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THE

YOUTHS' MAGAZINE;

OR,

EVANGELICAL MISCELLANY.

MARCH, 1852.

CORRA LINN.

OUR engraving this month is copied from a pleasant little work entitled "Stories of Scotland," by Mrs. Geldart, which also furnishes the substance of the following description.

There are three falls made by the Clyde, the chief of which, Corra Linn, is so called from a tradition that Corra, daughter of an ancient Scottish king, was drowned in it. The river does not descend in an unbroken sheet of water, but is precipitated eighty-four feet, when two ledges of rock break it, as may be seen in the engraving; but of the beauty and richness of the foliage, the grand effect of the sun upon the glittering spray, and the sound of the cataract, it is impossible to conceive an idea.

THE CROOK AND THE CROSS.

A YOUNG damsel sat poring over an antiquated copy of Foxe's Martyrology. She had passed that morning, for the first time, through Smithfield and St. Paul's Church-yard; and a few graphic details from her papa at the right time, and in the right place, had summoned to the mind's eye, the grim days of persecution, when Bibles blazed at St. Paul's Cross, and holy men of God fed the fires of Smithfield.

F

Laura had only just begun to feel interested in religion, and when she seriously contemplated the momentous subject of eternity, she became desirous of an assured hope of everlasting happiness; so that on reading of the support and consolation experienced by those sufferers for righteousness' sake, who laid down their lives, rather than deny their Redeemer, she almost wished, that she too might have had an opportunity of being a martyr, as the sure and certain means of reaching heaven; and she looked round on the comfortable parlor, half regretting, that it was not, the scanty dimensions of the famous "Little Ease" of the Lollards; or the desolate cave of the hunted Waldense. Indeed, she rather meditated a course of voluntary hardship, which should place her outward circumstances more on a par with these outcasts, but shrank from the remark and questioning this might excite. Like the Indian devotee she would gladly have attempted to purchase the salvation of her soul, by the mortification of the body; or after the fashion of modern earthly saints, have pretended to subdue the lusts of the flesh by ostentatious humility; or efface the stain of sin from the heart, by self-inflicted penance. These projects were cherished for weeks and months, till she read in the Sermon on the Mount, our Saviour's explicit direction, “When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you they have their reward," in the popular applause and admiration. In St Paul's epistle to the Corinthians, also, Laura read, "Though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." 66 "So," she reflected, "the martyr's fate is no certain earnest of the martyr's crown!"

Ah, little reck the young enthusiasts of modern security, what hard trials were the cruel mockings of by-gone days, when parents turned against the children, and children against the parents. Special grace was needed for such woe, and gratefully do we thank God and take courage, for the aid vouchsafed our forefathers!

"What shall I do to be saved?" was still Laura's most absorbing enquiry; and though the answer was ready written for her in the Bible, she observed it not, but devised almost as many

schemes for obtaining this great end, as any ignorant heathen.

The missionary meetings drew on, and Laura listened with breathless interest to the perils and labours of those devoted evangelists who venture abroad into the strong holds of Satan, and spending and being spent as the messengers of good tidings, enter into the kingdom, amidst the congratulation of angels, and the approving "Well done!" of the Lord of the harvest. "This, then,” thought Laura, "is the acceptable service of the present day; would that I could be a missionary, and share the apostolic labors and rewards of this noble band!" For a season she read nothing but missionary records and biographies, and every other subject was uninteresting, every other pursuit beneath her attention; so that her family and friends found themselves rather neglected, and many little household duties overlooked, which used to be punctually and cheerfully performed. Her junior brothers and sisters wondered why they missed their pleasant play-fellow, and cheerful, lively, instructress, who made lessons as interesting as story books. Even the Sabbath-school-class felt a difference; the teacher's thoughts seemed far away from them, and instead of listening to their questions on Scripture difficulties, or helping them to endure their youthful hardships, they heard long stories of various forms of idol worship, in distant regions, whose very names were as a dead letter to these poor children!

Laura was not happy; she felt herself a cypher in the vineyard-an idler in green pastures; she was in fact too absorbed in future possibilities, to attend to present certainties-was building castles in the air, while letting the ground around lie fallow; she was wasting her energies upon theoretic plans of usefulness, yet hiding her actual talent in a napkin; while she fancied there was but one way in which she could minister to the Lord!

She set about learning Hebrew and Greek, that she might be the better prepared to translate the Scriptures into any dialect of savage tribes among whom she hoped her days would some time be passed; and meditated the persuasive tracts which should bring unanswerable conviction of the truth of her mission.

But all this time real events were placing her in a very different position. Her papa suddenly died, and pecuniary affairs rendered her occupation of the missionary field less probable than ever, while the ample leisure she had hitherto enjoyed, must now be engrossed by personal attention to those indispensable "nothings" upon which the comfort and respectability of a domestic establishment are so dependent. Happily, her attention was at this juncture arrested by a sensible paper entitled "Here and Now,"* setting forth the fact, that present duties well performed in the lot where God has placed us, are as acceptable in His sight as the great sacrifices to which he has aforetime summoned an apostle or a martyr.

Laura's countenance underwent so great a change while perusing this paper, that her mamma remarked it, and begged to hear the argument which seemed so deeply interesting. Laura read it aloud, and then reverted to her walk through Smithfield, detailing her mental experience since, and adding"Now, dear mamma, I begin to see, that all the while I was coveting these painful honors, I have, perhaps, omitted the very duties appointed me in a more retired sphere.”

"It is a very common mistake, my love," replied her mother, "for young people to say in effect, 'Please let me do this or that,' instead of the simple enquiry, 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?""

"Ah! that is just it!" exclaimed Laura, "I have disliked going into society with you and papa, even though it was always among Christian friends, whose talents and learning they were ever ready to bestow upon my improvement; and the books, dear papa used to charge me to read, were all distasteful unless about martyrs and missionaries."

"And yet, Laura, you might have gained spiritual as well as intellectual benefit in the company we then frequented, and might, perhaps, have acted a missionary part in interesting some young friend upon the subject of religion, who had never thought of it personally before. If you were to read the Tract Society's Reports, or to listen to the details of our candidates for church fellowship, you would learn how many heathens in Britain" have first been awakened by Christian associates at

* Youths' Magazine for 1832, p. 378.

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