was this, "Don't lay so much stress upon faith, as if that was all you had to bring a man to; we know it's our duty to believe everything that God tells us in his word, and it would be very disobedient to deny any part of that; but we must not suppose that a right faith, however sincere, will always make a good man; and nobody but good men can go to Heaven." Still, they always replied to him in the same manner, that "he that believeth shall be saved;" but that true faith will always produce a good life, even as necessarily as a good tree will bring forth good fruit. This he could not understand, and was always replying to it, that he knew many who had a right faith surely enough, and made a great profession of it; and yet their lives were bad; they were deceitful traders, when he really knew them, and could discover their tricks; and above all, he said, "they did not tell the truth; you could not depend on what they said." He represented, that these persons were frequently speaking of the efficacy of faith, and saying that we must be justified by that alone. By this means he became prejudiced against all such expressions, and was even sadly disturbed when his own spiritual pastor (whom he knew to be a good man), made use of any terms like those, in the pulpit; notwithstanding that Mr. W the rector always assured his flock that faith would produce good works, and must be known by its fruits whether it is sincere or not.

It happened that on a certain occasion there came an opportunity of showing him the real difference between a fairly rooted and sincere faith, and one which was merely superficial or pretended. It was only an example taken from earthly things; but it was enough to convince him that the same might be true in matters of religion. A friend whom he had been induced to assist several times from motives of kindness, and from having been a near relative of his father's, suddenly got into great difficulties, and became a bankrupt. He had set up a few years before, in a rather promising business, in the same town; and being a young man had received a great deal of advice and direction from Mr. J. G. Among other things which that prudent friend had laboured to impress upon his mind, was the certainty that he would succeed, if

he acted from first to last upon the strictest principles of integrity in his business, and never allowed a tempting opportunity to induce him to ask a larger price for his goods than he knew they were worth. He told him again and again, that ever so great a sacrifice of profit would be good for him in the end, if made upon principle, to get out of the way of doing wrong, or overreaching his customers. Whatever he might seem to lose by acting honestly towards them, as if he were acting for himself, would turn out gain in the end. He said, that this course would insure him the esteem and respect of the whole town, and this would be the best return he could make; it would insure his obtaining general custom, and credit when he wanted it, and a good character to boot. This was not certainly the highest or best ground to take in giving advice to a man to act honestly; because it ought to have been rather said, "Do right, and take the consequences whatever they may be." This was, however, the fact which he wished him to believe; knowing that if he thoroughly believed that honesty was the best policy, he would be almost sure to take that course, for the sake of his own interests and advantage. Well, the young man seemed to give credit to his good friend's advice; but when he became engaged in his business, he soon saw many ways by which he supposed he could get rich much sooner than by the method pointed out by his adviser. He was very raw and unpractised in the trade, and did not know how to distinguish a bad article which had a good appearance, from that which is sterling in quality. When he went to the merchant's warehouse, he saw many things which were offered at a low price, and looked much the same as the best. Now, he thought that if he could sell these articles at the same price as the others, and pass them off for the best, he should very soon make his fortune, and be a happy man. He bought a large quantity, and came home. He began by setting a rather lower price on his goods than the best things were selling for, but still very much higher than they were worth. He said, they were the same as neighbour So-and-so sold for double the money; and many customers were induced to buy. Money flowed in very fast, and he congratulated

himself on having more than doubled what he laid out a week before at the merchant's, for the quantity he sold. But he had not sold a quarter of his showy stock, before some of the buyers began to find out that the goods were very indifferent, and wore badly. One told another, and all agreed soon that they had been regularly cheated by the new tradesman who promised such great things. His character was immediately lost, and he fell into general disgrace. The more they had thought of him before, the less they esteemed him now! Many were violent in their reproaches, but all custom entirely deserted him. His shop was avoided by every inhabitant of the town. Debts and demands quickly came in upon him; and as he had not enough to pay, after a month or two he surrendered as a bankrupt. His former friend and adviser had gone to him at once when he heard of his lost character, in the hope of yet reclaiming him, before all chance of improvement was gone. He repeated to him what he had said before, and inquired why he had not chosen honesty as the best policy. He soon found that the reason was this, that he never really believed that it was the best. The young man confessed as much, and said that his belief had been, that large and immediate gains would do him more good; and upon that belief he had acted. He now grievously lamented that he had not believed his friend's advice and long experience, instead of his own wicked devices. He cried aloud, "If I had trusted what you said to me, I should never have come into this trouble. I should have gone on prudently and honestly, and in time I should have got myself friends and a good business. But I went the wrong way, because I believed a lie, and did not credit what you told me." Honest Mr. J. G. was too intelligent a man not to see the force of this accidental confession, when it was pointed out to him as bearing on the things of religion and eternity. He now plainly perceived the importance of a right faith with reference to a right conduct. If his young friend had really and in his heart believed the maxim impressed upon him, and always continued firmly to hold to it, he would, of course, have done honestly for his own interest's sake. But he never did sincerely believe it, and rather be

lieved the contrary to be true, and he acted accordingly.

In earthly things our belief regulates our conduct, if it is thorough, and deep, and sincere. And why not in spiritual things? Much more so in them, because a living faith is a principle implanted in the true disciple by God himself, and has therefore a divine power and strength, which can enable it to resist temptation. If a man believes in his heart that an eternal life in heaven is of more value than all the good things of time, there can be nothing more likely than that he should seek the heavenly, rather than the earthly treasure. And although trials and temptations await him, which would turn him aside if his faith was only of human strength, yet since his faith is the "gift of God" (Eph. ii.), and his privilege to rely on "the everlasting arms" which are under him, and on "all the great and precious promises" which will never fail him that trusteth in them, we may well understand the meaning of St. John's declaration, that "this is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith." And with regard to the objections which formerly appeared of so great weight in the eyes of the honest tradesman, that he found many persons possessed of a right faith, and trusting to that, whose lives were wicked, and their lips deceitful, the mistake in such cases arose from his supposing that they did possess a right faith at all. The fact was, that such persons boasted of faith, but had it not. Their belief was only in their head, or on their lips, but not in their heart. They were not heartily persuaded of what they said, or, in other words, their hearts did not really go with the profession of their mouth. Every professor of good principles in worldly matters is not found to have them written on his heart; and so in divine things. "There is a "dead faith," and such is the case of every one which is without good works. But we do not despise a living and fruitful tree because there are some dead ones in the same garden! Nor do we expect fruit from anything but a tree! Then how unreasonable and wicked it is in man to be wise above that which is written, and condemn a true faith, because a false one does not produce a holy life; nor is it less unreasonable to expect to

bring forth "the fruit of good works," while we are not seeking a spiritual union with the true and living Vine, without whom "we can do nothing."

DANGERS OF CHARTISM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE COTTAGER'S MONTHLY VISITOR.

E.

SIR,-At the late assizes for the county of Northampton, two of the five unhappy men who were then convicted of the dreadful crime of incendiarism, acknowledged that they had been connected with those who call themselves Chartists. And as this, their connexion with Chartists, has ended in the severe punishment of being expelled from society here, it is a most needful lesson to our labouring population, to learn into what crimes and personal sufferings those may be led who follow the principles of Chartism; as the following facts may show:

William Cooper, on his late trial, and when convicted before his judge, Baron Gurney, professed himself a Chartist, and gloried in the prospect of meeting his Chartist friends, Frost and others, who, for their crimes, had been expelled from their native lands.

Thomas Katterus confessed to several persons, when, from distress of mind, he surrendered himself to take his trial for incendiarism, that, at the time of his committing the crime of which he was convicted, he was incited to that crime by the violent speeches of certain Chartists, especially of a man named Stevens.

Both these men had received some degree of religious education and instruction. William Cooper's younger brother, brought up with him by respectable parents, is now a very worthy member of society, of good character. This brother has lamented deeply the unchristian and wicked conduct of William Cooper, since he became a Chartist, and his profaning the Sabbath by going about the villages preaching his Chartist principles. These principles hardened him against the advice earnestly given to him by his brother, and have led to his being transported for life. This is an awful fact.

Thomas Katterus is the son of respectable parents. He has greatly and frequently lamented, and sincerely, we hope, his past conduct, in the year 1839, while he was influenced by the principles of Chartism. Since that time