not to feel the bitterness and bondage of sinful habits, and to have formed some vague resolutions of amendment. Thus, thousands, presuming upon an indefinite length of life before them, harden their hearts till death overtakes them, such sayings acting upon them as a soporific, lulling them into ideas of security, and encouraging them to postpone to an uncertain future period of life what ought to be done instantly. To say nothing of the folly of such a saying,-encouraging the ungodly and the vicious to persevere in a path which is felt to lead to ruin, and every step of which is intended to be retraced, it is opposed to Scripture, and is deceitful and dangerous. In the experience of countless thousands, the road of sin is a road that has no turning, and it is to be feared that by far the greater majority of those who have talked of turning back have talked, and done no more. Sin is a thing not to be trifled with, and if we feel that we are in the road of sin, we are in the road that leads to hell; and if we are sincere in our intention to retrace our steps at all, we shall do it at once. It is easier to turn back now than it will be to-morrow, and we are but mocking God and deceiving ourselves if we postpone so urgent a duty till a future period, which we may never live to see. If immediate repentance be difficult, how much more difficult will future repentance be! How can we hope to bend the matured tree if we can scarcely manage the young and tender sapling? We may count upon future repentance as we may, but of this we may be sure, that with the most who indulge in sinful habits, it is now or never; immediate repentance, or everlasting destruction. "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy," Prov. xxix. 1. Let us not persevere in sin, and dream of future repentance. To-day only is ours: "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation," 2 Cor. vi. 2. Death is never far from us, and may stop us in our career before we can retrace our steps, and if so, we are lost for ever. Let us live in such a manner as we should wish to die; let us walk in that road which will issue in heaven, and let us earnestly avoid the road of sin, which in the experience of so many has no turning, and the end of which is destruction.

"Charity begins at home." This saying, though in itself quite unobjectionable, is almost always used for selfish and

worldly purposes. Simply considered in itself, it may be sometimes useful to remember it and to act upon it; for even the apostle found it necessary to remind Timothy that, "if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel," 1 Tim. v. 8. To profess an anxiety for the welfare of others, while we are indifferent to our own; or to be zealous for the interests of men afar off, while we are careless of the well-being of our relatives or domestics, our friends, and our countrymen, is little better than sickly sentimentalism. But when the saying is used as an apology for selfishness and parsimony, then it is intended to imply not only that charity begins at home, but also ends there, it is opposed to religion and the Bible. Charity, if it is genuine, has a large heart and a liberal hand; a heart large enough to comprehend in its good-will all the human family, and a hand at least desirous of helping and benefiting all who need its assistance. Though we are to remember those first who have the greatest claim upon us, yet we are not to confine our charity to home, when duties are to be done abroad. In the apostle's exquisite description of charity, we find no such saying as that it "begins at home." It savours more of the wisdom of this world than of that wisdom which is from above: there is in it more of the selfishness of man than the benevolence of God, and it is only a mean and untruthful subterfuge, under which to conceal a selfish and penurious disposition. Let us rather adopt as rules for our practice the true sayings of God: "The liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand," Isa. xxxii. 8. "It is more blessed to give than to receive," Acts xx. 35. "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith,” Gal. vi. 9, 10.

"What will people think?" Man has departed so far from God, that his standard of right and wrong is too often the opinion of his erring and sinful fellowcreatures. If he secure their applause, he considers himself right; if he fall under their censure, he believes himself wrong. There must be great uncertainty, to say the least of it, in such a standard of action; for what some might applaud, others would condemn; and what might be

praised at one time, might be censured at another. Besides, men are for the most part ignorant and ill-judging; and even in their unanimous censure or applause, may be very wrong. If such is to be our motive for action, we shall be continually in doubt how we ought to act. We shall find too that the world will only think the more meanly of us, if we pay such deference to its opinion; for the world itself despises those who have no higher motive for action than its poor smile or frown. But the Bible teaches us to endeavour to please God, and declares that "the fear of man bringeth a snare," Prov. xxix. 25. We are thus furnished with a high rule of action that cannot change, in which there can be no error nor caprice. "What will people think?" may be the saying of the world; but, "What will God think?" is the teaching of the Bible. If our conduct be right, let the world think or say what it chooses; whatever it think or say, cannot make it wrong. Not that the opinion of the world is to be despised; for in as far as it is in accordance with God's word, it is valuable. The opinion of good men especially is to be respected. But the opinion of the world must not be allowed unduly to influence us. We must not imitate the conduct of those of whom it is declared that "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God," John xii. 43. If we could secure the applause of all the world, it would be of little worth, if in securing it we lost God's approbation. Let us so live that we may please God, and then, whatever people may think of us, we shall be able to hold cheaply either its censure or applause.

"It is all luck." It is common with persons who deny, or do not recognise the fact, that God controls and regulates all affairs, to attribute events to some secondary cause. Such persons ascribe to luck, chance, fortune, etc., those changes in their circumstances and affairs which they who consult Scripture will attribute to the working out of those laws of God by which certain effects are produced by certain causes. The Bible is opposed to all fatalism, and teaches us to trace effects to their proper causes, and all these again to the great First Cause. If we would be prosperous, we must be industrious; if we would be learned, we must be studious; if we would be intelligent, we must observe and think. Whatever exceptions may be found, it is a general rule that idleness produces poverty, that sin produces dis.

ease, that mental sloth produces ignorance. We must not foolishly hope that any lucky chance will at some future period in our history fling suddenly at our feet honours or riches; still less that we shall enjoy the blessings of religion or secure heaven without employing effort and preparation. If we desire to produce a certain result, let us consider well the means of accomplishing it, and learn to acknowledge God in everything. "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord," Prov. xvi. 33. "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father," Matt. x. 29. All our times are in God's hand. If adversity overtake us, let us consider if there be not a cause, and not sit down in sourness of heart, as though some undeserved and unmeaning curse were upon us. And if prosperity happen to ourselves or our friends, let us not indulge in sceptical exclamations about "luck or chance," but be thankful to God for his blessing, who certainly has, either directly or indirectly, conferred it. Whether prosperity or adversity be ours, whatever happens to us, instead of the heathenish saying "It is all luck," let ours be the pious exclamation of Eli, "It is the Lord," 1 Sam. iii. 18.

"It will be all one a hundred years hence." Though few persons professedly believe that when man dies he is annihilated, yet many scruple not to use a saying implying little less than this. We shall not here argue for the reasonableness of man's immortality, nor attempt to prove it from Scripture, as probably few or none of our readers really doubt it. It is well, however, to remind those who are in the habit of using this saying, of its scepticism, and also of the certainty that we shall all, even at that period, be in a state of existence, which will be unalterably happy or miserable as we improve or neglect our privileges now. The drunkard and the profligate may attempt to argue themselves into a belief of an annihilation to them so desirable, but Scripture clearly asserts, and conscience testifies to its truth, that "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment," Heb. ix. 27; that "the dust shall return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it," Eccl. xii. 7: that the wicked "shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal," Matt. xxv. 46. Looking at our condition

in eternity as intimately connected with | our spiritual state in this world, what an importance attaches to every hour, and thought, and action! Let us not dare to live an ungodly life in this world, persuading ourselves it will be all the same a hundred years hence as though we had lived a godly one. In trifling with life, we are trifling with eternity; in playing with sin, we are losing heaven. Let us not deceive ourselves, nor countenance the use of sceptical expressions; for it will not be all one a hundred years hence.

"Take care of number one." This saying, worthy of a selfish world, is for the most part thoroughly acted upon by worldly men. With such, self is the beginning and ending of their anxiety. Instead of asking themselves how much they can give, how much good influence they can exert, how much they can contribute to the happiness of others, how much they can honour God, or what they can do to advance his cause,-their anxiety is, how much they can hoard or spend on themselves, how they can be distinguished, what they can do to increase their possessions, and a thousand other such selfish thoughts. Instead of feeling that they are made for all, they act as though they imagined all were made for them. Self is the centre and circumference of all their thoughts. But He who taught as never man taught denounced selfishness, and in golden sayings which should for ever have banished all our worldly ones, has sweetly invited us to cherish feelings of love, and to perform deeds of beneficence. "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," Matt. xix. 19. "A new commandment. I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another," John xiii. 34. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself," Matt. xvi. 24. Let us adopt the sayings of our Lord Jesus Christ, and discountenance the unchristian sayings of the world. Let us endeavour to deny ourselves, strive in some degree to forget number one, and with enlarged hearts consider the wants of our neighbour, the interest of our brother, and the welfare of the whole family of man. Let us consider the prosperity of all our best prosperity, and learn to sympathize with our neighbour in his prosperity or adversity as truly as if it were our own.

"I will have my revenge." Man, in his natural state, is described in Scripture implacable, unmerciful," Rom. i. 31, a statement corroborated by experience.

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Man, guilty man, who needs so much mercy from his Creator, is inclined to show little to his brother: he is quickly offended and slowly propitiated; and "Revenge is sweet," and "I will have my revenge," are wicked sayings, which he is ever ready to act upon. Though he prays for forgiveness upon the express condition of forgiving others; "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," Matt. vi. 12; yet it is a difficult attainment to forgive, and still more difficult to forget injuries. The Bible, however, teaches us to struggle against these bad feelings instead of cherishing them. “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil," Eph. iv. 26, 27. "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you,' "Matt. v. 44. "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head,' Rom. xii. 20. "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses," Matt. vi. 14, 15. If we must have our revenge, let us have it in a good sense by returning good for evil: let us conquer by love and kindness, and we shall probably not only lose an enemy, but make a friend. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour," Rom. xiii. 10. Charity "endureth all things:' "is not easily provoked," 1 Cor. xiii. 5, 7. " Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord," Rom. xii. 19.-S. W. P.

ICEBERGS.

WATER expands by heat, and, to a certain point, contracts by cold. The coldest portions of the fluid are, therefore, so long as the cold remains within this limit, in the lower parts. If the contraction by cold continued until the water became ice, the lower parts of the liquid would be first frozen, and when congealed, scarcely any heat applied at the surface could melt the mass, for the warm fluid could not descend through the colder parts. To show that this is the case, count Rumford made water boil at the top of a vessel, while the ice at the bottom was not thawed.

Suppose, then, the same law that is thus apparent, had prevailed in our lakes and seas, each of them would have had a bed of ice, increasing with the continuance of the cold, till the whole was frozen. On their surface there could only be such pools of water as could be produced by the thawing of the summer sun, and these would be congealed again on the return of frost. And so the process would advance, till all the water of these DECEMBER, 1842.

reservoirs became ice. Such a change would be fearful indeed; how, then, can the evils of it be averted?

God who enacted the law, to which reference has just been made, has modified it for our existence and welfare. As cold increases, water contracts; but after a certain diminution of temperature, though there is a further increase of cold, so far from contracting, it actually expands, till it reaches the point at which it becomes ice. The greatest density of water is at forty degrees; and when at or near this point, it will lie at the bottom with cooler water, or with ice floating above. The cooling process may go on at the surface, but water colder than forty degrees cannot descend to displace water that is warmer. At the bottom of deep water, ice, therefore, can never be formed. The coldest water, in approaching the freezing point, rises to the surface; there ice is formed, and there it will remain till the air and the sun restore it to its fluid state. Every winter we have some proof of this in the ice that floats for a time on our ponds, lakes, and rivers.

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