fishes have, in all their varieties, been robbed of life for my repast-and of the smallest fry some thousands. A measure of corn would hardly suffice me with fine flour for a month's provision, and this arises to above six score bushels; and many hogsheads of wine and other liquors have passed through this body of mine, -this wretched strainer of meat and drink! And what have I done all this time for God or man? What a vast profusion of good things upon a useless life and a worthless liver! There is not the meanest creature among all those which I have devoured, but what hath answered the end of its creation better than I. It was made to support human nature, and it has done so. Every crab and oyster I have eaten, and every grain of corn I have devoured, hath filled up its place in the rank of beings with more propriety than I have. Oh! shameful waste of life and time."

He carried on his moral reflections with so just and severe a force of reason as constrained him to change his whole course of life, to break off his follies at once, and to apply himself to gain useful knowledge when he was more than thirty years of age. The world were amazed at the mighty change, and beheld him as a wonder of reformation, while he himself confessed and adored the Divine power and mercy that had transformed him from a brute to a man. He lived many following years, with the character of a worthy man and an excellent Christian. He died with a peaceful conscience, and the tears of his country were dropped upon his tomb.- -But this was a single instance, and we may almost venture to write "miracle" upon it.

Are there not numbers, in this degenerate age, whose lives have run to utter waste, without the least tendency to usefulness?-Franklin.

THE RAINBOW.

IT is well known that the rainbow is produced by the refraction of the sun's light in drops of falling rain, and that it never appears but when it rains in

the sunshine. It is the sign of God's covenant with man; and we ought to consider it as an illustrious symbol of the Divine mercy and goodness to confirm our belief and confidence in God. "Look upon the rainbow," says the son of Sirach, "and praise him that made it. Very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof; it compasseth the heaven about with a glorious circle, and the hands of the Most High have bended it."

It is a bow of no hostile intention,a bow painted in variegated colours on the disburdened cloud. How vast is the extent-how delicate the texture of that shadowy arch! Elegant its form, and rich its tinctures; but more delightful its sacred significancy: while the violet and the rose blush in its beautiful aspect, the olive-branch smiles in its gracious import. It writes, in radiant dies, what the angels sang in harmonious strains, "Peace on earth, and good will towards men." It is the stamp of ensurance for the continual welfare of this present world, and a comfortable token of a better state and happier kingdom,—a kingdom where a rainbow is represented as surrounding the throne, Rev. iv. 3, to intimate that storms should beat no more, but an eternal and unbounded spring of joy and felicity bloom for ever.Fawkes.

THERE IS A GOD WHO MADE
ALL THINGS.

"Even a child is known by his doings," Prov. xx. 2.

WHAT does this mean?

Suppose you go with your parents to visit a family who are particular friends of your parents. The two families have not met for many years, and you were never there before.

You reach the end of your journey, and find the family made up of the father, mother, and two little girls. They are all dressed in black, and tell you, with tears, that they are sorrowing for an only son, who has just been buried. They tell you he was a lovely boy, of about fifteen years of age. Their hearts were set upon him,-their hopes

concerning him were high and strong; but in an hour he was cut down by death, like a beautiful flower, and is gone away for ever from this world.

You never saw this boy,-you never knew him; all that you know is, that this was his home, and that his newmade grave is upon yonder green hillside; but you look around from day to day, and admire many things you see. You go out and see a little pond full of ducks, old and young. "What a beautiful pond!" you say. "My son," says the weeping father, "planned that pond, and he got the eggs and raised those ducks. See! they are coming to have you feed them under the tree where he used to feed them!"

Can you not now, children, understand my text?" Even a child is known by his doings." Can you not now mourn with these parents who have lost such a son, and these Sisters who have lost such a brother?

The mother places her feet upon the stool which he made for her comfort; the father walks with the cane which he bought out of his small purse; the animals are fed and sheltered in houses which he built for them. Do you wonder that this family are in deep sorrow? Have you any more doubts that such a son was living there than if had you seen him, and seen him do all these things? Do you not begin to love him for what he has done? Certainly; for You pass over a pretty foot-bridge." even a child is known by his doings," "My son made that bridge," says the and you judge of him by what you see. father.

A little further down the stream, you find a dam across the brook, a waterfall, and a mimic mill, all in motion, to add to the beauty of the walk. You see a little boat moored by the side of the pond, just large enough to play upon that little basin of water.

You turn back, and look into a little yard, where are all kinds of fowls.

The father comes up, and you are not surprised to hear him say, "My son did all this!"

You go into the garden, and find one corner dressed with great care and neatness. It has flowers, a grape-vine, and many roses in full blossom. At once you know that this was his corner. You now turn back to the house, go up stairs, and there you find a little room fitted up with shelves and books. The walls are hung with drawings and maps; the little table has papers and

Now it is exactly in this way that we know there is a God.

We have never seen him, seen his shape, nor heard his voice; yet it is just as certain that there is a God as if we saw him every moment. Indeed, you could not see God with your eyes, for he is a Spirit. When you look at a man, it is not the soul, the spirit, the man, which you see, but only the house-the body in which the soul lives. The body moves, or speaks, or does something. And if God should show himself to you, it would be a body in which he dwelt, and not God himself. So that when you see what God has done, you are just as certain there is a God as if you saw him doing the things.-Todd.

books on it. There is a small bed, a TAKE CARE OF YOUR CHOICE. stove for cold weather, a box for the wood, a flute on the shelf, and everything in beautiful order. The dog lies in one corner, on an old cloak, and will hardly leave the room. Do you need to have the father come and say, "This was my son's room?"

The little girls ask you to go and see their treasures. There are their small book-cases, one for cach; their little tables their stools and boxes. They tell you their brother William made them all before he died.

A QUAKER, residing in Paris, was waited on by four of his workmen, in order to make their compliments, and ask for their usual New Year's gifts. "Well, my friends," said the Quaker, "here are your gifts: choose fifteen francs or the Bible." "I don't know how to read," said the first, "so I take the fifteen francs." "I can read," said the second, "but I have pressing wants." He took the fifteen francs. The third also made the same choice. He now

came to the fourth, a young lad of Had dug the plat and rear'd the flow

Cabinet of Things New and Old.

"HAVE YOU FOUND CHRIST?"

66

Ir is an obvious remark, that all the communications of the gospel which relate immediately to Him who is the Saviour, the only Saviour of the world, ought to be supremely interesting and precious to every person in possession of a corrupt but an immortal nature, who is continually proceeding towards the grave, and whose spirit will soon appear before its Judge, by whom its destiny will be irreversibly sealed. There is in the case of every man guilt to be removed, and that guilt can be taken away by the Saviour alone. There is ignorance to be dispelled, and that ignorance can be dissipated by the Saviour alone. There is pollution from which to be cleansed, and sanctification can be communicated by the agency and influences of the Saviour's Spirit alone. There is happiness to be enjoyed, and real happiness flows from communion with the Saviour alone, as the foundation of our hope and the source of our bliss. There is a world of unspeakable and eternal misery from which we require to be delivered, and it is by virtue of the Saviour's merits and atonement alone that any sinner is rescued from the curse-is plucked as a brand from the burning." There is a heaven to be gained, a kingdom to be possessed, a region of perfect purity and immortal joy to which the redeemed are to be admitted, and it is only by the application of "the precious blood of Christ," and the communication of the grace of Christ, that any are prepared for the inheritance above, or fitted for the rest in reversion for all the people of God. What inquiry, then, can be more interesting or more momentous than that to which the serious attention of the reader is now invited-Have you found Christ? Have you found that Saviour who is so clearly and fully revealed in the gospelwho is presented before you in all his beauty and ineffable attractions in every part of the inspired records-whose distinctive appellations are so frequently mentioned to direct and encourage youwhose characters and offices are so luminously and beautifully exhibited-whose love is so vividly and finely displayed-whose finished work is so powerfully and consolingly depicted-and whose "great salvation" is unfolded to you in such a manner as that emotions of unbounded astonishment, gratitude, and joy should unceasingly be felt and cherished?

Allow me, then, with affectionate earnestness, to press the inquiry, and to urge it on your instant regard,—

HAVE YOU FOUND CHRIST?

Have you found Christ as a Teacher?

Has he revealed to you the Divine character, especially as that

H

character is unfolded in the development and accomplishment of the plan of redemption? Has he exhibited to you "the plague of your own heart"-your utter depravity and vileness-and shown you"the fountain that is open for all sin and uncleanness?" Has he revealed to you the surpassing beauty and glory of his person, the wonders of his grace, the perfection of his righteousness, and the boundless attractions of his cross? Has "he opened your understandings" to perceive the excellence, to appreciate the importance, and to enjoy the discoveries, the sublime and glorious discoveries of the Holy Scriptures? If you have found Christ as a teacher, dissipating your moral darkness, correcting your errors, and pouring Divine light into your mind by his Holy Spirit, how precious, and, indeed, inestimable, is the privilege with which you are favoured!

What instruction is imparted! what discoveries are made! what sublime and momentous views are formed on the grandest and most glorious of all subjects! How is the way of salvation unfolded! what direction is afforded in your progress to the celestial world! How is the glory associated with the nature and person of the Saviour, and the inexpressible mysteries of his redemption revealed to you! and the more you contemplate the great subjects of the Christian religion, the more clearly and fully are their tenderness, beauty, and importance exhibited to you. "You were sometimes darkness, but now are you made light in the Lord." Have you found Christ as a Guide?

It is obvious that you continually require a conductor across the wilderness-one who is thoroughly acquainted with the way which you have to traverse, and whose wisdom to lead you at all periods of your eventful history is unerring and Divine. When you consider the character of those difficulties by which you are surrounded, the numerous and imminent dangers to which you are perpetually exposed, the ignorance of the way of salvation by which every person in his natural state is marked and degraded, and the constant tendency manifested to wander further and further from God, the all-sufficient Refuge, and the only Fountain of happiness, how desirable, how necessary to every individual of sober and correct reflection must the guidance the wise, the unceasing, the infallible guidance-of the Lord Jesus appear! It is essential to your safe conduct amidst the endless difficulties of life-to your being directed effectually amidst the seductions of error, the mazes of the world, the labyrinths of temptation, and the perplexities in which you are involved by the influence of "the evil heart of unbelief." Now, let me seriously and earnestly inquire of you, Have you secured this guidance? Is Christ Jesus, the unerring guide of his people, your conductor to glory? Is he leading you by the arrangements of his providence-by the instructions and admonitions of his word-by the directive and persuasive influences of his Spirit-in the narrow, the safe, the right, the happy way, which he himself has prescribed