Two of the Saviour's Lambs............ 26 The Lost Boy.. 54 My Sisters in Heaven..................... 55 Use and Ornament......................... 196 83 Happy Death among the Nestorians 224 A Child's Faith........................................................ 224 84 The Lesson of the Volcano............... 66 111 The Chimney-sweep and the Watch 112 The Little Blind Boy. .......................................................... 139 Confidence Illustrated..................... 139 Willie and his Sister ................................................. 140 "The Way of Transgressors is Hard" 305 Heathen Children................................................ THE CHRISTIAN'S PENNY MAGAZINE, AND FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE. The Cabinet. REVIVAL OF RELIGION. I WOULD request you to reflect, at your leisure, on two questions i 1st. What may we expect if a revival of religion do not occur? 2nd. Why should it be despaired of? An answer to the first of these questions can only be arrived at by a careful interpretation of the signs of the times. Of these, one at least is certain, that infidelity is spreading. Never did it assume more insidious shapes. Never did it vent more daring blasphemies. We have infidel politics, under the name of Socialism; infidel ethics, under the name of Eclecticism, Esthetics, and the like; infidel science (falsely so called) under the name of Materialism, and twenty names beside; yes, and a kind of infidel Christianity, under the name of Rationalism. If matters proceed in their present course, it does not seem improbable that Europe will witness, ere many years be past, an infidel persecution. Indeed, so far as concerns some of the cantons of Switzerland, that fire is already kindled. And once let infidelity, such as prevails so extensively in Germany and France, encounter a spirit less temporizing than that of Catholicism and nominal Protestantism; let men like Paul, and Stephen, and Antipas, arise, and we shall see what becomes of sheep when they have fallen into the midst of wolves. Statesmen and politicians may use religion as an instrument; but, as a class, they are evenless willing than other men to submit to its restraints. The only plea they are slow to allow is that of conscience. The only right which, irrespective of clan and party, they hold cheap, is the right of worshipping and serving God. Any day might bring forth, in such countries as we have specified, a law to which no Christian could submit. A refusal to crown a usurper, to consecrate a tree of liberty, or to give the sacrament to a profligate, might raise the tocsin, and the issue might be a decree not to speak at all in the name of Jesus-yea, not to offer a petition either to God or man. And what may be expected in our own country, if the masses around us continue in a state of avowed ungodliness? The Scripture saith most truly, that "evil men and seducers wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." And how greatly are those "deceived" who think the ministers of Christ to be impostors, and the house of prayer to be a temple of falsehood-who take their friends for their enemies, and their enemies for friends! It is seldom that men are better than their guides; and what guides are they who are perpetually speaking to the masses of our countrymen through the Sunday newspaper? What must be the influence of a Press that holds up to scorn all that is elevated in philanthropy-a Press that is the foe of the Sabbath and of Missions-that deals out for reading, during the hours of Divine service, details of prize fights and other descriptions of "sporting intelligence"-that never drops a word calculated to hold vice in check, but spends its whole strength in fostering pride, frivolity, and profaneness? This is not the time to speculate on the probable results of giving to those of whom this is the favourite aliment a preponderance of power in the state. But, even though the issue should prove to be persecution, this were not so much to be regretted as that state of ungodliness which renders such a consequence possible. We should sorrow for our deluded countrymen, not for ourselves. "If they had known, at least in this their day, the things that make for their peace!" But "what shall the end be" of them who cultivate and admire all that is opposed to the wisdom that cometh from above (Jas. iii. 17), and whose life is anything but a preparation for "the inheritance of the saints in light?" But, finally, why should a revival of religion be despaired of? We trust that this lecture will have left the impression that there is no ground for such despair. "Is the Spirit of the Lord straitened?" It will overcome a thousand doubts on this subject to ponder that one declaration of the prophet, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear," Isa. lix. 1. Men may tell us that ministers have not access to the general mind, and that if the Gospel be adapted to this day, its teachers are not. But shall this be said of its teachers universally? And let it be remembered that it seems only necessary (speaking after the manner of man) that the work should begin, and it might go on till nothing could arrest its progress. Sterility spreads around us, but it shall continue only "until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high. Then shall the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be counted for a forest." Might not the probability of the consummation we desire be inferred from the obvious policy of Satan? Apostles said, "We are not ignorant of his devices:" nor did they say this for themselves alone. "He that is spiritual judgeth all things." The children of God can detect the leading designs of the "prince of the power of the air, the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience." They see that Satan's leading stratagem is, to divide and conquer— to throw into confusion the Lord's hosts, that he may keep what he has wrongfully usurped. The most imminent of all dangers to his kingdom is an outbreak, a revolt amongst his bondmen. He knows that they are not his by lawful inheritance, and that they may not always be willing to put "bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter." Every expedient, then, is used, to divert the attention, and to distract the counsels of those who would teach sinners to refuse the evil and choose the good. Unless the "servants of corruption" boast themselves of liberty, it is impossible that Satan's kingdom should stand. And often does it seem that the Arch-deceiver is doubling his toils, "knowing that his time is short." Not very easy does he find it to drown the sounding of the trump of jubilee! Soon may his wretched slaves catch up and pass around the thrilling watchword, "If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed!" And if some dare to say that Christianity wears the aspect of a thing of the past-that its end is answered, and its day is over; we only reply, Is sin a thing of the past? Is remorse a thing of the past? Is that most fearful of all realities, death, a thing of the past? If not, then men need the Gospel as much as ever; and "God forbid that we should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!" The foregoing is the close of a sermon, in a very important volume of discourses just published, by the Rev. Samuel M‘All. THE NEW YEAR. How solemn is the thought, that many will begin the year without knowing the spiritual meaning of the new creation! Immersed in business, buried in the cares and transactions of life, hurried on from one duty to another, seeking present enjoyment, indulging in pleasure, blind to remonstrance, stifling convictions, they reject the thought of eternal salvation. Years have roiled on, and with the course of time, weighty and increasing responsibilities, privileges neglected, warnings despised, awakenings suppressed, visitations unheeded, all dark witnesses before the throne of God, calling for judgment! Past mercies forgotten, providences dis regarded, resolutions broken, vows set aside, as if there was no God to bring secret and open sins to light hereafter ! The great cause of this sad condition is to be traced up to infidelity-deeprooted infidelity-as if resolved not to listen to the solemn appeals of the inspired volume to the conscience and the heart. How can we otherwise account for the activity and energy displayed in reference to things of inferior worth, compared to the all-important subject of man's salvation? All the powers of the mind, noble as they are, lie prostrate before the Dagon of the world,-succumb to an influence which every moment is preparing the soul for endless destruction, and will most assuredly, unless sovereign grace prevent, ensure its certain and fearful perdition! However awful this may appear, it is nevertheless true; and especially in the present day do we observe the dangers to which young men, in particular, are exposed, by the reading of irreligious publications, novel-reading, debating-clubs, intemperance, and associations ensnaring as they are dangerous. The social fabric is too often invaded by the spirit of Chartism, creating libertine sentiments, independence, disregard of parental authority, self-sufficiency, and utter contempt of Divine ordinances. Germanism and infidelity, in the higher as well as the other classes of society, are on the increase, and are doing their work to destroy the precious souls of Communism-a term borrowed from a neighbouring country-has, alas! found its way to our shores, and, as a vampire, sucks the vital principle of the intellectual, moral, and spiritual life! men. Who can tell the amount of evil over which the curtain of the past year has dropped? How many a parent's heart has bled from the recklessness of their sons, rejecting parental government, counsel, and warning, breaking through all restraints, to follow implicitly their perverse habits, as if they were determined to commit moral suicide, and deliver themselves up to the demon of discord, to be led captive at his will! How many a promising youth has been led away by evil example, and dived into the sink of intemperance and folly, regardless of all consequences, and deaf to admonition, as if the eye of God was shut to the scenes which were done in secret! How many a parent has ap peared before his children as a fearful beacon, a blind guide, a pernicious example, either by the indulgence of intemperate habits, the profanation of the Sabbath, neglect of the ordinances, omission of family prayer, or such an intense application to secular business, that not a vestige of religion could be traced from the beginning to the end of the week! Let parents beware how they live and walk before their children, and consider well their high and fearful responsibility, as those who shall give an account; and woe unto such who have been the means of leading astray those entrusted to their charge by the Moral Governor of the universe, abusing the trust, and paving the way for their eternal perdition! Many a son, at the judgment-day, will point to his father, and say, "I am lost, for ever lost! for there he stands who first directed my lips to the fatal cup, taught me to break the Sabbath, took me to the fields instead of the house of God, neglected family prayer, lightly esteemed the sacred Scriptures, gave me no counsel for my soul's good, never taught me early to bend the knee in prayer to God; and here I am, wrecked on the shores of eternity, the victim of parental folly!" How sad to reflect on the consequences of parental misrule and example, and how aggravated the sin of neglecting their own and the spiritual welfare of their children, in a land where the light of the Gospel shines in undiminished splendour! For such it will be a fearful meeting at the great day of account, when whole families will be gathered around the throne, to hear from the lips of the Judge the catalogue of past sins. It will prove an awful disclosure, a tale of woe, a record of deeds of |