reproached me. Oh, that it might be purified by repentance, and at peace with God, before I am summoned to the dread bar of judgment, to answer for my deeds of blood."

His friends flattered themselves, that by medical skill, and careful nursing, he might be restored to health. But he answered, "it can never be. My vital energies are wasted. Even now, Death standeth at my right hand.".

"When I entered this peaceful valley, my swollen limbs tottered, and began to fail. Then I prayed to the Almighty, whom I had so often forgotten, "Oh, give me strength but a little longer, that I may reach the home where I was born, and die there, and be buried by my father and my mother."

The sick and penitent soldier, sought earnestly for the hope of salvation. He felt that a great change was needed in his soul, ere it could be fitted for the holy employments of a realm of purity and peace. He prayed, and wept, and studied the Scriptures, and listened to the counsel of pious men.

"Brother, dear brother, he would say, you have obeyed the precepts of our parents. You have chosen the paths of peace. You have been merciful, even to the inferior creatures. You have shorn the fleece, but not wantonly destroyed the lamb. You have taken the honey, and spared the labouring bee.

"But I have destroyed man, and his habitation, the hive, and the honey,-the fleece, and the flock. I have defaced the image of God, and crushed out that breath which I can never restore. You know not, how bitter is the warfare of my soul, with the "prince of the power of the air, the spirit that ruleth in the children of disobedience."

As his last hour approached, he laid his cold hand, on the head of his brother's eldest child, who had been named for him, and said faintly, "Little James, obey your parents, and never be a soldier. Sister, brother, you have been angels of mercy to me. The blessing of God, be upon you, and your household."

The venerable minister who had instructed his childhood, and laid his parents in the grave, had daily visited him in his sickness, and stood by his side, as he went down into the valley of the shadow of death. My son, look unto the Yes, father, there is a fullness in Him, for the chief of sinners."

Lamb of God." 66

66

The aged man lifted up his fervent prayer for the departing soul. He commended it to the boundless compassions of Him who receiveth the penitent, and besought for it, a gentle passage to that world, where there is no more sin, neither sorrow, nor crying.

He ceased. The eyes of the dying were closed. There was no more heaving of the

breast, or gasping. They thought the breath had quitted the clay. They spoke of him as having passed where all tears are wiped from the eyes forever.

But again there was a faint sigh. The white lips slowly moved. His brother, bending over him, caught the last, low whisper, "Jesus! Saviour! take a repentant sinner unto thee."

PRIVILEGES OF THE POOR.

Do I hear any of you say, "I wonder what is meant by the privileges of the poor? The rich, have indeed, many advantages, and much honour. But as for the poor, I always thought they were to be pitied."

Now, I assure you, that the poor have privileges, peculiar to themselves, and such as the rich cannot easily share. They are also of such an enduring nature, that it will be found difficult to take them away. Let us examine what they

are.

Perhaps you have seen the son of a rich man, expensively dressed, and riding in a splendid carriage. You have said to yourself, how happy he is! He may be, or may not be. That depends on the state of matters within. If his heart is not right, external pomp weighs light, in the balance of happiness.

One of the privileges of the poor, is the industry, they are compelled to practise. This, not only protects from many vices, but promotes health, and self-approbation. Indolence, is a

perpetual weariness of spirit,—a perpetual disobedience to the will of our Creator. Surely, the rich are more in danger of it, and of the evils that it brings.

One of the advantages of restricted finances, is a constant impulse to exertion. There is sometimes in the young mind, a disposition to inertness, which suffers its capacities to slumber, or to rust. Nothing overcomes this, so perfectly, as the necessity of making efforts.

Have you seen a water-wheel, standing idly in the sun, when the stream was dry? But the clouds descended, and the swift torrent rushed upon it, and it turned briskly, doing its maker's will. What the stream is, to the water-wheel, is the prompting of necessity, to the mind.

Admitting that the young assume a high standard of excellence, the feeling that they can derive no aid from wealth, but must depend entirely on themselves, acts as a continual stimulant:

"It is the spur, which the clear spirit doth raise,

To shun delights, and live laborious days."

If their object is to attain an education, and they are obliged to be partially occupied in those toils by which subsistence is gained, will they not value more highly, every fragment of time, than those whose leisure is uninterrupted? A sense of the value of time, is one of the first steps in improvement and wisdom.