THE POWER OF CHRISTIAN EXAMPLE. WHO shall set limits to the influence of example? We throw a pebble into a stream, and a circle is thereby formed, which is succeeded by another and another, widening in extent, until the entire surface has been traversed. We may lose sight of the rippling current, but we know that its progress can only be stemmed by the boundary of the stream. In like manner, an apparently trifling action may be performed, which, coming under the notice of friends, and perhaps of strangers also, shall make on each one some impression, varying according to the dispositions and principles of their individual characters. In one it may suggest some new ideas-in another may be created pleasure merely-in another disgust—in the mind of a fourth it may recall some evil consequences, arising in his own case from a similar action-and in a fifth it may revive the conviction of some great truth; while not a few may be induced to inquire whether the action in itself be good or evil, and then to discover its probable tendencies. The results may be momentous, either in an immense increase of good being attained, or an equal amount of guilt being contracted. How responsible, then, are we for all our actions, and all our words; even our thoughts-the springs of both should be rigidly subjected to the crucible of self-examination. Thought is indeed the parent of a numerous offspring, of all the evil, as well as of all the good, which marks our course through life. It is only true religion which can so harmonize the thoughts, the words, and the actions of a man, that they shall be sanctioned by conscience, approved of God, and rendered conducive to the welfare of his fellow-creatures. Still the most exemplary Christian has need to wash himself daily in the fountain that is opened for sin and uncleanness. For how is it possible to sail down the current of life without contracting some stain, while the heart is still vulnerable to corruption, and is surrounded by hostile influences, by which it is constantly in danger of being enslaved? When, too, we know that there are many-the enemies of God-who are continually waiting for the halting of the righteous, there is especial need that such should be always on their watch-tower guarding against the subtle approaches of every foe, armed in that

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panoply Divine which the Captain of salvation has provided, with which they can defy the fiery darts of the Evil Oneassured that they have only to unfurl the banner of the cross, and Satan instantly flies, abashed and discomfited.

Think, then, Christian, what a responsible, as well as honourable post is yours, and determine, in reliance on Him who has said:"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness," to glorify Him, and to benefit others by the example you set, remembering that to influence we can assign no limits. The thought is cheering, and may well stimulate you to increased effort. There may be much to discourage in the disregard shown by our fellow-creatures of our efforts to serve them by precept or example, yet He, whose eye is in every place, and who worketh all things according to his own purpose, will ultimately reward our faithfulness. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether both shall prove alike good." The light of eternity alone shall fully reveal the amount of good which has, by the blessing of God, resulted from pious examples.

What says the wasted form and pallid cheek of that youth, lovely indeed, but marked by the hand of death as its early prey? Peace, the peace of God, sits enthroned in the heart, amidst all the decay of nature. Already his eye beams in the light of heaven, whilst we hear dropping, in sweet accents from his lips, the heartstirring language of realizing faith, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.' or, with an exultant sense of his approaching change, "I know whom I have believed," and that if my earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, I have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ;" and were we to listen to the history of this young believer, we should most probably hear him tell of the example of a pious father, or a pious mother, and the lessons he learned in the domestic circle. See, again, that man of business, in all the vigour of years, and what is his testimony to the force of Christian example? "To this," says he, "I am indebted for my present standing, and all the satisfaction I enjoy. My

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heart dictated a course which would have brought a stigma upon my character, and misery into my soul. I might have heaped up riches; but what, after all, would these have profited me, had I been called suddenly to resign my stewardship? And what restrained me but the testimony I had, in early life, to the reality and excellence of true religion. ?" If pious example has thus a restraining, it has also a stimulative power-the presence of a good man urges to the imitation of the things that are lovely and of good report. The primary motive may not be absolutely pure-the love of good or the hatred of evil may not be the grand moving spring of action; but the admiration of another's amiability, or conscientiousness, or consistency of character, has often tended to prepare the way for the love of principle, and the love of God.

But while we sometimes rejoice over such results, we have often to lament the tendency of an opposite example. Too frequently, alas! is heard the heartrending reproach, "Oh that I had not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, or stood in the way of sinners, or sat down in the seat of the scornful!"

Reader, let such instances, especially if you are a parent, sink deep into your heart, and act as salutary warnings; remember you are solemnly responsible for the influence which your conduct may have over your children. And if you feel the weight of your accountability to God for the right exercise and inculcation of those Divine principles which his grace imparts, may you afresh buckle on your armour, and go forth to the help of the Lord against the mighty, watching yet with more jealousy your own heart analyzing more strictly its motives crucifying more entirely its evil desires, and more diligently guarding against all your spiritual foes, that when you shall be called to render in your account, you may do it with joy, and not with grief. S. S.

glory. We pray for its pre-eminence. But then we little reck of arms. At any rate, we have known a surfeit of such fame. We would sedulously cultivate the arts, but their perfection could not constitute us illustrious. We must dig a deeper foundation for a lasting celebrity. Virtue can only make us free, freedom can only make us great, religion can only make us virtuous. The column, however trophied and figured, cannot stand without this plinth. The shield of the fullest orb and richest device should be distributed into its quarters by the Cross!

The national character must ever depend upon the free, independent, use of the Scriptures. This is strictly a Protestant principle. It cannot cohere with Romanism. Whenever such right by that system seems to be allowed, it is with an evasiveness which makes us doubt its sincerity, with a suspension which makes us suspect its good will, it is with a reserve which makes us distrust its truth. No vernacular has it catholically sanctioned. Diocesan and provincial license there may be, but then it is at the pleasure of the spiritual director of every licentiate. The Vulgate is the only translation formally permitted, and this has long since taken the place, and usurped the authority of those originals which it so often distorts and misrepresents. Now, go through the lands of Europe. See those where the Bible is openly, securely, avowedly read; in other words, those which have embraced the principles of the Reformation. Their peoples are strong and noble in their doings and their virtues. The climate, the mountain scenery, and atmosphere may inspire in others the love of liberty-patriotism may bind them to their native soil by a passion which is very disease-but Tyrol and Switzerland, ready enough to repel the invader, crouch beneath their own yoke, and grind to their own superstition. Look at the German mind. Luther's version of the holy volume formed the language of that country. It gave freedom to the studies of its universities. It awoke the genius of its wide-spread family. It burst the spell which had oppressed it from the time of the empire. The predictions of Tacitus would never have otherwise been fulfilled. Never, otherwise, would its banded nations-with the lyre and the swordhave driven from their bosom the military despotism which sought to draw them into itself. Its wild transport and hurrah

of hatred to oppression had never else been heard. It is this which confers self-respect on man. He is in constant communication with the truth of God. Nothing stands between him and it. His mind is filled with its noble images, its mighty conceptions, its triumphant hymns, its tender strains. He catches its inspiration. He imbibes its largeness. It is the book which makes man brave and free. The inlaying and infusion of it in his soul turn him to another man. Its saving blessings apart, its general power is mighty. It reflects itself in the noblest efforts of human genius. Poetry, eloquence, music, literature, art, borrow unconsciously, if not directly, from its wealth. The Bible is the nation's sun, reflected when not seen. It is the same to the individual. He sits at the feet of no priest. He stipulates not for pardon with his fellow-worm. His soul, bowed before the Deity, is seen in the attitude of seraphs; but it does not stoop to man. It is erect in its own rights and prerogatives. What would our national character be, were the Bible taken from us? Were it a sealed book? Could we only peruse it at the will of a confessor? How changed would be our manners and our feelings! The interdict would paralyse all that was noble and erect! It would be the reconstruction of that spiritual tyranny before which the inward independence of the spirit droops! It is in vain to say that the mind of our nation has been most abject when most religious. It was then at a pitch for solemn and grave arbitrement if it saw itself beset by artifice and overwhelmed with wrong. The men who loved the Divine Word were, in the hour of their country's peril, the men of steel. They sought peace, but they knew that it might be too dearly purchased. They hated war, but they knew that it was a better alternative than submission to injustice, and collusion with dishonour. Reluctantly they called the sword from its scabbard, but, when drawn, they spared not the quarrel. They stood for all that is dear in affection and great in principle. They urged a fearless way. No Italian monk could quell them. They had trodden down the wretched pleas of power and impiety. They reached the true heroic. The sword of the Spirit flashed from their hands, and they were invincible. Their soul gathered all dint and courage. They could resolve. They could resist. They could die. Truth to them

was all. Life had no end, death no reward, but its defence. Reverse this scene. Bring back the age when revelation was proscribed. Once more set the ban upon it. Chain it to the cloister. Immure it in the cell. And you shall see the fawning upon pretension, the abandonment to dictation, in our countrymen again. It has appeared, wherever the Bible has been prohibited. A pseudo-Protestantism has mimicked Vatican expurgation. The Bible, we are told, is only capable of proof as the church-like some algebraic unknown quantity-warrants it, and is only capable of being understood as the church interprets it. Its circulation has been scorned and opposed. And what is the result? These are the men who repine at our liberty, long for the stagnancy of public thought and opinion, and would sell their country to the basest dotage of superstition, and to the most iron grasp of oppression.-Dr. Hamilton.

THE YOUNG NAVAL OFFICER.

No. II.

HE BECOMES DECIDED FOR GOD.

HAD Robert fallen in the battle which soon after took place at Acre, the friend who felt so anxious respecting him would, amid some hopes, have entertained many fears, lest he had not wholly given himself to God; and it was with much pleasure she received the letter containing the following passages, and written the day after the action. It bore the date of St. Jean D'Acre, Nov. 4th, 1840 :—

"God was very merciful to me yester day. He guarded me in the time of battle, and I am safe. We attacked this fortress (celebrated for its strength from the time of Richard Coeur de Lion) with the greatest success. After three hours' firing, we reduced the forts, and the town, during the night, was evacuated, leaving us masters of the place. The loss of life on the part of the enemy was tremendous. It is supposed that in one explosion, nearly fifteen hundred persons perished, besides others, who were despatched by the heavy firing, which was continually poured in upon them. Thus has one man, who, from ambition, had already sacrificed thousands, added a thousand more to the list of the slain. Our loss has been comparatively trifling, yet every ship has suffered, more or less. We

have only had four wounded, but our masts, rigging, and sails are much injured. The Commodore's pennant has had two shots through it. Your letter I received on the 29th, by the 'Vesuvius.' I read it the best way I could, being busy embarking Turkish troops, various stores, etc., for the expedition. The morning of the action I had a little time to spare, and opened the tracts you sent me, when, what do you think was the uppermost tract? It was that, asking the question, Are you afraid to die?' It put a home question to me, and I was about to say, 'No' but I read it through, and that forced me to acknowledge that I was afraid, not being ready to answer the charges which would be brought against me. I however made a secret resolve to live to the Lord, and prayed that he would leave yet a little longer this unprofitable cumberer of the ground. My prayer, you see, was answered, and now, lest I should heap sin on sin upon my guilty head, by breaking my vow, I pray that he may alway be near me, and protect my soul, as he did my body, from harm from the enemy. Your last supply of tracts is gone to the hospital; and, instead of any opposition being shown, as I had feared, they were allowed to be freely distributed."

We have seen, in the early part of this narrative, that when Ellen became a converted character, she had an earnest desire that others too should be brought into the way of truth. The same evidence of a sincere change of heart was now manifested by Robert. In a letter received soon after that last quoted he says: "Have you written to E. on the subject you intended to write. If not, pray do. I think it would do good: and will you, my dear Ellen, write to S. I think there is really an appearance of a change. You don't know what success you may have. Try it, however, and may God bless it. Write to me soon. Remember it was you who first caused me to feel that I had to dread an eternity. Help me then to spend my life, so that I may spend it in bliss. Remember me kindly to Mr. A., and tell him that I also feel anxious for my fellow-sailors, and that I shall not fail to mingle my prayers with his for them."

Again Robert returned to England, but he was not permitted to enjoy any lengthened intercourse with his family, before the duties of his profession took

him from home. Thanks were offered on his behalf to the God who "had covered his head in the day of battle," and he enjoyed the advantages of religious instruction and sympathy. He afterwards embarked for the Brazilian coast, and it was his great privilege to become intimately acquainted with a pious clergyman, stationed there. From this period, his religious progress became very apparent; and God was gradually preparing him for the great change which was shortly to come to him. The following extracts from his letters show the state of his mind at subsequent periods:

"My experience," he says, "is as chequered as that of most who have tasted that the Lord is gracious. I have hopes and fears, zeal and coldness, love and indifference, by turns. My besetting sins still struggle with me, and at times I am ready to give up all as lost. My heart is naturally so depraved and treacherous, that when I would be solely given up to the Lord, and happy communion with him, sinful thonghts intrude, and I cannot shake them off. And yet, in all, I think (though I almost fear to think so, lest my treacherous heart should deceive me,) that my spiritual state improves. I hope and pray for the Lord's assistance in this, as in all other matters, connected with my spiritual welfare. I often perceive the selfishness of my nature, and see that beyond my own interest, my love for my Saviour is weak. Blessed Jesus! thou knowest all that passes in the hearts of thy people! Assist that which is good, for the advancement of thy glory, (for I would have none other interest at least but that,) and root out all evil, I beseech thee."

July 19th, 1843. At sea, lat. 31° 30′ S. long. 49° 6'.

Speaking of the intelligence he received of the death of a beloved sister, he says, "This is a chastisement which I pray my God to enable me to receive without murmuring, and to look at as coming from a kind Father, who does all things for the weal of his children. Ah! little did we think on a past mournful occasion, that she would be the next called to give an account of her stewardship. Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth,' was the text selected for that occasion, and appears to have been peculiarly adapted for us all then present; and as we still keep the text be