, or because parental fondness seeks for him an employment of more consideration than that of agriculture. He comes here pure, followed by a

him even in her humility before her God. At once the youth is in the very vortex of temptation. Every