quenched without that living spring, which is Jesus Christ; and what shall a thirsty soul do without water?-Dr. Owen. SHORT SENTENCES. To return evil for evil is beast-like; to return good for good is man-like; to return good for evil is God-like; to return evil for good is Satan-like. Heaven is a place and a state: a place of inconceivable glory; a state of infinite perfection; where there is a day without a night to end it, a morning without a cloud to darken it. We are sailing over a tempestuous sea: if Christ be our pilot; hope, our anchor; humility, our ballast; devout affections, our sails; the Spirit's influences, the gales; heavenly graces and evangelical works, our cargo; heaven, our haven; we are sure to reach the port. Christ's spotless life is the way; his meritorious death, the price; his triumphant resurrection, the corner-stone of our salvation. May I have the meekness of a Moses, the faith of an Abraham, the patience of a Job, the tender spirit of a Jeremiah, the integrity of a Daniel, the elevated devotion of a David, the zeal of a Paul, the courage of a Peter, the love of a John, but, above all, the whole mind of Christ. Christ's righteousness is the contrivance of God the Father, the execution of God the Son, applied by God the Spirit to the eternal glory of the undivided Trinity; revealed in the word, received by faith, the one only ground of a sinner's righteousness before God. R. L. THE FIRST OATH ON BOARD. "My lads," said a captain when reading his orders to the crew on the quarter-deck, to take the command of the ship, "there is one law that I am determined to make, and I shall insist upon its being kept; indeed, it is a favour which I ask of you, and which, as a British officer, I expect will be granted by a crew of British seamen: what say you, my lads; are you willing to grant your new captain, who promises to treat you well, one favour?" "Hi, hi, sir," cried all hands. "Please to let's know what it is, sir?" said a rough-looking hoarse-voiced boatswain. "Why, my lads," said the captain, "it is this, that you must allow me to swear the first oath in this ship: this is a law I cannot dispense with; I must insist on it; I cannot be denied. No man on board must swear an oath before I do: I am determined to have the privilege of swearing the first oath on board her Majesty's ship C. What say you, my lads; will you grant me this favour? Remember you will come aft to ask favours of me soon: come, what do you say; am I to have the privilege of swearing the first oath on board the C" The men stared, and stood for a moment quite at a loss what to say. "They were taken," says one, "all aback." "They were brought up," says another, "all standing." They looked at each other for a moment, as if they would say, "why, there is to be no swearing in the ship!" The captain repeated his demand, in a firm but pleasant voice, "Now, my fine fellows, what do you say; am I to have the privilege, from this time, of swearing the first oath on board?" The appeal seemed so reasonable, and the manner of the captain so kind, that a general burst from the ship's company announced, "Hi, hi, sir," with their accustomed three cheers, when they left the quarter deck. “Î say, Jack,” said one of the sailors to the boatswain's mate, as they went down the main-hatchway ladder, "my eyes, but what a skipper we've shipped now!-stand clear, jaw tackling, fore and aft now-look out for squalls now, every dog on board-mind you don't rap out, Jack, as you generally do-clap a stopper on the red rope now-keep your eye upon the corporal, all hands-the captain's to swear the first oath-depend upon it, he'll have the first fellow to the gangway who swears an oath before he begins." The effect was good: swearing was wholly abolished in the ship. 66 BEHOLD, HE COMETH WITH CLOUDS." Spread your sails, ye sons of joy, Let no cherish'd sin destroy Hope at Christ's appearing: Stand ye forth to hail the day; To his church returning: Mighty signs proclaim him near, Reeling to and fro with fear, Earth receives the tiding: Man apostatiz'd from God, FRIENDLY VISITOR. No. 257.] FEBRUARY, 1840. A WORD FROM THE EDITOR. [VOL. 22. Next to the desire that one has to learn for ones self all the lessons that God is teaching us in the course of his providence and grace, is the desire that others may benefit at the same time and through the same means. Since I last addressed my dear readers, I seem to have been spoken to as with a voice from heaven; and oh! that my ears may be open, and my heart also, to take in all the blessings which the God of mercy designs to bestow! A younger brother suddenly called from his busy and most important post, as Vicar of the parish of Preston, with its 50,000 souls; his many plans of usefulness now suspended, and the good he had done best known when now he has ceased to work!-what a call is this, I will not say, "to work while it is called to-day," but to beware how one calculates on length of days because of a seeming necessity for their continuance; and above all to take care that, amidst all one's working, the soul is living near to God, with bright evidences for heaven, and an assured hope in Christ beyond the grave. It is very possible to be busily and usefully employed for God's glory and the good of others, and yet to be neglecting one's own vineyard. We sometimes form very wrong notions of a safe state of soul. A whole heart given to God, a life of communion with him through Christ must be looked for. Nothing can make up for the want of this. Oh! for grace to die daily; to live with our loins girt and our lamps burning, and like men who are waiting for their Lord. It is hard work, and especially amidst the busy duties and labours of life: but the grace of God can raise us to this standard, and enable us on the one hand to go actively forward in the work of the Lord, as if it were all that we are living for; and on the other hand, to be doing all under the strong, and solemn, and daily conviction that the "fashion of this world passeth away.' B I had scarcely come from the grave of my departed brother, when I was summoned home by the rapid advance of typhus fever in our schools and village. And what an anxious season it has been! Forty in one school-twenty in the other-one dear child called to her long home-and the raging pestilence passing from house to house through the village! But here again the God of mercies designs to teach us the most important lessons. We have been the wonder of all our friends that so little sickness should have visited our schools, containing together 250 inmates, I am sure that we needed to be made more sensible of our dependence upon God. And then how striking it is to see that the most favoured lot can expect no escape from the afflictive visitations which abound everywhere. Is it the crowded towns, the close garrets, and the damp cellars to which the fever shall be confined? Is it the wretched cottage, the barely clothed, and the ill-fed who alone shall have superadded to their other sorrows this fearful scourge? Ah! no; while I write, the tidings come to me of the noble countess hurried to her grave by the typhus fever; and the baronet's daughter, a fine young lady, just entering life, and just as the family were entering upon a splendid newly-finished mansion, amidst every sort of gaiety. And how striking our own case! What has not nature done for this lovely valley? Is there a spot so marked and so varied in its delicious scenery as this? But now how all lies shrouded in mourning and dismay! Now, how the winter's silence of the songsters of the woods harmonizes with every feeling that is within us. "I became dumb, and opened not my mouth, for it was thy doing." And the schools, no longer thronged with their cheerful and happy inmates, but turned into fever wards, amidst the solemn silence of death; and our dear little chapel almost deserted, partly in consequence of sickness, and as much from fear! How God is speaking to us in all this; in mercy, I am sure, and covenant faithfulness, and calling upon us to sit loose to the charms of our |