ANECDOTE ON THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.

A gentleman's steward who had been in the regular habit of transacting business on the Sabbath, attended a meeting of the Church Missionary Society, where allusion was made to the exemplary observance of the Lord's Day, amongst the evangelized New Zealanders. The steward returned from the meeting, deeply impressed with a sense of his own inferiority. He felt himself little better than the money-changers in the temple, (John ii. 15, 16.) and from that time abandoned a practice so inconsistent with the divine command, to keep holy the Sabbath-day.

Among many excellent speeches which were made at the "Chelsea Association for the Observance of the Sabbath," none were more interesting than that of Mr. Chancellor, who is well known as one of the largest proprietors of carriages let out for hire, in the neighbourhood of London. The following portion of his speech shews the happy result of a conscientious sacrifice:

"About four years and a half ago, it came into my mind that I was acting wrongly, in allowing my public conveyances to run on the Sabbath Day; but I had doubts what to do, for I knew that if I gave it up, it would be a loss of £500 a-year to me, and my family was large. I made it a subject of prayer to God, and at length my mind was made up on the subject. It is impossible to describe the peace and happiness which I have enjoyed since this resolution. I would not return to my former practice for ten thousand pounds. I now always pay my men early on Saturday morning, instead of Saturday night; and great is the benefit resulting from it. I used often to hear of their joining in riots, at the public houses, on Saturday nights, but now nothing of the kind occurs. Our Sunday is really a day of rest; and it is delightful to me to see my men at Church, and reading their Bibles. I wish many of my neighbours might be induced to follow my example, for they would find happiness from it here, and I am sure they would in heaven."

"I SHA'N'T MISS IT."

We shall never miss what we do for God's service. A farmer who had attended his parish church, where a sermon had been preached for the Church Missionary Society, was induced to give à one pound note to the collection. As he was going home, he

not having seen the prisoner, who had excited so much Christian sympathy, was surely most mortifying to our friend; but what was his gratification, on being told by the prison-keeper, that the two tracts had not only been diligently read by the criminal, but that they had been made his companions to the place of execution, and exhibited by him to all the spectators! Does not this fact afford strong grounds for hoping that these little evangelical messengers had been, through divine grace, made useful to this sinner's soul? The prison-keeper assured our friend, that the two tracts had been read with interest in his family, previously to their being given to the prisoner.

Mr. Dwight, one of the American missions at Constantinople, visited Nicomedia, about sixty miles south of that city, in May, and says, "I found a truly wonderful work of the Lord going on among the Armenians, and carried on wholly by native instruments. I saw five persons who are thoroughly enlightened, and who seem to possess the spirit of the Gospel; they told me that at present there are sixteen of them, who form a little fraternity of enlightened Christians, meeting together daily for studying the Scriptures, and planning for the good of their countrymen. I had some most deeply interesting communications with them; and I could not but wonder and stand amazed at what the grace of God has done for them."

And now let me tell you how this good work of the Lord began in Nicomedia. They do not themselves know that it has any connection with missionary effort; at least, most of them do not; and yet we can trace it directly, from its beginning, to the instrumentality of one of our missionaries. About six or seven years ago, Mr. Goodall went to Broosa, passing through Nicomedia. While there, he visited the Armenian church, had some conversation with one of the priests, and left some books, and then passed on his way. Another priest, who did not see Mr. Goodall, afterwards came into possession of one of the tracts, viz., The Dairyman's Daughter, in Armeno-Turkish, printed at our press in Malta; and the reading of that tract was the means, undoubtedly, of first opening his mind, and leading him to search for the truth, which he appears now truly to have found. So far as we know, this was the beginning of the good work at Nicomedia.-Missionary Register.

ANECDOTE ON THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.

A gentleman's steward who had been in the regular habit of transacting business on the Sabbath, attended a meeting of the Church Missionary Society, where allusion was made to the exemplary observance of the Lord's Day, amongst the evangelized New Zealanders. The steward returned from the meeting, deeply impressed with a sense of his own inferiority. He felt himself little better than the money-changers in the temple, (John ii. 15, 16.) and from that time abandoned a practice so inconsistent with the divine command, to keep holy the Sabbath-day.

Among many excellent speeches which were made at the "Chelsea Association for the Observance of the Sabbath," none were more interesting than that of Mr. Chancellor, who is well known as one of the largest proprietors of carriages let out for hire, in the neighbourhood of London. The following portion of his speech shews the happy result of a conscientious sacrifice:

"About four years and a half ago, it came into my mind that I was acting wrongly, in allowing my public conveyances to run on the Sabbath Day; but I had doubts what to do, for I knew that if I gave it up, it would be a loss of £500 a-year to me, and my family was large. I made it a subject of prayer to God, and at length my mind was made up on the subject. It is impossible to describe the peace and happiness which I have enjoyed since this resolution. I would not return to my former practice for ten thousand pounds. I now always pay my men early on Saturday morning, instead of Saturday night; and great is the benefit resulting from it. I used often to hear of their joining in riots, at the public houses, on Saturday nights, but now nothing of the kind occurs. Our Sunday is really a day of rest; and it is delightful to me to see my men at Church, and reading their Bibles. I wish many of my neighbours might be induced to follow my example, for they would find happiness from it here, and I am sure they would in heaven.”

"I SHA'N'T MISS IT."

We shall never miss what we do for God's service. A farmer who had attended his parish church, where a sermon had been preached for the Church Missionary Society, was induced to give a one pound note to the collection. As he was going home, he

was overheard to say by one who was behind him, "I sha'n't miss it," alluding to what he had just put into the plate. I will venture to say he has never yet missed, or ever will miss the money. On the contrary, I knew another farmer, who though very fond of money, would now and then get intoxicated. On one of these occasions, he had in abusing himself and others he had been treating, spent one night no less than two pounds. He got home in a sad state, threw himself on his bed, where he was at two o'clock in the day, when the writer called upon him, bemoaning his folly, in spending so much money in drink. He sorely missed his two pounds, nor was he the better for the good advice then given him.

INDECISION.

"I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live."-GEN. xix. 19, 20.

Angels were urging Lot to take the path,

The mountain road, which led from heaven's wrath;
"Stay thou not in the plain, nor look behind,
Flee to the mountain, thou wilt shelter find.
"Escape now for thy life, go forth, and fly!"
But, "oh, not so!" is Lot's beseeching cry.
"Not to the mountain," saith his ready fear,
Lest evil take me, and I perish there.
"Behold there is a city, it is nigh,
A little city, thither let me fly;
Oh! is it not a little one? there be
My place of refuge, thither will I flee."

Oh! Christian, doubting Christian, is it not
With thee full often as with patriarch Lot?
Building thy own salvation-doubting God-
Longing for heaven-yet shrinking from the road.
And worldling, carnal worldling, is it not
Ever with thee as with the patriarch Lot?
Rather than brave one hardship by the way,
Content in soul-destroying ease to stay.
Do we not frame our own imagin'd Zoar,
Our own sure refuge; and when urged to more
Of self-denial and exertion, cry,

"Not so, my Lord; oh! lest thy servant die."
Redeeming Mercy points us to the path
Of full atonement, from impending wrath.
Why, sinner, linger then, and look behind?
Fly from the world, and thou shalt safety find.

SOPHIA H.

FROM ERSKINE'S GOSPEL SONNETS.

Friend, is the question on thy heart engraved,
"What shall I do to be for ever saved?”
Lo! here's a living Rock to build upon!
Believe in Jesus, and on Him alone:

For righteousness and strength, thine anchor drop;
Renouncing all thy former legal hope.

Believe, say you? I can no more believe
Than keep the Law of works, the Do and LIVE.
True, and it were thy mercy, didst thou see
Thine utter want of all ability.

New covenant graces He alone can grant,
Whom God has given to be the covenant;
E'en Jesus, whom the sacred letters call
Faith's Object, Author, Finisher, and All:
In him alone, not in thine act of faith,
Thy soul, believing, full salvation hath.
In this new covenant judge not faith to hold
The room of perfect doing in the old.
Faith is not given to be the fed'ral price
Of other blessings, or of Paradise.

But heaven, by giving this, strikes out a door,
At which is carried in still more and more.
No sinner must upon his faith, lay stress,
As if it were a perfect righteousness.
God ne'er assigned unto it such a place,
'Tis but at best a bankrupt, begging grace;
Its object makes its fame to fly abroad,
So close it grasps the Righteousness of God:
Which Righteousness received, is, without strife,
The true condition of eternal life.

But still, say you, power to believe I miss.
You may, but know you what believing is?
Faith lies not in your building up a tower
Of some great action, by your proper power;
For Heaven well knows that by the killing fall
No power, no will remains in man at all
For acts divinely good, till sovereign Grace
By powerful drawing virtue turned the chase.
Hence none believe in Jesus as they ought;
Till once they first believe they can do nought,
Nor are sufficient e'en to form a thought.
They're conscious in the right believing hour
Of human weakness, and of divine power.
Faith acts not in the sense of strength and might,
But in the sense of weakness acts outright:
It is no boasting arm of power or length,
But weakness, acting on Almighty strength;