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passage, he says, "These were precious words to me. With tears of thankfulness I record the goodness of my Lord to the chief of sinners. Upwards of twenty years ago, when it pleased God to call me by his grace, and make me happy in his love, my name was cast out as evil-friends became foes-their hands were against me-they withdrew their favors from me, and derided me-under narrow circumstances, tender feelings for a large family, carnal reasonings of my corrupt nature, and strong temptations from the enemy, I was sore distressed. But the Lord was gracious; and often did he bring this text to my mind, lackedst thou any thing? I was constrained with gratitude to reply, nothing, Lord. Christ is a most precious Master to serve! I have proved it." Thus too shall all his servants have to say. Let us then, under the darkest dispensations of his providence, trust in him, and not be afraid.

Chap. xxiii, ver. 34.-Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

A wealthy merchant, in America, lately gave the following account :-As he was standing at his door, a venerable grey-headed man approached him, and asked an alms. He answered him with severity, and demanded why he lived so useless a life. The beggar answered, that "age disabled him for labor, and he had committed himself to the providence of God, and the kindness of good people." The rich man was at this time an infidel. He ordered the old man to depart, at the same time casting some reflections on the providence of God. The venerable beggar descended the steps, and kneeling at the bottom, audibly offered up the following prayer :-"Oh my gracious God, I thank thee that my bread and water are sure; but I pray thee, in thy intercession above, to remember this man; he hath reflected on thy providence. Father! forgive him, he knows not what he saith." Thus the present scene ended. The words, "Father! forgive him, he knows not what he saith,”

He was

constantly rung in the ears of the rich man. much disconcerted during the following night. The next day, being called on business to a neighboring town, he overtook the old man on the road. As he afterwards confessed, the sight almost petrified him with guilt and fear. He dismounted, when an interesting conversation ensued. At the close of it, the old man remarked :--“ Yesterday, I was hungry, and called at the door of a rich man. He was angry, and told me he did not believe in the providence of God, and bid me depart; but at the next house I had a plentiful meal. And this, mark ye! was the house of a poor woman.” The wealthy man confessed that at this moment he was pierced with a sense of guilt. He then gave some money to the poor man, of whom he never could hear afterwards; yet the sound of these words being impressed on his mind by the last interview-"He knows not what he saith"-never left him, till he was brought to Christian repentance.

Chap. xxiii, ver. 56.-And they rested the Sabbath-day, according to the command

ment.

Southey, in his life of Wesley, tells us, that John Nelson, a methodist preacher, being once desired by his master's foreman to work on the Lord's day on the ground, that the king's business required dispatch, and that it was common to work on the Sabbath for his majesty, when any thing was wanted in a particular haste; Nelson boldly declared, "That he would not work upon the Sabbath for any man in the kingdom, except it were to quench fire, or something that required immediate help."" Religion," says the foreman, "has made you a rebel against the king." "No, sir," he replied, "it has made me a better subject than ever I was. The greatest enemies the king has, are Sabbath-breakers, swearers, drunkards, and whore-mongers; for these bring down God's judgments upon the king and country." He was told he

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should lose his employment if he would not obey his orders; his answer was, "He would rather want bread, than wilfully offend God." The foreman swore, that he would be as mad as Whitefield, if he "What hast thou done," said he, "that thou needest make so much ado about salvation? I\ always took thee to be as honest a man as I have in the work, and would have trusted thee with £500." "So you might," answered Nelson, "and not have lost one penny by me." "I have a worse opinion of thee now," said the foreman. Master," rejoined he, "I have the odds of you, for I have a much worse opinion of myself than you can have." The issue, however, was, that the work was not pursued on the Sabbath; and Nelson rose in the good opinion of his employer, for having shown a sense of his duty as a Christian."

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Chap. xxiv, ver. 27.-And, beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Dr. Cotton paid a visit to Dr. Young, author of theNight Thoughts," about a fortnight before his last illness. The subject of conversation was "Newton on the Prophecies," when Dr. Young closed the conversation thus:-" My friend, there are two considerations upon which my faith in Christ is built, as upon a rock: The fall of man, the redemption of man, and the resurrection of man. These three cardinal articles of our religion are such as human ingenuity could never have invented; therefore they must be divine. The other argument is this: if the prophecies have been fulfilled, of which there is abundant demonstration, the Scriptures must be the word of God; and if the Scripture is the word of God, Christianity must be true."

Chap. xxiv, ver. 39.-Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me,

and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

In the account of Mr. Fox's last illness, the following circumstance is mentioned:-"It was in one of his morning conversations that he first expressed his persuasion that his disease would terminate fatally. Lord said, that he had made a party for Christmas, in the country, and that he had taken the liberty to include Mr. Fox in it without his knowledge. 'But it will be a new scene, sir, added he, and I think you will approve of it.' 'I shall indeed be in a new scene by Christmas next,' said Mr. Fox. 'My Lord, what do you think of the state of the soul after death?' Lord, confounded, I believe, by the unexpected turn which Mr. Fox had given to the conversation, made no reply. Mr. Fox continued, That it is immortal, I am convinced. The existence of the Deity is a proof that spirit exists; why not therefore the soul of man? And if such an essence as the soul exists, by its nature it may exist for ever. I should have believed in the immortality of the soul, though Christianity had never existed; but how it acts as separated from the body, is beyond my capacity of judgment. This, however, I shall know by next Christmas.' Mrs. Fox here took his hand, and wept. Mr. Fox was much moved ;'I am happy,' said he, full of confidence; I may say, of certainty.'"

JOHN.

Chap. i, ver. 29.-The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!

A little boy, reading to his mother about the lion, in a book of natural history, said, "Mamma, the lion is a noble animal, but I love the lamb better; and I will tell you why I love it better; because Jesus

Christ is called the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

Chap. ii, ver. 6.-And there were set there six water-pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins a-piece.

"The ruins of a church," says Dr. Clarke in his Travels," are shown in this place, (Cana of Galilee,) which is said to have been erected over the spot where the marriage feast of Cana was celebrated. It is worthy of notice, that, walking among these ruins, we saw large massy stone water-pots, answering to the description given of the ancient vessels of the country; not preserved, or exhibited as relics, but lying about disregarded by the present inhabitants, as antiquities with whose original use they were unacquainted. From their appearance, and the number of them, it was quite evident that a practice of keeping water in large stone pots, each holding from eighteen to twenty-seven gallons, was once common in the country."

Chap. ii, ver. 24, 25.-But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

A carrier in a large town in Yorkshire, heard his carter one day in the yard, swearing dreadfully at his horses. The carrier being a religious man, was shocked to hear the terrible oaths that resounded through the yard, and went up to the lad, who was just setting off with his cart for Manchester, and kindly expostulated with him on the enormity of his sin, and then added; "But if thou wilt swear, stop till thou get through the turnpike-gale on S- moor, where none but God and thyself can hear." He then put the Swearer's Prayer into his hand, and wished him a good morning. The poor fellow cracked his whip, and pursued his journey; but he could not get

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