the rejection of his advice, went over to Ráma, and so occasioned the successful issue of that demi-god's war against the giant Sovereign of Ceylon. A dissuasion from family quarrels and domestic disagreements, and consequent recommendation of unanimity and concert in all. 77. যদি ভাথ মন্দ হয় ৷ বন্ধ লোকে মন্দ কয়। When fortune shews an adverse face, Friends will abuse, and fly apace. A couplet repeated when such as are fallen from favour, wealth or office, meet with unwonted indignities and slights. 78. শিরোবেষ্টনে নাসিকা স্পর্শন । Making the circuit of the head (with the finger), in order to reach the nose! The reference is to useless expenditure of exertion, unnecessary circumlocution, or much ado about nothing.' N. B. Some of the aphorisms in this additional collection were kindly procured and contributed by the Rev. T. Weitbrecht of Burdwan, but without either English rendering or application. The compiler thuspub licly offers to that gentleman his best acknowledgments and thanks. He would feel much indebted to any other person who might be enabled to favour him with similar contributions. [To be continued.] IV.-Reminiscences of Home. On the following morning, the village was full of gladness. The little maidens appeared in their best attire; presents of flowers, the seeds of which had been given by Marie, were brought as tokens of gratitude; while others displayed their needle-work, to show that they had not retrograded since her departure. It was a pleasing scene. The homage which they rendered might have been envied by a prince, for it was the homage of sincere affection. Though the offerings they brought were but perishing flowers, they were more valuable than gems presented by flattering cour tiers. Though the expressions of gratitude they tendered, were uttered in broken and unpolished language, they were more valuable than the eloquent effusions of cringing courtiers. It is in such scenes that the religion of Jesus appears in all its loveliness, raising the poor from their degradation, and humbling the wealthy not to meanness, but utility; and rendering spots of earth beautiful by nature, still more so by the type which they afford of a better and brighter world. Marie attempted to speak, but in vain. Her feelings were too highly excited. The scenery, the faces, all in fact called up a thousand pleasing associations of former years, when, in the zenith of youth, and in the possession of a beloved parent to guide and control her steps, she had enjoyed that highest of all happiness, the happiness of social life, sanctified by true religion. She dismissed the little band with a promise that she would commit to paper the subject which she had intended to commend to their attention. She retired to her room, and poured out her soul in prayer, that she might have strength equal to her day. In a few days, she left this once happy spot, perhaps, for ever; and returned to her new sphere of exertion, where she endeavoured to exercise her influence to the highest of purposes, the happiness of man and the glory of Jesus. Here the narrative ends. From fragments of papers we gather, that she still lives, though in the extreme of suffering; this will be manifest from the following extract, from one of her letters. "I have not long to live, but I do not repine. Jesus, who is my all, lives at the right hand of God. My physical strength decays daily; every hour the gracious Parent of all appears to be taking down the frail tabernacle ; but my soul has strong confidence in Jesus. I shall meet my dear parents in glory, and may I add, and you also. O how happy! what felicity! to be for ever with each other and God." We close these remarks, by embodying, by way of improvement, the substance of the letter which Marie promised to her village friends. My dear Friends, When I last saw you, my heart was too full to speak to you on a subject of the deepest importance-the Christian character, and especially on the importance of that character being your's. Once I thought I was a Christian, but I had deceived myself; now I trust I have found favor in the sight of the Lord, and may from experience say, that a Chris tian is the highest style' of being: he approaches nearest to what man was in paradise, to what he should be now, and more especially, to what he will be hereafter. He is one whom God delighteth to honour, whom angels gaze upon with transport-the righteous emulate his example, and devils fear before him; for "Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees." His life, how happy-his conversation, how holy-his benevolence, how diffusive-his example, how salutary-his triumphs, how complete-his end, how peaceful-his reward, how great. All are not Christians; many, who esteem themselves such, are under a delusion, "having a name to live, and are yet dead." We are not Christian by nature. Our nature is corrupt; it is opposed to holiness, to Christ, to true religion; hence, it is grace which effects the mighty change-grace which changes the lion into the lamb, the enemy into the friend, the sinner into the saint. "By grace ye are saved, and that not of yourselves." Assuming the Christian name and profession will not constitute us Chris tians. Many are wise in the company of fools, who are fools in the company of the wise, and only need to be introduced to such society to prove their folly. So there are many who bear the Christian name, who need only to be measured by the Christian standard to prove, That all are not of Israel, who are called Israel. Many too of these who bear all the marks of the followers of the Lamb externally, if weighed in the balances, would be found wanting. ry. True Christianity is a blessing which cannot be attained by talent with all its influence, by connexions however holy, or by a life however exempla"Without a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Neither by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." The individual, who is properly a Christian, rests his hopes on a firmer basis, and gives holier and more certain evidences than those, of his heavenly birth and immortal destiny. Christ is the rock on which his hopes are built, and the word of God his guide and support in life. The example, which he emulates to follow, is that of Christ; and an inheritance among the saints in light is the highest object of his ambition; thus shewing, "that he is renewed in the spirit of his mind;" "that he is a new creature in Christ Jesus." The true Christian is the only man who can be the partaker of peace here; he is the only individual who can have any reasonable hope of happiness hereafter. How important is it then for us to ascertain what likeness there is between our characters, and those lively portraitures of Christian character, which are presented to us in the oracles of truth. How awful must a mistake be on such a subject! to be imagining, that we are alive, and yet dead;-that we are heirs of life, and awake to the awful reality of our mistake in the wretchedness of eternity. Feeling the dreadful import of the subject, I would desire briefly to lay before you some features of Christian character, that you may examine yourselves, and see whether you are in the faith or no. The first evidence is, Union with Christ. This is one prominent feature of the true Christian. It is not for me to endeavour to explain the nature of that union; it is sufficient for us that we have the evidence of its existence. Our Lord says, " Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." On the face of this passage appears a very startling truth;-that there are some who are only visibly united to Christ; who have the form of godliness without its power-the trappings of religion without its benefits; who have assumed the Christian character in a day of fashionable profession; who have attached themselves to the church, from other motives than love to Christ." They are clouds without water"-trees without fruit-Christians, but in name. Their existence, however, gives stronger confirmation to that real and vital union, which exists between the Lord and his people. It is a union the most intimate and entire, beneficial and indestructible: neither joy, nor sorrow, adversity or prosperity, life or death, can affect it. Under what beautiful and instructive emblems have the sacred penmen spoken of this union! One of them says, as by the first birth we partook of the nature of the first Adam, and through him received those evil and rebellious propensities, and were alien from God, were spiritually dead; so being united to Christ, we receive new desires, new hopes: by him we are reconciled to God, and raised to newness of life. "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive." If in this sense it may be spoken of as beneficial, what intimacy is conveyed to the mind in the emblem of the vine and its branches. There are life and succour; there are beauty and fruitfulness. What safety does union to Jesus insure! As the culprit under the old dispensation hasted to the city of refuge, and was secure; so the Christian, united to Jesus, is sheltered from the impending wrath of God, and all the fiery darts of Satan. "Should earth against his soul engage, And hellish darts be hurl'd, Then he can smile at Satan's rage, And face a frowning world." The sympathy which exists between the various members of the body, and the delights of the connubial life, are not less forcible illustrations of the nature of that union, which is better felt than expressed, yet which gives demonstrable evidence of its reality by its fruits, while the source from whence it springs is hid from the inquisitive eye of man in the sacred place of the Most High. This union produces the next feature in Christian characters, Conformity to Christ. The Christian becomes a partaker of a new nature. He is born againhe is alive from the dead-his eyes are opened to behold the beauties of the Saviour-his desires quickened to become like him. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me;" "Make me holy even as thou art holy," are the prayers of his soul. By the aid of the Holy Spirit, "his feet with swift obedience move in the difficult and circui tous path in which the Saviour trod." By nature he was opposed to Christ: sinful, injurious, vile, haughty; active for Satan; impatient, prayerless, revengeful, irascible; far from God, and an heir of eternal death. But, oh how great the change effected by grace! Like the Saviour, he is become holy, harmless, undefiled; humble, zealous for God, patient in suffering; benevolent, prayerful, forgiving, meek; brought nigh to God, and made an heir with God, and a joint heir with Christ for immortality. Like Christ he loves the law of the Lord. The promises of God are his support; the precepts of the Lord are as binding upon him, as the promises are cheering; and as the Saviour, so the saved endure the reproach of the cross, despise the shame, and press on by the work of their high calling, &c. until, like him, they shall be perfectly glorified, and sit down at the right hand of the Father in the cloudless land of the blest, The reception of this new nature, and the calling into action new principles, fill the Christian with a desire to display the third feature of Christian character,— To live for Christ. One feeling predominates over all others in the Christian breast, and that feeling is love to Christ. One inquiry prefaces every undertak ing, and that is, how will this act glorify Christ? One peculiarity distinguishes the Christian from the man of the world, viz. a uniform and anxious desire to shed additional lustre over the despised cross, and the still more despised Nazarene. "I am determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus, and him crucified," is the language of every Christian; and the mode, which he adopts to effect this purpose, is such as the word of God requires. There is, in fact, amid all his imperfections, a vein of holy consistency running through all his actions; in the closet, in the family, in the church, in the world, in the market, in his ordinary pursuits, in his countryhouse, in his public transactions, in his private retirements, he is still a Christian. The Saviour is glorified in him more than in others;-in his closet exercises, by private prayer, and self-examination ;-in his family, by erection of an altar for God-the perusal of the Scriptures-the instruction of his children-the holiness of his conduct, and influence of his example; in his neighbourhood, by integrity in his dealings, by his holy example by faithfulness in reproof-by his communications of consolation; and in the world, by the efficacy of his prayers, by his pecuniary aid, by the devotion of his time, talents, and influence to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. Conscious that the love of Christ has laid him under eternal obligations, there is a perfect surrender of all to him without a lingering sigh. "Were the whole realm of nature mine, Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my life, my soul, my all." The train of thought in which I have indulged will warrant me in offering congratulation to those who are interested in Christ. What a change is then effected in you. "You were in darkness, now are you light in the Lord. You were slaves, now are ye the freedmen of the Lord. You were without God, nay, you were enemies to God; now you are reconciled to God, yea, you have God for your almighty and eternal Friend." What a change in your enjoyments! The world, with its transient good, was once the source of your pleasures. Every enjoyment left a sting behind, and induced you to rush into greater dissipation, to drown the cries of a troubled conscience. But now it is trampled beneath your feet; Christ is the source from whence you derive your enjoyment, and every delight prepares the way for another and a higher description of enjoyment, until the last earthly transport shall be effaced by the fulness of joy which is at the right hand of God. What a difference in your prospects! How tedious was life-how dreadful the anticipation of death-how dark and cheerless the tomb-how awful to contemplate the bar of God, and the realities of eternity! But oh, what has true religion effected for you! How delightful life! it is eternal life in the bud. How welcome death! he is the messenger that bears you to God. What a halo of glory is shed round the darkness of the tomb, since Christ slept there! How awfully transporting your contemplations of judgment-how delightful your anticipations of eternity! It is your house, your Father's house, your eternal rest, the residence of the blest. 66 They are happy now, and ye Soon that happiness shall see." The subject will warrant me in enforcing on you the duty of self-examination. "Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith,”—not whether you think ye are in the faith, but whether you walk worthy of the faith, nay, not only whether you think that you walk worthy of the faith, but what say they, that are without? They are good judges of what a Christian should be. That knowledge will add to their condemnation, but it will not excuse your guilt. Do you live as Christians? Do you live, so that you would not hesitate to be tried by the word of God, to be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary? Do you live so that you would not hesitate for the holiest of men to live with you; to see you in the adjustment of private and commercial affairs, to see you in your private retirements and closet duties. O remember, if you shrink at such a proposal, the Holiest lives with you. He sees you, watches you, mourns over you. What tempers do you display? What dispositions do you manifest? What conversations do you indulge? What zeal do you manifest? What love to the brethren? What love to Christ? Do you live as you will wish you had lived when you come to die-as becometh the gospel-as its precepts demand-as the glory of Christ demands? Do you live in the world, as the professions you make require, demand, exact. Oh remember, an inconsistent professor is a disgrace to religion, an idle one, a libel on the truth; and a formal one, but a spot on your feasts of charity. Remember, every inconsistency is a stumbling block to the inquirer, a matter of scoff for the infidel, and an impediment to the spread of truth. The subject will further warrant me in appealing to the unconverted, on the importance of the Christian character being theirs. a I probably address some who are the subjects of religious convictions, but who rest there. Remember convictions are not conversions except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." You may be on the threshold of heaven, and never enter; you may see its pleasures, but never enjoy them. "There is," says Mr. Bunyan, path to hell from the gate of heaven." You profess to be convinced of sin, resist it; to avoid its consequences, flee from it. You profess to love Christ, but your indecision casts an imputation on your sincerity. You are saying, we will serve Christ in secret, but we cannot avow him in public. He says, "Them who honour me, honour," &c. You wish to have the happiness of religion without its I will trials, its honour without its odium, its glory without its cross. There is a period coming when you anticipate Christ will own you—you who have been ashamed of him. Ashamed of Jesus, yes, you may, |