had once been a servant to his father, and who had acquired considerable property by a uniform course of industry and good conduct. He offered, and almost insisted on advancing a sum of money, to enable him again to enter into business, and at last overcame William's fears and scruples about entering again into a state in which his best interests had been so deeply wounded, by pointing out the duty he owed to his children, and the opportunity he would have of honouring before the world that cause which he had once betrayed. Nor was his friend's expectations disappointed. William was enabled for many years to renew the best days of his youth, walking with that holy circumspection, without which no spiritual prosperity can be enjoyed; thus affording a new and striking confirmation of the truth of the assertion, that "godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."

MY OWN BIBLE,

BY OLD JOSEPH.

MY own Bible-Oh! with what joy I repeated these words as I walked from the little town of S- more than fifty years ago with my precious book under my arm. My heart beat high with pleasure. Then I envied not the miser his gold, nor the sage his learning. This long talked of, and still longer thought of treasure was my own, and it would be now unnecessary to wait, and beg my grandmother to lift from its high shelf her weighty volume, for which I had so often sued in vain.

When I see children careless of their books, and above all, of their Bibles, I think how I laboured for mine, and how often both by night and day I planned to earn a penny to go towards it. How early I rose in the morning to gather a few water cresses, or to run an errand, and the tears I shed when I could not with all my ingenuity increase my store.

When I was a very little boy, my parents died, and I went to live with my grandfather; he was an aged and an holy man, and my impression of his kindness and his love will remain unchanged until we meet to part no more. When he returned from his daily labour, I used to climb his knee, anxiously waiting for the hour when the chapter would be read from his large and well used Bible; and when that was finished, he used to talk to me, relating pleasing and instructive stories from it, and telling me about God and Jesus Christ. He tried to make me understand that God had created me and him, and all this beautiful world, and how wicked and rebellious we were against our heavenly Father and Friend, so that He

was angry with us. He would have cast us off as we deserved, had not Jesus Christ his only Son taken pity upon us, and offered himself as a ransom for us; offered to come down from heaven, where he was so happy and so glorious, so mighty and so powerful, to live on earth in sorrow, humility, and poverty, and to atone for all our sins. That he died on the cross a miserable death, the just for the unjust, that we might be forgiven, and taken to eternal bliss when this short life was over; if we trust in Him alone to save us, proving our love to Him by leading holy lives. But very soon after this my poor grandfather died almost suddenly. The following Sunday he was buried, and after the funeral, grandmother and I returned to our lonely cottage. Supper over, my grandmother took down the Bible. "We must not forget this," she said, as she placed it on the table, "though your grandfather is gone."

The book opened on the 11th of St. John's Gospel,-the raising of Lazarus; and I read it through with an unfaltering voice, while my poor grandmother, her face covered with her apron, sat bathed in tears, till I came to our Lord's words, "Thy brother shall rise again," which appeared at once to comfort her, and calm her grief. Why? puzzled me then, but now I know she took her Saviour's promise to herself, and looked forward by faith to that day when all that are dead shall arise, and be clothed with new and glorious bodies. Time passed on, and at ten years of age I went out with a shepherd to tend the sheep. I took knitting work with me; for I had been taught to knit stockings. So I watched my sheep, and knitted my stockings, and by the latter earned generally sixpence or eightpence above the shilling given me by the shepherd, and if I had had a Bible, I should have considered myself among the happiest of human beings. But then how was I to get a Bible quite my own?

About the time of which I am now speaking, Sunday schools became general, and one being established in our parish, I joyfully presented myself as a scholar. My teacher was a pious old man, who had seen a good deal of the world; and, having by his industry and frugality realized a little independence, he came to spend the remnant of his days in the place of his birth, and employed them in works of charity and kindness.

One Sunday he was talking to us of the love we should bear to one another for Christ's sake, who had so loved us, and had charged us to love one another. And then he began to question each of us separately, that we might see how we fulfilled this duty. I was at the top of the class, so he asked me if I were always obedient to my grandmother. "Mostly, I am," I replied, hanging down my head; "but grandmother is some

times cross, and then I am rather apt to answer; and she won't let me have a penny a-week out of my earnings for a Bible, and I can't earn more than I do, or I would not ask her for it." I finished my speech by tears and sobs, which made the boys stare, and sent master on to the next, who blundered out not a much better account of himself; and we all learned that day, that if men were to judge of our love to Christ by the love we manifested to each other, we must be placed among those who say, Lord, Lord, and yet do not the will of Him they profess to serve.

The following day my teacher joined me while I was watching my flock, and sitting down by me, discoursed for more than half an hour. He advised me to rise a little earlier, and to go to bed a little later, to try and earn a few pence, either by extra knitting, or running on errands; and he also told me where I should find the best water cresses, for which if I gathered them early on market-days, he thought some of the farmers' daughters would give me a penny or two to carry them with their butter for sale. All these were quite new ideas for me; I was in an ecstacy of delight, especially when he promised to receive my money, penny by penny as I got it, and when there was sufficient for my Bible, he would beg a holiday for me, and take me himself to the bookseller's in a neighbouring town to choose it; but a long year passed before that most happy day arrived. My grandmother was not a little pleased and astonished at the change in my behaviour, and once a month she now gave me a half-penny to add to my treasure, though I did not tell her of it, as I wished to surprise her with my book. Nearly a twelvemonth had elapsed when my poor grandmother was taken ill, and confined to her bed for several weeks, and when quarter-day came to pay her rent, the landlord, who was a hard, and by no means a rich man, sent to demand it; she found that five shillings was wanting to complete the sum; she begged that he would wait for that, and not oblige her to seek a home in her old age in the workhouse; but he was obdurate, and only gave her till night to make up the sum. When I came home from my work, she told me her distress, desirous of my sympathy, but not supposing I had anything better to offer. Scarcely had she finished when I rushed out of the house with the exclamation, "I have got it! I have got it. You shall pay him to-night." I never stopped till I found myself breathless at my kind teacher's door. He was at home, and he came to me directly. "Sir," I said, "I am sure you will wonder, but I want my money; I must give up my Bible, for granny must pay her rent to-night, or she will be sent to the workhouse, for it is, I now feel quite sure, better to have the word of God and

keep it; than to have a Bible in my hand, and not have what it teaches, in my heart. To my astonishment the tears ran down the old man's cheeks as he returned into the house for the money, and when he gave it to me, as I stood bare before him, he laid his hand on my head, and said, "May the Lord who hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, preserve, bless, and sanctify you, and make your hoary head a crown of glory." I carried my little hoard to my grandmother, but I would not tell her how I got it, for fear it should distress her to have deprived me of my hard earnings; but my teacher assured her it was honestly come by, and I went on cheerfully plodding, hoping soon to make it up again.

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In the autumn, there came to stay at the squire's in our village a young lady, dressed in deep mourning as a widow. Her husband had lately been killed in battle. She often walked in the fields, and one day she came where I was with the sheep, and began talking to me. I suppose I appeared very happy; for when she had done conversing with me, she turned to an elderly female who was with her, and said with a very heavy sigh, "Ah! he has never known sorrow." Indeed I have though," I exclaimed; ⚫ for grandfather is dead, and grandmother is very poor, and I can't get money to buy a Bible, though I try all I can." "Poor child," she replied, "then you, too, have lost some one you loved. When did your grandfather die?" "I did love grandfather very much," was my answer, "but that is not my greatest grief now; for he is gone to God and Jesus Christ, never to know sorrow or sickness any more; and if I mind my Bible, I trust I shall go to him, and be as happy as he is." "Who taught you this ?" said the lady quickly. "My grandfather and my teacher at the Sunday school," I replied. The young lady without saying anything more, walked away, but she sent back her servant to know where my grandmother lived, and that night her heart sung for joy; for the generous lady sent her money, and medicine, and food. On the sabbath the lady came to the school: she smiled very kindly on me, and after church I saw her talking with my teacher; but he made no remark on it to me at that time: but after evening service he desired me to walk home with him, and as we went along, he told me he held in his hand money to purchase a handsome Bible for me, the gift of the lady. “O, sir," I said, when we reached his house, “let me go with you into your room, and do you thank God for me, who put it into this lady's heart to give me my Bible. I know that this as well as everything else is all His doing, therefore I should thank Him before I thank her." We did so-and the next day I bought my Bible.

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MANASSEH-JOSIAH'S REFORMATION.

THE young years of Manasseh gave advantage to his miscarriage; even while he might have been under the ferule, he swayed the sceptre. Whither may not a child be drawn, especially to a garish and puppet-like superstition? As infancy is capable of all impressions, so most of the worst.

Manasseh began to reign early, and we find that he held out long. But length of days is no true rule of God's favour. As trees last longer than sensitive creatures, and brute creatures outlive the reasonable, so amongst the reasonable, it is no news for the wickedly great to inherit these earthly glories longer than the best.

There wants not apparent reason for this difference. Good princes are fetched away to a better crown: they cannot be losers that exchange a weak and fading honour for a perfection and eternity of blessedness. Wicked men live long to their own disadvantage; they do but carry so many more brands to their hell. If therefore there be a just man that perishes in his righteousness, and there be a wicked man that prolongs his life in his wickedness, far be it from us, either to pity the removal of the just, or to envy the continuance of the wicked. This continues to his loss, that departs to a happy advancement.

I fear to look at the outrages of this wicked son of Hezekiah. What havoc does he make in the church of God! TRACT MAGAZINE, NO. 66. JUNE, 1839.

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