"One

FRANKLIN AND THE IDLER. THE following story, told of Franklin's mode of treating the animal called in those days "Lounger," is worth recording, that the plan may be tried occasionally, even in this age and generation. One fine morning, while Franklin was busy preparing his newspaper for the press, a lounger stepped into the store, and spent an hour or more in looking over the books, &c., and, finally, taking one in his hand, asked the shop-boy the price. dollar," was the answer. "One dollar," said the lounger: "can't you take less than that?" "No, indeed; one dollar is the price." Another hour had nearly passed, when the lounger asked, "Is Mr. Franklin at home?" Yes, he is in the printingoffice." "I want to see him," said the lounger. The shop-boy immediately informed Mr. Franklin that a gentleman was in the store waiting to see him. Franklin was soon behind the counter, when the lounger, with book in hand, addressed him thus: "Mr. Franklin, what is the lowest you can take for this book?" "One dollar and 3 quarter," was the ready answer.

"One

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dollar and a quarter! Why, your young man asked only a dollar." "True," said Franklin, "and I could have better afforded to take a dollar then, than to have been taken out of the office." The lounger seemed surprised, and, wishing to end the parley of his own making, said, "Come, Mr. Franklin, tell me what is the lowest you can take for it." "One dollar and a half." "A dollar and a half! why, you offered it yourself for a dollar and a quarter." "Yes," said Franklin, "and I had better have taken that price The then, than a dollar and a half, now." lounger paid down the price, and went about his business, if he had any, and Franklin returned into the printing-office.

ANECDOTE OF THE REV. THOMAS STANLEY.

THE late Rev. Thomas Stanley, when in Leeds, expelled a man from the society for bad conduct. Dissatified with Mr. Stanley's proceedings, he forced his way into the bandmeetings and lovefeasts. On one occasion, when Mr. Stanley had pronounced the benediction, the culprit arose and said, "Mr. Stanley, I accuse you before this meeting of having taken away my character!" "Have I, indeed?" replied Mr. Stanley: "I have done you a very great kindness. I hope your next character will do you some credit, which I am sure your last never would have done."

TOO LATE!!

"The wicked is driven away in his wickedness." -Prov. xiv. 32.

"Man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?"Job xiv. 10.

O! WHERE is he that would not seek the Lord

While yet on earth, but harden'd still his heart?

In death he trembled at the Saviour's

word,

"Sinner, I know thee not: depart, depart!"

Now evermore he hears the doleful sound Of mingled fury, pain, despair, and hate, Reverberate above, beneath, around: "Lost soul, it is too late, too late, too late!" E. W. B.

ON AFFLICTION. "Before I was afflicted I went astray."Psalm exix. 67.

No counsel could suffice to turn

The sinner from his path;

No threatening, in thy mercy sent
To save me from thy wrath.

What folly, then, what madness fired
With rash, unholy zeal,

My self-deluded soul to press

The smooth wide way to hell?

Long, long, thy messengers with tears
The word of mercy brought;

But, blind with crime, I scorn'd their zeal,
And spurn'd thee from my thought.

O'er all thy vast designs of love,

O'er all a Saviour's pain, O'er all thy Holy Spirit's toil,

To win me back again;

On, on, still on, with furious speed,
By sinful pleasure led,

I reckless rush'd, nor mark'd the storm
Thick gathering round my head.

Thou interposed, and on mine head,
Thine arm in judgment fell;
And snatch'd me as a smoking brand
From the fierce flames of hell.

REMARKS ON

WESLEYAN METHODISM.

WHEN speaking of two or three young men, who desired to be scriptural Christians, and who met together for that purpose, Mr. Wesley says:- "Their number gradually increased. They were then all scattered. But fifty years ago, two of them met again; and a few plain people joined them, in order to help one another in the way to heaven. Since then they increased to many thousands, both in Europe and America. They are still increasing in number. and, as they humbly hope, in the knowledge and love of God."

This extract is taken from "Thoughts upon a late Phenomenon," which Mr. Wesley wrote at Nottingham, in the year 1788; at which time the number of members under the care of the British Conference amounted to 65,039. And if we look at the yearly statistics of the Connexion, we shall find that there has been a progressive increase from that time to the present. I do not mean by this that there has been an increase every year. And, perhaps, it is not fair to judge of the prosperity of any section of the church by the character of its progress in one year. All good men desire, and would rejoice in, the uninterrupted increase of members in the church of Christ. But the facts of the New Testament show us that, while many things of a secondary nature will frequently help forward the work of God, many things will also operate as hinderances to it. When the church was persecuted, its members were "all scattered abroad;" but when "the churches had rest," then they

were

multiplied." These, and other such causes, it will be well for those to think of who give Methodism no quarter when it cannot show a positive increase, or only a small one; for it is not well to write "Ichabod" hastily upon a people; never, indeed, before God has written it.

Perhaps, the fairest way to judge of the real progress of such a large body of Christians as the Methodists, is to take their increase during a generation; and Methodism will not only bear such an inspection, but come out of it triumphantly. In 1787, the number of members under the care of the British Conference was 65,039. Thirty years after, in 1817, the number was 237,753. Thirty years after this again, in 1847, the number is 464,315, or almost twice as many as in 1817. But as it has become very much the custom of late to publish columns of figures, to show the comparative increase or decrease in our Connexion; and as some do not like to leap over a period of thirty years at once, in determining the prosperity and influence of a people; let us pursue the same plan which is adopted in taking a census, and divide these two generations into periods of ten years each; and we have the following results:

My dear friend, I know not how a sight of these figures will affect you; but, in all frankness, I must say that I think they should compel you to be careful not to speak lightly of a people so evidently owned of God, and concerning whom it may with truth at this time be said, "What hath God wrought?" I am far from thinking that, when you have talked about the decrease in Methodism, you have felt as many of its enemies have felt, with whom "the wish" has been "father to the thought." But I do think that you have talked unwisely, and without a sufficient

regard to the facts of the case; and you will do well, in future, before giving utterance to such a sentiment, to pause and determine, with accuracy, whether it is deserved or not.

I am aware, however, that the objection, which fell from your lips when we were talking on this very point, must not be overlooked; as it is frequently advanced by those who seek to refute the charge that Methodism is on the wane. The objection is, that to determine the prosperity of a church by the number of its members, is never a safe, and often a very fallacious, course. I do not think so myself, if that church retains its purely Christian character. But allowing it to be so for the sake of the argument, that numbers are no guide as to the prosperity of a church, I would ask, What is to be the guide? Is zeal? If by zeal is meant a sincere desire, and a corresponding attempt, to extend the

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work of God both at home and abroad, then the Methodists were never more zealous than

they are now. Witness their Missionary operations, which were never so extensive as at present. Witness the chapels they are building, not only in old localities, but on altogether new ground. Witness their movements in favour of education, which bid fair shortly, if not interrupted, to embrace at least the Methodist population of the empire. Witness the number of charitable institutions, which have been started within the last few years, and which are rapidly increasing both in extent and usefulness. If zeal be a sign of the church's prosperity, and these things are a sign of zeal, then Methodism is not on the wane.-An Answer to some Complaints of a Friend in the Methodist Connexion.

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and burnt her feet. She immediately ran to our chamber and called us; but I believe no one heard her, for Mr. Wesley was alarmed by a cry of fire in the street, upon which he rose, little imagining that his own house was on fire; but on opening his door, he found it was full of smoke, and that the roof was already burnt through. He immediately came to my room, (as I was very ill, he slept in a separate room from me,) and bid me and my two eldest daughters rise quickly and shift for our lives, the house being all on fire. Then he ran and burst open the nursery-door, and called on the maid to bring out the children. The two little ones lay in the bed with her, the three others in another bed. She snatched up the youngest, and bid the rest follow, which they did, except Jackey. When we were got into the hall, and saw ourselves surrounded with flames, and that the roof was upon the point of falling, we concluded ourselves inevitably lost, as Mr. Wesley in his fright had forgot the keys of the doors above stairs. But he ventured up once more, and recovered them a minute before the staircase took fire. When we opened the street door, the strong northeast wind drove the flames in with such violence, that none could stand against them: Mr. Wesley only, had such presence of mind as to think of the garden-door, out of which he helped some of the children; the rest got through the windows. I was not in a condition to climb up to the window; nor could I get to the garden-door. I endeavoured three times to force my passage through the street-door, but was as often beaten back by the fury of the flames. In this distress I besought our blessed Saviour to preserve me, if it were his will, from that death, and then waded through the fire, without clothing as I was, which did me no farther harm than a little scorching my hands and face.

"While Mr. Wesley was carrying the children into the garden, he heard the child in the nursery cry out miserably for help, which extremely affected him; but his affliction was much increased when he had several times attempted the stairs then on fire, and found they would not bear his weight.

"Finding it impossible to get near him, he gave him up for lost, and, kneeling down, he commended his soul to God, and left him, as he thought, perishing in the flames. But the boy, seeing none come to his help, and being frightened, the chamber and bed being on fire, he climbed up to the casement, where he was soon perceived by the men in the yard, who immediately got up and pulled him out, just in the article of time that the roof fell in, and beat the chamber to the ground. Thus, by the infinite mercy of Almighty God, our lives were all preserved by little less than a miracle; for there passed but a few minutes between the first alarm of fire and the falling of the house."

Mr. Wesley's account of what happened to himself varies a little from this relation given by his mother:-" I believe," says he, "it was just at that time" (when they thought they heard his cries) "I waked; for I did not cry, as they imagined, unless it were afterwards. I remember all the circumstances as distinctly as though it were but yesterday. Seeing the room very light, I called to the maid to take me up. But none answering, I put my head out of the curtains, and saw streaks of fire on the top of the room. I got up and ran to the door; but could get no farther, all the floor beyond it being in a blaze. I then climbed upon a chest which stood near the window; one in the yard saw me, and proposed running to fetch a ladder. Another answered, 'There will not be time; but I have thought of another expedient. Here, I will fix myself against the wall: lift a light man and set him on my shoulders.' They did so, and took me out of the window. Just then the roof fell, but it fell inward, or we had all been crushed at once. When they brought me into the house where my father was, he cried out, Come, neighbours, let us kneel down; let us give thanks to God. He has given me all my eight children: let the house go, I am rich enough.''

The woodcut placed at the head of this paper gives a representation of the rectoryhouse rebuilt, and as it stood at the time of the death of the Rev. John Wesley.

LADY LONDONDERRY'S INTERVIEW WITH THE SULTAN.

I WAS SO amused by the explanation to me the other day of a noble English lady's reception by the Sultan, which was pompously announced to the world as a most important event, a new era in the history of Turkish civilization, that I cannot resist giving you the same peep at the dessous des

cartes which was afforded to me. My informant was residing at Constantinople at the time when the affair took place, and derived his information from unquestionable authority, no less than of some of the officials by whose management it was effected. The lady in question was ambitious of being presented to the young Sultan, and her lord was no less ambitious of gratifying her

wishes. An application was made by them to the Pasha then at the head of affairs at Stamboul to give effect to their wishes; and as he had been at some former period Ambassador at our Court, his residence in London had enabled him to form a correct idea of the power exercised in the English world of fashion by the two individuals in question, and of the impolicy of offending persons who might one day have it in their power to retaliate upon him in their own country, should the Sultan's pleasure ever send him there again as his representative. But then he knew, too, that to propose such a thing to his Sovereign as the presentation of the lady to him, was not to be thought of seriously. What did the cunning statesman do in this dilemma? Desirous of propitiating one party without offending the other, he adopted a mezzotermine which appeared to him most happy to reconcile the two difficulties. He presented himself to the Sultan, and told him that there was an Englishwoman then in Constantinople who had some very fine jewels to sell, which she was anxious to submit to his Highness's inspection. The Sultan signified his willingness to see them, and directed that they should be sent to the palace for that purpose. This was not exactly what the adroit Minister aimed at, but it was a near approach to it: he

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ventured to suggest, that as they were all female ornaments, it would be better that the Christian woman should put them on her person, and bring them to the palace herself; which would enable his Highness to judge of the effect they produced, and of the manner in which they ought to be worn. The Sultan assented, and gave orders that the woman should be brought to the palace and stationed in one of the antechambers, and that, when apprized of ber being there, he would pass through it in order to take a view of her brilliant merchandise. His directions were punctually obeyed, and this is the history of the noble lady's interview with Abdul Medjid. And the reason of her having been smuggled, as it were, into the imperial abode, and left shivering alone in chilly rooms and corridors, and finally being so coldly accosted and unceremoniously inspected by the young Sultan in the passage through the room in which she stood, is most intelligibly accounted for by the fact that he actually believed her to be a diamond merchant! and although she was impressed with the conviction that the interview was conceded to her rank and station, it was only owing to that mistaken supposition, above-stated, that the proud English lady obtained admission into his presence.-Mrs. Romer.

THE IRRECONCILABLE
DOCTRINES OF POPERY
OR,

A NUT FOR DR. WISEMAN
TO CRACK!!

THE following table will exhibit at one view, though not all, yet the chief of those contradictory doctrines which are maintained within the Church of Rome on the subject of image-worship:

COUNCIL OF ELIBERIS, A.D. 306.

"It is decreed that no images be admitted into churches, lest the object of religious worship come to be painted on the walls."

POPE GREGORY THE GREAT, A.D. 598. "By all means admit images to be placed in the churches for the edification of the unlearned. But show by proofs of holy Scripture, that it is unlawful to worship anything made with hands; for it is written, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.' By all means forbid images to be worshipped."

SECOND NICENE COUNCIL, A.D. 787. "Anathema to those who quote against the sacred images the words used in Scripture against idols.

"We venerate, worship, and adore the sacred images.

"Let no one be offended by the idea of worship; for it is said, 'Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.' The expression ONLY' is applied solely to the second word, 'serve,' not to the word 'worship.' We may therefore worship the images, provided we do not serve them.

"All persons who profess to honour the sacred images, but refuse to worship them, do dishonour them, and are guilty of hypocrisy.

"But we must not worship the images with latria," the supreme divine worship due only to God Almighty.

THOMAS AQUINAS, A.D. 1260.
BONAVENTURA, A.D. 1270.
LYNWODE, 1425.

NACLANTUS, A.D. 1567.

DOTTRINA CHRISTIANA, A.D. 1837, &c. "To the image the same worship is due, which is due to the person of which it is the